US - Branson

I was thinking to visit another country during the Christmas holidays, but Steve mentioned driving to New Mexico instead. So, I searched for information about New Mexico and we planned the trip, but found that a bad winter storm was supposed to hit New Mexico and most of the places between there and St. Louis, so we changed our plan at the last minute, driving to southern Missouri instead.

Along the way, we stopped to see Stonehenge at the campus of Missouri University of Science & Technology (Steve's alma mater), in Rolla.  This is a half scale, partial reproduction of the original in England but, being on an engineering school campus, some design improvements were made, such as adding an analemma in the center and a Polaris (North Star) window on the north trilithon.

At noon, sunlight shines through the small hole in the plate on the south trilithon onto an analemma, illuminating the date.  

We also stopped briefly at Table Rock Lake before going on to Branson.

After we checked in hotel, we walked around.  All the hotels & tourist attractions along the road reminded us of the Canadian side of Niagara Falls (without a Starbucks on every block.)

It was sunny when we arrived on Christmas Day.

Most stores and restaurants were closed, some because it was Christmas Day, but many because it was off peak season, so they had closed until Spring.  So quiet.

The Titanic Museum

We found a restaurant that was open and very busy.

The next morning, we had nothing to do besides shopping. I found a small heart shaped dish (less than a dollar) in a big antique mall.

It was the first time I saw heart shaped dream catchers, they were in a gift store. I bought a purple one.   

It rained the whole day.  We still went to Silver Dollar City ($60+tax for adult).  They have several traditional craft shops - candy making, woodcarving, blacksmithing, pottery, etc.  In this one, they were making peanut brittle and fudge when we walked in.  

One batch of fudge is 60 pounds.  Steve liked this store a lot.  :-)

 A comedy Christmas show in the saloon.

A master potter demonstrates making pie plates.  The masters always make their craft look so easy!

The stores were open, and the indoor shows were playing, but none of the outdoor rides were running most of the day.  The train ride finally started running at 4:30 p.m., after the rain & lightning had stopped.

We had dinner back in town that evening, and while we were in the restaurant, we saw this red sign at the donut shop next door. The waiter told us that they give everyone who comes in a free donut when the red sign is on.  No purchase required.

  

It was true! We went in, and the staff was handing out donuts as people came in. Fun to see the donuts being made. 

Sunday it was still raining when we checked out of the hotel. We bought a Groupon deal for 50% off at the National Tiger Sanctuary ($25 per adult). We paid an additional $10 per person for the Feeding tour.  Most of the big cats here were rescued - formerly peoples' pets, magic show acts, and pay-for-play. 

This is one of their "homes", where they can stay dry & out of the wind.  There is an exit in back where they can go out to a large, outdoor area. 

Steve loves tigers, but the staff wouldn't let him go in the cage to play with them.  The tiger was sad he couldn't come in and play.

Steve tried to pass himself off as a tiger, but the staff was too smart.  They still wouldn't let him in the tiger enclosures.

Surprise points

It is free to sign up for a store's reward point system.  When you spent $10, you gain 100 points. 100 points = $0.10, and you can redeem whenever you purchase something in the store. I have been a member for a few years. However, I didn't like to go to this store because their checkout is always very slow.
 Last year, I got email notices that I got rewarded $5 in points a few times. Those reward points had to be redeemed within 2 days, otherwise the points disappeared. So, I tried to stay aware of their emails and go to get stuff to redeem the points.

This year, I couldn't believe they gave so much, called "surprise points". In mid-November, I was in Malaysia and missed an email, $20 points had expired when I read it. On the third week of November, they gave $12 points for apparel, I redeemed it as the above receipt shown.    

 The first week of December, they gave $10 points for women's clothing. I redeemed it and got something that cost $12.  I only had to pay $0.82.

On the second week of December, they gave $20 points. I redeemed it and got two pairs of shoes on BOGO, normally selling for $20 each, for a total of $1.06.

On the third week, they gave $7 points for men's sweaters. 

This case was funny. I purchased a sweater for $9.83, and the register staff found I had $7 points but he couldn't get the system to redeem it, so he wrote a $7 store credit for me to sign. After he keyed it in the machine, the receipt showed cash paid $7, two times (I think that was his mistake), and I had change due of $4.17. He saw it was not right, because I didn't pay any money yet, so he wanted me to talk to customer service.

The staff said she would do a refund, then repurchase, so she gave me $9.83. I explained to her: I didn't pay anything yet." She said: "I know, but I need to do the return first, then I will bill you to correct it."

      

 Then she billed me with the deducted $7 in points, so I paid $2.83, which was correct.

However, I still tried to say, "What about this money ($9.83)?"  She said "That's your money."   We both tried to argue with her, and she seemed to understand the problem, but she insisted it was our money because of the return.

聽水廬

今早整理照片時，注視這幅畫的詳細內容許久，想著它的內容是要代表達什麼。

不久，就接到Christy的訊息：美男上報。

美男指的是K K。

我在檳城時邀Christy去K K的聽水廬坐坐。

這豬不是只擺設而已，它是要供人捐錢。

Christy慷慨識做。而我送禮。算是祝賀K K。

屋前左邊一棵公的木瓜樹，不能結果。

右邊母的，等她結果。

我不想多寫，還是讓你們讀記者的報導吧！

同學

G Hotel 大廳的印度新年屠妖節裝飾美極了。

從Facebook看到他們已有數次同學聚會，我這次回檳城，當然樂得見見自從麗澤分校小學畢業，跨別幾十年沒聯系的他們。

下午茶。聊聊誰曾有寫情信給誰。。

九個女生各各生活精彩；三個男生各各事業有成。

去酒店頂樓看看風景。

酒店頂樓的泳池。

小酒吧。

海鮮晚餐。

友明載素碹和我回，先到他家坐坐。他拿出私藏美酒，素碹樂得很，兩人都好酒。

星期一早晨7點半的纜車，不用排隊。

我已十年沒來了，升旗山改變不少。

幾位愛好攝影者比我們更早到。
一定要去這圓形觀景台。

可以看到檳城市區景色。

啊。。想不到竟然可以看到雲海。

中間有電梯，下去走走。

馬來西亞的國花。

素碹一見到我時就問：''你是否還記得我們小時候曾打架在地上抓頭髮？我們兩家合租居，我們住樓下，你們住樓上。我媽在下面，你媽在上面，互相喊罵。''

我還真忘了，經她一說，才回想起兒時怨尤。我說：''一定是你很壞打我，我是很乖靜的。謝謝你告訴我小時候的事，我想不管誰錯都原諒放下，不用介懷。''

下山後，去喝茶吃早點。

永強載美珍，素芬和我回，先去他的店看看。

謝謝幾位小學同學抽時間來同歡樂。

感謝三位紳士的款待。

適好菩提創校75週年，一方面可以捐助菩提，也可以見見中學同學。

我們畢業後，多數就沒聯系了。

共有35位中學同學出席。

幾位不曾同班過更沒印象。

宴會有節目表演場面很吵，不是很好聊天的埸所。

散埸時，遇見我們已退休的校長。

下樓時，遇見老師。

另有私下見面。

不僅與我是同學還是同事，我們可說交情最久的。那一天，我去更新護照，要交錢時才驚覺不夠錢，打電話給她，要她拿錢來應急，她馬上來了，借錢給我，正好及時的叫到我名字付錢，讓我免了一埸僵局。多謝秀萍！

另一位是與我同名不同姓的同學，但我們已失去聯繫至到從Facebook才聯系。她說："畢業後，我有一次聯系你，邀你和幾位一起與男性朋友去遊玩，那次摩托車載我的就是我現在的老公。'' 

讓我回想起那久遠的記憶，好像是我第一次的社交活動呢？''噢，那位載我，黑黑的，好像對我沒意恩思就沒再見了。現在他呢？'' 

''已經有妻有孩子啦。'' 

哈哈，講講往事，回憶一下，真好。

感謝兩位款待。

盼下次與同學再聚。