Savannah Trip

Cu was planning to go to Savannah to pick up two plasma TV from his uncle last Wednesday. Thinking of how long we had not been to Savannah, I suggested to invite Somnang to go with us this Monday because Monday was our off day. Cu agreed, and Somnang was more than happy to join us, after all, it would be her first trip to Savannah and she had longed to eat those seafood that I told her about! The Crab Shack! Yes, this was the main reason we wanted to go to Savannah!

We were so excited about our plan and waited for this day to come anxiously. We all worked on Sunday, Somnang and I asked for permission to leave earlier so that we could have some times to pack. Moreover, I had this 20% off coupon from Bloomindales', and I needed to buy my new set of face cleanser and moisturizers desperately.

Samanthat and Marvin were the two managers on duty, they were very nice to let Somnang and I left around 2pm so that we could go home earlier. Somnang and I were so happy, we quickly went home packing and left home for shopping.

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I picked the White Lucent cleanser, and day moisturizer and night moisturizer from Skincare. Thinking of summer season was coming, I also chose a dual balancing foundation and Flore and Fauna Silk Eye Shadow Quad for beautify purposes. When I paid those products with my Bloomindales' coupon, the lady on the counter said that the coupon was not allowed to use for cosmetic, but she could give me some gifts like umbrella and mask set that costed $75. I was gladly accepted as I needed those products that I chose anyway. Just when the lady swept my card, she told me that it got rejected. I was shocked because I knew that I had paid off the balance so I requested her to call their credit department. She called and let me to talk to the guy in charged. The guy was nice enough to explain what was going on, my department store card only allowed me up to USD140 for purchase, but he was willing to ask for more credits for me if I could hold on the phone for few minutes. I agreed. But it took quite a while, so I refused politely to wait any longer since I thought I should not spend those extra money if it was not for discount. I told the lady that I did not need those eyeshadows and foundation. So my total was about USD120 after taking the two things off. I paid and thought we could go to Victoria's Secret too as I also had another coupon that was almost due in two days!

I was thirsty after getting out from Bloomindales'. So we went to food court to get some water to drink. I was happily drinking my water, and continue on our little shopping before our trip! I gave Somnang my coupon as I did not need another new bra. Somnang walked around but couldn't find anything she liked, so she returned the coupon to me and told me to get myself a free panty from the coupon. So I chose one panty for free and we headed home together.

I was so excited and couldn't wait for Cu to come home so that we could leave right away. Just when I walked upstair, holding the big piles of toilet paper that I bought few days ago, all the sudden I realized that I didn't even have my Bloomingdales' shopping bag with me! I was shocked, and my heart sunk! I asked Somnang, and she thought I put them in my handbag! But I didn't!! I got so nerve wrecking and lost my mind. It was USD120!!! I was very upset and did not know what to do! I did not even remember where did I left them!! Somnang calmed me down and told me to call the Victoria's Secret. I called and they said they didn't see any shopping bag from Bloomingdales'. Somnang said that we should go back to the mall to look for it. We quickly grabbed the keys and left home again!

I was so fast, like almost in a disappointment! I did not have much hope about getting the bag back, but I have to try at least! I walked back to the same route that I took just now. Hoping that the person who saw it could have returned it to the register or cosmetic counter. I first went back to food court and then Victoria's Secret, but nobody had seen it!! I was so angry and sad! Angry at the person who took it with greed, sad that I lost my money on buying new products! I lost my hope, but I still left my number to the lady in the Bloomingdales' so that they would be aware of people who might return those products for cash. I was so mad at myself for my carelessness! How could I be so forgetful!

We went back home right away as Cu was on the way home too. I told Somnang not to tell Cu because I knew that he would yell at me. And I did not want to have any arguement with him before our trip! Somnang said maybe we should have just cancelled our trip! I told her no, they were two different things and she should not relate them together! I was trying to cheer her up as she was angry that nobody had returned my skincare products to Shiseido. At the same time, I also tried to calm myself down, so that I could refresh myself with a new mood for our trip. I tried to leave it behind. I would just take it as a donation for people who were so broke and needed those skincare products more than me!

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Cu came home after picking up a lot of fruits from Linh. He was not quite happy that his mom always liked to order him to do things like that, he thought his mom should tell the sister to drop the stuffs to him, not by asking him to drive up North again to pick up and came back home. But what can I say? His mom always favored her daughters more than her son. I do feel sad for Cu sometimes too.

We put everything in the car quickly and was so happy to leave for our trip! Somnang offered to drive first because she could not drive when the day got darker! I was sitting next to driver seat while Cu was making a bed with Nini and laid down comfortablely together. Cu bought a whole containers of roasted duck and roasted pork, and we enjoyed them during the whole trip.

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We left home around 630pm and Somnang was able to drive the whole way and we got to Savannah around 11pm. We were so tired and were planning to go to bed right away after dinner. I cooked instant noodle for all of us, while his mom and grandma was putting the stuffs away in the kitchen. His mom saw my noodle and decided to add some more water into my instant noodle because she said there were not enough water. And the water started spilting because it was too full! Cu was shaking his head when he saw that happened. He said it was such a bad first impression for his mom and grandma, and I whispered to him that it was his mom who added the water! He laughed. He said I should have said NO because I knew it better than his mom on how to cook a better noodle! And it ended up that they all didn't quite like the noodle because it was too plain! Com'on, I am a noodle queen, nobody should touch my food when I am cooking, PLEASE!! But it was his mother, how can I say no? Hahaha... I gave the rest of my noodle to Cu as I didn't like it too. We did the dishes and got ready to go to bed.

Just when we were about to go to bed, Somnang realized that she forgot her toothbrush! We laughed, and Cu had no choice but to take us to 24hours grocery store to buy her toothbrush. It was very closed to his parents' house, so we went out in our pajamas. Somnang was trying to find something to match her pajamas, and we reminded her that we had worse PJ pants than hers. I have big "Super Fly" on my pants, while Cu had a lot of poker cards on his. As for her? just some colored stripes that was more normal than ours. Hahaha... She finally agreed not to change her clothes.

We did the shopping quickly and left. Just when we walked toward outside, it was raining so heavily outside! We ran to our car as fast as we could, but the rain was so heavy and it got everybody wet! We went home and brushed our tooth and didn't even bother to change but got ready to go to bed. Cu started taking all his old photos out and showed them to Somnang. He also brought some Shiver storybooks for me to read. They were scary story books, I read a few pages and found out that they were quite interesting. So I continue reading while they were looking at the pictures. Cu already showed me the pictures couple times, so I knew what they were looking at when they were talking about it.

Cu's dad told us that we could choose any bedroom that we wanted to sleep so that three of us did not have to share the same room. But Cu suggested us to move one of the mattress to his bedroom so that we all could sleep together and talk until we got tired. We slept unexpectedly early that night due to the long drive.

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Cu's mom woke us up in the early morning the next day to ask us if we would let her to walk Nini. Cu let Nini out and we went back to sleep. Our alarm went off at the time we set: 10:30am. We woke up and started dressing up. And I just realized that I forgot to bring my panty liners and my make-up bag! Cu also reminded me that I did no bring some socks for him! Oh dear! How can I be so forgetful? My oh my!

Luckily, Somnang brought some extra panty liners, and she could give me a few of hers. And I could also use her cosmetics, they were just the same except the colors and brands! Hahaha... But it was better than none, seriously! I wanted to look good in the pictures! Since I didn't bring socks for Cu, he decided to wear sandals. Afterall, it was good weather outside!!

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Cu got a phone call from his friend, Phong, and we decided to eat Japanese food together. We met at the Sushi Time Towa. The menu was so big, and it was very hard to decide what to order. But overall, the food was very delicious and the sushi was super fresh! Phong surprised us by putting a slick move, he gave his credit card to the server before we arrived. So by the time we finished the food, the server already cashed us out with his credit card! Gosh, we were planning to treat him lunch, not by letting him to buy all of our food! But he insisted and letting us to tip the server. The check was USD77, so we tipped the server USD20, Phong tipped extra USD3 to make his credit card charged to USD80. I think the server should be happy for our generous tip, right?

After eating, Phong had to head back to his class. We told him that we would treat him back when he visited us in Atlanta. Somnang was impressed by Phong, and thought that Phong was a very nice guy.

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We were supposed to take Cu's parents out for dinner, but we only have one night and we wanted to go to The Crab Shack for seafood. Noticing Cu's dad's health problem, we decided not to take them to the Crab Shack because shellfish was not food for his dad's condition. If we took him along, he would want to eat those food as well! So Cu suggested me to cook something special for his dad. And we went to Publix to buy some fresh food. I picked some good steak, ground pork, spinach, and onions, deciding on making some steak and soup for his dad because I knew that his dad loves soup a lot!

Somnang helped me cutting the onions and peeling the carrots. I started cooking, and busy looking for spices and sauces that I needed for my dishes. Cu's mom didn't have the same sauces that I used to use at home, I was hoping that my dishes didn't go out of flavors!

Cu's dad came back before I was done with cooking. He seemed very happy that I cooked for him. I was so nervous and hoped that his dad would love what I had cooked for him. I let Somnang to try them and she said they were all good. I set up the table and warmed up the soup that his mom cooked in the morning before she went to work - bittermelon soup. Then I called his dad to the table. Since we already had sushi, so we just sat down and talked to him while he was eating. He pushed away the rice and grab two dishes that I had cooked and said that that's all he would like to eat for today! I was happy to see him enjoyed my cook!

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Cu's dad worked night shift, so he went to take a nap after the lunch. We all also went back to our room and took a nap as well. After the nap, we got ourselves ready again to go out for our next destination - River Street! I heard about this place from one of my customer, he suggested me to ask my husband to take me there next time when I came to Savannah, and I was so glad that I still remember the name after all these days. Cu was surprised that I knew the place although he insisted that there were really nothing to see. But he took us there anyway, and we liked it a lot although it was just for sightseeing! We got to buy some chocolates for ourselves! Hehe...

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After a long walk on the River Street, we were tired and hungry and ready for our dinner! The next destination? THE CRAB SHACK! I had been to this place once, and I liked the ambience of the place. They had an alligator pond that allowed guests to feed some baby alligators, and they also had a small gift shack. The most important thing was they had cheap BUT delicious seafood! I was gladly to introduce Somnang this place and would love for her to see it herself. She enjoyed the food a lot and was happy that we took her there. We were so full and content with all the food we had eaten all day! It was just a perfect day for the weather and food! I liked it very much!

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Cu got a phone call from his mother while we were in The Crab Shack, and she was asking where we were. She thought that we were going to take them for dinner! I was shocked. I did not know that Cu didn't tell his mom about our decision. Afterall, that was the reason why I cooked for his dad because I did not want them to feel neglected! I blamed Cu for miscommunication, but he assured me that his parents would be understand. So we continue enjoying our food.

Then, his uncle called him and asked when he would pick up the tv from him? I was surprised again. I thought Cu said that his uncle told him that his uncle would go to Atlanta on Sunday, so he would drop the TV for us instead of we went there to pick it up, but Cu told his uncle that he wanted to take me to Savannah anyway because he wanted to take me to eat seafood at The Crab Shack. I was not quite happy with the way how Cu communicated. We were supposed to take a walk on the beach after The Crab Shack, but now we had to rush to pick up the tv because his uncle did not want his aunts to know that he was giving us two plasma tv because they had been asking for them!

So we had no choice but cancelled our plan to the beach and heading back to Cu's parents' home to pick up all our stuffs so we could leave right away after picking up the tv.

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When we went back home, we did not see any of his parents' car. I felt so bad as I thought they must have gone for dinner themselves without us. I felt like we were ditching them! Why couldn't my husband improve his communication skills, he made me felt like a horrible daughter-in-law!

Just when we put everything back in our car, we saw his mom's car drove back home. We got out from the car and said good bye. Cu told his mom that we had to pick up the tv and leave right away. And he also called his dad to say goodbye, and his dad was surprised too, he said Cu promised that we would stay until the next day! Gosh, why would Cu does such a thing to his old people? Giving them empty promise and hope?! Somnang and I tried to talk to him the way how he should keep his promise and he said it would be alright because his parents did not care that much about things like that. We had no choice but kept ourselves quiet. We did not want to argue especially during the trip!

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We went to Cu's uncle house, and we had to leave Nini in the car because his uncle did not like the dog in his house. He told us to leave Nini in his garage but it was just not a safe place for Nini because she would chew those wood or wires on the floor! The night was getting cold and I was worried for Nini too. But I was telling myself that, it would be very fast because we would leave after picking up the tv's.

After Cu and his uncle put the tv's in our trunk, his uncle invited us to go inside his house. This is not the first time I visited him, so I had already met his children many times. Christina, 8 years old and Dolan, 4 years old were two cute but very active children! They were dragging both Somnang and me around the house and showing their pets: fishes and bird. They did not stop playing with us while Cu was helping his uncle to download some movies and games to his desktop. I was hoping that Cu would get it done as soon as possible because I really wanna go home earlier, and it was almost 9pm! It was a 5 hours drive and I did not want anyone of us sacrifice our sleep.

But who knew what was in Cu's head? I started getting annoyed when two and three hours had passed and he wasn't even ready to leave. Then he told us that we were still waiting for his aunts to come to have "couple drinks". I was not happy. I always knew that his family members were somehow alcoholics! They love drinking and wouldn't let us leave so easily when they are all gathered together! But if it was just for couple drinks, then I didn't really mind. He had not met them as often too, so once a while was alright, I thought.

When Yiem and Van came home with his uncle's wife, Yiem and his uncle's wife started cooking some "alcohol dish" for drinking. Van went out with Cu to buy some alcohol, while Somnang and I let Nini out for a walk. I did not want to put Nini in the car the whole entire time. Somnang and I started getting frustrated with Cu's plan. He did not even ask for our opinions if we would like to stay so long to see him drinking!

I usually did not have problem with his drinking because I knew that he was a hard drinker and he hardly get drunk. But when it came to a long drive home, I got so annoyed that he could be drunk when he was driving us home? No way!

After Van and Cu came back from liquor store, the food was ready to be served as well. We all sat down around the big tables and started eating and drinking. I gave Somnang a glass of coke, and they did not stop trying to convince us to drink! I thought it was very ridiculous, they were our aunts and uncle, didn't they understand what was "long drive home"? Why were they so determined to get us drunk? Was it funny for them to hear news that we got into accident when we drove home because we got so wasted from them? I felt like they were so immature!! I felt extremely annoyed when the time had passed.

The car alarm went off around 12 midnight. Cu told me to check on Nini, and walked Nini if I could. I did not like the way how Cu talked to me as he was the boss! I knew that he was tipsy and maybe already drunk! And this was what I did not like to see, who was supposed to drive if all of us got drunk? I thought he was very irresponsible! His aunt was foolish enough to even talk about our marriage and "kindly reminded" Cu that he could divorce me anytime as I was still on the progress to get my citizenship! I laughed it off. I felt so stupid to be with a bunch of drunk ass!

I went outside and Somnang followed me. I understood how frustrating Somnang was too. She was my best friend, I knew her limit. I told her that I would get Cu to go home now, not by following his uncle's suggestion: You could only leave after finishing this bottle of Jake Daniel! Jake Daniel was a very strong liquor! And they drank it shot after shot! I did not know what were they trying to prove. I did not see any FUN thing about it, but stupidity!

Nini was cold when I touched her hair. I was getting pissed. I went inside and told Cu that we had to leave because it was cold inside the car! Nini's hair was cold too! His uncle laughed, "If it was cold inside, why not you let her out outside?" Haha, not funny! Do not try to give me any stupid idea if you are drunk. Because I have reached my limit of explosion! I went to bathroom and told Cu that I would start the car and waited for him to be done. Just before I walked out from the door, his uncle told me that Cu could not leave unless he finished the 5 shots from all of them. I told Cu that he could drink because I was not going to let him drive! So I would wait for him whenever he was done. And I walked outside toward my car, sitting inside with Somnang and Nini, waiting for him.

5 minutes, and then 10 minutes had passed, I still had not see him walking out from the house! Obviously, his aunts and uncle did not want him to leave without getting him completely drunk! I called Cu's phone and rushed him to leave. He came out and was not happy that I yelled at him. He said I accused him of lying that we would reach home around 12 midnight. He said he told me that we would leave his uncle's place around 12! I did not want to argue with him, but he kept triggering my patience. I got distracted while driving and I finally yelled at him to shut up. I was very pissed and couldn't focus while driving. But I tried to calm down and concnetrate. I told him to go to sleep, I was sure that he drank more than enough this time.

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It was a long silence after we yelled at each other in the car. I felt bad to argue in front of Somnang, but I was sure that she knew whose fault was that. I even drove on opposite lane and she quickly corrected me! It was so dangerous, but luckily it was late at night and no car on the street.

It took a long while to get back to normal. Somnand and I started talking to each other again when Cu fell asleep in the back seat. I was still very mad, thinking about what had happened the whole evening. It could be a perfect trip if we would have leave after picking up the TV! But I tried to stop thinking about it, but focus on my conversation with Somnang, I knew that she was trying to keep me awake. Afterall, I am not the person who could drive such a long drive! It was the anger in me that kept me going!

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It was a long night to drive home. It took me 5 hours to drive from Savannah to Atlanta. Somnang and I had to call our co-workers to cover our shift the next day so that we could rest more.

We got home safely, and Cu unpacked everything before he went to bed. I hope he knew what he had done wrong, but we still haven't talk to each other until now.

By the way, today is our dating aniversaty~ Happy 2nd Anniversary to me!