0715 - babies

the 2 great fds i visited are both taking care of young babies. being with them almost all day was invaluable. how can babies fall asleep while half-eating a pretz stick? how does water melons taste to them? how do they develop their love & hate of things? how do they interact with adults without words?

are there answers to these? can i handle it too?

0714- LA: re-living high school days

in LA, i stayed with my high school friend fifi. we met 20+ yrs ago, and were the only chinese girls in our form in high school. over the years, we have both left sydney. we have met up in cities like hong kong, taipei, tokyo, london, and now LA. in fact, the last time i was in LA, which was 19 years ago, was a trip with the school, and she was there as well. so it feels quite magical to be here again, with her.

catching-up is the main purpose of the trip. we just talked non-stop. topics can easily cover people varying from my mum to our common friends to interesting people we've met over time. 

but this time, i found more catching-up - those of high school days. the first thing we did was to go see a johnny depp movie - we had fallen in love with him since high school (21 jump st!). we drank soda the size of pop-corn cups. we ate fattening hotdogs, double burgers and burritos. we went on a warner bros studio tour and got on the old set of FRIENDS (OMG central perk!). we went on the hollywood boulevard and tried to spot our fave celebs. we spilt coffee all over the car.... 

there were incidents in life that i had totally forgotten, yet fifi brought them up in our conversations. was i ever the bold girl who always caught the train to the city by myself on weekends? who won a scholarship to japan at 16? who directed a deodorant commercial for uni project? who has been freed by my parents since i knew how to walk?

20 yrs! how could all these time passed at a blink?! it brings some tears to my eyes, happy tears for such blessed lives we've had, and for all that we've accomplished.

thank you fifi, for re-living high school with me for one day.

0710 - BC victoria

it's a just-the-2-of-us day and our destination is victoria, an island city 1.5-hr ferry ride away from vancouver. it's suppose to be the port with earliest settlement of the english people along the west coast of canada in the 1800s. hence the name victoria (era), and the victorian style architecture are in sight everywhere we go.

not to ruin the picturesque city by words, i will let the photos do the talking :)

 

0708-0709 - belief

as said there's a sudden turn of weather in vancouver, and even the forecast was not so optimistic. as lululu & matt has booked us a little road-trip to the winery region okanagan, everyone's been kinda worried.  

i somehow had this belief that things would turn out fine. of cos i m no god, but what can be ruined if friends & family can meet even when we live miles apart? during our 4-hr drive, there's been heavy rain, lighter rains, leaks of sunlight from the thick clouds, then heavy rain again ... and the moment we got off our cars, mr sunshine is there for us! if it hadn't been for the rain to chill a bit of the heat, the winery region might be too hot to dine outdoors! 

another pleasant surprise is the people mix. my cousin mel who also lives in vancouver has decided to join us for the trip. when strangers meet, sparks ain't guaranteed. but god's little work must be at the backstage somewhere. 'cos mel, who is a nurse, has just been transferred to working at the maternity ward for the past few months. and lululu is a mother with a new-born baby! with these 2 experts coming from different ends, i hv been blessed with a chance to speed-learn on pregnancy & motherhood & the healthcare systems across different countries of the world! 

on our drive back, it started raining again, but we could see sunlight in the far distance. and after a few miles of driving, there was a stunning scene - 2 rainbows cutting through the highland mountains - which ends our roadtrip beautifully ...

0707- vancouver

after the mid-west, it's the west coast - 1st stop VANCOUVER! renowned for its great weather, i was so looking forward to wearing shorts & flip-flops, but we were greeted with rain & chill & 12C .... apparently it was still 30C the previous day!

nevermind the weather, this trip is all about people. it's the same couple, lululu & matt, who gifted me the reason to visit vancouver 3 years ago - i was honoured to be the bridesmaid for their wedding. this time i can't wait to meet their 8-mth old handsome creature - baby ethan (and in return, show-off my new handsome creature, uncle panda :p)

lululu has been keeping a blog on homecooking for the past years, so we were really looking forward to gaining a few pounds. as it turns out, we might need to shop for all new clothes in even bigger sizes, 'cos even matt is another magician in the kitchen. so we'd been having full breakfast in mornings. and home-made dinner would have signature dishes of 5-star restaurants like beef carpaccio and short rips! for BBQ the couple have all these tricks to making even the best meat taste like heaven. and i have not mentioned dessert and snacks yet!

chats & laughters are the best companion for great food, and there has been plenty. so i guess   the weight-gain is just so happily inevitable .... thank you lululu & matt :)

0705 - family portrait

family holiday can't be complete without a family portrait! given that it is virtually impossible to get baby gemma into a steady state while awake, we have decided to do it while she is asleep :p

it's our last day here in indy. we can't really picture what life will be like when we gather again next time. so we are grateful for the chance to spend time together - hunting for that extra 30% discount in GAP from one mall to another; eating out a KFC family meal in less than 10 minutes; gossiping about the hk entertainment scene; walking on fresh green grass; singing and dancing to the crying baby ... so until next time, take care and miss you all!