My Life at October 2008
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October 31, 2008(Friday)
We took an overnight flight from Vancouver to Toronto and arrived Toronto at 6:20am. We are supposed to arrive at 6:05 and our connecting flight to Indy is departing at 7:20am. I have never believed that we can make this flight, consider the processes (described later) that we need to go through. However the agent says that the 1.25 hours passes the minimum time required by the computer when booking the ticket. I think that this is totally garbage.
Here are the processes that we (including the baby) that have to go through in Toronto. We are sitting towards the end of the plane, and one of the exit doors of the plane is not working. Then we have to pick up our luggages (6 of them) and then go through the custom. We know that we have missed our flight already when lining up with all of our luggages at the custom. And the custom person asked us to go to a private room to have some detail examination of the luggages. I was trying to find a phone to contact Jacky, who will pick us up from Indy at that time. However, there is no phone and I hate the attitude of these people. But I am glad that the detail examination only requires us to pass the luggages through x-ray. Only one of the luggages is opened. Then we have to re-book the following flight to Indy, which is 10 hours later. The agent says that usually we can only check the luggage 4 hours before the flight; so I suspect that we may have a chance of losing some of the luggages. Lastly we have to go through the security check, in which we have to take out the laptop, shoes, etc. By the time that we settle down, it is 9am. Even if things are extremely smooth, (e.g. no need for the detail custom check), I think that the earliest time we can arrive to the gate is 8am. It would be naive to expect that we can make the original flight. And I am quite rude (by not smiling nor responding) towards all agents and customs because I am very frustrated.
We waited at the airport for about 8 hours. I was trying to do some homework at that time, but not too productive. Finally we left Toronto at 6pm and arrived home at 9pm. It is 48 hours since we left Hansel's house. It seems a very long time!
October 30, 2008(Thursday)
I finally got a flu today. This is probably the first time that I am sick since the birth of Cailyn. I nearly got sick several times before, most notably during my Vancouver stay, because the heat is not too strong.
We took an 11 hours flight from HK to Vancouver. Since I am sick, I did not take care Cailyn at all. Mom and Carmen helped throughout the trip, while I slept most of the time. It seems like a hard trip for me because I kept on sneezing. Since we don't have enough ride, I stayed at the airport with several heavy luggages while other people go home. Then dad went back to pick me up.
We had some sleep at home and re-pack some of the luggages. We have 6 check-in (2 more than what we brought from Indy) luggages. There are lots of people gave us gift throughout this trip, mainly clothes for Cailyn. Now she has much more clothes and we must find some way to pack at our home.
October 29, 2008(Wednesday)
We had lunch with Hebron's friends Debbie Chan and Vivian Siu. Throughout this trip we saw much more people than we expected, and they are two of the examples. Then Carmen and Fiona went out to have some shopping.
We all went out to have dinner; this is the last time that we have dinner together and we treasure our time. For the rest of the night, Fiona and Hansel played around with Cailyn.
October 28, 2008(Tuesday)
We went out to have "Cafe de Carol" for one more time. Then we went to North Point, took a tram and went to Taikoo Shing to find our childhood memories. It is such a privilege to be able to visit our childhood place with Cailyn! However, it is a challenge to walk on the street using a baby stroller because there are lots of people. Indeed, HK has so many people everywhere that there isn't as much space for the baby.
At night we went to Wynants and William's home to have dinner with ex-VCAC friends. They are once again happy to see Cailyn. After visiting many people during this trip, we conclude that Cailyn does not fear strangers. In fact, she loves to play with them and smile at them too! On the positive side, she should have a good people relationship skill. However, if this is not used properly, she may trust everyone, even trusting bad people too! Hopefully she would not have a bad experience about this!
October 27, 2008(Monday)
Today we went to Chinese University to have lunch with Prof Peter Ng and his wife Biddy Ng. His son Andy is from our church. I also emailed them several times about church's admin situation. We talked about various churches’ thing and it is good to get some advices from experienced people. Then we went to do some shopping at Shatin and also walked around the Snoopy Town.
At night I had dinner with my elementary school friends Cheng Siu Pang and Yau Chung Cheung. We talked a lot about the old times, like an old person. Since we haven't seen each other for 14 years, it is good to bring back lots of old memories. Parents and Hansel also talked to them too!
October 26, 2008(Sunday)
This morning we went to Hansel and Fiona's church, called "Just Church". And then we had lunch with them. Then I tried to make Cailyn to go to bed but she is not willing to. That is very frustrating. Then Hansel and Fiona brought us to the seaside to take some nice photo. At night we had dinner with VCAC's friends, mainly from Hebron or Canaan fellowship. We have known each other for 10+ years (Some as long as 18 years) and this is great to see them again here.
October 25, 2008(Saturday)
Today is a long and eventful day; I also ate a lot too. I had lunch with Kei Wan Primary School friends. I haven't seen most of them ever since I graduated 1986. I contacted Thomas Yau through facebook earlier this year, and he helped me to contact the rest of them. Then some of us had a field trip back to Kei Wan Primary School site, and some of us haven't been here since 1986. We went to various classrooms and had various memories. This is certainly very emotional! We also had some talk with people there and get to know more about our school. Then we also had some afternoon snack.
At night we had dinner with IU's church's Macedonia group. We haven't seen there for 1 or 2 years and we are glad to introduce Cailyn to them. Then at night I had some late-night snack with St Mark's friend Edward Hui and Raymond So. I met lots of friends today and it is definitely the most eventful and meet-friend day.
October 24, 2008(Friday)
Today parents helped for babysitting while Carmen and I went out for some shopping at MongKok. There are a lot of people, as usual. Then at night, I joined Hansel's fellowship to play basketball. We played outdoor court and it is very hot. To them, this is a very comfortable environment. However to me, I used to play indoor and the weather is overwhelming enough. Therefore for the first game I absolutely suck. However I slowly get used to the weather and improved a bit.
October 23, 2008(Thursday)
Carmen went out for some shopping early afternoon. Then we left home at around 3pm and travel to Long Island (Cheung Chau). We took MTR and then ferry. Long Island gives me a feeling of Caribbean Sea, such as Trinidad. It is because the weather and the style of the house are very similar. Of course, Long Island has much more people and is denser. We walked around for awhile, and then we got sweaty and some mosquito bites. Therefore we went to Carmen's grand mother's house directly, and even took a shower there! There is a 20 mins long walk, without car, between the terminal and her house. We are amazed about how she traveled so much in order to get to Vancouver! Anyway, we had dinner with their family, left at 9:30 and arrived home at 11:30.
October 22, 2008(Wednesday)
Dad, mom, Carmen, Cailyn and I had lunch with my long-time Kei Wan Primary School friend Thomas Yau. I have lost contact with him ever since we left HK. However, we connected again earlier this year through facebook. He is now an oncologist and we talked a lot about medical. Parents took care of Cailyn afterward and we went to Mongkok to do some shopping. At night we had dinner with the family of Yee Ma. She is a long time friend with mom and we also talked briefly about the potential of being a professor at HK.
October 21, 2008(Tuesday)
I stayed home during the day time. At night, we went to my high school friend Big Head's house to have dinner. He has two daughters, so the house is filled with girls again. For some reasons, people around me have daughters, such as dad's relative, mom's relative. Anyway, it is good to continue the 22 years old friendship with Big Head.
October 20, 2008(Monday)
I stayed home looking after Cailyn today while Carmen and Fiona went out to the Salon and also do some shopping. At night I had dinner with St. Mark's School friends Tim, Thomas and also Raymond (and his girl friend). I haven't seen them since I left HK (18 years ago). It is good to see them again!
October 19, 2008(Sunday)
Our whole family went to Shing Kwong Church this morning. Taking aside the people-relationship, if there is one place that I can visit, it will be Shing Kwong Church. I have a strong bonding with the church because this church represents my childhood, even though now I am not suitable to the worship style in this church. However the church is under heavy renovation and I am not able to show Carmen and Cailyn what the church used to be like. Then we had lunch with 3 pairs of Uncle/auntie Ho. They have all known me before I was born. It is good to meet them.
We went back to home to have a rest. Then at night we went to Yuen Long to have dinner with mom's relative. During the trip we took lots of MTR. The traffic to Yuen Long is so much more convenient now. I remember about 15 years ago I still have to take lots of bus in order to reach Yuen Long. Now we can reach via MTR. Moreover, HK people are much more willing to give up their seat and let us sit, because we have two old people (dad and mom) and one baby.
We had dinner with mom's family member. I talked to my fireman cousin and learnt a lot of thing about being a fireman. Moreover, there are four next-generation kids, and all of them are girls!
October 18, 2008(Saturday)
Today is Hansel's big day, and is one of the main reason I visit HK. Today is Hansel's passing out. Hansel asked me and Fiona to go to the Police College at 6am. To our surprise, there are already 20+ people lining up already. We lined up until 7:15 and finally able to sit down. This is a huge outdoor stage and it is almost all filled out, about 500+ people. The ceremony started at 8:40 (which means I waited there for almost 3 hours) and ended at 9:40. There is some matching, which reminds me about my days at the military band.
Afterward, we toured around the mess area and Hansel's dorm room. We also took many photos. We left the Police College at 1pm and walked a long way to get taxi. The sun is bright and we are helping Hansel to take some of his stuff home. It is definitely a long walk. Then the traffic is bad (as usual) and returned home at 2pm.
We took some rest at home and walked around the mall area. At night we had dinner with Fiona's family and returned home at 10pm.
October 17, 2008(Friday)
Cailyn slept through the night, only woke up twice. So she did pretty well in terms of the jet lag. For us, we basically get used to the jet lag immediately. We went out to the mall below to buy some bread for breakfast. Then we went out with Fiona to Mongkok to buy new glasses. I purchased it from HK when we visited two years ago. In US we need to have doctor's prescription, which costs extra money. Therefore, we purchased glasses from HK. Then we walked around the area to purchase some comic (which is my favorite activity) and also some Chinese book for Cailyn. We returned home at 4:30pm, got some rest. At night, we had dinner with Carmen's relative. Cailyn started to sleep at 7pm, i.e. slept through the dinner. So probably she is 4 hours away from getting over jet lag. Consider that the time difference between Vancouver and HK is 9 hours, she did a pretty good job.
October 16, 2008(Thursday)
Fiona and Hansel went to airport to pick us up. It is so happy to see them. We showed them Cailyn too. Then we went out to have dinner together and also helped to settle down Cailyn.
October 15, 2008(Wednesday)
We left home at around 11am. Carmen's parents were there with us at the airport as well. The flight was delayed for 1 hour. Then we left Vancouver at around 3:15pm. The flight is 13 hours. For the first 8 hours, Cailyn was not as well behaving as her flights from US to Vancouver. She got fuzzy easily and always cries. That makes me quite frustrating too. We got her a bassinet and we did not fully utilize it. However, for the last several hours, she is much better. She got a good 2 hours sleep and afterward she is much nice. We arrived HK at HK time 7pm.
October 14, 2008(Tuesday)
Today is a productive house work day. I vacuumed the house and also washed two cars. Uncle Jeff and Auntie Nora visited us and Cailyn at night. Today is also the election of Canada and we know that Alice Wong, whom parents have supported since 1999, finally won. They are very happy!
October 13, 2008(Monday)
We visited Gordian and Christine this afternoon; we have known them since I was born and Christine used to be my Sunday school teacher when I was young in HK's church. It is good to let them see our second generation. Their 12 years old young child and other kids also took the time to play with Cailyn too.
Then after dropping off Cailyn to Carmen's parents, we went to Metrotown for shopping for gifts. Carmen did all the shopping while I spent all the time at Chapters reading "Naruto" comic for 2 hours. At night we had dinner at their house then they went to our house to have some dessert prepared by mom. It is a good union time before we leave Vancouver.
October 12, 2008(Sunday)
Today is the baby dedication of Cailyn. The pastor to perform the service is Pastor Norman, who I have known since early 1990s. Even though I have left VCAC since 2000, I still have lots of friends there. It is great to see all of them again and they are glad to see baby Cailyn. She is very cute today, trying to say "baba" on the microphone and trying to wave at the audience.
We had lunch with both sides' family and then I went out to have a 50 mins jogging. At night we had dinner with Peter's family again. Peter also brought her two daughters Tiffany and Megan there. Cailyn is happy to see her two cousins.
October 11, 2008(Saturday)
Today is Carol and Liam's wedding. We were there around noon time; my job is to escort my mother-in-law through the aisle. I also took pictures with the in-law relatives and tried to greet them, even though the last time I see most of them are during my own wedding. We went home for a short break after the ceremony and then went to the banquet. Once again, my job is to take photo and to help greeting people. And to take care Cailyn too. The wedding ceremony today is not as sophisticated as our own; it is quite simple but is ok. Then wine is served at night so lots of people (including myself) drink wine. The wedding banquet is pretty good; game is nice and the overall atmosphere is good. Now I have a new brother-in-law, Liam Stockwell.
October 10, 2008(Friday)
Carmen went to her parents' home to help out with some set up for Carol's wedding today; I was also there briefly too and played golf with father-in-law for 1.8 hours. Then at night Carmen went to her parents' home again to further help out. The fire alarm of my house also sounded today because there is lots of smoke on the tenant's side. I am glad that it did not turn out to be a fire.
October 09, 2008(Thursday)
Today is our birthday! I went out for a jogging to my old house located at the Norfolk Street. It is a 55 mins jog, not as tough as the one in Central Park; but today the weather is quite cold, plus some rain; therefore this is quite challenging.
Then we went to Metrotown to window shopping and buy some gifts. We also went to visit grandparent's tomb. This is a must-do thing, especially when we have a new Pun in our family. Then we went to Carol's wedding rehearsal. My role is to escort my mother-in-law through the aisle.
At night Carmen and I went to QE Park for the birthday dinner. This is an expensive place (and we have to pay for parking even until mid-night!) Parents brought us here last summer and this is a great place to be. We spent some time taking various photo and we also drove around as well. Then parents got us some chocolate birthday cake and we all cut cake at the Wu's house. I think that the last time that I spent birthday with parents is 4 years ago, when we had the wedding banquet at Venezuela.
October 08, 2008(Wednesday)
We had another of our dating day; parents help to take care Cailyn. We went to Richmond's Christian bookstore to buy some books. Then we visited Carol and Liam's new house. That is a really nice and neat place, good even for having kids. Tonight my cousin Diana also went from Taiwan to Canada to visit her friends.
October 07, 2008(Tuesday)
The weather forecast says that today is a rainy day; but then the weather is nice so Carmen and I went out for a jog. We haven't been exercising since last Wednesday already. To someone who exercises every other day, this is eternality. Carmen keeps on amazed me with her stamina. I suggested her to do a physical test and I am sure that she will do well.
I went to the Chapter's bookstore to read comic for an hour. Reading comic at bookstore is my fun activity in a boring place like Bloomington and I certainly bring a piece of that with me in this trip.
At night I went out to have a drink with my FCGC friend Allen. It is good to catch up with long time friend. We had a long chat about church administration (hiring pastor) and also how people doing in church.
October 06, 2008(Monday)
I talked to Pastor Leung today about various church challenges that I am facing in USA. Then at night we had dinner at the Wu's house.
October 05, 2008(Sunday)
This morning we went to Franklin Chinese Gospel Chapel for worship; I was there nurturing the youth during 2000-2001. Now they are all grown up and they are all very happy to see us returning with Cailyn.
Carmen and her female relatives (grandmother, auntie, mother, sister) all went to Carol's bridal shower. In the mean time I played golf with father-in-law and future brother-in-law Liam. We first played driving range for about 1.5 hours. Then we played putting for 2 hours. I did ok with my driving range game; I had some trouble at first but then get used to it afterward; I can even use a driver to hit several good balls. And I did pretty good on the putting game as well. I am pretty accurate and consistent. I had a great fun time.
At night we had a family dinner to celebrate father-in-law's birthday. Carmen's grandmother and auntie were also here (for Carol's wedding) and everyone is happy to see Cailyn.
October 04, 2008(Saturday)
We visited Chris and Joyee and their two daughters. We had some good sharing time about our church life. At night we went to the Wu's family for dinner.
October 03, 2008(Friday)
We had lunch with Carmen's uncle/auntie #2; at night we had dinner with our long time church friends Arthur/Garfield and Gary/Jessica; our kids are there too. We know each other when we were young and now we had our next generation.
October 02, 2008(Thursday)
We went to visit Carmen's relative this afternoon; she also went to have dinner with her work friends and also her family while I stayed home most of the night.
October 01, 2008(Wednesday)
We had another dating day today. Parents help us to take care Cailyn. We went out for some jogging and Carmen as usual was great. Then we went to Chinese Christian bookstore, ate dinner. At night I helped Auntie 1 regarding about her computer problem.