Taipei: Day 1

NI HAO!

Not shortly after returning from Thailand, my mom and I went on another family trip with my PorPor, two aunts, uncle and my cousin to Taipei :) It was a 4 days 3 nights of a trip. The flight was at 7am and it was meh because there were some overly hyped up high school (EVEN THOUGH I DID GRADUATE NOT TOOOOO LONG AGO) girls who sat behind us. Other than that...

Our first stop was at my Kau Mo (an aunt who did not come with us this trip)'s dad's place. This part of the trip was pretty much planned the night before we left, and noone really knew what was going on since my kau mo pretty much planned it herself (a Chinese saying of "first chop then sentence", aka action before explanation). Despite the impromptu plan, we were welcomed with a table full of food (as that day was Mid May Festival, there were "jongs" which are lotus leaf wrapped rice). My aunt's dad and his partner had prepared all the food the morning of, and were just as surprised as we were about this visit. Overall we all had a really good time, though there were some parts that were lost in translation, everything went well.

Top left onward: FOOD! - My aunt's dad and my porpor, fresh veggie salad - my PorPor - my mom drinking tea and lookin' pretty - aunt's dad showing us different Taiwanese teas - Big group photo :)

We had a driver throughout the course of the trip in Taiwan since my grandma can't walk for long distances and it's just more convenient for the 7 of us traveling to do so.. We dropped by two places: the lily fields and the inactive volcano, before heading to Spring City Resort Hotel to check-in.

Lily fields (were not in season, so we went to eat.. obviously): Grilled savory mochi - iced coffee, milk tea, passion fruit, and luo shen tea. Ice cream with waffles (I can make better :P) - Mother and I

Cutie PorPor after I told her to look over :)

The photos above are of the inactive volcano in Taipei, pretty much a rocky mountain with smelly smoke/steam coming off of it. The smell comes from the sulfur from it's surroundings, as Taipei is known for their natural hot springs in it's area. And even though it's inactive, there is still heat coming off of the mountain, which is why I'm pointing at a boiling puddle in the picture above :)

It was windy as f up there. 

I realized I didn't take pictures of the hotel we stayed at (we stayed at two during our trip), but it was the first time that I got to sleep in a real bed throughout my entire Asia trip HAHA. I slept in the same room as my parents during our stay in HK and Thailand, so they ordered an extra bed (usually a fold out) for me. 

FIRST DINNER IN TAIWAN (Taiwanese/Japanese fusion ramen)

May 29-June 1st

This post is dedicated to the few days after we came back from Thailand and before my sis and her husband went back to Vancouver (my dad also left to China for work the same day as they did.) We met up with ex-CMCC-YC'ers (aka old church friends) and had breakfast, lunch, tea, and dinner with our relatives before they left!

All I do is eat /_\"

Lunch with YehYeh and the family: Shanghainese food! Top left: tofu sandwich (my favorite dish bahaha)

Pretty much went to meet Joey's uncle and aunt after lunch for high tea at a Japanese Udon/Dessert restaurant.
(Top middle to right: Earl Grey chiffon cake, Earl Grey chocolate mousse. Bottom: matcha chiffon cake, orange pekoe tea)

This fatass cat has 170k followers on Facebook... apparently because it's the cutest cat ever and it was found after 26 days of being lost (it made the headline for HK news.....#wtf) PS. I didn't make a trip on purpose to see this thing, we passed by this convenience store on our way home...

And from what I remember, after a few hours of shopping, my sister, Joey and I had a buffet dinner with some old church friends.... 

The day after, we went to my YehYeh's for lunch. A home-cooked meal by my uncle :) Herb and lemon roasted chicken, seafood pasta and some veggies. Followed by dinner later on with Joey's side of the family...

Bussing with sis and dad after lunch :)

Did anyone order a suckling with flashing eyes? (because I clearly did not.....)

The day they went back to Vancouver: it was an afternoon flight so it was just a day of last minute shopping and errand running (in my case, I took advantage of the last day at the hotel to take a dip in the outdoor pool :3)

View from the Crowne Plaza hotel room: Concrete jungle

View of /from the outdoor pool :D 

Meal at Pokka Grill Cafe at the airport with Joey's family

#StoryOfMyLife

Do you see what I see? This is the transportation vehicle for our fellow military men....... -.- 

Great Firewall of China

Sorry for my lack of posts again, I went to China for a week and encountered The...

I've only got a week left here in Hong Kong! So I'll be photo/post dumping everything until now, so I can get this blog back up to date. 

Cheers!

Phuket: Day 3 & 4

HELLO!

I've been waiting for my sister to send me some pictures for my third day in Phuket, but she still hasn't gotten to it yet.. So in the meantime I'll just do without them :) I'll let you guys know when I update this post! <3

DAY 3:

Morning:
-breakfast
-saw tons of geckos and lizards and snails (oh my!) 
-got 3 mosquito bites in a row on my chest

Yummy fruity breakfast for meee - bites of hell - leetoh lizard sun bathing and chillin' - snail race on the wall.

Noon-afternoon:

-lunch at Blue Mist, restaurant on the beach (more fresh coconuts!)

-ELEPHANT RIDING & BATHING

View of the beach - walking to restaurant - Blue Mist - shrimp cake - Thai papaya salad - steamed fish (only a part of lunch is shown because.... I ate it all...)

YES, I met a real elephant. I know this might be a bit of an iffy topic for some people especially animal lovers, so I'll just touch base with this part of the day. 

-My elephant's name is Bui, a fifteen year old female elephant, the youngest of the four that they had at their site. 

Elephant trekking: there was a seat strapped on the back, or you were allowed to sit on the actual elephant *which I ended up doing. Bui was non-stop eating and my sister/Joey's elephant took a massive dump halfway through trekking (heh..) 

Elephant bathing:consisted of us being in a river with the elephants with brushes and giving them a little scrub, as well as being dunked in the (very muddy and dirty) river by the elephants themselves (I choked on the dirty water and died a little). 

End of the tour: fed the elephants sugar canes :)

I know tourists only see only the surface and a small part of what the living conditions and treatment of the elephants are, so I can't really say much about it. But the care-takers and the elephants seem to have a good relationship/good communication with one another (it's also a repeated routine/route, so the elephants didn't need much instruction). It's one of those things that it's a once in a lifetime kind of experience that just one time is enough. 

-----> Insert elephant pictures here for later <----

We went to a local market afterwards to buy some yummy fruits and of course sticky mango rice and Thai desserts :)

After going for a swim upon returning to the hotel and devouring the desserts, I ptfo'd in bed and woke up to take-out dinner (AND MORE FRESH COCONUTS) from the restaurant from the night before (literally eating /sleeping /eating /sleeping).. 

Desserts from the market (coconut milk based desserts) - gigantic grilled prawns - famjam dinner at the hotel- COCONUT.

DAY 4: Last Day :'(

Beach: Half sunny with  half dark loomy clouds approaching 

Last buffet breakfast with an ocean view on the last day of our Phuket trip. The weather went from cloudy to dark clouds looming over to rain/thunderstorm to a rainbow
and sunshine during our breakfast.

Before breakfast weather - last breakfast :( - After breakfast weather

 After breakfast and swimming again, we checked out of the hotel and went for our last lunch at the restaurant at the beach again (this time, from the one we ordered dinner from twice!). Thank God I decided to melt in my long pants than get more mosquito bites on my legs (they.are.everywhere...)

Last Thai meal at Phen Restaurant Thai Food & Seafood

It was definitely a much needed trip and boy did we relax and do absolutely nothing but eat, sleep and play. I'm super blessed and grateful that we were able to travel together as a family and to enjoy Phuket together :) 

Bye for now, Phuket <3


**and no, this was not my sister/Joey's honeymoon, they're having their honeymoon later!**

Phuket: Day 2

DAY 2 in Phuket! 

I hope I don't mix up the order of events, but there's no guarantee I got it 100% right... since this was a week ago and everything happened in such a short time :P But oh well, you'll still know what I was up to anyways!

Started off the morning with the breakfast buffet! I devoured countless plates of fruits and took advantage of their egg station (choose your own ingredients kinda thing). And because the weather was amazing, I went for a quick dip in the pool before my first (ever) Muay Thai lesson! I'm sure since it was just one class, we skipped a ton of beginner/starting skills... It was embarrassing because I was constantly falling and sweating everywhere (the A/C wasn't quite working in the room *gross*). BUT I did get a good workout from learning how to punch/kick/knee/elbow HAHA.

View of the pool - Muay Thai lesson with Mai (??) *my mother visited/creeped during the end of the lesson -.-"

My fam and I left the resort to the little town outside for lunch and a quick grocery run before heading back to the hotel to sloth.We had lunch at a Thai restaurant called JAI, it was yummy in my tummy. the downfall is, that the dining area was outdoors, so we were pretty much sticky and dripping sweat throughout the meal (HAHA too much info? Deal with it.) We ordered at least 4-5 fresh coconut drinks (they ran out in the end *cries*), and Imma tell you now that I was OBSESSED with drinking fresh coconuts with every meal during my stay in Thailand.

It started raining when we were heading back to the hotel. But we took advantage of the rain and went for a swim in the pool (a different kind of a pool experience I guess HAHA). My brother in law and I went check out where the infinity pool led to and we ended up going to the beach (that was connected to the resort) to check out places for dinner. It wasn't until we got to the beach that a rainstorm came on, thunder clashing and lightning flashes literally all around us (we literally booked. for. it. It was terrifying yet pretty fun at the same time heh)

Swimming in the pouring rain - sticky mango rice! - dinner: pad thai, tom yum soup in coconut, chicken satay, pineapple fried rice, stir fry veggie and a whole bunch of other food I can't remember :P

After the rain died down, we decided to get take-out from one of the restaurants on the beach and eat in at the hotel. The food was delish (way cheaper and even better than the hotel restaurants!), and the sticky mango rice was to die for (*drools*)

 :)

Because... PHUKET!

HELLO PHUKET!

A short family trip to Phuket, Thailand. 4 days and 3 nights in the beautiful JW Marriott Resort in Khao Lak. We found a pretty good deal that consisted of flight+hotel+room upgrade (private access to the pool via the room pattttiiioooooo). I was in loveee :)

En route to HKG - breakfast at the airport from Tsui Wah - boarding the plane, hehe - airplane food (my fav.. literally)

We left to the airport for a 7am flight, and checked in at the hotel after a quick lunch at their Oceanside Restaurant. This was a much needed trip for everyone to finally relax after the stressful month of wedding preparation and celebrations. So the first day/night there, we took advantage of the all inclusive resort: gym/sleep/eat :)

Hotel lobby & welcoming drinks - Thai beef and garlic stir fry with jasmine rice for lunch - VIEW OF ROOM &POOL ACCESS (*screams*) - welcoming towel elephant :)

HK: More Wedding Stuff (selfie game was strong)

WHY, HELLO THERE. 

The main reason for this trip to Hong Kong is to celebrate my sister and Joey's wedding/marriage with their friends and relatives in Hong Kong who weren't able to make it to the one in Vancouver. A 'Thanksgiving Mass' was held at St.Andrew's Catholic Church in Hang Hau on Saturday May 24th at noon. It. Was. Hot. Literally. Make-up and everything was being sweated off (attractive, huh?)

Selfies with my beautiful sis in the taxi en route to St.Andrew's. My friend's adorable niece Sofia. EX-CMCC-YC-ers. Fr.Yan and the 'newly weds' on the alter with the gorgeous stained glass at the back. 

Anyways, the mass was held by Fr.Yan, a father who's been a family friend since before I was even born. The church was amazing, the weather was beautiful (there was supposed to have a rainstorm that day) and everything went accordingly. My sister and Joey's friends (ex youth choir members from our parish in Vancouver, who moved to HK) came out to sing for their mass as well :)

I did my sister's hair for the Thanksgiving mass and the family dinner at night. :)

Dinner was at a clubhouse (I forgot the name...) with family, relatives and family friends from both sides of the newly weds. I was clearly too busy taking selfies to take pictures of the food... oops. I sat with my parents and caught up with our longgggg time family friends who I've missed since they moved back to Hong Kong a longgg time ago.

FAMILY FRANS <3

COUSIN SELFIES/normal pictures (from my dad's side). Also, my YehYeh <3 :)

COUSIN SELFIES (from my mom's side)

Caught in action: selfies with my sister and brother-in-law 

Late post: Traditional wedding tea ceremony, where the newly weds pay their respects to the elders. (first pic with YehYeh, second pic with PorPor)

FINALLY (broke through the procrastination) for TRIP UPDATE!

SORRY(notsorry) for being lazy. I've been uploading my pictures pretty much every night, but I would always end up waking up the next day in front of the laptop with my glasses still on and hair in a hella messy bun. BUT I'll be gradually posting what's happened so far in the trip. The following posts (and majority of this blog) will probably be of collage'd pictures. I'll post pictures up on Facebook later, but for now I'll just dump them here :)

*Also, I've been taking pictures with my cell phone so bear with me.. the quality of my pictures don't do justice to the delicious-ness of the food. 

**Also-also, because I'm a foodie failure... I usually remember to take pictures of the first (sometimes second and third) dishes of the meal and I pretty much always forget about the rest of them... I'll try to change that habit...

ANYWAYS, as of this moment I'm in bed again with my laptop... but I WILL post at least 2-3 day updates for you guys because I know I've been really shitty at responding messages and e-mails.

***I WILL GET TO REPLYING EVERY ONE OF YOU. I just don't want to give a half-hearted response to your lovely messages or wake you up with my massive spams of messages (time difference sucks). I DID NOT FORGET, FORGIVE ME <3

Day 2

HELLO!

I started off the morning with a small workout at the "gym", and as I was raining sweat, it was literally pouring rain in Hong Kong at 7am bright and early.

My sissy and I being pretty

TOAST BOX: poached eggs & Malaysian coffee

We grabbed a small 'pre-breakfast' at the hotel before heading to the downstairs mall "POPCORN", my dad really wanted to try this Malaysian style'd breakfast cafe called TOAST BOX, so we did. The coffee was super yummy, and the food was good (though I was too full from "pre-breakfast" already to try everything)... We got the thick toast (regular / peanut butter), spicy dried shrimp in buns, and 3 orders of poached eggs :)




There's one important fact that you guys should know (esp. those who tend to start the day early / are planning to go to HK)... Pretty much the day doesn't start for the mall until 11pm (usually at the shop's discretion). So don't expect to do anything until noon time... Which was what I did (aka, go back to the hotel and nap because we were done breakfast at 930... argh.)

Raining sweat from biking hehe - the death seat on the bus - lunch at Maxim's Cafe - staring fish lined up at (for) dinner.

Nothing special today really, just hit up UNIQLO (my go-to clothing store in HK) and SASA (my go-to make up store *Also, seeing the confused faces on sales associates when I gave them my UBC card for the student discount... priceless. I mean, please, it's not that weird.). Napped again before dinner afterwards, and headed to dinner with my porpor and that side of the family. We got dessert (mango sweet soup, grass jelly, red bean etc etc) take out to go, since my sister and her husband had to do the tea ceremony with the elders at my porpor's house.



*Due to high demand of the dessert I didn't have time to take pictures of the sweets, BUT I did take pictures of my aunt's cat LOL*

Clearly this cat is not having any of it. 

Busy day tomorrow! :)
My sister and her husband's Thanksgiving Mass and small family gathering/dinner for post celebration!
See ya'll soon.

Night of Arrival & Day 1

I almost fell asleep at dinner and I'm pretty sure I'm going to fall asleep in front of the screen super soon too.. So I'll get straight to it!

HELLO MY FRIENDS :) 

Cute family, huh?

I'm in Hong Kong again! Last time it was for my grandma's (porpor) 80th birthday, this time it's for something very special and different. My sister's married! Yayyyy, my sister and her boyfriend got hitched in Vancouver about a week ago, and since most of our relatives are in Hong Kong and the elderlies weren't able to make it, we're having a thanksgiving mass and mini banquet in HK to celebrate. 

Night of Arrival: 
I've never felt so glad to be alive after a plane ride until this flight LOL. The turbulence was kind of out of control, and I had to close my eyes and say a little prayer just to get by. The airplane food was... disappointing.. CONSIDERING (I repeat), CONSIDERING that I am a fan of airplane food; Air Canada's airplane food was weh-weh. I was able to catch a few movies on the flight though: Wolverine, Her, Cinderella Story (throwback whattwhatttt) and a mini animation called 'Ryan'.

Airplane food and view from the top

The weather in Hong Kong was a disgusting 32 degrees of humidity, and apparently it's just the beginning of sticky skin and heavy breathing. We checked in at the Holiday Inn Express in Tseung Kwan O (bare essentials at it's finest, considering that it's an airport hotel; but we're just there to sleep anyways so whatevs). Grabbed a quick dinner at the downstairs mall (a mall called POPCORN ...) and literally ptfo'd at 11pm. If it wasn't for some drunk-ass who got locked out of his own room next door, I probably would've been able to sleep throughout the whole night and not be woken up by all the door bangin' and knockin' (he started knocking the door for 3 minutes straight near the end).

Went to check out the "gym" on the 8th floor called "Green Terrace": includes full patio and a really nice view!

DAY 1:
3 cheers for time difference!
Woke up at 5am and laid in bed until 6 (I can hear my friend Charlotte making barf noises from reading this part as I type it...). Grabbed a quick breakfast at the hotel and headed to the "gym". Why "gym"? Like I mentioned, this hotel is new but since it's an express hotel, the "gym" consisted of 3 bikes and 2 rowing machines (fml). Not to mention, the "gym" is found on the 8th floor... outdoors (32 degrees and creating puddles of sweat = the b e s t).

"Workout" (barely anything *cries) in the morning at the "gym" in 30 degrees...

"Dad I think it's raining"
"No, it's just the water dripping from the air conditio-" 
"Ew"

Just to list what my dad and I accomplished in 2 hours (including travel time):
1. Applied for a new HK ID (lost it *cries) --> 20mins
2. Renewed China passport -->30mins
3. Brought my dad's camera in for repairs -->25mins

Canada doesn't even come close when compared to Hong Kong's pace and efficiency in their services. It's like your life is being fast-forwarded for you when you're being served (which is not a bad thing, it saves you a lot of time actually).

Headed to dimsum with my porpor and family and we made our way to Ap Lei Chau to visit my grandpa (yehyeh) for the Chinese tea ceremony (in which the newlyweds pour/give tea to the elders in respect). Not long after we headed to dinner (meal after meal after meal... deal with it.)

Let's say it isn't a proper Wai family dinner if there isn't seafood. So we had dinner at Kam Bo, the go-to neighbourhood seafood restaurant. After a few sips of white wine (hehe) and scarfing down the first 2 dishes, jet lag and food coma took a major toll on me and I was falling asleep for the rest of the dinner (whoops).

Dim Sum with PorPor - Seafood dinner with YehYeh & Family (pictured: lobster, Australian abalone, scallop)

Fast forward and now I'm in bed finishing this blog post.
I'm going to be in Hong Kong and travelling for a while, so I'm probably not going to be doing something super exciting everyday. So forgive me for skipping a few days or whatnot.


Imma include a little glossary of relatives names in Canto pinying, since I will probably be mentioning them throughout the blog...(to know... if you care HAHA)

YehYeh = grandpa, my dad's dad
Bak Fu= uncle, dad's older brother
Bak Leung= aunt, Bak Fu's wife
Gu Ma= aunt, dad's older sister
PorPor= grandma, my mom's mom
Yee Ma= aunt, my mom's older sister
Kau Fu= uncle, my mom's older brother
Kau Mo= aunt, Kau Fu's wife
Sam Kau fu= uncle, my mom's 2nd older brother
Sam Kau mo= aunt, Sam Kau Fu's wife

Yu Hin (Dominic), Chapman, Diana, Kevin = my cousins from HK

BYE FOR NOW, GOOD MORNING TO YOU PACIFIC TIME-ERS and good night for me :)