So this is Christmas 2007真正的耶誕節

上一次在美國過耶誕節已經是十幾年前的事了。帶著孟田到處瞎逛，希望她也能感受到過節的氣氛
It's nice to be back in a country where Christmas is the major holiday of the year. With the snow and the music and all the decorations we felt most welcome being in Calgary again.

她一眼就看到椅子上的大熊，要去抱抱
Fiona makes another trip to the mall, meets a furry friend

我終於幫孟田修剪額頭前的頭髮了，頭髮老蓋住眼睛，夾髮夾又被她扯掉，乾脆剪成劉海妹妹頭。不過好奇怪，只不過剪個劉海，發現髮色輪廓也跟著變了，似乎變成另一個小孩了！！
We saw some firsts this season: Fiona's first haircut, performed at Mum's salon

孟田的第一個泡沫浴，她愛死了。在浴缸裡又跳又叫，兩隻小手把泡泡弄的到處都是
First bubble bath. Fiona remembered seeing a Kipper the Dog video where Kipper takes a bath, and acted out some of Kipper's motions

幫爸爸裝飾耶誕樹，她很會把小飾品掛在樹上呢！
Decorating the tree. Fiona "helps" Daddy put the angel on the top


我和孟田第一次去「古蹟公園」，裡面有很多卡加利的老建築物，蒸氣火車，模仿早年卡加利的市容所建的公園。爺爺奶奶送我們的耶誕禮物之一就是這個公園的年票，好棒，等天氣暖和些，沒事就可以帶孟田來坐火車玩玩
First visit to Heritage Park, first hay ride. It was a chilly afternoon but we all had fun. Grandma and Grandpa were generous and bought us some 2008 season passes for the park, so we'll be back again

Meeting another new friend, this one not so furry, but charming all the same

還來不及告訴孟田禮物還不能拆之前，一個不注意，她就等不及的撕開一個禮物，害我又得重新把禮物包回去。她很喜歡樹上的裝飾，這個摸摸那邊碰碰，興奮得很
When can we open the presents?! Fiona was excited to see the gifts under the tree

耶誕節當天，全家去Hyatt吃中飯
Enjoying a family Christmas brunch at the Hyatt hotel downtown. As Tiny Tim said, "God bless us, every one"

吃完飯走到附近的奧林匹克廣場溜冰，孟田也有溜冰鞋喔，天黑了還不肯走。孟田的溜冰是──爸爸抱著溜。
After our meal we walked a couple of blocks down to Olympic Plaza and enjoyed some outdoor ice skating

我和孟田做了一個薑餅屋，奶奶做了挪威的傳統耶誕糕餅，最右邊是30年前從挪威帶來的稻草羊
Back at home it was time to enjoy some sweet treats. We made a gingerbread house this year, and Mum made a traditional Norwegian kransekake, the towering cake in the centre. On the right is a traditional straw goat, also brought over from Norway nearly 30 years ago

Trip to Central Taiwan

Recently we took a road trip down to central Taiwan, first to attend a wedding but later to enjoy some of the local sights. We took a slow train ride, visited a little mountain village, saw a crumbling Japanese-era bridge, enjoyed some Hakka food and more.
Here's a video slideshow of our photos:

Turn on your speakers -- the slideshow comes with sound!
Bonus points if you know the two songs I used.

Our 5-day jaunt in Japan

We just got back from our trip to Japan last week. Highly recommended -- on this trip we enjoyed lots of Japan's natural beauty, interesting culture, tasty food, ancient towns, colorful history, snowy mountains, vibrant spring blossoms and much more. Here's where we went in The Land of the Rising Sun.

We flew directly in to Nagoya, Japan's 4th largest city, roughly situated between Tokyo and Osaka/Kyoto. From Nagoya we hopped on our tour bus and headed north towards the mountains, then to the Sea of Japan before turning around and heading back via another mountainous route.
Vivian enjoys a stroll down a back alley in Takayama, a mountain town with lots of traditional wooden buildings.
In Ogimachi town, an enclave tucked into a remote valley that gets dumped with large amounts of snow every winter. Some of these thatched-roof dwellings are more than 400 years old. They protect well against the elements, and the town itself is considered a world heritage site.
Relaxing in our first hotel room: Thick and cosy blankets, tatami mats to sleep on, yukata to wear.
Enjoying the salty breezes at Tojinbo, a port town on the Sea of Japan. In the middle is Blackie, our longtime friend. Blackie runs a travel agency and happened to be our tour leader for this trip!
Checking out the Eiheiji Temple, one of Japan's largest retreats for Zen Buddhists.
The monks go filing in for their daily chanting session.
On the promenade outside the famous Kenroku-en Gardens in Kanazawa City. Note the explosion of cherry blossoms on every tree. April is a good time of year to come to Japan and enjoy all the spring colors.
More blossoms on an ancient tree inside the Kenroku-en Gardens. Fiona was able to enjoy all the sights too, while being carried around on Daddy's back.
An idyllic pond scene. Kenroku-en Gardens were first established in the 1700s and have been refined meticulously over the decades.
Embarking on the epic Tateyama-Kurobe Alpine Route. This dramatic day-long journey takes mountain-loving travelers over and through some of the highest peaks in Japan. The first leg of the trip involved riding a cable car up the first mountain, then taking a highland bus through the snow to reach the mountain town of Murodo.
Not too cold, but blizzarding weather conditions at the top. The highland bus route is carved through immensely thick snow, as you can see here. This year's high-level mark was 14m of snow: certainly tall, but not near the all-time record of 23m!
From Murodo we took a tunnel trolly bus through the highest peak, then a cable car down to a huge hydro dam that had to be crossed on foot. From there we took another underground trolley bus to the exit here. What a trek. It was nice to see the snow and ride all the different conveyances, but I'd like to return again on a clearer day to enjoy the views and maybe even hike a little.
Enjoying another meal in our yukata (cotton kimonos). The Japanese seem to enjoy going out for these set-meal affairs where there are a dozen or more little plates and cups, each holding a morsel or two of something tasty. It's elegant and sopisticated, but I wouldn't want to be the one doing the washing up.
Posing with our Japanese togs before heading off to the hotel's outdoor onsen (hot spring pools).
Strolling the cobbled streets in ye olde town of 妻籠, which is pronounced qilong in Mandarin but I don't remember how the name was spelled in romanized Japanese. It reminded me a bit of Taiwan's Jiufen, but of course much cleaner and well-preserved. Beautiful wooden façades and verandas on all the buildings, carefully pruned trees and bushes everywhere. It was wonderfully idyllic and I wish we could have lazed away the whole afternoon there.
Another Japanese set luncheon, meticulously prepared with all kinds of plates, bowls and containers. I think I count 17 here.
More olde town sighteeing, this time in nearby 馬籠 (in Mandarin as malong). Though I could read some of the signage in Japan, Vivian had a much easier time of it. The Japanese use kanji characters, which are derived from Chinese writing. I'm told Kanji characters carry the same meaning as the Chinese as much as 70% of the time.
Malong was similar to Qilong, but even more dedicated to historical preservation. The town bylaws prohibit any kind of modern-era materials to be kept in view of pedestrians: no air conditioner boxes hanging from the walls, no electric porchlights even. When the Japanese decide to do something, they take the task very earnestly. The result is their highly-refined and civilized society, quite a change from the environments Vivian and I are used to.
No time for Fiona to retire to the crib for morning and afternoon naps on this trip. Here she conks out in the backpack and enjoys a mobile snooze while Vivian and I continue to explore the town.
On the last day of our trip, the sun came out again! Amen. We returned to Nagoya and visited the famous castle there.

This may be the best picture I have taken in a long time. Nagoya castle and the cherry blossoms make a nice frame for Fiona and Vivian.
Sayonara, Japan! O-sewa ni narimashita :-)

Vietnam Trip, Part 2: The Food越南行，美食

Vivian was especially interested to Vietnam on account of the nice food they have there. We often go out in Taipei for Vietnamese food, but on ourtrip we had several chances to try the real deal
去越南的另一個理由是我和Gareth都很喜歡越南菜，想到可以天天吃到生牛河、蔗蝦、生春捲，怎能不心動呢！

Outside the front door of Quan An Ngon, one of HCMC's best original Vietnamese restaurants
這家餐廳超讚，11點開門，11點20分就客滿了。
毎道菜上來我們都滿意的不得了，但一轉頭看到別人桌上更誘人的菜色，真希望自己有十個胃
最後一天臨上飛機前又再去了一次。真恨不得能把菜單全部吃一遍



The classic iced coffee, plus some roast pork
越式冰咖啡，炭烤豬肉



Most Vietnamese dishes come with a handful of fresh herbs and leaves to add to the flavor
毎道菜都配上大量新鮮的香料



Pham An Ngon is an old French villa, with a courtyard surrounding the main building. At the periphery of the courtyard are all the cooking stations: numerous little kitchens where dishes from all over Vietnam are quickly prepared




The ladies working at the spring roll station




Vivian samples the beef noodle, or Pho
我的最愛，生牛河(孟田在旁邊享受用吸管喝水)

BBQ beef with toasted French baguette
這道烤牛肉配上烤法國麵包就是從別人桌上看到的


Spring rolls from the ladies




BBQ squid with fresh vegetables and rice

And this amazing desert drink. Still not exactly sure what was in this thing, besides coconut, but it was delicious
這杯甜點也是從別人桌上看到的，找來服務生，不會說英語也沒關係，只要用手指比一比，一清二楚
看起來不起眼，卻好吃到讓我又外帶了一杯！

4th anniversary already結婚紀念

On Friday January 5th we celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary. Can you believe the time has gone by so quickly?!
一月五日，結婚四週年了。時間一定要不知不覺地走得這麼快嗎？
We dropped Fiona off at Auntie Jolene's, then headed out for dinner, just the two of us.
請家人幫我看孟田，我們兩個逍遙去了

Following our custom of trying new ethnic foods, we visited a Xinjiang BBQ place
太久沒試新餐廳了，今天特地挑了沒吃過的新疆烤肉

Xinjiang is the far western province of China, next to Kazakhstan and some of those other central Asian countries. As this mural shows, the local people in Xinjiang are not Chinese, but Uyghur
Xinjiang appetizer: some shredded semi-raw potato thingy And then some sliced onion with herbs and seasoning
Let the grilling begin!
Lamb is a big deal on the menu hereNeat idea -- mini tomatoes wrapped in bacon
There was even some imported Xinjiang beer available to wash down the BBQ. Xinjiang means "new frontier" in the Chinese language
And a trip down memory lane... to one of Gareth and Vivian's first ever dates together. This photo was taken in Feburary 2000. Nearly 7 years ago. What a grand journey it has been :-)
看來時間確實留下了痕跡，只是不自覺罷了
這是2000年二月，將近7年前我們第一次出遊，去石門水庫的照片