Calgary Chinese Cultural Centre Museum卡城中華文物館

It was on TelusTV back in May. I like the texture.
I really enjoy my job in the museum a lot. Well, Most of the time! I get to meet visitors from all over the world, give them tours, chat with them, lead field trips from local schools, teach cultural programs, develop new cultural programs, promote the museum, learn more about Chinese Canadian hostory... New things and challenges everyday.
And again, I'll be on City TV - Breakfast TV tomorrow morning.
五月份TelusTV到我們的博物館做的專訪。拍的很有質感。
我其實很喜歡目前在博物館的工作。每天跟來自各地的訪客介紹博物館、跟他們聊天、接待當地學校的校外教學團體、教授文化課程、研發文化課程、宣傳博物館、與其他博物館交流‧‧‧。每天都有新發現、新感受。
喔！明天早上我又會在City TV的早餐新聞出現。

New video: July - November 2009

Poor neglected blog. Though I spend more time on Facebook and Twitter these days, I would like to do more blogging and video editing. I also have a large backlog of digital photos to review and print out. Who has time for all this stuff?

Nonetheless, I recently found time to compile a video of highlights from the latter half of 2009. Some are from home in Calgary, but some are from our summer trip out to the BC coast: Boating in English Bay, walking through rainforests to a natural hospring near Tofino, and chasing pigeons at Granville Island. Enjoy.

Slideshow from Dad's memorial service

The memorial service for Dad last Saturday January 24 went pretty smoothly. We believe Dad would have been pleased that so many old friends and colleagues attended. There were a lot of people there who we hadn't seen in at least 10 years.

Gareth went through a lot of old photographs and created this slide show which was broadcast at the start of the service:

Quite a few other people couldn't make it on the 24th, but they sent in some nice cards and email messages or called on the phone offering their condolences. The family appreciates your kindness.

We were also touched by all the kind things so many of the guests said about Dad. He was well liked by a lot of people. I guess we knew that but it was still comforting to hear the same sentiments from so many. "Kind and gentle." "Polite, generous." "A real gentleman." He was like that with his friends and coworkers. It makes sense to think of him as "a gentle man"-- he had a likeable manner that was born out of a different generation, a time when people thought and acted much differently. I guess people like him are more of a rare breed nowadays.

We love you and miss you Dad. Thanks for sharing life's journey with us. You were very special.

Jane's U of C graduation

On November 10 Jane graduated from the University of Calgary with her degree in sociology. We went down to be with her on her special day. Waving the mace around to commence the ceremonyThere's Jane! Right side, far end, third from the backJane shows up on the big screen as she prepares to walk across the stage Shaking hands with the Chancellor
Family photo (Fiona was at Maya's house for playtime)

Proud parents!
Congratulations Jane, we are very happy for you :-)

Tossing the hat

Fiona's third birthday

Fiona turned 3 years old on November 3rd. My how the time flies. For her special day we invited some little friends over for a party. We made some crafts, played games, had snacks and cake, plus opened several presents. Thanks to Mackenzie, Anna and Maya (and their mamas!) for coming over to enjoy the special day with us. Vivian also worked very hard making the food, plus special Princess costumes for everyone, to go along with the Princess party theme. Gareth decorated the house with baloons and streamers (Fiona is really into pink these days).
Modelling her Princess dress -- handmade by Mama
Trying on princess shoes
Happy day!
Four little princesses: our party guests Mackenzie, Anna and Maya
Sitting down for some snacks
Birthday cake from Cinderella
Enjoying a sweet treat
Group photo. Thanks everyone for coming to our party!


Here's a little video of party highlights. Includes music from Fiona's new personalized CD!

The following day we had more guests: Nai Nai and Ye Ye (Fiona's grandma and grandpa, a.k.a. Gareth's parents), plus Vivian's college friend Heidy and her family: Felipe, Philip and Dylan. Another enjoyable party, with more presents!
Vivian cooked up a bounty of dishes
Fun times with Dylan and Philip

Slideshow: pictures from July and August 2007

Here's a random sampling of what we've been up to this summer: Beach parties, weddings, road trips, making music, family visits, dinner gatherings, night market outings and more. A nice way to spend this last season of ours in Taiwan :-)

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.

Ringing in the new year新年快樂

To usher in the new year, we went to Chris Jordan's office on Heping East Road. He's on the 11th floor, and his building enjoys a good vantage point of the Taipei 101 buildingHere's what we saw out the windowNighttime traffic below. The streets were buzzing with excitement that night
Wei Wei and Sunshine came along to see the fireworks. They met a little doggy friend that night The countdown crowd. Happy New Year!

I knew someone was going to do a much better job of recording the fireworks show than I would, so I've taken the liberty of pinching their video from YouTube.

Fiona's changes

As Fiona gets older she is getting more active, showing off new skills and behaviors all the time.
Funny hair at mealtime
...and her hair is long enough to put into little tails!
Playtime with big sister Nya
Still curious when it comes to watching TV from her saucer
Just coming out of the bath; getting ready for bed
Little precious
Fiona has long eyelashes, like daddy
A Mid-Autumn festival Chinese tradition: turning a pomelo skin into a hat for the kiddies
...but the joke gets old after a while.
Daddy, take this thing off!

Now I can stand on my own, as long as I can hang on to something like this coffee table
It's definitely bedtime... Fiona is already dreaming
Sleeping Beauty

...and here's a collection of video clips of Fiona taken in September. As you can see, Fiona is "always on the run!"

If you'd like to see more, another earlier video of Fiona's summer adventures can be seen here

Double Ten holiday trip

On the road again! Back to the east coast, this time on two wheels. Gareth and Vivian and Fiona and several work friends arranged a fun overnight holiday to one of our favorite Taiwan destinationsRolling on the east coast nightway, enjoying the Pacific Ocean view, the cool breezes and the craggy terrain
One of the day's destinations: Long Dong (the Dragon Hole). Gareth looks north toward Bitoujiao (Nose Head Cape)
Easyriders from left: Liz and Phil, Gareth, Steve, Matt, James, Rachel, Angus (front). Daniel's not in the photograph because he's behind the camera. Thanks for these pics, Daniel :-)
More Long Dong scenes... we hoped to go cliff-jumping here, which I have done before, but the water was too choppy that day. Later on we got our water fix by swimming down at Fulong Beach
Funky geological features here on the east coast
Steve takes a breather on the rocks as the surf continues to pound
On the great wall (sort of): Angus and Gareth wave
After checking out the Gold Waterfall, it's time to saddle up and get on the road again
Looking back on the Bitoujiao lighthouse trail
Vivian and Fiona are here too! They drove along in the car to meet with us later. On the first evening we all stayed in a little B&B in Jinguashi (Gold Melon Stone) mining town
On the drive back home, we took the long route over Yangming Mountain. The sun casts wonderful sheets of twilight over the sleepy hilltops

...and here's a little video of our road trip adventures (part 1)

(part 2)

Weekend trip to Yilan

Time for another road trip! Gareth joined pals Jialin, Wendy, Angus, Steve, plus Yama and his family on a trip to Yilan last weekend
Cruising through the cool new Snow Mountain Tunnel. This new tunnel is the longest in East Asia, and the fifth longest in the world Without the tunnel, the journey from Taipei to Yilan took 2 hours. Now it takes 40 minutes.
Our destination, the Dongshan church. Yama's friend is the pastor there. We were asked to come down and put on a special music show for the kids who attend
The view from the rooftop dorms where we stayed. The east coast is my favorite part of Taiwan
Wendy and little Buo Chen, Yama's first son
On Saturday the pastor and some church friends took us around the area to enjoy some of the sights
"Wild" water buffaloes grazing by the riverside
The Xinliao Waterfall, a local landmark. Some kids were swimming in the pool at the bottom. We got wet too, because it started pouring rain
Yama and his family pose in front of a gnarly tree stump
Back at the Dongshan Church for our performance on Sunday morning
Before we went home we visited a rustic outdoor hot spring. The water that emerges from the ground here is around 100 degrees C. Can you see it bubbling? Locals placed a big rock on the spring to stop it from spraying occasional blasts of scalding water on bystanders.

A pool around the big rock has developed, which is now used to boil eggs, corn cobs and other edibles, as long as you've got a little net to put them in. Further downstream the hot spring water mixes with cold river water and is pleasant for bathing