不孤單的農曆年 Chinese New Year

這是我親愛的老婆大人陪我過的第一個新年與情人節
去年的此時 我們依然只有email的緣份而已 ... 今年的此時 I couldn't ask for anything more

2.12 五 小年夜
我半夜還要上班...Work Work Work 一點都不像過年

2.13 六 除夕 
和叔叔家人朋友一起吃年夜飯 很感動
沒有真正的在加拿大過年 很喜歡許多人團聚在一起的感覺

2.14 日 初一 情人節
帶老婆參觀Pacific Mall和看Avatar 3D
Mall有點無聊 不過喝了很多珍珠奶茶 吃了很多魚蛋和牛肉丸
下午太無聊 就決定看Avatar了 $14.50的電影票看三個小時 電影還不錯看
晚上到T&T買菜 大概是老婆一天最高興的時刻了 努力的採買

2.15 一 初二 Family Day放假
在家看新年綜藝節目 休息吃飯睡覺

2010 January Recap

There goes the first month of the year 2010

What's done

• Finally, no more talk about this HRTC because it's just crazy out at the stores this weekend
• In my ~10 hours of shopping experience, RONA is way better than Home Depot - in terms of selections on display, numbers of staff and customer service. I am a RONA/Canadian fan now
• Fixed my car
• Lazy us chose the easier way of fixing our car. Total cost was about $200 for the regular scheduled maintenance, $200 for diagnostics, $715 for control arms replacement at the dealer; $560 for Thermostat/belt at the private mechanic

What's coming

• Wendy's coming!!!!!! for Chinese New Year, for Valentine's Day, for me ^___^
• Celebration for Chinese New Year and some volunteering
• Let the cleaning, moving, and renovation begin

2009 Recap, 2010 Resolutions

I am still slowly accepting the fact I am back in Canada and returning to normal life

I have organized most of the photos, but choosing what to upload (or blog about) are the difficult parts

Before 2009 has disappeared from me, I want to recap a truly unexpected 2009, and plan great things for 2010

What I Did in 2009

• Celebrated my first Chinese New Year in Taiwan since 1996, with extended big families
• Bought a "new" used car
• Travelled to: Pittsburgh, Niagara Falls, Bruce Peninsula, Montreal, Quebec, Mont Tremblant, Hong Kong, Taiwan
• Volunteered more at Tzu-Chi/慈濟, and attended community events and Pearson Runway Run
• Recovered in equities and more, and able to donate more
• Watched more Blue Jays, and last season of Roy Halladay as a Jay
• Obtained Microsoft database certification, to improve myself
• 結婚了 Found a girl, made her my fiancee, and married her
• 開學了 只是要唸三年

Funny, I actually met most my 2009 new year resolutions, except losing weight

What I Want To Do in 2010

• Lose weight (will try anyway)
• Do even better financially
• Finish the basement in the house (not doing it myself)
• Travel to: London, Greece, New York, Washington DC
• Honeymoon, aiming for Greece
• Perhaps become a Dad-in-progress ;-)
• Spend my life with Wendy in Canada, and forever!!

Funny, now I'm talking about becoming a dad....

Memorable 2009-2010 Vacation and X'mas Wedding

I have a detailed version of the vacation, down to each day, but that's not what's memorable. These are

2009.12.25 - My beautiful wedding reception
No words can describe that day, or the days of work leading to it, so I'll let the photos speak for me
Wedding Reception Photos
Flickr
Flickr Slideshow

For references, here are the Engagement photos (there are differences!!)

2009.12.31 - Celebrating 2010 with my wife, and our families
Vacation is good, but able to spend it with families (now bigger) is much much better

2010.01.02~01.04 - Enjoying Hong Kong together with my wife, creating new memories
Travelling alone is never fun, so I found my soul mate to travel with me. It has ups and downs, but all I remember are the ups, the food, the view, and most importantly my love

This is one X'mas I will always remember

This is it

This is it, I am outta here, for a few weeks anyway

Wendy honey, here I come to marry you, again (and I'd do it every year if you want)

Camping @ Bruce Peninsula

Aug 28 Friday

• Camping & bonfire in rain
• Dinner: too much meat - sausage, burger, chicken drumstick

Aug 29 Saturday

• Hike Hike Hike (9 km in a day, 5 km on very difficult trail from Halfway Log Dump)
• The Grotto
• Big brunch - oatmeal (canto style), and instant noodle (chinese herbal flavour)
• Dinner - Hot Pot (in rain)

Aug 30 Sunday

• Brunch - omelet
• Bruce Peninsula National Park Visitor Centre
• Tobermory
• Dinner @ The Fish & Chip Place

Notes

• We overpacked, again, as usual. Although overall it was a successful group effort
• Again, it rained and better weather would've been nice
• My tent is huge (6-person, fit 4 Single air beds with ease)
• Wendy survived, and amazed me in her hiking ability :-) proud of her
  

Montreal/Quebec City

Decided to take a "family" trip up north to Montreal and Quebec for the long weekend Sep 5-7, 2009.

It was filled with laughters, photos (2000+ of them), and lots of delicious food. Despite having visited Montreal a few times, this visit is still new and different. Between the two cities, we all fell in love with Quebec more with its relaxness in the air, and true French town while Montreal feels more like just another modern city.

Overall the trip was memorable and lovely to completely soak in the French environment (and only for a short while).

Day 1 Saturday @ Montreal

• Bagel @ St Viateur bakery cafe $24
• Smoked meat @ Schwartz $13
• Whopper/Poutine @ Burger King $7
• Centre Eaton walkaround shopping
• Old Port
• Old Montreal
• Dinner @ L'usine de Spaghetti Parisienne $85
• Hotel: Montreal Marriott Chateau Champlain
• BIXI - $5 for 24 hours access
• Casino Montreal

Day 2 Sunday @ Quebec City

• Basilique Notre-Dame
• Dinner @ Le Continental (authentic French) $184
• Beaver tail @ Queues de Castor $15
• Old Port
• Farmers' market
• What else - Fairmont Le Chateau Frontenac
• Hotel: Hilton Quebec

Day 3 Monday @ Quebec and Montreal

• Quebec City
• Guard change @ Le Citadelle of Quebec $40
• Crepes @ Au Petit Coin Breton $47
• Poutine @ Chez Ashton $9
• Montreal
• Oratoire St-Joseph du Mont-Royal
• Parc Mont Royal & Observation point

Expenses

• Hotel: Marriott ($168+$25 valet parking, free breakfast as Gold member though); Hilton Quebec ($144+$25 valet parking)
• Food: see above for detail breakdown. T&T snacks $20
• Souvenirs: ~$20
• Gas: 3 full tanks, $48 + $49 + $25 MC GC + $46
• Tickets: 4 x $10
• Shopping: Old Navy ($73)

Notes

• Distance driven: 1850 km @ 8 L/100 km. Average speed: 90 km/h. Hours driven: 20 hours

Niagara Falls

Aug 22 Saturday

• Inniskillin winery tour
• Niagara-on-the-lake
• Lunch @ The Anchorage
• Super8 1-night stay $100
• Clifton Hill at night

Aug 23 Sunday

• Maid of the Mist
• Lunch @ Riverview International Buffet
• Niagara's Fury
• Journey Behind the Falls
• White Water Walk
• Dinner @ The Lake House

Notes:

• It is so much more fun to travel with someone special
• Could wish for a better weather on Sunday, but it was all very memorable nonetheless
• Photos - will take years to upload them :-) I have thousands of photos (in a month) to go through

Fairy Tale 萍水相逢 相逢自是有緣

For those curious minds, this was a fairy tale from the beginning

Her name is Wendy, same age as me

Feb 2009

• Our parents mentioned that their son & daughter should get in touch
• Started to email after the Chinese New Year, and it all started from here ... email after email

June 2009

• Happy Birthday, Wendy
• Started to talk on the phone for hours and hours. At then, we already knew he/she is the one

July 2009

• Jerry met Wendy, and knew she IS the one

Aug 2009

• Engagement
  
• Wedding dress/bridal gown photo shoot
  
• Jerry met her family, her family met Jerry
  

Dec 2009

• The big day of Wedding Reception is on X'mas in Taiwan
• She will be in Canada for the next 3~4 years with me. She does speak good English

Summary
In a few months I have accomplished the unthinkable of finding my true love of this life. I am happy for it, and it's a proof of how fate plays tricks on us.
I want to apologize for the unannounced surprises (although I did enjoy surprising everyone), you will have plenty of opportunities to meet her later on

I know this doesn't say it all, if you have further questions, please leave comments below, or email/MSN me

Photos

• Engagement photos (more in flickr)
• Taiwan trip

Surprise! I am engaged (and married really)

Wait for the followup story, it'll be a good one I promise, with photos
Pardon me for being too lazy to repeat the stories :)

Flying

Today is travel day, flying home for my summer vacation

Never before have I looked forward to flying this much, because I am flying towards something, or someone

As usual, I want to say all the things I want to say, just in case.

To family
Thank you for being at my side, and watching me grow up and make you guys proud.
Fate is funny, but family is destiny

To friends
It's been quiet, and somehow feels we are all getting older. That means we have known each other a bit longer and had a bit more memories, and a bit tired of each other :-)

To you
這是萬一 也是唯一
文筆再好 也寫不出我的不捨 但是我依然會 守護者你

Love always
Jerry

Counting Down

Counting down to

• Taiwan
• Flying, and flying on AC 777
• Super hot and humid weather
• Seeing family and relatives, new family and relatives
• Grandma's birthday
• A new chapter   ;-)

"Life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get." - movie Forrest Gump

生 日 快 樂

今天是一個很重要的人的生日 我要和他說聲 生日快樂
要許願喔 許著一個美麗的童話故事

Weekend Recap 又酸又甜的週末

Thursday
Had my bottom right wisdom tooth removed (sectional freezing anesthesia only)
Experienced a brief but very painful period before my Ibuprofen drug kicked in. IT HURTS...
I forgot how much it hurts (had my upper one removed 2~3 years ago)

Friday
Sick Day as the wisdom tooth effect still lingers, and I am addicted to the drugs (APO Ibuprofen)

Saturday
Visited the Columbia Forest Long Term Care for the Tzu Chi volunteer, we had fun playing Family Feud, and those elders are very cute, so cute that I got kisses @@

Sunday
Volunteered at the Family Fun Day. Spent $80+ for 5 Silent Auction items

• $65 for $100 value 3-entree Supper Works (last year was $45 for 6-entree Supper Works)
• $5 for $100 value Cedar Tree. Now I don't know where to put it
• $6 for $25 Morty's Gift Certificate
• Some other small items

童話
這是一個又酸又甜的週末
酸的是 牙齒酸
甜的是 這是好幾年來 很開心的一個週末 好像又回到了青澀的少年
不管將來怎麼樣 我都想說 我會很珍惜 呵護著這段童話