Our Memorable Moments

HK/Thailand/Guilin Trip - Day 20 - HK
We had lunch with your aunt at 金牛苑. Then we went to the Space Museum, where we watched a movie, the Lost Worlds. We went to the Bear Bear Kingdom, which had a lot of cute teddies. It was the New Year's Eve and we had dinner at a Japanese restaurant. After that we went to Causeway Bay. It was so crowded and we could not get to Times Square. We ended up go to the third floor of the shopping center opposite to Sogo, and watched the crowd from up there when it passed midnight. We then went to 紅螞蟻 to have snacks and drinks.

HK/Thailand/Guilin Trip - Day 19 - HK
We visited the doctor to get you a shot. Then we went to Nokia to pick up the camera, and it cost only HK$1100. We had lunch at Macdonald's and tried the new pepper burger. After lunch we went to Central and had a walk up the long escalator. We visited 阿虫 gallery but didn't buy anything. We went to 泰昌 which was famous for its egg tart, and there was a long line outside. You were really happy to taste that. We also tried 麥"en"己 but I was a bit disappointed by its tiny portion. Then we went to 春田花花幼稚園 and bought some Mcdull books and CDs there. That night we had dinner with DG, Amy and rest of Stanford friends at 有骨氣. It was very noisy there and we didn't really get to talk to them much. After dinner we joined my father in Central and took pictures of the night scenes. We rode on the ferry to Tsim East and from there took some very nice pictures of the habour. We also walked on the Star Avenue.

HK/Thailand/Guilin Trip - Day 18 - Guilin->HK
In the morning we toured the landmark of Guilin, the 象鼻山. Then we went to a zoo, and also did some shopping at 寶樹堂 and 茗園, where we were taught how to make tea professionally. In the afternoon we took a flight back to HK. We had dinner at one 茶餐廳 downstairs.

HK/Thailand/Guilin Trip - Day 17 - Guilin
We climbed up 伏波山 in the morning. It had a great view of the city from the top. We then drove a couple hours to go to 龍勝. After we arrived there we had lunch at the 壯寨. It was actually the most special and delicious meal we had during the trip. The chilli source was really tasteful. Then we visited the 瑤寨, where woman had very long hair. They only cut their hair once at 17, and kept 3 bunches of hair on their head, one bunch was what they collected from those came off every day. We then visited the 梯田. It was built since 700 years ago and was very grand. It was a pity we had to rush up there and come down in less than 1.5 hours. That evening we stayed at a hot spring hotel. It was not well designed and we had to walked a long way to go to the outdoor springs from the changing rooms, in cold wind. We enjoyed it at first till the crowd came and people there was so noisy. There was a small accident later that night when you accidentally step on a small nail in the hotel room. We were afraid because of the possible rust on the nail, and decided to get a shot after going back to HK.

HK/Thailand/Guilin Trip - Day 16 - Guilin
In the morning we went on a cruise on the 漓江. There was too little water so we couldn't go all the way to 陽朔. Along the river there was many scenes, and it was very cold. After that we went to 銀子岩. It was a cave with nice white rocks. However, it was short of air in the cave and you didn't feel well. We then toured the 西街 in 陽朔. It was a street with a lot of pubs and western restaurants. For dinner we had "tea meal", basically all the dishes had tea leaves as one of the ingredients. That night we didn't go to the show recommanded by the tour guide and had a walk near the hotel. We even tasted dog meat and also had a nice foot massage at the hotel.

HK/Thailand/Guilin Trip - Day 15 - HK->Guilin
In the morning I went to play basketball with my friends, and you visited by yourself a lot of places in Central. But a lot of the restaurants and cake shops you wanted to visit was closed that day. When I came home I got you 龜苓膏. That evening we went to the airport and took a light to Guilin. The flight arrived very late, and we were served 米粉宴 at the hotel. The food was good but it was too late and we didn't have much appetite. The hotel we stayed at was new and very nice, 桂林漓江大瀑布酒店.

HK/Thailand/Guilin Trip - Day 14 - HK
We wake up late and "drank tea" with my cousin for lunch. We then went to Mongkok and visited 朗豪坊, a newly opened shopping center with very modern design. You bought a lot of shirts at G2000, finally meeting the goal of getting business clothing in HK. We also had drinks at 仙跡岩 where there are a lot of special drinks and snacks. We then went to the sport shoes street where I got a pair of Nike for the basketball game the next day. In the evening we attended the wedding banquet of Gabriel and Cissy at Shatin Horce Racing Club. It was a very nice wedding with a lot of pictures of their travels.The dinner started late and ended after midnight.

HK/Thailand/Guilin Trip - Day 13 - HK
We waked up early and went to Sheung Shiu to observe the ceremony of 接新娘. Then we went to HK Park to attend the wedding ceremonyof signing the documents. After that we went to Gabriel's home, where they had a very traditional tea ceremony, which included pouring tea on an empty chair for the ancestors. That evening we went to my parent's church for the Christmas Eve candle light service. We were late because of the dinner. After the church we went to Victoria Park's 工展會, which has a lot of participants. Times Square was really crowded, so we took the lift up to 11/F, and looked down from the windows. It was very quiet up there while downstairs it got more and more crowded towards the midnight. After midnight we went to Susuki and had dessert buffet with my "sisters".

HK/Thailand/Guilin Trip - Day 12 - HK
We had lunch at Whampoa with your relatives. We went to 蔡瀾美食坊 and had 擔擔麵. After that we took the ferry to Causeway Bay and watched 功夫, which was not as good as we have expected. That night we had seafood dinner at 鯉魚門. We had lots and lots of seafood, and the cost was only about HK$250 each.

HK/Thailand/Guilin Trip - Day 11 - HK
In the morning we went to apply for your HK SAR passport. While waiting there, we tried HK Macdonald's Taco. After that we went to IFC and tried to look for Google's office there, which we eventually found but there was only one person there. We visited a museum in IFC2 that belonged to HK Monetary Authority. Then we went to my secondary school, St. Paul's Co-educational College. I gave you a tour of the campus and I visited several teachers. We went to the Peak afterwards, and had desserts in a cafe where we have the great view of HK, but since the weather was not good we could not see the buildings clearly. There was very few people in that cafe. We stayed on the Peak till after sunset and took pictures of the gorgeous night scenes of HK. Then we went to 有骨氣 and had hot pot dinner. They have pork bone soup base, and specialties like 麻蓉包 which one can put in the soup.

HK/Thailand/Guilin Trip - Day 10 - HK
In the morning we went to China Travel Agency to apply for my 回鄉卡. Then we went to TaiKoo to get the camera fixed. After that we went to Causeway Bay and did some shopping, you had hair cut, and we had 燉奶 for dessert. We then went to Pacific Place and had dinner at 北京樓. We also bought the 政壇大贏家 game which is a monopoly like game about HK politics. I brought you to a garden in Pacific Place where we can see the night scenes of Admiralty. We then watched Ocean's Twelve at UA Causeway Bay.

HK/Thailand/Guilin Trip - Day 9 - Thailand->HK
We visited swallow nests store, leather factory in the morning. For lunch we had curry crab, which was not that good. In the afternoon we took the flight back to HK. We had a walk around my neighbourhood, had snake soup, and visited a friend of mine (Chicken).

HK/Thailand/Guilin Trip - Day 8 - Thailand
In the morning we went to the King's mother's palace and garden, which was on a hill top. The palace was Swiss style and there were lots of flowers. When we left a lot of local people were there and the place was crowded. After lunch at a hotel, where we had buffet and pork hand rice, we took a plane to Bangkok. It was very hot there and the traffic was congested. We first visited a lying Budda temple, crossed the river and visited 鄭王廟, but we were not allowed to go up the stairs. We then had a cruise on the river. After that, we went to the city center, a very Causeway like district with a lot of modern and big shopping centers. We were surprised to find the 四面佛 there. We bought some snacks at Big C, a large supermarket, and had a corn pie at Macdonalds. That evening we had dinner at a very cheap hot pot restaurant, which only served fish balls. After that we toured the famous night market at Bangkok. It was huge, with a show stage and mini Karaoke boxes, and a lot of food. We regreted that we should have ate there.

HK/Thailand/Guilin Trip - Day 7 - Thailand
We took the bus to go to Chiang Rai, and had lunch at the border city of Burma and Thailand. We crossed the bridge and entered Burma, which turned out to be a much poorer and underdeveloped country compared to Thailand. We visited a gold tower there, where guards were carrying guns. We also went to a tribe where the selective women there had to put rings around their neck to make the neck long. We were told there were only 180 such people left in the world. Then we visited the Golden Triangle, which was the river at the border of Thailand, Burma, and Lao. We crossed the river and went to a Lao village, which was quiet and paradise-like. In the evening we went to a night market at Chiang Rai. There was a lot of young people there and it was like Mongkok in HK.

HK/Thailand/Guilin Trip - Day 6 - Thailand
We woke up in the morning and visited the elephant training camp, where elephants played soccer and painted. There was a small accident and the camera was broken, and we had to use the small camera instead for the rest of the trip. We had lunch at a hotel where 鄧麗君 stayed in. Then we went uphill and visited a temple, and took small cars to a opium field. We expected a large field but there was only a little bunch there. Later we visited several shops, selling silk, jewellery, silver. After dinner we went to a 人妖 show, and tried a bit Traditional Thai massage at the hotel.

HK/Thailand/Guilin Trip - Day 5 - HK->Thailand
It was close - I almost forgot to bring the passports. We took Thailand Airways to Chiang Mai, a city at the northern part of Thailand. It had a very small airport, the luggages were carried out manually. We had a local Northern Thai Crusine that evening. After dinner we went to the night market. The hotel was old and ugly, though claimed to be 4 stars, and we were very disappointed.

HK/Thailand/Guilin Trip - Day 4 - Shanghai->HK
We met with my cousin in the morning. She brought us to shopping, and we got some CDs and books. That afternoon we took China Eastern to HK. It was a very frustrating experience - your chair was broken and cannot be laid down. Moreover, a cockcroach fell onto the table in front of us. After we arrived at HK we had dinner with my parents at Chinese restaurant downstairs, and after that we went to Mongkok. We bought VCDs and had a walk on 女人街.

HK/Thailand/Guilin Trip - Day 3 - Shanghai
In the morning we went to 城煌廟 with grandma. There we got a nice Chinese jacket for you, also had cut-paper portrait for both of us and pencil portrait for you. The portrait looked pretty nice and only cost $100. We had lunch at 綠波廊 with uncle. After that we visited 金 茂 again, hoping to get a free night of stay from uncle's club card, but it required reservation in advance :( We then went to 人民廣場 where you played with the pigeons. That night we had appetizer, 大閘蟹, at home. Later we went to a fine restaurant 紅燈籠 to have dinner with Helene and Frances. We had sea bass, which was good but the price was way too expensive ($600 for 3).

HK/Thailand/Guilin Trip - Day 2 - Shanghai
We went to 襄陽市場 in the morning and bought some clothes, then visited food stores and got peanuts and other snacks. Grandma prepared fried crab meat for lunch at home, which she took 2 hours to make. In the afternoon my uncle gave us a tour of Pudong in his car. We wanted to see 濱江花園, but it was all sold out. We then went to 世紀大道 and 金茂, the tallest building in Shanghai. It was a foggy day. That evening we dined at uncle's place. I met uncle Lee who played very good Jazz piano.

HK/Thailand/Guilin Trip - Day 1 - SFO->Shanghai
There was a computer problem at SFO and we queued up for 2 hours for our UA flight. Your brother helped to get Teddy from home. There was turbulence on the flight. After we got to Shanghai, we waited another hour before the luggage started coming out, and the reason was there was only one worker inside (!?).

To celebrate your brother's birthday early before we left for vacation, we went to Elephant Bar in Burlingame to have dinner with your family.

VoV's Christmas concert at a church in San Jose. You were with me all day, despite no one else was there.

Janice and Eric held a Christmas party at Eric's place. We had pizza and pasta for dinner, then played drinking games and Mafia. There was also gift exchange and we got a very nice set of tea cups and plates.

Google held a Christmas party at Computer History Museum and we went together. You dressed up in a very nice dress from Bloomingdale, which was my Christmas gift to you. The party was fun, there were Karaoke contest, dances, and shows. We also got to see some of the old computers in the museum.