Week 5: 5/1/05

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0 height="100%"><tr> <td valign="top" width=200 BGCOLOR="#FFCC80" TEXT="#080000" background="67cc8b83.jpg"> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id19.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Random Things to Make You Giggle"><B>Random Things to Make You Giggle</B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id77.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Hong Kong Disneyland"><B>Hong Kong Disneyland</B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id35.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Our Parkview Apartment"><B>Our Parkview Apartment</B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id26.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Week 1: 4/3/05"><B>Week 1: 4/3/05</B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id29.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Week 2: 4/10/05"><B>Week 2: 4/10/05</B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id30.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Week 3: 4/17/05"><B>Week 3: 4/17/05</B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id32.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Week 4: 4/24/05 "><B>Week 4: 4/24/05 </B></A></div> <div> <B><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f00000cc00.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Week 5: 5/1/05 </B></div> <div> <A HREF="id37.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Week 6: 5/8/05 "><B>Week 6: 5/8/05 </B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id39.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Week 7: 5/15/05 "><B>Week 7: 5/15/05 </B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id41.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Week 8: 5/22/05 "><B>Week 8: 5/22/05 </B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id42.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Week 9: 5/29/05 "><B>Week 9: 5/29/05 </B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id48.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Week 10: 6/5/05 "><B>Week 10: 6/5/05 </B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id51.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Week 11: 6/12/05 "><B>Week 11: 6/12/05 </B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id53.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Week 12: 6/19/05 "><B>Week 12: 6/19/05 </B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id55.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Week 13: 6/26/05 "><B>Week 13: 6/26/05 </B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id57.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Week 14: 7/3/05 "><B>Week 14: 7/3/05 </B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id60.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Week 15: 7/10/05 "><B>Week 15: 7/10/05 </B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id62.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Week 16: 7/17/05 "><B>Week 16: 7/17/05 </B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id64.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Week 17: 7/24/05 "><B>Week 17: 7/24/05 </B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id65.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Week 18: 7/31/05 "><B>Week 18: 7/31/05 </B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id67.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Week 19: 8/7/05 "><B>Week 19: 8/7/05 </B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id70.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Week 20: 8/14/05 "><B>Week 20: 8/14/05 </B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id71.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Week 21: 8/21/05 "><B>Week 21: 8/21/05 </B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id74.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Week 22: 8/28/05 "><B>Week 22: 8/28/05 </B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id76.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Week 23: 9/4/05 "><B>Week 23: 9/4/05 </B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id79.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Week 24: 9/11/05 "><B>Week 24: 9/11/05 </B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id80.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Week 25: 9/18/05 "><B>Week 25: 9/18/05 </B></A></div> </td> <td valign="top" width="100%" BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#BF0000" FACE="Australian Sunrise" ><B>Welcome to Chase family planet!</B></FONT><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Australian Sunrise" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >    |    </FONT> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Welcome to Chase family planet!">home</A></div> <div> <A HREF="id22.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Adventures in Asia">Adventures in Asia</A>   ·   <A HREF="id46.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Contact Us">Contact Us</A></div> <bR> <div> Week 5: 5/1/05 </div> <div> <B>Ups and Downs</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Hello Friends and Family!</B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <bR> <div> What a week. It was like a mini emotional roller coaster all on its own. I'm incredibly grateful for all the emails and letters and postcards, which definitely are keeping us going right now! I hope your seatbelts are securely fastened and you've taken your Dramamine if you are prone to motion sickness, because this week's a doozy...<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <bR> <div> <B>The Ups</B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <bR> <div> We had a few moments of fun this week. Nathan's school had a Q & A session on Thursday, and Michael was insistent that we go to it. I left Benjamin with one of the other Disney moms for an hour and I met Michael at the school. We met Nathan's principal and Mike got to see the school for the first time. We even poked our heads into Nathan's class and said howdy, which had the opposite effect we were hoping for - Nathan became very sullen and moody when he saw us, probably punishing Mike for the amazingly long hours he worked on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday when he never saw his father at all. Reluctant to part ways with each other (I was also missing Michael, after all) we grabbed a very, very quick sandwich at the mall above the train station before I ran to catch the bus back to home and Mike ran to catch a train back to work. It was a totally unexpected treat in the middle of the day without the kids. I wish we could do it more often!<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <bR> <div> On Friday night, we got together with a group of friends from church for an all new (to us) dining experience called Hot Pot. Getting there was an incredible ordeal, we felt like we were on the show The Amazing Race and nothing was going our way. We had left the kids with a baby sitter and gave ourselves an hour to get there, being a Friday night and all. We had an address, the phonetic pronunciation of the address in Chinese, and the name of the restaurant. The taxi driver dropped us off at what appeared to be the correct address, but we walked up and down the street and couldn't find the place. We called one of the people we were meeting, and he said to look for a certain street, which we could not find anywhere as we walked up and down the boulevard. Finally we ducked into the lobby of a building and asked the security guard if he'd ever heard of the restaurant or the side street. Our luck, he said that he'd just moved there and doesn't know the area at all. Then he started asking people coming in and out of the building if they'd ever heard of it. Everyone looked at us like we were asking directions to get to Mars. It was totally weird! Then we realized that we were in the wrong area altogether, the right street, but the wrong district. We unsuccessfully tried to grab another taxi to drive us to the right area, every time we'd go to get in the cab before we could say a word the taxi driver would put a "Not in Service" sign on the dash and lock his doors. Taxi drivers will often do this when they only want to catch a fare back over to the Kowloon side of Hong Kong, but we just felt like there was something wrong with us, especially when one guy stopped for us and then raced off before we could climb in. I was totally ready to give up and go home, since we were already past the reservation time, but on one last try we jumped in a taxi, locked the doors and then called our friend who was already at the restaurant who speaks Chinese and handed the phone to the driver. Finally we arrived at our destination, tired and hungry. If you are familiar with Japanese cuisine, Hot Pot is very similar to Shabu-Shabu. In the center of a round table is a pot of boiling broth on a burner. You grab scoops of different sauces, like Chinese BBQ sauce, XO sauce (a mixture of various sea creatures), fermented bean curd (we stayed away from that one), and a spicy chili sauce, and then ladle a little soy sauce in and mix it all up in a small bowl. Then the fun begins! Various plates of thinly sliced raw meat and veggies are brought out, which you place in a small metal strainer and hold it in the boiling broth until it's cooked through. Then you dip it into the sauce you created and eat it. Very yummy, but the best part is that it's such an active way to dine - not at all passive where you sit with your nicely folded napkin in your lap while the waiter places your entree before you. You are constantly passing something or cooking something or eating something. It was worth all the trouble to get there, we left after almost three hours of eating and talking, feeling much more calm than when we arrived.<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <bR> <div> <B>The Downs</B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <bR> <div> This week was really rough. As I mentioned before, Michael's schedule is brutal. One night he worked late, and then transportation issues came up and the bus that takes him from his job site to the train station was full every time it came by. It got later and later, and then the busses just stopped running. By the time he got home it was almost midnight. It's really difficult to keep up that kind of schedule with a family. I think the area that we are struggling with the most is consistency. I know (since so many of you have told me this) that you think we are just on an extended vacation. And in some ways, that could almost be true. We're seeing things we wouldn't see in California, and we're experiencing a different culture. But unlike a real vacation where you go somewhere for a week and then return home to your normal routine, we are still here, trying to make this work. I was talking with another one of the Disney moms here that I rarely see and I asked how she was doing, how she was adjusting, how her kids like it here. Her family arrived prior to us, so I wanted to see where we can expect to be in another month or two. She said she wants to go home. She saw some things in Hong Kong, and now she's done, ready to go back where she belongs. Later that evening, we tried to take the boys out for some fun and make up for the lack of family time we've had this week, but in this case we had about as much fun as you would have if you took a rusty knife and tried to saw your own leg off. The screaming was non-stop from both kids, and sadly, both Michael and I joined in. I think our taxi driver on the way home wanted to drop us by the side of the road and race off to get therapy or a stiff drink. </div> <bR> <div> After the kids were in bed, incredibly lucky to have survived another day, Mike and I sat up talking for half the night, and together we realized several things. The first was that this IS our home. I don't want to escape and leave (other than for an hour every now and then to the grocery store sans kids), I want to make this work. When Disneyland opens up on September 12, we'll basically be homeless and jobless, so I have to channel all my energy into creating a way to make "home" be where ever in the world we happen to be in any given month. </div> <bR> <div> The second thing I realized is that I miss my friends and family a great deal. I think "homesickness" hit for the first time this week. Not for home, but just for the ability to pick up the phone and say "let's get together" with people who we love and who love us. I got this ache to go garage sailing with a couple friends who are addicted to the "sport" and start at the unholy hour of a quarter to seven in the morning almost every Saturday... I grew very sad when Nathan asked if he could have his friend Naomi over, who he's known since he was eleven months old and lives in Northern California. And this week one of our dearest friends sold their house in Northern California and will be heading off to Texas this summer with their five children (one of which is our godson) before we return. Another friend is sending the boys a weekly goodie package, and we were so used to seeing her at least one day a week for lunch that Nathan asks all the time when we are going to go to Chick-Fil-A with her. And the heartbreak continues as the kids are missing their grandparents so fiercely. Ben sees pictures of his grandpas and nearly hyperventilates, shouting "AMM-PA!", and every night at bedtime, Nathan prays for his Grandma's and Grandpa's to come see him in Hong Kong. How do you respond to that? With one Grandma finishing chemotherapy next week (YAY!!!) and the other Grandma petrified of flying, the chances are slim we'll be seeing them anytime before September. Very rough for little guys used to seeing them at least on a weekly basis. </div> <bR> <div> The third thing that dawned on us had to do specifically with the kids - we greatly lack a routine and consistency here in Hong Kong. How can you make a routine for the day (if you have young kids you know they thrive on this) when Daddy is the one who used to make breakfast in the morning for everyone, and now, not only is Daddy not there for breakfast but three out of seven days he's not there for dinner either. Or the bedtime bath and story that he's been doing every night since November of 2000. It downright stinks to hear your four year old say "no, that's not how Daddy does it". I counter with "well, I'm not Daddy", but he has a point. And the worst thing is taking a bus and a boat and a train to get somewhere and the kids misbehave badly and you say, "fine, we're going to take you home now", only to have to take a train, a boat, and a bus back home, dragging crying hysterical kids the whole way. It's so much easier to put your kids in your car and drive home with the radio on while they cry in the back (and fall asleep) than it is to endure the stares of strangers on every form of transportation there is. By the time you get home, you've taken away every privilege they have in an effort to get them to stop crying and screaming, but you've really just shot yourself in the foot since now that means we too are stuck in the house, bored, instead of out exploring and having fun. </div> <bR> <div> We are constantly teaching our children about life, how to get along with others, how to deal with frustration, how to function in the world. But right now it seems that our glaring deficiencies are all that are coming across to our children, as we ourselves are struggling in how to get along with others (specifically our offspring), how to deal with frustration (caused in large part by our offspring), and how to function in the world (which we as the adults are expected to know what to do in all situations to guide and protect the aforementioned offspring). Change is a part of life, and it would sure seem that our life changes on a much grander scale than the average person, but it's a universal issue everyone struggles with. One of my friends moved to a new house less than two miles from her old house on the same weekend we moved to Hong Kong. She was incredibly stressed and worried and her kids were going crazy and she felt like she was going crazy, and you could say "but it was only two miles away from her old house!", but it was a change none the less, and you can't discount that. </div> <bR> <div> The result of all this introspective thought was that we need to work harder and more creatively to make this work. It's not a vacation, and we can't just put it off until we return to the United States. Benjamin will be two in less than two months, and he's changing and growing and learning at an amazing rate, absorbing everything he sees into that giant noggin of his. And Nathan is as sensitive as a blistering sunburn and needs to know everything is okay at all times. We have to figure out a new way of doing things that will keep the "dys" off of "functional" when we describe our family. I always say that international travel (or any travel for that matter) makes you learn things about yourself. Believe me, I'm learning so much I have to take notes!<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <bR> <div> <B>The Loop-de-Loops</B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <bR> <div> Saturday night a whirlwind arrived in Hong Kong to knock us out of our funk. Michael went to the airport to pick her up while I curled up in bed with a People Magazine that was sent to me by a very wonderful and thoughtful friend. Holly is Michael's oldest sister who lives with their mom and dad and has done so much to take care of my mother in law over the past few months while she's been going through the nightmare of chemotherapy for breast cancer. With my help, she came up with a list of things she wants to do over the ten days that she'll be here. I spent several days this week tracking down phone numbers (and then people who speak English at the other end of the line), traveling to ticket offices, and emailing back and forth furiously fast with Holly during the awake hours that Hong Kong and California share. The first thing Holly wanted to do the first full day here was to go on a tour that takes you to the Festival of Tin Hau. This tour took us very close to the boarder of mainland China, in fact, at one point you could see high rise buildings and our tour guide pointed out that they were over the boarder. One thing I realized was how incredibly tiny Hong Kong is. I mean, you look at the map and it looks small. Very small. But when we leave Hong Kong Island where we live, and get on a bus which drives us all the way to the boarder of China and it only takes an hour... that is tiny. </div> <bR> <div> We normally don't do tours. The idea of traveling with 30 strangers and not being able to stay longer at one place or make a quick exit if necessary isn't our idea of fun, especially with our unpredictable children. I'll go ahead and spoil the ending for you: our kids were angels. Really. I guess they were making up for their previous atrocious behavior. There was another little boy on the tour about Benjamin's age and he cried a lot, so maybe my kids didn't feel they needed to compete. My boys earned compliments such as "they are so well behaved!", "what wonderful appetites!", and "this has been such a long day and look how good they are being!". And it was a really, really long day. We met the tour bus at 8:30 a.m. on Sunday morning and it was advertised as being about eight hours. It was actually closer to ten hours before we saw home again. Our first stop was the Lam Tsuen Wishing Tree, which many tourbooks tout as being among the most famous tourist attraction in Hong Kong. Personally, I didn't think it was all that amazing. Stranger and more interesting was the famous bathroom at the Wishing Tree. Built to resemble the temple next to the Wishing Tree, the bathroom is filled with gorgeous live flowers, clean surfaces, and an actual baby changing table (the first I've seen in a Hong Kong bathroom!). I took a photo so you could experience the tranquility that can be found should you be in the area and need to use the facilities. Half our tour group was at least fifteen minutes late, which irked the tour guide and the other half of the group. Another good reason to avoid tours, right?<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <bR> <div> Next stop was the Yuen Long Stadium where we saw a procession of many Chinese Dragons and Lions. The strangest thing that just left me speechless was the first group to come out - Chinese men and women dressed in Scottish kilts, proudly playing bagpipes. It seemed so out of place with all the other Chinese costumes we saw. We are devoting a whole page on the website just for the festival, so make sure to check out the "What's New" page for all the pageantry. After we boarded the bus, the driver discovered that the door would not close. It was a holiday, so finding either a replacement bus or a repairman to fix the hydraulic door was going to be tricky. We were traveling with another bus so they decided that we'd all just squeeze onto the other bus. As we gathered our belongings, the bus driver made one more attempt and the door sprung closed. </div> <bR> <div> After finally leaving the stadium, we were driven to a restaurant where we were served a dim sum lunch. I was beyond nervous, since it was already 1:30 p.m. and I figured the kids were going to lose it at the table, but as I already told you, they were awesome. Ben even entertained everyone by dumping fried rice from his little bowl onto a plate and then back into the bowl again with an incredibly serious look on his face. After ten or so times, he would sample his "creation" and then go back to his mixing. After lunch we got settled back on the bus, only to find that the other bus had completely broken down, no way to fix it. So we made as much room as possible for the other group to join us and drove to our third and final stop, a temple in Sai Kung. The sweetest thing happened as we got off the bus. A large group of children from mainland China had been in the dragon parade earlier in the day, and they greeted us as we exited. I asked Nathan to go stand in the middle of them so I could take a photo. Sweet Nathan walked up to the children and started hugging them. The kids jumped back, like he was trying to hurt them. Their teacher scolded them and then the kids tried to say sorry to Nathan, but he just stood there looking totally dejected. I tried to tell him how proud of him I was, how his heart is so big. I kept getting teary eyed, thinking of him reaching towards these children with outstretched arms. But he clung to me, obviously hurt by the rejection, which pained me to see. Ah life. If only we could put our children in bubbles and keep them from ever being hurt!<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <bR> <div> At the temple were huge paper floats called <I>fa pau</I> on display<I>.</I> I was filmed by a television crew as our tour guide was telling me the meaning of the sprigs of ginger found on each one... each ginger branch represents a baby boy born in the village where the <I>fa pau</I> was constructed. One float had 20 branches, another only three. The tour guide said I was very lucky to have two sons. I felt a little chagrined thinking about some of the thoughts I'd had earlier in the week about these two boys, and marveled at this culture that prizes boys so much. As we waited for our bus to pick us up, we learned that the other broken bus had been replaced with a new one, so the second group got on their bus and left. We boarded our bus and noticed that it was incredibly hot and stuffy. Turned out that the air conditioner was broken. It was too hot to drive in that condition, and the other bus was long gone, so we all exited the bus and stood by the side of the road while we waited for thirty minutes for a replacement. It was just insane. It was indeed fun and we learned a lot from the tour guide that we wouldn't have if we'd gone on our own, but I'm swearing off on the big organized tours! At least until we're senior citizens and aren't allowed to drive ourselves anywhere any more!<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <bR> <div> <B>Shhh.... Hospital Zone Ahead!</B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <bR> <div> I thought last week was crazy... until this week started. On Monday you'll find out how we get an intimate experience with the local hospital (don't worry too much, we're all still alive and still have all our original parts). Come along as we do more exploring with Aunt Holly, and join me on my quest (successful) for a hair cut in Hong Kong! And again, thank you for all the great supportive messages and goodies we've gotten, right now it's keeping us going! THANK YOU! Now go take a look at what we've been up to this week on the Week Five photo album!  And don't forget to check out the "What's New" page as well!</div> <bR> <div> <B>Happy traveling!</B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <div> <B>Heather, Michael, Nathan, and Benjamin Chase</B></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="771" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" ALIGN="LEFT" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER HEIGHT= 292 ><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="1e9680e0.jpg" border=0 width="360" height="270" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> This food is really yummy, wanna share?</div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="1e7680e0.jpg" border=0 width="360" height="270" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Nathan at Fat Angelo's</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER HEIGHT= 292 ><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="20a680e0.jpg" border=0 width="360" height="270" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="20c680e0.jpg" border=0 width="360" height="270" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER HEIGHT= 308 ><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="1e3680e0.jpg" border=0 width="360" height="270" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Nathan and Auntie Holly</div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER WIDTH="376"><div> <IMG SRC="1e5680e0.jpg" border=0 width="360" height="270" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Nathan wanted to have his photo taken in front of this sign.  It describes one of his uncles.</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER HEIGHT= 382 ><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="1ee0e680.jpg" border=0 width="270" height="360" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> A Chase Family Portrait - Tourists</div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER WIDTH="376"><div> <IMG SRC="1ec680e0.jpg" border=0 width="360" height="270" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Hot Pot Dinner (Thomas sitting down, Anson standing and putting what looks like lawn clipping into the pot).</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER HEIGHT= 358 WIDTH="376"><div> <IMG SRC="1f0680e0.jpg" border=0 width="360" height="270" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Nathan the celebrity on Avenue of the Stars.  Everyone wanted their photo taken with him, but he declined all offers until this lady offered him a chocolate bar.  Can you see the giant smile on his face?</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER WIDTH="376"><div> <IMG SRC="1f2680e0.jpg" border=0 width="360" height="270" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> If I had this sign at our house, I wouldn't be hoarse from telling the boys to "keep it down" all the time!</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> Week 5: 5/1/05 </div> <div> First we went to <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#00BF00" FACE="Verdana" ><B>The Wishing Tree</B></FONT> - Then <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#00BF00" FACE="Verdana" ><B>Dragon Festival</B></FONT> - Lastly, we had <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#00BF00" FACE="Verdana" ><B>Dim Sum lunch and Temple</B></FONT></div> <bR> <div>  <A NAME="the_wishing_tree"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#00BF00" FACE="Verdana" ><B>"The Wishing Tree"</B></FONT></div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="771" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER HEIGHT= 398 ><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="1a20e680.jpg" border=0 width="270" height="360" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Lam Tsuen Wishing Tree</div> <bR> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="1a40e680.jpg" border=0 width="270" height="360" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Aunt Holly making a wish</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER HEIGHT= 382 ><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="1a60e680.jpg" border=0 width="270" height="360" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Benjamin eyeing the food</div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="1a8680e0.jpg" border=0 width="360" height="270" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> The Tin Hau Temple on the left,</div> <div> the famous bathroom in the back.</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER HEIGHT= 382 ><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="1aa0e680.jpg" border=0 width="270" height="360" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Parrots in someone's backyard</div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="1ac0e680.jpg" border=0 width="270" height="360" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> The interior of the Tin Hau Toilet</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="771" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 163 ><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="1b5e48d0.jpg" border=0 width="740" height="141" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER HEIGHT= 292 ><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="1ae680e0.jpg" border=0 width="360" height="270" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="1b0680e0.jpg" border=0 width="360" height="270" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Are we in Scotland or Hong Kong?</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER HEIGHT= 308 WIDTH="376"><div> <IMG SRC="1b9680e0.jpg" border=0 width="360" height="270" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> If my high school's cheerleading costumes had been this cool, I would have been a cheerleader!</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="1bb680e0.jpg" border=0 width="360" height="270" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Sweating at the Dragon parade</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER HEIGHT= 292 ><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="1bd680e0.jpg" border=0 width="360" height="270" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="1bf680e0.jpg" border=0 width="360" height="270" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER HEIGHT= 292 ><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="1c1680e0.jpg" border=0 width="360" height="270" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="1c3680e0.jpg" border=0 width="360" height="270" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER HEIGHT= 292 ><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="1c5680e0.jpg" border=0 width="360" height="270" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="1c7680e0.jpg" border=0 width="360" height="270" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER HEIGHT= 292 ><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="201680e0.jpg" border=0 width="360" height="270" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="203680e0.jpg" border=0 width="360" height="270" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER HEIGHT= 341 ><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="1c9680e0.jpg" border=0 width="360" height="270" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Holly with the lion heads.</div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER WIDTH="376"><div> <IMG SRC="1cb680e0.jpg" border=0 width="360" height="270" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> This dragon reminded us of our dearly departed cat, Bruce.  He used to get this exact look on his face and put his ears back just like this.  He never turned pink though.</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER HEIGHT= 325 ><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="1cd680e0.jpg" border=0 width="360" height="270" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> A cow walking down the sidewalk.</div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER WIDTH="376"><div> <IMG SRC="1cf680e0.jpg" border=0 width="360" height="270" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> The lion that ate Benjamin.  Actually, they were just playing with him and he was laughing so hard... we tried to get a picture.</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER HEIGHT= 292 ><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="1ff680e0.jpg" border=0 width="360" height="270" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Holly</div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="1fd680e0.jpg" border=0 width="360" height="270" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> The Chase Family</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <B>Dim Sum lunch and Temple</B></div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="771" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER HEIGHT= 292 ><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="1d1680e0.jpg" border=0 width="360" height="270" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Dim Sum is really yum.</div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="1d3680e0.jpg" border=0 width="360" height="270" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Ben the master chef inspects his creation.</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER HEIGHT= 415 ><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="1d50e680.jpg" border=0 width="270" height="360" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> The lobby of the hotel where we had lunch</div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER WIDTH="376"><div> <IMG SRC="1d70e680.jpg" border=0 width="270" height="360" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> A "Son's House".  If farmers have a boy, they get land to build a three storied house like this.  If they have a girl, they get nada.</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER HEIGHT= 292 ><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="1d9680e0.jpg" border=0 width="360" height="270" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Sweet Nathan hugging the kids from China</div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="1db680e0.jpg" border=0 width="360" height="270" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Dejected Nathan</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER ROWSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 292 ><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="1dd68e00.jpg" border=0 width="360" height="480" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> One of the <I>fa pau</I></div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="208680e0.jpg" border=0 width="360" height="270" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Two bunches of ginger on the <I>fa pau</I></div> <bR> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="1df680e0.jpg" border=0 width="360" height="270" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> My 15 seconds of fame.  </div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="1e1680e0.jpg" border=0 width="360" height="270" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Lucky lady with her two boys</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>