OM5K Group Day

Today, sunny, with partial clouds and a high of 28 degree Celsius. What better weather can one ask for? Luckily our OM5K group day is happening on this day. By the time Hai, Dan, and I left from work, some of the group members were already on their way to the cottage. Rene picked up some beer, Daniel and Helen detoured to rent two kayaks from MEC, and I picked up some fresh wild blueberries before turning into the cottage. Steve brought the bocce balls, James brought sausages, Big Tim coffee, and utensils, and Bertrand carried pops and chips. The group day kicked off when Rene started flipping burgers on the grill. Shortly after the second batch started, the gas ran out. Luckily we were almost ready for dessert. Hai brought yummy cherry cheesecake to share with us. Without any delay, Helen and James set out for a kayak run. The rest of us stayed and chatted away on topics of HAMs amateur radio and gardening. As the afternoon progressed, Rene, James, and Bertrand dived into Ottawa river, while Roger and Helen went for another round of kayak. I took the role of taking pictures. Snap, snap, snap, the smiles and laughs were captured in the camera. Time goes by, but good times will always stay in memory.

Montebello

The day following the Phantom of the Opera show, my parents and I went to a small town called Montebello that is about an hour east of Ottawa. I always heard that there is a fancy Fairmont hotel called the chateau Montebello. Besides that, I knew very little about the town. When we arrived, we first visited the star-looking chateau - an entire wooden structure. Then we visited the Manoir Papineau, the residence of the famous politician Louis Joseph Papineau who played a major role in the Patriots rebellion in Lower Canada. After lunch at a local restaurant Burger at Bedaine, we drove up to an animal park called the "Parc Omega Montebello". Like Park Safari, this is a mainly drive-through park and animal can be fed through the car. In the park, large Wapitis (the largest deers in the park) were standing on the road, eagerly waiting for carrots . Wild boars (wild pig of European origin) were just busy digging earth to find their own food. The chubby black bear stared at every single car who passed by them. Buffaloes were resting on the prairie, occasionally blocking the road to show their importance. There were also white wolves, timber wolves, beavers, red deers, fallows, moose, raccoons, and coyotes.

Phantom of the Opera

On Saturday, August 25, I took my parents to the Phantom of the Opera show in Ottawa. I picked this event to celebrate my mom's birthday. On Saturday morning, my parents arrived at my place in Ottawa. After lunch, grocery shopping, and all the usual weekend routine, we readied ourselves for the big show in the evening. Before leaving for the National Art Center, I looked up the synopsis online to get a basic idea about the opera. Promptly after 7PM, we left for the 8PM show. When we arrived, many cars were already lining up at the entrance to the NAC parking lot. We entered the theater along with a stream of people, young and elderly. Many women were dressed in beautiful night gowns. I put on a sleeveless blue silk dress for the event and my mom wore silk blazer and short pants. After a short wait, we followed the crowd into the theater. Our seats were on the balcony level, which is above ground, mezzanine, and amphitheater. Luckily we brought a binocular.

As the curtain was raised, the show started with the auction of the Paris Opera House. When the chandelier was presented, the seventy years old Raoul started telling the story about the Phantom of the opera...A copy of the synopsis can be found at http://www.reallyuseful.com/rug/shows/phantom/background.htm

Throughout the show, Marni Raab, Greg Mills, and Sean MacLaughlin (singing for Christine, the Phantom, and Raoul) used their incredibly beautiful voice to deliver the pleasing melodies of the opera. The stage was unbelievably complex. For one scene, it was set up for an opera house, in the next scene, it was quickly changed to the Phantom's hideout place at the dark and damp riverside.

By the time the curtain was dropped, I was still mesmerized by the energy and vibrancy of the show. I am so glad that my parents enjoyed the show as much as I did. It could not be a better present for my mom's birthday.

MEN Golf Tournament

The department of Metro Ethernet Networks organized a golf tournament at Mendaley's Green yesterday. I signed up for the tournament along with James, Jason, and Roger in my group. We called ourselves "Wen and her whewhackers". Although I was recovering from a cold, I still didn't want to pass on this socializing opportunity and of course another chance to practice my "whacks". The whether was favorable, cloudy, low wind, and a mild low 20 degrees Celsius. The games started around noon when the carts start to drift off to various holes. The entire 18-hole games took us more than 6 hours to complete. By the time we returned the cart and handed in our scorecard, everyone was covered in thin layer of dust. Our team did very well. We scored an overall of "-1", higher than average performance. We ended the day enjoying Italian Buffet and prize draws.

My birthday

Last weekend marked my final weekend before turning 28. My friend Wei had never been to Montreal before. Since she is going back to school in Thunder Bay, we decided to take her to Montreal for a day trip. Coincidentally it was also my birthday. Around 9:30AM, Dennis, Tony, Wei, and I were already on our way. Two hours later, we arrived at St-Joseph Oratory. As songs echoed in our ears, we walked past Mass that was taking place inside the church. The escalator took us to a large balcony, from where we could see half of Montreal. After a dozen camera clicks, we headed towards Mount Royal. It's a large hill at the center of the Montreal Island. At the hill top, the view of Downtown Montreal is wrapped under our eyes. The skyline of downtown Montreal is blended with St-Laurent river winding from behind and the Rougement mountain far in the horizon. Climbing down Mount Royal, we were all hungry and thirsty, so we stopped by the world famous Schwartz' restaurant for Hebrew style smoked meat. The fatty and juicy meat was so delicious that we all came out of the restaurant with a full tummy. As Dennis suggested, we went down to the famous shopping district of St-Catherine Street to satisfy our shopping eagerness. We shopped from Guess to BR, from Mexx to Zara, until the stores were closed. With our broken feet from too much walking, we headed towards Old Montreal. After a tedious drive-around to find parking spot, we were able to stand by and enjoy some local Artists perform stunts and shows. IAlso, we enjoyed a meal at a pub in Old Montreal in the music of guitar and Beatles songs. Knowing that it was my birthday, my friends purposely drove around trying to find cheese cake. We ended up at the Montreal Casino. After two rounds of trials at the Roulette, we ended the day savouring the cheese cake at the Casino.

Banff

After Emily and Bernard's wedding, I signed up to a tour to the Canadian Rockies. I've always heard about the beauty of the Rockies, but this would be my first time to see it with my naked eyes. In excitement, I embarked on Brewster's tour bus, heading towards Banff.

The bus passed the flat prairies. Suddenly high and rocky mountains appeared in my eyes. It wasn't one mountain, but a series of mountains, one after another. They were all different in shape. Some were sharp, others had flat tops. As the bus turned, a lake filled the bottom of the mountains. The bus continued winding in the mountains. Shortly the bus entered the Banff National Park and arrived at the town of Banff.

The bus first stopped at the Hot Spring place. Before the Banff National Park opened, three railroad workers from the Canadian Pacific Railway company accidentally found this Hot Spring and opened up hot bath business to tourists. Consequently the company built hotels around the Hot Spring, including the current Spring Hotel in Banff. This marked the beginning of theBanff National Park. After the visit to the Hot Spring, the bus took us to the town of Banff. Although the town is essentially a tourist resort, it has all the essential facilities, such as a post office, a pharmacy, a grocery store, a public library, and a city hall. The streets were stacked with gift shops and brand name stores like Luis Vuitton, Gucci, Roots, and Coast Moutain Equipment. Like everywhere else, it also has Mcdonald's (also called the American Embassy). Guess where did I have lunch?

After lunch, the bus took us to a Fall nearby and then the Sulfur Moutain to ride the Gondola. Sitting inside the Gondola, I felt bufferflies in my tummy. It was going as fast as a rollercoaster. Within 8 minutes, I was already at the top of the moutain, which is over 2000m in elevation. The moutain took its name because of its richness in sulfur. At the crest, the town of Banff appeared as an jewel carved within the mountains. The emerald-coloreed Bow river snaked between the majestic mountains. One side of the mountains was carpeted with evergreen pine trees, yet turning around, the other side of the moutains were bare of subalpines. Breathing in the fresh air, the scene was so majestic and pristine.

After coming down by the Gondola, the bus returned to Calgary. Even though the view of Banff was still floating in my head, I was already anxious to get onto my next trip to Lake Louise on the following day.

Wedding and trip to the West

Two weeks ago, I went to Calgary to attend Emily and Bernard's wedding. I've known both Emily and Bernard since university, and Emily has been one of my best friends. When I received an email from Emily asking me to be her Maid of Honor, I was both thrilled and honored. It would be my first experience as Maid of Honor. I couldn't be more excited. The wedding was scheduled for July 28, in Calgary. Since it's in the summer season, I decided to take this opportunity to also plan a mini vacation to Banff and Vancouver after the wedding.

I flew up to Calgary on July 25 to help the couple with pre-wedding prep. There wasn't much for me to do, except decorating the arc for the reception. Emily's cousin Ny also arrived early, the next day, Emily and Bernard took us to a nice Steakhouse, called the "Smuggler's Inn". As true for Alberta's fame for its beef, the steakhouse offered the best steak that I'd ever had. It was so tender and juicy. It will probably be the only reason for me to go back to Calgary again...

On July 27, all the other guests, including the groomsman and Emily's family arrived. The rehearsal was held in the afternoon, followed by a Chinese dinner.

On the wedding day, we got up extremely early. A hair dresser arrived in our room to do our hair. Around 9AM, we all went down to Emily's room (she stayed at the same hotel as us) to help her dress. Just her wedding gown alone had three layers, not mentioning all the jewelries that she had to bear for the day. At 10AM sharp, the groom and his "gang" came up to crash the door. As bridesmaids, our duty is not to let them in. As planned, we asked for $1314 as bribery (1314 sounds like "one lifetime" in Chinese). Instead of $1314, which was too much for them to chip out, the best man offered to do 50 push-ups. We didn't buy his offer and insisted on the money, despite his effort of completing all 50 push-ups. The groom got a bit nervous. Luckily his "gang" came up with an idea of separating the four digits in four sets of push-ups. Four of the "gangsters" including the groom did "1", "3", "1", and "4" push-ups each. OK, we shall let them pass, since their sincerity was clearly shown through their wits and physical efforts. We let them crash the door to get into Emily's room, where she was already waiting impatiently. Bernard handed Emily a nice rose Bouquet. She gracefully accepted it and held Bernard's hand to walk out of the room. Next, the couple performed the tea ceremony. In Chinese (especially Cantonese) tradition, the groom and bride need to offer tea to their elderly to show their thankfulness and respect.

By the time the tea ceremony was completed, the wedding ceremony was about to start. Ny and I followed the bride and groom's car to the "garden". The garden is an indoor greenhouse on the top floor of a downtown commercial building. When we got there, the wedding officiant and most guests had already arrived. In the sound of "Wedding March", the bride and groom walked to the arc, where the officiant was waiting. When the music stopped, the red and blue sand was mixed, the vows were exchanged, and the wedding certificate was signed.

Following the ceremony, the couple, the groomsmen and bridesmaids proceeded to "Mcgrill's" park for photoshooting. Under the flash bulbs, the couple posed and reposed to savor and to leave their best looks in memory.

At around 5PM, I accompanied Emily to the reception after a quick make-up touch-up as guests arrived in streams. Around 6PM, the couple, the family from both sides, the groomsmen, and the bridesmaids followed the lion dance into the dinning hall. We were seated at the long head table facing the guests. When the lion dance finished, dinner was served. It was a 12 course meal, including expensive fresh abalone. The two MC took control and filled the evening with games, slide show, singing performances, and speeches. I was certain that Emily and Bernard enjoyed the evening as much as we did.

Around 9PM, the evening finally wrapped up and ended a memorable wedding day, filled with excitement and laughters.