Summer Holiday Week 3 – Bonjour!

9-16 Aug 08 France, here we come!
Day 1 – We started our 7 days France holiday on Saturday morning. We took an hour train from Peterborough to London Kingscross and continue our 2.5 hours journey to Paris by Eurostar. It was fascinating taking a high-speed train crossing English Channel, we went ‘in’ England tunnel and came ‘out’ from France tunnel. We had our lunch at Hippopotamus Restaurant (Danny has a story to tell about ‘language barrier’) in Paris. After that, we walked to the Tour Eiffel, the most popular landmark in Paris, and walk through Champ de Mars, Les Invalides, Pont de Bir-Hakeim and Montparnasse. We love the Paris Boat tour as we got a glimpse of some of the city’s most mythical spots while lazily drift down the Seine River.

Under Eiffel Tower

Day 2 – A challenging and aggresive day because we wanted to see Paris attractions as much as we could, so we walked the WHOLE DAY. We went to a beautifully landscaped gardens, Jardin du Luxembourg; Notre-Dame, the extraordinary cathedral took over 180 years to complete; Memorial des Martyrs de la Deportation; Musee du Louvre, the greates museum in the world; Place de la Concorde; Champs-Elysees, the most famous throughfares in the world, again; Arc de Triomphe, the greates triumphal arches in the world, AGAIN. The kids walked very well although Yi Hong got grumpy towards the end.

The Building’s work started in 1163 but not completed until around 1345.

Musee du Louvre houses more than 35,000 works, its most famous works are Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, Hellenistic sculpture Venus de Milo, and Jan Vermeer’s The Lacemaker.

Place de la Concorde. In its central island is a 3000 year-old obelisk.

Arc de Triomphe was commissioned by Napoleon to commemorate his victorious battles.

Day 3 – In order to get a beautiful view over Paris (including Tour Eiffel), we visited Tour Maine-Montparnasse and stand on top of the 59th storey observation deck. The view was undescribable. After that, we went to Montmartre, home of famous Moulin Rouge and Sacre Coeur. At night, we had Crepe for our dinner.

On top of Tour Montparnasse

Sacre-Coeur stands on the highest point in Paris.

Day 4 – We took a 3.5 hours TGV train to Annecy, a city in southeastern France. The attractive little town situated on its lake and framed by mountains.

Annecy – We love it!

Day 5 – We walked around Lake Annecy. The lake claimed to be the cleanest lake in Europe. The kids love taking pedal boat on the lake. Yi Xuen enjoyed pedalling while Yi Hong liked to take control of the boat. A walk in nature forest was our activity in the afternoon.

Lake Annecy

Our reward after 1.5 hours tracking

Day 6 – Danny rented a car and I got really worried because we never experience a left hand drive car before. I got confused with the traffice and rules. Now I understand the feelings of my American friends driving in England. We drove to La Clusaz, famous with it’s ski resort, which was situated in French Alps and close to Geneva. It was BEAUTIFUL and the best part of our trip.

La Clusaz – Look at the scenery at the back

Danny climbed to the top of Col de Bolme 2616m

La Crusaz village. We should have stayed there for a night or two.
Day 7 – We kind of slow down a lot due to the bad weather and Danny’s gout hurt. I tried to get pain-killer in the Pharmacy but unfortunately it was a public holiday in France and most of the shop closed. I was told there was only one pharmacy opened and when I got there, there was a long queue, furthermore they don’t speak English. Luckily, there was a pharmacist who could understand a little bit of English. We communicated thru writing. He was so kind and gave me the medicine and valuable advise.
Finally, we finished our France trip and we feel so good to be home.

Reunion BBQ

Last Sunday, Chai had invited us to her London home for BBQ. Chai is considered as Danny’s family friend and Amy’s close friend. Chai family & the ‘Wong’ family make up 18 of us. We had such a wonderful time and can’t wait for the next ‘re-union’. Thank you Chai & David for your fabulous warm hospitality.

17 years ago
Can you spot Auntie Andrea, Chai, Jenine and Danny?

Summer Holiday – Uncle Calvin Visit

Calvin, the youngest cousin in my family, and is YH & YX’s uncle. In my memory, he is a cheeky, active, smart boy. I used to take him to movie, watching Power Ranger with him, ‘bribe’ him with ice-cream and toys etc. He is 16 years old now. No longer a little boy, but a MAN. He came to London for holiday and stay with us for 2 days. We went to Stamford, Peterborough City Centre and visit Peterborough Cathedral. I enjoyed talking to him, getting to know more about how he has been since moving to Hong Kong, listening to his adventures to Egypt, Austria, climbing Mount Kinabalu, and his plans for his future. I was pleased to see him as a mature, outgoing, confident young man. And I’ll imagine how Yi Hong will be when he is 16.
Then

Now

Summer Holiday – Week 1

6 weeks Summer Holiday has started! No more rushing in the morning; no more restriction on TV or games; no more early bed time…. basically my kids went wild in holiday. Nevertheless, I enjoy to have them at home, I enjoy spending time with them, I enjoy summer holiday too!
We started first week of holiday by having Joshua and Emily (YH & YX’s cousins) over to our house for 5 days. We picked them up at the train station on Monday morning. It was a hot day, we set up a children activity pool in our garden. The children had ice-creams and enjoyed playing water slide and fighting with their waterguns. On Tuesday, we watched ‘Wall-E’ in the cinema. A picnic lunch with the Morrow at Ferry Meadow on Wednesday. At night, the children make pizza for dinner. They were very satisfied with their ‘product’ and planned to open a pizza restaurant called ‘goofy pizza parlour’. We went to Activity World on cloudy Thursday, where it is an indoor play area with slides, bridges, climbing frame, kids gyms, ballpools and discovery dig for gems and fossil. Lastly, the children play bowling at the Lakeside Superbowl on Friday.
The boys enjoy playing games/computer at home besides playing football with Sam. Girls love playing barbie doll, arts & crafts, watching ‘Hannah Montana’. However, they all love baking. They worked together and made delicious puddings like sponge cake, bread and butter pudding. Also, they produce their own ‘Britain Got Talent’ show, performed singing, rapping, playing guitar, beat boxing. BRAVO!

In Summary:
1 boy + 1 girl = noisy (a lot of arguments are due to different of interest)
2 boys + 2 girls = 1/2 ‘peace’ (because they have partner and they can play with their own stuff) + 1/2 ‘war’ (you should know why)

Yi Hong’s Blog

I was reading my friends’ blog last night while my 7 years old son, Yi Hong, watching me. He asked me if he could have a blog too. So, we created one. I was amazed looking at how fast he learnt to write a blog and posting his pictures. Sooner, he will be better than me.

http://www.yihong01.blogspot.com/