2010年5月12日 星期三
Sydney Trip and Yvonne's Wedding
Dad amd Mom left for Sydney near midnight on April 28th for Yvonne's wedding. Yvonne arranged for Dad and Mom to stay at the service aparment near their place. Yvonne took them to Hyde Park and to visit the largest cathedral in Sydney (Mom forgot the name as both of them were tired from the flight).
May 2nd was Yvonne's church wedding day. Yvonne arranged a van to take us around that day. All of us arrived at the church after 11. Yvonne was such a gorgeous bride! The church was small but had a very comfortable, warm, serene atmosphere. When Dad walked Yvonne down the aisle and gave her hand to Chris, for a moment, we thought that Dad was going to cry.....It was very touching. The priest gave his blessing and Chris' friends read some Bible verses. There were not many guests, most were close friends and relative. It was really a beautiful wedding.
On April 30, Yvonne took Dad, Mom and her bridesmaid Felicia to take public transportation, then the ferry to Watson Bay. They did a lot of walking that day according to Dad. The views were so breath-taking that Dad didn't really complain as it was worth the walk. On the way back, they passed a nude beach, an interesting sight.
The wedding rehearsal was held in the evening of the 30th.
On May 1st, Yvonne helped Dad and Mom to check in at the Sebel Hill hotel where Sandy and Cynthia's families stayed. The two families arrived Sydney around noon. In the afternoon, Yvonne, Mom and Felicia went to China town to get their hair and nail done in preparation of the big day tomorrow. The Chuang and Chan's familes had dinner together at Chinatown that night.
May 2nd was Yvonne's church wedding day. Yvonne arranged a van to take us around that day. All of us arrived at the church after 11. Yvonne was such a gorgeous bride! The church was small but had a very comfortable, warm, serene atmosphere. When Dad walked Yvonne down the aisle and gave her hand to Chris, for a moment, we thought that Dad was going to cry.....It was very touching. The priest gave his blessing and Chris' friends read some Bible verses. There were not many guests, most were close friends and relative. It was really a beautiful wedding.
Everyone went back to the hotel to get some rest bofore we left again about 5 for the cocktail before the wedding banquet at a very fine restaurant at the Rocks. There were 7 round tables named after each city the couple will visit on their honeymoon. The dishes were delicious.
On May 3rd, Dad and Mom went to Blue Mountain National Park with Sandy and Cynthia's families. Though both the them had visited Blue Mountain before with their university classmates only a year ago, but it was an entirely different feeling this time with their dear grandchildren. The funny thing was Dad didn't remember that he had seen all these sceneries until when we were going to ride the cable train down the steep hill!
When the tour guide took us to the Olympic Stadium, Dad remembered immediately that they had also visited here before. The Olympic fire was put on top of the fountain during Olympic games.
After a buffet dinner at Starcity Hotel, Dad and Mom left for the airport to fly back to Taipei.
The Taipie reception for Yvonne and Chris was held on Saturday May 8th. Darway was finally able to get back to Taipei the evening before to attend. This is one of a very few occassions that the whole family got together.
After a buffet dinner at Starcity Hotel, Dad and Mom left for the airport to fly back to Taipei.
The Taipie reception for Yvonne and Chris was held on Saturday May 8th. Darway was finally able to get back to Taipei the evening before to attend. This is one of a very few occassions that the whole family got together.
The theme of the first entrance at the reception was the "passing on of happiness and love", so Dad and Mom walked down the aisle together first before Yvonne and Chris walked in. It was very sweet to see Dad and Mom holding hands walking in as though to celebrate their over 40 years of happy marriage.
Dad, Mom, Yvonne and Chris toasted to all guests after the guest of honor and Dad gave their speech and the couple filled up the champagne fountain.
The theme of the second entrance was "fruitful family / abundance of children". Chris held Ryan's hand and Yvonne held Athena's hand while walking in together amid the beautiful music. The two kids were super behaved and their attire not only matched each other but also matched Yvonne's red satin dress and Chris' tie. It was a funny sight to see Sandy and Cynthia walking 3 steps behind the foursome to watch over the kids like bodyguards.
The reception went well with beautiful bride/handsome groom, good food, nice music and happy guests. Yvonne and Chris will fly off to KL, Malaysia for groom side's reception on May 9th. Darway and Cynthia's family will also leave on the same day. It will probably be another year before the whole Chuang's family get together again. There are already suggestions to go to Japan for the next family gathering. All of us really looking forward to it.
2010年1月8日 星期五
New Year Trip 2010
Dad and Mom went on a 3-day trip from December 31, 2009 to January 2, 2010 with Sandy's family. Dad and Mom took a taxi to meet Sandy's family at her house about 6:15 am to go to the airport together. All took a direct flight to Xiamen, China and arrived before 11 am. The first stop was the 集美學區, the campus of a famous university with a beautiful lake.
We visited the house of the founder of the university inside the campus. Mom really liked the flowers there and we took the only family photo on this trip here. Luckily Thomas and Ryan were quite cooperative for the photo.
During the trip, Sandy found out that Dad, among us all, was also the one who loved to take group photos the most. Mom and Sandy usually refrained from taking group photos, but Dad would be very enthusiastic and joined the group photo happily.
The next moring, the group visited another famous temple built from many giant rocks. Dad jokingly said that he was so strong that he pushed the two big rocks apart to form the trails for others to follow..........
We visited the island of Gulangyu in the afternoon. It is a small island off the coast of Xiamen with many different architectural style of mansions and buildings. It used to house 13 ambassies from England, Japan, Spain, etc. Most of the mansions had been preversed in very good condition. The walk among these buildings was relaxing except for the crowds at the docks and on the ferry.
On the third day, January 2nd, we took the ferry directly to Kinmen where Dad had served in the army 50 years ago. Back then, Taiwan and China were still at war, hostile toward each other with occassionally bombing attacks. It is hard to imagine that nowadays, a ferry of 30 minutes could take people to and from Xiamen and Kinmen, the shortest distance between China and Taiwan.
The first stop on Kinmen was 莒光樓, where the whole group took turns taking picture with the newly elected mayor of the town金城鎮. Mom really liked the unique telephone booth there as you could tell that you are in Kinmen!
We visited the house of the founder of the university inside the campus. Mom really liked the flowers there and we took the only family photo on this trip here. Luckily Thomas and Ryan were quite cooperative for the photo.
The next stop was an famous temple, 南普陀寺, built a few hundred years ago. The stones and walls in the temples were carving from famed people long ago, quite interesting.
The group of about 30 people stayed at a hotel with over 1600 rooms. It has a large atrium and a giant lobby. We had to remember which entrance and which elevator to get to our rooms.
The new year eve dinner party was held at a beach front restaurant. The boys had fallen asleep on the way so Dad carried Ryan while Ivan carried Thomas off the bus to the restaurant. We did not realized that the group, including Ivan, had turned the corner as we were following our local tour guide B and the Taiwan guide. (There were two local guides, Guide A is for arranging all the trip details, and Guide B is for introducing the scenary spots). Guide B mistaken took Dad + Ryan, Mom and Sandy to a restaurant next door where we would have lunch the next day. Dad even carried Ryan up the second floor before Sandy realized we were with the wrong tour group! Guide B also didn't know where we were suppose to go!!! She had to call tour guide A to come over to get us. Dad was super upset as Ryan was getting very heavy after the long walk. It was the joke of the day as we got lost with two tour guides!!!
Everyone enjoyed the food, the wine and the karaoke at dinner. Dad joined the group dance, singing and clapping and had a fun and relaxing time. Thomas and Ryan just devoured all the strawberried they picked in the afternoon while the adults were busy having fun. Dad, though the only one over 60, could certainly mingled well with the group. Would upload some partying photos later.
During the trip, Sandy found out that Dad, among us all, was also the one who loved to take group photos the most. Mom and Sandy usually refrained from taking group photos, but Dad would be very enthusiastic and joined the group photo happily.
The next moring, the group visited another famous temple built from many giant rocks. Dad jokingly said that he was so strong that he pushed the two big rocks apart to form the trails for others to follow..........
We visited the island of Gulangyu in the afternoon. It is a small island off the coast of Xiamen with many different architectural style of mansions and buildings. It used to house 13 ambassies from England, Japan, Spain, etc. Most of the mansions had been preversed in very good condition. The walk among these buildings was relaxing except for the crowds at the docks and on the ferry.
On the third day, January 2nd, we took the ferry directly to Kinmen where Dad had served in the army 50 years ago. Back then, Taiwan and China were still at war, hostile toward each other with occassionally bombing attacks. It is hard to imagine that nowadays, a ferry of 30 minutes could take people to and from Xiamen and Kinmen, the shortest distance between China and Taiwan.
The first stop on Kinmen was 莒光樓, where the whole group took turns taking picture with the newly elected mayor of the town金城鎮. Mom really liked the unique telephone booth there as you could tell that you are in Kinmen!
It was shopping time after lunch, rouring and buying Kinmen souveniors like 貢糖 and 鋼刀. We were worried that we may have to stay over at Kinmen for the night as the rain and the heavy fog had caused the airport to close for a while and several flights were delayed. Luckily our flight departed on schedule and we headed back to Taipei tired but happy.
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