Stop and Smell the Ferns

There hasn't been a morning in the last couple days where Vancouverites woke up to sunshine. Thought we'd make good of it today and enjoy the outdoors...which led to an uncomplicated and enjoyable hike along the hills above Spanish Banks.

Where's Waldo?

Looking tall for a change

Waiting for the token weekend cup of Starbucks before heading home

Manga Mini Me

A sign that I have had too much free time and it's time to head back to work tomorrow. I'm not resisting it anymore. Plus, the weather here is just plain gray...rainy and chilly. It's time.

You too can create your own manga-mini-me.

Summery Saturday

Saturday afternoon was spent exploring White Rock.

Getting there

Detour to the farming community where this lil doggie loved hanging her head out the window, barking at the sheep. The Husband and I decided that if Lei were to be a sheepdog she would no doubt lead all the furry creatures astray.

Looks like a the run of the mill red farmhouse but on closer inspection, it was uber modern with large glass windows.

Another detour to a historic farm house site with a quiet little marina.

Then...we headed to the beach at White Rock. Did you know that dogs are not actually allowed on the promenade or beach? How doggone dog unfriendly! So we walked on the sidewalk...the buildings there are quite quirky.

Then, Leila got thirsty...

So, she drank water out of a bottlecap.

The End

End of Summer Celebration

Tonight we went out to celebrate the end of what has been a fab summer. [You know... focusing on the positive instead of the lingering dread of going back to work on Monday.]

Coffee and window shopping on Robson

Dinner at one of our fave restaurants, Guu... a Japanese tapas place that we've been frequenting for the past 7 years since our UBC days

Eggplant aka aubergine

Ahi Tuna

Seared Salmon Sashimi

Beef Sashimi

The Husband and I decided on a theme with included goals for ourselves, for this school year...more to come on that later. Off to scrapbook myself silly tonight...was up til 3am last night scrapping our trip photos. I estimate one more late night should be enough to finish it off. Did I mention that I am enamored with my latest and greatest crafting tool...the fantabulous Cricut? [a birthday gift from The Husband] Oh the things I can create!

Snapshots at Spanish Banks

Our summer vacay is drawing to a sad end and my thoughts have slowly been turning back to how I will decorate my classroom this year, what things need to be photocopied for the first week of school, what units I will teach this year and all the other seemingly endless things that need to be done before the kids come pouring into the school in a week and a half.

Sad News

My favorite blogger NIENIE and the only blog that I follow regularly was in a plane crash on Saturday with her husband. They have 4 young children and are in critical condition.

Home Sweet Home

We're finally home after a month of traveling around Asia. My grandma was sad to see us go and it was so much fun hanging out with all the cousins (who are all now connected through Facebook).

Our days which have been comprised of eating and shopping while in Singapore will now involve killing jetlag, finding places for all the clothes and stuff we dragged home, and psyching ourselves to go back to work.

For the record we left with two large bags and returned home today with four big bags! Most of it is food that we know we'll be craving and won't be able to find here.

Happy 82nd Birthday Grandpa!

Today we celebrated Grandpa's Birthday at Uncle Jeff's apartment. In what is becoming tradition everytime we get together, the cousins (even though we're all in our 20's now) holed up in one of the bedrooms practicing a song and dance routine for Grandpa and also put together a photo scrapbook. I would put a video but it's just embarassing and will remain within the Lim family!

Singing to the Carpenter's...his favorite

Cousins

Tonight we had a gathering of the Lim family cousins. I rarely get a chance to see them so it was a blast hanging out. The last time we were all together was in 2006 and before that 1996.

Homeland Update

We are in hot and humid Singapore for the next week. Our main agenda here in my homeland is to visit with family (love my cousins and grandparents) and to eat, Eat and EAT. The food here is super yummy and there is nothing where we live that quite compares. Since we arrived two days ago, we haven't been hungry as we're trying to make sure we get a taste of all the local food before we leave.

Here are a couple of our favorites.

Ice kachang is an icy dessert that The Husband loves and has pretty much after every meal. The toppings are red beans, coconut milk, palm sugar, jelly and palm seeds.


My fave noodle dish hokkien mee which is served on a special leaf and is fried with prawns, squid and absolutely delish.


Also, we visited the Singapore Zoo and Night Safari today. It is one of the top zoos in the world. The animals are truly amazing. The Night Safari is also impressive. It is the only one of its kind in the world. It only opens after dark and visitors take a tram around the safari viewing nocturnal animals in a man-made but natural looking habitat. It's pretty amazing. Unfortunately we have no photos of the Night Safari as it all takes place in the dark with minimal lighting, and for obvious reasons flash photography is banned.


The Husband with our cousin's son, Tayne


Getting up close and personal with an ostrich. The way the zoo is designed, there are no bars or cages and animal enclosures are designed to look natural. As a result, you can get a pretty good look at some of the animals.


White tigers

Hotels Galore

Over the last 3 weeks we have stayed in 9 hotels and written write ups for 6 of them. Some have been tiny (Tokyo), some with impeccable service (Tubkaak) and others huge!

We are currently writing an article about the Sofitel Silom in Bangkok and they've comped us the mother of all hotel suites...bigger than my apartment and classroom combined. The only downsides are that we're only here for one night as we're heading to my Motherland - Singapore tomorrow morning and being the perfect party suite, all our friends are somewhere oceans away!

I Heart Krabi

Krabi is one of my favorite places in the world. The natural beauty...the sea, islands, limestone karsts, beach.... is amazing. We've spent the last 6 days here and I don't want to leave. Anyone looking for a beach paradise...this is the place to come. It is only an hour flight from Bangkok.

Higlights from the past couple days:

Sunset at Tubkaak Beach

"Work...What's That?"
Pristine beaches on Bamboo Island

Maya Bay...THE BEACH which Leonardo DiCaprio made famous in the said movie.

Monkey watching on the beach. I was actually quite terrified of them and horrified to see some other tourists allowing them to climb on their backs and heads.

Snorkeling at the Phi Phi Islands and in the open sea. The best experience ever! Tropical fish by the hundreds face to face with me. Thanks Dad for the underwater camera.

Feeding the tropical fish in shallow waters at the Hong Islands. Had them literally eating out of my hand. As soon as I stepped in the water, the entire school came swarming. That's a slice of white bread in my hand.

Bamboo swing on the sand bar at some Island...can't remember the name.

Krabi is also home to my all time favorite hotel, The Tubkaak. It's a smaller boutique hotel where the service is absolutely flawless and unbelievable. We actually hadn't planned to stay there this trip but couldn't resist. All the staff welcomed us back by our first names almost immediately and they even thought to give us the exact room we had two years ago. I have no idea how they do it but they do. Highly Highly recommended.


P.S. Blogging has been difficult here in Thailand for two reasons. Internet connections are shoddy at best and The Husband, who recently discovered blogging, has hogged the laptop. :)