Tuesday night with Lisa and Friends.

Tuesday night I again met up with some of my local friends at a bar called The Honest Lawyer in downtown London. I'd actually met up with this group the day after I came back to Canada, but forgot my camera that night because I was still so jetlagged.

Lisa To (the girl with the glasses in the picture above) is one of my closest and best friends. She's an honest and kindhearted girl who was one of my first classmates when I returned to school in 2000 and had the misfortune to sit down next to Rob. Over the years we've gone through a lot together, and I consider her like family. Lisa is always curious, and never stops asking questions, which since I seem to have most of the answers she's looking for, has made for a great friendship! She's studying hard to be an engineer, and I have no doubts she'll make a great one after she graduates. ^_^ She's just got to survive one more year... 

Janet

Janet is a smart (too smart, sometimes) and sassy Shanghai lady studying Economics at my local University. She's one of the most friendly and ambitious women I know, and she brings a taste of Shanghai style to poor dull London. I have known Janet for about 3 years now, and consider myself lucky to call her my friend. 

Doreen

This cutie is Doreen, Lisa's roommate who I have known for about 4 years now. Originally from GuangDong province in China, Doreen has matured a lot in the time I've known her, from a awkward and shy girl to a forward thinking young woman. She's also got good taste in men, apparently, since a Taiwanese guy won her heart not long before this picture was taken. (Sorry guys!) 

The Whole Gang

You're probably wondering why everyone in this picture but me is Chinese even though I'm in Canada. No, this is not a picture from Taiwan that I have put in here by mistake. The answer is that when I went back to school the second times, the first friends I made there Lisa, and Anthea (pictured later) were both Chinese-Canadians. Thanks to them, my network of friends I made at the school while I was there were almost all Chinese! I guess you could say it was training for my time in Taiwan, and one of the reasons Chinese culture is so familiar to me even though I am Canadian. (From left to right, pictured here is Doreen, Lisa, Janet, Some Canadian, Connie, and Arthur.) 

Aunt Marion

On Wednesday, my family members from Hamilton came down to have a visit with us and a small birthday party for my Aunt Elsie. They couldn't make it to the Christening because of the bad weather, and we were very disappointed, but in the end things worked out very well as we had a smaller party with them alone. Pictured here is my Aunt Marion (my mother's younger sister), who came with my Uncle Tom, my grandmother, and my Aunt Elise (my grandmother's sister). 

Nana

A beautiful picture of my grandmother, Dorothy Ollerton, a wonderful lady of 95 who has been a big part of my life since I was little. Although now she is old and not as spry as she used to be, she still has her quick wit and her sense of humour. With a twinkle in her eye, she's always ready to make a comment or tease her grandson every chance she gets. Apple Pie! 

Christmas in February

My family had saved Christmas Presents for both Connie and myself until we got there, so this was not just a birthday party, but also a Christmas party! Here's Connie opening a card from my relatives. 

And finally the lady of the hour...

My Aunt Elsie, who by the time you read this will be officially 97 years old! She's been a Great Great Aunt in every sense of the word, and each birthday we celebrate with her is one I cherish a lot. A wonderful lady who always puts others first, I can't say enough about her so I will just say Happy Birthday Auntie! ^__^ 

Bunny Charlotte

On Thursday, Connie and I hopped onto a train and sped off to Toronto to go and stay with my sister's family for a few days. We had quite the misadventure in Toronto Union Station, managing to miss not one, but two city trains before we finally got one which would take us to my sister's home. Eventually we got there and got to spend a lot of time visiting with the Jacklin family, including her two golden retrievers Megan and Eden. We had a great Swiss Chalet dinner and had a quiet night at home after a long trip. 

Charlotte and Megan

My sister's two children, my niece Charlotte and her dog Megan. 

Zoe

My sister has two cats, Stu, and this little cutie, Zoe. (Pronounced Zo-ee) Zoe is the young curious cat who gets into everything and loves to snuggle with people as well as keep them company no matter where they are in the house. (Especially the bathroom.) 

Stu

This is Stu (short for "Stu-pid Cat!") my sister's other feline master. He saunters around the house as if he owns the place, which I suppose in a way he does. I had to kick him off the bed a few times because he likes to sleep with people when he can get away with it. 

Old Friends

Saving the best for last, Connie and I spent our last full day in Canada in Toronto shopping and visiting with my best friends Chad, and then Anthea (pictured here with yours truely). It was a hectic and busy day of running around, but a lot of fun and I bought far too many books as I prepared to return to Taiwan. Chad, who is too camera-shy to appear here, is a storyboard artist in Toronto's animation industry, and has probably helped to make most of the cartoons that have come out of that city in the last 10 years or so. He's one of my oldest and best friends, and one of the funniest and most cynical people I know. I would say I miss him a lot, but the truth is we've lived in different cities for a long time, so we're used to being apart and only seeing each other once or twice a year. If he can just get over his MSN phobia, we'll be talking a lot more in the future too!

I met the lovely Anthea during my first year at the University of Western Ontario, and we've been the best of friends ever since. We sat down across from each other in the school cafeteria and started to talk, and in a way that conversation has never ended despite the passing of the past 5 years. No matter how much time passes, we always talk like we just met each other the day before. She's a businesslady in Toronto now, and doing quite well for herself. I have little doubts she'll be running a company someday. 

Chinese-Japanese Restuarant

Connie and Anthea. In the background you can see the All-You-Can-Eat Japanese restaurant Anthea took us to called Syogun, which I assume is an odd transliteration of the word usually written "Shogun". As usual for Canada, it was completely run and staffed by Chinese, as there are very few Japanese restaurants run by actual Japanese people -my favorite Sushi Chef in Vancouver was Vietnamese, in fact. There aren't very many Japanese living abroad, for some reason they seems to like Japan a lot and don't leave very often. I only know of one Japanese restaurant run and owned by real Japanese offhand. Still, the food was pretty good, and we had a great time. Thanks Anthea! 

Time to go...

So, on a chilly Saturday morning we tossed our luggage into the car and bundled up for the trip to Toronto's Pearson Internation Airport. Here's one last shot of Connie standing in front of Ellyssa and Kirk's home as we're packing the car. You can see there was a lot of snow during the two days we were in Toronto, especially considering there was none when we got there! 

Hey!

Ellyssa and Kirk liked Connie so much they decided to keep her as their new Nanny for Charlotte, so this is my last picture of her....Sniff....What can you do when your family steals your girlfriend? I guess I will just have to tell her boss she's not coming back.... 

The wonder twins...

My sister Ellyssa and I pose for a quick shot in the chilly morning air. 

Adieu Canada

A final very quick shot of myself with Ellyssa, Kirk and Connie before I handed them my winter coat and headed into the airport to return to Taiwan. It was a great trip home, and it reminded me how lucky I am to have such good friends and family in Canada, I do miss all of them, but I will return to stay someday.

Actually the return flight was one two short flights (Toronto-Newark, Hong Kong-Taipei) and one very very long flight (Newwark-Hong Kong), and actually felt much shorter than when we returned to Canada two weeks ago. I just watched CSI on the TV, read and slept, and then suddenly we were there! This flight also taught me the folly of bringing young children under 2 on a 16 hour planeflight, as the second half of the trip turned into all those kids crying and screaming because they were so uncomfortable. (Thus making the rest of us who were trying to sleep REALLY uncomfortable. :( ) I think I won't take such young children on a plane in my life, at least not if I value my sanity.

The other problem that happened on the trip home was that a tin of the Tim Hortons French Vanilla Coffee mix we bought developed a leak when the bag was thrown into the airplane. So...When I opened the bag I discovered all of my books I bought were covered in French Vanilla coffee powder. :( It is really astounding how the powder managed to get into everything, even the books sealed in plastic are covered if they had a tiny hole. I had to clean everything off, and it's still a little sticky and smells like French Vanilla!

Since I have returned to Taiwan I have been spenting my time waking up at 3am and sleeping at 8pm because of the jetlag. In some ways I'd say the jetlag this time is worse than it was going to Canada, probably because my body had only just adjusted to Canadian time and now here I am back in Taipei! On the plus side, it was -6 in Canada, and it's 23 degrees here in Taipei! ^__^ It's like walking from Winter to Summer in a single weekend!

Overall, though, it feels good to be back. Taipei really has become my second home, and while I love Canada, I love my friends and students here too. They have helped to make this place a good part of my life, and I look forward to seeing them again and getting back to work.