The power of FaceTime

So I got a nice Facetime call from Mathew yesterday after they got back to Alameda from Reno and he had his first experience in preparing for kindergarten...He says he's excited to start school, so that's always something good to hear. And also reminded me that I should write something here again. So I guess this entry will be our trip to the Ontario Science Centre.


We went after having lunch at a congee/noodle restaraunt so we wouldn't need to pay for lunch there again, but like always, had to still buy some pizza from the cafeteria. We started our journey at the Ontario Science Centre at a new show/exhibit of forensic investigation, which included a show (CSI style). And the kids got scared, from the magic show and the pyrotechnics and loud sounds...The whole show included Mathew whining he wanted to leave, but he needs to be braver so we watch the entire show.

Then to the kids zone where they got to explore and play around the different stalls, especially the supermarket for kids. And lastly, their favourite thing to do was the balls that move around a specially designed track. "We could be there all day just watching them play with the balls."

39 days have gone and passed.

How time really flies. Yes, I know I have not kept my blog commitment here: but 39days have passed since my little cousins were here. Their flight was yesterday morning and I received a nice phone call once they landed back in SFO. So here I am, working on this again, trying to document the adventures, struggles, and all the fun we shared together. I hope to have a new post each day this week for this.


I remember like it was last night, going to the airport to pick them up, delayed and all by Air Canada during their labour strike. From then on, we pretty much saw each other everyday, with some days in between left for me to sleep in. With the sister still having to work until the end of June, it was my will to entertain them in the meantime because after all, they came to Toronto early to attend my convocation with me.


Yeah, there aren't many pictures during June other than my convocation which I have already posted, but the first realistic field trip we took them was Whittmore Farm to play at the farm and do some strawberry picking! Enjoy.

Seoul 4.

Day four consisted a lot of things... particularly shopping. It did however include a stop at one of the old emperor's palace/temple where we took a couple of pictures. It had a similar design as those from China, but then again Korea has been influenced by China, Japan, and America.

Next was a stop at the popular spot of Myeong-dong...there were literally at least 100 make up stores in that one area. I did also find the Forever 21 in Seoul, which was pretty big like 3 floors and a larger male section. Too bad I couldn't find anything I liked...

At night, I tried going to see the fountain bridge at night, too bad the guide didn't provide much information and I couldn't see anything..I managed to take a couple of night shots though, but wasn't too happy I couldn't see the bridge. Dinner was nice, had authentic Korean barbecue...simply delicious.

Seoul 3.

On day 3, we moved from the Dart resort and drove back to Seoul. But we made a pit stop at this gorgeous herb city where there were vast flowers and beautiful scenery for all. I made a candle with colourful wax and all at their DIY place, and we had a very weird lunch, which I didn't really eat... It was literally flowers and grass plucked from the ground... so I just ate my bowl of rice and kimchi...

From there we drove for another hour to the closest South/North Korean border... it was surreal to visit a place where there was once war and is now a DMZ- demilitarized zone. To see the other side of Korea, it just felt good to be on the South side of it. There were barbed-wire throughout the whole perimeter and armed soldiers on patrol. The memorial picture depicts where South Koreans pray and pay their respects to their loved ones who died in North Korea during the war and was not brought back to South Korea for proper burial.

For dinner that night, we had a hot pot style dinner with pork and chicken with some veggies and tofu... and some more sitting on the floor. My legs were sore after...

Seoul 2:

On day two, we started off with some ramen at this shop. Let me tell you, it was delicious!!! The noodles here wasn't like the Japanese type but it was Korean which was much more thinner... It started with its appetizer dishes... The rice balls were really good too and I usually don't like to eat them, but these ones were special, it had bits of see-weed and other random things.

We then went to the "green house" similar to the United State's "White House". It's where the Korean president lives and works from... got to take a couple of pictures here, and when we were leaving, there was a barricade of escorts, I wonder who it was for...

For lunch, it was pork and chicken on our own barbecue. The Pepsi bottle looked pretty flashy too.

After lunch we went to Everland theme park... it was a Sunday so there were unusually a large amount of families there... we lined up for nearly an hour for the water ride with the whole tour group. The park itself was beautiful and as we were going down the chair lift, a parade was going on.

Again, I love animals and aquatic life, if I wasn't any interested or good with science, I would have considered being a zoologist or something to do with animals. I was surprised at the quality of the park's animal exhibits.. the lions and tigers were awake for once... It must be one of the rare times I have seen them awake cause they're usually just sleeping...The sea-lion show was really entertaining as well (although it was narrated in Korean) they did tricks like jumping of dive boards, dribbling and scoring a basketball into the net with its nose, and standing upright. I was impressed.

We spent the night and next morning and Dart resort... it wasn't the greatest, but the nature was beautiful. Why is Korea such a beautiful country? I really could see myself living there one day in the near future...