Travel and Living!

May 6 - Tue

Left home at 6.30 am for NY together with Sam's parents! We drove via the Kingston way. Was held up briefly at custom and had too pay US$6 to get the special card. Stopped along the way for meals. Glad that we went in an MPV as we have lots of space for our bags and to get comfortable. Arrived in New Jersey at around 5.30 pm but took us some time to find accommodation as we did not plan for it. Ended up in Best Western at Fort Lee on Route 4 after 2 hrs. Rates are really expensive in NY and NJ area. Had to share a room.

SGaw came by to pick us up and went for dinner at Soft Tofu Rstnt in Fort Lee, NJ. Fort Lee's a little Korean town. After dinner, he took us for a night view of Manhattan at Hamilton Park. The view was awesome.

May 7 - Wed

Had a good breakfast at the hotel. Left for NYC at 9am+. We took a cab to the bus-stop at Fort Lee, took a bus across George Washington Bridge and a subway downtown. The day pass cost us US$7 each. There is a toll of $8 to drive into NYC via the GWB, and parking is a headache. Our first destination was the Financial district at Wall St. Then it was to the harbour to view the liberty statue. Afterwhich we had 'Subway' for lunch and then walked to ground zero. Visited Century 21 mall as well.

Later, we took a bus to see the Empire State Bldg and did a little shopping at 5th Ave. There are no taxes on clothings in NYC. We then walked to Times Square which has transformed alot since our last visit. We went to the big Toys R Us, M&Ms and Hershey stores. After that it was to the Rockefella centre before we met up with SGaw at the Apple store on 5th Ave & 59th St neighbouring Central Park.

Had dinner at a Mexican chain restnt. Then took a subway to SGaw's place at Bronx. Nice cosy apt. Then it was back to NJ and our farewell to SGaw.

May 8 - Thu

Checked out of the hotel at 9+am. Went to view Manhattan again at the park for some daytime shots. We later headed for Woodbury Outlet Mall at Central Valley. Huge factory outlet with many stores and spent hours there purchasing lots of stuff. Unfortunately due to time constraint, we only managed to check out a few stores. Then we drove north to Binghampton at 6+pm and checked into a EconoLodge at 9+pm.

May 9 -Fri
Checked out early and headed for Corning. Visited the Corning Glass Centre before going north along Senecca Lake at Finger Lakes. Stopped over for wine tasting. Droved to Ontario and arrived at Niagara at 7+ pm. Had dinner at Niagara. Arrived home at midnight.

Thank God for a safe trip.

Labels: New York

Finally, our long awaited holiday...

Day 1 - 30 Apr

We flew on Emirates and had to transit at Dubai. As usual, watched a couple of movies on the plane: P S I Love You, Enchanted, Juno, Nanny Diaries, Death at the funeral, Rush Hour3. Unfortunately, the service was not as good as publicised. It took the stewards a long time to get to me when I buzzed them. Actually, they practically ignored me and not sure where they were hiding. Also, the seats were narrow and we were always elbowing our neighbour. And of course, not very appetising airplane food. Only good thing was that it has a wide selection of in-flight entertainment and it uses a touch screen technology.

Arrived in YYZ on Wed 30 Apr at 2 pm and Esa was eagerly waiting at the arrival hall while FIL was at the wheels. Headed home, had our dinner at 6 pm and couldn't help but to hit the sack at 7 pm. Yes, jetlagged and woked up at 2 am though did try to catch some sleep after that...

Day 2 - 1 May

Had a super early breakfast. Then both of us headed for First Markham Place at Woodbine/Hwy 7 after dropping Esa off at the library. Gulped down a tall mocha to keep ourselves awake. As usual, made some purchases at Roots. Later in the afternoon, we went for Dim Sum with parents at Times Square Hwy 16. Thereafter went to check out open houses/model homes around RH. Had dinner at home. Still too tired and went to bed early

Day 3 - 2 May

Went out for lunch at the infamous 'Delicious Restnt' at Hwy 16. Had to wait in line for an hour. The food tastes just as good as before. They are known for their huge rice dumpling, and the foochow fishball soup.

After lunch, we took Esa out to Vaughan Mills for a shopping spree. Huge mall and only covered part of it. Wish to visit again. Had to rush home for dinner as Esa need to study. Watched '27 Dresses' on dvd.

Day 4 - 3 May

Warm but rainy day. Had salad for lunch at home. Then we had Phil and family over. The kids are all grown up! All the kids, Ruth and myself went to check out Mitchell. Reuben is quite a handful and we had to keep up with his antics. Then the whole clan went for dinner at the Noodle Shop, a chinese restaurant. Reuben's so chubby, adorable and has superb vocabulary for a 3 yr old. Clydan is much better behaved now and is able to play the piano well which he has only picked up in a year. Zech is all quiet and tall. The kids are heading for a youth outreach event tonight. Good for them. Watched 'Just My Luck' on dvd that night.

Day 5 - 4 May

Went to church at RHCCC close to home. The church has grown tremendously. They have built a new auditorium. We had to park our car at a big parking lot near by and take a shuttle bus to the church.

We had lunch at home and then went to check out model homes. After that, we visited Phil at Port Union, went for a stroll on the new board walk by their place before heading to their new home at Beechgrove. The new home is still under construction, but features Phil's own modern design.

That night, R & R treated us to Japanese buffet dinner at Hachitarou at McCowan. It was delicious and great time with the family. We then visited Mike & Lil at their home at Major Mac & Kennedy. They are still the same! Back at home, we spent the night with Esa playing Wii :)

Day 6 - 5 May

Played Wii in the morning, and later, a 9-hole golf at Bloomington Golf Course. Had lunch and dinner at home. Went to Wall Mart for an evening walk.

Labels: Toronto