Arrived in Hong Kong...

We have landed in Hong Kong and it was about 5am when we got off the plane. My mother and I are stretching our legs after a VERY long 15 hour flight from Toronto. We flew with Cathay Pacific and would you believe, they served us congee for breakfast!! Gotta love the Asian airlines. I don't know why I'm surprised - we were served curry on the plane in India. :)

I watched three movies - Unknown, Blue Valentine and Just Go With it. Action, drama and comedy....and still had about 8 hours left. Let me just tell you - do NOT watch Blue Valentine in front of your mother.. it gets awkward. I am almost 30 and I still fast forward the love scenes when I'm around my mother. Gosh. I also watched a whole season of Sex and the City and by the time I fast forwarded all the sexy parts, there was only really 15 minutes for each episode.

When we got to our gate, there was no one here...it felt like we had the entire airport to ourselves. Of course, my mother decided to take the opportunity to yell out a few expletives in Vietnamese just for fun and we both howled like hyenas (I know I'm in good company). We have a three and a half hour layover in Hong Kong and my mother is lounging across two airport chairs right now (Yes, she fits across only two chairs) and isn't wearing any shoes. Funny part is, the guy sitting behind us is doing the same thing! Something tells me we are no longer in North America when this is somewhat acceptable.

We are getting very excited. While walking over to our gate, we talked about the food that we want to eat in Vietnam. We cannot wait to see if things are truly better here than in Canada.

Keeping you all posted...

Airport People-Watching: Pearson International (YYZ)

We are here at Gate 35 at Pearson International, waiting until 1:40am for our first flight to Hong Kong. My mother and I are sharing some family gossip (as usual) and I've managed to find a free charging port for my laptop. Much to my surprise, there is FREE internet! Wow... Pearson has really progressed. :)

I am doing the usual right now and watching some funny people around the airport. Right in front of me, a girl is crying as she talks on the phone. Looks like boyfriend trouble...I am sympathizing but giggling at the same time..oh, I remember the days! She is speaking Chinese and I wish I could understand... reminds me of this fight on YouTube (this one comes with translations!)

I can't believe how full this flight is.. the entire Gate is full of Asian people. The boarding attendants are having such a hard time pronouncing all of the names! My mother is listening very carefully in hopes of finding some Vietnamese people - I think she might be looking for friends in case I desert her!

As always, I have prepared myself for the flight with my staple purchases: M&Ms and Water.

One more hour until the flight takes off. I am stuck with the middle seat so that my mother can have the aisle seat. I am praying very hard that she doesn't snore out loud because she looks exhausted!! lol

Getting excited...here we go!

All My Bags are Packed, I'm Ready to Go

It is 12:35am right now and in about 24 hours, I'll be on a plane with my mother on our way to Hong Kong for the first layover. I'm exhausted but finally all packed. We have to be at the airport tomorrow at 10pm so this is officially my last sleep at home for the next three weeks (my poor hubby just reminded me). He helped me pack all of my electronics - including two cameras, a laptop and all the necessary cables to make sure everything is charged and transferable.

It is the first time in a month that I have finally felt excited about the trip. My father called a few family members in Vietnam tonight to let them know that we are coming. They have our flight information and are ready to hand off the keys to us at the airport to my uncle's condo in Vietnam (Yay for family connections!). I also got confirmation for our tour today, which will leave on the 22nd of June and go for about 10 days. I'm most excited about visiting Sapa, which I'm told looks amazing (see right pic)! We are going to be staying at a homestead in Sapa for one night before heading back to Hanoi.

As always, I like to make a list of things I'd like to do and hopefully I'll be able to achieve some of those things by the time we come back to Canada. Here goes:

• Ride on the back of a motorcycle through the crazy streets of Vietnam
• Get some glamour shots taken (the glamour shots in Vietnam are AMAZING - it's an all day affair where you get your makeup done and they take these great fashion photos of you)
• Buy myself and my mother an ao dai (traditional Vietnamese dress)
• Shop and bargain for something in the Vietnamese markets
• Eat traditional Vietnamese street food! (perhaps something I've never tried before)
• Witness a wedding
• Hear an old story about my family that I've never heard before
• See my father's childhood house
• See my mother's childhood house

I think that's a pretty good list for now. I'll probably be blogging at some point during the 20 hour flight to Vietnam...well, most likely since I haven't been able to find a good book to read through yet.

I called my mother earlier this afternoon and she said she hasn't been able to sleep in two days from a combination of nerves and excitement. We are both working tomorrow so that should make the day go by much faster.

Vietnam, here we come!

Favourite Viet Dishes: Bánh xèo

Last year I came upon a blog that featured some WONDERFUL Vietnamese recipes and I've been obsessed with trying some of these out ever since. I hit a bit of a blip in the road when my father moved in with us and took over my kitchen - he is a chef, after all and I'm not complaining! He cooks both Chinese and Vietnamese dishes but there are just certain things he can't make as well as my Vietnamese grandmother (shh! don't tell him that).

I'm going to start a new post topic called "Favourite Viet Dishes" and I'll share a few of my favourite dishes. Some of these you will be able to find in a Vietnamese restaurant and some, you'll just have to hope to be lucky enough to have a Vietnamese friend to invite you over for dinner. If you're REALLY lucky, this Vietnamese friend may have a grandmother who lives nearby and can make the traditional fish sauce (nước mắm).

Favourite Viet Dishes: Bánh Xèo

* This image was taken from http://noinieu.blogspot.com. I do not own it.

I don't even know how to describe this dish. Everyone makes it a little differently but it's like a pancake with shrimp and pork, green onions, sprouts and lotus seed inside. You can eat it alone with fish sauce or you use it as a stuffing in lettuce wraps and dip it in fish sauce. It's delicious and in fact, even though it's past midnight, my mouth is watering at just the thought of it.

Four more days

It's been a bit difficult updating my blog in the recent week due to my grandmother's funeral but I haven't forgotten about my upcoming trip. In fact, it's been on my mind a lot because I've been searching through old photos of my grandmother and wanting more than ever, to know the place where our family history started. I want to see the house that my grandfather keeps talking about - the place where my grandmother watched over and raised her children. It's become more important to me in the past few weeks and taken on a whole other meaning.

What I'm feeling right now is a little bittersweet because I am embarking on an adventure with my mother but I feel sad that it's in the midst of such a sad occasion. We had the funeral today and my eyes are sore from crying and not being able to sleep in my mother's cold basement (kudos to my brother who slept down there for five years before finally moving out to his beautiful condo!). It was truly a beautiful ceremony and being surrounded by family made it very personal. More than 100 people came to honor my grandmother and the entire visitation center was filled with flower arrangements sent from all over.

This entire experience has been very overwhelming for everyone. On Friday, we went to the Buddhist pagoda (temple) that my family chose to pray for my grandmother as her body lays unburied and her spirit still free. It's a new pagoda in North York, still starting out and undergoing construction. When we arrived, we lit incense to honor my grandmother and to ask the other spirits to take care of her while her body is being prepared. Then, the women cooked and prepared a feast of champions in the tiny kitchen (about 10 different vegetarian dishes to feed 40 people, paired with some take out dishes that my family brought in) and the men went to help with the construction of the main room of the pagoda (the buddhist monks are building the temple solely with the help of volunteers and no contractors).

We were there for about four hours and it did not feel like that at all. Afterwards, we all sat together and ate dinner - about 35 people or so. After dinner, the head monk said a few words to my family and the only part that I could understand was this: He said that he was very glad we were all here in this humble abode of his, and that under this roof, we are all equals. It doesn't matter what our status or religion, we are all working together and he was grateful.

Growing up as a Buddhist and then converting to Catholicism made me a very confused teenager. Today, however, I see it as a blessing to be able to experience two wonderful religions and being able to honour both. My mother and I plan on visiting a few pagodas in Vietnam and I think they will be very beautiful. I've been looking at pictures online of some of the famous pagodas such as the Thien Mu Pagoda in Hue, which is near the Imperial City. I know that the places in Vietnam are not as old as India or even Italy, but they will be beautiful no less. Let's hope for some good weather...

Thanks for reading everyone...and for your kind words this past week.

*hugs*