Awesome Outing at Half Moon Bay

I once happened to talk to Auntie Eng about my grandparents’ generations.  I barely know about the details of my grandparents’ life stories so it’s always good to learn about them.
  
And I’ve learnt from Auntie Eng that her parents were the very first ones who migrated from China to Burma.  Then, my paternal grandpa and a few other brothers came over to Burma with the great help from her parents.   It was such a touching and inspiring story to hear how they had helped other relatives and cousins for leading a better life and settling down in Burma.

Therefore, our family joined all my aunts and uncles this year to pay respect and salute to the grandparents who really deserve.   I wanted to do it for me as a later generation person and on behalf of my late paternal grandparents as well.

So we set off pretty early in Sunday morning to meet Auntie Lain and Auntie Eng at Hercules so that we could make to the Lifemark cemetery of Half Moon Bay at 10:00am.  It’s like about 2 hours drive from our place to Half Moon Bay.  The only thing we concerned was about the girls who had to get up early with us to tag along.  And I know that it would be a long whole eventful day.

 It was a misty and chilly morning at the cemetery.   After paying homage along with the incenses and flowers, we set off to T.B.S.A Half Moon Bay Burmese monastery where Burmese Water Festival @ “Thingyan” would be held.

Every year T.B.S.A has so many of the volunteers and food donors during Thingyan.   This year we got there considerably early but a huge crowd was there already.  You won’t believe how much Burmese population in the bay until you witness them there.  Even though the monastery has such a big compound to accommodate for car parking but it was all full when we got there.  I think it could accommodate up to 100+ cars but no spot left so we had to park our car at the Half Moon Bay State Park parking lot which was across of it. 

Since I skipped my breakfast, my tummy was commanding me to go and grab the food right away as soon as we had got there.  As he and the girls wouldn’t eat the cold Burmese dishes, I headed to the Fish Soup (“MoHinGar”) stall.   And I managed to get the Wonton soup bowls for the girls.  Oh my!  There got so many stalls and varieties.  I tried MoHinGar, Noodle Salad, Wonton soup, Vermicelli with pork on the stick (“WatTharDokeHtoe), Burmese Chendol (“ShweYinAye”), etc.  Even though each store gave you a very small portion, after having a couple of them my tummy would not take anymore.   I tried to get all hot stuff for him: MoHinGar, Wonton soup, Chicken Biryani and Sago with sweet potatoes and last not least glutinous rice balls with brown sugar (“MoteLoneYayBaw”) which is a core item of a Burmese Water Festival.   Oh God!  I’d better stop by then since I felt like my tummy was exploding and could not take anymore :P

There was a big playground within the compound and it was just perfect for all kids.   Sophie, Michelle and Amy got such a good time together there.  Later on Amy led Sophie to the water playing area where kids used the water guns, water shooters and water spray bottles to throw water on people.   Sophie seemed so excited for it and that was her first time participating in it.  Well, her experiences at a baby could not be counted as she didn’t really understand what was going on back then. 

It made me wonder that I would bring them back to Burma someday to experience the actual Thingyan festival there when they grow up.  I’m sure that it would be something new for them and they will get so excited.

On the way back, we were planning to visit the Golden Gate Bridge and Park area.  But the girls voted for the beach so we had decided to bring them to the Francis Beach which is one of the beaches at Half Moon Bay instead.

 I kind of hesitated at the beginning since I concerned that the weather would be so chilly there.  To my surprise, it was not that bad at all and it was quite warm under the sun and the clear day. 

As always, the beach never disappoints my girls.  They were not afraid of cold weather as usual and they didn’t even bother to wear the jackets.  Even I was able to take my jacket off for a while later on.

It was so pretty to see the pink and yellow patches of flowers on the way to beach.  Spring totally rocks!

It was such a relaxing and wonderful to see those huge waves hitting towards the shore every now and then.  The only thing was that the water was icy cold and it numbed my feet and made me hop like kangaroos.  :P

He was so excited and playing the “catch and run” game with the waves.  When the waves were coming, he ran further back toward the sand of the beach so that it almost seemed like the waves were chasing after him.  It was so fun to see it.

 

 Even the girls got convinced by him and they started to play with him.  Sophie started out first and even the timid Michelle joined them later.  He held the hand of each of them at one side and running ahead of the waves.   They were giggling and having so much fun.  

I had to salute those surfers who could tolerate the icy cold water.  They dare to get in the water with their surfing boards and enjoying their days.  I think I could get the hypothermia and die with it.   I could take heat much more than what I could for the chill.

It was so fabulous, just to sit, relax and stare at them and others at the beach.  I did enjoy every minute there.  There got that old man half naked with his fat tummy and doing the similar thing like him: playing “catch and run” game with the waves.  He showed him to me and it was so hilarious to see his wobbly tummy whenever he ran.

We had been to so many beaches in California and they all are different.   Some have the white sand which is often very smooth and fine-grained.  Some have the brownish sand of which some are rough and coarse-grained vs. some have the smooth and fine-grained texture like the white sand.  Some have huge and high waves and some have lower and milder waves.  Some have a long depth of sand from the beach to the water yet some have a very short depth of sand.  For the latter case the distance between the sand and the water on the beach is short, which actually is the case for this one at Francis Beach, Half Moon Bay.

Unexpectedly my niece Amy, her mom who is cousin-in-law Swe and her friend’s family joined us later.  I was just talking to him that Amy seemed like she wanted to join us to the beach, but it was too bad our car didn’t have enough space for both of her and her mom.   Just then they arrived to the beach.

Cousin-in-law Swe’s friend also have some kids and all kids were so happy playing together: building sand castles, etc.

The girls were so happy that they refused me a couple of times for going home.  Finally they agreed to it.  I thought that they would be very tired around noon as they had to wake up so early in the morning.  But the beach had cheered them up and make them forget everything for a couple of more hours I guess.

I’m glad that I brought the extra clothes for them.  They got all wet and sandy.  Thanks to the coin-operated hot shower there so that they could be washed and changed their clothes there right away.

Soon after the car started rolling the wheel they fell into asleep right away.   Even then Sophie was asking us to bring them to another beach at Gold Gate right before she fell into asleep.  :P

We stopped at Albany to meet up with Uncle Mike and Auntie Rosie at the Vietnamese restaurant for the dinner. 

It was a long day but we all had a quality time at Half Moon Bay.  Bye for now and we might come and see you again next year, Half Moon Bay!

Days in Paradise (or) At Capital of Land of Smiles

Among all the trips we had been on,  one-week stay in Bangkok @ city of angles is one of the most remarkable and enjoyable ones on my mind to date.  I think a lot of the reasons contribute to this deep impression of mine.

First, it was somehow considered to be our honeymoon trip.  In fact, we were planning to go to Australia for our honeymoon but we sacrificed it for Mama since she was having a treatment in Singapore with us.  She was so dependent on me and I could not leave just two of them by themselves in Singapore.   And they weren’t able to tag along with us to Australia either.    Yeah, I know. What you’re thinking: Honeymoon with parents, right?  Well, yes I don’t mind having them on my honeymoon.  Believe it or not! That’s all I can say.

Anyway, when we were in Bangkok, we didn’t consider it as our honey moon trip since little did we know that we would not be able to make to Australia at that point.  Papa and Mama were not yet with us by then.   When it didn’t happen, I guess our vacation in Bangkok was considered to be our substitute honeymoon.   Regardless, we both really did enjoy our vacation in Bangkok and that’s all it matters I guess.

Second, it was the first overseas trip with just two of us together.  Well, we had been to Malaysia a couple of times before that but it was either with friends or via guided tour.    I don’t like being on the guided tour as the time is limited for everywhere they send us.  And yes, this one was self-guided tour.  He indulged me as always and those carefree days cruising around Bangkok were just one of the happiest days of my life.

When I had learnt that there would be a week shutdown at my office during Chinese New Year, I was so thrilled.  I love traveling and I always wanted to go on a trip but it didn’t happen quite often due to the schedule clashes between him and me; when he was available I could not take leave from my work and when I was available, he was busy for this paper, publication, dissertation, blah blah blah.   And my female boss back then was so strict and I could take leave anytime I wish even though I have accumulated enough annual vacation time.  And while working for such stressful job with 24/7 support, I really needed a vacation and that one came in quite perfectly on time.

Thanks to Petrus who had been to Thailand countless times for giving me all the tips.  I still remember that he kept sending me SMS(es) even right before the night we set off with the tips of where to eat, what to do, etc.  Those in fact were quite helpful.

Oh, whenever I recall of those days, they really serve me as sweet and fond memories always.

Day-1:
Mostly the whole day was spent for travelling and at the airports.  We set off from home a couple of hours before our flight time to Changi airport so that we would not have to rush for a thing.    As we had plenty of time, we just cruised around Changi and took quite some snap shots. 

It was about 2 and a half hour ride.   By the time we got to Suvarnabhumi airport, it was afternoon.  We had to spend a couple of more hours there since he was getting his on-arrival visa.  At first, I felt it was a bit daunting at Suvarnabhumi airport as it was quite a mess compared to Changi.

When we were ready to set off to our hotel, we had to line up at the taxi stand and there were quite some mosquitoes around us.  Frankly, I felt so upset right at that moment and it even made me wonder that coming to Bangkok for a vacation might not be a good decision.   However, Day-2 onwards proved me that it was totally wrong. 


After settling in the hotel, we spent our evening at Khao San road which was within walking distance from our hotel.  The vibrant nightlife there really cheered me up.    There were a lot to see along both sides of the road.  I love the street vendors and varieties which were available there: Pad Thai, sandwiches, desserts, fresh juices, shaved ice desserts, ice cream sandwiches to name a few.   Some of the desserts looked really tempting to me and they came in a form which I never had it before.  For example, the ice-cream sandwiches were sold by putting the ice cream scoop within two slices of fresh bread.   As we were walking along the road, I was making a list for me what to try every night :P

There was this small restaurant which was very close to Khao San Road.  I remember that the whole street had full of restaurants and most of them were so packed every evening we went there.   Some of them even had the table and chairs setup in the middle of the street and were full with a lot of tourists who were busy chatting, drinking beer and eating of course. 

We dined at that small restaurant during the first few nights since it was not only very close to our hotel but also the food was quite good.  Oh, yeah the prices were so much affordable and much cheaper compared to Singapore.    How we came to know about it and why we ended up being here?  Well, he did the research and it was recommended by some people from the Chinese forum.