1st day of school

Finally, the day has arrived. After waiting for months, Charis is now all ready for her first day in kindergarten. New school bag, new clothes, new crayons, new friends, new teacher....

She is very excited on her first day to school. Even reminded Elaine and I, separately, to set the alarm for her so that she will not be late for school. I don't remember that I ever look forward to going to school.... never...

Hopping onto the "school bus"....

All set and ready to go....

Walking to class...
It's her prayer that she will be able to learn well and find good friends in school.

around montréal, part one

Montréal, a feel of France in North America. Here is the old Montréal (or vieux Montréal as they call it in French), with its old cobblestone roads and colonial buildings:

The old port in Montréal:
We took a cruise ride to get a quick tour of the sights.

The Biosphere:

Some condo-by-the-waterfront. Forgot its name, but the architectural design looks very interesting. Supposed to be designed by a student-architect in a local university (McGill?) many, many years ago... and this architect is now pretty famous, but I don't know his name...

us in montréal

We were in Montréal for the last few days where I had a conference. Took the opportunity to look around the place. Actually Elaine and the kids did more exploring, as I was (trying to look) busy attending some sessions during the conference.

Here are some photos of us in Montréal... will put up pictures of the place later.

A rare family photo during a vacation.... Took this outside the Notre-Dame Basilica of Montréal. A friendly passerby volunteered to take a photo for us. He led us to the spot where he said was the nicest place for a photo.

A colorful toy shop that stood out among the rows of shops along Rue Saint Urbain:

We had our first dinner in Montréal at a French restaurant, Le Bourlingueur. While Elaine's glazed duck was delicious, my catch-of-the-day didn't taste anything french. Nevertheless, we had a nice time there. (Actually, we had a better time at a Chinese restaurant that is one minute from our hotel.... roast duck, fried rice, 干炒牛河. And then there is a Chinese pastry shop opposite this Chinese restaurant.... so we had egg tarts, char siew bun, 菠萝包 almost twice every day. )

Charis posing along a railway track near the old port in Montréal:

And we rented a bicycle to make the touring of the waterfront much easier. Or so we thought. It turned out more siong than we expected. (This photo was taken before we rode off.)

Watertown, NY

Spent a night at Watertown, NY, 8.5 hours ride from Pittsburgh.

Went to Indian Palace for dinner. Just a 2 mins walk from the hotel.

We tried the chicken curry and "Mixed Grill Bombay" (tandoori) and naan. The dinner turned out to be pretty good - much better than what Elaine had expected. But it was the most expensive chicken curry (US$11) and naan (US$2.50 per piece) that we have ever tried. I was expected the curry to be served in a pail, or at least in a pot, but it came in bowl-size.

After that we went across the street for some friendly ice-cream.
The kids waiting for the Sargent-Major to distribute the loot...