15 Bikes, 6 Bows, 2 Boys and 1 Night Market

My continuing guest blogger, Hannah (Editor's words)

Today we woke up around 10:30. Dabby left at 5:00am (way) earlier than we did to drive up a mountain with 5-Sook Goong and some of his friends. Then when Dabby came back home we woke up.

I 'heard' that they were driving up to speeds of the three digit zone but don't quote me on it!

Matthew tagged along with one of his Uncle Pat's (5-Sook) early morning rides with his friends to Squamish. They all rode motorcycles while Matthew took his uncle's Mini Cooper.

Apparently this is a limited edition. Only 2,000 in North America.

His Uncle also has a trailer that can hold 10 bikes!

My chest was itching so so much that we had to get some benadryl for me at London Drugs. Then we went out to lunch at Double Double Restaurant. I was very drowsy as so I didn't feel well. It was because of the medicine. Then after that we went to the Aberdeen Mall. First we went to Daiso. Then we went to this Hobby shop where I saw a lot of Rilakkuma stuff. I saw squishes there! I was so excited. They were squishes I've been wanting. They were so expensive so I didn't get them. I wanted the Rilakkuma toast, macroon, waffle, crepe, Hello Kitty biscuit, and the Rilakkuma sandwich. Next we went to this garage sorta hobby store. Then we went to get a bubble waffle. Then we went to Chapters and bought some stuff like stuffed animals. Then we went to Cookworks to find tongs but they sold out. So we went to McDonalds to get a medium fry for me.

These pineapple buns (bows) were to die for! At Lido's across from Aberdeen Mall. I bought 6!

Then we went back to the house to rest then we went to visit Tate and Bryce.

The twins have an incredible set-up here. Check out the homemade utility play wall

And playroom!

I usually can tell them apart but in this photo I can't. I think Bryce is on the left and
Tate on the right  (he's usually the mischievous one).

Then we went to the Richmond Night Market. When Uncle Sherman was trying to park there was a lot that was blocked off by cars.

It totally felt like I was in HK!

Every summer, there is a night market in Richmond, a suburb in Vancouver (aka the Hong Kong of North America).

Some people could not move their cars to exit. It was really crowded, busy and complicated. I got chicken fawn fawn, hand pulled noodles with fried beef and mushroom, boba  drink (hard bobas, wrong ordering, seeds), and a blue raspberry lemonade. After that we looked at the stores and saw a lot of Rilakkuma stuff I liked.

Matthews cousin, Sherman and Stacy along with Sherman's girlfriend, Elaine took us to check this all out!

This is an ice cream cane.. the cane is made out of puffcorn (like sugar pop cereal) and is filled with soft serve ice cream. Supposedly a favorite in South Korea!

Then we went back to the house and went to sleep.

-Mui Mui Blogs

Birds and Boys

My continuing guest blogger, Hannah (Editor's words)

Today we left the house around 10:00 to eat brunch at White Spot. I got spaghetti and meatballs with a side of fries with Caesar salad. Then we drove to the bird sanctuary. We saw lots and lots and lots of birds. We even fed them.

The Reifel Migratory Bird Sanctuary is one of Canada's top bird watching sites. The Sanctuary (located about 45 minutes southwest of Vancouver) is ideally located in the center of the estuary and contains ponds, natural tidal marshes and sloughs all of which provide important resting and feeding areas for migratory birds.

I was feeding the geese and ducks. They followed the seeds I dropped. I felt like the Pied Piper.

There were geese, baby geese, ducks, and ducklings that we fed.

Canada Geese

Emily was in heaven.. birdy heaven that is!

Mallard ducklings

The Sandhill Cranes were so gentle.. they ate from our hands even though technically they are 'wild birds'.

Their bills were pointy and it felt like someone was poking a sharp chopstick in our palms.

The majestic bald eagle

Tree swallows; they had all these bird houses throughout the sanctuary

The sanctuary also had bird blinds or bird hides which are designed so that people can watch or photograph birds without the birds noticing or flying away.

Checking out the birds from the bird blind

More tree swallows

Red winged blackbird

View from the 2 story tower overlooking the marshes

After that we passed by 2 farms and we went strawberry and raspberry picking. It was so hot. My cheeks were sunburned so I had to shade myself with an umbrella all day. It was sorta fun.

There were so no more raspberries left so I bought only the prepicked ones from the store. After that we drove to the house to rest and then drove to 5-Sook Goong's house. Then we went out to dinner at Kirin. A seafood restaurant. Kirin is my most favorite restaurant to eat at in Vancouver. I warn you though, it's Chinese and pricey! But we always get taken to eat there whenever we come visit.

Tate finally let someone else other than his grandpa hold him

Bryce is such a ham!

While we went out to eat, Matthew's other uncle, 3-Goo-Jeung (Uncle Roy) went deep sea fishing for the day and came back with four red snappers/rock cods. They were huge!

Here they are filleting them!

Then we drove back to the house in 5-Sook Goong's car.

-Mui Mui Blogs

Flight, Food, & Family

 My continuing guest blogger, Hannah (Editor's words)
We headed north of Seattle to the Boeing 787, 777 & 747 Assembly Plant Tour.

Today we left the hotel around 7:30. We woke up early to eat breakfast. Then we drove to the Boeing Factory. We took a tour on the factory. It was really interesting.

We were able to see airplanes under various stages of assembly.  The building has a moving assembly line where it moves a few inches a minute. The planes are all side by side and looks so small in the huge building.

The Boeing building is ginormous! It can fit all of  Disneyland and it's parking put together.

After the tour we went to the research lab and took tests on how the 2 different cabins were. At the end we were supposed to pick someone's seating card and I was chosen to pick and I apparently chose myself. Everyone was laughing. I got a gift card to the Boeing store $15.00.

She got to pick the winner and it was herself!

I learned some new things, like the engines are located on the wings and the wings are filled with fuel.

One plane costs around $350,000,000 and that's without engines and seats.

Engines are an additional $50,000,000

I got some stuff like an airplane wallet, stylist/pen, and some postcards. Next we went out to Z's Burgers. I got a hot dog. It was all cut up and put on to a patty like a burger. It was weird looking.
Then we drove to Vancouver. There was traffic so it took even longer. Once we passed the border there was even more traffic. It took about an 1 hour and 30 min.

Z's Burgers Coke collection

Then we finished and got to 3-Goo-Po's house. We were so happy to finally get here.
I really wanted to come see the twins ever since I heard that Matthew's cousin, Stacy was pregnant. 

Emily and cousin Bryce connected quickly.

Tate (in the back, Bryce's older brother by 2 minutes) took a while to warm up.

Buddy, a doberman pincher, likes all kids.

We unloaded our things and ate dinner with Auntie Stacy, Uncle Sherman, Uncle Terry, Tate, Bryce, 5- Sook Goong, 5 Sum Po, 3-Goo-Po and 3-Goo-Goong. We had delicious food. It was yummy.

Always a feast at the Tang's.

 Both Bryce and Tate LOVE their grandpa (aka 5-Sook Goong).

The twins with their grandpa, 5-Sook-Goong.

 Tate even favors his Goong Goong over everyone, even his parents.

Of course, if your Goong Goong lets you get away with things like using the glass lazy-suzy as a merry go round you'd prefer him too.

Then Dabby, Jj, Uncle Sherman, Auntie Stacy, and I went to the mall to get a SIM card (for my phone). Then we went to the house and went to sleep.

-Mui Mui Blogs

Space, Locks and Chocolate

My continuing guest blogger, Hannah. (Editor's words)

The Space Needle

Today we left the hotel around 10:30. We drove to the Space Needle in downtown Seattle. We took an elevator all the way up to the top. The elevator was so fast! We went up to the Sky City restaurant to eat lunch. I noticed that the floor was moving. The floor was moving because you can take a chance to go around all the windows to see the whole view.

The amazing 360 degree view from the top. The weather was perfect! Clear and bright!

The lady let us sit at the window. The view was amazing. I ordered from the kids menu and I got space noodle pasta with a side of fries. The pasta was shaped like the Space Needle. It was so cool to see that. I saw that kids wrote notes on paper and placed them on the window so other people can respond back to them or read them.

Hannah's space needle pasta.

Emily's Octopus dog mac n cheese.

Picture taken inside...

...and outside of the space needle!

After we finished lunch we went outside to look at the view. Then we went to the gift shop and bought 2 bags of space noodle pasta. Then we left and went to the Ballard Locks. We saw 5 boats/kayakers pass through the locks.

The locks allows vessels to move back and forth from one water elevation to another. The water level of Puget Sound is lower than Salmon Bay.

Vessels enter the lock and the gates close behind the vessels. Through gravity, the lock drains the water.

Freshwater of Salmon Bay meets the saltwater of Puget Sound at the locks. Depending on the tides, there can be a 6 to 26 ft difference between fresh and salt water.

When the water pressure is the same on both sides of the gate, the upstream gates open. Vessels exit. The process is reversed for a downstream lockage from Salmon Bay into Puget Sound.

 They raise and lower water levels in the locks as needed to allow vessels to lock through.

It's like an elevator for boats.

The Locks are also a place for the migrating salmon pass through. Mature salmon returning through the fish ladder are returning to the river, stream or hatchery where their journey began 3-5 years ago.

Smolts go with the flow here, tail first.

 These slides (the tubes) help juvenile salmon, called smolts, migrate into Puget Sound from Lake Washington.

When mature, salmon and steelheads leave the sea and work their way back up their spawning ground. The smell of the water flowing into the ocean from the river or stream helps them to find their way.

a steelhead

After that we went to the Theo Chocolate Factory. We took a tour and had to wear blue hair nets. We learned where chocolate came from and how it was made. We went into the factory place and saw people working. It was so so hot. It was like 100 degrees in there.

In Seattle we decided to check out some other things we didn't do there yet. One of which was a chocolate factory tour. Theo Chocolate Factory is located in Seattle. They are the only Fair for Life chocolate company which means from  farming to distribution, every worker gets fair and comparable wages and benefits.

A cacao tree

 They get their beans from three places: Congo (the earthy flavored chocolate) Dominican Republic (the buttery flavored chocolate) and Peru (fruity flavor).

Cacao pods grow from the stem of the tree since its the strongest point on the tree. Pods can grow to be the size of a football.

It takes a few pods to make just one yummy tasting chocolate bar!

A cool creation..

The US Standards of making chocolate are lower than Theo's. US standards for milk chocolate is only 10% of cacao. For dark, it needs only 34%. At Theo, they make their milk chocolate with a minimum of 40% and their dark has 70% cacao. We saw all the machines and the processes that the beans goes through to turn cacao into chocolate. We were able to sample their truffles and caramels and other specialty chocolates.

flying chocolate

After that we went to the gift shop and bought all different kinds of chocolates. Then we drove to a place called Samurai Ramen place. We all got tonkotsu ramen. It was so so yummy.

This was one of the smallest noodle places we ever ate at. It fit around 24 persons max and I sat on a wooden step stool.

 We faced the kitchen and could watch them cook!

No one working here was Japanese either!

The ramen was good!

Then I wanted dessert so we went to the Uwajimaya Market. I got a sugar donut and we also went to the book store. I saw a lot of Rilakkuma stuff there so I got some stuff there. Then we drove to the hotel and went to sleep.

-Mui Mui Blogs