The Land Down Under

Being the oldest of 4 and also being the only girl in my family has always been a little difficult.  My brothers are mostly the strong silent type and communicating via email and text always feels a little like I'm pulling teeth to get the details of their lives.  I've been ever grateful for their wives as they have strengthened my bonds with my brothers and opened their whole family to mine for a richer life.
When I heard my youngest brother, John, was finally getting married to Belinda, Kent and I made plans to go as a family.  Unfortunately Australia is much much more expensive to fly to than anywhere else and given the timing, we felt it might be best if I attend alone.  (I've had more alone time these last few months than I've had the last 5 years!)  I'm so grateful for a loving husband who took time off work to make it happen.

Some fun shots while I had a layover in Vancouver, Canada.  I had to enjoy some of my goodies while I had a chance.

We have ties to the Wong family that go back to our parents and extended throughout the family.  Uncle Patrick Wong was my dad's best man at his wedding and I had been roommates with Belinda's sister, Peggy.  I had even been a young woman's leader for her sister in law, Jenny, for a brief time in Salt Lake City.  Peggy and I recounted how years ago when they came out to visit us in Canada and we took a road trip down to Utah that we saw Belinda and John holding hands while walking in downtown Chinatown.  We joked then that it would be ever so cute if they hooked up and now that was a reality.  It was so wonderful to reconnect with their family and strengthen our ties even more.

A shot with Auntie Cathy, she was wonderful to talk to and just so sweet.

Staring contest!  

It was also fascinating to see how small the Chruch of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is among the Chinese of Hong Kong.  I was introduced to Tammy on my first day there and it was only 3 days later that I figured out she was the sister of one of my first friends at BYU.  Then I met Angela who knew my brother James from speaking with him regarding the MBA program at BYU and her parents who had served in the Hong Kong temple with my parents.

Free time was spent hanging with Jenny ad Mantee's family.  I missed the kiddos the most then and they were close to my thoughts as I petted a koala, kangaroos and wallabies.  (side note, koala's are not furry, their hair was course and wiry, the closest thing to it is African American hair) We hit the Gold Coast where their kiddos played in the sand and water and where I bought gifts to bring home.  My favorite experience was going to the rainforest to see the glow worms - a truly once in a lifetime experience.  Theyr'e found only in australia and New Zealand and their habitat and ecological niche was amazing for a biologist like me.  While the cave remained dark you could almost imagine that the worms were stars overhead.  It was also the first time I saw the fairy lights of fire flies.  The world and all it's wonders are truly from God's hands.

I can't count the number of interesting animals that I saw.  Lorikeets we have in zoos in America roam in the wild in Australia.  Being the continent that it was I was more cautious than usual when I encountered them.

 This cutie pudgy thing is a wombat which has a powerful backside that'll crush any intruder into the roof of it's domain.  Looks like a Pokemon to me!

Being who I am, food was a big part of it.  The seafood was AMAZING and to die for!  I had to try the traditional meat pie one night and could see how any kid would eat that in their school cafeteria.

This was a special sweet soup given to the bride groom the morning of their wedding.  Each item in the soup represent some blessing or wish for their future.

The night before the wedding, Peggy, Belinda's sister hosted a wonderful dinner at her home.  It was fun to just sit back and watch everyone enjoying one another's company.

The wedding was wonderful and gorgeous.  Belinda and John had taken care of everything and they had kept it small and intimate which made it more about the people and relationships than all the finery that everyone else tends to get caught up in.  John asked if I could say a little something at the reception and so I spent time emailing and chatting with my brothers, reliving memories and impressions to get together a little speech on John's qualities and our hopes for his future with his wonderful bride.  While I was the only one from our side of the family there, the speech made it feel like we were all there with him in spirit and I was grateful for the opportunity.

The Ngai kids have truly spread far off from their origins in Calgary but hopefully someday we'll all get together once again. Best of wishes and love to the wonderful new couple.  We hope to be able to see them soon and get all the Ngai family together again.

Girl Time!

It's a rare blessing for a mother to have some away time but as the years have passed I've seen how finding this balance helps me to be a better wife and mother.  We also wanted to prep Bubby for the time I'd be gone for my brother's wedding so I took a trip with a girlfriend for 3 days to check a few things on a bucket list.

I've known Natalie since I was a newlywed and loved how close their family lived to us.  She'd served a mission with the Thai people and loved Asian food so we could always share Chinese goodies with their whole family.  This meant I could safely plan on this fun food stop for Xiao long bao and know that's she'd enjoy it too!

We attend a bookclub that's been around for around 15 years so the Last Bookstore was a fun find for us.  They used books to decorate and the haphazard arrangement of shelves made each turn in a corner a new adventure with lovely little nooks for reading comfortably and browsing.

The little shops in the bookstore had a few clever items, but this one was particularly funny to me.

I have a thing for farmer markets, so of course we had to stop here.  Much too much to eat and try.

I was told Roscoe's chicken and waffles was a must so once we got our place in Hollywood we went out for a late night dinner.

So the real purpose of the trip was to get on to see the behind the scenes of The Price is Right.  I'd only ever seen one episode, but my kiddos had watched it with Helen Young, their adopted grandmother.  They loved it and Natalie always wanted to see it in person.  I'm always up for an adventure so she made us matching shirts and we went.  Just next door was another farmer's market where I had fried oysters for breakfast!

We had a ton of  fun despite the hot long wait.  It was neat to chat with people from all over and it was amazing how efficient things run on a set.  Our show airs October 18 and both Natalie and I were shifted around during the show to fill in gaps.  Neither of us wanted to be a contestant but we should show up in the background.  That's all the claim to fame I care for!

Dinner at the farmer's market again, gumbo!!!

The following day we took a drive to Randyland, an artist who works with glass and has it installed in his backyard.  He wasn't home (apparently he isn't often there) but we got a view from below.  I suspect when the light shines through the glass and you're right under it it gives a beautiful effect.

The night before we'd watched a short documentary on Madame Tussauds which made the wax museum fun to see.  Natalie was the best for pictures!  So fun to just be goofy together!

I'd never been to the Chinese Theater next door so we stopped in for a short time.

Our last stop was an area with a high concentration of Ethiopian people.  I really wanted to try their food so we stuffed ourselves before leaving for home.  Injera was the 'bread' used for scooping and dipping into the food.  It had a spongy texture and was slightly sour in flavor - a truly unique experience for me.

It was a blast and one I think we need to repeat! (hint, hint Natalie) Girl time  means we can get in all those things our husbands don't care to do and feel footloose and fancy free - even if it's only for a few days!