Homecoming - Part V

So we finally arrived in Montreal. We weren't sure exactly where to go or what to do. My main goal was to visit Vieux Montreal, to see the old buildings and neighborhoods; Richel's goal was to visit some fancy department store in the main shopping district. Hmm...so we flew to Canada and drove to Montreal so that we could go shopping. Well, not that shopping wasn't interesting in Montreal, as we did hear about the famed Underground City, something we definitely wanted to see.

The first day there in Montreal wasn't a pleasant one to be sure; it rained the whole day. That being the case, we decided to try our luck with the Gray Line Tours, again so that we could be taken around and shown the interesting parts of Montreal. Then the next day we could go back and visit the places that were interesting.

The first interesting stop we made was in Vieux Montreal (Old Montreal). It was a square across the street from the Basilique de Notre Dame and it was statue of Maisonneuve. Maisonneuve? Maisonneuve. The only particular reason this statue and person perked my interest is because there's something called a Maisonneuve fracture in reference to severe ankle sprains and resulting tearing of the tib-fib aponeurosis and possible fracture. Okay, anyway, I thought it was neat that they had the same name and so I had Richel take a picture with him...



And of course right across the street there was the Basilique de Notre Dame, something we definitely had to come back and see on our own.




Until I started zooming up close with my point-and-shoot camera, I didn't even realize there were statues up against the walls.

The tour then took us to Olympic Village. The most remarkable thing about this was the Olympic Tower, something that looked like it was about to topple over. Without question, it was a masterpiece of architecture; how something so big could be leaning at such an angle without falling and without support was incredible. They even had elevators that could take visitors to the top of the tower. Unfortunately, we couldn't get a great picture of that. To do so would require one of us to stand in the middle of a busy street. And if drivers in Montreal were anything like drivers in Paris, there's no way in hell either of us were going to do that.



The next stop on our trip was one of the most spectacular. We went to the L'Oratoire Saint-Joseph du Mont-Royal. Without a doubt, this was one of the if not the most breath-taking spots on the tour. I can't believe pilgrims used to walk all the way up there on their knees. Walking up there on foot appeared to be enough of a challenge. ( But just to go off on a tangent for a bit, how did people know God wanted them to walk all the way up there on their knees? Wouldn't doing so ruin their knee joints? The very same knees that God had given to them? And so wouldn't that be somewhat sinful? To ruin God's gift?
Okay, anyway, back to Montreal. )




The rest of the evening was unremarkable, as the weather did not relent. It kept raining off and on all day and in to the night and so we didn't do much else except look for a place to eat and then return to the hotel. We were hoping for a nice sunny day the next day.

Homecoming - Part IV

The next day, Richel and I set out to find one of the Gray Line Tours, a recommendation that Gil and Alice had made the night before as a way of touring the city rather quickly. We had found the spot and had barely enough time to get on the bus. Richel couldn't move very quickly and would constantly get angry if I left her behind. But hey, when I'm running for the bus it's not like I'm just going to get on it and leave her behind! Sheesh, of course I'm going to stand in the bus with one foot in so that the bus driver just can't take off. If he did I'd get seriously hurt and then there'd be a lawsuit. But drivers know better than that.

In any case, we proceded to take our tour around Ottawa and saw numerous historic structures and buildings (I don't remember what we saw, anymore). The 2 salient places that I do remember, however, was the RCMP camp and the Maurice Richard statue. I tried getting a picture of the Rocket, but unfortunately I didn't get a good view of it. Oh yeah, and the Parliament, but that's a given.





While we were on the tour we happened to go through the middle of the downtown area where a Farmer's Market was being held. Normally, we couldn't care less about Farmer's Market in another city, but in Canada they have maple syrup! I mean, REAL maple syrup, not that crappy stuff they sell at the supermarkets. It also brought to mind the time that Goh went to Canada and tried to bring maple syrup back on the plane, but the idiots of TSA wouldn't allow any liquids on to the plane and so they had to throw it all out (now, you just KNOW the TSA ate well the following morning - they should do a 20/20 show about all the stuff that gets thrown out because of this stupid rule and how dangerous people really think it is and what the TSA takes home. But no one has the balls to do a scoop like that and go up against the Bush administration). So Richel and I got off the bus and went to the Famer's Market and bought at least 7 liters of maple syrup to bring home for the family. Good stuff. It weighed a ton and the bag handles were biting in to my fingers as I carried the bags back to the hotel, but it was worth it.

Later on while we were walking arouond the downtown area we saw some of the Canadian Guards. We took some pictures of them but not with them. I prefered to take a photo with me in the same picture but not posing by them. We saw a lot of people doing that, going up to the Guards and making these ridiculous poses. Call me a dud, but I personally thought that was highly disrespectful of the Guards and their role. These people were making a mockery of OUR national Guards! Americans, no doubt. Bloody Yanks. How would they like it if I go pee on the Lincoln Memorial?




Anyway, after walking through the downtown area one more time, Richel and I decided to be on our way. Next stop, Montreal. It wasn't a terribly long drive. Certainly with all the driving I do on a daily basis, this trek wouldn't be much different but we did intend to get their before it got dark.

Homecoming Part III

The long awaited day had finally come. It wasn't just any day, it was 7/7/07, the luckiest day imaginable. I guess 7/7/77 would be even luckier, but I don't think Tuan would want to wait until he was 104 years old before getting married. And despite the lucky connotation this day's date held, Richel and my day started where it left off: late.

We were only a couple of minutes behind which isn't bad, and we were in the car on our way to Thuy's house for the wedding. However, as I soon learned, it was rather challenging driving over to her house given the instructions. Not because the instructions themselves were wrong, but because of the language....barrier? between Richel and I. Now in case you couldn't tell, Richel's native tongue of Tagalog has very heavy Spanish influence and absolutely no French influence. I, on the other hand, have studied Japanese, Chinese, French, and just a tad bit of Italian. No conquistodors for me. So while listening to Richel read the driving instructions, I had to translate from Spanish-accented English in to French. For example, Jeen dark boulevard was really Jeanne d'Arc Boulevard. Or like, Ben-no-IT-o was really Benoit. Suffice to say, we got lost for a bit. But that's okay because we quickly found our way, again. But we finally found the place, as it was impossible to miss 30 people dressed in black suits standing on the corner. Either that or the Prime Minister's secret service was taking a lunch break in the suburbs.





So there we were, preparing for Tuan's wedding in traditional Asian style. Very cool, very cool. I've never been to a traditional Asian wedding before; I've only seen it on TV (Young and Dangerous IV - starring Ekin Cheng and Gordon Chan). I even got to participate, which was way cool.

The time finally came for the procession to march upon the bride's house. And we did so under the curious gaze of all of Thuy's neighbors. As we entered the house, we presented Thuy's family with the gifts and headed straight for.... the back room? There were so many people in the house upon entering that there literally was no room to go except for the back room. So there we all sat and wondered what would happen next. After about 5 minutes, someone came in to the back room looking for "Brian and Vince." Hey! That's us!

We immediate hustled back in to the living room where everyone stood. Apparently, Tuan wanted his friends to stand behind him so Brian and I had to climb over a few people to get there. But we got there. We then watched Thuy come down the steps and get married to Tuan. I'm not exactly sure how it all happened, as the ceremony was performed all in Vietnamese, but I understood what was going on. The part that amazed me the most was when Thuy and Tuan were bowing in front of the altar with their eyes closed, and they were bowing in perfect unison. We were all so happy for them.



After it was over we all headed out to the backyard, ate, took pictures, and hung out.








We then had a short hiatus. While the bridal party went off and took pictures on location, the rest of us dispersed until the reception. Excellent! Time for a short nap. We then made a mad dash back to the hotel so that we could sneak in some quality rest time, but by the time we made it in to the room there wasn't much time left to spare. We then headed back out after a short period of time, making our way to the Hilton.

Richel and I arrived at the banquet hall a bit early, as we were assigned to be part of the set-up crew. None of us minded at all, as we were all more than happy to help Tuan and Thuy out during their special day. Besides, we all knew how hotels could really screw you over and so we did our best to make sure everything was done correctly.



Part of our task was to put on all the chair covers and secure them with tying a ribbon. Ironically, my ribbon was the most popular. I don't really understand why, and in fact I thought Richel's ribbons were better. Reminds me of the time I was in 7th grade and everyone was praising my neat hand-writing. Oddly enough, my patients all praise my hand-writing to this day.



Ah, the finished product.



We finally finished our task, and so left the banquet hall to mingle with friends in the lobby.




Let the celebration begin.









Thuy and Tuan Tonthat.

Homecoming Part II

Our first day back in the motherland didn't end when we got off the plane. Au contraire. After disembarking and picking up our luggage and making it through customs which was surprisingly easy, we picked up our rental car and headed for Ottawa. It wasn't that long of a drive, but we were on a time crunch and had no clue where we were going. T N T were having a rehearsal dinner that evening and so speed was of the essence.

Although speed was of the essence, once again I found myself the slowest one on the road. What the...? But I was traveling 5 km/hr above the speed limit. I thought Canucks were law-abiding. Well, apparently not as rigidly law-abiding as I had previoiusly thought. And once we got to downtown Ottawa traffic was horrendous. I guess traffic is always horrendous around rush hour in any downtown, though.

I did my best to obey the traffic laws, which are actually slightly different than they are in the States believe it or not. And I always had in the back of my mind that if I did get pulled over, I would claim ignorance because I was an ignorant American (ew, perish the thought!). Luckily, we didn't and made it to the hotel unscathed.

When we arrived at the Quality Hotel, our adventure didn't end there. Richel and I had to quickly unpack some nice dress clothes and start changing so that we could get to the restaurant. As as always, Murphy and his blasted law had to rear its ugly head. I ironed my clothes and put everything on to discover that my new pants were too short. I had brought floods. But no need to worry, because I could wear my suit pants...which didn't match my socks. Ugh. Then while Richel was getting ready she spilled some lotion on her dress, which ruined it for the evening. And while finishing up, her perfume bottle dropped, hit the tiled bathroom floor and shattered. So much for smelling nice. And to top it all off we wre running late. It's a good thing we were going to an Asian event, as everyone was on Asian time which was our saving grace for being late.



At the reception, I saw my good buddies TNT, Stan, Brian, Ben, Brian, and Gil. These were the same guys I hung out with in high school about 15 years ago! It was great seeing them, again and great catching up with everyone.



After the dinner, Richel and I decided that despite the disgusting humidity, our fatigue from travel and the late hour, we would take a walk through downtown Ottawa. I really wanted to see Parliament. Apparently, on the face of one of the buidlings, they have a light show on certain days, and this day was one of them. So off we went.


Another surprising thing was the number of people walking around downtown at night. For Ottawa's size, I expected the place to be dead after 7-8pm, but it wasn't. It was 10-11pm and the streets were still teaming with people.

After watching the light show Richel and I retired to our hotel. For the next day would be a busy day.

Homecoming Part I

I'll be honest, when we were growing up Mom was nuts. But one thing that she did particularly well in raising us was that she gave us a strong sense of national pride and patriotism. Maybe it was intentional, or maybe it was because everyday we'd hear her gripe and rant about how much the States sucked. In either case, out of all this my siblings and I maintained a strong patriotic sense: we are Canadians and we are damn proud of it.

Now, it's been about 25 years since I've been home to Canada (I've been too poor to make it back). A friend's wedding in Ottawa prompted Richel and I to visit and thus visit the homeland. And even though it was the homeland, it was a part of Canada that I have never been to.

Arriving at the Pierre Trudeau Airport in Montreal was quite refreshing, as all the signs were in French and people were speaking French for a change. For a French-speaker, I guess that would be somewhat refreshing after being swamped with Spanish for the past 20 years and not understanding a word of it. But I guess for non French-speakers it could be nerve-racking. To me it was like a breath of fresh cool air after being couped up in a small locker room with 10 sweaty hockey players after a game and no ventilation in the middle of summer. Take a deep breath!


(St.-Jean Blvd. North) --(40 West Hull/Ottawa)


It was odd, but as Richel and I strolled down the street during a hot and humid afternoon in Ottawa, I looked up at some of the buildings and the skyline and behold! I was filled with a sense of awe and wonder and strange humility almost to the point of stopping in my tracks and gasping. It felt as though I was in the presence of royalty without realizing exactly who or where the royal party was. It was more like a sixth sense, an innate ability to recognize magnificence without fully understanding it. For there atop the tallest buildings flew the great red maple leaf, dominating the sky with its crimson brilliance. O' beloved Canada, I am home.