Missing the In-Laws

The in-laws were with traveling with us from New York to Boston to Vermont to Montreal to Vermont and back to New York. The siblings actually left earlier, during the second Vermont stop, but the parents stayed on till we returned to New York again.

I must say that their presence was a welcome change from just the wife laughing (or rolling her eyes) at my jokes. Now I had a bigger audience! Now that they are gone, I can't just help but wish that they were around for just a little longer. So, this blog is all about the things I will miss most!

Little bro Yuj -

Personally trained by Professor X

He's physically incapable of taking a decent photo, but everyone adores him just the same. More often than not, he thinks great thoughts. I have no idea what goes on in his brain when he goes into that semi-trance state, but I'm sure it has things to do with ending world hunger and promoting world peace. Or chopping chilli.

But in the meantime, yay! - Someone I could talk about Star Wars and comics with!

Eating boats may be a partial solution for world hunger. Hmm...

Crazy sis Ju, aka "Lint"

The latest app is called Dork and Dorker

She's sometimes this totally cool person, and sometimes this absolute dork. Yi Lin has already posted Dunce with Me and Dunce with Me Again, so I will share this other exchange that made us laugh till we cried.

Dad: Can I have a coffee? I can't function without coffee.
Me: Ooh... sounds like you're addicted!
Dad: (sniping at Yuj) Well... at least it's only coffee, not cigarettes. Such a disgusting habit.
Yuj: There we go again... everytime someone mentions you and coffee, you bring this up.
Ju: I really don't see the issue what... coffee and cigarettes, they contain the same things that make you addicted, right?
All: ......

Yup, Ju has these quirky ways of seeing the world, sometimes it warps reality as we know it, but other times, it introduces us to new ways of looking at things.

Oh, and she taught me how to make a baby too. Isn't that great?

Apparently, standing on your head is called a baby in breakdance language. Go figure.

MIL - whom I respectfully call 'Mum'

Mum was stalking us on Facebook and our blog, and must have come to the conclusion that our diet is totally crap. She seemed to have made it a personal mission to ensure that we are properly fed. Hence, she cooked delicious stew, Hainanese chicken rice, fried rice, wanton soup at various mealtimes during their trip.

What's cookin'?

Of course, it was also totally hilarious whenever she called her kids by the wrong names.

"Jin! Ju! I meant Ju!"
"Ju! Jin! I meant Jin!"
"Jin! Ju! I meant Dan!"

Huh?!


And of course, there's dear old Dad.

Had his coffee!

He's an avid photographer, but would rely on others to download pictures from the camera, charge the battery and of course, pose with the flowers/buildings/scenery that he actually wants to capture.

Just like the way I would instinctively reach for my iPod Touch when I'm bored, he would reach for the camera and constantly review all the pictures he's taken.

Just like a little kid who can't wait to see it on a bigger screen

But having dad around with us for this trip is totally essential.

Essential for our safety, because he would be the ones figuring out exactly how the locks on the doors work, testing them and checking and rechecking that they are locked before we turn in for the night.

Essential for our well-being, because he would come to us and let us know where the dangerously placed handlebars in the bathroom were so we would not knock our heads on them, or where a screw is protruding a little more from the floor than usual, so that we do not step on it and puncture the soles of our feet.

Especially so for Yi Lin and I, he's presence is essential for our budget, because without us asking, he has generously waved his magic credit card to all our expenses incurred while they were traveling with us. Thank you so much!

When I look back on the adventures we've shared together during this trip, I really feel blessed. Not only do I have a lovely wife whom I'm still incredibly in love with, but I get along well with her family too. Abundant recompense*, indeed.

"Pier"-ing at the camera, waiting for it to click

* The Father-in-law quoted William Wordsworth's Tintern Abbey during our wedding. I now re-quote it:

That time is past,
And all its aching joys are now no more,
And all its dizzy raptures. Not for this
Faint I, nor mourn nor murmur, other gifts
Have followed; for such loss, I would believe,
Abundant recompence.

Of New Bags & Newport

Presenting, the first of three entries on Cape Cod which should have come before ones on Boston. I finally got down to doing some tikam tikam and picked what I hope are the best photos for the blog while trying not to get distracted by two full hours of Friends episode reruns.

The best type of travel reference materials are those that walk on two legs and aren't made of paper or available online. It turned out that meeting with Ethan Kent from PPS in Manhattan wasn't all work and no play. He shared with us a thousand tips on traveling in New England, where his family hails from. How can you not get jumpy with anticipation when a local enthusiastically exclaims, "You're visiting all my favourite places! That's just awesome." and proceeds to share with you details of the seaside towns, restaurants and nature trails that he loves? He hunted down a map of New England and started walking us through the route and scribbling down his recommendations on a notepad.

We even got a couple of great shopping tips, which saved us from an unnecessary detour to Premium Outlets in Woodbury Common and thus, a huge amount of time on the road dredging through nightmarish New York traffic. At his advice, we headed for the outlets at Clinton Crossing in Connecticut instead, which were en route to our destination in Rhode Island.

And look what we scored:

The happiest bag lady I've ever seen

The Memorial Day (Monday 25 May) sales that stretched from Friday to Monday were unbelievably good - bags were going at a 50% discount on the already heavily discounted prices. We got my mum hooked onto Kate Spade bags and my dad grumbling about the extra load to cart home at the end of the trip. But when we hit the outlets at Wrentham en route from Cape Cod to Boston on Monday (the last day of the sale!), guess who sent the family into a tizzy because he disappeared into the bowels of the mall with his mobile phone on low batt and kept us waiting at the pre-arranged meeting point for half an hour? Hmmmmmm, Prof Tan?? He's always the first to get bored and would wait impatiently at the meeting point, sending SMSes to the wife and kids to wrap up the shopping trip pronto. So when he wasn't there, we were so worried that he might have fainted in the loo or outside one of the shops. We sent the guys to check the restrooms and coordinated a search mission to comb the mall (while leaving Mum to fiercely guard the shopping.) It turned out that he was in the queue waiting to pay for his goodies from Banana Republic! Parents nowadays are such a handful. Sheesh.

Ethan had recommended that we take the scenic route to Newport, instead of zooming up the (boring) interstate directly into Providence. It was really nice to have someone suggest the travel itinerary for a change, instead of stuffing my head with general information from travel guides. I'm glad we made the stop. Newport is a very pretty seaside town and the main destination for major sailing races, such as the America Cup. (Not that I'm much of a sailor myself - the last time I tackled a sailboat was during my first few months at Victoria Junior College, where my friend Penn Nee and I ended up floundering in the open sea in the middle of a tropical storm. I decided thereafter that I would stick to dry land and try out for the school's track team instead.)

Hopefully the next time I get to visit Newport, I'll be arriving in my very own boat (or rubber dinghy the size of a bathtub) and berthing at the chichi piers snootily marked with a 'private' sign. Tee hee.

Big straw hats with coloured ribbons! So summertime.

If I've no money to buy a boat, I can settle for a rubber dinghy too.

Stalking pigeons is a low-budget past-time

The perfect cranny for hiding from the chilly sea breeze

White fences + pots of geraniums! I heart.

Quaint houses lining the streets make for a delightful afternoon stroll

Newport and the other seaside towns in New England are treasure troves for art galleries and artisan shops. I find the artworks so inspiring. They make me want to be able to draw and paint well enough to be able to showcase my works in a gallery and actually have people buy them. I've considered taking art classes back home as a hobby a couple of times but the lessons are just so expensive and the price of art supplies can make you gag. Guess I'll just be sticking to mastering digital photography and uploading pictures for now.