from Keng Chee
It is once again the time of the year to recap 2007 and to share our happy memory of this wonderful year with you.
Keng Chee and I took a land tour to South America right at the beginning of the year to see the magnificent Iguazu falls. A large number of falls spread over three nations of Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay. There are tiny ones as well as very huge ones comparable to the Niagara Falls. Tons and tons of water keep roaring and thundering down high cliffs creating vast water mists. The drier the season, the greater number of falls there will be! Why? The bigger falls will simply break into smaller size falls to be counted. When there is more water in the rainy season, the small falls will merge into one big fall. We are glad to be able to see this wonder of nature.
We spent good time to experience the culture in the country of Samba dance (Brazil) and the country of Tango dance (Argentina). Argentina people are very obsessed and proud of their Tango - their national dance. There were free dance shows on the streets and they even provide free lessons to visitors like us at the hotel where we stayed. By the way, their dance steps are somewhat different from those we used to know in Toronto. When we shown them our dance steps that we learnt in Toronto - their question are: "What kind of dance is that? "
We continued to cruise down to the very southern tip of the world round Cape Horn - tracking the route of those sea explorers that first sailed to the new world. We missed the chance of landing at Falkland Island because of windy and rough sea condition. Along the shorelines of South America, there are snow capped mountains and glaciers seen everywhere. We were charmed that the world is just so beautiful no matter where we are. South America used to be a lesser-known part of the world to us but now we saw that there are beautiful ports and well built modern cities even in Chile. There are super vacation spots in Santiago comparable to those in Europe. The air is particularly fresh in this less populated part of the globe. In this region, we also saw different species of penguins, sea lions, ostriches and many other birds. We cruised a total 3933 nautical miles (i.e. over 4500 land miles) on board the ship "Infinity" of Celebrity.
After the trip, life quieted down for preparing an important event coming up on the big big day of Michael and Renee. On July 7, 2007 (the triple "7" date), we welcome Renee to become a member of our family. Let us adopt a very traditional saying here:"WE WISH THEM TO LIVE HAPPILY EVER AFTER". Around 300 friends and relatives came and witnessed their happy wedding. Our sincere thank to all friends and relatives who came and sent well wishes to them on that very special occasion. Due to a space limitation of the Chinese restaurant, it is our regret that we were unable to invite as many friends as we wish to come to the wedding banquet. We do apologize to those many good friends for being missed out in Michael's celebration party.
By July, it was one-year anniversary of moving to our new house. We continue to enjoy our new home very much. The picture above was taken in July when Joyce and Stanley came home from Hong Kong for a happy family reunion.
With the wedding of Renee and Michael, this also brings us into a very close relationship with Renee's parents - Curie Chow and Albert Cheong. They are no strangers to us as we have been working together for Standard Chartered Bank in Hong Kong many many years. We have found common interest to travel a lot around in car in Canada - Albert is an excellent driver.
Thank for our guardian angels, we managed to stay healthy throughout the year. Of course, our body machines needed minor fixing now and then. Keng Chee had her gall stones removed in October - a quick and small operation which took only a few hours. She does not have to worry about gall stone pain attack any more. Mother Miu Tin is still fine although her memory is fading fast. She cannot walk well and needs the wheel chair most of the time in moving around.
We wish you good health and good luck throughout the new 2008.
From Keng Chee and Chi Kin.
PS: You might wish to see more wedding pictures of Michael and Renee in the computer by the address link below:
http://www.flickr.com/gp/12219449@N08/G2Z59B
http://www.flickr.com/gp/12219449@N08/3wt4M9
http://www.flickr.com/gp/12219449@N08/N4cd76