Made in Houston, Imported from Penang: Recent Vacation Pictures

Finally found some time to post some of the vacation pictures. We spent two weeks in the Puget Sound area, and 1 week in the Bay Area staying with Pearl's brother. It was a good vacation, and we managed to find a suite with kitchen for our two weeks stay in Anacortes.

We spent the Independence weekend at Victoria and Vancouver. Victoria was pretty touristy, and Vancouver was almost like Hong Kong. We went to the Aberdeen center and ate at the Asian food center there, twice. I think we missed good and genuine Asian food a lot. Then had authentic Singapore Chicken Rice (though it is actually called Hainanese Chicken Rice) at my ex-colleague Cherie's place, thanks to her mom-in-law's wonderful cooking. Ian and Megan had fun playing with their pet rabbit, and the hedgehog (never seen a real hedgehog until then...).

San Jose was another place full of Asians. I can imagine myself living there with all the cheap and good Chinese eateries and groceries (Dungeness crab for $5 a pound!!)...if only their property prices are as low as Houston's.

All in all a pretty good and memorable trip, especially the family time spent together with Keat's family. However as ever travelling with two small kids are tiring...

Sweet and HUGE Rainier cherries at the Pike Place Market, Seattle...err the Iguana was fake, I think :o

Lots of wild caught seafood at the Pike Place market.

Ian enjoying his mayonnaise-free sushi

Happy Megan at the hotel

Megan loved the fluffy King bed

Pearl brought the kids to the strawberry farm, this is a revisit for Ian!

Ian had a blast at the local playground

The kids really like checking out the new hotel's beds

We bought some seafood from the local shellfish farm near Anacortes. Cheap Dungeness Crab, yummy!

Vancouver is a beautiful city by the bay, lots of rich people's yachts at the pier

Ian kung fu fighting at Stanley Park, Vancouver

Ian was very focused on the stone painting at Stanley Park

Petting Zoo at Stanley Park

We took the ferry from Vancouver to Victoria, it was rather cold onboard

Ian loves playing with Megan

Ian "Sayang" Megan :)

Gaya, Mutu, Keunggulan, Inilah Dunhill...I can almost hear the advertisement voice behind this pose.

Hatley castle, Victoria. Nice garden and much cheaper than the very touristy Butchart garden too.

Fort Rodd lighthouse was one of the most beautiful scenery we have seen throughout our three week's trip. This is almost like a painting. Definitely a well hidden secret of the beautiful Victoria Island.

We fell in love with this Lavender farm instantly

Other yachts along the route from Victoria back to Anacortes

Beautiful sun set at the ferry terminal of Anacortes

One of the rare moment when Ian and Megan managed a picture together

Otherwise this is Ian's usual self in front of the camera

Puget Sound was so beautiful that we can almost imagine ourselves retiring there

The First Encounter of the Cousins - this is t very first time Ian and Evan met each other

They click at the very first instant, and were playing happily at the playground close to Keat's house.

At the Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco. This is my second visit, this time with family, which is a lot more fun than my previous visit just by myself. However I had more time to experiment with the camera then.

Both cousins are taking pictures!

Another hidden secret in San Francisco - the Art Museum

We also spent some time at the Happy Hollow children zoo and park in San Jose. In fact the kids enjoyed this much better than the sceneries. Ian was driving Megan around...may be another 15 years.