jiveturtle

After a hectic 3 days, we finally taking a little break for the day. Well, actually, its not much of a rest. Amelie seemed to have developed a fever after we returned from the banquet last evening. We got rather worried, so I left the wedding evening reception early to run to the local Asda to pick up some Calpol and other bits and pieces. This morning, we called up the local practice for an appointment with the doctor. Luckily there was a cancellation, so we got that apppointment. The doctor told us that its something viral, and it'll probably go away as quickly as it came. I just checked on Amelie now while she was sleeping and it seems her temperature has gone back to normal and sweated a lot. That's normally a good sign when she's sweating it all out during a sleep. Its a good sign that she's on the road to recovery. But she still needs to take some medicine prescribed by the doctor which is a bit of nightmare since Amelie is very adament that she's not...

The big day for Jimmy and Caroline kicked off in the Cheung household at 6:30am, where all the members of the family got up for some breakfast and waiting in turns to use the one bathroom. We eventually all got ready and dressed up for the 9:30am departure to Manchester's Lowry Hotel. I was an Usher for my brother, so the gear I wore was slightly different and lot more extravagent. I mean, I had to wear a cravatte for God's sake! The weather was mild and cool, but I still felt hot under the shirt, waist jacket and tail jacket. It has been a while since I wore a suit of any kind, since my current job does not require it, so it took a bit of getting used to. But nevermind, its for my brother's big day. The itinery for the day was 10:30am was the wedding ceremony at the hotel, then at 2:00pm, the Chinese banquet at the Glamourous Chinese restuarant near Chinatown and then at 7:30pm, a evening reception back at the hotel. So much in one day! The bride and groom took thei...

Sunday was a bit of another rush. I woke very early in the morning to get some McDonald's Big Breakfast for the family, only to come back with the food and get moaned at by my father for buying too much. Dammit, I was hungry and the rest of the family needed to eat too, just wasn't sure what he was so angry about. Nevermind. After a spot of breakfast and a bit of a chit chat with my grandparents, the morning flew by with Amelie playing around after breakfast. For some reason Amelie has developed a fascination for stairs, in which she likes to climb up the them and then back down, and then back up again, repeating the exercise ritual as often as possible. Although she has mastered climbing up the stairs, she is still a little under-confident with the climbing down. Today, she actually slipped and rolled down a few stairs! Luckily she did not make it all the way to the bottom where there is a shoe rack. I was sitting at the bottom of the stairs when Amelie slipped. I lit...

We finally made it! After 16 hours of crueling battle with Amelie on the flight from Taipei to Manchester, we arrived in Manchester earlier than expected on a foggy Saturday morning. What are our first feelings? Well first and foremost, total fatigue. Chien and I were rather tired from all the antics which Amelie try to get up to. Amelie was rather tired too from all the hustle and bustle of the people on the plane. It was quite difficult to look after a toddler on the plane as we always had to keep her entertained, fed and hydrated throughout the long flight. Amelie is quite an active one, so she was always trying to think of ways to get out and walk around. The problem was the little rascal always tried to get out when the air stewards were serving dinner! In addition she hated the child seat belt. It drove her (and ourselves) nuts and she tried to kick and scream her way out of having to wear the seat belt while the plane took-off and landed. I felt sorry for the old gentl...

We're setting off later this evening to UK for a couple of weeks. Can't wait to see Manchester and Ashton-under-Lyne again, not to mention to catch with friends and family and of course do a bit of driving! I haven't been driving for more than a year now since I have been in Taiwan, feels like my legs have gone! We're taking a lot pineapple cakes, which Taiwan is famous for, back to friends and family in UK, and some other gifts too. On the way back, we'll bring back all sorts of stuff to Taiwan, so another post on that when I get back. Not sure whether I'll be able to get online as often, but will try my best to keep my blog updated as much as possible while I am over in UK. My grand parents also arrived in UK from Hong Kong to attend my brother Jimmy's wedding. So time would probably be spent travelling around and take to places to see and have fun. Don't worry, as always, I'll be taking pictures! It will be Amelie's first time visit to UK...

I was just browsing and I was thinking back to my English class days at my secondary school, trying to remember what sort of literature we read. As with many schools in the UK, Shakespeare is compulsory for all pupils. I had read an article that suggested schools were not doing enough to get rid of the boring image associated with Shakespeare's works. So in aid to improve the image of Shakespeare, I will try to read more of his works. To do that, I had come across a site which has all his works. The site is aptly titled as The Complete Works of William Shakespeare . Go visit, and see what you think of his works. Is it still applicable to the modern world? Are his plays as dramatic or funny now as there they were in his time?

This is Hikki's Passion, title song used in the Japanese versio of the video game Kingdom Hearts 2. For the worldwide release of Kingdom Hearts 2, she recorded and English version of this song called Sanctuary. Its also from her latest album ULTRA Blue. Apparently, like the videos for Keep Tryin' and Travelling, this video was also directed by her husband Kazuaki Kiriya, who married Hikki in September 2002. This is the opening sequence to Kingdom Hearts 2, with Hikki's song