Just a day at the beach

 oh, and I gave Robby a mohawk. No big deal.

Vancouver: Day 4

On our last day, we met up with my cousin at yummy Pajos in Steveston. Some of the best fish and chips ever.

Enjoyed a little walk around Steveston and the set of Once Upon a Time!

Granny's Diner

The day turned out to be a good one for reminiscing. I took Robby to each of the three houses that I called home while growing up in Richmond. The drive by brought back such lovely memories and I found myself wondering who lives there now and what their lives are like.

Our first home (1995) with my grandparents on Evancio Crescent:

My mom, sisters, and I moved into this charming house on Thomas Drive a few years later. This was the house we lived in for the majority of my childhood years.

After my grandfather passed away, my grandmother sold their house and we sold ours to buy this beauty on Sheridan. Lived here throughout high school. Not sure what the adults were thinking, but this monster had six bedrooms and SEVEN bathrooms. Did I mention there were only five of us living there?

Dinner at Bubble World, our go-to restaurant, with some of my high school friends.

Right after Bubble World, we went to Pearl Castle (only in Richmond) to meet up with Elaine and Kevin. It was so great to see Elaine and to meet Kevin for the first time. Too bad Faye and Nathan were too busy traveling the world. Maybe someday in the near future, we'll all get to be together at the same place at the same time!

The next morning, we were lucky to be able to meet up briefly with my grandpa's brother (grand-uncle?) at Richmond Centre before jetting off to Hawaii. What a great trip! We'll definitely be back.

Vancouver: Day 3

Little Ariel turned 22! We celebrated her day of birth at Memphis Blues, one of favorite little restaurants downtown. We ordered the Elvis Platter complete with ribs, sliced beef brisket, pulled pork, barbeque chicken, and smoked sausage. Robby said it was the best southern bbq he's had since Alabama. Not too shabby, Vancouver.

 Happy Birthday Ariel!!!

Vancouver: Day 2

 We met up with some of my best friends from McRoberts and of course food was involved. We ate at none other than my favoritest (that's gotta be a word) Malaysian restaurant, Tropika! I would've been happy even if we didn't eat anywhere else for the rest of our trip.

A tiny sample of the beginning of our meal. By the time everything else came, there was no time for pictures.

After dinner, we went and played some laser tag to burn off the calories. It was so much fun!

 And of course, we needed a treat for exercising so hard...hah!

 Every time we get back together, it's like we've never been apart. That's what I love about good friends.

Vancouver: Day 1

Our bus got us to the River Rock Casino late Saturday night and Ariel picked us up. The next morning, we drove to Church in Scott's trusty little car (thanks Scott!). Lucky for us, Alvin and Enid were giving their mission farewell talks that same Sunday! I love how they're going on their mission at the same time. Enid is currently serving in Hong Kong while Alvin is serving in the New York North Mission. So proud of them!

Because of this special occasion, a lot of people who are no longer in the ward came to hear them speak. I was so happy to see everyone again after so many years and everyone was happy to meet Robby too.

 

Ok, now don't judge. Since we were only going to be in Richmond for 4-5 days, Sunday was the only day that the Richmond Night Market was going to be open before we left. Soooo, we headed there with Ariel after a nice dinner at the Chan's. First day here and we're already stuffing ourselves.

Yummy "rotatoes"!

An imitation Mos Burger (:

Now we miss Taiwan! Oh dear.

Back...and gone for good :(

After traveling and living out of backpacks (even worse than suitcases!) for three weeks, we finally got back to our little apartment. Thanks Riley and Allison for coming to get us from the airport and for taking care of our mail! We got home late on a Monday night, packed and cleaned from Tuesday through Friday, and headed to the airport once again early Saturday morning. This time we were leaving for good...and moving to Hawaii! With the help of so many friends and family, we were able to pack our lives into 12 boxes and 2 suitcases.

I seriously look for every opportunity to visit Vancouver. While looking for flights from Salt Lake to Honolulu, I was so happy to find that it would be cheaper for us to fly to Seattle, take the bus up to Vancouver, and fly from Vancouver to Honolulu. It wasn't difficult to convince Robby to take this little detour since he loves Vancouver almost as much as I do.

NYC: Day 4

Our last day was a very relaxing one. Had one dollar pizza for lunch. Then headed to the St. Regis Hotel. Robby's grandma was part of a Hawaii dance group that performed at this same exact hotel in the 1930s. She wanted us to check it out and take a few pictures. It was neat seeing the place that she still talks so fondly about.

Godiva shake and random cathedral in a jungle of skyscrapers.

Central Park!

I love having this handsome guy who lets me take pictures of him whenever I want to! I lost our trusty little digital camera in a Starbucks bathroom on our first day in New York so we weren't able to take any more self portraits. The closeups are obviously failed attempts with my no zoom lens. 

"Are you done yet? Can I stop smiling already??"

Thanks for a great time, New York City!

NYC: Day 3

As a first time tourist in NYC, I diligently went to see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island with Robby in tow. Miss Liberty was much bigger than I had imagined she would be but no less impressive.

All I could think about while in this hall on Ellis Island was that scene in Hitch!

Another memorable scene from Hitch. 

These hot dogs from a street vendor were heavenly.

A random grassy area at the end of an intersection.

We barely made it in time to see the 911 Memorial. We were so relieved they let us in because we really wanted to see it. The memorial is beautiful and such a wonderful tribute to those who lost their lives in the 911 attacks. If you plan to go, just make sure you get your visitor passes ahead of time.

Dinner at Schnippers. We really liked their chili fries and sweet potato fries (:

Riley's Believe it or Not!

And of course I wanted to see Time Square by night. Unfortunately, I made Robby miss his basketball game...oops!