homesick/home-cooked by cristina . jan 24

i couldn't have asked for a better vacation. yes, so much went on in terms of parties and get-togethers, but what i probably enjoyed most was just hanging out at my parent's place, doing ordinary everyday things that i took for granted when i had my family close by. having all that quality time with them, eating mum's delicious home-cooked meals day after day, our shopping trips and long chats over coffee that would last past midnight, watching dvds in our pyjamas, hearing dad's same old jokes, playing games with my brother ... oh, how i'll miss it! yes folks, my homesickness is back with a vengeance ...

one of the many good things that's come out of our trip home is that peter and i got so used to home-cooked meals that since we've returned to the US, we've cooked more than we ever have. tonight i made for the first time one of my favorite dishes that my mum would often cook. she talked me through it the whole time over the phone :-) ... and yup, it tasted just like mum's ...

this soup dish was absolutely what we needed tonight - perfect for the weather we're having in seattle these days. it's so cold that peter and i need to have our centralized heating on most nights, despite layers of clothing and a lit fireplace. lana walks around with a jumper too, and likes to lie sprawled out by the fireplace :D. and also perfect for this weather ... putting a dvd on whilst the three of us snuggle close on the couch ... see ya! :-D.

home for the holidays by peter . jan 22

We were so busy during our trip to Sydney that we didnt have time to update our blog at all. But now that we’re back in Seattle, it's really too cold to do anything outside (below freeezing temps!), so we have a lot of time to blog, sitting at home by the fireplace. Let's go back a bit ...

In preparation for our 4 week holiday, we turned down the thermostat on the water heater, disconnected kitchen appliances and removed the leads from the car battery. We even put timers on our living room lamps to turn on for short periods during the evening. For further peace of mind, we informed our neighbor, a Microsoft employee, of our trip and left contact details in case the house were to burn down or something. After all, one month is a long time for a house to be left alone.

Of course, we also had preparations made for Lana. We left her in the care of a couple we'd met through Shih-tzu meet-ups at our local dog park. This couple was also the one that hosted the Shih Tzu Christmas party we attended last christmas. They have two shih-tzus themselves, named Mimi and Nana, who they treat like their own kids. Just to be sure that Lana would get along with the Mimi and Nana, we had Lana stay overnight at their house for a trial run. Lana was a little shy at first but it didn’t take long for her to mix in and feel like she was part of the pack.

With everything organized, we were ready to go. Our friend, Stacy, was kind enough to offer us a ride to the airport and a ride home when we got back. We flew with Alaskan Airlines from Seattle down to San Francisco, an almost 2 hour flight, where we waited several hours for our connecting Qantas flight to Sydney. San Francisco airport felt cleaner and newer than Los Angeles airport. It sounds kind of shallow but the impression I got from the airport made me feel like visiting San Francisco again. While waiting for boarding, we grabbed some food and browsed the internet on the laptop. We also stepped outside to take a snapshot by a San Fran bridge ;P

The flight from San Francisco to Sydney was almost 14 hours so we were really glad it was going to be in Business Class. With Qantas staff discounts (thanks to Cristina's dad working there), both our tickets didn’t put us back much at all. One of the benefits of being part of the Qantas family ;-) I liked most things about Business Class – plenty of leg room, seats that recline into beds, good food, snacks and drinks whenever you want, your own TV with movies on demand and power for your laptop. We were even given designer pyjamas to change into for the flight! I tried to pretend like I was no stranger to Business Class but of course I was exposed each time the food came out and I’d be fussing over it and taking pictures.

When we arrived at Sydney, Cristina’s parents were waiting for us. It felt great to be home again! The whole time we were in Sydney we stayed with Cristina’s parents in Holsworthy. They had a spare guest room and their home was conveniently located close to trains and buses. Cristina’s brother Mike, who moved to a new place on the same street, was kind enough to lend us his car while he was at work. I showed my appreciation by topping up his petrol for the month we were there. With petrol prices these days, I’m sure he appreciated the gesture :). Driving in Australia felt a little strange at first. Staying in the correct lane was fairly easy. Accidentally turning on my windscreen wipers to indicate a turn was just embarrassing. Hitting my right hand against the door when reaching for the transmission wasn’t fun either.

After driving in Seattle I suddenly found drivers in Sydney to be very aggressive. Every time we stopped at a red light, there seemed to be some P plater in a souped up car, which was usually in real need of a fresh paintjob, wanting to drag us. On one occasion, we saw an elderly pedestrian wave her pinky at such a car. I was a little confused by the gesture at first then I saw the RTA ad and realized the joke. Brilliant.

Since we were in Sydney during the Christmas/New Year period, there was always a party or event to go to. We wanted to pack as much as we could into the 4 weeks we were there especially since we hadn’t seen our family and friends in almost two years. The day after we arrived, there was the CorVu company Christmas party. Despite having left CorVu almost two years ago, I still felt a strong connection with the friends and colleagues I had made there. It was great catching up with everyone and sharing my “cultural learnings of America”. We managed to sneak out of the party towards the end, just in time to escape being forced by my former manager to sing karaoke.

One of the main reasons we were back for Christmas this year was for my brother Tan’s wedding. Tan is number 4 out of 6 kids and the third sibling to get married. We’re clearly not doing it in order. I blame number 3. The wedding was a typical Viet wedding – tea ceremony in the morning, church ceremony, some eating, a short break, and then the day ended with more eating amongst more people we didn’t know. I helped the bride’s brother collect the red pockets (monetary gifts) from guests. Tan and his wife certainly received a nice house down payments worth! … maybe even for a new engine for the Supra as well :P.

My sister and her husband had their first child a few months back, a little girl named Kaylen. Kaylen is the first of the new generation in my family so you can imagine the amount of attention she receives. Every time my sister brings Kaylen to my parent’s house, both my parents constantly dote over her. Whenever we were there, it was difficult for us to spend any time with Kaylen because my mum was pretty reluctant to pass her on. So often, my mum disappeared with the baby in another room and we didn’t hear from them for hours. Because of that, the rest of the family nicknamed by mum as “the dingo”.

When the time came for Kaylen’s baptism, Cristina was asked to be Kaylen’s godmother. I could tell Cristina was really excited about it. Every time we went shopping, she'd be in the baby section looking for something for Kaylen.

As we had always done when we lived in Australia, Christmas Eve was spent with Cristina’s family and Christmas Day was spent with mine. And like always, Cristina’s mum went all out with the food she served for Christmas eve dinner....

For New Year’s Eve, we had dinner over a family friend’s place....

Our good friends Vera and Adrian invited us over to their townhouse for a BBQ. They recently got engaged and were planning to have their wedding this year in Indonesia. I’ve exhausted my holidays so I won’t be able to make it, but since Vera and Cristina are very close friends this is one wedding she can’t miss....

One of the most important things we did in Sydney was to eat food we’ve missed for so long. Red Rooster, meat pies, kebabs and most of all ... mud crab!

Needless to say, my belt had to be loosened by a notch on the flight back.

On the way back home to Seattle we ran into several issues. First, the plane arrived late at Sydney airport. Then we heard news that a United Airlines plane was cancelled and their passengers would be offloaded onto our flight. This meant passengers travelling on staff discounts might risk losing their seats to the full paying customers. We, and several other Qantas staff travelers, had to wait until all commercial passengers had boarded before we found out if there was room for us. At the last possible minute, we were told there were still some empty seats in Business Class. We quickly checked in our luggage and rushed to the boarding gates. There was barely time to say goodbye to Cristina’s parents who accompanied us to the airport. While the plane was preparing for the trip, a storm warning came and the ground crews were instructed to vacate the area for safety reasons. The storm threat eventually passed and we said goodbye to Sydney.

Despite a late departure, we arrived at San Francisco on time. Our connecting flight to Seattle wasn’t for another several hours so we took our time. The line at customs was pretty long but it was moving relatively fast. The plan was to get our luggage and visit some of the stores at the airport. Unfortunately, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) had other plans for us. My name came up clear on their computers but Cristina’s name was flagged. We were told that Cristina’s name was so common they needed to do secondary checks. So we found ourselves in a waiting room with a few other people who were flagged. We were interviewed and told to wait for their computers to do additional checks. As we waited, people came and went. It was in that office that we found out our luggage never made the flight. A Qantas employee came and took details from us so that the luggage could be couriered when it did arrive. We ended up waiting at DHS for over 2 hours.

We had just enough time to rest and grab lunch before boarding the Alaskan flight back to Seattle. When we got to Seattle, Stacy and Hannah were there to pick us up. As for our bags, it arrived via FedEx a few days later. So it ended well and we had a fantastic holiday overall!