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November 16, 2007

Trip to Asia

So I was able to sneak away from the restaurant and attended 3 banquets in Hong Kong, thanks to the extra efforts and hard work from my staff. And of course must have to mention the additional helps from my dear friends, Josephine and Jean!

First was my best friend Vicky's wedding, a long awaited one, while they have been together for more than 15 years! I can't put into words of how happy I was for her...for them. Since we live afar, I had only met Ronald less than 10 times in all these years. However 15 years later, I still see how much love and care he has for Vicky, how he caters to her and the way he acts and takes care of her... And that's all I care about. They sure are the couple who has my whole heartedly blessings! IMG_9967.JPG
In addition, seeing all the dear friends from school, talking about the good old days... delightful! Care to check out our 17 years ago and 17 years later pics?
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Then was my mother's 61st birthday banquet. In Chinese traditions, men celebrate their big birthdays on the zeros, 60th, 70th, 80th... while women celebrate on the 1's, 61st, 71st, 81st...etc. My mother is a very nurturing person. She always thinks of others first. She always gives. She would over exhaust herself, just to make sure everything was done right before any celebrations or dinner gatherings. She might only have 2 hours sleep on Chinese New Year's eve, wearing herself out to prepare the best meal and the cleanest house for my entire family and my dad's best friend to come and feast on New Year day. She wouldn't mention a word but she knows everyone's favorite food and would surprise you on the table when you're least expecting. She's a super thoughtful, super mom! She's the one in blue. And have you ever seen such bigger than a fist Chinese birthday buns before!?
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For her banquet, it was just a very small and low profile one with only family and my parents' best friends. It was because she didn't want to bother anyone for gifts. Even if you mentioned no gift in the invitation, Chinese would always bring you something. Especially family members. Therefore my mother used me and the mid-Autumn festival which was just around the corner on the calendar as an excuse, "let's get together and have dinner" was how she put it. As for me, any family gatherings would being me joy. I miss my family, and I miss all the gatherings that we ALWAYS had when I was a kid or when I was living in Hong Kong.

It's true that I have a very unusual family! A family that others always asked, "How come you all are so closed, and get along so well?" I think the answer is we truly love and care for each other selflessly? My grandfather had 3 wives (yes, all at the same time! ;) but the strangest thing was all the kids(my uncles) all got along so well that I didn't even know they're from different grandmothers when I was little! All the cousins are like bothers and sisters. It's just too bad that we had spread around the world quite a bit, but our hearts are always together! We're the FUNG, a name that I'm very proud of, a family of food and a family that many others envy!

Lastly was my second uncle's 80th birthday banquet. Uncle Ban had couple strokes a few years back. He has been doing better and now is able to hold his chopsticks and bowl and feed himself. However he still can't quite walk much. Therefore he and my aunt had chosen to reside in the resort they bought more than 10 years ago in the Canton area in China, where they can hire two full time live in domestic help.
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The food was good but the company was the best! The restaurant that my aunt chose for the banquet was HUGE! We all had a great time. We joked around, played around and had a wonderful time.
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