tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-83094112130900820842024-02-09T16:58:36.490-05:00Felix's BlogThis blog is a gift to my wife, Renee, and my children, Adele, Athan, Audrey, Anne, Amelia, and Andrea.Felix Wonghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16180356165291817154noreply@blogger.comBlogger61125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8309411213090082084.post-61032010951263824202023-10-14T22:31:00.005-04:002023-10-14T22:38:35.582-04:00My New Project: AI Bible Summary<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZNyfAYTHAF0OLiJEThyphenhyphen75c1IwXAuXAaKiV5yE1vBcxpBcF9mLQRRpc3dsgtpgOMyhw7IIG033T87DkPs1VdDUy9V0ttp04DA0uEYYqCswKABewM_KiqDp2qZLfZQdnk2dz6zCHL9hplC-o-NnNL8hfIEatDdmsprp_5jV-3d5LIgN4og4BrL9jxN32REV/s1024/AI%20Robot.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZNyfAYTHAF0OLiJEThyphenhyphen75c1IwXAuXAaKiV5yE1vBcxpBcF9mLQRRpc3dsgtpgOMyhw7IIG033T87DkPs1VdDUy9V0ttp04DA0uEYYqCswKABewM_KiqDp2qZLfZQdnk2dz6zCHL9hplC-o-NnNL8hfIEatDdmsprp_5jV-3d5LIgN4og4BrL9jxN32REV/w400-h400/AI%20Robot.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>AI generated image of AI summarizing the Bible</i> 😂</div><p>Artificial Intelligence (AI) has really come into the forefront of tech last year, when OpenAI released <a href="https://chat.openai.com/" target="_blank">ChatGPT</a> to the public. As most of you know, it's basically a super smart chatbot. It is able to understand the context of your questions and requests and provide very useful, albeit sometimes inaccurate, answers. </p><p>Since ChatGPT's release, I have spent quite a bit of time with it. At work, I will sometimes need to write code and I've used it to generate a good portion of the code that I would use in my programs. It's also quite good at writing Excel formulas. It's like having a really smart coach, who knows pretty much everything there is to know, ready and willing to help. The best part is: you can just carry on a conversation with it. You don't actually need to learn how to communicate with it, unlike with many unintuitive software.</p><p>Now, hold that thought on AI for a bit. Recall that I completed the <a href="https://www.felixwong.org/2022/08/update-2021-new-year-resolution-bible.html">Bible in a Year</a> podcast last year. Although it was my second time going through the entire bible, I still feel like I haven't really absorbed a lot of the content into my brain. For example, aside from being called by the Lord when he was in bed as a child and later anointing David, what else did the prophet, Samuel, do in his ministry? Or what did St. Paul write in all those letters of his (aside from the "Love is patient" passage that is used in 98% of all weddings)? And so, recently, I was thinking to myself, "wouldn't it be nice if there is some sort of Cole's Notes on the bible?" Although I'm sure there are probably countless of them on the internet, a thought came to mind: can I use ChatGPT to do exactly that, create a summarized version of the bible?</p><p>So, on the anniversary of the final apparition of Our Lady of Fatima (October 13), I have started my new project: <a href="https://twitter.com/CatholicBibleAI" target="_blank">Catholic Bible Summary</a> or <a href="https://twitter.com/CatholicBibleAI" target="_blank">@catholicbibleai</a>. I will post a summary of a chapter of the bible on X (Twitter), starting from Genesis all the way to Revelation. The goal is, of course, not to create a replacement for the bible, but to make the bible more accessible, in bite-sized chunks once a day. I will also include a link to the full text of the chapter for those who want to delve into the original text. I hope I can do my small part in the New Evangelization that is so needed in this crazy world of ours. This project will take approximately 3 years to complete. Please keep me in your prayers so that I can persevere...and remember to follow me!</p><p>Finally, I leave you with the first chapter of the bible, Genesis 1:</p><p>
</p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">GENESIS 1<br />In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and covered in darkness, but God's spirit moved over the waters. God spoke, and light came into existence, separating light from darkness, calling the light Day and the darkness Night.</p>— Catholic Bible Summary (@CatholicBibleAI) <a href="https://twitter.com/CatholicBibleAI/status/1713025591090225160?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 14, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script><p></p>Felix Wonghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16180356165291817154noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8309411213090082084.post-4956308107183394632022-12-31T14:00:00.005-05:002022-12-31T14:08:18.915-05:00Goodbye, Pope Benedict!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLUP5awKyJPiOuVDLG7TMf5H27CreOfNJBNDb6DMvF8bWRsFExYxo_xJYVFA2DHDOabqJ9WbkA7K1oiMviLNo684yW-qoHrRa8c766i98Sub1ZFXVMtm81-Fl1cEFZUyNUvqYf4zI-yVR7WyukKPQc7HgHfpFRrrxW73deP7Zq_yXFiTz_v3WjhiAeJA/s2048/papal_audience_4.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1398" data-original-width="2048" height="437" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLUP5awKyJPiOuVDLG7TMf5H27CreOfNJBNDb6DMvF8bWRsFExYxo_xJYVFA2DHDOabqJ9WbkA7K1oiMviLNo684yW-qoHrRa8c766i98Sub1ZFXVMtm81-Fl1cEFZUyNUvqYf4zI-yVR7WyukKPQc7HgHfpFRrrxW73deP7Zq_yXFiTz_v3WjhiAeJA/w640-h437/papal_audience_4.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Meeting Pope Benedict, August 9, 2006</i></div><p></p><p>Ask any Catholic our age who their favourite pope (who lived in their lifetime) is and 9 out of 10 will say Pope John Paul II. Saint John Paul II was indeed one of the greatest popes to have ever lived. His long and productive reign was unparalleled in modern times. However, I am the one out of the 10 people who will say that my favourite pope is Pope Benedict. With his passing today, please allow me to share some of my thoughts and memories of my favourite pope.</p><p>Perhaps what shaped my opinion of Benedict was my meeting of him shortly after Renee and I got married. Our honeymoon was planned somewhat around <a href="https://aleteia.org/2021/12/04/did-you-know-all-catholic-newlyweds-can-meet-the-pope/" target="_blank">meeting him at the Wednesday papal audience</a>. We got married on August 5, 2006 and flew to Rome the day after. The day before the audience, we toured Rome for some time and went to the church office to pick up the audience tickets. A sister met us there and told us that for that summer, no tickets would be required and we just need to show up the next morning. Having done some research prior, we knew we needed to get there early for the late morning audience in order to get front row seats.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn74CI4INpkCvVJB7WJb89lv_CTJw5l5uvyWyU2G8DDnBpZ-T4QwPmk5lfKzXs18huuZI1y6UGLFzitN6lyn7iQuwunAIUcqZRseGZlkeV5R6I6A-4yhV3X08sOfAux94gsp-Od95_vgQZOV80u4BE74mcLP0P0OlfbJqc2tyt7Uj3h--1hbbv0Jx5CQ/s2048/IMG_7538.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1366" data-original-width="2048" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn74CI4INpkCvVJB7WJb89lv_CTJw5l5uvyWyU2G8DDnBpZ-T4QwPmk5lfKzXs18huuZI1y6UGLFzitN6lyn7iQuwunAIUcqZRseGZlkeV5R6I6A-4yhV3X08sOfAux94gsp-Od95_vgQZOV80u4BE74mcLP0P0OlfbJqc2tyt7Uj3h--1hbbv0Jx5CQ/w400-h266/IMG_7538.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Waiting for the Audience to Begin in Paul VI Audience Hall</i></div><p>The next morning, on August 9, we woke up before 6 am and took a cab to St. Peter's Square, dressed in formal attire to line up to get into the Paul VI Audience Hall. We were met by a line of old Italian ladies who had gotten there before we did, but we were the first newlyweds there to queue up. If I recall correctly, the audience was scheduled to start at 10 am. I didn't want to leave things to chance so we got there 4 hours early! After standing outside for a couple of hours, the Vatican staff started to let people in. By then, the line had grown substantially. After passing a security checkpoint, we noticed the old Italian ladies started running for the audience hall. Not to miss out on the action, we started running as well and we successfully outpaced the 70 year old ladies beside us! As we turned a corner, a staff saw us and waved us towards him. Although he didn't speak English, we understood that he was trying to tell us that we could enter the hall through a special door. We entered that door and was shown to the front row of the audience, while the old Italian ladies had to fight for the sections farther back. We guessed correctly that the front row was reserved for newlyweds.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMe8awMFjBWpW8SGwsvgb2LM4aTntDzUF8Z4bPpCvZFh1ffTS8Mogk4R0HAdRU8FpOnUr6QQAlwH5Gcgnn6Do2iEgFte5wN9Dn3pXEdn2YCLOj2FCio-YM2fe3lKfY143VRHWdoGga85Ymp8y6nBO4mPySooQ56t-i3ZAh5XOfhYcd1mrEWMhEkvBc6Q/s932/IMG_8584-MOTION.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="620" data-original-width="932" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMe8awMFjBWpW8SGwsvgb2LM4aTntDzUF8Z4bPpCvZFh1ffTS8Mogk4R0HAdRU8FpOnUr6QQAlwH5Gcgnn6Do2iEgFte5wN9Dn3pXEdn2YCLOj2FCio-YM2fe3lKfY143VRHWdoGga85Ymp8y6nBO4mPySooQ56t-i3ZAh5XOfhYcd1mrEWMhEkvBc6Q/w400-h266/IMG_8584-MOTION.gif" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>The audience started on time and we were very excited to see the pope walk into the audience. To be very honest, I don't remember much about the audience itself. Perhaps it was because it was not in English (that part I can't even recall with certainty). In any case, the audience ended and with our good fortune, the pope decided to walk to the front row to meet the newlyweds, which was not always the case.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOQvU8qrcOcCRFgtGZiowLKN1qdMKV2kpwAhLCm1MyNB3DRzqLW6ebG_JQJ0Yj5x5N0OcGJlzQYZHGkkBnqfYPSAYx1HrZ2kLtvN3euAP8lP9KYWZjXeLivQ5OAYIVS41IzO9o-yNIGviDK92f0hujgsycZYewVH21oV-JNjbO6OfMsLDMu2avq-DSIg/s2048/IMG_8602.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1366" data-original-width="2048" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOQvU8qrcOcCRFgtGZiowLKN1qdMKV2kpwAhLCm1MyNB3DRzqLW6ebG_JQJ0Yj5x5N0OcGJlzQYZHGkkBnqfYPSAYx1HrZ2kLtvN3euAP8lP9KYWZjXeLivQ5OAYIVS41IzO9o-yNIGviDK92f0hujgsycZYewVH21oV-JNjbO6OfMsLDMu2avq-DSIg/w640-h426/IMG_8602.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>The Best Picture I took of Pope Benedict</i></div><p>When he got to us, we held his hands and spoke the words that we had rehearsed earlier, "Your Holiness, we are Chinese Catholics from Canada...", to which he responded, "That's very nice!" To this day, I enjoy telling others that the words we received from the pope was, "that's very nice". We concluded with a request for him to pray for the Church in China. And thus, our brief encounter with Pope Benedict concluded.</p><p>There were a couple of things that I experienced that day. It was that Pope Benedict's humility was very palpable. The way he carried himself, his expression and his sincerity in speech all contributed to it. If he weren't dressed in his papal attire, you could not tell that he was the head of the Catholic Church. It was not required of him to come greet the faithful after the audience, but he did so nonetheless. </p><p>Secondly, I felt that he was a very gentle person, as he greeted us with a genuine smile. Over the years, there have been articles written about the pope and former Cardinal Ratzinger that he cracked down on dissent in the Church, even to the point that his nickname was "God's Rottweiler". I could not reconcile that assessment with the pope whom I met on that August day in 2006. Pope Benedict was uncompromising with Catholic doctrine not because he was a tough traditionalist, but because he loved the Church and did not want it to go astray. When he ascended to the papacy, he confused a lot of people with the selection of "Benedict" as his papal name. If "God's Rottweiler" was his true persona, would he not have chosen a name like "Michael" or "George", who were God's soldiers, ready to do battle? Yet, he chose "Benedict" in honour of St. Benedict, the founder of Western monasticism.</p><p>This was the Pope Benedict that I met: humble and gentle. He was not the "best" pope who ever reigned, but he has a special place in my heart. In the bible, it was not often that Christ described himself, but one passage stands out right now: "Come to me, all you who are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am <b>gentle </b>and <b>humble </b>in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30).</p><p>And so, Pope Benedict, we bid you farewell as Our Lord welcomes his humble and gentle servant back home! We shall meet again someday!</p><p><br /></p>Felix Wonghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16180356165291817154noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8309411213090082084.post-54717980373350361742022-11-21T23:13:00.000-05:002022-11-21T23:13:02.618-05:00Family Alberta Trip 2021<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTjhaNQGZ5nybJBeBkGawtkIwDHArKrTNZJfdzjk4O3wzQi5CEv_i24qjfmBkN_SeHUVUmIEdchgDEsGSbhn3O0CVQ6Nd_qGNbyityFdV5ie9-oq2TT3Xi9pnx_Qk0b7n_LVs8wlC0KJ6Le0tXTH6MUZMGSdj4EIAjTTDOPXUpnmkUmLWo53kSBUWUZA/s1600/IMG-20210902-WA0044.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img alt="Spirit Island" border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTjhaNQGZ5nybJBeBkGawtkIwDHArKrTNZJfdzjk4O3wzQi5CEv_i24qjfmBkN_SeHUVUmIEdchgDEsGSbhn3O0CVQ6Nd_qGNbyityFdV5ie9-oq2TT3Xi9pnx_Qk0b7n_LVs8wlC0KJ6Le0tXTH6MUZMGSdj4EIAjTTDOPXUpnmkUmLWo53kSBUWUZA/w640-h426/IMG-20210902-WA0044.jpg" title="Spirit Island" width="640" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;"> <i style="text-align: center;">Heaven on Earth: Spirit Island, Maligne Lake</i></p><p>After being mostly cooped up at home for a year and a half after the COVID pandemic started in 2020, we made our first out-of-province trip in September 2021. The last time Renee and I were in Western Canada was before we had kids, about 13 years prior (although I had been several times in between for work), and we really wanted to go back. The scenery is quintessential Canada! I believe that when foreigners think of Canada, the Rockies and its vast beauty is usually what come to mind first. We definitely wanted to share this with our kids.</p><h4 style="text-align: left;"><b>Getting There</b></h4><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDBeVhzWui18pDBaoRzgzdbX-YJgDprNhyhjDTq9KsPr1JGbutRd6wCe3BUCscQQKhhbP08cBfS3anxOdIklU-smg0BOdD7UTqxG8upFl75CvpR8C3W0JAjNSRuuLiwD-MGP7yTHITUsOIK8x1sIPG7olqF40dKuUf0fA5AUXsbXrWk7niP6ckydDI3w/s3471/20210901_160348-01.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img alt="Flair Airlines" border="0" data-original-height="3471" data-original-width="2603" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDBeVhzWui18pDBaoRzgzdbX-YJgDprNhyhjDTq9KsPr1JGbutRd6wCe3BUCscQQKhhbP08cBfS3anxOdIklU-smg0BOdD7UTqxG8upFl75CvpR8C3W0JAjNSRuuLiwD-MGP7yTHITUsOIK8x1sIPG7olqF40dKuUf0fA5AUXsbXrWk7niP6ckydDI3w/w240-h320/20210901_160348-01.jpeg" title="Flair Airlines" width="240" /></a></div><p></p><p>As you may know, I'm a frugal person and the way I travel is no different. Part of the fun to planning a trip is finding deals (recall the time we <a href="https://www.felixwong.org/2019/01/2018-year-in-review-part-i.html" target="_blank">flew the entire family to Orlando for $350 USD</a>) and getting my money's worth! It was no different this time. Our itinerary was really to go to Banff and Jasper and not visiting the cities; so, it didn't matter which airport we flew into. Google Flights or Kayak are great tools to help find the best option. We ended up choosing to fly Flair into Grande Prairie, which is about 4 hours north of Jasper. The cost for the 7 of us + 1 baby and my parents came to a grand total of $1287, including luggage, or less than $150/seat. My credit card also has a perk where it provides a $100 reimbursement of luggage fees and so, the costs was even less than that. Not as good as $75/seat to Orlando, but not too shabby either! The one risk that we did take with Flair was flight delays and cancellations. Upon reading their reviews, either of those were almost a certainty, but we weren't in a rush to get anywhere so we were happy with throwing the dice.</p><p>The flight there was indeed a bit delayed, but certainly within tolerance. I'm not quite sure why but I feel like Flair purposely split up our seating because we didn't pay to choose our seats. Our party of 9 + 1 were not seated contiguously and were split up across many different aisles. That was entirely unnecessary and <i>not the right way</i> to encourage travelers to spend more by choosing seats. Flair went out of their way to make our trip less enjoyable.</p><p>We landed in Grande Prairie in the late afternoon and picked up our 2 Caravans (my cousin Wai Yee, her husband and my buddy Matthew and their son, Ewan, tagged along as well) and started our drive to Jasper. On the way there, we saw a black bear at dusk, which was a nice treat. However, once it got dark and started raining, our drive became a bit treacherous. The only road from Grande Prairie to Jasper was an unlit single lane highway. Much of the drive was through uninhabited nature with only a couple of small towns in between. For a few moments, I did wonder what would happen if our van broke down or if we drove into a ditch, etc. Luckily, we didn't end up having to experience that and arrived safely in Jasper!</p><h4><b>First Stop: Jasper SkyTram</b></h4><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh08OVrZbVb91LBVNiV6uXfgWnPZetHzCUpOicD4nWqj95ISuhegFOdf8AfiRvhBmAfB7mGSNWtJlLMeBLmhLriqo4GNk52acLYwQq7Hycf-rDx62UN652ka3RUVpSJ_z1Ls5Un4Jy5M8sDQbuvCMmKsfvNSPGy-T0yZGNyaCP8KegD_Kn3f7-Rpj6BXg/s3264/20210902_120445_HDR.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img alt="Renee, Andrea and I at Whistlers Peak" border="0" data-original-height="2448" data-original-width="3264" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh08OVrZbVb91LBVNiV6uXfgWnPZetHzCUpOicD4nWqj95ISuhegFOdf8AfiRvhBmAfB7mGSNWtJlLMeBLmhLriqo4GNk52acLYwQq7Hycf-rDx62UN652ka3RUVpSJ_z1Ls5Un4Jy5M8sDQbuvCMmKsfvNSPGy-T0yZGNyaCP8KegD_Kn3f7-Rpj6BXg/w640-h480/20210902_120445_HDR.jpg" title="Renee, Andrea and I at Whistlers Peak" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p>Our plan was to go up to Whistlers Peak via the Jasper SkyTram the first morning we were there. The weather wasn't super nice and was overcast. I was a bit disappointed and considered whether we should go up the mountain at a later time. Renee called and was told that the booking cannot be changed and so I reluctantly agreed to go. Boy, was I wrong! I now think overcast skies is the best condition to go. Since Whistler Peaks is at a high elevation, all of the clouds were actually beneath us when we got to the upper station. Once we were up there, the skies were clear with an occasional cloud drifting over us (reminds me of Jesus' Transfiguration, but I digress). The best part was that we stood on top of a sea of clouds!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPDtF_5DWZWWH_Au9Kmun2WzBqe3x-YhSxTCxH3cvT4eyJk0aFcPdsR_S2qxyb8eanNAAtTBa4UhqnD6_UPJ8W5BXO89PCsnLTdqKKPIClGo4VDGBclfrKw37kFfn6IuY82EUUXmHDREjiSZc33gN7P9dRn90Th6xxGCd6FoNyegRSsJNA_sHm82CouQ/s3264/20210902_125051.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2448" data-original-width="3264" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPDtF_5DWZWWH_Au9Kmun2WzBqe3x-YhSxTCxH3cvT4eyJk0aFcPdsR_S2qxyb8eanNAAtTBa4UhqnD6_UPJ8W5BXO89PCsnLTdqKKPIClGo4VDGBclfrKw37kFfn6IuY82EUUXmHDREjiSZc33gN7P9dRn90Th6xxGCd6FoNyegRSsJNA_sHm82CouQ/w640-h480/20210902_125051.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><h4 style="text-align: left;"><b>Maligne Lake: Nothing Bad About This Place!</b></h4></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-x0R6ENcGFg8hzZPGfjckRuYiYbs7uct2TzWe96IiID3V59PdP7KRODVGuSrYbQyMUgTbCbwLjNBILwKG0gZr_Oq8eFkRdGj58IrDJgSHDXFFaZG1r-hN_F289V7SYfnhJU9J0D67vu27rAKa65jYjYLnJi05i85KeaHpoMPGGlaJAyxOvKigqC-y2A/s1600/IMG-20210902-WA0017.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Us at Spirit Island" border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-x0R6ENcGFg8hzZPGfjckRuYiYbs7uct2TzWe96IiID3V59PdP7KRODVGuSrYbQyMUgTbCbwLjNBILwKG0gZr_Oq8eFkRdGj58IrDJgSHDXFFaZG1r-hN_F289V7SYfnhJU9J0D67vu27rAKa65jYjYLnJi05i85KeaHpoMPGGlaJAyxOvKigqC-y2A/w640-h480/IMG-20210902-WA0017.jpg" title="Us at Spirit Island" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div>Our next stop was Maligne Lake. We had actually been there back in 2008, but unfortunately, it was tremendously foggy that morning and we decided not to take the boat ride to Spirit Island. It was so foggy that we likely would not have even seen Spirit Island at all. This time around, we planned as best as we could for better weather. When buying the boat tickets, we found that the morning trips were less expensive, and we concluded that it was either because of the possibility of fog and also the direction from which the sun was shining. When we got there, we weren't disappointed! The view was absolutely stunning and felt surreal. It was so beautiful that it really felt like heaven on earth! Having now been to Spirit Island, Lake Louise and Moraine Lake, I would have to say that Spirit Island/Maligne Lake is the most beautiful!</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghUYs9g-wOT5CJkYpECIchy7fiHTNs-xa2ZEOGq2R9Dkha0HLLj49R0cKwsgnyEQaD-XJkUcg2CweDKLH8pXyivsfY1hrsY4gDJwAV-1w3e543kjHivBaU4Izw7HFWHW51-f4wnmSPl_TfcAg9kAHSlL5cwhfXIqjeqTA3xAyvLCzU16Ywxc9fAIIE-g/s4000/20210902_191907_HDR.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Dinner After Maligne Lake" border="0" data-original-height="3000" data-original-width="4000" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghUYs9g-wOT5CJkYpECIchy7fiHTNs-xa2ZEOGq2R9Dkha0HLLj49R0cKwsgnyEQaD-XJkUcg2CweDKLH8pXyivsfY1hrsY4gDJwAV-1w3e543kjHivBaU4Izw7HFWHW51-f4wnmSPl_TfcAg9kAHSlL5cwhfXIqjeqTA3xAyvLCzU16Ywxc9fAIIE-g/w400-h300/20210902_191907_HDR.jpg" title="Dinner After Maligne Lake" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>Dinner After Maligne Lake</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><h4><b>Sulphur Skyline Trail: Early Snow</b></h4></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmTLFuzYz3rhuZe-7K_TTL51SC2MP5cgRQ85gp_8hDtdwQtw88m6kMUflnK5GksDRtL7Adr4OXuTHxYC_2K_jKB_aYA08TpcxtIV0qjcrTKSuN7NBpQq87ak0B-4QkRvux0IAKifu--Zzz-UvYZjTk5Hg33gLFATTi4jcZLeXW6WrOZHGjgrRWZTBShw/s4000/20210903_130402_HDR.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4000" data-original-width="3000" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmTLFuzYz3rhuZe-7K_TTL51SC2MP5cgRQ85gp_8hDtdwQtw88m6kMUflnK5GksDRtL7Adr4OXuTHxYC_2K_jKB_aYA08TpcxtIV0qjcrTKSuN7NBpQq87ak0B-4QkRvux0IAKifu--Zzz-UvYZjTk5Hg33gLFATTi4jcZLeXW6WrOZHGjgrRWZTBShw/w300-h400/20210903_130402_HDR.jpg" width="300" /></a>The next day, our plan was to spend a few hours hiking the Sulphur Skyline Trail. I did quite a bit of research and concluded that with our hiking experience as a family, the 8km out-and-back trail, with 650m elevation was quite doable, given enough breaks. We would get to the top of the mountain and be rewarded with some really great views. The last 400 m would be a steep climb to the top, but certainly achievable. We got to the trail head just after lunchtime and started off enthusiastically. Before long, we were already 1.5 km into it, which would be more than a third the way up the mountain. The slope was not steep and everyone was still smiles.<br /><br />As we continued, we saw a bit of melt water running down the side of the trail and also some snow beside the trail. We weren't expecting that as per the photos we saw online. We continued on and as we climbed higher in elevation, there was some wet snow on the trail. Some of the kids' shoes got wet and we started hearing some complaints.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIs7h0voicHXq0je0skY0FH7DcKz0m0JBahXahcBHxbEgmODSxebf5rpt_2lbdYMMe5UrSNJ_iSbyJhZFnVvWsBxjkVqrkEgfc_zc9nHLlmNSEtThNSynm5TpMvXNBkXD-jjgefeB51fM-pHB1scGLRMs3GBs9QXU3Pt8F6GMes_oi-uRLsEqr4ZjimQ/s3264/20210903_144133_HDR.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2448" data-original-width="3264" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIs7h0voicHXq0je0skY0FH7DcKz0m0JBahXahcBHxbEgmODSxebf5rpt_2lbdYMMe5UrSNJ_iSbyJhZFnVvWsBxjkVqrkEgfc_zc9nHLlmNSEtThNSynm5TpMvXNBkXD-jjgefeB51fM-pHB1scGLRMs3GBs9QXU3Pt8F6GMes_oi-uRLsEqr4ZjimQ/w400-h300/20210903_144133_HDR.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>We pressed on and as we climbed higher up the mountain, the snow also rose higher above our shoes. The younger kids were now really whining as they slipped repeatedly and got much of their socks soaked. The group eventually split into two with the faster ones in front (me, grandparents and older kids) and the slower ones in the back. Our progress slowed considerably, and eventually, the slower group decided to turn back as the going was just a bit too slippery.<br /><br />We finally reached the plateau just before the summit. The snow was about 20 cm deep at this point. We got there after about 4 hours on the trail. As you can see in the picture at the plateau, not many smiles! LOL!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5Waowj8vC6aCVGHG0sFLASlpxGyLmZX4NCWnhtHvq7YkZC5m6qIvworTnmeMjpulgaCsyQ-F3QoEcO7mx4vW5u_doatzLvVokyr5mRgPfU1e_IhLAG_YgynFtglVJZJfFWfz8VDhcdRMNtXqbwGiK4GESBN5ld6tZ8yBSbvGyX0cKu3sdZfWHGTmo9w/s3264/20210903_150924_HDR.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2448" data-original-width="3264" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5Waowj8vC6aCVGHG0sFLASlpxGyLmZX4NCWnhtHvq7YkZC5m6qIvworTnmeMjpulgaCsyQ-F3QoEcO7mx4vW5u_doatzLvVokyr5mRgPfU1e_IhLAG_YgynFtglVJZJfFWfz8VDhcdRMNtXqbwGiK4GESBN5ld6tZ8yBSbvGyX0cKu3sdZfWHGTmo9w/w640-h480/20210903_150924_HDR.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMqGtnUzoM0YpqJcqhsRdyafIDl8g8En7Qx59zNtYAAMrl0yQ_La0fDSkXtAEBN9EeW0u4PQ2VpbVHRQSZpMB-Ub7IGi_msRjq4N548Byl3zRbUXlrSbs4ZIvzfbngaMpOtFKg_16qtONp9GHC2dquRcotWCs-4M3pF6H56TOuGiIovHS-7HgWTMyBfw/s4000/20210903_165459.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3000" data-original-width="4000" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMqGtnUzoM0YpqJcqhsRdyafIDl8g8En7Qx59zNtYAAMrl0yQ_La0fDSkXtAEBN9EeW0u4PQ2VpbVHRQSZpMB-Ub7IGi_msRjq4N548Byl3zRbUXlrSbs4ZIvzfbngaMpOtFKg_16qtONp9GHC2dquRcotWCs-4M3pF6H56TOuGiIovHS-7HgWTMyBfw/w640-h480/20210903_165459.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2VPu7xDWPAKuvwwjyt2agj4II65zR_KZvrFWIUDDgeXAHQ6a95EJvRm754mU5MqvbQudT7HV4SCt-drI1E3emwr0wdzAY_fbK9lwbsCZke66w9yN8mad6Z_RWC5piqzjo-bfUk5KFzYBXGAgux6EyJrOL6WTZugJxMnOZ44kbY6DsPwiRrX7DkrWLFA/s2000/IMG-20210903-WA0029.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2000" data-original-width="1500" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2VPu7xDWPAKuvwwjyt2agj4II65zR_KZvrFWIUDDgeXAHQ6a95EJvRm754mU5MqvbQudT7HV4SCt-drI1E3emwr0wdzAY_fbK9lwbsCZke66w9yN8mad6Z_RWC5piqzjo-bfUk5KFzYBXGAgux6EyJrOL6WTZugJxMnOZ44kbY6DsPwiRrX7DkrWLFA/w300-h400/IMG-20210903-WA0029.jpg" width="300" /></a>The grandparents and younger kids decided to take a rest there on the plateau while Adele and I tried for the summit. Although the trail cut across the side of the mountain, the slope was still very steep, especially with the trail being snow covered. After giving it a try, I decided against it, as I had Andrea strapped to me and also had to lead the group back down the mountain. I wasn't about to find out how we would fair if I hurt myself and/or Andrea.<br /><br />By the time we finished taking some pictures, it was already 5 pm. Since it took us about almost 4 to get up, I thought it might not be too wise to stay for much longer. I would hate to be walking in the middle of a forest at dusk. Who knows what wild beasts would be lurking in search for a nice meal! We were probably the last big group that descended down the mountain.<br /><br />Renee, Wai Yee, and Matthew were waiting for at the bottom of the mountain. After seeing countless number of hikers come down the mountain, they were starting to get worried that one or more of us had gotten hurt at the top. They were getting ready to call the authorities to get help. Luckily, it only took us 2 hours to descend the mountain, since we slid down the snowy trail for a good part of the way. All of us were so happy to come back down all in one piece!<br /><br />This hike was definitely the most exhausting and treacherous activity of the entire trip. The kids cried and complained, my dad slipped and fell on a rock hidden under the snow, and I didn't even get to the summit. However, at the end of the trip, a number of the kids thought the hike was the highlight! I guess what gives us more joy isn't comfort or pleasure, but rather, accomplishment and persevering through setbacks.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">One last interesting note...after the hike, we spoke with some locals and they told us that it was very odd that that much snow had fallen in early September. Not sure if we can consider ourselves lucky or unlucky. I'm sure if it hadn't snowed, our hike would have been much easier, but would it have been as memorable?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLahX9RGHyIbJHzqS1Ho2-_fwghJJMxOeAlrKxgIxDpy28NTPJ7kRl969sKCKGOIEqiY7z8f7VKOx8MsVgGhVRJX5bXvTJfWqKAEt1dL201zDOEF8yndKjQ4RAT4Q320-cfyLRAIoS-W6bYazj5KT1iHWFPHzaBduTSQ8j0jitLGyj5f1ei5HqnJNBjg/s3034/20210903_163243-01.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2022" data-original-width="3034" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLahX9RGHyIbJHzqS1Ho2-_fwghJJMxOeAlrKxgIxDpy28NTPJ7kRl969sKCKGOIEqiY7z8f7VKOx8MsVgGhVRJX5bXvTJfWqKAEt1dL201zDOEF8yndKjQ4RAT4Q320-cfyLRAIoS-W6bYazj5KT1iHWFPHzaBduTSQ8j0jitLGyj5f1ei5HqnJNBjg/w640-h426/20210903_163243-01.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>View from (Almost) the Summit of the Sulphur Skyline Trail</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><h4 style="text-align: left;">More Sightseeing</h4><div>The next day, we left Jasper and headed south for Banff. Over the next 2 days, we saw the Athabasca Falls, Bow Lake, Canmore, and Takkakaw Falls. The drive between Jasper and Banff, along the Icefields Parkway, was a sight in and of itself. Ontarians will all agree how boring it is to drive along Highway 401. Aside from farmland and buildings, there really isn't much to see in Ontario. The Icefields Parkway is the complete opposite with mountains, rivers, and the occasional wildlife. Although the distance between the two towns is less than 300 km apart, we budgeted more time since we knew we would make frequent stops to take in the scenery. Breathtaking and jaw-dropping are adjectives I would use to describe the drive!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghuw9zzAxIyrphlJMhhXds8QOo24sp_lx1YbGHk16ijgwmz50jvHZolj04gfxGaF0IiIVLC3eBIFd4jZ_uIxocmo26yRcY-woPE0dDBUCLS5YuU8xdefWFxjpIU0J5hrc867tMj7FVuJcLRMFAHRK6DUgxW5EvaVdhoV8Z3cKp2r7sVyAecMD_LwJ4hQ/s3264/20210904_123902_HDR-01.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2014" data-original-width="3264" height="394" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghuw9zzAxIyrphlJMhhXds8QOo24sp_lx1YbGHk16ijgwmz50jvHZolj04gfxGaF0IiIVLC3eBIFd4jZ_uIxocmo26yRcY-woPE0dDBUCLS5YuU8xdefWFxjpIU0J5hrc867tMj7FVuJcLRMFAHRK6DUgxW5EvaVdhoV8Z3cKp2r7sVyAecMD_LwJ4hQ/w640-h394/20210904_123902_HDR-01.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>Athabasca Falls with Mount Kerkeslin in the Background</i></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE2ntE4lpfh-VX6ieEB8cl7G2ScF3Xq9KaJZK0NQpVA_jRkeuvr3TjvR6wckkVE1fqReofq_2trUvcYmICB5pmzwLSTbsm9IR9kBzN6L1A9Bwgg7EeMRPSvTgoWpCsKp53KXMJPQcrHS75cSemN2cYYiHm1M8UiEto5LXgc-NfluYFne6dYsI6lEdVLw/s4000/20210904_163037_HDR.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3000" data-original-width="4000" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE2ntE4lpfh-VX6ieEB8cl7G2ScF3Xq9KaJZK0NQpVA_jRkeuvr3TjvR6wckkVE1fqReofq_2trUvcYmICB5pmzwLSTbsm9IR9kBzN6L1A9Bwgg7EeMRPSvTgoWpCsKp53KXMJPQcrHS75cSemN2cYYiHm1M8UiEto5LXgc-NfluYFne6dYsI6lEdVLw/w400-h300/20210904_163037_HDR.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>Mom and Me at Bow Lake</i></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_oWy9OqRRN11f4VA-L-141aCxmw6gdDm2ogl3sJDc4l-q0Vwukvb4pCXo_Z4aqx6tB_OFt83yp-WawixxQAdVx-hHj8h5hXLG4Vf2ZkA3Q_f5arBMgTHbEylF3mx2Z5xH205ndghnWhGgt_wvYnoXA4PBTbIuImLfg-YLbswWij0AwGVCA_7UQwGrTQ/s4000/20210904_163359_HDR.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3000" data-original-width="4000" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_oWy9OqRRN11f4VA-L-141aCxmw6gdDm2ogl3sJDc4l-q0Vwukvb4pCXo_Z4aqx6tB_OFt83yp-WawixxQAdVx-hHj8h5hXLG4Vf2ZkA3Q_f5arBMgTHbEylF3mx2Z5xH205ndghnWhGgt_wvYnoXA4PBTbIuImLfg-YLbswWij0AwGVCA_7UQwGrTQ/w400-h300/20210904_163359_HDR.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>Mandatory Pic of Kids Lined Up</i></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOGhNrswQ6VNEoWXkdIU2IThXcUarz3h7Fm5pAXM2g8aV1s0r8ooDX7SkkL0A1mCvNhYD7tCuFfOpBVxPmjdR6Ulq4FRs1pU4CSkmTDiNXGpgbpuXa_WJjlbYHzjyvfdAa_zFKhtLwVnzdInYdDyIgibotzQ-ViBfdV_9PLUZr6mZlzrjv76wh5rydSA/s4000/20210904_181140.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3000" data-original-width="4000" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOGhNrswQ6VNEoWXkdIU2IThXcUarz3h7Fm5pAXM2g8aV1s0r8ooDX7SkkL0A1mCvNhYD7tCuFfOpBVxPmjdR6Ulq4FRs1pU4CSkmTDiNXGpgbpuXa_WJjlbYHzjyvfdAa_zFKhtLwVnzdInYdDyIgibotzQ-ViBfdV_9PLUZr6mZlzrjv76wh5rydSA/w400-h300/20210904_181140.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>Mount Rundle and Amelia and Adele</i></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSv-cTYqljRUzfy2tfzFZmxU3eb4XiL7bdN0Y7XuaW284vmQtZVcHDcL_uPR1a5MykkHmSlRmvU-JSzR2bdS8xOZH4uADMUwNVYjMXI-qiSY5x5X3rOdDoC13PNsqoRvr6pZ3Bg6Vvr92AonF5kzgicFYhznAoajNHjPLKNuYHHGpJ2anDJ3CDV0sglA/s4000/20210904_181535-01.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2667" data-original-width="4000" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSv-cTYqljRUzfy2tfzFZmxU3eb4XiL7bdN0Y7XuaW284vmQtZVcHDcL_uPR1a5MykkHmSlRmvU-JSzR2bdS8xOZH4uADMUwNVYjMXI-qiSY5x5X3rOdDoC13PNsqoRvr6pZ3Bg6Vvr92AonF5kzgicFYhznAoajNHjPLKNuYHHGpJ2anDJ3CDV0sglA/w400-h266/20210904_181535-01.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>Andrea in Front of Mount Rundle</i></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOwh5GPLr3aMZrgxuxRwjviTe_VPq96w20KtaBLD9FsLPwBOusjg9ITpFN90hT_0qW4rG6BLU9PXhplV1iaaKjTnla4weg0Wx_YQZ6dJgayeeDDi-nX5BkSLUFxCIjg_KEyGGPk8h8w7yTwF_KMhgqPM06WkO7nJ6cOpUCBwiQ6x82pUCevU0MrtaZmA/s3264/20210904_214356.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2448" data-original-width="3264" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOwh5GPLr3aMZrgxuxRwjviTe_VPq96w20KtaBLD9FsLPwBOusjg9ITpFN90hT_0qW4rG6BLU9PXhplV1iaaKjTnla4weg0Wx_YQZ6dJgayeeDDi-nX5BkSLUFxCIjg_KEyGGPk8h8w7yTwF_KMhgqPM06WkO7nJ6cOpUCBwiQ6x82pUCevU0MrtaZmA/w400-h300/20210904_214356.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>Enjoying Ice-cream in Canmore</i></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-wtsSf3qurztRwPG5aNoWo_l-TxxlckoirGkBVVd1ej0XzViN7m0X3ic1JyjZXS7eSAgMaxE1AWYuLMClxxC-Y2ZIToI9nHzxS13XNSVnV3Q8CiiUJX8_AiATtLfCy7wvQ8mfw_RIDc5o7HnJEQrKY37yE5TAFyPYPIwZEG-eYx_6ToJPlOttlAQ9Rw/s4000/20210905_151052.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4000" data-original-width="3000" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-wtsSf3qurztRwPG5aNoWo_l-TxxlckoirGkBVVd1ej0XzViN7m0X3ic1JyjZXS7eSAgMaxE1AWYuLMClxxC-Y2ZIToI9nHzxS13XNSVnV3Q8CiiUJX8_AiATtLfCy7wvQ8mfw_RIDc5o7HnJEQrKY37yE5TAFyPYPIwZEG-eYx_6ToJPlOttlAQ9Rw/w300-h400/20210905_151052.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><i>Takkakaw</i></span><i> Falls</i></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsaP5bCij0iV3MB-cPCjRJQZvXjRYSWE0yIGxiCX8anViP7egvOURlyQU4zvdAzwezfWXJZV8erJaHAfh0FLT2Mhp8W3Co9x7lCKOGWMGJFoIyROSvGt0Sgd0K7kuvlZV2jznnIMIQimyyO-da6YN7RUvdnvu8zmBfe_MaqHy5k-0-oo7JkSH8-6UqPA/s4656/20210905_151832_HDR.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4656" data-original-width="3492" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsaP5bCij0iV3MB-cPCjRJQZvXjRYSWE0yIGxiCX8anViP7egvOURlyQU4zvdAzwezfWXJZV8erJaHAfh0FLT2Mhp8W3Co9x7lCKOGWMGJFoIyROSvGt0Sgd0K7kuvlZV2jznnIMIQimyyO-da6YN7RUvdnvu8zmBfe_MaqHy5k-0-oo7JkSH8-6UqPA/w300-h400/20210905_151832_HDR.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><h4>Emerald Lake: It's Not All About Alberta!</h4><div>While the title of this post refers to our "Alberta" trip, we did drive over the border to visit Emerald Lake (and Takkakaw Falls) in British Columbia. The water in the lake was indeed an emerald colour and it was a real treat canoeing in it. Emerald Lake has become quite popular as compared to the last time we were here. However, once we got out on our canoe, we got away from the crowds and the feeling was very serene as we took in the beautiful scenery!</div></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwviNhuM4aUGyTwTyjU8u0Kunem_wbenQFL6hYylTiLTAzz1fIYGe_hWZEKcGnLcZqpl7JwXYhjH8GFQtbw9P02kwb_VQJWZ32BZUUYu52HGpOQrSG4XSjX1sxpRe5pxcINDUT8XN7Qj73MNqQV7j9E_Y7KqrbnwTWxEgk1m7nImd2svICsk76NJ61fQ/s3264/20210905_172735_HDR-01%20(1).jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2176" data-original-width="3264" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwviNhuM4aUGyTwTyjU8u0Kunem_wbenQFL6hYylTiLTAzz1fIYGe_hWZEKcGnLcZqpl7JwXYhjH8GFQtbw9P02kwb_VQJWZ32BZUUYu52HGpOQrSG4XSjX1sxpRe5pxcINDUT8XN7Qj73MNqQV7j9E_Y7KqrbnwTWxEgk1m7nImd2svICsk76NJ61fQ/w640-h426/20210905_172735_HDR-01%20(1).jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>Canoeing on Emerald Lake</i></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVLNzAqG3xTbae8ry3Ze9cNYO2krkc0G4mC_fvXFD2sAeVZ6UnaePYKwWvWwOx9yEB_OK3UykvFD2OCuJ2zfjFpWJNg5bla9CLvDqXF5QQQ8_iSjIqEZrvBifggqsCbSEFJEJfktl92fJ-UqRHzkVyNrVXVAOrSosia7Ce89myEufaKuzbzIutYk38kg/s3264/20210905_181249_HDR-01.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2448" data-original-width="3264" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVLNzAqG3xTbae8ry3Ze9cNYO2krkc0G4mC_fvXFD2sAeVZ6UnaePYKwWvWwOx9yEB_OK3UykvFD2OCuJ2zfjFpWJNg5bla9CLvDqXF5QQQ8_iSjIqEZrvBifggqsCbSEFJEJfktl92fJ-UqRHzkVyNrVXVAOrSosia7Ce89myEufaKuzbzIutYk38kg/w640-h480/20210905_181249_HDR-01.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>Emerald Lake: Looks More Like a Painting!</i></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1JJRblHFUYbo0tuY-2q8BYew9OyJ3qir6Go41d9hW6c0UliTnP_t89tlF4eDxR2r8KjwP9qUQA1DG2QWFQfRbxCKg0IudNt8khWzqB1dVjWbRa7-owVVeIe8VjBrQ_OgpxlHn8AB-ChiZd_WaWGoNSap8KYTS384mtGhgGDVmPdBgwBjzEBmBD3v-9Q/s4000/20210905_181409_HDR-01.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2667" data-original-width="4000" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1JJRblHFUYbo0tuY-2q8BYew9OyJ3qir6Go41d9hW6c0UliTnP_t89tlF4eDxR2r8KjwP9qUQA1DG2QWFQfRbxCKg0IudNt8khWzqB1dVjWbRa7-owVVeIe8VjBrQ_OgpxlHn8AB-ChiZd_WaWGoNSap8KYTS384mtGhgGDVmPdBgwBjzEBmBD3v-9Q/w640-h426/20210905_181409_HDR-01.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><h4 style="text-align: left;">Daddy Time!</h4><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO6kfodqm_2ofBpp_pb5-xcmRv56bEH3wNSJsuf1XnieJ7raKVQAsYpg0CdRNxoZPdrzx3P5B017zYfP9rTLdzWXjA2cc4RzKpELiD4FIbZEbPkNnLIJLzKWzne9fpTPAl4K6moMQ1rvFvI_rjt6f7sNnK4C64inRhsr7HjS6xcyXDYZYEMe3Y6sQXVQ/s3917/20210906_115727-01.jpeg" style="clear: left; display: inline; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3917" data-original-width="2937" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO6kfodqm_2ofBpp_pb5-xcmRv56bEH3wNSJsuf1XnieJ7raKVQAsYpg0CdRNxoZPdrzx3P5B017zYfP9rTLdzWXjA2cc4RzKpELiD4FIbZEbPkNnLIJLzKWzne9fpTPAl4K6moMQ1rvFvI_rjt6f7sNnK4C64inRhsr7HjS6xcyXDYZYEMe3Y6sQXVQ/w300-h400/20210906_115727-01.jpeg" width="300" /></a>What would a trip be without some shopping (insert sarcasm), right? As Renee and others went shopping in Banff, I took the 4 younger girls to visit the Cascade of Time Garden. It's a bit off the beaten path as we wouldn't have visited this garden had I not had some time with the kids to myself. To be honest, we were looking for a playground initially, but ended up coming here after not finding too many choices. It was actually a really nice garden! I appreciated the time to bond with them and just simply spending quality time together. Being in an incredibly scenic place was an added bonus!</div></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTbDk7ixX2TEQnBGucdJcDdN7cCxejyDtfwdSuJ3WZ0IEECybeNWMDcYA3aZvIaYBcUr34UcjdxbnmLnPFI93URrzZaYI0lb7VQXqzDJxwxhIUvZJkYCLWX0PZsb3QEkR1nJ5awrowy8BPmhOsbTJodgxwFsxAaEYOLk3sncoTuh6RSkVDDpp0dE__tA/s3264/20210906_120718_HDR.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2448" data-original-width="3264" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTbDk7ixX2TEQnBGucdJcDdN7cCxejyDtfwdSuJ3WZ0IEECybeNWMDcYA3aZvIaYBcUr34UcjdxbnmLnPFI93URrzZaYI0lb7VQXqzDJxwxhIUvZJkYCLWX0PZsb3QEkR1nJ5awrowy8BPmhOsbTJodgxwFsxAaEYOLk3sncoTuh6RSkVDDpp0dE__tA/w640-h480/20210906_120718_HDR.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><h4 style="text-align: left;">Quintessential Banff: Lake Louise and Moraine Lake</h4><div style="text-align: left;">Lake Louise and Moraine Lake are 2 quintessential places to visit when you're in Banff. This is our second time here and we still enjoyed it very much. Lake Louise is the more popular spot and very touristy. I personally prefer Moraine Lake. Although there are still a lot of visitors, Moraine Lake is a bit less developed (i.e. there is no giant hotel sitting right next to it). You will get great pics at either lake. We got to Lake Louise first at around 3pm. As you can see in the photo below, the sun was just above the mountain looking out at the lake, and the mountains were a bit in the shadow. So, there was a bit to be desired from the photos. Similarly at Moraine Lake, the sun was situated a bit behind the mountains as well. If you ever go, I would recommend going earlier in the day and perhaps early morning to avoid the crowds. I did get a few decent shots there and so, wasn't too disappointed. The weather was great...another plus there!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Just a fun little side note. I brought my Panasonic Lumix mirrorless digital camera that I had bought some years back. Although I only have the kit lens with the camera, it's supposed to be a pretty good camera. However, I have to say, my LG Velvet (not even a top tier phone) took pictures that were "better" to the untrained eye. Sure, it's got more post-processing and likely more artifacts upon closer inspection, but the versatility and ease just couldn't be beat! All of the pictures in the post were taken by my phone camera. Technology has indeed come a long way.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQwGKIFcidDGpFsEMBUJiM745tDYx0Jo9WlUtfYNygiKyupMvai4epiz_-mZyExevmRd_dPjsn9W4WQPN-3d0nh-aToqcJPjjVXEQHJKlmqU4BX7KJzbM9e64io-ix0Bpq3t1Qq_afLP9707kwNooZgYPD5Zyuvq8mwgQodK_fhBnZFYyipb43n4uK6w/s3228/20210906_153333_HDR-01.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3228" data-original-width="2421" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQwGKIFcidDGpFsEMBUJiM745tDYx0Jo9WlUtfYNygiKyupMvai4epiz_-mZyExevmRd_dPjsn9W4WQPN-3d0nh-aToqcJPjjVXEQHJKlmqU4BX7KJzbM9e64io-ix0Bpq3t1Qq_afLP9707kwNooZgYPD5Zyuvq8mwgQodK_fhBnZFYyipb43n4uK6w/w480-h640/20210906_153333_HDR-01.jpeg" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>Athan on the Shores of Lake Louise</i></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvEe-92GXFG5KD5Vyldr57HJQatVObklpZoeE1fq7PfaLH3szp5oVW2T-cIQTu_DZ-wibIdYXsgwzDjFR6rWswBPrFaRSPJRwVQ0wsgjIXNQ0FM9G6q4gFQTExorqirCdM6lTHMZjXfWT4ATHSi90Xr3ebN7-9abqtxXXNTC0DSx2sE3vU5L_zA8spDg/s3208/20210906_170552_HDR-01.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2138" data-original-width="3208" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvEe-92GXFG5KD5Vyldr57HJQatVObklpZoeE1fq7PfaLH3szp5oVW2T-cIQTu_DZ-wibIdYXsgwzDjFR6rWswBPrFaRSPJRwVQ0wsgjIXNQ0FM9G6q4gFQTExorqirCdM6lTHMZjXfWT4ATHSi90Xr3ebN7-9abqtxXXNTC0DSx2sE3vU5L_zA8spDg/w640-h426/20210906_170552_HDR-01.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>Moraine Lake</i></div><div><h4>Glacier and Skywalk</h4><div>Our last sightseeing day consisted of driving from Banff north to Hinton (town past Jasper). On the way there, we stopped at the Columbia Icefields where we took a tour onto the Athabasca Glacier. It was quite a cool experience (excuse the pun), especially for the kids! The tour also included a visit to the Skywalk, which was built after we visited the last time. It's got a glass floor lookout that juts out from the side of the cliff. I really enjoyed that as well. Again, something that I would recommend doing.</div></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHERNVfSn1LlHfHahTEn5OEHePOW4iLqZYk2HNF4vrhNke0wm-zqglEkz0ZWE0m6Cl6Fkx0p1KB8GaxwzbLvNUuivTzFoQDZO-mILP7NYv0SuXM5BpkSmS2PCpRenq7ebO81IuIb16U7vKPcf42fP9lCbbSQLq1yQIqej0IHT7DQgz3ZN3E-BOBdDLsg/s4000/20210907_113850.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3000" data-original-width="4000" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHERNVfSn1LlHfHahTEn5OEHePOW4iLqZYk2HNF4vrhNke0wm-zqglEkz0ZWE0m6Cl6Fkx0p1KB8GaxwzbLvNUuivTzFoQDZO-mILP7NYv0SuXM5BpkSmS2PCpRenq7ebO81IuIb16U7vKPcf42fP9lCbbSQLq1yQIqej0IHT7DQgz3ZN3E-BOBdDLsg/w400-h300/20210907_113850.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>Atop the Athabasca Glacier</i></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3ldIuXjQ_MJCKX0Xw6yXntamZfdiTkYSXGTu4sx_vDSAEO73qidr-DqGn_sfKy-SoUwNWW5qyJLbegF51LwqIZ1KpXQYyGNWmTAEs1Itws-kSbqYfSY_88uh564ie3LoNrmg3ACRs2gWlDFsJT3OViDifd1fci7CPb2PXZHZKg-Eks2GnI7SLV7d-hA/s5984/20210907_114241.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1696" data-original-width="5984" height="182" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3ldIuXjQ_MJCKX0Xw6yXntamZfdiTkYSXGTu4sx_vDSAEO73qidr-DqGn_sfKy-SoUwNWW5qyJLbegF51LwqIZ1KpXQYyGNWmTAEs1Itws-kSbqYfSY_88uh564ie3LoNrmg3ACRs2gWlDFsJT3OViDifd1fci7CPb2PXZHZKg-Eks2GnI7SLV7d-hA/w640-h182/20210907_114241.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>Panoramic View on the Glacier</i></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKP5YSrMrvNmIIJaAoSB51q5neAQVljuZZy5fp_NNeoprqYS-enzMLMFiHCWQicspJMCrr8FgwmqJjNawRARO4CJcF1Jy4yh8DD3NMaJxZn_QANgMkFpUblOAic0CLh8GCX1PP67DFgVTetOjKwTzjKIO8Z6FzUw8nvhPPL5bVuqyydFsTZz5fQ8UeSw/s4000/20210907_122801.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3000" data-original-width="4000" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKP5YSrMrvNmIIJaAoSB51q5neAQVljuZZy5fp_NNeoprqYS-enzMLMFiHCWQicspJMCrr8FgwmqJjNawRARO4CJcF1Jy4yh8DD3NMaJxZn_QANgMkFpUblOAic0CLh8GCX1PP67DFgVTetOjKwTzjKIO8Z6FzUw8nvhPPL5bVuqyydFsTZz5fQ8UeSw/w640-h480/20210907_122801.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>Skywalk</i></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1MuQxhtZJPbOODU1OKtxuh0czrSX4-ujkImbe3G1uLDFJPqYFzWhlp6ab4PmSWUQBpbOHasUduQmk_XrFDUeDbOVbht_F4M2UryEBmU0OeE-pTM1KBOT6EnoiLyrm5QHc3r2f3Xm9v2Fu5SDUh0DEggILcZTfpx8Gs1VZxdspT-AHkvqXUOhxCCEPWw/s4000/20210907_131453_HDR.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3000" data-original-width="4000" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1MuQxhtZJPbOODU1OKtxuh0czrSX4-ujkImbe3G1uLDFJPqYFzWhlp6ab4PmSWUQBpbOHasUduQmk_XrFDUeDbOVbht_F4M2UryEBmU0OeE-pTM1KBOT6EnoiLyrm5QHc3r2f3Xm9v2Fu5SDUh0DEggILcZTfpx8Gs1VZxdspT-AHkvqXUOhxCCEPWw/w400-h300/20210907_131453_HDR.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNzTzZZUuFATQFl5OzRDnrXTrmBgyq-TCYxcHGNUo3_Zh_d9-cPARo-U9iq0nt9PhUA2qyjxtUY096cTfgcRzMmsvZpeWZDrGrLlve3kvbYXCDkB4oROfjU4In9wCYlB9BgM6x_f7uEhWMhSYmK5cL10W60Q79PVxZZ6qDtcI4DGrWrOtsU1YJJCpumA/s4000/20210907_134621.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3000" data-original-width="4000" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNzTzZZUuFATQFl5OzRDnrXTrmBgyq-TCYxcHGNUo3_Zh_d9-cPARo-U9iq0nt9PhUA2qyjxtUY096cTfgcRzMmsvZpeWZDrGrLlve3kvbYXCDkB4oROfjU4In9wCYlB9BgM6x_f7uEhWMhSYmK5cL10W60Q79PVxZZ6qDtcI4DGrWrOtsU1YJJCpumA/w400-h300/20210907_134621.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>Audrey and Amelia and the Athabasca Glacier</i></div><div><br /></div><h4 style="text-align: left;">Flying Out (Almost)!</h4><div>The next day, we drove 4 hours back to Grande Prairie to hop onto our flight back to Toronto. Typical of Flair fashion, the flight was delayed. We sat in the airport patiently waiting for the flight to be ready. Eventually, we realized that the plane wasn't even at the terminal. At about 7pm, they finally announced that the flight was cancelled. At first, they said that we would need to get to Edmonton to catch a flight from there to Toronto. As you can imagine, there was quite a bit of commotion. The Flair ground crew was pretty clueless as to what had to happen next. First, they told us we had to find our way to Edmonton on our own. Then, they said they would provide us a bus ride to Edmonton. After a few hours of waiting, we were finally told that a plane was going to fly in the next morning to take us back to Toronto. That was a much better solution than a 4.5 hr drive to Edmonton.</div><div><br /></div><div>However, that was not the end of the long day at the airport. According to regulations, the airline must provide us a stay if a flight is cancelled. The ground crew again appeared to be fairly inexperienced with this. We later found out that Flair had only started flying into Grande Prairie the month prior and so the crew had likely never encountered a cancelled flight before. I guess we were the "lucky" ones to experience this. Eventually, we were sent to a local hotel to stay the night. That should have been an easy thing, but again, the crew told us that they would arrange a shuttle to take us all to the hotel. After waiting for an hour or so, there was none to be found. A lot of people started taking taxis there. Uber and Lyft were not operating in Grande Prairie, which made it a bit more difficult to order a cab at the same time as 100 other people. Finally, we got to the hotel safely around 11 pm. We had not had dinner and everyone was exhausted. We ended up buying a bunch of instant cup noodles at the hotel pantry and had that for dinner. The kids didn't seem to mind that at all and I would have to confess I enjoyed it too!</div><div><br /></div><div>The next morning was quite uneventful. We got to the airport and saw the plane land at the terminal. All travelers gave the crew a round of applause. Everyone was glad that we now had a way back home! After a few hours we were home and felt pretty glad to be back. </div><div><br /></div><div>Would I take another Flair flight? I think so, but just like we did on this trip, we would ensure that we did not need to be at the destination or home on a tight timeline. The experience was generally pleasant (outside of the cancellation) and travelers just need to know what to expect going in. You do get what you pay for.</div><div><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR337bbLRCXQ37s0gtOEad3Pd0v0W3fSRDS0V3HlhJLeLJDCs7TGASCkm3JFbT8mhT4b4XosdauY5raBRfQ5e-Tiz7kIINy8Q62RqAxAAeY_MnH_e5pY8vq256QZU0U491OWuSXI-9pvvyVmGYgrXkw_k8wWqsfZnvaS4I5K8-3BQH6mA5oVE9M2e_vw/s3264/20210908_191447_HDR.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2448" data-original-width="3264" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR337bbLRCXQ37s0gtOEad3Pd0v0W3fSRDS0V3HlhJLeLJDCs7TGASCkm3JFbT8mhT4b4XosdauY5raBRfQ5e-Tiz7kIINy8Q62RqAxAAeY_MnH_e5pY8vq256QZU0U491OWuSXI-9pvvyVmGYgrXkw_k8wWqsfZnvaS4I5K8-3BQH6mA5oVE9M2e_vw/w400-h300/20210908_191447_HDR.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>Athan Reacting to Our Cancelled Flight</i></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOr8rBOMoH17SxXNnWfK5Yi_lzuB-vxvZuov9MHogLhLBB9I3PQ6wSbdrRelf_PmQoGBBESVElK6SThgggXrzwAOYDaSbvmLZRuYyxGt6T9TbK-ijL6d-3a8OaDFki1E0opmzitjznRzYu-_HS2pJVsAVlDKZxJg6hkdcZT4eYbt0LyrYmgphY60mVSg/s4000/20210909_095326.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3000" data-original-width="4000" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOr8rBOMoH17SxXNnWfK5Yi_lzuB-vxvZuov9MHogLhLBB9I3PQ6wSbdrRelf_PmQoGBBESVElK6SThgggXrzwAOYDaSbvmLZRuYyxGt6T9TbK-ijL6d-3a8OaDFki1E0opmzitjznRzYu-_HS2pJVsAVlDKZxJg6hkdcZT4eYbt0LyrYmgphY60mVSg/w400-h300/20210909_095326.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>Finally Boarding Our Return Flight!</i></div><h4>Final Thoughts</h4><div>I really do enjoy traveling with the family. It is a lot of work, but it's also a lot of fun and a sure way to make lasting memories. In everyday life, I feel like I get caught up with everything that needs to be done, whether it's work, getting the kids to their next activity, church responsibilities, housework, etc. Everything just seems to be a blur and there's little time to enjoy each other's company. When I'm on a trip, I can be there and present, instead of thinking about the next thing. We really only have one thing to do while we're on a trip and that is to enjoy ourselves while experiencing something that is new or at least, outside of the ordinary and mundane.</div><div><br /></div><div>There will come a time when we no longer will be able to spend as much as we have with each other. Whether that is me with my parents or with the kids. Life changes, kids will move out, and not everyone lives forever. We really do need to cherish these moments. I take this as my responsibility as a father, husband, and son to maximize this joy. Sometimes, we also get to learn a few things when we go on trips - like not underestimating hiking uphill in 20 cm of snow!</div>Felix Wonghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16180356165291817154noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8309411213090082084.post-41378932320559868692022-09-26T21:06:00.120-04:002022-09-26T22:37:35.869-04:00Collecting Comics: Picking Up My Childhood Hobby<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV-gHNZ7-QCLclkttiKe-xAc_2gJ9KD0ut_fRgVuabtuK57EnYENUM_BLApcq-20nZsDPHaDivvvAJQgstNYexjFLxDHODhDVAgcV7iXJJfyxBENqM-wKgRjtNnorrtGuagoMVa8YiDC6bW-bctaIzi7yeoqQrPHA-NBGY1ZMYUutihxbrL0paJVVoKA/s1280/comic-carnage.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV-gHNZ7-QCLclkttiKe-xAc_2gJ9KD0ut_fRgVuabtuK57EnYENUM_BLApcq-20nZsDPHaDivvvAJQgstNYexjFLxDHODhDVAgcV7iXJJfyxBENqM-wKgRjtNnorrtGuagoMVa8YiDC6bW-bctaIzi7yeoqQrPHA-NBGY1ZMYUutihxbrL0paJVVoKA/w480-h640/comic-carnage.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;"><i>Me and My Prized Possession - Amazing Spider-man #361, 1st Appearance of Carnage</i></p><p>Like many kids growing up in Canada, collecting baseball cards and comics was a big part of my childhood. Particularly, when I was in grade 7 and 8, I spent much of my spare time reading, drawing, buying, and trading comics. I was so passionate about comics that my mom enrolled me in art lessons on Saturday afternoons.</p><p>It all started in 1990 when Impel came out with a set of trading cards with Marvel characters. It was all the rage at that time. Any kid who was in grade school at that time must have either collected them or at least seen their friends bring them to school to trade. I was no different. Soon, I was sucked into the world of Marvel and I guess have never left since then.</p><p>Soon after that, I started collecting comics and began with the most popular titles like Amazing Spider-man and the Uncanny X-men. Not going far from the beaten path, Spider-man and Wolverine were my favourite characters. I certainly enjoyed reading the comics, but I was even more interested in the investment aspect of the hobby. I guess I've always been an investor, even when I was a kid!</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Learning the Trade</b></p><p>As with most things, there was a learning curve that I had to climb. Initially, I was buying all sorts of comics. Whenever there was a #1 issue of a new series, I would buy it just because I thought it would increase in value. Eventually, I figured that the most valuable comics often had the first appearance of a character (much like the rookie card of a sports player).</p><p>At the top of this post, you can see a picture of the Amazing Spider-man #361. That issue was the first appearance of the character, Carnage. The latest <a href="https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/venom_let_there_be_carnage" target="_blank"><i>Venom</i></a> movie introduced this character to the big screens. Back in those days, there was no internet to read up on the latest comics news. So, I would buy the monthly <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wizard_(magazine)" target="_blank">Wizard</a></i> magazine that talked about the hottest upcoming comics. I remember that whenever there were hot issues coming out, I would ride my bike to the local convenience at Bamburgh Circle and pick up several copies of the comic. With the first appearance of Carnage, I picked up 3 copies from the convenience store. Of the 3 copies, one of them was graded at a 9.8, which is essentially a perfect score (there are 9.9 and 10.0 scores out there, but they are exceedingly rare). The 9.8 was worth as much as $1900 last year, but now, like stock prices, comic values have come down and is currently worth around $1200. I believe I bought them for $1.75 each; so, not a bad return on investment!</p><p>In 1992, a few star artists and writers started their own comic company, Image Comics (<i>The Walking Dead</i> and <i>Kick-Ass</i> are notable series from Image<i>)</i>. I immediately bought a bunch of #1 issues that were published that year, including 7 copies of Todd McFarlane's Spawn #1. Other than Spawn, none of the comic series that came out that year made it too far. Although Spawn continues to be a popular comic, they printed so many copies of the #1 issue that a copy with a 9.8 grade sells for $200 only.</p><p>Although my collection may sound like a pretty good collection to someone unfamiliar with comics, it is figuratively and literally child's play. To put things into perspective, a 9.6 graded copy of Amazing Fantasy 15 (first appearance of Spider-man) <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/first-spider-man-comic-book-record-sale-1235010420/#:~:text=The%20sale%20of%20Amazing%20Fantasy,Art%20auction%20being%20held%20Sept." target="_blank">sold for a cool $3.6 million</a>. Ok, so that was the most expensive comic ever sold, but a low grade Amazing Fantasy 15 could easily go for tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtnGStVKpu0TZWkWb-YBM0t9BJ5iyQJUpg1J0tEJc7IxG5Mznh1VxV3CI9cXUjCbHNAEvch6he_kAsVE5S6twnRXwEL1B8A3FNqY_rBLqExFJhyKnjbU7sOHnKJTDvKRrFZr9Rlvh5pgnc08CK_qIrxyUZXTyDB8RuOxKWfcyfSRi1HumMzLOnjwHgsQ/s4000/20220305_151345.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4000" data-original-width="3000" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtnGStVKpu0TZWkWb-YBM0t9BJ5iyQJUpg1J0tEJc7IxG5Mznh1VxV3CI9cXUjCbHNAEvch6he_kAsVE5S6twnRXwEL1B8A3FNqY_rBLqExFJhyKnjbU7sOHnKJTDvKRrFZr9Rlvh5pgnc08CK_qIrxyUZXTyDB8RuOxKWfcyfSRi1HumMzLOnjwHgsQ/w522-h640/20220305_151345.jpg" width="522" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>Spider-man #1 by Todd McFarlane - One of My Favourite Comic Covers</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5WpFW5fFITe-1_xDShrnbLb2-V-1h6BeRRSsJWhjcH33uwErL9CUDd1wr6tKC0S5rXRGi5uwTiOjWmV8L6vcVyOR-vZddRxC9LK2MAyfgg4llpPSxpW4lNE4BCY4HX787IwOx98TrQK1SVl5k469w6Y1rUcD7yJY1VpM1LWRubvMXPBqewZBruA-ecw/s3768/20220305_153050.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1132" data-original-width="3768" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5WpFW5fFITe-1_xDShrnbLb2-V-1h6BeRRSsJWhjcH33uwErL9CUDd1wr6tKC0S5rXRGi5uwTiOjWmV8L6vcVyOR-vZddRxC9LK2MAyfgg4llpPSxpW4lNE4BCY4HX787IwOx98TrQK1SVl5k469w6Y1rUcD7yJY1VpM1LWRubvMXPBqewZBruA-ecw/w640-h192/20220305_153050.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>My Most Valuable Collection</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><b>Passing the Torch</b></div><div><br /></div><div>For many years, my comic collection sat inside a couple of boxes in my parents' basement. In fact, I had not really looked at it since I was in grade 8. You can probably guess how it happened: I hit puberty and girls became a lot more interesting than Spider-man! So, the comics sat there until my parents renovated their basement and needed to clear it out. Those boxes then got transferred to my own basement, where they sat for another several years or so, until...COVID!</div><div><br /></div><div>Since we were stuck at home for so long, I pulled out the comics to look at them and even posted a few pics on Facebook. My childhood buddy, Julian, who is an even bigger comic book collector than I am quickly noted how much some of the issues were worth. I did some quick searching on eBay and that was the start of how my passion got re-ignited.</div><div><br /></div><div>For much of my adulthood, my love for comics had never been truly extinguished. I had watched all of the X-men films that were made in the 90s and early 2000s, and of course, all of the Tobey Maguire Spider-man films. With a bit (a lot actually...) of my influence, Athan has grown to love all things Marvel. Below are some pics of us dressing up as Spider-man and Wolverine! I'm so grateful that I'm able to share my love of comics with him and also everyone else in the family. A week hardly goes by without a couple of MCU movies playing on the TV throughout the week!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdfvvE7qEN-ca4g7aRsteL9OgaTDGeoosdDEYr0Ji-moeflBJkykUd899U-S3mOkEHf-I3QmMf3ePaszNDOGBlaUaEMCBVj7mi3PQmYIAXgcl0YsNt9NvQfngkz5OUZZcVV_Xel4KX0F4ilO3PZD_5NUn8Na1jJMS1YedKvWsu5jcvqsLgMj84j1bfPA/s1327/spider-man%20costume.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1327" data-original-width="1228" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdfvvE7qEN-ca4g7aRsteL9OgaTDGeoosdDEYr0Ji-moeflBJkykUd899U-S3mOkEHf-I3QmMf3ePaszNDOGBlaUaEMCBVj7mi3PQmYIAXgcl0YsNt9NvQfngkz5OUZZcVV_Xel4KX0F4ilO3PZD_5NUn8Na1jJMS1YedKvWsu5jcvqsLgMj84j1bfPA/s320/spider-man%20costume.jpg" width="296" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Spider-man Themed Birthday Party for Athan with Me as Spider-man</i></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaAaMFLxiOlTGc2Lot5-EVjK3aRF7SBvEeRBPnPbaVQ66uKxv-NC2KcRblXJ1SM6UHnVLHmj7GxvuIpX0FxqBlUKHqhnECXJBjPHrHUksB2gNHFcvH1zpNbs-3Bt6uxksCEVKMqTBYmniZhsXqN1_SjFJvfNrOoYTMvM-5q8pT8xp1DhsePPGLWzlyrQ/s2048/_MG_9730.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1366" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaAaMFLxiOlTGc2Lot5-EVjK3aRF7SBvEeRBPnPbaVQ66uKxv-NC2KcRblXJ1SM6UHnVLHmj7GxvuIpX0FxqBlUKHqhnECXJBjPHrHUksB2gNHFcvH1zpNbs-3Bt6uxksCEVKMqTBYmniZhsXqN1_SjFJvfNrOoYTMvM-5q8pT8xp1DhsePPGLWzlyrQ/w426-h640/_MG_9730.JPG" width="426" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Athan and I Dressing Up as Different Versions of Wolverine</i></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_Rh2SN079Hhx-o8BsFpfJjDpjJwiA28QVi4SUXC81nq81WmNT9ssdHix3VZpz8wiNGWs8ffNxmdiagB0kQgBFf3S3o8q8w_yNMdO-UpuFTdUcFMvPjDePdWNl97q63-HLdmr4LgfQcG-_3_Szx5ohPu2zl-T5K-GGijC5BlWUSduYL2sOWGoBZaQi5w/s4000/20220529_154524_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3000" data-original-width="4000" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_Rh2SN079Hhx-o8BsFpfJjDpjJwiA28QVi4SUXC81nq81WmNT9ssdHix3VZpz8wiNGWs8ffNxmdiagB0kQgBFf3S3o8q8w_yNMdO-UpuFTdUcFMvPjDePdWNl97q63-HLdmr4LgfQcG-_3_Szx5ohPu2zl-T5K-GGijC5BlWUSduYL2sOWGoBZaQi5w/s320/20220529_154524_HDR.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Our First Comic Show</i></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIh9Vzkxf4b1xwoqkcO9IxVCsyd09PQZ3GZ5TZAMumZwJq2dJJ7W0gaw4QpRQiYZYbxpLyv8dAojviBlIz3FRhJdCCvAibZKN40Ceb0yMyPKIIspJKkjYF3sUjVc6LWT_LbOvcoGbSdBfUUwUHf8EXI6c0UocPeYOWGfbb7Vq9CvC0iFkFBDbTkLh2jA/s4000/20220806_150657.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4000" data-original-width="3000" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIh9Vzkxf4b1xwoqkcO9IxVCsyd09PQZ3GZ5TZAMumZwJq2dJJ7W0gaw4QpRQiYZYbxpLyv8dAojviBlIz3FRhJdCCvAibZKN40Ceb0yMyPKIIspJKkjYF3sUjVc6LWT_LbOvcoGbSdBfUUwUHf8EXI6c0UocPeYOWGfbb7Vq9CvC0iFkFBDbTkLh2jA/w300-h400/20220806_150657.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Gift for My Boy's 11th Birthday - A Marvel Encyclopedia</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><b>Deeper Lesson</b></div><div><br /></div><div>Not sure if this is a bit of a stretch, but I think collecting comics (or any other collectibles for that matter) may have a deeper lesson, that which is related to economics/finance. Comics are simply assets to which people attribute value. Are they not as tangible or intangible as a stock certificate (not that any of us has ever held a physical stock certificate)? The value of a comic often follows simple rules of supply and demand. So, hopefully, the lessons that my kids can learn from comics would help them navigate the world as they grow up. I certainly would like to think that collecting comics have helped me become a better investor!</div>Felix Wonghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16180356165291817154noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8309411213090082084.post-41285356306070755242022-08-01T12:34:00.003-04:002022-09-26T21:51:50.958-04:00Update: 2021 New Year Resolution - Bible in a Year (and a Half)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEideHsz_j0_o1W4aImkDn-s4cOCnlSJ4b6VbBtj3JqWy-Sh-21ZfhDbaEnm-ISCrFYrk0TFEq0tyAdTbKTZuP3TFdA6Cn4AkiLlAcNnxpsA4eissgDRDJnTCePwxOX3TSqn-f-ceyzxRZwvUjbOSM0RPym_0MxKTWPmIL8i3qkRRivHpojqJ3xgQgRXZQ/s891/bible.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="891" data-original-width="891" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEideHsz_j0_o1W4aImkDn-s4cOCnlSJ4b6VbBtj3JqWy-Sh-21ZfhDbaEnm-ISCrFYrk0TFEq0tyAdTbKTZuP3TFdA6Cn4AkiLlAcNnxpsA4eissgDRDJnTCePwxOX3TSqn-f-ceyzxRZwvUjbOSM0RPym_0MxKTWPmIL8i3qkRRivHpojqJ3xgQgRXZQ/w400-h400/bible.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p>Hello Everyone! Hope you are all enjoying a relatively COVID free summer! My writing seems to come in waves and the past year definitely has been a trough. Hopefully, I will make it a priority to do some more blogging this latter part of the year.</p><p>As a quick update to my <a href="https://www.felixwong.org/2021/01/2021-new-year-resolution-bible-in-year.html" target="_blank">2021 New Year Resolution</a> of following the <a href="https://media.ascensionpress.com/category/ascension-podcasts/bibleinayear/" target="_blank">Bible in a Year Podcast</a>, I have finished it in pretty much exactly a year and a half (early July)! I first read through the entire bible when I was in my teenage years. As you can guess, this second time around was a much different experience. As a person, I have matured (or at least hopefully), going from a son to a father of six! I have had much more exposure to the teachings of the Faith and the many challenges our Church is facing today.</p><p>Father Mike Schmitz, the host of the podcast, not only reads the Scripture to you, he also spends an equal amount of time commentating on it, which is very valuable, as there is so much richness in Scripture that one often glosses over many important points. Sometimes, maybe even more importantly, one can hear the passion in his voice (and at times, he even chokes up with emotion), which clearly demonstrates the realness of his relationship with God. I would definitely recommend any adult Christian (Protestant friends absolutely encouraged) to do this podcast. It's about 20 to 25 minutes a day and totally do-able if you incorporate it into your daily commute or other routine. As I had incorrectly assumed initially, the podcast actually <i>does</i><i style="font-weight: bold;"> </i>go through the entire Bible!</p><p><b>3 Lessons from Bible in a Year</b></p><p>Of course, I can't really write a blog post without giving my thoughts on listening to the Bible in its entirety. Here are 3 lessons that I learned.</p><p></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li><b>Pre-requisite for All Christians</b> - This isn't really a lesson, but I thought I'd throw it out there. How many Christians are there who have not read the bible in its entirety? Can we really be serious in our faith if we haven't read the most important book ever written on the faith? It's like saying that I really like Malcolm Gladwell but have not read his books (Gladwell is great, by the way. Would recommend <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Outliers-Story-Success-Malcolm-Gladwell/dp/0316017930/ref=sr_1_1?crid=27UDOJ8F8SHSP&keywords=outliers&qid=1659365914&sprefix=outliers%252Caps%252C800&sr=8-1&_encoding=UTF8&tag=tricklingsand-20&linkCode=ur2&linkId=10fd416fc473c85a10b22d1c355f10c3&camp=1789&creative=9325" target="_blank">Outliers</a> and <a href="https://www.amazon.com/David-and-Goliath-audiobook/dp/B00EKQKMG2/ref=sr_1_2?crid=2CN01SHIQOIO&keywords=david+and+goliath&qid=1659366014&sprefix=david+and+goliath%252Caps%252C177&sr=8-2&_encoding=UTF8&tag=tricklingsand-20&linkCode=ur2&linkId=f5c79f9c2f39e846d278116925907bd7&camp=1789&creative=9325" target="_blank">David and Goliath</a>). With this podcast, it has become so accessible that we really don't have a good excuse not to read it.<br /><br /></li><li><b>Humanity is Broken</b> - if you thought reading the bible would give you the warm and fuzzies, then I'm sorry to report that you may get the opposite, especially if you're reading the Old Testament. Don't believe me? These are the things you will encounter after reading the first half of Genesis, the first book in the bible: fratricide, countless cases of polygamy, wiping out of the entire human race save one family, sexual abuse, lying to steal another's birthright, incest, and many accounts of deceit and violence. More surprisingly, a number of these sins were committed by the patriarchs and matriarchs of the faith.<br /><br />Knowing this perhaps gives us a different perspective into the challenges we see today. Our faith did not originate from a line of righteous and perfect people. In fact, most of them were pretty horrible. Take King David, for example; he is perhaps the greatest figure in Israelite history. However, what is he best remembered for? It would be his great sin of killing of Uriah so that he can take his wife, Bathsheba, to be his own. Sin, therefore, is the rule and not the exception. However, this just doesn't seem right...how are we to make sense of this? Read on.<br /><br /></li><li><b>Christ is the Fulfilment</b> - Another thing that I realized after reading the Old Testament is that there is no conclusion in and of itself. The nation of Israel never really recovers its prior glory after it was invaded by the Babylonians. There is a great sense that there should be some sequel to the Old Testament, like a movie with a dissatisfying ending.<br /><br />As with point #2 above, it seems incredibly sad and pointless if our faith doesn't answer these most basic questions in life. What is the point? Why do people suffer? Why is there so much evil in this world? Why do good things happen to bad people?<br /><br />Fortunately for us, God does give us an answer. Although sometimes it is difficult to really understand, especially when the circumstances in our lives give us moments to pause, the answer is plainly there in the Gospels. John the Evangelist tells us, "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16). In Christian theology, we understand God to be love itself. If God is love, why could he not create a world where there was no pain and suffering? Why does God permit evil to exist? He does so such that a greater good can come from it. He allows evil to exist in the world so that He himself can be betrayed, tried, scourged, and finally crucified and killed, in order to reconcile Himself with us.<br /><br />Imagine you are an athlete training for the 100m dash and you end up winning the track meet. Would you rather have won because you were naturally gifted with superior genes and really did not need to train very hard, or because you had given up sleep and woke up everyday at 5am to train for the meet? Which scenario would be the one that has greater meaning and satisfaction? I'm sure most of us would say the latter. And so it is with life itself. It is not meaningful <i>despite </i>the brokenness and disappointments, but <i>because </i>of them and the redemption Christ offers us.<br /><br />It is easy for me to say this, but fully comprehending this is not only difficult, but may seem impossible at times. With this, I leave you with a final quote from the Gospel of Matthew, "Ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you" (Matthew 7:7). One cannot only use one's mind to understand this great mystery, but must open one's heart. Will you start by trying the Bible in a Year podcast?<br /><br /></li></ol><p></p><p><b>Now What?</b></p><p>So, just as I was breathing a sigh of relief knowing there's no looming podcast with which I need to keep up, Father Schmitz goes and decides he will do another "in a year" podcast. Starting January 2023, he will be starting a <a href="https://ascensionpress.com/pages/catechisminayear?utm_campaign=ciy&utm_content=ciy-announcement&utm_medium=video-fm&utm_source=youtube" target="_blank">Catechism in a Year</a> podcast. Oh boy! Not many Catholics have read through the entire Bible, but I am sure even less have even picked up and read the Catechism. What is the Catechism, you may even ask...in short, it's a summary of the teachings of our Faith. It's a great reference when you have questions, which is what I've used it for mostly. I definitely see great value in reading through it in its entirety. In a world where Christian beliefs are at odds with a lot of secular society's beliefs, it is essential to any practicing Catholic to know why we believe what we believe. Whether it's to ensure you are not shaken in your faith or to help you defend that faith, it will be invaluable. As you can guess, I will be, maybe a little begrudgingly, following this podcast when it starts next year. See you there!</p>Felix Wonghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16180356165291817154noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8309411213090082084.post-81648057215930893572021-06-08T23:25:00.003-04:002022-09-25T17:39:47.622-04:00Are Electric Cars Really Better For the Environment?<p> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT1wSWtwmrn4iGiRoYZ-gowGVjhWJghx4fOw111P97X6v9LaxaSwLoGY87EytKSW8t7pObITm3fWHLTzQVy8inEmtDuZoscE08MJffRmKqIB5v1_569IL3Xq-McAlDGF3vqfuv8WSWUdet/s1189/EV.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="669" data-original-width="1189" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT1wSWtwmrn4iGiRoYZ-gowGVjhWJghx4fOw111P97X6v9LaxaSwLoGY87EytKSW8t7pObITm3fWHLTzQVy8inEmtDuZoscE08MJffRmKqIB5v1_569IL3Xq-McAlDGF3vqfuv8WSWUdet/w640-h360/EV.jpg" width="640" /></a></p><div><br /></div><div>As you know, we bought a Tesla Model 3 back in 2018. It now has just above 80,000 km on it. I've driven about half of the mileage while the other half have been driven by my <a href="https://www.felixwong.org/2019/02/2018-year-in-review-part-ii-building-my.html" target="_blank">guests on Turo</a>. Recently, I exchanged a few comments on Facebook with my university buddy, Dennis, regarding how environmentally friendly driving an electric car really is. I really didn't know at that point, but it just seemed to me that not producing CO2 from burning 6400 L of gasoline (thus far in the car's life) was not a bad idea.</div><div><br /></div><div>Of course, there are skeptics in this world, perhaps caused by misinformation spread by conspiracy theorists, right leaning media, and the oil giants of the world. So, I decided to do some quick research just to see on a very general basis, whether driving an EV would benefit the earth.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Carbon Emissions</b></div><div>First, I wanted to look at carbon emissions, namely the amount of carbon dioxide emitted directly or indirectly by driving an EV vs a gas-powered car. This turned out to be a not-so-tough task. There is a free app called <a href="https://tezlabapp.com/app" target="_blank">Tezlab</a> that I use and it provides a charge report. It basically tells you what the carbon impact is for your charge. The neat thing is that it actually looks at your location, and by using publicly available data on the electricity grid, determines the equivalent volume of fuel burned.</div><div><br /></div><div>In the screen capture below, you will see that I recently charged my car from a state of charge of 38% to 90% (i.e. 52% of the battery capacity) which is an approximately equal to 250 km of travel range. It cost me $3.77 of electricity and had a equivalent carbon impact of burning 0.6 L of gasoline. 0.6 L!! How far can one drive with 0.6L of gas in a Prius? I think maybe 15 km under the best conditions, and that's a Prius. It is an order of magnitude better to drive an EV. Let's say I put 250,000 km on my Model 3. It would mean that I would save about 10,000 L of gasoline worth of carbon being put into the atmosphere, when compared to a Prius.</div><div><br /></div><div>This huge difference in carbon impact is actually due to the fact that Ontario produces 95% of its power using fossil-free resources such as nuclear, hydro and wind. Only 5% of the power generated comes from natural gas power plants.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizyG4a-pewbwnYcHGJmwQsH48dra7HOkHdphUR-o4ckmif6zzk2cvKhkg6RNs2lj61tEbItIIHv16b9B1YhSyLlzhBTk3YqaOssGXuQ1WhihOFoQHsww_Q3Bs-QhQPGhrzjgNwIggrByie/s2755/charge+report.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2755" data-original-width="1141" height="851" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizyG4a-pewbwnYcHGJmwQsH48dra7HOkHdphUR-o4ckmif6zzk2cvKhkg6RNs2lj61tEbItIIHv16b9B1YhSyLlzhBTk3YqaOssGXuQ1WhihOFoQHsww_Q3Bs-QhQPGhrzjgNwIggrByie/w354-h851/charge+report.png" width="354" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>I guess the next question is: well, that's Ontario; what about in places where they burn coal to generate power? It turns out that driving an EV will have a lesser impact, from a carbon perspective, in <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/mikescott/2020/03/30/yes-electric-cars-are-cleaner-even-when-the-power-comes-from-coal/?sh=436276eb2320" target="_blank">95% of the world</a>. Most countries are de-carbonizing their electricity grid due to the great economics caused by the <a href="https://www.evwind.es/2020/06/25/solar-and-wind-power-now-cheaper-than-coal/75326#:~:text=IRENA%20entitled%20Renewable%20Power%20Generation,IRENA%2C%20said%20in%20a%20study." target="_blank">declining costs of solar and wind power generation</a>. So, this will only get better in the future. Eventually, we will get to 100% non-fossil fuel power generation.<div><br /></div><div><b>What About the Batteries?</b></div><div>Another often cited downside of EVs is the sheer volume of battery cells used in an EV. Since batteries contain harmful materials like cobalt, lead, copper, etc., that would be a problem in itself. A quick read of the Wikipedia article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battery_recycling#Lithium_ion_batteries" target="_blank">battery recycling</a> informed me that battery recycling technology <b>today</b> can achieve up to 96% of the materials recycled. With EVs scaling up, I can only believe that battery recycling technology will further improve. There is no shortage of new <a href="https://spectrum.ieee.org/energy/batteries-storage/lithiumion-battery-recycling-finally-takes-off-in-north-america-and-europe" target="_blank">battery recycling companies</a> starting up. Since the battery pack is the most expensive single component in an EV, there are great economic incentives for companies to solve this problem.</div><div><br />Recycling batteries, in my opinion, is also a much easier engineering problem to solve than removing or capturing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, where the concentration is merely 400 parts per million (0.04%).</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Often Forgotten Benefits of EVs</b></div><div>As I mentioned above, I've put about 80,000 km on my Model 3. Thus far, the only maintenance task I've had to do on the car is replacing wiper blades and changing to-from winter/summer tires. There is no engine oil, transmission oil, and engine coolant to change and dispose of. In fact, there is no regular maintenance schedule for Teslas. You bring the car in as you see fit.</div><div><br /></div><div><div><b>There You Have It!</b></div><div>To me, it was quite intuitive that EVs are a great means to reducing my carbon footprint. However, there's much misinformation out there. Hope this quick post will help you transition to a cleaner future! Also, 0 to 60 mph in 5 seconds or less is also pretty darn sweet! 😉</div></div><div><br /></div>Felix Wonghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16180356165291817154noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8309411213090082084.post-7730342837179175812021-01-30T13:58:00.001-05:002021-01-30T16:22:48.551-05:002021 New Year Resolution: Bible in a Year!<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://media.ascensionpress.com/category/ascension-podcasts/bibleinayear/" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="854" data-original-width="1280" height="429" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinCmr-JXzLBwAONZARIIF3naQN3PBPXaMogrcJs6dubw1QodSb9yuXRKhicVOswAyPWp6oAUubpV1v-96vPMUrBg94bU3nYHitm9Ijau1MwQqwQ4sclJSgR76uhIASpRKaNXViobpoIgmt/w640-h429/bible-2110439_1280.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p>When I was in my teenage years, I had read the bible literally from cover to cover (Genesis to Revelation) over the course of a couple of years. Although it was a good exercise and something that I can brag about (like what I'm doing right now 😉), I don't remember too much of it nor do I think I really benefitted that much. It was probably because I had read it without much guidance nor did I really do much reflection of the text.</p><p>More than 10 years ago, I had enrolled in Regis College's (U of T) Master of Theological Studies and had taken a few courses on Scripture. They were quite eye opening! Unfortunately, I only finished about half the program and had to quit due to juggling of work and newborns which seemed to come quite regularly 😂. After that point, I had rarely picked up the bible, which is always something that made me feel quite sad.</p><p>Fast forward to last year, the COVID pandemic has had quite a number of silver linings. One of them was our discovery of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Schmitz" target="_blank">Father Mike Schmitz</a> on YouTube. We alternated between <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtfLIN3tfxKmVsZ65-laOEQ" target="_blank">masses said by Father Francis Ching</a> (in Cantonese) and Father Mike when the churches were/are closed. Both fathers have amazing homilies and I would recommend tuning in every Sunday.</p><p>Since the start of the year, Father Mike had started a <a href="https://media.ascensionpress.com/category/ascension-podcasts/bibleinayear/" target="_blank">Bible in a Year Podcast</a>. It's a daily podcast with Father Mike reading a few chapters from the bible and then reflecting on it. Each day's show is about 20 minutes long and so it's not much effort at all to follow along. The podcast is advertised as reading the entire bible but it's not quite that. I don't think reading Deuteronomy on a podcast would be a great idea, except if the podcast was designed for insomniacs! It will read through the most common books like Genesis, Exodus, Numbers, Samuel, Kings, Isaiah, Psalms, Luke, Acts, and Revelation. You can take a look at the <a href="https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1125/2740/files/the-official-365-day-reading-plan-for-the-bible-in-a-year_1.pdf?v=1610549662&_ke=eyJrbF9jb21wYW55X2lkIjogIlRjcFpoSCIsICJrbF9lbWFpbCI6ICJmZWxpeEBmZWxpeHdvbmcuY2EifQ%3D%3D" target="_blank">reading plan</a>. Father Mike is super charismatic and passionate and he has (re-)lit a fire in my heart!</p><p>So, this is my New Year resolution: to complete this Bible in a Year program and bring Scripture back into my life. If you're Catholic, Christian, or just curious, I'd encourage you to do the same.</p>Felix Wonghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16180356165291817154noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8309411213090082084.post-71425220507378067852020-12-21T13:10:00.002-05:002021-12-02T20:40:41.611-05:00Clearly Loved: A Chronicle of Andrea's Birth<p> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPtO4DONSgmHjAd7rTJFY1hNNOs95gyLqKJzdOGneO4uhrwON0WtJTieTlAqPF37uW6B4OfjrjseQafKTRhXLGy1F3zFaOXJj3yPV29xaFwCY0ITFpfnBd6aJiB1GSy5N39qR3dXy-nMKX/s1080/20201201_220622-01.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPtO4DONSgmHjAd7rTJFY1hNNOs95gyLqKJzdOGneO4uhrwON0WtJTieTlAqPF37uW6B4OfjrjseQafKTRhXLGy1F3zFaOXJj3yPV29xaFwCY0ITFpfnBd6aJiB1GSy5N39qR3dXy-nMKX/w400-h400/20201201_220622-01.jpeg" width="400" /></a></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>1-day Old at the Hospital</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">When we found out that our 6th child will be a girl, one thing that we knew was going to be difficult was naming her. When we named Athan (Athanasius is his actual name, which is that of one of the great Doctors of the Church, and means "eternal life"), we weren't purposely planning on naming all our kids with "A" names. Once we started the trend, it was difficult to stop and so after Adele, Athan, Audrey, Anne, and Amelia, it was starting to be hard to find a name that suits <i>both </i>our liking. My rule had always been traditional, Christian but yet not too common. We had a shortlist of names: Andrea, Alicia, Arya, Agatha, amongst others. Up till the day of Andrea's birth, we had pretty much settled on Alicia. As you have guessed, that was not to be! More on that later...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b>Ill Prepared</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">If you've known Renee and I for a while, you'll know that we're pretty chillaxed people. We tend to go with the flow and are easygoing in general. Sometimes that's good in keeping harmony but we also tend to underestimate the urgency of things...you know, things like giving birth!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">About 2 years ago, we had a flood in our basement (a story worthy of another post on its own) due to a burst water line. Insurance would cover the damage but I procrastinated and procrastinated until this past summer dealing with it. It wasn't until the claim deadline of 2 years from the date of the flood was approaching that I finally submitted all required documents and had the claim approved. Our contractor also did not have any opening until late in the year, and in the end, he could not come to complete the repair/reno until after Andrea would be born.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">So, we ended cleaning out 7 years' worth of junk out of the basement a month or so ago, with lots of help from my father. We must have donated about 20 garbage bags full of stuff to Value Village and threw out another 10 bags. We also moved a bunch of stuff from the basement to the main floor and our hallway on the second floor, and also our bedroom. In short, our house was a mess and was not in the best shape to receive our newborn baby.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">We had a false alarm on November 26, when Renee felt some pain in her tummy, thinking that they were contractions. It turned out that she was just experiencing some pain after having stood up for a prolonged amount of time that day. Then, early in the morning of the November 30, Renee's mucus plug came out. She told the kids that the baby might come that day. I kind of brushed it off, saying to myself that for one of the pregnancies, she gave birth a full week after the mucus plug had come out.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">November 30 was a Monday and I recall that I was in the middle of a team meeting at around 11 am when I was rudely interrupted. Renee came barging into the bedroom and pushed me aside. I gave her a look and she just said, "I'm going to take a shower." Usually, when I'm in the middle of a meeting, she would not tell me such inconsequential things and so I paused and said, "Ok.......", waiting for her to give me a reason. She then said, "I'm having contractions."</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">"What?" I thought to myself, suddenly snapping out of it. I soon ended my team meeting and realized the gravity of situation. Given that Renee was tested <a href="https://kidshealth.org/en/parents/groupb.html" target="_blank">GBS positive</a>, she needed to be administered antibiotics 4 hours before giving birth. For Amelia's birth, we took our sweet time and Renee ended up having to slow down her labour to keep Amelia in for the required 4 hours. I began sweating because I was 100% not prepared. I immediately began packing up stuff for the hospital stay including my personal stuff since we were going to be there at least for a couple of days, and also everything that we would need including the car seat, stroller, etc. By 1:45 pm, we were heading out the door even though Renee's contractions weren't that strong yet nor were they 5 minutes apart, which was the typical frequency at which one would leave for the hospital.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCIlaMpMEExS4EajuSVuFpjQ6pSAxMJtV29GzMmh1reQfzHQReaDQzlqgsQbIEAWA-f6c_hynNjfqLUh03qzBxCH9LGoKSs8WHr3wiWXK9M7mIah6d6mk72nE4WosnRQDu7j-Pw6K2yYgx/s2048/20201206_125022-01.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1537" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCIlaMpMEExS4EajuSVuFpjQ6pSAxMJtV29GzMmh1reQfzHQReaDQzlqgsQbIEAWA-f6c_hynNjfqLUh03qzBxCH9LGoKSs8WHr3wiWXK9M7mIah6d6mk72nE4WosnRQDu7j-Pw6K2yYgx/w300-h400/20201206_125022-01.jpeg" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>Wide Awake!</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b>Feast of St. Andrew</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">A few days prior to that day, Adele was protesting that she didn't like the name Alicia. She just didn't like the sound of the name, but both Renee and I liked the name. Interestingly enough, Alicia came from the German name, Adelaide, which is related to Adele. Lol! Maybe Adele wanted to be the only Adele in the family!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Adele liked the name Andrea, but pronounced on-DREY-a, instead of the more commonly pronounced AN-dree-a. I preferred the latter because it would be such an annoying thing when people would read your name and be constantly pronouncing it wrong. Renee told Adele that if the baby was born on November 30, the feast day of St. Andrew, we would name her Andrea instead of Alicia. I laughed, because this was the exact thing that I was hoping to happen with Adele before she was born. Adele was born on May 10, but if she had been born on May 13, which was the feast day of Our Lady of Fatima, she would have been called Fatima. Since this didn't happen to Adele, I didn't think it would happen with this birth....I guess I was wrong!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">So, Andrea was named Andrea because she was born on November 30, the feast day of St. Andrew. It is pronounced AN-dree-a as well! 😁 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Her birthday is also quite easy to remember. It's exactly <strike>2 weeks after Renee's and</strike> (Edit: I was clearly not in the right mind due to lack of sleep, because Nov 30 is 16 days after Nov 14, Renee's birthday) 1 month before mine!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b>At the Hospital</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">We arrived at Trillium Health Centre (Mississauga Hospital) at around 2:15 pm. With the current COVID situation, I would only be allowed into the hospital after Renee was admitted to the birthing suite. So, I dropped her off at the hospital and she proceeded to the birthing unit to be assessed. Luckily, Renee's OB, Dr. Kim Rogers was also on duty that day and she would be the one to deliver the baby. Upon assessment, Renee was about 2 to 3 cm dilated (out of 10 cm), which would normally have been early, but since she needed to be on antibiotics for 4 hours, Dr. Rogers commented that it was a good time to be arrive.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">I drove to the nearby McDonald's to grab a coffee as I waited. Meanwhile, back at the hospital, Renee was getting admitted. She first got tested for COVID, followed by some bloodwork. There was a young nurse in training at that time and that nurse attempted to take some blood samples. Also at the same time were two student doctors who were asking Renee questions about her pregnancy. As the nurse stabbed Renee in the arm with a needle, she burst Renee's vein and blood quickly splattered down her arm. As this was happening, the student doctors continued to ask Renee questions as if nothing out of the ordinary was happening. The young nurse froze and her accompanying nurse quickly covered Renee's vein with a piece of gauge and stopped the bleeding. Sadly, I wasn't there to witness this hilarious moment, but Renee said she had a drop of sweat run down her face. LOL!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">After some time, Renee messaged me and asked me to come to the birthing unit. I got to the hospital at around 4 pm and was promptly screened at the entrance. The hospital staff informed me that my cloth mask was not acceptable inside the hospital and handed me a surgical mask. They also phoned the birthing unit and asked if I was permitted to go in. I'm glad they're doing this level of screening to prevent any outbreaks at the hospital.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b>Big(ger) Baby</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">When I got into the birthing room, I found Renee with two nurses: Jas and Mei Ling. She was fairly comfortable and was having a nice chat with the two of them. The contractions were still not quite 5 minutes apart and not very strong either. We would normally have been still at home at this stage, but we didn't want to have the same experience as with Amelia's birth where Renee had to really slow herself down to keep Amelia in! Renee was administered the anti-biotics at 3:15 pm and so, we would want to wait until at least 7:15 pm to give birth.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">From, 3:15 pm until around 6:45 pm, the progress was slow and we were ok with it. At 6:55 pm, Renee was still only about 3 cm dilated. Dr. Rogers decided to break Renee's water to speed things up. With our past experience, breaking the water definitely increased the pace of things. By 8:00 pm, Renee's contractions started to become more painful. By 8:45 pm, Dr. Rogers was in the room getting ready to deliver the baby.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">At one point, the contractions were so painful that Renee squirmed around and almost kicked our nurse! Bless Dr. Rogers, she calmed Renee down with a pep talk and from that point on, we made really good progress. With Amelia, Renee pushed a couple of times and Amelia was born, but with Andrea, she was determined to stay inside mommy's warm tummy! I think it took about 6 or 7 contractions and lots of hard pushing until Andrea was born at 9:10 pm.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">When Andrea came out, she looked almost exactly the same as Anne when she was born! She was 50 cm long, with a head circumference of 33 cm, and weighed in at 6 lb and 11 oz. She was the heaviest of all of our kids, which probably explained why it took quite a bit of effort to get her out! Andrea was also the only one who was born within the band of birth weight where we did not have to stay for 36 hours to have bloodwork done.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b>Almost a Vacation</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">We had a fairly good first night at the hospital. Since bloodwork was not required, the nurses came by much less frequently than for our other babies. We did get some rest at night, although there were a couple of hours where Andrea needed to be held. So, I held her and walked around the room until she eventually fell asleep in my arms. Since she wouldn't stay asleep when I put her down, I had to hold her while I sat (and fell asleep) in a chair.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">We slept quite a bit the next day as well and only really woke up to feed Andrea or ourselves. When the lunch delivery lady came by to collect Renee's finished lunch, Renee told her that it was delicious. Her eyes widened and she was speechless for about a few seconds. Then, she said to us, "Nobody likes the food here!" We laughed, but to be honest, the food was very comforting (yes, I had some too LOL)!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">We even bought a dessert crepe at the crepe place downstairs in the hospital. It actually did feel like a vacation. Since no visitors were allowed, we were there by ourselves with 1 child, as opposed to the normal 5 kids! Meanwhile, my parents were the ones slaving away at home, keeping the kids focused on online learning and bathing and feeding them! Thanks to Susanna and Hilton for their constant help!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b>Clearly Strong!</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Andrea's full name is Andrea Claire Hiu Ying Wong 黃曉瀅. Andrea (or Andrew) means "manly" LOL...but also means strong. Both the names <i>Claire</i> and 瀅 mean "clear", with 瀅 specifically describing the clarity of water. I'm somehow drawn to French names if you haven't noticed (Renee, Adele, Audrey, Anne) and have always liked the name Claire. 瀅 was Renee's idea but I did secretly like that name as well (at least the sound of the character), but never really suggested it as Chinese is not my strong suit. On the day Andrea was born, it was raining quite a bit, and it seemed like God gives us his blessing on the name we've chosen, like <a href="http://www.felixwong.org/2018/01/wait-chronicle-of-amelias-birth.html" target="_blank">He had done with Adele and Amelia</a>.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">And so, I ask the Lord to bless Andrea with strength and clarity in her days ahead!</div>Felix Wonghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16180356165291817154noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8309411213090082084.post-61220382764831949932020-06-07T16:55:00.002-04:002020-06-09T08:59:09.575-04:00My Encounter with RacismWhen I was between 10 and 14 years old, newspaper/flyer delivery was a major source of income for me. First, I had a flyer route that paid $20/month for delivering 70 sets of flyers each week to my neighbors. The job included assembling flyers from multiple stores into one package and then delivering them throughout my neighborhood. Not every house got a set of flyers; those who subscribed to the Toronto Star would not be on my route, because they would get the flyers included in the newspaper. So, I would bring a list of addresses with me during the delivery, making sure the right houses got the flyers. Sounds pretty easy, but imagine doing this in -15°C weather in the middle of a blizzard. Eventually, I memorized my entire route and could do this without looking at the list (I got to know the houses, instead of memorizing the addresses). Then, when my best friend Michael moved to Pickering, I inherited his prized evening Toronto Star paper route. The money was way better from a revenue to work ratio. I only had about 10 houses to deliver to but the money was similar.<div><br /></div><div>My brother, Eric, also had a paper route. He delivered the Sunday Toronto Sun. He had around 60 houses on his route. He was (and is) really smart; he somehow tricked me into thinking that it was a great idea for me to help him with collecting money from the subscribers. Yes, this was a thing. In addition to delivering the newspapers, we were also responsible for knocking on the doors of our customers and collecting the money that they owed the Star/Sun. Every month, we would remit the majority of that money to our managers and retain our earnings. If we didn't collect all the money, tough luck, we still needed to remit the money. So, it was in our best interest to collect.</div><div><br /></div><div>Back to the story, I had forgotten what Eric had paid me, but it was a small portion of his income, while the work was arguably harder. If it wasn't harder, it was definitely more time consuming. Folks weren't home all the time and so you might need to go back to the same house twice, thrice, five, eight times to collect the $5 that they owed. In addition to that, I actually had to interact with people, some of whom were nice and always tipped, but others were miserable and was not afraid to let you know that it was not welcome to knock on their door during dinner time. Who ate at 5:00 pm anyway?!?</div><div><br /></div><div>There was one family on Hood Crescent in Scarborough that I would dread going to. It was the house of a white family with 2 kids, a girl and a boy around my age. The father would sometimes answer the door and was polite, if not pleasant, but the mother was always upset about something. If she wasn't complaining about me coming at dinner time, it was something else. It was always unpleasant with her. One day when I was 12 years old, I rang their doorbell as usual and she opened the door. Immediately, a frown appeared on her face. As you know, I almost always carry a smile on my face and so, I told her, with a smile, that I was collecting paper money and she owed $5. She mumbled something about dinner time and went back inside to get the money. When she came back with the money, she said, and I will never forget, "<b>I would rather give this money to a nice white boy.</b>"</div><div><br /></div><div>I was shocked. I didn't know what to say. I just took the money and walked back to my bike. I didn't know what to feel, except anger. It upset me tremendously. I rode my bike home, to be met by Eric and my mom. I was shaking as I told them what the white lady had said. Then, uncontrollably, I broke down in tears.</div><div><br /></div><div>After that, I don't quite remember what happened. My mom probably consoled me and life went on. But to this day, I still remember that woman's face and more vividly, her words. It definitely wasn't the first time I was a victim to racism; some stupid kids at school would call me a chink or would tell me to go back to Hong Kong. This time was different; it came to me, a 12-year-old boy, from a grown up. I had a very hard time reconciling that in my head. We were taught racism was wrong and not acceptable, especially in Canada, where people of various backgrounds live harmoniously. Yet, this lady, who had kids herself, would inflict such pain on a 12-year-old boy. How deep her hatred for people of colour must have run!</div><div><br /></div><div>Almost 30 years later, as I reflect on this, I am saddened that racism is still such a real thing in the world. All I ask is that we continue to pray for those who still bear hatred towards those of another race, and to continue to make decisions in our lives, from voting to educating our kids, that denounce racism. Just like slavery, it will become a thing of the past only to be learned through history books. I wish to see the day when 12-year-old newspaper boys only need to worry about whether it was dinnertime when knocking on their customer's door.</div><div><br /></div><div>...wait, are newspapers still a thing? 😅</div>Felix Wonghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16180356165291817154noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8309411213090082084.post-72342621070039389852020-05-23T15:14:00.000-04:002020-05-23T15:14:21.996-04:00COVID-19 Baby Boom? Is it real? Yes...and No. 6 is On Its Way!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTn3anavnAHBJ1BGtvNsQSYVlUOS5ybZtA5WOkoa-uAcLEQ_aCTHPKQYgA9ciJLv9vXT3JiMt7_aKeuvDS9APi0m-r1pU2cAVzKLZv3ApaEjNqZjue9eKrAeKU2yG1olr1M0sVBRB8Lqi5/" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="2000" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTn3anavnAHBJ1BGtvNsQSYVlUOS5ybZtA5WOkoa-uAcLEQ_aCTHPKQYgA9ciJLv9vXT3JiMt7_aKeuvDS9APi0m-r1pU2cAVzKLZv3ApaEjNqZjue9eKrAeKU2yG1olr1M0sVBRB8Lqi5/w400-h300/1589304263204-8605b0fb-ce9a-4778-bea4-ed293a9586e0.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Yes, we have anecdotal evidence that the COVID-19 lockdown has started a baby boom! Renee and I are pleased to introduce Baby No. 6! Amelia is now two and a half years old so we're definitely overdue! LOL! This time, we're really going to fill the Odyssey and there will not be any spots for the grandparents! 😭 </div><div><br /></div><div>The kids are very thrilled with the news and couldn't wait to tell their friends. The oldest two are praying for a little brother and the younger three are hoping for a baby girl. We do think it'd be nice for Athan to finally have a brother, and we are running out of "A" girl names as well! 😜</div><div><br /></div><div>Baby's due date will be early December and I'm really hoping the pandemic will be over by then. I really wish I will be allowed to accompany Renee during and after the delivery in the hospital. All of our kids were on the light side and had to stay in the hospital for a couple of nights. So, it'd be good to be able to be there with Renee and baby. Please keep us in your prayers!</div>Felix Wonghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16180356165291817154noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8309411213090082084.post-147793938534428822020-04-15T08:40:00.000-04:002020-04-15T08:45:33.106-04:002019: A Year in Review - Part III: The KidsIf you haven't read <a href="http://www.felixwong.org/2020/04/2019-year-in-review.html" target="_blank">Part I</a> and <a href="http://www.felixwong.org/2020/04/2019-year-in-review-part-ii-our-travels.html" target="_blank">Part II</a>, please do!<br />
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How can a 2019 review be complete without talking about the kids?!<br />
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<b>Mommy/Daddy and Kid Dates</b><br />
We have been asked whether with so many kids, the younger ones get less of our attention. Answer is definitely a yes. How could it not be so? Am I worried about it? Not really! Think about it this way. Sure, they get less attention from their parents, but they have so much more interaction with their siblings that I think their social skills are greatly improved as a result. Imagine that you have 4 other siblings living with you...would your negotiation and communication skills not be much better? Would you not be much better in navigating through conflict? I think that's a yes.<br />
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With the coronavirus lockdown, the benefit of having many siblings is obvious. Our kids did not once complain that they were bored in the past 4 weeks of staying at home. In fact, it's pretty much business as usual for them. With 7 people in the house, there's never a quiet moment!<br />
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Now, having said that, we do recognize the need for attention from us parents. So, last year, we started a new tradition of 1-on-1 Mommy/Daddy and kid dates. Renee or I would take one kid out on a date and just spend some 1-on-1 time with them. We use this time to let them know that they're unique, special and are deserving of our undivided attention. Both of us actually really enjoy it because it's rare that we get to spend some quiet time with each of them.<br />
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We don't do anything too fancy. Sometimes we got out to the mall. At other times, we go and grab some food or spend an hour or so at Chuck E Cheese. Some outings are more extravagant, like one time I got a couple of Leafs tickets from work and went with Athan. The point is that we spend some quality time together. Before the lockdown, we tried to do a date once every week or two. It means each kid gets to go on a date with either of us every month or two. I would recommend that you parents try something like this with your kids!<br />
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<b>Adele</b><br />
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Adele turned 10 last year. She continues to do well in all her endeavours and plays the role of big sister perfectly! She requires very little attention from us and in fact, helps out with her little brother and sisters. We're so grateful to have Adele's help as always.<br />
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Last year, I started to introduce some programming to Adele beyond what she got at school. I first got her to take some online HTML/CSS courses, which she had completed, but I felt it was still a bit too advanced for a beginner at her level. Eventually, in 2020, I found a really good program created by MIT called <a href="https://scratch.mit.edu/" target="_blank">Scratch</a>, which is very age appropriate and teaches programming fundamentals. I recommend this to kids 8 or older.<br />
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Adele competed in her first triathlon in the summer. She did very well and I'm so proud of her. I hope one day, the two of us can run in a race together! I'm too weak a swimmer so it'll have to be a run or a bike ride! Sorry, Adele! Lol!<br />
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<i>Adele Running Past the Finish Line in Her First Triathlon</i></div>
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<i>Daddy and Adele Date - Enjoying a Cold Drink at Starbucks</i></div>
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<b>Athan</b><br />
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Athan had a great year last year! He turned 8 and also had his First Communion this year. He reminds me so much of myself when I was young. I was a very playful kid and by that, I mean all I wanted to do was play! I would moan and whine at the thought of doing homework or studying. This certainly drove my parents insane, especially during my earlier years in Hong Kong where grades were everything. I certainly didn't ask for this attribute and now know that's just part of how kids learn, through play. As a result, I give Athan some leniency in this area. I encourage play but try to direct him to productive playing (that's a term I just invented). Instead of letting him just stare at the TV or play video games, I try to switch things up and encourage creativity in the things that he deems fun.<br />
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He has matured quite a bit in the past few years. We no longer need to ask him if his homework is done; he just knows to complete it himself. He is doing well in school and loves to play soccer. He's been taking Karate lessons since he was 4, but his interest doesn't seem to be there 100%. We will be re-evaluating whether to redirect his time and energy elsewhere once he completes his red belt (about half way to black belt).<br />
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He's also good help with his little sisters. Although he loves to taunt them and make them scream, he is more than willing to read to them before going to bed. He's a fun brother to have around and without Athan, things would just be a bit on the dull side.<br />
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<b>Audrey</b><span style="text-align: center;"> </span><br />
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Audrey entered Grade 1 this year and turned 6 years old. Both Adele and Athan started reading fairly proficiently in SK, but Audrey had struggled a bit in SK. Since she's an October baby, we weren't too concerned. In September, I asked Adele to help Audrey with her reading. I'm glad to report that at the moment, Audrey is reading at a Grade 2 level (thank you Adele)! Her penmanship is also superb. I look at her handwriting and am a bit ashamed that it looks much better than my own! In fact, she has the best penmanship out of all her siblings!<br />
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She took a year of ballet and had her first recital in June. As you can see below, she was adorable in her little costume! When September came around to re-enroll, she actually asked not to re-enroll in dance because she wanted to take up visual arts, which is where her real strength lies. I think she gets it from mommy! You can see a sample of her work below in Chinese Martyrs Catholic Church's calendar. Thanks to Grandma for enrolling Adele and Audrey in the competition. Adele's drawing also made it on the calendar!<br />
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<i>Audrey's Drawing Featured on Chinese Martyrs Catholic Church Calendar</i></div>
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<b>Anne</b><br />
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Anne turned 3 in 2019 and this will be her last year at home before she starts JK. It turns out that the more fair-skinned kids in the family are more rascally than the others! Lol! She has quite the character and is at the same time lovable and deserving of reprimand! She's definitely the life of the party!</div>
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She started ballet lessons in September and is absolutely enjoying it. Whenever we have some music playing at home, she would start dancing to the music. It is really by nature and not nurture that she has this interest and talent. Since we have more data points in the number of kids (lol), we can confidently say that their interests and talents are usually not due to what we want them to be, but rather, are gifted by God.</div>
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Anne also really knows how to tearjerk with her words. There was one occasion where she was over tired during dinner and was not being cooperative. I reprimanded her and after dinner when I was changing her into her PJs, she said, "Daddy, I miss you all day (when you are) at work!" Upon hearing it, I suddenly choked up and was full of regret about how I had reprimanded her earlier. She's a smart cookie, maybe a bit too smart with her words!</div>
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<b>Amelia</b><br />
Amelia turned 1 last year (2 years old now) and is growing really quickly! She's running around and talking in full sentences. Of all five kids, I think she looks like me the most! She is always smiley and loves to participate in all family activities. It is really easy to make her cry - just tell her it's nap time or bedtime and she will immediately start whining or be on the verge of crying, because she doesn't want to be left alone in her room; she wants to be part of whatever is happening.<br />
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Being the youngest, she's definitely the loudest with her screams and cries; she needs to get the attention! She's not to be bullied and she uses her voice to ensure that.<br />
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We are so blessed to have our wonderful kids! Is it tough to parent 5 kids at the same time? You bet! But boy, do we feel privileged to be their parents! We hope we're doing an ok job!Felix Wonghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16180356165291817154noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8309411213090082084.post-43013564636319472262020-04-12T14:56:00.001-04:002020-04-13T20:33:16.049-04:002019: A Year in Review - Part II: Our Travels<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i>Trip to Tobermory</i></div>
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Before we start...if you haven't read Part I of my 2019 review, go <a href="http://www.felixwong.org/2020/04/2019-year-in-review.html" target="">here</a>.</div>
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A few years ago, I wrote about the perception of the <a href="http://www.felixwong.org/2015/08/the-inevitability-of-time.html" target="_blank">acceleration of time</a>, that is, that time seems to pass by more quickly as we age. Since then, I <a href="https://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/science-says-time-really-does-seem-to-fly-as-we-get-older-this-is-best-way-to-slow-it-back-down.html" target="_blank">read that</a> this can be explained by our brain activity. When we were young, everything that the brain experiences is new and the brain needs to process all of that incoming information. As we age, things start to become mundane and the brain goes more on autopilot. As a result, time seems to pass more quickly. This seems like a pretty good explanation to me!</div>
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So, a way to slow down how we perceive time passes would be to create new experiences for ourselves. A great way to do this is to travel. It doesn't necessarily need to be far away, but just needs to be different from our ordinary lives. Traveling is also a great way to create memories for ourselves and our kids. I still remember so much of what we did when we were in Orlando in 2018. I absolutely advocate going on a vacation each year with the family! It's much better than spending the money on a certain gadget!</div>
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<b>Blue Mountains - June</b></div>
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At the end of June, we went to Blue Mountains for several days. I actually like Blue Mountains better in the summer than in the winter, probably because I'm a novice skier and can't justify the high cost of skiing at Blue. In the summer, accommodations are much cheaper and a lot of the places provide access to a somewhat private pool. The kids don't like swimming lessons much, but they love playing in the pool!</div>
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We didn't do much outside of swimming, hiking, and watching movies. I guess this was a trip more for me than for everyone else! Lol! I really being able to spend time with Renee and the kids, in a less stressful environment compared to our weekends! Beavertails were also great!</div>
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<b>Tobermory - July/August</b><br />
I've always wanted to go to Tobermory. For some reason, I'm really attracted to blue, turquoise water! My parents, my brother Eric's family along with us stayed a week there. It has recently become an annual family tradition to go somewhere together for a week in the summer. I really enjoy this time because I get to spend time with Eric and my dad, whom I don't see as often. You kids out there reading this now...someday, you will grow up and will start your own lives, and you will find that you miss seeing everyday the annoying sibling(s) that you have. So, treasure the time you have now!<br />
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During our trip, we took a ferry to Flowerpot Island that is famous for its flowerpot-like rock formations. They're pretty cool to look at. Eric, his sons Nick and Ben, myself, Adele and Athan camped on the island for one night. There are only a handful of sites on the island so it was quite an experience.<br />
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<i> Flowerpot Rock Formation at Flowerpot Island</i></div>
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Our campsite was close to a dock and we spent some time jumping into the cold water. Check out the video of my nephew Ben below!<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwK8Q8YlxOlVKokAR70OVNL0Odd36p60plLuRARhK4ZM_h0nKFwKXnsbYdBSyZvawbYoCbUo0oh8uU6bI0_jA' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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<i>My Nephew, Ben, Jumping Off a Dock into the Cold Water</i></div>
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We also visited the Grotto near Tobermory. It's one of the more popular attractions there. The grotto is actually quite treacherous to get to. To get there, one would need to climb down a rocky cliff. Aside from a few signs telling you not to do stupid things since people have died here before, there are no stairs, railings, or any other safety measures. After scoping out the path down, we decided that the grandparents and the younger kids should not go down.<br />
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Renee, Joanne (Eric's wife), and the older kids decided to do the climb down, while Eric and I helped get the younger kids settled down. We brought them with the grandparents to a rocky beach on the other side of the grotto. Once they were happily settled, Eric and I headed off to the grotto. Instead of walking back to the cliff and climbing down, we thought it would be easier to swim there.<br />
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I wouldn't say it was the worst of ideas, but it definitely was a less than ideal exercise. We walked along the rocks as far as we could before we had to jump into the water. Once we jumped in, we realized the water was <i>very</i> cold! A quick google tells me that the average water temperature in the summer at Tobermory is between 15 and 20°C. It doesn't sound that cold, but at 25°C, one's breathing starts to be affected by the cold water temperature. At 20°C, it's considered "dangerously cold" to swim in. It took us about 3 to 5 minutes to get to the other side, where the grotto was. By the time we got there, both of our arms and legs started getting numb and it began to be difficult to swim. Given another 5 minutes in the water, we probably would have drowned. Once we got there, we were happy to see the wives and kids already in the grotto. We took some jumps from inside the grotto into the cold water before heading back to the beach.<br />
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Aside from these exciting adventures, we also enjoyed movies, whiskey and cigars (the latter two by the men only!). Overall, this was a great trip and many good memories were made!<br />
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<i>Rocky Beach at the Grotto (the Grotto is on the Other Side of the Rocks at the Back)</i> </div>
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<i>The Grotto is at the Bottom</i></div>
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<b>Cherry Beach Resort - August/September</b><br />
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Over the Labour Day long weekend, we, along with Renee's parents, siblings and, her best friend Melissa and husband Danny went to Cherry Beach Resort in Prince Edward County (near Sandbanks). </div>
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The resort is a pretty neat place. It has a number of different water sports, a swimming pool, basketball and tennis court, and other activities. The kids got to go on a canoe which was a first for some of them. Adele, while paddling, hit her own nose with the oar, causing it to bleed profusely in the middle of the lake! We also spent quite a bit of time playing board and card games, and watching old movies on DVDs (poor internet there). Adele and I also discovered Sim City on my phone, which we somewhat quickly got bored of. To cap off the trip, the resort provided a free hot dog dinner along with nice fireworks! All in all, a really fun trip spent with nice company!</div>
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As an aside, Melissa and Danny have a company called <a href="https://comfycomfy.ca/" target="_blank">ComfyComfy</a> that sells buckwheat pillows, among other things. If you have neck pain or just need better support sleeping, try their pillows out! Renee and I have a number of their pillows in our home. You can also find them on <a href="https://www.amazon.ca/stores/node/20676723011?_encoding=UTF8&field-lbr_brands_browse-bin=ComfyComfy&ref_=bl_dp_s_web_20676723011" target="_blank">Amazon</a>. (No, I don't get commissions. lol)</div>
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<i>Melissa, Her Daughter Maddy, and Audrey</i></div>
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<b>Finger Lakes, New York - November</b><br />
For Renee's birthday, I surprised her with a trip to the Finger Lakes in upstate New York. It was only the two of us who went, thanks to the grandparents who took care of all 5 kids! I don't remember when our previous "us only" trip was; so this was quite a treat!<br />
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Our trip started with a stay at Harbour House in Niagara-on-the-Lake. Harbour House is one of our favourite hotels in Ontario. It's super cozy and nice and never disappoints! They had a packaged deal with a discount on dinner and spa, which was both very enjoyable. Dinner was at HobNob and our couple's massage the next morning was at Secret Garden Spa, also in Niagara-on-the-Lake.<br />
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After our massage, we left for Aurora, NY and arrived at dusk. We stayed at Wallcourt Hall, which is one of several hotels in the small town, that is owned by Pleasant Rowland, the founder of American Girl. The town has been revived and has got a nice, small American town feel to it. There's not much to do there, but it's very scenic and is a perfect getaway for Torontonians who have gotten bored of Muskoka. The drive from Toronto is around 4 to 5 hours.<br />
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<i>Renee Pretending to Read in Our Wallcourt Hall Room</i> </div>
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<i>Our Room Was Really Nicely Decorated</i></div>
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I thought that every Hong Kong immigrant to Toronto has been to the Corning Museum of Glass, since it's one of the stops between Toronto and New York City on the 美東四日遊 (4-day Eastern US bus tour). To my surprise, Renee has never been there, and since it's been 30 years since I've been there, we spent a day there. It's a small but very neat museum, and one could easily spend a day there looking at the exhibits and watching the entertaining glass blowing demos.<br />
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<i>Corning Museum of Glass</i></div>
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<span style="text-align: center;">After the museum, we swung by Watkins Glen State Park, hoping to walk on the trails to see the waterfalls there. Unfortunately, the trails were closed for the season. We did snap a few pictures at the trailhead. Maybe we'll be back with the kids in the future!</span><br />
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<i> Watkins Glen State Park</i></div>
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A few days quickly passed, which to be honest, was enough since we missed the kids. We were also quite sure they were a handful for our parents. Thanks again, Mom and Dad! But before heading back to Toronto, we made a quick stop at Waterloo Premium Outlets which definitely won me some brownie points! How can a birthday trip not include shopping, right?!</div>
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That sums up our travel in 2019. Although we didn't do any big trips, these small trips were all very enjoyable and they made quite a few memorable moments for us to reminisce on for years to come!<br />
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Stay tuned for my final post on an update on each of our 5 rascals!Felix Wonghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16180356165291817154noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8309411213090082084.post-52581130260359601252020-04-11T18:24:00.003-04:002020-04-12T16:33:47.428-04:002019: A Year in Review - Part I: Year Overview<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
I had tried starting this post before the coronavirus outbreak, but did not get any progress until now. It's April 11, 2020 and I've been home since before March Break, which would make this the start of week #5. Not sure if this is affecting anyone else, but I feel especially lethargic from a work perspective, having to stay home all the time. But I will push through this lethargy and complete this post today! If you see this on April 11, you'll know I succeeded!</div>
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In general, 2019 was somewhat eventful, but it really went by like a blur and nothing stuck out as a highlight. Perhaps it wasn't the greatest of years as you'll soon read about. Or maybe, it might be because I didn't have any newborn this year! ;) But I'm glad I'm going through this exercise of looking back. Otherwise, the year would have passed and I would not have reflected more upon it. And isn't being conscious and being able to reflect on past events what separates us from other creatures in this world?<br />
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<b>Annual Tradition - Gambling & Eating Steak</b><br />
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This has become a bit of an annual tradition. It started way back in 2008 (?) when the Great Recession was running in high gear and it seemed like everything was on discount. Hotels were not the least affected and had some pretty great deals that winter. Kelvin (Lai Chuen), my cousin and I would enjoy the packaged deals from Four Points Fallsview to stay for a night, get some "free" chips from the casino and coupons from local restaurants (which lowered the cost of the highly priced food back to normal prices).<br />
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Isn't gambling not allowed for Catholics? Well, no, that is not entirely accurate. Gambling, in and of itself, is not a sin. However, gambling definitely leads to sin; which is why gambling is often shunned. I know this first hand. Many years ago, I lost around $200 at a casino and I lost it and threw a fit like an uncontrollable toddler. It was an ugly sight. $200 is not a huge amount but it was enough to turn me into a different person. "Know your limit" so goes the OLG saying. Now, I know my limit! So these days, I get the "free" chips from the casino and play enough so I can cash it out.<br />
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Anyway, back to our trip to Niagara. Kelvin's birthday is in January. So, we decided to take advantage of the hotel deals again. But this time, I had a few surprises for him. I picked up the tab for his stay and even organized a surprise for him. He thought that it was only the 2 of us + family, but there ended up being around 20 people, including my parents, his in-laws, Jit team. It was a fun trip...and to spoil next year's "2020 in Review" post, we did it again in January 2020!<br />
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<b>Selling the Matrix</b><br />
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This section is quite inconsequential...but thought I'd document this for posterity. Lol. Just before Renee and I got married, we bought our first car together. It was a used 2004 Toyota Matrix. Over the years, it had served us well. When we went down to one car after Adele was born, we gave it to my dad to drive. He eventually got a BMW and passed the Matrix to my mom. My mom then drove it for probably 6 or 7 years. Finally, after 15 years of good service and almost 300,000 km, we decided to retire it. I think we even sold it for $1200 (if I recall correctly). It was such a practical and reliable car! It had not broken down once and all repairs were of a minor nature.<br />
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For this, I love Toyotas so much! They're just engineered and manufactured so well and last forever. However, I'm terribly worried about the company. They are like Blackberry in 2008...not quite sure what I mean? Well, the iPhone was announced in 2007. Everyone knew it was the future, but people like <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eywi0h_Y5_U" target="_blank">Steve Ballmer just mocked it</a> (you gotta click on this link if you haven't seen the video). I think you know where I'm going with this. We know electric vehicles (EVs) are the future. How can they not be? But Toyota is just so obstinate! I don't get it. They practically started the EV revolution by pioneering hybrid technology. Why do they have such a pathetic EV roadmap? When they talk the game, what they mean by EVs are hybrids, and not zero-emissions EVs. This would have been fine 20 years ago when they came out with the Prius. They've gone from leader to laggard. It's truly disappointing and sad.<br />
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<b>Mom's Surgery</b><br />
My mom, Susanna, has been my nanny, cook, educator, and Instacart shopper (lol, this last one is a joke) for the past 10 years. I'm tremendously grateful for her help. Without her, I don't think we could have gone past 2 kids!<br />
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Last year, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. It was actually not her first diagnosis of this terrible disease. 10 years prior, she was diagnosed with the same and had her first mastectomy. Her recovery back then was not great. I recall it probably took her about a week before she was able to get out of bed. Even then, she was not very mobile. So, this time, we were very worried about what this would mean. She was going to get another mastectomy, but she was now 10 years older.<br />
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To our surprise, while she had the same surgeon and had the surgery done at the same hospital, the surgery went exceptionally well. She was also able to have a one-night stay at the hospital instead of a day surgery. That helped tremendously as well. By day 3, she was up and about and even cooked lunch (nobody can stop her when she's determined)! We were really relieved! She fully recovered in 2 to 3 months. It's been over a year since the surgery and she's been back to her old self. Thanks be to God!<br />
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We also thank you all for your prayers and kind thoughts during this time!<br />
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It is important to note...while mom was off on sick leave, Renee did a great job taking care of kids and myself. She did lose about 5 pounds in this period though! :P<br />
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<b>Grandma's Passing and Trip to Hong Kong</b><br />
In mid April, mom called and told us that she was well enough to come back the following week. We didn't mind that she took more time off to recuperate but knowing mom, she probably felt it was her responsibility to come back to help when she was able. That's mom...always going above and beyond!<br />
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As fate would have it, on the following day, she got a call from my uncle in Hong Kong informing her that Grandma had been hospitalized. The situation was not good and so, she booked her flight to go back. I followed shortly after. I was glad I did because Grandma passed while I was there and I got to spend her last few days with her. I <a href="http://www.felixwong.org/2019/05/goodbye-grandma_3.html" target="_blank">wrote about that</a> last year when I was still in Hong Kong.<br />
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Not only was I able to spend time with Grandma, I also spent some time with my cousins, whom I had not seen in quite some time. In fact, it was really my first time interacting on a less superficial basis with my younger cousins, Ka Yue and Ka Pong. They were born after we had immigrated to Canada and I was glad I was able to get to know them a bit better. Guys, if you're reading, thanks for your hospitality last year. It was great connecting with you guys! I was also fortunate to connect with a few other relatives and old friends, which is always great. It was too bad I was only there for 1 week...<br />
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This trip was also the only time I spent any meaningful amount of time alone with mom. The last time was probably in 1989 when again, the two of us went to Hong Kong together (wow, some 30 years ago)! After grandma's passing, we did some touristy stuff in Hong Kong, went shopping, and enjoyed the rest of our time there. I guess this was the silver lining of the trip.<br />
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<b>Family's First Baseball Game</b><br />
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Ainsworth's (where I work) family event this year was a Blue Jays game. It's been about 30 years since I've seen a live Jays game. The last time, the Rogers Centre was still called the Skydome (which is what I still call it). It was a superb game to watch with something like 7 home runs during the game! Free game, free food - what a great day! Thanks Ainsworth!<br />
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<b>Enjoying Friends' Company</b><br />
Honestly, God has blessed us with so many good friends that we're so grateful. I have to say I'm terrible with keeping in touch. It's never been my strength. Thanks to all you kind souls; that hasn't kept you out of our lives!<br />
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One wintry day, we had a great time with Matt, Jessica, Sophia and Sam at the Science Centre! They gifted us a membership many years ago and after losing it for a few years, we finally found it. We gladly invited them to join us. It was a bit of a hectic and chaotic day, with adults terribly outnumbered (mainly my fault), but we had a blast!<br />
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And for all those of you who don't know, the Science Centre has a great reciprocal membership program with other museums. Within a 8 hour drive radius, you probably have free access to around 10 different museums in Canada and the US. Definitely keep this in mind!<br />
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In 2019, I was also a godfather again! I'm the proud godfather of everyone in John's family except Joanna! Their second, Oliver, was baptized and I was so honoured to be godfather again! Godfather Part III...lol!<br />
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In July, we threw Matt (Tsang) a surprise birthday lunch. The surprise was so good...Matt Siu and I hid in Lai Chuen's pantry and when Matt came over, thinking he was putting up some furniture for Lai Chuen, we scared the heck out of him when he found 2 screaming dudes in the pantry! We definitely had a good laugh at his expense!<br />
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Calvin, Aggie, and their girls Abbey and Alley visited from Hong Kong in December. We had a great time reminiscing about old jokes like "I...I...I was just saying..." It was a great way of celebrating Christmas with great, old friends! Watching Dennis and Calvin shuck oysters was also amusing! :)<br />
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<b>Other Highlights</b><br />
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<i>Watching Canada Day Fireworks at the Local Park</i> </div>
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<i>Renee's Grandma Visiting in the Summer</i> </div>
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<i>Starting of a New Family Tradition: A <b>Real</b> Christmas Tree!</i></div>
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Thanks for dropping by! Stay tuned for more!Felix Wonghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16180356165291817154noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8309411213090082084.post-17460748829482328142019-06-04T22:16:00.000-04:002019-06-04T22:16:07.822-04:00When Ethical Issues Hit Home (Specifically, The Family Room)I love Netflix's service. I've been a customer since they became available in Canada. The service is cheap, fast, and has increasingly delivered very high quality original content. Renee loves to watch Korean drama. I love to watch zombie shows. When Netflix came out with <a href="https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/kingdom_2019" target="_blank">Kingdom</a> (a Korean zombie drama), we finally found a show that both of us can watch!<br />
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However, this post is not about Netflix's shows. It's about a much more serious issue. Recently, the state of Georgia in the US passed a law that disallows abortion on babies whose heartbeat has been detected. This law is seen as a victory for the pro-life movement. Unexpectedly, at least for me, Netflix entered into the scene. They <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/28/entertainment/netflix-georgia-abortion-law/index.html" target="_blank">announced</a> that they will be working with the ACLU to fight this law and will be reconsidering its investment in Georgia.<br />
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It is one thing for a company to voice its opinion on a matter; it is quite another to take an active role on such a topic. I think Netflix has crossed the line for me. If it continues down this path, I believe it would be morally unacceptable for me to continue both paying for its service and owning shares of the company. After all, part of my money will be going to be used to fight against a pro-life legislation.<br />
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So, I decided to write a message to them through their <a href="https://www.netflixinvestor.com/resources/investor-contacts/default.aspx" target="_blank">investor relations</a> page. You can see it below. <br />
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I will be watching this closely to see what actions, if any, Netflix will take. If it comes to the point where I need to unsubscribe, it will make life very inconvenient for me. I don't have cable; so what will I watch? Maybe I can watch Disney+ when it comes out...but unfortunately, Disney is taking the <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2019/05/30/ceo-bob-iger-disney-georgia-abortion-law/1283840001/" target="_blank">same stance</a>. What is one to do in this secular world? I guess this is a cross one must carry.<br />
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<i>Hi Netflix,</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>I have been a Netflix customer since you came to Canada and have recently became a shareholder. While I respect differing viewpoints on the topic of abortion, I am displeased by the recent announcement that Netflix will be using its resources, which partly comes from my monthly subscription fee and my investment in the company, to take an active pro-abortion role. If Netflix continues down this path, I will be forced to both unsubscribe to your service and also sell all of my shares of NFLX. I do not have a unique perspective on this topic; millions of your subscribers and investors, whether religious or not, are pro-life. Please reconsider your position. Thank you.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Regards,</i><br />
<i>Felix Wong</i>Felix Wonghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16180356165291817154noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8309411213090082084.post-14875360886567970432019-05-25T17:59:00.001-04:002019-05-25T17:59:30.403-04:00Want to Fly to Alberta on the Cheap? <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i>Heavily Photoshopped Picture I Took at Moraine Lake, AB</i></div>
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Before we had kids, in 2008, we drove all the way to Victoria, BC in a rental van and had a blast. Driving across the country had always been a dream for me, and 9 years later, we drove to the other end of the country, all the way to Newfoundland! Now that I've been to all 10 provinces, I know where I want to go back to... and that's Alberta! Banff was such a beautiful place; it's like somewhere you would only see in movies.<br />
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The situation 11 years later is a bit different, shall we say? If I wanted to visit Alberta, I might have to fork out $600 for a plane ticket, multiplied by 7! That's $4200 before I even left the door, never mind accommodations, etc.! So, I used the tactic that I employed for my trip to Florida, which was to scour the web for cheap flights that fly out from a reasonably close airport (reasonably being within a 5-hr drive...perhaps too much for some). Ladies and gentlemen, good news for us: I've found a relatively inexpensive way to get there.<br />
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Go to <a href="http://flights.google.com/">Google Flights</a> and search for a flight from YXU (London, ON) to YEG (Edmonton) and you'll find unbelievably cheap flights. For example, on May 25, 2019, I found a round-trip direct flight by Swoop from London to Edmonton for $162, with June 10 to 24 as travel dates. This is peak season we're talking about!<br />
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Now, of course, there's a catch. First and you already know this, you have to fly out of London. I'm perfectly ok with this as I've flown out of Pittsburg which is a much longer drive. My brother Eric living in London also gives me another reason to use the London airport. Second, flight times aren't great. For the outbound trip, you have to fly out at 10:35 pm. For the inbound trip, it's even worse... 6:00 am! Lastly, Swoop charges even for a carry-on luggage.<br />
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So, let's just say I do take this trip, this is what my cost would look like.<br />
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- Flights - $162 x 7 = $1134<br />
- 2 checked luggage - $46 x 2 = $92<br />
- Parking at the airport for 2 weeks - $50 x 2 = $100<br />
- Gas to London - $50<br />
- TOTAL - $1376<br />
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This works out to be $197/person! I'd say that's pretty good! So, you know where I <i>might </i>be going next year! :)Felix Wonghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16180356165291817154noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8309411213090082084.post-75325511920456278312019-05-03T11:37:00.001-04:002019-05-03T13:35:36.352-04:00Goodbye, 阿婆 (Grandma)!A few of you know that I'm currently in Hong Kong to say my last goodbye to my grandmother. She passed away on May 2. This post is part trip journal and part tribute to her.<br />
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阿婆 On Our Wedding Day, August 5, 2006</div>
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<b><i>April 28, 2019</i></b><br />
I'm 30,000 ft in the air as I write this, on my way to Hong Kong. My maternal grandmother is in palliative care right now in Our Lady of Maryknoll Hospital in Wong Tai Sin, Kowloon. Her health has been in steady decline since she lost her ability to walk about 7 years ago, and started living in a geriatric home. She was diagnosed with breast cancer about 11 years ago and had a mastectomy. The cancer eventually spread to her bones and liver.<br />
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<b>Memories from My Childhood</b><br />
When I was a small child still living in Hong Kong, my parents would drop me off at pre-school, and later on, elementary school, and 阿婆 would pick me up at the end of the school day. I would then spend the afternoon with her until my mother came to pick me up after work. Those afternoons with her make up one my fondest memories of my childhood.<br />
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Before she moved to a more modern day apartment, she lived in one of the first public housing projects built in Hong Kong, in today's Lok Fu in Kowloon, which was also where my mother grew up. Her unit (#503 of block 17) was a small rectangular unit with no rooms, kitchen (she had a stove in the hallway/balcony outside), or washroom (a shared washroom was present on each floor), and was no larger than 200 square feet. Her entire family of 5 lived there for many years. Life there was difficult, but also very interesting.<br />
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阿婆 loved playing mahjong, and in many afternoons, she used to play for several hours with me sleeping on her lap. I still have memories of curling up on her lap, looking at the bottom of the mahjong table and listening to the noise of shuffling mahjong.<br />
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<b>Life Lessons</b><br />
Throughout those formative years with her, I learned a number of life lessons. One of the most vivid memories I had with her happened when I must have been around six or seven years old. Hearing profanity at that time for me was not uncommon, except I had no concept of profanity. No one told me that a certain word was a bad word, and so, one day as we were standing near the bus stop where my mom would get off to pick me up, I uttered some profanity in front of 阿婆, not really understanding what I had said. Immediately, her face changed and asked me where I had learned that particular word. She then went on to give me a lecture on how only rude people would say those words. I remember feeling horrible and more importantly, learned that one could get into much trouble by inadvertently saying something that wasn't appropriate. I can't say that I never curse, but I hope most people will agree with me that only during intense moments do profanity come out of my mouth.<br />
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She also taught me, through her way of living, that it was ok to enjoy the little things in life. I remember particularly enjoying cooking instant noodles on a kerosene stove with her, inside her little unit (recall that she had no kitchen inside). From the lighting of the match, to the sweet smell of burning kerosene, to the wonderful taste of Nissin instant ramen, I loved every moment of this humble life. To the chagrin of my parents, my afternoon life was often filled with cartoons and less-than-healthy snacks. I would often get into trouble when my little stomach had been filled with snacks and wouldn't allow for much dinner shortly afterwards. Now, as a parent, when my kids wouldn't eat at dinner, my first question to Renee or my mother would be, "Did they just have snacks?"<br />
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<i>Public Housing in Lo Fu Ngam, Kowloon (circa 1960s)</i></div>
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As you can see in the picture above, the resettlement blocks (as they're called) had long balconies. 阿婆 lived on the sixth floor (don't ask me why the unit number was 503!) and we used to stand at the balcony, look down below and people watch. One of the most anticipated moments of the day was when the 飛機欖 (an olive based snack) seller came by. The name 飛機欖 literally means "airplane olive", and why it was called "airplane" was the way it was delivered. The seller usually had a trumpet and when he came by, he would play it to alert the neighborhood, much like how ice-cream trucks play music in North America. Kids like myself would then race to the balconies and throw coins down the balcony. Once he received the money, he would then throw the 飛機欖 up to your floor. As you can imagine, I loved this whole interaction. However, I never quite acquired the taste of the 飛機欖 itself.<br />
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Another yummy food that used to be sold by street vendors in the neighborhood was 砵仔糕. Mmm....so yummy! This post is making me hungry!<br />
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Now that I am reflecting on this, I realize it has shaped my own way of parenting quite a bit. Whenever I have a 1-on-1 date with one of our kids, bringing them to Tim Hortons or McDonald's is almost a sure thing. Perhaps when they're grown, they will remember fondly these little joyful moments with their father.<br />
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<b>WWII Stories</b><br />
In the years leading up to World War II, the Japanese occupied Guangzhou where she lived. As a young girl, she had learned how to speak Japanese. I believe she picked it up through working for either a Japanese family or company. Although she was a bit rusty, she was still able to converse in Japanese well into her seventies. My favourite dish that she made was Japanese omelette wrapped fried rice. Although she had never taught me how to make it, I had watched her cook it many a time. I'm not super great at it, but it is something I can make to impress my guests (or so I think)! I remember that one year when she was visiting Canada, I surprised her by making the dish for her. I was expecting her to say, "Oh, you did a good job making the fried rice even though I hadn't taught you." Instead, what I got was, "The egg is kind of...thick. Make it thinner next time." That was a LOL moment!<br />
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<i>Omelette Fried Rice Made by Me</i></div>
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The following is a story I like to tell my Canadian friends and it absolutely blows their minds. If you had met her in her 70s and early 80s, you would agree she looked like one of those typical cute, old Chinese ladies - short in stature, a bit chubby, and has a nice permed hairdo.<br />
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<i>Grandma at Adele's Baptism</i></div>
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I've been told when she was much younger and not yet married that she was very attractive. This did not go unnoticed by a Japanese military personnel stationed where she was living. Whether he was a lowly ranked soldier or a general is unknown to me, but it would seem that this was not a situation a young woman would want to be in during that time. She learned that he would come by to where she lived and ask about her. At that time, my grandfather was married to her older half sister (different mother). After some discussion with her sister, my grandfather proposed that he marry 阿婆 as well, which would serve as protection for her. Her attractiveness, I imagine, did not make this proposal a difficult one for my grandfather! So, 阿婆 became my grandfather's third, simultaneous wife.<br />
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<i>Grandma Holding Baby Uncle 志堃 (circa 1948)</i></div>
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This notion of polygamy seems unthinkable now, but if one looks into history, strict monogamy is taught by few religions except Christianity. As the Western world moves away from its Christian roots, we are now seeing polygamy making a come back, at least in the form of serial polygamy (divorce and remarriage). I can certainly see polygamy as a next frontier in the ongoing sexual revolution society has been undergoing since the 1960s.<br />
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<b><i>May 1, 2019</i></b><br />
Today is May 1, 2019. It's 10:10 am in the morning Hong Kong time. 阿婆's condition has declined significantly since yesterday morning. She was very alert and aware yesterday. When we arrived at the hospital in the morning, she was already awake and stayed that way for a couple of hours. Mom fed her some liquid formula and she enjoyed it. She even managed to look at us and smile. It was a comforting sight.<br />
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Then, at around noon, congee was delivered to the room and Mom tried to feed it to her. Since it was fairly thick, and 阿婆 wasn't able to really swallow, we added some water into her mouth. That, however, was not such a good idea. Since she had trouble with swallowing, the congee likely went into her windpipe instead of her esophagus. She then had some trouble breathing and so, we asked the nurse to try sucking what sounded like phlegm, but was actually the congee, from her throat. It helped a bit, but since this episode, her condition worsened drastically. When the nurse came in to do a checkup, she wasn't able to measure her blood oxygen levels. So, she put an oxygen mask on 阿婆 and turned the oxygen supply to the maximum setting. The nurse also asked us to call all of our family as things did not look well.<br />
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By late afternoon, all immediate family was at the hospital. My cousin, Ka Pong, who was away in Taiwan, also made it back to see 阿婆. Renee and the kids also spoke with 阿婆 through the phone, as did my brother Eric and Joanne, his wife. We all thought that 阿婆 was waiting for everyone to show up before passing on. However, she did end up surviving the night.<br />
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<b><i>May 3, 2019</i></b><br />
<b>阿婆's Last Day</b><br />
After a quiet day on May 1, Mom and I went back to the hospital on May 2 at around 8:30 am. When we got there, 阿婆 was awake and fairly alert. We talked with her and she was sometimes able to respond by nodding or shaking her head. However, her eyes had that glazed look that wasn't present a few days before. Since it was just ourselves there at the hospital, we took it easy and relaxed in the hospital room. Mom then remembered that my dad had not spoken to 阿婆 and asked me to call him. We put him on the phone and he had quite a funny chat with her, reminiscing the days when they played mahjong with Uncle Paul and Auntie Loretta (Eric's in laws). When he finished speaking with her, I walked outside and continued chatting with him while Mom stayed inside the room. After about 5 minutes, Mom came out with a worried look and asked me to go into the room. When I got there, I saw 阿婆 with an anxious look in her eyes and her mouth opened and shut repeatedly. We had not seen that in the past few days. I immediately called my uncle, 志堃, and my cousin Cindy. Fortunately, Uncle 志堃 was already on his way to the hospital. Within minutes, he arrived. 阿婆 continued to struggle and at last, closed her eyes and stopped breathing.<br />
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I went out to call the nurse and she came in. She told us that 阿婆 still had a pulse and asked us to get as many family members here as possible. At around 10:50 am, her pulse had stopped. The doctor examined her about an hour later and her official time of death was 12:12 pm on May 2, 2019. The cause of death was pneumonia. She was 92 years old.<br />
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<b>Farewell...But Not For Long</b><br />
On Sunday, I will be flying back to Toronto. I feel that this is one of the most important trips I had taken in my life. My cousin Kelvin (on my father's side) gave me some really good advice when I was still deciding on whether to come back or not. He said, "人生是一條減數 (Life is a subtraction)." He recently lost his father and wanted to remind me that as we are past our mid-life, our losses in this life will continue to increase. So, I thank him for putting things into perspective for me, which allowed me to make the right decision. I do agree that that is the sad truth that we must all face. However, I don't believe our bodily deaths are the end of our existence. It is merely a transition to something greater.<br />
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So, 阿婆, farewell...but not for long. In the face of eternity, what is another 30 to 50 years? We'll meet again soon enough!Felix Wonghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16180356165291817154noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8309411213090082084.post-79198054810942192242019-04-19T10:11:00.003-04:002019-04-23T21:56:19.662-04:00Autonomous Driving is (Almost) Here!<div style="background-color: black; height: 480px; text-align: center; width: 100%;">
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<i>My Model 3 Driving Itself</i></div>
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About 2.5 years ago, Tesla posted a video of a self-driving Model X. It completely blew my mind! You can see it in <a href="http://www.felixwong.org/2016/10/sleeping-at-wheel.html" target="_blank">my old post about autonomous driving</a>. Elon Musk then promised an autonomous cross country trip by the end of 2017. That year came and went and then another year without any meaningful progress. This, by the way, is called "Elon time". However, with most things from promising to land rockets back on Earth to building hundreds of thousands of Model 3s in a year, I think autonomous driving will come to fruition soon.<br />
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There are a handful of Tesla owners in my readership and I know you guys already know all this stuff, but the large majority of people who read my blog aren't really that much of a fanatic as I am with Tesla and Elon Musk. So, the above video is something that will give you a look into what is already available in Teslas. I personally took that video a couple of weeks ago while I (or really, the car) was driving to the airport (for a <a href="http://www.felixwong.org/2019/02/2018-year-in-review-part-ii-building-my.html" target="_blank">Turo</a> dropoff).<br />
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Tesla released what they call "Navigate on Autopilot" several months ago. You probably know what Autopilot is. It is essentially a glorified adaptive cruise control. It will follow a lane and also brake according to the car in front of you. If a car swerves into your lane, it will also be able to maneuver out of the way if it was safe to do so. Navigate on Autopilot is a step up from there. You set a destination on the navigation system (and this only works on highways right notw), and the car will know what lanes to take and which exits to take on the route to take you all the way to the destination highway off-ramp. However, Tesla had disabled the auto-lane change; so, the driver must accept the lane change by pressing on the turn signal stalk, that is, until a few weeks ago.<br />
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The user can now disable lane change acknowledgement and allow the car change lanes by itself. The car still requires you to keep your hands on the wheel and will alert you when it's trying to change a lane via a tone and/or vibration on the steering wheel. If you watch the video, for the entire 1:17 of the drive, the car was essentially driving itself. I started taking the video on the on-ramp to the 401. The car then changes lanes 3 times by itself, while avoiding cars that were driving along in the lane that it was trying to get into. I don't think I need to talk much more...just watch the video! If a picture is a thousand words, then a video is a million words!<br />
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On April 22, Tesla will be holding an <a href="https://ir.tesla.com/news-releases/news-release-details/tesla-host-autonomy-investor-day" target="_blank">Autonomy Investor Day</a> to show off the next steps in autonomous driving. Elon Musk has been very vocal about autonomous driving recently and has made a number of statements about how close Tesla is to full self-driving. Below is an interview he did with MIT research scientist, Lex Friedman, on autonomous driving and AI. It's a long video but well worth the time. One thing that he said, which I thought was very interesting was, "I think it will become very quickly, maybe even towards the end of this year, but I would say I'd be shocked if it's not next year, at the latest, that having a human intervene will decrease safety." I look forward to that day!<br />
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<br />Felix Wonghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16180356165291817154noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8309411213090082084.post-75627027739702802042019-04-10T22:28:00.003-04:002019-04-23T21:56:03.298-04:00What Did Jesus Write in the Sand?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Just this past Sunday, we heard the famous gospel passage of John 8:1-11, where the scribes and Pharisees brought to Jesus a woman who was accused of committing adultery, asking Him what they should do with her. Jesus responds by saying, "Let the one among you who is without sin </div>
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be the first to throw a stone at her" (Jn 8:7), to which the crowd responded by leaving, one by one. Jesus then forgave the adulteress and let her go. This is the jist of this Gospel story, but there was always one part that puzzled me. It is the part that talked about how Jesus initially didn't respond to the crowd, but "bent down and began to write on the ground with his finger" (Jn 8:6). The gospel doesn't say what He wrote, which makes it the more intriguing. All these years, I've wondered about it, but didn't do anything about it, until today.</div>
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Thanks goodness for Google, my answer came on the first page of the search results after I had searched for "ancient Israel writing on the ground". I wanted to find some history on what the significance of writing on the ground was. Instead of some history site talking about ancient Jewish customs, I actually found a Christian site explaining this exact passage. The answer was very satisfying. As expected, the Evangelist wrote a well crafted account with much theological significance buried in the text.</div>
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You can find the article here:</div>
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<a href="https://www.preachitteachit.org/articles/detail/what-did-jesus-really-write-in-the-sand">https://www.preachitteachit.org/articles/detail/what-did-jesus-really-write-in-the-sand</a></div>
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I will just briefly summarize what is said there.</div>
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First, in ancient Israel, whenever a couple is caught in adultery (why only the woman was caught in this case is worth pondering), they would be brought to the temple gates, and the priest would write the law that was broken and also the name of the accused. In the gospel story, when they brought the accused woman to the temple, Jesus proceeds to start writing on the ground. Jesus' action seem to indicate that He was the priest in this instance.</div>
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Second, and more importantly, we need to look at Jeremiah 17:13, which is a verse that the High Priest recites at the end of Yom Kippur every year, "O Lord, the hope of Israel, all that forsake thee shall be ashamed, and they that depart from me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the Lord, the fountain of living waters" (Jeremiah 17:13 [KJV translation]). And who would be departing the scene in this instance? You got it...the scribes and Pharisees. From this, we can deduce that Jesus was probably writing down the names of the scribes and the Pharisees. The fact that they left the scene fulfills this prophecy that they have forsaken the Lord.</div>
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Third, if we look at John 7, the chapter just before the start of this gospel reading, it reads, "On the last and greatest day of the feast, Jesus stood up and exclaimed, “Let anyone who thirsts come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as scripture says: ‘Rivers of living water will flow from within him.'" (John 7:37-38). So, St. John preps us for this story of the adulteress by telling us that Jesus is the "fountain of living waters", and if he is the fountain of the living waters, He is then the "Lord". But do know this, the "Lord" in this case is YHWH (Yahweh), which is God Himself. And if the reader knows Jeremiah 17:13, which most ancient Jews would, they would also know that the scribes and the Pharisees are the ones who will "be ashamed and...they that depart from [God] shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the Lord, the fountain of the living waters."</div>
Felix Wonghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16180356165291817154noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8309411213090082084.post-20785884311124652142019-02-09T18:05:00.000-05:002019-02-09T18:05:04.636-05:002018: A Year in Review - Part II: Building My Car Rental Empire<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i>Read Further to See How I Can Afford This Thing!</i></div>
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In my last post, I talked about the family and what we were up to in 2018. Today's post is about money. As most of you will agree, raising a family requires a lot of resources, and money is definitely one of the important ones. So, I'm going to tell you about one of the things I did on the money front.<br />
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<b>Owning a Tesla for Free?</b><br />
Back in late 2017, I read an article on <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/turo-rental-used-to-pay-for-tesla-2017-10" target="_blank">Business Insider</a> about a couple using a car-sharing app called Turo, to pay for their two Teslas. This got me interested as I had reserved a Model 3 back in 2016. At that time, Tesla advertised that it was going to be a $35,000 (USD) car. With the savings in gas on my daily commute of 100 km+, that would not be such a heavy burden. However, as 2017 progressed, it became apparent that the $35,000 car wasn't going to be in sight for quite some time (it's still not here yet). So, having read this article, I have renewed hope that I was somehow going to be able to make it work.<br />
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In January 2018, I decided to buy a used Honda Accord with 2 things in mind. First, my mom's old Toyota Matrix needed to replaced at some point. The Accord could very well be it. I could also use this car as a pilot vehicle to try out Turo and see if I could make some money. That is exactly what I did. At first, I listed it at around $40 to $45/day, but wasn't getting any rentals. After joining a Facebook group of Turo owners, I learned that pricing will need to be tweaked to find the sweet spot. After lowering it to low to mid $30s, I got my first rental. It went ok but was only a 1-day rental. Then, a couple who newly immigrated here from Brazil rented the car for a month straight! I was ecstatic, as that meant I didn't have to do any cleaning, vacuuming, or really anything when the car was away. Since then, my poor mother did not end up driving that Accord much! 🤷<br />
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Soon after, I replaced my aging 12-year old Prius with a 6-year old Lexus CT. Since I didn't really need the car on weekends (we went everywhere in our Odyssey), I would put that car on Turo on the weekends as well. <br />
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And soon after that, Tesla told me that I was then able to place the order for the Model 3. There was really no choice in trim level or options at that point; only the long range battery with RWD and premium package was available. The car with destination fees and taxes would be more than $80,000! Up to that point in time, I had never spent more than $25,000 on a car. That was a great departure from my usual frugal (...more like stingy...) self. Seeing that the Liberal government had a fairly good chance of losing the election, I bit the bullet and ordered the Model 3, in hopes that it would arrive in time for me to take advantage of the $14,000 rebate. In the end, I was able to submit my rebate application before Doug Ford ended it. It still feels somewhat unreal that I now drive such an expensive car!<br />
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Thus far, the Model 3 has been able to pay for its monthly car payments. So, Turo is kind of the real deal. You can say it's the AirBnb for cars. Some of you are wondering how I could even let someone else drive the Tesla without worrying to death...to which I respond that I would rather own a Tesla and let someone else drive it once in a while than not owning one at all.<br />
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<b>Some Details</b><br />
I think some of you may be intrigued at this point and would like to know more. So, I will give you some details. With the Accord and CT, I have been able to net $300-400 per month. This would be after all costs including insurance, depreciation, interests, maintenance, repairs, etc. etc. The daily rate ranges from $28 to $40 (higher in summer months) and utilization is probably around 25 days a month, +/- a couple of days. There are also extras like delivery, cleaning charges, late fees, etc. that boost my revenue. Turo takes 25% of that, but provides full insurance coverage when the car is rented out. So, if a guest crashes the car, it would not hit my personal insurance policy, and there is no deductible for me. I get paid fully on the damages or value of the car if it is totaled. This is also fully legit with my insurance company, The Personal. Turo, in fact, partners with a bunch of insurance companies, including Belair Direct, Intact, Desjardins, etc.<br />
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As with any venture, there is no free lunch. I do have to put in some work. Most of it is cleaning the car after each rental, and occasionally, delivering and picking up from the airport. It is, however, much better than driving Uber, in terms of time investment. I would say I spend about 4 to 8 hours a week managing 4 cars right now.<br />
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Some have asked me if I were spending money paying for cars, why not buy a house and rent it out. Renting out cars and renting out real property are two different business models. Renting out a house is usually a cash flow negative business (i.e. the rent you receive will not be able to pay for all your expenses + mortgage), but you are hoping for the asset to appreciate. That's where you would make your money. Renting out a car has to be a cash flow positive business, because your asset is a depreciating asset. If you're not cash flow positive, then forget about it. As I mentioned at the start, I need money to raise a family (i.e. cash flow), which is why Turo is my kind of business.<br />
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As a host, I can certainly see how Turo is indeed the AirBnb for cars. Like AirBnb, it provides such a good experience for both the host and the guest. Like many people, I've rented cars from Avis, Budget, Enterprise, etc. and the experience pretty much is always sub-par. First, you book a class of the car you want, but never know what car you will actually get. Then, you are greeted by an expressionless customer service rep at the counter. The paperwork usually takes 15 minutes, most of which consists of hard selling extras like insurance, prepaid gas, damage waivers and the like, before you finally get assigned a bland car that excites exactly no one. Contrast that with Turo, there is literally no paperwork required and you can pick the exact car you want. The review system gives you peace of mind that the host you're dealing with will likely provide you an excellent experience. Lastly, Turo hosts will often deliver to curbside at the airport, just like how your friend would pick you up, except they leave you with their beautiful car. When I was in Florida, I used Turo and preferred it over the traditional car rental places.<br />
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<b>Shameless Self-Promotion</b><br />
So, the next time you need to rent a car, take a look at Turo and see if it meets your needs. In fact, let me shamelessly provide you my referral link! <a href="https://turo.com/c/felixw41">https://turo.com/c/felixw41</a> If you sign up using this link and rent a car, both you and I get $25 USD in Turo credit! Also, check out <a href="https://turo.com/drivers/4215475" target="_blank">my fleet</a>; if you have guests coming into town, I'd be glad to help if they needed a car!Felix Wonghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16180356165291817154noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8309411213090082084.post-4167120033938354052019-01-06T22:27:00.000-05:002019-01-12T10:59:28.952-05:002018: A Year in Review - Part I<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i>Hope You Had a Merry Christmas!</i></div>
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It seems like I've settled on writing once every few months, and sometimes in bursts. Life, as a father of five, as you can imagine, is busy, but that's no excuse for not getting things done. As the saying goes, "if you want to get something done, ask a busy person." (It is with great pride to say that people often ask me to do things for them.) Prioritizing and extreme focus are keys to achieving goals in a busy environment. However, I sometimes lack either or both. So, while it has been an eventful year, I wish I had been more successful in doing the two things above.<br />
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This post has been greatly inspired by our friend, Stella, who has been very religious in sending us an annual update of their family during the Christmas season. I love reading them and thought it'd be a good idea to do something of my own here. I hope you will enjoy this long one!<br />
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Let's start with the kids, shall we?<br />
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<b>Amelia Was Born</b><br />
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<i>Merry Christmas Everyone!</i></div>
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Of course, the biggest event of 2018 was the birth of Amelia in January! She has been a wonderfully easy baby. Either that or we've gotten into the groove by now... Or probably both! :) Her older siblings adore her and are so helpful in keeping an occasional eye on her while we cook, clean, etc.<br />
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Amelia is a happy baby. Anytime anyone speaks to her, a glowing smile would appear on her face and she would get so excited. She has been saying "mama" and "baba" for quite some time now. Also being very mobile, she's crawling and cruising everywhere and putting anything that's in her path into her mouth! Yikes!<br />
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<b>Cutie Pie Anne</b><br />
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<i>Look at Those Big Round Eyes! <3</i></div>
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Anne just turned 3 in January and has developed quite a vocabulary. She's pretty much fully bilingual now, but is still a bit more proficient in Cantonese. Our favourite phrase that she would say, when she can't find a book she's looking for, is "Perhaps Daddy donated it (可能爸爸捐咗)." We couldn't stop laughing. She said this because I'm constantly asking the kids to pick out some of the 2000 books they own to donate. It's so cute to hear her speak in very coherent sentences. When we went to take pictures with Santa, Santa asked her, "and what would you like for Christmas?" As she shyly looked at him with her big round eyes, I wondered if she knew what he was asking. To my surprise, she answered with a short and sweet, "Princess!" I chuckled softly at that.<br />
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<b>Audrey the Mischievous Girly Girl</b><br />
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<i>In Front of Cinderella's Castle</i></div>
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Audrey is in SK this year. She's now able to read simple Seussian sentences like, "The hat is on the cat." She started school as a very quiet student but now has warmed up in class. Being the middle child, she's very dramatic at times. She's a girly girl and wants to wear dresses all the time. She's also gotten the artistic genes from mommy and likes to draw. Just last weekend, she received 2nd place in a colouring contest at Chinese Martyrs. I feel like she'll grow up to be the girl that everyone wants to hang out with, because of her fun loving nature.<br />
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<b>Athan the Maturing Young Man</b><br />
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<i>His Tastes are Definitely Grown Up!</i></div>
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Athan has matured quite a bit. When he was 3 and was going to Montessori, the teacher once sent home a letter complaining how he would not listen in class and can't seem to keep his hands to himself. We were very worried and continued to worry about him until his SK year. It has been a gradual but very visible turn for the better. He even got the All Round Performance award in his class last year! This year, he started piano and is enjoying it so far. The most impressive thing is that he's often the first to wake up by himself on a school day, gets dressed and finishes breakfast before mommy is even out of bed (although the motivation is to play video games before leaving for school '-_- ). We're really happy with his progress!<br />
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<b>Adele the Big Sister</b><br />
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<i>Little Young Lady</i></div>
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Without a doubt, Adele is the big sister. She is super responsible and is always helpful. "Adele, can you get your sister buckled?...Adele, can you look after Amelia for a minute?...Adele, can you brush Anne's teeth?" These are often our requests and she would have no problem helping us. We're so thankful for her help.<br />
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This winter, she got interested in Harry Potter and have been reading the set of books. She has now far exceeded our reading speed, plowing through the 800-page novel in a day...how is that even possible?? Many parents want to encourage their kids to read more, but we're faced with the problem of Adele reading too much! She would even walk up the stairs very slowly while reading a novel! I recall when I was still doing my Master of Theological Studies at U of T that I struggled with all of the reading assignments. Each week, we would be assigned hundreds of pages of readings and on top of that, write pages of reflections. I'm sure she will be more like my fellow students, who had no issue with the readings, than me, who struggled to read half of the assigned readings!<br />
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<b>Trip to Orlando</b><br />
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In September, just a week after school started, we took a week off to go to Orlando. Why in the middle of September after school started? Well, earlier I met up with my old boss, Michael, from ATS, and he told me about how he brought his wife and 7 kids (!!) to Orlando the week after school started and it was awesome. If that man can recommend going the week after the start of school, who am I to question his wisdom!?!<br />
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Indeed, we had an awesome time. Since September was still Hurricane season and school had just started, the crowds were so much smaller than at other times. The longest line that we waited in was an hour at Space Mountain. All other lines were under 45 minutes and sometimes, none at all, when using Fast Passes. And in terms of weather - perfect! The days were hot, but surely not as hot as in July and August, and it only rained for about 30 minutes the entire time we were there. We did get a bit anxious seeing Hurricane Florence just miss Florida and made landing in the Carolinas instead. But speaking with locals, they say that Orlando is actually very well situated; most hurricanes land either north or south of the area, which may be why Disney World and other attractions were built here.<br />
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Anyway, we won't go into too much detail about Disney or Universal here...but I did want to talk about how we got there. I had been watching airfares for a better part of the year and was recently made aware of Frontier Airlines, which is a budget airline that flies mainly in the US. There were some fairly good deals throughout the year, but for this trip, I found one that was simply unbeatable. My first choice was to fly out of Buffalo for obvious reasons, but the flights were still not as cheap as I'd like them to be. I then increased my search radius and that gave me 3 more airports to search from: Detroit, Cleveland, and Pittsburgh, all of which were about 4-6 hours drive away. Then I found it, the impossible fare! I found a direct flight from Pittsburgh to Orlando for $40 USD round trip! With luggage, we ended up paying $350 USD for the entire family - 7 human beings! To top that off, my travel credit card gave me a rebate of $100 CAD for luggage fees. In the end, we paid about $60 CAD per person. So, go ahead and visit <a href="https://www.flyfrontier.com/" target="_blank">Frontier Airlines</a> and send me a cheque for all the money you're going to save!<br />
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Lastly, here's a super funny video of "Meet the Raptor" attraction at Islands of Adventure. It was so well done!<br />
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<i>Meet the Raptor at Universal's Islands of Adventure</i></div>
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<i>Surf's Up!</i></div>
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<i>Battling Darth Vader at Hollywood Studios</i></div>
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<i>Seuss Landing at Islands of Adventure</i></div>
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<i>Fireworks Were Worth Staying Late For!</i></div>
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<i>My Favourite Attraction: Meeting Princesses!</i></div>
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<i>Swimming at Resort</i></div>
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<i>In Pittsburgh Just Before Flying Out</i></div>
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<b>Stay Tuned!</b><br />
There's much more to 2018! Stay tuned!Felix Wonghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16180356165291817154noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8309411213090082084.post-11942128772834123522018-06-16T11:50:00.002-04:002018-06-16T11:50:41.638-04:00Thank YOU!! Keep It Coming! It's Our Last Day!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.canadahelps.org/en/charities/lumen-veritatis-academy/p2p/Help-Wong-Win/">
<img border="0" data-original-height="559" data-original-width="959" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTFGX4g-vM8AQWSysHxA5sJqCOtvjgtMMh6KWEUVYmsDRnpSYcjN3PlPMiWJ4tuk2o1lIxp_HMEk07SZJAKLrmUJNs1KkcV-v1iGBvNaLGEMJ4VO9Ao41parzCyBKbql_jlXgpvljSD5fM/s1600/lumen.png" /></a></div>
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Thanks to all you generous folks, you know who you are, we have raised $1980! Today is our last day to raise funds for the school! It does take a village to raise a child...and in our case, 5 children! So, it takes a Metropolis to raise ours! We're grateful for your generosity!<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Click <a href="https://www.canadahelps.org/en/charities/lumen-veritatis-academy/p2p/Help-Wong-Win/" target="_blank">here </a>to sponsor us!</span>Felix Wonghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16180356165291817154noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8309411213090082084.post-63857280554510780642018-06-04T23:18:00.004-04:002019-01-06T21:23:40.599-05:00Why I Run (and Why You Should Give Us Some Money)!<br />
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<i>Results of Last Year's Half Marathon </i></div>
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Last year, I ran my first half marathon. Relatively speaking, I was pretty slow, but I finished and didn't walk! My goal for last year was to run a sub 2-hr half marathon, but I clocked in at 2:22 in the Scotiabank Toronto Marathon. It was a challenging year for me last year as work had, and continues to, take over a good chunk of my time. Including the drive, I'm easily clocking 12 to 13 hours a day. Not complaining, but just putting some context (or making up an excuse) around this narrative...but this is not what we're talking about today.<br />
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<b>Exercise and Me</b><br />
What I want to talk about is the reason for me to run. I have never been a runner. The last organized race before the half marathon that I participated in was when I ran a 2 km cross country race in Grade 5! I wouldn't say I wasn't an active person, however. As a kid, I rode my bike everywhere, 365 days a year. I had mastered the art of jumping off a bike and landing safely when I slipped on black ice. It wasn't that I loved riding bicycles, but rather, it was out of necessity. I had a paper route and as part of that job, I had to go to my customers to collect the paper money. Riding a bike was way better than walking.<br />
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Growing up, I had trained in Karate for about 10 years, and so, was in relatively good shape. Then university happened and things just kind of went downhill there. I never really got fat, but was just not in great shape. Two years ago, I attended a conference in San Francisco with Meredith, one of my staff, and on our last day there, we had a morning to sight see before our flight back. She suggested that we rent a bike to see the Golden Gate Bridge and other parts of the city. I wasn't thrilled about the idea especially when SF is a very hilly city. It turned out to be a <b>very</b> difficult bike ride because it was either very hilly or very windy by the sea. Meredith did just fine, but I was dying trying to catch up to her.<br />
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<b>My Father-in-Law Johnson</b><br />
When I first started dating Renee, I learned that her father, Johnson, runs the half marathon each year. At that time, he was in his 50s and I was so impressed. Eventually, his knee (like mine) would complain and he gave it up for less impactful activity. I've never told him this, but a big part of what made me want to run a half marathon was seeing him do it year after year! Great job, Dad!<br />
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<b>So Why Did I Start Running?</b><br />
As a lot of you were so generous in past years, you know that at least part of the reason for me to run is to raise funds for my kids' school. I figured that to get you to part with your money, I had to give you a pretty good reason to do it. Subjecting myself to unnecessary pain would probably not be a bad idea. The year before last, I <a href="http://www.felixwong.org/2016/06/i-look-like-monk.html" target="_blank">shaved my head</a> to achieve that goal. This coming Saturday, June 9, we will be doing a 5 km walk with the school while praying 5 x 5 decades of rosary. I don't know, but I think the latter might actually be more difficult for the kids (and perhaps adults)! I will also be doing a half marathon this fall, aiming to do it under 2 hours as I mentioned above.<br />
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There is, however, a deeper reason to my running. It has to do with conditioning myself mentally. For what? I don't quite know. I do know that pretty much half my life is now in the past, and while I've accomplished some things in life (marrying a wonderful woman and having 5 beautiful kids), I feel a calling to do more. It's that primordial human desire to achieve more.<br />
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Over the years, I've come to understand better how to discern God's calling. There are literally an infinite number of ways that one can live out one's life, but there are only a few, or maybe just one way that God is calling you to live. How does God do that? I don't think it comes from a booming voice from heaven, nor through visions like those experienced by St. Teresa of Avila. Rather, it often comes as a deep and recurring desire and feeling that one has. I was originally going to spend some time talking about my experience discerning the will of God, but that turned out to be a rather long-winded post. I will leave that for my next post! What I want to say is that there is a deep desire within myself to make a greater impact to those around me.<br />
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I also recall one of my favourite verses from the Parable of the Talents: "Well done, my good and faithful servant. Since you were faithful in small matters, I will give you great responsibilities. Come, share your master’s joy" (Matthew 25:23). In the same way, running for me is the "small matter". There's nothing complicated about running, if you put in the time and effort to train, you will get faster and run farther. It is as simple as that. While simple, it is not easy. However, if I cannot achieve even a simple task as setting aside time to train for a half marathon, how will I be able to achieve greater things?<br />
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So running is the beginning. If I can't make a simple physical sacrifice, how can I make greater sacrifices for my family? If I can't bear physical discomfort, how can I be prepared for greater trials? Therefore, conquering the 21.1 km is the first milestone of the second half of my life journey. Hope you can be part of it!<br />
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<b>Thank You for Your Generosity!</b><br />
And so, I'd like to thank those who have helped in the past for your generosity. You are "stor(ing) treasures in heaven!" (Matthew 6:20). I humbly ask for your help again!<br />
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Perhaps you have other reasons to contribute to our campaign...Perhaps you're also a parent and you know the lengths you would go to make your kids' lives better. Well, that's me doing that right now! :)<br />
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And perhaps you've enjoyed reading my blog posts. My more popular posts have gotten upwards of 700 pageviews! I'm grateful for your readership!<br />
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<i>Our Family Thanks You from the Bottom of Our Hearts!</i></div>
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<b>Wait! The Government is Matching Your Donation!</b><br />
Ok, so no, they're not matching your donations, but you can think of it this way: when you donate, say, $100. You will get a tax receipt. When tax time comes around, that tax receipt can get you close to 40% of your donation in tax credits. So, in effect, when you donate $100, it's like donating $60, with the government "matching" it with $40 of their money! Free money, who doesn't want that!!<br />
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So, please help us walk 5 km with 5 kids, saying 5 decades of rosary 5 times! Our fundraising goal is $3000.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Click <a href="https://www.canadahelps.org/en/charities/lumen-veritatis-academy/p2p/Help-Wong-Win/" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">here</a> to sponsor us!<b> </b></span><br />
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Again, thank you so much for your generosity! God bless!Felix Wonghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16180356165291817154noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8309411213090082084.post-25726899633310766132018-04-11T22:55:00.000-04:002018-04-11T22:55:35.721-04:00Goodbye, Prius: Prius Total Cost of Ownership Comparison<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCed3R3YOusciqVVyQOoM8PjSQo5FE184ZCq7Hrpqg7b_9AwyLsyn4Ep_imxokzORTGOy2frD4N7_4CSjMgEHyM4lWMKtsxsYJFpwVLwLAPdWKjOgjCTRJYz3iek_p4ySXl0OxjEbVxEhq/s1600/20180323_191921-01.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCed3R3YOusciqVVyQOoM8PjSQo5FE184ZCq7Hrpqg7b_9AwyLsyn4Ep_imxokzORTGOy2frD4N7_4CSjMgEHyM4lWMKtsxsYJFpwVLwLAPdWKjOgjCTRJYz3iek_p4ySXl0OxjEbVxEhq/s640/20180323_191921-01.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<i>Goodbye, Prius!</i></div>
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It's been a good run! As you may have remembered, my 2006 Prius recently crossed the 1/3rd millionth kilometre. I decided that I will let another lucky guy enjoy its great fuel economy and awesome reliability. The real reason for selling it was that I felt the car was about to require some major repair. For example, the engine has been burning oil and the ride has become very harsh. If anything broke, I wasn't going to sink anymore money into it. If it were to break down, it'd probably go directly to the junkyard, and I'd get maybe $500 if not less for it. So, I thought I'd try my luck selling it and see if I can get a decent sum for it, especially since it has a newish (2.5 year) hybrid battery.<br />
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So, last month, I finally cleaned the car after something like 5 years! See the pics below. I thought I did a fairly decent job! Finally, after some hours of negotiation with a potential buyer, I was able to strike a deal for $1900. Initially, I was hoping for $2000,but after the deal was done, I reflected on it and realized that I got a pretty darn good deal.... $1900 for a 12-year old car with 345K km on it!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8Pu59-IX1OI0vDZMl-868UZPpK7N6rgNo90_gl2WAc5dbLsa9k8W6lsfRAtuT50A_yX3GLRB6Wt4nNDUW6Gq6mv70vOd2vfysAfa5kNwWE2C-5QJleIxOUSusScmCqJWov5qUUrUjV2Vw/s1600/20180323_191741-01.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8Pu59-IX1OI0vDZMl-868UZPpK7N6rgNo90_gl2WAc5dbLsa9k8W6lsfRAtuT50A_yX3GLRB6Wt4nNDUW6Gq6mv70vOd2vfysAfa5kNwWE2C-5QJleIxOUSusScmCqJWov5qUUrUjV2Vw/s400/20180323_191741-01.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div>
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I know there are some who are still skeptical about the economics of hybrids, nevermind EVs. So, here, I will compare the total cost of ownership between my 2006 Prius and a hypothetical 2006 Matrix, bought in 2010 and sold in 2018.<br />
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The calculations as as below and are fairly straightforward. Let me explain a few things.<br />
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<ol>
<li>When I bought the car back in 2010, Ontario had a PST rebate for hybrid cars and at that time, when you bought a used car through a private sale, you only had to pay the PST, and not the GST. With my purchase, I got the 8% PST back in the form of a rebate.</li>
<li>Maintenance, repair, and parts costs racked up to $9780, with almost half of it being a rebuild of the hybrid battery at $1130 and then a replacement of the battery at $3400. In hindsight, I should have just replaced the battery the first time it failed...could have saved $1130.</li>
<li>I assumed the maintenance and repair costs of the Matrix to be the same as my Prius minus the hybrid battery repairs.</li>
<li>As you can see, gas savings for my kind of driving came in at around $7900 over the 8 years I had the car. This is no small feat! I saved the environment 15130 kg of carbon dioxide in the process. Fuel savings, $7900...clear conscience, priceless! :)</li>
</ol>
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In the end, the total savings weren't astronomical. I saved around $2323. If I had not had the battery rebuilt, the savings would have been $3453. That would have been a 7% savings in the total cost of ownership. Not great, but still better than $0 savings! And again, helping the environment is a definite benefit, that has not been factored into this purely monetary analysis.<br />
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I'm sure if the comparison was done against a Yaris, the Prius would probably have been more expensive to own/operate, but that would not be an apples-to-oranges comparison.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" dir="ltr" style="font-family: arial,sans,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; table-layout: fixed; width: 0px;" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><colgroup><col width="163"></col><col width="100"></col><col width="100"></col></colgroup><tbody>
<tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"TCO Comparison"}" style="font-weight: bold; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">TCO Comparison</td><td style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;"></td><td style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;"></td></tr>
<tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Compare Total Cost of Ownership Between Prius and Matrix"}" style="border-right: 1px solid transparent; overflow: visible; padding: 2px 0px 2px 0px; vertical-align: bottom;"><div style="left: 3px; overflow: hidden; position: relative; white-space: nowrap; width: 360px;">
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Compare Total Cost of Ownership Between Prius and Matrix</div>
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</td><td style="border-right: 1px solid transparent; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;"></td><td style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;"></td></tr>
<tr style="height: 21px;"><td style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;"></td><td style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;"></td><td style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;"></td></tr>
<tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Parameters"}" style="font-weight: bold; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Parameters</td><td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;"></td><td style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;"></td></tr>
<tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Distance driven (km)"}" style="border-right: 1px solid #000000; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 0px 2px 0px; vertical-align: bottom;">Distance driven (km)</td><td data-sheets-formula="=345000-92000" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":253000}" style="background-color: #fff2cc; border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">253000</td><td style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;"></td></tr>
<tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Years owned"}" style="border-right: 1px solid #000000; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 0px 2px 0px; vertical-align: bottom;">Years owned</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":8}" style="background-color: #fff2cc; border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">8</td><td style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;"></td></tr>
<tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Average gas price per L"}" style="border-right: 1px solid #000000; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 0px 2px 0px; vertical-align: bottom;">Average gas price per L</td><td data-sheets-numberformat="{"1":4,"2":"\"$\"#,##0.00","3":1}" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":1.2}" style="background-color: #fff2cc; border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">$1.20</td><td style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;"></td></tr>
<tr style="height: 21px;"><td style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;"></td><td style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;"></td><td style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;"></td></tr>
<tr style="height: 21px;"><td style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;"></td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"2006 Prius"}" style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 0px 2px 0px; vertical-align: bottom;">2006 Prius</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"2006 Matrix"}" style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 0px 2px 0px; vertical-align: bottom;">2006 Matrix</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Purchase Price"}" style="border-right: 1px solid #000000; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 0px 2px 0px; vertical-align: bottom;">Purchase Price</td><td data-sheets-numberformat="[null,4,"\"$\"#,##0.00"]" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":14650}" style="background-color: #fff2cc; border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">$14,650.00</td><td data-sheets-numberformat="[null,4,"\"$\"#,##0.00"]" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":12000}" style="background-color: #fff2cc; border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">$12,000.00</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Taxes (PST)"}" style="border-right: 1px solid #000000; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 0px 2px 0px; vertical-align: bottom;">Taxes (PST)</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":0}" style="background-color: #fff2cc; border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">0</td><td data-sheets-formula="=R[-1]C[0]*0.08" data-sheets-numberformat="[null,4,"\"$\"#,##0.00"]" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":960}" style="background-color: #fff2cc; border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">$960.00</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Insurance cost per year"}" style="border-right: 1px solid #000000; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 0px 2px 0px; vertical-align: bottom;">Insurance cost per year</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":1200}" style="background-color: #fff2cc; border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">1200</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":1200}" style="background-color: #fff2cc; border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">1200</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Fuel economy (L/100 km)"}" style="border-right: 1px solid #000000; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 0px 2px 0px; vertical-align: bottom;">Fuel economy (L/100 km)</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":5.5}" style="background-color: #fff2cc; border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">5.5</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":8.1}" style="background-color: #fff2cc; border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">8.1</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Selling Price"}" style="border-right: 1px solid #000000; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 0px 2px 0px; vertical-align: bottom;">Selling Price</td><td data-sheets-numberformat="{"1":4,"2":"\"$\"#,##0","3":1}" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":1900}" style="background-color: #fff2cc; border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">$1,900</td><td data-sheets-numberformat="{"1":4,"2":"\"$\"#,##0","3":1}" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":1250}" style="background-color: #fff2cc; border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">$1,250</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Total Maintenance/Repair/Parts"}" style="border-right: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom; word-wrap: break-word;">Total Maintenance/Repair/Parts</td><td data-sheets-numberformat="[null,4,"\"$\"#,##0.00"]" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":9780}" style="background-color: #fff2cc; border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">$9,780.00</td><td data-sheets-formula="=R[0]C[-1]-3400-1130" data-sheets-numberformat="[null,4,"\"$\"#,##0.00"]" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":5250}" style="background-color: #fff2cc; border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-right: 1px solid #000000; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">$5,250.00</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 21px;"><td style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;"></td><td style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;"></td><td style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;"></td></tr>
<tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Car Cost"}" style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 0px 2px 0px; vertical-align: bottom;">Car Cost</td><td data-sheets-formula="=R[-7]C[0]+R[-6]C[0]-R[-3]C[0]" data-sheets-numberformat="[null,4,"\"$\"#,##0.00"]" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":12750}" style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">$12,750.00</td><td data-sheets-formula="=R[-7]C[0]+R[-6]C[0]-R[-3]C[0]" data-sheets-numberformat="[null,4,"\"$\"#,##0.00"]" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":11710}" style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">$11,710.00</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Insurance Cost"}" style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 0px 2px 0px; vertical-align: bottom;">Insurance Cost</td><td data-sheets-formula="=R[-6]C[0]*R6C2" data-sheets-numberformat="[null,4,"\"$\"#,##0.00"]" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":9600}" style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">$9,600.00</td><td data-sheets-formula="=R[-6]C[0]*R6C2" data-sheets-numberformat="[null,4,"\"$\"#,##0.00"]" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":9600}" style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">$9,600.00</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Gas Cost"}" style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 0px 2px 0px; vertical-align: bottom;">Gas Cost</td><td data-sheets-formula="=R5C2/100*R[-6]C[0]*R7C2" data-sheets-numberformat="[null,4,"\"$\"#,##0.00"]" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":16698}" style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">$16,698.00</td><td data-sheets-formula="=R5C2/100*R[-6]C[0]*R7C2" data-sheets-numberformat="[null,4,"\"$\"#,##0.00"]" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":24591.6}" style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">$24,591.60</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Maintenance/Repair/Parts Cost"}" style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom; word-wrap: break-word;">Maintenance/Repair/Parts Cost</td><td data-sheets-formula="=R[-5]C[0]" data-sheets-numberformat="[null,4,"\"$\"#,##0.00"]" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":9780}" style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">$9,780.00</td><td data-sheets-formula="=R[-5]C[0]" data-sheets-numberformat="[null,4,"\"$\"#,##0.00"]" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":5250}" style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">$5,250.00</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Total Cost of Ownership"}" style="font-weight: bold; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Total Cost of Ownership</td><td data-sheets-formula="=sum(R[-4]C[0]:R[-1]C[0])" data-sheets-numberformat="[null,4,"\"$\"#,##0.00"]" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":48828}" style="font-weight: bold; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">$48,828.00</td><td data-sheets-formula="=sum(R[-4]C[0]:R[-1]C[0])" data-sheets-numberformat="[null,4,"\"$\"#,##0.00"]" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":51151.6}" style="font-weight: bold; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">$51,151.60</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 21px;"><td style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;"></td><td style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;"></td><td style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;"></td></tr>
<tr style="height: 21px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Difference"}" style="font-weight: bold; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Difference</td><td data-sheets-formula="=R[-2]C[1]-R[-2]C[0]" data-sheets-numberformat="[null,4,"\"$\"#,##0.00"]" data-sheets-value="{"1":3,"3":2323.5999999999985}" style="font-weight: bold; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;">$2,323.60</td><td style="overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 3px 2px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;"></td></tr>
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<b>Goodbye, Prius...Welcome CT!</b></div>
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You might be wondering what I'm driving now...here she is! 2012 Lexus CT200h. It's pretty much a Prius with a Lexus flavour. Bought it for $11700 + tax...it's definitely not a new car with 145K km on it, but it's in decent condition. After owning it for a few weeks, it's really growing on me. The interior is 5 times better than the Prius, and it's just a cooler car. Only down side is it's a smaller car, but since it's my commuter, I'm usually not subjecting anyone to the smaller interior. It's still a very comfortable car, just not as roomy and practical as the Prius.</div>
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The previous owner was a smoker...so it still has some smoke smell. Airing it under the sun for a few hours has definitely helped, but the smell still lingers. Any suggestions?</div>
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Felix Wonghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16180356165291817154noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8309411213090082084.post-462306053643320362018-02-13T22:35:00.000-05:002018-04-10T23:04:41.365-04:001/3 Million Kilometers!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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We made it! 1/3 million kilometers! This is my beloved 2006 Toyota Prius. I bought it in 2010 when it was 4 years old with 90,000 km on it. Since then, I've put more than 240,0000 km on it. Many people wonder if it costs more to maintain a hybrid, and the simple answer is yes. However, let me get into the details.<br />
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In the almost 8 years that I've had the car, there were a total of 4 repairs that I had to make. First, the front wheel bearings had to be replaced at 163,000 km. Then, the hybrid battery started failing at 232,0000 km, and I opted to have it rebuilt for $1000. This was a mistake, because after a bit more than a year, it started failing again. This time, I decided to have it replaced for $3000. Around the same time, the front bearings went again. So, in total, I spent around $5200 + tax in repairs. Then, there were other regular maintenance stuff like brakes, 12V battery, etc. So, the real difference between a non-hybrid car and my Prius would be the battery repairs of $4000. If I had been smarter about replacing the battery, my hybrid repairs would have costed only $3000 (the battery is still going strong now).<br />
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That's the cost side. Now, to the savings. I had a Matrix before I bought the Prius. So, if I had kept that car, let's see what the savings would be like. On the Matrix, I believe I averaged about 8.5 L/100 km. On the Prius, I averaged about 5.2 L/100 km. So, after 240,000 km, assuming the average gas price is $1.20/L, I've saved a total of $9504. This is compared to ~$4520 in hybrid related repairs. The net is $4984 savings, plus whatever environmental benefits by burning 7920 L less gasoline or producing roughly 42000 lbs less CO2! I'd say that's pretty good!<br />
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However, the cost of a hybrid is more than a similar non-hybrid car. Luckily, I bought the car used and it cost me < $15000 (no tax paid due to a government rebate at the time). I believe a Matrix of the same age would have cost around $12500 but I would have had to pay taxes on it, which would bring it to within $1000 of the cost of the Prius. So, in the end, I've come out on top both financially and ethically! I think this was a pretty good decision.<br />
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So, the natural next step for me would be to go full electric. As some of you know, I have a reservation for a Tesla Model 3. Tesla recently updated the delivery timeline and they are now forecasting mid-2018 for delivery. It's been just some idea for the past 1.5 years but now it's becoming very real. It's a bit surreal, in fact. It will be the first new car that I will have bought (because I hate the depreciation of cars in their first 3 years). However, the $14000 Ontario rebate is pretty darn good to pass up. The fact that it happens to be quicker than a Ferrari Testarossa in 0-60 mph time is also pretty awesome! Lastly, as well, I just want to <a href="http://www.felixwong.org/2016/10/sleeping-at-wheel.html">fall asleep at the wheel</a>! ;)Felix Wonghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16180356165291817154noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8309411213090082084.post-46277005082406089272018-01-24T12:11:00.000-05:002018-01-26T09:37:33.171-05:00Wait!!: A Chronicle of Amelia's Birth<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Good morning! It is 10:15 am on January 24, 2018, exactly 22 hours after Amelia was born. Both Renee and Amelia are sleeping right now (this is usually when I write these posts). We are actually all well rested. If there was one word that would describe this delivery, "smooth" would be the word! We hope this continues to carry forward to the next few months, but now having said this, I've probably jinxed it! Lol!</div>
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<b>Anxious Over a Blessing</b></div>
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Many of you know that we use the Natural Family Planning (NFP) method as a natural means of contraception. It is the only way that is morally acceptable in the eyes of the Catholic Church. I wouldn't actually call it contraception, because it's really not. The way it works is entirely through abstinence (i.e. not having sex) during the days when the woman is fertile. So, it's not like you're having sex and the method prevents fertilization of the egg.</div>
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NFP is highly scientific based and claims high success rate (95%+, similar to using a condom). Basically, we have to monitor the vaginal secretions to determine when Renee is fertile and abstain on those days. It's actually quite simple. However, it turns out that we're not very good at it! Lol! With Adele, we successfully delayed pregnancy. We got married in August 2006 and then only started trying to conceive in mid 2008. So, it worked quite well for about 2 years. However, I think it's always difficult for parents to have their first, and subsequent children seem to be easier, but that observation is entirely anecdotal.</div>
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Fast forward to the conception of Anne. Her conception was, well, unplanned. I don't think it was due to the failure of NFP, but rather on our part to adhere strictly to the method. I'll be the first to admit that NFP is not easy. Just like fasting during Lent, one needs to exercise self control and discipline. Looks like we lack either or both! Lol!</div>
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With the conception of Amelia, it was also unplanned. This time, we thought we had followed the rules, but perhaps we did not make our observations well enough to determine whether Renee was actually fertile or not. So, for us, NFP has not worked well in the practical sense. And reflecting on it, I can certainly understand. Since both Renee and I are easy-going, carefree people, I can see how a method requiring discipline would not work well for us! 😅</div>
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So, when we found out that we were pregnant with Amelia, we were obviously very anxious. Questions like, can we handle five?, can we <i>afford</i> having five?, how will we make it work?, etc., started surfacing up. We were also worried about putting too much stress on my mom, who is super-grandma and helps us in so many ways. It was never a question about whether we <i>wanted</i> more children. We love them to death; it was more about <i>our ability</i> to support them. It is again, at this time, that I needed to read and re-read Matthew 6:26, "Look at the birds in the sky; they do not sow or reap, they gather nothing into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are not you more important than they?"</div>
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Over the course of the entire history of humanity, a new life has always been seen as a blessing. It is only in the last century that children have become a burden, rather than a blessing. Actually, I want to be a bit more precise in my wording. I believe it is actually the <i>thought</i> of a new life that is a burden to families. Eight months ago, both Renee and I were so anxious after having found out that we were expecting. Now, all we can feel when we look at Amelia is joy and gratefulness.</div>
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Go ahead and ask any parent out there who have children who were unplanned this question: do you wish that you had never given birth to your unplanned child? I'm willing to make a serious bet that you would not find one parent who would answer with a "yes". Sure, it's not easy raising a kid. Sure, you would have to make countless sacrifices. But to me, bringing any one of my children into this world was truly my greatest achievement in life. Raising them up to be good, kind, and responsible adults will be my second greatest achievement. Would you be surprised if you heard further good news from us?! 😉</div>
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<b>Back to the Story...</b></div>
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Amelia's due date was January 24th. Both Renee and I are natural procrastinators. We had largely gotten ready with one exception: Amelia's crib is a large storage bin currently. That's a small thing, but at least, we were somewhat successful in clearing some of the stuff that have accumulated in our room over the past 2 years.</div>
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On Monday, the kids had a PD day. I was planning to work half day and then take them skiing in the afternoon. However, once I was in the office, meetings became more meetings and I didn't end up leaving until 3:30, which was essentially a full day after having started at 7:15 in the morning. Anyhow, Monday was a very, very foggy/misty day. Visibility was about 5 meters in Milton when we went skiing. Coincidentally, we were planning on naming Amelia 曉嵐, or literally "dawn mist". When we left for the hospital at 7 am, it was very misty as well. So, I think God is telling us that He likes the name as well.</div>
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Interestingly enough, when Adele was born, we wanted to name her 曉月, or "dawn moon". The morning we left for the hospital, the sky was very clear and we saw a setting full moon. I think God likes that name as well! 😄</div>
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<b>No Walking Required</b></div>
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Renee's contractions started intermittently at 8 pm on January 22, which became more consistent at around 3 am. By the time it was 6 am, they were occurring about every 7 minutes, with some shorter and some longer. When Anne was born, we almost got turned back home because Renee was only 2 cm dilated. So, we took our time this time.</div>
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Once we got to the hospital, we walked up to the birthing unit. Before getting to the desk to sign in and get admitted, Renee had a contraction in the hospital hallway. A nurse asked how she was doing and what baby number this was. When we said five, the two nurses freaked out and asked us to go into the delivery room just beside where we were standing. I asked whether we needed to get signed in first and she said, typically yes, but since it looked like she could pop any moment, we would go into the delivery room first. When the nurse examined Renee, she was already 7 cm dilated!</div>
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The nurse who ended up helping us was Louise. She was a middle aged lady who was very assertive and just funny overall. When she learned that Renee was tested positive for GBS (Group B Strep infection), she got very anxious. Since antibiotics needed to be administered at least 4 hours prior to birth, she was afraid that it wouldn't be enough time. If there was not enough time, Amelia would need to have bloodwork done and potentially stay longer for monitoring. Louise was determined to delay the birth as much as possible. So, she ended up not examining Renee at all, as to not inadvertently break the water. Getting to 12:30 pm would get us to 4 hours.</div>
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This ended being a relatively easy labour (sorry, I know that's an oxymoron). Renee was instructed essentially to lie in bed and just try to delay the birth. Once she was in bed, the contraction slowed down and averaged around once every 10 minutes. The strength was also quite bearable.</div>
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At about 11:45 am, Renee's water broke by itself. After that, the contractions started getting significantly stronger. It was apparent that the birth was imminent. When it was around 12:10 pm, Louise was fairly sure that Renee would deliver soon. She said that it was ok to give the 2nd dose of antibiotics 15 minutes early. She got that all set up rather quickly and administered the dose. About 1 minute later, Renee felt a lot of pressure and Louise got to work, asking her to push. At that time, the OB, Dr. Liao, was in the operating room doing a C-section and was not available to deliver. A resident doctor, Dr. Maude was just on her way in. There was also a medical student who was helping out, but it was Louise who delivered the baby...and with one hand, because she didn't even have time to put on both gloves. Louise was our hero! Even with the resident and medical student there, Louise was commanding the room! It was quite a sight!<br />
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It was quite a smooth delivery. Renee only needed to push once and there was no tear. Amelia was born at 12:15 pm and weighed 6 lb 2 oz at birth. She was about 100 g shy of the passing mark for weight, and like all of our previous kids, she has to stay in the hospital for 36 hours for monitoring of blood sugar levels. This means we'll be going home Thursday morning.<br />
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<b>So Far So Good</b></div>
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The first night went very well. Amelia has been a good eater and sleeper. She latched on well immediately after birth and has been eating well. Also, she has been sleeping quite well. I actually feel well rested after last night. Her blood sugar levels have been consistently well above the threshold. We're really hoping this continues!</div>
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If you wonder why we had chosen the name Amelia, <a href="https://stamelia.com/who-is-saint-amelia/" target="_blank">here</a> is one of the stories of St. Amelia. We think that's a pretty awesome story! The name also means "industriousness" or "defender". Donna was Renee's late aunt's name and we named Amelia in memory of her. In my limited time with Aunt Donna, she was always so caring and generous. I distinctly remembering her taking us to a restaurant (大平館) in Hong Kong, which was famous for their invention of their "Swiss Chicken Wings" We pray to the Lord that Amelia will grow up bearing the traits of her patron saint and great Aunt!</div>
Felix Wonghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16180356165291817154noreply@blogger.com2100 Queensway W, Mississauga, ON L5B 1B8, Canada43.5713426 -79.60835550000001618.0493081 -120.91694950000002 69.0933771 -38.299761500000017