Bellevue, WA

It has been 2 weeks since I’d moved up to Bellevue, WA for work reassignment. I have four more weeks left. My hope is that my time here goes slow because I am enjoying myself so much. The time up here has gotten me to contemplate several things. First, spending too much time in one place, namely Portland, can stunt your growth. I’ve gotten a chance to explore Seattle beyond the borders of downtown and there is so much the metro area has to offer. The exploring has put me on my tip toes. Secondly, I’ve been able to reach out to old friends who are living in Seattle. It feels so good to be with them again. Conversations and good times seem to come easy when it comes to old friends. Next, the work I am doing is very interesting. I am learning a lot of about electrical engineering. If this profession wasn’t as shaky as it is now due to the economy, it wouldn’t be a bad way to make a living. Very respectable. My time in Bellevue will go a long way in helping me earn my PE license on the first try this Fall.

Human Rights Organization

 

Last night, Nikki and I attended a Human Rights fundraising dinner coordinated by the Vietnamese Human Rights Organization of Oregon.  Nikki was invited as an honored guest.  The VHRO is a non-profit organization and it’s legitimate purpose is to support:

• Army Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) disabled veterans and their families
• People whose properties were extorted by the Communist gangs in Vietnam (VN)
• Human rights activists, religious leaders who have been jailed by the Communist regime in VN
• Children and women who have been sold for sex slavery abroad and victims of sexual attack and exploitation.

Tonight however, the fundraising event would focus on ARVN disabled veterans and their families, both living in VN.  Imagine if you were a member of the losing army from the VN war.  Imagine if you were injured to the point of life long disability.  Since the conclusion of that war in 1975, the veterans of ARVN living in VN have been victims of deliberate acts of human rights abuse.  The soldiers and their families have been tortured, raped, and denied any chance to heal and live in peace. 

The fundraiser last night was aimed to raise awareness and also to raise a significant monetary contribution to the victims.  I’m not sure how the money will find it’s way into the hands of the suffering but I do know the chairman of the Oregon VHRO, Vu Khoa, is a very passionate man with great ambitions.

The most memorable story I heard last night was from a renowned Vietnamese novelist who spoke about his escape from VN 32 years ago.  It was there that he left his parents and relatives to find a better way of living in America.  While he has certainly found a channel to freely express his ideas and feelings, there hasn’t been a day that goes by where he wishes he could share his success with his father in person.  He had vowed 32 years ago to never set foot in VN again until it abolishes communism altogether.  The tragic news of his father’s death 3 days ago still did not make him want to go home yet he loved his father dearly.  He said his father would have understood his absence. 

 The story reemphasized how horrible it must have been to live in VN after the war.  My dad told me of a story when he was on a date with my mom post 1975.  Government officials had grabbed him on the street and forced him on his knees as they cut his long hair and have my mom watch.  Long hair was not allowed because it’s an expression of rebellion.  In another story, my dad was jailed for playing the guitar in his own house.  The song that he was playing was on the Government’s list of banned music because it spoke of philosophies different from the Communist Government. 

It is these fundraisers and organized events that help make younger people like myself become more aware of such atrocities happening in the world.  I will vow to contribute in some significant way during my lifetime to promote human rights awareness and rid the world of human rights violations one case at a time.  That is the promise I came away with after last night.

For those of you who are interested in reading more, here is a short post to help you become better informed: http://www.vietnamhumanrights.net/Forum/Benge_061707.htm

Denver-Bound?

On Nov 6-8th, I went to Denver for an interview for a higher position at my current company, Mentor Graphics.  I’d never been on a two day interview before but it was tiring!  Over the two days, I met with 8 different people for 1-on-1′s and was given a tour of Boulder, Co. 

This is my second time in Colorado and I’ve always liked the atmosphere.  A few of my friends here had said Denver lacked culture.  I am very into culture but what Denver lacked in culture, it made it up in the numerous outdoor activities the area had to offer.  That is a big plus in my book. 

 The interview went very well.  By the second day, the team had indicated that I was the one they wanted and an offer will be drafted up with a relocation package.  This position title is a Technical Marketing Engineer (TME).  Mentor Graphics is an Oregon-based software company that makes computer aided design (CAD) tools for engineers to do their job faster and better.  For every product that Mentor has, there is one TME assigned to it.  A TME is a liaison between the customers and the software engineering team.  In many cases, loyal users of Mentor’s products provide valuable feedback with regards to the long-term direction of the product(s).  A TME champions his/her product and works with people around the world in order to evolve his/her product into something more. 

In this particular TME role, I would be expected to work with the engineering teams in Newbury, England and Katowice, Poland.  The interesting part is that I would be expected to go there and train for weeks at a time.  The bad thing is it would end up being 9 months of travelling in the first year.  That is a major obligation especially if you have family and responsibilities at home.

 My family and Nikki were very supportive of me going to Denver and I was excited at the prospect, too.  In the days leading to the official offer, I’d gotten in touch with an old college buddy who is living in Fort Collins.  It’s very comforting to have at least one person you know around you when you branch out into the unknown. 

Nikki was not going to move with me.  She has a great job in town already and I couldn’t possibly ask her to come with me; especially since I would be travelling so much anyways.  I would be okay with that; she can gain experience in her job now and be with family when I’m away.

However, I recently came to a realization.  My dad is not taking care of himself the way that he should.  He is a diabetic and he has been experiencing chest pains.  I had a nightmare last weekend about losing him and I couldn’t stand to be away during this time.  I can’t possibly accept a position that would take me away from everything I know and love and keep me in the dark. 

I have always wanted to move away from town and experience what else is out there.  I think everyone should take that chance once in their lifetime before it’s too late.  I admire people who have seen and experience different places beyond what a vacation would give them.  The stories, the tolerance, the diversity, and the community contributions that such a person could provide is greater than someone who had stayed in their hometown all their lives. 

 My cultural background does not promote that.  Vietnamese people believe family is first and we stick together until the end.  It’s an admirable concept but I believe I could take care of those who are close to me better if I were more diversified.

In the end, I took my name out of consideration and I will attempt to find a new chapter in my life somewhere else.  I have some responsibilities here that can’t be ignored.  The quest to see and live the world will continue.  I have no regrets.

Chicago 2007

Chi-Town!  Chi-Town!  Chicagoland.  Cubbies!

 Chicago is such a great town.  From the moment I entered the city, I noticed their city skyline spreads out and is not concentrated in one area.  The two tallest towers, the John Hancock and Sears Tower, are at different ends of the city.

I came to Chicago for a job interview for a position within my current company.  The position would be a substantial upgrade from where I am now.  However, I feel so much obligation to stay in Portland that it was hard for me to focus on this interview.  At the very least, I wanted to meet the team and understand the job.

Nikki and I flew into Chicago on Tuesday, Oct. 2 at 11am.  My interview was set for Oct 3rd.  The hotel was about 27 miles away from metro Chicago.  We decided to wait out afternoon traffic as we plan out where to have dinner.

Nikki got me to like the Moon Metro series of travel books.  These books partitions the city into manageable day ventures and has a pull out map of each partition with labelled attractions, must-eat restaurants, shops, and museums.  Each attraction, restaurants, etc. have a description at the end of the book.  I’ve used this book in NYC, Boston, and now Chicago.

For dinner, Nikki and I decided to try a place called Japonais (Japanese in French).  The book raved about this place and told us to order “The Rock.” 

Inside Japonais, we met a the nicest waiter I could ever remember.  He asked if this was our first time and showed us the ropes on how to order, what he recommends, etc.  We even got talking about what to do in Chicago and he wished me good luck on my interview with a sturdy handshake.  Very sincere. 

Overall, the restaurant was great!  The Rock was basically a dish with raw thin slices of beef and a sizzling black rock on another dish.  To have medium rare quality, we only have to cook the meat 4 seconds on each side.  It was a fun experience.  For dessert, we had doughnuts with green tea ice cream.  And the best part of that dessert was not just the dessert but the fact that we went downstairs to the lounge that was a terrace overlooking the Chicago River.  Truly beautiful.  They had wicker-set chairs and beds all over the place.  Very romantic.  Very recommended.

The next day was my interview.  I got to meet some top level people and I believe I did very well.  My company is probably one of the few companies in country who likes to put all the candidates in the same room before beginning the interviews separately.  I’m use to it by now and I enjoy seeing my competition.  I am awaiting the day when they make their decision as it will be a tough decision for me as well.

Meanwhile, Nikki was busy catching the hotel shuttle towards the 12th largest mall in the country, the Woodfield Mall.   Now she can add some serious credentials to her shopping resume.

After a the interview and Nikki’s shopping escapade, we decided to have dinner on the 95th floor of the second tallest building in the city, the John Hancock.  The place was called the Signature Lounge.  The view was amazing and the travel book indicated that the women’s restroom had one of the best views of the city in the entire city.  The women’s restroom!  In fact, there were some ladies sneaking their guy into the restroom to showcase the view.

After talking to the manager, Nikki and I got a coveted window seat.  That experience alone made our trip to Chicago worth it.  As we were eating, we each pointed out which building we liked best.  It was a great evening.

The last day of our trip was Thursday, Oct. 4.  We leave at 8:30pm so we had an entire day to explore the city during the day time.  We planned on going to the Magnificant Mile, one of the greatest avenues of the World.  Shops of large and small stature line the streets of Michigan Ave for about mile.  Artwork and flowerbeds line the outside edge of the sidewalks.  

Chicago is notorious for overcharging for parking in downtown.  The rule after 9-11 was that there would be no more free parking.  However, Nikki and I were lucky to have only paid less than $1 in parking during our whole trip to Chicago.  Chicago does not give out tickets.  They tow on the spot.  On this day, the last day, we attempted to find a cheap parking garage with an early bird special; in and out by a certain time frame.  To make a long story short, we found a spot that allowed us to park from 9am-4pm for free.  This spot was right in the city.  According to Google and a few friends from Chicago, this was a monumental feat in itself. 

After parking, we went to visit the Buckingham Fountain in Grant’s Park.  The fountain was showcased on the intro to the “Married with Children” sitcom.  “Love and marriage, love and marriage…,” you know what I’m talking about.  The Buckingham Fountain is a Versailles-inspired structure and it was big!  In fact, Grant’s Park use to be a landfill.  However, the city restored the grounds in time for the 1994 World Cup and now it’s a famous park.  Go figure!

 

After that, we went went up north to the more famous park, Millennium Park.  This park is the butt of many jokes.  The city tried to finish the park before the year 2000 but it was completed in 2004.  The locals say it was built 996 years too early.  Forbes Magazine named the park’s zipcode 60602 as the hottest zipcode in the country a few years back.  It’s still pretty swanky.  Lots of art structures and new condo high rises are finding its way into that zipcode. 

The most impressive art structure I thought was Cloud Gate; a gigantic chrome kidney bean that captures the city skyline really well.  It’s a fantastic structure that’s simple and fun!  Nikki and I had lots of fun taking pics around there.

After some more walking and more photo ops, we got hungry.  It’s time for a Chicago deep dish pizza!  The book suggested we try out Pizza Uno, the founder of the deep dish pizza during WWII.  The pizza, as some you food network addicts already know, had tomato sauce on the top, then toppings, then cheese, then crust.  It was a good meal but I thought it could have been better.  I understand that other places like Gino’s and Giordano’s have better pies but that will have to wait for another trip. 

After some shopping, it was time to collect the car and make our way to the airport.  The Magnificent Mile was really a magnificent walk…so long.  I was so happy to come back and see the car still there!

While we were leaving the Mag Mile, we still had plenty of time left.  Nikki and I decided to try out a popular hot dog spot: Wiener Circle.  When I got there, it was such a hole in the wall.  Concrete floors and wall.  No artwork. Cracked folding chairs.  I was taken back for a minute before I could focus on the menu.  I ordered two char-dogs with the works: celery salt, mustard, real relish, grilled onions, and half a pickle.  You don’t ask for ketchup on your Chicago dogs!  The only thing that was missing on the dogs were hot peppers; that would have made it the Chicago Red Hot.  I noticed they grilled the hot dog until it’s almost completely black.  Crazy but it was good.  I’m not a big fan of hot dogs in general.  I’m a yuppie at heart; I like Costco polish dogs!

You can find the pictures at: http://picasaweb.google.com/vinhdnguyen/Chicago2007?authkey=8iPU9u4oL5w

Nikki and I both enjoyed the culture and landscape of Chicago and we certainly won’t forget this city anytime soon.

Charlie and Tiffany’s Wedding

9-8-7

Congratulations to Charlie and Tiffany for their happy union.  Everyone agrees this one was a wedding to remember.  Charlie told me they wanted to have their reception somewhere other than Legin or Wong’s King.  They decided on the Hilton in downtown Vancouver.  It was a great location!

 I met some old friends and had plenty to drink, as you can see.  Nikki even fought off two or three girls to come away with the prized bouquet.  I could only watch in horror as she did her victory dance.  Oh, boy.

Olympic Climbing: Day 3

Our last full day of camping began cold.  However, our spirits were wamred with the majestic view of the mountain ranges right near our campsite.  Today, we are going to tackle the Deer Park to Obstruction Point trail: 15.2 miles of pure hiking.  The Park Ranger had told us the previous day that this hike will be unlike any other; you traverse through the alpines straight to meadows and then up the Hurricane Ridge ridgeline. 

It was gorgeous hike with a lot of opportunties to take stunning photos.  We were even able to take a Buddah pic together.  A Buddah pic is a photo op where you take off your shirt and show your finely-tuned belly in celebration of a hike well done.  Whatever the weather, whoever is around, the show must go on.

After our hike, we were ready to eat!  Chicken and potatoes were on the menu and it couldn’t have come at a better time.  After eating, we looked up at the sky and I couldn’t remember the last time I saw the sky filled with stars.  We were indeed above the clouds tonight and it was a treat to have after such a long day.

After star gazing, Kevin finally realized his amazing adventure of 3 months was about to end.  He is going back to Victoria, B.C. to go join the working force.  Thanks to Derrick for planning this camping trip to wish Kevin good luck in the working world.

Olympic Climbing: Day Two

After getting ravaged by mosquitoes at our first campsite along the river, we decided to elevate our game; literally!  We packed up on the morning of Aug. 31 to drive north along the Olympic Penninsula.  Our destination: the Blue Mountains and Hurricane Ridge.  The strange thing about going to Blue Mountain and Hurrican Ridge is that it’s an additonal 4hr drive from Colonel Bob and it’s still within the Olympic National Park and Forest area.  If you recall, it took us 4hrs to get to Colonel Bob from PDX. 

Along our drive, it was pouring rain very harshly.  I was thinking in the back of my mind that we were not going to get a good hike today.  Plus, I didn’t bring any raingear with me.  I anticipated great weather but paid the price.  Luckily I found a decent fleece jacket at the Hurricane Ridge Visitor Center and paired it up with Kevin’s windbreaker shell.  This was enough to propel me and the rest of the team up Hurricane Ridge under wet and dreary conditions.

 We hiked up Hurricane Ridge with relative ease.  On top, we took some photos of each us “supposedly” jumping off a cliff.  It was super cloudy up there and our views were not that great.

After Hurricane Ridge, we set off to the Deer Park Campground to set up camp.  We found a secluded spot and began to prepare dinner: turkey meatballs and grilled veggies with hot chocolate.  We also were blessed with additional company: 5 deer 20 ft away during dinner.  Wow!

Olympic Climbing: Day One

I know the Olympics doesn’t start until 2008 but that did not stop Derrick, Kevin, and I from doing what we know best: climbing.  We ventured out to the legendary Olympic National Park/Forest for some true camping and climbing.  This is not your typical camping where you get plastered from dusk to dawn.  Although Captain Morgan was present, we were focused on hardcore camping.

 On Thursday, August 30th, we set out for the Campbell Grove campground near Lake Quinault, Washington.  It was there that we set up camp and ventured out to our first hike of the trip: Colonel Bob, a 4500 ft peak in the middle of a temperate rainforest.  Instead of driving to the trailhead, we set out to hike to the trailhead.  A mere 3 mile hike to the trailhead took all of our energy and patience, however.  We had to zigzag across the Humptulips River six times to get to the trailhead.  However, there are no bridges and the water was cold with slippery rocks. 

We only made it through to five crossings that day.  The first three crossings were easy enough as we found fallen trees to scamper arcoss.  The fourth and fifth required taking our shoes off and walking cautiously over.  I was a bit more daring than Derrick and Kevin.  Some might say a little bit more foolish.  While on the fourth crossing, I saw an embedded log in the middle of the riverand decided to jump for it.  My feet doesn’t like the cold much anyhow.  I miraculously landed on the log but slipped a bit upon landing.  I then regained my balance to jump off the log to other side.  In the process, I got my shoes wet.  Arg!

On our way back to camp and on the same fourth crossing, I decided to climb over some rocks and trees on the side to get to a fallen but slippery tree that laid over the river.  After a bit of acrobatic maneuvering, I got onto the fallen tree and straddled it like a female gymnast.  At that point, I just scooted my butt until I got to the other end.  Thanks to Bear Grylls of “Man versus Wild” for the tip.

Although we never met Colonel Bob, we still had fun journeying around the rainforest.  And the polish dogs for dinner was the topper.

                   

 

Tour de Portland

Yesterday, I went on an excursion with my buddy Derrick and Nikki’s uncle Hung on the Portland Century.  Only in it’s 2nd year of existence, the event was well planned.  For $40 registration, each rider got a lot: things like all you can eat Hot Lips Pizza, salmon dinner, all you can drink microbrew, and a goodie bag with a couple of bottles of beer in there.

I found out the hard way how out of shape I am.  This particular ride featured two major climbs and I really struggled with it.  This 100 mile ride was my first of the year.  In  year’s past, I would have had a couple major rides under my belt by this time.  My legs cramped up a dozen times during the ride and so I employed a different strategy.  I would take frequent rest stops along the route but only for a minute then get back on and ride.  This seemed to help and it wasn’t such a drain on time.

I liken my climbing shape to the time I first rode up to Crown Point.  I remember going up that path for the first time was a killer.  My shorts were drenched in sweat and I had to take frequent rest stops.  For all the subsequent times after that, I rode up that path without stopping and I was overall in better shape.  I had an easier time going up the hill to Timerline Lodge last year without stopping. 

During the Portland Century, Nikki’s uncle taught us young guys a lesson.  I never saw him after the third rest stop.  He cruised on by and went home first.  You can’t discredit Derrick though; he attempted a monumental challenge by riding the century with his single speed.  He, too, has not ridden as much as he did in the past but he made it!  Good job Uncle Hung and Derrick!

People in Nikki’s family has already begun to make fun of me for trailing Uncle Hung by so much.  I heard he punctured his tire on Marine drive and it took him a long time to get it repaired.  He didn’t have too much experience changing tires and he said he waited for me but I never showed up.  I must have been pretty far back even though I only spent 5 mintues at each of the last three rest stops.

After finishing in 7:30 hrs of ride time, I passed out waiting for Derrick.  Maybe it was the exhaustion, maybe it was the two beers but I felt good for finishing up the ride with such little training.  When I got home, I passed out on the couch completely. 

The ride went around Portland: From PSU to Sellwood, Sandy, Roslyn Lake, Marine Drive, industrial North Portland, Smith and Bybee Lake, University of Portland, then back to PSU.  Check out the map.  Portland Century Map

Today, I feel good.  I got a little headache but my legs feel fine.  Notch up another century in my ride book…..

Montreal 2007

 

I recently took a trip to Montreal as a needed break from the daily grind.   Nikki has family up there and her aunt invited us for her wedding.  And what a wedding it was!  Of all weddings, this one was the swankiest.  That’s a good thing!  An escape from Wong’s King and Legin.  However, let me go over this trip chronologically….

Wednesday, Aug 15: Flight was at 6am!  Nikki booked the ticket for her and I as well as her grandparents.  6am is too early for me.  I’ve always been good at waking up early when required.  However, this story began the wrong way.  I WOKE UP AT 5AM.  I went to sleep at 1am and had set my alarm at 3am.  I slept past the alarm and had broken my promise to Nikki that I would be at her house at 4am. 

At 5am, I woke up and immediately went to search for my phone.  It was in the other room.  Had it been in the same room with me, Nikki would have woken me up.  Idiot!  Once I located my phone, I saw 18 missed calls from one number.  Uh oh!  Then…..”KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!!”  It was Nikki!  I was still in my boxers when I let her in.  “What the HELL are you doing?  How could you do this to me?” 

I’ve never let anyone down this badly in my life.  Her grandparents were up at 3am and ready to go she said.  To make a long substory short, we missed our flight.  Fortunately, the airline found us another flight at 1pm.  This is more to my liking however it’s hard to overcome the lack of responsibility.  I can brush it off it I was the only victim but I had three other people that were affected by my royal blunder.  The bottom line is that we will be heading into Montreal at 12 Midnight instead of 6pm.

 Once we landed in Montreal, I met Nikki’s family at the airport.  Nice pepople but I can’t help but think I dragged an old man out to the airport at midnight.  They were all in good spirits though.  As the rest of the group shuffled into the family car, I had rented my own car for our pending trip to Niagara Falls.  I found a great deal on a luxury sports car at Hertz via Expedia.  Well the luxury sports car was a 2007 white BWM 328i with gps system.  WOW!  We’re travelling in luxury.

 On the way to the house, I had tried to use the gps but it did not detect the street of interest.  Oh well, I had printed out driving directions beforehand.  I’m good with directions, I can do this.  Fastforward 5 minutes later: DAMN!  The streets are named in French and it’s hard to remember.  West is Ouest therefore, W equals O in French.  We did get lost and we went further than we needed but my sense of direction kicked in and we found our way to the house at about 1:15am.  What a day!  Sleep…..

 Thursday, Aug 16: I woke up at 6am and roused Nikki up at the same time.  Our trip to Niagara starts now!  It’s a 700km drive, which is about 7hrs.  I was determined to get there at 2pm.  We had our plans!  I entered the address of the hotel in the gps and we were off.  The route was to head southwest down into NY through Syracuse, Rochester, and Buffalo then head across the border once again to get to Niagara Falls, Ontario. 

 The BMW was a dream ride.  The service centers (aka Rest Areas) were wonderful.  These service centers are spaced about 40km apart from each other and at each SC, there is an indoor rest area with fast foods like Wendy’s, Tim Horton’s, Subway as well as a small arcade for the kids.  Very clean.  I believe this is where the tax money goes to and it made it worthwhile to stop and stretch for a bit.

 With all the breaks, we got to Niagara at 3pm.  A great time.  We checked into the hotel first; it was a bit further away from the Falls than I would have liked but it was quiet and peaceful…no pesky tourists!  The hotel room was great because it had an indoor jet tub next to the bed.  As the French say: Oh La La!

After a bit of rest at the hotel, we made our way down to Niagara Falls.  What a beautiful view.  It’s breathtaking, magnificent, grand!  The sheer size is something to admire.  I looked at one fall and it’s actually really cool to see a waterfall with the backdrop of the city skylines right behind it.  We took plenty of pictures and then we headed up to the Skylon Tower for dinner.  The Skylon Tower is a tower that is about 520 ft up in the air, overlooking the falls.  We ate in a revolving dining lounge that continuously makes one full revolution over an hour’s time.  Dinner was good but service was shoddy.  We got to see the Falls illuminated at night.  Beautiful.  This ended our second day of the trip.

Friday, Aug 17:We finally got a chance to sleep in until 9am!  Yay!  We had planned to get a buffet breakfast and then head down to the Maid of the Mist boat ride into the Falls.  Instead of the buffet breakfast, we elected to stop along the carnival street, Clifton Hills, at the foot of the fall for breakfast.  Parking is funny at the Falls.  One spot close to the Falls can be $18/day parking while if you drove a little bit further, it’s only $5/day.  It’s about a 5 minute walk difference.

I recommend the Maid of the Mist boat ride.  It’s about a 20 min boat ride that takes you into the Horseshoe Falls where you get sprayed silly by the mist.  The tour gives you a raincoat, of course.  The best view of the Falls is on this boat.  What a ride!

After the boat ride, it was time to head out.  It was about 2pm already!  We needed to get back into Montreal by tonight so we can attend the wedding tomorrow.  The original plan was to go to Rochester, NY and check out the Seabreeze theme park.  I heard wonderful things about that but our timing was bad and we still have quite a drive ahead of us.  We decided to take the scenic route and go to Toronto on the way back home.

Upon arriving at Toronto, we checked out the one of the 7 wonders of the modern world…the CN Tower.  The tallest standing tower in the world, it defined the city quite well as were driving in.  To my amazement, Niagara Falls is not one of the seven natural wonders of the world.  We thought we’d cover two wonders in one day.  Oh well.

Outside of the CN Tower, we didn’t know what to do in Toronto.  We were in downtown and asked a lady where Chinatown was.  I heard the Asian community in Toronto is quite bit.  We weren’t disappointed upon arriving at Chinatown.  It was a long stretch of road where produce street stands, knock-off watches, pre-DVD released movies lined the sidewalk.   Nikki and I went from shop to shop to browse and eventually bought 6 peacock feathers for $2 CAN for home decorations.  So the next time you come into our house, you will see peacock feathers and you’ll know where they came from. 

After eating at a dumpling shop, we were back on the road to go home.  I must have gone super fast because I got home an hour earlier than the gps has originally routed.  We got back at 12 midnight and drank some champagne before bed.  I love the French!

 Saturday, Aug 18:  The day of the wedding!  The lucky bride is Nikki’s aunt.  Legend says she’s 34 and a very successful financial analyst in Montreal.  The groom is Australian and is a very successful entrepreneur.  He is 39. 

The morning ceremony was held at Mont Royal park; an urban park that’s like Mt. Tabor in Portland only within downtown Montreal.  I talked to a few guests and they told me that someone would have to be pretty “heavy” in order to rent out space in Mont Royal.  Indeed, it was a nice setting.  It was in the top floor of a fully enclosed glass building.  Champagne abound with a couple of harp and flute musicians to the left of the stage.  Beautiful. 

I later found out that dinner reception is at the Contemporary Art Museum de Montreal.  Wow!  This is swanky.  There was a bus to shuttle people from the park ceremony to downtown.  Upon entering the art museum, the guests picked up a card with their name on it to identify which table they will be sitting at.  After going up a flight of stairs and turning 4 corners through the exhibit, we were there; the outside garden.  With radiated heat lamps, it was a comfortable setting.  150 people max.  The meal was excellent and the speeches were good.  Definitely not an Asian wedding!

After dinner, it was off to the basement for a nightclub-like room.  This is where they hired a band that played only 80′s music.  Sweet!  Nikki and I boogied a bit and had drinks from the hosted bar.  There was a buffet at midnight for all the partiers but Nikki and I were tired and had left just prior to midnight.  What a party it was.

Sunday, Aug 19: This was our only day to fully explore Montreal.  We started by going to Rue St. Catherine.  This street is similar to fifth avenue in NY; it was a long stretch of high end shops.  The parking system is interesting in Montreal.  Each space on the street has a number associated with it.  In case you run out of time and you’re still shopping, you can go pay at any parking kiosk and enter your parking space number.  No need to run back to your car to plug the meter.  It helps.

After scoring a skinny, narrow blue tie from French Connection, my rock band drummer look is not complete.  I have the shades, the skinny suit w/ skinny tie.  =)  We spent half the day on St. Catherine’s looking for the underground market but were disappointed that it was just an underground shopping mall.  Maybe we were given bad info.

After St. Catherine, we headed down to the pier at Bonsecure Market.  This is like a grand Saturday market with lots of people.  Nikki was determined to get a gift for her friends at this jewelery stand.  She spent close to an hour overall looking over stuff.  The girl attending the stand was randomly smiling at me; hinting at how tiring my role as a BF really is.  Eventually, Nikki had settled on something but she had a large US bill that the attendant could not give change for.  Oh well.  Next time I guess.  We weren’t about to pay the ATM fee to pull out money. 

That led us to a great shop down the street.  It’s this home store filled with french novelties.  We got a lot of items with a Rooster theme.  The Chinese believed the rooster brings luck into the kitchen and we were going that route.  We ended the day by trying out sushi in Montreal….YUM.  We came to this shop where we gave an order and were told to come back in hour.  Wow!  That’s a first.

We came back and it was worth it.  The big rolls and the rice paper rolls were good!  Our trip can’t be any better.

Monday, Aug 20:We were at the airport at 6:30am for our 8:30am departure.  While going through the security scanner, I heard the lady at the x-ray machine whisper, “is that a chicken?”  LOL.  Yes I stuffed the chicken statue in my carry on bag.  While up ahead, a guy was asking Nikki if the peacock feathers were real.  It was wacky.

We made it home at 2pm Monday.  Time to sleep.

Check out the photos here: http://picasaweb.google.com/vinhdnguyen/Canada2007