It's been awhile since I've posted. Life has been busy with Mama Kang being ill. But she's now back at home and recuperating. We've all had our turns taking care of her on various days. (Even Stefan!) I would like to say that she's just chilling and trying to get better but the woman just doesn't know what it means to relax! I know she's just raring to go but the truth of the matter is her body won't let her. There have been so many good wishes from so many people. It's so nice to know that people care.
But I also think it speaks volumes about my mother's character. People just want to be with her and hope for her to be well.
We still haven't heard back yet from her biopsy but we are all praying and hoping for the good news.
I promise to be more regular about posting. I have even had complains from Mama herself during her moments of boredom at home. And when Mama complains....
I wonder whether anyone ever told you this but for years and years, I longed for a little sister. Or an older adopted sister. Any type of sister, really...I was tired of Kenny and Kelvin always leaving me out. Or having to do impossible tasks to join their play groups. Or being bullied constantly. Or being bamboozled out of my pocket money for a mere omelet (totally Ken). Or having to deal with "pretend" kidnappings at the early dawn. For those of you who are brother-less, "pretend" kidnappings happen in the wee hours of the morning, where brothers pretend to kidnap you in your sleep. Supposedly, it's to prepare you for the possibilities of a kidnapping actually happening. Needless to say, I still tend to punch in my sleep if someone wakes me up unexpectedly.
Unfortunately, Mama and Papa Kang were not obliging to my request for another girl. After me, they were "done" (I wonder why.... I was such a joy as a teenager...NOT!). I got used to being by myself and then I went through a phase of not wanting to accept another girl in our lives. I was perfectly content being the crown princess of the family.
And then, there was you.
I've always liked you. I wasn't sure whether I was ever going to accept my brother loving another woman other than Mama Kang or me. I can be jealous like that. But there you were, in all your glory.
Most people have probably already watched this, but I only just watched Diane Sawyer's story on Randy Pausch. What an incredible man, full of great insights. If you haven't heard this, watch the full video. Not the other abridged versions out there. It really is worth 76.26 minutes of your time.
I know, it seems that all I've been doing is taking lots of pictures of the same buildings over and over again. I've always been really interested in architecture but more than anything I'm always really fascinated at old buildings. It seems impossible that so many old buildings have survived the passage of time.
I think a big part of it has to do with a nation's willingness to preserve its history. I think France has done a really admirable job of preserving what they have while working around modern conveniences. Everywhere we went, there seemed to be constant work on up keeping of old buildings, or even just keeping the metro clean of graffiti. There seems to be great pride in their city.
You wonder sometimes whether Parisians ever tire of tourists invading their city. Everywhere we turned there just seemed like truckloads of people going to every site. Every place of interest that we visited always gave the option of at least seven different language translations. I know that for us back home, you either have translations in English or French. I mean you could get specialized tours for your own native language, but it's definitely not part of the general tourism plan. Maybe because Toronto isn't such a huge city where that many people visit a year...
Sorry for the late posting. Something is up with our server back home so I couldn't even get the last entry to post properly until now.
The weather here has been so weird. Sunny and warm for half an hour, chilly but clear skies for two hours and then rain. By the time we get to another street, the rain has stopped. It's a good thing we both tend to dress in layers.
Paris is a wonderful city to walk in. A little hard to navigate due to all the windy small streets but just a joy all the same. You feel like there is the possibility of discovery - some wonderful boutique, sight or patisserie at the end of the street.
I thought I would share some of my own observations so far. If they are untrue, please feel free to correct me.
Parisians must learn how to parallel park from the time that they're in kindergarten. The streets here are so very narrow and there doesn't ever seem to be such a thing as a parking lot around due to the lack of space. Sometimes, they even park facing each other! It's the oddest sight to behold. It's almost like you can't own a big car here because where would you park?
