Matching Panda Swim Hats

Here are some pics of our brand spankin new "swim hats" that we had to buy to use our pool. Apparently you must wear one to get wet. Full story of our trip over coming next. Later





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6 Animals + 4 Kiats= GONGER :)

The List

Several months ago we sat down as a family and talked about the types of experiences we hoped we might have during our adventure to China. What follows is a list of 100 things we would like to do during the next two years. When we were making the list we wrote down EVERYTHING that any of the four of us thought would be a fun experience to have. As a result, we have a pretty interesting list (see if you can guess Kaid's items). We decided that we only need one person in our family to complete an experience (and hopefully get a picture or video of it for our blog) in order to cross the item off of our list. Let the adventure begin....
18 hours till departure.


Our List…A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step-Lao Tzu


1. Ride tandem bikes-COMPLETED DECEMBER 28, 2010


2. Bathe an elephant-COMPLETED APRIL 2, 2011

3. Ride in a long tail boat COMPLETED XMAS 2010 Phuket and EASTER 2014, Koh Lipe Thailand


4. Walk on the Great Wall-COMPLETED APRIL 26, 2011

5. Visit Tiananmen Square-COMPLETED APRIL 25, 2011

6. Take the tram up to the Peak in Hong Kong-COMPLETED APRIL 17,2011



7. Visit the Singapore Zoo-COMPLETED OCTOBER 25, 2010

8. See a turtle in the wild COMPLETED OCTOBER 2013 GILI TRAWANGAN, INDONESIA

9. Go to a concert-COMPLETED FEBRUARY, 2011

10. Attend the Macau Grand Prix-COMPLETED NOVEMBER, 2011
111. Experience a level 8 typhoon-COMPLETED OCTOBER, 2011


12. Try to find a bubble tea shop- COMPLETED AUGUST 13, 2010

13. Eat lumpia in the Philippines

14. Watch the HK harbour light show at night-COMPLETED NOVEMBER 26, 2010

15. Swim with Whale Sharks in the wild

16. Drink out of a coconut

17. Make 10 lifelong friends

18. Visit rice terraces-COMPLETED FEBRUARY 2, 2011

19. See Angkor Wat in Cambodia-COMPLETED August, 2011

20. Watch the sun set on a beach in Thailand COMPLETED CNY 2012 BORACAY PHILIPPINES


21. Buy and eat squid on a stick COMPLETED SOOO MANY TIMES!


22. Visit Lord Stow’s bakery and try Portuguese egg tarts - COMPLETED AUGUST 20, 2010

23. Eat at Fernando’s - COMPLETED MARCH 16, 2011

24. Have fish and chips and a pint at a British pub in Hong Kong-COMPLETED NOVEMBER, 2011



25. Get a picture of our family in front of the castle at HK Disney-COMPLETED OCTOBER 16, 2010

26. Go to Ocean Park - COMPLETED AUGUST 28, 2010

27. Rent a scooter

28. Ride in a rickshaw-COMPLETED APRIL, 2011

29. Swim in a pool at the bottom of a waterfall-COMPLETED AUGUST, 2011



30. Visit the beach where “The Beach” was filmed-COMPLETED DECEMBER 22, 2010


31. See an orangutan up close-COMPLETED OCTOBER 25, 2010

32. Volunteer at an orphanage

33. Learn a little Chinese



34. Go to a fish spa and get a pedicure from some fish-COMPLETED OCTOBER 25, 2010

35. Get a massage on the beach

36. Free a turtle or frog from a wet market

37. Get a Mah Jong set made for us

38. Hire a tailor to make us something-COMPLETED JANUARY, 2011

39. Hike to the top of a mountain-COMPLETED AUGUST, 2011

40. Go to a hot spring or mud bath

41. Eat Pho and vermicelli in Vietnam-COMPLETED AUGUST, 2011



42. Eat an ice cream sandwich like the one from The Amazing Race-COMPLETED OCTOBER 27, 2010 (AND AGAIN THE NEXT DAY)!!AND AGAIN DECEMBER, 2011

43. Become a certified diver COMPLETED EASTER 2014, Koh Lipe Thailand



44. See a jellyfish or a seahorse in the wild-COMPLETED DECEMBER 22, 2010


45. Ride on a zip line-COMPLETED WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2010

46. Walk on a rope bridge through the jungle

47. Go in a Buddhist temple (and learn more about Buddhism in general)-COMPLETED APRIL, 2011

48. Bungee jump COMPLETED SEPTEMBER 2012, MACAO TOWER


49. Feed an interesting creature-COMPLETED OCTOBER 25, 2010

50. Snorkel in 3 different countries COMPLETED 2010-2014 Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines


51. Eat in a floating restaurant

52. Find a giant bug

53. Get our fortunes told-COMPLETED JUNE 4, 2011


54. Skinny dip-COMPLETED DECEMBER 23, 2010

55. Have brunch at The Wynn-COMPLETED JUNE, 2011

56. Run a half marathon-COMPLETED DECEMBER 4, 2011

57. Golf - COMPLETED MARCH 18, 2011

58. Do 5 kindnesses for 5 strangers in 5 different countries

59. Meet someone with the last name “Kiat”

60. Go parasailing

61. Fly a kite-COMPLETED MARCH 16, 2011



62. Ride on a double decker bus- COMPLETED AUGUST 28, 2010

63. Ride on a train-COMPLETED AUGUST, 2011

64. Visit a night market-COMPLETED APRIL, 2011

65. Go camping

66. Find a store that sells Lego-COMPLETED AUGUST, 2010

67. Bali Beach-COMPLETED FEBRUARY, 2011


68. Touch a giant Buddha-COMPLETED OCTOBER 17, 2010

69. Hold a monkey-revised to feed a monkey-holding a monkey will perpetuate the killing of their mommies (as we learned on our trip to Thailand...where there PLENTY of opportunities to hold one-COMPLETED FEBRUARY, 2011

70. Make a wish at the Lam Tsuen Wishing Tree



71. Drink a Singapore Sling in Singapore-COMPLETED OCTOBER 26, 2010

72. Eat sushi in Japan



73. See fireworks-COMPLETED SEPTEMBER 18, 2010

74. Take pictures of 10 flowers we’ve never seen before

75. Celebrate Chinese New Year-COMPLETED FEBRUARY, 2011

76. Eat roti canai and sambal bunchies in Malaysia-COMPLETED OCTOBER, 2011



77. Waterslides-COMPLETED DECEMBER 23, 2010


78. Discover a new tasty treat!!-COMPLETED OCTOBER 16, 2010

79. Find cool sea shells and make a necklace or bracelet

80. Kiss a reptile-COMPLETED FEBRUARY 3, 2011

81. Dim Sum

82. Get a Chinese foot reflexology treatment



83. Buy a piece of art for our house back home-COMPLETED SEPTEMBER 24, 2010

84. Buy a traditional Chinese dress-COMPLETED January, 2011

85. Australia-COMPLETED DECEMBER, 2011

86. Learn some tai chi-COMPLETED AUGUST, 2011



87. Go to an orchid garden-COMPLETED OCTOBER 28, 2010


88. Take a cooking class-COMPLETED DECEMBER 29, 2010

89. Find cherry blossoms in the Spring-COMPLETED APRIL, 2011

90. See fireflies

91. Kayak in an ocean-COMPLETED DECEMBER, 2010


92. See a panda-COMPLETED AUGUST 28, 2010

93. Get a picture of our family in front of the castle at Tokyo Disney

94. Go in a cave-COMPLETED DECEMBER 2011


95. Go fishing-COMPLETED DECEMBER, 2010

96. Take a ride on a Junk-COMPLETED DECEMBER 2010 and AUGUST 2011 AND NOVEMBER 2011

97. Go to the goldfish and flower markets in HK-COMPLETED JUNE 4, 2011
98. Take a cruise on Victoria Harbour-COMPLETED NOVEMBER, 2011

99. Lock an engraved lock of love on the Great Wall

100. Make incredible memories with each other and with our wonderful friends and family who come to visit us!!!

Just a Phone Call Away

Thanks to the ol' Magicjack, we now have a 780 phone number for when we move to Macau, or wherever we travel to. Feel free to give us a dingle to let us know you need a place to crash while in Macau! Just remember we will be 14-15 hours ahead depending on the time of year!!! Our phone # is 780-800-4200.

Just over a month to go

Well the move is coming up pretty quick now. Over the past 6 weeks we have had the house up for sale as well as rent. We had tons of traffic and one good offer, but it was conditional on the sale of their home and we just didn't have the time to let that play out. Bad time to sell as the market is saturated with homes for sale. Too bad because they were a really great young family and Amanda sure hit it off with the wife. We were all joking that they were BFFs while we negotiated on the house. During this time we had a couple families that wanted to rent the house and we needed to let them know right away what are plan was. Since we did not accept that offer, we committed to renting the house to the one family on a 2 year lease. They will start renting July 31st. So at least the house situation is taken care of and now we can focus on just the basic moving items.

So only 4 weeks of work left and 2 of those are holidays. Amanda is done on the June 30 then is off for yet another summer! We are off to Kelowna for a socer tournament Canada Day weekend which should be fun, then camping with the Gibsons, followed by golfing weekend with the boys, then camping with the Nellis's to wrap up the holidays.

It will definitely be a busy and hectic July


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Trial Video Run Before We Move

Thought I would try to upload video into the blog rather than getting to Macau and having to figure everything out later. This was taken May Long 2010 out at Tom and Pat's trailer.

We're Booked!

So Amanda has booked our flights over to Macau. Amanda and I are leaving on August 5th. You could imagine the stress of flying a family of 4 overseas to a different country, figuring out where to go, finding a place to live etc. Amanda's mom so graciously offered to bring the kids over a couple weeks after we arrived, so we could get settled and get everything set up (apartment) for when they arrive. The school puts us up in a teacher's apartment for up to 2 weeks, but we plan on finding our own place the first day we get there. It will be tough being away from the kids for a couple weeks, especially that far away, but it is definitely a major stress reliever and Amanda and I are somewhat treating it as a bit of a vacation as well! It will also give the grandparents some much needed last minute time with the kids. Pat, Kylisha and Bubs will be flying over on August 19th. Pat will stay for a couple weeks to visit, plus keep me company while everyone else is at work/school and I enjoy my trial retirement!

School doesn't actually start until September, but Amanda has a couple weeks worth of orientations and meetings for all TIS staff.

So we've been very busy getting the house ready to sell. I've done some tiling and painting while Amanda has been very busy packing the clutter up and cleaning. I know a few dump runs are in my near future. All I have left are some baseboards to install, take out the hot tub and stain the deck and front railing. Should be ready to list mid April. We are gonna try the Comfree thingy and save ourselves an extra $18000 or so in commission.

Amanda has already been looking into our vacation during the October break (No school for the last week of Oct). We have it down to Borneo or Phuket. She figures the 4 of us can fly and spend a week in Phuket for around $1200.00 CAN. That's pretty sweet!!! There's so much to do before then, but she's definitely a planner! Later!