A Day in Vancouver

After not getting out much for the past week and a half, I finally saw some familiar faces yesterday! After lunch, we drove to Richmond and Vancouver. First, we went to Steveston Highway (Richmond) to the International Buddhist Temple. It is North America's 2nd largest Buddhist temple and we saw some pretty funny things!






Visiting this temple makes me very sad. Seeing people lighting incense, burning offerings to these statues, praying to these man-made "things," paying to get their names displayed in the temple and hoping these gods of theirs would bless them... I am bless to know Jesus and do not have to hope that Jesus would bless me. I know for a fact that He is blessing me. As I looked through the photos we took, they reminded me of the passage that LP preached on yesterday: Matthew 15:21-28. The passage is about this Canaanite woman who comes to Jesus crying and begging Him to help her daughter who is oppressed by a demon. She cries out after Him and even though she calls Him "Lord" and "Son of David," Jesus ignores her at first because He does not care about the "correct" names that she calls Him by. If we try to use the right words, actions, or worship to please God, we are manipulating Him. Jesus looks at our faith and our humbleness when we come before Him. Because the Canaanite woman has such great faith, even though the disciples want her to go away, even though Jesus calls her a dog! She does not care about these things but continues to look to Jesus because she has faith that only Jesus is able to help her daughter. At last, it is because of her great faith that Jesus heals her daughter.

After visiting the temple, I wanted to go to this Malaysian restaurant for some afternoon tea. As we approached the restaurant by the waters, I spotted that "CLOSED" sign! So disappointed!


That didn't stop me from having afternoon tea! We drove to Richmond Center to have dim sum while we waited for Steph and Emilie. Since I came to Abbotsford, this is the first time we ate out!



After some dim sum, we met up with Steph and Emilie for some bubble tea. Steph and I have been longterm "we gotta gain weight" buddies! Steph was the first one I made tacos with. Those "we gotta gain weight" days were so much fun. We'd indulge ourselves with all the fatty foods we can inhale in one night, but we'd still be as thin as a pair of chopsticks when we stood next to each other! It was great hanging out with her again. Hope to see them again very soon, either in Vancouver/Abbotsford, or we will drive down to Seattle to pay them a visit and have another "we gotta gain weight" night! And I got my first birthday present this year. Thanks Steph!



We did have a lot planned yesterday. Since we rented a car, we had to make the most out of it! Right after bubble tea in Richmond, we drove to Vancouver and had dinner at Karen and Calvin's. Phan, Jeff and Jadon's cousins were there too. Oh! And Nolan is such a cutie! Okay... I find all babies cute, but I don't want kids of my own! We had this discussion last night and Phan agrees. Hehe!

Karen lent me some cookbooks and she even passed along this (super old) cookbook that Chan c-moe got as a wedding gift which was passed to Karen when she married off to another city! We had a little "ceremony" and took a photo to send to C-moe haha! I really enjoyed the time with them. I even asked Karen if she will follow us back to Edmonton next year! They recently moved from Edmonton to Vancouver, so it just seems like wherever we go these days, Calvin and Karen are always close by! We should be seeing them again in two weeks. This time, they will come visit us in Abbotsford, can't wait!


Karen taught me a very simple and yummy dish. I tried it out for lunch today... Enoki mushrooms wrapped in beef with black pepper sauce!


After hanging out at the Wans, we went to get some groceries at T&T (again!). I will go to T&T for food every opportunity I get! Actually, another reason why I wanted to go was to get a $15 off coupon for The Greater Vancouver Lantern Festival (in Richmond). I've never been to a Lantern Festival. I've always wanted to go either in Montreal or Toronto, just never had a chance to. But to be honest, I was so disappointed last night. The displays were too "Chinese" and old fashion! We speed-walked through the whole festival in 15 minutes. I probably would not have gone even if it was for free, we ended up paying $10 per person with the coupon and $5 for parking. Well, here's my favourite display... the Totem Poles.


Disappointment aside, I had fun yesterday and it was great catching up with some old friends from Montreal. I guess what they say is true. This world is small, indeed. Even though I am now away from home and people who I used to be close with have moved away from Montreal, we will all meet again one day. Even if not in Edmonton, BC or Seattle, we will definitely meet again when we see our Heavenly Father. I guess this comforts me a little as I am still trying not to miss my family and friends too much. Sometimes I just can't help it as it can get lonely here in Abbotsford.

The complete photoalbum: A Day in Vancouver