Its Great To Have Family! (And our trip to Toronto)

I have always been big on family. It may be my Hainanese blood, or just the fact that I've been brought up that way cos both my parents are extremely big on family. And, this trip is a great reminder of why family is fantastic!

The Wife and I had planned the honeymoon such that we will hit both NYCand Toronto, as I have cousins living in both places. When we told people about it before the trip, some were wondering if wemade the right decision.

Oft I am asked, "are you sure you want to visitfamily during your honeymoon? Shouldn't a honeymoon just be for the two of you?".

I am glad to say that we made the right decision to visit cousin D in NYC and Cousin J and her hubby W in Toronto.

Both places wouldn't have been half as fun otherwise. More importantly, this trip gave us a chance to catch up with them upclose, and both the Wife and I had a ball of a time!

We got to re-acquaint with our loved ones, who took fantastic care of us.

Cousin D, for example, was actually working in Spain on a deal when we arrived in NYC. The deal was to be sealed on the Monday immediately following our arrival, and were in the final stages of negotiations(which Cousin D was leading).

Yet, just for us, he flew all the way back from Spain jus so that he could host us for 2 days over the weekend at his lovely country house, and after that, he flew all the way back to Spain to complete his deal. All that trouble, all the expense, and not to mention inconvenience, just so he could be with family.

Cousin J and Cousin-in-law W were just as fantastic!They pretty much took care of every detail for us when we were inToronto.

From the time we landed, they picked us up at the airport with their new and fantastically beautiful car 'Helga' (which, for the record, when I grow up, I want one just like it). And because we had so much luggage, Cousin-in-law W had to make two trips to and fro the airport and our hotel, which they had booked and arranged for us all in advance.

Over the next few days, Cousin J and Cousin-in-law W took us to the Mannonites’ Farmers’ Market… and while there we had fabulous tasting fried apples with ice cream and cherries.

[Toronto – Farmers’ Market]

[Toronto – Us at the Farmers’ Market]

[Toronto – Farmers’ Market – Fried Apples with Ice Cream]

[Toronto – Farmers’ Market – Cherries anyone???]


…then on to the Niagara Falls, to countless restaurants where we had great food at unbeatable low prices, and they even arranged for, and took us on, a night tour of Toronto City in 'Helga' on our last night because they wanted us to see the lovely city that they live in.

Mind you, that was a Monday night, and Cousin J had been working all day, and was obviously very tired, but still, she made sure that we had a lovely meal (crabs, crispy beef, dried scallops with veg, and friedchicken), before zipping us around downtown Toronto with Cousin-in-law W till past 11pm.

[Toronto – Lovely Dinner]

[Toronto – Crabs]

[Toronto – Crispy Orange Beef]

[Toronto – Veggie with Dried Scallops]


Did I also tell you that Cousin-in-law W is a great cook (and he can rival Cousin J, a great cook in her own right, anyday). We should know. He made us breakfast on our last day in town.

He barbecued the bacon till they were crispy and flavourful. Paired with some raisin bread, the bacon was simply out of this world. He also made us fingerling potatoes with butter and pepper that were to die for. Then there were sunny side up eggs, milk, coffee, and also a huge bowl of mixed fruit each (strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, and peaches)! All in all, a lovely healthy breakfast made with love!

[Toronto – Cousin in law W’s fabulous brekkie]

We enjoyed all the lovely sights, including the magnificent NiagaraFalls, our visit to the CN Tower where we had a good lunch, and we even went vineyard hopping and tasted many (and bottle several) great wines.

[Toronto – Niagara Falls]

[Toronto – Niagara Falls 2]

[Toronto – The Wife At Niagara Falls]

[Toronto – Ice Wine Anyone]

[Toronto - Me, Cousin J and Cousin in law W at Chateau Des Charmes]

[Toronto – The whole gang tasting wine at REIF]

[Toronto – Us lunching at CN Tower]

[Toronto - The fabulous sweet potato fries at CN Tower]

[Toronto – View at CN Tower]

But most of all, we loved spending time with Cousin J and Cousin-in-lawW.Thanks Cousin J and Cousin-in-law W (who was a laugh a minute with hisjokes). We loved our time in Toronto, and thanks for all your love andfor taking such great care of us.Its great to have family!

- WWCS

BOSTON!!!

After the exhilarating visit to NYC, where we ate and ate and ate non-stop, we continued on our next leg of the honeymoon to Boston.

Strangely, the moment we arrived, both the Wife and I immediately got agood vibe from Boston, something that we both thought we would feel (butdid not) with NYC. It could be the area that we were in, Backbay Boston, which had a lovely ambience in the air, or perhaps its the brownstone houses around the neighbourhood of our hotel, which were so pretty. It could even be Lennnox hotel, where we stayed (which is beautiful, had a huge room, andexcellent service staff).

Whatever it was, we liked the place almost instantaneously. The only pity is that we only had a very short time in Boston. So, at a friend's suggestion, we did a whirlwind tour by taking the BostonDucktours.

Our guide is a funny guy, and he came dressed like a pirate captain to add to the mood of the trip. The tour was fun, albeit short, and I can't help but feel that there is so much more of Boston to see and find out, if only we had more time. Perhaps one day we will return to see and explore more of Boston.

But for now... I hope you enjoy the pix we took of our short but very enjoyable time in Boston.






[Us on the Duck!]

[Our Pirate Captain]

[Boston Common]

[Views of the Charles River on the Duck Tour]

- WWCS

Cosmopolitans, Cupcakes and Carrie’s Apartment Stoop (a.k.a. the SATC Tour)

We are both fans of SATC and so one of the very first things we did when we decided on our dates for NYC was to sign up for the SATC Tour. It was a good thing we did as our tour was a complete sell-out as we found out when we gathered excitedly at the pick-up point which was the very classy Plaza Hotel (the setting for Mr Big’s and Natasha’s grand engagement party).

I had expected W to be one of very few (if any) guys to be on the tour. In fact, as we were waiting in line to board the tour bus, two women who were standing in front of us predicted that W would likely be the only guy on the tour and promptly christened him “Mr Big”. Imagine our surprise when we saw at least 5 other guys also on the same tour! W instantly lost his “Mr Big” status then but that was fine since we all know that the real stars of SATC are the 4 girls – Carrie, Charlotte, Miranda and Samantha.

Our guide for the tour was Lou, a leggy blonde who is an aspiring singer and actress. She shared many interesting nuggets of information with us, like how there is a glaring inconsistency in the opening credits of SATC. Let us know if you think you know what the inconsistency is and we will let you know if you are correct. Also, how the role of “Aidan” was supposed to have gone to another actor whose real name was Aidan. But he turned it down and in the end John Corbett got the role. But apparently the producers of the show liked the name “Aidan” so much, they kept it for the character.

The format of the tour was a simple one. We essentially took a bus and walking tour around Manhattan with the guide pointing out the various locations where certain pivotal scenes were filmed (both in the movie and the series). To jolt our memories, she would also show us clips from the series that feature the same sights that she just pointed out.

Our first real stop on the tour came in the West Village. We were brought to “The Pleasure Chest”, where Charlotte first discovered the Rabbit. We were welcome to buy what we wanted in the shop but the catch was you had to show and tell the entire bus what you bought (I am only kidding).

Next stop was to Carrie’s apartment stoop. If anyone is interested, the apartment stoop featured in the show is on Perry Street in the West Village. If you are ever in NYC, you can check it out. You will not miss the exact apartment stoop since the current owner of the apartment has a chain-link fence across the stoop and there is a sign warning against loitering, trespassing etc.

Then we were each given a cupcake from the Magnolia Bakery. This was the bakery where Carrie and Miranda each got a cupcake and Carrie first told Miranda that she had a crush on Aidan. The cupcakes attained cult status after they were featured on the show and there is a long queue at the bakery on most days. Apparently there is also a limit to the number of cupcakes that one can buy. My take on the cupcakes? Way too sweet for my liking. And the cupcakes are also rather dense. I much prefer the lighter version that was served as our wedding cake (then again I may be biased). Both of us did not finish our cupcakes and had to surreptitiously dispose of them since the rest of our tour members obviously loved them and ate every crumb.

The West Village is a lovely place and it has many cool shops too. W must have rued the moment he said “Hey there is a Lulu Guinness shop there- let’s check it out.” Check it out we did and we emerged 10 minutes later with a cute red handbag from the Couture line. It is small and feminine and I simply love the colour. It is going to be my dinner / functions bag from now on. Thanks dearie!

(With our Magnolia Bakery cupcakes)

Our last stop on the tour was O’Niels – the setting for “Scout”, the bar owned by Steve and Aidan. We had to have the requisite cosmos at the bar and they were pretty good actually. What struck me was how small the bar was when in the show, the bar looked fairly large.

(Cosmos at O'Niels)

We totally enjoyed ourselves on the tour and it’s a great tour to do with your girlfriends (although W was a real good sport on the tour too). I only wish we could have seen places like the apartment that was featured in the movie. But I guess those are movie sets and are inaccessible. What was really nice about the tour was that throughout the tour, I overheard people reminiscing about what they were doing when they first watched the series and how they became hooked. It was amazing that after all these years, people can still remember the exact moment they first watched the series.

Clearly SATC has left a deep impact on many people’s lives.

- M

News Bulletin - Toronto & Quebec

Just to update everyone...



We have now swept through Toronto... and spent a great time with my Cousin J & her hubby, WO'N.



We have just landed in Quebec City.



WE WILL TRY TO CATCH UP ON THE BLOGGING...



Key word here is... TRY.



HAHA.



- WWCS

NYC in a nutshell (of photos)

Day 1

[NY – The Wife & Karl @ Vice Versa]

[NY – Time SQ]

[NY – Time SQ 2]

[NY – Us in Time SQ]



Day 2

[NY – W @ Foot of Empire State Bldg]

[NY – Us on Empire State Bldg]

[NY – View from the Top]

[NY – View from the Top II]

[NY – NYC Skyline from our ferry to Statue of Liberty]

[NY – Statue of Liberty]

[NY – The Wife & Statue of Liberty]

Day 3

We did the Sex And The City Tour – more on that by the Wife.

Watch This Space.



Day 4

The later part of Day 3 and most of Day 4 were spent at Cousin D’s country house.

You have already seen the magnificent pix of the house in our earlier posts.

We returned from the country house to NYC, crossed the Brooklyn Bridge, and spent the rest of Day 4 in Brooklyn Heights.

[NY – Brooklyn Bridge]

[NY – The Wife’s Arty Shot of Brooklyn Bridge]

[NY – Night View from the Promenade]

[NY – The Wife and our friend CK @ the Promenade]

[NY – Jap Dinner at Brooklyn 1 & 2]



Day 5

Day 5 was spent hanging out with friends, Karl and CK.

We had a wonderful lunch at Per Se.

Oh, did we mention that Per Se is a 3-Star Michelin Restaurant?

[NY - Us at Per Se]

Grin.

The wife will post more about this… watch this space for the gorgeous food pix!!!



Day 6 & 7

We spent some time at the Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art in NYC.

Our favourite exhibit… the Egyptian Temple & Mummies : ).

[NY – The Met]

[NY – Us at the Temple of Dendur]

[NY – Mummies Anyone???]


To be really honest, a lot of our time in NYC was spent savouring good (and often great) food!!!

We went to the Plaza for afternoon tea after spending the early part of the day at the Met Museum.

[NY – Tea At the Plaza]


That same night, at Karl’s instigation (well… we need someone to blame, grin), we went for another giganormous meal with Karl and CK at Wolfgangs, a typical (and very good) American Steakhouse.

You can tell that Karl obviously enjoys a good steak…see…

[NY – Karl At Wolfgangs].


So… that, in a nutshell, was our NYC leg of the honeymoon:- good food, great friends, fantastic family, interesting sights… and a lovey dovey honeymooning couple from Singapore.

BLISS!

- WWCS