The Gathering

Maybe this picture is coming up a litte late? Yes this was taken during the Chinese New Year celebration back in February. Putting it up today as our extended family gathered today to visit our grandfather as a mark of respect and filial piety in conjunction with Qing Ming.

At the prayer's table, various sweets, food, fruits and coffee had been laid out. The rain made the temple crowd a little less pleasant that it could have been.

Grandmother

During Chinese New Year this time, the grandkids decided to come up with a special gift. Actually my brother Evan came up with this idea. We did a compilation pictures of all grandchildren.

Granny brought us up when we were younger. Back then, she always talked about how she would like to have 10 grandchildren in total. Well, our parents' generation sort of reached the target -- @ 9. The memory compilation hopefully made her very happy - as you can see above.

Recently in our extended family, we had a little crisis. Believe it drained some of us both on a mental and financial sense. In another light, it brought all families closer. Reading this, I know we should all feel very fortunate that we still have one another, and in fact, happy occasions to look forward to.

Looking back, a year in Japan felt like escapism. There was nothing much to worry about except language barrier. My only focus was work and exploration. Life could have been less stressful being away and alone. Being back now feels more like reality, there are decisions to be made, problems to listen to, stress of your loved ones sometimes you cant take away...

The 3rd generation - 9 grandchildren + Partners (Mark & Corina)