Dear Second Son,
On your Third Birthday,
May your next year of life
Be full of Love, Laughter and Learning.
May you flourish and thrive
In your new homeland in the north.
May your boundless exuberance
Discover limitless potential,
As Baby becomes Boy
And fills his parents with pride and joy
On your Third Birthday
(from your Daddy)
Just five minutes’ walk from my parents house is the Donlands Parkway. This system of pathways traces the Don river’s path as it winds its way southward through the Bayview Village neighbourhood. It is a beautiful and tranquil retreat from the suburban traffic along Finch St. The pathway has been upgraded since I left Toronto and it’s great for biking and walking. The City even built a pedestrian bridge across the Don so now we can make a long circle around the neighbourhood. The kids love the walk and hours can be spent there (as long as we bring plenty of snacks!).
It was probably my first time to celebrate a Canadian Thanksgiving in over ten years. The insurmountable Francina, my sister-in-law, invited and provided for the extended family – nearly thirty people (including a horde of kids) for a lavish turkey dinner.
A driveway floor hockey game was organized and both Zach and Galuh played for the first time. Zach learned how to ride a bike that weekend. The kids watched a Jackie Chan Kung Fu flick on my brother’s massive flatscreen TV. Later the kids bedded down in the basement in sleeping bags. Zach ended up with a coughing fit(his asthma) and Jacob inexplicably ended up in the middle of the night with a bleeding nose (probably due to the dry air that his tropical nose is not used to.
The next day, as per tradition, Francina organized a clan picture with our steadfast family photographer, Mark Van Dam who has been capturing our group portrait for years. Whenever, the Cheung clan is reunited in Peterborough, Francina has been sure to whip together an outdoor photo shoot – no easy feat with the growing number of unruly kids. Nature accommodated us with a fabulous day and a spectacular show of colours painted in the autumn leaves.
A rural oasis hidden in the middle of Toronto just off the Don Valley Parkway. Pastoral peacefulness and lots of cute animals for the kiddies. Jacob liked the animals but loved the freshly baked cookies that were on sale at the canteen even more.
Some expatriates call it “re-entry”, like the fiery and bumpy descent back to earth of a returning spacecraft. That’s no coincidence since oddly enough coming home from more than a decade working abroad can be both fiery and bumpy.
In September I was offered a job in Sri Lanka and another one in Jakarta but instead I decided that I wanted to come back to Canada. Now in Toronto, we are working on settling into Canadian life. It is full of both joy and frustrations. It is a joy to see family and friends again. It is a joy to my youngest son, Jacob’s glee when riding his little bike in the big park in our neighbourhood. My older son, Zachary, is happy at his new school, likes his teacher and has made new friends. He comes home with big smiles and lots of questions.
The frustrations include looking for a job that won’t bore me stiff and adapting to the cold weather. For now, we are taking life one day at a time.
I suppose, it is the potential of life here that I missed. Here there is the potential to learn something new or play a new sport or be inspired by art. Because it is small and life for expatriates is transitory, life in Cambodia sorely lacked those facets.
Our good friends Ballu and Shivani came to visit us in Cambodia at the end of July. It was a great visit, the perfect decompression for me after a frantic several months working for the Cambodian National Assembly election. After hanging out in Penh Penh for a few days, we headed down south to the Sokha Hotel in Sihanoukville. We piled the children into a big van and drove for four hours.
The beach was beautiful as usual and Ballu and Shivani loved it. We hung out at the beach all day. All the kids loved it. I took Zach and Nileesh for a ride in the kayak. Nileesh and I got swamped by a wave and fell into the water. That was fun.
Zach has been asking to go visit Nileesh and Meena in Toronto.
To the east of Phuket Islands in the Andaman Sea are a group of small limestone islands. On our Thailand vacation we went on a unique tour of these islands with John Gray's SeaCanoe Company. John Gray is white bearded guy who has been exploring these islands by kayak and canoe for decades. We actually got this tour as a freebie for going to a marketing promotion provided by J.W. Marriot Hotel.
Our host is jolly thin man named Sunny. He explains the safety precautions and is a humorous and gentle host. He takes a liking to Zach, saying “he is a good boy, his English is good.” Later after the tour is over, we find out that most of the crew are Thai Muslims.
These islands stick up out of the sea like pegs or the crooked teeth of some undersea giant. The tides and currents have eroded the limestone over a millennia and created intricate tunnels and spectacular caverns in the islands. The tour guys shuttled us out to the island in this big boat. Jacob and Zach were in high spirits. It was a big adventure. The first island we visited was Panuk Island which is an undulating series of sharp peaks sticking out of the sea like a crocodile spine. The base of the island has been carved and scooped away by the sea leaving impossible-looking fingers of rock stick downwards. There are holes and shallow caves everywhere.
As we approached the island, we were greeted by a dozen brown eagle-like birds. I don’t know the species but they looked cool. The crew threw chicken skins (leftovers from the galley’s lunch preparation) out to sea behind the boat. The birds careened, swooped and dived fearlessly to the surface of the water to snatch the free meals. This island is their home and I suppose it’s a just toll that we paid to enter their domain.
We arrive at the cave mouth. The crew takes all the passengers in small groups in yellow inflatable sea canoes. Our guide, Han, is a calm, sharp-eyed young man. Our family fit into one canoe. Zach was in the front with a flashlight, Galuh in middle with camera, Jacob and I in the back. Han sat in the very back with a kayak paddle. The cave opening is enormous and we find ourselves in a long water tunnel. Another tour of boisterous tourists streamed by us, their excited voices echoing in the dark chamber, Zach’s flashlight briefly illuminating their faces, occasionally their blue rubber canoes colliding with ours. For a moment I feel like I am on some subterranean water thoroughfare highway. Then suddenly they are gone and the tunnel is quiet.
This tunnel opens into an enormous hole in the middle of the island. Sheer cliffs rise around us and above the sky is dotted with clouds. We floated there for some time, appreciating the mystery of the place. I told Zach that if we were pirates this would make a good secret hideaway.
After lunch, our boat proceeds to Hong Island. This island looks like a castle with massive towers guarding its sides. Another tunnel awaits us, narrower and darker than the previous one. In certain places we all have to lie down in the canoe to pass through. That part was fun. There a big rock on the ceiling of the cave which glitters were we shire light on it. As a result they call the cave diamond cave. I doubt it’s really diamonds. Someone would have hammered it out by now. Beyond that is another cliff enclosure, rocky wall towering above us on all side. This one has a gap by which we departure. The gap is dominated by another tower of rock.
Before dinner, the guides led all the passengers in a Thai arts and craft lesson as we created special offerings to the sea goddess from banana leaves and stem, flowers, incense and candles. After dinner, in the middle of the dark ocean, we return to Hong Island, with offerings. Back in the rock enclosure, the candles were lighted and the offerings set off to float. The many candle lights on the dark water formed an enchanted magical glow.
During this trip we also saw a lot of animals that we have only seen on Animal Planet such as bats, mucky fish, a kingfisher, jelly fish, and crabs.
We had the best day trip ever. Enjoy the other pictures below!
photograph by Galuh
model on the cover is Zachary
location at Jungceylon Mall, Patong, Phuket
date was April 16, 2008
This video was taken when we were in Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam last year. Zach came to our room and made up our bed meanwhile Jake cleaned up our suitcase. They did not suppose to do that since there was a housekeeping that cleaned our room everyday but that was how they showed their love to us. Also, they were a good team, weren’t they?
Today, I opened the old toy box and pulled out the forgotten old toys to be cleaned. I thought that Jacob would love to play with Zach's old favorite toys. The headlight with Dinosaur sound becomes his favorite for today. He has been wearing it for a day and did not want to take it off when I would bath him.
We are proud that Zach rides well, he is in Pony 2 now. He still often forgets to breathe when he is trotting and sometimes forgets to shorten his reins. He fell down from the horse once when the horse gallopped, but he still loves trotting. Watch the video below.
Today, when I was on the way to the Pencil Supermarket, I passed the new statue of a famous monk called Choun Nat in Phnom Penh which the government just inaugurated a few weeks ago. I decided to stop by and take few pictures. This statue, which was made of copper and gold, is located in Hun Sen Park and over two meters in height. Choun Nat (1883-1969) was former Buddhism Patriarch or Chief of Cambodian monks. He is known as the most impressive literature and cultural promoter that Cambodia ever produced. He is also known as linguist, poet, and writer.
Yesterday when I picked Zachary up from the school, I met with his teacher. She told me that Zach has been a wonderful student in the class and very good-thinker. He asked many questions, very active in the discussions, and a good-reader. She said that Zach is the youngest student in the class but the smartest. I am very proud of him ….
Zach has grown up as a smart, easy-going and agile kid. He is still 5 years old but his physical and emotional behavior is like older kids. People often think that he is 7 or 8 years old especially after they talk to him. He is not even in the Grade I yet, he is in the “Primary Years Reception” (in Indonesia, it is called as TK Besar)
He is very friendly and good-natured person with an obvious sense of humor. He has become a very effective communicator. I am often amazed when he explained something to me, the way he did it was by using pictures, explaining, and asking me questions to explore my understanding about that topic. He is a logical thinker with a good knowledge and is able to give clear and detailed explanations. 
He really enjoys stories before bed-time. He listens very well and asks a lot of questions. He is still into Dinosaurs. It is amazing that he has been into Dinosaurs since he was 3 years old. He knows everything about Dinosaurs (the names, where they were found, when they lived and in which period, etc). One of our friend calls him as “A Walking Dinosaurs Dictionary.” She said that she never met 5 years old kid who knows everything about Dinosaurs. In the last few days, he has been talking a lot about planets. Planets have become his second favorite for this moment.
He has made good progress with his reading and become a more confident reader. Every day he brings home-reading level 12-14 from his school.
He is a good swimmer and diver too. He likes us to throw toys or rocks in the pool and he dives to get them. Jerome is often amazed by how he swims and how strong he is. He said that when he was at Zach’s age, he could not do what Zach does. Zach can already do butterfly-style!
Computer games are one of his favorite things to do before he goes to the bed. His recent favorite online games are on Ben 10 Cartoon Network, Harry Potter, and Dinosaurs websites.
He loves drawing; there is no day without drawing. We have a lot of his drawing collections. But he is very much perfectionist, when he cannot draw something or he thinks that his drawing is not good (based on his perception), he will get very frustrated and sometimes cry. One day, he told me that his friends had Pokemon cards and he really wanted to have them. Then, he made 8 Pokemon Cards. He drew and cut them as a card. We love them but when he brought them to the school and his friends said that the cards were not real and only 8 pieces, he was very sad … when I picked him up he cried in the car and told me that his friends did not like his cards. Poor him … Zach and I together with my friend, David, have made a painting. We played around with the colors and made tons of dots and the result was very gorgeous! Those butterflies were made by Zachary. 
Since we live in Phnom Penh, Zach’s asthma or allergy has become worse. He has lost a lot of weight. He is not as chubby as before. Phnom Penh has less pollution than Jakarta, but because he spends a lot of his time outside he is exposed more to dust. He is allergic to dust mite. We use hypo-allergenic bed sheets for his bed. Every time we go on vacation and stay at a hotel, he has a bad reaction and starts coughing a lot. We figure it is the dust mites in the pillows or mattress or both since we always book an extra bed for him. We are thinking that we have to bring hypo-allergenic bed sheets especially for him when we are traveling.
Zach is still very active boy. He does not like just to stay at home, he loves his school and his friends. When he does not have activity after school, he will ask me to set up a play-date for him. He is learning Mandarin and Islamic Studies every Tuesday and Thursday and horse-riding every Saturday.
Kep is a sleepy coastal town about a three-hour drive south of Phnom Penh. We arrived at 2pm in the heat of the afternoon and drove slowly through the quiet streets. Galuh brought sandwiches from home and we ate them across the road from our hotel under a tree by the main beach. The beach is a thin sandy crescent surrounded by lush green mountains on all sides. It’s a beautiful little spot and the sunsets are spectacular.
Kep is dotted by many seemingly abandoned houses, perhaps built by the French colonials. Kep was occupied by the Khmer Rouge in the 70s and many of the buildings were burned. They give the town a mysterious atmosphere.
On our second day we drove to Kompot, a nearby town. We amused ourselves along the way by counting the motorcycles carrying ridiculously large baskets. Cambodians use motorcycles the way Canadians use trucks. Kompot is only slight less sleepy that Kep. It too has the feel of a decaying colonial town, and there is a beautiful broad river flowing through the center of town spanned by a rusting metal bridge. There’s a decrepit market by the river and the riverside is lined with restaurants and guesthouses.
For dinners, we feasted on seafood for which Kep is famous. Zach and Jacob really liked it. It was fund to watch the kids munch the crab meat with their eyes popping out. Even Galuh who doesn’t eat seafood much enjoyed it.
One day, we took a boat over to Rabbit Island across from Kep beach. This was Jacob’s first time on a boat. The island is a big forest-covered rock in the sea surrounded by a sandy beach dotted by palm trees. Up and down the beach, residents have set up bamboo platforms and hammocks for the tourists. There are big inner tubes available for floating around. The water is warm and calm. The shallow water stretches out 20-30 meters from the beach. There are little huts for those who want to spend the night.
In the first ten minutes of swimming Jacob was stung by a jellyfish. He had these nasty welts on his left arm, left knee and chin. I never saw the jellyfish so it could have been dead tentacles that were floating around. These can still sting if separated from the jellyfish. I got some ice and applied it to his welts which relieved the pain somewhat. Still Jacob was pretty miserable for a couple of hours, whining and crying. But eventually the welts disappeared and a smile returned to his face.
We ate some more great fried crab taken straight from a bamboo cage floating in the sea by the beach. A man from the little restaurant which “managed” our spot on the beach waded out into the sea to retrieve 7-8 little crabs still click and clacking. These were fried up in a yummy sauce. We devoured them quickly. Yum!
We joined the throngs of Cambodian Celebrating King Sihamoni's birthday in front of the palace this evening with fireworks exploding overhead.
On Saturday we went out trick or treating. Because of only foreigners gave out candy for Halloween, we were taking a tuk-tuk (motorcyle rickshaw)from house to Halloween house. Suddently, my purse snatched by two thieves on the motorcycle who drove past our tuk-tuk and grabbed the purse as they went by. It took us totally by surpraise. I was shocked, traumatized, and upset. I lost passport, money, cell phone, credit cards, licences (both Indonesia and Cambodia), BCA account book and identity cards. Saturday night, I had to cancel all my credit cards.
By losing a passport, I had to renew my passport, Canadian visa, and Cambodian visa. On Sunday, I was depressed to face the Cambodian polices who did not want to give me a stamp on the robbery report which I really needed to process my new passport. I spent three hours in the police office without result. BUT lucky for me, just before left to the immigration office this Monday morning, there was a nice Cambodian man who found my passport on Sotheros Boulevard and returned it to me. I think the thieves did not need the passport and left it for someone to find it again.
Our friends, Brian and Anne, have been arranging Halloween Party in Phnom Penh for last four years. While Halloween is October 31, the party was on Saturday, 27 October for this year. Thanks to them who have arranged a Halloween Party for us, that was VERY great!!
The houses that gave out candy for the kids put a sign “Halloween House” on their gate. Some houses have decorated with pumpkins, scary pictures and lights (looked like a haunted house). Our house was also one of them even though we did not decorate our house.
I love a sunset. I love watching the beauty of the sun when disappears below the horizon in the west. The colour of the sun and the sky will turn into red and gold or orange and grey or other wonderful mixed-colours. The colours are very beautiful, soft and gentle like a lovers soft embrace ... (Galuh)
Below is a sunset at Jericho Beach in Vancouver:
this one is a sunset in Phnom Penh 
and another below is a sunset at English Bay Vancouver
