Road Trip!!! Our Arrival and First Week in Calgary

Our first week in Calgary was quite adventurous. You may have read in my last post that my Mom and I, along with Jaek and Chloe, drove from Houston all the way up to Calgary over 4 days stopping in Oklahoma City, Denver, Billings, and then into Calgary. It was a long drive of 9-10 hours each day with stops, but I am very thankful it was uneventful (no car problems, sickness, accidents, or issues at the border)

Zoo Crew all ready to go!

We left on Tuesday after the movers packed up our shipment from Houston of Stella's furniture and gifts and made it to Calgary on Friday around 5 pm. The movers had delivered everything on Thursday, so Kaes had been busy with a house full of boxes and where to put everything! The house is nice, but definitely doesn't have the amount of space we would like or need. I keep telling myself it is not forever and we can deal with it...also very thankful for a huge basement since that is where the majority of the boxes will be stored until our next move.

A very important pit stop ;)

After a busy first week, we decided we wanted to take a break and have some fun. Banff and Lake Louise are some of the most beautiful attractions in Alberta and are only 1.5 hours away from Calgary, so we took a short day trip there leaving early Saturday morning.

Lake Louise

Mom and I in front of Lake Louise - it is just breathtaking!

The Bow River that runs through Banff all the way to Calgary

I am still waiting for the next shipment to arrive and be delivered. The moving company says this Thursday and hopefully so. Mom will be here with me until Friday, so we will not have a whole lot of time to set up Stella's nursery.

I have my initial doctors appointment (32 weeks) here in Calgary on Friday and then Mom leaves that afternoon :( She has been such a huge help from the packing, moving, road trip with the zoo crew, all of the work getting the Calgary house in order and helping me prepare dinners to freeze for when Stella arrives. It has been a busy week, but I feel great about all the progress that has been made!

Thank you for all that you do! Love you Mom!!! XOXO

It's Official - We are {FINALLY} Moving!!!

Next stop....Calgary!!!

4 hours flying time from Houston to Calgary

We are so excited to finally be able to say we will be relocating to Calgary, Alberta, Canada this summer!!! I have waited {very} patiently for the day to finally come to say we can move out of Malaysia!!!

I firmly believe we will be in for a rude awakening with the very cold winters in Calgary as well as the cold temperatures throughout the year, but it could always be worse...it will definitely take some getting used to since we have lived in either Houston or the tropics our whole lives! Jaek and Chloe won't know what to think!!!

Kaes will have a new assignment in Calgary for 2-3 years initially. FMC Technologies bought a company called Pure Energy (now FMC Completions Services) and it is currently based in Calgary with U.S. headquarters in Denver. We are open to whatever timing is needed; just thrilled to be much closer to friends and family.

I'm planning to come back to Houston mid June while Kaes stays longer in KL to finish up his current assignment then come to Houston mid August. We would then go to Calgary to move into our house, hopefully receive our furniture, and start getting settled in. This also happens to be the most beautiful {and warmest} time of year. It will be perfect for us to ease into the frigid temperatures in winter. Kaes will likely start work in Calgary mid August which will give us {hopefully} about 6-7 weeks before the baby arrives in early/mid October.

My last days with FMC will be mid June before I head to Houston. I have been there 7 years and have had wonderful experiences in all 5 locations that we worked in. It will be bittersweet to leave, but as they say, when one door closes, another door will open.

A lot of changes are happening with our family that we are really excited to share and look forward to experiencing in a new country. It will be a busy next 5 months, but in the end, we know it will all work out for the best and we cannot wait to start a new adventure in a new country!

Halfway Around the World...My Trip to Houston via Beijing and Vancouver

After a 5 hour flight to Singapore, a 6 hour flight to Beijing, a 12 hour layover in Beijing, a 12 hour flight to Vancouver, a 12 hour layover in Vancouver, and a last 4 hour flight, I finally made it to Houston! Only 50 hours of travel time!!!

My journey began as I left Perth on Wednesday afternoon (Perth time) 30 June. I first flew to Singapore on a 5 hour flight, then had about 3 hours to spare before my flight to Beijing. What does one do when they have time to spare in the Singapore Airport??? You go to a Fish Spa!!!

The Fish Spa is a type of spa where a type of Turkish fish (with no teeth) suck the dead skin from your feet, legs and anything else you put in the bath to help with blood circulation and put you in a relaxed state. It was quite an odd sensation at first and I had to get over the mental anxiety of fish swarming my legs, but after the initial shock wore off, it was quite nice. After about an hour it was time to head to the gate, China bound!

Fish Spa in Singapore

Note: NEVER fly Air China! Old planes, no TV’s, and bad food. Luckily I was exhausted and slept the majority of the flight and when I woke up, it was time to land. I have to say I am a bit spoiled as well flying Singapore Airlines most of the time. The service and staff are so nice, you forget how nice you have it until you end up on another airline that doesn’t take hospitality as serious as Sing Air.

Beijing
Best of: Seeing the Forbidden City, visiting a silk factory and experiencing a traditional Chinese tea tasting

Worst of: The cloudy and rainy weather

My first trip to China was welcomed by hot, humid weather. Oh how I don’t miss those balmy Singapore days or the August summers in Houston. Luckily, it was overcast so the heat wasn’t as bad as it could have been. I met up with my English speaking tour guide Anly and we headed off to Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City in downtown Beijing. Tiananmen Square was massive having two large LED screens in the center of the square to show the World Cup. The square is between the Parliament building and the Forbidden City.

In front of Forbidden City

The Forbidden City was the Chinese imperial palace from the Ming Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty. It is located in the middle of Beijing, China, and now houses the Palace Museum. For almost five hundred years, it served as the home of emperors and their households, as well as the ceremonial and political centre of Chinese government.The Forbidden City is one of Beijing’s largest landmarks and in 1987 was declared a UNESCO Heritage sites.

Next we visited a traditional Chinese tea house to understand the proper way to drink tea and the different types of tea that are found in China. China is known to have the longest history of tea dating back more than 3,000 years ago. I tried Jasmine, Lychee with Rose, Black tea, and Oolong Tea. Some tea has been “aging” for over 100 years. There is fruit tea and handmade tea with Jasmine leaves rolled into a tight ball that after sit in hot water, open to a beautiful flower that can be used as decoration for 7 days or longer after you enjoy the flavor of the tea.

The last main site was of the Temple of Heaven (above) The complex was visited by the Emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties for annual ceremonies of prayer to Heaven for good harvest. It is regarded as a Taoist temple, although Chinese Heaven worship, especially by the reigning monarch of the day, pre-dates Taoism. It was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1998 and was described as "a masterpiece of architecture and landscape design which simply and graphically illustrates a cosmogony of great importance for the evolution of one of the world’s great civilizations.

You quickly forget how long 12 hour flights are when you haven’t flown them in several months...this is also where I vouch to not get on a plane anytime soon; only to realize I have to get back home...

Vancouver

Best of: Seeing some of the country's celebrations for Canada Day (Independence Day)

Worst of: Being exhausted!

I landed in Vancouver on Thursday, 1 July 2010 which happened to be Canada Day; which is our version of the 4th of July. Parades and celebrations were under way with Canadians enjoying the beautiful weather. During the summer months in Vancouver, the sun doesn’t set until around 9:30 at night, giving them 16 hours of sunlight. It was perfect for me to be able to not only enjoy the nice weather, but to have plenty of sunshine to make up for the bad weather in Beijing!

My first stop was to Granville Island. The Island is actually a peninsula on the northern tip of Vancouver, not far from the city. The island is known for the famous market with heaps of restaurants, bars, and shopping or great places just to sit out on a bench to enjoy the scenery.

View of Granville Island Markets from an overhead bridge

After grabbing lunch at The Sandbar Seafood Restaurant and spending a few hours walking around, I decided to head off to Stanley Park, just a few more miles northwest.

Stanley Park is a huge park with ponds, lakes and outdoor activities to see and do.

A lake at Stanley Park

Below is a picture of handmade totem poles in Stanley Park.

Just as I was about to leave, I caught this beautiful picture of the sun setting over one of the lakes at the entrance of Stanley Park.

Last stop, Houston!!!