Journey with You

For the past few days in Montreal, we’d been rushing from one place to another. We decided to take it easy today and took our time to visit Mont Royal Park, where city people spent their weekends and where you get a nice overlook of the city.

One can take the bus to the park from Mont Royal station but we decided to walk from Peel station. It took us about 15 minutes from the Metro station to the bottom of the mountain. The way up wasn’t long distance-wise but it took longer when you have a little one on your back. By the time we get to the lake it’s already two o’clock in the afternoon. We fed Cyrus some snacks and grownups got to go to the washroom.

From there to where the view was was a breeze. The view of the city was fantastic, probably only even better at night. I wish we could have stayed longer.

We went to Chinatown for dinner. Chinatown located just outside Old Montreal and is about 5 minutes walk from Place dArmes station. After dinner we went to Old Port again. This time we simply took it easy and let Cyrus run and play as he liked.

Last day, I didn’t feel leaving. However, the trip was over and it was time to go home. We took a more scenic route home, the one runs along the St. Lawrence River. We stopped at the Thousand Island Region and had some snacks. Cyrus got to admire the river, play with the sand, and chase the seagulls for a while.

After this trip, Toronto is nothing special anymore. I am hoping to visit the beautiful Montreal not too long from now.

We headed to BioDome on the third day. It’s one of my favorite spots in Montreal. The BioDome is located right in the Parc Olympic, where the 1976 Olympic Games was held.

The BioDome is not huge but has a very special architectural design. It recreates some of the most beautiful ecosystems of the Americas, from tropical to antarctic. Birds are all over the place, they may be flying over your head or even walk right by you. Monkeys are jumping from tree to tree and sometimes hard to find. They have a huge fish tank with various fish in it as well as bird diving to find food. Cyrus was amazed by the place and he got the first chance to look at a penguin very closely!

After BioDome, we were going to explore more in the Parc Olympic but Cyrus only napped less than half an hour in the carrier so we decided to head back to the hotel. We all had a nap in the hotel. By the time we woke up it’s already six o’clock. We rushed out to the Metro station in order to catch the last show in English at the Planetarium.

That was Cyrus’ first time being in such a dark place (other than bedtime at home). He was doing very well. He kept pointing at the stars on the screen and called out “moon moon”. He also tried to get very close to my face, like he was trying to see my face in the darkness and thought that was fun. When he heard another baby crying among the audience. He said “baby cry”. The planetarium wasn’t as big as I was hoping for but it was a nice experience after all.

It was a very nice day until we had our dinner at another Italian restaurant. The food was okay but DH and I both got sick when we got to the hotel. I was having diarrhea all night and didn’t get much sleep. What could be even worse than getting sick on a trip?

Even though we didn’t get back to the hotel until fairly late, way past Cyrus’ bedtime, I was so surprised to see Cyrus very cooperate in the crib. I read him a few stories and put him in the crib. He didn’t fall asleep right away but he wasn’t fussing either.

Next morning we had the breakfast at the hotel. It was an okay breakfast. I like the hotel, its location and staff. But I wouldn’t recommend having the breakfast there. Everyday was the same and the fruit seemed old and taste funny.

We headed down to old Montreal today. But before that, we took a detour to buy our Museum/Metro pass. That pass was such a life savor. It’s good for three days and covers almost twenty museums in the Greater Montreal area. It makes life so much easier. I strongly recommend if you are staying in Montreal for more than three days and you are planning on visiting a few museums.

In old Montreal, we saw some really beautiful buildings, nice little streets full with people, vendors, performers, and shops. It reminded me Quebec City. We also saw the beautiful Old Port. Notre Dame Church wasn’t as impressive as I thought but could still be counted into the highlights. It’s not free either. Who would know that you need to pay to go into a church!?

We then took a ferry going to the Biosphere on a little island. This was the first Cyrus being on a boat. He was very excited. The island is a park basically and I think it’s much nicer than the Toronto island. There are more tree and there is a Metro station, which makes it so easy to go. Biosphere itself is not huge but very interesting and inspiring. Be sure to see the little movie and take the elevator to the very top! Cyrus also saw two gophers in the park.

It was late again when we got back to the neighborhood near our hotel. We decided to look for something to eat on St. Cathrine, a street full of different restaurants. There are many Vietnamese/Asian noodle shops as well as Thai, Japanese, Italian, French cousins.

We decided to go with Thai food tonight and it was a little bit disappointing. It took them forever to seat us even though there was barely anyone there. The portion was small and it wasn’t spicy enough for me. The Thai restaurants in Buffalo can easily get it beat.

My parents came to visit us for a couple weeks. Cyrus’ last day at the daycare was June 27th. I took the day off so we could leave for NJ around noon. The daycare was having a picnic with all families in the evening. I wish we could go but I decided it’s my parents that were more important to Cyrus. I felt sad about the daycare’s closing and I did like the place and the owners. It was a shame that we couldn’t make it to the picnic. I guess it’s just how life is: you can’t be at two places at the same time. They did give us a group photo they took and that was nice. I’ll miss them all.

It was about 7 hours drive to my aunt’s house in NJ but the traffic got a little bad in Pennsylvania. A lot of constructions and a lot of trucks. We didn’t get there until almost 9pm. My parents were so thrilled to see us, especially Cyrus.

Though Cyrus saw my parents via webcam regularly, I didn’t know how much he really understood the whole thing. When we first arrived, he was very shy and all he wanted was me holding him. He got over it fairly quickly and started going back to his normal self, laughing and playing.

We stayed there on Saturday and drove back home on Sunday. It was so tiring to drive such a long distance in such a long time! But I had an important appointment downtown Monday morning thus we didn’t have a choice.

We left the house again over the July 4th holiday weekend for Montreal. My parents and I had never been there so I was very excited. I haven’t taken a road trip with my parents for a few years. It felt great to travel with them again.

After driving to NJ, the drive to Montreal wasn’t too bad. They are about the same distance from my house and the traffic was pretty reasonable on the way to Montreal. We left around nine o’clock int the morning and arrived in Montreal at around 4pm. Thanks to long summer day light, we still got to take a little rest and headed out.

View from our room:

The lady working at the hotel was very helpful and offered us some nice suggestions in terms of where to eat and what to see and how to get around. We had a nice dinner at this little Italian restaurant. Our waitress was FANTASTIC! She gave Cyrus some crayons and papers and she was very tentative to our needs. No complains or aggravation, always smiling. We’re so lucky!

Flying time from Taipei to US is shorter. We departed at dinnertime so I thought Cyrus would be able to sleep most of the time. He didn’t. Before we arrived at Seattle, he only slept for 3 hours. I wanted to let him cry to sleep in the car seat. However, the mother next to us couldn’t stand Cyrus’ crying and insisted me “do something”. I was closing my eyes and she shook my pillow. “Your baby is crying,” she said. I said, “that’s how he is before he falls asleep.” She obviously didn’t believe and said “maybe his paper(diaper) is dirty.” Well, I did change him and it didn’t matter. I ended up holding him in my arms until he was too tired to stay awake. I felt going nuts.

On the way to get my checked in luggage out to go through customs, the only elevator was broken. I was in line with a bunch of passengers needed wheelchair. I needed to get back to the gate and the time was running out. I decided to make several trips downstairs, carrying Cyrus in the car seat, my carry-on, diaper bag, and the stroller. Thanks to a custom guy helping me with my almost-30kgs-luggage, I went through customs without any hassle.
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