Christmas Flashback
The past four years saw me celebrate Christmas in various locations, much due to the fact that I took every opportunity I had to travel and see the world:
2001
I went on an Eastern Canada road trip with Hor Wai and Yiheng. I had my first taste of skiing at Mont Tremblant, and have been hooked to this wonderful sport since. The crowd at the youth hostel was great, and we had a fun time playing games during Christmas Eve.
2002
The highlight of the trip was a four-day stay in Tokyo. We were literally lost in translation, but we had lots of interesting and memorable experiences there. We figured since we have flown halfway around the world to the land of the rising sun, we might as well head back to Taipei. I spent Christmas Eve watching the Taipei countdown on TV at my sister’s apartment.
2003
I met up with Wan and together we went on a road trip that I aptly named Journey to the West. His uncle had graciously offered to put us up at his home during our stay in Vancouver. Thanks to the wonderful hospitality of Uncle Jimmy and Auntie Susan, I had my first real Christmas dinner, completed with a homemade log cake and a sumptuous spread of Christmas favourites.
2004
The original plan was to take a train to Winnipeg and drive all the way to Vancouver before taking a flight back to Toronto. But we realise it was just too much distance to cover by land in two weeks, and we decided to fly to Edmonton instead. Christmas Eve was spent in the touristy town of Banff, located in the Canadian Rockies. We spent the night in the majestic Banff Springs Hotel, with a price tag to match. Steve and I had to dig deep into our reserves just to keep up with the spending power of Howe and Weisiang; I probably ate more steaks during the two-week road trip than I had in my entire life.