The Ceremony

It's finally here!

Aunt Catherine and Uncle Zech's magnificent wedding ceremony in Singapore is documented beautifully in the above highlight clip.

The bride was stunning, the groom handsome, and of course the little ones did their best to play their part.

The girls make their entrance at 3:19 in the video. Sister C-bao led off the procession, striding resolutely down the aisle without bothering to dispense too many petals, as if late for an appointment. K-bao, on the other hand, took her time, solemnly and gracefully.

In between them was a young lad, a relation of WZ Shu-Shu's, whose gleeful, clearly intentional pitches of the ring pillow was more than made up for by sheer adorableness. And of course, stately Cousin Elizabeth made up the rear, ushering her young cousins ahead.

The bridesmaids then made their appearance, with Matron of Honor Da Goo-Goo (Aunt Esther) finally preceding the bride.

All three young ladies were beautiful in their flowing white gowns. In all, a fantastic experience for young K-bao and her sister.

Below is the original invitation from Xiao Goo-Goo from many months ago:

Family time

K-bao got to catch up with quite a few family members in Singapore. Here she shares a laugh with K-Grandmum and some other women in the family. 

The group took a quick day trip to the wonderful Gardens by the Bay, which was not only beautiful, but beautifully air-conditioned.

Here are the various granddaughters on the same trip, huddled around K-Grandmum and having a good time.



One of the best meals of the trip for our little epicurean was the brunch buffet with K-Grandpop & K-Grandmum at the St. Regis. As usual, K-bao's eyes were several times bigger than her stomach, as she wandered around excitedly from station to station, collecting plate after plate.

Below is the last evening with the always-popular Shu-Shu (a.k.a. Uncle James). This expression on his face is pretty typical of his interactions with the little ones (see, for example, here), as he is usually fending off some overexpressive advances by his little nieces.

And of course, the star of the show, Xiao Goo-Goo (Aunt Catherine). Here K-bao and C-bao, along with cousin Elizabeth, are being hosted by WZ Shu-Shu's family on the eve of the big day.

She also saw Da Goo-Goo (Aunt Esther) just about every day, but didn't get as many pics with her.

Reunion

A family reunion for the ages!

Looking at this picture it doesn't necessarily seem like it would be that difficult to get everybody together...yet given the geographic dispersion it is a rare occasion indeed when everyone across the 3 generations is in one place.

Cousin Elizabeth

In a surprise turn of events last week in Taiwan, K-bao got to see her Aunt Esther (Da Goo-Goo), Uncle Ying-On and most importantly her Cousin Elizabeth (aka Rong-bao).

The two cousins, who hadn't seen each other for over three years other than through the occasional Skype / iPhone Facetime, immediately bonded. They compared notes on recent accomplishments, took over Xiao Goo-Goo's iPad to play games, got into mischief together and exchanged plenty of hugs.

Here is how they've grown over the years:

When it was finally time for K-bao to say goodbye to Taiwan, she refused to leave her cousin Rong-bao's side. Her first instinct was, predictably, defiance: "I am NOT leaving Taiwan! I am staying here in Taiwan with Rong-Rong forever!" Her second instinct was avoidance: she grabbed her cousin to find a place to hide out until those pesky parents left without her.

Taiwan!

K-bao is back from her first ever trip to Taiwan to see the birthplace of her parents. There she ingratiated herself further with K-Grandpops and K-Grandmum, completely took over Xiao Goo-Goo's (Aunt Catherine) schedule - not to mention iPad - without permission, and cavorted shamelessly with Shu-Shu (Uncle James). In the last few days, in a pleasant surprise, she also managed to see Da Goo-Goo and family, including Cousin Elizabeth, as will be detailed separately. All in all a great trip, and worth several posts.

Here she is at SFO about to board and enjoying a moment with EVA Air's cardboard cutout air stewardess.

The entire trip was filled with hugs and more hugs. Here are a few with the K-grandfolks, as well as K-Great-Grandmum (on the paternal-maternal side), whom she met for the first time, and who by the grace of our Lord is still well at age 98.

More to come!

Cousins Redux

Aunty Esther (Da Goo Goo) and Cousin Elizabeth came to visit for a few days last weekend. A prodigy who is on her third language before the age of three, Elizabeth alternated between curiosity and fright as K-bao barged recklessly around the house, inserting herself into everyone's business. Here you see the cousins sharing a hug on the Hu family rocker, as well as some Barney time on the couch.

It was amazing for the respective parents to see how much the little ones on the other side had grown since the last visit.

Cousins

K-bao got to meet Cousin Elizabeth, who is almost 2, last week at the house of Da Goo Goo (Aunt Esther) and Da Goo Chan (Uncle Ying-on).

Cousin Elizabeth is unbelievably precocious and normally runs around like a steam locomotive, but demonstrated empathy for her infant cousin by lying on the mat with her and Pompous the 'Po, asking to play in the little exersaucer she hadn't had occasion to use for a year (she had to do it on her knees because her legs are now too long), introducing her to Disney's Mulan six times in three days, and taking K-bao into her lap every now and again. Good times by all.