Weifen's Wedding, Day Three

Day three is Weifen and her family's day; yesterday was Jimmy's family's, and was the official side of the wedding, but today is significant - this is the day, (in Weifen's heart) when she no longer is a daughter, but now is a wife; this is the day her tie to her mother is cut, and the join is now with her husband instead... 

We began with more tea ceremonies, this one to honour the people in her life she felt made a significant impact.

The newlyweds serve tea; the first offering goes to their god, the rest to the person being honoured. You see this in the video.        

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       Imagine, if you can, how absolutely stunned Dean and I were when Weifen and Jimmy asked us to come sit and be honoured, accepting tea from them; my heart was moved to (silent) tears.   Oh my word... what a special honour indeed.

Now to move on to Weifen's family reception, at a different "restaurant", which also looks suspiciously like a large ball/conference room, set up for those 1200 of Weifen's family and closest friends. Also very elegant.

Was soooo nice to see, and catch up with some of my own students from Singapore - Carmen! 💕💗💕
So beautiful, and she is a mommy now! Darling little, (lucky) girl - she will have the best mommy ever.  😊









Look: here comes the bride! ❤❤❤
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Earlier that morning, when Weifen and I were having one of our personal chats, she confided that she did not feel she had the strength to make it through this day; that she had some speeches she had to make - how could she do them without breaking down?!!   I think we all know this feeling...

I assured her, if she felt she did not have the strength to continue, all she had to do was look at me, and I would send her strength; I would be her strength if needed me to, (this meant I could not cry... oh dear).






Mom and Dad brought Weifen down the isle, with her veil back off her face- when they got to the steps they kissed her, and her mom pulled the veil up over her face; perhaps signifying the closing of Weifen's position as daughter?   
Weifen searched desperately for strength - our eyes locked.

This is when Jimmy stepped up to her, moving the veil back off her face; perhaps to signify the beginning of her new role as wife?
Our eyes locked.

The beginning of their relationship as a married couple, (and of course still friends!!!  😉).





















I promised to be strong, and made sure I was always where I could be seen in case (when) she needed strength vibes.











I shared as many as needed, whenever needed, keeping a few extra tucked away just in case...
Oh my word, I was certainly exhausted by the end of the evening.

Who knew being strong could be so tiring - physically and emotionally?!!  *whew

Stunning bride, and she did an amazing job with her role in "the performance";   the directors must be proud, I know I am - beautifully done Weifen! 💖

At the finish of the ceremony, they were followed out by a group of lantern carriers - there were quite a few, but I only caught a couple of them.

The final day was relaxing before the driver came and took us (yes, we had a driver the whole time we were there!) to Weifen's family "property", which is a little piece of land (in the middle of town it felt) where they have a small farm, of sorts. I love it! 😛




Weifen's mom wanted to have a meal with Dean and I, Jimmy and Weifen, as well as Sandra and Herve who taught in Singapore also.








This property has a pond/lake, with fresh fish - really fresh!          ⬋
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And - TREE CHICKENS!
Only found in China...
😹😹😹

I love the tree chickens.

Oh my word, it was SO good to see Weifen, and to know that she is will be strong and amazing in her new role; also to know she now understands that she will always be her mothers daughter; nothing and nobody can take that away!!
Forever and for always.

































It was also good to see and meet Jimmy; to get to know him, just a little, in the very short time we had together.

I wish for you both absolute happiness, as lovers and as friends - always as friends!
Hold eac hother colse.

 

Meeting Weifen's mom was also a very special moment - one I will always hold close to my heart;
she is my new heart-friend.  ♡♡♡ 




























It was also nice to connect with a friend/ former colleague!

Oh my word, Sandra that was SO wonderful!!

Now it is time to leave China behind, and head back to Canada.

We arrived on a smoggy day, and left on a smoggy day; however every day in between was beautiful!


What a wonderful, amazing, once-in-a-lifetime experience.
Thank you for including us in your special performance
Weifen & Jimmy.

Just for shits and giggles, how is your counting abilities?

Just glad we were on the 29th floor, and not the 24th, or 18th, or...
Hmm, counting is not someone's strength! 😹

Australia

Wondering who lent these guys smart phones? 

It is nice when, seeing how they are not allowed to own anything, they have these devices to record their trip around the world; I see these brightly clad gentlemen everywhere, enjoying the beauty, 

just as I am.  😍

They look happy.

Back on the ferry, heading across to Manley Beach for a hike with a couple of friends this time, you really do get a good view of the famous Sydney Opera House. 

As well as the Sydney Harbour Bridge, and the size of the Sydney Harbour itself.

Was choppy, and windy - which is not very conducive to picture taking...

❤ ❤ ❤

I love lighthouses!

❤ ❤ ❤

In a previous post, I mentioned Shark Island, the island the worst prisoners were sent to years ago.

This gives you a different vantage point of the island; once again, showing why it was named Shark Island, and why the prisoners never tried to escape this prison.

Yikes.    🦈  🦈  🦈

The cliffs are so beautiful, looking across at them from afar, or hiking them right up close and personal.  

The colours are all so vibrant; breathtakingly stunning. 

Australia's Beautiful Beach of Manly

Angela and I boarded a ferry, which took us to the beautiful Northern Beach of Manly, where we visited twice actually: once to just enjoy the beauty and a nice leisurely lunch together, shortly after my arrival in Australia; secondly to go for a fantastic 10k walk with a couple of friends.

On the way across I spotted a submarine rising out of the water. Turns out it was a Navel Sub, which only comes into the area a few times a year - or so I heard? 

The cliffs, here and there, were very beautiful.

The colour of the sky and water were more vibrant and breathtaking than they appear in the photos; in fact, the photos are not very good, and definitely do not do justice!

When we arrived at the dock, I noticed that quite a number of the seagulls had flown over to greet us...

Quite a large number perhaps?!

Ah seagulls, they are everywhere.

The beach was absolutely beautiful, and not too busy on this, (not a weekend) day.  😎

The lifeguards were busily chatting patroling the beach, doing what lifeguards do: guarding lives.










Guarding lives against these bad-boys!  ↘



 The Blue Bottle, 
Pacific Man o'War,
are often washed up, unfortunately,  in the summertime.
These little buggers belong to the anemone family, and can inflict a nasty sting with their super long tail, (which you can not see in the photo, sorry); the toxins injected from the sting are not typically harmful to humans, but hurt like crazy - 👀
so run away!

While walking along the beachfront, we came across a group of Chinese ladies doing some ceremonial dance of sorts.

Was kinda fun, a little out of place, but whatever, they were enjoying themselves.  😊

♡ Beautiful beach, beautiful day, beautiful visit!  ♡

Australia, walkabouts.

Now for a couple more historical buildings and some of my fun experiences, as I went on my walkabouts here and there around Sydney - sometimes on my own, often with my wonderful tour guide, Angela.

No pigeons, (or seagulls) in this post - just an ostrich  😜

This is a pub/hotel which first opened its doors Christmas eve, 1841, as Pyrmont's first licenced hotel. 

It changed hands a few times over the next 140 years, eventually becoming the property of  Citilease Property Group in 1984.

This new company/owner closed the doors, and the property was ignored for the next 30+ years; sitting empty, doing nothing.

The hotel/building is restored, remodelled somewhat, and reopened under new ownership, after all those years:
The Terminus.

I was there for the reopening, and went with Angela and a few of her friends for dinner and drinks in the back courtyard area. 

I love that they kept most of the original look and feel!  

Nicely done.

This building is located in an area called The Rocks.  It is a tourist and historic area in Sydney's city centre.

The Rocks became established shortly after the colony's formation in 1788 - 230 years ago!

The area was named according to the fact that most of the early homes were built out of local sandstone.

Very original. 😊

Perfect that some of the side "streets" are still cobblestone, with brick buildings!
I love brick.

Some of the old building are still used solely as homes,

while others are homes on the top level, and shops on the street level;
as perhaps they were years ago?

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(Look at this; who would not want to shop in a store with a sign like this?! Love it! 😁)

The first school in the area, located on Mount street, same as the school in this Pinterest photo, was opened in 1858. The actual schoolhouse was built/opened in 1892.

During the depression of the 1930's the building was used as a hostel for unemployed men, followed by use as Military Authorities camp accommodation.
It was then used as a college and training facility.
In 1993 the location was refurbished, retaining the original building/look, to provide community and childcare facilities, which continues today.

Sticking with history, it was interesting to come across a couple of monuments in memory of past soldiers - 

⤶ this one representing the first British soldiers who came in 1790;  a number of whom stayed, received land, and became self-sufficient farmers/merchants.

 Whereas, this second monument  ⤷  stands in a little square by the old schoolhouse shown above.  This memorial is in honour of the 750 local men who enlisted during WW1; all of whose names can be found listed on this memorial, topped by an angel of peace. 150 died, many more wounded. 

Nice remembrance pieces.

Now, come with me while I wander around the neighbourhood, camera in hand...

Warning - there will be flowers; many, many flowers.

And maybe a bug or two, of course.

If I wandered out Angela's apartment entrance, and around the corner, I soon discovered a secret park area.
(Angela told me...)
Nice.  😊

The area Angela's apartment building is located in used to be the Pyrmont Sandstone Quarry.
I also discovered they not only supplied sandstone locally but supplied it as far away as - Canada! 

That is a looooong way away; I know, I flew it -
and it took forever. 👀
Nice Aussies.  😉

Dean bought me a new camera, for underwater shooting, I thought I would see what it can do above water.

What better test than macro shots of flowers, of course?!

And bugs, naturally.

← Can you see him, peeking over the top of the light blue flower bud? Little bug.

What on earth is he looking at?...
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Whoa, what the heck:  ⇘

bug-sex!

Naughty peeping bug;

a little privacy here, seriously!

Bugga.

Bugs game: hide-and-... stay hidden.

⥢ These guys prefer their privacy.

Smart bugs.

Shoot yet but once; 

where is a person supposed to focus on this unit? 

So many stamens, so many petals...

Great flower!  ❤

No bugs here.  I am pleased with the macro definition in this shot. This is positive, meaning it should be good underwater also, I hope.
(once I figure it out)

⇠    I like this one also, however it was hard to get the focus just where I wanted it... nice result though.

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Lastly, an action shot. 

This train was moving, fast, away from me. 

Camera set on action - shoot.

Meh, not bad.

And of course, still more to come.