photo-blog: trip to Ottawa

i'm behind on my photo organizing. i still have to upload photos from easter! but some how, last night through heavy eye lids and multitudes of yawns, i was able to load the 100-plus photos up to my flickr account. some of my faves are below:

so here's the popuar by-ward market. i must say, the hotel we chose was in perfect distance to the market. all we had to do was take a three minute stroll and we were there.

this gave us ample chances of munching down on the plethora of freshly baked pastries (best croissants i've ever had from this area) as well as candied-apples and chocolate covered strawberries.

plus, the jewellery shopping was almost too much for me! i found a store, inside, that catered to all the local jewellery artists. yes, i splurged. i bought two necklaces, two pairs of ear rings and a ring (which i'm wearing pretty much everyday that i go out). the total was probably close to $200 but i love it. especially the pieces that are unique. each piece was hand-made.

we did have to laugh at the obama cut-out boards hanging around various shops. one had a sign attached to it - "GET YOUR OBAMA COOKIES HERE!" when i looked at the cookies, they were simply sugar cookies cut in the shape of a maple leaf with red icing on top. i asked doug, "what makes these obama cookies?" his response was, "he ate them while he was here." i should have known.

 

the aviation museum was what got us started on planning this trip. especially as my friend, yvonne, was a key player in the design of a permanent exhibit showcasing the different era's of how aviation in canada has played a major contender in shaping our country. secondly, and as equally important, my friend, hoa, had his story chosen of how he arrived here in canada. above is a photo of him and his father back in vietnam and then of his entire family when they first arrived here in canada.

i have to admit, while listening to the narrator recite his story, i was in tears. i've heard the story before but it was so different hearing it again in middle of such a huge hanger with all these aircrafts around us.

the museum was incredible. it was basically a huge hanger/warehouse with the actual planes inside. the size and quantity was almost unreal.

plus, chaeli had fun too!

she didn't get how awesome it was to be surrounded by all those artifacts but she was very happy to get a chance to climb into some of the displays meant for kids.

 

i had some fun playing too... one thing about the aviation museum is that you can focus on metal as your subject for photography. once again, i practiced with my manual setting. it's difficult to get it the way i want with poor lighting but i think i was able to get a few good shots.

the next day was a toss-up between the national art gallery and the museum of natural science.

i decided for everyone to do the latter. while my heart was aching to go see the art gallery (i loved it the first time i went), i knew it wouldn't be as much fun for chaeli. and while she thought the aviation museum was neat, it wasn't really as functional for young ones as compared to a museum with dinasour fossils, geared towards kids.

chaeli had a blast! and to be honest, we had fun with her because a lot of the ativities involved parents playing games with their children - and all of it was educational too! my favourite was playing snakes and ladders from the perspective of a bird's life. even doug and i learned some neat facts!

it was a great family trip. one we hope to do again in the future.