day 10 chinatown

we met up with jp's uncle vincent and auntie at chinatown for lunch. the taxi ride there was hot. i again almost fainted cause the driver was blasting the heater and we were all wearing heavy coats.
uncle vincent's health gotten worst and he is not longer working and walking with a cane. auntie still looks the same and a very funny lady.
barely anyone wanted to eat. i was hungry, but i didn't know what they want to eat. we ordered only several dim sum at the yum cha place. and then jp ordered a huge fish (5 pounds) cooked in two styles ... a part was made into a sour soup with pineapples (the first time i had soup with pineapple) and the second part made into steam fish which was really good.
franck came late because he thought we were meeting for dinner. he was drawing his comic all night and we woke him up to come out for lunch.
the chinese restaurant was probably the worst one in service. there was only one guy the captain working and the rest were asleep. we requested hot water for tea but no one came by to even look to see if we needed anything. the guys in their red vests were suppose to be the one clearing up the table and serving. at least the captain apologized cause he was working like a dog.
uncle vincent insisted and bought us some cakes from a little pastry shop on the way to catch a taxi. he bought us christmas logs and millefolies. the millefolies were so good. i can say that it is probably the best pastry i ever had on this trip by far in its kind.
getting a taxi ride in chinatown was terrible. we were standing in the cold at the taxi station with probably 10 taxis parked there and no drivers in their taxis. apparently that taxi station is a rest stop for drivers to get their lunch and errands done. one driver even declined our business, but then offered someone else a ride and he didn't even ask us where we were headed. franck then called up his super fast taxi number and one came in no time in just 5 minutes. the taxi number was given to him from a colleague while working at IBM.
the taxi driver was so nice and his taxi was clean and organized. jp chatted with him throughout our ride. and he is a traveller himself. he is independent and he gets to choose his time off and he usually takes 2 months at a time off a year to travel.
i was pooped getting back to the hotel, but baby was not cause he slept during the taxi ride.