Nite out with Dad

Today, I spent the day with my family, both parents (separate times), brother and daughter. I spent the afternoon with my mom and helped her with her errands. We went into Chinatown to pick up a box (60 little boxes) of shrimp chips for Auntie Cece. This would be the second time we went into this warehouse to buy shrimp chips for her (in one week!), the warehouse guy is really nice and assisted with putting the box into the trunk. After the warehouse, we headed over to a cafe to have a tea and snack, we also stopped in the Dollar Store to pick up some dollar items (I needed a birthday card). Once we were done with our errands, I headed home to pick up Kay cos I promised I would drive her to Super-Bored on West 4th so she could pick up a Doraemon t-shirt by WrongWroks (a local designer) and I could not help but pick up this limited edition Hello Kitty shirt by StayReal (Tawianese designers, Ashin & NO2GOOD), they have some really cool shirts like this bunny shirt. Kay actually went in for a Sponge Bob t-shirt but we didn't really like it, it was way too yellow and she tried on a Doraemon black/white mini polka dots t-shirt but didn't like the way it felt (I didn't like the way it looked). I choose the above t-shirt for her cos I thought it looked way cuter than the other two she picked and she ended up purchasing this one. She can thank her dad for it, he sent her school clothes money and this is one of the items she used her money for. The girls in the boutique were really helpful and altho the store front was small, they had all the sizes in the back plus the manager threw in a couple of Hello Kitty soft key chains cos she found out what a HK addict I was! Once we were done, we headed off to Richmond to see my dad as we won't see him until 2011 cos there is an emergency in Hong Kong. Our uncle died suddenly from blood loss caused by a major stroke. I'm saddened as I have not seen this uncle in many many years and my father is losing his brothers, one by one. My dad is not in the best shape to be traveling or taking care of his other younger brother who has had 2 mini strokes and is confined in a wheelchair. But my father is insisting he needs to stay in HK longer (considers not coming back until my other uncle passes) even tho my father has his own health issues. I understand that he needs to be with his family and he is the eldest brother but it still worries me. Who's going to look after him? We (minus the lady and her son) headed over to Green Lemongrass restaurant on Westminster for some dinner and to discuss what needs to be taken care of while my father is away. The viet food here is pretty good and the menu has a variety of options, a nice, clean and friendly environment. After dinner, we headed over to London Drugs cos my dad needed to pick up a mouth mask for his plane ride to HK, being cautious of the H1N1. He will be on the plane for 12 hours and with the air being circulated for that long without any fresh air, it is a bit worrisome. While in LD, I bumped into Cho and Susanna whom I haven't seen since Jes & B's wedding in August and even then, I really didn't get to catch up with them much. We chatted for a bit and as always, said let's get together, arrange a lunch or dinner with everyone. It's funny how we all say that but in reality it is so hard to get together cos everyone is so busy. It was nice seeing them and they are good peeps. After LD, we headed back over to dad's place to help him pack and spent a little more time with him. He seemed really drained and emotional about this trip and I think my uncle's death has taken quite a toll on him. He and his brother were very close, probably the closest ones in all the siblings. Before Kay and I headed home, we stopped at Well Tea to pick up BBT cos I really wanted to try it and Kay really deserved it. She and my brother both canceled their plans to spend my dad's last nite in Vancouver. I hope my dad will be alright, I feel like one of us (either myself or my brother) should go with him on this trip.