One of the fondest memories I have is of visiting Niagara Falls in 1940 with my father, from whom I had been separated for many years. He was working in a laundry in the United States while the rest of our family was still in China. Our 10-hour bus ride from New York City to Niagara Falls was the first pleasure trip I ever took in the United States. It was probably then that I was bitten by the travel bug.

As a teenager, I was completely overwhelmed by the majestic beauty of the falls. I never forgot it. Years later, I took my own small children to Niagara Falls. It has also become one of their favorite trips of all time.

Then a few weeks ago, my daughter surprised my wife and me with yet another trip to Niagara Falls. We all had nostalgic feelings about the place ... it was a lot of fun seeing how different it was from 35 years ago. With all the new entertainment areas and hotels, it was almost unrecognizable!

As I'm writing this, we are doing the second leg of our trip after seeing Niagara Falls. We drove 2 hours away to Toronto, Canada and have been exploring the suburbs in search of delicious food -- high-end or low-end, we have been enjoying it all. We are so lucky to have friends who generously shared their resources with us, namely Jose, Loretta, Kai, Annie, Alvin, Gwen and Mandy. I dedicate this gallery to them.

-- F.S. Lee, April 27, 2004