pictures from Bonfante

Noah's first time getting to steer and paddle a boat. I had to do it all on my own since my co-captain was Benjamin.
Joanna, Natalie, Noah, and Calvin. This was definitely one of the favorite rides.
Noah and Natalie at the Splash Park. They really had fun together.

Noah's first sleep-over

Noah and I had a 'sleep-over' party at my sister Ashin's apartment in Berkeley. We all had a great time and got to sleep until 7:30am!

It made me kind of jealous that my little sister gets to enjoy such a life: living at the heart of the 'gourmet ghetto' (you can tell there are abundance of serious foodies there), walking around in a beautiful town infused with floral fragrance, surrounded by independant shops and cafes, saturated by mountains Buddhist and art-history texts (well this part I can skip, but the tranquil scholarly life of reading and writing and debating does have its appeal), having a yoga studio in every other street corner... the list goes on.

What puzzles me is: how do these people have the money to afford such life? The cafes, organic, free-range markets, eco-friendly boutiques, bakeries.. and life seems easy with casually-dressed walkers and bikers. I asked Ashin, who lives on a humble grad-student stipend, and she said she or her grad-school friends couldn't possibly afford eating out or buying things from the little boutiques. But, you can tell people are consuming, and stores and restaurants are booming rapidly, so, how do they make it?

One possibility is that it's simply a lifestyle choice. By forgoing a big house, big cars and the commute, the Berkeley people opt for small, older homes and bikes, with more time devoted to good food and the outdoor. But still it seems a little too nice to be affordable.

Noah declared that we had a sleepover at Ashin's "work" (not home), since, as he puts it: "Home is where puopuo (grandma) lives, and work is where Ashin lives". Cleve distinction, isn't it? Very Chinese--you are only "home" in your parents' house :)

Have you ever...?

Have you ever gotten up from bed in the morning and immediately be handed a pen and asked to draw a horse?

Have you ever had your hands in a slippery mango mess (trying to make mango yogert smoothie) and immediately jumped to grab a toddler on the verge of falling off a chair?

These were the two things I had to do at 5:30am this morning. Fun fun fun!

Bonfante Garden

(This is Paul, asked to write about our visit to Bonfante gardens.)

Yesterday we went with a group of friends to a [small children]'s amusement park in a lovely garden setting in Gilroy ("the garlic capital of the world!"). The kids had a great time and we enjoyed visiting and sharing a picnic lunch with everyone. Thanks to our friends Angela and Corey for inviting us on bring-a-guest-for-free day!

We learned that there's no point in going to a grandiose amusement park, since even in a moderate sized one, there's plenty to do. And the more things there are to do, the more pressure you get to do them, and so everyone is happier if there's not too much.

I didn't get to eat garlic fries, even though it was the garlic capital of the world, and the middle of the annual garlic festival. I did get to eat sticky rice wrapped in tofu with seasme seed, dried salmon, and seaweed.

We were pleasantly surprised that Ben was able to keep up with the program, enjoyed all of the rides, and was happy all day long (though groggy at the end). Of course he had no clue what was coming up next - it must have been strange: one minute he's in the stroller, the next he's in a swan boat, the next he's high in the air on a ferris wheel.

Noah's fascination with older women continued. He had a lot of fun sticking with his six year old friend Natalie. I think he likes them because he enjoys talking so much, and girls are in general better at talking and more inclined to do so.

On the way back, the boys were asleep so Sylvia and I visited In-and-Out Burger. I feel somewhat guilty eating meat with no basis for excuses (it's not "just a little for taste", like in much Chinese food, it's not organic/free range, like at Virginia's Elevation Burger; oh I've got one, the workers start out at $10 per hour. But maybe that's just a California law).

So: go to Bonfante gardens if you have small kids, or like gardens, and you'll have fun.

The heat wave

The past four days we have had record-high temperature in California. It was 103 even in the Peninsula. Given that the majority of the homes in the Bay Area do not have, and usually never need air conditioner, the heat was a real test of everyone's patience and endurance. While the heat didn't bother me too much personally, the effect of global warming and our consumption of energy concern and scare me. What does this climate change mean for our children and grandchildren? What will it take for us to wake up and think twice before consuming nature's resources?

Coincidentally, during the same weekend, I had a meeting at the local Tzu-chi Foundation office (for more information, please visit their site at http://www.tzuchi.org/GLOBAL/). While enjoying a nice vegetarian lunch, we were shown a DVD about the foundation's philosophy, spirituality and welfare services. Putting aside the amazing charity work they have done worldwide, their environmental activism really impressed and touched me. I was struck by the compassionate attitude and revence they hold towards the earth and all of its living beings, including plants, soil, and water. In practice, they put a lot of effort in doing recycling, avoiding disposable goods and waste, vegetarianism, and ecological architecture. (The gift we all received was a plastic cup with a lid, something they encourage us to carry with us to avoid using paper cups and water bottles.)

I was thinking, if some of us are reminded of this sense of compassion towards the earth, and reflect upon our daily lives in relation to global issue of nature's supply and demand, we should be able to slow down the energy consumption, global warming, and do a little less harm to the earth.

On the same weekend, the topic of air condition use came up a few times in family conversations. I was reminded why they say Americans consume some outrageously high percentage of the world's energy (greenhouse gases, chemical wastes.. I am not an environmal expert but I am sure we all would be dismayed by the statistics). Comparing my upbringing (or most people around the world) and the most of the suburban US, you can see how much more Americans seem to need and acquire. There's an idea that if you can afford it, you should be entitled to it. This sense of entitlement is perhaps one of the main driving forces to this endless consumption. If I am more comfortable at 68 degrees, that's going to be the temperature in my house as long as I can pay for it. If I can save 20 minutes by driving to work rather than taking public transportation, why wouldn't I drive? If buying another water bottle saves me from having to watch the old bottle and refill the water, why not spend just $1 on another bottle of water?

I am definitely guilty of this need for comfort and convenience, but these few days of unusual heat is clearly alarming: is it time for us to stop and re-evaluate our life style and think of a few small ways we can leave a little more for our children and for our earth?

Camping at Portola State Park

I am convinced that children belong to nature, and sadly are often kept away from it by modern life. This past weekend we went camping with friends (Angela, Corey, and their kids Natalie and Calvin, Noah's godparents Jade and Monchi, and Michael and Irene), and we all had a blast! Without any commercial toys, the four little ones just played on fallen tree trunks, toyed with sticks and rocks, went into the holes in old redwood trees, and ran around the campground. They hardly needed any adult attention! And without specific toys to argue over, they didn't even have a reason to fight! This is definitely the way to enjoy a vacation with small children--inexpensive, relaxing, and all-natural!!

The camping scene in northern CA is quite different from Shanendoah Park: it's very 'civilized' and comfortable, and the fellow campers hold a very high standard of considerateness (by 10pm it was virtually silent). The boys actually slept better than at home (of course, we relaxed the bedtime quite a bit, so they were simply exhausted by the time we went into our tent). There was a hot shower, toilets, water access, and the rangers were very helpful and even hosted children's programs on the weekends. At the campfire program, Noah learned about mountain lions, which he was quite facinated by.

All in all, this is a short but memorable vacation, with good food, great company, fun hikes, fresh air and a perfect weather. What more can one want from a weekend?

SF zoo, Halfmoon Bay, and backyard fun

Some highlights of the first two weeks in CA. It's been in the 50s at night and 70s during the day, cool and comfortable, so the kids are outside most of the day. SF zoo was great fun. Maybe because of the cool climate and being next to the Pacific Ocean, the animals (gorillas, giraffes, zebras, lions) all seem a bit less drowsy and more upbeat. Ben was so excited: he names all poultry "yaya" (ducks), and all four-legged animals "ma" (horse).
































Ben was very cranky and clingy at first, but he's loosing up and getting more attached to my mom, my sister and aunt. Our original plan of spending a night away will have to be postponed until this guy gets more comfortable. He can be a whiner, and I hate to make Mama deal with that at 5am!!


And, finally, the jacuzzi is finally working after two+ weeks of repeated attempts!

My boys and my beibei

Secret love of mine... Noah and Ben each took a picture with my favorite 32-year-old stinky and fragile blanket ("beibei"). It's actually so disintegrated that it has to stay in a pillow case.

These two guys are looking more and more alike, don't you think?

What we left in Arlington..

Are fond memories of friends and our happy times together. Here's just a sampling of a few of Noah's friends: Eric (on a farm), Merril (Glen Echo), and Alexandra (her house). A picture of us at the Dulles Airport taken by Weiwen is included documening the start of our journey.

Transamerica

We saw a wonderful film last night, Transamerica. I was very touched by its portrayal of a transgendered person who discovered that he had a teenage son a week before his final sex change surgery. Journeying across America, Bree (formerly Stanley) and Toby slowly discovered each other and their own past. It was a story filled with emotions, and I thought the actors (especially Bree, played by Felicity Huffman) did a superb job, not just in playing their own parts (a man yarning to be a woman, and a troubled but fundamentally good teenager with no sense of future or goals), but in relating to each other in a bittersweet parent-son relationship. In particular, the scene of the family reunion with Bree's parents touched me deeply--it reminded me of the complexity of family love and acceptance.

What is interesting is when I looked up the trailer hoping to finding a picture to upload onto here, I found that the movie was previewed as a "hilarious" "classic American comedy", which is totally different from my impression of it. The clips they chose to show were the rare and brief humerous moments about gender/sex mixup, something totally tangential to the plot. First of all, I would never consider it a comedy. In the film, Bree's life as a transgender is neither hilarious nor even funny; it's a little sad and filled with very human elements. Secondly, the movie's advertising decision is misleading in a curious way. Are they attempting to attract viewers who are interested in simply getting a laugh out of this confusing man/woman character to satisfy their curiosity ?

I am glad I didn't see the trailer first; otherwise I probably wouldn't have gotten to enjoy this wonderful film.