Our beautiful Katelyn is turning 8 this coming Saturday. I am having trouble believe it myself. I do wish time would slow down a bit sometime.

We asked her if she wanted us to throw her a party, but she doesn’t want one. So instead, we’re planning a few special family things with her. We’ll start off with watching Ovo in Downtown. It’s a surprise so don’t tell her… We’ll then have a dinner at her favorite place: Benihana. We’ll then cap it with a trip to Tahoe for a few days of fun in the snow.

I’d really appreciate if you can write a short birthday wish for her as a comment to this post. I’ll make sure to show it to her on her birthday.

It will make her day! Thanks…

The picture above is an accidental picture. It was Suzanne’s birthday and I was setting up my camera on a tripod and was firing some test shots for a family portrait when Katelyn sneaked up in front of the camera. I fired the shutter and caught her. It turns out to be one of my favorite candid shot of Katelyn last year!

I was working on my laptop computer the other day in the family room. The girls just finished playing and they both decided to pick up a book and started reading. A few moments later, I over-heard Allison commented to Katelyn how she doesn’t like the idea of polar bears chasing and attacking poor penguins.

She’d made similar comments to me in the past, but the general response I usually gave her is how that’s just natural. You know, the circle of life thing… Apparently, that wasn’t a satisfying answer for Allison because she’s repeating same question to her big sister. A few days earlier, we also had watched a PBS nature show where David Attenborough was narrating a piece about polar bears going hunting for beluga whales trapped in the ice. Watching this probably triggered the concern about polar bears going after penguins in Allison’s head.

Then I observed a remarkable sisterly act from Katelyn…

She asked Allison to go to the living room and bring back a globe. We have a wooden medium-sized world globe that sits on a stand. Allison lugged the globe back for her sister. Katelyn put the globe in her lap and asked Allison to sit next to her. She pointed at the top of the globe and explained to Allison that it’s called the Artic and it’s where the polar bears live. She then inverted the globe and pointed to Antartica and explained that’s where the penguins live.

Katelyn went on to explain to Allison how it’d be impossible for polar bears to attack penguins because they live in the opposite sides of the earth. She explained:

The polar bears would have have to swim very far from north to south to get to the penguins!

Allison just said “Oh!” and seemed relieved.

I didn’t say a word– partly because my jaw just dropped. Couldn’t believe what I witnessed; I got a big kick out of what I just saw. Katelyn not only was addressing her little sister’s question but also tried to prove her point with a visual aid! And she did it with the intent of soothing her sister’s “concern” for the penguins.

It didn’t even occur to their ol’ dad that polar bears and penguins live on opposite poles. Smack on the head! No wonder I never ever saw any video footage of polar bears chasing after penguins. Man… my own daughter made me feel dumb. Katelyn did a better job then I did trying to make Allison feels better about polar bears going after penguins. She truly impressed me and made me a proud daddy.

I don’t expect Allison to ask the question again, thanks to her je-je (big sister).

Allison woke up early this morning and she spent the morning with me watching a little TV. She agreed when I asked her if she wanted hard-boiled eggs for breakfast. As I was putting the eggs in the pot, she stooped up from the couch and yelled out cooking instructions:

“Daddy, cook the eggs 15 minutes and then 15 minutes. Okay?”

That’s her way of telling me that she likes her eggs extra-boiled.

Our family was at our favorite noodle house a few weeks ago for lunch. While waiting for our bowls of noodles, Suzanne & I were entertaining the kids. I tried to plant a kiss on Suzanne to which the kids usually get disgusted and go “Yewwwwhhh.” Suzanne playfully refuses the kiss, to which Allison surprisingly threw up her hands and suggested:

“But Mommy, it’s all about love!”

There’s a Vietnamese restaurant called Anh Hong in Milipitas. They serve 7 beef courses. The food is expensive but good and the place is relatively clean. But everything else sucks about this restaurant.

We frequent this restaurant for years, but started to stay away from it after several run-ins with the horrible waiters and bad management. We reluctantly came back to it last night via an invitation from Betty for a Father’s Day dinner. We’re never coming back.

This establishment is over-run by some kind of freaking food nazi’s. They make up all these stupid rules, simple requests turn into big arguments. Oh yeah, they argue with customers. I know better to expect first class service in Asian restaurants, so we’re talking lowered expectations here…

The waiter greeted and sat us down. I immediately recognize the old man and started to think “oh no, it’s the Vietnamese 7-Beef-Food-Nazi.” He came back for the orders and things immediately started to go down hill. We ordered 3 servings of their 7 beef courses. When asked for substitutions on 2 out of the 3 servings, the food nazi’s told us that is impossible: “you either substitute all or none of the servings”. We tried to understand why, but they argued they don’t make exceptions. Strike one for customers! The 3 servings came out in 3 different plates for our table. We didn’t understand why they can’t do simple substitutions for 2 of the 3. WTF?

The waiter then asks my wife how many of hot pots we need. She replied 3 since we have a long table, he then told us we can’t have 3. He gave some BS reasons which I don’t even remember because I had started to tune him out. Strike 2! Why bother asking us then?

Next, he kept dictating how much my wife should order despite her telling them that we are ordering other things and that we know what we’re doing. Strike 3, you’re out Mr. Customer! Frankly, I can’t tell if these morons work on commission or tips…

The only part of the order I was happy with is my beer. That’s assuming of course he didn’t spit in it.

I wouldn’t have posted had this been an exceptional or isolated case. We’ve had the same run-ins each time we come to this restaurant last few years. I’ve complained to ownership (the guy who runs the cash register booth) and only to have him repeat the same stupid rules to me. Once a few years ago when I complained, he even argued with me about what I ordered like he was there taking the order, which he didn’t of course, and that I was an idiot. He was basically telling me that I was an “incompetent” customer. Haha…

Obviously, this restaurant doesn’t believe in making their customers happy. While their food is good, I am sure there are other good Vietnamese restaurants out there. It’s amazing that I kept coming back hoping things will improve each time.

No more, I rather eat Taco Bell (I know I can get a quesadilla with no spicy sauce and extra cheese) than dealing with these food nazi’s, thank you! I’m taking my business elsewhere.

Doc & Betty, sorry. We may have made it difficult for you guys to return to the place…

A few days ago, my buddy Vince came up for a visit. So we decided to do a day trip to Yosemite to take some pictures. The drive there back wasn’t bad, very doable for a day trip.

The best part about driving to Yosemite is how the first glimpse of the valley takes your breath away when you make through the bend of the road. Yosemite seems to always sneak up on me, every time.

We grabbed lunch at the Ahwahnee hotel and then headed out to do the scenic thing. The water falls were flowing at full force. We abandoned our plan for a hike to Nevada Falls because of the heavy snow on the trails up the mountain. Looking back we should’ve tried a flat trail like Mirror Lake instead. I regretted that we didn’t do any hikes…

One night many months ago, I was re-telling the story of the Tri-county pie-eating contest to Katelyn & Allison. Most people probably remember it from Stephen Kings’s Stand By Me– the barforama scene was both funny and gross to me when I watched it 20+ years ago. I had to rename the character from “Lard Ass” to “Fat Art” to do away with a “bad” word. Anyway, I grossed out the girls but they enjoyed how Fat Art got his revenge and got back at the people who were cruel to him. I told them that the story was from a movie.

So earlier this week, I caught Stand By Me on cable at the train scene which is just right before the barforama scene. So I called the girls from their room to watch the scene with me. I figured it’d be cool to make good on my promise of letting them see that part of the movie. When it was done, they thought it was pretty gross with all the barfing but they also thought it was funny too. As I turned off the TV and asked Allison:

Rex: “Did you like it?”

Allison: “It’s funny Daddy!”

Allison was impressed: “But how do you know these things?”

Rex: “You mean the story? Daddy watched the movie a long time ago. But I remember the story because it’s one of Daddy’s favorite movies!”

Allison: “Oh… I like it too Daddy!”

I think she was impressed that the story was “real” and that her old dad didn’t make up it all up…

After all these years, I’m finally realizing it… Oscar Night is the female version of Superbowl Sunday.

And it’s the whole gambit. There’s the week’s anticipation and the build up, leading to the big Sunday. The afternoon starts off with the red-carpet rituals (pre-game shows) with all the interviews and the analysis of all sorts of what-ifs and scenarios. Like Superbowl, there’s all sort of speculation of what that key “players” will put on in the show. Of course, then there was the show and its opening fanfare.

This year, Hugh Jackman was the master of ceremonies, pulling out the stops and conducting the show like a head coach running a football game. We each have favorite movies and actors we pulling for for. We get elated or disappointed whenever a favorite movie or actor didn’t come through, just as one would react to a broken play in Superbowl.

The show ends with celebrations and parties, with all the usual after-math happenings. There’s even talk of what to expect next year.

The mirroring between Oscar night and Superbowl is a bit scary if you think about it. I even saw loads of “Oscar Specials” advertising for big screen TVs on Best Buy and Newegg, just like Superbowl. The one difference is quality of the commercials, Superbowl commercials are far more entertaining…

The tube was on from 3PM to 10PM, my wife even planned dinner around the broadcast.

Anyhow, I’m glad Slumdog wins, as I usually root for the underdog– be it Superbowl or Oscars.

Coming home last night, I was greeted by my my 5 year old:

Allison: “Hi Daddy”
Rex: “Hi Allison, what are you doing?”
A: “Just playing…”
R: “I miss you…”
A: smiles…
R: “Daddy was at work today and Daddy was thinking about you, wondering what you were doing!”
A: looks at me puzzled…
A shrugging her shoulder: “But Daddy, I go to school! Don’t you remember?”

Sometimes I forget 5 year olds can be very literal conversationally… So very cute!

We spent two nights at my sister in-law’s on a short trip to LA after Christmas. On the last night, Suzanne was out late seeing an old friend. I was putting the girls to bed when they asked for a story as they often do. At home, sometime instead of reading books I would tell them stories– some true accounts and some I make up. So, I was looking around at the new surrounding for things to work into my story (I usually make things up as I go) when I saw a ceiling fan. That gave me an idea.

So I made up this story of a boy who woke up and discovered himself all sweaty on a sweltering summer day. He got ready for school, but grew increasingly uncomfortable in the hot morning. He kept complaining about the heat to his mother and didn’t want to go to school. His endless whining throughout breakfast gave her an idea. She gave him a shoe box and told him that it was magic! This magical thing in the box will instantly make him cool and comfortable. But there’s one condition: he cannot open it until he gets to class. Otherwise, the magic will not work. The boy got excited, grabbed the box and sprinted out the house. Along the way, he bragged about the magic box that will make him cool to every friend he encountered.

By the time he got to school the entire class knew about the magic box. As the boy sat down in class, anticipation built and all eyes were on him. The boy excitedly put the magic box on his desk, took a deep breath, surveyed the entire class and then calmly removed the cover. His eye bugged out, mouth gasped as he reached in the magic box with his hand and grabed its magical content: a paper fan which his mother made and inscribed with crayons “I love you, mom!” The boy raised the fan to show all his friends in pure delight. The collective excitement of the students exploded in a thunderous applause.

The end…

Katelyn and Allison were cracking up as I finished the story– just the feedback I was looking for. Allison then excitedly jumped out of her bed, made a fist with her hand, put it on the middle of her forehead and excitedly said to me: “Daddy, when you were telling the story I see everything in my head!”

Well… with a response like that, I guess that story was magical to me too.

We took the girls to see Santa at the History Park this past weekend. They got to meet with Santa, did some art projects, rode a trolley as well as a handcar and posed for snapshots by their old dad. The highlight for the kids was when Santa arrived in this old fire truck. Santa was basically mobbed by the kids as soon as he stepped out of the truck!

It was the first time I’ve been to the place. The park houses and preserves quite a few Victorian buildings. It has a running cable car and a barn that contains countless historical artifacts from the gold rush era. There was this old cable car operator that was nice enough to indulge me and posed for a few pictures. Overall, it was a much more enjoyable alternative than going to the malls, at least for me anyway. Plus, the place was a goldmine of photo opps…

The girls had a few days off for Veteran’s day so I took a day off work and we headed down to visit my mom & my sister. We also paid Mickey Mouse a visit. We spent the morning in Tomorrowland which makes Andre happy. He was a great sport as we spent the afternoon in Fantasyland doing girly rides.

Unlike our visit a few years ago when the girls were younger, the kids and even grandma managed to stay the entire day– catching the parade before we called it a day. The new Finding Nemo and updated Pirates of The Caribbean were everybody’s favorites. Katelyn loved Peter Pan’s Flight; Allison’s favorite was Adventures of Winnie The Pooh while Andre’s favorite was Autopia. The new Pixie Hollow was a disappointment for Andre: an hour-long wait for snapshots with Tinker Bell.

Einstein is an African Grey parrot with a 200+ vocabulary; here giving a very entertaining routine in TED 2006. Highlighting it with singing happy birthday to Al Gore. Seeing Einstein makes me miss Bongo, my African grey…

This is cool if you have children like me. The full Wikipedia for Schools selection has been made available on a DVD. It’s a free and community-based alternative to Microsoft Encarta and the likes. Very cool…

K&A may be a bit too young for this, but I’ll make them a copy and check it out.

You can download it via BitTorrent here.

At 9:47AM this morning, Allison turns exactly 5 years old. She’s such a happy and lovely child. She makes up for her petite in size with her stubbornness. She loves to color, draw and dress up as princesses. She knows how to melt your heart and has her daddy wrapped around her tiny fingers.

Happy birthday kiddo, I love you…

This past Saturday, I had a rare afternoon which I didn’t have to tend to the girls. I took advantage of it, grabbed my camera bag and headed out for a hike at Rancho San Antonio. The rain the night before cooled the afternoon but not enough, fortunately, to leave mud on the trails. The highlight was the view at vista point at “High Meadow” and my encounter with a pack of deers on my way back.

It was a nice way for some quality time alone and decompress…

Even at an early age, Allison exhibited stubbornness. She was born in 2003, the year of the goat/ram in lunar calendar. So we sometimes try to explain her stubbornness by attributing her as “stubborn as a goat”, an old saying.

So I was working on my photo book last night when Katelyn and Allison both came running and screaming into the computer room. Katelyn was especially upset and started swinging her arm out of frustration. Though not intentionally, she hit Allison. I promptly sent her to the corner. Intentionally or not, she violated rule #1 “no hitting.”

Later on, I sat down with both to understand what went on. Katelyn claimed Allison started it all by snatching a toy Katelyn was still playing with, without asking. I gave Allison a stern look and I can see her immediate panic in her eyes. Seeing the attention has shifted to her, she quickly sprung up for damage control.

Rex: “Allison, did you grab Katelyn’s toy without asking?”

Allison: “Daddy, but I’m learning…”

Rex: “But you know it’s not nice to grab things without asking!”

Allison: “But I’m learning…”

Rex: “You know it’s not nice, but why did you do it?”

Allison: “But Daddy, I’m the year of the goat! Remember?”

Priceless…

We returned to Maui this summer after our wedding there 8 years ago. It was mainly a family vacation but we scheduled it so we got to celebrate our anniversary on the island. It was a quiet celebration at Roy’s, one of our favorite Hawaiian fusion restaurants.

The girls are bigger now, so traveling with them is so much easier & less hassle. Also helps that we traveled a little lighter this time. Airlines these days charge hefty fees for additional or over-weight baggage.

The girls had blast, spending most of their time in the pools & beaches. We pretty much stayed put at the hotel most of the time. We didn’t even make it to Kea Lani (hotel where we stayed when we got married) as planned. Katelyn got around the pool by herself this time, good to see those swimming lessons paying off. In fact, she’s pretty much like a fish. Allison too enjoyed it more since she’s much more comfortable in water.

We hooked up with a few friends. My buddy Vince flew over from Oahu; hanging out with him and his friend Vijack made us feel less touristy. We also hooked up with our friends, the Truongs, for a few days. Our hotels were close by, so the girls got to swim with the Truong boys. It was a shame our stays only overlap for a few days. One highlight of the trip is a sailing trip with Alex & Nicholas. The kids were super excited we spotted dolphins & turtles. It was a first snorkeling experience for our girls. It was a kick for them to see the fish & corals in the water.

Another highlight was a trip to Haleakala summit with Vince. Haleakala is a dormant volcano in Maui. We started out around 2AM up the windy road and made it to the 10,000 feet summit while it was still dark. Dozens of other tourists crowding at the the little shelter– it was very cold and windy. Dawn broke and we saw a glorious sunrise (my last memorable sunrise was at Bryce Canyon in Utah). Wow– sunrise above the cloud! Vince & I spent the next 4 hours snapping pictures, including some with us jumping up & down at the top of the world. That was great fun.

We also took the girls to a luau at the Sheraton, it was way overrated for me. But it was the first for the girls and they enjoyed it. They even went up the stage with Suzanne to do the hula.

As with other family trips, I found I was so busy having fun with the girls and I barely have time to shoot some real photos. In fact, I had all but one opportunity to shoot sunsets. So the night before we left, I spent 2 hours in the middle of the night shooting some night photography. It was cool to walk the emptied beach at night under the moon light. Plus I don’t have too many chances for night shooting.

Below is a few shots, check out more here @ Flickr or here @ Shutterfly.

Earlier this year, I resurrected the girls’ fish tank. Took the girls to the local pet store, Allison chose an orange guppy and Katelyn chose a gold fish.

Katelyn named hers Fred; Allison named her fish Rose.

I set up the fish tank in their bedroom and made it a ritual for the girls to feed the fish before going to bed each night. While I still have to remind them, Allison is always happily feed the fish. Katelyn on the other hand isn’t always keen about it. And it shows…

Rose is doing well. On the other hand, we’ve gone through Fred I & Fred II already. I promised Katelyn we’re going to take her to get Fred III later today.

Let’s hope we can fool Rose with Fred III. Perhaps she’s wised up about the situation already…