Mamahood, Among Other Things...

Happy Year of the Dragon

2012-01-24T07:08:00.001+08:00

Today marks the first day of the Year of the Dragon. Josh told us that however this day goes, so go the rest of the days of the year. A little fortune cookie nugget from our seven-year old.

He’s full of these pithy sayings lately. Over dinner tonight, Josh was reciting these left and right. Some were deep; others were just plain silly. Some, I know, he got from school; others, I’m guessing he made up –like this one: When a path leads to a dead end, use the other. Zoë, not to be outdone, came up with this: If you feel sad, cry. These two totally crack us up.

I Heart Faces | By the Book

2012-01-23T07:08:00.001+08:00

Getting the children to love reading is very important to us. That is why it is so heartening to see that Josh is such an avid reader. These days when I don’t hear a peep out of him, I no longer worry that he is up to some mischief. Chances are he is in his room reading. If we have to go somewhere where he will have to do some kind of waiting, we always make sure that he has at least a book with him. This way, we’d be spared the what’s taking so long? or the are we done yet? questions we usually get barely five minutes into the wait.

Scavenger Hunt Sunday | Colorful

2012-01-22T07:08:00.001+08:00

1. Colorful – Cupcakes at our godson’s birthday party. He and Josh have the same birthday. His younger brother’s birthday is just one day after Zoë’s. That’s why we are hardly ever able to make it to each other’s parties, as we tend to have them on the same weekends!

2. Sunset – I didn’t have a chance to be out during sunset this week, so this one is from the archives. Taken this summer.

3. Black and White – We rode the MTR (mass transit railway) all the way to Discovery Bay and back today. This was towards the end of the line, hence the many empty seats.

4. Four

5. A Day in My Life - I made beef curry with fruits this weekend. The first recipe I’d tried with my slow cooker. I’d modified the recipe a bit and substituted/added stuff. Ingredients (apart from the beef): Pineapple chunks. peach slices, cranberries, onions, lots of coriander, pepper, salt, orange juice, brown sugar, all-purpose flour (I didn’t have quick-cooking tapioca), curry powder. I will be making this again, but I might try chicken or pork next time.

You Are the Best Brudr

2012-01-20T07:08:00.003+08:00

{Josh turns 7 today. Still find it hard to believe that he’s already 7; yet at other times, it’s hard to wrap my head around the fact that he’s only 7. I love that boy to bits!}

I had to take Zoë along with me to pick up Josh from school today and while waiting, she decided to write Josh a birthday note.

Here she is trying to sound out the words…

Dear Josh,

Happy birthday. I love you.

You are the best ~~brudr~~ brother.

Love, Zoe

Birthdays

2012-01-17T07:08:00.001+08:00

January is a birthday month in our house. First Chris’, then a few days later, Josh’s.

This is Chris’ cake that I’d baked for him. I’d burnt the bottom and you could see the parts where it’s unevenly baked. I blame my cake mould or the fan in my oven… or both. Not sure if Chris was just being nice, but he said it tasted good. The kids loved it. But then they have a sweet tooth. That and the fact that this has cream cheese frosting, which is always a hit.

Made some mini-bundts and cupcakes with the leftover batter.

Josh and Zoë helped with decorating the cupcakes.

One more cake to bake –for Josh’s birthday later this week. After that, I think I’m done with baking for the month.

Scavenger Hunt Sunday | Sweet

2012-01-15T07:08:00.001+08:00

I’d missed the first Scavenger Hunt Sunday of 2012 last week. I hope not to miss any for the rest of the year. I’d missed picking up the camera and finding joy in taking pictures. Maybe it’s the winter blahs, perhaps it’s the holiday madness. Whatever it is, I. am. back!

1. Winter Wonderland – Zoë got to play with fake snow at her best friend’s house. They had a blast making snow muffins.

3. Sweet – Blueberry smash for the blueberry cake that I baked for Chris for his birthday. (6oz blueberries – mashed; 1/3 cup granulated sugar; 2 tsp lemon juice ~> All combined and cooked over medium heat until thickened (around 8 minutes). Cool in fridge; to be folded in with vanilla cake batter. {Recipe from Kiss My Bundt.)

3. Stacked Up – Some masks for a school project stacked up on a table in the Art Center.

4. Hole – Some holes in the veggies on the rooftop garden at Josh’s school. Each year level has a little plot where they plant different vegetables.

5. Frozen – I’d managed to get through all the other prompts halfway through the week. This ColdHot Pack from the freezer was a last-minute find.

Family Hike

2012-01-10T07:08:00.001+08:00

We decided to go on a hike on Sunday up at Parkview at one of the Tai Tam Family Walk trails. The weather was perfect. The children were game. We were in the company of good friends and their two kids.

The children grabbed some sticks and merrily took off. My friend and I brought up the rear while the hubbies went ahead with the children. We chatted. I stopped to take pictures. What could be a more relaxing way to spend an afternoon?

I had on my 1.8/50mm lens when I took the shot above, but switched to my kit lens shortly afterwards. It was much easier with the zoom on my kit lens when taking pictures of the kids, but I wish I’d kept the prime lens on. Huge difference between the shot above and the ones below.

I wish I have a camera body for each lens (hah!). If I do, the next thing you’d hear me wishing for would be extra arms to carry each camera and still be able to shoot effectively!

(Trying out a new “watermark.” No, I am not planning to plaster every photo with it, but since it is new, –and as with many things new, –I like to play around with it some. Indulge me, will you?)

Come link up your photos with us!

I Heart Faces | Best Face Photo of 2011

2012-01-09T09:36:00.002+08:00

Out of the many photos that I had taken in 2011, this one here of the old man at Fort Langley has to be my favorite face photo. Not counting my many favorite photos of my kids, of course.

Just looking at him, you could tell that he’s such an interesting character –the long hair, the tan leathery skin, those eyebrows, the eyes that miss nothing. He was giving a talk about how wooden barrels were made back in the olden days. What do I care about wooden barrels, but he kept me standing there and listening until he finished his demo and talk. I was more captivated by how efficiently he moved about, by the way his eyes would twinkle when he shared something funny, by the way he would impatiently sweep his hair to one side when it got in the way.

If I drink beer, I’d offer to buy him a couple just to sit and listen. You know that you’d get a good yarn or two out of him.

Babyccino

2012-01-06T07:08:00.001+08:00

My baby enjoying her babyccino after a visit to the dentist this morning. She had to have a cavity filled and boy, what a trooper she was! She just sat back and watched the video and let the dentist do her thing. She didn’t even flinch. (The happy gas probably helped a lot.)

Hosted by Cecily and Lolli

A Day at the Farm

2012-01-03T10:03:00.002+08:00

We took the children over to a local farm on New Year’s Eve. While it was a long way away and we got lost getting there, it was really worth the trip. We live in the city and going to a farm is always a treat.

The children got to ride a horse,

feed the koi, feed the goats and the oxen,

play in the elaborate rope gym,

and “catch” their own goldfish. Yes, we now have four goldfish.

I’m not very sure, but this goat might have been one of the goats that helped themselves to our lunch. We had to quickly pack up our food, while trying to ward off the goats and move to the dining area. So much for enjoying our food at one of the outdoor tables.

That aside, we had a wonderful time at the farm and we might go back later this month when the strawberries are ripe enough for picking.

Memories, Dreams, and Reflections 2011

2012-01-01T17:30:00.002+08:00

I’m participating in Ashley’s Memories, Dreams, and Reflections. I love these photo round-ups at the end of the year. It gives me a chance to take stock of the photos that I have taken this year; otherwise, they just sit in my hard drive and are, well, forgotten…. so, thanks, Ashley, for hosting this again.

1. Me! – I had to ask Chris to take a photo of me. I am hardly in any photo as I’m usually the one behind the camera. This is me with my reading glasses on. No escaping the fact that I’m over 40 now. The eyesight is going, the pounds are creeping up, the bones creaking, the wrinkles multiplying… but darn it if I don’t feel like I’m still 33! (Haha, I’m still as vain, though. I didn’t blow this up as I normally do my other pictures, because I don’t want the imperfections magnified!)

2. I Love You (and your Daddy, too!)

3. Still Laughing… – Chris was standing behind me when I was taking pictures and telling them silly jokes, but I can’t remember now what joke it was. Whatever it was, it totally cracked them up!

4. Winter Wonderland – This is as close as we could get to a “winter wonderland,” –a holiday display at a local mall made out to look like the Snow Queen’s palace.

5. Birthday – Josh’s birthday cake. Cookie Dough Brownie cake with chocolate ganache –yum!

6. Friends – Zoë with one of her best friends from school, B. Do you remember how you had many, many best friends when you were that age? These two are so cute together. They will be going to different schools next year. I hope we could still manage to get them together once in a while and that they’ll remember the fun times together.

7. I Was Inspired… by Jessie from The Lucas Zoo for this photo below. Jessie always has these beautiful photos with the black background and I’ve long admired the photos she takes.

8. Spring Fever – Every spring I look forward to seeing these flame flowers on the trees. The ones here were picked from the ground –a bit wilted, but the color’s still lovely.

9. Travel or Vacation – Our visit to Seaside, OR this summer.

10. Summer Days – Smores at the beach. Yes, I know this photo doesn’t look very summery, what with Zoë wearing a jacket and all, but summer in Oregon by the sea was a bit chilly.

11. A Day in My Life – Went out for a walk with Zoë… of course, she had to stop and randomly pose and ask me to take her picture.

12. All Smiles – At a friend’s house for a play date.

13. Autumn Harvest – Truth be told, I am not sure if these wax apples are autumn fruits or not.

14. Family – New members of our family… the goldfish! The kids “won” these at the farm we visited today.

15. Celebrate! – On account of our house being invaded by all things Angry Birds this Christmas, we got these two Angry Birds cake to round up Christmas Day. (They look better than they taste, but Josh and Zoë were thrilled!).

16. Let’s Do It Again! – We had a great tea experience at The Urban Tea Merchants. Would love to go there again.

17. I Miss You – I miss these kiddos. We only see our nephews and niece every summer. I wish they don’t live oceans away. Thank goodness for Skype. We can’t wait to see them and get the kids together again this summer!

18. Beautiful – My pretty niece!

19. Dress Up – Zoë dressed up as a flower child for Halloween.

20. Macro – One of the emus at the farm that we visited with the kids today. (Technically not a macro, but …)

21. Holidays – One of the many Christmas gifts they received. We’ve been playing this almost every night and even Zoë joins in. She started as the scorekeeper, but now she’s playing along with us and manages to get Qwirkles, too!

22. My Favorite – One of my favorites, anyway.

23. Don’t Ever Change – I want this little girl to always stay as sweet as she is… even when she gets to be a teenager. Am I asking too much?

24. Just Because… So There! – I’ve always loved this photo of our four-leaf clovers. Sonya (Cooking with Sonya) sent them to me from the Netherlands way back in May and they’re still going strong more than half a year later!

25. Hopes and Dreams – Here’s to much happiness, peace in our hearts, good health, and lots of laughter in 2012!

(This is a lily at my friend’s pond.)

Happy new year, everyone!

Top 11 of ‘11

2011-12-28T07:08:00.001+08:00

It’s that time of the year again…. Amber at Click.Pray.Love, Courtney from Click It Up A Notch, and Sarah from Naptime Momtog are hosting Top 11 of ‘11. We’re supposed to feature here the top 11 photos that we’ve taken of our children in 2011.

Here are mine, in no particular order…(…but psst, this one is my favorite.)

Okay, so technically the last photo makes it 12, but I love how it kind of nicely wraps up that series of photos above. Also, it doesn’t feature any face –only Zoë’s little hand holding a candy heart, so that doesn’t really count towards the 11 limit, okay? =)

Happy Holidays!

2011-12-23T10:09:00.002+08:00

I am going to have a little blogging break over the holidays. My parents are visiting and we have a few things planned over the holiday break. In the meantime, I want to share some holiday cheer with you all… here’s a little video of our Zoë singing Santa Claus Is Coming to Town (complete with actions). She performed this at her school’s Christmas party. She makes the cutest dancing Santa!

Have a wonderful festive season and may 2012 bring you joy and happiness and good health!

Scavenger Hunt Sunday | Joy

2011-12-18T15:13:00.002+08:00

1. What is it? – Josh is big into chess these days. Let me rephrase that. He’s always been interested in chess, but it’s only lately that he’s started to really get the hang of it and actually win against the computer and other people he’d play with without us letting him win. He has gotten a lot better at strategizing and planning way ahead for his moves. Here, Josh was playing against my dad and won, fair and square. (The What Is It part of this entry is the piece he’s picking up… a Disney princess eraser to stand in for the knight that we’ve misplaced!)

2. Children Sleeping – (From the archives) Josh having his afternoon nap.

3. Joy – This image represents joy in two ways: (1) This photo was taken during a play date with one of her best friends, B. Zoë loves play dates. You could clearly see the joy in her face here. (2) If there is ever one word to describe what Zoë has brought to our lives, it’s joy. Oh such, such joy.

4. Window - We don’t get snow here, ever, so to make up for it, I let the kids put up these removable cling stickers on our window.

5. Half – This is one of the cookie ornaments that one half of my children made. Josh a bit under the weather and was napping at the time when Zoë and her friend decorated the cookie ornaments.

Not an Angel But a Camel

2011-12-13T07:08:00.001+08:00

When you are offered the role of an angel

and you say “No,”

you get to be the camel.

I Heart Faces | Furry Faces

2011-12-12T09:35:00.001+08:00

We don’t have pets, although both Josh and Zoë desperately want one. They would have loved to take this cat home that we found lying on the street near where we had breakfast one time when we were in Kuching.

I love his golden eyes… and the confident “I know what I am about” look he’s giving me here.

Good thing I had the excuse of not having an air ticket for this cat when the kids asked if we could have him for a pet.

Scavenger Hunt Sunday | Holiday Lights

2011-12-11T07:08:00.001+08:00

1. Less Is More – Natural beauty –no make-up (yes, I am biased.)

2. Holiday Lights – Okay, so technically this is not considered Holiday Lights, but close, right? It’s actually one of those globes where if you touch the glass the lights appear to shoot out from your fingertips. Very cool.

3. Ornaments – We bought these last week at a Christmas bazaar. Joseph completes the set, but I couldn’t fit him into the shot. These are actually 3D wooden puzzles. I didn’t tell that to the kids, though. I want the pieces complete and intact.

4. Cup of Cheer (from the archives)

5. Nativity – Our Christmas music box.

PedXing

2011-12-07T09:31:00.002+08:00

After having grown up in Manila, where traffic rules are largely ignored, it’s great to see here that the “Keep Clear” zone is actually kept clear and not clogged up by vehicles refusing to give way to others, causing ugly traffic snarls.

{Don’t worry, I was not driving when I took this pic.}

Absolute Sweetness

2011-12-06T07:08:00.001+08:00

Zoë’s favorite dress is one that my friend gave her when she was still two years old. It was a bit too big for Zoë then, but that did not stop her from wanting to wear it over and over again just to twirl around in. The dress came with a matching dress for her doll.

Here is a picture of the sweetest little girl ever with the sweetest little polka-dot dress, with her sweet little dolly in the same dress. Smiling the sweetest smile.

I Heart Faces | On Your Feet

2011-12-05T09:38:00.001+08:00

My little chimp playing with paper dolls.

Scavenger Hunt Sunday | Nostalgic (One Starry Night Edition)

2011-12-04T07:08:00.001+08:00

We attended One Starry Night today with Josh and Zoë. It was --

“…a Christmas experience where participants do more than just hear about the birth of Jesus — they’ll see, touch, feel, and smell what life was like during this miraculous time. Families will journey through Bethlehem and create Bible-times crafts at a variety of stations, including The City Gate, The Marketplace, Stargazer Hill, The Census Taker’s Office, The Palace, The Inn, and The Stable.”

What a great production it was! Josh and Zoë loved going through the different stations and doing the different arts and crafts. From the moment we stepped in, we were greeted by angels and shepherds. The entire place was elaborately set up with each station manned by people dressed up like how you would imagine people in Bethlehem back in the days would have dressed. Each child received a little pouch filled with gold coins with which they could use to pay to participate in each craft station and for which each child receives a Bible Memory Maker in return.

1. Portrait – Zoë wearing the crown that she made at The Palace.

2. Nostalgic – Back in the days before malls and fancy boutiques, when wares were sold on the streets. (At The Inn, where the children were guided in making a pillow.)

3. Time – The Palace. We spent the most time at this station, I think. Zoë wanted to put every single glittery sticker onto her crown.

4. Full of Light – These are the lights that had been strung over The Stable where the children got to make a sheep ornament.

5. Motion – I have other motion shots, but seeing that all my other shots here were taken at One Starry Night, I’d decided to go with this instead. There were LOTS of people there today. After we’d finished doing the rounds of the crafts stations, we went over to the cafeteria for refreshments. Our little princess spotted this angel and wanted to have a picture taken. It was near impossible to get a clean shot, what with people moving about left and right.

Water Swirls

2011-11-30T07:08:00.001+08:00

Millions of water drops
Glittering in the sun
Shining like pearls

- Morhardt Carmen Mencita Monoi Angel (2008)

Swirls of icy smoke. Wisps of glassy curls. Doesn’t looking at these pretty water patterns just make you want to wax poetic?

(Photos taken at Hong Kong Park in Admiralty)
Please cast your vote here and help our friend, Rachel, (from Once Upon a Miracle) win $1000 for Morningstar Foundation.

Morningstar Foundation works with critically ill children all over China by meeting their basic day-to-day needs and finding surgery for them. MSFH falls under Morning Star Foundation, a US non-profit organization. Morning Star Foundation currently has projects in China and Africa.

Night Shots

2011-11-29T07:08:00.001+08:00

There is something about night time pictures that I really, really like. I can’t quite put my finger on what exactly it is, though. Maybe, just maybe, it might be time to say yes to the tripod that Chris wants to get for me.

Hong Kong is such a rich place for night time photography.

Lights galore. These shots here were not even taken downtown where all the action is, where all the lit up, glitzed up buildings are.

I’d love to be able to take pictures of all the Christmas lights that are up on the commercial buildings across the harbor. I’d love to be able to take more pictures like this one. I’d love to be able to take a good shot of the moon.

Come join us and link up to share a slice of your world.

Scavenger Hunt Sunday | Rule of Thirds

2011-11-27T07:08:00.001+08:00

It had been a busy week and I just hadn’t had the time to go out and take pictures. I did manage to get a couple of shots in when Chris and I went out to dinner tonight, but the last three pictures in this set were taken some time ago.

1. Waiting

2. Foliage – This will have to pass for foliage.

3. Candid

4. Knife, Fork, or Spoon

5. Rule of Thirds

Mantis

2011-11-23T07:08:00.001+08:00

Spotted this little fella on our way to church last Sunday. Zoë was scared of it and didn’t even want to go past this guy. We had to hold her hand and shield her before she would even move. He did look a little bit scary. When I was trying to take pictures of him, he was actually swivelling his body around following me whenever I moved. A bit creepy.

Creamy Chicken with Peaches | Comfort Food

2011-11-22T07:08:00.001+08:00

Josh had been requesting that I make this for a while now, so last week, I did. He had seconds and thirds. He thanked me profusely (as profusely as a 6-year old could) for making it.

It’s so easy to make and it’s always a hit. The reason I don’t make it as often, though, is that I love it too much. Like Josh, I would have seconds, too. And it’s creamy. Full of cream. Filled with creamy heavenliness.

I got the recipe from here, but tweaked it a little to suit our taste. Instead of chicken breast fillets, I’d cubed the chicken. I used extra shallots; I love shallots. No fresh peaches, so I used canned peaches (drained); I put lots –much more than what was called for in the recipe. Used extra chicken broth and cream, because we love it very sauce-y. I topped up the amount of balsamic vinegar.

The tartness of the balsamic vinegar counters the richness of the cream. The shallots, the basil all add to the fragrant aroma. The peaches are always a hit with the kids.

Try it at least once. You’ll either thank me or you’ll curse me, but I guarantee that you’ll love it.

What would be your comfort food?

Scavenger Hunt Sunday | Mainly One Color

2011-11-20T07:08:00.001+08:00

1. Mainly One Color – My friends and I met up for lunch at this restaurant called Spice, which offers Indian, Thai, and Malaysian food. At the entrance to the restaurant, they had several paintings that caught my eye. This is one of them.

2. Around the Home – The restaurant we went to had these statues at the entrance. Some homes have these. Other homes might have statues of Greek or Roman gods.

3. Reflection – I had finished my errands early and had time to kill before meeting up with my friends for lunch, so I ducked inside a Starbucks for a cup of their gingerbread latte and to read my book.

4. Writing – It is not often that you find graffiti on walls in Hong Kong, but this little alley that leads up to Knutsford Terrace in Tsim Sha Tsui has scribbles and posters on its walls.

5. Water – Really, who needs expensive toys? This girl is happy with a few cups and containers and some water with which to play around and to pour.

Color Me Impressed

2011-11-18T07:08:00.001+08:00

Yes, another poem from Josh.

I just had to share this one.

The imagery. Enough said.

But woman betrayed?

Aiya! As the old Chinese ladies would exclaim.

I asked Josh what “betrayed” means. He said that he’s not very sure, but felt that it sounded good having that line there. Poetic license. Let’s give him that.

We’ve been invited to go to his school this afternoon where his class will have a poetry and painting sharing session. Josh said that the above poem is what he will be sharing.

By the way, the font color and background color in the image above were specified by Josh. He wanted red and black because “they go well with the emotion the poem is talking about” –aggressiveness.

Color me impressed.

Hosted by Cecily and Lolli

Acrostic What?

2011-11-16T07:08:00.000+08:00

Remember I’d mentioned about how Josh’s class is focusing on poetry? Well, his homework this week is to write an acrostic poem about an emotion.

He’d already tried his hand at writing acrostic poems (Remember Jedi?). I think he actually enjoys doing this kind of poetry, because it gives some form of structure around which he could build his thoughts. Each line of the poem begins with a letter in the topic word and that all the lines relate to the topic.

Josh did a poem about SAD. I asked if that’s because he felt sad. He said, “No, I’m happy, but sad has only three letters.”

Here is Josh’s SAD poem:

I think I got a very good education, but I don’t remember writing poetry at age 6. Is it because children these days are smarter? Is it because they get exposed to many more things at a younger age, that they get more opportunities to do different things? Is it because the educators themselves these days are better trained? Probably yes, yes, and yes.

Dress-Up and Make-Up

2011-11-15T07:08:00.003+08:00

It was Around the World Day at Zoë’s school last Friday, so she finally got the chance to wear the costume my friend had passed along to us. It’s an outfit worn by one of the cultural tribes in northern (or western?) China.

Zoë did not want to wear the head gear at first. She said that she felt silly wearing it, but when I brought her to the mirror and she saw herself, she smiled so widely. From the moment we stepped out of the elevator to when she finally got to school, everyone who saw her fussed over how pretty she looked. She was absolutely tickled.

After school, she had a play date at her friend’s house. This friend, S, has a whole closetful of princess costumes. Zoë got to be Cinderella (her favorite princess); one friend was Ariel; another was Snow White.

Yes, that is make-up that you see on her. The girls disappeared into the castle/room and minutes later, Zoë came out sporting make-up. Make-up as only a 4-year old could apply. S put make-up on all her friends. Good thing Zoë was not that into the make-up and didn’t kick up a fuss when I took it off after we left. She understood that “make-up is for grown-ups, but it’s okay to for kids have make-up for a (ballet) performance.”

How old before you started wearing make-up? How old before little girls could start wearing make-up?

Scavenger Hunt Sunday | Opposing Lines

2011-11-13T23:41:00.002+08:00

Another week of using photos from the archives. I did take some photos, but I haven’t even downloaded them from the camera. My mother-in-law had been visiting and we had been playing mahjong almost every night. She flew home tonight. The mahjong set gets put away until the next time she visits. I get back to reading blogs and visiting with you and playing with my photos.

1. Before and After

2. Opposing Lines – Taken through the window of the “people mover” we took from the airfield into the Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

{3. Custom Bokeh – I might attempt this one of these days…}

4. Which pair of shoes should I wear

5. Little Features

Josh’s Poems

2011-11-08T07:08:00.010+08:00

Quite a number of Josh’s homework lately involve poetry –reading poems and then answering some questions about what they’d read or having to write their own poems.

Below are a few of his early attempts at writing his own poems. Of course, he chose to write about Star Wars characters. I was more expecting poems of the rhyming kind, so when he came up with the first one (Jedi), I’d asked him about it. He looked at me as if I haven’t a clue and said, “Not all poems rhyme, you know.” Then he pointed out that he wanted something clever and different from what one would generally expect his class to come up with.

Jedi are generals.

Endless numbers.

During wars they fight without fear.

Indestructible.

CLONES

Clones are trained on Kamino.

The only soldiers with brains

And never have strains.

Their current unit of inquiry has to do with emotions and they were discussing about how colors sometimes represent certain emotions. These are his color poems.

Dark in the midnight sky.

Dark.

Still .

Nothing.

Because everyone’s asleep.

Daisies.

Weddings.

Paper.

White is good.

White is bad.

White can mean happiness.

White can mean hate.

And people are sad when white is bad.

He is 6.

{Yes, I am a proud momma.}

Scavenger Hunt Sunday | In Disguise (Malaysia edition)

2011-11-06T07:08:00.001+08:00

I haven’t had a chance to pick up my camera much this week, so I’m featuring pics I took from our trip to Kuching. Photos that I haven’t had a chance to process until now. I still have lots more to go through…

1. In Disguise – This girl loves wearing my glasses every chance she gets. She would even put on my reading glasses (*sigh* yes, I need them now) and when we tell her to take them off because they’re not good on her eyes, she would always tell us, “But I look good in them!” She does look good in my shades, though, doesn’t she? :)

2. Purple – I was planning to take a picture of the gorgeous purple scarf that I’d received from my friend, but I’d been busy with this week so I never got around to that. Here’s one of Zoë instead with purple on her top, some purple on her skirt, and purple on the soles of her sandals. This girl loves purple (and pink)!

3. Food – It seems that pretty much everything goes well with a little bit of chilli. I love the occasional chilli (flakes), but my mother-in-law loves chilli with everything –be it chilli sauce or chilli flakes or chilli oil. The photo below is of little plates of chilli that they give out to each table at the hawker center we went to while we were in Malaysia.

4. Shapes – Lanzones – little orbs, half-orbs. The lanzones (they’re called langsat in Malaysia) are sweet and yummy, as long as you don’t accidentally bite into the bigger seeds, which are kind of bitter in taste.

5. Photographer’s Choice – A local street scene from our visit to Kuching. Vendors selling lanzones, durian, corn, etc. lined the sidewalk. This man provided entertainment for vendors and for the people who pass by. He was singing English, Chinese, and Malay songs. He might be a busker, but I’m not very sure.

Big Reader

2011-11-04T07:08:00.001+08:00

Josh picked four books to bring with him on our weekend trip to Malaysia: a Geronimo Stilton book, a book from the Magic Tree House series, Rhyme Stew (Roald Dahl), and Big Nate Strikes Again (Lincoln Peirce). He managed to finish all of them before our 3-day trip was over. What with this --

{At the HKIA, while we were checking in for our flight to Malaysia}

and this --

{At a hawker center, while waiting for our food}

and this --

{That was the only way we could get him to pose for photos.}

and this --

{Remember the one where we put Zoë inside a big urn? We wanted similar shots of Josh and this is what we got.}

Josh got bored of re-reading the books we brought that he read the papers on the flight back. He has yet to master the art of reading the newspaper, though. By the time he was done, his seat and the floor had pages of newspaper strewn all over them.

Maybe he’s not used to the size of a newspaper; maybe turning the pages proved to be a bit unwieldy; maybe he needs more reminders about being neater with things. I was just so tickled to see him holding up a newspaper and actually reading the articles. We get our news through electronic media, so this is quite a rare sight. (And yes, I did ask him to pick up the papers off the floor when he was done.)

Hosted by Cecily and Lolli

Making Roti Telur

2011-11-02T07:08:00.001+08:00

I’ll have to say that I never truly appreciated roti (South Asian bread) as much as when Chris’ cousin took us to this place for breakfast one morning. I don’t know if it’s the roti itself or if it’s the curry dips that came with the roti, –probably both, –but I know that if I live there, I wouldn’t mind making a regular stop at that shop.

Josh got to try his hand at making roti telur (roti with egg). The people there were nice enough to let him go behind the counter and actually try to flip the bread.

Halloween 2011

2011-11-01T07:08:00.002+08:00

Josh as Extremio*.

Zoë as a flower child.

Peace!

*Extremio is a character he made up. Apparently it’s also the name he would choose as his confirmation name. Hah.

Do link up below and share with us what’s going on in your part of the world!

Scavenger Hunt Sunday | The Tree

2011-10-30T07:08:00.001+08:00

1. Macro / Close-Up – I don’t have any macro lens. This was as close as I could get without losing focus. I love orchids. Chris’ cousin took us to the Orchid Garden while we were in Kuching. They had a lot of different varieties of orchids –different colors, some big, some small, all gorgeous.

2. Found Texture – As a lark, we put Zoë inside this huge urn. She was a good sport about it and posed for quite a few shots.

3. Home – A shot of the plane we took on the way home. I got a few stares from the other passengers as I walked down the aisle with my camera towards the back of the plane. They were probably wondering why I would take my camera with me to the washroom (!).

4. Cover – This little girl is totally fascinated with umbrellas. It was drizzling a bit that day when we visited with one of Chris’ cousins, so there were umbrellas lying around. She just picked one up (of course, she picked a pink one!) and walked around and twirled about and asked me to take pictures while she posed this way and that.

5. The Tree – I have never ever seen a tree like this before. This was one of three trees at the Orchid Garden that had these spiky thorns up and down their trunks. Of the three, this one had the most thorns. I’d tried to gingerly put my hand on it to balance myself as I tried to shoot up from its base; the thorns were VERY sharp. If ever there was a tree that screams out “Don’t climb me!” this one is it.

To Be a Child

2011-10-26T07:08:00.001+08:00

“Know you what it is to be a child? …it is to believe in love, to believe in loveliness, to believe in belief; it is to be so little that the elves can reach to whisper in your ear; it is to turn pumpkins into coaches, and mice into horses, lowness into loftiness, and nothing into everything, for each child has its fairy godmother in its own soul.”

~Francis Thompson (English poet and writer, 1859 - 1907)

Kuching : The Food Edition

2011-10-25T07:08:00.001+08:00

We went for a short trip to Kuching, Malaysia last weekend. From the moment we landed until the day we left, it’s been non-stop eating. I don’t think I’ve ever eaten this much over a weekend, ever.

It was an uncle’s 81st birthday celebration and then there were the get-togethers with Chris’ cousins and aunt and uncles.

Mixed veggies / Glazed lamb fillets

Everywhere we went, there was food –plenty of food. We stayed with D and A and their girls. They took us around and made sure we had all the food that we’ve been craving for. We hit the hawker centers.

First stop was for kolo mee (Flash-boiled egg noodles served with crushed garlic and shallot, minced pork, vinegar, pork oil, and sliced barbecue pork known as char siu). I think I could dedicate an entire post to kolo mee. We love it so much that we had 20 packs frozen and took them home with us!

We had iced cendol at “Mr. Yeo Number 2.” He had really quirky names for his dessert offerings: Angry Bird, I Love You Forever, Lady Gaga, Kung Fu Panda, etc.

For breakfast one day, we had nasi lemak and Indian curry. Let me just state here for the record that it was the best nasi lemak I’ve ever had. The curry was out-of-this-world yummy, too!

Roti thosay with curry dip / Nasi lemak

We had keropok –lots of it. Chris and the kids had fresh durian.

There was rojak, laksa, buttered prawns, lanzones (picture below), etc. I don’t even remember all that we ate, but let me just say that the food was super delicious!

As soon as we’ve recovered from the food overload, I’m pretty sure we’ll be looking forward to when we’ll be visiting again! First, we’ll have to lose the 20 or so kilos that we’d gained this weekend.

Thank you so much, D & A, for your wonderful, wonderful hospitality!

Scavenger Hunt Sunday | Words

2011-10-23T07:08:00.001+08:00

1. Orange – On our way to the library last Sunday, we passed by the frozen yogurt shop that Josh had promised Zoë he would take her to if she would let him break down her Lego city.

2. Words – These words are on the wall as we clear the check-out counters at our local supermarket.

3. Under – This was taken from under a footbridge. I don’t know if the graffiti art was commissioned or if somebody just thought it would be cool to spruce up a boring surface. I would not be surprised if it was commissioned though. This is the same bridge where all each step is labeled with the year and city where Olympic Games had been held.

4. Fly (From the archives) - At the observation deck at the Vancouver International Airport.

5. Always Look on the Bright Side – This has always been my philosophy and it’s something that I want our kids to adopt as well. (Can you tell I’m stumped on what to do for this theme?)

Monkey Business

2011-10-19T07:08:00.000+08:00

Josh: Hey, stop that! Can’t you see I’m in some serious business here? (While playing a game on his computer)

Zoë: Huh? What? What did you say?

Josh: I. am. in. some. serious. business. here.

Zoë: Oh.

Overheard

2011-10-18T07:08:00.004+08:00

Zoë had built this pretty little Lego “city” for me. Josh asked if he could break it up because he wanted to build another one.

Josh: If you let me break this up, when you grow up, I’ll take you on a date and we could go to Tutti Frutti (a frozen yogurt place that they both love).

Zoë: Oh, okay. You can break it, but you have to take me to Tutti Frutti.

Tickled pink at some silly antic that Chris was doing behind me while I was trying to get this shot.

Scavenger Hunt Sunday | Abstract

2011-10-16T07:08:00.002+08:00

1. Round - Instead of a popcorn sale, the PTA at Josh’s school decided to do Fruity Friday. A few of the parents came in to help. Some of us learned to peel and cut up a pineapple for the first time (!). The children had a choice of bringing in their own fork and own container for the fruits or buying a fruit kebab (for HK$1 more).

2. Fire – This is one from the archives, from our trip to Oregon, from our first time having smores on the beach.

3. Seeing Faces in Strange Places - Beyond the obvious face in the Kumon sign, do you see the other “face” (a profile) on the shiny chrome surface? It looks like one of those superheroes (The Flash?) –you know the ones in tights, with a black eye mask?

4. Stars – Let’s just pretend that they are stars, okay? These are some of the lights that are on the whole year round each evening down by the seaside promenade. I always thought they look so pretty against the night sky –all hanging in a row, in clusters.

5. Abstract – Could you tell that this is the same shot as the one for Stars? I was playing around with Levels on that photo and accidentally pushed the Black all the way to the end. What it left me was white blotches against a black background. I just decided to play with it further by adding colors to the white blotches. How’s that for abstract art? =)

Trivia Learned

2011-10-12T07:08:00.003+08:00

We spotted this praying mantis as we were coming in through the glass doors. Chris said that some bird was chasing it when it ran smack against the glass.

Of course, we lingered a bit so that the kids could get a better look at it. Then the questions started.

Why is it called a praying mantis?

(…named for its prominent front legs, which are bent and held together at an angle that suggests the position of prayer.)

What does it eat?

(Moths, crickets, grasshoppers, flies, and other insects… They also eat others of their own kind. The most famous example of this is the notorious mating behavior of the adult female, who sometimes eats her mate just after—or even during—mating.)

Insects do not interest me beyond the fact that some of them are fascinating to photograph. I would not have bothered to look up the answers if they had not asked. I would not even have wondered about the praying mantis. But because my children did ask, I now am a little more knowledgeable about something of which I’d practically zero knowledge previously.

Having children has helped me grow, every day, in so many ways… and I am so thankful for that.

(Answers from from National Geographic)

Why Do Leaves Shake When the Wind Blows?

2011-10-11T07:08:00.001+08:00

Josh gets to check out three books a week from his school’s Learning Center. He almost always comes home with one Mr. Men book, one Geronimo Stilton, and one Star Wars chapter book. Last week, in place of a Star Wars book, he checked out The Magic School Bus and the Science Fair Expedition.

After reading the book, he asked for a piece of paper and announced that he’s going to do an experiment. One by one, he brought over to the fan a balloon, one of Zoe’s dolls, and a few other objects to see what happens when the fan blows on them. He then proceeded to record his findings.

I love that he gets inspired by the things he reads. I love that he loves writing down things and making lists. I love that he loves learning.

We have quite a few of his lists and homemade signs posted all over the place. He helps himself to adhesive tape and attaches these pieces of paper on the door, to the wall, etc. It makes our place look messy, but I don’t really mind. Josh is not going to be a child forever and I know that I will look back on these and smile.

Scavenger Hunt Sunday | The Color Wheel

2011-10-09T07:08:00.001+08:00

1. The Color Wheel – The first thing that I thought of was our no-sew quilt. The kids play with this all the time –using it as a picnic blanket, as a tent.

2. Landscape – Blake Pier at Stanley. I see this pier every time I am in Stanley. I must have taken dozens of photos of this pier, yet I’ve never really set foot on it.

3. Black and White – I was going to try the mouse over trick that Ashley shared earlier this week with this photo, but for some reason, I could not get it to work. I use Windows Live Writer when doing my posts. Does anyone have any advice?

This is the original shot before I converted it to black-and-white. (I took this in early summer at my MIL’s house, when the flowers were just starting to turn purple.)

4. Blank Space

5. Food – Chris and I went out for dinner tonight with a mind to get some good photos of food. We’d picked a Spanish restaurant that we’d been to before, but instead of my usual order, I’d decided to try their angel hair pasta with black truffles and wild mushrooms. Sounds good, right? *loud annoying buzzer sound!* Lesson: Never order Italian at a Spanish restaurant. Duh. I took a photo instead of a food display at a Korean restaurant that we sometimes go to, which is right across the Spanish place.

Daddy and Zoë

2011-10-07T07:08:00.001+08:00

Zoë and Daddy. Yes, that is supposed to be Chris. No, he is not in a dress. According to Zoë, he’s wearing a pair of pants and he’s standing with his legs apart. The pink thing on top of his head is not a flower, but a crown. “Daddy’s the king and I am the princess.” Under a rainbow canopy, with flowers on top.

The yellow strips at the bottom were from those plastic packaging strips that hold cartons together during shipment. She got some from one of the boxes that came in for me and decided to cut them into short strips and glue them to the bottom of her drawing to “make it prettier.”

Hosted by Cecily and Lolli

No Title

2011-10-05T07:08:00.001+08:00

No title simply because I could not come up with one. I actually find that the hardest part in writing a post. Well, beyond coming up with something to write about, that is.

Here is Zoë in her Chinese outfit holding up her Angry Bird lantern during the Lantern Parade at her school. She actually went to school in pink embroidered silk slippers, but she had to change into her indoor shoes at school. At least they matched her outfit.

Zoë Says

2011-10-04T07:08:00.001+08:00

Mommy, when I have my own children, can you give me money?

Me: Why would you want me to give you money?

Zoë: Because I want to have lots of money.

Me: Well, that’s why you are in school, to learn things, so you can get a job and earn money yourself when you grow up. How do you think you could earn money?

Zoë: By working in a bank (because the bank has lots of money!).

I Heart Faces | Raise Your Hands!

2011-10-03T07:08:00.001+08:00

I immediately thought of this shot when I saw the theme for this week. One of my all-time favorite shots of Zoë. (Apologies to all of you who have seen this shot before.)

Scavenger Hunt Sunday | Inspired by a Book

2011-10-02T07:08:00.001+08:00

1. Inspired by a Book – I’ve read and enjoyed most of Chris Bohjalian’s novels. Although Skeletons at the Feast has good reviews, I still hesitate. These days I prefer to read “lighter” subjects and a book about German refugees during WWII as they flee the oncoming Russian army is a bit heavy for my liking at the moment. I might revisit this book later, though, because I really do enjoy Bohjalian’s books.

2. Brown – Sometimes to hear Josh speak, you’d think he’s a teenager, but I guess he’s not “teen” enough yet to not to want to wear the shoes that I pick out. I love this pair on him. They still scream “little boy.” I’m trying to hold on to my growing-too-fast boy for a while longer.

(Processed with Kim Klassen’s The Ladder texture.)

3. Hazy – I took this shot during our short walk tonight. The bright lights around the pool created a bit of a haze. (Sorry, a bit of a stretch for this theme, I know.)

4. Coffee or Tea – While I love the smell of coffee, I am very much a tea drinker. Green tea, specifically. Strange, though, that I love coffee-flavored anything, but not so much green tea-flavored stuff. (This photo is from our visit to The Urban Tea Merchant this summer.)

5. Linger – We walked to the library this morning and on the way back, instead of heading directly home, we lingered a bit downstairs when I saw this woman wearing this interesting hat working on the plants –pruning and clearing the area of loose leaves and twigs.

Also Josh and Zoë spotted an army of ants moving a dead bug and wanted to watch. They had watched (and poked), while I tried to get a few shots in of the woman as inconspicuously as I could.

Quarterly Top 5 Photos | July–September 2011

2011-09-29T07:08:00.001+08:00

Ever since we’ve come back from our summer holiday, it seems like I’d been in a funk. Uninspired. While I have been taking out the camera with me whenever I could, I haven’t really been taking it out of the bag as often I used to in the past. So I sometimes end up lugging the heavy bag and not having taken a single photo at all.

Hopefully, I’ll start to take more photos now that the weather is cooler. (Yeah, I blame the weather.) I hope to have at least a few photos of both Josh and Zoë together in time for the next Quarterly Top 5 (hosted by Nap Time Momtog / Amber’s Articles / Click it Up a Notch).

Here are my Quarterly Top 5 for Jul – Sep –in no particular order:

1. This one always brings a smile to my face. It’s just so sweet how Zoë had her short little arm and chubby little leg hugging Chris as she napped.

2. I love her colorful fingers and hand!

3. I love this girl!

4. I love him –missing front teeth and all!

5. I can’t really point my finger at what I love about this photo; I just do.

First Crush

2011-09-28T07:08:00.001+08:00

Conversation # 1

Me: Who did you play with at school today?

Zoë: Oliver.

Me: Did you play with anybody else?

Zoë: Yes, (naming a few other children).

I know most of the other children she’s named, but I don’t know Oliver, yet this is the one name that gets first-mention every time I ask her who she plays with at school.

Me: Why do you enjoy playing with Oliver?

Zoë: Because he’s silly and he has a little brother called Joshua, but he calls him Joshie.

Me: You like him because he’s fun to play with and he also has brother called Joshua, just like you do?

Zoë: Yes, but also because (in a stage whisper, cupping her hand) he’s handsome. Very handsome.

Conversation # 2

Zoë: Mommy, I know how to spell Oliver’s name (She proceeded to spell it out. Correctly, too.)

Me: Wow, how did you know how to spell his name?

Zoë: I looked it up on his cubby.

{She’s only 4.}

Three Little Birds

2011-09-27T07:08:00.002+08:00

Josh and Zoë love an audience. Ever since Josh was small, he would put together little performances for us. He would be emcee and solo performer rolled into one. Zoë, when she was old enough to join in, got right in there with Josh.

They were putting together one of their “performances” for my mother-in-law during her visit. When it was Josh’s turn, he asked Zoë to say that he would be singing “Three Little Birds.” I didn’t think anything of it, not really knowing that particular Bob Marley song. But as he sang, I was thinking, “Hmmm, a melody pure and true… doesn’t sound like something a 6-year old would make up. Then I asked him who taught him the song. He looked at me like I should already know the song, “Ms. C plays it when we do our tidying up in school. It’s Three Little Birds by Bob Marley.” So I googled it.

And it turns out the we actually have it in our Bob Marley CD. So now, we have the song playing whenever we’re in the car. Because we have it on Repeat a lot of the time, we all know the words –including Zoë. So now we all sing along –loudly! –to the song whenever it comes on.

I love it that we sing along to Bob Marley, The Beatles, Three Dog Night, ABBA, Wham! and other 80’s tunes as much as we do to Disney tunes.

What kind of music do you listen to when you’re on the road?

Scavenger Hunt Sunday | Low Key

2011-09-25T07:08:00.001+08:00

1. Low Key (Photography) - I love this man’s face, so interesting, so full of stories. He was doing a demo at Fort Langley on how to make wooden barrels He was so animated and kept us hanging on to his every word. The photo was not taken really with “low key” in mind, but seeing this week’s theme, I thought this photo would be perfect for me to work on for the theme.

2. The Color Wheel: Monochromatic / Analogous Color – I love how the store used a lavender tag to go with the purplish red of the cabbages.

3. Circle – This is a dessert place next to where Chris and I had dinner tonight. The second Chinese character (圓) means “round” or “circle.”

4. Scarf – No sooner has the weather turned just the tad bit cooler, the scarves come out. Every other person we saw tonight had some sort of scarf on.

5. Phone – No fancy phone for me. Mine is still an old Nokia. This is Chris’ phone. The kids love to hijack his phone to play Angry Birds and Fruit Ninja. Chris was showing me how he could watch movies on his phone. I can’t imagine why anyone would want to watch a movie on such a small screen. That said, the resolution his screen was pretty good.

My Scout

2011-09-23T07:08:00.001+08:00

…with the missing front teeth!

Josh had his first Beaver Scouts meeting yesterday. After all this time searching for an English-speaking scouts group, I was really happy to learn that his school has one.

No, they hadn’t learned to tie knots and climb ropes (yet), but they did decorate cupcakes and Josh had a great time doing so.

Psst, anyone finding it a tad ironic that Josh is a Beaver Scout and he is missing his front teeth?

Hosted by Cecily and Lolli

Love Note from Zoë

2011-09-21T07:08:00.001+08:00

Out of the blue, she asked for a piece of paper. She said she wanted to write me a love day note. This is what she handed to me when she was done.

Dear Mom,

I love you because you tell me (lots of things).

My name is Zoë.

I love Mom.

From Zoë

This note is going in my wallet. Where I could pull it out to look and read whenever I want me some Zoë-love. I really do not have the words to describe the sweetness and the joy that she brings to our lives each and every single day. She makes us feel so blessed.

{The only help she got was the ‘cause’ in because, but otherwise she spelled and wrote all those words herself.}

Over Dim Sum and Pearls

2011-09-20T07:08:00.001+08:00

My mother-in-law has been in town visiting with us this past week and we’ve been going out –shopping and dining out. We made it to Tim Ho Wan (a Michelin-starred dim sum place) and waited for only one hour before we got a table. I say only because my parents waited for almost 2.5 hours when they went! Worth the wait, believe me.

While waiting, we met a very nice lady (MK) and her brother (Obi Wan K). MK was visiting her brother who’s been working here as an ice skating instructor. It turned out that said brother was the guy who stood in and performed Ballerina Girl at Zoë’s ballet performance at the HKAPA (when the original star couldn’t make it at the last minute)! What a small world.

{Before I go any further, let me just say now that the photo has nothing at all to do with this post. Nothing at all. This was taken at a local electronics store and Josh and Zoë were testing out the 3D glasses they had there.}

We chatted while waiting for our table to be called. You know how you just click with some people and feel that you’ve known them a long time? That was how it was with MK.

After dim sum, my MIL and I were planning to go to the Jade Market. MK decided to come along with us. (Obi Wan had to go somewhere else.) Good thing she did, too. Between us, we managed to get really great prices on some pearl earrings and necklaces. Better bargaining power when grouping purchases together!

Great food, great company, great bargain. Definitely a great day.

Scavenger Hunt Sunday | Street Photography

2011-09-18T07:08:00.001+08:00

1. Street Photography – I love walking around, pretending to be a tourist. I’d be perfectly happy walking around different parts of town, taking random shots of random scenes.

A sidewalk vendor near the Chai Wan market

2. From a Distance

3. Sunday – The only thing that makes the collage below ‘fit’ into the theme is that all the shots were taken on a Sunday.4. Liquid – Not quite liquid, but not quite solid either. Growing up, this was one of my favorite desserts –douhua (tofu pudding). These days, we try to order a bucket whenever we go and have dim sum. The kids and Chris love this, too –with lots of ginger syrup!

5. Behind – On the way home from church, we were behind this Jag, which was behind a mini-bus, which was behind a big bus.

(Processed with seven layers of Kim Klassen’s Serious Magic texture)

Moonless

2011-09-14T07:08:00.001+08:00

Every time I try to take a photo of where we live, I get dizzy. This photo was taken last night. I had hoped to get a good photo of the full moon, but no such luck. It was a cloudy night.

Moon or no moon, I think last night was one of the best Mid-Autumn eve I can remember. The kids had so much fun playing with their friends –at night, way past their normal bedtime. It was quite a festive atmosphere, with lanterns and glow sticks galore. Also, for me and Chris, it was a lot more relaxing. The kids are now old enough to run around on their own without us having to constantly hover over them, making sure that they wouldn’t hurt themselves, etc. We could sit / stand around and chat with the other parents and the neighbors who were there.

Josh, who had already had a shower before dinner, had to take another shower after we got back. He was all sweaty and red in the face from climbing and running around. Zoë pretty much stuck to her little friend who had all these glow sticks. She was quite content to make glow stick bangles and necklaces… and wear them.

Mid-Autumn Eve

2011-09-13T07:08:00.001+08:00

After dinner tonight, Chris and I took Josh and Zoë downstairs to play. We told them they could play for 15 minutes and then we would come home and get ready for bed. Off we went, with Angry Birds lanterns in hand.

Once on the playground, they immediately took off with some playmates –all of them carrying various kinds of lanterns. Many brought glow sticks. Some brought picnic mats to sit on. A few boys ran around wielding their light sabres.

There were not too many people when we went down, but by the time we left –some 45+ minutes later, –more people were still coming!

I took quite a number of photos, but I am too tired and sleepy to upload now… So tired I am that I know I will sleep through the noises of children still playing downstairs, running around –at almost 11:30pm!

Happy Mid-Autumn Festival!

Scavenger Hunt Sunday | Remember

2011-09-11T07:08:00.001+08:00

1. Remember – My friend and I went to the Jade Market on Friday. Seeing the various jade bangles and pendants and earrings on display reminded me of my grandmother. I always remember her with her jade bangle and earrings.

2. Process of Elimination - All the stalls seem to be selling very similar things. We went from stall to stall, checking out the wares. There was one stall that I particularly liked. It sold mostly pearls and also amber jewelry pieces. We spent quite a bit of time there, trying to decide which pieces look good. We asked questions. We bargained. We bargained some more. Until we arrived at a price that we were all happy with.

3 Statue – We saw this man sitting at the gate to the Jade Market. Considering how still he was, he might well had been a statue!

4 Flying High – This one is from the archives… from our visit to Oregon this summer.

5. Bokeh

Future Climber?

2011-09-07T07:08:00.001+08:00

Chris and I met at a climbing wall.

No question that this little monkey is ours.

We had decided to check out the playroom in the new community center that opened recently. It’s a huge padded room, with a play gym in the middle and the climbing wall. That’s it, nothing else. But it was more than enough for the children. The parents could chill on the bench by one of the walls –read, chat, surf, etc., –and know that the children are safe and are having fun.

Watching her navigate her way up that wall totally made me go, “Yay, Zoë!” The lower part was easy enough, but the challenge was how to traverse that patch of empty wall in-between, especially as her short little legs could not reach high enough to the next hold. But she somehow hoisted herself up by keeping her hands on the hold and walking her feet up the wall, until they reached the next foothold. Go, Zoë, go!

{Psst, check out this photo of her up on a climbing wall when she just turned 2.}

A Whole Lot of Color (and a whole lot of fun!)

2011-09-06T07:08:00.001+08:00

Zoë attended an art-jammin’ kind of birthday party last Saturday. What a cool idea for a party! The children all had a wonderful time (and us grown-ups, too). There were plenty for the children to do the minute they walked through the door…

They made cookies.

They painted.

Zoë’s masterpiece.

We played with clay… and made an Angry Bird.

Then we sang Happy Birthday and the sweet birthday girl blew out her candles…

We had these wonderful, yummy cupcakes!

And then Zoë and I had to walk four blocks before we could get a cab.

And I had to hold onto Zoë’s balloon while walking,

because she had insisted on carrying her canvas

and said that she couldn’t carry anything else.

But that’s okay.

That’s what mommies are for –

to help hold onto balloons.

Scavenger Hunt Sunday | Stairs

2011-09-04T07:08:00.001+08:00

1. Stairs – The stone steps at Pottinger Street.

2. Macro – A tayberry, not a raspberry.

3. Clouds – At White Rock, B.C.

4. Abstract – A painting by the birthday girl at a party that Zoë attended this afternoon.

5. Smile – Zoë on her first day of K2… all smiles.

As Good As It Gets

2011-08-31T08:36:00.001+08:00

Yet another attempt to take a group shot of the cousins.

Out of the many, many clicks…

This is as good as it gets.

Shrimpy

2011-08-30T07:08:00.000+08:00

Zoë has this love affair with shrimps and prawns. And squids. Sometimes she accompanies our helper when she goes to the market. Without fail, when she does, they always come back with fresh squids or fresh prawns, because she would insist on getting some.

No sooner had she put her shoes away and washed her hands, she would immediately head to the kitchen and ask to “clean” the shrimps and squids. She would actually shoo us away and tell us that she could manage just fine on her own. And she actually could. After being shown how to do it properly once. (Don’t worry, we cut off the heads and the prickly bits first before letting her at them.)

I wonder if this is a passing phase –her love of seafood and her enthusiasm for preparing them for cooking. I love shrimps and prawns, –always had, since I was a child, –but I’d never had any interest in wanting to help clean them.

Josh, on the other hand, absolutely hates shrimps and squids. He would make gagging noises and would move his plate away from ours when he knows we have prawns or squids on ours. I don’t know what has gotten into him. He’s not allergic to them and he used to eat them quite a bit when he was younger. Oh well, more for me and Zoë then.

I Heart Faces | White

2011-08-29T07:08:00.001+08:00

I had this grand plan of shooting a tanned Zoë wearing a white peasant blouse, with her hair loose and blowing in the wind. Yeah, well. That did not happen. She’d insisted on wearing her pink dress today.

But I do have this one shot of both Josh and Zoë wearing white. It’s actually one of my all-time favorite shots of the two of them, one of the first few shots taken when I first took my D90 out.

Scavenger Hunt Sunday | Night Photography

2011-08-28T07:08:00.001+08:00

1. Night Photography – This is a view from our bedroom window on yet another full moon night (different from the one I posted here). Because of how the windows open out, I get a very limited opening through which I’d get an unobstructed shot. I don’t have a tripod, so this shot was taken with my camera resting on one of those childproofing grills and with me taking a deep breath and breathing out as the shot went down. Still not as sharp as I would have liked, but I’ll take it. I love the light on the water.

2. Old and New - I could not find something old and new in one shot, so here are two totally unrelated items that are old and new.

Old travel papers and old suitcase

Josh’s new Poetry Journal which he gets to bring home from school every Friday

3. Sun – I love the rays of afternoon sun that sneaked through the slats to lightly land on the girls as they busied themselves with their water play.

4. Music – Dragon boat racers paddle to the beat of this drum.

5. Cheesy – This one is from the archives… from a pizza-making party that Zoë attended.

Until Next Year…

2011-08-27T07:08:00.001+08:00

I still am not done processing all the photos from this summer. At the rate this is taking me, our next summer holiday will be here and I still won’t be done. Anyway, I was looking through and these ones totally make me long for next summer –when we could do it all over again!

We always go blueberry-picking, but this year, because it was a bit too early in the season for blueberries, we picked raspberries.

Of course, I had to be taught by my 4-year old how to pick raspberries: “You have to twist and pull, Mommy.” This was when she saw me having difficulty plucking one. Well, what do you know? It worked! I asked her how she knew. She airily told me, “Special Agent Oso” and then she walked off to pick some more, sneaking one or two into her mouth.

The cousins dragging our haul back to be weighed.

Brown

2011-08-26T07:09:00.002+08:00

Are you the type that tans very easily or are you like Josh and Chris, who hardly ever get any tan? Zoë is like me. Just a few minutes in the sun and we get tan lines.

Look at how brown she is these days…

These were taken the other day right before we left for her ballet class. This week’s classes are “special” themed classes and were put together just for the last week of summer. I’d signed her up for The Nutcracker and for Pirouetting Princesses. In Pirouetting Princesses, she gets to wear her princess outfit and twirl around and around. How much do you think she’ll love that?

Hosted by Cecily and Lolli

A Regular Zoë Day

2011-08-25T07:08:00.001+08:00

Josh is back in school. We still have one week to go before Zoë goes back to hers. In the meantime, she’s been hosting tea parties for her “babies” (her dolls). She ropes me in to be the queen to her princess. She goes down to the bus stop to see Josh off in the mornings. Comes back for her breakfast. She does a few pages of her activity book; does one page of Chinese writing. Draws. Plans “beforemances” for when she puts on a show for us at bedtime. She goes grocery-shopping with me. Goes downstairs to play with her friends. She “helps” with the dishes. She asks to watch “The Fairies.” She asks if she can have something to eat (every hour, it seems!).

She keeps busy being Zoë.

Being our lovable little girl.

A little girl who always makes us smile. Big.

More on the Maritime Museum

2011-08-24T07:08:00.001+08:00

If you ever find yourself in Stanley (Hong Kong), try to stop by the Hong Kong Maritime Museum. I’ve lived here over 15 years and I’m in Stanley every week; yet, last week was the first time I’d visited the museum. I’m glad I finally did. It was really quite interesting and if you have a curious child, it could be a fun mommy-child date on a hot afternoon.

Here are some more photos from its Ancient Gallery (where you’re not supposed to take pictures –flash or no flash!)…

What it says on the little sign on the side:

Antique figurehead, possibly of Guanyin (Goddess of Mercy)

19th Century

“In the West, figureheads replaced the ancient “seeing eye” or okulos, on the bow as well as the later Christian substitute, the Star of the Sea (Stella Maris), or Virgin Mary. In the figurehead of Guanyin, east meets west. The fleur de lys (lily) shape in the figurehead’s hand may evoke the lotus (water lily) of Buddhism.”

{copied verbatim}

The glass case on the left where you see a flintlock revolver (I can’t remember if that’s the proper term for it) was Josh’s favorite part of the Ancient Gallery, he said. Because of the weapons.

I think he enjoyed the Modern Gallery more because it had a number of interactive games. We tried our hand at Morse code, spelling F-I-R-E; Josh had a go at {virtually} loading cargo onto a ship and making sure the ship did not sink. We had a fun afternoon. Just Josh and me.

Rules Schmules

2011-08-23T07:00:00.000+08:00

Most days I’m a rule-follower. Most days. That’s just the way I’ve been raised. That’s not to say that I don’t have a bit of a rebel streak in me.

When Josh and I visited the Hong Kong Maritime Museum the other day, I took photos where I was not supposed to have taken any. Uh oh. In my defense, I did look around for “No Photography” signs and saw none –not a single one anywhere in the gallery. I also had my camera hanging around my neck when the guard ushered us into their Ancient Gallery after we handed over our tickets. He did not say anything to me about not being allowed to take photos in there. I also saw other people taking photos with their phones and with their point-and-shoot cameras.

I’d snapped quite a few before a boy, about 12, muttered to me, “There is no photography allowed in here.” I asked him to point out the sign to me. He just repeated what he mumbled earlier. We were almost near the Ancient Gallery’s exit, so I just let it go.

Of course, the second we got out, I approached the guard and asked if we could take pictures. He explained that we could in the Modern Gallery, but not in the Ancient Gallery where we were just in. Ah. It was then that I spotted the tiny “No camera” sign –not on the door to the gallery where one could plainly see it, but on the side of door sill… posted in a way such that if one doesn’t turn one’s head to look specifically in that direction, one could totally miss it. Oh well. I already have my photos –all taken before I was made aware of the rule. I’m not going to delete them.

(This giant LV case was from the Modern Gallery.)

Are you a rule-follower or a rule-breaker?

I Heart Faces | Pets

2011-08-22T07:08:00.001+08:00

I’ve never seen something like this before… a mobile pet spa! As Zoë and I were coming back from an errand, we saw this parked by the side of the road. People would bring their pets and hand them over to the grooming crew. The pets get “washed” and groomed inside and you could actually see what’s happening through the glass panels on the side of the van. How cool is that?

I know that this theme calls for photos of pets, but I thought this is too interesting not to share.

{Edit: Oops, I didn’t know that there are actually plenty of these in the US. This is the first (and only) one I’ve seen around here. }

Scavenger Hunt Sunday | Hanging by a Thread

2011-08-21T07:08:00.001+08:00

1. Hanging by a Thread – This Coke delivery truck caught my eye, made me look twice. I hurriedly took a shot, as it was very hot and Josh and I were both tired and just wanted to get back to the car to go pick up Zoë at her play date. It wasn’t until I was uploading this photo that I realized that the “doors” were closed and that the crates of Coke that I thought were real were part of the giant stickers on the doors. What a cool, creative concept!

2. On the Dotted Line – The bus ~~straddled~~ stopped on the dotted (dashed) line when letting off passengers. A bit of a stretch for this theme, I know.

3. Geometry – This old shopping center got a facelift and now has these squares and rectangles on its facade for a relatively more modern look.

4. Brushstrokes – Calligraphy on a t-shirt. There are shops in Stanley that ‘translate’ your English name into Chinese (if you don’t already have a Chinese name) and they could print the Chinese characters onto a t-shirt for you.

5. Collage – It’s late Saturday night and I have an early day tomorrow. Together with friends, we’re taking the kids to an out-of-town country club for a final hurrah before school starts next week (for Josh and my friends’ children, anyway). I don’t have the energy to put together a new collage, so I am re-posting one that I posted earlier this week. (I personally find it very painstaking to put together collages, so I would greatly welcome suggestions on easier ways to make them.)

Time Fillers

2011-08-19T09:23:00.002+08:00

During one particularly rainy day during our beach holiday, we decided to drive from Gearhart to Portland. Spent the afternoon at Powell’s Books. If you ever are in Portland and you love books, you have to stop by and check it out… and make sure you have hours to while away. (Read more about Powell’s Books here).

After Powell’s, we were supposed to meet up with my SIL and her family for dinner at The Cheesecake Factory. We didn’t know where it was. We knew that they headed to Bridgeport after Powell’s, so we made our way there, too. Made a wrong turn; got stuck in rush-hour traffic. In the meantime, both hers and my BIL’s phones were out of juice; Chris’ was as well. We couldn’t get in touch with them.

When we finally made it to Bridgeport, we knew we didn’t have it in us to try to navigate our way through unfamiliar roads to The Cheesecake Factory. Plus, it was dinner time. While we were trying to decide where to have dinner, we got out the books for the kids, so that they wouldn’t be running around. Zoë was reading one of her new Kai-Lan books and Josh busied himself with one of the search-a-word books we brought along.

We always try to bring along at least one book, activity book, or sketch book with us whenever we go out with the kids. It gives them something to do when they start to get bored. Personally, I love the sketch books. They could do anything they wish on the sketch books –draw, write –anything! ….and no electronic beeping either –except for the pshh, pfft sound effects that Josh makes sometimes when he draws battle scenes.

Of course there are times we forget to bring books. That’s when Chris’ phone comes in handy. Angry Birds. Fruit Ninja. It’s my turn now. No, not yet! You played longer than I did! S/he’s not sharing! Books, notebooks – MUST REMEMBER or I’ll go nuts.

What do you do to fill time while waiting with kids?

Hosted by Cecily and Lolli

Silver Moonlight

2011-08-17T07:08:00.001+08:00

Every once in a while, we get to see views like this one…

This was taken on Sunday evening after we came home from dinner. The kids rushed to the window and cried out, “Look at the moon!” The best part of a full moon for me is the silvery path of light it casts on the water. We turned off the lights for a while and just enjoyed the view.

Whiteboard Fun

2011-08-16T07:08:00.001+08:00

How many ways could you find a use for those {red} round magnets on the whiteboard? That was what Josh, Zoë, and I were trying to find out while waiting for Chris to finish work the other day.

Here are a few that we came up with…

I drew the clown and the birds; Zoë did the butterfly; the rest were Josh’s.

Zoë drew this one below and proceeded to sound out and write volcano (!). The letters that follow –“dits it sl…” –are supposed to stand for “that is shooting…” and then she managed to sound out and spell lava. Josh added Mount St. Helens.

Another one of Josh’s, of course –a bomber plane dropping bombs on a tank. The shooting piece of the tank broke off, he said.

This is supposed to be a scene from the Angry Birds game –drawn by Josh. The girl on the lower right corner playing with her pet birds was drawn by Zoë.

Princess Zoë’s self-portrait, with falling star.

I Heart Faces | Beautiful Eyes

2011-08-15T07:08:00.001+08:00

This picture of Zoë immediately came to mind when I saw the I Heart Faces theme for this week…

Scavenger Hunt Sunday | Ink

2011-08-14T07:08:00.001+08:00

1. Ink

2. Buttons – The kids and I were playing around with the whiteboard at Chris’ office and we were trying to come up with as many things as we could with the red round magnets. Here’s one (I’ll do another post on the others we came up with in the next couple of days)…

3. Frame Within a Frame – Zoë with her Uncle R.

4. Best Part of My Day – When we were still suffering from jet lag during our first week back from our trip, there were a couple of times when Josh woke up in the middle of the night and crawled into our bed. He would wake up really early and he would call to me, “Mommy, look!” We would be both sit there quietly by the window, –not quite fully awake, but not sleepy anymore, –and watch sky change colors. I would look down and see that the street lights were still on; we would marvel at the rays of sun peeking from behind the mountains. We were tickled that we could still see the moon. On one such occasion, we both grabbed our cameras and started taking pictures… but mostly, we would just sit and be.

5. Against the Light