New York Uncle, Auntie, and Mimi's Fish Eggs!

Annie, Mimi, and I had a chance to have dinner with my New York uncle and auntie last Friday. Unfortunately they were not back in Taiwan for fun but for some sad personal reasons. However it was nice to see them and try to give them a break and a smile from an otherwise what I would think is a tough trip. We went to San-Jin and Mimi had a great time eating her favorite Fish Roe Sushi (yuck!). Mimi loves her fish eggs, she can eat 4 pieces in one setting.

Sun Moon Lake

Last Friday was my company trip. Taiwan companies have a benefit in which the company pays for a trip for all employees to attend. Some are a grand lavish trip outside of Taiwan, others can be a simple hike or dinner. We were lucky this year and though we didn’t have a luxurious trip to Bally or Palau, we did get to go to Sun Moon Lake which to me is probably the most beautiful place in Taiwan. Mimi unfortunately didn’t get to go this trip because she got sick. Since we already paid for some of the trip Annie and I still went while Mimi stayed at her grandma’s in Hsinchu.

Sun Moon Lake was beautiful as usual and it was really nice to get away and relax a little bit. Also my co-workers are pretty cool over all and it is good to spend some fun times together instead of always stressing over customer issues or sales orders. We had some team building activities and the food overall was pretty good. Annie and I got a chance to see the Lalu Hotel which is one of the most expensive and luxurious hotels in Taiwan. Now I have seen many many hotels in this world and I have to say even I was very impressed by the Lalu Hotel. I would definitely recommend it for the people who can afford to pay $500 USD a night:-).

Mimi’s Idols

Last week was a big week for Mimi, she got a chance to see 2 of her idols, Eric the Tiger and YoYo Man. On Friday we took Mimi to see a play put on by the Eric the Tiger company. The play was cute and it was a first in which I took Mimi to one of these things. It was basically lots of people in big fluffy costumes including Eric the Tiger. I didn’t really get what was going on but the story involved lots of singing and dancing and eventually everyone becoming friends in the end. Unfortunately they did not allow pictures. Mimi has a great time and sat and watched it no problem. She wanted to shake Eric’s hand so she kept on asking him to come down from the stage. Unfortunately Eric did not come out after the play and take pictures…most likely because he would have been killed being stormed over by an army of kids.

The next day though we were lucky enough to be at a YoYo event at the Miramir Mall during our Special Day. Mimi got to play on the YoYo computer games and meet Big Brother Banana and YoYo Man(which is a guy in a big fluffy yellow costume). There was also lots of singing and dancing. This time though Mimi got a chance to shake hands with YoYo Man. After the show she went up to him and shook his hand then ran back to me laughing.

Overall it was fun for Mimi and ok for me. I have a feeling that there will be many more dancing and singing people in bright colored fluffy costumes in my future.

Uncle Bill

Had a chance to meet up with Bill when he was in Taiwan for business last Sunday. I have known Bill since 1999 when I first joined HP. We have been co-workers, housemates, ex-coworkers, ex-housemates, then co-workers again when he hooked me up with Pixelworks. He recently got married and is planning on starting a family next year. The last time he saw Mimi she was only crawling and can’t really speak much. She also won’t let strangers hold her back then. In fact these were the pictures he took that time.

This time I treat Bill to hotpot in Taipei and Mimi had a chance to talk with Uncle Bill and was willing to take a picture with Uncle Bill. I also let Mimi take some pictures of Bill and me.

The next time I will see Bill it will be in Las Vegas at Computex. He promised me a steak dinner so at least I will get that from Las Vegas.

Heartbreak Mornings

Mimi usually wakes up anywhere between 9am to 10:00 am depending on what times she goes to bed. On weekdays I try my best to get out the door to work before she wakes up. Most of the time I succeed, sometimes I do not. The reason I do this is because if I am still at home when Mimi wakes up…things get complicated.

I think with any parenting system there is 1 parent who is more the enforcer while the other is more the fun parent. Maybe there is a system in which it is more balanced however it turns out with Annie and I we fit into that role. Annie definitely is the enforcer and the sterner parent while I am the fun and sometimes take advantage of parent. Therefore Mimi likes spending time with me because well…I let her do just about anything she wants and never say no.

So in mornings if Mimi wakes up and sees me dressed in work clothes, she starts crying and tell me don’t go to work and stay and play with Mei-Mei. She will grab my shirt and tell me to change and want me to hold her and basically not let go. It usually takes me an extra 20 minutes to get out the door if she wakes up. I usually have to steel my heart up before finally walking out that door. This morning I was cleaning my camera when she woke up and happened to record it. Poor baby...

Mimi's Halloween Video

So life’s recently has gotten tough, rough, hard, busy…basically I haven’t had as much free time as I did before. Well, I didn’t have THAT much free time before however now I have no free time at all. That is why my postings has gotten sparse as of late and that the videos of Mimi’s Halloween party has been sitting on my desktop for about a week just waiting for me to edit and upload. Well I still don’t have free time however I am right now pretending to do work at my office while typing this posting and hoping my manager doesn’t stop by for a chat.

Seems like a lot of people had some pretty rough times of late. Several friends, family, and even I have been adjusting or going through some difficult situations at work and home. I think at times like this you must remember who your love ones are and know that it is okay to reach out for help or have others help you, after all if we don’t have each other what do we have.

Anyways enough of the boring, mushy, stuff. Here is what everyone has been waiting for…well everyone meaning basically my sister and parents…Mimi’s Halloween video.

Mimi the Adorable Witch

Yesterday Gymboree had a Halloween party for the kids and thanks to Barbara, Mimi had the cutest and most special costume there. Mimi wore an adorable witch costume sent all the way from U.S. by her aunt. At first Mimi was a little afraid to wear it because she has this scared but strange fascination with witches. However we keep on telling her that she will look so cute in the outfit and she will be the cutest girl there and everyone will come up and tell her how cute she was. Having the possibility of praise being lavished upon her Mimi quickly overcame her fears and done her witches outfit and yes she was the cutest girl there.

Her cousin Yankee came up and Barbara got him a pirate’s outfit. The party turned out pretty well for a kid’s party. Music, dancing, things to climb on and hit, cupcakes and candy, I guess when you are a kid what else can you ask for. Best of all Mimi had a great time and it was her taste of Halloween, she liked the candy part a lot. That night when I was telling getting her to bed and recapping to her “Today’s” story, she said she wants to wear the witches dress again. I won’t be surprised to come home tonight and see her in it.

I have several videos I need to edit together which I will post up later this week.

Mimi’s Year 2 Pictures

One of the things that I want to make into a tradition is to have these studio pictures of Mimi and our family about once a year. So about 2 months ago when Barbara and my mom was here in Taiwan we went to the studio to get Mimi’s year 2 pictures. We finally got it back last week and overall we are quite happy with how the pictures turned out. They did a great job photoshopping my bags under my eyes out. Here are some of the samples, you can check out the full pictures in my pbase gallery.

The not so great Turkey

So contrary to the public opinion of how great Turkey is, I have to say I didn’t really enjoy it that much. Yes I admit it that in terms of historical significance and beauty Turkey has all that. Some of the rubbles that you see houses built around are from biblical times. Even ancient stories we grew up with like ‘Troy’ are places in Turkey.

So the reason my trip was not so good is that is more external reasons. One is that I was on a business trip so of course of the 4 days I was there 3 were primary spent at customer labs where we slaved away from morning to late night. I was in a city called Manisa which is about 1 hour drive from Izmir. So I wasn’t in Izmir which is Turkey’s second largest city and house the Trojan Horse from the movie ‘Troy’ in which has Brad Pitt’s sweat in it. Manisa is a little…very little city which seems like there is also very little in terms of restaurants or places to see or even open past 9PM at night. So the 3 days I was there it was customers, hotel, and eat at the hotel restaurant (repeat 3 times).

Turkish food is…ok. It is basically spiced meat, cheese, and bread. It is definitely good meat, cheese, and bread but nevertheless just different combinations of meat, cheese, and bread. The kebabs were good.

On the fourth day I had the day off and I had time to look around. So I flew to Istanbul and went to the famous Blue Mosque area. That area is a must see for tourist because it has the Blue Mosque as well as the Aya Sophia museum and the Palace all within walking distance. Now before I went to Turkey I have read that you must be careful of con artists, pick pockets, and thefts. Since I have been in ShenZhen before I kind of know what to expect and was on the lookout. However I think because I was one of the few single persons there I was a prime target for these people to come up and try to become ‘friends’ with me to get me to buy some of their crap or sucker you into their crap store. So instead of peacefully enjoying the scenery, I was constantly fending off people coming up to me and saying ‘hey were are you from’ or ‘this way to see…’. After an hour I got sick of it and left. I did get this video of the inside of the Blue Mosque. It's not that great because it was on my phone camera but you can get an idea of what it is like inside.

Lastly my very last bad impression of Turkey accumulated when at Istanbul I put my Blackberry in my luggage and at Taiwan when I opened up my suitcase I discovered my Blackberry case still there but my Blackberry gone. Since my luggage did not leave me from the hotel to the airport, the only place it could have gotten taken is during the security check.

Oh well, I think I have another chance to go back again. I am sure that if I was with friends and family or on a tour I would have a better time. But as of right now I am glad to be back home.

Mimi's Lullaby - updated

Finally got the Michael Guang mv on-line. Check it out below and compare to Mimi's singing!

Mimi’s Lullaby

As I said before, recently I have had success in putting Mimi to bed for her afternoon nap. Part of the reason is that she is growing up and can be reasoned with. Another part is because of Mimi’s lullaby. There is a Chinese song, one of the few that I know how to sing to, which Mimi likes a lot. It’s called 童話 (Storybook) by Michael Guang and is actually one of my favorite Chinese song. Anyways I just started singing it 1 day and it really calmed Mimi down to go to bed. Then one day, Mimi started singing it with me. It’s not perfect and the her melody is off, but most of the words are there. So to let you guys know how well Mimi sings it, I had to figure out how to embed the MP3 into this blog posting, it is why it took a bit longer for this posting then usual. Here is the MP3 of the original song and then here is the video of Mimi singing it. Even though Michael Guang sings better, I personally think the cuteness factor Mimi brings makes the song all the more worth listening.

Mimi and Daddy’s Special Day

Recently on Saturdays I have been spending the time taking care of Mimi just by myself. Annie has class or appointments with friends so it’s just Mimi and me for most of the day. I call it ‘Mei-Mei and Ba-ba’s Special Day’ (it’s really cute when Mimi says it). I actually don’t mind looking after Mimi by myself. Overall she is pretty easy to take care of. The hardest part is eating and getting her to sleep, however recently I have been having successes that those departments lately.

So last Saturday was a bit rainy but Mimi was really excited because she get to wear her new raincoat for the first time. Doesn’t she look cute in it!

I first took Mimi to Gymboree for music class. It was fun but I think she liked Play more then music. Mimi was really good though, she participated even though I think she thought it was a bit boring (as evidence in this picture:-)). The other kids were running around but Mimi sat fairly still and listened to the teacher and the activities.

After Gymboree we went to Miramir Mall to eat Mimi’s favorite food, chicken nuggets and fries. We try not to let her eat too much, maybe only once every 2 weeks, however I consider this a special circumstance since it is Mei-Mei and Ba-Ba’s Special Day. See how much she enjoys it!

After lunch I took her to Tom’s World which is like a children’s arcade. It has a lot of the kids rides and games which require throwing and spending a lot of tokens. It’s a bit expensive but Mimi likes it there.

By then I definitely need some coffee to keep on going so we stop by Starbucks in which Mimi would order what she calls her ‘Starbucks Baby’ drink (short warm fresh milk with ½ foam and caramel syrup).

I would usually get Mimi a small toy at the toy store, that day I got her a Hello Kitty toaster set. It comes with a plastic toaster oven and plastic toast with plastic strawberry jam. Mimi likes it a lot. We went home and played tea party for a couple hours before I held her to sleep. She usually sleeps for about 1 and half hours before waking up. We then just play and rest until Annie calls to tell us where to meet her for dinner. That is how a typical ‘Mei-Mei and Ba-Ba’s Special Day’ goes. The most important thing is Mimi has a lot of fun and it gives us a chance to spend some father and daughter time together. Because before you know it, Mimi will be busy growing up, life will get harder, and these Special Days will be treasured memories.

Growing Up

Annie and I took Mimi to get a haircut on Tuesday. She has been needing it for a while but we have been putting it off because taking Mimi to a kids haircut place is kind of a challenge. Mimi’s last haircut was 6 months ago and when we took her then every time the hair stylist gets near Mimi starts crying a lot, kind of like whenever she goes to see a doctor. This time however we talked to Mimi beforehand saying that we are going to take her to get a hair cut, and she shouldn’t cry, it doesn’t hurt, and she needs to be brave, and afterwards we will go to the mall and play. Mimi said ‘ok, mei-mei won’t cry’ and exactly like she said she didn’t cry. She sat perfectly still and was very good. The hair stylist said that that’s when you know a child is growing up, when you can talk and reason out their fears. Anyways we were all very proud of Mimi and we took her to McDonalds to have her favorite chicken nuggets and fries even though we forbid her to eat too much of it. Here are some pictures of Mimi getting her haircut from before to afterwards.