Whirlwind Vacations

I don’t mind traveling. In fact I am pretty sure the every year at Pixelworks I logged in over 100K miles in air travel. The only travels I don’t really like are the ones which are rushed. Unfortunately when you are talking about worldwide businesses you can’t escape from the last minute emergencies which require multiple people flying to different destinations with heavy equipment the next day.

It turns out I will be heading back to Singapore again next week for business. My sister will be coming into Taiwan for 2 weeks on Sunday so will only have 1 day to hang out before taking off on Tuesday. But it is ok because she and my mom are going to Cambodia on Thursday. This frees Annie up to come join me in Singapore on Thursday also. So it will be like a mini-vacation. We will get to see our good friends there and also check out some of the new sights in Singapore. I actually prepared a surprise for Annie this time. I booked Saturday night at Singapore Fullerton Hotel. When we were living in Singapore we loved that hotel and I promised her to take stay there someday. I won’t tell Annie about it so this is a surprise and also it is a test to see if Annie actually reads my blog:-).

As for Mimi, she will be going back to Hsinchu with Minnie. When Mimi was younger, the first time Annie and I took a vacation she had a rough time. She was still on breast milk and used to sleeping with mommy and daddy. However now that she is older can play by herself and sleep in her own bed she will be ok. She will have Yankee there to play with and also Minnie takes good care of her. It will be a good break for her from being stuck at home all day.

Potty Training

I have no idea what happened, but last Friday Mimi just decided to be potty trained. We went from sometimes she will go bathroom if we happen to have a chance to put her on the toilet, too her telling us when she pee or poops beforehand and we will put her on and she does her business. It is very strange, it’s like she just decide it is time. So ever since Friday, she has done business #2 in the toilet and also most of #1. So now during the day we put her in training underwear instead of diapers. At night we still use diapers and also whenever we take Mimi out of the house.


The are still times when she pees and it’s too late and it ends up on the floor. Usually that happens if she is preoccupied watching TV. She will be so into what she is watching that she will forget to tell us if she needs to go until it is too late. But that only happens like once a day, most of the time she is quite good at telling us.

So my theory on the sudden potty training is it is because Mimi likes to flush the toilet. A couple days before Friday she insisted on her flushing the toilet after Annie and I (yes I know it is a bit gross!). Mimi will flush the toilet and say ‘Niao Niao Bye Bye’ which means ‘pee bye bye’ in Chinese. Then all of the sudden on Friday she started going to the bathroom and getting to flush the toilet for herself. It’s too much of a coincidence. Whatever the reason, I am just glad toilet training is happening because now I can save a lot more money!

Typhoon Day!

Yeah first typhoon day of the year tomorrow! All Taiwan has come to a standstill while we wait until the typhoon crosses over. No classes and no work. Depending on how long it last…even the malls will close. The only thing that stays open is the ever-prevalent 7-11s. Even hotels operate at a minimum (no restaurants or stores open inside). Hopefully the worst blows over in the morning then the mall opens and business goes back to usual…except for no classes and the normal work is still cancelled.

So what is my family doing for Typhoon Day? Tomorrow we are hoping to see Wall-E…if the theaters are open. Mimi…well, everyday is a Typhoon Day for her now especially since it is too hot to go outside in the summer. So the only strange thing she will notice is way daddy is at home and not at work.

Strange News

If you ever watch TV news in Taiwan, you will notice something really strange going on…all the time! For some reason there is always something weird going on with Taiwan life. From violent food fights in the Taiwan political arena to constant protests about something and anything, there is always something interesting to watch on Taiwan News Channels. My friends from Singapore told me they like to watch the Taiwan News because it’s like a big drama.

Currently the biggest news in Taiwan is the owner of FoxCon, one of the richest man in Taiwan and 60 something years old, just got married to a 30 year old hottie. This won’t be that strange except that his previous wife recently died this last 3 months from cancer and he professed his undying love for her at her funeral. Then proceeded to chase after numerous girls including the Asia supermodel Lin Chi-Ling.

Interesting enough, news about Taiwan rarely makes to the states though. Usually the only news is about the political situation between China and Taiwan…and earthquakes. However if non-political and non-earthquake news makes it to the states, then it is usually the very very strange ones. For example a recent one was about a Vietnamese woman who came to Taiwan to search for her Taiwan father who she never ever met. The woman took at job as a housekeeper in Taiwan taking care of this old man. While she was working she would spend time searching for her father. Then couple years later when she was about to go back home and give up, she had a picture of her mom and dad out when the old man came in and saw the picture. It turns out the old guy was her actual dad and she has been taking care of him for 2 years without knowing. Strange isn’t it? Like something straight out of a TV drama.

However my all time favorite of Taiwan news which made it to the states has to be this one which happened 4 years ago. It’s weird, it’s strange, and freaking hilarious. Just read it and laugh.

Photographer in Training

This is a picture of my mom. So what is so special about this picture? Well Mimi took it with my digital camera. She didn’t have any help either. She turned it on, pointed and click. The technique is not too bad too except she puts the camera up to her face and uses the little looking glass instead of the LCD screen. Of course most pictures end up like this one.

However overall Mimi isn’t too bad. She is really really funny though. During my picture she pointed, adjust her position several times, squat down, stand up, then she said ‘BaBa Yeah!’ meaning she wants me to say yeah and pose for her:-)….just like a real professional. It was very cute.

Hualian Vacation

Last week was fun but incredibly tiring for me. After getting back from Singapore late Wednesday night, Thursday Annie, Mimi, my mom, an I moved ourselves to Hsinchu. Then early Friday we all left with Annie’s family for Hualian. Hualian lies in Eastern Taiwan which happens to be the beautiful side of Taiwan. The west side of Taiwan is pretty industrialized while the east side is mainly resorts and beautiful scenery. It is my first time there and it was very beautiful. We stayed at the Promised Land Resort the first night and FarGlory Hotel the second night. Both were very nice and plush. You can check the pictures in my picture gallery.

Overall it was nice but also very tiring taking care of Mimi. Mimi is getting pretty big now and with her personality she doesn’t let anyone hold her except for me and Annie and Annie cannot hold her for very long. That plus the getting up early everyday made Annie and I just really tired. Next time we go on these trips we will bring the stroller for Mimi. Mimi doesn’t like to sit in strollers for very long, which is why we haven’t used it in forever. However for these long trips even a 5 minutes rest is significant.

During the trip I video this clip of Mimi drinking soup. It’s really funny because the soup actually isn’t very hot but she learned from previous behavior to blow the soup to cool it down then drink it. I have to say Mimi’s coordination is getting pretty good. My mom commented also that it’s amazing how much complete sentences Mimi can say. It looks like our little girl is growing up.

Back In Singapore

A long time ago, Mimi lived in Singapore for about 6 months. Well it was a long time ago for Mimi but only just over 1 year for Annie and me. I am currently back in Singapore for a business trip and yesterday I walked over to our old apartment. I really enjoyed my time in Singapore, I felt more relaxed here then I ever did in the big busy city of Taipei. Of course there is the downside such as there is nothing much to do in Singapore and it’s a hell of an expensive city to live in. It’s only been 1 year since we left so nothing has really changed and it made me think about the things that happened when Annie, Mimi, and I have stayed there.

The time Annie and I spent in Singapore were marked with many significant stages in Mimi’s life which I will always remember. It was in Singapore when Mimi first started standing by herself. It was also where Mimi first started crawling. There was also the time when she has gotten very sick and had to get her blood drawn for testing…I will never forget that. The strange thing is that Mimi will never remember living here in Singapore. If we never have a chance to come here again, she might never realize she was a Singapore resident for a while. Another thing is that there are no pictures of Mimi with a significant Singapore landmark like the Merlion so there is nothing we can show Mimi to let her know she was here before. So very strange that the first years of a child life is so important to the parents and they will never remember it at all.

Definitely A Lin

I have heard that babies tend to look alike with the no hair, chubby cheeks, short arms and big head. However ever since Mimi was born everyone says she is a copy of me and definitely my daughter. I look at Mimi and for sure her nose, cheeks, eyes, and eyebrows are from me. The mouth is more from Annie I believe. Overall I have to say Mimi is definitely a Lin. Here is a picture of Mimi when she was a baby and also right now.

Now look at a picture of my sister and I when we were young

Mimi as a baby looks quite a bit like when I was a baby and now Mimi being a little girl looks quite a bit like Barbara. People say as baby girls grow up, they start looking more and more like their mother. This might be true and won’t be a bad at all. However it is still nice to know that there is always a part of me and the Lin family that will go on to the next generation.

Girly Girl

I have a feeling that Mimi will be quite the girly girl when she grows up. She is constantly trying on her mother’s things and her favorite toys include a cooking set, make up kit, and dolls. Plus whenever she gets new clothes she likes to wear it immediately and prance and twirl around for everyone to see. She will model and pose for us, smile and laugh when we ask her, it’s very very cute. Here is a picture of her wearing her mother’s sunglasses striking a pose.

Mimi’s Uncle

While the English term ‘uncle’ is generic and can be apply to all your mother’s and father’s brothers. For Mimi right now there is only 1 uncle and that is Uncle Adam. Adam is a fellow co-worker and friend who recently lived in Taiwan for these last 6 months. Last Monday he moved back to Portland but not until after helping Mimi and I release the Mimi’s bird (He loved that bird, he spent 3 very drunken nights with it). When Mimi sees Adam she would say ‘Uncle’ in English. Mimi is also rather shy with strangers and takes quite a while for her to let you hold her. If a stranger tried to hold her she starts crying very loud. However Mimi seems to like her uncle because after only a couple she lets him hold her. Alas uncle has left the island and moved back to the land of good beer, nice weather, and cheap gold. Mimi won’t be able to see uncle until maybe sometime in September. I wonder if she will remember her uncle then.

Mimi's Bird - Good-bye and Good Luck

Last Saturday Mimi, Minnie, my friend Adam, and I released Mimi’s bird back out to the wild…well as wild as Taipei City can be. We took it back to the park behind our house were we first found it and released it. It was a bit scared and didn’t seem to want to go that bad. Also it had trouble flying since it didn’t have much room to practice while in our apartment. After a few wobbly attempts at flying I was thinking about bringing it back home for another week, however on the way back it flew up to the side of a building out of our reach. I hope it was a sign that the bird wanted its freedom. I have checked around the neighborhood these last few days and haven’t been able to find it. I hope it is ok in its new home wherever that may be.