Most recently... I've been cursing at the infinite amount of choices we have to make. Tiles... lampshade.. paint color... door hinge color. UGH!!!! Joyce says that's the beauty of capitalism. If this were a socialistic society, we'll have gray... and light gray.
This curse carries onto our kids. We think we love them... but it's a torture.
"What do you want for breakfast?" We'll ask them sometimes. How the heck do they know?!? They're 4 and 6. They want french fries and chocolate. Duh!!! I think we do this for two reasons.
1) We're (as parents) are lazy.
2) We don't want to hear them whine. Whatever they choose, we hope they'll like it and it's healthy.
Why can't we just cook them whatever we cook them...and they don't complain????
Then there's Netflix. I admit we fall victim to spoiling our kids to letting them watching kids videos on Netflix. What makes it worse... is we ask them, "What do you want to watch??"
There's over 1000 choices!!! How they heck do they know what to say??? It's just like Joyce asking me to go to Home Depot and say, "Which light switch do you want??" I'm a grown adult with a college education... how he heck do I know??
Wednesday, December 30, 2015
Friday, December 25, 2015
Christmas Day -- A Day to Forget but will always Remember
Christmas Day 2015 -- A Day to Forget but will always remember cuz it's the day I put my daughter in the Emergency Room.
(Pardon for the swearing and expletives)
It started out as a great day. The kids woke up early (as expected) to open their presents, which they loved.
Then I headed out to SF to have brunch with dad. Siu Wah is running a fever so Joyce stayed home with him. I head out with Nui-nui only and we luckily found a Round Table that was open on Christmas Day. Dad loves pizza and Nui-nui hates dim sum, so it worked out perfectly. And with the cousins giving me the cold shoulder to having Christmas lunch, we had an absolute glorious time!!
I had a wonderful pizza brunch with dad.... And here's where things get dramatic.... to where I call events, "this moment in time"
This moment in time... after lunch, we were suppose to visit Mother in Law (MIL). But MIL turns out to be in Millbrae having dim sum. Change of plans.
This moment in time... after visiting MIL, we were suppose to go visit mom, for her Birthday and Christmas. I even brought some board games to kill time. But of all days, she doesn't bring her phone and doesn't check her iPad for weChat. Had she picked up... None of this would've happened.
This moment in time... I call Deddy, hoping to visit Howard to drop off his present and kill some time before mom calls back. He doesn't pick up. Had he picked up, None of this would've happened.
This moment in time... I'm at Starbucks with Nui-nui, killing time. I didn't know what else to do... so I stupidly ask, "Do you wanna go ice-skating?" To which she excitedly says, "YES!!!!" At the very same moment... Deddy calls back. Why didn't he call one second early?!?! Or I asked one second later....? I would've gone to visit him and skipped the whole ice skating thing. None of this would've happened.
This moment in time... we get to Union Square and find out we have to wait in line to skate the 2pm session. The lady announces the 2pm session is sold out. I could've walked out... but I didn't want to disappoint my baby... who really really wanted to skate. So I waited in line, hoping for a miracle. Had I walked away... and gone to the San Jose rink the day after, None of this would've happened.
This moment in time.... we get to the ticket booth. I kinda knew they were sold out... but Nui-nui was gonna be sooooooooooooooooooooooooo disappointed. So I asked anyways, "Do you have any 2pm sessions left." The lady at the booth said, "We have ONE." And then she gave me two tickets... and she even said, "Well princess, isn't this a magical Christmas." I was so happy that Nui-nui got to skate, I even tipped the girl $3 for a latte. But had she said, "Sorry, we're sold out." None of this would've happened.
We get our skates... we get on the ice. And of course... Nui-nui has a hard time. I hold on to her hand. But finally... she falls. She braces herself with her hand, where she's wearing gloves. But the ice was melting... so her glove got very wet. I decide to take her glove off....on her left hand. Had I kept it on...HER LEFT HAND... None of this would've happened. .
We keep on skating... and finally she falls. She braces herself with her hand. And here's where everything gets blurry.
She falls.... and I see her tiny little hand under my skate. I remove it and see blood gushing out. Nui-nui is screaming in pain. I pick up her hand and see a cut the size of grand canyon. SHIT!!! It's down to her bone. I cut my baby's thumb down to the bone!!!!
"Calm down." I say to myself. "You need to take control."
I start multi-tasking. I know I needed to stop the bleeding. So I searched for tissue in my pocket. All I can find was my glove. So I wrapped her thumb and applied pressure. I needed help. I needed to get off the ice.
"GET ME 9-1-1!!!" I screamed. The was to the bone. I didn't know if the bleeding will stop. I didn't care, "I NEED 9-1-1."
One of the workers there saw me. He walked me to the office and sat me down. He quickly called his manager. The manager, Janet, quickly put on gloves. But she wasn't trained. She didn't know what to do.
Nui-nui was hysterical at this point. Bleeding. Pain. She was screaming!!! I didn't know what to do. I took my gloves... threw it on the floor... and found some napkins in my pocket. I wrapped it around the wound and told Nui nui "Keep it above her you heart."
"GET ME 9-1-1!!!!"
I didn't know what was going on. All I cared about was getting Nui-nui to a hospital with a doctor!!!
I needed to call Joyce. I need to get her insurance information. FUCK!!! She doesn't pick up!!
I need a ride. If I'm to ride an ambulance... I won't have car. So I call my mother in law.
I text Joyce and call her again. She finally picks up. Paramedics haven't shown up yet!! I tell her the situation. (Stay calm) I tell her everything, tell her to text me the insurance info. Tell her to call Mah-mee. Nui-nui is still crying.
The manager of the ice rink is calling 9-1-1. And I hear her... answering a bunch of stupid questions. Time was ticking. I couldn't wait. "SEND A FUCKEN AMBULANCE!!!!" I screamed!!! The whole world stopped. Dad was mad.... and 9-1-1 wasn't coming yet. The manager was scared. She didn't know how to handle the situation.
We waited
"Why the heck was the ambulance taking so long?!?!?!??"
We waited some more
I give Nui-nui my phone alas... and she instinctively finds a game to play. At that very moment.... I knew things would be alright. She was cognitive enough to play with my iPhone. That means she's alright.
Finally...after waiting for eternity.... the fire department finally came. They checked her out and because the bleeding stopped... they cancelled the ambulance.
"Uncle Bernie" from the SFFD made everything better. Nui-nui wasn't in pain. The bleeding stopped. And we didn't have to pay for an ambulance ride. I can see in their eyes that the firefighters were a little annoyed - being called out for what turned out to be a "little cut." But man... at that moment, I didn't know we could stop the bleeding so easily.
After being dismissed by the firefighters... I carried NN back to our car and headed to St. Francis emergency room for her to get some stitches.
The nurses there were great. The doctor (or Practitioner Assistant) was amazing. And Nui-nui was totally engulfed in playing with my iPhone.
Slowly one by one... the grandparents showed up. And surprisingly, mom showed up with dad. A Christmas miracle. I told mom not to come. Of course, she shows up, she's mom. Was surprised dad was with her but that made complete sense. When it comes to grandchildren, all differences can be set aside. The only grandparent that was missing was Joyce's dad. Which was a bit disappointing - but he was in constant contact with me the entire time.
5 stitches. My baby girl spent Christmas in a hospital and got 5 stitches. Not sure how long this will haunt me. The sense of guilt is overbearing. The terror and horror of hurting her. Everyone and anyone is doing a great job of comforting me and reassuring me. But the true healing will need to come from Jesus -- the true meaning of Christmas. With that... let's hope the next several days go quietly so we can put a stamp on 2015. And guess what... now I know what to put as my 2015 top 10.
Christmas Day 2015 -- A Day to Forget but will always Remember.
(Pardon for the swearing and expletives)
It started out as a great day. The kids woke up early (as expected) to open their presents, which they loved.
Then I headed out to SF to have brunch with dad. Siu Wah is running a fever so Joyce stayed home with him. I head out with Nui-nui only and we luckily found a Round Table that was open on Christmas Day. Dad loves pizza and Nui-nui hates dim sum, so it worked out perfectly. And with the cousins giving me the cold shoulder to having Christmas lunch, we had an absolute glorious time!!
I had a wonderful pizza brunch with dad.... And here's where things get dramatic.... to where I call events, "this moment in time"
This moment in time... after lunch, we were suppose to visit Mother in Law (MIL). But MIL turns out to be in Millbrae having dim sum. Change of plans.
This moment in time... after visiting MIL, we were suppose to go visit mom, for her Birthday and Christmas. I even brought some board games to kill time. But of all days, she doesn't bring her phone and doesn't check her iPad for weChat. Had she picked up... None of this would've happened.
This moment in time... I call Deddy, hoping to visit Howard to drop off his present and kill some time before mom calls back. He doesn't pick up. Had he picked up, None of this would've happened.
This moment in time... I'm at Starbucks with Nui-nui, killing time. I didn't know what else to do... so I stupidly ask, "Do you wanna go ice-skating?" To which she excitedly says, "YES!!!!" At the very same moment... Deddy calls back. Why didn't he call one second early?!?! Or I asked one second later....? I would've gone to visit him and skipped the whole ice skating thing. None of this would've happened.
This moment in time... we get to Union Square and find out we have to wait in line to skate the 2pm session. The lady announces the 2pm session is sold out. I could've walked out... but I didn't want to disappoint my baby... who really really wanted to skate. So I waited in line, hoping for a miracle. Had I walked away... and gone to the San Jose rink the day after, None of this would've happened.
This moment in time.... we get to the ticket booth. I kinda knew they were sold out... but Nui-nui was gonna be sooooooooooooooooooooooooo disappointed. So I asked anyways, "Do you have any 2pm sessions left." The lady at the booth said, "We have ONE." And then she gave me two tickets... and she even said, "Well princess, isn't this a magical Christmas." I was so happy that Nui-nui got to skate, I even tipped the girl $3 for a latte. But had she said, "Sorry, we're sold out." None of this would've happened.
We get our skates... we get on the ice. And of course... Nui-nui has a hard time. I hold on to her hand. But finally... she falls. She braces herself with her hand, where she's wearing gloves. But the ice was melting... so her glove got very wet. I decide to take her glove off....on her left hand. Had I kept it on...HER LEFT HAND... None of this would've happened. .
We keep on skating... and finally she falls. She braces herself with her hand. And here's where everything gets blurry.
She falls.... and I see her tiny little hand under my skate. I remove it and see blood gushing out. Nui-nui is screaming in pain. I pick up her hand and see a cut the size of grand canyon. SHIT!!! It's down to her bone. I cut my baby's thumb down to the bone!!!!
"Calm down." I say to myself. "You need to take control."
I start multi-tasking. I know I needed to stop the bleeding. So I searched for tissue in my pocket. All I can find was my glove. So I wrapped her thumb and applied pressure. I needed help. I needed to get off the ice.
"GET ME 9-1-1!!!" I screamed. The was to the bone. I didn't know if the bleeding will stop. I didn't care, "I NEED 9-1-1."
One of the workers there saw me. He walked me to the office and sat me down. He quickly called his manager. The manager, Janet, quickly put on gloves. But she wasn't trained. She didn't know what to do.
Nui-nui was hysterical at this point. Bleeding. Pain. She was screaming!!! I didn't know what to do. I took my gloves... threw it on the floor... and found some napkins in my pocket. I wrapped it around the wound and told Nui nui "Keep it above her you heart."
"GET ME 9-1-1!!!!"
I didn't know what was going on. All I cared about was getting Nui-nui to a hospital with a doctor!!!
I needed to call Joyce. I need to get her insurance information. FUCK!!! She doesn't pick up!!
I need a ride. If I'm to ride an ambulance... I won't have car. So I call my mother in law.
I text Joyce and call her again. She finally picks up. Paramedics haven't shown up yet!! I tell her the situation. (Stay calm) I tell her everything, tell her to text me the insurance info. Tell her to call Mah-mee. Nui-nui is still crying.
The manager of the ice rink is calling 9-1-1. And I hear her... answering a bunch of stupid questions. Time was ticking. I couldn't wait. "SEND A FUCKEN AMBULANCE!!!!" I screamed!!! The whole world stopped. Dad was mad.... and 9-1-1 wasn't coming yet. The manager was scared. She didn't know how to handle the situation.
We waited
"Why the heck was the ambulance taking so long?!?!?!??"
We waited some more
I give Nui-nui my phone alas... and she instinctively finds a game to play. At that very moment.... I knew things would be alright. She was cognitive enough to play with my iPhone. That means she's alright.
Finally...after waiting for eternity.... the fire department finally came. They checked her out and because the bleeding stopped... they cancelled the ambulance.
"Uncle Bernie" from the SFFD made everything better. Nui-nui wasn't in pain. The bleeding stopped. And we didn't have to pay for an ambulance ride. I can see in their eyes that the firefighters were a little annoyed - being called out for what turned out to be a "little cut." But man... at that moment, I didn't know we could stop the bleeding so easily.
After being dismissed by the firefighters... I carried NN back to our car and headed to St. Francis emergency room for her to get some stitches.
The nurses there were great. The doctor (or Practitioner Assistant) was amazing. And Nui-nui was totally engulfed in playing with my iPhone.
Slowly one by one... the grandparents showed up. And surprisingly, mom showed up with dad. A Christmas miracle. I told mom not to come. Of course, she shows up, she's mom. Was surprised dad was with her but that made complete sense. When it comes to grandchildren, all differences can be set aside. The only grandparent that was missing was Joyce's dad. Which was a bit disappointing - but he was in constant contact with me the entire time.
5 stitches. My baby girl spent Christmas in a hospital and got 5 stitches. Not sure how long this will haunt me. The sense of guilt is overbearing. The terror and horror of hurting her. Everyone and anyone is doing a great job of comforting me and reassuring me. But the true healing will need to come from Jesus -- the true meaning of Christmas. With that... let's hope the next several days go quietly so we can put a stamp on 2015. And guess what... now I know what to put as my 2015 top 10.
Christmas Day 2015 -- A Day to Forget but will always Remember.
Thursday, December 24, 2015
Twas the night before Christmas...
In I don't know how many years... SJCAC didn't have a Christmas Eve service. I didn't realize how much I would miss it. It's a personal tradition to have some type of service or mass on Christmas Eve. I was a little taken off guard to a point... I didn't know how to find a place to worship.
Went online. Typed the typical search words "Christmas Eve Service San Jose" or "Chinese Church Christmas Eve Service." I even wanted to take the kids to a Southern Baptist Church and watch some African American choir truly truly sing and worship!!!
In the end... we ended up going to River of Life church in Santa Clara. The one Chinese Megachurch in the bay area. And oh my was I impressed. No wonder they're a mega-church. No wonder they've sucked so many SJCAC-ers out of uhm... SJCAC.
Punctuality -- I got there at 5:59PM for the 6PM service. And on the dot... they said, "We're at capacity. Service is starting. Please sit in the overflow section." They started on time!!
Overflow -- the amount of seats and number of people in their overflow section was greater than the entire SJCAC Christmas Night. Not a competition... but embarrassing!!
Accents -- their English, even the pastor translating for Pastor Lau into English, has a heavy Chinese accent. That's almost the norm there. To speak with perfect American English, is the minority!!
Lack of YA -- just like SJCAC... there's a huge lack of Young Adult (or C&C). I guess all the College and Careers are hangin' out at the American Mega-churches (Abundant Life).
Creativity to the Max -- the Christmas Service turned out to be a Christmas Variety show. But they were so creative!! "Stall Walls" -- a parody of Star Wars of Luke and Leia trying to find the true "Force." Three Wise Men from the East - 東方三才子 where the three wise men are 魯子，孔子，孟子. Lao-zi who admits his philosophy is "lousy". Confucius who says his philosophy is "confusing." And Menicus who confesses that his mom moved three times for real estate reasons!! Hilarious!!! Puts our CNY performances to shame!!
Candlelight / Glowstick Service - every Christmas Eve has it... the candlelight service. But ROLCC was smart enough to prepare green and red glow sticks for the kids. Brilliant!!! (pun intended)
The Legendary Pastor Lau -- I never knew him... but I guess he was the former SJCAC Mandarin Pastor. And for whatever reason, he left SJCAC. Look at him now. Man... he was charismatic. He's a short, fat and balding Chinese man. But he had charisma. And his wife. You don't want to mess with her. I guess "chosen ones" from the Lord simply oozes with the aura.
General Population - A lot of mainlanders. No wonder this church is booming. It's totally capitalizing on the mandarin population. They have a small English and Cantonese congregation. Where are all the Cantonese people going.....?
Cantonese Population in Bay Area - in my search for a Chinese Church, it was pretty fun to find all these Cantonese churches outside of SJCAC. Makes me wonder... makes me think... should I go explore? Just to see? What if I see what I like.. I don't come back????
The one thing that irritated me.... was when I was the first in the overflow section. I stood in the front row and stood up to worship the Lord. About 5 minutes later... the Overflow section started filling up and then an usher came up to me and asked me to sit down. I was pissed!!!! In my best Mandarin, I said to him, "敬拜神不是應該站起來的嗎??" The usher had nothing to say but, "不好意思!" People!! We're here to worship God.... worship our Lord and Savior... not to watch a show.
Nui-nui loved it. And I hope to instill in her... that every Christmas Eve, the Leung family will find a place to worship our Lord.
Went online. Typed the typical search words "Christmas Eve Service San Jose" or "Chinese Church Christmas Eve Service." I even wanted to take the kids to a Southern Baptist Church and watch some African American choir truly truly sing and worship!!!
In the end... we ended up going to River of Life church in Santa Clara. The one Chinese Megachurch in the bay area. And oh my was I impressed. No wonder they're a mega-church. No wonder they've sucked so many SJCAC-ers out of uhm... SJCAC.
Punctuality -- I got there at 5:59PM for the 6PM service. And on the dot... they said, "We're at capacity. Service is starting. Please sit in the overflow section." They started on time!!
Overflow -- the amount of seats and number of people in their overflow section was greater than the entire SJCAC Christmas Night. Not a competition... but embarrassing!!
Accents -- their English, even the pastor translating for Pastor Lau into English, has a heavy Chinese accent. That's almost the norm there. To speak with perfect American English, is the minority!!
Lack of YA -- just like SJCAC... there's a huge lack of Young Adult (or C&C). I guess all the College and Careers are hangin' out at the American Mega-churches (Abundant Life).
Creativity to the Max -- the Christmas Service turned out to be a Christmas Variety show. But they were so creative!! "Stall Walls" -- a parody of Star Wars of Luke and Leia trying to find the true "Force." Three Wise Men from the East - 東方三才子 where the three wise men are 魯子，孔子，孟子. Lao-zi who admits his philosophy is "lousy". Confucius who says his philosophy is "confusing." And Menicus who confesses that his mom moved three times for real estate reasons!! Hilarious!!! Puts our CNY performances to shame!!
Candlelight / Glowstick Service - every Christmas Eve has it... the candlelight service. But ROLCC was smart enough to prepare green and red glow sticks for the kids. Brilliant!!! (pun intended)
The Legendary Pastor Lau -- I never knew him... but I guess he was the former SJCAC Mandarin Pastor. And for whatever reason, he left SJCAC. Look at him now. Man... he was charismatic. He's a short, fat and balding Chinese man. But he had charisma. And his wife. You don't want to mess with her. I guess "chosen ones" from the Lord simply oozes with the aura.
General Population - A lot of mainlanders. No wonder this church is booming. It's totally capitalizing on the mandarin population. They have a small English and Cantonese congregation. Where are all the Cantonese people going.....?
Cantonese Population in Bay Area - in my search for a Chinese Church, it was pretty fun to find all these Cantonese churches outside of SJCAC. Makes me wonder... makes me think... should I go explore? Just to see? What if I see what I like.. I don't come back????
The one thing that irritated me.... was when I was the first in the overflow section. I stood in the front row and stood up to worship the Lord. About 5 minutes later... the Overflow section started filling up and then an usher came up to me and asked me to sit down. I was pissed!!!! In my best Mandarin, I said to him, "敬拜神不是應該站起來的嗎??" The usher had nothing to say but, "不好意思!" People!! We're here to worship God.... worship our Lord and Savior... not to watch a show.
Nui-nui loved it. And I hope to instill in her... that every Christmas Eve, the Leung family will find a place to worship our Lord.
Monday, December 21, 2015
Hoopla and Overdrive
Finally took the plunge and dove into the world of free multi-media books, movies and music. Downloaded the Apps Hoopla and Overdrive so I can get stuff from the library for free. FREE!!! How is that even possible?? I don't even need to leave my house to listen to the latest Star Wars soundtrack, to read the latest Rick Riordan series, or to rent "Elf" for my kids.
I'm so out of technology.... so old... so jaded.
And the first movie I "rent" for free... Love Never Dies (Phantom of the Opera II). And ohhhhhh.... it's so bad. So so bad.....
I'm so out of technology.... so old... so jaded.
And the first movie I "rent" for free... Love Never Dies (Phantom of the Opera II). And ohhhhhh.... it's so bad. So so bad.....
Saturday, December 12, 2015
That's a first...
On business travel earlier this week. And on a Tuesday night, without scheduling dinner with any of my work friends... I found myself with an entire evening of solitude.
So I took myself out to a nice (very nice) steak dinner - at my favorite steakhouse Shanahan's. Then I went to catch a movie.
"Ticket for 1, please." How sad. All by myself. I still remember those final years of 7th - 8th grade when I didn't have any friends... I went to so many movies by myself.
The kid selling tickets at the booth was in college. He was studying for his Calculus final. Time would've probably be better spent if I tutored him a little. HA!
I walk into the theater... it's a ghost town. My movie was one of the last two showings in this megaplex. And when I got into my auditorium.... it was empty.
Watching a movie by myself... a thousand miles away from home... in an empty theater. Well.... that's a first!!!
So I took myself out to a nice (very nice) steak dinner - at my favorite steakhouse Shanahan's. Then I went to catch a movie.
"Ticket for 1, please." How sad. All by myself. I still remember those final years of 7th - 8th grade when I didn't have any friends... I went to so many movies by myself.
The kid selling tickets at the booth was in college. He was studying for his Calculus final. Time would've probably be better spent if I tutored him a little. HA!
I walk into the theater... it's a ghost town. My movie was one of the last two showings in this megaplex. And when I got into my auditorium.... it was empty.
Watching a movie by myself... a thousand miles away from home... in an empty theater. Well.... that's a first!!!
Wednesday, December 09, 2015
Disgusted!!
I love Costco. I love walking down the aisles and aisles of underpriced bulk items that I never seem to need. And I love the $4.99 chicken that I can never make. But Costco is one of the most disgusting places that is a direct reflection of greed and selfishness.
The other day in the foodcourt... I see a man in his late fifties with a hotdog and a drink ($1.50--beautiful!!). He had two plastic water cups... for water?? No!! He was pumping away and filling both cups with relish and onions. REALLY??? You're gonna put all that on your hot dog??? Or do you have some weird fetish where instead of chips and salsa, you eat chips and relish/onions??
A few months ago during the summer... when half the bay area was BBQ-ing... I saw this couple with a cooler and giant sized plastic bags by the soda machine. They were filling up those bags with ice and sticking it in the cooler. They didn't even have the decency to let us soda drinkers get our ice. REALLY??? How much is a pound of ice at Lucky's?????
Ohhhh... and the return line. A few times I've personally witnessed people returning items without receipts that are over 2-3 years old. And Costco still accepts them!! "Sir.. .I can't find your receipt so I can only give you the most current listed price." One guy returned a shirt. Another couple returned a dog cushion. Some guy had the nerve to return an air filter!!
Not to mention the people who make beelines and tackles everyone along the way to get a free sample. And those are the very same people who leave their carts and clog up the aisles.
I mean.... REALLY??? REALLY?????
The other day in the foodcourt... I see a man in his late fifties with a hotdog and a drink ($1.50--beautiful!!). He had two plastic water cups... for water?? No!! He was pumping away and filling both cups with relish and onions. REALLY??? You're gonna put all that on your hot dog??? Or do you have some weird fetish where instead of chips and salsa, you eat chips and relish/onions??
A few months ago during the summer... when half the bay area was BBQ-ing... I saw this couple with a cooler and giant sized plastic bags by the soda machine. They were filling up those bags with ice and sticking it in the cooler. They didn't even have the decency to let us soda drinkers get our ice. REALLY??? How much is a pound of ice at Lucky's?????
Ohhhh... and the return line. A few times I've personally witnessed people returning items without receipts that are over 2-3 years old. And Costco still accepts them!! "Sir.. .I can't find your receipt so I can only give you the most current listed price." One guy returned a shirt. Another couple returned a dog cushion. Some guy had the nerve to return an air filter!!
Not to mention the people who make beelines and tackles everyone along the way to get a free sample. And those are the very same people who leave their carts and clog up the aisles.
I mean.... REALLY??? REALLY?????
Wednesday, December 02, 2015
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)