Different world...Different dreams

Remember 4 years ago when China hosted the Olympics? The theme was "One World, One Dream."  Lo and behold... I realize how far apart Joycie and I can be sometimes.

I was reading a story to Bebe, and as always, I will read it or translate it into Chinese.  Joycie asks me to read it in English, because Bebe is around Chinese folks all day...and he needs to learn English.  I, on the other hand, think that he'll have a lifetime to learn English.  Let's get as much Chinese into him now.

Joycie and I grew up in different worlds.  She grew up in HK...and came to US as a teenager, so she'll always remember the hard times with learning English.  I grew up here... and learning English was as easy as pie. 

Thought provoking indeed...

Fly away

How many times...1 out of 1000, 1 out of 10,000, do you really kill a fly by clapping your hands together?  I got my "one" today.  Muahahhahaa...

Insomnia

Eyes wide opened at 3:15AM.  That's what I get for going to bed at 10PM.

Tossed and turned for over an hour.  Finally gave up and got up at 4:45 to do chores... make a cup of coffee and listen to sports podcast. 

What's happening? I'm exhausted but can't fall asleep.  Geez.... the anxiety is actually intriguing.  Hopefully tonight will be better.

"Aha!" moment

You ever bump into that "someone" that says "something" that rings louder than the Fourth of July fireworks? And rings truer than the income taxes and Bay Area traffic? And that advice isn't the first time you've heard it... nor is it anything earth shattering.  But it's an "Aha!" moment.

"Be careful how far you push since you have a Type A+ personality."

and

"What made you successful as an individual contributor won't work for you as a manager." 

This from someone who doesn't know me well at all... nor does he have vested interest in me.  But it's just unsolicited third party advice. 

生日快樂

今日是我農曆生日, 誰會知? 誰會理? 只有我自己.

Good ol' days...

The other night at the Salvadors... Anderson, Tyrone and I, the three of us, had a few moments to sit down and just talk.  About family...about careers...about our lives...about nothing.  Just like good ol' times.  Nothing to hide...nothing to show... no hidden agenda and nearly complete transparency.

The wives were wise enough to back away for those few moments.  Either they didn't care for our conversation or they too realize we needed that moment in time...

The Fatal Disease we all have... Old Age

The folks are getting old.  It's inevitable.  And it's unavoidable.  The past decade we've experienced hospital stays, increase in medication, emergency operations and finally at hand... we're planning for their retirement. 

The most recent mountain to conquer - Medicare. 

Having to apply and register and selecting plans for mom has been the biggest challenge for me this year.  What to do? How to apply? When does eligibility begin?  Holy moly... how can anyone even remotely navigate through this?

As I'm going through this with mom and as I (a college grad with a full paid education) struggle with the meaning of the nooks and crannies... makes me wonder how all those senior citizens with next to no English background can figure anything out.  It weighs heavy on my heart to just learn as much as I can.... set up two chairs and a table in the middle of Chinatown... and just help people out. 

Another year...

Of all the things I can do... I pick tonight to go to Hometown Buffet with my best bud and his wife.  Ho hum.... right?

Well... it's hard to explain.  But Hometown was THE place to go to during college.  The few times we ventured down to Santa Maria for a crazy meal.  Hometown was THE place during my Co-Op times... when money wasn't great...but the food was amazing.  Hometown is the place where Nui-nui can have anything she wants for $2.99.

Until next year....

Daidai-stones

As Nui-stones take a side step... Dai Dai takes the spot light and gets his very first Daidai-stones posting.

Again, so unfair that Nui-nui got dozens of "nui-stones" (nui-nui milestones) postings.  Dai Dai may have had 1 or 2.  Even when I'm typing this, I'm thinking of Nui-stones I need to document immediately after this post.  HA!

So.....

A few weeks ago... Dai Dai takes his first step.  The first unofficial step was captured by the Nanny.  But we deny that it happened.  And as always... it happens the day after we go to the pediatrician.  Somehow...someway, the doc has a way of forcing things to happen.

We finally bit the bullet.... DaiDai with her Dragon Ball hairstyle quickly go from Gokou to Gohan.  In other words... we're putting to a test the old wives tale that shaving his head will bring back thicker and longer.  Did the own shaving myself.... got so excited of making it a clean shave, I even knicked him and caused him to bleed.  HA!

Found the culprit.... DaiDai turns out to be allergic to peanuts and dust.  Dust!?  Peanuts?! What's happened to kids these days? Back in my days, no one was allergic to anything!!  And after doing the "Bingo" Test, we think he's also allergic to milk / dairy.  Oh man.... poor kid.

Crazy how different he is from older sister. More active... less tactile.  More friendly.... less articulate.  More eating problems.... less healthy choices.  And where will the two of them end up....?  Geez.......

Cheap vs Frugal

Last night, I bought a large cup of MilkTea from Fantasia.  But because I was exhausted, I only finished half of it and went to bed.  This morning, I woke up, saw the cup, picked it up and threw it in the garbage.  I took all but two steps when I turned around... opened the garbage can, reached in and picked the unfinished cup of milktea out of my garbage can.

"It's only half finish!  I can nuke it... or put ice in it... and have a nice drink this afternoon!" 

I didn't grow up penniless... but I did grow up learning the value of a dollar. 

Thank you USA

I can't remember if it was the 2004 or 2008 Olympics that I read this... but there was an article that said that the world should thank the US for inventing the "hi-5."  And certainly true... I remember seeing every country's team giving each other the hi-5.... in a weird and child like way.  Much like what you would do to a 5 year old making as much of a slapping noise as possible.  That....to the world... is cool.

Course... Americans have evolved the hi-5 since the hi-5 first came into existence.

There's the

• Lazy hi-5 - Where the fingers barely touch, signifying, "yeah...we bad, but let's not make a big deal."
• Spider hi-5 - where the person that's being congratulated uses two hands and nonchalantly does a "lazy hi-5" with everyone
• Double hi-5 & 180 - Where both hands hit, then all four hands go around in a 180 on each side
• Fist Bump - perfected by President Obama himself
• Invisible Hi-5 - where two people are so far away from one another, they'll just go through the motions of hi-5ing one another

And as time goes on...there's the crossing of the two hands at the thumbs (like you're arm wrestling), and pulling the other person in for an embrace or a man-hug.  That is the latest fad I noticed the world is taking on

Americans have been doing it for years.... giving each other hugs, without giving it a full hug.  And the world is catching on.

Thank you USA!!