It's the thought that counts...

COVID-19 - School Closure - Day 97

Got separate texts from the folks... Dad says, "我是老廣東， 經常都煲老火湯， 日後不用帶湯給我了， 心領。" Oh the beef was a little salty.  

Mom said... that the 淮山杞子湯 made her sick.  Oops!!  Didn't realize 淮山 and 杞子 can be that nourishing.  補過龍!

I guess it's a little bit like them buying food for us every time we see them.  I really don't want anymore rotten fruit and veggies.  But it's 一番心意.  Oh well... such it is.  

過去已過去

COVID-19 - School Closure - Day 96

Dad handed me another album from my younger years. This time it’s from senior year in high school when we had our grad dance and subsequent BBQ party. A decent rush of memories... fond or not. “She” was obviously in those pictures. Sigh... regardless of what happened, the past is what helped shape me today. 

I felt like chucking it... the whole album. Wasn’t something I was gonna show the kids. Didn’t make a difference if I relived those days or not.  Ironically, “she” appeared in my dream last night. Oy.... I guess it’s like an old song suddenly popping in your head. Why it happens? Shrug... it just does. 

Role reversal

COVID-19 - School Closure - Day 95

Father’s Day tomorrow. I’ll be seeing both mom and dad and I find myself making 老火湯, cooking food, and prepping a food package for both parents, hoping they can get some good, nutritious food. My... how roles have reversed.

Recurring Dream

COVID-19 - School Closure - Day 94

Every so often... I’ll dream about Hong Kong. Last time I had a dream, I remembered having to take the bus to find grandma. Riding a huge escalator to get to the top of a 100 floor tower and finding a dinky apartment.  (the dream is amazingly vivid).

Last night I had another dream about HK. This time... I was at a hotel and I was looking for street food. I googled "food" on my phone... and found out I was walking distance from a lot of food. Then I searched for Cambio - knowing I needed HKD. And the results were by the food... except when I zoomed in... it was in a lake!!! And the cambio exchanges were sharks swimming around the water. The food was in a man-made island. Then I thought, “Wait!! It’s SIP. What if the street food is closed!!” The scene changed to a booth changing signs.... and based on the day of the week, a different vendor can open. Makes too much sense, actually....

Heh... HK. Place of my birth...and really... that’s about it.

The Virgin Mary

COVID-19 - School Closure - Day 91

"So that's what the big deal is with the Virgin Mary? I didn't know that virgin meant you never.... (in a whisper) had sex."

(Play it cool... this is really happening!) "Yup... that's what it means.  Where did you learn that from?"

"From my friends..."

(Act like nothing is happening... while giving Joyce the bug-eyed look...which she ignored) "Good... those are good things to discuss with friends"

Thus it begins... the birds and the bees finally came to be.  And all it took... was the mother of God to start the conversation. 

For the first time in forever...

COVID-19 - School Closure - Day 90

We're hosting a teacher during the summer. As awkward as it was... we got through the intial orientation and I was able to take her out to lunch... at a restaurant... outdoors.  Took the teacher to DishDash - staple in Sunnyvale... and it was weird.  

The place is set up very nicely for SIP dining.  The utensils, napkin and menu came in a ziplock bag. You can order on your phone by scanning a QR code.  And paying the bill can be done with a remote bill pay (covered in Saran Wrap).

The food was amazing.  The service was exceptional.  The company... long lost and missed.  We initially had masks on... then slowly... removed it to sip water.  And eventually... we took it off for the ease of conversation.  She sat at one corner and I sat at the other.  At one point... I saw myself spit in her direction while talking (oops!).  The last meal I had prior to SIP that was eating out....?? I don't even remember. Was it sushi with the kids during their Winter Break??  For the first time in forever... we were able to eat out.  

Once in a blue moon

COVID-19 - School Closure - Day 89

Yesterday... Joyce led our little Bible Study session. After 15+years at SJCAC... this is notably the 2nd time she's led a study.  She pushed back.  She came up with excuses.  She found every reason to not do it.  But for whatever reason... she pulled it off.  Not only did she pull it off... she had command of the entire study.  She managed time ohhh soooo well.  And lookie here... she was prepared and ready.  Her dedication to the Word is so real, so intense, you can feel it.  You can see it.  You can hear it.  

Unlike those other so-called leaders who half-@$$es it... gets by... and pats himself on the back.  You can see right through those people.. and you just shake your head.   And like all studies... at the end of the day... it's really between you and Jesus.  So in love... so so in love. 😍

唔駛找

COVID-19 - School Closure - Day 88

What's the biggest tip (percentage wise) you've ever given? 

I still remember at Vegas.... we'd leave a $5 chip for our dealer ever so often.  Then one time, I go to Reno I won a nice hand and tipped a $5 chip (cuz it was a $5 table).  The dealer's eyes popped out.  And Big Bro whispered, "$1 is enough."  

One time in Chinatown... while buying pastries at a bakery... there was a white dude that spoke perfect Cantonese.  At the end... after paying the cashier, he so subtly said, "唔駛找."  So cool.  I thought that only happened in the movies.

Few years later, I did that in a Chinatown bakery.  Paid in cash and the change was about $0.80.  I echoed those famous words, "唔駛找."  The lady chastised me for being dumb.   

Today... Joyce let me out to go buy some takeout so I went to Tai Pan to get some Dim Sum and PAB.  I was going to pay cash to minimize the exchange and let them keep the change to help out a small business.  The bill came out to be around $31.  I gave her 2 twenties... hesitated for one split second and once again said, "唔駛找."  

The lady said... "吓。 三十一蚊咋喎！

I smiled (behind my mask), winked (behind my shades), and nodded my head (underneath my hat).  

"得喇， 唔該晒。"

And as I was walking out... I heard her say, "八蚊都唔要。"  

Honey! I shrunk the kids

COVID-19 - School Closure - Day 86

Is it happening? Are we running out of things to watch on the streaming services?  Tonight, we dove into the 1989 movie "Honey! I Shrunk the Kids" which holds a special place in my heart.

For obvious reasons - who wouldn't want to be the kid that gets shrunk, has to tame and ride an ant.  Eats a giant cookie for food.  Lives in a Lego block? And swims in a pool of milk and Cheerios? 

For less obvious, more deepening reasons.  

This was the first movie that mom let me and big bro go watch on our own.  Actually... it wasn't.  She gave us the green light to go on that Sunday afternoon.  The day before... big bro and I got into a big fight.  He wanted to watch "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade."  And I was dead set on watching this.  Even remember crying myself to sleep that night cuz I lost the argument.  The one argument... "You know what's going to happen at the end!"  Begrudgingly... we walked up to Regency I on Van Ness and got tickets to the show.  

We went into the theater, we sat apart.  We were not on speaking terms.  The movie was amazing... and to this day... "The Last Crusade" remains one of my favorite movies.  He was right.  I was wrong.  Perhaps.

I still remember being so excited... I ran out to get a large popcorn.  Why? Cuz that's what they do on TV.  You watch a movie with popcorn.  When I approached the snack bar and asked for a large popcorn, the lady said, "Uh...the movie's almost over."  I didn't know what she meant by that.  Did she mean that I was going to miss the ending???  So I replied... "It's ok...I saw it before."  Little did I know... she meant that I was wasting my money.  Heh... so young and naive and stupid.  

The heart strings still hurt.  A lot of movies don't stand the test of time - especially ones with cheap special effects.  But 30+ years later... I think this one does survive.  The kids loved it.  The want to watch the sequel...and the sequel to the sequel.  And me... the part when the older sister coughed up water and came back to life after nearly drowning... only to her baby brother jump and give her the biggest hug a little man can give... brought tears to my eyes.  

And ironically... this post ends with one of the most famous lines from the Last Crusade, "You have chosen, wisely."  

All Lives Matter

COVID-19 - School Closure - Day 78

All Lives Matter

by H. Leung

One side, a smile… a face

The other, an eagle.. a place

Toss and flip a million chances

Neither will make greater advances

Conjoined from the start

Never aligned, yet never apart

No greater no equal no less the mate

Built upon centuries of hate

Separated by the smallest of bridges

Perfectly carved a series of ridges

E pluribis unum

Divided we find our doom

Hatred, prejudice, unjust

Our hope is In God We Trust

I'm not a poet.  But this was inspired by NN where she, a 10 year old, describes our current situation like a coin.  You have two sides.  Neither is right.  Neither is wrong. Oddly enough, they can never be closer.  Stranger yet, they can never be further apart.  And in the middle of all this... inscribed on the coin... "In God We Trust."  Who coined that term?? Not the founding fathers... no no.  It was actually Abraham Lincoln... in the midst of the Civil War when our country was... you got it.. completely torn apart. 

倘若

COVID-19 - School Closure - Day 76

倘若有人同我講...

"就算全世界嘅人放棄你，我都唔會放棄你。 我會將我畢生嘅運氣都俾晒你。一直都係你身邊保護你，祝福你。加油。"

我會點答佢呢?

倘若我同你講...

“係藍色天空下飛翔、我只要想做你嘅翅膀、帶你飛向你嘅夢想。”

你會點答我呢?