Knocking on your door steps

NN just got back from a school retreat.  The 7th and 8th grade class at TKA went to the Santa Cruz mountains for 3 days and 2 nights.  Friday afternoon... we pick her up and find out.. 2 people tested positive inspite of testing prior to attending. Saturday morning... it doubles to 4 people.  By late afternoon... it's 5.  And the 5th person... we had lunch with!!! Early evening... it's become 8. Late evening... 12.  And that's the people we converse with. Who knows what else is out there.

It's not a matter of "if".... it's a matter of "when."  This time... it's far too close.  Well... not as close as when I got it... but for the sake of being dramatic... 

Be careful what you wish for...

All through life, NN has been an overachiever.  She's adored by her peers and admired by her teachers.  A straight A's student.  A hardworker. Respectful. Leadership.  All things you want in a growing girl.  We've always worried that her success will to get to her head.  So we've kinda... sorta... in a round about way... wanted her to experience some bumps and trips along the way.  Maybe not like... an epic fail.  But get use to life being life.

Last year's audition was rough.  Junior High basketball and volleyball were ground breaking if not earth shattering.  But those were new frontiers.  Today... she officially got her first C in math.  It's just a quiz.  It's just the first quiz.  She'll bounce back.  But ohhhhh.... when she saw her grade... her entire world crumbled. "I hate myself!" "I'm so stupid!" 

Not what I was hoping for when I wished that she might run up against a bit of failure. Aye. 

Shaddap Already!!!!

Went to our first TKA high school football game.  And in the stands was an obnoxious dad who's obviously been there for a many years, since he knows a bunch of people.  He'll be screaming, "GO O!!!" or "Let's go Offense!!!" when the Knights are on offense.  No one does that!! You scream "D-Fence!!" or "Go D!!!" But not the other way around. It's so.... dumb!! 

Then when the other team's on offense... if it's a handoff, he'll yell "RUN!! RUN!! RUN!!"  I initially got confused... "Why's he cheering on the other team's RB to run... run... run...."  Then on pass plays, be it a screen or slant or post... "PASS!! PASS!! PASS!!"As if the crowd doesn't know? Is he trying to alert the players on the field (who can't hear him).  Or did he know I was going to show up today... and he is just trying to annoy me.   

I wanted to walk over there to tell him, "Love your passion.. but shaddap already!!!" 

Birthday Blessings

Aside from the usual birthday blessings I would get in person or via text... while exiting church... a sister walks up and says, "Happy Birthday!" I said... "How'd you know?" She said... "You mentioned it 2 years ago." Wow....

Then while I was picking up dinner for carry out... I started whistling an SOP song.  The clerk immediately said... "I love that Christian song!"  I got my food.. paid... and he said, "Thank you and God bless you."

A Tale of Two Cultures

On Wednesday night's New Parent orientation... I bumped into a bunch of Cantonese speaking parents.  And we unanimously decided to create a Whatsapp group to combat /circumvent / supplement the WeChat group. Truth be told... I'm a Whatsapp fan.  Maybe cuz most of my friends are Hongkongers and won't even install WeChat for philosophical and political reasons.  But after creating this Whatsapp group... I can totally see the limitations.  Better yet... I can see the ever-growing features of WeChat.

After the Whatsapp group was created... I did something I never did in the WeChat group.  I started throwing stuff out there.  Only to be met by.... crickets.  Silence.  No one says a word.  Conversely... over in WeChat... parents are talking about lunch lines... how to use a locker... which combination lock to buy... how to enroll in Google Classroom.... PE clothes.... on and on.... a lot of humdrum, mundane stuff that's actually quite amusing.  

More amazingly... the mom's in this WeChat group will just randomly form a picnic or a lunch Meet-Up... and do something called 接龍。 And it'll catch on... more people will sign up.  Before you know it... there's a dozen people going to lunch together. Or picnic-ing together.  Or hiking together.  Completely, random strangers.  It's amazing.

Cantos? Hongkongers? Good luck. Oh... and the "American" parents.  They're using Shutterfly as a social platform.  Geez.......... how early 2000's. 

"Times" have changed

I'm a simple man.  And all I want... is a simple watch.  Tell time and date.  That's it.

After the salt waters of the Pacific victimized my beloved watch... I set out to look for another one.  Where does one go get a digital watch these days? We went to Target.  Then DD Discounts.  Then CVS.  Then Rite Aid.  All fruitless!!! Long gone are the days when these... uh... drug stores? convenience stores? sell everything you can possibly need stores... can buy something as simple as a $10 watch.  

Ended up shopping on Amazon...which had 50,000 options that made my head hurt.  My... how times have changed. 

Big Island - Day 8

Last day... time to head home.  We first found breakfast at Kona.  It was a beautiful locale.  Facing the sea.  Perfect place for brunch.  Then we got gas and headed to the airport. I love dropping people off then drop off the rental and head to baggage check.  Everyone had COVID so we had zero interaction.

(updated 7/4/2024...)

Last day… saw a mom with double carriage stroller and a luggage… I offered to help. She declined. Then saw her trying to get to pre board… I tried to help… she declined again. Ended up sitting next to her on the plane and we built some good karma.  Made it easy on the kids.   

(updated 7/4/2024...)

And with that... we boarded the plane.  Headed back to San Jose.  Got a ride home from Ken - with our masks on.  And had McDonald's for dinner.

End of trip. 

Big Island - Day 7

Only 6 of us left not testing positive... but that's because Grace and Nicky survived the bug right before the trip. The day started with going to the infamouse hole in the way Poke Shack. We ended up going snorkeling by King Kamehaema... and it was the best experience ever. Still remember the utter failure of Cancun snorkeling. This time... it was a pure 180. We then had dinner at Kona Brewery followed by another bout of Scandinavian ice. Hawaii...was awesome.

Big Island - Day 6

Started the morning by heading to Waimea to pick up some COVID test kits for Wallace.  We found a McDonalds and had he infamous Spam and Sausage breakfast.  Then it started pouring and we did a bunch of shopping at a local grocery store.  That became our lunch cuz we bought a bunch of sushi and salad there. 

Later that evening... we headed over to play a family back nine. This was NN and Joyce's first time on a golf course. We rented two carts and after about 4-5 holes... I gave SW the keys and he had his first driving experience.  Joyce saw what I did and she gave NN the keys.  We struggled...but ended up with one ball.  We lost about 15-16. One of the best experience of my life.

More and more people started testing positive so we ended up having Cup O' noodles and Pizza bagel for dinner. 

Big Island - Day 5

The morning started with a bang...then one domino fell after another.  One after the next... a family member of ours started testing positive for COVID.  We were so scared...cuz SW hung out with them when we went coffee tasting.  Oh me... oh my...  are we gonna be THAT family?

We decided to not head to a local church (much to my dismay) and we attended SJCAC church online. 

For lunch, we headed back to Queens Market and we knew exactly what to order and how to eat this time. 

The afternoon was spent at the pool.

At night... we headed to town and went shopping at Target and Costco. 

Ended the evening at TK noodle (no, not THAT TK Noodle). 

Big Island - Day 4

6 months after my Hawaii vacation... I guess I should jot down some of the highlights of the remainder of this trip, before I truly forget it.

Day 4 - I woke up before anyone else and found an insurance company was having a company event at the resort and they were hosting breakfast.  90% of the people there were Asian.  So I snuck in and grabbed myself some free breakfast buffet.  Heh. I blended right in.

That morning... we,  family unit as a whole, headed to the White Sand beach of Hapuna. It was majestic. We swam. We snorkeled.  We had the full Hawaii experience.

In the afternoon... Joyce, NN and Grace and I went Kona Coffee tasting.  Nothing to write home about, but I bought some beans regardless.  Cuz, afterall, I was in Kona.

That night... we had our family Luau.  Dang was it expensive.  But it was the one night we dined together... all of us. One forgetless memory... we were lined up to go in, but we skipped the family picture (of course, something we'd have to buy for $50). The camera men called us out of our line...saying they'll hold our place for us.  So we went back and took a family picture.  And surprise surprise, they did not hold the space for us.  It took an old Chinese woman (MIL) to slip all 15 of us back into line, thereby pissing off the entire luau line.  I can't believe we did that, but we did.