Made in Houston, Imported from Penang

Love is in the air 恋愛の季節

2011-02-14T06:06:00.002-08:00

Happy Valentine my son, enjoy your first V day date with your "best friend" :)

Love, papa and mama

Birthday Pictures

2010-09-07T19:47:00.000-07:00

Here are some birthday pictures to be shared with our dearest family and friends...

Ian & Megan, the two angels in our lives who bring us joy and panda eyes

Megan is 1...

And Ian is 4...

And very much in love with his beloved Lightning Mcqueen...

Many of our friends say that Ian really resembles me...

That is pretty flattering considering many aunties say he is cute...

Which actually means that the dad is cute too...(muahahaha)

I however think that sometimes he looks and behaves like Einstein...with his endless curiosity and questions.

Ian is 4!

2010-08-31T20:51:00.000-07:00

Dear Ian,

You are growing up too fast! You are 4 years old and brought us another year of joy, laughter and I have to say, some aggravation. Oh how you have grown and matured in the past year.

You loved to sing and knew many songs during the first half of this year. For the second half of the year, you love to dance to hot music more than singing. You like to create a disco-like atmosphere by turning off all the lights and just leaving a particularly dim light on. Then, you pick a CD; put it in the player and dance like crazy. Your dances are very groovy, sometimes you dance like a super hero, sometimes you dance like kung fu fighting.

You are still as particular as ever. I have to ask your permission to rearrange your toys and almost always never get to do it my way. You are very clear minded and know exactly what you want. You are a great helper around the house. You are such a hard worker and you pretend to mow the lawn and vacuum with your toy vacuum. You help me clean the table, dust, change batteries, mop, peel carrots, sweep the floor, bake cup cakes and lots more house chores. However, you end up creating more work for me to do after you help. You love to help wash the car and end up dominating the spray nozzle. You also love gardening and don’t mind planting some new seeds or watering your plants even in the hot summer months.

Last year, we were bragging about you being so good that you did not want to buy toys when we brought you to the toy store. This year, you want to buy every single thing from every single aisle. You are also good about using the word “need” (as in “I need to buy this”) instead of the word “want”. However, you almost never get to buy anything that you “need”, hehehe. We try to tell you that we do not buy something every time we go to the store and only buy things that we need.

Last year, you were quite reserved when you were outside of our home. This year, you have become more sociable and get comfortable easily outside.

I can’t even describe how crazy and totally in love you are about your favorite character, Lightning McQueen. You absolutely cannot share McQueen with anyone. You said “No one can have or buy McQueen because he is very very very very very very very very very important”. You kiss McQueen whenever you see the car. You kiss the TV when you see McQueen on TV. You kiss a card if McQueen is on it. You always ask me to take you to see the real McQueen. You ask me where McQueen lives because you would like to send him a letter. I hope I can take you to see a real size McQueen some day.

You are still fascinated with rotating equipment and likes wheels, gears, and especially fans.

This year, I truly enjoy having conversations with you. Your mixture of seriousness and childishness makes me laugh all the time. Here are some of the funniest things that we talk about.

Ian: When I grow up, I want to be God.

Mama: Oh really, why do you want to be God.
Ian: Because God is good

Ian: Do I have a wife (in his words: lau po)?

Mama: Not yet, but when you grow up, you will have one. Who do you want to be your wife?
Ian: McQueen

I once told Ian that he is God’s gift to me.

Ian: Why am I a gift?
Mama: Because you are God’s gift to me.
Ian: I am not a gift. I am a human.

Ian: Why does Megan not have any teeth? Did she eat too much candy and lost them? Or are her teeth not grown yet?

Ian: Does Jesus have a car?

Ian: Why is Megan’s butt in the front?

Mama: Are our hearts big or small?
Ian: Small
Mama: Where are our hearts located?
Ian: In my tummy but I am not sure because I have not seen it before.

One day, I made some yucca root to be dipped in sugar for Ian. My mom used to make me that when I was young and it has been a while since I ate some. So…
Mama: Can you share a piece with me?
Ian: No
Mama: But I would like to have some?
Ian: Are you hungry? (I thought he was going to give me some if I said I was hungry. )
Mama: Yes
Ian: OK, if you are hungry, go find something else to eat.
Mama: Speechless :-0

Here are some your favorites…
Favorite thing – Lightning McQueen
Favorite food – Ice cream, broccoli, grapes, hamburger, spaghetti, cup cakes
Favorite drink – Soymilk and juice
Favorite friend – Lightning McQueen

It was a tough and sweet year for you as your little sister Megan joined us. It was tough for you because you used to have all my time and now you have to share my time with Megan. It is sweet for you because you love your sister and love to be the older, wiser and more powerful big brother. All in all, I am extremely proud of you because I think you have done so well with receiving Megan.

Your skin still requires high maintenance. Thank God that you can eat chicken this year. So, we still have milk, eggs, peanut and sesame to work with.

As always, we hope and pray that God will always lead your footsteps and always protect you. We love you and are so proud of you! Happy 4th Birthday!

Love,
Papa Mama

P.S. Decorating McQueen on the cake turned out to be a lot more challenging than I thought. When the cake was done, you asked me why McQueen looked more like a minivan than a race car. Nonetheless, you told me that you liked it, whew.....

Happy 1st Birthday Megan

2010-08-19T12:05:00.000-07:00

To my darling daughter Megan,

Happy Birthday to you.

You are 1 today and you made the past year so joyful that time just flew right by. You were born at 5:43 pm on a Wednesday, August 19, 2010. You weighed 7 lbs and measured 18.5” long. When you were in my womb, I was worried that I will not love you enough. When the doctor laid you on my chest, you immediately took a very special place in my heart, more special that I could ever imagine. After that, everything in my memory was a hazy because all I could feel was pain from labor without an epidural. You were ready to come into this world and did not give me enough time for the epidural.

You were so little, so precious in my embrace and I could not hold enough of you. You were a very good baby, ate and slept by the clock for the first two months. Then things changed. You started waking up more and more at night. With a family history of food allergy, I was very careful with your diet. At 10 months, I started feeding you some yogurt and you did okay. Thank God for listening to our prayers. We have been praying for you since you were conceived.

You were a “hand” baby because you constantly have to be held. You love to be sung to and would stop fussing when we sang to you. Till today you like to be lulled to sleep with “Twinkle twinkle little star”. At 11 months you started swaying to music that you like.

You were able to sit unsupported at 6 months, crawled at 7 months and cruised at 10 months. You first crawled backwards and it took you a few weeks to figure out how to crawl forward. Since you started crawling and grasping objects at 8 months, you have put almost everything into your mouth. You started eating semi-solid foods at 6months. Your first teeth - lower central incisors - came in around 9 months. You waved bye-bye at 10 months and from there onwards, you just took off with sign language. You started calling mama and papa at 8 months. As of today, we are still waiting for you to walk and more teeth to come in.

You love to go outside which made bringing you out and about a joy. You have such a naughty smile and I love receiving sloppy kisses from you. You like to eat and taste our food, especially food your brother Ian is having. You love to follow Ian around and do what he does.

I love it when you tuck your head on my shoulder and hug me tight. I love it when you wave your hand to say hi or bye-bye. I love your laughs when we play hide and seek and peek-a-boo. Your laughs just make my day. I love to see you chew on food with your only two lower front teeth. Your little mouth is so cute. I love it when I say “kiss kiss mama” and you kiss me on my lips. I just can’t get enough of those kisses. I love those moments when you have just waken up and I hold you - you just hold on to me and hug me tightly. I love your naughty smiles with your eyes squint. I love your serious face when you see new faces and you hold on to me even tighter, afraid that others might take you away from me.

Thank God for bringing you into our family and you are such a blessing to us and bring us so much joy. We hope that God will always be with you.

You are my little angel. We love you, and happy first birthday.

Love,
Papa & Mama

p/s: From your dear brother Ian, proudly announcing that his little baby sister is 1 today!

Recent Vacation Pictures

2010-08-06T18:45:00.000-07:00

Finally found some time to post some of the vacation pictures. We spent two weeks in the Puget Sound area, and 1 week in the Bay Area staying with Pearl's brother. It was a good vacation, and we managed to find a suite with kitchen for our two weeks stay in Anacortes.

We spent the Independence weekend at Victoria and Vancouver. Victoria was pretty touristy, and Vancouver was almost like Hong Kong. We went to the Aberdeen center and ate at the Asian food center there, twice. I think we missed good and genuine Asian food a lot. Then had authentic Singapore Chicken Rice (though it is actually called Hainanese Chicken Rice) at my ex-colleague Cherie's place, thanks to her mom-in-law's wonderful cooking. Ian and Megan had fun playing with their pet rabbit, and the hedgehog (never seen a real hedgehog until then...).

San Jose was another place full of Asians. I can imagine myself living there with all the cheap and good Chinese eateries and groceries (Dungeness crab for $5 a pound!!)...if only their property prices are as low as Houston's.

All in all a pretty good and memorable trip, especially the family time spent together with Keat's family. However as ever travelling with two small kids are tiring...

Sweet and HUGE Rainier cherries at the Pike Place Market, Seattle...err the Iguana was fake, I think :o

Lots of wild caught seafood at the Pike Place market.

Ian enjoying his mayonnaise-free sushi

Happy Megan at the hotel

Megan loved the fluffy King bed

Pearl brought the kids to the strawberry farm, this is a revisit for Ian!

Ian had a blast at the local playground
The kids really like checking out the new hotel's beds

We bought some seafood from the local shellfish farm near Anacortes. Cheap Dungeness Crab, yummy!

Vancouver is a beautiful city by the bay, lots of rich people's yachts at the pier

Ian kung fu fighting at Stanley Park, Vancouver

Ian was very focused on the stone painting at Stanley Park

Petting Zoo at Stanley Park

We took the ferry from Vancouver to Victoria, it was rather cold onboard

Ian loves playing with Megan

Ian "Sayang" Megan :)

Gaya, Mutu, Keunggulan, Inilah Dunhill...I can almost hear the advertisement voice behind this pose.

Hatley castle, Victoria. Nice garden and much cheaper than the very touristy Butchart garden too.

Fort Rodd lighthouse was one of the most beautiful scenery we have seen throughout our three week's trip. This is almost like a painting. Definitely a well hidden secret of the beautiful Victoria Island.

We fell in love with this Lavender farm instantly

Other yachts along the route from Victoria back to Anacortes

Beautiful sun set at the ferry terminal of Anacortes

One of the rare moment when Ian and Megan managed a picture together

Otherwise this is Ian's usual self in front of the camera

Puget Sound was so beautiful that we can almost imagine ourselves retiring there

The First Encounter of the Cousins - this is t very first time Ian and Evan met each other

They click at the very first instant, and were playing happily at the playground close to Keat's house.

At the Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco. This is my second visit, this time with family, which is a lot more fun than my previous visit just by myself. However I had more time to experiment with the camera then.

Both cousins are taking pictures!

Another hidden secret in San Francisco - the Art Museum

We also spent some time at the Happy Hollow children zoo and park in San Jose. In fact the kids enjoyed this much better than the sceneries. Ian was driving Megan around...may be another 15 years.

Ian and Megan "sharing" a ride at the park...who needs a double stroller? We can do it the "Penang" way :p

Ian wished he was tall enough to ride the go-kart alone

The beautiful shore at the 17 miles drive along the Pacific Coast

The famous Lone Cypress tree

The world renown Pebble Beach Golf Course

The kids enjoyed the Monterey Bay Aquarium very much. I must say that it is the most beautiful and interesting aquarium I have ever visited!

The Kelp (seaweed) jungle display in the aquarium

Lots of huge fish tanks in the aquarium, very grandeur and lots of interesting things to see.

Ian was very fascinated with the touch pool, he was able to feel the star fishes

Cousins playing sand castle at the Santa Cruz beach

The Tam Chiak Po (贪吃婆）Megan with a grain of rice beside her smile, after a satisfying meal

SoyNut Butter

2010-08-05T13:26:00.000-07:00

For those that are allergic to peanuts, SoyNut butter is a great alternative. I found this at Kroger and it taste pretty good.

Some Random Photos

2010-07-27T20:03:00.000-07:00

Haven't been blogging for a while now...It was very tiring being the parents of two...can't imagine how other people cope with 3, 4 or even 5 kids!!

Anyway here are some random pictures taken recently.

Playing with Ianna and Ethan at the playground...

Megan posing at home with the dress bought by dear Aunt Cindy...
Both brother and sister acting silly for the camera...
And posing with the cutest smile ever in her first ever Bikini bought by dear Aunt Renee...

A Happy Afternoon

2010-06-24T20:45:00.001-07:00

It was a hot and muggy afternoon at Moody Gardens and Megan was happy as can be. I sat down with Megan and tried not to think about the heat. Meanwhile, Ian had a blast with his papa playing in the water and on the splashpad.

Ian's art work

2010-05-15T20:12:00.000-07:00

When Ian was little, he would look at the wheels of my car instead of the person driving the car (me) when I came home from work. Today, he still loves wheels, a lot. He often asks me to draw all kinds of wheels for him. One day, he came home from school with a drawing in his hand.

At first look, I thought he drew a sun. His teacher even wrote the word "sun" on his drawing. When I asked him, he said it is a wheel, not a sun. The orange symbol in the middle of the drawing is the Toyota symbol. I thought it is the cutest effort to draw his own wheel, especially the Toyota symbol.

Just pictures

2010-04-05T20:15:00.000-07:00

No matter how busy it is everyday, I still like to take pictures of Ian and Megan. Here are a few to share...

I love this, Ian rarely smiles for the camera

Now, this is more like him, giving me some funny faces

Sleepy time...means peaceful time for me :)

And Megan...my darling daughter

At least I don't have to ask her permission for taking her pictures (yet)

Megan is 6 months old

2010-02-19T06:55:00.001-08:00

Megan is 6 months old today. It seemed like yesterday when she came home with us from the hospital. She was so tiny, her body molded mine, and she was totally a part of me. Today, she is still very much attached to me though she is discovering herself and is trying to be independent. I feel that she is growing up too fast.

She turned from tummy to back at 4 months and from back to tummy at 4.5 months. She rocks back and forth when I put her down on all fours. She is trying to sit and sometimes still topple over and it looks so funny when she does that.

She seems to understand some of the things I say, such as milk and “I am going to suction your nostrils” because her eyes would squint expecting me to do that. I love her toothless smile and laughs. Her favorite person is Ian. She totally adores him and must think that he is a real life toy. She will laugh out loud when Ian makes some silly faces for her or dances for her. She loves to jump (assisted) with Ian on the bed. It melts my heart to see Ian kisses her on her forehead.
Here are some pictures of Megan. She is so lovable and brings us so much joy.

Home coming

1 month

2 months

First Smile

3 months

4 months

4 months

4 months

5 months

6 months

Chinese New Year

Food Allergy and Eczema

2010-01-27T12:02:00.000-08:00

My dad found this very good article about food allergy and eczema. The article is very enlightening and real as we are still battling food allergy and eczema with Ian. As with food allergy testing, whether it be accurate or not, has helped us a lot. At least we had a starting point to know what foods to work with or to avoid. I am thankful that Ian is seeing a good and caring Allergist.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703808904575025013194645130.html

Megan's Tutu

2010-01-12T20:25:00.001-08:00

It was my fashion advisor - Boon Hong's idea to dress Megan in a little tutu. So, I asked my mom to make a little tutu for cute little Megan.

Starting Young

2009-11-27T19:21:00.001-08:00

They say to achieve greatness, one must start young. It has always been my dream to be a great photographer, working for the prestigious National Geographic magazine. So since my dream will never realize, I am planting the seed in the next generation, hopefully Ian will one day fulfill my unrealized dream...I think this is pretty common among all parents, having been a "victim" myself from my mom "forcing" me to learn piano...oh well.

So the first step towards greatness is a very simple one...start with the "idiot proof" point & shoot...Ian seemed to got a hang of the p&s pretty fast. Hmm...good job! You know what they say, it runs in the family, heh heh heh, that's my boy!

Ian figuring out the P&S

Looking through the digital screen

Ian was watching me using SLR so he tried to imitate me even on a P&S with digital screen and no view finder :)

Click!

Ok, the next step towards greatness, let's try my SLR...nope my Contax body is too expensive for Ian to experiment with...so let's start with my cheap and reliable Yashica FX SLR with a Carl Zeiss 50mm lens. I told Ian this will be his camera when he grows up. His face just brightened up upon hearing that and now he calls this his camera.

Ian looking through the view finder...

Say cheese!

The third step towards greatness is to expose Ian to even more challenging light recording devices. This time we will use the good old Fujica range finder my dad gave me. Ian is very interested in older stuffs, this includes older cars, toys and cameras. By the way, Ian also prefers to play with older girls instead of younger, and this got me worried a bit :p

Ian was pretty interested in the old range finder when I told him that this was grandpa's.

Figuring out how to hold the camera...

Oops, wrong side up!

Ok, now papa said something about turning back the film lever...

I am getting it...

Is it this way?

Finally, time to take pictures!

Ready, get set...

Ki-chuck!

Now the final steps towards achieving greatness is to learn a really really difficult camera, and for this task I am letting Ian play around with my beloved Mamiya TLR. With full manual focus and full metering function, even I have yet to master this beast.

Ian learning to open up the TLR view finder

There you go!

Looking through the TLR screen...what an upside down world!

Ian the little apprentice of photography

But of course all of the above were just my own wishful thinking. Ian was just playing around with my cameras without really learning anything...However it is my hope that by exposing Ian to the photography world at a young age, he will be at least a better photographer than his not-so-professional papa!

Megan's many expressions

2009-11-26T19:09:00.000-08:00

Megan has grown so much that she starts to have her very own facial expressions...plus she can recognize faces by now, and normally prefers to be held by mama and grandma.

Among her many expressions:

Surprise!

Worried...

Curious...

Contented...

Manja...(撒娇）

Yawn...

Roar!!

Shy...

Mischievous...

Happy!

Suspicious...

Graceful...

Blek!

Megan is 3 months old

2009-11-20T15:52:00.000-08:00

My sweet little Megan turned 3 months old yesterday. She laughs and squeals when she is happy. She says "ah goo" and is so talkative. She is overloaded with cuteness.

Our trip to DC turned out to be better than expected. We caught some gorgeous fall foliage which we did not expect.

Interesting Questions

2009-11-19T09:36:00.000-08:00

Ian loves cars and other vehicles. This morning he asked me "Does Jesus have a car?" How interesting :) I love his questions.

Ballunar Festival

2009-10-27T19:36:00.001-07:00

Brought the whole kampung to the NASA ballunar festival last weekend. Father in law was as excited as little Ian, and Megan was pretty calm, unaffected by the excitement of the grandpa and bro at the sight of those amazing hot air balloon...

Getting ready...

Inflating...

And inflating...

Here she goes!Up & away!More incoming...

Brother & Sister

2009-09-29T20:22:00.000-07:00

李白《静夜思》

2009-09-04T09:35:00.000-07:00

床前明月光，疑是地上霜。
举头望明月，低头思故乡。

—— 李白《静夜思》

More Megan's Portraits：诗琪 - 沙龙展

2009-08-29T10:19:00.000-07:00

我睏了！

Latest Product from CS & Pearl Co.

2009-08-20T08:46:00.000-07:00

Introducing the latest invention from CS & Pearl Co. (Pte. Ltd./Sdn Bhd.)

Product Name: Megan Shi-Qi Ong 翁诗琪

Product Specifications:

Weight: 7 lb
Length: 18.5 in.

Date & Time produced: Aug 19th 2009 5:43pm

Product Function: Poop, cry, sleep deprivation and suck life energy out of parents

Product Potential:

potential for big money spender from 0 to 25,
potential for dad to worry from 14 to 21 (and likely longer than that...)

Product Specialty: Infinite Cuteness, will melt hearts, attracts oohs and ahs from parents' peers, and most importantly will justify papa buying more camera and lenses :)

Product Pictures:

Note: Product is 100% made in Houston, with parts imported from Penang

Happy 3rd Birthday Ian

2009-07-25T20:31:00.000-07:00

I am now 38.5 weeks pregnant and my doctor says it could happen anytime now. I am not sure how crazy things will get when our baby girl arrives, so here is an advanced post for Ian's 3 year old birthday at the end of August.

Dear Ian,

You brought us another year of joy and laughter and you are turning 3! Your characters and personality have surfaced and we love you more and more each day.

You still love music and demonstrate an impressive sense of beat at your age. You are steady at the drum and strum consistently on the guitar. When we ask you to pick among the piano, guitar, gu zheng or violin, you have consistently picked the piano. You love to sing, dance and sway to music. We hope that music will always be a part of your life.

You are very neat and particular about certain things, displaying traits of a Virgo. When you eat, you have to arrange your plate and cup in a certain way. When we play with you, you know exactly what you want and will get mad if we mess with your toys. You often wake in the morning and question why your toys aren’t in the way as they were yesterday. We often have to tell some white lies such as “a little tornado came and swept your blocks away” instead of the truth which is we have to clear the area so that we can vacuum the carpet. This way, we can prevent a melt down from you. Sometimes, if we are lucky, you will clean up and arrange your toys so that they look neat when you are done playing.

You are very loyal and only trust close family members and close friends. You definitely will not go with others even if they offer the things you most love. You like your old pair of shoes and don’t like it if we buy you new ones. When we bring you to the toy aisle, you enjoy playing and exploring new toys. When we ask if you would like to have that, you say no and that you already have many toys at home. Wow…we hope that you will continue to be this prudent in the future :).

You are very careful when you are playing and also when you are socializing. You tend to be more reserved when you outside of home, thus showing a completely difference character when you are not at home.

It takes time for you to warm up with a person before you open up and be yourself. You have two most beloved friends whom you call Monkey and Zhu Zhu. Meet Monkey, a little hand puppet.

Meet Zhu Zhu, who is actually Piglet from Winnie the Pooh and Friends.

You will share your most precious things with them, for example, your milk and your hanky. You will share your meals with them and need them to be by your side when you sleep. You pretend to be a doctor and take care of them when they are hurt. You will discipline them when they don’t behave.

You love rotational equipment, things that are round and rotate. Among your favorites are fans and gears. You also like things with a motor in it and understands that motors will make things rotate. Your interest in this area has not changed much since you were about 1.5 years old. You love to take things apart using tools. You also hope that something is broken around the house everyday so that you can repair those broken items.

You started to use the potty for your big business a couple months pass 2 years old. After about 7 weeks of grueling accidents, you just caught on one day that pee pee goes into the potty too. This milestone gave us the biggest sense of accomplishment as we thought that it will never happen.

Since you were about 1.5 years old, you grew very attached to your “hanky/bi-bi”, your little handkerchief. You think about it and need it everywhere you go. There were a couple times when we forgot to bring along your hanky and you got really mad. “Bi-bi” is the name you gave to your handkerchief. We later had to help you change the “bi-bi” name to “hanky” because teachers at church and school were taking you to the potty every time you asked for your handkerchief. Although you know exactly when you should call it “hanky” and when you can call it “bi-bi”, you still rebelliously correct me and say “You were wrong just now, it is called “bi-bi” and not “hanky”.

Just a couple months ago, your favorite colors were red and pink color. What a relief that you have changed your mind and you now say your favorite color is blue :) Here are some your favorites…

Favorite thing – the hanky (handkerchief)
Favorite phrase – Why? “wei shen me”

Favorite food – Air (just kidding, you like fish and starchy foods but you don’t like to eat a lot)

Favorite fruit - Grapes and oranges (but it changes unpredictably)

Favorite vege - Brocolli and celery (also changes unpredictably)

Favorite drink – Soymilk (we nicknamed it opium to prevent you from wanting a cup every time we mention milk)

Favorite friend – Your puppet monkey and a pig (When asked would you like a real human friend, you said no and that you prefer animal friends)

You started speaking more words and phrases when you were 2 years and 3 months old. From there your speech blossomed into full sentences. You are pretty expressive for your age. You will tell me your feelings, why you are happy or sad. One day, I asked you if you slept well last night and you said no. When I asked you why, you said, “I could not find you and I was sad”. You are very attached to me and like to follow me everywhere I go. So, I asked you “Why do you need to follow me everywhere I go?” You replied “I have to follow you because I am afraid you may disappear.” You often tell me that you like me and "sayang" (means love in Malay language) and that just melts my heart and brings tears to my eyes.

You are not very empathetic yet. When I told you that I could not carry you as much as before because you are a big boy now and my backbone is about to break, you still insist that I carry you a lot. However, you do sound like you care about me. When I asked you what will we do if my backbone really breaks? You asked me what will happen to you if my backbone breaks. I said I will not be able to get up and will constantly lie in bed. I asked if you will take care of me then. You said you will take care of me, you will cook for me and feed me, you will bathe me, you will put cream on me (because I am always putting cream on your dry skin), you will dress me, you will play with me and read to me. I was just touched to hear that.

Your eczema has improved slowly and we have been able to cut down your topical steroid usage. However, you still have your bad days sometimes. Your food allergy or food hypersensitivity is still hindering you from eating many foods. Thank God that this year, you are able to take small amounts of garlic. So, we still have cow’s milk products, nuts, eggs, chicken and sesame to work with. Ironically, your interest is not in food, so when we tell you that you cannot eat certain things yet, you are okay with it. We still try to avoid eating those forbidden foods in front of you.

I could write about you endlessly but I think I better stop here. We hope and pray that God will always lead your footsteps and you will grow up healthily. We love you! Happy 3rd Birthday!

Who am I?

2009-07-03T20:40:00.000-07:00

Lately, I have had to fill in some forms where I had to state my profession and what industry do I work in. I still find it a bit peculiar to state "homemaker" as my profession and "home" as the industry I work in even though I have stayed home for 7 months. I guess a little part of me still long for the work life I had. I figure I will get used to those terms soon, after all, I have worked for 10 years before making this huge step to stay home. I do enjoy and cherish every minute I have at home, and I will always put my family and kids first (no offense to other working moms).

My belly is growing and I feel that I am out of room. I have been nesting for a while and the nesting feeling is growing ever stronger as there are only 6.5 weeks left until our 2nd baby joins us. This baby is even more active than Ian was in my womb. I can't wait to meet her.

Here are some pictures taken one afternoon. When he sees the camera, he either runs away, covers his face or make some silly faces when I ask him to smile for me.

How mischievous

I like this one

Acting cute

Silly face for the camera

Who is the mother?

2009-06-16T10:53:00.000-07:00

Ian makes me laugh a lot with what he says. He mimics our daily speech and is picking up my broken chinese. He sounds like a small size adult when he talks. Lately, he has been giving me orders such as "Don't mix the colors of my play-doh haa", "Becareful haa", etc...

He has a bible with a little lock on it. Last night, he wanted me to read that book to him and he noticed that the book was not locked. He kept asking who did that. I told him perhaps I forgot to lock it after reading it to him last time. He said this to me assertively..."You must remember to lock it next time, ok? If you forget again next time, I will be mad at you." I laughed so hard inside and thought...now, who is the mother? :)

Here are some recent pictures of Ian...

Ian munching on a corn with Ernie

Like his smile

Love those toes that look like peanuts

My favourite place to take Ian's pics with good lighting...our bathroom

He does splits pretty well

媽媽和我 (Mama and me!)

2009-05-17T18:43:00.000-07:00

Final series of shots using Vivitar Series 1 105mm on Contaxt Softar I. The first picture was modified using Picasa's soft focus and the last was actually taken using my only autofocus lens, the trusty Canon 50mm f2.5 macro. If you want to get an inexpensive macro/portrait (85mm on a 1.6x view factor camera such as my good old Canon 350D!), this baby is it! This lens is so sharp you can count the number of the eye lashes on the original picture!

Note: all pictures in these three series were reduced from the original size down to 800x600 pixels and compressed. Some details may be lost.

Fun time at the Park

2009-05-17T18:33:00.000-07:00

Series II using the same configuration of Vivitar Series 1 105 mm Macro f2.5, Haoda Adapter on Canon 350D and Contax Softar I filter. Shot mostly at f3.5 to 4.0. I really like the soft effect on the portraits, and the nice, homogeneous bokeh. Without the soft filter, the lens will be a little too sharp (well, will work for some other portraiture work though)...

Squirrel in the Park

2009-05-17T16:27:00.000-07:00

I have recently rediscovered one of the lenses in my collection, the classic Vivitar Series 1 105mm Macro f2.5. This lens has a cult status now, and had great followers during its production. It is a great macro and portrait lens, and still have avid fans till now (me included!).

I am having fun with this lens mounted on my 350D via a Haoda adapter, and for this series and the following two series, and I was using my Contax Softar I filter.

Picture of squirrel taken at a park close to our home while we brought little Ian out to the playground. The curious little creature was muching on some pine seeds, and oblivious of the person with the large lens :)

The first picture was edited using Picasa's soft focus, and the second one was slightly modified using simple Picasa tools as well.

More from Malaysia…

2009-03-31T11:46:00.000-07:00

I should have been packing at this time and preparing to go back to Houston but the vicious virus or bacteria that I caught 2 weeks ago had made me stay back for a couple more weeks. I probably had not been so sick in 10 years.

At week 18, I am just now feeling more normal. My indigestion has eased a little, the nauseous feeling is gone, the awful taste in my mouth is almost gone if I don’t overeat and I can finally keep food down in my stomach. I can finally enjoy those yummy Malaysian foods, especially the delicious hawker food.

Unlike in the US, an ultrasound is performed at every check up. I also had a chance to see 3D pictures of our baby no. 2 at no additional cost! Here is a 3D snapshot, though a little hard to make out. Ian’s speech has blossomed since he came back to Malaysia. He is now very expressive and asked too many “whys”. The things he says surprises me and makes me laugh. Here are some pictures of Ian…

Ian checking out and smelling tea at a tea shop. He has an incredible sense of smell and has extremely sharp taste bud…thus a picky eater :)

Ian, the tea connoisseur, making tea for us…

We take Ian to the playground whenever we can and let him be a little monkey.

Ian witnessed the metamorphosis process. He likes bugs but his is more interested in rotating equipment and tools. He asks his grandpa everyday if there is anything broken so that he can do repair work.

Like me, he loves durian.

(Note from Papa: also like me, he likes watermelon...)

I Left My Shoes @ Yosemite

2009-03-26T17:29:00.000-07:00

I finally made my trip to the Yosemite NP, so yet another NP deleted off my list of "places must visit before the end of the World" :p
This time was a "business-pleasure" trip, i.e. I spent the weekend for a photo trip to the NP before I started working on Monday. It was early March, and the winter was lingering in the Yosemite valley. I really recommend going to the YNP during this time of the year if you had already been there during the summer (which, incidentally, is the peak tourist season with overpriced motels and jam packed traffics).

The late winter/early spring was not a bad time to go even though some of the high altitude roads were closed due to snow and icy road conditions. The first moment I drove into the valley I was taken away by the breathtaking, beautiful snow scene of the Yosemite.
It snowed a little while I was there. It had been some time since I last see the snow fall, and it reminded me of my very first snow fall many years ago in Scotland...I think among the four seasos, winter is my favourite for photography.Since the snow were just starting to melt, the gush of water rushing down the falls were building up their momentum. There are many falls in the valley, one of the most famous as well as most photographed falls were the Yosemite Upper and Lower falls.
Since it the temperature were still at around 30's to 40's°F, there were still ice formed where the water were falling. The combination of ice and water was indeed spectacular.
While I was there, I chanced upon a free photography trip organized by the Ansel Adams' original photography shop. Before the trip, I had wanted to grab a copy of Michael Frye's Photo Guide to Yosemite, however unfortunately the book was so popular that it was out of print, and the last I check with Amazon, the used book price has gone up to $120! Michael used to work in the same photo shop as our photo guide, shown in the picture below. He was wearing a cool sunglasses, carrying with him a huge ass Gitzo tripod and hauling along a bag full of heavy L lenses. However other than showing us the various excellent photo spots, he had not taken a single photo during the trip. Well, I guess it was the same reason why I like to use humongous equipment for my wedding photo assignments - so that the clients think that I am a pro (the bigger the equipment, the more pro you are!).
Yosemite falls is also a popular field trip for the local schools, here I suppose this field trip was organized by the Art's teacher. Back in my time, my Penang art teachers usually asked us to draw fruits such as banana or durian instead of taking us to a field trip like this...
When the fog came along with the evening, it added a mystical touch to the already picturistique scene of the Yosemite falls.
Other than the Yosemite falls which are located right in the valley, there were other falls as well. Among others are the Briday Veil Falls
and the Vernon falls
Some falls such as the Briday Veil and the Yosemite are easily accessible by road, and are perfect for city bums like me who likes the convenience of "drive and shoot". Others, like the Vernon falls, requires strenuous hiking through trecherous icy, snowy mountain trails...
Via footbridges...
And crosses icy streams of springs...
But the breathtaking view along the journey was well worth the sweat and hardwork indeed.
Another famous lanscape of the Yosemite is the Half Dome. The fact sheets in the musuem suggested that the formation of the Half Dome was due to errosion.
It seems that everytime I visit the Bay Area, I seem to have the luck of seeing fogs/clouds surrounding the most famous lanscape.
This was one of the famous "Ansel Adams's Half Dome" view from the center of the valley.
Another awesome view of Half Dome can be seen from the Mirror Lake, about 5 mile track from the valley (yup I actuall hike that much, and this is just one of the many hikes during the trip! And I did this while hauling along my tripod and lenses, in addition to water and food!!)
This is yet another famous Ansel's classic of the valley, taken from the Tunnel's View. On the left is the El Capitan, and the falls on the right is the Bridal Veil. The Half Dome can be barely seen, right in the middle. Tood bad the moon was too small, else it could be another "moon rise classic" :)
Other than the falls and the snow capped mountain
Another of my favourite shot during trips to the National Parks was photographing the springs and the streams. With a steady tripod and long exposure (typically 1/2 second to a few seconds, depending on the light conditions and the speed of the streams), the rushing water can seem pretty dreamy.
It will be better if there is overcast sky, as you will appreciate the soft and dimmer light in this kind of photography.
All in all, I really enjoyed my solo photography trip to the Y valley, and it reminded me of my travel trips during my younger days when I mostly travel alone and without having to carry along diapers, milk, baby food, and ofcourse, my cute little Ian.
One of my favorite photographer was the Taiwanese engineer guy who travelled to the Aegean sea, and produced我的心遺留在愛琴海. Well, as for me, I had to hike so much that eventually my trusty Nike hiking boots gave up, so I had to leave my shoes at the Yosemite.

我的鞋遺留在有稀米地

Photo Note: Body - Canon 350D; Lenses - CZ 28mm f2.8, CZ 35-70mm f3.4, CZ 80-200mm f4.0, Canon 50mm macro f2.5; Tripod - Gitzo with Monfotto ball head. Dissapointment: 1. Dust speck on some of the shots, and didn't discovered it till viewed on computer! Lesson learnt - must clean lenses every day! 2. The cropped and reduced photo for uploading to this blog lost a lot of resolutions and details, especially the shadow details...can't do anything here due to the size limit of the blogspot.

CNY in Malaysia

2009-02-08T23:06:00.000-08:00

It was an unplanned opportunity to celebrate CNY 2009 in Malaysia. The last time I celebrated CNY in Malaysia was probably over 10 years ago. Ian collected a good amount of ang pow while I got used to the giving ang pow tradition. Ian got to see many lion dances.

In Penang, we took him to the beach. Six months ago, Ian was fearless of the sea and enjoyed being washed away by the waves. This time, he curled up his legs and only played with the sand :)

In Kuala Kangsar, he rode on a motorcycle and drank warm coconut juice fresh off the coconut tree. He ate durian and papaya from our relative's fruit trees. We also showed him various tropical fruit trees.

I had hoped for his eczema to improve because the weather in Malaysia is more humid. To my disssapointment, his eczema did not improve. He is still very allergic to certain kinds of food and his skin is still super sensitive.

Here are some pictures of Ian...

Ian drinking coconut juice

Ian playing with the lions

Beach boy Ian's new slippers. He is learning to walk with one of these slippers. See how he curls he toes to hang on to his slippers. Ian spraying us down with the hose Ian washing car Ian eating bread with soy milk powder Ian playing my old organ

After bath activity

2009-01-04T17:40:00.000-08:00

This is what our active little Ian does everyday after his bath time. He treats his bed as a trampoline. We better have routine checks to make sure all the screws that hold the bed together are intact.

Ian on the Keyboard

2008-12-12T17:24:00.000-08:00

One of our very dear friend, Hsing captured Ian's pianist potential (hmm...cross fingers...) on the video. We have dropped Ian at their place while we attended Pearl's company Christmas party. She has a keyboard at her house and let Ian played on it.

It was funny to watch because Ian actually played note by note and even played the whole range of the keyboard :) Pearl said he must have watched and learned from his papa :))

Cookie Time

2008-12-02T16:30:00.001-08:00

This afternoon was a pretty slow one, so I decided to bake some oatmeal cookies with Ian. The recipe stated "beat well" twice but I did not get to do that because Ian was the chef. The cookies turned out great even without beating well.

Ian is not a great fan of eating but with odd things such as cookie dough, he dives for it. It must be the sweetness that he likes. Though I had a bunch of clean up to do after that, it was fun for both of us.

Ian secretly munching on the cookie dough while I was measuring other ingredients

I even got him to act cute and smile for the camera because I told him that he had to stop eating the cookie dough if he didn't, hehehe.

I had to wrap things up quickly or I wouldn't have any cookie dough left to bake

Turning Point

2008-11-21T09:28:00.000-08:00

After today, I will be staying home for a little while. I have mixed feelings about it. I love spending time with Ian and being there for my family but I will miss my work life as well. I am thankful that God has led me to this point and all the support that I got from friends and family. So, I’ll see. After all, I will have the option of going back if I want to. I am looking forward to my new job…

See below...it is all worth it!

Picture Time

2008-11-06T09:46:00.001-08:00

Just some pictures of Ian to share...

Ian's latest favourite thing to do at the playground, hang!

No fear for height

Night of Lights event at our church, Ian dressed as frog-frog

Ian at the ring toss game...throwing with all his strength

Jump-Jump-Jump

My baby - perhaps not so 'baby' anymore :)

Handy man at work - turning valves and knobs of a fire engine

Ian driving a vintage fire engine, he loves wheels.

Ian's 1st Potty

2008-10-28T07:22:00.000-07:00

As normal as it is for us to go to the potty, it is a big deal for toddlers. The potty training issue has been in and out of my mind for the past couple weeks. To me, potty training is a big challenge; I have never done it before! Ian is showing some signs of readiness such as agreeing to pee in the potty and actually peeing in the potty. However, when he poops in his diaper, he tries to stay a distance away from me by making a big detour to go somewhere just to stay a distance away from me or throwing me a toy (not handing it to me to keep the distance) and asking me to go play at somewhere else. The stickiness in his diaper doesn’t seem to bother him a bit; perhaps it is a boy thing. As with everything else these days, I have to slowly talk him into agreement to let me wash his behind.

Yesterday, I asked him if he wanted to go poo poo. He did not deny and so I let him sit on the adult potty while I hold him. He has shown no interest in his baby potty and has treated it as a toy. I have spent oodles of money on colorful kid things such as plates, utensils, cell phones, toothbrush, potty, etc…and all he wants are “real” adult things. Back to the potty story…I waited for 15 minutes and there was nothing. I was excited because he has never wanted to sit on the potty for so long, so I thought something must be coming! The next thing I heard is a little thump. Yes! He has done it! I praise him by saying “hen hao” (very good) and he replied by saying “bu hao” (no good). When I tried to take a peep at what was in the potty, he pushed my head away. Okay, I had forgotten that even kids need privacy. After another 15 minutes of acting like nothing is happening while reading a magazine to him, I asked him if he was done. He nodded and quickly stood up and flushed the toilet. Flushing is his favorite part of the whole potty trip.

I was so excited that I could not wait for hubby to come home and tell him the story. I am not celebrating yet because I know more challenge is yet to come. Nonetheless, this is a milestone for Ian and I am just happy.

On a side note, Ian has joined the opposition party recently because he will oppose to everything I say. I say “hen guai” (very good boy) and he says “bu guai” (bad boy), I saw “hen hao” (very good) and he says “bu hao” (no good). Maybe this kind of reaction is just a phase. His pain threshold is very high and whenever he falls or is hurt, he wants to “be a man” and does not want my kisses or help at all.

We survived Hurricane Ike!

2008-09-15T09:17:00.000-07:00

Thank God we survived hurricane Ike. It was a terrifying night indeed with the strong gusts howling outside ripping through the trees and shaking the houses. Ian slept through the hurricane though...how blessed it is to be a baby :p
It's all over now however we were without power and water. The water came back yesterday however we decided to stay with a friend who has power and water for the time being.
We will update with more pictures and news once we are back.

Please VOTE for ME!! (No, this is not another presidential rally)

2008-09-10T20:16:00.000-07:00

As faithful readers of the parenting magazines, we always drool about the other winners of photo contests...and as proud as all parents could be, we always thought that, hmm, why not enter our own little Ian into the contest? He might win with his mischievous charm!
So we entered into the American Baby Contest with the following six photos:

Wow! Flowers!

Yummy Apple!

Eh? Dog-dog!!

Mmm...watermelon!

I am a little Radiohead!

Having fun with Finger Painting!

So dear readers, what do you think of the chances of winning? PLEASE VOTE LAH! (i.e. rate 5 stars and recommend), hee hee...

I AM TWO!!

2008-09-01T13:28:00.000-07:00

Yup our little beloved Ian is finally reaching the stage of the terrible two :)
We didn't hold a big party for him, as we thought he wouldn't have noticed nor have the memory anyway...so instead we just had a present opening ceremony for him (thank you very much CJ & Laura, Keat & Soon Kuan, Tuck & Sabrina, and Doreen!).

Here's the pictures:

Ian's Special Allergy Free Banana Cup Cake, With Candles

And Without Candles (No, Ian doesn't know how to blow the candles yet)

Hmm...yummy cup cake!

Holding on to the precious cup cake

Close Inspection of the Cup Cake...

Hmm...I wonder what's in the cup cake?

Present Opening Time! This is the tool set we bought for Ian...coincidentally the "Dua Gu" & "Dua Gim" also bought tool set for Ian, somemore theirs was the branded "Bosch", with a very nice workshop table set! So eventually in order to live up to the Penangite reputation, we decided to return ours to Walmart and let Ian keep the better one instead :)

The Walmart tool set:

vs. "The Bosch"

And here's some studio pictures we took at JC Penny and Picture People:
I AM TWO!

Look Smart in the Tux!

I can also act cute in my tux too!My latest - the "Michael Jackson" postAnd from the Picture People

The collage from Picture People

I don't want to gain the whole world and loose my soul

2008-08-20T09:49:00.000-07:00

Here's a song that I really like by Toby Mac. I wish I can rap like that...maybe Ian or CS can some day? :)

Focal B&W

2008-07-31T14:00:00.001-07:00

Most of you probably already know this. I just found out how to do this with Picasa and I like it!

A Little Love Drama (part I)

2008-07-27T16:13:00.000-07:00

Disclaimer:
This is a fiction, the story and all characters are merely the author's imagination during one of his many day dreams. Parents of the characters please don't kill me. 本故事純屬虛構，如有雷同，實屬巧合。

Long long time ago in a kingdom far far away...there was a little princess who loved to eat pau (for non-Hokkien speakers, pau is the flour-made bun in her hand).
One day, she met a young price who was holding a delicious bak pau in his hand (Hokkien: bak = meat).
Almost immediately, she set her eyes intensely on the bak pau, and fell in love with it.
Little princess:"Oh is that the famous Aunt P's bak pau you are holding?"
Little prince:"Well yes my dear, how do you know this is an Aunt's P bak pau?"
Little princess:"Because it is my favorite of all the paus!"
Little prince:"Really? Me too! Hey, would you like visit the pau store with me?"
Little pricess:"I would be delighted!"
.......
And then from there on they started their little friendship through their mutual love for the pau.
Day and night, the little prince and princess spent a lot of time together, visiting various types of pau stores and discussing about the paus. Slowly they got to know better of each other, and their conversation went beyond the paus.
They started to discovered other common interests they had, such as their love for drum, police car and dismantled wooden car.
Before they knew it, the seeds of love had been planted in their little hearts.
One day, the little prince thought of a brilliant idea.
Little Prince:"My dear lady, I had suddenly conjured up an excellent idea!"
Little Princess:"Oh tell me! Tell me! My dear prince!"
Little Prince:"Why don't we hop onto my red little sports car and we'll drive to the end of the world while enjoying our pau?"
Little Princess:"Oh that is such a wonderful idea! I am really looking forward to that never-ending road trip now!"
So there they went, hopped onto the little prince's red little sports car. The flashy sports car was bought by the prince's father for his birthday. It was a very expensive car indeed, with a steep price tag of $85 after discount from Walmart. After the King got the car for the prince, his highness got a scolding from her majesty the Queen, who also happened to be the financial minister, for spending too much from their royal budget.
Anyway, back to the little prince and princess...
They were very excited and happy about taking their first ever road trip together, and they dreamed of many places to visit. To prepare for the long journey, the little princess had even brought a long a water bottle in case they were thirsty.There they went passing by many famous landmarks within the prince's kingdom, such as the mysterious fireplace and the white study table.
In fact they were so happy that the little prices started to sing many love songs to his little princess.

One day during their road trip, they came upon an ancient sacred church. Feeling shy yet excited, the little princess invited the little prince into the holy church for a little prayer.
Little Princess:"My dear prince, would you come with me to the church and pray alongside with me?"
Little Prince:"Why yes my dear...but may I know what are you praying for?"
Little Princess:"Before answering your question, let me ask you this...do you love me?"
Little Prince:"Yes of course, my dear, with all of my heart! In fact I blame my love for you on your dad, who is a thief!"
Little Princess:"What nonsense! My dad is a KING!"
Little Prince:"Why then had he stolen all the stars in the sky and put them into your lovely eyes?"
Little Princess (shy):"Oh my lovely prince...Alright then, if you really love me, let's go into this church now, and we shall ask for the pastor to bless our love and...and our marriage..."
Little Prince (startled):"WHAT?! MARRIAGE?! What do you mean?"
Little Princess (shocked):"What do you mean WHAT MARRIAGE?! OUR Marriage!! I knew it! I knew it! You don't love me anymore!"
Little Prince:"Oh no, that's not what I mean...just that I think we have just started, and we are not really there yet...I mean...I mean we are too young to talk about that right? I am barely two!"
Little Princess (growling):"All men are the same! I HATE you!! Wah...."
And with that the crying little princess ran away from the little prince...leaving the little prince stunned and wondered what had just happened.
Slowly, the little prince started to understand what had happened, and remorsed deeply for his stupidity and harsh response towards the love of his life.
Realizing that he could not possibly let go of the only princess he found to share all his love for paus, and to whom he had given all his love, the little prince rushed out frantically to look for his little princess...
"Go away paparazzi!" Shouted the panic little prince, annoyed by the paparazi who had found out about their break up.
The little prince ran all around in search of his beloved little princess, yet the little princess was no where to be seen...the little prince started to fear that he might have lost the love of his life forever, and tears of regret started to flow down his cheeks.
Then all of a sudden, the sky brightened up and the little prince saw his beautiful princess standing right before his eyes!
"My dear...." The little prince wanted to shout his heart out for his love, however now he noticed that beside his love stand a dashing, tall, dark and handsome Prince of the Yee Kingdom. And to his absolute dismay, the little prince noticed that the little princess was holding onto his hand!!
Shocked beyond words, the little prince fell short of calling out to his little princess, while the little princess seemed ignorant of his presence, and apparently had her eyes focused entirely on the little Prince of Yee.
"What should I do now?" Wondered the heart-broken little prince.
Would the little prince give up? Would he win back the love of his life?
A Little Love Drama shall be continued...Till then, stay tuned!

Sleepmore in Seattle, Sleepless in Houston

2008-07-17T18:46:00.000-07:00

So we are finally back from the picturistic Northwest region of Puget Sound-Seattle. I had a chance to travel to our Puget Sound refinery for a few days work, and Pearl and Ian joined me for a short weekend trip. The Northwest region is an amazing place to visit. It has a great variety of landscapes to fulfill the travel needs of most tourists. We went at the right time I suppose, since we were in the middle of the berries/cherries season, and the weather was of course at its most pleasant, utterly different from what I had expected - a rainy Seattle! I was told that another prime season to visit is during mid April, where the blossoming tulips attract thousands of tourists to the otherwise tranquil country site.

As indicated in the title, we were surprised to find that Ian actually sleeps better during the travel! We were half expecting him to "sleep-less in Seattle" due to the unfamiliar environment. It turned out that Ian actually slept better, and we suspected that it could be the cooler room at night. So now we are trying out a new strategy at home - all three of us to sleep in the play room where the temperature is cooler than our bedroom. So far it seems to work, and we are keeping our fingers crossed.

Ok, back to our trip...

Day 1: Welcome to La Conner, and What a Beautiful Day for Strawberry Picking!

As recommended by colleagues, I stayed at the rustic La Conner Inn, in a small town called La Conner about 6 miles away from the refinery. No it wasn't a European town as you might have guessed from the name. The town was founded when Mr. Conner apparently bought a trader house from the native Indians, and named the shop after his wife, Louisa Ann Conner. The town is situated in the Skagit Valley, a fertile land filled with a great variety of agricultural farm land. From corns, vegetables to tulips, cherries and berries, they have almost everything.

La Conner Inn

The wife and kid arrived on Wed night, fully loaded with car seat, ice chest full of Ian's food and an umbrella stroller. It wasn't an easy 4.5 hours trip but eventually they arrived at the innl safe and snug. So in the morning after dropping me off to work, Pearl brought little Ian to his very first strawberry picking experience. From the pictures taken, I am convinced that Ian really had a blast at the strawberry farm. And he can now say "skawbezzi", one of his favorite fruits!

Ian's first encounter with the thorny raspberry plant...

The fresh raspberries!

A bite at the freshest "skawbezzi" he had ever tasted...

Mmm....skawbezzi is good...

Now I see it...

Now I don't!

EAT ME!!

A Satisfied Look...

Satisfied beyond words, the little star is on his way back...

Pearl also bought some raspberries and blueberries...

So the little finger wanted to try the "boobezzies"

Hmm...the raspberries looks more delicious...

Oh well, I think the boobezzies are still better...

1 minute later...And again!

Before making this trip, we have sold off the very good yet bulky Nikon 8400, and we replaced it with the sleek and slim Panasonic Lumix TZ-5, which we are very happy with! We especially like the 28mm Leica wide angle, 10x zoom, high definition unlimited time video, and now Pearl can fit the camera in her handbag wherever she goes!

Later in the afternoon we went to one of the local attractions, the Deception Pass. The bridge across the pass was built in 1935, and the highest bridge at the time it was built.

A view from the bridge

In the evening we went back to the town, and explored the town on foot. At the time there were few tourists on the street, and the blooming flowers all around the picturistic little town blown us away.

The town is also located along a channel, and strolling along the pier makes us wonder if we should move here after we retire.

Little Ian enjoying the beautiful sunset along the pier

Day 2: Whale Watching...with no whales

One of the attractions in Puget Sound is whale watching. We have taught little Ian about "whale-whale", and I thought it was the time for him to watch the whales for real. So happily I paid for the expensive whale watching trip at the Anacortes tour office. It was advertised at their website that the success rate was 97%. So I was thinking what are the chances that we will be THAT 3% losers? We can't be THAT unlucky right? WRONG. For the entire tour the only living things we saw, other than the tourists on board and the crews who grew more and more anxious by the minutes, were some unknown sea birds, a few bald eagle visible only with super binoculars, and a few sea lions lazying on the rocks. So we were given the "fluke card" to come back to a free second trip...they must have known that most of us on board came from thousands of miles away and chances of us using the free trip would be very slim!

Anyway, disappointment aside (and I had to carry the heavy Carl Zeiss 80-200 zoom all the while!), we were still quite awed with the beauty of the Puget Sound...except that Pearl got sea sick and slept through most of the trip, and Ian slept through half of the trip as well. Oh well, they would have missed any Orca whales anyway!

It was cold out at the sea, so Ian was dressed like little Jay Chou!

And here's the cool mama of the little Jay Chou

Baker Mountain at the backgroundWouldn't you wanna retire in this town?

Another spectacular view of Mt. Baker at Puget Sound

After the failed whale watching trip, we went back to the inn to pack up and left for Tacoma, a suburb south of Seattle. We chose Tacoma because it is close to where we planned to go for the next few days, and also I've got the free stay points with Hampton Inn...heh heh true blue Penangites :)

All in all we found the stay at La Conner very memorable, especially so with the friendly local staffs at the inn. We had carried with us a whole huge ice box of home cooked food for Ian, and the hotel staff was nice enough to let us use their freezer, and later on allowed us to stow our things at their own bed room!

On the trip to Tacoma, we stopped by Bruce Lee and son's graves, located at the Lakeview cemetery in Seattle. I had to plea to da boss to stop at the grave yard, because Bruce Lee is a hero to me as a Chinese descendant. I remembered when I first left Singapore to the states, one of my church mates gave me a Bruce Lee's Jit Kun Do VCD, in hope that I can shine like Bruce Lee in the western world (and of course I failed miserably!). Visiting their graves kinda made me felt sad and sorry for the mother/wife and daughter/sister they left behind.

Bruce Lee & Brandon Lee

The essence of Jit Kun Do: 以無法為有法，以無限為有限

A great loss to both the family and the society

Day 3: The magnificent Mount Rainier

The next day we visited the magnificent Mt Rainier with a fellow Malaysian I met at the refinery, Choo Weng. On my flight to Seattle, I saw Mt Rainier from the airplane, and it was one of the most unforgettable picture I had ever seen. The gigantic mountain was standing tall with a sea of clouds underneath it - too bad I was too slow to grab my camera, I think it might as well be my greatest photog regret!

Anyway, we were very lucky indeed to be here in July, the weather was superb and the sky was very clear - from miles away we could see Mt. Rainier! We were told that most of the time the mountain were shrouded by the ever clouded Northwest sky. Once we reached the visitor center, I discovered the real reason behind the mountain's name. All the long I had thought that Mt. Rainier must be quite a wet and rainy place, so basis for its name: "You thought Seattle very rainy ah, I lagi more Rainier you know...". Of course I was wrong, thankfully. The reason behind the name is none simpler than the first European who saw the mountain named it after his friend. What an appropriate coincidence with the local weather.

Mount Rainier, on a Sunnier day

A Close Up view with Rainier

"Shaped by Fire and Ice", because Rainier is actually a live volcano! Just like the nearby Mt St Helens...

Too bad the Mirror Lake was still frozen up, the reflection picture was shown on a lot of tour books already...

Yet Another Rainier

With the TZ-5 10x teleview, you can almost see the remnants of the lava

The visitor center, soon to be renovated

Ian had fun with his second encounter with snow, xue-xueWOO-HOO!

We spotted a curios Hoary Marmot on the way...

July was the season where the meadows are blossoming around the highlands, so we brought Ian to look for the meadows...and this is little Ian munching at "mi-mi" a.k.a. the home made flour "pau" along the meadow trail.

All the little wild flowers decorating the beautiful scenery

One way to achieve the SLR-like effect with a point and shoot is with the macro mode...and Pearly is already very good at it!

On our way back Ian is munching on his goodies again...and putting on the "scary" looks trying to scare us, hee hee...

On our way to Mt Rainier National Park we saw some road side stalls (akin to Malaysia's road side durian or rambutan stalls) selling bing and rainier cherries...and boy they are much more delicious and cheaper than those we found in Houston!

Day 4: Hiking among the Olympics

Day 4 was spent visiting yet another nearby national park - the Olympic NP...or as the true blue Msian would say, Olampeek national park. Unlike Mt Rainier NP, the Olympic NP is actually a range of mountains sitting on the Olympic Peninsula. The Olympic NP is unique because it has the most diversed flora and landscape in this region ranging from snow peaked mountains and glaciers to beaches and temperate rain forests.

Just like the Mt Rainier, the Olympic mountains are nicely decorated with the scattered wild flowers as well. Comparing to Rainier however, we felt that we liked the Olympics better may be because the meadows here blossomed more at the time of our visit.

Ian and I were looking at the hiking trail map, discussing about where to hike next...yeah right, another 5 years, may be :)

View from atop the Hurricane Ridge

Uh oh...flower thief 採花賊！

The deers here seem not at all afraid of the crowds of tourists...if this were Malaysia, we would have set up stalls selling delicious deer meat satay and deer horn chinese herb already ;p

Some panaromic shots of the Olympic mountain range (stitched with Arcsoft and Canon's softwares)

Back to the hotel, Ian looked tired and asked for a nen-nen (his beloved SILK soy milk!)

And of course, that was just the parents' illusions that the toddler was sleepy and the parents could finally have some time to rest. The truth was of course Ian became hyper and filled with renewed energy after his superpower drink, so we brought him to the pool with the hope that he could spend off his energy...

Since we forgot to bring the swim diaper, we had to resort to using just the regular diaper...and the super absorbent diaper became heavy with water at once, and as a result poor Ian had to expose his butt crack...here's Ian first ever butt crack picture, courtesy of mama.

So eventually the diaper got so heavy that we had to take it off. And as true as the Murphy theory goes, just as soon as we did that, the little rascal peed onto the ground, while smiling sheepishly at us...and this had to be witnessed by other Americans at the pool...yet another unsightly things done by Asians added to their list I suppose!

Day 5: A Short rendezvous with Seattle

This was our last day, though tired, we were happy that the trip went so well thus far, especially with Ian sleeping much better at night in the cool, full-blast air-con room. Before heading back to the airport, we did a quick side trip to the famed Pike Place wet market close to downtown Seattle. Seattle has a good size downtown, filled with sky scrappers and the famous space needle tower. Too bad we did not have enough time to visit the tower, nor the hill with the overview of Seattle...hopefully we will get another chance to do this!

We didn't know that Seattle has a good size sea port as well...
We went to the very first Starbucks cafe located right across the Pike Place market. Notice how different is the mermaid logo?

1912 Pike Place, is this THE original Starbucks store? Many says so, but apparently not according to some...The ORIGINAL blend...

Pike Place wet market, i.e. pasar. Any Msian auntie would have found this place familiar, but too bad the prices are fixed, and no, you can't take some gingers away with you after you paid for your bargained vegetables.

In the market, there were fresh flowers,

fresh berries,

more fresh cherries and berries,

fresh vegetables,

fresh fruits,

fresh tomatoes,

fresh Alaskan wild salmon,

more fresh fishes,fresh seafood,

more fresh seafoods,

and a skinny freshman trying to earn his tuition fees by hulahooping while playing on the guitar!

Note: this amazing guy is on the wiki!

Making of the Future American Idol

2008-05-13T19:16:00.000-07:00

Ian has been displaying some musical talents recently, and inevitably I am starting to imagine that Ian will grow up to be a superstar and then I can just become his manager, collect commissions + father's fee and live a filthy rich life...yeah right...

Anyway, here's a video of the future angmorican idol in the making...

Ian's Pom Pom Time

2008-04-27T13:00:00.000-07:00

Took some of Ian's "pom pom" (bath) time pictures, just to share with you some of the fun stuff the mama is having with the baby while ~~forcing~~...asking the papa to take pictures:

Wild Flower Season, Again!

2008-03-26T17:58:00.000-07:00

It's time for Texas bluebonnet to bloom, and for parents that means only one thing - photo time!
Yup, parents will drive 1.5 hours just to make their babies sit in the middle of the meadow full of wildflowers and their dangerous natives - insects, ants and bees, in addition to the thorny spiky weird plants that keep sticking to the babies' clothes and socks!
Here are the results of the day trip, it is very hard to take Ian's pictures compared to one year ago, because once we put him down to the grass, he kept running around like a buffalo.

Here's the yellow flower upclose

The Texas State Flower, Bluebonnet

The red one is Indian Paintbrush

Ian’s personality is emerging…

2008-02-16T11:21:00.000-08:00

He should be pretty talkative because he babbles a lot and speaks in his own language. He will pick up a piece of paper with words or a bottle with a label and start reading it in his own language while pointing his finger to it.
He is very musically inclined, since 8 months, he has been dancing and moving his body when he hears songs that he likes. His dancing style has evolved with time. His latest, swaying his body from side to side while clapping his hands. His tempo is quite impressive at his age. He moves his body according to the beat of the songs. He sings to songs that he likes. He knows exactly which kind of music he likes- jazzy music, rock music and fast music. He does not like classical. I guess he takes after CS and I, we both prefers jazz and rock than classical. He plays the drum and piano with style. He is also quite good with the harmonica.
He is very curious – he sticks his nose into everything that we do.
He is neat (takes after me) and likes to be clean – He will pick up pieces of food scattered on the table to put into his bowl. When he is done with his sippy cup or a toy, he will set it down instead of just throwing it on the floor.
He is pretty attentive and obedient because he can follow our instructions if we keep repeating ourselves and put lots of emphasis on certain things.
He is careful if we warn him that certain things are dangerous.
He is very active and does not stay still at one place for a long time. He gets bored doing the same thing for a long time. I am tired just looking at him exerting all the energy all day long.
His favorite thing since 1 year old, wheels, gears, other round mechanical parts. Just like a boy, he likes cars, trucks, air planes, train, dolly, cart, trash can and anything with wheels.
He is displaying signs of being left-hander (takes after me, yet again, yay!)

(picture with one of Ian's favorite aunt Renee)

Ian's First Wedding Appearance as 花童！

2008-02-06T06:56:00.001-08:00

It was almost as if Ian was the one marrying on that wedding day. Almost. At least that was how mom felt during that day, woke up feeling exceptionally exciting, dressed up little Ian with tux, gelled hair and shinny "batu" shoe...and arriving at the church 1/2 hour earlier than the bridal party! (All the time dad was too busy and nervous with the job of wedding photographer and missed that oh-my-god-my-son-is-walking-the-aisle feeling...)

Since most of our friends are around the "marrying age", we are hoping that Ian will be able to "walk the aisle" a few more times, hopefully slowly being "promoted" from a 花童 a.k.a. "flower boy" to the ultimate - THE RING BEARER!! ROARRR!!

Here are the pics and video:

Grand Arrival...
In Awe...
Walking the aisle with none other than Pricess Meredith :)
They held hands and walked the aisle slowly. Very slowly. And very often stopped for the audiences' cameras...
And here's the video clip taken by mom...who was standing at the end of the aisle and kept waving frantically for little Ian to walk forward. You can tell how excited and nervous was the mom by the shaky video.

Mama Papa

2008-01-07T13:51:00.000-08:00

Ian started calling Mama Papa recently. One day, while riding in his car seat, he pointed to hubby who was driving and said "pa pa pa pa". Then, he turned to me who was sitting beside me and called me "ma ma ma ma". He has now perfected his "ma ma ma ma" to "mama". Being called mama by Ian is one of the high points of parenthood.

Today, Ian joined his kong kong to do some gardening work outside. I took some pictures only to find out later that hubby had the camera's white balance setting at custom mode. As a result, all the pictures came out with a bluish tone. Here are some pictures, converted to B&W.

Santa

2008-01-07T13:35:00.000-08:00

I never have a deep notion of Santa Claus growing up in Malaysia. So, the thought of having a picture of Ian with Santa never crossed my mind until a colleague of mind asked me if I have brought Ian to take a picture of Santa. Off we went to the mall and spent some money on a picture with Santa. The Santa's beard was real. The Santa position must be pretty competitive. I was told that it takes real beard to be a Santa these days.

Ian was Little Santa at 4 months old...his 1st Christmas

Ian with Santa on his 2nd Christmas

Some Random Videos

2007-12-22T21:12:00.000-08:00

Just discovered that I can actually post video on this blog without having to use the overpopulated Youtube. Here are some trials:

Ian's Head Banging Dance at about 10 month old

Ian's Swing Dance at about 13 month old

Ian's Jazz Dance at about 14 month old

Ian's Turkey Dance at about 16 month old

Man, talk about evolution!

New Facial Expressions

2007-12-21T19:00:00.000-08:00

Ian is 16 months now, and he has developed a few new facial expressions:

Naughty Look:

Acting Cute Look:

Pig-pig Mouth Look:

Concentrating on his toys...

A Mother's Worries

2007-12-21T08:51:00.000-08:00

In a blink of an eye, papa and mama have been with us for 1 month. In a few more months, they will go home and I will have to look for someone to care for Ian. My mind has been spinning for the last few days, worried about Ian’s future care-taker. Is she going to feed Ian with patience? Is she going to take good care of his skin? Maybe I am worrying myself unnecessarily.

Work has been challenging since I cut down my work hours. Expectations from me are still the same despite fewer working hours that I can put out. I am not doing my best at work. Two of my friends became stay home moms recently. I would do the same if this decision is independent of all other factors.

Little Ian continues to be our big joy. Our little music lover has picked up the harmonica lately and he does very well. Here are some pictures of him.

Ian doing the "Turkey Dance"

Started playing the harmonica at month 16...
Had a little skin irritation around one eye...
Hello hello? Who is this?
Ian helping with Christmas decorations
In his Christmas outfit

New Release Cover Photos

2007-12-12T17:54:00.000-08:00

If little Ian were to release his own album, these will be his cover photos. I will then be his manager, stay home, shake legs and collect money :)

All pictures are taken by dear mama at the pond of our subdivision. Canon 350D with Canon 50mm f2.8 macro lens...

两小无猜 (Literally: Two Small No Guess)

2007-11-23T16:38:00.000-08:00

Try to remember the kind of September

When life was slow and, oh, so mellow.

Try to remember the kind of September

When grass was green and grain was yellow.

Try to remember the kind of September when
you were a tender and callow fellow.

Try to remember, and
if you remember

Then follow follow follow...

*************************************************************************************

Try to remember when life was so tender

That no one wept except the willow

Try to remember when life was so tender

that dreams were kept beside your pillow

Try to remember when life was so tender that

love was an ember about to billow Try to remember, and

if you remember

Then follow follow follow... *************************************************************************************

Deep in December it's nice to remember,

Although you know the snow will follow.

Deep in December it's nice to remember

Without a hurt, the heart is hollow.

Deep in December it's nice to remember the
fire of September that made us mellow.

Deep in December our hearts should remember,
And follow follow follow...

Background music:
Try to Remember
Music: Harvey Schmidt
Lyrics: Tom Jones

14 months old

2007-11-05T12:22:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures of our little tornado. He is so full of energy. I thank God everyday for bringing little Ian into our lives.

More pictures of Ian in his frog-frog costume. I think he made a perfect frog.

Naughty Smile

2007-10-31T19:08:00.000-07:00

It is no wonder that Chinese are stereotype as always carrying a camera. My colleague even showed me a comical video clip showing an Asian baby born with a camera in his hands. We have been taking so many pictures of Ian. When he is asked to smile for a picture, he gives is the naughtiest smirk.

Ian is also becoming increasingly witty. One day, I gave him a piece of scotch tape to play with. He looked at me and shoke his head (meaning no no) then attempted to put the piece of tape into his mouth. I said no no and he listened. After a few minutes, he wanted to try to put it into his mouth again. This time, he looked away, pretending that he is not doing anything, then peeped at me with the corner of his eyes to check if I was looking, then try to put the tape in his mouth again. I cracked up laughing and wondering where does he learn to be sneaky like that :)

His mau-mau nian (cat cat face)

Funny face to the camera

He thought we might like this smile

Another naughty smile for a picture

Our deceivingly innocent baby

Frog Frog Costume

2007-10-23T17:44:00.000-07:00

Though we are not suppose to "celebrate" Halloween, we can't help but bought Ian a cute "frog frog" costume, which also is his favorite animal. We got it from a second hand store for quite a bargain. I guess all parents are the same, and like to see their children dressed in funny animal costumes. So here are some photos we have taken of him in the costume. After many shots, he started to feel uneasy and began to cry. Apparently the costume was too thick and made him sweat.

At first he was happily playing with his "dog dog" soft toy...

This is Ian "kiss kiss" his "dog dog"...

Still energetic and happy...

Uh oh, starting to get bored...

And tired...P/S: You can tell that a person has small babies when he or she started a blog and wrote words that duplicate, like dog dog and frog frog...

Ian's new facial expressions

2007-10-21T14:31:00.000-07:00

They say babies grow every single day. Now that I have my own, I found this statement profoundly true.
Ian is growing and learning new tricks everyday, and is forever curious about his surroundings.
At 14 months, now he can:
- "sing" and "dance" (baby style)
- understand simple mandarin words we use everyday
- throw stuffs into the trash can
- open and close doors
- walk briskly like a drunken sailor
- combo action: wave bye-bye + flying kiss + nodding head (dancing to the tune of "wheels on the ground go round and round...")
And his many newly developed facial expressions!
Here are some examples:

Ian's Singing Expression

Mischievous smile when he knows he is doing something we do not approve of...

"Cat cat" face

"Fish fish" mouth

"Pig pig" mouth