Chasing Cherry Blossoms 賞櫻
Dad was a big fan of cheery blossoms and heard that it started blossoms around 台７線 (A mountain road around Yi-lan). Given the popularity of Yi-lan lately, we didn’t want to take the risk of going on the weekend. By randomly picking a Tuesday afternoon that Dad didn’t need to work, we picked up Anders and Arden from school, packed some 胡椒餅 (pepper pie) as snacks, and we were on the road to chasing cherry blossoms. Went onto 台７線 to stop at 大同鄉 first; continued our journey to 長埤湖, routed back to 玉蘭茶園 (tea farm)。 Anders wanted to play with the sticks and dirt while Arden happily being the “little model.” She kept saying, “我是小 model.” It was a nice little trip.
Running Horse Trail
Grandfather took us on a little hike up 跑馬古道 (Running Horse Trail). This is a historical trail that was a trade route that brought goods from Taipei to YiLan. Unfortunately, getting to the entrance required a steep hike, and the kids were spent after half an hour of climbing. Grandfather soldiered on, while we took a break. Christine was able to dig out an old bar of chocolate which instantly perked up the spirits of the young ones. Maybe next time, we will get to walk on the historic trail itself.
Selena Takes Us to Nan-Fang Aou Beach
這次春節的假放得出奇的長，但多半在下雨，到了假期尾聲了，天這才晴起. 小妹珊珊本來打算回新竹了，卻也抵擋不了艷陽的熱情呼喚，用她的小Yaris帶我們去了南方澳海邊. 說來真是好笑，這大概是我第一次踏上南方澳的沙灘耶！珊珊說這個情人灣是她最喜歡的海邊了!...
Settling into Taiwan
Despite my protestations and Apple bandwagon foot-dragging, Christine got an iPhone 4S for me. My ancient 3G has slowed to a crawl from IOS updates, and now has been commissioned as an iTouch for Arden. Oddly, I have found the iPhone eco-system comforting as it unifies life experiences no matter where in the world you are. We have been taking some quick photos with the phone camera, and it seems to be much improved experience overall; however, it is still many leagues away from the performance of a standard compact camera. I am still quite awkward holding the phone and taking pictures with it, causing many of the pictures to be slightly blurry. Christine has much more stable hands and is able to capture much sharper images. I am definitely looking...
The Thanksgiving Day 10 Years Ago in 2001
This day ten years ago, Harrison and I met at Sam’s turkey dinner in San Jose. Can’t believe it’s been a decade. There has been so many happenings between now and then. Most of our friends got married and our life also moved on with more new families and friends. I realized that our slideshow at the wedding was not included in the wedding DVD. There were so many memories there while watching it again today. Each picture has its unique mark and memory before we got married… Andy, do you still remember what you said to Harrison at the night of this picture in the slideshow was taken?! (hehe, you know which one I was referring to.) Sam, remember our failed tiramisu and the very first trip we visited you in NC when we went hiking? Tim,...
Tahoe with Wen, Steve, Bryce, and Jasper
Bryce brought his parents, Wen and Steve, from Texas with him to visit us on an extended play date at Lake Tahoe. The name of Christine’s sister’s yet-to-be-born son is not Jasper, but I’m putting my vote down for that name. Having brothers named Bryce and Jasper just seems quite fitting to me. Both are beautiful parks and distinctive names for boys. The post-natal cousins warmed up quickly and soon were chasing after each other like mad monkeys. We did a little of everything this trip: hiking, swimming, eating, digging, crying, singing, dancing, and very briefly flying. The main support beam on our little kite broke in two after a brief flight on the beach to the dismay of the kids. There was a dissapointment on the trip; I have yet to...