Day 2 sleeping till my back hurts

that would be me….yayy! — we went to church and saw Starlight Carol — great job, Pastor Sherm! good orchestra and arrangements, Mrs. Pastor and Tony! Great multi-playing, Tony and loved the arrangement of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” (an all time personal fav), and Mr. Kenoly rocked us into church coolness with “This Christmas”. OMG…I feel so Christmas-y. Baby Jesus cried the 2nd time they pulled him out onto the stage. Little naked baby with lots of adoring church preschoolers…big brother Peter wanted more stage time for himself (having recently been dethroned by baby Jesus/little brother, Nathan — the Nathans of the world know how to de-throne) and little Ava, angel sweetie was all feathers and wings! Good job, FCC…Jennifer Petersen, you do us proud too on your return to a church choir. Brandon and Tara came over and visited, B had some of my homemade chicken soup and Tara was being pretty and fun. Sweetie loved having them to jump on. I gave Tara a picture frame Christmas ornament for their first Christmas together as hubby and wifey. Then I flaked for the rest of the day, eating homemade peanut brittle, chicken soup, chocolate chip mint cookies, chicken soup, and watching non-tv, tv…. speaking of….Nee bought us a new flat screen!

day 1 Christmas Break (Saturday)

went to AKathryn and UJames’ 60th anniversary and saw Alan and Rachel Wong, Steve and Rose Louie, Rose Fu, Mrs. Wai, Mrs. Kao, Nelson Kao, Lance’s kids, June, Frances and Joanne’s mom, a village auntie, AKathryn’s side of the family, Sam & Esther, Andrew, Terry and her 2 girls, UWilson’s family, UPaul, Glen and his fam and Helen and Tom, Jon and his kids, Derick, Robert and the boys sang (old men) — Lance, Joon, Matt, J & E…it was great! Then I came home and slept for 3 hours. yayyy!

pigs feet

browsing through facebook, a Chi AM friend of mine talked about eating pigs feet, chillin’ – her mom made it just because and she was sitting in a house filled with that vinegary sweet smell of chinese jee geurk.  I, of course, commented, asking if I could come over and have some with her.  She later told me that when she saw my comment, she laughed outloud.  Her mom asked what was so funny and she shared what I wrote.

Her mom said, Is she one of those friends of yours that likes to eat and enjoys the old country style Chinese cooking, but can’t make any of those dishes?  Of course I am, as my friend knows well, because she’s one of those mo yeun toe jee.

Caught between 2 worlds and not really loving either of these worlds totally, and not hating it either.  My children will not have that dilemna, and if they do, it’ll be a watered down version of what us children of immigrants have lived, hated, loved again, and still  bewildered by it all.

But pigs feet, it’s something only the truly Chinese will appreciate, snicker at, nod knowingly and are afraid to admit that we absolutely love it; especially when we can suck out the vinegared marrow of the bones, finding that final tidbit of vinegar soaked pork and that bite of ginger that sends your soul to Chinatown homes of new born babies.

Thank you for sharing your Mom’s great cooking with me again!

the decade, those we lost and 2009

Gone Too Soon lyrics
Songwriters: Grossman, Larry; Kohan, Alan;
Like a comet
Blazing ‘cross the evening sky
Gone too soon

Like a rainbow
Fading in the twinkling of an eye
Gone too soon

Shiny and sparkly
And splendidly bright
Here one day
Gone one night

Like the loss of sunlight
On a cloudy afternoon
Gone too soon

Like a castle
Built upon a sandy beach
Gone too soon

Like a perfect flower
That is just beyond your reach
Gone too soon

Born to amuse, to inspire, to delight
Here one day
Gone one night

Like a sunset
Dying with the rising of the moon
Gone too soon
Gone too soon

good bye Ben

A kid (who is probably in his 50′s now) from my Cumberland/Chinatown past, passed away from cancer on Dec 23.  Wow do I remember him and his punk ish ways.  At the time of his death, he was still single, never married and was suppose to be the care provider, living at home for  his aging mother.  Ben was the next to the youngest of a humongous family of older sisters and one younger brother, Robert.  He and Robert were in my “Extended Session” class on Sundays and I was their teacher – a high schooler that was just barely older than him and the class of boys I lead.  We spent a lot of time playing kickball at the nearby playgrounds, and bonded.

As time passed, Ben became more of peer and was ready with his big bright smiles, a flirtatious wink, and always soooo cool.  He was short in stature, but big in personality, and can that boy charm you to death.  He was a talker and a charmer and everyone that knew him will remember him that way.

At the end, he didn’t want a lot of visitors at the hospital, and it was noted that up to the end, he was talking and encouraging the hospital staff and his friends. 

The Kingdom has lost a great encourager, joy maker, fun loving, sweet man.  I know you are rejoicing in the presence of our Lord this very moment and we will see you again one day.  If only we can be all a little like Ben!

Summer Extravaganza

So in the depths of Kindergarten soon, we can still recall the glorious days of summer staying in our pjs till noon, drinking coffee, eating haw flakes, watching Korean soap operal/historical fiction videos (Bruce more than me, thank God), watching The Shield, all the Resident Evil series, reading New Moon, trying to work on a class and finishing it for my ACSI credential, getting new glasses (“do they make me look like those old ladies who are trying to look young with these young-ish looking glasses?…no, Mom, they’re ok [smirk, smirk]), knitting till my hands are frozen into a witch hand pose, teaching Sweetie new tricks, playing Bejeweled and having Lisa, Matt, Kandice, Leah, Julianna, et al beat the crap out of me (what’s wrong with my 4,200 score?), doing some DWWDWP days with Pauline, hanging out with Bruce, the brave and available, and learning my hobbit name, which hogswart school I belong to and the MJ song that fits me– PYT, of course.

But we did some more mentionable memorable things like the Monterey Bay Aquarium and saw the Seahorses and Jellies.  Had a great crab sandwich too.

Nathan has Emmett pictures at the Aquarium and we have UBruce.

We also went to the Asian Art Museum via BART  in SF.  Great Sumarai exhibit but they wouldn’t let us take photos and great time at the museum. 

Of special note also was the impromptu trip to Vacaville with Gma Choy who found the best deals on her slacks, tops, purse, flip flops, a shirt for Richard and much more.  We also got puma pants for nee for $15 and a top for me for $6.  It was pretty amazing.  When we got home we went to the Korean Market on Homestead and Lawrence Kyo Po and was in Ko Chee Cheung heaven…a whole aisle with well stocked shelves.  It was a heady experience.  We also bought the requisite kimchee (2 types, eat your heart out Barbara and Mary Ann), side dishes, kamaboku, and aloe drink in a big bottle for gma to keep her young.

here with her youngest grandchild, the spoiled Princess Stephanie (circa Dec 08).

The aloe drinks are working, Gma.

Still to come the Angel Island Grand Reunion Tour.  Stay tuned!

Me and Samantha Bowling with Dads Field Trip

Sweetie Ministry

Sweetie’s new ministry – helping out with Jems Special Campers.  Sweetie and Nee Nee went to help Auntie Lisa’s Special Campers.  This will be great on Sweetie’s resume when she applies for grad school.  She’s ready now that she can search and rescue and also go “bang”.  Still working on “shake”.   No preference for foods too.

“You have a friend in me…”

Michael Jackson passed away this week and I’m one of those people that watched him grow up on the world’s stage.  For all the wierdness, there’s no denying his talent and giftedness.  He was an original and watching him dance lifted your spirits.  I feel that he was apart of my youth and something will definitely be missing in our music without him.

Summer time and the loafing is eeeeasy…

Yup, spent one day this week in my pjs all day long…confessions of a lazy person.  We went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, ate a delicious crab sandwich on sourdough, went to San Francisco to the Asian Art Museum to see their special exhibit on the Samurai and saw the rest of the museum too.  I think I saw Maybelle Ng manning the information desk.  Went to see Transformers with Brandon and Tara in IMAX…it was big and loud and a lot of fun.  Went to a Mexican restaurant and had lunch with them.  Got Sheida’d Saturday and ate Japanese food with Pauline for one of many more DWWDWP days.   It’s been a great summer so far, but it’s hhhhhhot!  Glad we have AC.

No More TV for me

Forced fasting of TV since the conversion…we got the box like they told us to; we scanned as they told us to; we got a new antennae like they recommended we do; and we have 2 pbs stations, KOFY tv and Channel 36 in English and the rest of the channels are Spanish or Korean.  It’s very bad and our many years of holding out and not buying cable may be coming to an end so we can watch the news.  sigh….   And by the way, we got more channels with the box BEFORE the conversion than we do now; from 21 channels to 14 (mostly in Korean and Spanish).