Riding without helmets

OMG! ;-)

"PRINCE" instant noodles!

We were in an museum of things from Taiwan back in the 60s & 70s and I found the ad of my favorite instant noodles: the "prince's" noodles. It's really yummy.  I was so excited to see the ad.  Just had to share that.

My two cousins: Guan & Ler: SIMPLY ADORABLE.

These are my two cousins from my auntie hsiao-chien & uncle cj. They are Guan Guan & Ler Ler. They are sooooooooooooo adorable. We played with them EVERYDAY we were in Taipei and auntie hisao-chien told my mom that Guan (the older one, age 2) was so sad to see us go and kept looking for us everywhere! I miss them already. I hope they visit us soon in L.A.

Kids Musuem in Taipei is SUPERB!

This is how the Taiwanese family would ride to work:  all five on 1 motorcycle. haha.  Now we are officially a Taiwanese family! 

Tsung-Yo-Bing

be sure to try the tsung-yo-bing and bbq corn while at Taipei .. have fun !

The tallest building in the WORLD: the Taipei 101 Building!

Isn't this AWSOME!  I'm at the tallest building in the WORLD! It is 101 stories tall! It is also earthquake proof.  There is a large damper (that weighs 660 tons) in the center of the 101 building. It works like a pendulum, so that when there is an earthquake the building doesn't stay stiff and brake in half, it just goes smoothly back and forth, and side to side. Inside the 101 building, there is the fastest elevator in the world! It only takes 37 second to get from the 5th floor to the 98th floor (inside the elevator, on the roof, there are lights that flash and it looks like the night sky. Whenever the lights flash, it means that the elevator is moving. 

Traditional Taiwanese breakfast: Soybean milk and Chinese "donut".

Yum, yum, yum! This stuff is delicious! We're having breakfast with my god-mother, youngest god-brother, and their babysitter on a nice Friday morning. This place is not too crowded and yet not too lonely.  Now, if you were me, you would think that this is an almost perfect breakfast because I just love Soybean milk with Chinese "donuts"!  It was one of the most delicious breakfast I've ever had.  

The King's Palace and the most beautiful Buddha!

These are the national guards marching through the King's Palace in Bangkok.  Look at this dragon tale with the gods' heads on the paw.  It's so freakish but mommy said it's supposed to keep the evil spirits away or something?  The last photo is the Buddha that my grandpa spent 2 hours staring at in an antique store and almost bought it and brought it back to his home in Hong Kong.  Can you believe him?

That really is a small car!

Dear Angela You were right, that car really is tiny. The car surprised us . We didnt think it would be that small. Sorry we didnt get a chance to post a message yesterday, but Mrs. Houser and Mrs. Pettersson really worked us to the bone yesterday! We were too busy! Imagine a car parking vertically. It looks like a smart car, but even smaller. We hope you are having fun. We cant wait to see you. Love your tired classmates in MRs. HOuser and MRs. PEttersson's classes!

What a great experience!

Hi Angela! Morgan and I were looking through your blog and are so happy to see what a great time you and your family are having. We wish we could be there too! The wedding looked beautiful, and it was very lucky that you got to celebrate your grandpa's 80th birthday with him. Have fun and tell your mom to call me when you come home! Love, Cory and Morgan

Seafood Market for dinner.

This is the ultimate way to have fresh seafood "made-to-order".  The first photo is of ALL the chefs.  This is what we saw when we entered the restaurant/market.  At this restaurant, there are men and ladies who take you around the whole market and you shop the seafood you like.  You tell them how you want to cook all the seafood and they serve them to you at your table when they are done.  You can make them do ANYTHING any way you want.  While we were shopping, we found some live lobsters and fish.  We touched them.  We got totally freaked out!  They had these yummy pitas with garlic on them and I think I ate 10 of them.  

A Palace to call their own!

These are pictures my dad took from my mom's god-mother's home in Bangkok.  My 

乾爺爺 is a great interior decorator and did the whole house himself.  It's done in very authentic Thai style but perfect for their relaxed lifestyle.  

Oh, I forgot to tell you, they have our oldest two dogs (now their dogs) from when my mom and dad had no kids.  Maxi is now 14b and Baby is 12.  My dad was really touched that Maxi remembered him and clung to him right away.  That was the happiest moment for daddy today, I think?  This last picture is taken outside of the bathroom in their master bedroom.  It has no doors and it's so pretty that it makes you want to stay in the bathroom a long, long time.  I love it.

Dancing to give THANKS to the 4-headed god who granted one's wish(es)!

And people buy the gold paper to stick onto the elephants.  Thai LOVE their elephants.  Forgot to ask them why?

The 4-Headed God in Bangkok

We lived across the street from the famous 4-headed God of Bangkok.  Many people believe that this god can grant you wishes.  When you make a wish and it comes true, you must come back and "thank" the god by paying for dancers to entertain the 4-headed God.  My mom's godmother, my 乾婆婆, told us that once someone tried to chop the head off of the 4-headed God and was caught by many of its believers.  They beat him to death! scary.

An interesting birthday celebration for my 爺爺 (YEH YEH)

Here we are at Nadamen, one of the best Japanese tapanyaki restaurant in Hong Kong.  We are here for my grandpa's 80th birthday. This is a place where the chefs cook in front of you.  In the end, Yeh-yeh (my grandpa) got mad because they didn't have good service.  Then they gave us a 20% discount and then also invited  Yeh-yeh to be one of their permanent V.I.P member.  Members get a 20% discount every time they go to the restaurant. 

We met Sparky today!

This little dinosaur is a Pleo. It belongs to my sisters' god-brother Kaelan. He named it Sparky. You can name your Pleo, feed it, train it, and put it to sleep. It was really fun to play with it because it's soooooooooo cute!  It even sits, stretches, and sings! My brother really enjoyed playing with it. It's like a real pet! My sister might get one so our family will then have a pet dinosaur!  

An entire day of PLAY at Colin, KK & Declan's house

We played the entire day at Auntie Angela & Uncle Alan's house today.  He even took the day off work to play with us.  We played Dance Revolutions on their Wii big screen & and watched uncle Alan kill bears, monkeys, and turned into mama gorilla and saved her many babies from attacks.  We also played Webkinz with the boys.  We also played Uno with their little brother, Declan, who kept messing up all the cards and kept adding more cards to his deck.  We didn't mind.   He's really fun to watch.

Auntie Angela is my sister's godmother but she has known me longer and treats me like her daughter too.  I'm so lucky to have all these great friends in Hong Kong.  Mommy said we used to play together everyday together and went to school together too.

Their "new" house (since we left HK) is really big and the perfect playground for the six of us.  We ordered Chinese take out and ate at home.  It was the best way to play.  It rained today also.  We missed it because we stayed home all day.

This is my Uncle Dustin and Auntie Andrea (right). This is our main reason why we came on this trip. It was really nice! We took lots of pictures. My sister and I also got to wear high heels! We also met many other new people and got to spend lots of time with the bride and groom. Isn't the Auntie Andrea (the bride) sooooo pretty and Uncle Dustin (the groom) is looking his very, very, best! Uncle Dustin, you are a very lucky man!!!

Great Work!!

Dear Angela Thank you so much for creating this blog. We can tell that you are working very hard. We are impressed (and your teachers are too!). We love looking at your comments that you post daily. They are very funny!Bring back lots of pictures.We hope to see you soon. Love your friends at Westridge

see you in a few days

wei, we are all waiting for you in Taipei. Guo, Guan and Heng are very excited to play with wei wei je je, mei mei je je and didi. They can't wait to show you their new home. Bangkok must be great fun! Drink a lot of coconut juice for gan ma. That is my favorite Have fun in Bangkok and see you soon!

The Changs miss you all!

Hey Angela, looks like you are having so much fun that we almost want to jump on a plane to come join you! Good job on the blog. Have more fun in Bangkok and then safe trip to Taipei. Give everyone a big hug for me and a big sticky kiss to Di from Kai Ma! Keep us posted!

The coolest MINI car in Hong Kong streets

We were early for a lunch appointment with our relatives so we were walking the streets of Wai Chai.  We walked into this little mini car.  Look at it, it's parked horizontally because it's soooooooooooo tiny! :)

Old Friends, EVERYWHERE!

The one in green is Anastasia, we saw her while we were eating lunch out of nowhere. She used to play with me when we were little at "The Furama Hotel" and ate Dim Sum every Saturday. Whenever we ate Anastasia and I just played on the floor. On the left are my sisters' god-brothers. In the very back is Collin then Kaelan and the little one next to my brother is Declan. Collin was my best friend when we were little and he still is a great friend! They came over that night and we exchanged gifts and tried out the new toys that we gave them.  They ARE like family to us.  I love having 3 extra "brothers".

The bottom picture is of my friend Stephanie & I, she also played with me when we were little. Seeing her again was really fun. We had breakfast together and talked. When we were little we used to do almost everything together. We had Gymboroo classes together, had a lot of playdates, and Easter egg hunts, celebrated Christmas together and so on. It was really nice to see all my old friends Scheduled or not!

Rehearsal dinner on the roof top of the "JUNK BOAT", Aberdeen Marina Club

This is the "Junk Boat." This is where my Auntie Andrea and Uncle Dustin had their rehearsal dinner. There Ashley, Christopher, and I found a really comfy couch that spins around (as you can see below).  It was so fun (at least for me because I was the one being spun).  Then during the middle of the rehearsal we invited Auntie Andrea and Uncle Dustin to come so that we could spin them. After we spun them they spun us! It was super because Uncle Dustin is really tall so he was able to spin it really fast!

The PEAK "taxi", the old-fashioned way.

Ahh! Look at us! we all fit in an one person seat. That is truly amazing! My family and I are at the tippy top of Hong Kong. We took a tram up here and went to a resturaunt that I used to go to when I was little called The Peek Lookout. As you can see above we also rode a rickshaw-for-one. When the man picked up the rickshaw I felt like I was fall off. Thankfully we didn't fall, but it felt like a roller coaster whenever the wheels moved.

exciting

wei, you are a writer! it is great for me to be able to "experience" what you are doing in HK now. I am learning a lot of new things along the way. I didn't know that your dad used to ride the furry and get a $5 toy at the end of the trip. It must be great for him to be able to share his memories with you on this trip. You are growing up to be such a big girl. Please continue to write about your exciting trip and share with all of us. lots of love, gen ma

Cool Ads and entertainment inside Ocean Terminal!

There is a full-blown basketball court in the middle of the mall, Ocean Terminal!  It was just there so we can play!  and all the basketballs are stuck to the ceiling.  My grandma would LOVE this place.  Wonder if the Lakers are still winning?

Beijing Olympics 2008--This is an ad of China's Women's Volleyball Team.  

Memories of my dad's childhood days

THE STAR FERRY TO KOWLOON:  This is it.

This is the Star Ferry. It is the oldest boat in all of Hong Kong and still operating. Although most people take the subway.  

When my daddy was little he used to take the Star Ferry every weekend with my grandparents to Kowloon side and ate Dim Sum at Ocean Terminal. At the end of the day, daddy would get a toy for $5.00.  He sure was a lucky boy!

Everything at the subway station in Hong Kong.

RICE-BUCKS (not Starbucks)

This little shop is like Starbucks but you can add your own ingredients to the rice. Pretty cool huh?

  INSTANT BOOK VENDING MACHINES:  I know Mrs. Tuck will be so happy if we got rid of the soda vending machines and replaced them with these vending machines for books! Oh my, they're 10% off too! I think it would be a good idea for C.A. or even the U.S.A. to have these book vending machines around; don't you?

The Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club pool

Check this out! This is my grandpa's jockey club! We had dinner here on our first night in Hong Kong. Through the window in the restauraunt we saw this incredible pool! there were parts for babies, kids, and adults and it's all INDOORS. When we finished dinner, my brother, sister and I went to go get chocolate ice-cream! It was delicious!!