2011 A Year in Review

The year 2010 has shaped up to be a momentous year. While there were many celebratory events throughout this year, the passing of Felicia’s mom in September was one that we will remember for the rest of our lives. After battling Diabetics for over forty years, strokes for ten and Leukemia for the past three years, Dr. Margaret C. Fung passed away peacefully in the evening of September 10th, 2010, surrounded by her family members. Apart from being a Mom and a Wife, Felicia’s Mom was a great friend to many and a pioneer in the field of Library Science. At her memorial service, she was decorated by President Ma Yin-Jou with both the flag of the KMT and the Republic of China flag. Her ashes now rest in peace in Seattle.

The year started with the conclusion of our family reunion in Taiwan where we traveled to Kenting and Tainan. New Year’s Eve was spent at our home where we caught a glimpse of the fireworks at Taipei 101 from our rooftop. For Spring Break, Nick took the plunge and went to Cambodia with the Taipei International Church Mission to help the local orphans for the week. He slept many nights under the sky on a thin mattress with only mosquitoes and a constant layer of sweat covering him. Matthew, on the other hand, went to Hokkaido, Japan to ski with his friend Luc, Felicia and Auntie Vivian Tsai. When everyone’s away, Peter took his parents who had visited us during the winter, back to Toronto. For the summer, we again traveled back to California. For a change, we made a side trip to Washington DC where we visited the sights and met up with many great friends. Another highlight of the summer was the Segway Tour of Oakland, Uncle Howard (Peter’s brother-in-law) arranged for the boys. Both boys also played tennis at Moraga and made the trip to Nike Tennis Camp in Santa Cruz. Amazingly, Nick won the Camper of the week award at the Nike Tennis Camp and the Camper of the Season Award at the Moraga Country Club for being the hardest worker and showing the most enthusiasm. We will be traveling to California again this winter to have our family reunion. As usual, we will have lots of food and hopefully some good weather so we can play some tennis and golf. The boys will want to go skiing with Uncle Howard in Tahoe. We have also planned an “I-Fly” trip for the boys, where they will “parachute indoor.”

Nick is now 15, tenth grader at TAS and already bigger than Peter in many ways. He is now the official DJ at Taipei American School. He works all of the Middle School dances as well as the two major fairs held by the PTA. He controlled lights and sounds for the various events that took place during the year including the Culture Convention. He has also been inducted into the Thespian Society as a freshman and was the Stage Manager for the Upper School production in the fall. His main interests remain in the back-stage though he did make a cameo appearance as a pigeon and a chicken in the Upper School production of Animal Farm. Using his argumentative skills to the max, Nick represented TAS as one of the participants in the Taiwan Model United Nation (TaiMUN) conference in Taichung this spring. He was the Junior Consolation Champion of the American Club Spring Tennis Tournament and almost made it on the TAS Varsity Tennis Team (last one to be cut). During the summer, Nick completed his long-time goal of riding his bicycle to Lafayette from Moraga.

Matthew who turned 13 in April is now an eighth grader at TAS. Following his brother’s footstep, Matthew was also named the recipient of the TAS Magic Award in the spring. He is still an avid tennis player; climb rocks (walls and a few outdoor natural rocks) as well as a wide variety of other activities. He participated in the TAS Middle School’s production of the “A Night in the Wax Museum” where he played a pirate. He was the runner up in main draw of junior division of the ACC Spring Tennis Tournament and came in third in the Moraga Country Club 15 and Under Tennis Tournament. Additionally, he was chosen to be TAS’s Eighth Grade Intramural Softball Team where they went 5-0 in the Middle School Softball Tournament and came in first. Matt played second base and made many put outs playing in that position.

Felicia has continued to serve on the TAS Board. Since hurting her shoulders almost 18 months ago, she has lay off tennis but has begun to visit the ACC gym for an occasional workout. Overall, she has begun to cope with the lost of her Mother.

Peter will turn 50 at the end of this year. He has continued to play tennis, doubles league on Thursday evenings and early Sunday morning tennis with a group of friends. He joins the ACC Tennis Committee in May and is now involved with improving the Club’s tennis program for everyone. Peter was also invited to join the Board of a soon-to-be-listed Taiwanese company this summer, pushing him to become a little bit more “productive” in his leisurely life. Additionally, he has taken over as the underground co-manager of the TAS Bookstore this fall, helping to reshape the Bookstore’s activities to promote children reading.

Apart from Peter’s 50th birthday, we also celebrated Felicia’s parents’ 50th Wedding Anniversary and her Dad’s 80th birthday in May with over 100 of their friends. Peter’s Dad celebrated his 90th in November with Peter, his Mom, his two sisters and 30 of his parents’ friends in Toronto. The boys have continued to grow taller and stronger and we have continued to age. We will try to stay happy and healthy and continue to look for opportunities where we can be of assistance to others.

In closing, we like to wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year. If we didn’t see you in 2010, we hope to catch up with you in 2011. Come and visit us in Taiwan during the school year or in California over the summer.

CALIFORNIA summer 2010

For the last 5 years, we have come to California for the summer. Every year we have had more and more exciting moments. This year I have come up with a list of 20 highlights. Unfortunately, I had to pick only two to write in this essay. These highlights are; going to Nike tennis camp and going to Washington DC. Disappointingly there was one horrific lowlight it was Popo catching pneumonia.

This year I went to the same tennis camp as last year. Although it was in the same place the coaches have changed. There were about five new coaches Parker, Eric, Rachel, Marjani, and lastly John MG. This year we had to play lots and lots of tennis while getting lots of fun activities planned for us. On the first day we had our evaluation of groups, although I was in the higher level at the beginning, Nick and I leveled together in the same group at the end. On the second day we had sports night where we would get to play basketball, play tennis, rock climb, or play soccer. On the third day we played our first tournament matches, I lost both of mine. On the fourth day we went to the beach to chill for about 5 hours. Following that night we had a casino/dance night. On the next night we went to beach/boardwalk there, Nick and I did many rides including log ride and cable car. Around 9 that night we went to play a round of mini golf. But, the concluding reason that I enjoyed this camp so much was because we had such good tennis coaches to help us improve our tennis ability.

The first time we ever went out of California for summer vacation for a long time is when we went to Washington DC. Although we were only there for a week, I bet that was the only place on earth where I walked for 10 hours a day. On second day we went to the U.S mint, the place where they print all the money. On the third we went to the spy museum with Uncle Han, Auntie Lilar, Maxine, Emma and Connor. On the fourth day we went to the air and space museum. If any one were to come to Washington DC, a must see place is the Air and space museum. At the museum there are jet simulations that actually flip and turn. On the last day we saw my old friend Gray Gams. We went to the Lincoln memorial and there I saw a squirrel that got so close to me it touched me. I loved Washington Because it was such a memorable experience and because we were able to have an exciting tour of a place we have never traveled to.

Now for the lowlight, at the beginning of the summer everyone was very happy until this event happened. My grandmother caught pneumonia. This was a horrid event in result of my mother having to leave California and go back to Taiwan, Which was my only lowlight. But only having one lowlight is pretty good in one summer vacation so in conclusion my summer was terrific.

(Matthew)

Are these our kids?

Our kids have a knack of surprising us in many positive ways. Nick and Matt both received awards from the TAS Upper School and Middle School, respectively this the Spring. They both played well enough in the ACC Tennis Championship so that Nick won the Consolation Singles and Matt was the runners up in the Main Draw.

While at the Nike Tennis Camp a couple of weeks ago in Santa Cruz, Nick was picked as "Camper of the week." Again at this week's MCC Tennis Awards Ceremony, both kids were awarded with different trophies. Matt won a third place trophy for beating Ryan Stone in the MCC Junior 15 and under championship match. Nick took home the Charles E. Ivy Award, basically the camper of the season award at MCC, at the ceremony. He was deemed to be hard working, involved in every aspect of tennis both on and off the court and is a "role model" for his fellow tennis players.

This really reminds us our first parent-teacher meeting with Nick's teacher at Chilton House in Singapore and his teacher was describing this wonderful child who was thoughtful, kind, and everything a teacher could asked for in a class. Both Felicia and I looked at each other and asked the teacher, "are you sure you are talking about Nick?"

In many ways, we are thankful that our kids are recognized by many people to be kind, thoughtful, good mannered, and nice children by other people. Sometimes, we just wish that they could be as kind, thoughtful, good mannered and nice at home......

Playing golf with Dad

Dad will turn 90 in November this year. While he played a few rounds of golf with us last summer at the Moraga Country Club and showed some interests in playing in Toronto this spring, he had refused to play on the course until recently. His excuses have always been, "Mom's home all by herself" or "too tired to play."

I was able to get him to go to the driving range one afternoon, about three or four weeks ago. He hit a few balls, unsuccessfully and complaint about the old grips on his club. Joyce finally took action last week and send his club for re-gripping. While the new grips were supposed to arrive on Tuesday, they didn't come until Wednesday and then they told us that Dad's grip were unusually large and cannot fit normal grips. So, I took his club and dropped them off at a golf club fitting/re-gripping shop in Walnut Creek (called, "Kapler"). After the clubs were finally ready on Thursday, we went out for a nine-hole round.

Dad had asked me to book a 3:50pm tee-time, but showed up at my house at 3:10pm to pick me up. After picking up Michael, our third, we arrived at the MCC clubhouse at 3:20pm. Luckily, the course was empty and we were able to get on at 3:30pm. Dad's first drive was a beauty, which lead to many great shots for the day. All in all, I would say that 70% of his shots were good. In fact, he was the only one to get on the par 3 fifth hole in one while both Michael and I missed on either side of the green. He went on the par the hole, along with Michael.

He did even better on the short par 4, eighth. After a great tee-shot, he laid up just in front of the gully. This third shot, about a 50-yard chip, fell a little short, but took an incredible bounce, off a rock in the gully, over a bunker and landed in the center of the green. After a couple of putts on a tricky green, he made a bogey-five, a great score on this hole. The weather was perfect, sunny and mild. We had such a great time, we played 10 holes before quitting.

We played again today, at the Castlewood Country Club in Plesanton. Howard and Joyce, who have been members for over 20 years, treated us to another nine-holes of golf. We left home shortly after 9am and teed off at around 10am. The Castlewood Country Club's golf course is a little easier than that at MCC.

I again paired up with Dad on the cart, so that I can caddy for him. Again, he did well, hitting 70%+ good balls. As for me, it was difficult to concentrate, so I just play for fun. Weather was perfect again. As there were four of us today, Howard and Susan joining us, it took almost two and half hours to complete our nine holes. Dad had a great time again and looked interested to play a few more times before the end of the summer.

Lamorinda Trail on a bike - Done

Last summer, I surprised myself by riding all the way up Skyline Blvd from Canyon Road to around elevation 1200 feet. As I recall, it wasn't particularly a difficult trip. In fact, it was a lot scarier coming down as I wasn't wearing a helmet at the time.

Now that I have purchased a new helmet, I decided to try the Lamorinda Trail which is a 15+ mile trail that circles around Lafayette, Moraga and Orinda. I did a shorter version last week, riding down to Lafayette via the bicycle path from Moraga, turn left on Mount Diablo Blvd, left again on Acalanes Road which turned into Glorietta Blvd at the top of the hill, before turning left again on Moraga Road coming home. The ride was hard as the climb up to Glorietta from Acalanes was slightly steeper than I had anticipated and I had to walk the last 50 meters to the top.

Today, I decided to cut out the steep climb on Acalanes and turn right onto Hidden Valley Road which lead to the bicycle path that ran parallel to CA24 and ended in Orida's Theater Square. Like last time, the ride to Lafayette was very easy. It was mostly down hill. However, I noticed that the broken peddle on my left was getting worse and I wasn't able to peddle hard when needed. So, I stopped by Sharp Bicycle in Lafayette and bought a new pair of peddles before continuing my way. The replaced the original peddle that came with the Bianchi Advantage Hybrid which my parents bought for me 20 years ago for my 30th birthday.

The bike peddled much smoother with the new peddles and the ride was good the rest of the way. The Lamorinda Trail, via Hidden Valley was definitely an easier ride, though longer in distance than going through Glorietta. The ride up Moraga Way from Orinda was fairly easy. The slope was relatively gentle. I was able to stay in the highest gear (3-7) until Glorietta before shifting down one large gear to 2-7 which took me to the highest point of Moraga Way. The cruise home was quick and easy.

Overall, with the 20 minute stop at Sharp Bicycle, I did the loop in about an hour and 20 minutes. Not too bad for a 50-year old man.

Segway in Oakland

Matthew has been asking to get on the Segway ever since we saw one near the Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco. The ride has always been very expensive (close to USD100) and he was too young to ride until this summer. Prior to coming to the Bay Area this summer, I noticed Segway tours in the Bay Area has been getting cheaper (closer to the $70 range). Furthermore, the age restriction has been lower to 12, thus qualifying both Nick and Matt. To make this even more enticing, Howard was able to buy a block of tickets at Segway of Oakland for $25 a person which included a 1.5 hour lesson/tour plus another 1.5 hour of self-tour!!


We quickly worked out the boys' schedule and planned a date in the afternoon of the 6th. Since Jacob was here for a visit, there were a total of five riders. We arrived shortly before our 1pm appointment and got suited up with helmets. Matt was the smart one of the group, bringing his own helmet with him.

Our first experience with the Segway began in front of Segway of Oakland on International Blvd. Our coach/tour guide, Alex, gave us lessons, one at a time. The Segway operates via a built-in gyroscope which balances it on two-wheels. The Segway moves forward/backward and turns as the rider shifts his/her weight on the footpad. We were all a little tentative in the beginning but got the hand of it soon.

The first part of the "tour" went in a blur. We were all concentrating on getting used to the Segway. Matthew and Jacob were the most fearless ones, zooming around, twisting and turning. While the Segway is supposed to be "self-balancing," we soon found out that it is possible to fall off. Jacob was the first. As we rode from the pavement to a dirt-covered road, Jacob fell as he swirled and accelerated. Matt in a re-enactment of Jacob's fall, fell even harder, landed face-first on the ground. After the dusts settled and ego restored, we continued our tour. Alex, probably not a real tour guide, zoomed around the route at near top speed while we try to follow. Matt's Segway did experience a bit of mechanical breakdown and we were forced to wait for about 20 minutes while Alex went back to the shop to get the required tools. Looking back, our tour covered a lot of ground. We went from the East side of Oakland, down to the Oakland Wharf, Jack London Square, back up to downtown Oakland, Chinatown, circled Lake Merritt, before returning to the shop.

After we dropped off Alex, we went back and tour around the Lake Merritt again. This time, we took our time, stopped and took photos and really enjoyed our rides.

The Segway, according to Wikkipedia, was first introduced in 2001. Due to software and hardware problems, it was relaunched again in 2006. Our ride was easy and a lot of fun despite of the three falls (Howard also fell after bumping his left tire on the wall while passing through a narrow passage way). Even after almost 10 years since its introduction, we received a lot of attention during our rides. Most of them were positive, though there were a few negative comments while we zoomed around on or near the pedestrian sidewalks.

Overall, it was a wonderful experience. We would all do it again in a heart-beat. We would definitely recommend this activity to everyone. You don't have to be athletic to enjoy riding the Segway. But, you do need to be agile enough to jump off and land on your feet if you are going to fall.

But the $25 deal does not happen regularly. So we will have to depend on Howard to find such a great bargain for us again in the future.

Hilton Garden Inn, Bethesda

We stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn ("HGI") between 9-13, June, 2010. We found the hotel and booked it via hotels.com. What attracted us to HGI was its location (three short blocks away from the subway stop) and the free internet connection and full breakfast each day. The price was great too. Our rooms, tax and services included, came to around $150/room/day.

Our rooms were large, clean and quiet even though we were on the second floor. Apart from hand and bath soaps and shampoo, there weren't any other personal amenities. The boys forgot their toothbrushes, but we were able to get a couple tooth brushes in the kioks downstairs for about $2 a piece.

The Hotel is about a 5 minute walk from the subway stop, 7-10 minutes from a Safeway and about 7-10 minutes away from downtown Bethesda.

The internet service was free, but requires signing in each day with one's room number and last name. The breakfast spread was typical American, eggs, bacon, sausages, home fries,..etc., along with good quality (sweet) fruit selection, cereals, muffins, toasts, freshly made waffles and pancakes. The only weakness in the breakfast was the coffee which was very weak or watered-down.

Overall, we really enjoyed our stay at HGI and would highly recommend our friends and family visiting the DC area to give it a try. One caveat would be that Bethesda is about a 25-30 minute, door-to-door, drive/subway ride away from the Mall in downtown DC. For those who expects to spend a lot of time in downtown DC, this may not be the perfect hotel.

The other caveat would be the relatively poorly informed front-desk staff. We had some unpleasantness both during check-in and check-out. It appears that the HGI staff are not aware of the hotels.com deal and made mistakes both during our check-in and check-out process.

Excitment in Concord

It's Saturday night and we've decided to have Korean food. Our favorite Korean restaurant in this area is the Korea House on Willow Pass in Concord. It's about a 20 minute drive from home. After watching Tiger Woods on TV playing in the US Open golf, we left home shortly after 6pm. As usual, Korea House was packed and there were so many people waiting to get a table that we weren't even able to get inside the restaurant. Fortunately, the turnover was quick and we had a table within 20 minutes.


The food was great and the price even better. We stuffed ourselves with Bulgogi, Kalbi, Bimpiba, Chapche, Dokmunduk, Pajan, Tofuchigay and the complementary array of kimchis and other side dishes. We finished dinner at shortly after eight. Just as we were able to leave, Matt decided that he needed to use the bathroom. Since there were still people waiting for tables, we decided to stand up and vacate the table. Mom, Dad and Susan went home in Susan's car while Nick and Felicia went and sat in the car. I was standing outside of the restaurant, waiting for Matt when I started to hear loud arguments from the Bar next door. As the argument escalated, I moved further and further away. That turned out to be a good decision as the argument soon turned ugly with beer bottles thrown through the glass window in front and sounds of chairs flying in the bar area. This was when I decided to go inside Korea House again, thinking safety first as stray bullets could be flying any moment!!


Matt was finally done and we quickly walked around the parking lot to get to our car. Just as we were about to pull out of our parking space, two police cars arrived. As we left the parking lot, three more police cars came on scene.


Welcome to America!! This was like a reality TV Show!!


p.s. I was hoping that this incident would make it into the newspaper and I could attach a clipping to this blog. Unfortunately, this incident must have been too small for the paper as no one (I believe) was hurt. Well, that's okay with us.

Tiring but rewarding trip to DC

We had wanted to visit the Washington DC area for a long time. For one reason or another, we have not done so until this summer. We visited DC between 9-13 June. Of the four of us, only Felicia has had previous visits, but her last visit to the area was probably close to 18 or 19 years ago.

After some research, we decided to stay in the DC suburb of Bethesda, which is a quaint little town around 10 miles (or 20 minutes on the subway) north of the City. Howard suggested the website, Hotels.com, which provided lots of information, reviews on hotels and good deals. We settled on the Hilton Garden Inn which is about three blocks from the subway stop and included free breakfast and Internet. We had invited the Ho's, Chiang's and Chin's to join us in DC and everyone had declined until Hong contacted us in early June told us that he and his family will meet us in DC. That turned out to be the great as we really enjoyed our time with the Chins. The adults caught up on old times and the kids clicked right away and spent the entire time together, including a sleepover with Nick, Matt, Connor and Emma (who we re-named Emmalina for the trip) all squeezed into one room.

After taking the Supershuttle from the Airport to our hotel, we went to the nearby Bethesda Crab House for some Maryland Crabs. We ordered a dozen extra-large crabs, a pound of jumbo prawns, corn on the cobb and coleslaw. The crabs were big, meaty and sweet. The prawns, despite of their size were tender and juicy. Matt didn't want any crabs but did managed to have four claws. Nick and I each had five crabs (I gave my claws to Matt) and Felicia had two. It was a great experience and we had a great time.

With jetleg, Felicia was up at 3am and went to the exercise room on our floor and worked out for an hour. We finally all got up at 6am and went downstairs for breakfast. It was a full spread with eggs (any style), bacon, sausages, home fries, pancakes, waffles, cereals, fruits,,...etc. The quality of the food was surprisingly good and we packed it down well.

I called Hong, shortly after breakfast and he came down to our room for a chat. As we were told (by Bev Gams) that certain exhibits required us to go early in the morning to get the free tickets that are handed out starting from 8:30am each day, we left for DC shortly after 8am. We took the Metro from the Bethesda Station which is about three blocks away from our hotel. Our first stop was the Bureau of Engraving and Printing which is the place where the US dollar bills are printed. It was a relatively slow day and we were able to get tickets to the 9:45am tour. Since we still have some time to kill, we went over to the Washington Monument and waited in line (for about 15 minutes) and got tickets for the 12pm tour.

The Bureau of Engraving turned out to be a bit boring. While it was impressive to see actual USD100 bills being printed and learning about all of the elaborate process of money printing, we would not have rated this tour to be a "must-see" in DC. The tour lasted about 30 minutes before we spent the required time in the Gift shop which the boys promptly exchange some real money for some "fake" souvenir money.

The Chins, after their long drive from NYC arrived in Bethesda at 1am. They got up around 8am, had breakfast and drove into town. We met them in front of the Washington Monument lawn after our tour to the Bureau of Engraving at around 10:30am. We sat around and chatted while the kids fooled around without fuss. Hong and Lilar has lovely kids. They are happy, easygoing and fun to be with. The youngest one, Maxi (short for Maxine), who is two and half, is a real cutie and a lot of fun.

After our long wait, which passed quickly, our turn finally came. The ride up, 70 seconds, was uneventful but the view from top was spectacular!! The views from the four corners of the Monument gave instant overview of the Mall and many of the major sights in DC. We spent about 20 minutes on top, before coming down and headed for lunch. Hong packed all nine of us into his Honda Odyssey and drove to Ben's Chili Bowls on U Street and 8th. We heard about this place from the Travel Channel and magazines. Furthermore, Ben's Chile Bowl, after extensive research done by Nick, was on the top of his list of "restaurants to try."

Ben's Chili Bowl is probably not in the best part of DC. But, during the day, it was fine. It has been open for over fifty years (since 1958) and it has been a favorite of Bill Cosby and other celebrates, including President Obama. As we have a large group, we were led passed the counters and small tables in the front and went straight to the back room where there are large tables. Most of us ordered the "Half smoked with Chili's" which is a sausage in a bun, topped with Ben's Chili. We also ordered Chili, Cheese and regular fries to share. Matt also ordered one of their famous milkshakes which was really thick. Overall, I thought the atmosphere was better than the food. The "Half Smoked with Chili" was overwhelm by the Chili which tasted a little blend. It was difficult to taste the sausage itself. Other than the fries which were big, the serving size was modest at best. But the kids had a great time and are still raving about the experience even today.

By this time, it was after 2pm and the kids wanted to do one more sight -- the International Spy Museum!! The Spy Museum is not too far from Ben's Chili Bowl and we were there in no time. The visit to the Museum also gave little Maxi some time to rest after a long morning. So, Hong and I took Emma, Connor and the boys into the Museum. The Chins have visited the Spy Museum on their previous visit to DC but were happy to accommodate our boys for a repeat visit. The kids spent about an hour in the museum, exploring various interactive exhibits and quite a bit of time in the gift shop. We were exhausted by the end of the museum and returned to the Hotel for a quick swim in the 10 meter pool before heading out to dinner at the Barking Dog, a nearby burgers and sandwiches place. We walked around downtown Bethesda after dinner, getting ice cream and visited the Apple Store before returning to the Hotel to sleep. The kids had such a great time together, they decided to all sleep in Nick and Matt's room. Since the Chins only booked one room for the five of them, having Connor and Emma sharing Nick and Matt's room gave Hong a Lilar a long deserving break.

We started Day 3 on a slower pace. While Felicia still got up at 3am and did her 30 minutes on the cross-trainer and we had our huge breakfast at 6:30am (with Emma and Connor), we rested and waited until Hong and Lilar woke up and got ready. We all went to Town together, stuffed in the Chin's Honda Odyssey. Our destination in the morning was the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum on the Mall. We thought we would've been done in about an hour, but we spent almost three hours inside. Apart from all of the exhibits, the kids especially enjoyed the flight simulator. Connor went with Matt while Emma stuck with Nick. We saw them pitched and rolled and SCREAMED!!! None of them could walk in a straight line after the flight, but they all wanted to go AGAIN.

For lunch, some had McDonald's which was located next to the Smithsonian Museum. Others had more chili dogs which Peter bought from a street vendor around the back of the museum. Gray Gams, Matthew's best friend from 3rd through 5th grade at TAS, who had moved back to the Baltimore area a couple of years ago, met us by the Washington Monument shortly after lunch. He traveled with his Mom, Bev, all the way from a Baltimore suburb to meet Matthew and us. Together we strolled from the Washington Monument to the Lincoln Memorial, then to the White House, before taking the subway back to Bethesda. We had dinner at a little Vietnamese restaurant in Bethesda before the Gams head-off back home. After a short stroll in Bethesda downtown where Felicia enjoyed a piece of a great cupcake from "Georgetown Cupcakes", the Chins embarked on their return journey to NYC.

Day 4 was a Saturday, so breakfast wasn't served until 7:30am. For once, Felicia finally slept pass 3am and we woke up at a more decent hour. After breakfast, we took the subway into town and went to the Smithsonian American History Museum. Again, the Museum was surprisingly interesting. With an blink of an eye, we had already spent three hours in the museum and it was lunch time!! After some indecision, we finally decided to go to the food court below the Ronald Reagen Center. Like most food courts, this was no exception. The food was expensive and rather disappointing. Since we had planned to visit Felicia's childhood family friends for dinner, we decided to go back to the Hotel for a rest before heading out towards Annapolis on the Metro. We took the train from Bethesda, changed and Metro Center to the Orange Line and rode all the way to the last stop, "New Carrollton" where we were picked up by Marie. As there was some constructions in the subway line along the way, the ride took about an hour and 20 minutes in total.

Marie's parents where good friends of Felicia's parents and have known each other for the past 40-50 years. Felicia had spent many summers in Marie's home, attending summer school and getting to know the American culture. After we were picked up, we went and visited Marie's parents, Frank and Roslyn Chih, in their home. We chit-chatted for about 30 minutes before heading out for dinner, at a seafood place called, Timbuktu. This was a huge restaurant, probably with seating capacity of more than 150-200 people. Fortunately, we had a reservation as the line was long. Most of us have the famous Maryland Crabcakes which were enormous!! Marie also ordered some calamaris which was delicious, to share. Darryl, Marie's husband, drove us back to Bethesda after dinner. As Timbuktu is actually about halfway between Marie's house and Bethesda, the ride back was quick, about 25-30 minutes.

We began our last day with a little dispute with the Hotel. But, all was resolved in no time and we had our "normal" breakfast at the little cafe downstairs. While the weather was surprisingly cool during the first few days of our visit, it had turned warm and muggy on our last day. Any plans of additional visits were quickly scrapped as we sat in the nicely air-conditioned rooms awaiting for our ride to the airport. We did make a short trip to the nearby Safeway to pick-up lunch as our economy flight was "foodless."

Our return trip was good and the flight departed and arrived on-time. As we had parked our Camry at the Skypark near the SFO Airport, we were back home before 7pm.

Overall, the DC trip was a lot of fun. We think the must-sees in DC were the Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial and maybe the White House. The Smithsonians were awesome but requires at least a week and a lot of physical stamina to see them all. But the key ingredient which made this trip so great was the visit from our friends, the Chins and the Gams. The Chins, especially, drove all the way from NYC to be with us and was tremendously accommodating in all of our visits. It was so much fun, Felicia is already planning our next trip together!!

Turning into ATM

It's official!! We have turned from being parents to just a simple automated teller machine, or "ATM."

Our eldest son, Nick, whose birthday is in late June asked to celebrate his birthday early with his buddies from school. Unlike prior years where he would tell us how he likes to celebrate his birthday and we would do all the planning, transporting, chaperoning, financing and food. This year, he just asked us for "financing."

He had wanted to celebrate his birthday at the water park in Bali at the northern outskirt of Taipei City. Due to the uncertainty in the weather condition, he had to make an backup plan, roller skating. He invited 22 friends, coordinated all of transportation (sharing of taxis), took care of all the communications and food. All he wanted from us was, $$$. No birthday cake with candles, no birthday photos, no birthday dinner and definitely no show!!

Fortunately, we do get to celebrate his REAL birthday in late June, with family, a few friends, a birthday cake and lots of photos!

The Wonderboys

Well, we may not have the smartest kids on the block, but we certainly have the nicest. Not to said that our boys are not smart, but they have tended to apply their enthusiasm and energy on areas outside of the classrooms. We were surprised, however, to have received letters from both the Taipei American School Middle School and the Upper School, inviting us to attend the annual MS and US Award Ceremony. As these events are meant to be a surprise for the recipients, we had to keep these news to ourselves for the past few weeks.

First it was the Middle School Award Ceremony which took place last Friday. We snuck into the Guy Lott Auditorium, just before the beginning of the ceremony, in order to avoid running into Matthew, spoiling his surprise. Since there are many awards for Middle-Schoolers, it was up to everyone to guess who will win what. At last, Matthew was named as one of two Seventh Graders to receive the "Special Magic" award which is presented to student who by their service, cooperation and spirit, make the MS a better place. It is especially sweet as this is the same award that Nick had twice won during his Middle School career, once in Sixth Grade and once in Eighth.

We weren't so lucky as to keep the surprise from Nick for the Upper School Ceremony as we had walked directly in front of him going into the Upper Gym. He won the Upper School Service Award as one of about 15 to 20 kids that traveled to Cambodia during either Chinese New Year and/or Spring Break to help the local orphans. We are very proud that Nick took the initiative and endure the hardship of the Cambodia trip and came away a better person.

We are very happy and proud of our boys in that they are happy and selfless (sometimes) and eager to help others. We hope that they will continue to maintain this enthusiam for service to others as as they grow older.

ACC 2010 Spring Tennis Tournament

For the first time, all the Yeh participants in the ACC tennis tournament achieved "personal bests."

Peter played in the Men's "B" singles and won two matches before losing in the semi-final.

Nicholas, having played very little tennis since last summer, lost his first match in the Junior "A" section, but followed with three successive wins and secured his first tennis title, ACC 2010 Spring Tennis Tournament - Junior "A" Consolation Winner.

Matthew, on the other hand, had to take time off from his Middle School musical rehearsal and won two tough matches before losing 8-4 in the final. Both boys played extremely well and received their well deserved trophies as shown below.More importantly, the Yehs came away 3 for 3 in the lucky draw!! Both Matthew and Peter each won a small sports bag while Nick took the second from the grand prize, a framed silk crochet of a Ming Vase!!