Thursday, November 13, 2008
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Friday, September 19, 2008
Hurricane Ike
Dear families and friends,
We are doing fine. I know a lot of you were worried for us. Thanks for the phone calls and emails. Saturday morning was extremely scary and at times seemed life-threaten. It started at around 1am and lasted until 9am. The wind was very strong with sustained gusts of approximately 100miles per hour came between 4-8am. We were terrified. We had our mattress in the downstair bathroom which had no access to any doors and windows. The wind made things come alive with our back yard trees being blown so hard that they appeared to drape and hug our house with their limbs. The dark night lasted forever – with us staying awake most of the night – luckily the boys slept through it. Our porch gas latern gas finally gave up after a couple hours of fighting the strong wind. From the distance, we saw flashes of green/blue/white light as transformers blew throughout the night. The orange almost pink sky and the flashing distance lights looked like the images from exploding bombs in the night of a war zone seen on TV. The kids slept very well and I finally felt asleep near dusk. The first thing we did after the storm passed was going to the windows and seeing the damage to our yard. "Wow, wow, look at that!" were our only words. Our neighbor two doors down had a fallen tree in his front yard – luckily because if the tree fell the other way on his house it would have been a total loss to the house and possibly loss of life. Thank god for keeping eveyone safe. We lost power that morning and are still waiting to have our power back on, along with over 1 million Houston residents. Of course, life is really hard without power, another necessity easily taken for granted. We had to endure the heat in the house and sleep with little clothes on. John took two days to clean up the debris and in our yard. The most challenging things were to find ice to keep food from spoiling and gas. We drove all over town trying to find ice but the lines were too long. We finally gave up and drove to Austin and stayed with friends for three nights. We are backed to our home now and waiting for the precious power to come back on. Here are some photos I took (only on our street).
We are doing fine. I know a lot of you were worried for us. Thanks for the phone calls and emails. Saturday morning was extremely scary and at times seemed life-threaten. It started at around 1am and lasted until 9am. The wind was very strong with sustained gusts of approximately 100miles per hour came between 4-8am. We were terrified. We had our mattress in the downstair bathroom which had no access to any doors and windows. The wind made things come alive with our back yard trees being blown so hard that they appeared to drape and hug our house with their limbs. The dark night lasted forever – with us staying awake most of the night – luckily the boys slept through it. Our porch gas latern gas finally gave up after a couple hours of fighting the strong wind. From the distance, we saw flashes of green/blue/white light as transformers blew throughout the night. The orange almost pink sky and the flashing distance lights looked like the images from exploding bombs in the night of a war zone seen on TV. The kids slept very well and I finally felt asleep near dusk. The first thing we did after the storm passed was going to the windows and seeing the damage to our yard. "Wow, wow, look at that!" were our only words. Our neighbor two doors down had a fallen tree in his front yard – luckily because if the tree fell the other way on his house it would have been a total loss to the house and possibly loss of life. Thank god for keeping eveyone safe. We lost power that morning and are still waiting to have our power back on, along with over 1 million Houston residents. Of course, life is really hard without power, another necessity easily taken for granted. We had to endure the heat in the house and sleep with little clothes on. John took two days to clean up the debris and in our yard. The most challenging things were to find ice to keep food from spoiling and gas. We drove all over town trying to find ice but the lines were too long. We finally gave up and drove to Austin and stayed with friends for three nights. We are backed to our home now and waiting for the precious power to come back on. Here are some photos I took (only on our street).
Saturday, August 16, 2008
A fun Sat mornig at our back deck, 8-16-08
Logan, Atticus and mommy had a great time out at our back deck. The boys love the rocking chairs we bought at The Heights.
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Saturday, August 2, 2008
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Atticus's fall asleep lullaby
Atticus always hum this lullaby before faling asleep. This time, I recorded it in the car. So cute!
Atticus's first step
Here is Atticus's first step video. It took too long to upload into youtube. We had been busy.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Update:
-Where should I start. All right, it started with putting our house on the market for sale. We did "for sale by owner" for a fix price of $799. At first, we were nervious for not be able to sell our house. I think we priced our hosue right and had an offer within 2 weeks on the market. It was a great experience for us. A few of sleepless nights because I was worry about no offers and a few rush home trips just to show the house to potential buyers. We had one open house and it was a success.
-We closed our house on May 9, 2008. The buyer is a young lady named Megan Hunt.
-Moved in to a small 2-bedroom apartment on May 1, 2008. Life was exhasted after that. We couldn't get the internet working properly for a long time. We finally lost our land line and cable after struggling with AT&T for 1 1/2 month. We decided not to deal with AT&T anymore for our future house.
-Looking for a house is as hassle as selling a house. We spent a lot of weekends seeing houses and visiting open houses. Put in 2 offers for house on Birch St and Bellaire Ct but got rejected. I was very upset about the house on Birth St because I really like the location of the house. John didn't agree with me. At the last stage of our house searching, we put in an offer for a beautiful English Mannor style house on Mullbery Ln. The buyer didn't want to come down a bit on the asking price. Finally, we met with a builder named Greg. I really like the location of the lot of Verone but the house will take 10 months to build. John and I couldn't wait that long. We finally decided to buy our house on 4520 Mimosa Dr.
-We will be closing house on July 18, 2008. At first, I didn't like the layout because of a few colomn from foyer to the great room. John didn't mind at all and he actually like them. He said those colomn are the desgin of the house that seperated the dining area and the foyer and great room. I started to like the house after the lighting fixtures were in. I guess we have no choice at this point because we were trying to stay within our budget and still have money to invest in John's company's buy in plan. I will try to post the layout of the house later.
-Buying a new house involve a lot of time and $$$$. We spent a lot of time going to the house just to make sure things are in order. We spent extra $10k just for the appliances upgrade, lighting fixtures, bath accesseries, nicer door, build-in sink in the utility room, built in entertainment center, door numbers and a mailbox. We still have to budget another $5k for refrigerator, washer and dryer. No wonder people always said it is better to buy a used house than a new house.
-Where should I start. All right, it started with putting our house on the market for sale. We did "for sale by owner" for a fix price of $799. At first, we were nervious for not be able to sell our house. I think we priced our hosue right and had an offer within 2 weeks on the market. It was a great experience for us. A few of sleepless nights because I was worry about no offers and a few rush home trips just to show the house to potential buyers. We had one open house and it was a success.
-We closed our house on May 9, 2008. The buyer is a young lady named Megan Hunt.
-Moved in to a small 2-bedroom apartment on May 1, 2008. Life was exhasted after that. We couldn't get the internet working properly for a long time. We finally lost our land line and cable after struggling with AT&T for 1 1/2 month. We decided not to deal with AT&T anymore for our future house.
-Looking for a house is as hassle as selling a house. We spent a lot of weekends seeing houses and visiting open houses. Put in 2 offers for house on Birch St and Bellaire Ct but got rejected. I was very upset about the house on Birth St because I really like the location of the house. John didn't agree with me. At the last stage of our house searching, we put in an offer for a beautiful English Mannor style house on Mullbery Ln. The buyer didn't want to come down a bit on the asking price. Finally, we met with a builder named Greg. I really like the location of the lot of Verone but the house will take 10 months to build. John and I couldn't wait that long. We finally decided to buy our house on 4520 Mimosa Dr.
-We will be closing house on July 18, 2008. At first, I didn't like the layout because of a few colomn from foyer to the great room. John didn't mind at all and he actually like them. He said those colomn are the desgin of the house that seperated the dining area and the foyer and great room. I started to like the house after the lighting fixtures were in. I guess we have no choice at this point because we were trying to stay within our budget and still have money to invest in John's company's buy in plan. I will try to post the layout of the house later.
-Buying a new house involve a lot of time and $$$$. We spent a lot of time going to the house just to make sure things are in order. We spent extra $10k just for the appliances upgrade, lighting fixtures, bath accesseries, nicer door, build-in sink in the utility room, built in entertainment center, door numbers and a mailbox. We still have to budget another $5k for refrigerator, washer and dryer. No wonder people always said it is better to buy a used house than a new house.
Monday, February 18, 2008
Bangkok - Dec 2007
Notes from Dubai, Malaysia and Thailand trip - Part 2
Dec 8, 2007 Having my family meet the boys was the most exciting moment. William and Heng met Atticus for the first time. Oh, I miss them already while writing this. Who came to pick us up - Mom, Dad, William, Heng and Alex. We had a lot of luggage that barely fit in two Honda CRVs. Well, I would have to say thanks to the two bulky carseats for taking up most of the room in the two cars. We finally arrived at Alex's new condo located in Mount Kiara. This is a really nice area with a lot of expats and two international schools. William claimed this area has lower crime rate comparing to his Cheras condo. William was such a good host. He sacrificed his master bedroom for us and had to share a room with Heng or sleep in the living room.
Dec 12-15, 2007 Bangkok, Thailand
Cousin Ah Keat gave us a ride to the KUL airport. This was John's first trip to Bangkok and he loved it a lot. Here are John's comments:
Bangkok was one of the truly unique cities I have visited. In SE Asia most of the countries are quite conservative, but Bangkok has a very laid back, open, and liberal lifestyle among the locals living there. I really enjoyed the small feel of the streets and the constant flow of cars and people within the city. It felt very alive and full of energy. Chinatown area in Bangkok was probably the best Chinatown I have visited in the World, very big and many shops that was great to walk through and check things out. On the weekend, there is a famous open market area where bargaining for any king of merchandise is available. I also had two handmade fitted 3-piece business suits made, as well as 2 shirts to go with the suits. One of the best, and if not the highest restaurants I have eaten at, was in Bangkok on top in the open air a mere 80+ stories. Truly grand views from atop of this restaurant.
Pic of China town:
Everything was extremely cheap in Bangkok. John spent $440 for two suits tailored made. Food in Bangkok was excellent and reasonably priced. The hotel we stayed in was a Holiday-Inn with buffer breakfast served daily. Logan and Atticus love the round window in the room. Logan claimed that was his house and invited Atticus to his house many times. They had a blast in the small area as show:
We spent a lot of time shopping and walking around the city. We took the kids to The Aquarium, and they liked it a lot. Bangkok Zoo was one of the best zoos I ever visit. It was a bit far from the city though but in the end worth the long drive. We saw a large population of very large crocodiles, and some performances where the crazy crocodile trainers actually placed their own heads into the mouths of the crocodiles – and they did this show of placing their heads into the crocodiles jaws 6 times a day. The crocodiles were likely full from food fed before each show.
Logan got to feed a baby tiger for the first time. There were so many of them and we don't know which one to feed first. The poor baby tigers (see pic).
We also saw pig race, and we thought it was kind of funny. Heng and William got to feed some crocodiles form a bridge with a fishing pole that had a rather large dead chicken on the hook. The crocodiles were not that interested in the food being offered to them from above, particularly when the crazy humans would yank the dead chicken out of their jaws just before the crocs could clamp down on their snack. The elephant show was also one the best shows I have ever seen. These Elephants played soccer and massaged a human.
We ended our trip with a nice dinner at the Bayan Tree Restaurant. This is an upscale hotel with a restaurant on top of the building. It is an open air restaurant that serves beautiful and delicious meals. Here is a pic of our appetizer.
I forgot to mention, this place is very pricy too. Well, with a view of Bangkok and fine dinner, I think it was definitely worth the price.
Dec 8, 2007 Having my family meet the boys was the most exciting moment. William and Heng met Atticus for the first time. Oh, I miss them already while writing this. Who came to pick us up - Mom, Dad, William, Heng and Alex. We had a lot of luggage that barely fit in two Honda CRVs. Well, I would have to say thanks to the two bulky carseats for taking up most of the room in the two cars. We finally arrived at Alex's new condo located in Mount Kiara. This is a really nice area with a lot of expats and two international schools. William claimed this area has lower crime rate comparing to his Cheras condo. William was such a good host. He sacrificed his master bedroom for us and had to share a room with Heng or sleep in the living room.
Dec 12-15, 2007 Bangkok, Thailand
Cousin Ah Keat gave us a ride to the KUL airport. This was John's first trip to Bangkok and he loved it a lot. Here are John's comments:
Bangkok was one of the truly unique cities I have visited. In SE Asia most of the countries are quite conservative, but Bangkok has a very laid back, open, and liberal lifestyle among the locals living there. I really enjoyed the small feel of the streets and the constant flow of cars and people within the city. It felt very alive and full of energy. Chinatown area in Bangkok was probably the best Chinatown I have visited in the World, very big and many shops that was great to walk through and check things out. On the weekend, there is a famous open market area where bargaining for any king of merchandise is available. I also had two handmade fitted 3-piece business suits made, as well as 2 shirts to go with the suits. One of the best, and if not the highest restaurants I have eaten at, was in Bangkok on top in the open air a mere 80+ stories. Truly grand views from atop of this restaurant.
Pic of China town:
Everything was extremely cheap in Bangkok. John spent $440 for two suits tailored made. Food in Bangkok was excellent and reasonably priced. The hotel we stayed in was a Holiday-Inn with buffer breakfast served daily. Logan and Atticus love the round window in the room. Logan claimed that was his house and invited Atticus to his house many times. They had a blast in the small area as show:
We spent a lot of time shopping and walking around the city. We took the kids to The Aquarium, and they liked it a lot. Bangkok Zoo was one of the best zoos I ever visit. It was a bit far from the city though but in the end worth the long drive. We saw a large population of very large crocodiles, and some performances where the crazy crocodile trainers actually placed their own heads into the mouths of the crocodiles – and they did this show of placing their heads into the crocodiles jaws 6 times a day. The crocodiles were likely full from food fed before each show.
Logan got to feed a baby tiger for the first time. There were so many of them and we don't know which one to feed first. The poor baby tigers (see pic).
We also saw pig race, and we thought it was kind of funny. Heng and William got to feed some crocodiles form a bridge with a fishing pole that had a rather large dead chicken on the hook. The crocodiles were not that interested in the food being offered to them from above, particularly when the crazy humans would yank the dead chicken out of their jaws just before the crocs could clamp down on their snack. The elephant show was also one the best shows I have ever seen. These Elephants played soccer and massaged a human.
We ended our trip with a nice dinner at the Bayan Tree Restaurant. This is an upscale hotel with a restaurant on top of the building. It is an open air restaurant that serves beautiful and delicious meals. Here is a pic of our appetizer.
I forgot to mention, this place is very pricy too. Well, with a view of Bangkok and fine dinner, I think it was definitely worth the price.
Family trip to Langkawi-Dec 2007
Wow, we had so much fun on the sailboat. The weather was perfect for sailing. We will never forget these sweet memories.
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Dec07 trip - Dubai
Dec 1, 2007 Left in the afternoon from IAH airport. Since John flew Business, we were able to hang out at the President Club for about an hour before our flight. We got in simply because of some invitation coupons from Continental Airline. The 3 hours flight from IAH to JFK was great. Both boys were well behaved. The transit at JFK was terrible. We made a mistake for making a transit here. We should have flown out of USA and transit in Europe. Due to Emirate Airline's policy, we had to exit and request a new boarding pass from Emirate check-in counter. The security line was a chaos filled with crying kids and impatient passengers. Our flight was calling for boarding by the time we passed the security check point.
Dec 2, 2007 Arrived in Dubai safely. Logan and Atticus were tired and slept most of the flight. We got really lucky here. We arrived at The Fairmont Hotel by free Limo service by Emirates. The hotel was really nice. We didn't do much after our arrival only sleeping and resting in the hotel room.
Dec 3-8, 2007 Dubai
We took the boys to Emirates Mall. Logan and Daddy had fun at the snow city in the mall. It is amazing that you can see man-made snow in the mall.
I took the boys to The Children City. Logan and Atticus had a lot of fun there. (See pics)
One thing I leant from this trip is not doing this alone. This is the first time I had Atticus in the carrier and held Logan with one hand while waiting by the side of express way for a cab. Luckily I managed to have the booth lady called a cab for me. It was very dangerous to wave for a cab on the side road. I learnt that public transportations are not very tourist friendly in Dubai. I guess the local are rich and cars are very affordable. I won't forget how tired Logan was and he just sat down on the side street.
I'm glad I got to meet up with my cousin Ah Eng and his girlfriend Yang Yang. We had a few meals together, went to the beach and walked at the Emirates Mall and World Malls (not sure about it's name).
There was one day I took Logan and Atticus to the Dubai Museum and Logan got scared by the exhibits. He also had a big cry at the Museum because he wanted a Hana tattoo on his hand. A very nice man gave him the Hana tattoo for free. It was a butterfly Hana on his hand. Here is the pic.
John finally finished his conference at the Dubai World Trade Convention Center. We spent some quality time at the Mall and great meal by the water of the Mall. Here is the photo we took at the outdoor restaurant.
I remembered the last part of our trip was so boring. We actually called the airline and tried to get on an earlier flight. Too bad, it was a full flight.
Overall, Dubai is not an idea city for family to visit. Cost of living is high and there isn't any natural beauty in Dubai. I will not visit this city again.
Dec 8, 2007 We finally landed in KUL airport. The kids were good on the plane. It took us more than an hour to wait for our last luggage. A lot of people were pissed and cursed the airline. I was mad because Atticus was hungry and I had to wait to feed him. Logan kept disturbing his brother as he was bored. Of course, the main reason was the anxiety to see my family who were waiting for our arrival. We finally found our luggage at another belt. KUL is such a terrible airport and I would give it a rating of an “F” - fail.
Dec 2, 2007 Arrived in Dubai safely. Logan and Atticus were tired and slept most of the flight. We got really lucky here. We arrived at The Fairmont Hotel by free Limo service by Emirates. The hotel was really nice. We didn't do much after our arrival only sleeping and resting in the hotel room.
Dec 3-8, 2007 Dubai
We took the boys to Emirates Mall. Logan and Daddy had fun at the snow city in the mall. It is amazing that you can see man-made snow in the mall.
I took the boys to The Children City. Logan and Atticus had a lot of fun there. (See pics)
One thing I leant from this trip is not doing this alone. This is the first time I had Atticus in the carrier and held Logan with one hand while waiting by the side of express way for a cab. Luckily I managed to have the booth lady called a cab for me. It was very dangerous to wave for a cab on the side road. I learnt that public transportations are not very tourist friendly in Dubai. I guess the local are rich and cars are very affordable. I won't forget how tired Logan was and he just sat down on the side street.
I'm glad I got to meet up with my cousin Ah Eng and his girlfriend Yang Yang. We had a few meals together, went to the beach and walked at the Emirates Mall and World Malls (not sure about it's name).
There was one day I took Logan and Atticus to the Dubai Museum and Logan got scared by the exhibits. He also had a big cry at the Museum because he wanted a Hana tattoo on his hand. A very nice man gave him the Hana tattoo for free. It was a butterfly Hana on his hand. Here is the pic.
John finally finished his conference at the Dubai World Trade Convention Center. We spent some quality time at the Mall and great meal by the water of the Mall. Here is the photo we took at the outdoor restaurant.
I remembered the last part of our trip was so boring. We actually called the airline and tried to get on an earlier flight. Too bad, it was a full flight.
Overall, Dubai is not an idea city for family to visit. Cost of living is high and there isn't any natural beauty in Dubai. I will not visit this city again.
Dec 8, 2007 We finally landed in KUL airport. The kids were good on the plane. It took us more than an hour to wait for our last luggage. A lot of people were pissed and cursed the airline. I was mad because Atticus was hungry and I had to wait to feed him. Logan kept disturbing his brother as he was bored. Of course, the main reason was the anxiety to see my family who were waiting for our arrival. We finally found our luggage at another belt. KUL is such a terrible airport and I would give it a rating of an “F” - fail.
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