Visit to the Pier

We spent the last full day of our LA vacation on the Redondo Beach pier, eating a tasty meal of crab chile relleno and paella at the outside market tables where Tai could scream as loud as he wanted at the pigeons. The air was warm, the sky was sunny. The day was wonderful.

Tai Chases the Birds


Sunny Southern California


Tai and Mommy


Walk on the Beach

Christmas videos

Merry Christmas everybody! Here are some videos of Tai from last night at the family Christmas party in LA. Why so many videos? Because Gavin received the new Flip MinoHD camcorder for Christmas the night before. And the Flip MinoHD, which is smaller than an iPhone and actually records in high definition, is about the coolest gadget ever.

Tai Opens Gifts


Tai Plays Basketball with Scott and Kent


Tai Plays Piano


Gingerbread House Making


Posing for Group Photo

* Why is the last clip's framing so off? Because Gavin was taking digital pictures with his other hand at the same time.

** Video nerd disclaimer: Embed Code for High Quality YouTube Videos found at Twittervlog.tv.

Thanksgiving Weekend

Tai gives thanks by sharing his rice cake with Piggy.

Thanksgiving weekend proved to busy and fun, and that's without standing in line outside Wal-Mart on Friday at 1 a.m. In fact, when we went to the local outdoor mall on Saturday morning, it was very unbusy. Parking was easy, and there was plenty of room for Tai to run around and chase pigeons. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of Tai yelling and running after the birds. He pursued the pigeons vigorously. Even during the outdoor music performance, Tai yelled over the guitar playing in excitement. (At least he knew to clap at the end of one of the songs, which pleased the guitar player.)

The main event was Thanksgiving day itself, this year held at Tai's aunt and uncle's home near San Jose for the first time. It was such a blast we hope they host Thanksgiving every year! Thanks Chuong and Lan.

"Give me five," says Dylan.

The party wouldn't be complete without a professional haircut by Thu's aunt.

Tai gets a pillow ride at the end of a fun day and night.

On Friday, Tai enjoyed himself with a stay over at Auntie Uyen's house, where they played rubber band games and walked around like monsters. (Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of that either.) On Saturday night we went to Tilden Park to see the annual Christmas Fantasy display and to ride the merry-go-round. I'd hoped Tai would like the merry-go-round as much as I did growing up, but alas, he wanted off the moving horse. Maybe next year.

Tai wasn't exactly thrilled with the merry-go-round at Tilden Park's Christmas Fantasy, much to our surprise.

An artsy version of the merry-go-round ride picture.

More Thanksgiving photos >

I feed myself

Oatmeal breakfast this morning.

Determination

Tai on his way to day care.

Tai insists on carrying his lunch box.

Tai asserts his independence more and more. Every morning when we leave for day care, he demands to carry his own lunch box to the car, even though it weighs him down like a heavy suitcase. And even though it slows us down, and it would be quicker if he just let us carry everything while he would concentrate on his walking, it's good to see that he's so determined.

In other news, Thu and Tai just returned from a trip to LA, where they stayed with grandparents and Karen while I was away for work in San Antonio. I hadn't seen Tai in over four days and it always amazes me how much he changes in these short amounts of time. He knows what he wants and he seems like he's on the verge of telling us about it. In fact, I brought him back a gift of a San Antonio t-shirt and a couple of books. But when he didn't seem interested in it, I asked him if he preferred that or the hotel soap, toothpaste, and little bottle of ketchup I happened to bring back. He chose the latter and played with it throughout the evening. I should've known!

Obama!

Tai stayed up late to watch the returns and celebrate the victory of Barack Obama!

Sitting on the lap of Lara, Tai explains how the electoral map went blue this year.

Tai's Second Halloween

Uncle Joker holds Elmo. Spooky.

In San Jose, Halloween is taken more seriously than in other cities. Garages are turned into haunted caverns populated by goblins that scream at trick-or-treaters. Here, Tai stands next to an intricately carved jack-o-lantern.

After a long night of pounding the pavement, Tai throws off the Elmo head and calls it a night.

Walking in Our Shoes

Morning Shoes

Tai now has a routine in the mornings where he'll slip his feet into our shoes when it looks like we're getting ready to go. He can even walk in our shoes, at least for a few steps before the shoes get crossed up. He's copying us more and more.

Day at the Races

Scouting the horses

We spent an afternoon hour at the races Sunday. It was dollar day at Golden Gate Fields, which meant cheap admission and cheap hot dogs. In Race 8, we put a couple dollars on horse No. 6 to win because Thu said 6 is Tai's lucky number, given his birthdate.

Waiting for the race

After the gates burst open, horse No. 6 broke out to an early lead. We cheered him on as he raced around the turf track. And down the stretch he came! In the end, he pulled through for us. On a $2 bet, we won $26. That put us up $7 on the day, minus admission, food, and losing bets. By the way, the horse's name is Tippetarius. And you can't spell Tippetarius without Tai!

Behold, the winning ticket!

Weekend Update

Jason tickles Tai

We've got a couple of weekends to update. This picture is from last weekend in San Jose, where we gathered with family to remember the third anniversary of Thu's mother's passing. There were lots of children around, all getting older and taller, but fun and loud as ever, bouncing and bounding with excitement.

Tai took a little time to warm up to his cousins, but ran around with them soon enough. Although, when sweet and innocent 5-year-old Dylan sat on Tai's parents laps, and also Auntie Uyen's, Tai came over and gently pushed Dylan aside. (Tai also didn't approve of Dylan massaging us, which by the way was the cutest thing ever and quite relaxing!)

As for this weekend, we spent some time exploring. First we met our friends in Bolinas, where Tai got to run by the bay and spend a gorgeous day with Alina and Silas. Followed that up with dinner at the house of his favorite aunt. Then on Sunday, after church, we hit the Spice of Life festival in North Berkeley. Tai tasted high-end food like heirloom tomatoes and prosciutto, and carnival food like funnel cake topped with whipped cream and strawberry syrup.

Those are the things we did, but the best part is seeing Tai enjoy himself. This is turning out to be a very fun age. We love it when he runs up to us on the sidewalk and plants his head between our legs. We love it when he climbs on top of us in our living room and pins us down. We even love watching him sleep and snore.

Bolinas

Halloween Sneak Peek

Who doesn't love Elmo?

Grandma and Grandpa arrived from Los Angeles yesterday, carrying in their suitcase, among other things, Tai's Halloween costume for this year—Elmo! Say it with us now, Elmo! Okay, those who haven't watched "Sesame Street" in the last 20+ years may not appreciate Elmo's cuteness. But really, who doesn't want to go around and talk in a cute and squeaky voice and refer to themselves in the third person every now and then?

Softball Champions

2008 Champions

Buena Vista won the softball championship game to claim the title of the Alameda Church Softball League today. It was an exciting way to end a three-month season, a season that included a lot more heated moments than you might expect in a church league, including a near fight in this game.

Anyway, we beat a church that stacked their team with local ruffians the entire outfield of the local junior college baseball team just for the title game. It was reminiscient of "The Simpsons" episode where Montgomery Burns hires major league players to play for his company softball team. Alas, team chemistry counts for something, and Buena Vista's teamwork, solid defense, and fair play won the day. Hooray!

During the games, Tai enjoyed playing with Courtney (above) and her sister Melanie.

After the last game, Manager Mike gave in and held Tai.

Living on Tokyo Time

Here's our journal from the Japan trip. We went for the wedding of Tomoe and Jeff, Gavin's friend from Cornell, and turned it into an 8-day family vacation in Tokyo and Kyoto. This was Tai's first international trip!

Day 1 - The flight over was a pleasant surprise. Tai did well. He made friends with lots of folks around him, including a pair of grandparents in the seats behind us, who gladly played peek-a-boo with him throughout the flight. What a help that was. He slept for about four hours and was pretty good for the rest, as long as he got to walk around in the back of the plane every hour.

Our first night we took a walk around our hotel's neighborhood in Shinjuku, amidst the neon signs and busy and crowded streets. We ate dinner at a diner sort of place where you buy a meal ticket at a vending machine and give the ticket to the cook. The next table over, Thu heard the group speaking Vietnamese and spoke to them. They were from Halong.

Then we went back to our cozy room at the Sunroute Plaza. Tiny, but turned out to be comfortable and a great place to sleep. And Tai loved it. We called it his mansion.

Sashimi breakfast

Day 2 - We woke up at 5 a.m., our clocks still off. So we went off to Tsukiji Fish Market and saw all the trucks of tuna being packed up and carted every which way. We sat down at a counter restaurant and ate a delicious sashimi breakfast of maguro and aji tataki. Of course, after we ate, we walked a bit more and found out there was an Outer Tsukiji Market with tons of food stands, for cheaper. But that's okay. It was so good.

We went back to Shijuku Station and got completely lost. Tai cried as his parents tried to find their way and his dad's inadequte Japanese got them twisted around. But we made it back to the mansion and then waited for Gavin's friends, Rich and Thi, to arrive at the Sunroute.

We met with Rich and hit Shinjuku for a sushi bar, where the sushi only cost 140¥ for two pieces. Delicious again. Finally Thi arrived and the guys went out for Jeff's bachelor party organized by Kevin.

Kevin has all the connections in Roppongi so we ate at a top-of-the-building restaurant and had a wonderful view of the rain-soaked city beneath.

The next morning there was an earthquake, a soft rolling earthquake, thank goodness that was it. We arrived in Tokyo after a typhoon had already passed.

Special udon

Day 3 - Yoshi led us on a great tour of Shinjuku dining, starting with a lunchtime stop at one of his favorite udon places. You order a bowl of udon, cold or hot, with some fish toppings or not, and then walk down a line of scrumptious foods and pick what you want to put on top of the noodles. It too was delicious.

Then we went off to the Ghibli Museum, which we had been looking forward to for over a month, buying our tickets beforehand in the USA (you have to). We are big fans of Hayao Miyazaki and we couldn't wait. Yoshi led us to Mitaka and we took a Miyazaki movie type of walk to the museum, along side a tree-lined river (creek) where the birds made that zipping kind of chirp and zzzzz sound that seems to be in all of Miyazaki's movies. Maybe they're not birds, but bugs.

Unfortunately, after all the work Yoshi did to get us there, he was unable to get a ticket as all of the tickets alloted to Japanese citizens had already been purchased. Had he been a foreigner, he could've gotten in. We felt bad.

The Totoro Gate - He took our tickets, but didn't let Yoshi in.

Eating ice cream with Yoshi

The museum didn't disappoint, full of displays with optical wizadry and cool Totoro displays. Tai really liked the strobe light effect that made Totoro look like he was jumping up and down. Hard to explain how it worked. Anyway, we found Yoshi afterwards and ate ice cream. He led us through the Kichijoji area and a wonderful hike through a park that ended up in a cool shopping district.

We headed back to the hotel and then went to an izakaya for dinner, another fine choice by Yoshi. We ordered off a touch screen menu on our table. Very cool. After Rich hit the 'order' button, a waiter or waitress arrived with our tasty food. Tai was asleep for most of the dinner, even though we were laughing loudly and the table next to us was having a good time. Rich took a lot of photos of the dishes, including the regional assortment of sake.

Rich asks, "Where am I?"

Day 4 - Before heading off to the wedding, we took the subway to Yoyogi Park for what we heard was some kind of "Vietnam Festival." Since three-and-a-half of us are Vietnamese, we went to check it out. As we tried to find the festival, a Japanese man in his 50s approached us and pointed us in the right direction. He must have assumed that we were there for the festival. We asked him why he was interested in Vietnam, and he said he likes Vietnamese music and he's excited about the future of Vietnam. The people there are very smart, he said. Right now, Japan is up here, and Vietnam is here, he said, making a gesture with his hands. In 50 years, Vietnam will be up here and Japan here, he said, reversing his hands.

We found the festival and it was very much a taste of Vietnam. Food vendors shouted at Thu in Vietnamese, trying to get her to buy their egg rolls. Had we not had a buffet breakfast beforehand at the hotel, we could've eaten pho, banh mi, banh xeo, or many other dishes. In any case, this was a very fun, unplanned event on our Tokyo trip.

The married couple - Jeff held on to the gloves.

Finally, it was time for the wedding, held on a futuristic island called Odaiba. Jeff and Tomoe looked great, and more importantly, like a great match for each other. We had never met Tomoe before, so it was good to see her. Jeff looked flashy and formal, like we'd never seen him before, decked out in a white tuxedo with white gloves. It was our first time at a Japanese wedding and reception. The food was amazing. Lobster, wagyu beef, and many other high-class dishes. Tai was the only kid there, much less the only toddler. He couldn't sit through the speeches, but he enjoyed himself the rest of the time, especially at the after-party, where all the friends who weren't at the reception could come and dance and party (after most of the family goes home).

"Weddings are great!"

I gave a brief toast to Jeff and Tomoe, recalling (thanks to Thu) that in our 2001 video, "Is This Happiness?", the "documentary" where we interviewed at Les and Crystal's wedding everyone who lived in the Buffalo house their thoughts on the future, including thoughts on marriage. Jeff had felt that you never knew where you'd find love, or where it would find you, but that we are "fated" to meet the right person. And when that person comes along, you have to seize the opportunity. And after meeting Tomoe, and hearing her story, and knowing how she gets along with Jeff, I think it's true, they were fated to meet each other.

Day 5 - After a noodle breakfast at Ringer Hut, we bid sayonara to Rich, who headed back to professorial duties in Atlanta. Next it was off to Kyoto by bullet train. My first impression of Kyoto was that it was very crowded. The sidewalks were teeming with people and the malls were packed. In Tokyo, that's a given. But for some reason, neither Thu nor I had remembered Kyoto that way. Nonetheless, we had fun shopping. We met up with Thi for a last dinner with him before he set off to tour the country solo.

Our ryokan, while not as new as the Sunroute, featured a public bath that felt excellent when we soaked our bodies after a long day of traveling. We slept on futons on the tatami mats. We all enjoyed sleeping that way.

Relaxing in a Kyoto park

Day 6 - We took a long walk around the Higashiyama area, winding our way into Maruyama Park and several temples. This day was a national holiday so there were tons of people hitting the park, and also buying flowers for the cemetary. We pushed Tai in his stroller for as long as we could, until we hit some stairs, or until Tai wanted out.

As crowded as the park was, Gion Corner was empty because of the holiday. All in all, somewhat of an exhausting day, but we took in several great sites. We ended the evening with a relaxing dinner by the river. People gather on the bank of the Kamo River and eat their bento box dinners and listen to up-and-coming musicians playing nearby. Tai had had enough of restaurants by now anyway, so eating outside was ideal.

"Oh, this is high."

Day 7 - We took the train over to Osaka to try the food there and walk around. This was the first time we're back to thinking about getting back to reality. (That's why we're here at a computer station, checking email and updating the blog right now.)

So it was nice to visit a building that was right out of the future. We found our way to the Umeda Sky Building. After a tasty lunch in the bottom-floor food court, a re-creation of an old-style Japanese town, we went to the third floor to buy our elevator tickets. The ride up the building was kind of like a roller coaster. You're shot straight up in a glass-door car with a sight of the urban Osaka beneath. It's enough to make the knees go weak.

Party on the futon!

Day 8 - Days 1 thru 7 were mostly non-stop fun and adventure; Day 8 was the long, long, long trip home. It started with a shinkansen ride from Kyoto to Tokyo (2.5 hours), then catching the Narita Express (1 hour), then waiting at the airport for nearly three hours before boarding the 8.5-hour flight home. I should back up and state the highlight of that day was the private breakfast we enjoyed at the Iroha Ryokan. The private room could hardly contain Tai, but we enjoyed our hot tofu and baked salmon. Tai enjoyed the strips of nori as he did the entire trip. . . .

We've been home for more than a week now, and we've posted pictures of the entire trip. More deep thoughts on traveling with Tai and being in Japan later. . . . Lastly, thanks to Rich for some of these photos from Tokyo. His are the good ones.

Busy Boy

Tai has developed an ability to mimic others. This was really evident last weekend when his grandparents came up to visit. One day, Tai started doing an "old man" stroll with his hands clasped behind his back. We wondered where he learned that. Then we figured out, of course, he copied Grandpa.

Over the past week, Tai's curiosity about everything that's being said and done around him has doubled. He tries to copy our words sometimes. He says, in his own way, "banana" and "turtle." He'll stop on the sidewalk and pick up rocks and leaves (and trash) and study them. He gets a lot of enjoyment crawling on top of us on the floor and sitting on our stomachs. He also loves his two stuffed animal pigs, taking them to sleep with him, and feeding them water through a straw and kissing them.

Picnic and Zoo w/Mia

"They call this one a blueberry."

"Why is the water green?"

Post-Olympics Edition of Life of Tai

Now that the Olympics are over, Tai poses as a sprinter.

Up on the top of Indian Rock. With Mommy.

With Daddy.

Not sure if this is the javelin or not.

We had a relaxing evening at Indian Rock Park. A climb to the top to view the Bay, followed by a dinner of Zachary's pizza on the grassy field nearby. Living like millionaires without having to own an expensive home.

Catching up with Tai

Tai blows out the candle, no matter whose birthday.

Tai's blog has fallen behind this past month, possibly at an inverse proportion to the speed with which he's walking these days. A couple of things to write about. Grandparents from LA visited a few weeks ago. We all met for a family dinner in San Jose, coincidentally on his grandma's birthday. It doesn't seem to matter whose cake it is, Tai blows out the candle.

Chocolate, chocolate, chocolate.

"Your shoes are ready."

Not only is Tai walking, he's picking up baskets and plates to carry, and shoes—single shoes, pairs of shoes, Tai's shoes, Mommy's shoes, Daddy's shoes. Sometimes, he tries to put on his blue Crocs. Thu figured out that he's probably doing it to show that he wants to go outside. If that's the case, how helpful that he brings us our shoes too.

Stickermania

We spent last night in Japantown with Tai's aunt and uncle. There's a new shop there that must be the business plan of the decade. It's a shop full of those Japanese Print Club photo booths, about ten or more of them. All you do is choose a booth and take 10 pictures, choose your favorite 4-6, then decorate the photos with special effects. And for the low price of $8, you get a sheet of photo stickers. Seems silly, but Thu, Uyen, and I had a lot of fun doing it with Tai. I can see why the place was jam-packed.

Above is a photo of the sticker sheet, including a sticker of Tai as a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle.

Our 2nd Anniversary

Yeah, our second anniversary was today! Once again, we dined at Skates on the Bay, just like last year. Didn't get a window seat this time. But we did order the ribs again. Delicious!

The other big difference? Tai wasn't sleeping in his car seat this year. He was wide awake in his high chair, stuffing his face with bread, sweet potato fries, mashed potatoes, and a little bit of key lime pie at the end. (Keep in mind, he had dinner before we went to the restaurant.) He's so busy walking, I guess his appetite has doubled.

Walking

Tai has been walking while holding our hands for at least a few weeks now. But today was a major breakthrough. He walked across the room by himself!

Besides that, tonight he let us brush his six teeth without crying. What a day.

Partying

Went to Mia's first birthday party, where the theme was "strawberries." That meant strawberry cupcakes with strawberry frosting and a strawberry candy on top. Yum, delicious! And apparently Tai thought so too because he shoved the entire thing into his mouth. What a fun party. Happy birthday, Mia!

Tai's second 1st birthday party

Scott, where'd the little fire on the candle go?

Tai extended his partying ways for another month so that he could have a good time with his relatives in LA and let them join in the fun. Thus, a second 1st birthday party for Tai, this time at his grandparents' house!

Okay, now this candle makes sense!

Tai got a tub full of presents that he plays with all the time and several cool outfits, including his first Dodgers onesies. (Do you see the baseball theme?) But more than that, we're happy that the family is getting to know Tai, and that one day he'll get to know them too.

Tai enjoying his new backyard pool.

The changes in Tai's life happen daily. He's now standing, but afraid to take steps on his own. He sleeps through the night, but gets up at 6 a.m. or so. He'll eat just about anything, which is mostly a good thing. Except when he eats long noodles and hard tofu and other things he can't break down with his two little teeth. Fortunately, the food at Benihana was fine and fascinating!

Photos by Kara. Thanks!