.... our journey ....

took a dive at the pacific ocean

2012-01-01T19:36:00.000-08:00

Almost... We went to Santa Monica, Santa Barbara and San Diego for a short vacation. Used up our airline credit ($800) and points for hotel stays (3 free nights) before the year ended.

More photos are available at flickr.

Rock climbing and ocean surfing

2012-01-01T16:06:00.000-08:00

@ La Jolla Beach (San Diego)

Walk in the Woods

2011-11-05T14:50:00.000-07:00

Decided to add some photos to our lonely blog :)

Since it was such a beautiful and relatively warm Fall day, we took a walk in the woods to enjoy the colors and crisp air. So nice to hear the sound of leaves crunching under our feet and see the grandeur of those old, old trees. Charis just completed a leaf project, which required us to collect leaves and research on their names... so it was so nice to be able to identify some of those trees we came across during our walk.

The kids really enjoyed their time exploring, picking leaves, poking at the trees, and balancing on fallen logs.

We went to a playground after that. Added this picture because Charis finally succeeded in swinging herself without help to push! She has been practicing so hard.

Time Square, NY

2011-05-01T13:25:00.000-07:00

Daxiang visited us last week and we made a trip to NYC.

We went to Time Square a few times, and there were people just everywhere.

At almost every corner, someone was taking photo of something somewhere.

Even the billboard was taking photo... here is Kodak's kodak's moment...

Time Square, the land of yellow cabs and bright lights....

Ellis Island, Liberty Island and Central Park

2011-05-01T12:52:00.000-07:00

We visited Ellis Island - it was the immigrant inspection centre in the late 1800s to mid 1900s. Now it houses a museum that provides a glimpse of lives and society of that time...

This hall is the first-stop for all immigrants coming into the US many years ago. Contrast this with today's US custom... (not sure which one I prefer though)...

Approaching the Statue of Liberty:

There she stands...

Inside the Statue. We walked up many, many steps to reach the feet of the Statue.

View from and of her feet. This is the closest we got to the Statue.

The weather was nice and sunny when we went to Central Park. We had a very pleasant walk as we enjoyed the green space in the busy city.

Some jazzy entertainment as we rested our tired feet.

One of our main task was to search for a Balto statue in Central Park. Charis loves the Balto stories and animated movies. We found out from one of the movies that there was a statue of it in Central Park. Since then, we promise her that if we ever go to Central Park, we will look for it. Thankfully, after some misses, we managed to locate it during our walk in the park.

This is a nice cafe where we stopped by for lunch. They have very nice (but pricey) subs. We heard that they also have pretty good Cappuccino. We thought of going there for an afternoon break, but we never made it back. Well, a reason for us to visit NYC again....

josiah's many faces...

2011-03-31T17:21:00.000-07:00

The cheeky boy...

And here are the kids, enjoying his cheekiness...

dun play play

2011-03-31T16:40:00.000-07:00

To show that I'm actually 25 on my 34th birthday...

Something's out of place

2011-03-31T16:27:00.000-07:00

In most of our photos, one of us is behind the camera and there are more baby-faces. But last night our kind friends (Linda and Keith) helped to babysit Charis and Josiah while we went out dining. In fact, this is the first time we were out without the kids in the US. Although it was cold and wet, we had a wonderful time at Station Square. And I must say our dinner - steak at Pittsburgh Rare - was lovely.

Thanks, Hunters.

Having fun with the snow...

2011-02-22T17:20:00.000-08:00

Josiah is 2!

2011-02-22T15:00:00.000-08:00

Josiah turned 2 yesterday. We planned to go out and celebrate his birthday in the evening, but it snowed pretty heavily. So we ended up staying at home. Thankfully we had some bananas and ice-cream, so he had a banana split as his birthday "cake".

Here they are playing with the presents that they received:

We managed to hit out today even though the weather was still cold. Bought an ice-cream cake for him which we all enjoyed. So he got to celebrate his birthday twice....

singapore food fest

2011-02-02T09:01:00.000-08:00

Visitors from home....

2010-12-13T15:47:00.000-08:00

Auntie Hong Leng and Shannon spent about 3 weeks with us recently.

In Pittsburgh, the highlight for the ladies was the nightly Korean drama via Youtube on an iPad... They managed to watch the all the episodes... which is really not that difficult when you have company and watch until 2 or 3 am....

We made a road trip to Niagara Falls (a standard item on our itinerary when we have visitors). Took a short ride out to St. Catherines from there.

The weather was hovering around 0°C, so the kids were all wrapped up.

We also visited Washington D.C. And one perk of having visitors is that we get to take some nice couple shots.

Lancaster County, PA

2010-10-23T06:03:00.000-07:00

Visited Lancaster when Charis had a short break from school. Click on the photo below to go to the rest of the album...

1st day of school

2010-08-25T05:35:00.001-07:00

Finally, the day has arrived. After waiting for months, Charis is now all ready for her first day in kindergarten. New school bag, new clothes, new crayons, new friends, new teacher....

She is very excited on her first day to school. Even reminded Elaine and I, separately, to set the alarm for her so that she will not be late for school. I don't remember that I ever look forward to going to school.... never...

Hopping onto the "school bus"....

All set and ready to go....

Walking to class...
It's her prayer that she will be able to learn well and find good friends in school.

around montréal, part one

2010-08-11T16:49:00.000-07:00

Montréal, a feel of France in North America. Here is the old Montréal (or vieux Montréal as they call it in French), with its old cobblestone roads and colonial buildings:

The old port in Montréal:
We took a cruise ride to get a quick tour of the sights.

The Biosphere:

Some condo-by-the-waterfront. Forgot its name, but the architectural design looks very interesting. Supposed to be designed by a student-architect in a local university (McGill?) many, many years ago... and this architect is now pretty famous, but I don't know his name...

us in montréal

2010-08-10T18:11:00.000-07:00

We were in Montréal for the last few days where I had a conference. Took the opportunity to look around the place. Actually Elaine and the kids did more exploring, as I was (trying to look) busy attending some sessions during the conference.

Here are some photos of us in Montréal... will put up pictures of the place later.

A rare family photo during a vacation.... Took this outside the Notre-Dame Basilica of Montréal. A friendly passerby volunteered to take a photo for us. He led us to the spot where he said was the nicest place for a photo.

A colorful toy shop that stood out among the rows of shops along Rue Saint Urbain:

We had our first dinner in Montréal at a French restaurant, Le Bourlingueur. While Elaine's glazed duck was delicious, my catch-of-the-day didn't taste anything french. Nevertheless, we had a nice time there. (Actually, we had a better time at a Chinese restaurant that is one minute from our hotel.... roast duck, fried rice, 干炒牛河. And then there is a Chinese pastry shop opposite this Chinese restaurant.... so we had egg tarts, char siew bun, 菠萝包 almost twice every day. )

Charis posing along a railway track near the old port in Montréal:

And we rented a bicycle to make the touring of the waterfront much easier. Or so we thought. It turned out more siong than we expected. (This photo was taken before we rode off.)

Watertown, NY

2010-08-05T04:44:00.000-07:00

Spent a night at Watertown, NY, 8.5 hours ride from Pittsburgh.

Went to Indian Palace for dinner. Just a 2 mins walk from the hotel.

We tried the chicken curry and "Mixed Grill Bombay" (tandoori) and naan. The dinner turned out to be pretty good - much better than what Elaine had expected. But it was the most expensive chicken curry (US$11) and naan (US$2.50 per piece) that we have ever tried. I was expected the curry to be served in a pail, or at least in a pot, but it came in bowl-size.

After that we went across the street for some friendly ice-cream.
The kids waiting for the Sargent-Major to distribute the loot...

2 clowns

2010-07-25T12:29:00.000-07:00

Pirates

2010-07-19T16:37:00.000-07:00

Our church organized an outing to watch a Pittsburgh Pirates baseball game. (At $10 per pax, plus a free beach towel each, it was a pretty good deal.) It was the 1st time we attended a professional sports event here. Although we "catch no ball" when it comes to baseball, the atmosphere in the stadium was a fun experience for us. Might have been even more enjoyable had the Pirates played a better/winning game that night. The Pirates lost 2-5 that night to the Houston Astros - but they bounced back to defeat the Astros in the next 2 games.

The stadium has Pittsburgh downtown and Allegheny River as a backdrop, providing a pretty nice view:

@ sunset:

Swimmers and divers

2010-07-19T15:35:00.000-07:00

The summer really feels like summer. And life is good when there is a pool just outside the apartment, and we go for a dip whenever we can. Next time, we should get a condo. Or a HDB that has a pool nearby. Or live near friends who live in condo.

idling in the wild

2010-07-19T15:25:00.001-07:00

Brought the kids to Idlewild last week. It was our 2nd visit, and this time we went with Maddy and family. The girls had a great time going through the Storybook Forest and looking at different storybook characters coming to life.

There was something fun for everyone, including the adults:

Josiah getting ready for take off:

we've got a runner

2010-06-10T17:27:00.000-07:00

See how he head-faked Charis midway through the 2nd leg...

you and me

2010-05-07T16:51:00.000-07:00

On behalf of the kids, this is a gift for Elaine on Mother's Day.

I can't bake a cake, but I can make a clip....

10 justifications for an iPad....

2010-05-07T15:41:00.000-07:00

1. It is a nice PDF reader, and I have hundreds of pdfs to read. The iPad will increase my productivity by 48.8%. I will publish papers faster and complete my PhD program sooner.

2. Buying an iPad helps a friend. He just bought Apple's share.

3. There are times I want to pull out my laptop to read some papers on my bus rides. But it is too big. However, with a iPad, ahhh.....

4. I don't have a iPhone or a iPod Touch. They have small screens.

5. My 2001 iBook just went kaput.

6. The IRA is going to refund me some tax money.

7. The principle of social proof is working on me.

8. I just bought a 2nd-hand laptop bag off eBay. That bag is huge and it feels kinda empty. An iPad would utilize the space.

9. Randomly select one reason from #1 to #4.

10. Randomly select one reason from #5 to #8.

Run! Jonah, run!

2010-04-26T16:29:00.000-07:00

Charis' first "big" performance! This is one of the songs she sang with the choir for the finale musical, The Runaway. She had been singing and humming it (amongst other songs) at home, for the last 2 months. She really enjoyed her time at The Promises choir practices each Sunday.

The 4 littlest ones are right in front. It's a blessing to watch them sing so enthusiastically about God even at 5! We played the supporting role - listening to Charis repeat the same songs at home, fetching her to choir... ... and it's good that we could contribute in these small ways :)

The Promises theme song...

F.I.V.E.

2010-04-13T17:34:00.000-07:00

Today, Charis is 5 years and 8 days old already :)

4 years 11 months and 30 days old.

A surprise party with Maddy.

5 years old!!!

Finally, the proud owner of the horsey

that she has asked for months ago.

She is into horses and cowboys these days.

5 years and 1 day old.

We kept our promise to take her

to Chuck E Cheese,

a kid's "arcade" place, with Ethan.

She gave up her usual party for

a birthday treat to this place.

A photo of them at their favourite game.

Forever 25

2010-04-13T17:23:00.000-07:00

Celebrated TK's birthday... his 25th (???). Well, he has lost count because he wants to remain young at heart!

first few steps of the little guy...

2010-02-28T16:12:00.000-08:00

Party of five

2010-02-21T18:45:00.000-08:00

I am ONE!!! A little party with just us and my best pal.

These are a few of my favourite things that makes me smile or even chuckle out loud!

1. Popping gerber stars into my mouth - two at a time. You'll see me calling and waving for mummy to bring them to me.
2. A car ride, especially when che-che sings a silly song.
3. Exploring on all fours, going to forbidden grounds. I especially like the kitchen and bathroom in our home, and going out the door.
4. Climbing up the sofa. Makes me feel so proud standing up high and looking out of the window.
5. Mr Teddy, my best pal. His little red nose is simply delicious.
6. A good book.
7. Playtime with my favourite people.
8. Rolling on daddy and mummy's big bed.
9. Hearing the piano sound when I bang on it. I can sure clap, shake my head and do a little dance.
10. My big sister when she is nice. Still loves her when she is not so nice.

Feb 14 2010

2010-02-15T12:55:00.000-08:00

Birthday party #1:

Birthday party #2, courtesy of Kenneth and Linli and friends...

Happy Lunar New Year!

2010-02-15T12:52:00.001-08:00

Checking out the ang pow...

With Ethan...

after the shoveling...

2010-02-08T18:19:00.000-08:00

CMU and many other schools in Pittsburgh canceled classes today due to bad weather and traffic condition. We went to get some groceries as another round of snow storm might be coming on Tuesday and Wednesday. (CMU is canceling classes again on Tuesday...)

What we saw on our trip out today:

Classes were canceled, but no kids at the playground:

sledging

2010-02-08T18:08:00.000-08:00

We also met up with some friends and went sledging for the first time...

With Felix and Madeleine...

Going back up the slope for another round... the walk up was pretty tiring...

Just the two kiddos.... doing it blind-folded...

so we had to shovel

2010-02-08T05:10:00.000-08:00

We didn't manage to go to church, as the car was stuck in the parking lot. We didn't do anything about it the day before, as I thought "somebody" would clear the snow for us, and anyway we didn't have the equipment to get the car out. Apparently, I'm supposed to be that "somebody". Charis kindly offered me her cool-looking orange shovel from her personal tool box to get the job done. That shovel served her well when she was at the beach. After some serious consideration (like for 3 seconds), I decided that it's a better idea to borrow a more professional shovel from the maintenance guy.

So we shoveled. Charis had a fun time helping and playing. Picking up the shovel, memories of Exercise Nutcracker that I had gone thru during NS flashed in my mind. After shoveling for 1.5 hours, I called it a day... the car was still stuck, but less stuck than it was 2 hours ago. Anyway the evening service got canceled, and we decided not to bring Charis to her Sunday choir practice.

a milestone...

2010-02-07T06:45:00.000-08:00

the day after...

2010-02-06T14:21:00.000-08:00

The snow came pouring. Pouring non-stop overnight, and most of Pittsburgh woke up to many inches of snow. Thankfully, we don't have to shovel snow, and there were not disruption to the power/electricity.

Charis had a nice time outside playing with the snow. We actually wanted to make a trip to the Walmart, but we couldn't find our car...

We did manage to find our friends' car...

The view from our windows...

The snow almost reached the windows of those apartments at the basement.

From the oven...

2010-01-18T13:18:00.000-08:00

... to the ~~freezer~~ fridge. Yes, that's what it feels like for us. We were actually expecting colder weather, but God is merciful to us. The temperature on the night we reached Pittsburgh was around 2° C. It was like negative-something the week before. Perhaps we did check in some Singapore warmth...

The journey to the west took us 30 hours. All the 3 flights that we were on were uneventful. The kids did well on the plane. They managed to sleep some, and when they were awake, they didn't fuss much. So much so that when we were alighting the planes, the passengers around us often commented how nice and good they were, etc. We are glad that there was no missed connections, no missing luggage, no issues with the immigration, and no troubles with the custom.

Returning to a quiet apartment needed some getting used to, especially since we were surrounded by friends and family almost every day and night for the last few weeks. The cold and gloomy skies in Pittsburgh, in contrast to the warm and sunny skies in Singapore, add to the blues.

The major task for us now is to get over the jet lag. We have been having breakfast at 4am for the last 2 days. Josiah seems stoned when he is awake. We missed our lunch today, because we overslept our nap. We were supposed to wake up at 1pm, but we slept till 4pm. We also need to get started with unpacking our luggage, which I'm sure would evoke some emotions and memories. After these, we would work on the holiday photos, especially the post-Christmas ones....

packed!

2010-01-15T00:15:00.000-08:00

We are about all set to go back to Pittsburgh! Just packed our bags moments ago. In the process, we have also sort of packed our emotions. Now going to catch a short nap, wake up at 2am, hit the road to Changi Airport, say our goodbyes, and catch the 7.20am flight....

Dear families and friends, thanks for making our stay in sunny Singapore as warm as it could be... Thanks for the love-gifts, presents, meals, time, etc. that we received from all of you. Most of all, thank for being here for us. Also for allowing us to mess-up and disturb your lives (just that little bit) during our trip here. We had fun, and we hope so did you...

Blessed (and warm) Christmas!

2009-12-25T00:05:00.001-08:00

This year, we celebrated Christmas in the warmth of Singapore. It was good to catch up and fellowship with many friends, having being gone for 2.5 years. We also got to see many new faces and make

No matter where we are and who we are with, we worship the same Christ, the same Savior.

Josiah's first Christmas... observing and learning the expert at work...

But still easier to get extra hands to unwrap his presents...

more durians

2009-12-21T18:07:00.001-08:00

Durian party!

Some folks love it...

Some folks don't...

durian

2009-12-14T00:57:00.000-08:00

1st durian in 3 years. Packed and sealed, but the aroma is still beyond description...

places and friends

2009-12-14T00:55:00.000-08:00

Spent the first week visting some relatives. Also managed to catch up with some friends and drop by Chinatown.

Chinatown shophouses:

Gorgeous day in Chinatown. Bright and sunny... a great contrast to the cold and snowy weather in Pittsburgh.

Charis' friends...

journey to the east...

2009-12-04T00:52:00.000-08:00

The toy man.... Almost brough the entire toy shop on board....

Waiting to check in the luggage and start the 30hrs jouney to the east...

flight services...

2009-12-02T20:36:00.000-08:00

Inflight entertainment for the kids....

Airline food...

baby's laugh

2009-11-27T06:42:00.000-08:00

all ready to go for our Thanksgiving dinner

2009-11-26T19:02:00.000-08:00

knock it down!

2009-11-26T17:15:00.001-08:00

and give me 20! As you can see, we run a very tight ship here.... military training starts at a young age...

Actually, Josiah was having a bad constipation for 2 weeks. Very bad. Gave him more pear puree, prune, etc... nothing worked. In the end, we gave him some suppository - but he pushed it out and refused to let the suppository stay where it is supposed to stay. But as he pushed the suppository out, he also pushed some of the aged you-know-what out as well. Slowly and steadily, he was clearing the passageway. And the best position for him seemed to be the push-up position... which he voluntarily got into....

counting down to an important decision....

2009-11-18T14:25:00.000-08:00

MySpace-Countdowns

counting down...

2009-11-12T18:12:00.000-08:00

curry fish head. sambal kang kong. roti prata.
mee siam. bak ku teh. katong laksa.
wanton mee. hokkien mee. ba chor mee.
char siew bao. ba bao. ang bao.
prawn-paste chicken. chicken rice. fried rice.
durian. char kway tiao. chai tow kway.
tao huay. grass jelly. yu char kway.
fish head bee hoon. satay. otah otah.
satay bee hoon. cheng teng. bo bo char char.

Roadtrip: Washington DC

2009-10-29T05:58:00.000-07:00

Went to DC over the weekend 2 weeks ago. The weather was bad and wet as we hit the road on Friday, and it continued that way for the next 2 days. It only became nice and tourist-friendly on Monday, the day that we headed back home to Pittsburgh.

There were two strategic objectives for the trip. The first was to visit many of the museums, monument etc. Due to the bad weather, we only managed to view some, but not all, that we planned to.

The second, and perhaps the main, objective of this trip was to eat good food - our theme was Eat Asia! We are pleased to report that we did well in meeting this objective. We had Pho, Cantonese Roast Duck, Beef Ho fun. We also had quite a bit of Korean BBQ, seafood pancake, BiBim Bap... The drives to these eating places were pretty long, but no complains.

Well, since we didn't meet the first objective, I guess we have to make another trip there again... to visit both history and food that we missed....

Here are some pixs from the trip:

Smithsonian station. This is the stop to get to National Mall, where many of the museums, galleries, and monuments are located. We travelled by metro when we went to the mall area.

Taking in the nice fall colors and weather (when it didn't rain)...

The kids...

Washington Monument

2009-10-28T20:56:00.001-07:00

Some background about the monument...

The monument from across the Reflecting Pool.

This pool seats between Washington Monument at one end, and Lincoln Memorial at the other end. It not only reflects the historical structures around, but also the history of times.

World War II Memorial

2009-10-28T20:54:00.000-07:00

Lincoln Memorial

2009-10-28T20:50:00.000-07:00

National Gallery of Art

2009-10-28T20:48:00.000-07:00

Artworks and art-appreciators looking at each other...

Claude Monet, the French Impressionist Painter. "The Walk, Woman with a Parasol."

Two art pieces...

Josiah - 8 months old

2009-10-25T10:38:00.000-07:00

Can start to multi-task... holding one shoe to the mouth with one hand and pushing the door open with the other, while standing up and striking a pose....

Josiah in the box...

more of us

2009-10-05T20:18:00.000-07:00

Josiah @ 7 months... pulling himself up at every opportunity, no longer content to be in his Exer Saucer (it's like a baby walker without the wheels)!

Charis @ 4 1/2... Can't believe she's so grown up! Sang with the church children's choir during the evening service on Sunday... looking like a big girl. She's so happy that she is finally old enough to join the choir and be on stage.

cool head gears...

2009-09-17T17:38:00.000-07:00

Josiah has been wearing the cool-looking helmet for about 3 weeks now. He got used to it very quickly after one or two days... He is supposed to wear it for 23 hours per day for the next few months.

The helmet is to help correct the shape of his head, which is relatively flat on one side. Charis wanted to stick some Barney or Snow White stickers to make the helmet look "nicer". Thankfully we managed to make her drop the idea. I was thinking of air-brushing it into the Steeler Helmet. It would have been quite cool since the football season is just getting into way.

It is actually good for him to wear the helmet now. He is starting to crawl, stand, and tumble.. The helmet gives him extra protection. The only problem is that the helmet (and his head) stinks! We gave him a nick - Mr Cao Sng. Hopefully he will be done with the helmet by year end before we go back to Singapore. Otherwise, he will become Super Cao Sng... hahaha....

Anyway, he is not the only one who looks cool with a helmet...

saying goodbyes...

2009-08-26T16:37:00.000-07:00

This morning we said goodbyes to Daniel and Christine, and their children Elizabeth and Emmanuel. They came to Pittsburgh the same time as us, and for the last 2 years we worshipped at the same church. Over time, the friendship between Charis and Elizabeth grew (even though they are 2 years apart), and they would play with each other after worship or during gatherings. Holding hands, running around, having fun....

In the evening as I was preparing dinner, Charis started to cry for no obvious reason. Usually we would stop her and get her to calm down. But this time we let her be. We tried to get her to tell us why she was crying, but she just kept to her crying. Finally we asked her was it because her friends left today - and she cried even louder... Saying goodbyes to friends is sometime so emotional, even for a 4 year old.

Eventually, after almost an hour of grieving, she managed to calm down a little for dinner. We talked to her about her feelings, the separation with her friends etc, as she sobbed and tried very hard to keep herself from crying again.

"How about this: God willing, at the end of the year, we go back to Singapore for a visit? Maybe for a few weeks?" I offered.

"No, I don't want to go back for a visit. (sob) I want to go back after you finish your work," she replied.

"But why don't you want to go back for a visit?"

"Because I don't want to say goodbyes again.... (sob)...." as a teardrop rolled off her cheek. Our hearts melted.

After a few spoonfuls of porridge, she asked "Daddy, why does your work take soooo looong?"

I offered an explanation: "Hmmm... because Daddy is stupid...."

"Hahahaha... that's soooo silly.... Nobody says they are stupid. That's being rude to themselves."

Hmmm... food for thoughts....

"Then why do you think Daddy is taking so long to do his work?"

After a few seconds of thought, she proudly replied "Because you are working on breathtaking, earth-shattering research!"

No, actually that's not what she said (although it would have been very nice if she had said that). What she really and proudly said was:

"Because you don't work hard."

See, there's no way you can deceive a 4 year old. From tomorrow, I will add 2 more hours to my current 14 hours workday. Or maybe 3.

downtown chicago

2009-08-13T16:42:00.000-07:00

Just returned from a 6-day trip to Chicago... thanks to a Conference held there. The crowd was a little overwhelming at first, having arrived from quieter Pittsburgh, but it soon felt nice... a little like Singapore. :)

TK took a walk in the early morning, while Elaine and the kids snoozed away in the hotel room, to enjoy the quiet of the city before it woke. Here's a mini photo-tour of downtown Chicago (and more in following posts).

Down Michigan Ave towards the Chicago River that cuts across downtown Chicago. A city rebuilt after the great Chicago fire in the 1871.

the Trump International Hotel and Tower

Chicago Riverwalk

and river tour of the skyscrapers

lake michigan

2009-08-13T16:39:00.000-07:00

A refreshing city downtown with commerce, shopping, relaxation and sports rolled into one... it's like Shenton Way, Orchard Road and East Coast Park together. Lots of activity even on a weekend, so unlike downtown Pittsburgh. Took a walk along Lake Michigan... really hot and humid (haven't perspired so much since Singapore!). Fortunately, the city is surrounded by lots of water so there was some breeze to save us from the heat.

@ navy pier

2009-08-13T16:37:00.000-07:00

Headed there for the 10pm fireworks but we didn't make it! Despite of that, we were charmed. An enchanting destination that reminded us of Clark Quay and The Esplanade...

Stumbled upon the Smith Museum of Stained Glass Windows @ Navy Pier

Our favourite piece:

Alfonse Mucha's Four Seasons

chicagoans

2009-08-13T16:27:00.000-07:00

I like them! Big-city dwellers with a touch of small-town friendliness and helpfulness... at least in my encounters with them :)

found: giant jelly bean

2009-08-13T16:22:00.000-07:00

Cloud Gate aka "the bean" by Anish Kapoor

An interesting structure in Millennium Park that reflects the skyline of Chicago downtown.
We had fun chasing our reflections around and under the giant jelly bean. :)

Travelator

2009-08-13T16:14:00.000-07:00

getting to the departure gate for UA734... goodbye Chicago!

Idlewild and Soak Zone

2009-08-01T08:47:00.000-07:00

I think this is one of the oldest theme parks in the United States... just an hour away. Had a full day of fun, fUn, FuN! Thank God for the lovely weather. Charis had an overdose of kiddy rides with her little friend, Ethan!

(can you spot them?)

Idlewild and Soak Zone (pony ride)

2009-08-01T08:04:00.000-07:00

Finally brave enough to go on the real thing :)

Idlewild and Soak Zone (more!)

2009-08-01T06:21:00.000-07:00

"Here is the land of once upon a time.
Step through the pages of this book
and visit the people and places
every child knows and loves.
Here dreams are real and
so are your Storybook friends."

Transported into the Storybook Forest, walked into the places and met the people from the familiar nursery rhymes and stories.

saw the crooked house...

took a photo with Goldilocks...

said hi to brother pig outside his house of bricks...

met Snow White while the seven dwarfs were at work...

Also found some time for the old folks to go on some fun rides ;p

Guess we'll have to go again when Josiah can join us on the rides...

Sunset...

2009-08-01T05:42:00.000-07:00

seen while riding high at the top of the ferris wheel.

5 months old

2009-07-21T15:22:00.001-07:00

This is....

2009-07-13T16:51:00.000-07:00

Entertainment....

all smiles

2009-07-06T20:59:00.000-07:00

baby's first dip

2009-07-06T07:26:00.000-07:00

Since Josiah does pretty well "swimming" in his personal bath tub, we thought he is ready for the big one.

Taking his first dip...

Pretty calm in the water...

Floating well. Notice how I had moved my hands to his lower back, and he just popped his head up above the water naturally. (And when I just supported his head, he kept afloat by getting into a "sitting position".)

5th of July

2009-07-05T18:19:00.000-07:00

By God's grace, we celebrate our 6th wedding anniversary.

6 years ago:

Today:

Old Stone Church

2009-07-04T17:44:00.000-07:00

Old Stone Church - A historical landmark in Monroeville. This church was founded in 1834 (just about 2 decades after Singapore was founded....). We passed by this church many times, and decided to go and have a closer look today.

sunny weekend in pittsburgh

2009-06-27T17:56:00.000-07:00

A beautiful weekend in Pittsburgh. Decided to go out and enjoy the nice sunny weather. But first off, we ate five guys for lunch. Five Guys as in Five-Guys-the-burger-place, and not 5 guys as in 5 physical guys. Free flow of drinks... free flow of peanuts... lots of fries... nice burgers and hot dogs. Btw, Obama ate Five Guys for lunch too. Don't play play with him.... he sure has big appetite.

This is how much love people have for five guys...

And did I mention free flow of peanuts?

Then we went to a nearby park to get rid of some calories from lunch...

A pretty nice place and day to take photos... In fact, we saw 3 couples taking their wedding photos at the park (separately - no group shots).

Just before heading home, we decided we should retrieve some of the calories that we got rid off.... ICE CREAM....

(Charis was wondering how many more shots of the ice cream we were going to take before she could attack it....)

cool and fun

2009-06-26T19:37:00.000-07:00

It's a warm and sunny 30C summer day, after a series of thunderstorms... too good a day to stay cooped up at home yet too hot to stay outdoors for long. What should we do? Go somewhere cool and have fun!

The Carnegie Science Center - Charis loves that place, especially the bungee jumping on a trampoline and the water-play, our first two stops. She actually did a somersault in the air!

Touching a little bug.

Absorbed in a game.

Charis the Explorer!

Robots in town.

Josiah was totally intrigued by

this robo-man coming to "life".

All smiles.

flipping

2009-06-21T11:26:00.000-07:00

the two of them

2009-06-20T18:26:00.001-07:00

One looking upset, one trying to look sad....

charming smiles

2009-06-20T18:19:00.000-07:00

Being entertained by his daddy's jokes....

woooaaaahhhhh!

2009-06-20T18:18:00.000-07:00

I think the boy was complaining about his dinner not being served....

my fav dinner!

2009-05-26T17:35:00.000-07:00

I'm happy whenever TK orders beef steak for dinner. That means we get a yummy-licious dinner and I don't have to do the cooking! It's his specialty :)

Our fillet mignon for Sunday's dinner... pink and tender... to celebrate TK's little milestone for his 5-year journey here. Thank God for His mercies and love.

On a separate note, our little Josiah is also reaching another milestone. He started trying to turn himself onto his tummy yesterday... although he gets stuck and whines for help.

Richmond, Virginia

2009-05-18T06:50:00.000-07:00

A week of lovely gardens and pretty flowers. A first road trip for little Josiah. Our photos here.

Also learnt a little about America's civil war history as we walked through the city that used to be the capital of the confederates.

"WE WANT AN EQUAL EDUCATION!"

Going south...

2009-05-11T19:12:00.000-07:00

Attending a one week course at Richmond, Virginia... and the whole family comes along.

Setting off. Charis with her personal luggage... filled with her goodies and snacks...

Dinner on the first night was at Pho So 1....

The food wasn't too bad. Shin Tho (or is it Shin To?) was on the menu, but it looked different from what we had in Vietnam. Brought back lots of memories of Hanoi.

Walked around after dinner. One of the historical places at Virginia - Byrd Theater:

Charis, after one hard training session at the pool with her new personal swimming coach...

... on a mega bed.... we could have hidden Josiah somewhere there....

... but we didn't... He has his own bed.

Oh, and this is Charis' personal swimming coach... Highly recommended. (Sorry, Coach... this is the best photo that I've got....)

talk show

2009-05-07T14:26:00.000-07:00

For those who loves hymns....

2009-05-04T04:14:00.000-07:00

I seldom give recommendations, so when I do, they must be good stuff. So listen now and listen good....

Joel Rosenberger plays beautiful hymns on the piano, and he shares them through his blog at http://joelcast.blogspot.com/. If you enjoy hymns, take a look. Many of his pieces are really wonderful. You can also download the hymns to your iTunes and iPod, etc.

I have placed a widget on the sidebar of this blog - now you can listen to beautiful hymns while reading this blog! Isn't this fantastic! Not that the content of this blog goes well with the hymns.... but it is nevertheless still a fantastic combination. I think.

While I'm at the business of making recommendations, the wanton mee at East Coast Park Food Center has my 2 thumbs up.

arrrrwhoooommmm

2009-04-30T14:44:00.000-07:00

canceled visit

2009-04-30T12:26:00.000-07:00

The swine flu is going around in this part of the world. The Yam family has to cancel their plans to visit us (early May). Just to be safe and responsible. Kind of sad for them and us, as we were looking forward to catching up and having a good fellowship with one another. We have been anticipating their visit for the last few months... We had some plans for meals (chick-fil-A, krispy kreme) and outings (Strip District, Squirrel Hill, Grove City...). But well, man proposes but God disposes.

Thankfully we are able to cancel the hotel reservations at Mystic and Cape Cod Bay. But we are stuck with some snacks that we have loaded up - 2 bags of beef jerky, 1 bag of dried mango, 1 box of sun chips, 1 bag of M&Ms. All from Costco, so all are of mega sizes. Too much hassle to return them... guess the best alternative is to just consume them (not that I mind).

Thankfully, too, we have not made the car rental arrangements.

But we did get a mini-van.

God willing, we hope to make a trip back to Singapore at the end of the year. Just a few more months to go. A few more months.

Through it all

2009-04-26T19:13:00.000-07:00

After lots of prayers, Elaine and I invited some friends from school and their spouses over to our place for a time of fellowship last week. It was a blessed time to gather and worship God and share His Word.

One of the songs that we sang was Through It All. A song that we used to sing during fellowship and prayer meetings in Nazareth. Brought back lots of nostalgia.

Chicago, here we come....

2009-04-26T18:55:00.000-07:00

My 1st summer research paper (which I started working on in July last year) has been accepted for presentation at a conference in August 2009 in Chicago. An added bonus is that the paper has been judged "to be one of the best accepted papers" in the program. Not too bad for a 1st year summer paper, I think. And to think that there were lots of uncertainty about whether the project would take off in May and June last year, we feel pretty good about what has been achieved with this paper thus far.

Furthermore, July last year was when I was diagnosed with some genetic eye condition - muscular dystrophy. Possibly vitelliform dystrophy. Basically I lost much of the central vision in my right eye. I had lots of difficulties with reading and doing the programming for the research project. (Praise God that now the vision is much better!) Given all these challenges, there is no doubt that what we accomplished with this research are but by God's wonderful grace. We learnt what faith and trust in God really is, and how faithful and trustworthy our Almighty God was, is and will continue to be.

siblings

2009-04-26T17:46:00.000-07:00

elusive smile

2009-04-26T17:38:00.000-07:00

Till now, we haven't been able to have decent shots of the boy smiling... Here are some previews of what nice smiles that are to come....

of charis...

2009-04-15T16:29:00.001-07:00

of josiah...

2009-04-15T16:24:00.000-07:00

of charis and josiah...

2009-04-15T16:20:00.000-07:00

Proud parents :)

2009-04-09T11:37:00.000-07:00

Taken during our day-out to the mall on TK's birthday.

fifth of april

2009-04-09T09:55:00.000-07:00

Charis is a 4-year-old as of 4 days ago... it's a cliche... but time really does seem to fly by. When I look at Josiah's tiny face, it frequently reminds me of baby Charis... now, she has outgrown all the clothes that we brought from Singapore. They are growing up too fast!

She requested for a party to celebrate her 4th birthday... so we invited a few of her friends to join us at home.

Creating the party mood with balloons (a friend offered to decorate the place for us)...

The pretty birthday cake (the same friend baked and iced it for us)...

A game of musical chairs... "loser" gets to crawl into the tent for a treat!

Charis holding up her craft...

Birthday girl and friends from Sunday school...

Yay... "I'm 4 now! I'm a big girl!"

C & J

2009-03-26T12:27:00.003-07:00

taking turns...

2009-03-26T12:24:00.000-07:00

to have nap-time with daddy :)

growing up

2009-03-26T12:05:00.000-07:00

The tiny one... on 21 February 2009...

The CMU baby...

The sleepy boy...

The serious "little man"...

The one-month old... with his happy family!

The Little Princess

2009-03-15T10:27:00.000-07:00

So happy to be Princess Charis for the day! Dressed for a princesses tea-cum-birthday party...