Lovely red lanterns hanging all around the temple last night for New Year's Eve festivities:
 Reverend Rongtong, a grandfatherly figure to me, at the entrance to the Main Hall:
 Tonight will consist of pigging out on hotpot with the parents. Whoohoo! Wishing peace, health, and happiness to all for the Year of the Rat. Prosperity will come naturally when all these are satisfied. :)
Number one at the Hallowe'en costume contest as "Lobster Dinner". That's how my nephew rocks the show, yo. :)
Two feet shorter than Yao Ming, but two days older. :) Go Howie, iss yer berfday, we gon' party lak iss yer berfday! And it is! Have a good one, bro. 
Taken in Zanesville, OH, May 2007. Related: Mr. Fantasy video shorts (trust me, I have mixed feelings about this nickname that he's acquired), my bro's blog (warning: for fantasy sports geeks only)
Day ZERO of travelling was already challenging. Flight from Houston to Los Angeles was delayed for 3 hours, causing us to miss our flight to Taiwan and wait at LAX for 7.5 hours.
And what a great 7.5 hours it turned out to be. Min and Peter brought Connor up to see us, and Lily Jr. came out bringing REAL MCDEAL Chinese food. I LOVE YOU GUYS!!!
I'm currently hanging out with Grandpa and relatives here. The dynamics are interesting, as we have my very young cousins all the way up to my grandpa who is 90 this year.
There are computers for every member of my uncle's family right down to the youngest:
We went shopping because although I brought my DSLR, I managed to forget ALL my memory cards (me = moron). We also browsed the 10 Yuan store ($10 NT = $0.33 USD).
Oh, and I was singing karaoke as soon as we got back to my grandpa's. My 2nd uncle and aunt are serious about their karaoke - it's an external HD enclosure built for just this purpose that they carry around with them everywhere. OMG OMG OMG, hahahah!
Stalking my brother is fun. My dad and I were looking for streaming Chinese newscasts tonight and suddenly it struck us: "Hey, can we see Howard's work online?" Lo and behold ... For video: Hurry and click here for a sample of his broadcast. He's a weekend sports anchor, and they've got his Sunday segment up at the moment. If you miss it, catch it next weekend, probably Sunday and Monday. Just audio: And then, go here and scroll down until you find a podcast with Howard's name by it. His most recent thingy was on 6/06/07. Usually, he just does a 10-minute thingy on fantasy sports, but he actually filled in for one of the guys on the radio show for this episode. And yes, "thingy" is my technical term for it! :) Yeah, this is way more Howard than anyone should be subjected to, so apologies from the proud sister in advance. :)
The bro has left the mom and myself back at the studio while he's taken the dad out posing as his "intern" for a half hour or so, and wasn't able to take all of us. Thought I'd take the opportunity to post a few pics from the past few days:
I broke Crystal's camera and left Howard and Crystal to fix it. :P
Oh, they're back... I think we're about to head out... check the gallery for more pics!
Running across a bridge @ Toledo's Botanical Gardens: Mom's shoe got stuck, but what was hilarious was how she stopped and said, "Caroline, I know you want to take a picture of this!"
North of Detroit, Michigan, at the tip of Lake Huron.
Crossing over into Windsor, Ontario: Imitating Rose's imitation of inanimate objects.
On a hill @ Lake Erie: That's meeeeeeeeeeeee!
Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh (with random kid with afro)
Crunch-time at the studio before the newscast.
Howard demonstrates proper mic-holding technique to Dad before taking him out as his "intern" to some pre-game interviews. Yes, that is a stuffed beaver he's using as a mock microphone.
For Mother's Day, the bro and I came up with the idea to get her a personalized photo frame with a photo of her favorite children inside. This evolved eventually into a plate engraved with Chinese characters stuck onto a digital photo frame. In searching for pictures to load into it, I ran into some real gems. I found some pics of me actually looking cute as a young 'un: 
Then, in light of all the misunderstandings I've been having with the bro lately, this photo struck me as bitterly and bitingly funny:
 When the time comes for the bro to be married, I'll know where to find plenty of great material for his wedding slideshow. :)
Medusa in midair in front of giant armadillo with horns: 
Got to finally meet Charmian! :) Messing around at the waterwall:
Nothing like coming home and everyone pitching in for a nice home-cooked dinner (including my infamous hot 'n sour soup):
This sucks. As does this. The bro (who sent me the first story about baseball player Choo) and I were discussing how in smaller cities, the backlash against Asians would be worse than in bigger, more diverse cities. Let's take a look here, using Los Angeles and Houston for comparison since they are relatively chock-full of Asians. Population numbers as of 2000 census:
Blacksburg, Virginia: 39,573
Cary, Illinois: 15,531
Los Angeles, California: 3,694,820
Houston, Texas: 1,953,631 Oh, and for those who read my site anywhere other than the mothersite, I was out of town for a few days and only posted to ihatepink.com while I was away. So to get your mini-pic-fix, visit the mothersite! :)
It's good to see extended family (we didn't get to see all of them, but I am grateful for the ones we could see). Four generations present here:
Proud grandparents:
First ever in-car diaper change (and fastest too!): 
Wii sillyness!
Spontaneous detour to check out Manhattan Beach right off the plane:
Video of me being silly at the beach:
I wonder if the tiny chairs and tiny tables lend to the enjoyment of street food somehow? Maybe just brings you closer to the action?
Anyway, we're leaving in a couple hours. I will miss my relatives, my friends, the plentiful engrish, the ridiculous media, and most of all, the stinky tofu. (Above: me and my dad chowing down on the yummiest stinky tofu EVER in Kaohsiung. It was so nice and stinky, the sauce was pungent and spicy, and they piled on the marinated veggies. All for less than a buck apiece for each heaping serving. DUDE!!)
My mom has a cell phone just for emergencies. She doesn't use it much, so she has trouble remembering how to do stuff with it. Today, she asked me yet again how to check her voicemail. Later in the day, I thought I'd check up on her: Me: Mom, I just wanna make sure that you remember how to check your voicemail. Mom: Oh okay, when you see the little glasses sign on the screen, you push and hold down the one key, where there's another little glasses sign. Me [brief pause where I'm figuring out what she's talking about]: ... Oh ... uh ... right! OK, very good!  I may need to write Nokia and tell them to perhaps add some clarification in their instruction manual to accommodate those who see the little tape symbol as a "little glasses sign". :)
as the truth rang upon my ears my tears fell freely suddenly at my weakest yet also at my strongest my wings are damaged but with courage i can fly. ... Thank you for letting the truth ring. --- Happy birthday, bro. Sorry, no crazy group drunk dialing like last year. :) I got a msg on my cell phone tonight: "Hey girl, I guess I'll have to catch you at another time since it's Saturday night and you're probably doing your wild thing." Hahahaha. Such a rep. Unfounded, I say! :) Oh yeah, an online chat conversation with my bro we had the other night:
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1:55:19 AM |
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have
you met my friend who looks like lucy liu?
http://ihatepink.com/content/binary/2006/08/31/vcbouncer.jpg |
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1:56:14 AM |
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the one on the
left? |
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1:56:26 AM |
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duh!
the one on the right is ME, you doofus! |
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1:56:40 AM |
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didn't recognize
ya, actually |
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1:56:44 AM |
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HAHAHAHAHAHAH |
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1:56:50 AM |
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never seen ya with
makeup on |
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1:56:58 AM |
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i'll
let her know.. she did my hair and makeup that night, and i borrowed her clothes
to go clubbing |
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1:57:10 AM |
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i
wear makeup only for clubbing and weddings |
Good one, Howard. :)
The sound of rain lulls me to sleep. The sound of a downpour makes me ultra lethargic. The timing of the rain: when I have to get up (bad), and when I am supposed to go to sleep (good). A "downpour" of another type:  Pics from hangin' with Turbo! (Oh, and his lovely owners of course, haha!)  The month of June 2006 in pics! Man, I was a little busybody last month. Musicals, baby showers, black belt tests, scams, Mom's birthday, and going to my first seafood and oyster bar. Cute doggies inside as well! Oh, AND includes pics from when a certain "spa" got busted! [ cough cough ] And, the nutsness has just begun: As one of his proud non-Desi aunties, I would like to welcome little baby Nathan to planet Earth, weighing in at at a healthy 6lbs 13oz, 20in tall. How Annie and Jerry could have produced something that cute is beyond me. Hahah j/k guys. Congratulations.  Baby Nathan's favorite auntie tries not to freak him out ...Also, today I saw my mom and dad have a mini-spat in front of me for the first time in a while. I wondered if I fought like them, and have decided that my fighting style is the worst of both worlds. Yuck. And now that I have inundated ye with this deluge of pictures and random info, I shall bid you goodnight. :)
My dad and I get along pretty well. I inherited his genes for the most part. This is good for the survival part; in the beauty department, I didn't inherit my mom's hair-styling make-up-applying abilities. Still working on those - I do believe that they can be learned. :) Well, every once in a while, my dad will say something totally out of character. Two conversations in recent memory stick out for me. Me: Dad, do you have an extra hairdryer? My new haircut requires a hairdryer to make it look good. [sulk] My dad: Oh, good! (runs off to get a hairdryer for me) [ this is contrary to his / our nature because we are both really low maintenance when it comes to our appearance ]Me: You know Dad, I went to this party the other night, and I was trying to make new friends and talk to new people, and there were all these girls who refused to talk to me because they were only interested in hitting on guys! Sheesh. My dad: Well maybe they have the right idea! [ ?!?! ]Speaking of which, Father's Day is coming up. Hmmm. What to get the dad who no longer really cares about material possessions ...
My cousin Min, ever the ihatepink.com ham (and do I ever love her so for it!), writes: "Hi Caroline and Howard,  Your cousin Min is now a minor celebrity in the world
of Fear Factor Live! While at Universal Studios last Sunday, Peter and I were
asked to participate in some crazy stunts. This was to show the audience that
the scenarios where the contestants would be participating were real. Peter had
an electric current run through his body while I had live emperor scorpions (5
of them) put on my head. Watch and enjoy! Love Min (&
Peter) P.S. I so-o-o-o deserve a spot on your blog for this! =)" And so, minor celebrity cousin Min, here is your spot. (WMV, 57secs, 4.8MB) :) I wanna know if Min kept her eyes squeezed shut the entire time, or if she dared open 'em for a peek. :)
Just got a phone call from the brother. Apparently he got his left shoulder on national TV. (I can't say I'm all that excited about it, but he was pumped enough about it to call me and tell me, so here I am.) If you have ESPN, and if you see coverage of Detroit vs. Cleveland's 7th game (basketball) and see an interview of a player named Lindsey Hunter (yes, that is a man's name), my brother's left shoulder is apparently taking up 25% of the screen, for 10-15 secs. He says he was wearing a blue suit? Can't remember. Anyway! If anyone sees this tonight or tomorrow, do me a favor and take a pic / video clip of the screen as you're watching, eh? (I don't have cable so there's no way I would be able to see it for myself.) Bonus if you get a pic of yourself making funny faces beside the TV! I suppose if your left shoulder gets on national TV, you're a few inches away from having your face on national TV. :) Update: The bro just called again, saying that his friend saw him on ABC (as in, his face was actually discernible) post-game from some camera angle or other. "I'm probably the only Asian on the floor with a camera!" he exclaimed excitedly. Hahaha. Well, one day when he's famous and has his mug on national TV on a regular basis, I'm gonna look back on this post and smile. :)
[yawn] So it's like half past noon on X'mas day for me, and I am awoken from my beauty slumber with a call from the bro: "Yo!
Merry Christmas! It's really loud in here, so I just wanted to tell you
to turn on Channel 13 cuz I'm at the ___ (couldn't hear who) vs Detroit
basketball game, and if you look closely I'm the dude in the grey shirt
and khaki pants under the net that Detroit is attacking, with a camera
on my right shoulder! Check it out!" But first, my holiday hangouts so far:  Went on a Friendster date with long-lost friend Anita who braved her headaches so we could hang out and hit on teenage boys in the astrology section of the bookstore
Got together with Esther and Jean so Esther could get her fill of real Chinese food and boba
Pigged out on awesome vegetarian hotpot with the fam
Drove around with the fam checkin' out other people's amazing X'mas light displays [ panorama 1 (above) ] [ panorama 2, ocean theme ] [ closeup of Santa waterskiing ] (Canon Photostitch is so cool!)
Leisurely took pics of our autumn scenery (winter for Texas) before heading to clinic and getting stood up by patient (aiyaa)
 Went
clubbing for the first time on X'mas Eve, with comrades Hugh, Eddy,
Anita, and Anita's homies Vivek, Ashoke(sp?), and Raj: [ me 'n cute bouncer ] [ I look retarded when I dance ] [ leaving Club Mantra ] [ At House of Pies, with our Santa ]
And
... just got back checkin' the TV. I called the bro up: "Hey, uh, I
can't see you." "I'm the only Asian dude on the floor!" I squinted more
closely and still couldn't tell. Perhaps this is where the high
definition would come in handy. Oh well. And so I missed my bro's
fifteen minutes of fame. 
More merrymaking to come!
Happy holidays to all.
It's nice to know that I can call my brother
at 1am (2am his time) to ask about my dad's dress shirt size. It's also
nice to know that he's always up for chatting with me even if it takes
'til 2am (3am his time). He says he's getting a new and improved
picture posted up sometime - 'bout time, yo! 
I'm
a bad fishsitter. Today I came home and couldn't tell if one of them
was just hovering at the surface or dead (frantic knocking on the glass
proved it was alive - phew!), and there's one that's starting to swim
lopsided cuz he's getting all bloated. I wish they could talk (or in
this case, scream) and tell me what I'm doing wrong.  On the bright side, the houseplants are still [mostly] alive.
 At the request of my bro
(I give him credit for educating me on why I should care about the
Astros), I headed out yesterday in search of official Houston Astros
NLCS gear. Man, there was a line outside the store just to get in, which became a mob inside the store
as soon as stuff was in sight, and by the time I got there they'd run
out of adult size shirts. The shirts are ugly, in my opinion. The only
thing that made the trip worth it was seeing this adorable little kid whose brother had already managed to score a cap for him. I'll go back next week when all the hoopla has died down.  Tonight
Ivonne and I headed over to help Annie with painting their new
Montessori school. I wanted to have some music while working, so I
brought my CD boombox, which turned out to be welcome entertainment. I
have a happy mix CD of early 90s stuff that everyone seemed to like. I
think those songs probably elicited a memory or two of a simpler time
... [ me and Ivonne on tape prep ] [ Annie 'n Jerry goofing around ] [ Stella and Ivonne on a well-deserved pizza break ]
Today I learned ...
 how to leash-train the doggies. Man, Happy's stubbornness rivals my own.
that Angie is a kick-ass doggie trainer. Oh wait, I already knew that. [ firm words ] [ whoa, she got him to heel! ]
that the Houston Astros were playing.
that the Houston Astros have never gone to the World Series before.
that they need one more game to go to the World Series. I finally began
to understand why the 'Stros was such a big deal ... it's always good
to have a bro who like, knows sports 'n stuff ...
that there is an Asian dude on the Cardinals team.
that despite cheering for the Astros (and being disappointed in their loss), I want to bear Albert Pujol's children. That guy is sexy. (Looked better on TV, anyway ...)
to play three-quarters of "More Than Words" on the guitar half-decently, with singing!
that standing up to my mom when it comes to touchy issues is exactly
what I need to continue doing. I finally did that for the first time
today, and ... it felt right.
Happy birthday to my favorite male cousin in North America, Andrew (not to be confused with Andrew, the Bachelor. Go Andy, iss yo berfday, go Andy, iss yo berfday ...
(from my blog post back on 5-19-03)AND,
miraculously, he's still single, ladies! How can you resist that
stunning, sparkling smile? That sincere, warm gaze? Hahah OK, I'm
shutting up now, before I really ruin his chances of meeting a nice,
non-crazy girl ... Andy's done some pretty cool things in his
short time on this planet thus far. In previous lives, he's been a
hardcore stunt inline skater dude, and an inline skating T-shirt
designer. And now he's an orthodontist on the sunny shores of San Diego. My
fondest memories of hanging out with him have to be when we were bored
as kids and would try to translate popular kids' cartoons' theme songs
into Chinese literally and crack ourselves up doing it. If you know any
Asian language, I highly suggest you try this. It is highly amusing ...
haha, but then again, I am easily amused. It was probably Andy's idea - he's always been good at making up fun games to pass the time. Love ya, boy!
Just finished watching the season finale of "The Bachelor".
This is my first time tuning in to the reality show. And yay! He picked
the classy, mature, confident one over the pretty bimbo.
I have to admit, I think the Bachelor dude is hot. Funny, his name is Andrew
Firestone. One of my cousins' names is also Andrew, and although
[ex-]Bachelor Andrew is beefier in build, I think they have similar
facial features:
 But isn't my cousin cuter? The season finales of The Simpsons were awesome. One of them ended with the whole cast joining hands and singing the Canadian national anthem! Sweeeeeet. I received one of those junk catalogues in the mail: "For Women Only". These things crack me up. For one, they always have the personal vibrator
that is supposedly ONLY for massaging your back, but it's shaped like a
you-know-what, and they always give this semi-erotic description about
its uses. And the fashions ... oh I thought I was rid of funny fashion
after leaving China, but I was wrong: "The Jacquard Caftan, just $16.95, makes you look THINNER!" This thing could make an elephant look thinner. They conveniently do not have a picture of the abovementioned personal body massager, so here it is:  .And this is Caroline, live, reporting from Quarantine Land. Chinese vocab o' the day:  [ge2 li2] : to isolate, segregate; to quarantine.
My legs hurt - I'm hobbling around like I'm 200 years old. My arms hurt
when I try to massage my legs. When I pick my nose, there's dried mud
up in there. When I swab my ears, there's dried mud up in there. When I
wipe my ass ... actually, it's pretty clean up in there. But who cares ... because I FINISHED THE MUD RUN!!! WHAZZZZZZAAAAAAAAAAAP!!!! OK pplz, here are the pics (and a video too!) from the mud run! =) Much thanks to Dave for going and taking all the photos for us!
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