Not sure why Facebook thinks I’d be a great candidate for … pole dancing classes.

Here’s a close-up:

Maybe FB knows I like … deals and discounts?!?!!?!? o_O

So we hugged over webcam. :)

Wine? Vinegar? Are food product labels also going along with the trend of tabloid headlines combining Hollywood couple’s names?

So instead of grabbing the chips while settling down for a night in front of the tube, you could just snack on the bag of crispy mini crabs:

Her exclamation seems cheerful enough; don’t know why she’s so down if it’s “GOOD GOOD EAT”:

It’s a party all right. That octopus looks like it’s gettin’ DOWN:

Oh no, Oh Yes!

And lastly, just a comparison of our bachelor guy friend’s shopping habits compared to us bachelorette girls’. Well, wasabi peas count as vegetables, right? :)

H-Mart is always a fun adventure. :)

Apparently my buddy over at Liquid Egg Product returned from the Chinese supermarket with some finds of his own. :)

My mom successfully installed a webcam and software via instructions over the phone before I strangled myself. ‘Tis nothing short of a freaking miracle.

Tidbits of the conversation:

Me: Yes Mom, go into the e-mail account we set up for Grandma and click through the invitation.
Mom: OK. Where it says, “Verify your account”?
Me: Yes.
Mom: OK. It is asking if I want to “Run” or “Save”.
Me: (afraid my mom won’t know where she saved the file) Just click “Run”.
Mom: OK. It’s downloading now. OK so now it says, “Verify your account”. I’m going to click that.
Me: (confused) Um, OK.
Mom: It’s asking if I want to “Run” or “Save”.
Me: (still confused) Um, I guess “Run”.
Mom: OK. It’s downloading now. OK so now it says, “Verify your account”. I’m going to click that.
Me: Wait wait wait, Mom … what else do you see on the screen?
Mom: “Archive”, “Report Spam”, “Delete”, “Move To”, “Labels” …
Me: MOM! YOU’RE STILL IN GMAIL! STOP CLICKING ON THAT! YOU ONLY NEED TO CLICK ON THAT VERIFY LINK ONCE! GO TO THE LOGITECH VID WINDOW!
Mom: Huh?
Me: Do you see any other windows at the bottom of your screen that are open … ? That little bar at the bottom?
Mom: Well, there’s Logitech Vid, and Gmail …
Me: Well, go to Logitech Vid.
[ we finally start to get into the installation part of the program; it is really hard bc my mom is not reading everything out to me as she goes along bc she thinks I have every screen MEMORIZED ]

----- 15 long minutes later -----

Me: OK. Now you have to login with her e-mail address and password.
Mom: OK. [ typing ] OK I did. It says “No account found”.
Me: [ feeling really helpless ] OK Mom. PLEASE double-check that you typed it in correctly.
Mom: [ spelling out the e-mail address ] So I got it right.
Me: Mom, did you put “@gmail.com” at the end?
Mom: No. Do I need to?
Me: YES. YES YOU DO.
Mom: OK. [ typing ] OK I hit “return” and it still says “No account found”. Oh wait [ double-checking ] … I mistyped it. Heehee, my mistake!
Me: [ pulling my hair out and trying not to scream bc I know my mom is trying her best ] OK Mom. Yeah. Please double-check.
Mom: OK it works now!

----- ALMOST THERE -----

Mom: Where do I plug it in? The front or the back?
Me: Wherever you see a USB slot. Do you know what those look like? Do you see the plug that you are holding in your hand, the shape of it plus how part of it is indented?
Mom: OK so front or back?
Me: [ to my dad, who did it before - “Dad, where are the USB ports on Grandma’s computer?” Dad: “Just find one wherever.” Me: “DAD! JUST PICK ONE, OMG!” ] OK Mom, look in the back. Do you see slots?
Mom: Oh, there are a lot. Which one do I pick?
Me: Any one, Mom. As long as it fits.
Mom: The HDMI one?
Me: [ raising my voice ] MOM, NO. WHATEVER FITS, WITHOUT FORCE. THERE’S ONLY ONE SHAPE THAT WILL FIT.
Mom: Oh OK. [ sound of rustling ] [ phone goes dead ]

----------

Me: Mom, what happened?
Mom: Oh, the phone cord wasn’t long enough. Oh, how about this … [ plugs it in … I see a signal, but it’s black ] Now what?
Me: [ seeing the light at the end of this dark, dark tunnel ] OK Mom, good, good! Now, you’ve plugged it in, and it works, but there’s a COVER on the webcam you have slide off. Do you see that sliding thing?
Mom: Where … hmmm … [ I am sweating bc we ARE SO CLOSE ] Like this?
Me: YES! YES! OMG! YES! I SEE YOU! OMG MOM, GOOD JOB!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OK now position the webcam so we can see Grandma while she sits in the chair… OK you got it … OK you can stop moving the webcam now … you’re sure it won’t fall off the monitor, right? OK then that’s good … STOP MOVING IT MOM, YOU GOT IT ALREADY … OK well put Grandma on the phone!

----------

It was totally worth all the frustration to see my grandma’s face, though. :) THANK YOU, MOM!!!!

Keeping my fingers crossed that the computer won’t need to get formatted again in the near future. (I don’t imagine my uncles are that web savvy, I think they click on pop ups and other random stuff … sigh …)

The first time we had this event, it was such a huge hit, we went ahead and did it again.

I got to meet the chef who is the mastermind behind the [in]famous Kollab-ROLL-ation:

He even showed me how to throw up a “K” sign with my hands (for KOLLABORATION):

I bought one of our limited-edition shirts for him - really, he deserved it for all his hard work; didn't expect him to thank me with this all-original creation, totally off the menu, and VERY pretty:

 

 

But I’m a vegetarian, so I saved it for my roommate who lets me drag her out to my Kollaboration functions:

This here picture is of 3 Dulles High School AND University of Texas at Austin alumni, coincidentally posed in order of height … can you put us in order of oldest to youngest? :)

‘Twas a fun night. Thanks to all those who came out to support Kollaboration Houston tonight at Fish Sushi!

My dad is usually a serious no-nonsense guy, but it’s times like these when I get a glimpse into who he REALLY is, deep down inside.

Behold the gift he brought me back from Asia: Crunching Dog!

Dunno if you noticed the text at the bottom:

Various views of “Crunching Dog”:

OK kids, get your minds out of the gutter now. :)

And of course, the video. Well, it didn’t work so well with my computer at work with the vertical USB port, but you get the gist:

pointless but cute! :)

And no, it does not double as a USB flash drive. Hahahah doh!

I would prefer it to be more practical (I am my dad’s daughter, fo shizzle), but my dad knew I would love this: it’s both cute and techie / geeky. Thanks, Dad! :)

I just sometimes make food that tastes like I can. :)

Trying the “Extra Hot” S&B Curry for the first time. It definitely isn’t “extra” hot, it’s barely even just hot; there’s just slight kick to it. :)

Notes on approximate quantities used: ~ 2.5 lbs potatoes + 1.5 onions + 3 large carrots + 6 stalks celery + 4 squares of the Extra Hot S&B Curry (1/2 the pkg).

I also like the Engrish on the top right of the package: “No Meat Contained”. Hooray. Thanks. :) [ other curry-related Engrish entries ]

My Ah-Gong’s (Grandpa’s) funeral is today in Taiwan. Just wanted to look back on some memories of him over the past decade.

July 2002: The North American part of the Chen family gathered in Taiwan for Grandpa’s 85th birthday. We went for a walk with Ah-Gong. At 85, he was in good health, and it was pretty hard for me to keep up with him.

Along the way there was one of those pebble paths that you take your shoes off and torture / massage your feet on. It was very painful for me to walk upon, but Grandpa had different ideas:

I always liked our Chen family photos. It was basically an exercise in, “How many people can we fit into this picture?”

We got to surprise him with a little acapella birthday present:

July 2005: Grandpa’s 88th birthday was also a big deal since 8 is a lucky number in Chinese. He coined the term “rice” birthday year (if you know Chinese, write out “eighty-eight” vertically, then fit the 8’s to the 10 and flip the top one vertically – it will be the “rice” character).

Here, he’s with a few of his many grandkids the day after his birthday. I think we were paying respect to our ancestors by burning incense among other stuff (and yes, contributing to the already really polluted air in Taiwan).

November 2006: We had the opportunity to go back to Taiwan again because of my maternal grandmother’s 80th birthday, so we got to spend some more time with Ah-Gong. His kids had bought him a golf cart-type vehicle to get around in to replace the moped he was accustomed to riding; here, he describes in great detail how to use it.

He seems a bit worried about if we’re gonna break his cart, hehe.

I like photographing my dad with my grandpa. Each of his sons resembled him in some way, and my dad is no exception. I think it’s interesting how similar they are, both outwardly and inwardly.

July 2007: We came back for the 3rd year in a row for Grandpa’s 90th birthday, yet another milestone. This is a photo I found of my dad and my grandpa at the table, eating together.

There was a short period of time when my grandpa and I were closer – we talked on the phone once a week until his hearing started to go and he refused to wear a hearing aid. My earliest memories of him are in Canada, when he came to visit and would ride the public transportation to get from garage sale to garage sale using the little English he had; this impressed upon me his sense of adventure, fearlessness, and fun despite geographical and language barriers. My dad says Ah-Gong had a photographic memory, was a great calligrapher, and never took advantage of anyone.

I’m glad my dad got to visit Ah-Gong shortly before he passed away. I know Grandpa has always been surrounded by his children and grandchildren (and great-grandchildren!) who tried their best to show him respect. And here, in my little space online, from across the world, I hope to pay him my respects also.

Gotta love baby Jonathan’s beautiful, twinkling eyes as he climbs all over his daddy. :)