Public Transportation

For the past few days I have been trying to be a good citizen by attempting to take public transportation to go to work. First day I took the bus which dropped me off four big blocks away from work so it took me 40 minutes (vs. 15 minutes by taxi). On the way home, I took a taxi who took me to opposite direction and cost me twice as much taxi fare to go home. Today I took another bus which dropped me off two block away but I needed to walk 10 minutes to catch the bus. Total journey time is again 30 minutes. I had to take the taxi home again since Joaquin is hungry and I was running late. Luckily, this time I walked for 15 minutes first so my taxi ride will be short. Tomorrow I'm going to try out another bus to see if I can get to work faster. It's not easy but it saves money and reduces carbon emission. I'm not the only good citizen as I notice taxi queues are visibly shorter these days. Obviously the melting stock market is far more powerful than Al Gore's cry to save our melting planet.

Embrace the Financial Ice Age

When it began 6 weeks ago, it was called a financial storm. The general public were in shock but they were somewhat happy to see the Wall Street bankers punished for their greed. Then the storm became tsunami, swallowing up the other side of the Atlantic. Currencies fell in a record speed against the Dollar. Overnight, people see their wealth evaporate and purchasing power decrease. Fundamentals are thrown out of window. This week the tsunami turned into ice storm, freezing up emerging markets which in less than six months ago were over heating to now colder than your freezer. Many now are reported to be on the brink of bankruptcy. Much like Fuld of Lehman who didn't see it coming, we also didn't see it coming (even Mr. Greenspan was blind sighted). I now feel like I'm a character in "The Day after Tomorrow" standing cold in a frozen world and wondering why we were not given warning signs.

But warning signs were there, many can now point back to them with a perfect hindsight. I knew Yen was going to go up and bought into Yen more than one year ago but only to lose my patience and sold it 3 months too early. I should have sold my stock which six months ago were valued at 2 or 3 times their value today. Too many I should haves but the most important thing at the end of the day is to say 'thank you': thank you for keeping my friends and family being healthy; thank you for keeping me in good health; thank you for not having to worry about where to sleep and what to eat; thank you for having enough so I can afford to have all these "I should haves" laments; and thank you for giving me a happy and healthy baby and a loving husband so together as a family we can keep each other warm and be ready to embrace this ice age.

Who are you calling a gordito?

Ceci Jr.

Small, Medium & Large

Aging Minds...

No body told us that parenting is the cause of deteriorating memory. Last month, Jaime forgot to bring his passport to the airport for the first time in his life (only to find out later that I forgot about putting it in my purse earlier). Last Thursday, we realized that neither Jaime nor Joaquin had China visa required to attend my brother's wedding in Guangzhou on Saturday. Jaime remembered that he needed a haircut for the wedding and I remembered to ask for a crib at the hotel. The need to apply for the visa however never entered our mind...

We had to smuggle Jaime into Guangzhou since he was able to get a landing visa into Shenzhen Special Economic Zone on the day of. Technically, he was not allowed outside of SZSEZ but practically such monitoring system is not in place so we were able to attend the wedding.


Joaquin on the other hand was not as lucky. We actually brought him all the way to the border, hoping we can get him visa but the Chinese government decided that a 5-month-old can potentially pose threat since he has never applied for a formal visa before. We had to part with him at the border and had our helper bring him home. His stroller and diapers attended the wedding with us instead.

台灣行之阿祖莞爾篇

上次沒來得及寫寫阿祖的搞笑對話:

我跟她您是不是真有福氣
她說 什麼福去(台語為"福氣")
我是有很多福來才對啦...

她耳力不是很好
她自嘲地說我老了
身體全部都漏(台語同"老")掉了 都沒接著...

她拿著台幣兩千 直說我要包兩百元紅包給秉鑫
跟她說 但您手裡拿的是兩千呀
她說 蛋清(台語同"兩千")? 我還蛋黃呢...

她可以上節目跟吳宗憲一起耍寶搞笑了
一點兒都不會冷場呢

台灣行之阿祖篇

這次到台灣的主要目的之一
是帶秉鑫到斗六去看他阿祖(台語的太祖母)
我們一進門口 就看到阿嬤精神奕奕的坐在客廳看電視
很久沒看到她這麼精神了 往往都是見她令人心酸的躺在床上
哀怨的說她一輩子又沒做錯事 為何上天要罰她顧眠床(台語:睡床)
她一看到我 就叫出我堂姑的名字
跟她爭論了半天 她還是固執的說我是美國來的堂姑
這會兒 她的記憶停留在70年代
看著我 像是看到了我堂姑
我問她 懿尹有沒有來看她 她說都好久沒見了
問她 懿尹結了婚沒有 她也說不知道
陪著她說話 看電視 唱唱歌
又哄著她去睡午覺 (她硬是辯說她一向沒有睡午覺的習慣）
她睡了一覺起來　竟然認出我來了
沉睡的記憶又跳回２１世紀
看著我抱著秉鑫　問我是誰的小孩
一聽到是我的　（這一次她不再追問我結婚了沒）
她急忙掏出兩千塊　包了個大紅包給秉鑫
秉鑫也挺幫忙的從她老人家手中接下了紅包
（我把兩千塊又偷偷地塞入她口袋　怕她忘了包這紅包的事　找錢找不著）
她很開心　說說笑笑　問我住在那裡
看著秉鑫慈愛的眼神　就像她一貫看我的樣子
回台北的時間永遠來得太早　我親親她的臉頰　
告訴她我過兩個月再回來看她
人生是一個循環　現在的阿嬤如一個嬰兒般的無助
要人哄　要人逗　要人寵
我要把阿嬤當成秉鑫一樣來寵愛
但遺憾的是我卻不能像守在秉鑫身旁一樣守著她

Kate vs. Pamela

Almost every woman at some point wishes her boobies can be larger than the given size. I thought about how much more attractive I would be if I had bigger boobies to flaunt. Now my wish had come true, I have to say: big boobies suck!!!
The last couple of weeks I thought jojomami's wardrobe needs some updating with the most in-season styles (now that I can fit in most of my pre-pregnancy clothes again). I looked around and the latest fashion is all about doll/empire waist tops or Bohemian outfits. And let me tell you, there is a reason it's called doll dresses because they look completely unflattering on me (well have you seen dolls that come with boobs? have you seen barbie dressed in a doll dress?). Bohemian outfits? no way, they make me look like a bag lady! I guess that's why Kate Moss is a runway model and Pamela Andersen is not.
Have you ever seen Pamela in anything other than tight swimsuits or tight tops? I will need to stay out of fashion for a while until I return to Kate size... (but I may lose the love from Joaquin judging from his strong attraction to Victoria Secrets' models... hahaha)

Chamu at the pool in Tianmu

Chamu at Sogo Taipei

In our defense, we were just checking out the Macs when he started laughing...

台湾行之阿公篇

周三早上 一阵手忙脚乱之后 我们总算到了台湾
以前我俩出门 灵活性机动性极高
现在有了个小秉鑫 什么都要慢慢来 我们可得好好适应

到了爸爸那 第一次当阿公的他
迫不及待的想尝尝含饴弄孙的乐趣
但偏偏秉鑫因过度兴奋 午觉没睡
搞得自己又想玩又爱悃
一下笑一下哭
阿公平时只看到他满是笑容的相片
看到他哭相 可一点儿心理准备都没有 失落感特大
（秉鑫的阿公啊 那些相片都是秉鑫他爸快门都按出茧来的成果
小秉鑫可是固执的小祖宗呀）

隔天秉鑫他阿公陪我们坐火车去斗六
可是见识到了这小祖宗难缠的一面
他爸在来回车上 都得抱着他来回走动
（这小东西 不喜欢对着同样的东西不动）
在斗六他爸又推着婴儿车一个多小时
秉鑫才肯睡午觉
他妈我（这不是脏话 是正确名词）
可绝对没有这种好耐性

秉鑫他阿公： 要乖乖地戒烟 好好地锻炼身体
下次再见到 也许秉鑫就不会这样又哭又笑 黄狗撒尿了