Second Life

When I saw the news about the plane went down the Hudson River one week ago, my heart sank along with it. I prayed that miracle would happen and no one would get hurt. Miracle did happen in this case as we all learned afterwards. While I cheered on the news, I started thinking something more philosophical along the way, that one of the passengers must have seen her life flash in front of her while the plane took the dive and the captain called for the brace position, not knowing if she would ever get the chance to see her loved ones again. And when she stepped out of that plane, half way sunken in the Hudson River, and saw the sky (albeit gray) again, what decisions will she now make differently from the ones that she were making before? Will she now take every chance to tell her loved ones how much she loves them? Will she now be less affected by all the gloomy news about the economy? She certainly puts family first now because when she saw her life flash in front of her, she realized that her regret in life was the fact she hadn't spent enough time with her family but not the fact she missed the promotion she thinks she deserves. Having been granted your second life must help you put your priorities straight. In this new year and years to come, shouldn't we all live our lives like we were on that US Airways plane? So what if your net worth is now less than 50% than it was six months ago? So what if your bonus is meager and your workload has doubled? I'm just grateful that every day I get to wake up and live my second life and you should be too.

First Words?

Yesterday as we were leaving my brother's place after a long fun outing in LA, we did the usual "say bye bye Joaquin" so that he would wave back, but instead he actually said "buh buh"! I might be biased but this time I have witnesses (although his Uncle and Aunties might be biased too).

Playing Housewives

As a youngster, we were always asked what is it you want to be when you grow up? I guess I have thought about various jobs I could take when I grow up and never have I thought of becoming a housewife. This week, Jaime and I took turns of living the life of a housewife. We rented an apt for our one week stay in SF. Jaime had to take care Chamu for four days all by himself since I had more 50 meetings to attend. I did a few hours on Thursday and a few hours on Friday when Jaime was off to his meetings. And it's not easy! You have to always think about what you do and how does Chamu fit into the context of what you do. Your productivity becomes way low and your day becomes really long. I really have so much more admiration for my friends who are staying home full-time with a baby/kids and my husband who was a far more successful housewife this week than me...

Survival of the Fittest

As new parents in Hong Kong, Jaime and I are stunned at what we and our baby need to do in order to get a decent education. At 7 months old, Joaquin is already no. 200+ on the play group WAITLIST that he is supposed to join in 5 months. We were told that many parents put their babies on the wait list of prestigious nursery schools at birth/pre birth while we haven't even figured out what schools to call (which may be moot since whichever schools we call, I'm sure they are full already). For primary schools, we were told that one must have a portfolio of awards, photos of activities and scores of music that he/she can play in at least two instruments plus a reflective piece of essay on education philosophy from the parents. Having both grown up in the less developed parts of the world, both Jaime and I constantly have trouble understanding why kids even need to go to kindergarten at all so it is very difficult for us to buy into this super-competitive culture.

Childhood is so short and I would hope Joaquin's will be filled with memories of only fun and laughters (not sure if this is the philosophy piece I should expand on in the school submission). If survival of the fittest is what governs this world, maybe Joaquin can survive on his big and charming smile...

Still Laughing

More Laughing

No School for Joaquin

What kind of parents forget their son/daughter's school appointment? Well, Jaime and I happen to be exactly this kind of parents... Jaime had signed up for a visit for a nursery three months ago and I was supposed to call to confirm. Of course, every day in the last three months I was too busy to call and today I suddenly remembered and figured that I had some free time to call. Unfortunately, it was also the same time that Jaime got his pop-up reminder that the visit is scheduled for 9:45am today (or 2 hours from now!). In a competitive world like today, Joaquin's biggest disadvantage is to be born a child of two uncompetitive parents...

All I Want for Xmas Is My Two Front Teeth (part 2)

All I Want for Xmas Is My Two Front Teeth

Chamu finds his father's coughing funny