Now What

Our family and friends in Asia

2009-09-27T01:32:00.000-07:00

We have been back in the US for about five days now. Lina is taking a while to get over jet-lag - can't really force it with a 16-month old (can't very well give her melatonin or Ambien!). As such, Liz and I have been on her schedule as well. We are taking our time getting settled back into our apartment and into a more regular schedule. And we are obviously still processing our trip. It was a great trip - a bit rigorous, but a great experience nonetheless. Still going through the pictures, so I think I"ll have a few more posts left regarding the trip. Here's a quick one on the people we saw in Tokyo and Taipei.

The best part of travel is of course the people - reconnecting with family and good friends, and sometimes meeting and making new friends. Here's a sampling of people we spent time with on our three week trip to Asia.

Albert and Brenda Lin are our good friends from Taiwan. They are currently living and working in Shanghai, and were able to schedule a trip to Taipei at the same time! When Liz and I lived in Taipei in 2002 and 2003, Albert and Brenda were our constant companions! In retrospect, it was a much more care-free time in our lives, and we have very fond memories of endless hours of hanging out and talking about everything under the sun in cool cafes and restaurants around Taipei. We've kept in touch since we left Taipei - Liz and I were back in Taiwan a couple of times, including for their wedding, before this last trip and they came to visit us in NY while they were living in Chicago for grad school. Great to see you guys! Which city next?

Some of you know that I actually have a lot of family in Japan. My maternal grandfather moved his whole family to Tokyo from Taiwan some time after the war, to practice medicine, and so half my cousins are in Japan. Below are Kazen and Karin (sp?), my eldest cousin Weili's kids. And below that is a picture of my cousins and a couple of their spouses.

(Picture below: from left to right (phonetically) - Kaori (Nobu's wife), cousin Dr. Nobu Asai, cousin Isa Asai, cousin Weili (our eldest cousin on mom's side), cousin Weina, and her husband Ken)

I spent most of my childhood summers in Tokyo living with my grandparents, so I kind of grew up with all of these cousins even though we've mostly lived across the Pacific from each other. It's always great to spend time with them even though the opportunities are fewer these days and the time short.

While we were in Taipei, we also got to catch up with our old friend Linda from LA, and got to meet her husband Campbell for the first time. We went to Din Tai Fung - the best xiao long bao place in the world - and had a really great time talking about life, marriage, having a kid, and God. Good times...

Lina was very into this "xiao long bao" statue as you can see...

And last but not least, it was really great to spend time with Liz's mom in Taipei. Due to a last-minute change in her work travel schedule, she was able to hang out with us in Taipei. Lina was just so happy to have her A-ma around. It's always cool to hang out with our parents in the motherland.

Comfort food

2009-09-13T07:54:00.000-07:00

When people think about Taiwan, they invariably think about all the great food. Now, I'm no expert in what exactly "Taiwanese cuisine" is, but I know that a lot of what we consider Taiwanese food is the simple comfort foods that one can get in just about any neighborhood in Taiwan from street vendors and small mom and pop operations. I don't mean to limit "Taiwanese cuisine" to this, as I'm sure there is a higher-end cuisine than this stuff, but this is the stuff that I love. When I'm in Taiwan, (and even when I'm not), I crave the simple stuff. Today, I walked down our street and just collected a bunch of stuff for lunch. It was so satisfying!

(Clockwise, from the top) [note: pinyin spelling as well as english interpretation may be inaccurate]
1. "cong you bing" - onion pancake, 2. "shui jiao" - pork dumplings, 3. "guo tie" - fried dumplings, 4. "cao fan" - pork fried rice, 5. "xiao long bao" - small dragon dumplings (another type of dumpling, like the kind from DTF), 6. "lu ro fan" (or, "lo ba beng" inTaiwanese) - don't even know what to call this. Some sort of minced pork thing over rice. My personal favorite.

close-ups

I just love this stuff. Call me a peasant - this ain't exactly dinner at Bouley or Babbo - but this was a FEAST for me!

Lina in her ancestral homeland

2009-09-13T07:39:00.000-07:00

There was a frog at Taipei airport to welcome Lina for the first time to her ancestral homeland! Actually, I don't think you're supposed to take pictures in the customs area, but oh well. Lina was just thrilled to see this huge frog after a flight from Tokyo. She kept waving to the frog. Angelina is a 3rd generation Taiwanese-American, and this is her first trip back to the motherland. Come to think of it, I don't think I came to Taiwan for the first time until I was six or seven, so she's already ahead of me!

Lina waiting for some "tswa bieng"(sp?) (Taiwanese), or shaved ice, by the popular "Monster Ice" shop in Yongkang Street. We have been staying in this neighborhood, which is known for some great eats, including this shaved ice shop. It's also the neighborhood of the original Din Tai Fung.

There's a park near where we are staying with a slide and some other of these things I don't know what you call them...things you ride on...We are OCD w/ the anti-bacterial stuff b/c of all the potential H1N1 action going on here...

We found a Toys 'R Us today and let Lina run around to blow off some steam. She was so happy when she found this toy giraffe - it's the exact one that she has at home that her Uncle Jimbun gave to her!

Lina in Asia

2009-09-10T02:14:00.001-07:00

Our little urban traveller, taking a stroll at night in Tokyo...

So how is this trip going for Lina? What has she been up to? We often wonder what is going on in her head. Does she know we're on a trip? Is she wondering why every day is so different and crazy now (no more disciplined schedule!)? Only God knows!

We know she definitely misses the people that she is constantly around - her grandparents, her aunts and uncles, and of course her cousins. Her cousin Noah is only two months older than her - she used to see him several times a week until the Lee family moved to Kansas City recently. I brought along some home videos (short clips) on the laptop and on DVDs on this trip, and she often points to the people she recognizes (esp. the kids!) and wants to see them! We think she's heart-sick over her cousins/friends! I'm no psychologist, but I'm pretty sure the distinction between video and reality is probably still kind of blurry. It's like she wants to jump into the video and play with Noah! Today Liz's mom (Lina's maternal grandmother) arrived in Taipei as well and Lina was beside herself!

She also misses her crib! She has a nice crib at home. We are traveling with a light pack 'n play crib, which she likes too, but she definitely misses her spacious bed at home. We've come across a couple cribs in department stores and changing rooms and she goes crazy trying to get in them.

Otherwise, she is being herself. Roaming around places, making random noises, and smiling and pointing at dogs and other babies. Here are some random pics of her playing around town (in Tokyo).

Riding the tricycle (I'm really doing the work here) at a baby store in Omotesando Hills.

Outside the Anniversaire Cafe on Omotesando.

Liz "reading" a Japanese book to her.

Some good food in Japan

2009-09-10T01:51:00.000-07:00

Traveling w/ a kid (a very young one esp.) is a new thing for us. We've only been on one other trip requiring air travel previous to this trip. We are so thankful that we are able to bring her to Japan and Taiwan. I love watching her absorb new surroundings and introducing her to our beloved homeland! But traveling with her definitely is a lot different from when it was just the two of us. Obviously! For one thing, it's not as easy to sit down and have a long and relaxing meal. Those of you who have eaten out with us know what I'm talking about. Lina is very active - which I am of course thankful for (better than lethargic) - but she definitely won't sit through a meal. She's sixteen months old! Also, she was never one of those infants that slept quietly in a car seat (w/ a blanket covering over) through a long meal. I think she did it exactly once (at Eunice (Liu) Hui's birthday dinner last year). So, it was a pleasant surprise that she fell asleep during two nice meals for us in Tokyo this past week!

This first place is an all-you-can-eat shabu place in Kichijioji, a bustling town about twenty minutes from Shinjuku, or central Tokyo. As you can hopefully see, the beef is thin and carefully presented. You get four trays of these at a time, and you can keep going for up to 90 minutes. Above is the pot w/ some veggies and the sauces. It was very tasty, and also very relaxing b/c Lina happened to be so tired she passed out in the Ergo baby carrier, and then on the bench next to Liz!

The next day, we were on Omotesando (Ave.? Bvld.?), the "Paris of Tokyo," and she fell asleep again while Liz was wearing her! We stumbled up on this fusion restaurant called Miyashita inside the posh Omotesando Hills shopping complex. We only found out later that it was a highly recommended place. We had to sit at the counter because the wait for a table was over an hour. We had minced beef cutlet, but look at all the other greens and garnishes that are so carefully prepared. This isn't Curry House on Sawtelle anymore! Again, very tasty. And it was nice to have a moment to relax over a meal! Thanks, Lina!

Travel and Self-Torture

2009-09-06T19:39:00.001-07:00

Recently, we've been busy with some weddings in the family. Eunice, Liz's third sister, (& Ben) married in July, and my cousin Henry (&Naomi) were married a few weeks ago. They were all very smart - they went to Hawaii for a very relaxing honeymoon. My cousin Sam (&Karyn) are planning a relaxing getaway to Maui as well. Many of you know that Liz and I had a very rigorous honeymoon. You've all heard me talk about being nearly mugged twice in Spain, and taking a very romantic and intimate overnight coach train from Paris to San Sebastian with four other smelly travellers (one of whom stripped down to his tighty-whities). Well, we continued this proclivity towards self-punishment when we travelled on this trip. Here is a short clip of us after our 1.) 11 hr flight (w/ Lina being awake MOST of the time), 2.) 1 hr. 10 min. Narita Express ride into Shinjuku (w/ all our luggage and a very tired and fussy baby), AND 3.) transfer to a local JR train to our apartment. By this time, we were both pulling from DEEP reserves!

Lina in Tokyo

2009-09-06T19:34:00.001-07:00

Lina was jetlagged for quite a while. Those of you who know her know that she is a light sleeper. The picture below, of her passed out on the changing mat, is HIGHLY UNUSUAL. Anyway, here she is, passed out even after we picked her up from her pack 'n play.

Some more pictures of Lina goofin' around in Odaiba overlooking the Bay.

Tokyo! Some initial pics

2009-09-05T18:42:00.001-07:00

Here are some initial pictures from our trip. I'll provide more details later as we're about to run out to meet some friends for lunch. The picture above is at the Ghibli Museum in Kichijioji.

Here's Lina and I on a boat/ferry going from Toyosu to Odaiba.
Standing out on the deck at one of the huge shopping complexes in Odaiba overlooking some bay or harbor. Not sure what it is. I want to call it Tokyo Bay, but I can't be sure!

Lina biting into a corn at a yakitori house!

MOS Burger! One of our favorite fast food joints in Asia! Here's Lina getting ready to chow down on one of their yakiniku burgers (the patty is made of rice). This picture was taken our first morning here, at like 9 in the morning. Lina at LAX getting ready for her 11 hr. journey. Pictures a bit blurry.

OK. More later!

Week 1 of my post-WMG life

2009-08-24T22:15:00.000-07:00

It has been a little over a week since I ended my time at WMG. What have I been doing? Well, one cool thing is that I've been able to take Lina to the park almost every morning. There is a really cool playground near us called "Aidan's Playground" at Veteran Park, behind the Federal Building in Westwood. I try to take Lina there on weekend mornings. Now that every day is a weekend, I was able to take her for several mornings straight, which was fun. Here is a photo montage of Lina on the swings over the course of several (week)days this past week.

Post-WMG Life

2009-08-22T11:42:00.000-07:00

After four years, four months, and fourteen days, I've officially finished my time at Warner Music Group. August 14th was my last day at WMG. Although I've been based out of the Burbank office for the past year and a half, I finished up my last week in NY, where my team is based and where I spent my first few years. It was a week of transitioning and spending some good time w/ all the good folks at WMG. In the small world that we live in (and with this thing called the world wide web), I plan and hope to stay in contact with a lot of my ex-colleagues. But it's the day to day interaction that I will miss. I'm sad to leave my friends - many who have become very good friends - at Warner, but thrilled about the next chapter in life. I don't know what I'll be doing next career-wise (having several conversations but I'll keep the details light for now), but I'm looking forward to taking a bit of time off to spend with the family and to travel. We are headed to Japan and Taiwan next week for three weeks! A bit nervous about taking Lina on a 12 hour flight (she's been on a 6 hr. flight) but really excited about getting back to Asia and seeing some old friends and family. And eating really great food!

Happy birthday baby girl

2009-05-03T00:02:00.000-07:00

One year. Five hundred twenty five thousand six hundred minutes. How do you measure a year in the life? Can't believe our little Angelina was born one year ago. It seems like yesterday, and it seems like an eternity ago. We had a little party for her last week with our immediate families. She ate cake and frosting for the first time and shivered. Didn't really like it. Whew. We're going to just take it easy tomorrow. Maybe we'll get her a cupcake or something and take her to the playground. Lots of fun these days. She has been taking several steps at a time, and she's saying all sorts of random things. We were looking at some DVDs today, and she pointed to an animal on the cover of a Baby Einstein DVD and said, "duck." We looked at each other baffled - how does she know the word "duck?"

Susan Boyle

2009-04-15T23:58:00.000-07:00

You have to watch this on YouTube. I can't embed it here since it's been blocked. Many of you have probably seen it already - it's all over the internet - but if you haven't, click on this link below and spend a few minutes watching this, you won't regret it. I'm certainly not the first person to blog or tweet about this (just tweeted this and it's one of the top trending keywords on Twitter, of course). Susan Boyle, a homely looking unemployed 47 year old takes the stage at Britains Got Talent 2009. Everyone rolls their eyes and chuckles to themselves. And then...

Susan Boyle clip on YouTube

Wow. I was blown away by this. And moved. (It doesn't hurt that Les Miserables is one my favorite musicals!) Nothing I'm saying here is original - seems like the masses have weighed in. Here she is - this person that is utterly unremarkable. I know that sounds mean, but you know it's true. I don't have all the facts, but from Eugene Cho's blog, which is far more developed than my thoughts here, it sounds like she's had a relatively uphill life. Then you have all these smug self-important people - Simon Cowell, and his cohorts, the audience, and certainly everyone watching on TV or on the internet - sitting in front of her, ready to just tear into her. She just didn't belong...and then the music plays. People continue to smirk. She opens her mouth to sing and...BAM. W-O-W. Maybe it's the proverbial underdog story. Maybe it's that the world all around us seems to be going to the crapper in a hurry. It's all of these things and more. And then this humble, utterly unremarkable woman - insignificant in the haughty world's eyes - comes out of nowhere and just floors us...and in the process, lifts my spirits. Thank you, Susan. I needed that right about now.

UPDATED: her behavior post-performance has put a real damper on this...

Recent picures of Lina around the apt

2009-03-28T22:36:00.000-07:00

Playdates

2009-03-28T22:26:00.000-07:00

Liz and Lina have been going on playdates more, and having folks over. Lina just LOVES other kids and babies. She loves to have other children around. She'll start pointing, laughing and sometimes yelling. Frenetic energy.

Here are some recent pics of a playdate at our place with Janet (and "Aju") and Charice (and Max and Maddy). I posted about them a while back...Janet and Charice's husbands, Taos and Ko, respectively, were both classmates of mine at Wharton. Liz met Janet and Charice in Philly and they bonded as LA transplants who were dragged to Philly. Now they are all back in LA with their kids. Ours is the youngest. Liz and Lina also just hung out with Janet (and Agnes) and Grace (and Christian). (Grace is also a prolific updater of her blog!) Charice and Ko just had another one recently!

Books

2009-03-28T22:17:00.000-07:00

Liz and I were both book nerds growing up. Trying to instill some of that into Lina. She's starting to really get into books. As some of you know, Eric Carle is a famous illustrator and children's book writer. This year is the 40th anniversary of his seminal work "The Very Hungry Caterpillar." His illustrations have a very distinct style, and even Google chose to redesign the home page on the actual 40th day anniversary, in his style. Anyway, Liz recently bought Lina the book "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?" Lina loves it! This morning, without gesturing, I asked Lina: "do you want to read a book? How about 'Brown Bear?'" She crawled right up to her book shelf, picked up Brown Bear and exclaimed "brunh brunh." Haha. I was proud...

Here she is sitting by her bookcase.

Bad blogger

2009-03-28T21:57:00.000-07:00

I'm a bad blogger. Ever since I read this post from my boy Tim Kau in NY I've been feeling really antsy about my inability to blog consistently. And even @Hosive talks about the modern-day pressure of needing to consistently express oneself on social networks - through tweets, FB updates, Flickr uploads, FB picture uploads, imeem playlists, etc., etc. I do feel this persistent low grade stress, or annoyance, in the back of mind, for not being up to date on posts, tweets, updates, and pictures. My little sister-in-law Leener, for example, is an avid blogger and is so on top of her pictures, both on her blog and on FB. Most of my tagged photos on FB are from her.

I started this blog with grand ambitions. I wanted to comment on not just our life in LA - which has been dominated this year by the new entrant into the family - but also talk about the industry I'm in (music, digital media, etc.) and maybe even talk about travel, etc. I wanted to talk about interesting ideas that I'm ruminating over. And I wanted to write about meaningful things related to family, life, politics, faith, etc. All of the things I find on my friends' blogs...

But, at the end of the day, it's just hard to find any energy left to write anything. It's been a tiring year! And to be quite honest, I just don't seem to have any interesting ideas or topics to explore these days. And if I do, I quickly forget them due to general exhaustion. Well, things are getting a lot better. Lina is on a pretty consistent sleep schedule, and so our lives are a little more predictable. So, hopefully I'll be able to write more consistently on this blog again. But I'm not going to overreach. I'm gonna keep it simple. Step 1: I'm gonna post some recent pics of daddy's girl now...

Chores Part 2

2009-03-28T21:52:00.001-07:00

Here's Lina doing more chores...sending some faxes for me, and loading the dishwasher...

Chores

2009-02-28T21:55:00.000-08:00

We're starting early with instilling a good work ethic in Lina. Here she is taking out the trash - her own diapers...

Hawaii - the first pics

2009-02-06T00:01:00.000-08:00

So we made it back from our first plane trip and vacation with Lina. We had a really great time. It wasn't the most relaxing holiday we've ever had, but it was fun! Here some initial pics...

Me and Lina at Lanikai Beach on the east shore of Oahu. Breathtaking...
Ko Olina lagoons, below, on the west shore of the island. We caught the sunset, which was really nice.

Pre-Trip

2009-01-25T23:46:00.000-08:00

We're going to take this little critter on her first plane trip. It's just past midnight, and our flight is at 8:45am. I think we are close to being done packing. We're a bit nervous about taking her on the first flight. A cousin of mine is getting married in Oahu, so we thought this was the perfect opportunity and excuse to go on our first trip as a family. If we survive the five and a half hour plane ride, I'll blog about the adventure!

2008 in Review

2009-01-02T14:53:00.000-08:00

The Year in Review - Facebook updates

2008-12-31T23:43:00.000-08:00

You're wondering: who has the time to go and cut and paste all of these one by one? I guess I do. I have this tendency to want to review each year as it draws to a close. Usually I read my journals from the year, and talk to Liz about the year. This year, Liz suggested that I take a look back at all of my status updates on Facebook. So, I actually went through the laborious process pulling out each of these updates from the year. There are about 120 one of them! 2008 was a year to remember. The great and terrible year. I'll have more to say, and some photos to post. But first...my year of Facebook status updates:

Jan 2: Leonard is looking at short-term flats in Le Marais. 11:50pm

Jan 5: Leonard is working. 11:53am

Jan 6: Leonard is taking it easy with the wife on the Westside (not Upper) and psyching myself up for CES. 12:29pm

Jan 6: Leonard is sitting at LAX Terminal 1 waiting for flight to Vegas. 8:11pm

Jan 7: Leonard is in the taxi line at the Venetian. 9:49pm

Jan 8: Leonard is hoping to kick this cough soon. 12:38pm

Jan 8: Leonard is so glad that doctor friends can call in prescription drugs for him. 5:23pm

Jan 10: Leonard is in rainy NorCal and wondering why the weather has sucked since moving to the West Coast. 10:22am

Jan 10: Leonard is hoping Michael Nash doesn't hurt anyone at SFO if our flight is delayed another hour. 3:34pm

Jan 10: Leonard is relieved to be back. 10:53pm

Jan 21: Leonard is having brunch with the wife at Toast on 3rd street. 1:38pm

Jan 21: Leonard is planning the details of their last vacation...ever. 9:47pm

Jan 24: Leonard is pissed that United cancelled not one but two flights on him. 8:53am

Jan 24: Leonard is onboard at LAX headed to Nice via Frankfurt and CDG. 4:56pm

Jan 25: Leonard is stuck for a couple of hours in Frankfurt, with only a doppio and an FT for company. 5:20am

Jan 25: Leonard is wearing the same thing today b/c Air France/United lost his luggage - a perfect way to cap off a perfect travel day! 11:50pm

Jan 26: Leonard is buying boxers in Cannes because the airline hasn't delivered the lost luggage. 9:07am

Jan 27: Leonard is having lunch outdoors on the Mediterranean sea. 4:04am

Jan 28: Leonard is not feeling great after staying up all night. 10:26pm

Feb 1: Leonard is making reservations at Kong and Laduree in broken French. haha... 2:51am

Feb 1: Leonard is getting crushed by the euro. 2:19pm

Feb 2: Leonard is standing in line in St Germaine for some macroons. 6:44am

Feb 6: Leonard is finally at CDG, after 90 minutes of public transport - involuntarily standing in solidarity with Parisian taxi drivers on strike. 12:54am

Feb 6: Leonard is back Stateside. 1:20pm

Feb 7: Leonard is using his 646 number cuz he lost his 917 phone - sorry for those who called. 3:57pm

Feb 9: Leonard is back in the warm weather. 9:16pm

Feb 12: Leonard is at LAX again, and wondering if ordering this Sausage McMuffin is a bad idea. 6:46am

Feb 12: Leonard is anxious to get off the plane and away from the talkative stranger on 9A. 4:11pm

Feb 13: Leonard is eating In-n-Out in the car, on the 405 North, and doing a conference call. Not a great idea. 11:22am

Feb 16: Leonard is reading the paper by the pool and working on the master to-do list. 10:44am

Feb 21: Leonard is sitting in sister in law's living room with a bunch of folks, timing contractions, and wondering if his nephew will be born on Uncle Leonard's birthday! 11:16pm

Feb 25: Leonard is trying to build a multivariable decision model for selecting the right car - should have paid attention in Monte Carlo simulation class. 12:41am

Feb 25: Leonard was asked earlier in the day: "Are you the new intern?" Nice. Maybe I'll wear glasses and a tie tomorrow.

Feb 26: Leonard is doing the maternity tour at Cedars Sinai - short of breath and light-headed all of a sudden! 5:18pm

Mar 3: Leonard is rescheduling the entire week. 10:49am

Mar 3: Leonard is at Cedars again. 6:27pm

Mar 3: Leonard is at Cedars again, about to go meet the new nephew for the first time - Noah F. Lee, 7 pounds exactly. 6:29pm

Mar 6:

Leonard is wondering why the directed him to the long security line upstairs at Terminal 1 LAX instead of letting him go through the empty line downstairs. 6:17am

Leonard is taking a train down the peninsula looking for his rental car. 4:12pm

Leonard is polishing up a bottle of Ridge Valley with old friends Andrew and Charles, and waxing nostalgic about the city. 11:32pm

Mar 9: Leonard is at Target, amazed that there are so many little things he didn't realize he needed until seeing them. 4:05pm

Mar 10: Leonard is moving into the new crib on Olympic and Bentley. 2:17pm

Mar 11: Leonard is cleared but running out of those precious 500 mile credits and comps. 8:36am

Mar 18: Leonard is already logged on to CBS March Madness on-demand and watching Tyus Edney vs. Missouri 1995 over and over... 7:59pm

Mar 29: Leonard wonders if San Antonio could be considered a critical business trip. 9:58pm

Apr 11: Leonard is having a "GSD" day - getting shtuff done. 12:40pm

Apr 12: Leonard is labeling, filing, and shredding, and getting a lot of satisfaction out of it. 7:01pm

Apr 13: Leonard thinks Britax should hire a couple of product designers to re-write the user manual, b/c I have no idea how to use this thing. 10:55am

Apr 16: Leonard is making a list but feeling paralyzed. 12:28pm

Apr 28: Leonard is picking up some shaved ice at volcano tea on sawtelle. 10:30pm

May 3: Leonard is waiting in room 5 at Cedars, with a view of the Hills. 7:54am

May 4: Leonard is sleepless at Cedars, chillin' in wonderment with Liz and Angelina "Lina" Ruth Chen, born 5/3 at 11:03am (PST) - 7lbs. and 21 in. 12:58pm

May 12: Leonard is changing, burping, changing, burping, etc. 7:29pm

May 12: Leonard watching Anderson Cooper and wondering why there is so much suffering in the world.via Twitter - 10:40pm

May 22: Leonard is doubtful that summer hours means anything to his dept. 1:23pm

May 23: Leonard is on a day trip to Berkeley for sister's grad...sitting on southwest now, the greyhound in the sky. 6:41am

May 23: Leonard is at a commencement cocktail thing at berkeley, shocked at how fast the kid sister grew up. 11:54am

May 27:

Leonard is wondering if the pediatrician would ok a night cap to take the edge off for the baby. 12:52am

Leonard is thanking the barista for the free fourth shot of the quadruple soy latte and hopes this helps him get through the morning. 7:43am

May 29: Leonard is eating a lu(3) dan(4) and thinking of Shilin night market in Taipei. 12:00am

Jun 4: Leonard is watching a documentary of the "Showtime" era Lakers - the refrigerator door is closed! 10:13pm

Jun 5: Leonard feels like it was just yesterday when he was watching Magic & Co. at the Fabulous Forum in Inglewood. 2:37pm

Jun 6: Leonard $138 a barrel... shoot me! 12:50pm

Jun 9: Leonard is finalizing his term life insurance application - both comforting and quite disturbing. 4:52pm

Jun 11: Leonard is exhausted and so not in the mood to talk to the extremely talkative driver. 10:17pm

Jun 17: Leonard is thinking about shutting down the TV - it's just too painful. 8:03pm

Jun 28: Leonard is picking up world-class dumplings at Din Tai Fung in Arcadia. 6:47pm - Comment

Jun 29: Leonard is happy for Espana. 1:41pm

Jul 7: Leonard was just asked if he was an intern again. Thinking of wearing a suit to the office (where everyone wears jeans) from now on... 12:16pm

Jul 8: Leonard is shocked that somebody actually bothered to call from Cannes about the mobile phone he lost six months ago; must have dialed everyone on my presets. 9:52am

Jul 10: Leonard is is sitting across from Ken Watanabe abd thinks the (second to the) last samurai looks a lot bigger onscreen. thinking abt challenging him to a sword fight. 1:17pm

Jul 17:

Leonard is bleary-eyed abd trying to convince himself and his wife that some day they will miss the moments. thanks elliott, for the advice... 4:41am

Leonard is bleary eyed but trying to telling himself and his wife that someday they will look back fondly at these moments. thanks, elliott, for the perspective! 4:44am

Leonard is stuck in line at sbux behind the guy who ordered 8 diff custom beverages - what bet did he lose? 8:27am

Jul 25: Leonard is working. 1:53am

Jul 26: Leonard finally enjoying some downtime after putting the kid down - surfing the net and watching TV...now considered paradise...via Twitter - 1:46am

Jul 28:

Leonard is disturbed by the fact that 30 days of gmail have been wiped out of his inbox...this couldn't just be a case of pocket-typing could it? 12:36am

Leonard is thankful and relieved that bro/sis-in-law are here taking care of baby while we take care of stuff, and entertained by their sheer panic. 8:19pm

Jul 29: Leonard is getting blasted with emails, IM's and facebook messages asking about the earthquake. 1:02pm

Aug 3: Leonard wishes he pushed back more on his stylist and feels like he should be wearing rayon and singing duran duran with his new '80's-style do. 11:55am

Aug 4: Leonard is wondering how long must we sing this song. 9:37pm –

Aug 5: Leonard (to the guy blackberry-ing in the bathroom stall): you gotta draw the line somewhere! 4:15pm

Aug 8: Leonard is closing out a very productive week - 1 parking ticket, 1 speeding ticket, 1 extra VOD charge b/c they couldn't watch the movie within 24 hrs...what a week. 5:17pm

Aug 9: Leonard is at Half and Half tea house in San Gabriel, which has the most authentic Taiwanese boba in LA. 5:41pm

Aug 10: Leonard finally watched the Opening Ceremony - 3 days later - on DVR...and wow... 1:38pm

Aug 22: Leonard is wondering why the NYtimes got the news on the selection before he got his promised text message. 11:40pm

Sep 7: Leonard is looking forward to this full capacity redeye. 10:15pm

Sep 11: Leonard is sleep-training. 11:27pm

Sep 13: Leonard almost caved on night #2 of sleep training...almost...goodness. 12:05am

Sep 26: Leonard is wondering if the average Taiwanese is also taller than the average North Korean, and by how many inches? 7:53pm

Sep 28: Leonard is roaming around the UES in a tux...fancy Chinese delivery guy or friend of bride and groom? 9:53am

Sep 30: Leonard is glad to be back at home with the girls. 11:33pm

Oct 5: Leonard is trying to calculate the absolute maximum amount of Motrin he can have in 24 hours, and how best to disburse it, without OD-ing. 10:02pm

Oct 15: Leonard is pissed that the greedy insurance co. called my mobile to ask how much longer I'll be hospitalized...at least wait til after the IV and oxygen tubes are... 9:20am

Oct 16: Leonard is thankful for a nice break from the drudgery of the hospital - a couple of hearty laughs while watching the al smith charity dinner. 6:26pm

Oct 17: Leonard is thinking 17 straight days of fever probably ain't good for the brain. 10:33am

Oct 18: Leonard is must be picking up the med lingo - a doctor just asked me if I was a doctor. or I've been here way too long... 10:44am

Oct 19: Leonard is becoming a fixture here, just had my daily half hour conversation with the hospital menu supervisor about her graduating son's career path - MD, MBA, or... 11:40am

Oct 21: Leonard is dying to get the hell home...anyone in WeHo or Bev Hills got a helicopter for a quick getaway? I'll rip the IV's out like 007... 7:47pm

Oct 29:

Leonard is happy for their old home of 2 years - good ole' philly, which according to will smith, is jiggy. 7:35pm

Leonard is happy for his old stomping grounds of 2 years - good ole' Philly, which according to Will Smith, is jiggy like LA. 7:36pm

Oct 30: Leonard is wondering if it's a bad omen when my insurance company - United Healthcare - calls me to talk about getting a living will done? Yikes. 10:19am

Oct 31: Leonard is happy to have Mike and Oli over tonight. 11:09pm

Nov 4: Leonard - wow, my six month old daughter is going to grow up thinking she can do anything... 11:15pm

Nov 7: Leonard is sacrificing baby's sleep schedule for korean bbq. hopefully won't pay for it later... 8:21pm

Nov 10: Leonard California drivers (San Mateo county jurisdiction) - any suggestions for the FASTEST possible online traffic school course? 9:50pm

Nov 21: Leonard is looking forward to dinner with the wife, while the sis-in-law babysits! only the third quiet meal just the two of us in the last 6 months! thanks Em! 12:52pm

Dec 1:

Leonard is with my peers at the LA Superior Court for jury duty. 8:04am

Leonard is filling the last seat in the box. 2:59pm

Dec 5: Leonard is bruised, sore, and scratched up after slipping down some stairs while holding lina - thankfully baby is ok; and what's up with my luck this year. 1:18am

Dec 7: Leonard is finally caving on his policy of not requesting to add friends on fb, and is finally requesting to add Liz (the wife) as a friend (she has the same policy). 11:36pm

Dec 8: Leonard is at Ralph's supermarket, missing Fairway's on the UWS. 8:35pm

Dec 21: Leonard is at nieces/nephew's holiday piano recital...they are great, but brings back tortuous childhood memories... 6:47pm

Dec 22: Leonard accidently hit the "take a break" link on Gmail and is locked out. Anybody know how to unlock this function? 4:20pm

Dec 23: Leonard is waiting to get in for some korean bbq at Tahoe Galbi. 7:50pm

Dec 24: Leonard can't believe it's been one year exactly since we left NYC. Where did the year go? 10:36am

Oh Lina

2008-12-07T22:48:00.000-08:00

Every day she seems to learn something new. She's now a bit over seven months. In the last few weeks, she's been learning to crawl. At first, she started out by just "creeping" around the floor, and flailing about to travel across the room in whatever manner she can. Now it's a little more coordinated, and she's becoming super fast. This opens up a whole new set of things for us to worry about! And it's tiring keeping up with her. I can't even imagine what it will be like when she starts to run around. She's also sitting pretty well by herself now. And just today, she started going from crawling position to sitting position rather smoothly.

She has also started sitting on her high chair several weeks ago. Now she can sit with us at the table while we eat, which is a huge improvement. Thanks to my friends Dan and Claudia for such a generous and cool gift! This ain't no regular high chair, it is a feature-packed TRIP TRAPP high chair from STOKKE, made of cultivated beechwood. Oh yeah, and as you can see, she's starting to eat solids! She is really getting a lot more interactive. It's been really fun.

Different events

2008-12-07T22:33:00.001-08:00

Since getting out of the hospital, we've tried to restore some normalcy in our lives. It has been nice to get out again and also to partake in the fun events in life. Here's a picture of me and Lina at Liz's cousin Charles (and Angela's) wedding in San Juan Capistrano. It was kind of cold, and outdoors, so we had her bundled up.

Liz's birthday. Only the third time we've had a meal together by ourselves outside of our home since Lina arrived. Had some prime rib at Lawry's. It was fun, but we ate our food super-fast as that it is the only we know how to eat now. Thanks again to Emily and Jonathan and the kids for babysitting!

At Shabu Hachi, one of our favorite restaurants in the neighborhood. Great shabu shabu here, and reminds us of Shabu Tatsu in the East Village - one of our absolute favorite spots in NY. Always a special treat to enjoy dinner with good friends on a cold winter's night. Not quite the same effect here!

Speaking of friends in NY, our good friend Brandon came to visit. Brandon has a cool job - he travels around the country selling whiskey. Here's Brandon chilling with Lina!

October at Cedars

2008-12-07T21:00:00.000-08:00

So, finally, here is the rundown of what happened to me in October. The ironic thing is, I remember flying back from NY at the end of September thinking, "that was a busy month - two trips to NY, and many other things going on - I'm looking forward to October..."

I'll try to keep the description brief. I had a cytomegalovirus ("CMV") infection that basically wreaked havoc throughout my body. To be more specific, my physician called it CMV colitis. To provide a bit of context, I was diagnosed with a chronic illness called Crohn's Disease in 2002. As such, I take immunosuppressant drugs on a daily basis to treat this condition. At some point, my immune system must have dropped below an acceptable level, causing me to be vulnerable to a CMV infection. In actuality, CMV is a relatively common in the population (55-80% of adults have it), but it doesn't pose a problem for most people with a healthy immune system. For me, the CMV infection started in my GI and spread to many of my organs - my lungs, kidneys, liver, etc. My blood counts were all off (e.g., low white blood cells, or "neutropenic," and low red blood cells), resulting in a blood transfusion at the hospital.

At first I just thought I had a bad flu. I had ten days of fevers, chills, and bad GI symptoms before I was finally admitted to Cedars-Sinai hospital. It took an army of specialists and a few days for them to definitively diagnose it. I was really sick for the first 4-5 days, but started feeling a bit better after the treatment started kicking in (ganciclovir via IV). I was released after 12 days, but continued IV treatment at home for two weeks.

The good news is, I am expected to recover 100%. I would say that I'm close to that now, although I've been given strict orders by my team of doctors to try to take it easy and I'm still banned from air travel.

I have a lot of thoughts from being at the hospital, but I'm not sure if I ever get to that. It's funny how memory fades with time. Here are some pics for your enjoyment though...

Not looking too good here.
Hospital food. I didn't eat anything for almost the first week. But after that, this was what I was enjoying every day.PICC line that I had after being discharged...

Happy 6 months!

2008-11-03T21:26:00.000-08:00

It's been exactly half a year since Angelina was born! Hard to believe. I'm amazed that all three of us made it to six months! Our friends Mike and Oli from NYC came to visit and stay over this past weekend. Lina loved playing with them! Here are some fun pics that Mike took a few days ago. We're very excited for Mike and Oli's pea in the pod, due in a NY hospital next spring.

Just what the heck happened to you?

2008-11-03T21:25:00.000-08:00

Good question. Lots of you heard that I was hospitalized this past month. I was - I was in the hospital for 12 long days/nights. I've been meaning to describe exactly what happened, which I'll get to some time this week. While I was lying there in my misery for those long days/nights I came up with a ton of blog ideas, but it's all starting to fade! I'll try to remember some of my thoughts from my time at Cedars and talk about them soon. Thank you for all of your thoughts and prayers - we couldn't have gone through this without all of your love and support.

Feasting at the Table of Taipei - NYTimes

2008-09-22T23:01:00.000-07:00

Some of you know that Liz and I lived in Taipei from 2002 to 2003. This was before Philadelphia and NYC. It seems like a long time ago now, but it remains in my mind a really wonderful time. It doesn't take much to trigger nostalgia in me, so this article from yesterday's Times sent the nostalgia meter through the roof: Feasting at the Table of Taipei.

This opening paragraph is a great teaser...

LIKE any great restaurant, Old Wang Beef Noodle Soup King has no sign. It sits on Taoyuan Street, not far from Taiwan’s presidential palace, and there are pretty much only two ways you’d know to go there instead of the similar noodle shops that surround it. Either you spy the line, which is long but fast-moving, and figure all those families, businessmen on lunch break and fashionable college kids are onto something. Or you catch the scent of broth — soy, anise, chilies, beef — which draws you inexorably into the dining room, where your intrepidity is rewarded with chewy wheat noodles, a rich and clean-tasting soup and hunks of meat that shred juicily at the slightest pressure from your tongue. There may be no better beef noodle soup in all of Taipei.

And another paragraph to convince you to read the whole thing...

Which is a pity if you like to eat, for food is one arena where Taipei — the world’s most underrated capital city, according to Monocle magazine — blows Beijing away. Its food incorporates more influences, spans street food to haute cuisine with greater aplomb and is out and out more delicious than that of its mainland counterpart. Not to mention that its people are perhaps the most comestible-crazed Asians outside of Singapore — no excursion is complete without, say, a bag of stewed duck tongues at journey’s end.

I'm obviously biased because I happen to be Taiwanese, but I do agree that Taipei is one of the most underrated cities in the world. I miss Taipei. Here are some pictures for fun...

Our tiny little apartment near Shi Da (Taipei Normal University). Don't look too closely, I'm wearing boxers only. I was probably sitting there working on my business school applications.

Shilin Night market with our friends Tony and Sanli Yang who were visiting us from Beijing/Shanghai at the time. They are now in the Bay Area, expecting their first kid. We look so young and carefree in these pictures, ha!
The world-famous Din Tai Fung...what can I say? The most amazing Shanghai soup dumplings. The article mentions this place. There's an outpost in Arcadia, CA, which is really good. But just not quite the same.

This picture below is actually from 2006, not 2002-2003. Taipei has tons of these really hip cafe's. Cafe Melange is one of our new favorites.
Fried dumplings, or "guo-tieh." This place, called Overseas Chinese Dragon - or something like that (haha, Taiwan can still be a bit tacky), is one on of the best places for guo-tieh even though it's a chain. I'm salivating thinking about it...

If you've read this far, thanks for indulging me on my trip down memory lane.

Growing up fast

2008-09-22T22:42:00.000-07:00

4 months

2008-09-02T23:29:00.000-07:00

September 3, 2008 - Four months. Another month. I'm back-logged on photos, so here's a whole bunch of the little benevolent dictator. I wanted to write a post to coincide with this milestone describing the "top 5 (good) things that nobody tells you about before you have a kid" and the "top 5 (bad) things" but I'm too tired right now so I'll save it for later or never. Four months is significant for a couple of reasons. For one, we are now able to "sleep train." (what the heck is that?) More on that later, especially if we do it.

NY, NY

2008-08-29T02:15:00.000-07:00

Interesting article - a fun read - in the NY Times from a couple of days ago: Newcomers Adjust, Eventually, to New York. It's the Number 5 "most-emailed" article on nytimes.com so I'm sure some of you have read it already. I was already feeling nostalgic today as I was watching the US Open on TV. The article was funny because we can relate to much of it. Here are some highlights (with my comments in bold):

"Newcomers suddenly realize either that the city is not working for them or that they are inexorably becoming part of it, or both. They find themselves walking and talking faster." LC: True. I used to walk at a very leisurely Cali-style pace. Now I walk really fast, even if I'm in the apartment or inside the office in Burbank. My Burbank colleagues, when walking with me to places, are constantly asking me why I'm walking so fast. What's the point of lingering? There's stuff to be done and the faster done the better. Even if it's just getting Starbucks.

"Every day until then, she felt as if she was doing battle daily with the city. But suddenly, on a night flight to Kennedy International Airport from California, Ms. Sirkin, 26, caught sight of the glittering skyline, and, to her great surprise, felt a surge of joy." LC: When we lived in NY, I/we traveled a lot - both for business and pleasure. Every single time we approached Manhattan on our way in from JFK, the skyline took/takes my breath away. Even now, when I go there for work, it's the same.

"Young people have flocked to New York City by the tens of thousands for generations, to chase their dreams and test their mettle." LC:[expanding on original post] This one line touches one of the core themes of NY, and one of the things I love about NY. Everyone in Manhattan is there for a reason. Everyone I met had something to prove or wanted something. Not all of it virtuous of course - there was plenty of greed, myself guilty of that for sure. But there were much simpler and virtuous goals as well. Folks like our dear friends Tim/Grace who had a simple life dream of living in NY and raising their kids there. They are doing it and thriving. Thrilling to watch. And our other dear friends Joseph/Theresa who moved back from Maryland several years ago simply to serve the city. It's energizing to be around people with purpose. Even the people that grew up there had a sense of purpose about them. Well, most of them...

"But for many, the thrill of arrival is often tempered by the sinking realization of what an alienating place the city can be, especially for those who are not wealthy or who do not have a pre-existing network of friends." LC: very true. Kind of different for me and Liz because we had each other and our built-in set of friends that transplanted from Philly to NY after graduation. But still, it was tough at times. And yes, it would help to be wealthy in NY!

"Ms. Sirkin’s friend Sarah Kasbeer also recalled being consumed by a common strain of existential New York City angst: the sense that no matter where one is, something better is happening — the real New York is in full swing — somewhere else." LC: I experience this angst even now. I always feel like I'm missing out. Tonight I wanted to be either in Flushing Meadows or Denver. It felt so exciting and I felt like I was missing out...

Enough of my commentary. The article is worth a read. I miss NY. I can't believe it's been over eight months.

My "Staycation"

2008-08-28T18:20:00.001-07:00

I'm having a pretty good week.

With exorbitant gas prices and a bad economy, journalists have been throwing around the term "staycation" to describe vacations where folks choose to take time off, but "stay" at home instead of travel to exotic destinations. Irrespective of money, the fact is we are kind of limited right now in where we can go. Gone, for now, are the days of going to Paris, Barcelona, or Taipei and HK for a week or two. Sigh. Liz and I were fortunate enough to be able to travel to a lot of places, so I'm sure no one is feeling sorry for us now. Anyway, until the little critter is a little older, we are home-bound.

So what have I been doing this week? Nothing too exciting. Catching up on sleep a little bit. Lina's sleep routine is much improved since last month, but there are still some challenging nights. The daytime naps still have room for improvement. Anyway, I was able to "sleep-in" a bit this week. I've also been working on our taxes. Yes. 2007 taxes. Embarrassingly enough, I never completed our tax return. Yes, I did file an extension. To paint a worse picture of my own "not on top of it-ness," I'm not even doing it myself. But I'm still using an accountant in New Jersey, so it's just been a matter of pulling together all my documents, filling out a Tax Organizer worksheet, and FedEx-ing it over. What else? Insurance. I ranted about insurance a while ago. Trying to sort through all the mess and make sure we get all the claims checks we are entitled to. Finally, I've been filing. I'm a bit "OCD" about filing. I like having all my documents/mail organized - so much so that Liz bought me a nice (wooden) filing cabinet last year for my birthday present. Other guys want new golf clubs, plasma TV's or state-of-the-art BBQ grills. Not me. I like nice filing cabinets to enable and inspire my filing. Weird. So, with my trusty label maker in hand, I've been catching up on some major filing. This may all sound terribly mundane and boring to folks, but for me, it has been very therapeutic. It's just nice to have some time to catch up on these "life-maintenance" things, especially since our lives went into complete chaos almost four months ago. Speaking of which, yes, I've been spending a lot of time with the almost-four month old. And that has been, definitely a lot better than filing! Maybe I'll post some recent pics tomorrow.

Lina being playful around the apt

2008-08-17T01:21:00.000-07:00

It's been a little while since I put up some pictures of Angelina. Here are some recent pictures of her around the house - she is starting to become very playful, which has been really fun!

Beijing 2008: Opening Ceremony's Darling was Lip-Syncing

2008-08-13T00:56:00.000-07:00

Again, I'm sure you've heard this already too - the cute girl who sang the touching song "Ode to the Motherland" during the opening ceremony pulled a Milli Vanilli. Here's the article on CNN.

This is wrong on so many levels. First of all, the real talent was prevented from singing because of her appearance. According to CNN, "Lin was lip-syncing to the sound of another girl, 7-year-old Yang Peiyi, who was heard but not seen, apparently because she was deemed not cute enough." It was the decision of high-ranking officials. Hmm, I wonder how you communicate that to the little girl. "Hey little Peiyi, you have been bestowed the honor to represent your country with your beautiful voice on the most important night of our modern history. But...here, can you sing into this microphone and...make sure you just stand behind the stage during the opening ceremony. Don't let anyone see your homely face and crooked teeth." I mean, what does that do this little girl? And what is the message to the rest of the country? It just confirms the hard truth: your looks matter. Just awful.

Secondly, it just leaves another bitter taste of the State over the Individual thing. A reminder that the state can do whatever they want to whomever they want whenever they want. Scary isnt' it. Lastly, it's just deceptive. Seems so "un-Olympic-like."

Having said all that, though, I am still floored by the Opening Ceremony. I watched the utterly amazing blocks sequence again tonight while trying to bottle-feed Lina. I guess my two posts on the Olympics have been pretty negative so far. I love the Olympics, always have. I'll try to write some more positive stuff later on.

Beijing 2008: C'mon Guys...

2008-08-13T00:43:00.000-07:00

I'm sure many of you have seen this already: the Spanish national basketball team, posing for a photograph for an advertisement. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, they are indeed pulling back the skin around their eyes to look "Chinesey." WTF. Pau Gasol, of the Lakers, is in this photo as well. Having spent time in the U.S., and especially in LA where there is such a large Asian population, you would think that he of all people would know better. The article (click on link above) claims that no one in the organization, or the company paying for the advert, thought this was offensive. Really? I mean, I kind of want to believe it...but you have to be really stupid not to think that this would not provoke some sort of reaction...

Shudder, I guess it calls up childhood memories of the chant: "Chinese, Japanese, dirty knees, look at these..."

some lee family pictures

2008-08-05T00:17:00.000-07:00

After I posted my thoughts on JetBlue (a few minutes ago), Liz remarked that I should put up pictures. Your blog readers want to see pictures. I said, no, I'm sure they are interested in my fascinating and insightful commentary about insignificant things. Then I thought, hmm, maybe I'll put up some more pictures.

Emily and the whole family came over on Saturday for a bit. Emily, my sister-in-law, was trained at Vidal Sassoon and still does part-time work at their home (in between raising three kids, managing the household, being the eldest daughter, and pastoring a church). By the way, if you ask her for a haircut don't be cheap - people of her caliber usually charge big bucks because of their experience and background. Anyway, they came over so that Emily could fix my hair. I had just gotten a haircut on Friday, at the Japanese place next to Mitsuwa in Venice (I miss my place at St Mark's in NYC), that left me looking very '80's, and so it was nice of her to come and take out the tail portion of my do. Lina was taking (a very rare) nap, so the Lee's didn't get to see her. On their way out, Kay (the oldest, 5) said, "oh, the two best friends didn't even get to see each other!" I thought that was hilarious. Here's a picture from last week of Lina and Noah.

Another picture of the two nieces hanging out. One looks serious and contemplative. The other, well, not as much!

In the last picture of Uncle 1 (Jonathan), Lina was screaming. So here's a better one...Too bad Jonathan wasn't looking...

Say it ain't so!

2008-08-04T23:13:00.000-07:00

JetBlue is one of my favorite airlines. JetBlue recently announced their new policy of charging $7 per pillow. Say it ain't so! Even with all the recent announcements of domestic airlines nickel and dime-ing air travelers, I didn't think that JetBlue would pull the same kinds of stunts. Liz and I are big fans of JetBlue. For several years, we were frequent fliers on the JFK to BUR / BUR to JFK routes. We usually took the 6:45am-ish (or something like that, which I think they may have canceled) flight out of JFK which means we would have to wake up around 4:30am in our little UWS apartment. This flight always sounds like a good idea when you're planning it months or weeks in advance. Usually, I'm cursing myself (a common activity) the night before, when it's midnight and I had not packed yet. Anyway, JetBlue ain't Singapore Airlines or BA's flat bed business class, but it's solid - decent fares, easy-to-book online, good entertainment (live broadcast TV through DirecTV is great except for the delay when changing channels), and decent seats for economy. They are a lot more on-time than United, American or the established US airlines. And there is still a sense of some order unlike Southwest, which has a lot of good elements but is basically a flying Greyhound to me. Anyway, all this to say that I'm a fan of JetBlue and a bit disappointed with this new decision. What are they going do next? Put a coin slot next to the screen, as a colleague remarked today.

To be fair, I'm sure they crunched the numbers and figured out that they needed an $X uplift in revenues per flight to make up for the ballooning cost structure. Let's say around 1/3 of folks usually take a pillow on a regular flight (not the red-eye). On an A320 with 150 seats, that's 50 pillows. I'd say the $7 hurdle immediately halves this pool of people. Now we're down to 25 folks paying $7 for the pillow. That's $175 extra per flight. Doesn't seem like much. Even if we double that to $350, I just don't see that really moving the needle. So I'm a bit confused why they did this.

Anyway, overall I would still be happy to fly JetBlue again soon. But if they start charging for the pretzels...

Three Months

2008-08-02T21:21:00.000-07:00

Angelina is three months old this weekend. Unbelievable! We can't believe that we made it to three months, and that we've kept her alive for three months! It's gone by so fast, and it's been an eternity. Here are some pictures of her in different settings and moods.

Insurance Hell

2008-07-29T00:28:00.000-07:00

There are a bunch of things in life that make me cringe just at the thought. Going to the dentist, tax returns, moving, going through security at LAX or JFK, etc. These things make me cringe because they are, in one way or another, painful. It's either physically painful or figuratively painful, and usually very time-consuming. Few things upset me more than having to deal with healthcare-related paperwork. To be clear, I am very thankful to have health insurance. Many Americans don't. The system is totally screwed up. Recently, there have been some health issues that we've had to deal with, and I just have no idea what we would do if we didn't have insurance. Not to mention that Labor and Delivery at Cedars Sinai cost $20,000 bucks - with insurance, we only paid $400! If we didn't have insurance, I would have been on www.howcast.com and wikipedia, learning how to deliver a baby! As usual, I digress.

My brother Timmy and sister-in-law Judy graciously came over to help out with Lina today so that Liz and I could take care of some stuff. Not go to dinner or to a movie. All we wanted to do was catch up on every day life, maintenance tasks, that we have neglected for a while. Liz went to CVS and Ralph's while I stayed home to finally look through some unresolved insurance paperwork. Basically, United Healthcare insurance has not reimbursed us for the Ob-Gyn services, which are pretty pricey. It's not like L&D, but it's no small amount. I JUST DON'T UNDERSTAND INSURANCE STATEMENTS. Maybe I'm stupid or just really slow, but I have never been able to read an insurance account statement and really understand it. First of all, the information is not presented in any real order. Secondly, they use really long indecipherable canned phrases to explain why did not process certain claims. There are too many columns with with confusing titles and numbers in them that don't seem to add up. Successive statements have redundant claims, but unless you read the explanation, it's hard to determine what's being repeated due to "updated information" for the said charge, and which one's are actually new charges. It's terribly frustrating. Then there's the insecurity of never knowing whether faxed or mailed claims ever really make it through the process.

Then I think about my parents and other immigrants from their generation. If you never mastered the language, how on earth can you navigate the confusion that is America's healthcare system and insurance system. I think I read and speak English pretty well. Yet, I am so constantly confused and disheartened by the documentation around healthcare. I can't even begin to imagine the challenge for a non-native speaker and immigrant. How unfriendly the whole experience must be.

I haven't even begun to talk about FSA - Flexible Spending Accounts. What a waste of my time on so many levels! Yeah, the pre-tax thing is nice, but I'm starting to think that all the time I waste on validating rejected charges, and all the time wasted with it hanging over my head, makes it not worth it.

Tomorrow I am going to call the insurance company and find out why they did not approve the claims for the OB-GYN. I hope they don't push back, or I am going to be really pissed...

Lina in her crib

2008-07-23T16:35:00.000-07:00

Every day that goes by, Lina becomes more and more interactive. She likes to lie in her crib and stare at this artwork lamp thingy that Liz made and hung from the ceiling. Poor description I know. We also just got her another mobile which she likes too but gets a little to excited about sometime. We're also learning more about her. We know that right after feeding, she has a period of quiet alertness. She flaps her arms, kicks her legs, and smiles. Here's a clip!

Happy Anniversary, babe!

2008-07-21T12:54:00.000-07:00

7 years! Can you believe it!?
Happy Anniversary, Liz!

7 Top* things I love about Liz
(*for those who appreciate nuance, not the top 7, because it's hard to definitively identify the absolute top 7)

1. She's a great friend, my best friend. After seven years of marriage we still really enjoy each other's company and have not run out of things to talk about. (at least from my perspective! ha)
2. She's a great mother. Nothing more attractive to me than seeing how much she loves our daughter. More on this later. I am floored by the capacity that she has to love Lina and to continue to give and give, even when the proverbial gas tank is way past empty. Way past. Even as I am at work today she's probably four hours into bouncing and rocking her endlessly, walking around the apartment with Lina in the sling!
3. She's beautiful!
4. She loves to travel - we had a nice run there. Four cities in five years. And lots of trips in between. Although we miss Taipei and NY (not Philly, mind you), we love being in LA with our families right now. Right here, right now.
5. She's smarter than me. But she's not showy about it - she's less arrogant and loud than me. Surprise, surprise. Not many people know she's Phi Beta Kappa. She keeps me sharp and in line. I make a lot of stupid declarations but it's impossible to slip my not fully-baked views past her! Keeps me on my toes and humble!
6. She has a great family. I really appreciate her family. In today's world of dysfunctional families, it is a great honor and privilege to be a part of the Liu/Wang clan.
7. She has a great taste for European (French, in particular) fashions - for babies. ; - )

that's just 7 off the top of my head!

I was going to list some other "7 top things" - 7 top memories, 7 top trips, 7 high/low moments, etc. But I am simply too tired.

Anyway, we are going on our first dinner date today since Lina came into the world. My folks are coming over to babysit. Wish us luck! We'll probably be anxious the whole time!

Update: Went out to dinner and back. It was nice, but we were really tired. Liz came up with a great idea. Hopefully an entrepreneur out there will go and build it. Yes, a quiet dinner in Santa Monica was nice. But what would have been way better for us right now would have been a place where we could go to relax, lounge, and take a nap. And get fed at the same time. How would that work? Oh, maybe padded lounge chairs, with relaxing music, and an IV for a nutritious meal. Who has time to nap and eat? We could bring our exhausted selves to this nonexistent place, relax and catch up on sleep in a nice environment, but also get a healthy meal via IV. And if we really wanted to taste the food but not do the work (chew/swallow), maybe they could just make a lollipop type thing we could suck and have the flavors (filet mignon, chilean sea bass, etc.). Haha. That's what we talked about on our first dinner date post-delivery!

More Angelina Pictures

2008-07-14T00:34:00.001-07:00

More pictures from the last week - mainly for our sisters and my mom, who are my main consistent readers, as far as I can tell from the comments and Google Analytics. I do get a few hits from random places around the world, but not sure who those folks are.

Cute brown onesie from Auntie Tamara, my colleague at 75 Rock. Thanks Tamara!

The Phabulous Philly-LA Ladies Club (and their kids)

2008-07-13T23:59:00.000-07:00

Liz and I lived in Philadelphia from 2003 to 2005. Wharton (and Lauder) was an amazing experience. But it was in Philadelphia. Before I go further, I'll say that Liz and I did enjoy Philly and still think that it is an under-rated city and frequently gets a bad rap. However, it ain't NYC and it ain't LA or SF. And so the main downside of getting into Wharton was that it was in Philly. Many people who went to Wharton had to "drag" their partners - spouses, girlfriends, boyfriends - to Philly for the two years. And to make it worse, business school was an all-consuming endeavor. Yeah, there was studying - but tons of everything else - business networking, social networking, socializing, running student clubs, trips, learning team meetings, pub, etc. It was a 24/7 thing. Liz was my biggest supporter, and I owe her big-time for coming to Philly with me. Well, one of the things I'm most thankful for is that fact that she befriended Charice and Janet.

The picture above is from this past week. Charice and Janet (and her beautiful daughter Agnes or "Ajou") came over to have lunch with Liz and Lina. (Charice's twins - Maddy and Max, were at home) Charice's husband, Ko Kobayashi (not the hot dog champ) and Janet's husband, Taos Huskey, were classmates of mine from the class of 2005. They all happened to be from LA. And the three Asian American ladies had a lot in common. I was grateful that - in the midst of being dragged to Philly and often abandoned by their husbands while they(husbands) were off doing whatever their pricey educations required of them - they found some common ground and could hang out. Charice even took Liz out on our anniversary during the summer of '04 when I was off in Singapore doing my internship.

Charice and Ko, and their twins, literally live minutes away. Taos and Janet are not that far away either. It's good to be back in LA with some friends who went through Philly with us!

Here's Ko, Charice, Liz and myself in Delaware at "Joe's Crabshack" - the desperate things we Californians did to get a taste of home. Couldn't find a picture with Taos and Janet, but then again I didn't look very hard. It's past midnight and Lina just went down. And I have to wake up in a few hours for a NY conference call.

Found this picture of me and Liz in Rittenhouse Square during winter. Good times in Philly...

3rd Gen American and ID4

2008-07-06T22:47:00.001-07:00

On this Independence Day, it did not escape me that my daughter was born into privilege. I'm not saying that she was born into great wealth, as defined by Hollywood or Wall Street, or that she has some huge trust fund to her name. Well, my insignificant 401(k) is all her's if she wants it. It won't really move the needle for her when gas is $10/gallon and university tuition is half a million bucks (in 18 years).

Without any doing of her own, she just happened to be born into the most powerful and prosperous nation on earth. Yes, it is a nation that has weathered some very bad PR during the past eight years, and a nation not without detractors and critics. We have made some huge mistakes, not just in the past eight years but in our existence as a nation. But so has every other nation. We happen to be a nation that can self-criticize, pick up ourselves when we fall, improve, and move forward.

I'm digressing a bit - this holiday always brings about some reflection about this country that I happened to be born in. I estimate that I've spent a third of my July 4ths abroad (many of them in Japan with my cousins during childhood summers). I could be off by a couple of years either way, but nevertheless, I've been away for a lot of ID4's. In the past several years, I was once in Kyoto, Japan for the Fourth, and once in Bangkok, Thailand. I always feel especially patriotic, and proud, when I'm abroad. Although I spent this holiday indulging in BBQ's across LA, and trying to make sure Lina survived each outing, I did find a few moments to appreciate this country. Back to my daughter...

She has no idea, obviously, that she is a 3rd-generation Taiwanese American immigrant in the USA. She has a citizenship that millions only dream to have. She was born onto a very uneven playing field. In this case, she has the upper hand. Just because she was born on US soil, she is conferred all the "rights and privileges," associated with being a citizen. We all know what these privileges are when we stop to think about it. This country is the only place and context that would allow many of us to get to where we are and where we eventually want to be, whatever that means.

She also happens to be born into a family that loves her, with four grandparents, tons of uncles and aunts, and many cousins and second-cousins. All adoring fans of her, who will stand by her side through her life. That's a lot...and she didn't have to do a single thing. The complete opposite is true for millions...

Reflections on America, Independence Day, immigrant life, my daughter, family, etc.. all jumbled up without much flow...

Update...
After posting this a couple of hours ago, I have a follow-on thought. The United States is indeed a great nation. I certainly don't take this status for granted. Now that I have a kid, a daughter, I am even more hyper-aware of the perception of the United States outside of the country. I can't tell you how many times I have sat in bars, cafes, brassieries, and tea shops around the world listening to people rant and rave about our government. Much of is true, some of it is misconstrued. And I don't blame them. The decisions of the U.S. affect everybody. Well, now that Lina is in the world, I have more of a vested interest that this country stays great and doesn't do more damage than good to the world. As such, I am very very interested in this coming election. I'm definitely going to be commenting on it.

2 months / 9 weeks

2008-07-06T21:41:00.000-07:00

What kind of look is this?
Hanging out with her goose...

Can't figure out how you technically count the months. Angelina is now officially 9 weeks and 1 day old. Does that make her 2 months and 8 days? Or is she only 2 months and 3 days, since her birthday is the 3rd of the month? Not that it matters. Supposedly, though, there are some really amazing "breakthroughs" at 3 months. I hear that she'll start sleeping 12 hours a night straight through and stop crying altogether. hehe.

July 4th Weekend

2008-07-06T20:31:00.000-07:00

We had a pretty eventful July 4th weekend - four different backyard - pool - BBQ-type events. Lots of friends and family. Lina was a real trooper, but I think it took a lot out of her. Today we just stayed home and recovered. Well, she recovered.

Here we are at our old friend Queena Wei's big 3-0 bash!

At the Lee's "Hampton's home" on the East Side (j/k, San Marino) for a pool party with all the cousins. These two are a bit young for the pool so they are chillin' as usual. Notice the patriotic attire. Since it always takes a while to get the right shot, I just decided to post several of them for fun.

Also went to Liz's cousin Esther and Ed Ho's fabulous house for some BBQ, but I don't have any pics. If someone sends me one I'll be happy to post!

Two Centuries

2008-06-29T00:35:00.000-07:00

Today Lina got to spend some time with her only great-grandparent, my maternal grandmother or "oba-jiang" as I grew up calling her. Out of a possible eight great-grandparents, she is the only one alive. She is 93 (I think), and in amazing mental shape. Well, she tends to repeat the same stories over and over, but so do I and I'm 32. I tried to snap some photos of my 93 years old grandmother, crouched on her knees, playing with Lina. What a special moment. Two women, representing a span of four generations, 90+ years apart. Their lifetimes, God-willing, will cover a span of almost two centuries of history. Amazing. I had a lot of thoughts stem from this moment, as you can imagine. Obajiang was born towards the end of World War I in Taiwan, studied in Japan, came back to Taiwan after her mother died (while she was on the boat back), got married to Ojijiang, moved to Qingdao, China for several years during the 2nd World War, stranded in Shanghai for several months after the end of the war, waiting for a boat to return to Taiwan, had a few kids in Taiwan, and then moved to Japan where my grandfather practiced medicine. (When I started that sentence I wasn't planning to write an entire biography). Anyway, my point is that it's amazing how much she has gone through, and how much history she lived through. She has spent the last decade or more here in the US where her two daughters are. And so, almost a century after she was born in a little village in Taiwan, she is living in California, spending some time with her 8 week old great-granddaughter.

I was holding Lina the other day and was just wondering about her life. She was probably fretting a bit so I told her what I always tell her, "it's ok, daddy's here, daddy got you." And I started to think that there would be times when I won't be able to be around. (I know it's early to start thinking these things!) School. School can be a traumatic place. What about the first time she gets teased? Or the first time she feels left out in P.E. - I'm guessing she won't be the tallest kid in the class and therefore won't be picked first for basketball or volleyball teams? What about her first failure of some kind? First crush and broken heart? (I shudder). And all this while I'm alive (hopefully). On a side note, I got paranoid before my last business trip and finally entered into a term insurance thing. So if I kick the proverbial bucket prematurely, they'll be set! No crazy ideas, please. Gives me peace of mind though. Anyway, there will also be a time after Liz and I are gone (naturally) when she will start to grow old and go through who knows what. I wonder if someday she will be 93, and taking a picture with her great-granddaughter in 2101.

And maybe her grandson will write something in his blog (or whatever crazy 3-D holographic mind-reading technology they have then)..."My grandmother was born in 2008 in America, at the beginning of a very challenging economic time for the world with gas prices about to hit $10/gallon, but right before the first Black president of the United States (and the first of many minority Presidents)...she grew up her first few years on the West side of Los Angeles surrounded by cousins and family, and then...."

Slide

2008-06-26T15:05:00.000-07:00

As you can see, I've been toying around with different Web 2.0 applications - the latest being the Slide widget. Most of these pictures are already on the blog.

The Cousins

2008-06-25T00:48:00.000-07:00

Here are the fabulous Lee/Chen ladies enjoying each other's company.

Noah and Lina sitting together and having a conversation...(it's kind of fun thinking about them growing up together)

Noah: Oh boy, here we go again. Every where we go. Picture, pictures, pictures.

Lina: Yeah, it's like we're props or something. "Sit here, lie here, smile and giggle at the toy..."

Noah: Don't worry - I get back at them in little ways. Get this - today I just screamed and screamed instead of my usual peaceful feeding time. Mommy was pretty flustered. I love her, and I feel kind of bad doing it. But, I was just bored, you know?

Lina: I totally get you - a few nights ago I just screamed all night. I was a bit irritated because they always wrap me in this darn straight jacket thing. It was kind of funny watching these two grown people on the verge of losing it. Of course, I love them too, but it was...I admit...kind of funny!

Noah: That's a bit cruel, you should ease up on them. Uncle 2 and Ayi 2 definitely look tired!

Lina: Maybe you're right. (pause) Hey, how do you do that?

Noah: Do what?

Lina: Sit there like that without your neck being all wobbly and stuff.

Noah: I'm 2 months older than you!

Lina: Woah...woah...I'm falling...I'm going to fall over. I have no neck control!

Noah: Relax will you?

Lina: Ok, I'm bored. I hope they pick us up soon. That chicken stew sure smells yummy. I can't wait to have some. All I get is milk...and daddy thinks he's funny and clever...every night he likes to say, in this silly high-pitched voice, "Ok, Lina, tonight on the menu we have...to start...milk...and then, you're main will be...milk...and finally, for dessert and a night cap, we'll be serving...milk..."

Noah: Complain, complain, complain...

Lina: (Rolls eyes)

Noah: Nice sari by the way.

Losing Our Minds

2008-06-24T01:49:00.001-07:00

Our friend Dr. Dennis Chang warned us that by around a month, we would both be zombies. The fact is, we haven't had more than 4-5 hours of continuous sleep since Angelina came into the world. 4-5 hours would be a treat. Most of our sleep is in the 2-3 hour range, and 10, 15-minute cat naps during the day when possible. According to Dennis, we never really hit deep sleep (or was it REM, I forget), and so we're not getting real rest. Something like that - I'm sure there's a more scientific way to frame it.

Well, there is real evidence that we have lost our minds. We had heard before of people like my brother-in-law Jonathan going out of the house with mis-matched shoes, due to pure exhaustion. It's happening to us.

Going out of the house now is a major undertaking. I can't believe that we used to just walk out the door with keys, wallet, blackberry, and phone in pocket. That's it. Out the door. Out the door into the Upper Westside, out the door into our garage here in West LA. Now, it takes about half an hour to prepare everything - diaper bag with every contingency imaginable, stroller, car seat, etc. The timing has to be perfect also. If Lina is in a bad mood, she'll go into the car seat in a bad mood, and takes a while to calm down in the car.

On Sunday, we were getting ready to head out to my high school and college friend Jen Tsai's wedding in Pasadena. As I was headed for the door, after taking care of the aforementioned preparations, I realized that I didn't have my phone. I roamed around the apartment muttering, "#$%!, I never ever mis-place my phone at home, where could it possibly be? I can't believe this is happening now!" Liz suggested I call it with my blackberry phone - ring ring ring - something is buzzing in my pocket. Yes, my right pocket. Liz said, "who has time for this," as we headed for the door with everything in tow.

After leaving our apartment and walking down the hall towards the elevator, Liz noticed that her feet felt...well, different. She looked down and realized that she had two different sandals on - a gold one and a black one! I, of course, said, "oh, who has time for this?," as she ran back to the apartment to pick up the right shoe. Yes, we are really losing our minds.

Btw, one of the things we have to pack into her car seat is this "Cloud B" soothing sheep. It is a stuffed animal - sheep - with speakers inside with ambient noise options - Rain, Ocean, etc. Here's a picture of it. Jonathan and Emily gave it to Lina...extremely helpful.

Rock 'n Roll Girl

2008-06-23T00:48:00.000-07:00

I placed a temporary Coldplay widget on this blog as a small tribute to Coldplay. Since it's almost 1am, and who knows how long Lina will stay down right now, I don't feel like spending more time trying to tweak the formatting of the page so that the entire widget fits. I already spent 20 minutes looking through all the template settings/formatting options in blogger. If anybody knows how to quickly decrease my side margins so that the page isn't so narrow, please let me know. Anyway, as you already know, we downloaded a "white noise" album from iTunes for babies. Lina's favorite track is "Rain," which we blast on repeat for nearly 12 hours a day. When we drive, we look for the perfect static station. 7 weeks ago I would never have imagined that I would some day find such elation when finding the perfect static station. You see, the static has to be pure. It can't have hints of a sports announcer broadcasting a game, or of a Spanish or Mandarin talk show - the static has to be pure white noise - even and balanced. Well, for those who want to know, 1060AM works very well between San Gabriel Valley all the way to the Westside. 970AM works well only sometimes. On the East side of LA it begins to pick up the news channel. Now that I've wasted five minutes writing about nonsense, I'll get to my point.

Other than the white noise that we have Lina listen to, we have been playing "Fix You" and "The Scientist" by Coldplay - also on constant repeat. Both songs have a great groove, and a driving bass line that facilitate sleeping - especially when daddy is bouncing to the rhythm around the room like a moron (and mommy, but mommy isn't a moron when she does it). So, that's why I put up this temporary widget for you to check out four tracks from the new album (click "media player" on the widget).

End of Week 6

2008-06-20T23:41:00.001-07:00

It's the end of week 6. Here are some photos from the week. Angelina is wearing a dress for the first time in the first picture. She is starting to become more responsive and interactive. In the second picture, she is shown in her crib with her toys and "mobile"-like thing. She now laughs and smiles when she looks at her toys. The last picture is of her in a swaddle blanket. Since early on everybody keeps advising us to swaddle her as tight as we can, and not to think twice about it. It's sort of awkward at first, but you get used to it very quickly because it works.

The Great Escape Reprise

2008-06-20T21:57:00.000-07:00

It often feels like we've come full circle on a lot of things since becoming parents. Rather than just wax philosophical, I have a specific example from tonight. Although Liz and I both grew up in in the 2nd or 3rd largest city in the U.S. (LA), it is essentially a gigantic suburb. (I say 2nd or 3rd b/c back then I think Chicagoland was 2nd) Actually, it's probably more accurate to describe LA as falling somewhere between urban and suburban - a third category that I'll coin here as "suburb plus" or "urban light." It's not Manhattan, but it ain't the grand leafy suburbs of the Northeast, like Bryn Mawr or Lower Merion outside of Philly or Westchester County outside of the city. By the way, when I say "city" I am referring to New York City - Manhattan, specifically. The same "city" as in SATC. Although we only lived in the Upper Westside for under three years, I have to admit that I inherited the city snob thing which is probably here to stay.

But I digress. Anyway, I was talking about growing up in the 'burbs. In the 'burbs, Arcadia specifically, the first moments of relative freedom from our parents were times when I and my friends were allowed to walk around the mall by ourselves. Specifically, the Santa Anita Mall in Arcadia. Sure, my mom was probably walking around the mall at the same time, but those 45 minutes to an hour that we had to walk around and roam the stores by ourselves were the first experiences of having some sort of independence from parents. I could walk into "Surf and Stuff" and browse "Maui & Sons" and "Town & Country" t-shirts by myself, and pay 12 bucks for one if I had saved up a week of lunch money. I was probably in fifth or sixth grade? I know, I know. My friends who grew up in the city like to brag about taking the NRQW trains by themselves when they were 7 or 8. Or the 7 train for those who grew up in Queens. Whatevs. Walking around the mall by myself, or with friends, was absolutely thrilling. Soon after, we would graduate to going to the mall all by ourselves - either being dropped off by my parents or taking "Dial-A-Ride" for 75 cents a person. Obviously, it got better from there. Tearing through town on our 10-speeds, taking the car out alone for the first time in 10th grade (yes, before getting the license, while folks were in Japan on holiday...too bad Dad wrote down the odometer reading before leaving)...fast forward to moving into the dorm room, going on the first trip to NY with friends...fast forward to traveling and living abroad with Liz, and even our last trip to Paris a few months ago...

Tonight Liz and I went to the local mall. The Westside Pavillion, here in West LA. It was thrilling. Besides me going to work (and my very exhausting but productive 36 hr trip to the city last week), we have mainly been sequestered at home since coming home with Lina. Just two weeks ago, we started doing some social outings - starting with a wedding, a birthday dinner, graduation, and a birthday bbq. But Liz and I have rarely gone out together, just the two of us. My parents came over this evening to see their granddaughter and to bring over some of mom's home-cooking. We took the opportunity to run off to the mall for an hour and a half. What freedom! Twenty-odd years after walking around the mall by ourselves, here we were, feeling a bit of that same sense of independence. But it faded...

We missed Lina. And Liz ended up buying her some clothes. And I went to the bookstore and bought some books on babies. And then we rushed home to make sure she was ok...

Hanging out with Mommy and Daddy

2008-06-15T00:52:00.001-07:00

Today we were able to lounge around a bit. These pictures make it look like were just lazying away all day - it was really probably just 10 minutes or so. Either way, it was fun.

6 weeks today!

2008-06-15T00:29:00.000-07:00

Angelina is six weeks old today. Can't believe it. It went by really fast, and it was an eternity! I really have no energy to write anything profound - not like I ever do - so I'll post a few more pictures that I like. The first one is of her first bath. It's funny - all in all, I'm sure the digital age makes life better. Net-net, our lives are probably more convenient. Yet, it does bring a lot more pressure. With digital cameras, we can record Lina's life almost without limit. So, when we gave her her first bath, we felt pressure to document it. Mind you, we had no idea really how to give an infant a bath. It's a pretty dangerous thing - we probably should have put all of our energy and concentration into preventing her from slipping into the water, knocking her head against the sink counter, or catching a cold. Instead, we spent half the time going, "where's the camera," "grab the camera," "oh that's a good shot, oh watch her head..." Stressful. But worth it, this was a great shot! = )
I love it when she falls asleep (not just because it's quiet). She looks so peaceful. Here she is, falling asleep in her swing, with her hands to her face.

I love this picture. Anyone who is around me long enough will hear me ranting and raving about my nieces Kay(5) and Bekah (3). I think they're adorable, and they are extremely funny! We have the best conversations. And now there's little Noah (or "Noey" according to Kay and "No-yay" according to Bekah) added to the family! Here's Lina and her three cousins hanging out. I'm looking forward to watching all of them grow up together. I grew up around a lot of cousins, which was really fun. I'm glad my daughter will have the same.

More Visitors from NY

2008-06-15T00:16:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, we attended our friends Warren and Lily's wedding in Arcadia. We know both of them from NY. Warren is a real New Yorker through and through - grew up in Manhattan's Chinatown. Lily, like us, is from SoCal, and was in the city for a few years. Lily and Warren met in NY, fell in love, and...Warren followed Lily westward, into the sunset. Anyway, it was great to be able to catch up with a bunch of our friends from NY, most of them from Vision Church, the church on the Upper Westside that Liz and I attended while in NY. As usual the time was too short. Here are some pictures of Kenny, Wendy, and Dris, who came over to our place to see Lina (and graciously brought over some dim sum, my favorite!). I have other pictures with lots of other people, including our Pastor, Joseph and his wife Theresa, but it's all on the other camera, and I haven't uploaded them yet.

The wedding was Lina's first real social outing. Prior to last Saturday, we only brought her out for doctor visits. Well, we survived it. All in all, it went alright, but it was pretty stressful! I'd rather not go into the details now. Since then, we've been a little more adventurous and have started going out more and more.

Victor Lin, another friend from NY, stopped by last week to hang out with us. He entertained my folks, who were over for dinner, with his Taiwanese language skills.

Kathy Teng and Ryan

2008-06-15T00:08:00.000-07:00

It's midnight and Lina is hopefully down for the count, which gives me some time to catch up on regular adult stuff, like blogging. As usual, I'm gonna upload a bunch of pics that have been on backlog. Here's a picture of Kathy Teng, Liz's roommate from college, and her son Ryan. Kathy came to visit Liz and Lina last week, I think, while I was at work. (no sense of time these days) I haven't seen Ryan since he was just a couple of months old, but Liz describes to me how cute he is every time she gets to see him.

Seems like just yesterday when Kathy and Liz were roommates in college. Now, here they are...

Speaking of which, we are attending Eunice's (Liz's third sister) college graduation tomorrow. Time flies.

Gearing up for tomorrow

2008-06-06T22:16:00.000-07:00

Taking her on her first big social outing tomorrow - our friends Warren and Lily's wedding in Arcadia. Very exciting and very stressful...

Pre-Delivery Advice

2008-06-01T20:30:00.000-07:00

I was working on this post awhile ago, but never completed it. As I mentioned in the prior post, our baby has been keeping us quite busy. I was inspired to finish this today for several reasons. We've been trapped in our apartment (besides me going to work), basically, for almost a month, and it's fun to day-dream about the outside world. The cover of today's LA Times magazine is "Paris, Pastry by Pastry," and details many decadent dessert places in Paris. And in general, it's summer time which means travel time. My sister is about to go back to Europe again on a study trip, and the jetset is off to the races for the summer season. I'm envious. I have to admit that one of my biggest fears of parenthood, aside from losing sleep, had to do with how it would affect our traveling. ..

Anyway - people love to give advice or share their experiences about pregnancy and becoming first-time parents. It's one of those topics that people love to talk about - their kids and their experiences. And I really enjoyed hearing it all. In fact, towards the end of the pregnancy, it became a regular topic on all of my business calls. To the extent that I wouldn't be surprised if my colleagues were thinking, "go have your baby already. We have to start every damn conference call small-talking about your upcoming event!" Actually, everyone, from people at Warner to all the companies I deal with have been super supportive, patient, and encouraging. Well, this post is not about all the different pieces of advice. I'm still compiling that for later. This is about one particular piece of advice, which seems obvious.

One of the best pieces of advice we received before having Lina was to go and travel as much as we can. We were encouraged to go on a "babymoon," which was introduced into my vocabulary by some friends. I've been fortunate enough to have traveled to some really cool places for pleasure as well as business. For the last three years, I attended a conference in Cannes, France, in January. Not to be confused with the Cannes Film Festival. I thought, why don't we just make a trip out of it and go to Paris, one of our favorite cities in the world, for "one last hurrah." By the way, I'm writing this post because I was going through our iPhoto collection while trying to rock Lina to sleep earlier today, waxing nostalgic about our young and carefree years!

Anyway, the idea to go to Paris was there, but we were hesitant because Liz was well into the pregnancy, and Europe is not exactly cheap these days. While having brunch one day with our good friends Tim and Grace and their lovely kids in Soho [at Cafe Colonial] this past winter, T&G urged us to just go for it. (Tishia Que first took Liz to Cafe Colonial). They have two awesome kids - Jonah (I have a funny story about guessing his name), and Isaiah (not "Isiah"). Right before they had the first boy, they also went on a "last hurrah" to London. T&G basically said, your life is about to change in a major way - and it's awesome and you'll never want to turn back - but it is going to change. Go, suck up the cost, and enjoy your time together, just the two of us. So we did. And we had a wonderful time. Thanks Tim and Grace for the kick in the pants!

Liz and I are both a bit "anal," so we did scour for deals and did a bit of planning. We discovered a great way to experience Europe while pregnant and also while the euro is kickin' greenback arse. Through a site called Vacation Rentals by Owners, we decided to do a short-term rental of a flat, or an apartment, in Le Marais, one of our favorite districts. This was great for a host of reasons - first of all, it was much more economical than staying at a hotel in Paris. You would all be surprised at the daily rate. It was a deal. We also saved money because there was a washer dryer and a kitchenette in the place. Besides the economic reasons, living in an apartment really helps you to experience real life as the locals do, at least a sliver of it for a short period of time. Every morning, I pretended to be a Frenchman - I would walk to the corner, have an espresso (at the counter, for the cheaper rate) in the corner cafe, then walk into the local bakery and order "un baguette(sp)." We would make our own Jambon baguette every morning, which was both cheap and made us felt like locals. Mmm. I do miss that bread. Speaking of great bread, Fairway Market on the Upper Westside also has fresh French bread, baked hourly. I really miss that too. But that's another topic - things I miss about the Big Apple.

Liz and I had a wonderful time in Paris. I'm grateful that we were able to do it. Since we've been lucky enough to have been to Paris several times, together and separately, there was really no pressure to do anything touristy at all. Liz was 5-6 months pregnant, near the upper limit of being allowed to travel, we really did take it easy. We walked around neighborhoods, checked out cool patisseries and restaurants, and my favorite...enjoying an espresso at numerous cafes around the City of Light and people watching. Oh, and I finally made it to the Musee d'Orsay (free on the first Sunday of the month). The last two times we tried to go, the museum workers were on strike.

Ahhh, Paris...can't wait to take Angelina there!

Almost a month

2008-06-01T19:41:00.000-07:00

Radio silence because our beautiful "benevolent dictator" has been keeping her subjects (me and Liz) quite busy and beat down...Can't believe it's been nearly a month! Here are some recent pics. She's in a pretty good mood here...

Here's Angelina being reflective in this motion glider. Some "experts" claim that it's bad to get the kid "addicted" or reliant on an automated motion thing. Who cares. Whatever works!

My sister, Joanna, finally came down from Berkeley. Angelina, as you can see, is thrilled to meet her Auntie for the first time. = )

Graduation

2008-05-26T01:41:00.001-07:00

I know, the entries come in streaks. That's because, these days, I never know when I'm going to have a period of time when I can actually sit down in front of the laptop at home for a decent stretch and do this. Lina actually went down earlier tonight. Liz and I are spending some much-needed quality alone time together - her in front of the desktop fifteen feet across the living room and me in front of the laptop on the dining room table. haha. One of the biggest lifestyle changes since becoming parents is not to being able to surf the "internets" at will. So we're getting our fix now.

Anyway, I flew up to Berkeley on Friday for the day to attend my kid sister Joanna's graduation at Cal. I call her my kid sister because she's a whole decade younger than me. I actually remember the day she was born, her crying a lot as a baby, and growing up as a toddler. I remember, like it was yesterday, when she graduated from elementary school. She was wearing this funny-looking poofy dress that my mom probably bought from Japan, and she got to go on stage at Baldwin Stocker Elementary School because she won some prize. She has always been a nerd! Let's not talk about high school graduation because that seems like two seconds ago.

Anyway, she did it again - graduated with high honors at Cal, and got to wear a fancy tassle or rope (or something) and had her name listed separately in the program. No pics yet, I'll post one when my brother uploads them. Anyway, very proud of her. She also got some grant to go study in NYC and Poland this summer, with a bunch of PhD students. I don't know the exact topic, but it has something to do with the Holocaust. Btw, she is a History Major with a Jewish Studies minor. Funny story - a professor from Cambridge, where she studied last summer, asked her, "why is an Asian American girl from California so interested in Jewish Studies?" My mother asks the same thing, but I think it's a fascinating subject matter and it's cool that Joanna has the intellectual curiosity and thirst to pursue this field of study. My parents just worry that history majors won't be able to pay the rent. And I'm jealous that she'll be traveling through NY and Europe this summer to study and play. I remember doing my first backpacking trip in Europe right after college. I'll never willingly live in a hostel again (for vacation), but I'm glad I did it. It's a very special time. Anyway, congrats, Joanna! Before you find your full-time job, I think it would help your resume if you came over here and "interned" as a nanny/night nurse. = )

In just a few weeks we'll be attending my sister-in-law Eunice's graduation also! It's graduation and wedding season, alright. It's summertime...

Memorial Day Weekend Visitors

2008-05-26T01:17:00.000-07:00

Got a few more visitors today, which was nice. My buddy Thatcher Bell from Wharton coined the term "baby jail" for this period of time - roughly one month for us - when the baby and mother are recovering and sequestered in the home. Which, of course, is a good thing. I shouldn't complain - it's not exactly like Aung San Suu Kyi's house arrest situation, which is completely outrageous. Completely different topic.

Staying home this month helps us to keep the germs away while baby is developing her immune system, and allows Liz to recover a bit from the traumatic experience called Labor and Delivery. However, it's easy to get cabin fever. And besides going to the office in Burbank, and occasional expeditions out to restock supplies, I'm pretty much at home too. So it's always nice when visitors come by.

Here's Warren and Lily - our friends from NY who moved to LA (where Lily, like us, is from originally) a few months ahead of us. They are deep into wedding planning - the ceremony is in two weeks! Nice of them to come by. Kinda looks like their own kid, huh? Their wedding will probably be Lina's first official social "outing."

Here's Emily, or "Ayi 1"according to our Sino-Anglo concocted nomenclature - who brought by some drinks for us from Tea Station in San Gabriel. My personal favorite - the "Iced Peach Black Tea," which I am enjoying at this moment while catching up on the blogging. Thanks Ayi 1!

Memorial Weekend

2008-05-25T17:52:00.000-07:00

I love summer. "Summer has always belonged to children," a recent Audi commercial proclaims. Summertime does call up childhood memories of those "endless summer nights," but not in the Richard Marx sort of way. More like playing out in the pool with friends and cousins, summer camps, bbqs with friends, riding our bikes around the neighborhood after futile summer school classes...

On the East Coast, Memorial Day Weekend unofficially kicks off the summer season. Many of our friends are at the Hamptons or the 'Shore (Jersey) this weekend. Either they told me or I see it on their Facebook updates. It just feels like summer is starting. Many companies in Manhattan have "summer hours," although that has never been relevant to folks in my department. For some reason, Memorial Day Weekend doesn't have the same symbolism or feel here on the West Coast. And most people don't have "country homes" or go away for the weekend. It's probably because the weather is relatively mild all year round, and everything is pretty chill anyway. There isn't really a "marker" between seasons. Well, I guess there aren't really "seasons" here. We used to joke that we were going to the "country home," whenever we left NY to visit our parents in LA. So what is the L3 clan doing this long weekend? Nothing - eating, sleeping, and other digestive processes that I won't mention. Can you believe Lina is three weeks old? Like most things in life, it has gone by really fast and really slow. One more week, and the two ladies will be free from house arrest and will be able to go out again into the world!

The last few days have been a bit insane. Every time we think we have a pattern nailed down, the little critter changes things up. Last night was a bit better - she slept from 2am to 7:30am - almost a five and a half hour session, which is huge for this age. The few nights before that were really challenging - hellish, to be more accurate. Thank goodness we have family like Em/Jon and friends like John/Grace and Tim/Grace to give us tips and advice and generally just commiserate with us. Anyway, besides the crazy sleep schedule, we have been really enjoying Lina. It's amazing to see her personality start to come out. Here are some more pictures of our baby...

The Pacifier

2008-05-20T21:02:00.000-07:00

I have to admit, the first time we tried a pacifier on Lina, something didn't sit right with me. It seemed like trickery - there obviously isn't any milk coming through it, but the poor thing thinks there is. Well, not my daughter. She full on rejected it - spit it out of her mouth and made a huge scowl. Fatherly pride swelled up within me - no daughter of mine will be fooled into accepting a fake bill of goods, or whatever that phrase is. She will be an independent thinker and won't be a mindless consumer/pawn at the mercy of Corporate America. She will fight for her rights and won't accept all of her government's decisions on foreign policy without questioning motives and other factors. Ok, going overboard.

After several days of fussiness, I am begging God to let Lina accept the pacifier! Anything that works! To be fair, actually, Liz pointed out that the sucking motion is actually soothing to babies. So, it's not just pure trickery. There is a real and legit purpose to it.

Data-Driven Analysis

2008-05-20T20:26:00.000-07:00

Data-driven analysis - it's a business school and consulting catch phrase. Taking "data" - which I know is a generic term - and analyzing it to draw conclusions in order to better inform future decisions and actions. When I was a consultant, and now at WMG, we employ "data-driven" analysis to help us make strategic decisions. Well, most of the time. We look at trends and patterns, and try to come up with some meaningful observations.

So we have a spreadsheet to track Lina's behavior. The hospital gave us a simple worksheet to track feedings, but I had to create my own template and take it to the next level. We record the time and duration of each feeding, diaper changes (and type), and even sleeping patterns. What am I trying to figure out? (by the way, with Google Docs I can share this with you if you really want it.)

For example, all the books we read say that newborns should sleep 16+ hours per day. But they don't really break it down into optimal times and duration. If she takes 3 different 3-hour naps during the day, how does that affect her night sleep? What about 4 different 2-hour naps? And what times are optimal for these day naps so that she sleeps longer during the night? You see, I'm looking for the perfect scientific pattern that will yield the optimum sleep at night for Lina, so, selfishly, mommy and daddy can also sleep in peace and regain some (just some) normalcy in life.

I think maybe I'll expand the spreadsheet to include other things as well. If the burps come in the first 3 minutes vs. 5+ minutes, does that lead to a happier "awake and alert" period which leads to a deeper subsequent nap resulting in a better feeding next time which leads to sound night sleep? Hmm, maybe the type of cotton of her "onesies" has an effect too. Certainly Jacadi, Petit Bateau and other French labels are more comfortable and result in better bowel movements and therefore rest?

Oh wait a minute...
She's a baby. Right. And all babies are different. And, within certain guidelines and principles, there's really no science to it? Darn...

The Aunts and Uncles

2008-05-19T18:31:00.001-07:00

Like I said, we have huge families! Liz has three sisters - that's right, four girls in total. The eldest sister Emily, and her husband Jonathan, have three kids. I have a brother, sister-in-law, and a sister. Here are some pics. Joanna, my youngest sister is the only one that hasn't met Lina. She's up at Cal finishing up her last semester. I'll be flying up to Berkeley for the day on Friday to attend her graduation - fingers crossed! That'll be the longest that I leave Liz and Lina since May 3rd! Disclaimer: I didn't get permission from each of them to post these pics and have to therefore reserve their right to determine whether these images and representations are considered "good" pictures or not and to replace them with better ones if it is thus determined that they are not, indeed, "good" pictures!

Proud Grandparents and the Family

2008-05-19T17:10:00.000-07:00

One of the main reasons we moved back to Southern California is because of our family. Liz and I are both blessed with big boisterous families on both sides. Here are some pics from a few weeks ago, of the proud grandparents. They have all been so helpful. The moms(our moms) have been coming over and cooking us tons and tons of home-cooked meals! Thanks moms! I'll save pics of our siblings - all of Lina's aunts and uncles, for the next post...

First visitors

2008-05-19T16:35:00.001-07:00

Lina in a good mood today when I was at work. Hmm...

There's a reason I haven't been posting for a couple of days. We had a couple of "fussy" days. Our friends John and Grace Chan, who had a baby (boy) a few months ahead of us, warned us about this. That once you think you're into a "groove," or a predictable schedule, things change on you! We had three straight days of a pretty good sleep schedule, and then bam, two nights of craziness. Parents will do anything to appease their baby when it's 4am and there is no hope in sight. I actually paid $9.99 on iTunes for an "baby ambient noise" CD - we've been playing the "Ocean Wave" sounds on repeat hundreds of times. Maybe the best $9.99 I've ever spent! For those who are interested, this album is especially designed for babies. A sample of other "songs" on this album - "Vacuum cleaner," "Blowdryer," "Car Noise," "Womb Music," "River sounds." You get the idea. (Definitely a way to save on the A&R costs)

Anyway, Liz and baby are sequestered for one month. The only outing they have been on was a trip to the doctor's on Friday. That was an adventure in itself. It's been nice to have some of our friends come by to visit, aside from our families of course. I promised Val, our buddy from NY who is also from the Pasadena area, that she would get a blog post mention, so here she is! She is the first of our friends from NY to visit. There's a bunch coming in June, and we are looking forward to introducing Lina to them.

Auntie Val, a real estate mogul from NY, was telling Lina about the collapse of the mortgage industry and Lina was obviously very interested...

Here's Uncle Richard hanging out with Lina...Richard was nice enough to bring by flowers for Liz on her first Mother's Day. Even I didn't do anything for that...yet. I know, terrible. Off to a great start, Leonard.

Finally, Auntie Ellen also came by, with treats for me and Liz. A copy of the WSJ and "In Style," along with some fresh strawberries.

Thanks everyone for visiting and giving us a taste of the outside world. Until today, when I went to the office, I've only been taking half hour expeditions every few days to shore up on "supplies" - Vitamin Water, Red Bull, Venti Soy Lattes, and Pampers Swaddlers...(in that order of importance).

By the way, this post took me almost three hours - I had to put Lina down at least three times. I am writing this on the couch, looking at the monitor that Grace and John gave us, and watching her squirm. Makes me very anxious.

Pics of the Day

2008-05-15T21:07:00.000-07:00

For some reason, Lina just loves to touch her face. Here she is, grabbing her head, while taking a nap...
I'm enjoying time off from work...although, now I know that this is a LOT more work than even the most demanding of jobs...

Supposedly, newborns have an alert and quiet period one in every ten hours. That sounds about right. Three or four times during the day, Lina will be very peaceful and quiet. She seems to be looking intently at whoever is holding her. As if she's thinking about something, or contemplating something. Then she smiles - which I think is gas or something at this point. Either way, I really enjoy these times of the day. (as opposed to when she's screaming bloody murder at 3am)

Random snapshots from the day

2008-05-13T23:38:00.000-07:00

Here's Lina just chilling out in a corner of her crib, with her friends.

Feeling happy after a changing...

Hanging out in her bouncer...

A Day in the Life

2008-05-13T22:42:00.000-07:00

So what goes on in the Chen household these days? I'm still in the middle of taking a bit of time off from work, so I've been at home full-time since Lina came into the world. It's been good. I have to admit I sneak a peak or two at the blackberry, but other than that, it is all Liz and all Lina.

Today, it felt like all we did was feed the baby. [skip the following if you're a parent - you already know this]. People warned us about this, but I didn't really understand it until now. Did you know that you have to feed the kid like 8-12 times a day!? And we are (actually, Liz is, not me) breastfeeding, so it is a very time-consuming thing. If you do the simple math, it's about every three hours at the minimum. So you think to yourself, hmm, that's not crazy, right? Wrong. It is. Because the process goes something like this:

Step 1: Get the baby ready to feed

change the diaper(s) - 2-3 minutes
mommy gets ready - 5 minutes

Step 2: Feed the baby

30 minutes to 60 minutes, depending on whether the baby is sleepy or not (ours almost always is)
burp the baby halfway through (5-10 minutes)

Step 3: Burp / Change again

burp again - 5 minutes sometimes less, sometimes more
change diapers again (if applicable) - 2-3 minutes
Swaddle the baby - 2-3 minutes

Step 4: this is the part no one tells you about: if the baby is fussy - and Lina sometimes is because, let's face it, getting smacked in the back repeatedly by the old man (burping) is not exactly a peaceful experience - it can take a very long time to soothe the baby back into a state of peacefulness or sleepiness.

Anyway, my point here is just that it's not as simple as a single event every three hours. This "event" almost takes up the entire three hours. So, today, it really felt like all we did was feed, burp, change, rock, repeat...

Liz and I are really enjoying Lina. We feel like we are getting to know all these little things about her - it's pretty amazing. A colleague recently told me this, regarding becoming first time parents - "all the good things you imagine about being a new parent - it's all true, and a million times more than you imagine. All the challenging things you imagine and have heard about - that's also true, and much more than you ever imagine." It's so true. I should do another post listing all the interesting things people have said to me about becoming a parent. There are some really wise things and some really funny things.

Random thought - the backdrop to all of this is that I've been following the events in China and Burma online (in between feedings). I can't even fathom the extent and magnitude of the human misery that is going on. And the military junta keeping aid from reaching their citizens. sigh. Sorry, what a buzz kill.

Some more pics of Lina

2008-05-11T13:00:00.000-07:00

Here are a few more pictures of Lina...

I've never been more paranoid about organizing our digital assets and backing them up. My brother is helping us set up a back up system so we don't lose any of these pics. Is life in the digital world really that much more convenient? (Read in a "Carrie-esque" tone)

Swaddled in the hospital...

Here's a picture with cousin Noah, who is only 2 months older. Can you believe it!? I think Noah is going to be one tough dude. I'm glad that he'll be able to protect his cousin! That's comforting to me - I'll have to just buy one shotgun now instead of two.

Don't be fooled - she isn't always this peaceful and isn't always sleeping!

How it all went down

2008-05-09T15:11:00.000-07:00

So how did it all go down, you ask?

For a couple of weeks we were expecting Lina to come early, as suggested by Liz's doctor. However, by last Friday, we had stopped expecting her to come early. After having dinner at Hong Kong Cafe on Sawtelle and Olympic on Friday night, we came home and watched "Without a Trace" and "Cold Case" on the DVR until the wee hours of the night, fully expecting to have one last weekend before the big day. While preparing to retire for the night, Liz yelled out, "Leonard, uh, I think my water just broke..."

What proceeded was nothing like the movies. We didn't drop everything, grab the bags, and drive through the city streets at 100mph to get to the hospital, then park curbside and run into triage screaming bloody hell with the baby half way out. We called the doctor, who calmly instructed us to get to Cedars Sinai in the next hour and a half. We called our families, who were all sleeping, packed a few last-minute things into our overnight bag, and even tidied up the apartment a bit. I actually spent a good half hour clearing out some work-related emails and letting folks know that there's a reason I won't be dialing into the weekend conference call.

The drive from our place in West LA to Cedars Sinai in Beverly Hills was actually pretty quick - 15 minutes tops. There was a surreal, and appropriate, peacefulness to it all. We arrived, checked in to the hospital at around 3:30am, and Lina came into the world at 11:03am. From 3:30am until 9:30-ish, things were actually pretty chill. We were given a very nice delivery room, with a panoramic view of the the Hollywood Hills. There was a lot of paperwork, monitoring of Liz, and general down-time before kick off. We even had a couple of hours to nap - Liz on the hospital bed hooked up to some IVs and me on a couch next to her. Again, it was peaceful and very surreal to watch the sun rise over the 'Hills. I have some pics on another camera that we didn't upload yet.

At around 9:00am, our Doctor and a couple of nurses came into the room. Before I knew it, it was showtime at the Apollo. I think I'll save the details of the rest for never and maybe talk about thoughts and reactions next time...

Anyway, that's how it went down.

Angelina "Lina" Ruth Chen - The first few pictures

2008-05-08T16:41:00.000-07:00

Hey folks, as promised, here are a few pics to start off...

Our daughter - Angelina "Lina" Ruth Chen - was born on May 3rd at 11:03am PST. She came in at 7 lbs. and 21 inches. We are thankful that she is healthy and adjusting to post-womb life very well. Mommy - Liz - is also recovering and doing well.

In short - it has been simply amazing. I took a ton of pics but will need a bit of time to get organized. See the last picture for a glimpse of me in action. I can't get the layout to work properly here on Blogspot, but I have no time to fix that now. Off to do some burping...

Thanks for everyone's thoughts, prayers, love, and support. Talk to you all soon!

Xanga to Blogger

2007-05-30T20:14:00.001-07:00

It's official. After many years blogging on Xanga, on and off, of course, I am moving to Blogger.