Isabel at Union St Fair

On dec 11, union street has a xmas fair. Isabel has a lot of fun and met Santa for the first time. She stood in line and was all excited, but when we got to our turn to take the picture, she got scared to sit on Santa's lap alone. so we took the picture together. No worries, all in due time. Right now, it's kind of good that she is timid with stranger and cautious even with "Santa".

Isabel at Yerba Buena Center

with her friend Ayza who is our neighbor. They are only a week apart in age and loves to play together. They will be in a dancing class together starting in Jan.

Xmas party at Lauren's house

Lauren is 3.5 years old and is the one in the dark red dress. She is one of Jaime's high school friend's daughter. We went to her house on Dec 12 for a BBQ and xmas party. There were 11 kids there - Isabel was the youngest. This is the night we put her to sleep at 10:30pm at their house. We left around 11:30pm. Isabel has so much fun and didn't get over-tired.

A song for you from Isabel

Isabel loves to dance and sing. Here is a song from her to you. Enjoy!

What a Xmas Morning!

It's 2am in the morning on Xmas day.  You would think that Isabel is sleeping soundly dreaming about what Santa will bring her as Xmas gifts in the morning, but you would be wrong.  She is too young to still understand all that.  Instead, at 2am, she is crying on the top of her lungs from being overtired.  The screaming last for 5 minutes.  At 2:40am, I wake up to screaming again.  This time it's more like 20 min.  She was inconsolable for awhile.  I didn't realize but this is normal I guess for a child that has been overstimulated and so tired.

We went to a party at Jaime's parents' friend house Xmas Eve - a very nice party that had appetizers at 7pm and dinner at 10:30pm - a Spanish tradition I guess.  Quite a few bigger kids who happily entertained Isabel.  She was so excited and just played, played, and played.  We let her play thinking she is big enough now to stay up later.  Isabel didn't go to bed until 11:30pm in the car on the way home.  She seemed fine and went to sleep again soon after we got home.

It's now 3:17am.  She is asleep again thankfully but I can't sleep, worried that she may scream again and hoping at the same time that she won't and will rest well for the rest of the night. Agnes tells me her screaming is normal and she will be fine.  She is just over-tired, needs rest, but doesn't how to do it herself.  Agnes was holding her walking around in the room so she can be comforted to sleep again.

I guess it's lesson learned.
1.  When a baby is not yet 3 year old, they can't stay up way past their bed time (which is 9pm) without suffering a bit (screaming and being over-tired).  Few weeks ago, she was up until 10:30 but we put her to sleep at the friend's house we were at and she was fine that night.   11:30 was obviously too much.
2.  Don't let her watch TV when it's past her bedtime.  The kids and her were all watching Madagascar the movie.  I went to check on her at almost 11pm, she was looking at me cross-eyed a bit.  She was obviously way too tired.   A few months ago, she had this problem after she woke up from naps or sleep.  We took her to an eye doctor and she said it's probably normal since she is developing still.  After that I haven't noticed her  crossed-eyed much at all.  When I saw it tonight, it makes me worried.  Another reason to watch out when she stays up too late.
3. Don't let other people's opinion influence my instinct.  People told me it's fine to have her stay up late. Well, they are not up now at 3:25am worried about whether their child is resting well.  My instinct told me 11:30 was too late. I guess I feel guilty and probably should have tried to have her sleep earlier.   Every child is different.  Some has been trained to stay up late.  We can train Isabel but not do it this suddenly.  For the most part, I don't see any reason to train her to stay up late.  She can do that when she grows up.

I guess I feel bad overall.  It's hard to see our child suffer in the middle of the night.  I am sure she is fine now and I am probably being over-dramatic..  No crying since 3am.  I hope she is resting well now.  It's amazing how protective motherhood feels. I guess this is part of the roller-coaster ride of life.  Well, we will make sure Isabel gets plenty of rest and sleep as much as she wants so she can be all good to open her presents in the morning.

Now, hopefully, I can sleep soon too.

-Lei
It's 3:56am and she hasn't screamed again.  Time for mommy and daddy to go back to sleep

Merry Xmas and Happy 2011

2010 has been a memorable year!

• Isabel is growing so fast.  She speaks full sentences now and has quite a personality.  While she loves to dress up, she is also really tough (usually don't cry when she falls unless it really hurts; she can give a mean kick to a ball, and can throw pretty well with one hand).  We are blessed with a sweet, smart, active, and adorable daughter
• Jaime and I were able to get away on 2 trips - Puerto Rico and Cancun.  Very fun.  We ate a ton of Mofongo in PR, Jaime demonstrated impressive skills at the Trapeze, and Lei learned how to waterski.  Yeah!
• We continue to develop our business vision.  Jaime successfully started his contracting business on top of full time work.  We are ever more clear on how we want to build our career and life in the next 5 years.  We are so excited for 2011 to start.  I also continue to pursue my passion in career coaching - writing blog posts and helping people individually with their career challenges
• We are forever thankful for Agnes in our life.  She is amazing and constantly teaches me how to be a better mom and person.  She is also so talented - she has an intuitive talent for cooking new recipes (her chocolate souffles are superb). She also found a new passion in photography and is almost always seen snapping photos with her DSLR camera.

We are of course also thankful for our friends and family - Life is an journey and a roller-coaster ride.  We are loving every moment and wish you are too.  Happy Holidays and Best wishes in 2011.

Isabel and friends at Hyatt Hotel

Christmas is in the Air!

10 most effective parenting tips

In order of priority. I think #2 is often overlooked and not considered, but it is crucial. See full article on this at http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfmoms/detail?entry_id=77315

1) Love and affection. You support and accept the child, are physically affectionate, and spend quality one-on-one time together.

2. Stress management. You take steps to reduce stress for yourself and your child, practice relaxation techniques and promote positive interpretations of events.

3. Relationship skills. You maintain a healthy relationship with your spouse, significant other or co-parent and model effective relationship skills with other people.

4. Autonomy and independence. You treat your child with respect and encourage him or her to become self-sufficient and self-reliant.

5. Education and learning. You promote and model learning and open-mindedness for your child.

6. Life skills. You provide for your child, have a steady income and plan for the future.

7. Behavior management. You make extensive use of positive reinforcement and punish only when other methods of managing behavior have failed.

8. Health. You model a healthy lifestyle and good habits, such as regular exercise and proper nutrition, for your child.

9. Religion. You support spiritual or religious development and participate in spiritual or religious activities.

10. Safety. You take precautions to protect your child and maintain awareness of the child's activities and friends.

Lei

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Isabel at 30 months, North Beach Library Petting Zoo

Isabel on her Giants gear and at Peekadoodle with Dash

Isabel at 30.5 months

SF Giants Victory Parade

Duck tour with Agnes and Isabel at 28 months

Isabel loves to swim - Sept 2010

Date with Auntie Isabel - Oct 2010

Swimming Lessons with Daddy - sept 2010

Our wedding site

I just happen to find our wedding site that we put up 3.5 years ago. Wow what memories.

http://www.mywedding.com/leijaime/

http://www.mywedding.com/leijaime/stories.html (Jaime wrote our story down - so great to read again)

http://www.mywedding.com/leijaime/guestbook.html (the entries from the guestbook is awesome to read too)

Lei

Isabel's 1st Giants Game

Halloween 2010

Isabel's 2.5 year old check up

All is good. She is 30 pounds and 36.5 inches tall. She is at the 75% for weight and height. She was given a booster shot for an immunization. She cried for 10 seconds and then got distracted by the lollipop.

Doctor said we can
- switch her to slim milk instead of whole milk. 20 oz is still fine
- her diet of rice, bread, chicken nuggets, carrots, cabbage, broccoli, hummus etc. sounds good
- don't let her play in the bath as it will dry her skin. 3 to 4 times bath a week is good
- use fragrance free lotion to make sure skin is not dried by fragrance lotion: no need to go to allergist. She will outgrow the dry skin (crossing our fingers)
- we need to brush her teeth with a manual toothbrush in the morning and only use electric at night so her teeth are not desensitized

All is good. A very healthy, active girl!

Lei

Lao-lao's visit

Responses to Rent vs. Buy

I sent my post to the owner of Patrick.net - Patrick Killelea and also to my realtor to get their response. Then I sent my realtor's response to Patrick. Patrick was kind enough to comment (pretty funny). Here is what I got. I am still leaning toward renting as I think there is always a conflict of interest with realtor (any of them - good or bad) - as they only make money if you buy a place.

-------------------------
Patrick's response
Hi Lei,
did you try the NY Times calculator?http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/business/buy-rent-calculator.html

I think it's important to:

1. Not assume you'll be there 30 years. Average ownership is only 7 years.
2. Not assume ANY appreciation. It could just as well depreciate. Also, rents could just as well fall. My own rent is less now than it was 11 years ago, for the same house.

---------------------
My realtor's response and Patrick's comment on her response

I think your blog is very interesting. Well, I suppose I can’t help it since it is my business = ) I believe in having the right reasons in buying a home so expectations are managed. More often than not, one is buying a home to set up “roots” where they can live for many years, be part of a community and raise a family. The American Dream. Have something constructive, something you can actually touch and feel. Then later pass on to your children, for them to have something to start their lives with.

Patrick: That's all very manipulative button-pushing, hoping to trigger emotional responses to get a irrational payout from the Lei Han ATM machine...

In addition to actually having a roof over your head and a place to sleep, here are some other points to consider why homeownership makes sense.
1) Principal pay down, Equity Build up and Appreciation – In a 30-year fixed loan – in 30 years of paying mortgage, you are paying the principal down, and you are building equity in the process. The home will be free and clear and it will be yours in 30 years!
(Patrick: And perhaps worth less than you paid, even in 30 years. See Japan.)
It can be sooner if you paid twice a month and pay it off in 15 years!
(Patrick: That much is true.)
It will appreciate in value- definitely! In 30 years – history has shown that to be true. In renting for 30 years one will have nothing to show for the payments being made and will most likely still need to rent.
(Patrick: Absolutely mathematically wrong. If you save money every month by renting, you have the money. Someone is willing to use you for a commission...)

2) If you are worried about getting tied down – you can rent the home and have the tenant pay your mortgage – Great Investment! That is why buying in a good neighborhood is important because you can find a tenant should the need arise.
(Patrick: Right, you can rent it out for half as much as your monthly expenses... Not a good deal, except for the realtor who is long gone with your commissions. Yes YOU pay the commission. All money comes from buyers.)

3) Cheap Money – currently interest rates have been the lowest in 35+ years! When interest rates move up to say 7% that same home of $650,000 with 20% down - your mortgage will be $ 3,439.51. It will cost you approximately $1,000 more for that same house!
(Patrick: No, if rates surge prices will fall to compensate. Though it is possible that rates will rise because salaries are rising too quickly for the Fed, in which case prices could go up even with rising rates. But you'll get a lot of warning if that's going to happen. Currently, we have falling salaries, not rising.)

4) Leverage – where can you tie up a piece of property worth $650,000 with as little as 3.5% down ($22,750) – an FHA Loan. Of course depending on the buyers credit worthiness, and yes there are closing costs to consider, mortgage Insurance … but it is possible. The banks will lend the buyer $627,250 to buy that particular home. And eventually should they make their payments as scheduled, they get to own that home in 30 years! I think that is amazing!
(Patrick: Yeah, and think of the massive amount of money you could lose with leverage too.)

5) Homeowners as compared to tenants tend to enhance the quality of communities because most have pride of ownership, they tend to maintain their homes better, they contribute more to their communities, parks and churches and because of these, their communities have better home values… unlike transient communities that have high rates of tenancies. A majority of tenants don’t care since they don’t own the home.
(Patrick: Several studies have proven that there is actually no measurable benefit to the community from owners. In fact, they're usually more stressed out about their mortgage to take much of an interest in anything else. 70% of people in Switzerland rent, and they're not dumb.)
(Patrick:Real estate is the worst possible investment. You should buy only if: 1. You can easily afford it.; 2. It's cheaper than renting the same thing.)

-----------------------------------------
My 2 cents: I have heard this sales pitch from Realtors many times, but I think it doesn't present a balanced view. All the headache with owning a place is not highlighted and so many people rent in the bay area that I don't think her last argument#5 holds. You can almost as easily rent in a good neighborhood as buy in the same neighborhood in the Bay Area.

Also #3 doesn't make sense. If interest rate goes up t0 7%, then housing prices will come down as there are less buyers in the market so sellers has to compensate by lowering their price if they have to sell. I much rather buy the house at a lower price and pay the high interest initially because I can always refinance when rates decrease. I can NEVER readjust my purchase price once I buy the house.

#2 sounds cool but I don't know any home owners who are renting their house out for a profit in the bay area and I believe you lose some of the tax benefit if you rent it out vs. living in it. I don't think your interest is tax deductible any more except for the difference between your rental income and the mortgage. A big negative!

Anyways, will keep you posted on where I land - so far renting still works for us :-)

Lei

Rent vs. Buy

This is more of a note to myself but perhaps it will be of interest to others. As more of my friends buy houses, I can't help but revisit our choice to still rent at this point. We probably have the means to buy a place and some of the listings look quite good right now, but on the other hand the complexity it will add to our life is quite daunting as well.

As both Jaime and I value freedom and simplicity, buying a house seems to be quite counter to that. Nonetheless, I have been spending the last few weeks going through the motions of considering what it may take to own a house.

Here are some things I realize. Assuming a $650K house at Parkside in San Mateo.

• Many hidden one time cost
  - closing cost - 2% of purchase price ($13K)
  - selling cost - 6% of purchase price ($39K) - when I plan to sell my house, I will eventually have to pay for this.
  - set up cost - curtains, washer dryer, fridge, etc.. ($10K at least)
  Now, once I buy the house, the house needs to at least sell for $712K (9-10% above purchase price) for me to break even. I realize I will build up equity over time, but in the first few years, the mortgage is mostly interest building and the average house owner move every 7 years.
  
• Opportunity cost of the down payment+ one time cost - $130K + $62K- could I earn more in the stock market in 30 year with $192K than owning a house?
• Monthly / Annual Cost adds up to more than I thought
  - Mortgage - $2560 monthly ($600k house at 20% down and 4.25% 30 yr fix)
  - housing insurance - $100 a month
  - gardening - $50/ month
  - electricity - $250 a month (we don't pay any now renting)
  - fixing cost - once i own it, whatever is broken will need money and time to be fixed. Depending on how old the house is, some people budget at least $100/month for this and sometimes $10K a year. My realtor that I can purchase a home waranty that is $250-450 (a year?) or upward that could cover repair - another headache to deal with
  - commute cost - currently I walk to work in SF. If I move to the pennisula, I would have to drive or bart which adds another $200 a month.
  Now owning a $650K house would cost at least $3000 a month in Mortgage + other costs
  
• Property tax is hopefully offset by tax benefits of home ownership- 1.2% of purchase price ($7800 a year) paid semi-annually I think this is usually offset by tax benefit (as long as you don't have a cash flow problem - usually have to pay taxes first before getting the benefit). I will have to figure out how true this is.
  
• A huge commitment - once I buy, what if I don't like the area? cost of selling is high. We could feel stuck which would add a lot of stress. This leads me to think I should rent first in the new area and make sure I like and then look for a place to buy.
  
• According to Patrick.net, it's not a good idea to buy. Here is his simple rule of thumb
  annual rent / purchase price = 3% means do not buy
  annual rent / purchase price = 6% means borderline
  annual rent / purchase price = 9% means ok to buy
  $2600x12 / $650K = 5% -> according to Patrick - not good to buy. Patrick breaks it down really well on his site and helps me a lot with my learning process about real estate. You can also see his talk at Google here
  
• Condo prices may look low but HOA will kill you - A $550K condo with $400HOA seem to cost the same as owning a $650K house.

As I learn, I realize we should do the following when it comes to buying a place.

• Rent before I buy in the area - it's probably essential to rent in the area first before we buy. I applause those who can directly make the jump and buy into an area. I don't think I can do it. We enjoy our freedom and would hate to risk feeling trapped. We love where we live now - too bad it's not affordable to buy.
  
• Move based on good public school for Isabel - we don't believe in paying for private school before college. So we will move just so we can find a good public school for Isabel starting with Kindergarten. I am really leaning toward Mandarin Immersion Public school right now which fortunately is quite prevalent in the Bay area including a new one just chartered for Alameda. There is one even in Potrero Hill in the city. Will check it out soon.
  
• Make sure where we live has a high walk score (>80) - Our current place have a perfect score (100) for being very walkable everywhere to key places like grocery, shopping, restaurants, bars, public transit, etc.... We love it and Agnes and baby love it. Anywhere else we go is a step down but 80 and above would be great. There is a site that calculate the walk score based on your address. I will use that to search for listings.
• Buy a place when it's possible to rent that place for a profit. Otherwise renting is more stress free and cheaper, I think

Well, this will help me remember. I can add to it as I learn more. If you have more knowledge, pls do share. Thanks!

- Lei

SF Giants 2010 World Champs!

giants rocked! Jaime is so excited. So are we all. Agnes pulled this together last night. Enjoy!



- Lei

Stuff Isabel says (she is 2 yrs and 5 months old)

No (it's unfortunately her favorite word)
It's mine (whenever anyone is near her favorite things)
Meimei not happy not happy (when she is not pleased with something)
Mom, What doing, over there?
I peed in potty (she also know to say I need to pee - yeah)
I pooped (unfortunately pooping in potty is still a struggle, so she tells us after she pooped in panty or once on the couch - long story)
Can I watch tiger mama? (tiger is her favorite chinese DVD)
Coconut pls? (she has discovered the wonderful taste of fresh coconut juice and can drink one all by herself - an expensive habit)
I want to eat bread.  I am hungry.  Rice?  Cookies? Strawberries  (she loves starches and fruits and she almost alway eat food separately - if she is eating rice, she just eat rice and nothing else except when eat tinola oe nilaga)
Mama, don't leave me! (her favorite way to keep me with her - using guilt. Ahh they learn so quickly)
It's walgreens (when we drive by one as she recognizes the W)
That's laundry (when we drive by a laundrymat because she does laundry with agnes every week and recog the machines)
Love you, miss you, good day, byebye, morning, night night sorry and also chinese versions of these 
She can count to 10 in chinese and english


- Lei

Date with Dash - Oct 2010

Jaime and Lei swim with dolphins

In Cancun, Jaime and I went to swim with dolphins. A 45 minute up close adventure. It was AMAZING! We got to play with 2 dolphins - 1 male and female. They give us kiss, splashed us, pushed us to fly on water. We got to pet them, hug them, and make them sing. It was really an unforgettable experience, so of course we bought the DVD. This only covers some of what we did. I would highly recommend it.

Cancun Club Med was a blast

Top 13 moments

1. Swimming with Dolphins - bought a DVD - will upload it!
2. Learned how to Waterski - two skies - I did it four times and last time tried one hand for a bit. It was awesome. Thanks to Pablo who taught me. He is almost 50 and the oldest GO there, very nice
3. SUN, SUN, and more SUN - sky was so blue and the water was blue green / beautiful village with huts every where - I am probably the most tan than I have ever been
4. Very friendly GOs (Gentle organizers - all in their 20s and fun - they all work there to make you feel at home and have friends) - Emilia (cutest smile and sweetest girl), Gerline (wow, I want her body - perfect) , Terry (best michael jackson impersonator and just so FUNNY), Diego (Energizer bunny), Sergio (perfect beginning to every meal), Oscar (very huggable), Pepe (loves to dance), Alex (smiley eyes and a good DJ) Chiwawa (so flirtatious), Delia (she dance in boots in 90 degree weather), and so many more etc..
5. Amazing Jamaican Trapeze instructors - Mad Max and Herdlyn - they have muscles in places that we didn't think existed :-). Definite eye candies. Great teacher too - nice and encouraging. Yeah Man!
6. "Visual dessert" circus show on Thurs night - every one was reaped and did some amazing feats
7. Wonderful buffets - I gained two pounds - my favorite was the fresh salad station at lunch - everything made to order
8. Learned how to Sail - Kyle, the only GO from America was so good at teaching us. He is from Houston but looks like a California surfer boy
9. The West family - Morris (wow the things that come out of his mouth is both funny and shocking - loved it) , Jeanette (ObGYN surgeon and mother of 3, also performed on Thursday circus show after only 2 days of rehearsal. She is my idol), River, Ember, Jordan are their sons. They loved Jaime and climbed all over him
10. Meeting other GMs (Gentle Members - that's what club med calls guests).
    - Yasser and Jaime was talking Judo and ultimate fighting and DJ. Yasser and his wife brought their six month old son - Adam. Adam and I got along great. At one point he just nestled against my chest and started licking my boobs - guess he was hungry. so adorable!
    - John and Dorit - John knows the lead singer to Lincoln park. He was a super trooper and tried water skiing 4 days in a row - falling every day except the very last one. Wow.
    - Susan is 66 and was dancing up a storm and tried waterskiing for the firsttime. She got it and went for 3 rounds. I hope I will still be that adventurous when I am in my 60s.
    - Erica is from Redwood city and we all hang out the last night. Erica promises to visit us in SF
11. First time on water slides - I literally feel myself floating off some of the slides. One slide was called the space bowl. It whips you into a big bowl at 30 mph - one is open to the sky, the other is dark and super trippy. AWESOME!
12. Waking up to perfect weather EVERY DAY! I miss it so much!
13. and of course - many magical moments with Hubby. He looks more handsome every day. :-) He also tried water skiing and trapeze. he looked great on the Trapeze like a pro except for the landing - haha!
    
    

Indoor Sky Diving - ifly

A bunch of us (Ajantha, Juanpablo, Rony, Michelle, Edwin, Agnes, and I) went to do Indoor sky diving in late June. I had 50% off coupons and we got the DVD. Here is my two jumps. It's not as scary as it sounds - no free fall feeling but fun still. Check it out. They say anyone 3 years old or above can try it. Maybe we will take Isabel next year. :-)



- Lei

All the benefits of being a Petite woman

There are so many benefit of being petite.

1. Economy airplane seat doesn't seem too small - actually nice and cozy
2. More choices of men who are taller (when I was single)
3. But the most important benefit is once my shirts gets too small, they can immediately be worn as a big t-shirt by my daughter - Isabel. See the shirt Isabel is wearing. Does it look familiar?



- Lei

Isabel loves the slide and coaster

The little old lady Isabel

Dawn's visit 2010

One of my best friends from B-school visited me this weekend and we had a blast in Napa and SF. We have known each other for 10 years. We went to Napa for 2 days and discovered a great winery (best of six we visited) - Rombauer - We even took photos with the owner Mr. Rombauer (the big white man in the photos). We went to Buschon for dinner - It was okay. We had Chinese food - yummy! We had deep talks about life, family, kids, love, friendship - that was the best part + we got some serious dancing in at Bubble lounge.



- Lei

Isabel Dances at Stern Grove Park

every summer Stern Grove has free summer concerts. We were really lucky that we got good seats to this one. First come first serve. Isabel had a blast.

Isabel singing and dancing with Chinese Tiger

Isabel loves her Chinese DVD. Now she can actually sing along.

Puzzle maker

Isabel has a real talent for putting together puzzles. Even I am amazed at how fast she is learning. this is a 24 piece puzzle of Winnie the Pooh. She can put together the whole thing by herself. I just caught the second half on video.



- Lei

Isabel at Fairyland

Isabel loves Fairyland - especially the music box

What a little dancer!

Isabel has taken dancing to a whole new level. Not sure where she learned all these moves, but they are good! Enjoy! I laugh every time. What a cutie!

Isabel loved the petting zoo

The SF library had a temp. petting zoo a few weeks ago and Isabel had a blast.



Lei

Kunming and LiJiang - Yunnan Province China

I am so glad I scheduled 5 days in Yunnan Province. The weather was a nice 70-75 degrees compared to 95+ in Tianjin and I got a chance to hang out with my cousin - who is basically my older sister. I miss her even now.



- Lei

More family in Beijing + some site seeing

I stayed with my dad in Beijing since he had a suite. Went to Olympic garden with my uncle, Tiananmen square and national Opera house with my cousin. Of course some more street food and also big banquet family gathering.

I saw my great-uncles - 84 and 81 years old and sstill very healthy as well as Isabel's cousins - Emma 4 years old and David 2 years old. Four generations at one table. It was nice to see so much family. I also saw my cousin - Guao Nan who I haven't seen in over 10 years and my other cousins Zhao Ying and Zhao Peng, whom I haven't seen since my wedding 3 years ago.

all together a wonderful trip!

My large family in Tianjin - China

finally photos with my family in Tianjin - China

Birthday party for Ellie and also hanging out with Lauren

Isabel is such a big girl now and so friendly with her friends. She is very generous with her kisses and hugs. See for yourself.

It's winter in sf

I know I said I won't complain about the weather after humid and 90 degrees in china.  But come on - high in mid 50s in aug is extreme.  No wonder mark twain says the coldest winter he spent was a summer in sf.

I guess global warming is catching up with us.  It's too hot in some places and too cool in others.  Remember to recycle and carpool as at this rate,  it will 10 degrees in the summer in 50 years.  Ugh

Lei

-- Sent from my Palm Pre

Lao ye visits Isabel - July 2 2010

On my way to China, my dad was able to visit Isabel for 5 hours and they had a lot of fun playing at the park. Laoye is Chinese for grand pa on the mother's side.

Enjoy!

Food, food and more food

One of the biggest reason to go to china was for all the yummy food - street food especially was cheap. I was prepared to gain 5 pounds and brought tums, acid reducer and diarrhea pills but nothing was going to stop me from eating everything.

Well, I fared pretty well. Probably I walked a lot and the humidty, I actually lost a pound and 1% body fat. I had to take 3 acid reducer over two weeks but that's it.

I had a tons of mangosteen, watermelon, papaya, mangoes plus 3 meals a day + snack. here are all my food photos. Enjoy!



- Lei

Oh, I am so clever

I usually don't brag, but I thought this was pretty smart and a great way to SAVE MONEY!  I was booking a flight for us to San Diego for a wedding.  I found on Orbitz that United had good, cheap rates $180.  So I went to United.com to book - sometimes I get extra miles if I book directly.

On the flight search page, there was a field for promotion code or electronic certificates.  I thought what the heck, I will google United airlines electronic certificates and see what I find.  A whole new world!!!  Many people are selling their electronic voucher at less than face value since they cannot use it in time.  I found out the best search is for United Airlines electronic vouchers.  I found a few people on craigslist and on a few sites selling $150 certificate for $110 etc...

 
Still I wasn't sure.  What if I pay for it and it doesn't work?  Well as it turns out, if you pay by PayPal and you and they are verified, you are protected I think.  Also I actually got the seller to send me the code first to try/use it before paying him.  Some tips are

• flight has to be operated by United and NOT their partners
• flight base price has to be higher than the voucher value
• if you are buying two tickets, you need to do it separately to use two vouchers.

I ended up getting two vouchers from two different people - the second one, I paid first and then he sent me the code.  Both worked great.  I ended up paying $40 each for the flights + $110 each for the vouchers, so $150 instead of $180. Yeepy!  I am sure I can get the voucher for even cheaper next time, but for a first time experience, this was great!  ;-)

Happy Travels!

Lei

--------------------------
Cell - 415 225-3413
Business profile - www.linkedin.com/in/leihan
Blog -  www.bemycareercoach.com
Facebook - www.facebook.com/careeradvice
"Vision without action is a daydream; action without vision is a nightmare!"

Faster than the bullet train

Did you know China has the fastest train in the world? Faster even than the bullet trains in Japan. I took this one from Tianjin to Beijing - a typical 2-3 hour car ride took only 30 minute by this train.

Lei

Home sick

I know I am back home in SF, where I belong with Jaime and Isabel. I cannot help being home sick though for China. I have a big extended family there and I was surrounded by activities. It's probably because I was visiting and I was on vacation as usually life there is probably pretty simple and quiet.

I guess I just missed the feeling of close family. Being an only child with my parents in Houston, I am used to being far away, but when I do get a dose of family like this, it's addictive. I am sure if I had it everyday, I would not be used to it.

It's always a balance. This must mean my trip was the perfect length - enough to visit to all family, not too long away from Isabel, and leaving me with only fond memories and strong feeling of closeness to my far-away relatives :-)

Lei

Rollercoaster ride with tv and a meal

What am talking about? My flight to kunming, actually. We hit some turbulance and we felt our stomaches hit free fall afew times. Being scared would be useless as there is no way out so I just tried to enjoy it.. The bumpiness actually can feel like someone rocking me to sleep. .

I am not too surprised this happened in china. I hear some ex-military pilots fly commercial sometimes tends to go a bit faster. I remember taking a flight to shanghai from HK when I used to work in asia where the whole plane started scraming as if we were on a dead drop rollercoaster ride. My male korean colleague had to go threw up. That was a lot worse and about 15 yrs ago. This was just entertaining. So be prepared if you fly within china.

Lei
Ps: perhaps I stand corrected. I sat next to someone on my flight back to sf fro beijing that is a pilot in china. He said the reason it's bumpier flying in china is becoz the chinese military does not allow commercial flights to deviate much from their path for national security reasons while american airspace has more flexibility to fly around bad weather turbulance.

Two different worlds

China and US - both are my worlds full of love and fond memories. My trip to china brought me tears and laughter, joy and love, as well as many shopping loot .

I am so fortunate to have such a loving family - I always feel like a kid when I go home to china, as if I am only 20 and everyone is still young. Everyone tries to take care of me in their own way.

I miss my grandma who passed 2 weeks before my wedding 3 years ago. I like to think she is in a better place and wanted to see me and bless me on my wedding day from above.
My aunts and uncles looks quite healthy even in their sixties. They cleans the house everyday, shops for breakfast, cook, go work out and visits each other. As much as I love my life in sf, I miss the familiar feeling I feel when I visit them. They are so caring without judging, they welcome me with open arms and only wishes for me to be happy and come back when I can. Like I said, I am very lucky!

My trip to kunming and lijiang was nice - a chance to connect with my older cousin, she is like my older sister. I love her and miss her already. It was also a chance for me to avoid the stifling heat in tianjin. Yunnan is known for forever spring weather - still more humid than sf. I think I won't complain about sf weather anymore. We are lucky it's always so comfy.

My two worlds are vastly different. and instead of feeling torn, all I feel is joy that I can still be part of both.

Lei

World mathematics

ROMANCE MATHEMATICS

Smart man + smart woman = romance

Smart man + dumb woman = affair

Dumb man + smart woman = marriage

Dumb man + dumb woman = pregnancy

______________________________

 

OFFICE ARITHMETIC

Smart boss + smart employee = profit

Smart boss + dumb employee = production

Dumb boss + smart employee = promotion

Dumb boss + dumb employee = overtime

_____________________________

 

SHOPPING MATH

A man will pay $20 for a $10 item he needs.

A woman will pay $10 for a $20 item that she doesn't need.

____________________________

GENERAL EQUATIONS & STATISTICS

A woman worries about the future until she gets a husband.

A man never worries about the future until he gets a wife.

A successful man is one who makes more money than his wife can spend.

A successful woman is one who can find such a man.

_____________________________

HAPPINESS

To be happy with a man, you must understand him a lot and love him a little

To be happy with a woman, you must love her a lot and not try to understand her at all.

______________________________

LONGEVITY

Married men live longer than single men do, but married men are a lot more willing to die.

______________________________

PROPENSITY TO CHANGE

A woman marries a man expecting he will change, but he doesn't.

A man marries a woman expecting that she won't change, and she does.

_____________________________

DISCUSSION TECHNIQUE

A woman has the last word in any argument.

Anything a man says after that is the beginning of a new argument.

- Lei

Isabel singing the popcorn song

this is so cute! She just loves this song

I just discovered Diapers.com

We had to buy diapers and wipes so I researched online. Always heard Diapers.com is good, so when I saw a coupon, I used it and got a great deal - about 40% off what I usually pay including free shipping on UPS ground. No wonder people raves about it. I am sold!

They have a referral deal. Use the code LeiIsabel when you checkout and you get $10 off and I get $10 off on my next purchase. They also have much more than Diapers. They have toys, books, everything for baby. Thanks.

Get $10 off

your first order of diapers

use code LeiIsabel$49 min. total order

Isabel loves her new couch

She loves the couch she got from Tita Tusa for her birthday.



Lei

It's all about the shoes

I am in trouble as she just loves my shoes. the higher the better.

A Typical Saturday for Isabel...

Ferry market, japenese delica cafe, hanging by the water fountain.



- lei

Isabel with the baby goats

at the ferry market

Isabel at Fairyland

We got an annual membership to Fairyland and check it out about a month ago. She really liked it.



- Lei