this past weekend, we traveled to ny to visit the ng’s, as part of our celebration weekend for samsam’s 2nd birthday.  minus my little sister, kristie, we all drove up and spent the long weekend, mainly talking, eating, watching tv, and resting, and of course- being entertained by two two year olds who love playing with each other. 

jan.17, my only nephew, ‘the Hongers’, turned the terrible two (which is really such a misnomer), because anyone who has a two year old can really outweigh the advantages and recognize how more sweet they get when they get older.  plus they communicate more…nevertheless, cake aside, balloons asides, candles, food, and fun…he has a whole new year brimming w/ new challenges and adventures, and we always pray for him- that he continues to be such a loving and happy little man. 

btw: congrats to my sister steph and kuya sam for raising such a well behaved, loving, techy, handsam toddler!  for the full album click below:

 2008 Samsam’s 2nd Bday Wknd
We went to NY to celebrate Hong’s 2nd bday. Bought balloons, cake, and ate lots of food the whole weekend.
99 files, last one added on Jan 21, 2008

yesterday, emma counting all the way to 20.  she knows it by memory as well as by reading the numeric symbols.  i’ve found that she’s pretty good learning through repetition, so everyday we count to 20, and without her telling us, you just need to trust that something’s getting to her and sticking.  so everyday, yes, we do go through numbers and letters w/ her, shapes (circle, square, triangle, rectangle, oval, octagon, diamond, heart, star) and colors, and even refining her fine motor skills like coloring or writing.  I also make it a point to get her started with reading, so that’s why we’re teaching her to also recognize her letters and numbers in writing.  she even knows how to read her own name, and a couple of short words.  

aside from scholastics, she’s still the normal 2 year old- jumping off furniture 2-3 feet off the ground, tumbling, jumping on bed, and running around 8pm at nights.  she’s pretty well balanced.

spiritually, we even try to teach her things.  if you ask her where Jesus is, she pounds on her chest and says, "in my heart." 
when i ask her who gave emma the snow, she’ll say, "jesus." 
if you ask her who Jesus loves, she’ll say, "the little children." 
if you ask her who the lions wanted to eat, she’ll say, "daniel" and if you ask her what daniel was doing, she’ll say, "praying." 
yesterday, i asked her to pray before bed and this was her own prayer, "Jesus, thank you for tatay. Jesus. Amen."

we were really overjoyed when she said her first prayer, all by herself.  every night, she asks her dad to sing Matthew West’s "I Love You."  If you don’t know it, it goes, "I love you more than the sun and the stars that I taught how to shine, You are mine and You shine for me too. I love you- yesterday, and today, and tomorrow, I’ll say it again and again….I love you more."  Aside from that song, she loves to sing Jesus Loves the Little children, I’ve Got Love in My Heart, Read Your Bible, Deep and Wide, and from this year’s christmas cantata- Glorious Impossible.

i was talking to one of my girlfriends one day and really shared how i never knew what a two year old was capable of…you really just have to spend time and talk to them about these big things in a way that they can understand…but they can…they really can. and when they get older, they’ll play w/ the things you’ve taught them and then teach you from what they’ve created from that short stem you gave them.

this will probably launch my stories at the bus stop series. in the 10 months that we’ve moved to the plainsboro area, marchesa and emma has been faithfully taking me to the train station. through rain, heat, sleet and snow, the two of them faithfully woke up and drove me to the train station.

why don’t i just park at the station you say? well because the west windsor parking authority doesn’t have enough spots to accommodate a boatload of princeton junction commuters. they have a 2 year wait for west windsor commuters and an eight year wait for plainsboro commuters. sucks to be me.

why don’t you take a bike to the train station? because I don’t have one.

why don’t you walk? it’s a 40 minute walk. I tried it once and it sucked.

with the weather that we’ve been having lately I just can’t risk emma and marchesa to be out. besides I get free exercise since it takes 15 minutes to get to the bus stop, and the bus is free. that’s why I decided once and for all to take the bus every morning. I get to the train station in time for the 8:05 train. the only downside is that i’m going to have to wake up a lot earlier now.

it’s going to be great, as a matter of fact, I already met a friend. prakash from hyderabad, the same place where ashwin is from, he works in secaucus, lives at fox run and his social security number is … yeah right.

later folks. the train is here.

this is my handsam nephew samsam (honghong)…

today is his 2nd birthday which makes him a complete jedi…and a toddler.  he is also one of emma’s favorite people because she’s always wanting to visit him and give him balloons, or sneak him a couple of naughty snacks when his dad isn’t looking. 

i remember when he was born, still so weak from the hospital.  but now, he’s probably even stronger than emma, w/ enough force to push you off balance and enough charisma to make you smile.  i’m just really proud of him being a toddler.  i know some people might take becoming a toddler for granted, as if it’s a small feat, but believe me, learning a language is a lot like changing diapers- involves a lot of wipes and frequent showers.

you also know how hard it is to break a habit?  imagine, since life started, you’ve been drinking your mom’s milk (this isn’t meant to be gross), and one day she gives you a look of reproach as you signal hunger?  instead, she gives you a cold sterile informal cup with cow’s milk that was probably collected somewhere in hickory, north carolina.

there’s so much more to being two. some toddler should honestly write a book.  most likely, i would buy it. read it it 5 seconds.

well, nonetheless, happy birthday samsam! we love you.  have a mighty 2nd birthday.

(btw: this is him rocking the yb sweatshirt)

With the Eagles out of the playoffs, I tend to pick games that are of interest. Since its the playoffs, I generally watch teams that I know of. I usually root for the good guys. But I guess the question is, what do you do when the game you watching is played by both teams that you detest? Which team would you root for when the enemy of your enemy is also your enemy? The one that you hate less of course, who happens to be the Giants.

The game started rather quick with the Giants running their way and eventually got a touchdown off a very nimble Amani Toomer. Not bad for an old man. Score: 7-0, Giants

The cowboys then retaliated early in the second quarter when Romo threw a short pass to the Devil Terrell Owens for a touchdown. Coughlin challenged the play but the call was upheld. Score: 7-7

The rest of the second quarter was a blur to me, the game was so exciting that I fell asleep. Next thing I know it’s the end of the half and the score is tied 14-14. That’s when I thought that the Giants can actually pull this off.

I had to stop watching at the beginning so I can go eat dinner. I honestly really didn’t care about this game so I turned the TV off. In the middle of dinner, Dad turned on the TV and started watching the game so I can hear the broadcast from the background. The game is still tied until T.O. dropped the ball and forced the cowboys and forced them to make a field goal. Score: 14-17, cowboys

I finished dinner right around the beginning of the 4th quarter and the Giants mage quick work and Brandon Jacobs ran for a score. One thing to note is how Jacobs celebrated that touchdown. He ran to where the play clock was, spiked the ball on the play clock, the ball then ricocheted to the right side of the clock where a bunch of staff were. He didn’t stop there, he scrambled for the ball and kept it for himself. Score: 21-17, Giants

After that touchdown, the Giants defense started playing brilliantly. They harassed both Romo and T.O. diminishing their productivity. Sixteen seconds left in the game, Romo threw deep pass to Terry Glenn and was intercepted by McQuarters. I could swear I saw Beelzebub Terrell Owens cry after that interception. A couple of kneel downs and the Giants Win! cowboys go home to prepare for another losing season.

Next week is going to be interesting and I will be definitely rooting for the Packers. This time, "the enemy of my enemy is my friend".

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

over the dark and gruesome backdrop of blues, grays, and blacks, was the juxtaposition of beauty from the pales, greens, reds, and whites. this movie was visually beautiful and unsurprisingly delightful, as what you would expect from a tim burton film. … there was life within death, beauty within the grotesque, hope within the desolate, and love within the hate.

that’s what i loved about the movie- that despite the seemingly dross calloused murders, there was still great beauty, still great color, and purpose.
i don’t really want to spoil the ending, but todd said it well during the middle of the movie- there is always something about humanity that deserves death.

that’s what was missing you know- grace and a hero.

but morals aside, great singing. great story. superb acting. such beautiful costuming.  the one thing i would have done differently is to cut some of the songs…or make them a little shorter…

i always plan for our future home. and i’ve always told perze that one day i’d really want a library.  i never really imagined how it would look like, but once i stumbled upon this picture, i just felt inspired and attracted to its art.  it really is art as much as it is intellect.

the reason the designer chose to display the books as such was because he liked to see the covers of the books.  and it’s true; sometimes the way to spot the book is by its cover rather than by its spine. i admit it’s a bit impractical esp. if one has a lot of books, but you can always use just one wall as art. you can categorize the books by cover color. that’s a whole other art project.