Category: Family and Friends
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Central Europe
I just got back from a whirlwind tour of Central Europe, which was my first time in that continent. Starting about a week before my trip, I started a time adjustment schedule, moving sleeping and waking time by an hour earlier each day. During that week, I attended a meeting in Philadelphia, which neatly integrated…
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My Birthday
My family took me out for dinner at Happy Family Restaurant for my birthday. Then, we also had a dinner at Orchid Thai Restaurant. I got to try out my new 50mm F/1.4 prime lens, which is quite nice for low light shooting.
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Sonya and Ramiz’s Wedding
It was a joy to take part in Sonya and Ramiz’s wedding. The ceremony was beautiful, and we all had a good time at the reception. The entire event was like a big reunion, with so many friendships renewed. […]
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Thailand
My first meal in Thailand was Pad Thai from a street vendor, and my last meal was also Pad Thai, but this time, it was at the airport. The street version was better. Thailand proved to be as hot and humid as I remembered it, even though it’s supposed to be winter. Nevertheless, I had…
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The Mission Inn
We went as a family to enjoy the lights and decorations and for a post-Christmas dinner at The Mission Inn.
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Hong Kong and China
So it’s been almost three weeks of traveling. I left home Wednesday night, traveled through Hong Kong and China, came back home for a day’s layover, and then it was off to Boston on a red-eye. There was only enough time to get jet lagged, recover, and get jet lagged again. For this past week,…
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In China
This trip to China has been mainly about people, places and food. I got some instruction on guqin playing from Liang Qiu while I was in Foshan. Then, I have been meeting up with mainly relatives that I have not seen for more than ten years. Most everyone remain the same, except for the then…
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Hong Kong
The days are all blurred together because of the time change and the jet lag on this trip to Hong Kong and China. Yesterday morning, which seemed like so long ago, I landed in Hong Kong. I haven’t been back since before the takeover in 1997. A lot has changed, obviously, but some parts are…
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Church Outing
We went with our church outing to Salt Creek Beach in Dana Point, California. This is one of my favorite beaches, especially because of the nice lawn area above the stretch of soft sand. Even though we were just there a few weeks ago, this beach is always nice to visit.
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Salt Creek Beach
A group of us went to Salt Creek Beach. The weather was gloomy, but that made for nice pictures. As always, the water is really cold. Anyways, we all had a good time.
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Zhang and Zheng
Today, we had Dr. Zhang and Dr. Zheng over for dinner. They are both from the Number 2 Hospital of Tangshan, which is an orthopaedic referral center for that entire region.
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May Birthdays
For Andy’s and Aimee’s birthdays, we had several celebrations. First, it was at Cherry’s house. Then, we also had a surprise event at Delhi Palace.
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Huntington Beach
We all had a great time just lounging around at the beach, enjoying the cool weather and the bright sunshine.
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My Birthday
For my birthday, we made a simple meal of pizza topped with fresh and grilled vegetables. We also had grilled artichokes.
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Chinese New Year
Yesterday was Chinese New Year. Many of the plants in our yard are in bloom now, and all of it added to the atmosphere yesterday. We celebrated by having company over, and to finish off the evening, we had a dumpling-making party. I took a break from making the guqin and resumed this afternoon. Progress…
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New Year and Friends
So, it’s the first Monday of the new year, and it will be nice to get back to a regular schedule. The last several weeks have been filled with a lot of activities. For one, my dad had a major birthday celebration. It started out on the Tuesday before Christmas, and we planned events that…
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Dad’s Birthday and Trip
For Dad’s birthday, we went out for dinner on the actual date. Then, we planned an extended vacation, revisiting some of the familiar places that we had toured when we were much younger. It was a big combined celebration, of birthday, Christmas, and New Year’s Eve.
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Jun Jun’s Farewell
Jun Jun, also known by Jack, has been in Loma Linda for the past several months. He came from the Second Hospital of Tangshan and mainly shadowed Dr. Mudge and me. For his farewell, we got together to make pizza, one of his favorite American food.
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Thanksgiving Weekend
One of the highlights was just having a simple picnic lunch right by the pond, on the deck over the vault. Also, I had the chance to visit the aquarium, Huntington Library and the new Chinese Garden, the Getty Villa, and El Matador beach near Malibu.
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Hope Channel Opening Ceremony
Kandus and Brad Thorp invited a lot of people to the opening ceremony of the Hope Channel’s production center in Loma Linda. Brad gave a nice devotional about the satellite dish and performed symbolic footwashing as well.
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Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital Delegation
Dr. He Chao and Li Hong came with a delegation from Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital to visit Loma Linda. We had everyone over to our place for dinner. Dr. Hadley and Donna came as well. It was good to see so many friends from Hangzhou.
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Labor Day
Today, Brad brought Grant and Max over. I had the day off, of course, and we shot some archery rounds.
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Mothers’ Day Cooking
The group of young people at church volunteered to cook for Mothers’ Day, so that all the moms would have a break. Apparently, I got put in charge of the cooking. Everything went smoothly, and I think all the moms enjoyed the treat. Afterwards, I achieved a personal milestone—making a latte art heart.
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Spring Reunion
It was fun to have all the relatives over for a springtime reunion. We harvested some artichokes from the yard, steamed and marinated them, and then grilled them. Also, we took an excursion to Prospect Park to harvest some bamboo shoots. We had so much food for dinner, and everyone had a great time.
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Chinese New Year 2008
Today is Chinese New Year! The 12-year cycle starts today, beginning with the year of the Rat—year number 4706, according to the traditional reckoning. The main celebratory act today was the installation of the two stone lions. The whole process was quite complicated. It was only accomplished through much maneuvering with a fork lift and…
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Thanksgiving with the Wrens and the Hes
The pond is still dry, but we have a wonderful Thanksgiving. Special guests included the Wrens and visitors from Hangzhou: Drs. He Chao and Li Hong, from Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, and their son Mike He.