California playgrounds are cool

Keira's Birthday Party

Yesterday, Keira had a birthday party to celebrate her 1st birthday. You can see pictures on Juno's blog. You see, I kind of missed the whole party. It's not my fault really! The party started at 11:30am so I played with my cousins and family friends for a while. Then it was naptime and you know what a stickler I can be about schedules and routines. Off I went to nap (in Coufou and Couma's nice dark bathroom) and then next thing I knew, it was 3pm and everyone had already left!

So I donned my new Missoni bathrobe (courtesy of Yee-Ma and Auntie Alison and direct from Italy!) and called it a day.

San Francisco Zoo

You may remember that back in the beginning of December, Mommy went to the San Francisco Zoo with Juno and Keira while I was still in NYC with Daddy. After she told me all about it, I really wanted to go see the animals for myself. But I never anticipated that the animals would be so big!! I was a little apprehensive about it all, to say the least. I mean, look at how tall the giraffes are!

I was scared (which I tell Mommy and Daddy by patting my chest rapidly). Mommy tried to tell me about the giraffes and how they are just like the giraffes in the books I have at home. It didn't really help.

So, to help ease me into the whole experience, we headed straight to the Children's Zoo.

I wasn't too sure about this either. We went to the petting zoo and there were herds of goats and sheep roaming around, waiting to be petted and fed. They came running right up to me and I didn't want to have anything to do with them. So Daddy took measures into his own hands and forced me to interact with them and to feed them.

Keira almost got run over by hungry sheep.

I realized that they weren't so bad and kind of cute too. Then I started getting into the whole Family Farm thing. Naturally I started doing chores right away. Riding the tractor...

Moving some stuff around in a wheelbarrow...

Raking the ground...

And pumping some water.

Afterwards, I was ready to see the big animals again. First we went to go see some monkeys. I wasn't sure if Keira could see them from her stroller so I pointed them out to her.

Then we were off to see the lion and lioness.

By the end of the morning, I was having so much fun that Daddy literally had to carry me away.

We ended the day with dinner at Taylor's Automatic Refresher in the Ferry Building Marketplace in San Francisco. It's one of Mommy and Daddy's favorite spot to grab a bite when they are in town. While they enjoyed burgers, onion rings and milkshakes, I filled up on sweet potato fries. YUMMY.

P.S. Do you like my new Small Paul Julius hat?

Merry Christmas Everyone!!

Yesterday, we just got started with the Christmas festivities. Today was the real thing! I woke up this morning to a full house. Not just me, Mommy, Daddy, Yee-Ma and Juno but also Coufou, Couma and Keira were also here! Everyone padded downstairs in their pajamas and got ready to open their gifts. Here's a peek at some of the loot I hauled in. A new vest from Julie Pau-Pau in Hong Kong. Here's the front... (OK, I haven't put on weight. This outfit just makes me look fat. The PJs are a bit bulky.)

And here's the back...

A Spongebob Squarepants shirt from Mommy and Daddy...

I think that my favorite gift was a set of Magnatiles from Coufou, Couma and Keira!

The thing is that Keira also seemed to like the Magnatiles but I beat her to them. I think that Mommy is trying to stop us here or else make me share.

Keira seemed to enjoy playing with the wrapping paper more than opening her own gifts.

But she got a pretty cool gift too - a kid's piano. To see Juno's presents, see her blog.

After lunch and a nap, I changed into my Christmas outfit. I think that everyone was making fun of me - they said that I looked like an old man in my cardigan!

At the end of the day, Keira and I sat back and enjoyed a quiet dinner in front of the Yule Log.

We had a very Merry Christmas and I hope that you all had a great holiday too whether you're celebrating Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa or just December cheer.

Happy Birthday Keira!!!

Today is my Biu Mui Keira's 1st birthday!! She's officially a toddler now. We had lots of fun together screaming all over Yee-Ma's house, banging on the sofa and flinging noodles at each other. Here's I'm trying to show her my stomach.

It's also Christmas eve so everyone was over to celebrate. Ah-Boo and I had some quiet time together.

Then I helped Keira open her birthday presents. Hey, she didn't know how to open them so I figured that I would jump in.

Ah-Boo got to open her presents too. Here's her present from her 3 grandchildren. Yup, that's us. All three of us crying on Santa's lap.

After Keira and I finally went to sleep, the festivities really got going. After a few glasses of wine, Coufou even donned a red Rudolph the Reindeer nose! (P.S. It's supposed to light up too.)

Juno got into the action too. I think that she had a little too much to drink. She spit up all over herself and her robe!

Merry Christmas everyone!! Can't wait to see all my loot.

Oakland, Lake Merritt

This afternoon, Mommy, Daddy and I went to Lake Merritt in Oakland to romp around for a bit. One reason Daddy wanted to go there was to see the new Cathedral of Christ the Light, which was just completed this year. Here's a picture of the cathedral in the background. Looks kind of cool, no? All glass on the outside and wood on the inside.

Here are some pictures of the inside.

I had a lot of fun running up and down the aisles and listening to my screams echo off the walls. Mommy's trying to catch me and make me stop.

Afterward, we walked around the lake and went to visit Fairyland where children's literature comes to life. Sounds like a lot of fun except that it was CLOSED. But that's OK. I got to see the Old Woman who lived in a Shoe. She was kind enough to let me run in and out of her house.


Maybe next time we visit Yee-Ma and Juno Fairyland will be open.

Christmas Lights in Union Square

We decided to bring some of our annual Christmas traditions from New York to San Francisco and went to go see the Christmas lights in Union Square. I wanted to see how they compared to all the festivities back home. Juno and I took off this afternoon with Mommy, Daddy and Yee-Ma in tow. On the way, we decided to see if Biu Mui Keira wanted to come with us and she was more than game for our impromptu trip. We all met up at the big Christmas tree.

The three cousins marveled at the lights. I tried to show Keira how big the Christmas tree in Rockefeller Center is compared to this one.

After about a couple of minutes, the crowds got to be too much for all of us (and some of us were a wee bit hungry). We headed to San Francisco Center for dinner at Out the Door, a branch of the Slanted Door. Keira and I had fun joking around at the dinner table.



P.S. For those of you who don't speak Cantonese, at the end of the video, Mommy is telling me to give Keira a kiss.

Then she started screaming...

And I had to plug my ears. Lalalalalala I can't hear you.

It seems like everyone was a bit tired at dinner and needed help feeding themselves. First Coufou helped Keira...

Then Mommy helped Juno...

Then Daddy helped Mommy...

Then I helped Keira!