aka: Daniel's first NYC Chinatown dinner banquet with PoPo and relatives...
Okay they said these were special clams, but I don't buy that so I passed. Mommy tried one and liked it. It was like a clam, but with a longer body. Brave mommy!
So mommy said these were snails. So I said "No thank you." Mommy said she use to eat them when
PoPo made them when she was little, but she hasn't had them for a long time. You have to use a toothpick to get them out. They taste like clams she said. Everything seems to taste like clams.
Another dish that I will not eat. It's got mushrooms, which mommy loves, but I don't, and it has squid, which mommy loves, but I don't, and it has jellyfish which mommy will eat, but I don't. I don't think I am going to be eating much.
This steak with Chinese broccoli dish was ordered for me. It was okay, but I don't really like steak all that much either. Mommy loves Chinese broccoli, so she enjoyed it more than me.
Uncle Wayne,
PoPo tried to order me some
chinese fried chicken, you know the one that you like, but the NYC relatives said that was too dry and what would be better would be white-cut chicken with some sauce over it... and you know how much mommy "likes" white-cut chicken. I ate a little, mommy did too. She loved the tofu (Oh, there is something familiar) and the
chinese spinach. I ate a mouthful of a special fish that you can only get in NYC or so they tell me.
I am not really eating much, but they did get me a bowl of white rice!
Yay! And I had my
DS lite, so it was okay. I didn't throw a tantrum and mommy wasn't
embarrassed.
My
PoPo's older sister sang us a song. Yes, it's true! She just got up and announced that she will now sing us a song, then she proceeded to sing it. It was really loud and I didn't understand it so I kept playing. Mommy listened respectful to the entire song.
PoPo said that was something she would do, whatever that means.
Picture of relatives #2: From left to right- The first lady is
PoPo's old school mate in China. She and
PoPo went to school together from 2
nd grade... and to this day she tells the story that
PoPo let her copy her work so she could pass school.
PoPo said that she had it tough life as a young girl doing many chores like feeding the pigs, before she went to school, so it was hard to put studies ahead of real life. To this day, this nice lady credits
PoPo for helping her succeed in school, although she doesn't recommend it, she also states to this day she cannot do math because she just copied it. Next to
PoPo's classmate is
PoPo's cousin from this morning's breakfast, next to her is
PoPo's older sister, seated is her husband, and behind
PoPo is her niece, and my mommy's cousin. The reason there are no "real" names to any of these people is that in Chinese custom, you cannot call anyone older than you by their first name. You have to address them according to title and relation, so mommy doesn't really know what their names are, so we basically call them uncles and aunts, but with a title.
Aunt Susan, mommy tried to not eat any fried foods today, but she thinks the tofu was fried and since that was one of her favorite dishes tonight, she ate several of them. Chinese banquets in New York City are more "authentic" than the ones we have in California... so they tell us. I don't eat much at Chinese banquets in Los Angeles anyway, so I will take their word for it. Mommy said this would be the only time she would allow me to play DS through the entire meal since I didn't understand what people were saying or what we were eating. Lucky me!
Everyone was super nice even though I pretended not to notice them. After all, I had to concentrate on getting Mario to win the game!
It was three years ago today when I met a little, four year old boy with buzzed hair named Daniel. He didn't say much and wasn't sure how to play with the puzzle I bought him.
Our 3rd birthday cake tonight. We had dinner with Aunt Vickie and Uncle Wayne at my favorite BBQ joint. Auntie Susan, mommy wanted me to tell you that it's a white cake with butter cream frosting and filled with fresh strawberries and custard... from Von's!
The handsome, young man to my right (the one with the cap and gown that is)was my student from the ages of 4 to 8. He is celebrating his 19th birthday today! Go UCLA!
1:45pm: Four grown men with accents in primary color shirts, a dinosaur, a dog, an octopus, and a captain with a feather sword sings and dances.
3:05pm: It's Over! It's Over! (Where are the Jonas Brothers when you need them?)
Educators as Leaders, that's the theme of the Milken Educators Conference this year. I was invited to participate on a panel with some amazing leaders in the field. Yes, I know I am considered a teacher leader too, but when you sit next to articulate and charismatic educators like Yvonne Chan and Nader Twaal, it can be just a little intimidating. I made it through, yay! And it was nice when teachers walked up to say they appreciated what I had to share. Although there are some days... I love being a teacher.
Someday mommy will show this picture to my girlfriend and I will not be amused by it! Yes, I went to sleep wearing my new shoes. Mommy said I could since she didn't have to wash the sheets and we were on vacation.
Today for breakfast I started off with a donut from a street cart. They were out of bagels because I am still sleeping according to California time and people in New York usually have breakfast before noon.
My second breakfast was at McDonalds! I ate a breakfast burrito and check out my cool new Transformer watch. It was my first street vendor purchase = $3.00 from a start of $5.00.
I just like to stand in front of roast duck and pork. (Why eat them like everyone else?)
Me in front of Central Park. We didn't actually go into Central Park because when mommy said, "Lets go in and look at the ducks!" I thought why would I want to go look at ducks? I have seen them before.
This is the 3 headed-dog in one of the Harry Potter movies. They had some of the "creatures/animals" there on display in stuffed animals from the movies.
Instead of looking at all the cool stuff they had in the store, I was on a mission to find a Harry Potter costume! They had a Harry Potter shop in the toy store and I was determined to look for the entire outfit. I want to be Harry Potter!
Mommy asked the man behind the counter if they had any Harry Potter uniforms like Harry Potter wears in the movies. (The man behind the counter was wearing one, but none were on display in the store). Guess what? They had one left in a medium 5-7. Guess what size I wear? Mommy decided to get it for me because the last time she was here with Auntie Sandra she took home twin, collectible, baby dolls for Ally and Miki that cost more than 10x my HP costume so she thought she was getting a better deal this time around.
Here is Harry Potter in Dylan's Candy Bar. Did you know that you can walk around New York City as Harry Potter and no one will say anything? I did get a lot of second looks and some smiles, but no one called me Harry Potter.
This is for Molly. Mommy loves peas and says that she wants Molly to love them too!
Did you know that if you are a kid visiting relatives in New York City you get red envelopes? When the first PoPo's gave me a red envelope I said, "Gung Hay Fot Choy!" and they laughed. I think they were amused by me, but I didn't care, I got red envelopes! Then I got more at dinner too! Mommy said that she use to get some too when she would visit. "Money is good for a kid!"
The final count for the day: $90 in cash and $10 worth of plastic Power Rangers -minus the white Ranger that I broke on the subway. (Little do I know but mommy has plans for my cash... it's called a savings account) ha ha ha...
Okay they said these were special clams, but I don't buy that so I passed. Mommy tried one and liked it. It was like a clam, but with a longer body. Brave mommy!
So mommy said these were snails. So I said "No thank you." Mommy said she use to eat them when PoPo made them when she was little, but she hasn't had them for a long time. You have to use a toothpick to get them out. They taste like clams she said. Everything seems to taste like clams.
Another dish that I will not eat. It's got mushrooms, which mommy loves, but I don't, and it has squid, which mommy loves, but I don't, and it has jellyfish which mommy will eat, but I don't. I don't think I am going to be eating much.
This steak with Chinese broccoli dish was ordered for me. It was okay, but I don't really like steak all that much either. Mommy loves Chinese broccoli, so she enjoyed it more than me.
Uncle Wayne, PoPo tried to order me some chinese fried chicken, you know the one that you like, but the NYC relatives said that was too dry and what would be better would be white-cut chicken with some sauce over it... and you know how much mommy "likes" white-cut chicken. I ate a little, mommy did too. She loved the tofu (Oh, there is something familiar) and the chinese spinach. I ate a mouthful of a special fish that you can only get in NYC or so they tell me.
I am not really eating much, but they did get me a bowl of white rice! Yay! And I had my DS lite, so it was okay. I didn't throw a tantrum and mommy wasn't embarrassed.
My PoPo's older sister sang us a song. Yes, it's true! She just got up and announced that she will now sing us a song, then she proceeded to sing it. It was really loud and I didn't understand it so I kept playing. Mommy listened respectful to the entire song. PoPo said that was something she would do, whatever that means.
Picture of relatives #2: From left to right- The first lady is PoPo's old school mate in China. She and PoPo went to school together from 2nd grade... and to this day she tells the story that PoPo let her copy her work so she could pass school. PoPo said that she had it tough life as a young girl doing many chores like feeding the pigs, before she went to school, so it was hard to put studies ahead of real life. To this day, this nice lady credits PoPo for helping her succeed in school, although she doesn't recommend it, she also states to this day she cannot do math because she just copied it. Next to PoPo's classmate is PoPo's cousin from this morning's breakfast, next to her is PoPo's older sister, seated is her husband, and behind PoPo is her niece, and my mommy's cousin. The reason there are no "real" names to any of these people is that in Chinese custom, you cannot call anyone older than you by their first name. You have to address them according to title and relation, so mommy doesn't really know what their names are, so we basically call them uncles and aunts, but with a title.
