We're home and we can't sleep!

Hi Logan,

Mommy and big brother arrived home safe and sound. Aside from a couple poopy incidents that your big brother had (he always picked the right time to give Mommy headaches), the flight was uneventful, in a good way. This is mainly due to the nice technology we have these days, a touch-screen tv monitor at every seat! You know how much your big brother LOVES technology. That kept him happy for both flights watching and re-watching Spongebob Squarepants. Normally, I don't let him watch that show because I think he's still a little young for their 'violence'. But this time, I had no choice and luckily, this particular episode wasn't too bad. He actually slept nicely for 4.5 hours on the plane. Last time, I had him sleep like anyone, that is, sitting up straight. This time, I had him sleep like a kid should, to have him lie down and put his legs on me. He was semi-flat and semi-comfortable.

And you know what, of the 13 years I have left home and traveled back and forth Macau, I have never EVER once declared I had any food items. I don't know what got to me, but I actually told them I had some almond cookies in my luggage. I guess it was due to the fact that I was guilty in bringing stuff I shouldn't, and I was carrying food items with me (a dozen of egg tarts). So, I let them check my luggage and found my almond cookies (passed) but they also found my "chicken cakes" with meat in there (first time ever bought them), and my egg rolls with pork floss. Doh! Meat products, confiscated!! grr.... Luckily, I told them the food was only in one luggage and they didn't open the other ones. I really didn't know what got into me to be so honest!

We came home exhausted but were very happy to see Daddy. Mommy's cell phone battery died so I had to call Daddy after we came out. Luckily, Daddy was on his way and we live close to the airport. So, we didn't have to wait for long. I could see that your brother was getting really tired while waiting for dinner. I didn't want him to fall asleep while eating, so we gave him a bubble bath before dinner. Mommy and big brother both went to bed at 8 p.m. and he dozed off right away. We should have stayed awake for a little longer because we woke up at 1:30 a.m. and couldn't go back to sleep. It's 5 a.m. now and Mommy is online, while your big brother is standing next to me playing with my camera.

Hopefully, we both are able to stay awake for a little longer and maybe we can get your brother to come home to take a short afternoon nap, and reinstate his nap schedule.

We'll come see you later this morning. I'll see you real soon!


Love you,
Mommy

A year Older but am I a year Wiser?

Hi Honey,

Mommy is ready to type away and tell you all the fun things that I did yesterday on my birthday.

Everybody got up early for various reasons. The main reason was because they had to go to Sunday mass at 9:30 a.m., and we had to cut the birthday cake before mass started. So we all got up early, including a very sleepy Mommy who slept way too late the night before. Auntie Mena bought Mommy a delicious Haagen-daz ice-cream birthday cake. Ice-cream early in the morning! Of course, your brother is always very excited when there's ice-cream and blowing out candles involved.

After that, the rest of them, excluding Mommy and big brother, went to Church. After Church, we're picked up to go to Taipa for dim sum, while Ah Gung and Uncle Carlos tried to buy the cheap MOP$38-fan at Fisherman's Wharf (they were sold out the day before, but they were still sold out, even though they waited in line before the store opened). Mommy and big brother met up with a bunch of friends and their little ones for dim sum. We went to the Chinese restaurant at Grand Waldo Hotel, because afterwards we're heading to the spa next door. Since the restaurant doesn't take reservations for Sunday dim sum, we got there at 11 a.m. to get a big table for 14 ppl. We're lucky to only have to wait for 5 minutes, and was able to get a big table. Mommy gave your brother his gameboy to keep him happy while we waited for our friends to arrive. It was nice to see all the kids there as well. We were able to take a lot of pictures at the end of the meal. Your brother was most excited when he was playing with my camera. Since each family had a camera, Aidan was more 'encouraged' and kept on taking pictures of all the uncles and aunties, and the little kids. Aidan was the oldest of the bunch. Considering we're at the restaurant for two hours, your brother was pretty well-behaved.

We then headed over to the Spa. The rest of the family (Ah Gung, Ah Po, Uncle Carlos, Auntie Mena, Grandaunts #6 and #7, and your two aunties) were already there. There were a lot of stuff to do there, some weren't included in the entrance fee (MOP$188+15%), but some were. We first headed up to the restaurant for some lunch, which would be food served all day buffet-style. The lunch wasn't that great, in my opinion. While we're there, your aunties and big brother were already on the computers. Kids these days! Then we went to the 5th floor to explore the Children's area. You can see from the pictures all the different activities: Arcade games, slide, children's area, pool (costs extra $25/hr), ping pong table and an outdoor play area. It was raining periodically that day, so we were unable to go out and play.

After that, Mommy, Uncle Carlos and Auntie Mena went to the spa for our facials and massages (cost extra $). By now, Mommy should be used to the comments that Chinese people make when they see my enormous body. But that doesn't mean it didn't bother me. After the facial, we went to the aromatheraphy massage pool/sauna area. Since it's divided into the men's and women's sections, I was unable to accompany your brother. I was told that he was dipping his hands into the hot and cold pools, running back and forth and having a lot of fun. We spent some time down there, showered and then it's time for dinner. Dinner definitely was better than lunch. At that time, I was starving already! After dinner, we rented a large VIP room so that the "older" generation could play some automatic tile-piling Mahjong (it was so cool), and us "younger" ones sang Karaoke. It was only MOP$60 an hour and it was worth it. Your brother at the time was getting tired, but he fed himself enough fruits and orange juice to keep the energy level up. We left the spa at around 11 p.m., spending almost 11 hours there (we could only stay for 12 hrs without getting charged extra). By the time we got home, we all felt that we were back from a day-trip somewhere else.

It was such a tiring day that we all slept in this morning. Your brother slept from around midnight to 10 a.m., and I didn't get up until 11 a.m. He had so much fun that he cried twice in his sleep last night because of all the fun. I vaguely remember he said "Stop pushing me" in his sleep. It was a really fun day with friends and family. Looking back, I don't think I've ever spent my birthday in Macau since I left for college in 1996. Wow, that's a good 13 years!!

As for tonight, Mommy just got home from dinner and some bubble tea with friends. I didn't bring your brother with me tonight. It was nice to catch up with friends and to chat without worrying about kids. No kids tonight!

One more thing is, my pregnant friend who I've been praying for, wanted to reach out to me and chat. We didn't have time today, but we're meet at another time. I am so glad she wanted to talk. I haven't told her that I kind of know what she wants to talk about, but we'll have plenty of time to do so, if she chooses to. She is waiting for news of her amniocentesis. The doctor said it will take 3-4 days, and if she doesn't hear from them, then it's good news. Let's pray she doesn't hear from her doctor!!

That's it for now. Tomorrow is the 15th again in the States. That means you have left us for 2 months already. Time sure does fly.


Miss you,
Mommy

What a Mom will do for a Sale!

Hello Sweetheart,


Today is a day of shopping and food. Mommy was going to get up early today and head over to New Yaohan department store for their VIP sale day. Of course, I didn't really get up early. I don't think 9:45 a.m. is considered early anyways. At first I thought I would leave your brother home with Ah Gung and Ah Po, and then I would brave the crowd to buy some bedding for your brother. We ended up all going together, during lunchtime when billions of people were there. I heard there were 30 people waiting in line at 8 a.m., when the store doesn't open until 10:30 a.m. There were so many people in there, and I felt like I was shopping on the busiest floor. It definitely reminded me of Black Friday sales. However, Black Friday craziness started a lot earlier, but also ended a lot earlier. We actually went back to the department store after dinner, and there were still a lot of people in there at 9 p.m.

The crazy crowd pushing and shoving

Mommy waiting in line to pay (Ah Gung brought me a snackie)!

So, when we got there, of course someone had to entertain your brother. Everytime we go to Yaohan, he kills time by going up and down the escalator. Even though there were a lot of people, it didn't stop him from doing that. However, when we first got there, Ah Gung was parking, and Mommy, Ah Po and your brother headed over to the Disney bedding section. Your poor brother was scared of the crowd, and I think he was definitely overwhelmed. He wanted me to hold him, while I was fighting with lots of people. I wanted to get a set of pillow cases/comforter/sheet of the movie CARS for your brother, but the Twin size sets were all sold out. I could get a raincheck but it won't be available for another 2 weeks. I would be gone by then, and it's not cheap anymore if I have to have it mailed to us. So, I got your brother a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse set (MOP$288) instead, but I got him another set of pillow cases/sheet of CARS (MOP$139).

The worst part was I had to wait in line for an hour to pay for the merchandise. Then with my receipt, I went back to pick up the stuff. Luckily, they had sufficient a/c on, if not, you know your mommy would just drench in sweat. While I was waiting in line, Ah Gung and Ah Po took your brother to the supermarket level and waited. The supermarket was packed as well, and you had to wait in line to get in. It was total craziness! Luckily, Ah Po was able to find a seat and could sit and wait for me.

At night, we went to this tiny, pretty unknown Portuguese restaurant in Taipa. They have pretty authentic Portuguese food. We ordered similar food as last time when we were at A Lorcha. We had a mixed salad, cabbage and mashed potato soup with Portugese sausages, Lamb Chops, Stir Fried Bacalhau with eggs and onions, and the Seafood rice. The mixed salad was the best salad I've ever had in Macau. I liked the Bacalhau the best, with just the right combination of all ingredients. A lot of places use too much eggs, and don't give you enough fish. This one is perfect! The soup for some reason tasted a little sour to me. The lamb chops were average, and the seafood rice was just as good as A Lorcha.

We ended our dinner with some McD ice-cream for your brother. I spotted a Haagan-daz next to Mc. D, so Ah Gung and I got some expensive ice-cream there instead. Then it's time to pick up Auntie Mena from school. We headed over to the department store again. Ah Gung and Ah Po bought two suitcases. It was a pretty good deal. I believe it was MOP$569 for one 20" and one 26". They got a raincheck and will pick up the merchandise later. Auntie Mena really wanted to buy a Mickey Mouse suitcase. She was THIS close to buying. If Ah Gung and Ah Po weren't there, I think she would have bought it. But Ah Po was really tired, so we left instead. Besides, your brother was so tired, he wasn't listening and was running around. He came home, took a shower and immediately went to bed.

It's been too much excitement. Tomorrow will be another calmer day before the weekend festivities start! I think Mommy will definitely sleep in again tomorrow, unless your brother decides to jump on me again. He likes to abuse me when I am sleeping.

Mommy will talk to you some more tomorrow. Take care, honey.

Love you,

Mommy

Food Food and more Good Food!

Dear Logan,

It's really hard to lose weight in Macau when there's so much good food. I bet you and Daddy are so jealous of me, after you know and see what I had for lunch and dinner today. It's all at home, home-cooked meal by our great relatives. It's a lot of work, but it was a nice family gathering. First, let me show you what we had for lunch. All of us, 5 different families, decided to put money together to buy a whole fresh salmon and have some salmon sashimi. Ah Gung thought about doing that before but it was way too expensive, and too much food for one family to consume. So, while everyone came down to visit Ah Po, we got them all to share the cost and food (esp. when we got some good cooks in the family), to have a big family gathering. Mind you, it was a lot of work (well, I actually didn't do much), but they agreed it was fun to do once in a while.


First off, we have the famous salmon. Granduncle #5 and Grandaunt #4 were de-boning and slicing the salmon. We ended having 6 plates of salmon like that. I think we ate 4 plates for lunch, and 2 plates for dinner.

Then we have eels cooked in two different ways. One is stir fried with bitter melon. The other is iced cooked eel. I tried both, not really a big fan of it. The meat is not as tender as unagi. It's an interesting experience.

A Chinese meal is not completed without a chicken. We barely ate the chicken, and most of it was saved for dinner. We actually didn't eat much chicken for dinner either, because there's more delicious food coming up!

One more eel dish. This is eel cooked with rice. I think they cooked it for Ah Po, but unfortunately, she was unable to eat it. She said one of the patients said it's too early to eat eel because it has no scales and it's "poisonous" (not literally, but translated from Chinese to mean it's unhealthy).

Our last dish for lunch, Lobster! Yum Yum Yum!

Your big brother didn't really eat any of these, except maybe a few pieces of chicken. There's actually some spaghetti and I know he would much prefer eating that than seafood. Besides, I think he's a little too young for such exciting food.

As for dinner, we continued to finish the rest of the salmon sashimi and the chicken. But there's more good food to come!

Can you guess what are those dishes? The one in the middle is the left overs from the salmon sashimi. Granduncle #5 had to go back to Guangzhou with your Auntie, so they took the fish head. The leftover was cooked and I heard it was pretty delicious. I didn't try, as I went for the sashimi instead.


We have the chicken from earlier, vegetables, and some chicken wings. We also had some bittermelon with pork. Plus, the beers that you see in the picture for the guys.


And we got two big plates of lamb chops. They're a little over-cooked for my taste, probably because it's Chinese style, but they're still very delicious.



Next up, we have these little fishies. I am not sure the English term for it, but in direct Chinese translation, they are called "Many eggs Fish". Yummy and no need to worry about bones.



Last but not the least, oysters! We got two big plates of these babies. Nice and tender, not salty enough (but probably good for my blood pressure). I heard the soup was very tasty as well, just super high in cholesterol.

After these two meals, I think I need to be on a vegetarian diet or run around the playground with your big brother for an hour to burn all that calories. We don't usually have such big meals, but it's a special occasion. This usually only happens when I come back for a visit and go to Guangzhou, then your great grandma and other relatives will cook a lot for us. Doing this in Macau is rare.

Don't worry, Ah Po is doing well and we're also able to deliver some salmon sashimi for her. She didn't like the hospital food and Ah Gung has been bringing food and soup (cooked by Grandaunt #7) to her everyday. I saw Ah Po today, she looked a lot better. Not as tired or pale anymore. I think she can probably be discharged on Monday or Tuesday.


Lastly, a picture of your Great Grandma with Mommy and all of your Aunties and Uncles.

It's been a busy trip so far. I wish you and Daddy could join us.

Time for me to get some sleep. I'll talk to you tomorrow.


Love you,
Mommy