December 2008

We kicked off our first holiday season in Hong Kong with a fabulous concert at Will's preschool. Only a year ago Will had a vocabulary of about 15 words and now he has a repetoir of 30-odd songs in English, Mandarin, and even Tagalog! Before Christmas, we flew to Taipei for brenda's girlfriend, Lillian's wedding; we took the opportunity to get all the girls and their kids together for a photo shoot. It was wild having so many munchkins scurrying around! As soon as we came back to HK, Nana arrived just in time for Christmas and we spent the next few days showing her around, making cookies, eating out, opening presents, spending time with family. Nana has now spent the last 3 Christmases in Taiwan, Singapore and now HK! Immediately after saying goodbye to Nana, Kate came to spend New Year's with us and as usual, it was a fantastic time of eating, drinking, talking, plus hours of making mii characters...

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Taiwan Reunion November 2008

We delayed celebrating brenda's grandmother's 93rd birthday until Thanksgiving weekend so that more family could make the trip home. It was a very short 2-day celebration and, not surprisingly, we overindulged as much as we could, especially in food and drink and each other's company. Happy Birthday Azo! Thank you for being the glue of this family.

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November 2008

Hong Kong is already feeling very much like New York, with lots of visitors coming through and interesting events going on. This month, Jen came for a week, getting ready for her imminent move here - Will can hardly wait for her to finally be here all the time! Richard, who lives in Seoul now, came over for a whirlwind weekend, Rich-style. Alex had a race in Macau, which we took Will to - we watched the race from the streetside which was very exciting. We hosted Iron Cousin, Tofu Battle and filled our new house with good cheer and warm bodies, making us feel that much more settled in. The biggest highlight of this month was Will's SECOND birthday. We can hardly believe he's already two, but at the same time, have a hard time imagining memories without him in it (sometimes i wonder who babysat him at our wedding!). Happy birthday, our little rapscallion.

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San Francisco October 2008

We were in San Francisco for a few days before Wendy and Charlie's wedding and since Yvonne's family was heading up to Napa that same weekend, she flew up a few days earlier with baby Sonia. In high school, we used to talk about the faraway day when our kids would hang out and here we were! It was way too short a visit, but thankfully, we will see them again in Taiwan in December. We then headed down to Livermore for Wendy and Charlie's wedding, which was an authentic cousin wedding in every way: the beautiful vineyard location, the gorgeous bride, the parking lot cousin shot, karaoke, and arm wrestling...always good times.

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Palm Springs October 2008

This year, we met with Nana, Holly, Keith and the boys, the Dixons, the Walters, and Ali and Vejas in Palm Springs. We rented a house with a big yard and pool and basically didn't leave for five days. As usual, Keith cooked delicious meals while the kids - Calvin, Charlie, Tyler, Austin, Riley, and Will - swam, played with play dough a record number of times, and watched Diego on a loop. We were able to spend time with Cousin Ian and Steph and their girls, Aidia and Kira, who were in town, too. Too bad we don't live closer or we would beg the girls to babysit Will all the time, as he took to them immediately. It was only five days, but they were perfect lounge-around days that made it feel like we had a proper summer. Thanks everyone for making it! We miss you already...Where to next year?

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First half of October 2008

The two weeks before we left for our belated summer trip to California were very hectic, as we closed on our apartment (our first home!) and moved all our things in. But we still found time for a great weekend celebrating Adrian's 3rd birthday by going to the park, Disneyland, and enjoying a wonderful catered dinner at Alex and Nanette's. We left for California the same day we moved our things into the apartment and though it felt harried, there was a real sense of excitement that when we arrived back home in two weeks, we would be HOME.

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September 2008

Billy is still traveling every week and we are still living out of our suitcases in temporary housing, but in the midst of being unsettled, we have managed to set a few routines and make a few excursions: regular playdates with Adrian and Parker, visits to Ocean Park, Disneyland, and even trips to Macau and Taiwan! We are slowly navigating our way through this vibrant city, but there is still a lot to explore and do before we make Hong Kong ours. When we get into taxis, Will is already able to tell the driver our street name - in Cantonese!

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Hello Hong Kong! August 2008

Well, we did it! Lo hicimos, as Dora would say. We've left Singapore and moved to Hong Kong. We settled in right away into our temporary service apartment in North Point, a local and colorful part of town, and in the midst of figuring out all the ins and outs of our new home, Will is already enjoying regular playdates with his cousins Adrian, Ryan, Nate and Keith and good friend Parker. This is exactly why we moved to Hong Kong! Billy's been extremely busy - traveling every week to Singapore, Bangkok and Laos - but at least he gets to spend the weekends at home. One of the highlights this month was going to brenda's brother, Alex's charity boxing event, which was surprisingly entertaining and fun and raised a lot of money for a children's hospital in Cambodia. Still a bit surreal that we live here now, but it is thrilling when we imagine our life once we settle down.

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Goodbye Singapore! July 2008

Our last month in Singapore was very bittersweet - we ran around the city, doing and eating all the things that we love, wringing out every last bit of Singapore-ness for the road. We were showered with a few rounds of farewell parties, lunches and dinners, though no one's social calendar was as packed as Will's! We have spent two incredibly special years here - arriving when Will was all but a little cashew in brenda's belly and leaving with a rambunctious toddler in tow...we came here not knowing a soul and are fortunate to leave having made some great friends! We will miss you, Singapore - the people, kaya toast, strong kopi, Maxwell's, Club Street, Vivocity, the zoo...watch out Hong Kong, here we come!!

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New York June 2008

brenda's cousin Ellen and Eddie tied the knot in New York, so we took the opportunity to catch up with family, old friends, and the city we adore (all in just four days!). To maximize our limited time, we hung out with good friends (the usual suspects like Jen, Nick, Manning, Rich, and Bindy) while eating all our favorite foods (pizza, hot pastrami from Katz, bagels, oysters and clam chowder from the Oyster Bar). The wedding itself was in this magical townhouse-like space in the Meatpacking District - uber cool and swanky, just like Ellen and Eddie. We spent our last full day at Madison Square Park, where we were fortunate to have many more friends drop by - Julie and Tom, Six Degrees, Steph, and a most special visit from Ed, Chrissy and Lucia, who came all the way from Baltimore. Will was a super-trooper the entire trip, staying up till all hours, partying with us. SO great seeing everyone, we miss you!!

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June 2008

The days of having a conversation in front of Will without him understanding are over! Every morning, he runs into our room and orders Dad to take a "show-ah" and then opens up our closet and pulls on a shirt sleeve, telling Dad to put on a shirt and go to work. One morning, Billy mumbled under his breath, "He sure is bossy" and the next thing we knew, Will was tearing through the house with this big grin on his face, yelling, "Bos-sy! Bos-sy!"

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Holly and Keith in Singapore and Thailand May 2008

An eagerly-awaited visit from Holly and Keith was fulfilled..and then some! This was their first trip to Asia so besides leading Holly and Keith on an eating tour of Singapore and hanging out with Will we were also able to take a long weekend trip to Krabi, Thailand, where we all thoroughly relaxed and enjoyed lots of good times. Keith cooked awesome dinners every night in our house on the beach and each day we took boats out for fishing and snorkeling. Thanks for coming out to visit us, Holly and Keith! Can't wait to see you guys again soon!

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Family Reunion May 2008

For mother's day weekend, brenda's family came to Singapore for a mini-reunion. We all had so much fun eating breakfast with orang-utans at the zoo, watching little chicks hatch at the science center, running through the various water fountains in Singapore to cool off, and taking everyone out to eat at our favorite restaurants. Will absolutely loves having visitors, especially when they include Agong, Ama, and cousin Adrian. Everywhere we went, he had to do a roll call to make sure everyone was here. He would end the roll call by pointing to his own chin and saying, "And Will here."

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April 2008

We were lucky to have Aileen and Lawrence visit at the beginning of the month, so that we could take them to all our favorite spots in Singapore. One new experience for all of us was a ride on the Singapore Flyer - one revolution takes about 30 minutes and the aerial view of Singapore is fantastic. At the end of the month, brenda took Will to Taiwan for a week of extra lovin' from Ama and Agong (Billy was away in LA for work and SD visiting family). Will is becoming a real motormouth and is veeeeery cheeky with all his crazy antics!

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March 2008

After a month of traveling and hanging out with just his parents, Will appreciated being back in Singapore, reuniting with all his favorite toys and friends...but not for long, as we couldn't pass up an opportunity for a (quick) trip to Penang, Malaysia over Easter weekend. This month, Billy started a new job and Will started nursery a few mornings a week, which has in turn given brenda some time for writing. Life in Singapore is evolving in really exciting ways!

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Australia and New Zealand February 2008

We decided to take advantage of the fact that we live as close to Oceania as we ever will, so the last leg of our month-long adventure took us to Australia and New Zealand. We spent 3 very full days in Sydney, eating great food, celebrating Billy's birthday, and walking all over this lively and extremely livable city. Then we spent a full week in New Zealand, where the breathtaking views literally made our lungs expand with each exclamation. It felt so good to be able to let Will run around without having to tell him no at every turn, as we have to, living in a city with limited space. This was one heck of a month - wistful that family vacation is coming to an end, but excited for Billy's new job and our next few months in Singapore.

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Kerala, India February 2008

After the excitement of the New Year, we went on a 4 day trip without Will. We were in Kerala, a southwestern Communist state in India known for its old colonial charm and lazy "backwaters." The colors, sounds, and smells of India are as vibrant as one would imagine, yet in Kerala, there was a deep sense of peace and calm, especially since we spent some time on a boat cruising - seemingly without aim - along what is known as the backwaters. We missed Will terribly, but also appreciated being alone together and having time to relax and catch up on some reading and writing.

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Chinese New Year February 2008

After Cambodia, it was off to Taiwan for the Lunar New Year. We arrived a few days early to do a commercial shoot for Nac Nac, a line of babycare products from brenda's dad's company. It was a very...unique and memorable experience, to say the least! This Chinese New Year, it was unusually cold in Taiwan, so we spent most of our time huddled at home together, eating, talking, playing mah-jong, the Taiwan edition of Monopoly, and following Super Tuesday results on TV. It is so meaningful to watch Will inherit and carry on this most precious of family traditions.

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Cambodia February 2008

Billy starts a new job in March, so we decided to take all of February off to do a bit of traveling. First stop, Siem Reap in Cambodia. The ruins of Angkor Wat temple is the most well-known, but we quickly realized that there are also many other temples that are equally awe-inspiring. There is a real sense of peace in these temples and something almost other worldly about the quality of the light. Will had a blast trekking through the temples and taking more than his share of tumbles and falls. People were friendly and laid back and the food was absolutely beautiful.

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January 2008

Happy New Year! It felt as though we were going from one birthday party to the next this month as the last of Will's little friends turned one. Besides going on our usual Singapore outings, the highlight in January was a visit from Jen. It was only three days, but it was so much fun showing her around, eating lots of food, drinking wine (and other not so palatable drinks), and staying up to chat. Thanks for coming to see us Jen!! We spent the rest of the month planning for all our travels in February before Billy starts his new job in March.

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