Day 297 - Air Train

Thought of the day: Only after I got back to Colorado did I realize how much I had missed the intensity and clarity of the light here.  It's good to be home again.

Photo of the day:

View from the air train that took us to the San Francisco Airport.  The bay area was so green - even on the air train, you could see a lot of green with a background of misty mountains in the distance. That was our last view of the bay area before boarding the flight home.

Day 296 - Garden Bench

Thought of the day: It's our last day in the bay area and I am already starting to miss it.  I miss the ocean breeze, the soft light, the green and winding paths, the cool mist hung in the forests and above beach towns and, of course, the long list of things to check out in this area. I can imagine spending a couple of weeks here with the kids without getting bored.  With some advance planning and sensible pacing, we should be able to have a relaxing yet engaging vacation here. To tell the truth, when I visited the bay area in the past, sometimes I felt pretty bored. But not this time. I think what made the different was that I was more proactive during this trip. I approached the neighbors, met old friends, try out new activities and go out often. I even sent in a couple of comments and suggestions to several city departments which made me feel more relevant and involved. In any case, all these things combined had made a world of difference.  Indeed, there is much to be experienced wherever you are and sometimes the biggest barrier between a dull life and a satisfying one is just the attitude.

Photo of the day: 

My dad taking a break on a bench with his grandkids in Woodside's Filoli Garden. The kids are playing a game of Harry Potter. A trip to the beautiful garden and spending some quality time with the cousin really made Jasmine's day.

Day 293 - Music Party

Thought of the day: There are many small towns in the bay area and we visited one of them today - Los Gatos.  It has a charming downtown filled with local shops that have been there for years.  One place worth mentioning is a yogurt place called Cafe Delatti.  We got some frozen yogurts there and they were delicious.  Bay area has many towns like this and it will take a while to visit them all. And of course, don't forget San Francisco, a not-so-small town that is 45 minutes away which would be worth every minute of the drive. Factor in the mild weather, culinary delights, tech industry, good universities and proximity to ocean, forests and mountains - it's no wonder that the bay area is able to attract so many smart people and keep them here.

Photo of the day:

Cousins holding a music party.  It was a delight to photograph them - perhaps even more so than to listen to the "music" they made!

Day 292 - Sisters

Thought of the day: We spent a couple of hours in Palo Alto's Rinconada Park this morning. The kids had a fun time playing in the shallow outdoor pool. The air was a bit chilly but the water was pretty warm.  The pool facility was sufficient but outdated.  I was surprised that it didn't have solar water heater installed as Palo Alto prides itself on being a green city.  When I walk around the neighborhood, I can see a few green initiatives with my own eyes.  Quite a few neighbors have a "Palo Alto Green" yard sign installed which indicates that they have signed up for using renewable energy for their electricity.  A few major streets, including a segment of Arastradero Road, have been modified into one lane streets to discourage motor traffic and make room for bikers and pedestrians. Unfortunately much of the extra space on Arastradero has been taken over by parked cars which is unfortunate.  Palo Alto has bike paths but they are not well connected yet.  It looks like the city is moving toward the right direction and hopefully we will be able to bike around the city with ease in the near future.

Photo of the day:

Jasmine carrying Lila to the swimming pool.  Lila loves to be carried by her big sister - it's a rare treat for her!

Day 291 - Forest

Thought of the day: We took a hike in the Big Basin Redwood Park today.  Hiking in a redwood forest can be refreshing and invigorating. The unfathomably tall trees, the light coming down through the branches, the smell of the forest, the sound of the birds, the stillness of the thousand year old trees, the soft steps on the trail...a forest like this is somehow able to activate a primitive part of our brain and give us a sense of peace that can't be experienced anywhere else. I tried to capture the images of the forest that speak to me, but it was proven difficult. The best images I took home today were those in my memory and they will be there for a long time to come.

Photo of the day:

Image of a redwood tree in the forest.

Day 290 - Spider Web

Thought of the day: We visited the Los Altos Library this morning. The library had a nice children's section and both Jasmine and Lila found some books to take home.  My parents and I also found some books for ourselves in the collection of Chinese language books - it's a decent size collection especially compared with the tiny collection in the Boulder Main Library. We ended up walking out of the library with a tall stack of books. There was no limit to the number of books we could check out and that really saved our day.

Photo of the day:

Other than reading books and playing with friends, a favorite thing for Jasmine to do was to use her spray bottle in the yard.  She found a new target today - a spider web!  The poor spider must be shocked at the amount of water she and her web received in such a perfectly sunny day.

Day 289 - Fish Market

Thought of the day: My parents have a large, enclosed yard and the girls often spend hours there playing with each other.  They run around, play games and water the plants.  The backyard borders a creek but it's completely fenced in.  It's connected to the courtyard in the middle of the house which is also very safe.  In Boulder, our backyard abuts the open space with no fence in between.  That gives an open feeling to the yard but it can also be unnerving because of the real threats from mountain lions, black bears and coyotes that are not uncommon where we live. The girls can't play in our yard unsupervised but they can do it here. The peace of mind and extra freedom that a safe backyard can bring to a family like ours is immeasurable. I will surely miss that when I get back.

Photo of the day:

Palo Alto's Fish Market.  It seems to be a local favorite and lots of older people frequent this restaurant. We were there for dinner tonight.  Unfortunately it was not enough for Lila to run around in the yard all day long - she had some extra energy to burn off in the restaurant and raised a few eyebrows there.  Luckily, most people were very nice to her and smiled at her - perhaps she reminded them of their equally energetic grandkids.

Day 288 - Green Parking

Thought of the day: Since we are here with both kids for two entire weeks, we are really motivated to find other kids in the neighborhood for the girls to play with. So after I heard the sounds of some kids playing in the neighboring yard, I knocked on the door with Jasmine and introduced ourselves.  Lucky for us, a very friendly family lives next door and they didn't mind the intrusion at all.  Their two sweet girls have been playing with Jasmine ever since. We're lucky to have neighbors who are so open-minded and flexible.  Having neighborhood kids to play with definitely makes this place seem more friendly and homey for us.

Photo of the day:

A green and lush parking spot for a bike outside of Amber Indian Restaurant in Mountain View.  David and I had lunch there today.  The food is definitely more spicy and perhaps more authentic but we are missing the Tandoori Grill.  We are still developing our list of favorite local restaurants here and will probably feel more at home once we find a few within walking or biking distance.

Day 287 - Neighborhood Park

Thought of the day: We are starting to know more people living in the neighborhood.  One of the families just immigrated from China on investment visas.  The EB-5 world has always been a bit of a myth to me because I don't think I have actually met anyone on EB-5 in the past.  Apparently the requirements for getting the visa has become less stringent recently and there are now many affluent Chinese who qualify.  In addition, many of those on EB-5 have enough cash on the side to buy real estate in the US and they consider this a good time to buy as the market is soft in the US while the Chinese real estate market is still very hot. In addition, the US has been considered by many Chinese as a safe and even prestigious place to invest in real estate. Many early Taiwanese immigrants did very well from doing so - some of them still live in this neighborhood - and now the mainland Chinese are following their brave footpath. The children and grandchildren of those Taiwanese immigrants often thrive in American schools and work places and I expect the same to happen for this new wave of immigrants. Of course, despite their relative wealth, many challenges still lie ahead of them in integrating into this very different society. They have met the challenges of the rapidly changing Chinese society and I have no doubt that they will meet the challenges here as well.

Photo of the day:

Misty morning in a park in my parents' neighborhood.  I don't see too many neighbors in the park as many of them are probably either busy working or shuffling their kids from one activity to the other.  Bay area is a fiercely competitive place for adults and kids alike and I suspect the new wave of immigrants just make it even more so.

Day 286 - Lila

Thought of the day: Our traveling got more exciting last afternoon after Jasmine found Francis - a New Zealand girl of her age - to play with and we made acquaintance with her mother and uncle who were traveling with her.  The train provided ample opportunities for people to get to know each other and socialize if they were up for it.  The small space helped.  For example, as the dining cars were packed, strangers were often seated together and were almost "forced" to socialize.  People also found company in the observation car and in the cafe.  Jasmine, Francis and Lila were never separated after they got to know each other.  They walked up and down the cars, squealed in delight, played games and had a great time together. As you can tell, we were getting used to the life on the train.  But even when we were getting used to the rhythm and breathing of the moving beast and getting used to the everchanging landscape, a travel weariness was slowly creeping into our bodies.  When we left the train at Emeryville, it felt soooo good to be standing on solid ground again.  The girls had a hard time saying goodbye to their new friends.  We left our contact information but I wonder if we would ever hear from them again...

Photo of the day:

Lila playing in grandparents' yard.  She was happy to have more space to run around again.

Day 141 - Path

Thought of the day: It was our last day in the bay area.  There had been so much going on throughout the day that I don't even know what to write about.  But the main thing is everybody I met or spent time with today was happy and that made it a very good day indeed.  I will miss the bay area.

Photo of the day:

Lila walked with grandpa on the path.  Happy day.

Day 140 - Sandy Hands

Thought of the day: We went to a beach at Half Moon Bay today.  As it was a workday, we had the beach pretty much all to ourselves.  We had a picnic while enjoying the sound of the ocean and the company of seagulls and many other birds.  It was a little windy and a little chilly, as often is the case on that beach, so we didn't stay for very long.  We occasionally see seagulls in Palo Alto, but there's nothing like a trip like this to remind us how close we are to the Pacific Ocean.  On the way home, I made a mental note to visit the ocean more often in the future.  Coming to the bay area and do not visit the beach is like going to Colorado and do not pay tribute to the Rockies, the trip would have been incomplete.

Photo of the day:

Lila showing me her sandy hands after playing on the beach.

Day 139 - Car Light

Thought of the day: Doing this blog gives me a challenge, and pleasure, of finding and capturing the beauties of life every day.  On lucky days, a beautiful scene would just present itself at an opportune moment and I can just grab the camera and shoot.  On other days, I need to go out of the way to look for something interesting to shoot.  Today was one of those "other" days.  There were actually quite a few memorable moments throughout the day - horses on an idyllic pasture, a brightly dressed child on a misty, green meadow, stunning sunset silhouette of cottonwoods - but unfortunately I could only capture them with my eyes but not the camera for practical reasons.  So, when it was getting late and I still didn't have a single photo on my camera, I decided to go for a jog and shoot in the dark - a challenging task for me as the light was the biggest source of inspiration for my photos.  But luckily, even with the natural lights gone, we humans created enough artificial lights to keep ourselves safe and comfy at night that I was able to accomplish my task for the day.

Photo of the day:

Cars, street, and trees with blossoms of early Spring.

Day 138 - Dessert

Thought of the day: Today I biked with my dad to their old townhouse which was for sale.  The realtor did quite a bit of work before putting it on market.  We were surprised when we entered the door - it felt as if we had just stepped into an Ethan Allen showroom.  It even used my favorite color palette.  But it didn't feel like home any more and it made me really miss the simplicity and familiarity of their old home.  Moving can be difficult because you will inevitably leave a part of your history, and a part of you, behind.  It's hard to reckon with the fact that some things that you have gotten so used to and taken for granted are not yours any more.  It could be a tree that you climbed on, a pool that your kids swam in or the view from a window there was special to you.  It's even harder to move when you grow older.  Luckily for my parents, they didn't have to move very far this time and their old friends could still visit them in their new home.  But I know that they are not interested in moving again any time soon.

Photo of the day:

Lila got a special treat after eating dinner well tonight.  She really, really, I mean really, enjoyed the apple strudel from Ester's German Bakery and devoured it within a minute.  She demonstrated to us the reason why we humans came equipped with ten fingers.

Day 137 - Jasmine and Bunnies

Thought of the day: The grand plan when we flew down to the bay area this time was to get some chickens to live in my parents' yard.  Jasmine was all excited and giddy.  Unfortunately it turned out that Palo Alto required a "chicken permit" and it was not even easy to obtain.  The "chicken permit" lady requested to inspect the coop first to make sure that it's "humane and up to standard".  And then we needed a signed letter from our next door neighbor, who's currently out of the country, to give us permission as the coop was within 25 feet of the property line.  In addition, only hens were allowed in the city and the chicks we could get were only about "96% female", which meant that there's a 22% chance that we might have to return one of the chicks if we got all six of them as allowed by the city.  In any case, it was certainly a lot more hassle to get a handful of chicks than one would have expected.  So when we visited a pet shop in Half Moon Bay and spotted a pair of cute and fluffy bunnies in a cage, we decided to get them instead.  No permits necessary so we could just take them home.  The chicken coop my dad built worked beautifully for the bunnies.  I think they like their new home - a lot.  They looked pretty sad and barely moved about in their cage in the pet store, but after spending a little time to get used to their new dig, they are now running about like all happy bunnies should.  Jasmine and Lila are excited beyond words to have these bunnies join our family.  Now they have even one more reason to visit the bay area!

Photo of the day: 

Jasmine was a little sad saying good-bye to the bunnies (behind her in the cage) before she left for Colorado. I was glad that her favorite stuff animal would keep her company along the way.

Day 136 - Steven

Thought of the day: Jasmine doesn't get to see her cousins very often.  But whenever she does, they usually get connected with each other quickly and play well together.  In fact, they enjoy each other's company so much that it's often difficult to tear them apart at the end of a short visit.  I don't know if they have an inborn feeling of kinship or if it's just an age thing.  But I do know that this kind of easy connection is more difficult to build and sustain when they get older, so it's a good thing that they get to meet more now as we visit the bay area so often.

Photo of the day:

Steven and Jasmine sharing the earphones and a few laughs together.

Day 135 - Running

Thought of the day: Airport is one of my favorite places to photograph.  Unfortunately I don't get to take many pictures there as I'm usually trying hard to make it to a flight, or holding the hands of a little one, or doing both at the same time.  When I do have the luxury to photograph, it's usually really fun.  The light, the architecture, the travelers of all sizes and shapes, and everything else are so different from what you encounter in your daily life that certain things, or in fact, many things are jumping out at you all at once and crying to be photographed.  Airport is indeed a strange and unusual place.  It's chaotic yet orderly, colorful yet bland, imposing yet insignificant, trivial yet vital.  When you visit an airport the first time, it seems vast and impersonal, but over time, you would have developed your list of favorite bookstores, coffee shops, sandwich places and you feel more at home.  Since I spend so much time in small, quiet cities, visiting the airport gives me a taste of big city living, express style, without actually having to set foot in a big city.

Photo of the day:

Jasmine running on the moving walkway of Denver International Airport - don't ask me at which direction she was running or how the bag got to the other end before she did...  She was very excited to fly to the bay area again to visit the grandparents, so we let her get a little wild, perhaps a little too wild!