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 193 - Stairway

Thought of the day: I ran into some photos of bento box lunches prepared by a Japanese woman for her son to bring to preschool day to day.  I was thoroughly impressed.  The lunches were meticulously and thoughtfully prepared.  They were aesthetically pleasing to the eyes and, judging from the statement that her son devoured every bite of them, they must be pleasing to the taste buds as well.  She demonstrated that with enough love and intention, a daily chore can be turned into a creation of art.  That's probably true for many other things as well.  Indeed, life itself can be an art if you decide to live it as one.

Photo of the day:

There's art to be seen pretty much anywhere in the Stanley Hotel.  Old historic hotels may give you a cozy living space with very little luxury in the room, but who cares if it's interesting wherever you set your eyes on.

Day 192 - Wedding

Thought of the day: It was a perfect day in Estes Park.  In the morning, we drove to Rocky Mountain National Park and hiked on a short trail to Bear Lake, which was still completely frozen and covered by snow at this time of the year.  And then we hiked on Lumpy Ridge trail in town. The first trail was surrounded by a forest and it was covered by snow and slippery.  It was even snowing when we did the hike.  The second trail was snow-free and dry and ran through some pretty interesting rock formations.  It was nice and sunny when we did that hike.   The two hikes couldn't be more different even though they were just within a short drive from each other.  We literally drove from one climate zone to another in a matter of minutes.  Jasmine and Lila were very excited by the adventure and they both enjoyed climbing up and down the rocks along the Lumpy Ridge Trail.  In the evening, we checked out Rock Inn Restaurant which is a steak house and a popular music venue in Estes Park.  The girls danced an evening away to the merry tunes played by a local musician.

Photo of the day:

A wedding party in Stanley Hotel where we are staying at.  Today must be an auspicious day to get married as we spotted at least 3 wedding parties in the hotel.  Other than weddings, we also counted a lot of elks in RMNP and in town, including a dozen or so munching on the grass right outside of our hotel room.  However, I took a lot more photos of wedding parties  than elks, so the elks would have to wait until our next trip to get on the blog!

Day 191 - Happy Music

Thought of the day: We're staying in Estes Park for the weekend.  It's much chillier here than in Boulder but it's good to do something different.  Jasmine loved the coziness of the hotel room and declared that she would not mind staying here forever.  I think that might be a little exaggerated and a spur of the moment declaration, but she is always the happiest when she gets to spend time with us.  It's yet another proof that kids, at least the young ones, crave for the quality time with parents more than anything else.  Watching movies or playing with new toys may provide them with temporary excitements, but there's nothing like the parents' unconditional love and undivided attention to make them genuinely happy.

Photo of the day:

Students of Kutandara Center performing African music on the Pearl St.  Today was the Colorado Children's Day in Boulder where there were fun activities for the kids and all events were free (even the balloon man refused to accept tips).  Looking at this photo reminded me just how warm it was a couple of hours ago!