New Year's Eve

It was a really wonderful new year celebration with all of us together. Ahma cooked the best meal of the year with a magnificent New Year's feast that left us comatose. We topped it off with a celebratory cake/cupcake delight (complete with Princess rings on every one) and sang "Happy New Year to Us"!!! After the kids were down, we proceeded to play Agricola AGAIN but pausing long enough to cheer the new year in with everyone!

YUM, YUM & MORE YUM. And this was just half of it.

Other Holiday Fun

Let's see.... besides sleeping, playing Agricola (our new favorite family board game), what else were we up to...

Christmas gift to the big boys: all-you-can-eat stone crab claws at Truluck's! They managed 17-20 per person (Su-Ting had an assist from me...) - impressive. I ate a Wagyu burger instead, having indulged in the feast just a week earlier.

Another night out... each couple got a bottle of red & a bottle of white

We couldn't resist dessert at Dairy Queen -- gotta keep these kids up with American traditions!

Not surprisingly, guess who loved the Blizzard?

Picking strawberries, oranges and starfruit at a friends' farm

And Sasha, hitting that 18 month mark, really turned into an animated ball of comedy!! She was always up to some nonsense, and perfected her camera-ready smile :)

Just Being Cute

The girls with their new dolls:
Sofie + Bella, Sasha + Stella

Sasha cuddling both Bella and Stella


Their "cute!" poses in front of the Christmas tree

Breakfast at their little picnic table
Sofie playing tricks with a jetlagged Daddy

Passing on traditions: Making dumplings with Ahma

Sasha's daily nap with Ahkong
They wake up and play games!

Christine Ai-Yi pampering (spoiling!) Sofie with a facial

Outdoor Fun in Naples

Sometimes sunny, sometimes not-so-sunny, we still managed to enjoy the outdoors...

Off to fish with her new Princess fishing pole from Santa

Su-Ting perfecting his cast-net fishing technique with an 8 foot net

Hot-tubbing was our morning ritual, weather-permitting

Crabbing at Ahkong's friends' home

Sunny day beach time: playing with sand and water, exploring the sealife along the beach, building another princess sand castle...
(milestones: Sasha will finally keep a hat on, and also LOVES to wear sunglasses)

Christmas 2009

Christmas was a frenzy of unwrapping and excitement. Sasha kind of got the gist, and Sofie most definitely understood, as well as had her expectations from Santa! Highlights were their new dolls (Bella and Stella, no kidding) and their Seattle Mariners cheerleading outfits & pompoms...

Sofie doing her "cheer-ups" as she calls them
Goal!!

Before leaving for the States, we had a Christmas Party at our Club in Hong Kong where they met Santa Claus, but we very sadly subsequently lost our camera and memories on it. Luckily the girls made the Club's magazine, so here they are!

Princess Playdate

Princesses playing at Feline's

It was very very noisy...

Oxfam Trailwalker 2009

Su-Ting participated in the GRUELING fundraising event, Oxfam Trailwalker. Teams of four must complete the 100km MacLehose Trail - yes, 100km nonstop, throughout Hong Kong's challenging terrain. It is a true test of mental fortitude as it used to be an endurance training exercise for soldiers.

Team "We've Got the Runs!" at the start...
(no, they did not run the 100km straight)

Some photos along the way, including ones we captured at checkpoints where the support team (myself and some of their buddies) would meet them to provide hot food, drinks and most importantly, ENCOURAGEMENT.

4am or so? Cold and depressed. Still a long long loooooong way to go.

The team at the finish... yes, one is in a wheelchair. Long story.

Despite learning a lot about the importance of having a good team, Su-Ting proved to be the ultimate team player and stuck it out to the end... 32 hours later!
(FYI, the fastest team actually finished the entire 100km in 12 hours and 17 minutes. Wow.)

Jailbreak 2009!

A group of mommies, HK & Tokyo-based and ALL with 2-3 children, bid a farewell to our hubbies and kiddies and took a 4-day getaway to Hanoi, Vietnam. All about child-free good times: fine dining, shopping, sightseeing, SLEEPING IN, and spa time...

Back home, Sofie & Sasha had Daddy time with a special trip to Ocean Park!

Xmas Card Takes...

Some of our shots while trying to get a holiday card photo. It was incredibly hot that day! Middle one was the winner...

Motley Fu Takes Oz

We spent a few weeks in Australia, with the first week exploring beautiful Sydney. We met our good friends from Tokyo there, and together we hired (1 per family!) campervans and drove up the Gold Coast up to Brisbane. What an experience!

Our itinerary:
- Days 1-7: Exploring, shopping and wining/dining our way through Sydney
- Days 8-10: Sydney to Hunter Valley; 2 nights in the wine region of Hunter Valley
- Day 11: Hunter Valley to Port Stephens; 1 night
- Day 12-14: Port Macquarie; 2 nights
- Days 15-17: Port Macquarie to Coffs Harbour... parked our vans for 3 nights and stayed at the Novotel resort. Bad weather forced us to miss the Big Banana!
- Days 18-20: Coffs Harbour to Byron Bay; 2 nights and the most gorgeous weather ever
- Day 21: Byron Bay to Brisbane - then we headed out! Flew out on Oct 31st, so the girls missed Halloween - but it was WELL worth it.

Trip highlights:
- The food and sights of Sydney - simply amazing dinners out with the Edwards (sans children)
- Sofie learning to play cricket
- Almost nightly campsite grill-outs of huge meals of fresh meat
- The Battle of the Vans: "Van Halen" vs "Motley Fu"
- "Zoe's House" kids' building site at the Powerhouse Museum
- The wildlife!! Koalas, kangaroos, wallabies!
- Hands down: Byron Bay, for the town, the beach, the weather, the vibe

Too many pictures to post, so if you really want the full scoop, click here. Or see below for highlights!

Day 1 in Sydney - headed to a Night Noodle Festival in Hyde Park

The Sydney Opera House


Giraffes at the Toranga Zoo

Playing at the Tumbalong Park in Darling Harbour





The "Last Supper" before heading onto the campervan adventure: Tetsuya's and their signature, absolutely mouth-watering dish...


Typical evening at the campsite: kids down, the men grilled dinner, a bottle of red and a bottle of white...


Oh yes - we DID go wine tasting in Hunter Valley as Motley Fu

Sofie feeding a wallaby


Sasha fascinated by the feeding

Petting Clancy, the sleepy koala

Our own little koala


The rock pools of Port MacQuarie Beach


Driving in the campervan...



Porpoise Pool in Coffs Harbour



When you've only been walking for 6 weeks, a few (thousand) tumbles are bound to happen


Beautiful Byron Beach



Daniel reading & singing "The Spiffiest Giant in Town"


Playing cricket!


The Cape Byron Lighthouse