Japan: Tokyo, Hakone, Kyoto

 Guide we used: 

Japan
Guide: https://www.justonecookbook.com/ultimate-travel-guide-to-tokyo

Tokyo:
Day1
Made it with 2 hr delay in flight due to mechanical maintenance.
One of the first surprises was how quiet everything was. The subway, the bus, the stations - no one talked or made any noise. Also there are so many signs and directions everywhere. Everything is so clear, precise, and orderly. So much safety built in like emergency stop button for subway and arrows directing which side people should go up or down.
Hamaya: 

Special shisosio soba. Special oyster and clam oil sio ramen.

 

Our place was small, but it was very efficient use of space and very clean. It had a bidet! - nice to sit on a warm toilet haha!

Day 2
We had jetlag, so woke up at 4a and laid in bed. We decided to go to fish market. Got there too late for the auction (end 6:30a), but we got to eat some really fresh sushi at the restaurant area here:
https://maps.google.com/?cid=11798204809531068420&entry=gps

Sushi dai was completely booked when we got there, but this restaurant had no line! We had the chef choice 10 nigiri/sushi (4,950 yen) and donburi (rice with uni, fatty tuna, and roe 5,500 yen). My favorite was the uni (sea urchin) and otoro (fatty tuna belly) and Alan's was the salmon roe. The roe was a little too salty and fishy for me. The sardine was also a bit too fishy. And sadly my nose was a little stuffed so my sense of taste wasn't the best. Yet, it was still very delicious. Mmmmm, the uni was so creamy and melt in my mouth. We never had sushi for breakfast before, but that was awesome!

To Senso-Ji temple:
Front gate lantern is 1500lb.
Hozo-mon gate, also for storage of treasures for the Senso-Ji temple.
Lantern at gate is 900lb. "Thunder gate and incense vat". People will apply the smoke to body part needing healing.

Through Nakamise-dori street with small shops, traditional items.

 
Doves are messengers of goddess compassion.

Omikuji: pray, and pull out answer from one of the drawers.

Tokyo skytree:
Tallest stand-alone tower in the world.
450m observation hall. Going up to 350m is sufficient. Upper deck too hot and not much different.
Buildings far as the eye can see: and not just small buildings, but big ones too!.... It's amazing to see the most populus city in the world from high up.
Tokyo: 38 mill
Shanghai: 25 mill
New York: 19 mill
Clear day so we could see Mt. Fuji!

Ueno park:
We had lunch at ueno park Shinobazuno pond. There's a big food street/area outside of the park called Ameyoko market so we got take out there. But also someone was selling grilled squid near the pond. It was pleasant to eat by the pond. We then walked through the park to the art museum and reflection fountain. Didn't feel like going to the museum or zoo in the park. The leaves seemed like they were mostly done changing color too. Maybe spring with flowers would be prettier, but it was still a pleasant stroll.

Sanbaka restaurant dinner: 5 course:
1)
-Ohitashi and komatsuna (greens) and chrysanthemum flowers.
-Shungiku, mustard green with sesame dressing, and fish.
-Meat and potatoes (traditional Japanese food).

2) Yellowtail, sea bass, and snapper sashimi.

3) Tuna marinated in soy sauce on lotus root, cooked with sake. Topped with asparagus greens. Too salty overall.

4) Chawanmushi: Egg custard with dashi (soup stock), bonito, clam, seaweed. Yummy, like a soup.

5) Fermented soy beans, mascarpone cheese, nato. Kind of bland.

Akihabara:
So confused what's pop-up space and ensemble stars store??!!
Reminded me of time square, but it was all about anime!

A lot of claw machines, sell electronics. Not pictured: a lot of maid cafes (people dressed up)

Making Ramen

Cat cafe. Ah didn't get to go to Owl Cafe (real owls!)

Day 3:
Meiji Jingu:
Commemorate emperor Meiji and empress Shoken. Where they are buried.
1868 Meiji Restoration proclaimed Charter Path in Five Articles as new guidelines for building Japan as Japan changed from isolation policy of Edo Era to more Eastern influences. The Oath emphasized importance of making decisions based on general discussion, pursuing one's calling, uniting hearts to develop the nation, break harmful practices and gather knowledge from all over the world.

Chrysanthemum festival display

Bonsai Chrysanthemum display

Wine vs sake
Emperor tried incorporating western culture such as cutting his topknot, donning western clothing, and enjoyed wine.

 
Sake given up to dieties every year.

Shinjuku Gyoen national garden:
Previously belonged to the Edo Naito family, then transfered to the Imperial family. Has English landscape, French formal, and Traditional Japanese garden styles. 1949 opened as national garden.

 
Greenhouse: preserve seeds, orchids, Jacob's ladder.

Chrysanthemum festival still on display! Their national flower.

 
Tried to go to East gardens of imperial palace but found it was closed on Fridays! Google maps failed us! Also we tried booking Imperial palace tour 1 Mo in advance when it opened, but even 30min after website opened, it was all booked!

Shibuya crossing: largest crossing in the world!

It was raining, so not as big a spectacle

Sushi Tomi:
Nigiri set 2500 yen. Great sushi! Hole in the wall, traditional sit on mat if you go upstairs. We came at 5p and had the whole upstairs (small area) to ourselves. AB tried sake too.

Day 4: Hakone

Known for: onsen-manju (red bean bun), kamaboko (fish cake), Manju: flour bun with filling, red bean bread (anpan) from Yanagi Bakery. Didn't get to see Odawara castle and Yanagiya Bakery 柳屋ベーカリnearby. Wood mosaic.

We took Metro to Tokyo station, got the shinkansen (bullet train) pass at a machine. We got bento lunches for breakfast on the train. 

The bullet train was so fast and smooth! And there was a good clear view of Mt Fuji. Stopped at Otowara station, Hakone. Bought hakone free pass so all transport in Hakone is free for 2 days for 5000 yen (only 2 or 3 days options available) - turns out some buses still aren't included in the pass. We took train to Hakone-Yomoto station (can't get on the express train with Hakone pass), then another 40min train to Gora. That was such a steep ride, requiring multiple track changes.

Gora:
Open air museum 

Silliness

Free hot spring foot soak

Picasso exhibit: Jacqueline portraits. Married when he was 80, she was 34.

Took cablecar to Sounzan, but then found it out was too windy so the Ropeway was closed! Ah wish they told us when we were in Gora before we squeezed into a cablecar and slowly made our way up the mountain to Sounzan! We decided to take the alternative route to Owakudani: take bus to K and then walk up 30min to Owakudani. We had to wait 45 min for the bus be there first one was too full and the line too long. Thankfully when we walked, it only took 15min and we passed so many cars (traffic).

Owakudani:
We were so fortunate that when we got there, the clouds cleared and we got the most beautiful view of Mt Fuji! Thank God! Beautiful creation! 

Sulfer fumes coming out of the Owakudani volcano:

  
The black eggs up there were interesting... But they tasted like regular eggs. The shells turn black because they cook them in the volcano and the sulfur changes the egg shell black.

Most delicious black curry bun on left (maybe worked up an appetite walking up mt). R: black sulfur eggs.

These eggs are supposed to add 7 more years to my life. :D

We walked and then took the bus down to lake Ashi.

Lake Ashi:
The lake itself was pretty, but nothing special. The fun part was taking the pirate ship to the Southeast shore. 

I took too long in the gift shop and walked along the ancient forest trail. But then it was too late so we took the express R bus back to Halone-Yomoto station, train back to odawara, and then bullet train back to Tokyo. Had a nice meal at Casual Tappen (teppenyaki place). 

Day 5 Kyoto: Matcha capital, eat desserts.

Imperial palace and Garden:
Previously capital of Japan for 500+ years until 1869 Emperor Meiji moved it to Tokyo.
Kan-in-no-miya residence, now visitor center: lived here during Edo period. Kujo pond and tea ceremony house.

Imperial palace was destroyed by so many fires. And emperor had to live with noble families.
Can visit the palace for free on certain days via the seishomon gate (for servants). 

Carriage porch for courtiers. 

Waiting Rooms

New carriage porch (now emperor needs a bigger one for carriage and has to enter from south per tradition).

Shinshinden (Hall for state ceremonies), where emperora were enthroned.

Shukoden (Hall of the sacred mirror): mirror for enthronement ceremony kept.

Seiryoden (Hall for rites and rituals): also where emperor lived for a bit.

Kogosho: imperial meetings

Oikeniwa Garden: so serene.

Otsunegpten- imperial residential palace.

Couldn't get into Ruriki-on temple bc we didn't have reservation. But maple walk beautiful.

Jisho-ji temple:
Beautiful maples 

So many yummy snacks on the walk there. 

Philosophers path on the way to Nanzen-ji temple. 

Koun-ji temple with sunset in background.

Too late to go into Nanzenji temple. But pretty to look at from the outside. 

Took train to Fushimi Inari Taisha:
So many beautiful red gates-1000 of them!  Built in 1633 with no nails. 1/2 mile hike up hill, then 1 hr to top (we didn't go to top). At night the gates were lit, made for interesting experience. Names of businesses that sponsored the gate on back. Initially dedicated to Inari, god of crop and business and fox statues bc messenger of Inari. 

Day 6
Kinkaku-ji temple
Getting there was confusing. From the Kitaoji stop of the northsouth subway line, you have to go to blue platform underground to catch the bus (203, 204, or 205) to the temple. Follow the signs for bus and blue platform. We got to the temple before 9a and there was already a line to go in.

These statues reminded me of the offering statues in Zelda

Most important rock zen garden.

Smaller than I expected. Only 15 rocks. Why in the formation? No one knows...

Took trains not on our pass to get to Ashalawara.
Sooooo crowded. 

The street in front had a ton of stalls and restaurants, but there were so many people, every one of them required a wait. 

Yudofu takemura: fortunately only waited 2 min to be seated because someone just happened to leave. 

Tofu is their specialty

We found one tofu place a little less conspicuous on that street, and managed to be seated with 2min wait. We enjoyed a milticourse tofu meal. Interesting! We boiled our own tofu for 3 min. Ate tofu in lemon with miso. Had fried tofu ball (with wood ear, other things in it). Are another form of fried saucy tofu. And then enjoyed veggie tempura.

Arashiyama bamboo forest:

The forest itself was waaaaaay too crowded. Def try to go before 9 or else it's too crazy and hard to enjoy/take good pics. People mountain people sea.

Didn't get to ride in this train that Xiao recommended: Open train from ashi forest. https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3965.html

Arashiyama Monkey Park
Macaque monkeys, 200 in the park. You have to walk 20min uphill, but it's worth it! The monkeys are out in the open, and you can go inside to feed them.

 
Interesting facts:
Their faces, butts, and breasts are red because of blood vessels, but the babies have lighter faces. They amhave sharp canines, but babies have no teeth, and later their baby teeth get replaced. They have cool 5th finger that help them grab tree branches. They can store food in their cheek pouches like chipmunks. Staring at them is an act of aggression.
They eat soil to help with intestinal diseases.
There were some baby monkeys that were so cute! Hard to feed them because the bigger monkeys chased them away.

We checked out Nishika Market. Wow, so many stalls and food stalls! It was really hopping. We are a lot of random foods here and there like octopus balls, wagyu beef, grilled scallop, fried crab, matcha ice cream and mochi. Mochi was sooooo soft.
Of note the market closes at 5p...I think?

We then went to Gion district, didn't really see any geishas, and everything was very commercialized, but it's still fun to walk through the lantern street. The lanterns at Yasaka-jinja shrine was pretty, and there were people ringing the giant rope bells. But it was a relatively small temple.

We then went to eat conveyer belt sushi. It was AB's first time and he was very intrigued. We were stuffed!

Day 7
Kiyomizu-dera

Beautiful temple with a massive cemetery southwest of it.

 
There's a beautiful pogoda.

The temple itself has interesting architecture, being built onto a cliff. The autumn leaves made the whole place really brilliant.

Fushimi Inari Shrine

 

We decided to go climb Mt Inari. Wow, sooooo many red gates. It prob took an hour to climb to the top, and then another half hour down. Phew...it was kind of tiring. Throngs of people and kind of hard to get a good picture without people.  Wish I had known there is a route back down towards bamboo forest. We went off path at Fushimi Inari Taisha and found our way to Kobogataki Falls, and then a bamboo forest farther south. Fun to wander away from the crowds. 

Fukakusa Ramen Toriton 

Yummy! A bit salty. 

Byodo-in

Beautiful temple surrounded by water with nice museum detailing interior decoration and meaning. 

Gohan-ya: Izakaya $$
Online it said there's a set menu, but turned out no set menu and everything in Japanese. There was one server who spoke some English, so we asked for his recommendation, and then picked a few off the menu with Google translate camera. Should have stuck with picking off the pictures on Google. The ones we picked off the menu were so-so: radish greens salad, dried squid. The oden soup was pretty good. The recommendations were really good: sashimi (yellow tail, red snapper, flounder, salmon, tuna, 10 piece), grilled mackerel that was marinated in miso for a day.
Funny part was we didn't have a good idea of the price bc we asked for recommendations, and I estimated about 10,000 yen. When we got the receipt, I thought it said 29,000...we were so surprised but accepted it was our last fancy meal. Then turned out I missed the first number, so it was actually 8,290. Went from most expensive meal to prob the best deal. We were stuffed!

Day 8
The Osaka station is sooooo crazy. Walking for 10min, and we are still in the station. Also like Tokyo and Kyoto station, tons of shops and restaurants.

We had time for a brief stop at Osaka Castle (open too late for us to go in 9am):

 

San Diego 2023 Sept

 We went to San Diego for AB's work conference: 

Torrey Pines:

$20 to park up on top. Few free parking north of the park near the beach. 

We did the loop trial going to Red Butte, Razor Point, Yucca Point, Flat Rock (down to the beach), and then up Broken Hill Trail. 

Red Butte

Razor Point 

Flat Rock

We didn't realize the north fork of the Broken Hill Trail is pretty boring. It's the south fork that actually has more interesting structures and views of the golf course. Of note, you have to walk all the way back on a paved road if you do that broken hill trail (prob not worth it). 

Balboa Park

We didn't have much time, so didn't do any of the paid activities: museums, zoo, etc. We went on the $3 miniature train b/c Baobao loves trains. Also saw the giant Moreton Fig Tree and walked through art center and the main center. We wanted to go see the Japanese Friendship Garden, but turns out it was closed that evening due to a wedding. How disappointing! And by the time we got to the houses of the different nations, that was closed too. Ah well, the park itself was beautiful to walk through. Maybe next time it'll be worth it to go to the zoo with Baobao. 

La Jolla

We went to la Jolla cove and saw sooooo many sea lions. Heard they were going to close the area soon bc people get too close to them and have gotten hurt. It's true, the sea lions go right up the stairs. 

They were really noisy, barking all the time. There were baby ones too. I think we were actually not supposed to go down to the beach, bc the other places had signs not to go down. There were so many people going diving in the morning. Some of them were so big and fat. Maybe the patriarch. Baobao couldn't resist going into the water even though it was so cold. Didn't seem to bother him. 

The seashell beach didn't have any seashells. But Baobao liked playing on the sand. 

Later we went to mission bay beach. One near a cove so it didn't have as many waves. It was still very windy and cold though. 

Mission Bay beach

We went for a short walk in the morning before visiting our friend TL. It had a nice beach walk you can bike or walk on. Parking wasn't bad on a weekday morning. 

Fairmont Grand Del Mar

This hotel was super nice, like the other ones for AB's conference. We got to pet some horses, and enjoyed the pool and the resort walk. I got a facial and a massage...so decadent. Didn't feel like I fit the place. Also enjoyed the hot tub, jacuzzi, and saunas. It was a bit too cold for the pool for us, but Baobao jumped right in. We tried a little hike with my friend TL, but Baobao cried most of the time. Last day we got awesome seafood: lobster, oyster, crab, ceviche, ny steak, etc. It was awesome. 

Baobao 1.5 to 2 years

 3/26 19mo

Baobao has been so fun lately. He tries to say some of the things we say like "hai xing" (star fish), but not having all his teeth, it sounds like "hai hing." He said my friend Amy's name today, then gave her a big smile! 

He likes to go try on our shoes, and one time he put on some high heels and walked around. Way better than how I do in heels! He is very amused by our electric toothbrush, and tries to put toothpaste on it. He also tried combing his hair, but it just got more messy. 

He still has an obsession with water, but at least the baths are no longer 1 hour long (now more like 45min). And he cries when we stop the water after washing hands. He still loves buckles and will sit in the car for another 15 or more min to try buckling them himself. 

He is so curious, going up to strangers frequently, and strangers will give their snacks to him. But he has also gotten more separation anxiety recently. He cries when we leave for work or drop him off at the church nursery. When we take away something he's not supposed to have when he's sleepy/grouchy, he will throw himself on the ground. Awww...still cute. 

He can jump with 2 feet off the floor! 

4/5/23 19 months old

Baobao has forgotten how to say "mamma." 😭 I'm kind of sad. Hopefully it's just a phase. When I tell him to say mamma, he says "baba" (dad). He can say "mien mien" (noodles), but when I ask him to say "mamma", he says "baba." So strange...maybe I kept on talking about baba, but not enough about myself. Sighs. 

4/7/23

Baobao went from being obsessed with baths to being obsessed with playing in our car. He could stay hours in one of our cars and push buttons, turn on the hazard lights, opening different things. 

He can also open bottle caps now! 😬

I'm impressed when we talk about "milk," he would say "nainai."

Loves to pump soap out of the dispenser.

4/28/23 20 months

Baobao actually hit the tennis ball today! Granted, the ball was resting on a tennis ball can. But I was still impressed he actually took a racket and kind of hit it. 

5/18/23 almost 21 months. 

A week ago Baobao started refusing to sleep. Whether night time or naps. He would say "poopoo", and later say mamma mamma or Baobao (pick up) and cry a lot. It's very sad to see, but it is nice to know he cares for us and likes us around. I try to say I love you, it's night time, it's time to sleep, I'll be back...but to no avail..we just have to leave him crying. Fortunately the last few nights he only cries less than a minute. But the first night he cried half an hour and the night I went to NY he kept waking up every 5 min to cry (lasted an hour).

Baobao is also talking a lot recently. Maybe the sleep regression is due to increased words. Examples of new words: "but yao" don't want, "hai yao" want, "Augustine," "Wes", "Amy", "xie xie" thank you, "kai" open, "all done," "Google," "open."  He will repeat everything we say. He likes driving his box car everywhere. Before he did try saying "gong gong qi che" bus - first word more than 2 syllables. 

We love going to the school. He gets to run around, and I get to see something interesting. His favorite thing to do at the zoo is push his stroller.

During bath, he will get the soap and rub it on his cheeks.

Random strangers will come up and say heo cute he is. I'm totally biased, but Baobao is totally the cutest! He will give me a kiss and hug. He also really likes to say "Amy!" He will say Amy when he sees her picture too. So sad she's leaving soon 😞. 

5/21/23 almost 21 months

Baobao's sleep is getting better, but he still cries a few seconds when we leave. We've been trying to have him lie on the crib and pray with our hands on him..and he seems to like that. But it's so hard to leave him, because he is sooooo cute and his cry is so sad to listen to. But we know it's better for him in the long run to sleep. 

5/29/23 21 mo:

Two things that cause Baobao to be super angry and throw tantrums: 

*He got something he's not supposed to have, and we take it away. Or he sees something and he's not allowed to have it.

*It's time to move on to something else and he doesn't want to transition. 

We try to have him be distracted with something else, or allow him to do something else. 

Man...he gets soooo angry! This morning, he got angry when we didn't let him get more cereal out of the cereal box (he already had some in his bowl), and he got angry, swiped at his bottle to knock it over and it hit AB's bowl and caused it to fall to the ground into a thousand pieces of sharp shards. Later in the day he got so angry he ran away or lie on his back crying and shouting. 

5/30/23 21 mo:

Wes sang "happy to you, happy to you" for the first time! Funny how when we sang it 2 days ago for grandmother, you can see him kind of mouthing the words... And then all of a sudden today he started singing it unprompted while playing with some blocks. So funny and cute!! What a smart boy! 

5/31/23 Baobao said "niu, qi, ba" (6, 7, 8)! We were so surprised. We said 1, 2, 3...and then he said 6, 7,8. Didn't know he's been listening lol. Climbed up the playground ladder himself. 

6/16/23 almost 22mo

First time leaving Baobao with someone else (grandparents) for the weekend as we go to Vancouver a wedding. Kind of a reprieve to be able to go and do whatever we want at whatever time without his nap or hunger as a restriction. But also missed him and thought about how much fun he would have had at certain places. 

6/27/23 22 months

Baobao is sooooo cute! Nothing makes me smile more than when he smiles. Today we were practicing different expressions like happy, sad, angry surprised. It's amazing. How such a little person with such tiny features can wrinkle his face and be like ours or have little gasps of surprise. ☺️

7/1/23 

Now Baobao is stacking 8 blocks into a tower. It's amazing how much he's progressed even though he hadn't played with blocks for a month. He also can play with box cars that drive if you pull them back. 

7/20/23 almost 23mo

When we ask if he wants to poopoo, he will sometimes run to his potty. But now he things poo is pee and pee is poop. 

He will also say "Yi, er, liu"! Sometimes he counts correctly to 10. 

He is a very clean toddler: he loves to wash his hands. When ever he sees hand sanitizer station, he will ask to get his hands sanitized. He loves baths. He wants his hands cleaned if dirtied during dinner. 

He likes banging his head back and forth against the lazyboy when sitting on it. And he loves running back and forth between the beanbag and the lazyboy and collapsing on both. 🤣

7/28/23 23 months 

Baobao can count to 10 correctly now! He's putting words together like hot, turn on AC! (In Chinese). He is getting better at saying please and thankyou. Alex came to visit and it's fun seeing him playing with Baobao. Baobao is getting better at throwing. He doesn't have the ball go behind him now lol. He's putting soap on himself during bath time. 

He's been getting a cough frequently, so he hasn't had good appetite. 

8/19/23 

Had Baobao 's 2 yr bday party combined with a friend. It was a lot of worry on my part if I had enough food, and sure enough, there was more than plenty. Too much! I was so nervous I woke up at 4a and couldn't sleep for another hour or 2 or more. 

Party itself was kind of hectic. Went to nearby splash pad and thankfully AB has the sense to claim the heavily shaded spot farther away from the splash pad area. It remained cool and had a nice breeze. The splash pad was so crowded. Chaos. Kids everywhere playing with everyone's toys and some kids even drank the water. EW. 

The party itself was fun. Nice to see everyone, but because I was watching Baobao, I didn't really talk to anyone. Baobao was happy playing in the water...minimally interacting with others and prob overwhelmed by everything. Lol. Buckets everywhere.

8/20/23

Lately having some issues with Baobao eating. It's always a struggle to get him to sit at the table, and often times he doesn't want to sit in his high chair. Also wants to be held or just wants to continue playing. Trying to implement some of these suggestions: 

https://mylittleeater.com/how-to-help-your-toddler-sit-and-stay-at-the-table/

*Give 5min warning

*Stick with routine to wash hands, pray, eat.

*If he doesn't want to eat, don't force him. But also no feeding if not seated at dining table. 

*If gets out of chair, no more food. Kitchen is closed. 

*Keep calm, happy, firm

*Make meal time enjoyable. Sing to him. It's about the meal time together, not the food. 

*He's growing well!

8/26/23

We made it to 2 years! Went to visit grandparents in Woodlands.

Fun moments

*Baobao hair standing up straight sure to static on the trampoline or going down the slide. 

*Baobao giggling when playing chase while piggy back riding and I'm chasing him.

*Baobao use crib as a trampoline.

*When he wants to play in the car, he will point to the car, say "beep beep" and nod his head seriously.

*Friends and random people: "Is that his natural hair color? "Where did he get his hair?" 🧑‍🦰

*Friend regarding Baobao: "I don't think I've ever seen him wearing pants."

*wes says "ai ni" love you! 

*So funny that his favorite page in "Goodnight Gorilla" is the page when the wife opens her eyes so there are only 2 open eyes and the rest of the page is all black. He also loves the Goliath story, and the all fall down part of the hickory dickory dock book.

*Likes to do "touching noses" with me or AB

*Tried to close a door, but Baobao is wearing AB's shoes so it's big and blocking the door from closing. 😂

*AB: "You need to be a good boy!"

*Baobao: "booger!"

*AB: 🤦

*Baobao will say "shhhh", but his finger is slightly misplaced sideways near his nose.

*Ab will copy Baobao stuffing too much food in his mouth and then gagging and spitting things out. Baobao laughed so hard. 

Weird things that Baobao does:

*First thing he does when we get him in the morning is go to the far corner of his crib and throw out his Peter rabbit..and then says "tu tu?" Like he is confused and wants it back. 

*Put Peter Rabbit between his legs and walk around with it that way. 

*Loves to brush his teeth and wash his hands. He will continuously have a tooth rush in his mouth while he walks around. He will also wash his hands for an hour.

Pregnancy 2.0/Miscarriage 1.0

 4/2/23

Positive pregnancy test! YW videotaped Ab's reaction lol. This time we made sure to do ovulation tests from the get go. Even still, it took 3 months. My period is so irregular, but also I was a little sick the previous months. When the ovulation was positive, we made sure to try for the next 4 days. Tiring, but worth it. No symptoms yet, but keeping expectations low for now since still early. 

Ab's first thoughts: childcare and how to handle 2 young kids. Scheduling time off work and longer term how to care for two (nanny vs daycare). YW: not to get hopes up bc still early.

4/17/23 6w2d

About a week ago, I started having very small amount of spotting. Dark brown spots. I would get it here and there as the week progressed. And then after I had a episode of gastro, the spotting increased. And today, it became dark red blood. I think I kind of knew this morning, as the spotting increased, that I was having a miscarriage.

Before, I had hoped that the small dark spots was just some normal bleeding that people get during pregnancy. But I should have known, cuz this never happened during my first pregnancy. Even though we tried to keep our expectations low, I am still quite disappointed and sad. I suppose I just need to wait it out at this point. 

There were a lot of what ifs that went through my mind. What if I didn't play sports? What if I didn't stress out about Wes and didn't do so many activities? What if I didn't get gastro?... But none of these questions are helpful. All I can do is wait for the 1-2 weeks for my pretend late period to end. 

Thank you God for Baobao. Thank you God for the family that we do have. And I pray that God will give us another child when the time is right. 

4/21/23

Now it's been almost a week since miscarriage started. It's strange because the total blood loss I had seemed to have been less than my typical period. Maybe it'll be more days and smaller amounts each day. I really hate going to the bathroom because then I'm reminded of it. It has helped to think of this as a delayed period. 

Since then, I've talked to a lot of other people and they have all shared their miscarriage stories. Almost everyone I talked to had a miscarriage. It's amazing how little we talk about it, yet how frequent it happens. Wow, even one coworker had a miscarriage at 4 months! ML gave me a really helpful book at how to look at miscarriage in a biblical manner. 

Baobao 1yr to 1.5y

8/31/22 

We clapped today! Not sure if it was just because I was doing the clap motion with his hands and he continued after I let go, but he was smiling so big doing it! And then we got excited and AB made a lot of excited noise and scared him and he started to cry 😢. Haha! 

9/12/22

Baobao got sick again. Thankfully it was only a runny nose and cough. But we did miss church. 

9/25/22

Found out Baobao has allergies! Everytime he goes outside, he gets a runny nose. 

Baobao discovered how to spin in circles. He started doing that, got really dizzy, and bumped into the cabinet. 😂

He started saying "duck duck." He likes his little joker rubber duckie. He also knows what as his "jiaojiao" (feet) and "tofa" (hair). He will sometimes wave. 

10/2/22 13mo

Baobao now knows how to open doors 😱. He will also climb into the upstairs cabinet and and through to the other side. Haha. 

It's been hard to figure out nap time. He used to nap 3-4 hours a day. But recently he might sleep in the morning and refuse afternoon nap, or if we put him to nap a bit later, he will only sleep 1.5 hours and then want to stay up until we put him to sleep at 8p...then he is awake for 6-7 hours! Yikes! But also he has been sleeping longer at night: sometimes 12 hours. Fortunately he has been ok playing with his rabbit in the morning even after he wakes. 

10/15/22 almost 14mo: 

We tried 1 nap, but it didn't work. So now we went back to 2 naps unless it's Sunday and he won't sleep at church (so we rush back after quick lunch and he sleeps at 1p). But now with 2 naps, we have to make sure to wake him by 12:30-12:45p or else he won't take an afternoon nap 3.5 hrs later. He will throw his bunny out, stand up, and roll around for an hour. Sometimes he throws his bunny out because he pooped. 

Lately he has started to like reading and books again. His favorite book is the Hickory Dickory Dock book of nursery rhymes. AB does a good job doing hand motions and slapping the book and he will laugh. 

10/24/22 14mo

Baobao started to stomp his feet when he's not happy and when he's really excited. He also likes dancing (will wobble side to side). He will bring his shoes to us when he wants to go outside. And he'll sit down to put them on when we tell him to sit down. He sticks his tongue out when we say where is tongue in Chinese. He also opens doors now, yikes 😬.

New words: uh oh, nainai (milk), wooo, "A".

11/12/22

Visiting friend in NY and then going to Portugal. Thought we had a good flight: AB was amazing and swayed for 2 hours while Baobao napped on the plane. Decided on 1 nap (kept awake before noon flight), and so he successfully napped 2 hrs. Then at night, he was able to go to sleep even though new place. Sadly Airbnb is really dingy and not even close to childproof. Ugh! 

Second day started ok. Overnight cried briefly at 4am, went back to sleep. Woke eventually at 8:30a happily. We went to visit friend and went to park. With a little struggle (crying 2 min), he went to sleep at friends condo. We hung out at her place, went to Grace restaurant nearby, and said our good byes for the night. Got back 7:45pish and started gathering things for night routine, but since we took all the stuff to nap at friend's place, it took a long time to get all the sleep stuff ready. He struggled during the night routine, and then continued to stand up right away and throw out bunny. Since he was crying so vehemently, we decided on holding him to sleep. He fell asleep, I transfered him to pack n play, and was about to step out when I noticed he started getting up. Shoot, he woke up. Transfered too early when not in deep enough sleep. He refused to sleep, kept on trying to stand up when I had my hand on him, and when I sat there, he would throw the bunny out.  Finally I gave up and left, maybe let him cry 5min and then Farber method. Alan decided to try, not sure what he did, but then he vomited in the pack n play, and more on the carpet and sleep sack. 🤮😨😩🤦 After a bunch of cleaning, I held him to sleep and he conked out after several minutes, finally around 10p in my arms and I successfully transfered him. Found out my friend had vomiting and diarrhea, but I suspect Baobao's vomiting was still related to the extensive crying. But who knows.... Was it because he was over tired bc he woke up from nap at 3p? Was it because lack of wind down time? Was it because new environment? Food poisoning? 🤷  But for sure, another day of feeling like the worst parent in the world. Praying God to give me wisdom.

12/3/22 15mo

After the trip, it took about a week for his sleep to get back to normal. I don't think the trip was worth all the trouble. He was jetlagged, kept on waking up at 3:00 a.m., and refused to go to sleep by himself. We had to re-sleep train him. It is hard to listen to him cry, but in the end it was totally worth the retraining. 

Now Baobao will play hide and seek, run really fast, and he can stack two blocks together. He has more separation anxiety, so when we leave for work, he gets a little upset. He still loves to stick his finger into holes and screws. He also loves to go to our neighbor's yard and play with the rocks. Puddles are a favorite too. 

His favorite letters are O and B. Strange because he always picks out those letters on the alphabet puzzle. He also likes his tool kit with it's holes. He likes putting pencils in the holes of the egg carton. 

12/26/22 16mo

Few other words: owl, up, door, wow, oh no, apple (abu)

Went to parents in law for Christmas and saw his 20mo cousin. So cute to see the 2 together but they also fight over toys. Baobao is very possessive of his toys and keeps them in a firm grip in his hands.

12/30/22 

New words: rabbit ("tu"). 

1/26/23 17 months!

He's napping well 1 nap a day from 1p to 4p. Sometimes more sometimes less. Night sleep is from 9-8ish. He's saying bubble, poo, uh oh, ah yi, do (peas), Wawa (water), mobile. 

He's been taking his bunny everywhere he goes. Sometimes he would have blowouts in the morning after a ton of pee. 

He's been interested in screens, so grandma has been able to give him a nice haircut. He is also interested in cars, tools, and trains now. He loves sticking things in holes like sticks and leaves. Still loves rocks! He loooooves buckles - when he sees one, he can't help putting them together. Thankfully doesn't know how to take them about yet. 

He likes veggies, and usually likes fish and tofu, but has some trouble with other meats. He loves raspberries and started eating carrots. 

2/20/23 almost 18mo

Baobao started trying to copy our motions when we sing "Jesus Loves Me." So cute! 🥰 

He says about 20 words now: ahbu (grandma), Wawa (water), ew, uh-oh, duck duck, nainai (milk), no, ack-ack, mama, baba, bubble, mobile, ball, tutu (rabbit), ahyi (aunt), baby, Baobao (pickup), mianmian, nana (banana), wow, bing, tick tick, owl, hoot hoot. 

His schedule has been pretty consistent. He usually wakes up between 7:30 and 8:30. Drink some milk, eats breakfast. Then he eats lunch at around noon, and then take a nap from around 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. . He eats dinner at around 6:00 p.m., snack at 8p, and then goes to sleep at around 9:00 p.m. 

Baobao likes to grab our hand and lead us to things that he wants. Then says "baobao" to be picked up and be closer to what he wants. 

2/26/23 Finally made it to 1.5 years! 

Actually from 1 to 1.5 years has been the best time so far. Now Baobao sleeps through the night and one nap. We get to do a lot of activities with him. He also isn't as messy when eating. He can use a spoon now, and he can drink from an open cup.

Recently he is fixated with playing with water. Anything water: water fountain, faucets, bath water, puddles... We have a hard time getting him to stop playing with the water and to move on to the next activity. We're trying the method of telling him one more minute. But he just laughs at us and sticks out his one finger. 

National parks he's been to (including in the womb): Death Valley, Arches, Canyonlands, Mesa Verde, Gateway Arch; Couyahoga, Yellowstone, Grand Teton. 

Funny quotes

"It's so easy to give him a back massage because there's only 12 in of space (on his back)." -AB. 

Things that make Wes laugh now:

*Rolling golf ball down the slide.

*Playing hide and seek with daddy.

*When other people suffer (AB tongue burned from hot soup). 

*Played a game with AB: Who can peg the baby the most times in 15min with soft balls. I lost. Baobao was not bothered at all (laughing and confused what was going on).

*Wes buckled himself in his chair and then couldn't get out. He crawled with the chair attached to him and cried bc he couldn't get away from the chair.

Ab: Do you want to go to the Vancouver wedding?

Grandma: no, not a good idea.

Baobao: No!

Teaching 6th graders

We decided to help teach 6th graders for church, and they say the funniest things:

When asked what their plans were for the summer, two of the boys says they were going on a summer trip, but neither knew where they were going. 

"Do you want a hearing aid? I saw some on sale next to H-Mart"

"My mom says the best mother Day gift I could give is not fighting with my brother."

"Someone tried to get me to join a cult school."

Ab: when was a time you were falsely accused?

Kid: when sleeping during Friday night fellowship?

Ab: how can you handle that false accusation better?

Kid: fall asleep for real.

Ab: Jesus was betrayed for only $300.

Kid: what!? I would want $300,000.

Ab: how can you deal with disappointment?

Kid: you can think about all the people who did worse than you! 

Ab: uh...ya...that could make you feel better

Kid: let me rephrase that! You can be thankful for what you do have

Teacher: why were the doors locked after Jesus rose? 

Student: ghosts 

Student 2: yes ghosts! 

Teachers: ghosts?

Student: everyone is MEDIUM popular.

Teacher: So you're not worried about being unemployed?

Student: Well, we're not adults yet, we'll worry about it later. 

Teacher: for adults, a lot of people struggle with sex and staying faithful.

Student: ooooo...we're not supposed to talk about that

Student 2: only if you are immature about it. 

Teacher: what do you struggle most with?

Student: I struggle most with helping others who are struggling. For example, when someone falls down, I pat their head and say sleep soundly.

2022 Highlights

*Omicron hit

*Sleep train Baobao and move him to own room

*Travel to Seattle and fly with Baobao for the first time

*YW Birthday grill (first big hosting event with Baobao). 

*YW 's Grandmother esophageal and intestinal cancer so YW's mom went back to China to visit (3 week quarantine, 2 week no public indoor places, and 20 something tests). 

*Started teaching Sunday school for 6th graders

*Friend sick

*YW and Baobao's first witness of Rice water balloon fight

*Cleveland wedding, Couyahoga national park 

*AB's Hilton head conference 

*Yellowstone and Grand Teton

*YW Got covid 7/11

*Seattle, Westport, Baobao's first zoo

*Baobao first visit to NYC, MZ

*Portugal trip: Lisbon, Castillo de Jorge, Jesus Statue, Pena Castle, Quinta de Regaliera.

*Baby beach trip to Destin, Florida (specifically Santa Rosa). With Baobao's 2 other similar age friends.

*Holiday with Baobao's cousin at Woodlands.

Portugal

Airport: talked to red headed family about Lisbon. They recommended aquarium and Cascais for families. Alas, we were not planning to go to Cascais (beach). 

Arrived around 7am, but airbnb wouldn't let us check in until closer to 1p. Yikes, AB was pro-dad and let Baobao sleep in the carrier while I slept on the uncomfortable airport chairs.

Restaurant o Portas: grilled octopus (most tender and best octopus I've ever had), seafood rice (kind of salty but huge amount of seafood). Family restaurant, so delicious! 

I got asked if I was Japanese and AB got asked if he was Russian or Azerbaijan. 

Day 2:

Baobao woke up 6am, and I slept with him on the bed until 8:30a.

We went to see the Jeronimos Monastery, and it was gorgeous. So much detail, every column carving was different. 

We walked to the Padrão dos Descobrimentos monument that celebrates the Portuguese age of discovery in the 15th and 16th centuries and commemorate the death of Henry the Navigator. It was definitely much bigger in person. It consists of a boat with sails and great figures of Portuguese history on either side including monarchs, cartographers, artists, explorers, scientists, and missionaries with Henry the Navigator at the front. There is an interesting map on the ground showing when the Portuguese reached different places in the world. 

We then walked to Belem tower while Baobao napped. The tower was where Portuguese explorers started and ended their trips and acted as a ceremonial entrance to Lisbon on the Tagus river. It was built in Manueline style during the Renaissance. It consists of a bastion with moorish bartizan turrets and a 4 story tower. Armillary spheres and twisted rope/knots represent nautical exploration during King Manuel's reign. Going up the tower required a going up a really narrow spiral staircase. We saw the king's room and also the chapel. 

 

For lunch Ab had fried cod (too salty), and I had octopus salad. Never had octopus salad before but it was so tender again! They really know how to cook their octopus. And so cheap ($11.50)! Later found the cod is so salty because even though cod is found everywhere here, it comes in salted and dried.

Day 3: Aquarium

Apparently largest indoor aquarium in Europe. It was pretty cool with 5 tanks showing the sealife from different parts of the world.

Baobao had a lot of fun looking at the fish and sharks

Wed night AB got gastro! So terrible. So change of plans and we decided to sleep in. I walked around a bit with Wes using the Rick Steves audio guide. 

Day 4: Praca de Comercio celebrates the commerce that made Portugal wealthy.

1755 earthquake and following 20ft tsunami destroyed most of Lisbon. The statue at Praca de Comercio is of King Jose and his prime minister Pombal who rebuilt Lisbon afterwards in the Pombal style: 5 story high, symmetric, rectangular windows, wrought-iron balconies, no-nonsense.

Arch with Lady Glory on top celebrating Portugal's glory days. Flanking statues of river Tagus god, river god Douro (source of port wine), Lusitanian, general who freed Portugal from other domination in 1400's, Vasco de Gama (first to India), Marquis de Pombal.

Rua de Comercio: now bustling street, fun shops. Entire street and many other streets are made of mosaic aka calcada from black basalt and white limestone. 

Church Saint Nicholas was built in the post earthquake era. Pombal didn't want building of churches to overshadow the needs of the people, so the churches are very no nonsense style and stark. 

Praca de Figueria: statue of King John the first who defeated the Spanish in 1385 at the battle of Batalha. His marriage to England's princess helped form a strong tie between them and he resigned during the Golden Age. His son was Henry the navigator.

Confeiteria national: sweet shop since 19th century. Portugal big on sweets because of cheap sugar from Brazil and eggs from convents.

Sweets from another shop. The Portuguese like their pastries. A must try is their egg custard which is similar to the Chinese kind, but more sweet. 

Went to Cod shop. Apparently Portugal has no cod in the nearby ocean, but now it's famous for salted cod. Saying goes Portuguese are fisherman, so when they heard newfoundland had boats stuck due to abundance of fish, they had to go there. And there they found cod, preserved with salt and drying to bring back. No wonder all the cod dishes here are so salty. No more cod for me!

Church of Sao Domingos shows signs of the earthquake and destructive fire of 1755.

The spherical monument in front is a reminder of the inquisitions. This area is also where slaves were traded. 

Fancy Theater

Fun Christmas Market at Rossio Square

We tried to visit the Jesus Chris statue, but didn't realize the connecting bus only comes once an hour on the half hour. So it was too late to wait for the bus because the sun was going to set :(

Dinner: tried a bifana (traditional Portuguese beef sandwich): it was ok... Kind of salty. 

Day 5

We woke up late so we went to the Cristo Rei (Jesus statue). We took the Metro to Cais do Sodre, a ferry to Calcihas, and then the 3001 bus (leaves on the half hour once an hour) to the statue. The monument is very tall, but the statue itself didn't seem THAT big, probably because we were on the bottom of the pedistal. The view was great toward the bridge and city. But we couldn't go up to the 80m viewing platform because it was 6 euro per person and they only took cash. No ATM anywhere nearby either! Oh well, the online guide says the pics from there are bad anyways because of the security bars. But it would've been nice to see exactly how big the statue it was! 

Came back for Baobao's nap. I ate some sea bass, but the fish was small and mostly bones. Also learned seabass (robalo) isn't even native to Portugal. Sighs. Apparently Portugal fish includes sea bream (dourado), mackerel (cavala), hake, tuna, sardine, squid, octopus, clam, barnacles (avoid oct-april when forbidden to capture them, also dangerous to obtain), oyster, cuttlefish (Choco).

Castilo de Jorge: 

Many people came up to the castle to see the sunset. So beautiful to see the city and its red roof tops:

Peacocks in the courtyard

The castle was so much fun to walk around. It was recently renovated, so you can walk around the wall. Would be so much fun to play hide and seek here. 

Uma: supposedly the place with best seafood rice (also only thing on the menu).

Evening: Baobao started vomiting every couple of hours. It was terrible. Sheets got dirty, clothing, and his lovey. And then we moved him to another bed and put towel on the bed in case he vomited again, and sure enough he did more times throughout the night. Ran out of towels and sheets. And he had to sleep with a stinky wet lovey (his peter rabbit bunny). Sighs...what a night.

Day 6: 

Despite a crazy evening, we slept in, and in the afternoon went to Sintra since it was our last chance to see Pena Palace. 

Pena Palace was built on a monastery that was built in the BC's. It was in ruins until King Ferdinand (of Spain) decided to fix it up. It's so strange because it's a mixture of different styles of architecture and it has very bold bright colors. 

Merman guards the door

Built around a central cloister with classic tiles

Super long line outside to get in, but thankfully with a baby we got to go to the front

Quinta de Regaliera:

Known as the Palace of Monteiro the Millionaire. There is a Romantic palace with an extensive park consisting of lakes, grottoes, wells, fountains, caves, secret passages. He wanted features related to alchemy, masonry, the Knights Templar, and the Rosicrucians.

Great wikipedia article on the park, symbolism, tunnels.

Castle-like structures at the entrance (East side)

The outside is the coolest here with wells, caves, secret tunnels.

Entering the Well of Initiation

Well connects to tunnels and waterfalls/lakes and ends at the grotto of oriente

Labyrinthine grotto was like a labyrinth

The palace itself has Roman, Gothic, Renaissance, and Manueline styles. 

Of note, only the 434 bus goes from Sintra train station to Pena palace (3 euro for one ride, 11 euro for unlimited rides on all the different Sintra buses). 435 bus (small bus) goes to the Quinta de Regaliera, but the way back is a long ride (45 min?) b/c it's a one way loop. 

Baobao 1 yr

8/27/22

Wow! Can't believe we finally made it to the 1 year mark! It felt like it went by so slowly day to day...yet the overall feel is so fast! Not sure if you know what I mean. 

We had a birthday celebration the day after his bday! It was hard scheduling between his naps and also coordinating with his friend who we were doing a joint bday party with..but overall it was fun to see the other pandemic babies born around same time and other friends. The theme was "ocean" so I made a lot of ocean themed food items. 

We also did this traditional 1st bday game of picking a future career. Guess what Baobao picked? These were the choices:

Spatula - cook

Stethoscope - medicine

Paintbrush - artist

Pen - writer

Masquerade Mask - actor

Mouse - programmer

Medal award - athlete

Mini bible - minister

Tape measure - engineer/architect

Screwdriver - mechanic

Flag - politician

Test tube-scientist

Planet ball- astronaut

Sheep - vet

Piano pedal- music

Calculator - finance

Haha who would have thought he picked the mouse. And the second time, the flag! We tried to pick items he hadn't seen before. But I think he may have seen someone use a mouse before..and on our nightly walks, I always point out the neighborhood flags (although the item in the game was a small Lesotho flag).

It was fun seeing Baobao walk around (most of the other babies were still crawling or immobile). Everyone was super impressed how much Baobao walked!  He was even trying to run away from his own party.  There was some grabbing/stealing of toys, but overall pretty well behaved! He's really grown so much over this past year!