Tales of Ko

Dear Abby

2008-11-25T01:28:00.000-08:00

It's been two years since you burst into our lives coughing, sputtering, purple with anger and not afraid to show it. Your daddy and I were a bit startled to find such a strong personality in such a small body. You cried your first night home with us so much that your daddy bolted out of the house the next morning and headed straight to Pottery Barn convinced that a glider chair would be the secret to a good night's sleep. Little did we know that you were not easily bribed to do what we thought you ought to be doing. I would sing you altered Christmas Carols:

What child is this who laid to rest
on Reiko's lap is not sleeping...

and sometimes you would choose to cooperate on your own terms...

Lucky for us, you've grown into a happy toddler with an easy smile and a loud, infectious laugh. You seem to have a constant soundtrack in your mind since you're always singing. You probably know 20 Japanese children's songs and another 20-30 American songs. Your favorites include "Yurikago", "Donguri", "Karasu", "Hiyoko", "Sing a Song", "Sesame Street Theme Song", "ABC", "Farmer in the Dell (aka Apa chi chi)", and "Old McDonald"

You also love books. Sometimes you just love to turn the pages. Other times, you want me to read it to you or you want to read the story in your own language to your imaginary friends. Either way, we're always charmed when you reveal your inner and undeniable nerd by openly embracing your books. You're great with puzzles. We've bought you a few but you quickly master them and need a new challenge.

Your favorite toy is easily your ukelele. It's your prized possession. You call it your "GEE-tar" and you must have it in your hands when you watch the Wiggles in case the red Wiggle is also playing his red guitar. You love these stringed instruments so much you charmed the bands at the Sheraton in Maui, demanding that we let you out of the pool so that you could saunter over, inner tube still around your waist, to get a closer look at the men playing guitars. Often, if a fast tempo came on, you'd point your fingers in the air and shake your butt to their music.

You savor your independence - left unattended with an unlocked door, you would make your way out the driveway, turn left finding the path to the park and your beloved swing. Your favorite time of day is probably when Ya-yan comes home to Ma-chan's house and takes you for a walk with Aki to the park.

Should mommy or daddy make the mistake of coming at this time to pick you up and deny you your chance to spend time with Ya-yan, you would throw a monumental fit - so we're always careful to time our pickups carefully. I'm not sure exactly what you do at the park but I think Ya-yan lets you sit on the swing for nearly half an hour and then rolls around the grass with you. He also lets you walk Aki by yourself which must make you feel like such a big girl.

Sometimes I wonder if you know of all of the changes ahead. That you'll be joined by a best friend/foe in late April as we become a family of 4. That you'll have to share your toys with others. That sleeping by yourself in your bed isn't the biggest challenge you'll ever face. What I do know is that no matter what you're faced with, you'll put your brave face on (the one I saw you put on today when we went to check out the new day care and you weren't sure of how you ought to react). You'll probably try to have fun anyway. And if all else fails, you'll know that you have a safe place to return to where we can try to show you that all of the important things don't change.

Happy Birthday Abby.

1460 days

2008-08-21T21:26:00.000-07:00

That's how many days Albert and I have now been married. That's four years. I'd known for at least another two years that he was my ultimate partner in crime.

But after 1460 days, the inevitable happened and he messed up. Big time. Well, not really. He forgot the all too important wedding anniversary. When I nonchalantly asked if he knew what day it was, he stood by the door, mind racing, going through all possible holidays and special dates and finally got to the correct answer. He felt bad. Terrible, even.

And he made up for it. Flowers at the office. Shirt from my favorite boutique in Palo Alto.

The only thing is... I don't need all of this stuff. Albert remembers the important things every day. He knows how to make the ladies in his life feel important and remembered. From before Abby was born to today, we have many memories that are shared and treasured.

Here's one such moment for all of you who wonder how we manage to keep up our good looks...

An exuberant life

2008-08-18T21:39:00.001-07:00

I want to live life with this kind of spirit...

Simmering down

2008-06-22T00:39:00.001-07:00

The last month and a half have been absolutely crazy for the Miura-Ko family. I started at a new job without fully finishing the Ph.D. and so I'm trying to do 4 things at once: mom, research, teaching and job.

The job is as an investor in a new venture capital firm with Mike Maples - a fantastic entrepreneur with a great track record over the last few years as an angel investor. I'll likely write more about this in the future but the general idea is that there is a gap between financing that angel investors provide and the amount of capital venture capitalists typically look to invest. We call ourselves micro-cap investors. The quality of the companies I've seen coming through the door have been truly impressive and I'm really excited to be in the working world again. Having said that, it doesn't mean that I'm done with the Ph.D. or that I'm quitting. I plan on finishing. I know lots of people say that but I'm committed to it and hope to be done in due time.

In the mean time, Abby has been growing and we have done some traveling! The family went back East for our 10 year college reunion at Yale. I don't think I've sung "Bright College Years" or "Boola Boola" with such gusto in a really long time. Walking through that beautiful campus really brought back a flood of wonderful memories. Yale has really flourished in the last few years.

The renovations have been done spectacularly. I was only disappointed that we couldn't visit the library and visit the circulation desk beneath the altar of Sterling Library. We did get a chance to see many of our old friends including Terry, my dear old engineering partner who bravely made it out with his wife and THREE kids, Camelia and her lovely family,

(where Abby and Aiden gave us a preview of Aiden spotting Abby on campus in 16 years) and David Gergin.

I nearly thrust Abby at David Gergin and had him hold her for a photo but we (read: Albert) decided that that would be inappropriate. David Gergin is as thoughtful in person as he is on CNN. He actually stopped to talk with us for a little while after we took our requisite photos.

The only other celebrity sighting of the weekend was Barbara Bush of the Bush twins fame. We couldn't figure out a subtle way of taking her photo so that is not included in this blog.

The other highlight for the weekend was the fact that we got to eat some Pepe's pizza. It was as delicious as I had remembered it. For all of you who knock New Haven, I have to say there is no other city in the world that has pizza as good as that town.

The low point for us was related to travel to and from New Haven. On the way out, we were on the tarmac for nearly 4 hours in Chicago with no air conditioning. On the way back, we were stuck in the airport in Hartford for nearly 4 hours due to delays in Chicago. Lessons learned: 1) do not fly through Chicago and 2) 4 hours spent in airport is highly preferable to 4 hours on tarmac. We did get home safely, though, and even knowing what I know now, I would have gone for our 10 year reunion. I'm definitely going back for the 15th!

Living it up in Phoenix

2008-04-27T07:15:00.000-07:00

One of my best friends, Camelia, lives in Phoenix. We visited her in January and loved it so much that we had to go again when Albert had a conference there a few weeks ago. Camelia has a son, Aiden, who is just a little over 2 years old. Little Aiden has big blue eyes and blond curls that would make any 18 month old swoon. He also has an incredible memory which makes it fun to go visit him because he remembers us.

Camelia is part of a mommy's group including one person who was nice enough to let us crash her son's birthday party on Saturday so that Cams and I could continue to catch up. It was at Chuck E. Cheese and Abby loved all of the cars there that she could "drive".

Sunday morning there was yet another birthday party that we were invited to crash but given that it was the only time when Al had free time to hang out, we chose to do that instead.

Abby absolutely loved the pool at the Biltmore. She never wanted to leave. I eventually bought her an inner tube so she could manage by herself a little bit (not that I'd leave her in the pool on her own but so she could get around a little bit by herself). After that, she wanted little to do with me and would get mad if I held on to her while she was "swimming". Abby even went down the water slide which she enjoyed by saying "weeeee" the entire time she was going down. Here's a picture of her with Albert immediately post-splashdown.

But let's be honest. I was there to honor the tradition of generations of Japanese women who have intruded upon their daughters' lives to set them up with their friends' sons. Sometimes it went well...

... yes, Aiden is holding a phone up to Abby's ear while he watches the Elmo movie. They actually got into the chair together themselves. And here's one of them at Whole Foods. Abby dragged Aiden into this car so she could show him her driving skillz

But as in any relationship, there are also the more trying moments - like when Abby tried to grab Aiden's Elmo guitar from him before he wanted to share...

Note the look of utter disdain in Abby's face.

The quick highlights and lowlights of the weekend:
1. Abby pulled Aiden's hair and we heard Aiden cry, "Abby boom my hair!". Abby then runs out of the kitchen to see a mad mommy and emits her fake distress call.

2. Abby comes down with severe case of eczema and Ann rushes her to hospital. Apparently pool and dry air are not a good combination for Abby. Strong steroids do the trick and all is well within a couple of hours.

3. Anthony takes a day off of work to do his backyard which when we last visited was a putting green. It is now a beautiful desert landscape with a firepit

4. When Abby falls asleep in the car, Aiden quietly lets us know that, "Abby sleeping." When Aiden falls asleep in the car, Abby leans over and loudly shouts, "NO!".

5. We celebrate Anthony's birthday twice with a bbq and with a nice dinner at a local Mexican restaurant the next night.

To the Tuminellos: Thank you for a great weekend in Phoenix. We had the best time and can't wait to see you all again for reunion!

a life perfect

2008-03-29T17:22:00.000-07:00

Life is incredibly busy these days. The quarter ended with a bang and before I knew it I had 120 finals and 12 papers to grade and final grades to submit. I picked up my sis-in-law, Cindy, and mom-in-law from the airport and we all headed up to the mountains for some spring skiing.

You read that right. Double black and we're not scared. It was a win-win situation to say the least. Albert's mom got some alone time with Abby...

while Albert, Cindy and I hit the slopes. See here how Albert and Cindy enjoyed the scenery...

The snow was slushy but we had 2 great days of skiing and it was wonderful to see family and have them see Abby. When we got home, we went on a bike ride through Palo Alto and I had yet another moment where I just felt a lot of love from Abby:

Words Abby knows: No, Mommy, Daddy, Ya-yan (grandpa Miura), Aki (the dog), Ma-chan (grandma Miura), Georgia (friend at daycare), wheeeeee (when something fun happens), woof woof, cookie, ba-bou, up, down, hi, bu-bye, achiiii (hot), bubble, kanpai (pronounced banbai, means cheers), all done

Songs Abby sings: Twinkle twinkle, Old MacDonald, Wheels on the Bus, Farmer in the Dell , ABC's (up to P), John Jacob Jingle Heimer Schmidt, Tulip Song (Japanese), Yurikago Lullaby, Butterfly song (Japanese)

Mommy

2008-03-21T09:28:00.000-07:00

So Abby has finally mastered calling me "Mommy". This had started to click over the last few days but Abby chose last night at 1AM to really master this trick. I was thrilled for about 2 seconds until I realized she was really wide awake and wanted to play. 2 hours later, we finally managed to get her to sleep.

*YAWN*

That's "nyo!" to you

2008-03-09T08:39:00.000-07:00

Our lovely daughter is quickly approaching the 15 month mark. We have lots to catch up on. I've taken a two month hiatus from the blog world mostly because I needed to start thinking about life outside of school. Apparently, there's a world where I actually earn more than a paltry stipend but with a more strict schedule.

In the mean time, Abby has really turned it on. Yesterday was the first time Albert and I really experienced that moment where we start saying, "You know, she's normally not really like this." Sorry Mark. We don't see you for something like 6 years and you get to see us at our lowest child rearing moment.

No one told me that the "terrible twos" actually begins at one. Abby still has not learned to call me "mommy" and Albert "daddy". The two names she knows are "Aki" - the dog, and "Ya-yan", my dad. For a while there, she seemed to think "mommy" was nose. She would carefully point at my nose and say "mommy!" I would reward her with a big hug and a "yes!" until she did the same thing to Albert and to my mom. Hmmmm....

Other words she knows:
Nyo which apparently means "no", "I don't want to", "leave me alone" and all sorts of other negative things. It is used not as a single "nyo" but more commonly "nyonyonyonyonyonyonyo!"
Ba-bou which apparently means anything she wants at that moment. It can be used to mean grapes or other such tasty treats as well as her favorite stuffed animal.
Apa chi chi which refers to the song "The Farmer in the Dell". We actually have no idea how she came up with this but when she sings the song, she sings it with these words. We only could tell because she gets the melody pretty close.
There is more but I can't think of them.

The most difficult thing about Abby is that she absolutely hates the stroller and loves to walk by herself. She has finally taken to holding my hand but that's also a problem because it just has to be my hand. I know. I will one day look back on this moment where Abby insisted that it had to be me and I'll shed tears of sadness as my teenage daughter holes up in her room while she texts her 3 friends what a mean monster I am. It's just that sometimes I want both of my hands and I don't love it when she throws a temper tantrum in the middle of some posh baby store where everyone else seems to have well behaved children and the $40 t-shirt that says "I'm a drama queen" is meant only to be cute and not REAL.

BUT... as with all things, there is always the silver lining. We are unbearably proud of the fact that Abby is no pushover. She is independent and gets what she wants (read: a little bit of a bully but we're working on that). She is stubborn but has a clear idea in her head what she wants. I like that she's not wishy washy. I certainly was as a kid. I love that she has books that she loves to "read". I love that she sings me songs - ones that I have taught her and that sometimes she'll sing me lullabies when I tell her I'm tired. She is usually full of smiles and giggles and if I ask, she will give me a hug 40% of the time (the other 60% she gets really close and then turns around at the last minute while running away laughing).

For those of you who are logging on here desperately wanting to know how my research is going - it's going. I was working on something this week but I got terribly ill for about 3 days and couldn't move or eat. I'm hoping something will pan out this week. I've been paring down my extracurriculars in the hopes that this will mean I focus more on research and get out of here soon. My prof just realized I'm a fifth year and decided I need to get out soon. Grad school is great but there is such thing as being here too long. I don't want to overstay my welcome.

Credit where credit is due

2007-12-29T06:38:00.000-08:00

Abby has had a very good life this past year and I have had the chance to move forward with research primarily due to one person - my mom. I feel that before the end of the year, I should give credit where credit is due. Abby is a thriving, carefree baby because there is always someone around who will love her and most importantly feed her whenever the thought occurs to her.

Here is a montage of Abby as she eats a cream stew my mother made for her. I think it speaks to exactly how she and I both feel about my mom...

Thanks a bunch mom!

Merry Christmas!

2007-12-23T14:01:00.000-08:00

December, although mostly undocumented thus far, has been a wonderful month for us. I finally finished up a class for which I was a TA. I have to say, as much time as this class took, I do love the process of seeing students transform from engineers to entrepreneurs in the course of a single quarter.

As classes wrapped up and the holiday break began, we had a moment to really enjoy Abby. In the week following Abby's birthday, Abby went from single unsteady steps to running. I used to hold onto this notion that Abby actually enjoyed our company but with this newfound independence, she is proving to us time and time again that we are the uncool parents we thought we would be in about 10 years. Sometimes, we test exactly how independent she is by taking her to a crowded mall during pre-Christmas sales and watch as she exits stores on her own and startle other oncoming (and perhaps more attentive and wary) parents. Using this extraordinarily scientific method, we have determined that although Abby is quite independent, she does return to us after some meandering - perhaps for some food, drink or because she has really tired legs.

We began our Christmas tradition of taking Abby to see Santa Claus. Obviously, Abby had some seriously misgivings about her behavior this year and begged for forgiveness as she was being held by Santa.

Aside from her brief melt down with Santa, Abby has been in generally very high spirits. We have to say we are very blessed to have a happy baby on our hands with a very good disposition. This doesn't mean that she is obedient, quiet, or sleeps well but she is happy as she is getting into lots of trouble. This is Abby enjoying time at the park on the swings:

We kept Christmas pretty low key this year because, as we like to say, everyday is Christmas for Abby. Honestly, we have way too much stuff - baby stuff - in our cramped apartment to take anymore. Besides, her idea of a good time is to take empty plastic bottles and bang them together to create noise. No need for electronic gadgets. On the other hand, every day is not Christmas for me or Albert so we rewarded each other with gifts which we will return tomorrow for something we like more.

We did, however, use Christmas eve as an excuse for an unbelievable feast. We didn't eat a lot of turkey for Thanksgiving so we used this as an excuse to eat a 15 pound bird between 5 of us (my parents and us). I am now a convert to dry brining. The bird came out juicy and wonderfully tasty. Our recipe for our turkey follows:

For a 15 pound bird I did the following:

Ingredients for Dry Brining:
1/3 cups of sea salt
6 tsps of poultry seasoning
4 leaves of bay leaves crushed

Instructions for Dry Brining:
I took the giblets, neck, etc. out of the turkey and dried the bird with some paper towels. I then rubbed down (inside and out) the entire bird with the dry brining concoction described above. I put the bird on a rack on top of the roasting pan for 15 hours (1 hour per pound). I then rinsed the bird off and carefully pat dry the bird with more paper towels.

Ingredients for stuffing:
3-4 tbsp poultry seasoning
3/4 stick of butter
1.5 loaves of Challah bread
salt and pepper to taste
1 lb of chestnuts (boiled for 20 minutes and peeled of skin and chopped)
2 onions diced
giblets

1 day in advance cut the bread into small squares (if not enough time, cut and put in oven at 250 degrees for 20-30 minutes until dry). Melt the butter in a pan and sautee the onions and giblets until the onions are tender. Add bread and poultry seasoning and mix. Add salt and pepper to taste. Keep mixing until the poultry seasoning has coated the stuffing evenly. Put into turkey and put remaining stuffing in a pan, cover with some chicken broth and put in oven to heat 20 minutes before dinner.

Preparation of turkey:
There is no need to salt the turkey because of the dry brining. I do, however, poke the turkey with a fork and separate out the top skin from the breast and stick in some butter. I covered the turkey with butter. I placed the turkey back on the rack and roasted at 375 degrees for 4-4.5 hours. I covered the turkey with an aluminum foil tent for the first 3.5-4 hours. I took off for the last half hour to brown the skin. I also put in some water and chicken broth into the roasting pan to keep moisture in the oven. I used this to baste the turkey every 30 minutes starting at hour 2.

My birthday overshadowed

2007-12-01T10:33:00.000-08:00

My birthday has always been shared. I was born on my older brother's birthday, November 27. So, birthdays were never a truly special day - a day to celebrate all things Ann. With Abby being born 2 days before mine, it has become even more clear that my birthday is but an afterthought. This year, Abby had 3... yes, THREE birthday celebrations. I had one small affair. I'm ok with that. Really.

Our trip to LA for Thanksgiving was a lot of fun. It was Abby's first time meeting her only great grandparent - Albert's grandfather from Korea.

We got to see Cindy, Al's sister, which was a real treat for Abby.

Abby also had her Korean style first birthday celebration. She picked a book (we're not sure how that differs from picking a pencil).

Our Thanksgiving was a delicious affair. Thanksgiving in LA for us means that the turkey is not the central entree. There is the bbq kalbi beef which is so good that you only have a taste of the turkey for the sake of custom and but the vast part of your plate is taken up by the kalbi.

Albert's family then came up to San Francisco for a quick visit for Abby's actual birthday.

I baked yet another cake and that was the end of the week of all things Abby... just in time for the afterthought that was my birthday. We have no photos of that occasion.

Miss Independent

2007-11-25T10:53:00.000-08:00

I'd love to say we made it but there are so many more years to go. These days you love to copy. I clap my hands and you do the same. I wave my hands and you wave back. You're sad to see anyone leave. When someone in your inner circle (mommy, daddy, Grandma or Grandpa Miura) leave, you quickly crawl to the window by the door, pull back the blinds to see them walking away and cry your saddest cry. You're in love with balloons. You'll clutch to them even as you're sleeping.

Last night, we went to the grand opening of the local Safeway and you wanted all of the balloons in the store. When we walked out empty handed (balloon-wise) you were in a bad mood all evening long.

Just like mommy, you hate to have your feet covered when you sleep. Daddy insists on the pajamas with covered feet so mommy sometimes thinks about cutting vent holes like grandma used to do for her. Your cheeks turn rosy as you nap every day. When you wake from naps, you sit up and talk to yourself.

When I let you, you'll sit on the couch and watch the Wiggles the same way Daddy watches ESPN SportsCenter - with your arms up in the air for the highlights and lots of screams and giggles. You hate hats. All hats. And you're really really close to walking. This week you started to take two to three steps on your own. When you get scared you start to crouch even as you're walking.

This week, we went to the doctor's office for your one year checkup. You're only 20 pounds (gained 7 ounces in 3 months) but you're a little over 30 inches long (grown 2 inches in 3 months). That means you're 35th percentile for weight but 90th percentile for length.

The doctor asked what words you're saying at this point. There are two:
1. Ow: an expression of pain or desire for attention. Usage: immediately after your mommy has told you "no". Daddy suggests that perhaps this is in reference to the emotional pain inflicted.

2. A-choo:In reference to either a fake sneeze or immediately following a real one.

Do those count?

2007-11-18T20:09:00.000-08:00

Saturday was the start to Abby's first birthday week extravaganza. This is a week in which Thanksgiving is but an afterthought and the whole week is a celebration of all things Abby. Albert's grandfather is flying in from Korea in honor of the occasion.

To kick things off, we had a party at Gymboree where I displayed the fact that should this whole Ph.D. thing not work out, I might have a future in making cakes for mom's who don't really care if the frosting is a little bit runny:

For those of you who can't tell, that's not a bear. It's a monkey. The cake is a banana cake in keeping with the theme. It actually came out quite tasty and for a first effort at decorating a cake, I would even go as far as to say that it's not too bad.

So what do you do at a birthday party for a one year old, some may ask... Well, it's quite simple really. You throw your daughter into a ridiculously cute pink dress which she promptly covers in drool (with the requisite pink bow in her hair lest someone still asks if she is a boy)...

You throw in some bubbles...

... and some games...

... and you convince some people to hit a Chinese restaurant where a couple named Wendy and Benny are getting married on the first floor. Your best friend proceeds to order way too much food for the 9 adults left standing and everyone goes home with enough left orders to feed a full family of four until Thanksgiving!

Thanks to all those who made it out!

Boo to you

2007-10-31T21:32:00.000-07:00

My mom gave Abby a Halloween card today:

Your very first pumpkin,
your very first "Boo!"
Your very first autumn
and first costume too...

I didn't just carve one pumpkin this year. I carved three: a family so to speak.

Even Grandpa stopped by...

But in the end, all Abby wanted to do was to play with all of the candy. MINE! MINE! MINE! Our greedy little monkey.

Ain't misbehavin'

2007-10-29T18:46:00.000-07:00

Today, Abby was entertaining herself pretty well so I decided to try and get some work in. I was typing away when I noticed that strange silence once again, and then a... "riiiip!" I knew that she had gotten into one of her books and ripped out a part of the page. I peered over, saw a piece of a pop up book in her hand. I took it and scolded her, "No!" I went to my room, taped the piece back in by which point she knew she had done something bad. She was following me around crying. I walked over to the living room and said, "Come over her!" She crawled back to me crying with tears streaking her face. I was ready to make up with her and I was going to show her the book when I noticed that right behind her was my dog, Aki. I forgot that I also scold Aki in exactly the same way. She came up to me with her ears pressed against her head, apologizing for a crime she was sure she had committed. I kept saying, "Not you!" but she was so insistent on making up with me that I just started to laugh. Abby sat on my lap while Aki laid down next to me and we read the ripped book together.

Our week in review...

2007-10-27T20:44:00.000-07:00

This past week was incredibly busy for me with a lecture I had the opportunity to design and teach! It was on how Handspring developed their operations. I really enjoyed the process of bringing together a lecture and thinking through how best to present it to the class.

This week, Abby went back to Mary Jo's daycare. I think she really does like it there but she is so sad to see us leave her. I'm convinced things will be better especially because the other kids there seem so nice. On Thursday, Abby had to go in to get her flu shot. In the afternoon, she seemed incredibly sluggish and by the evening she could barely move. I handed her to my mom and not 2 minutes later, she had projectile vomited at least three times. We were incredibly lucky to have had a sheet on the couch so nothing was ruined and we just had to throw the sheet and all of my mom's clothes into the wash. Poor Abby looked like she felt a lot better.

Lucky for her, this meant she got to have popsicle. Abby hates Pedialyte but LOVES the Walgreen's generic pedialyte popsicles. She loves them so much that she cries when she finishes them:

Also this week, she made a habit of cruising the furniture with something in her mouth. Sometimes she also likes to crawl around the house with a sock in her mouth (behavior I believe she learned from Aki, my parents' dog). I've decided to take pictures of the former but not of the latter for fear of really embarrassing her in the future.

With a straw...

After she tore the pig's tail out of her pop up book...

The big lesson for me this week was: when I hear silence, there is most definitely something going on. I was sending out some emails on Monday when I noticed that Abby was not making her characteristic ruckus. Alarmed, I looked over to where I had spotted her last, only to find that she had extracted the entire box of Kleenex and put it on the floor:

Lastly, we have the all important Menlo Park Halloween Parade photos. Abby went in her full monkey costume. The #1 lesson I learned is that when you buy a costume from Old Navy, you will spend some significant portion of your time at the Menlo Park Halloween Parade avoiding other kids wearing the exact same costume. Still, she looked just like my little monchichi...

Pumpkin in a patch

2007-10-21T13:33:00.000-07:00

This weekend, Albert's mom came for a visit. I'd been looking forward to this weekend for some time because we were planning on attending the pumpkin party at a professor's ranch on Highway 1. Anyone who knows me knows that I love the last 3 months of the year ... LOVE them. Last year, 8 months pregnant, I ran out of a lecture at 7PM to get to Whole Foods on Halloween in search of the perfect pumpkin to carve. This year, I learned my lesson and set out to get my pumpkins at this party a good week early.

Steve held a fantastic barbecue during which we explored his ranch. We came home with 4 pumpkins in preparation for our Halloween extravaganza.

the stuff in between

2007-10-06T18:16:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since my last update and I've actually started getting messages from friends asking me what happened to my blog and what is going on with my life... Really? People actually read this blog?!? I'm not fooling myself. I know you all come only for the pictures. All of these words are "blah blah blah"... filler. I know. I've even noticed that at times, Albert takes photos of what I think is Abby and me. Later, I find that the picture looks like this:

Is that the way to treat the love of your life (at least until this munchkin was born!). It seems like not much has happened in the last two months but I take a closer look at all of the stuff that's happened in between and I realize I've been delinquent in reporting the highs and lows of the last few months.

After my mother got home from Japan, we ended up looking for a more stable daycare for Abby and we found Mary Jo's family daycare. Abby has been twice and I have a feeling she will adjust really well to this environment. She will have the same friends the days she goes to daycare and Mary Jo just feels like a sweet motherly type.

Abby is looking forward to days when she will have greater mobility and freedom. We think she'll be walking in a matter of a few weeks but I feel like I've been saying that for a while now. Albert claims to have seen her first three steps but given that she hasn't made anymore independent steps in the last two weeks, I'm going to chalk it up to a very active imagination. Until then, I'll put up this photo which Albert will likely claim to be the last time Abby drives a car until she's 30.

Abby also had her first illness. She came down with roseola shortly before my mother came home and while Al was off on a business trip. She had a really high fever and ended it all with a rash that covered her body. When healthy, Abby is not particularly cuddly. She is more active / squirmy. She has places to go and things that must be put into her mouth. What I discovered is that when Abby is sick, she is the cuddly girl of my dreams... except that she spends the whole time groaning. She sits in my lap but is constantly saying , "oooooh" as if she were in excruciating pain. It was particularly sad when I put her down in the hallway, called to her from our living room and expected to see her padding along on all fours the way she usually does. When I didn't see her come around the corner for a few seconds, I went to look for her and found her resting her head on the floor. So sad!

She was better for a few weeks and then came down with a cold. I have to take the blame for that since I had a cold around the same time too. She has finally turned the corner and we're hoping for healthy days for at least a little while. In particular, I'm really looking forward to the trifecta of holidays starting off with Halloween! We can't wait to post the pictures!

Next week will be better

2007-09-09T13:52:00.000-07:00

This past week was a big test for Abby. It was her first time in the care of anyone other than my mother or me for more than just a few hours. I would love to say she passed with flying colors. I would love even more to say that she was as happy as the 7 month old baby we saw when we were touring the daycare facilities. Let's just say that I certainly hope they didn't have any tours for new parents on Wednesday or Friday since it would have done very little to allay the fears of those parents.

On Wednesday when I left Abby, she was actually fine. She sat amongst other babies staring at the mirror, waving her arms like she usually does when she's in front of the mirror. Things headed south apparently in the afternoon when the caretaker tried to make her take a nap. Eventually she worked herself up into such a frenzy she threw up all over herself and the daycare had to call me to come pick her up a little early.

Clearly, this photo was NOT taken at the daycare center...

On Friday, I put her in the farthest corner of the room from where I would stand so I could fill out paperwork in peace. I hadn't finished the page when I felt her chubby arms clinging to my leg. She had managed to crawl across the room - while crying - so that she could plead with me not to leave her here. The other baby there saw her and also started to cry. I apologized profusely to the caretakers as they took a now screaming Abby so that I could slip out of the door. An hour later, I called to find out how she was doing - apparently not crying but clinging to caretakers. By the afternoon she had taken a nap and had even managed to sit by herself for a little while and play.

Small steps, I guess.

We've only just begun...

2007-08-16T17:08:00.000-07:00

When we got married, we were told that dating was easy but marriage was hard. People said, "Give it a year and the honeymoon will be over... reality will set in." Reality did set in and we found it to be even better than the honeymoon. It's been three years and we're still groovin' to our own beat.

The rush of getting married was in the newness of it all. I would repeat to myself (as countless other brides have probably done as well) "my husband". It felt so new and strange. Living together was wonderful and yet it seemed like we were still playing house. At year three, "my husband" feels familiar. Our little apartment that seemed so large before we purchased the gigantic couch and coffee table is cramped with all of our baby gear. Our household chores were never explicitly divided but we each do what we think needs to get done and somehow it works. We are truly companions... partners in all that we do.

Albert is my better half. He makes me a better mother, a better student, and overall a better person.

Abby's "isms"

2007-08-12T13:04:00.000-07:00

It's been almost 9 months since you were born and life has definitely changed. People often talk of milestones and I always imagined that they would be spaced apart... milestones, right? With you, they're all so close together I can barely sort out what's going on before you're onto the next new thing.

You spend most weekdays with Grandma Ma-chan. You love any food she makes and open your mouth wide for anything she feeds you. She knows how to tire you out with the things you want to do whether it's standing and cruising the furniture to sitting in a box banging on her pots and pans.

Your best friend right now is Michele, your cousin. She can make you laugh more easily than anyone else. You take baths together and share your bath toys. Michele has made frog hats for the two of you so that you both match.
When Grandpa Ya-yan comes home, you greet him with a smile and a wave of your arms. He sings you songs and patiently talks to you with a calm, adult voice. By the time I come to pick you up, you've had a full day of love and laughter. It's what makes it easier to go to school and think about things other than high chairs and blocks and baby shoes.

Last night you figured out how to stand up after I'd put you down to go to sleep. You stood there crying, hanging on for dear life to the edge of your crib. You know how to stand up but not quite how to get back down.

You now have almost 8 teeth in. You drool constantly - over everything. I change not only your bibs but your outfits constantly. You love eating. You eat porridge, carrots, fish, chicken, yogurt, peaches, plums, cheerios, rice crackers and peas. You dislike spinach and let out a scream when I try to sneak it into your food. You give an easy smile and giggle especially when I sing "Rubber Duckie" to you. You love to strike out on your own. Your dad gives you most of your baths. He's your most compassionate advocate and when you give your slightly crooked smile, you look like the splitting image of him. You want to walk - maybe even run but can barely crawl. You want me close - but not too close. You simultaneously love and fear ceiling fans. You have so many things to say but have a limited vocabulary of "bababa" and other consonant-vowel combinations. You hate sleeping. You fight it with everything you have but deep down inside, you know it's a losing battle. You love books (at least you love to try to eat them). You hate being held like an infant. You want to face out and see the world you'll one day conquer. You love Aki and you pull on her fur and ears to show her that love.

Your daddy has called all of my peculiar habits my "isms". You have your "isms" too. You're not particularly sensitive and you have a happy disposition. You're curious and loud. You snort when you laugh heartily. You wave your arms and bounce when you're happy. I know that as we approach your first birthday, I'll discover more of your isms and almost every one of them will bring a smile to my face.

Halal in London

2007-07-29T16:26:00.000-07:00

After many hours of driving, we finally found ourselves in central London close to Paddington. We stayed at the Hilton Metropole which we loved for many reasons - the primary one being that we were close to lots of cheap yet delicious shawarma restaurants (one called Halal being our favorite - we went there three times). We were also finally in a hotel that was clean and spacious (unlike the hotel we stayed in when we were in York). This, of course, made Abby very happy:

We also loved that we were a mere 5 blocks from Hyde Park where we took a long walk the first day we were in London. We also managed to find a play structure where Abby could swing before we headed off to Notting Hill for some window shopping.

The clear highlight of our entire trip to the UK was the fact that we got to see a few of our friends we hadn't seen in some time. We saw the Steenbliks who we got to know while in Boston when Al was in law school. They have a beautiful apartment close to Hyde Park and seemed to have settled into the British lifestyle quite comfortably. We appreciated their hospitality (and free Internet access) and loved the chance to catch up on life and kids! We observed jealously as Brock easily went to sleep on his own after dinner.

The other set of friends we got to see were some friends from my time in Spain when I was still working for McKinsey. Giovanni and Jaime were fellow analysts in the Madrid office who took me out until the wee hours of the morning as a true Spaniard is supposed party. I grew to love Spanish pop music after four months there.

In between seeing our good friends, we managed to do go to a few museums and stores. Our highlights are listed below:

1. British Museum
This is probably our favorite museum in the UK. I've been there before and the museum lived up to my expectations once more. I love the reconstructed Parthenon as well as the spectacular displays of Egyptian artifacts. If you get hungry at the British Museum, there is a hot dog stand right outside the main gate that is seriously good (and cheap).

2. Tate Modern
I had not visited this museum in my previous visits to London but it is one of my favorite modern art museums now. In particular, they had a special exhibit on modern day cities where they profiled large urban cities throughout the world and displayed various statistics in visual formats. Those of you who know Albert know that he loves random numbers and facts so this was particularly fitting for him. The rest of the exhibits were also quite well done - it reminded me a lot of the Whitney in NYC.

3. Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms
This was also a first for me and a clear favorite site in London. I love Winston Churchill stories and the museum is a new addition to the Cabinet War Rooms that is incredibly well done. The interactive displays were fun for adults and children alike. The cabinet war rooms also were fun to see not only for their historic value but also to remind us of the serious nature of war when it is conducted on home turf.

4. Westminster Abbey
I've mentioned this in previous postings but Westminster Abbey is amazing if you love to see where famous people are buried. I am actually very interested in seeing the tomb of Isaac Newton or Charles Darwin. If you find all of this to be too morbid, Westminster Abbey might not be the highlight of your trip. It is much less a church as it is a place where some very notable historical figures are buried. My favorite part of the church is the tomb of the unknown soldier with the inscription:
They buried him among the kings because he had done good toward God and toward His house

5. Hamley's
Onto the shopping! Hamley's is literally a 7 story toy store. If Abby could walk and talk, this would have been a nightmare for me. Instead, Albert took her around and declared anything she grabbed from the shelf something she "wanted". I was a bit skeptical but Albert was allowed to spoil Abby a tiny bit for this one day.

6. Harrod's
Everyone talks about the experience that is Harrod's. We tend to agree and love it for all of its pomp and circumstance. However, I refuse to ever go there again on the day that the "There is only one sale" Sale at Harrod's starts. It was crazy - even for this Japanese girl. My people were standing in line at the Gucci counter which I found to be a tad bit embarrassing. I love the food court there but I wasn't about to spend $40 to eat some fish and chips at the counter. We ended up buying food at Harrod's but took it outside to eat. It ended up raining in the middle of our meal but for the most part, the food was delicious. The toy store there is also something you have to witness. I'm just glad Abby couldn't speak because we could leave there without having her launch herself into a temper tantrum.

7. Cornish Pasties
In all honesty, this should go in the York section of our blog. I forgot to mention it there so I'll mention it here. Cornish Pasties. I hate them. Albert loves them. We almost got into a fight over them. Albert wanted them for lunch. I would have rather eaten a vat of oil. We had one night in York where we found a store selling freshly made Cornish Pasties - which are a flaky pastry that surrounds some sort of meat/veggie concoction. I thought it was OK but a bit oily. Albert thought they were brilliant (as the British would say). I personally thought once was enough but while walking through London, Albert's eyes lit up when we passed another Cornish Pasty store. Albert loved them so much he had to take a picture of the sign on the wall showing how one makes a Cornish Pasty. As you can see, I was less than thrilled:

Cornish pasties aside, we had a wonderful trip filled with memories we will hold onto for a while. We loved seeing old friends and I was heartened that I could travel to an academic conference in my post-Abby life. Despite some of the terrorist threats, crazy flooding and horrible exchange rate, we loved the UK.

We continue our tour of the English countryside

2007-07-13T12:26:00.000-07:00

Comments! I never get comments so I am eagerly responding to Alyssa's request for more things to do in England for her future trip there...

Amidst news of terror attacks in Glasgow and a failed terror attack in London, we continued along on our trip. Albert successfully mastered driving stick on the left side of the road:

while Abby sat in a contraption resembling an infant car seat with none of the safety benefits:

We took a pit stop in a small town called Durham where our visit coincided with a graduation. Durham was a cute college town with a beautiful minster. It was nice to stop somewhere before we continued on our journey to York which took another hour or so. York is one of the "must sees" according to Rick Steve. This is a town you could definitely spend a full day exploring but we wouldn't recommend the 2 nights Rick Steve does. In general, there are 2 highlights in this town.

York Minster
First is the York Minster - which in all honesty was the most spectacular church/cathedral we saw in England (including Westminster Abbey). We enjoyed Westminster for all of the famous buried inside the minster but it made it feel more like a spectacular cemetery and took away from the enjoyment of the building itself. The York Minster did not have those distractions and so you could truly enjoy the beauty of the building itself. We would have liked to stay for the evensong but we felt that Abby's screaming could potentially ruin the experience for the whole town of York so we chose to go home instead.

York Castle Museum
In the Rick Steve's guide, this is literally listed as one of the top museums in all of Europe. Now, with this description in mind, Albert and I envisioned a serious competition to the Louvre, Prado or British Museum. Indeed, this was perhaps one of the most entertaining family oriented museums we have ever been. However, do not go expecting art by the grand masters. This museum portrays life in Britain in various periods and does it incredibly well. There are fake storefronts with people who work as "storekeepers". It's incredibly interactive and fun to see with lots of educational value. We enjoyed it thoroughly and recommend it highly for any families with kids.

Saffron Desi
105-107 Micklegate
York
YO1 6LB
Tel: 01904 659999

As far as restaurants go, this was a solid Indian restaurant we really enjoyed. Prices were reasonable and the naan was very good - even Abby agreed. We ordered far too much food but got the Rogan Josh, the Chicken Tikka Masala and the Saag Paneer. We enjoyed all of the dishes.

Betty's Tea Room
6 St Helen's Square
York YO1 2QP United Kingdom
+44 1904 659142

This Tea Room was the typical English tea house with amazing scones, clotted cream, and great tea sandwiches. We ate lunch here. The line was incredibly long to sit in the ground floor room (with pretty views of the square) so we headed downstairs which actually wasn't too bad.

In search of Braveheart (Edinburgh)

2007-07-10T18:10:00.000-07:00

We continued our trip into the "nicer part of Scotland" by escaping the confines of Glasgow and moving on to Edinburgh. Since we rented a car, we headed north briefly to take a look at one of the famed Lochs of Scotland (Loch Lomond).

As you can see, it's a pretty lake but to be honest, the scale just doesn't compare to something like Lake Tahoe. We were a bit disappointed and decided to skip the full lake tour and head to something we don't have in the states... castles. Stirling Castle was very cool. Albert particularly enjoyed seeing the William Wallace monument which literally looks like another castle in the distance. After imagining having our faces painted in blue and white stripes, shouting "FREEEDOM!!!!" we explored the castle which was quite pretty from the outside but didn't have that much to offer on the inside. We still got to pretend that we were a queen and king observing our vassals:

We wanted to continue exploring the town of Stirling but Abby put her tiny little foot down with a loud and long scream. We made a hasty exit and continued on our trip out to Edinburgh. We got there early enough to take a walk around the city. We got to stay at the Sheraton which was a nice hotel with a beautiful view of the castle. Edinburgh really made Glasgow look like the industrial stretch of New Jersey. Edinburgh is a spectacular city with beautiful buildings that surround the castle.

After our walk down the Royal Mile, we decided to eat at a restaurant that came highly recommended in one of our guide books:
Howie's
10-14 Victoria Street
T: 0131 225 1721

This was by far the best meal we had in the UK. We were obviously limited by the weak dollar in going out to lots of fancy meals but this was just too good to avoid. Abby also appeared to be in good spirits so we wanted to take the opportunity to have a really nice meal. Everything was delicious and Abby loved the bread basket.

The next day we headed to the primary attraction in Edinburgh: the castle. It was full of tourists but we got a great view of the city from up high.

We walked down the Royal Mile where I got grumpy from lack of food. We ducked into a tea house on the left hand side which was perfect. We had tasty sandwiches for lunch and headed to the Queen's royal residence. It was closed off because she was coming the next day so we couldn't do the tour. We walked around for a while and appreciated the beauty of the city. All in all, if you get the chance to visit Edinburgh, we would rate it very highly.

A Tartan Greeting!

2007-06-25T12:48:00.000-07:00

Hello from the Scotland. Home of the Highlander and William Wallace. The whole family made it out here safely without really driving anyone around us too crazy. We had a 10 hour flight from San Francisco to London, a 5 hour layover and an hour flight to Glasgow. Abby was so well behaved and slept for more than 6 hours on her flight to London. We had a bassinet which she barely fit. There was even a belt above her head which prevented her from lifting up her head too much - poor girl. It still helped her sleep for a long time and we were really happy. Other than that, there was a guy behind us who snored so loudly - I've never heard a guy snore more loudly sleeping upright.

We got to Glasgow pretty late and settled into our hotel which is very close to the conference center. It stays very light until quite late at night (10PM or so). Still, we were quite tired and went to sleep pretty quickly. The next day, we went to the city center where we explored some of the shopping district. We found a Marks & Spencer where we bought some desserts for later in the day. We also got some basics for Abby including baby food. One comment on British baby food - they feed their babies things Americans would never dream of feeding their baby at 4-6 months... like "Grandpa's Sunday Lunch" - a combination of carrots, peas, potatoes and chicken or "Shephard's Pie" - veggies and lamb or chocolate pudding or egg custard for that matter. We're embracing the British baby food and letting Abby go crazy with the meats.

In other news, Abby has not only mastered sitting up pretty completely, she is now rolling both from front to back and from back to front (the latter took a while). She has also finally discovered a consonant. After months of "AAAAAAAAAA!!!!", we now have "bababababababababa". It's quite cute (purely objectively speaking of course).

Food:

1. Random hole in the wall British eatery

Here I had fish and chips and Albert had a beef casserole. It was good but too salty and greasy for our taste. I think we've had enough British food for a few days.

2. Wagamama's

We went twice to make sure our assessment was correct. I went to Wagamama's many times in London many years back and loved it... so much so that I asked Albert to get me a T-shirt when he was there. We eagerly anticipated touching down in Glasgow to get our first taste of Wagamama's in a few years and was very very disappointed. The ramen was too salty. The rice was too sticky. The curry sauce was lacking. The rice noodles were al dente. To top it off, the price was nearly $20 a head! I still bought a T-shirt but that's because I love the name - in Japanese it means "spoiled brat". My parents used to call me this all of the time when I was a kid.

3. Mrs. Majhu's

41 Byres Road, Glasgow, Lanarkshire, G11 5RG
T. 0141 339 1339
Lunch here was actually very good and fairly reasonable. For a prix fixe lunch, we were able to share 4 small plates plus some rice and naan all for 8 pounds per person. We had saag paneer, chicken curry and two lamb dishes. All were spiced very well without being too overwhelming. The restaurant was also clean and inviting. Abby slept through the entire meal so Albert and I were able to really relax.

Sights:
1. Kelvingrove Museum

This is one of the most eclectic museums I have ever been to! We loved the fact that over the stuffed elk and moose, you could view an old WWII Spitfire aircraft. In the same museum, there were Matisse paintings as well as a neon Elvis. There were some really pro-Scottish statements in some of the commentary on British history which we also enjoyed.

Beyond our general sightseeing, I am here for a more important purpose - the ICC 2007 conference where I am presenting a paper. I will be spending most of my time at this conference and am limited in my sightseeing for Glasgow. All in all, we thought Glasgow was a lot of fun but we're excited to be moving on!

I admit I am a Japanese food SNOB

2007-06-11T19:03:00.000-07:00

This admission doesn't take any strength of character or long introspection. I've come to embrace this fact as if it were a trait of mine to be treasured and cultivated. I admit to calling Japanese restaurants to make sure that the people who work there are Japanese. I can tell from the handwriting on the help wanted signs hanging on the window if the proprietors are Japanese. I'll even turn my nose at an Asian owned Japanese restaurant if I sense that the ownership were not genuinely Japanese. In my own defense, I'd feel this way about most other restaurants. I wouldn't want to go to a Korean restaurant owned by the Japanese - it would probably be too expensive anyway (ahem, Yakiniku Juban). Nor would I want to go to a French restaurant owned by an Italian... or a Greek restaurant owned by a Turk, etc. etc. You get the picture. I like food that is authentic. That said, I have to say that there are "poser" Japanese restaurants and there are ones I could eat at every day. The point of this posting is to guide my friends in the right direction. That doesn't have to mean an expensive direction, mind you. There are Japanese restaurants that are reasonably priced. I've categorized them to make it even easier for my fellow audience:

Sushi Restaurants:

Kanpai Sushi

330 Lytton Ave
Palo Alto, CA 94301
(650) 325-2696

Sometimes I wish I had an even more enthusiastic thumbs up for restaurants I really really love. Kanpai would get one of those. My mother's influence has heavily colored how much I am capable of liking sushi restaurants that are not truly excellent. I can say that Kanpai really meets the bill. The only other restaurant that comes close for sushi is Kaygetsu in Sharon Heights but that is not just a sushi restaurant. You'll find that under Kaiseki. On the peninsula, I would say that this is the best I've found so far.

come to embrace this fact as if it were a trait of mine to be treasured and cultivated. I admit to calling Japanese restaurants to make sure that the people who work there are Japanese. I can tell from the handwriting on the help wanted signs hanging on the window if the proprietors are Japanese. I'll even turn my nose at an Asian owned Japanese restaurant if I sense that the ownership were not genuinely Japanese. In my own defense, I'd feel this way about most other restaurants. I wouldn't want to go to a Korean restaurant owned by the Japanese - it would probably be too expensive anyway (ahem, Yakiniku Juban). Nor would I want to go to a French restaurant owned by an Italian... or a Greek restaurant owned by a Turk, etc. etc. You get the picture. I like food that is authentic. That said, I have to say that there are "poser" Japanese restaurants and there are ones I could eat at every day. The point of this posting is to guide my friends in the right direction. That doesn't have to mean an expensive direction, mind you. There are Japanese restaurants that are reasonably priced. I've categorized them to make it even easier for my fellow audience:

Sushi House

Town and Country Shopping Center
855 El Camino Real Ste 158
Palo Alto, CA 94301
(650) 321-3453

I've been coming here since I was in high school. It's right across the street from Paly High. That said, this is not the place to go if what you are looking for is fine sushi. That said, this place has the best california rolls I've ever had. Their other sushi is adequate but not excellent. Their other kinds of food - chicken salad, fried oysters, etc. are actually quite good. For sushi I would give it two stars and for other foods, three.

Naomi Sushi

1328 El Camino Real
Menlo Park, CA 94025
(650) 321-6902

I actually heard a lot of really good things about Naomi Sushi that I just had to try it. I was fairly optimistic but the sushi was quite a disappointment. I think it was a bit more expensive than Sushi House but the quality was about the same. I hear that Naomi Sushi is, in fact, owned by the same people who own Kanpai. Surprising, because Kanpai is so much more of a superior restaurant. I went once to Naomi and perhaps it was an off night but I'm not planning on ever going back. I'd much rather spend my money at Kanpai.

Teishoku Restaurants: This kind of restaurant serves the type of food my mom makes for dinner. Surprise! Japanese people don't eat sushi everyday and no, the only other option is not chicken, beef or salmon teriyaki. These restaurants will give you a feel for what kinds of other foods we eat!

Gombei

1438 El Camino Real
Menlo Park, CA 94025
(650) 329-1799

If a large, cheap Japanese meal is what you're in search of, this is the place to find it! Gombei isn't fancy nor is this the place to take your girl on a first date, but if your girl appreciates value as this girl does, you're in luck! I highly recommend the croquettes which are flavored with just a little bit of curry. Their tonkatsu is also quite tasty.

Hattoriya

799 San Antonio Rd
Palo Alto, CA 94303
(650) 857-0273

I'm not sure how old this place is but my parents live quite literally a couple of blocks away and didn't know this place existed. I recently took them there and you should have seen the way my dad's eyes lit up. This man hates to eat out and when my mother goes to Japan for a few weeks at a time, he would rather sit at home and eat fermented beans with rice than eat at a restaurant. This will be his new option for good food should my mom not be around to feed him. I highly recommend the hamburg curry as well as the cream crab croquette. The food here is so close to mom's home cooking that my mother declared that she wouldn't cook for a full week and they would eat there instead. It was also good enough that my dad didn't protest. Now in comparison to Gombei, I would say that this place is tastier but maybe a few dollars more expensive. It's about $15 a head with tip.

Kaiseki Restaurants: This type of food is supposed to be the opposite of Teishoku. It is fancy. There are lots of little plates that are delicately put together. Typically, it is also quite expensive.

Yoshida

10700 S De Anza Boulevard
Cupertino, CA 95014
(408) 252-9907

This place really was a let down. If sheer quantity is what you seek, Yoshida is the place for you. Otherwise, it's a huge let down. The sashimi is about as good at Sushi House (listed above). For kaiseki, there is no finesse in the menu items and it feels like the huge trays are trying to cover up the fact that the cook just doesn't have the skillz (yes, that's skillz with a z). If you want authentic kaiseki, you might as well pay up the wazoo and get the real thing. Otherwise, go for one of the Teishoku restaurants or some of the Izakaya restaurants I list later.

Kaygetsu

325 Sharon Park Drive, Ste. A2
Menlo Park, CA 94025
(650) 234-1084

Situated in a strip mall in Sharon Heights - Menlo Park, one would never expect the oasis of Japanese zen you find when you walk into Kaygetsu. The mere mention of Kaygetsu makes my mouth water. At the same time, I also fall into a cold sweat because it is so incredibly expensive. Just to set the tone, my husband and I went to Kaygetsu a while ago. We didn't order any alcohol and it was still over a hundred a head. Don't get me wrong, I think it's worth it. This is quite literally the best Japanese restaurant I've ever been to in the Bay Area... by a wide margin. It's excellent. The food here is competitive with food I've had in Japan.

Other types of Japanese restaurants:

Tanto

1063 E. El Camino Real
Sunnyvale, CA 94087
(408) 244-7311

Tanto is what is known as an izakaya restaurant. This is the equivalent of Japanese tapas. It is really supposed to be a place where you drink lots of sake and eat some food but I go for the food. Their squid dish with rice is very good as is the burnt rice balls. Many of their fish dishes are also done quite well. I also enjoyed their shabu shabu salad and copied it later at home. It has a great loud atmosphere which I really enjoy when I go there. It's fun to go with a bunch of friends and share a bunch of plates.

Himawari-Tei

202 2nd St
San Mateo, CA, 94401
(650) 375-1005

If I had more than just thumbs up and thumbs down, I would give this place thumbs sideways. Himawari-Tei is a ramen restaurant. I love ramen and they do their tonkotsu ramen pretty well but it's not to die for. It's also pretty pricey at $15 a bowl.

She's a man eater!

2007-05-11T10:44:00.001-07:00

Abby met Philip for the first time last weekend at Shie's baby shower. Philip, for his part, has already held hands with another girl. Abby, not taking any chances that she would lose out to her rival decided to make her intentions very clear. Philip didn't stand a chance...

Cowboys in Cali

2007-05-01T12:29:00.000-07:00

We went to the rodeo this weekend. I never thought I'd say those words but what is truly unbelievable is that I had a great time. My roommate from my days in New York City has, through some fortuitous circumstances, ended up in Reedley, California. Dara, who my mother credits with giving me a grain of interest in fashion and having my room clean, is currently living an hour south of Fresno in the small town of Reedley with her husband Phil. I hadn't seen her since I got married so we decided it was certainly time to get together.

Albert happened to know another couple who also live in Central California from law school. Albert and I assumed that this meant that they lived fairly close to Dara and Phil so we set them up. Although they live an hour and half apart, they actually hit it off and became friends over the last month so a visit to Reedley and Springville meant that we got to see not only Dara and Phil but also Laurel and Jith. Laurel and Jith live in Springville where they held a rodeo this past weekend.

What is there to do near Reedley, you ask? There is, of course, the Sunmaid Raisin factory...

... and I think that's about it.

The rodeo in Springville was quite impressive. We were city slickers to the max with our Baby Bjorn in tow...

I was really impressed with the athleticism demonstrated by the cowboys who managed to stay more than 8 seconds on a bucking horse and those who tackled a young steer to the ground and tied their legs together in less than 5 seconds! We enjoyed this while eating the requisite barbecued beef ribs. Abby got too tired and we unfortunately missed the grand finale which was the bull riding. Alas, that gives us reason to return next year!

Excuses, excuses

2007-04-10T15:18:00.000-07:00

So we have even more reason to excuse Abby for having her crying/screaming fits recently. It turns out that she has her bottom teeth coming in. Cathy even suggested that this might be the case but I poo pooed the notion that our daughter would be early in getting her teeth (the average is apparently at 7 months). I didn't even notice until Abby took the initiative to grab my finger, stick it into her mouth and rub it against her bottom gums. Poor girl. This is why she slobbers constantly and also makes this weird fishy face all of the time:

Fishy Face

Return of Ann

2007-04-08T13:50:00.000-07:00

After the last post I feel compelled to clarify: Abby is not always crabby. In fact, she is mostly happy except when she gets sleepy. Recently, she has become extremely vocal (read: she loves to scream happily). Albert and I find this rather annoying because we see babies everywhere who are so perfectly behaved, quiet, smiling, etc. We ask ourselves everyday: How could such a loud child come from such quiet parents? We do, however, consider ourselves very lucky because she also happens to have a really loud laugh. She shares this with us particularly when we pretend to eat her:

Last week I started up at school again. The transition was much smoother than anticipated since I have essentially been back 60% for the last couple of months. It's just nice that it's official and I'm getting paid again. I hate to admit it because it makes me feel like a bad mother half the time but I really love being back in school. I love coming home with the feeling that I learned something today. I sometimes even tell Abby what I found to be interesting. I sometimes think that it will influence her to love science or engineering and buck the convention that women aren't supposed to be in these fields. I also realize that I sound totally neurotic. What I mean to say is that these dual roles I have: being an engineer in school and being a mother are both fulfilling. I also don't think that I could be one without the other anymore. As much as I love the things I learn, I also love to come home to giggling baby who I can pretend to eat.

Crabby Abby

2007-03-24T20:53:00.000-07:00

Rita says that Abby will really hate it one day when I call her that. My response: "She should just stop being crabby then!"

Sometimes, I sing her this song when she gets particularly crabby:
Crabby Abby was a bear
Crabby Abby had no hair
Crabby Abby was still crabby Abby

Our Japanese-Korean Princess

2007-03-16T23:16:00.000-07:00

Abby is one lucky girl. Well, obviously, she has some pretty fantastic parents... good looking ones I might add (objectively speaking of course). On top of the easy life she leads, she has the distinct advantage of being multi-cultural. She is not only celebrating the traditions of our American society (the first outing of her life was to buy a Christmas tree), her grandparents are showing her the old traditions of their respective cultures.

Drooly Abby in a Kimono
Earlier this month, my mother opened a box sent to us from my uncle in Japan. It was a kimono that had been made for my brother and now it was Abby's turn to wear the newborn kimono. Presumably, I wore it as well but I have a feeling that as a second child, this tradition was most likely overlooked (not that I'm bitter). A baby is made to wear this kimono and go to a shinto shrine. Since there are no shinto shrines nearby, we made do with the backyard and took photos outside on the deck and inside our house in the living room. Abby promptly drooled all over the three layers of silk which my mom will have to take back to Japan to get cleaned. The kimono was quite beautiful and had hand embroidering in the back to signify the Miura family emblem. Around the same time was Girl's Day. 20 years ago, my grandmother got me a huge set of dolls depicting the marriage of a prince and a princess. It must have been difficult to find the right one because I used to hate dolls with "scary" eyes. Most dolls had scary eyes but my grandmother found a beautiful set with the friendliest eyes she could find.

Miura Girls
This year, Girl's Day was celebrated with Abby, my mother and Michele (my niece). Three generations of Miura women together celebrated the fact that we were girls by putting up the dolls and eating sweets together. It was wonderful.

100 days old
Albert's mother visited when Abby turned 100 days old. This is called the baek-il in Korea. The main feature of this celebration is that we eat rice cakes called deok. We also had a "birthday" cake. Lucky Abby. She can't even eat cake right now so we were forced to consume lots of really good food for her. She also received a gold ring from her grandmother which she promptly tried to consume. I've put it in safe keeping for her. 100 days! Can you believe it? That also meant I had survived 99 nights. I, too, had reason to celebrate.

Red roses and such

2007-02-14T23:02:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day!

Albert and I are on a gift-giving hiatus (what do you get for two people who already have too much stuff?) so we chose to stay in with Abby and make a nice dinner. Of course, Albert broke the rule and got some roses (purportedly after he haggled with some street vendors in Spanish). It made me feel like we were back in the days when he was actively courting me and Albert routinely broke those rules.

Al's Valentines

For Valentine's I decided to go with a beet salad in a balsamic glaze and an Afghani lamb dish called Qabili Pallau which we've had a couple of restaurants but never at home.

Our Valentine's Feast

Here are the recipes:

Beet Salad

2 medium sized red (and/or yellow) beets
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
3 tsp brown sugar
olive oil

Drizzle the cleaned beets in olive oil. Wrap completely in aluminum foil and place in oven for 1-1.5 hours (until it can be pierced easily all the way through). Take the balsamic vineger and brown sugar and heat. Stir to completely melt the brown sugar and bring to a rapid boil. Keep stirring for 5-10 minutes until the mixture is thick enough to coat a spoon. Slice up beets and mix into the balsamic glaze. Serve with some greens

Qabili Pallau

2 cups basmati rice
1 medium onion
olive oil
1.5 lbs lamb shank
2-3 large carrots
1 cup golden sultana raisins
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp cardamom
1.5 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp saffron
2 tsp sugar
salt and pepper

Brown the diced onion in oil until brown. Add the lamb shank and brown on all sides.

Add 2 cups of water, 1 tsp. salt and the cinamon, cumin and cardamom. Cover and simmer until the meat is tender (about an hour). Remembering to keep the meat juice, strain out the meat and onions and set aside in a casserole with a cover.

Cut the carrots into match stick size pieces. Saute carrots in oil with 1 tsp of sugar. Cook until the carrots are lightly browned. Remove the carrots from the oil and add the raisins. Cook them until they swell up.

Boil the meeat juice and about 2 cups of water. Add 2 cups of basmati rice, 1.5 tsp of salt and cook until the water is absorbed and the rice is tender.

Finally, preheat oven to 300 degrees. Mix the meat, carrots, raisins and rice together and place into the casserole. Cover and place in oven for 30 minutes.

Full circle

2007-02-09T15:26:00.000-08:00

Sometimes we look at Abby and we can tell exactly what Albert will look like when he loses most of his hair. Abby was born with a full head of hair but gradually over the course of the last couple of months, she's lost a good chunk of it. My friends tell me that this is what happens to babies but I have to admit, it looks really odd. I think it's karma.

You see, a couple of years ago, I visited Japan and saw a baby cousin of mine. She's adorable now but she had the weirdest hair loss pattern. She had lost her hair on the back and side of her head but had a full tuft up top. I had a hard time finding ways to compliment the baby because I was so caught off guard by the hair.

Now I look at Abby and I know what people must be thinking. Abby has lost a lot of her hair except for some on the sides and a tuft that sticks straight up towards the top of her head. She's lost most of her hair up front so it makes her look a bit like a monchichi. Yesterday, my mom and I went up to San Francisco to get her Japanese passport (she can have dual citizenship because of me). We had to get passport photos taken in advance. I had a bit of an ordeal to get it done but Abby was very patient. The only problem is that Abby is very camera shy. She doesn't like to smile when she sees a camera and becomes very serious. With the hair the way it is and her serious expression, her photo ended up looking a bit like a mugshot:

Abby's first mugshot
There are certain photos I look at of Abby and think to myself, "Now THAT is a photo that we should definitely have in the slideshow at her wedding!" This is definitely one of them.

Dear Abby

2007-02-03T17:51:00.000-08:00

People told me that life would change drastically when you arrived and it certainly has. You came into my life when I was starting to feel the desire to take care of someone other than your father. I wanted to have my dreams of my future to start being realized today... and you have made it so.

Abby and her faux-hawk
Some people ask me how I spend my days with you. I tell them that we have many conversations... although most are one-sided. You should know that as much as I talk to you about Real Analysis, Schrodinger's equations, and Kuhn-Tucker, I don't dream about you becoming an engineer or mathematician. I just do that to see the look of horror on my friends' faces. Still, sometimes you laugh when I tell you how the sum of infinite numbers could actually be a finite number and I wonder if maybe you have a little bit of my nerdiness in you. Or... maybe it's that you're laughing at me. Either way, it's ok because your laugh makes me laugh too.

You were an eagerly anticipated baby. For months in advance, we gathered the gear we would need to take care of you. We used a stuffed monkey as a your substitute to test out what we got.

Testing the Baby Bjorn

Everyday, I would place a hand on my growing belly to make sure you moved at least 10 times in an hour to guarantee your health. Often, you would start hiccuping and I could count 10 movements in less than a minute.

When you were born, I expected you to cry the soft cry of a newborn but you let out a scream worthy of a 3 month old. I was startled but quickly realized that your father is incapable of whispering. That loud voice will help you be heard over the din of your boisterous parents - the marvels of evolution. I love your long fingers because I can dream that maybe one day you will play piano and will learn to love the rich symphonies of Brahms or the chord progressions by Bach or the wonderful melodies of Schubert just like me. And your eyes... I wonder if someday you will be teased as I was that your eyes are shaped like almonds. I hope that you will respond as I did that you don't care because your daddy loves your almond shaped eyes and how they curve into small arches when you let out a giggle. You should. We love the curiosity in your eyes as you stare at the sunlight reflected on our walls and the suspicious glance you throw us when we aren't handling you quite right.

Abby enjoys reading

You have filled our life with hope, love and laughter. Some people would say that I should hold off until you are a teenager to see how you really turn out. I say to those people that I will probably love you more as you start to rebel against my wishes creating a new "you" that is separate from my dreams and wishes. We are imperfect parents by any stretch. Your dad said that he hopes that in your future is wisdom, integrity, and charity. Me... I hope for languid afternoons of shopping and ice cream. I guess all that means is that I hope we are close... that you can confide in me your fears and dreams. With that, you might be able to attain all those things your dad wishes for in spite of the parents you have.

Post-baby friendships

2007-02-03T15:20:00.000-08:00

We've been asked if we make it out of the house since having Abby enter our busy lives. The truth is that we make it out of the house and we do so often! The other night, we went to Koh Samui and the Monkey with some old friends from BCG.

Gathering of good friends
We've been there before but haven't reviewed it so we'll put in a review here.

Koh Samui and the Monkey (Thai food)

415 Brannan Street
San Francisco, CA 94107
(415) 369-0007
www.kohsamuiandthemonkey.com

What we ate:
Soft Shell Crab Salad
Mango Catfish Curry
Seafood Clay Pot

Review:
Overall, this is decent Thai food at a good price for Soma. For some reason, Soma has a lot of pretty pricey restaurants so it's nice to find a place to go that doesn't really break the bank but is tasty. The special Mango Catfish Curry was awesome but I wasn't that impressed with the Seafood Clay Pot.

Other than that, we have also been out to Circa which is co-owned by a friend of ours.

Circa

2001 Chestnut Street
San Francisco, CA 94123
(415) 351-0175 Reserve Online
www.circasf.com

What we ate:
Sliders stuffed with black truffle and Brie cheese, served with Maui onion strings and house made ketchup 13
Lobster & white truffle mac-n-cheese 10
Moroccan spiced roasted Australian rack of lamb "lollichops" Mint chimichurri and pomegranate molasses 18

Review: I thought that the food here was really good although it is a little bit on the pricey side for the amount of food you get. I was a big fan of the mac-n-cheese and Albert will tell you that I just love sliders (I just have a thing for small burgers). I also liked the fact that although it is a bar/restaurant, it was quiet enough for us to be able to talk like normal human beings. The crowd is distinctly "Marina". I've also heard that this is a cougar-den but I can't say for sure since I'm not a young single male that cougars would target.

Special thanks are in order to my mom for looking after our little one while we tapped into our pre-baby selves. We definitely feel more human after our nights out and love Abby more for it.

May

2007-01-26T06:03:00.000-08:00

It's suspected that someone I knew may have committed suicide this past weekend. It reminded me that no matter how happy or successful someone might seem to be, there is pain that we might not recognize under the surface. My heart goes out to May's family and close friends.

Afternoon Tea

2007-01-15T10:36:00.000-08:00

There are certain things that I really hope to do with Abby some day. Some of these dreams might be put under the category "Crazy Asian Mom" like helping her with calculus problem sets or proof-reading her physics project paper or attending her first piano recital. Others come from my own memories of childhood like going on hikes and collecting bugs or helping my mom wrap dumplings. I put Afternoon Tea under this latter category. My mother is a bona fide tea addict. She loves to sit down and have some tea. When I lived at home briefly after college, my parents and I would sit down almost every night for tea and we would just talk about our day. As many asian families will most likely note, tea is not simply a beverage in our culture. Particularly in Japanese culture, it is central to social interactions. My five year old niece who goes to pre-school in Japan drinks tea everyday at school. So when Michele visited earlier this month, I wanted to show her how tea is served in Western culture so I took her to a tea shop close to my house for some girlie time while my mom watched Abby.

Although Michele didn't have tea, she got to have hot chocolate. She also ate half of my tea sandwiches, soup and most of the dessert. Like any proud woman in the Miura family, she has the appetite of a small bear waking up from hibernation.

Michele prepares to demolish the dessert

My mother reports that upon getting back to Japan, Michele bragged to all of her classmates how cute her cousin Miyuki is. I like that Michele calls Abby by her full Japanese name. Everyone else seems to shorten it to Yuki but Michele insists we use the full name.

Ma-chan, it's not just Yuki! It's Miyuki. Miyuki is so much more special than just plain Yuki!

Michele is Miyuki's advocate in our family. Hopefully, Michele knows that she has many advocates within our family too.

Good Days Redefined

2007-01-12T14:19:00.000-08:00

A good day used to mean a bike ride on a spectacularly sunny day and dinner in the city with a group of friends. A good day used to be swimming in Lover's Cove in Monterey or shopping with girlfriends in Berkeley. Who knew that good days would mean something so drastically different today? I had a friend who once told me that she and her husband used to do such fun things before they had kids and once they had kids those fun things they used to do were a distant memory. Instead, the days are filled with things they do with their kids but for her, this too is a lot of fun.

A pensive Abby

In a similar way, my good days are really good but in a different way. Today, a good day is when Abby has a solid nap when I have time to clean the house, catch up on email and upload some of the more recent photos. Some times, I might even have an extra minute to start looking at papers relevant to my research. A good day is interacting with Abby and wondering if what I saw was her first smile or not. A good day is eating dinner in peace with Albert because Abby is loving the new swing we borrowed from Cathy. I love my good days. It may not involve any physical activity yet but as Abby's neck gets stronger, I can almost see the day when I can plop her into the BOB stroller and go for a leisurely jog up Sand Hill Road. That too will be a good day.

Happy 2007

2007-01-02T12:31:00.000-08:00

Happy 2007 to our friends and family! We haven't had much of a chance to update the blog in the last few weeks. You can imagine that things have been quite busy with baby Abby and with our family visiting! It's been so busy that Albert hasn't taken many photos. I was so surprised when I downloaded the photos on the camera and discovered there were less than 50 to download over the last two weeks - and most of those were taken by me!

Abby feeling festive

Christmas and New Years flew by in a blur. We managed to buy a 4 foot Christmas tree which was Abby's first outing ever. We got out our annual Christmas newsletter with our baby announcement. I even baked two batches of cookies! Somewhere along the line, Abby gained over 2 pounds and my mom-in-law and sister-in-law came for a visit.

Abby with the in-laws

Christmas came and went without much hoopla. We had dinner at my parents' house with Julie and Bob. I made a roast beef and my mom made a stuffed salmon. Abby slept through most of the meal. We weren't so lucky with New Years. Abby decided this would be the opportune moment to ring in the new year with lungs ablazing. I suppose she also wanted to share with Julie and Bob exactly what is in store for them in a couple of months. She did a very good job.

Abby and Al

Albert has his own strategy for dealing with an Abby meltdown. It involves the Bose noise cancelling headphones. I guess we shouldn't be calling our daughter's cries "noise" but if you heard her, you would agree that she has not exactly inherited her parents' quiet voices... ok ok we both have loud voices so we both take the blame equally.

First three weeks with Abby

2006-12-12T07:55:00.000-08:00

I can't say I loved pregnancy. Too many complications. Too many dietary restrictions. Too many aches and pains. Motherhood is a totally different story. I finally get feedback on my efforts. When I pick Abby up, she stops crying. If I feed her, she looks full and content. Sometimes, she lets out a whine (or perhaps a ear-piercing scream) just because. And we respond. We sing her songs. We tell her how beautiful she is. She appreciatively stares back at us (or continues her ear-piercing scream). I love this feedback.

Abby on December 19

Little Abby is now three weeks old. We are almost exactly 30 years apart. I haven't even had time to reflect on the fact that I've turned 30 because things feel so busy all of the time. Luckily, Albert got 3 weeks of paternity leave. Some people ask how we do when we are together 24 hours a day 7 days a week. Albert and I do very well together in such a situation and it looks like Abby fits into the fold well too. We don't have a schedule but Albert takes lots of photos - duplicates upon duplicates.

Birth of Abigail Miyuko Ko

2006-12-04T18:04:00.000-08:00

November 25 started out as any day after Thanksgiving ought to begin - we got up at 6AM to make sure we got to Stanford Shopping Center to claim a prime parking spot in preparation for "Black Friday" - the busiest shopping day of the year. We were surprised that it was actually quite empty when we arrived around 7AM.

Post Thanksgiving Shopping
Originally uploaded by amiura.

We first went to Nordstrom's where we bought some shoes (Ann got some nice leather boots, Al got UGG house slippers). We also got presents for friends at other stores and managed to finish part of our Christmas shopping. We were so involved in our shopping we almost forgot our 10:30 appointment with the OB (the final one before giving birth). Luckily, we remembered in time and headed over to Redwood City.

There, we did the non-stress test to make sure the baby was moving and then had an ultrasound to check on the baby. The doctor commented that the amniotic fluid was very low and continued to look around the baby. After he finished up, he came back into the room to tell us that the amniotic fluid was so low that he wanted to induce that day. We could go home to pack but I should head back to the hospital in the next 3 hours. The doctor was so calm that we asked if it would be possible to induce tomorrow since we had a birthday dinner planned for me that evening with over 25 friends attending! The doctor, however, was pretty insistent that we induce that night so we went home to pack. At home, we spent some time figuring out our video camera and sending out some last minute emails. We tried to contact friends to make sure they knew the party was off. 3 hours later, we headed off to the hospital. My mom was so nervous that even after I told her I was leaving for the hospital, she headed to our house. We luckily spotted her driving towards our house and we stopped so that she could wish me luck.

At the hospital around 6PM, we started with a very mild way of inducing labor using a foley catheter. Unfortunately, the catheter fell out but I had not progressed in dilation. They called the doctor again who said he would come back to put in a larger foley catheter. They were monitoring the baby's heartbeat and my contractions. I didn't know but I was having contractions every 10 minutes or so. My doctor had been in China for two weeks adopting a baby so he had a huge backlog of patients that day. He didn't make it back to the hospital until 10PM. At that point, he checked and felt that I was almost at 3 cm so he decided to break my water. I felt a big gush and within an hour the contractions were pretty painful.

Contractions for the whole night came anywhere between every 1 to 10 minutes. Some of the contractions lasted only 30 seconds whereas some of them would last 3 minutes. The lack of consistency really made it hard to fall asleep and the pain made me tense up as soon as I saw the monitor show that a contraction was about to take place. Albert was very supportive all night whether it was through back rubs or words of encouragement. At 8AM after spending the whole night awake, I asked the nurse to see how much I had progressed. I was so discouraged when she reported that I was tenuously at 4 cm. I had only progressed 1 cm after 8 hours of really painful contractions! I asked for the epidural at that point. For the ladies out there who are wondering, the epidural was well worth it. I was so tired from the night and the thought of having to spend many more hours in pain and then having to push was overwhelming. The epidural was done well so that I actually had quite a bit of mobility in my legs and feet. I didn't fully dilate until 4:30PM that day. I could feel a good deal of pressure so I could push with the contractions. Pushing took 3 hours - or as Albert said, the length of the USC football game. My doctor arrived around 7PM to coach me through the remainder of the pushing. I could sense the excitement as I pushed and the people in the room could see the baby start to emerge. With each push I could feel the baby move just a little bit lower but she would move back as I relaxed. I asked if she had hair and everyone was nodding. The pushing was both physically and emotionally taxing. Knowing that my baby was just a few pushes away from being here, I wanted to push more and push harder but physically, it's a full body workout. I'll never forget when she finally came out. The sense of relief and the joy at seeing the baby whose kicks and hiccups I'd felt for so many months just surged forth and I burst into tears. The doctor placed her on my belly and Albert cut the umbilical cord. Before I could even compose myself, they took the baby to the table to check her and clean her off. I delivered the placenta and the doctor put in a single small stitch. Within an hour, I was able to stand and walk a short distance.

Little Abby
Originally uploaded by amiura.

Little Abigail Miyuki Ko was born 7lbs. 8oz., 20.5 inches lon at 7:37PM on November 25. Abigail means “Father’s joy” in Hebrew. She is already the source of many happy memories. We also were inspired by Abigail Adams' strength of character and the love she had for learning and family. We also that Abigail will have the same affect on us that Abigail Adams had on John Adams:

You who have always softened and warmed my heart, shall restore my benevolence as well as my health and tranquility of mind. You shall polish and refine my sentiments of life and manners, banish all the unsocial and ill natured particles in my composition, and form me to that happy temper that can reconcile a quick discernment with a perfect candor.
- Letter from John Adams to Abigail Adams before their wedding in 1764

Miyuki is a Japanese name meaning deep snow. It reflects the season in which she was born as well as a sense of serenity we had hoped she would embody. So far, this has not been the case but perhaps she'll turn a new leaf in the coming weeks.

Thanksgiving redux 2006

2006-11-24T22:30:00.000-08:00

I love this time of year because it's really all about food. In particular, Thanksgiving is an amazing time to load-up on the carbs. That's why it's so much fun when you get to spend it with people who really love to eat. Last year, we had Cindy (Albert's sister), our friends Julie and Bob along with Bob's parents and my dad over for Thanksgiving. We made way too much food and had a fantastic time. This year, even though it was a year in which we were supposed to be in LA (we switch off each year between Albert and my family), we decided to spend Thanksgiving close to home since my due date was only a week away. I didn't want to overload my mom with Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's duty so we took up Julie's kind offer to have all of us over to her house for a mega-Thanksgiving feast. This year, Julie really outdid herself because we had 14 people over at her house!

The people: Julie, Bob, Bob's parents, me, Albert, my parents, Aileen, Chris, Jeffrey, Nancy, Linda and Joseph (Linda's husband).

Thanksgiving Turkey
Originally uploaded by amiura.

It was a packed house with a packed menu: turkey, way to much stuffing, curried peas, corn, grilled vegetables, orange glazed yams, broccoli quiche, beans in mushroom sauce, mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce.

Dessert, which was a entirely separate meal, consisted of: flan, sweet potato pie, pumpkin bread, fruit tart (an Aileen specialty), cupcakes and apple crumble.

I was anticipating a depressing Thanksgiving for myself in which my diet was entirely restricted (due to gestational diabetes) but I figured, "how much damage can I really do in one meal anyway?" and ate with gusto. I had stuffing to my heart's content as well as a sampling of every dessert. I later confessed this to my doctor but only after I checked my blood sugar with Julie an hour after my meal... I was at 98 - meaning I could have another carb serving! Julie who is not diabetic had a higher reading than me!

Al and Ann
Originally uploaded by amiura.

All in all, Thanksgiving was a great success. This year in particular I have so many things to be thankful for. I have fantastic friends who give great advice and unconditional support and love. I have wonderful parents who continue to serve as role models to me. Last but not least, I have a husband whose companionship is all I can ask for - who understands me and loves me with a completeness I never expected to find. I look forward to sharing all of this with my baby who is due any day now!

Halloween Fun

2006-11-06T11:05:00.000-08:00

Albert discovered a long time ago my love for the holidays. The holiday extravaganza starts in mid-October when I get my ghost lights out along with a little wooden ghost and pumpkin that says "Boo!" I, then, agonize over a costume and usually become too busy at some point to really think it through and then panic the day of some party we're supposed to go to. This is how Albert and I ended up as hula dancers a few years ago when we were in Boston.

Halloween 2001
Originally uploaded by amiura.

This year was a bit different since the pregnancy makes me too tired to party and the costume options become a bit limited - I could be a Mrs. Federline and Albert a big mooch. I guess I could also dress up as a cow since that's generally how I feel these days... and Albert a farmer?!? Instead, Albert got too busy with work and I poured my holiday enthusiasm into my pumpkin.

This pumpkin was no simple pumpkin purchased from Safeway weeks in advance. I naively went to 3 stores on Monday October 30th asking if anyone had anymore pumpkins. Apparently, people are not just competitive about getting their kids into daycares and pre-schools here in the Bay Area. Pumpkin purchasing is also something that must be done well in advance. Whole Foods, my last resort, informed me that they had been sold out since Saturday!

Ann and Pumpkin
Originally uploaded by amiura.

You see, people are just not as resourceful as a desperate pregnant woman in search of a pumpkin to carve. I scanned the entire store of Whole Foods after being informed that there were no pumpkins available. I found not just 1 pumpkin but 4 pumpkins on display on the top shelf of the bread section. We found some people to get a ladder and bring it down and I ended up with my perfect pumpkin from Whole Foods for $5.

I went home and carved it and the results can be seen here: I call it pumpkin perfection...

Pumpkin 2006
Originally uploaded by amiura.

The Delinquent Blogger

2006-10-29T18:33:00.000-08:00

I've been very delinquent in updating but am trying to catch up with a few posts so here we go...

We are now only 5 weeks away from the due date! I continue to negotiate with baby Ko in the hopes that she will come a few weeks early with a relatively small head and narrow shoulders. Gestational diabetes hasn't been nearly as bad as I thought it would be. This is, of course, because I cheat. The best example to date is the dinner I had a Boulevard this past Friday. Cheating has never been quite so delicious...

Boulevard

Cuisine: French

1 Mission Street
San Francisco, CA 94105
(415) 543-6084 Reserve Online
www.boulevardrestaurant.com

Hours:
* Mon-Fri 11:30 a.m.-2:00 p.m.
* Mon-Wed, Sun 5:30 p.m.-10:00 p.m.
* Thu-Sat 5:30 p.m.-10:30 p.m.

Website: http://www.boulevardrestaurant.com/
Address: 1 Mission Street San Francisco, CA 94105
Telephone: 415.543.6084

What we ate:
Foie Gras with toast and currant sauce
Hamachi Sashimi with Daikon Salad
Roasted Veal Filet with Sauteed Shrimp
Wood Oven Roasted Iowa Berkshire Prime Rib Pork Chop with Butternut Mashed Potatoes and Roasted Quince
Chocolate Medley Dessert
Vanilla Ice Cream Sandwiches with Chocolate Fondue and Berries
Lychee Juice with Club Soda

My overall assessment of Boulevard, while positive, is that it wasn't really amazing. I would give it 3 out of 4 stars. Comparing it to a restaurant we recently went to and loved, Quince, Boulevard didn't give us more than what we expected: great ambience and solid food but no surprises. I didn't feel like doing cartwheels after I ate dinner like I did at Quince when I tasted their pesto sauce. It was to die for. I was full and happy with the meal from Boulevard but I didn't feel any exclamation points.

The one exclamation point I felt was after I cheated and ate a Vanilla Ice Cream Sandwich with chocolate fondue and found that my blood glucose level was low enough to warrant yet another serving of carbs! The company we ate with was great and the building is truly beautiful but I can't say that it was everything I hoped it would be. I have to say, though, cheating on this gestational diabetes diet was truly divine!

Fajitas para me

2006-10-07T15:20:00.000-07:00

My heart goes out to diabetics everywhere. I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes a couple of weeks ago which hopefully means I only deal with this condition for another two months. Then it's back to full on gluttony with respect to chocolate dipped ice cream, french fries, and white bread.

We've been trying out a bunch of different foods just to see how it affects me versus him. I was saddened to see that the In 'n Out double-double (despite the reassurances of my dietician) caused my blood sugar to go above the desired 130 limit. Albert's blood sugar had already self-regulated down to a 93... and he had had the whole plate of fries with ketchup.

Still, there are lots of things I can eat that are quite tasty. My favorite so far has been our version of the fajitas so here is the recipe:

Chicken Fajitas for the Diabetic who loves to eat

1 whole wheat tortilla
1/4 cup shredded mozzarella
1/2 purple onion
1 chicken breast
1 orange bell pepper
1 red bell pepper
1/2 avocado
bunch of cilantro
salsa (as much as you want - go crazy because this barely has any carbs)

Cut the chicken, onion, and peppers. First sautee the chicken. Salt to taste and add course ground pepper. When the chicken has almost fully cooked, add the onion and peppers. Continue to sautee until the the onions are fully cooked and slightly translucent. On a separate frying pan, heat the tortilla and sprinkle the shredded mozzarella over the tortilla. Warm until the cheese has melted. Slice the avocado. Over the tortilla, add the chicken, onion and peppers. Add the sliced avocado, cilantro and salsa and you are ready to eat!

These fajitas were tasty and kept my blood sugar level fairly low. It should be pretty healthy as it's not too high in fat (except for the cheese). I'll keep adding recipes that end up working for me!

Girls girls girls

2006-10-07T11:16:00.000-07:00

56 more days until the due date!

It feels like I've been pregnant forever. Now, I have the look to go along with the feeling. The belly is pronounced. I waddle. I even let out that unattractive grunt when I bend over to pick things up.

With a daughter on the way, I look at my niece who is four years old now and think of how quickly those years have flown by. My brother and his daughter came for a visit from Japan a week ago. I think she's great and that feeling only grows when she tells me how great she thinks I am. My mom asked her:

"Michele, what do you want to be when you grow up?"
"I want to be just like Reiko."

Al and Michele
Originally uploaded by amiura.

Of course, that also meant she wanted to have a baby. We had to explain to her that she had to first study and become a big girl (possibly getting a Ph.D. in some scientific or engineering field) before she could have a big belly just like Reiko.

I took her to Palo Alto Toy and Sports World to buy her something. She immediately rushed to the pink corner of the store where they had dress up costumes for princesses and her favorite Calico Corner toys. I brought her back to the front of the store where they had Legos and "build yourself a robot"-type toys in an effort to expand her horizons into more engineering focused toys. Isn't that why they say boys are more likely to become scientists and engineers than girls? Michele's response was textbook.

"Michele, what do you think of this really cool machine we can build that will dig up dirt using a remote control?"
"Um, Reiko... that's a toy for boys."
"Michele, this is not a toy for boys. It's a mechanical toy that is completely unisex."
"Um, Reiko... I want the Calico Corner doll set."
"But, if you want the mechanical toy, you can have them both."
"That's ok. I don't want it."
SIGH....

After all, she is only four. She loves pink. She loves dolls. She loves playing make believe. If you ask her to pound your shoulders with her fists, she'll patiently do it for more than ten minutes. She pretends to like soy milk because I'm drinking it. She's fiercely competitive and has a deep love of learning new things. If I pronounce new words to her in English, she repeats them back to me until she gets it right. So even if she doesn't love the mechanical toy that I probably would have hated at four as well, I think she has so much ahead of her. I look at my belly which shifts and moves even as I type this and think of what this little girl will love and what she will say that will make me laugh years later.

Ode to Al

2006-09-24T20:01:00.000-07:00

I'm a lucky gal. What can I say? Albert is the best husband any girl can hope to have. Gag all you want, but it's true. We've been married for two years already. We have been warned that at some point in time, the honeymoon ends. Luckily, we haven't hit that point yet. Our secret, you ask? Well... for one, we're pretty busy so the time have together never gets dull. Another thing is that we just love hanging out together - co-dependence in others' eyes perhaps but pure joy in ours. We love the same foods (ranging from Afghani to Korean to Foster's Freeze). We love the same kinds of books (except for Albert's current obsession with the capture of Osama bin Laden and the war on terror). We love the same TV shows. We also like to bike and swim together... which has led us to compete in triathlons. This year, I'm sitting out because of the future triathlete I'm carrying, but next year I'll be back.

Fresh before the Tri
Originally uploaded by amiura.

Today is Albert's birthday. The big 3-2! We celebrated in a number of ways but the most important is that Albert competed in the Santa Cruz Sentinel triathlon. This is an Olympic length triathlon so only the hard core need apply. And the hard core did apply. Here we have Albert with some of our friends including Bob, Katrina, and Mark. Katrina and Mark were particularly brave since they had just returned from their trip to Europe a couple of days before and were clearly still jetlagged. A 1 mile swim, 25 mile bike and a 10k run lay ahead for these athletes. I can't recommend this triathlon, however, because they don't provide anything except for water along the way AND they ran out of the needed water at the end. Poor Albert bonked at the end after having only 1 gel after his swim. To put this into perspective, I had at least 3 gels and countless bottles and cups of Gatorade when I did the Pacific Grove Triathlon.

Al starts his run
Originally uploaded by amiura.

Also, the Santa Cruz Sentinel Tri gave out really ugly t-shirts (tie die) that we promptly put into the Goodwill pile. Still, Julie and I ran around trying to capture the key moments in the tri. We had our trusty camping chairs and signs to root on our husbands. All in all, I was so impressed with everyone's performance. Bob obviously did quite well because he has turned himself into the Korean equivalent of Bruce Jenner. The man is a workout fiend. Albert has improved his time significantly from last year with a harder course! That in itself was a fantastic birthday present and well worth the 4:30AM wake up to get to the race on time.

If there is one thing I can say for sure, Albert and I share great friends. We have the kinds of friends that are virtual family. They are shoulders to lean on as well as the friends you want to have around just to celebrate another year passing.

Happy B-day Salute
I had asked Al if he wanted to do anything for his birthday and he had said he didn't... mostly because I asked him after he had done one of his epic 50 mile bike rides. Still, his friends Ian, Ped and Greg still managed to put together a bbq that would make any grown man smile complete with sausages, steaks, some veggies and 2 birthday cakes. By the way, the ugly t-shirts are on full display here on Bob and Al.

Happy Birthday Albert! May the 33rd year of your life be as wonderful as the 32nd!

The things we do in the sun

2006-09-14T17:04:00.000-07:00

Albert and I love Kauai not only for the food but also for the fantastic activities we've enjoyed there. Everything we do there leads to a deep and dark tan that leaves us looking... well, Polynesian. It generally takes us about 2 days before people ask us if we are locals. We love that. Getting back to the things we love to do in Hawaii, it boils down to a few things: snorkeling, golf, surfing, and hiking. Unfortunately, we didn't do much hiking on this last trip because I am more at a waddling stage of pregnancy which is not conducive to climbing down steep inclines. So what did we do?

Captain Andy's Sailing Adventure
Telephone: 335-6833
Cost: $130
Logistics: 5.5 hour trip leaving Port Allen around 6AM. Lunch and breakfast provided.

If there is one definitive guide to any of the islands in Hawaii, it appears to be the blue book you see most tourists lugging around. In general, we have loved this guide and have bought it for every island we have visited. But now that we are Kauai "experts" we feel that there are a few revisions we would seek to add. The first is the Smith Family Luau which we comment on in our restaurants posting below. This came highly recommended in the book.

Napali Coast aboard Captain Andy's
Originally uploaded by amiura.

The second was a negative review they had of Captain Andy's snorkeling trip. I've done three snorkeling trips in Kauai and this was actually a very well run trip. We had few complaints. Sure, the snorkeling left a lot to be desired but the other boat trips weren't that great for the snorkeling either. We got a great view of the Napali Coast, the boat was smooth since it was a catamaran and Albert got to jump off of the side of the boat. Not to mention, this was one of the few boats that would take a six month pregnant lady out to the Napali Coast.

This is where we ended up snorkeling towards the end of the trip. They were pretty strict about the boundaries where we could snorkel and the coral was too deep to really see a lot of fish. The aggressive fish that you see pouncing at the bread they threw into the water near me know that when the boats arrive, food is also nearby so they gather. Unfortunately, it's not the pretty fish that gather. Also, the turtles that were there in the morning were gone by the time we came back for snorkeling.

The real highlight of the snorkeling trip were all of the dolphins we got to see. They followed along the catamaran as we travelled up towards the Napali Coast. It was an incredible sight to see. We even saw baby dolphins that were trying to still get the hang of riding the waves.

Kukuiolono Golf Course
Where: On Papalina Road off of Highway 50 in Kalaheo
Cost: $8 per day and $7 for cart rentals and and another $7 for the most dinged up golf clubs you'll ever find
Logisitics: This place only has 9 holes but we thought that was plenty

We are complete hacks when it comes to golf. We started taking lessons 3 months ago. We both don't own our own clubs but we think it's fun. This golf course was the perfect place for us. It doesn't have quite the beautifully manicured lawns I'm sure you find elsewhere but the views are just as nice and the locals who come out to play are a lot of fun.

Ann goes for the winning shot
Originally uploaded by amiura.

Inevitably, you end up playing with a couple of other locals who you can chat with while you get in your golf game. Also, when you're talking $8 for golf fees and not $170 like at the Kiele Course, it leaves you with $162 of extra lava flows you can consume throughout the course of the trip. Here I am channeling my inner Michelle Wie except that I'm 7 inches shorter. We discovered that Albert has mad skills when it comes to putting and my strength is in chipping... which is why I look so nervous to putt. Golfing here was so relaxing and fun we ended up doing it 3 times!

Surfing
Now I did mention that we did some surfing. In truth, it was Albert doing the surfing this time since I have experienced a shift in my center of mass. Albert doesn't want me sharing these videos because they mostly consist of far away shots of someone paddling and then me making snide comments. However, I will mention that the area by the Sheraton Poipu is great for beginner surfers. It's where all of the schools are. If you don't want to pay money to have some surfer dude push you so you can easily catch a wave, you can always rent a surf board from one of these schools for around $10 and go at it by yourself.

Pork Lau Lau hear my cry

2006-09-03T08:36:00.000-07:00

Ever since I can remember, I have planned most of my vacations solely around food. I remember planning an entire itinerary to Japan based on where I wanted to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner. Albert has only served to reinforce this obsession. Fortunately for you, we not only love to eat, we love to share the wealth of knowledge we accumulate along the way.

Before we begin, we ought to share with you our rather simple rating system. For those of you who really just want to know if we liked it or not, just look at my face. Any questions? For the nuances, check out our comments.

Here are the highlights and lowlights of our trip to Kauai:

Plantation Gardens

Cuisine: Hawaiian
Hours: Daily 5:30-10pm dinner (open at 4pm for pupu, pizza, and cocktails)
Website: http://www.pgrestaurant.com/
Address: 2253 Poipu Road across the road from the Kiahuna Shopping Center in Poipu
Telephone: 808.742.2121

What we ate:
Dungeness Crab Rangoon
Garden Isle Bouillabaisse with Mahi Mahi, Prawns, Bay Scallops, Mussels, Potatoes, and a Kamuela Tomato-Saffron Broth
Kiawe Grilled New York Strip Steak with Goat Cheese Potato Gratin, Broccolini, Caramelized Maui Onion and Shiitake Mushroom Jus
Virgin Lava Flows

Second Meal:
Kiawe Grilled Tiger Prawns with Coconut Infused Thai Black Sticky Rice, Baby Bok Choy, Mango Salsa and Thai Red Bird Chili-Garlic Beurre Blanc
Seafood Lau Lau with Mahi Mahi, Shrimp, Jumbo Scallops wrapped in a Ti Leaf
Local Lilikoi Cheesecake
Iced Tea
Mango Smoothie

IMG_0036
Originally uploaded by amiura.

Our friend Geoff gave us this recommendation and a good one it was. We liked it so much we went back again - a hallmark of a good restaurant we find while on vacation. My personal favorite was the Bouillabaisse and the Seafood Lau Lau. If you're a dessert person, the Lilikoi Cheeseke was divine. The food was so good, Albert couldn't wait for the first photo and insisted on taking a bite of his steak.

Koloa Fish Market

Cuisine: Fresh Fish, Plate Lunches
Address: 5482 Koloa Rd., Koloa, Kauai, HI 96756
Average Price: $7-9
Telephone: 808.742.6199

What we ate:
Kalua Pig and Pork Lau Lau Deluxe Plate Lunch
Ahi Poke

I love Pork Lau Lau and this place knows how to do Pork Lau Lau. It's crowded with locals around lunch time which means it's not only good, it's cheap. I think it's a close call between thi place and Fish Express but if you're staying in Poipu, Koloa Fish Market is really close by.

At the risk of obliterating any credibility we have built up to this point, we need to point out one of our Hawaii favorites:
McDonald's

Believe us when we tell you that you need to try their pies. They deep fry them the way they should be served on the mainland. They also have creative fillings. In Oahu in January we had Taro Pie which was unbelievably delicious. We went to almost every McDonald's in Kauai to inquire about this elusive Taro Pie with no success but did discover the Red Bean Pie which is a close second to its Taro Pie cousin.

Hanalei Gourmet

Cuisine: Sandwiches, Burgers, Salads
Address:5-5161 Kuhio Hwy
Location: In downtown Hanalei close to the Bubba's Burgers
Phone:808.826.2524
Hours: Open Daily 8a.m. - 10p.m.
Website: http://hanaleigourmet.net/
Average Price: $7-10

What we ate:
Fish and Chips (Mahi Mahi)
Chicken Salad Sandwich
Oregon Bay Shrimp Sandwich

We came back here twice because we liked the food so much. Prices are reasonable expecially for lunch and you can have something other than a burger. Albert liked my Chicken Salad Sandwich so much that the second time around he got it. Then he woefully looked at my delicious Oregon Bay Shrim Sandwich which I quickly scarfed down - just to guard my territory.

Smith Family Luau

Address: Wailua Marina State Park
Location: Near the Wailua River outlet in Kapaa
Telephone: 808.821.6895
Hours: Imu ceremony starts at 6. You can tour the gardens before hand (only 20 minutes required)
Price Range: $60

The more we think about this luau, the more we hate it. They lost all credibility when they decided to add "dances" from "our beautiful and humble Japanese friends" - mostly 5 girls walking around stage in cheap fake kimonos opening and closing fans. If you want to talk food, we had to wait for probably half an hour before we even got to the buffet line. This place attracts tour buses which means that it's way too crowded, lacks any semblance of intimacy, and is totally cheesed out. If you want cheesy in a good way, go to the Princeville Luau. We were there for our honeymoon and I got to see Albert on stage shaking his thang...

Shooting Sand at Queen's Bath

2006-09-01T18:16:00.000-07:00

Some people ask me if I prefer having a son to a daughter. On most occasions, I say that I would be excited about having either. But... there are moments where I look to the heavens and thank my lucky stars that I am having a daughter. Albert and I went up to the north shore of Kauai and encountered 4 boys who were literally diving off cliffs, not into a safe pond or lake, but into the raging waters of the ocean as the waves slammed into the sharp lava rocks. These kids would try to goad the more timid (and smarter) kids into doing these same insane acts. What is it about testosterone? At such a moment, Albert turns to me and says, "See? This is why I'd love to have a son some day." Hmmmmm....

And this kid's famous last words: "Shoot Sand!"

Not to be outdone by some 12 year olds, Albert was easily convinced to swim through an underwater tunnel closer to where I was snorkeling in an area called Queen's Bath. The kids helpfully noted that Albert would not get stuck because "they had seen someone fatter than him make it through".

Babymooning in Kauai

2006-08-29T18:29:00.000-07:00

IMG_0077
Originally uploaded by amiura.

This past week, Albert and I went to Kauai to pay homage to many of the activities we won't be able to do (or more accurately for me - already cannot do) with our bundle of joy set to arrive in early December. Our week was filled with delicious food, virgin lava flows, snorkeling, reading, and frolicking in the waves. We will try to catch up this week with all of what went on...

Albert outruns Ann by a whole second!

2006-07-30T14:02:00.000-07:00

IMG_1983
Originally uploaded by amiura.

It's amazing what you can accomplish before 8:30 in the morning on a Sunday. Today, Albert ran 13.2 miles before most people had gotten up to eat their morning scones. I dropped off Albert near the Ferry building and was there to cheer him on when he got to the finish line in Golden Gate Park. In fact, we woke up at 4:30AM so that Albert could be at the start at 5:30AM.

IMG_1977
Originally uploaded by amiura.

I'd signed us both up a few months ago before I knew I was pregnant. When I initially found out, I was instructed by a nurse not to get my heart rate over 140. I'm sure that's easy for Lance Armstrong whose resting heart rate is something in the 30s but for someone whose heart beats as fast as a rabbit when she is typing, anything but a light walk would shoot my heart rate up beyond 150. So, as much as I love to run (let me be clear - there is not an ounce of sincerity in that statement) I decided I would stop until after the pregnancy. Well, subsequently, the doctor told me I could continue to do activities I had done pre-pregnancy until I felt uncomfortable but let's be honest - I've never been comfortable running. This is the girl who wrote in the Branford College face book that her motto was, "Whenever I feel the urge to exercise, I lie down until it goes away." I literally saw the inside of Payne Whitney Gym a grand total of 3 times during 4 years at Yale. I've come a long way since then. It all started when Julie and I decided to train for our very first 5k. We would call one another to brag that we had actually run for over a mile straight without walking. To tell you the truth, we chickened out of running that particular race but 2 years later we actually ran not only a 5k but also a 10k. Last year, I completed an Olympic triathlon.

Results
Originally uploaded by amiura.

Albert has been my loyal training companion throughout it all. Even today, he took me along on his race since I'd signed up but couldn't race. He took my timing chip and put it on his other shoe so that I would have a recorded time. I ran really fast for having been over 20 weeks pregnant I might say. I was only disappointed that Albert didn't put his shoe with my timing chip over the finish line before the one with his. He ended up beating me by a second.