what gives them peace

we just have our first trip with other families. while the kids were playing half of the time and fighting in the other half, i just found the panacea that could give them a peaceful moment......

special delivery

we got a special delivery a couple of weeks ago and mac was so excited that he called me right after he opened the parcel and flipped through the beautiful book inside.

"you've got to see this when you come home!" i heard more excitement than when i told him i was pregnant.

i was awed after i returned home.

thank you for the lee's family for bringing us these awesome pictures all year long! :)

and though the mommy, a long-time friend, almost never appeared on the pics, it's nice enough to know that she's blessed with two adorable girls and a caring and talented husband.

thank you again, and the book will be a treasure in our family.

brokeback mountain?

oh, isn't it what ang lee says "everyone has a brokeback mountain deep in mind"? : P

p.s. carolyn, just kidding. hope you don't mind... and don't worry : P

sin & redemption

for those who know our occupation, they should understand how our job is "environmental harmful". in order to redeem our sin, we went to tree-planting last saturday : P of course rafael was coming with us, he enjoyed very much shovelling the soil... on my shoes. thanks auntie sandy for teaching him this trick...

love actually is all around

don't you agree, rafael? but i can't believe the love token is a pair of crocs : P

1. making acquaintance

2. being hardhearted

3. change of mind

4. feeling regretful

5. way back to love

6. overjoyed

moody rafael

over the easter holidays we went to visit many of our friends including artus who used to live next door of my parents' place and now moves to discovery bay. artus is about one month younger than rafael. they did meet informally before (but guess they can't recall for being too young at that time). i do expect they would get along well as they all fancy cars - different kinds of cars, no matter two-wheel, three-wheel or multiple-wheel : P

however, rafael was a bit cranky and moody shortly after we arrived in db. probably he was too sleepy. he kept frowning during the lunch until he fell asleep in amy's arms...

when rafael woke up then it's artus' turn to go to nap. too bad that the kids really got no chance to get to know each other... but fortunately for the adults, we did have a nice chat : )

rafael looked so happy on our return journey... it must be auntie jeanice's nice treats that has cheered him up : )

a blossomy day

the weather is so nice today and it's a great pleasure to take a walk outside. at the invitation of auntie hilton, we go to the government house to admire the colourful azaleas in full bloom : )

this one is taken by amy and this one by our "big boss", whose better?

is rafael appreciating the beauty of flowers...

or having poopoo? : P

haven't seen hilton's family for quite a long time and glad to see that her daughter has now become a lovely and cute little lady : ) sorry that rafael is a bit cool today... probably he hasn't got a good sleep last night. i am sure next time rafael will become enthusiastic as he used to be!

see... he can hardly keep his eyes open...

we try soooooooo hard to make him smile. i think this is the only one in which he grins...

surprise mail for rafael

when was the last time you receive a personal mail from the postman?

honestly i couldn't remember. what fill our letterbox these days are only promotional mails and bills (not that i'm complaining my friends, cause i know i didn't mail any letters to anyone either).
so the other day we were really surprised when we got a notification telling us that there's a parcel for rafael waiting to be collected at the post office.

i was thinking, wait.... did i order anything online recently? but then i usually deliver my shopping to the office, and i don't really address those to rafael...

what could it be?

it's a gift from our blogger friend kambayashi family!

our friends from afar, it really melts our hearts to know that though a busy mom, you had thought of us when you did your shopping and remembered our little passing comment about being not able to find any washable ink pads in hong kong to quench rafael's craze for stamps, and that you actually bought those pads (plus a pair of cute stamps!) and didn't mind making a fuss to the post office to mail them to us! (you know i don't go to the post office these days even though it's just blocks away, but imagine you need to drive there!)

rafael certainly had loads of fun pretending to be the music class teacher and giving me and himself stamp after stamp right away after we opened the box! thank you soooooooooooooooooooooooo much!

by the way, sabrina, where did you get our address? was it from auntie sandy?

遠處給靖愷寄來的小包裹，原來是遍尋香港不獲的可洗印墨。印墨不但可用水洗，不怕喜歡周圍印的靖愷將手腳都染色，奇怪是，印台原來還會發熱，溫暖我們一家三口的心。謝謝你，良幸君！

bits and pieces @ kadoorie farm

嘉道理農場半天遊的濕濕碎...

靖愷與飛禽走獸：有舉起一隻手的鱷魚、正在休息的貓頭鷹、咯咯叫的公雞母雞、在曬太陽的野豬、隔著玻璃想搶吃的馬騮、單腳站的紅鶴、邊吃邊洗白白的肥豬、表演飛行的麻鷹，還有幫忙拿著垃圾箱的小兔子。

rafael & animals

靖愷與花花草草：紅的、黃的、青的、藍的、白的、黑的... 還有紫的花椰菜和開得燦爛的幾株櫻花！

rafael & blossoms

靖愷與我們：與公公哼歌、跟婆婆看魚、和sherman, sabrina扮紅鶴、從auntie stephenie手上拿野莓乾吃、向稻草人說哈囉，還在媽媽的懷裡跟影子拍照。

rafael & us

one leg up @ kadoorie

do you know why the flamingoes stand on one leg?

何以紅鸛要單腳站？



and do you know why rafael stands on one leg?

那何以靖愷又要單腳站？

spongy learning

靖愷是汽車和交通工具迷，聖誕前買了這套amazing machines送給他，百來元有十本車呀飛機呀還有關於火箭的書，另附精美禮盒包裝。

今天他又要auntie judy跟他說其中這本幾乎日日看的terrific trains，一打開便說著：big trains, small trains, old trains and new, (rattling and whistling --) choo choo choo! 原來他已懂得背出來。

孩子真是最吸水的海綿。很快就要認真面對找學校的問題，我不怕他學的字不夠多不夠深，我只怕他的老師說的寫的中文英文都是錯，和會教他怎樣的價值觀。

今天謝謝auntie judy讀了一本又一本！

auntie sandy

it's amazing that some people are naturally attractive to kids. they don't have to do much to please the kids. but the kids just love them. well... definitely i am not gifted with such charisma but at least there are two persons that i know have that talent. one is my father - my little cousins and rafael all like playing with him. of course he also has unlimited gadgets to make them happy.

the other one is sandy. perhaps because she's got three kids at home (don't get confused the children are her sisters') which makes her smell like a kid? or she still retains a childlike heart? anyway, as i said before, kids just love her. rafael is no exception. rafael met sandy only for a few times but he seems to be already an old friend with her.

we went to the music class together with sandy and her friends once last month. in the next lesson the week after, rafael kept asking "auntie sandy?" and pointed at the place where sandy had sat. omg, i don't think rafael would do the same if i am the one who is absent. i am not only pathetic but also jealous! : P

bid adieu

rafael has been attending music class for almost 4 months and i am sure he enjoys every single minute in the class - the credit undoubtedly goes to teacher irene. many of you know that rafael is seldom willing to be held by others but irene, so it really tells you how much he likes her. in fact not only rafael, but also amy and i love irene very much - i think we are all attracted by her cheerful voice and lovely smile : )

sadly irene will be leaving for her home town next month. rafael just has his last music class with irene on sunday. words are simply not enough to tell how much we will be missing her...

judging by rafael's expression, i know he must have started missing irene...

dear teacher irene,

we'll never forget the joy and fun you brought to us and hope that our path will cross again soon!

all the best,

rafael & family

inspiration lake

thanks stephenie for her lift, we finally came across the opportunity to visit the inspiration lake on tuesday. i wouldn't have had the motivation to go if i had to drive by myself as i was just off from overnight work on tuesday morning.

it was cloudy on tuesday but luckily it didn't rain. to my surprise the facilities in the playground are still in good shape...

rafael was tempted to touch the water coming out from the fountain but he was so cautious about not to get wet : P

of course rafael spent some of the time in playing with his little toy car...

we asked rafael to show us a crying face but he ended up giving us this - perhaps he felt so happy from the bottom of his heart : )

the lawn is green and spacious. we can hardly think of another lawn where we can step with our bare feet...

another pic of a happy mom and a cheerful son - i'm lovin' it :)

outing with friends

the picture was taken in september last year when rafael was still willing to get settled in his stroller...


this was taken last saturday. rafael no longer wanted his stroller, and also refused to stay still in front of the bicycle for a single minute to let me take the photo...


instead, he was quite interested in this "tin hau temple"...


oh yes, we visited stanley with the company of margaret's family and also other friends. unlike rafael, little ashley was so senitive to camera while rafael was busy in looking for mama...


i'm glad that little ashley seemed enjoying in looking after rafael. just like her mother has been taking care of rafael's daddy : P

visit to peng chau

island trip again - last sunday we went to peng chau with auntie hilton's family. the weather was so bad a few days ago and we were afraid that the trip had to be called off... but luckily the rain stopped just in time, even though it was windy with no sunshine.

group photo before departure - too bad hang hang (formerly known as bobo) was a bit sleepy and refused to look at the camera.


it took about 40 minutes to go to peng chau by ferry. little rafa was able to remain on his seat quietly in the first 20 minutes but then he asked (or commanded?) to linger around in the cabin...


both rafael and daddy visited peng chau for the first time. peng chau is tiny place and it seems the time has stopped in the 80s...


we went to discovery bay for lunch after our peng chau tour. rafael was so excited after meeting many many dogs in the discovery bay plaza... and he was not scared by touching them! (luckily he didn't get bitten : P)