Gaki N Me If you love to talk about the world, love Asian idols, this is the place.

At our house, we don't have a pet because I don't allow it. I don't want to vaccuum cat's hair from the sofa nor clean up dog poop in the yard. I don't want to clean fish tank or buy bird feed. I freak out at the thought of rodents and reptiles. We already have wild ducks, and ducklings in the spring visiting, along with Canada geese and their cute little goslings pooping all over the lawn. So on my way home today, I saw this little guy tenaciously heading into someone's front yard for shade but I plucked him off 8 inches away from its destination and plonked him down on my deck table for a photo session.  After dinner, he resurfaced and my daughter laughed at me that I had adopted a pet slug to substitute for a real pet. So be it. If the crows don't find him, my kids get to say goodbye and goodnight to Sluggy everyday.

 

Just came back from the beach. Nice and sunny day out there. I had so much fun taking photos of my kids and other kids. That's what sunny weather do to us who are often shrouded in rainclouds. These are all actual sized photos so no need to click on them. Some of them are out of focus but it's still passable when I reduce them in size...hehe...


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At my favorite art forum, they called for a photo of chocolate chip cookies. For three days, no one submitted anything probably because they are all elderlies and middle agers watching their weigth. So I obliged finally even though we are not cookie eaters. We are in the same boat in health watching. My daughter doesn't want more pimples, my middle son wants to look cool, my youngest is already at the 95th percentile in his age range. This is not going to help.

These are flowers leftover from the graduation ceremony at my husband's college today. My son doesn't think it looks like a stegosaurus.

  

On a nice sunny Saturday, while I explained to my youngest about China, American, military strength, draft dodgers while I pulled weeds and played battle with toy soldiers at the same time, my middle one finally joined us and set up a reconnaissance mission.

 
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I have been trying to take photos of flowers but the wind never stops blowing here and I am no longer going to try. I'll take photos of inanimate object or near inanimate ones. Here are a couple of photos of cactuses on my street.

 

Well, this portion is the bottom part as I wash the vase once a year. A bit out of focus since I'm using a useless small digital camera.

  

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At my home, I hardly cook because most of the time, my husband warns my kids that they eat my food at their own risk and he is not going to die eating my concoctions. So most of the time, he cooks. But there are times when donkey labor is required in the kitchen and despite my poor reputation as a food preparer, I get recruited to make these stuffed rolls / goi cuon (literal translation) of Vietnam for my kids....haha...I've made a wallpaper to show you the process to prove that you won't die from it.

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More fall colors from my daily walk.

  
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Of course, you wouldn't think I would just watch others windsurf.  Despite me being very poor when I lived in San Francisco, I saved enough money for special trips.  A windsurfing camp was my first true expense of over a hundred dollars.  I went to a 4 days 3 nights trip in between North and South California.

I didn't like these boards. They were shorter, lighter, and less stable than the long ones I was used to.

The organizer was a 20 year old girl, in the middle of this photo, who specialized in triathlons - running, biking and windsurfing.  The young girl next to her, still in college, was like a firecracker. Despite her small size, she could outsurf the cook down here.

He may look like a clown but he is actually a very good windsurfer who never gets wet in his clothes while windsurfing.

I lost my gloves on the second night and my hands were blistered all over.  But I did enjoy it.  After I got married, I went out to Berkeley Marina and windsurfed to perfect my skill.  It was thrilling to glide over choppy waters and turn and manoeuvre without falling. My husband, 8 years my senior, looked on, not knowing what to think. I felt bad making him look old as he watched.  After a few more times, I hung up my gloves and played tennis with him instead.

In Hongkong, not many people windsurf, let alone a girl.  But windsurfing really helps you understand balance, force, your body strength and the nature of wind and oceans. I went on to acquire boating licences with the knowledge of the wind and waves. If you haven't picked up a sports, you should at least try it a few times.

You must wonder why I have a fascination with windsurfing.  I met a lifeguard at my brother's school once and he introduced me to the sports. Now remember, Hong Kong is usually hot and muggy, and the wind blows only when there are typhoons.  He, who is also a lifeguard at one of the beaches in Sai Kung, taught me how to balance myself on a windsurf in ...almost still water.

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When I first came to this country, I fell in love with the American lifestyle. And when I met a couple of windsurfing friends, I realized what it truly meant to "work to live".  Every time the wind blows, my windsurfing friends, investment bankers, would take off an hour early and head out to the windiest portion of the Bay and windsurf. To me who comes from a culture of money, money, money, it had a great impact.  From then on, I didn't want to go back to Hong Kong.  I knew this was the right country for me.  On this summer day, my friends took part in a windsurfing competition. In the variable weather of the Bay Area, one minute it is sunny, the other it's foggy, and the next, a hurricane rips through.  Windsurfing paradise!


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Every night the sunset is different. The cloudier it is, the more beautiful it is.

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