Happy 2008!!!

To everyone who has faithfully followed this blog, don't you have anything else better to do?! ;) Just kidding.
I put it up for all of you, so thanks for reading.
We, the Yens wish you all the happiness, good health for the New Year!
May we all get what we desire, if it's good for us.
May we be compassionate and patient towards others, and not let the fast paced, money making corporate world engulf and
swallow us up.
May we stay humble and spare a thought (and money) for the less fortunate.
Lastly, may we strive to stay slim...
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
This flashing spectacles cost us usd$10!! We got them at Boston Common earlier this evening, after watching a 10 minute fireworks display, the first of two at 7pm and the other one welcoming the New Year at Boston Harbour at midnight. It's too cold for us to be out at midnight, and we've decided to watch the New Year celebrations at Times Square, NY on TV.

NYC

We're back after spending Christmas in New York. This is my second X'mas away from home. The first time was when I was in Palembang covering the Silkair crash. I remember our friends from the office sent all of us (we had quite a large team there) a box of goodies from home, including coke and such!
Anyway, NYC was great...we did as much as we could with a 4-yr-old in tow, who wanted to be carried much of the time, and would throw a tantrum and refuse to budge if we didn't. Despite that, we did manage to walk the Brooklyn Bridge, one-way from Brooklyn to Manhattan; visit the Apple Store on 5th Ave on X'mas day (it was SUPER crowded cos it was one of the few stores open that day) go to Times Square several times; visit Rockefeller Center to see the famous X'mas tree and the skating rink just past midnite on Christmas morning; go to church on Christmas day; eat at Grimaldi's pizza; step into the New York Times building; go to B&H; Chelsea market, amongst other things.
My last visit to NYC was in 1999 so it was a long overdue revisit. New York is always nice. There really isn't any other city like it. It's so vibrant and crowded, just being there gets one excited (well me at least) and as our Chinatown bus was approaching Manhattan, we could see the skyline from Brooklyn and it was just very pretty, even on a gloomy day. I hardly shot but MJ got some nice pix. At one point he said he felt like Joel Meyerowitz, shooting the beautiful light which one can find only in places off the equator. The light back home is nice some of the time, but generally just too hard. A sea of heads emerging from the white smoke emitted by the hotdog/kebab stands outside the Apple Store was simply a photographer's dream to shoot. However, realistically, only one of us can shoot at a time, cos the other person's gotta keep an eye on Meg. I wonder if my days of street photography are over?
We met up with our friends Ginnie and Alfie, who've moved to NY and lived there for 4 yrs. They kindly let us stay with them for a night, after which we moved to Milford Plaza hotel, just a block away from Times Square. We went for a good dim sum lunch, desserts at Max Brennar, cup cakes at Burgers and Cupcakes, Southern food at Soul Fixins and BBQ ribs at Virgil's BBQ.
Needless to say, I've put on a few pounds! (actually, that's an understatement!)

If you take the Fung Wah Chinatown bus, you will pass this area along the highway, as you approach Manhattan. It's a beautiful sight, with the cemetary in the foreground and the craggy outlines of the city skyline in the background.
MJ's Joel Meyerowitz moment. This is a view of 5th Ave, between 58th and 58th St, where the 24/7/365 Apple Store is.
Dazzling lights at Times Square and where the most important shop for Meg is, Toys "R" Us.
Mummy, will you stop taking pictures already so I can eat them?!
The Apple Store by night. The place is cool, reflecting the apple brand, and FAO Schwatz is right beside it. In fact, they share the same address! (but different zip code)
One of the numerous moments where Meg decided to show her temper when her demand to be carried was not met. We didn't dare walk off too far even though we wanted to teach her a lesson, for fear that someone might just swoop her away.

For more pix, go to http://www.flickr.com/photos/12384386@N02/sets/72157603577940531/

Moisturise, Moisturise!

If you don't, not only will your skin be dry, but it will be incredibly itchy. We religiously smear lots on Meg daily, and sometimes have fun in the process. Funny thing is, she squirms a lot when we're trying to apply it on her body, but when it comes to her face, she stays perfectly still, after MJ warned her about the cream getting into her eyes and stinging her. Our daughter, has a low threshold for pain lah...

MJ having some fun at Meg's expense.

Hearty Brunch

It was actually our lunch, as we woke up at noon. My only complain about this recipe is that it takes about 45 mins to bake, not considering preparation time. So when we finally tucked into it, it was 1 pm plus and we were famished. MJ claims credit for this one...I merely helped to mash the potatoes. It was gooooooood!

Egg in potato...it tastes as good as it looks!

Our First "Live" Christmas Tree

To buy or not to buy, that was the usd$65 question...That was the going rate at The Home Depot about 2-3 weeks ago but Jill told me that if we wait, we can get it for as little as usd10 or even free! But that's probably going to happen only on X'mas eve or X'mas day itself. Since we will be going to New York for a week from this Saturday to spend Christmas there, we thought we'd go get the tree immediately, and hoped the prices would've dropped somewhat by now.

So here's another "first" for us and probably our last. I wanted Meg (and MJ and myself) to experience having a live X'mas tree since it's relatively cheap and common here. We got a 6-ft tall Balsam Fir from a X'mas tree farm. This is the most fragrant of X'mas trees. For every such tree sold, 3 seedlings are planted in its place. This is what the tag says anyway...The massive tree cost us usd25 and the base usd10. A good deal, I would say. Meg religiously helped place the decorations on the tree, but as expected, all the bulbs and stars were strung only at the bottom! We bought the decor from Ikea. Pretty cheap for the amount we got and then I discovered why...each ornament came without the string attached! I had to tie thin nylon strings onto each one of the 110 pieces myself! One thing about buying stuff from Ikea, they're cheap but you gotta work for the price! I was contemplating the best way to attach the strings, cos if I tied them one by one, I'd still be doing them after X'mas! So the Yen family formed a factory line. I decided the best way to attach them was to hold them together over a flame so they'd melt and fuse together. MJ would thread the fine nylon strings through the eye of the ornament, I would hold them together with a tweezer over the flame and Meg would hang them up on the tree. We did this for a little more than an hour! What an effort! So this tree deserves to be blogged about!

So this is what happens, after we pick a tree, the staff will bring it to be packed.
He pulls the tree through this huge ring-like contraption which has a netting on the other end of it, so basically, the contraption bags the tree into the net, and at the same time, compresses the tree to make it easier to transport it home.
They help to load and tie it securely to the roof of the car, a Volvo I'd rented from Zipcar, while Meg looks apprehensively at the resident dog.
This is what a Christmas tree farm looks like. It's not that big, but they have enough trees with various kinds, heights and sizes to choose from. Most of them were about usd35-40 so I think we got a good deal at 25. MJ spotted it.
Transporting it home wasn't as tedious as I'd imagined. It started to snow just as we got to the farm but He was kind and it stopped, and then started raining only after we'd unloaded the tree back home. The thing about these live trees is that they shed pine needles everywhere! Putting it up is a two-person job and there's a good deal of sweeping involved. I'm not looking forward to the disposal part of it! Stage 1: Compact. Stage 2: With netting cut. Stage 3: In full bloom with decorations. The base of the tree trunk needs to be submerged in water and the circular base can contain about 3 inches of it.
The tree smells really good but after a few hours, we became immune to it.
We're finally done!

Boston Children's Museum

The Boston Children's Museum at Congress Street is a cool place for kids. It's a very hands on learning playground and the "games" mix science and fun, the perfect combination for kids to stimulate their left brain, and to keep their interest and attention for hours on end. I highly recommend it! One tip: If you're coming from Singapore, sign up as a member of the Singapore Science Centre (SSC) to gain free entry in more than 290 museums, mostly children and science museums, in 12 countries, including the States. Many of these museums are under the ASTC Travel Passport Program (Association of Science-Technology Centers). Very worth it, considering the membership to SSC for a year is only S$50! Thanks to Tuang Liang for telling me about it.

"Yee Ha"! There was a chest of cowboy/cowgirl clothes with hat and all at a section dedicated to the wild west.
Slam Dunk...With a little help!
Next stop, Mt Everest! In actual fact, she was just a couple of inches off the ground!
MJ teaching Meg the patience and perserverance required to make giant bubbles.

Yoga Meg

Our friend Phuong, is a yoga instructor. So we've been influenced by her a little bit and decided to try out faux yoga poses. Also, being stuck at home for two days due to the rain, snow and wind have compelled us to turn to all sorts of activities to keep ourselves entertained. Photography, naturally, was one of them, baking, cooking, re-arranging our furniture and clearing up my desk, doing housework, etc are some of the other things. It was overall quite productive time at home!

Ok, ok, this pix obviously wasn't shot on that gloomy, rainy, snowy and windy day...but it's a really nice pix MJ made...cept for the crumb near her mouth! (which you prob can't see, but trust me, it's there)

O&O

How could I pass up a chance to photograph two hot personalities like Obama and Oprah? When the opportunity presented itself through one of my professors, who was shooting for Polaris and asked if we were interested in tagging along, I jumped at the chance! 4 of us from my small Picture Editing class went in a Zipcar to Manchester, New Hampshire last Sunday afternoon, and it was a fun outing. I drove them and we blasted music along the way (not my type of music but it was bearable) and after the event ended at around 9.30pm, it was snowing quite hard. I had to drive in the snow which was quite an experience, cos the falling snow covered the lane markings along the highway and I couldn't see a thing! Anyway, I prayed and all was fine.

He spoke VERY well. His delivery was excellent and if I were eligible to vote, I would vote for him cos by the end of the evening, I was converted. He was that good.
Don't you think his wife, Michelle, looks like Condoleezza Rice?!
Mesmerised by the charismatic man.
Oprah said this is the first time she's backing a politician in his race for the presidency, and that she'd "done her homework" and urged everyone to vote for him. One of my friends aptly put it, that she was "converting the converted". Most people at the Verizon Wireless arena, where the rally was held, were already supporters.
She sacrifice her weekend to support his two-day, three-state tour, speaking at rallies in South Carolina, Iowa and New Hampshire.
Had to shoot this lah, since I'm in America.
Giving him the thumbs up! Not only that, she's raised a couple of millions for his campaign ok...and he called her "the lady with the strange name"!

Bakers In The Kitchen

MJ's latest obsession is baking bread...and the little one is of course a follower. We've religiously made our rounds to the various supermarkets and baking supplies stores to get the ingredients and utensils for baking...and found out in the process, that King Arthur's flour is one of the best around, and one makes those nice slits on bread surfaces with a bread slasher, a little blade that comes in a sheath. Then we also went hunting for a piece of granite which MJ wanted to use as a hotstone base in the oven, and settled for three brick sized pieces which are originally meant to line driveways and floors. They were only 1.50 a piece, so MJ decided it was good enough if joined together, and we bought it and when he came home, he scrubbed them several rounds and baked them several times to make sure they're cleaned out. Anyway, here are the results...

Bakers at work, do not disturb!
This doesn't look all that appetizing cos he made a few omissions along the way, but it still turned out well.
It tasted soooooooo good! And the ingredients which go into bread making are simple and healthy: Flour, yeast, salt and water! Just these four ingredients! You should try it!

Snow Storm Part 2

As you can tell, Meg had a thrilling time playing with the snow. It's a first for all of us, playing with freshly made snow as it's falling. I've been to places with snow before, but they're usually already on the ground, and hardened. This was a lovely experience and we had to trudge through shin deep snow by evening time, after it had snowed for about 6 hours non-stop. The total amount of snow we got in the end was 12 inches deep and the snow ploughs were out in full force clearing the dangerously slippery roads all night. The day after is quite lovely too. The sun is out and the snow's melting, so it's almost like a second rain, where the water's dripping from tree branches and other surfaces.

My friend Jacq taught me how to make a snow angel by lying on the snow (and having to suffer the falling snow on one's face) and flapping one's hands and legs, in wind-screen wiper style and that creates the wings and the robe of the angel. It's looks great if done well, really like one!
The little rascal decided to check out for herself what falling snow tastes like...
...and couldn't get enough of it. I told her her tongue would freeze if she continued to do that...hahaha. Actually I did it too and if you're ever thirsty, that's an alternative source of water! It tastes nice and fresh, never mind the pollution it picks up on its way down!
Feeling excited about the snow storm...
...which slowly gave way to suddenly realising how cold it had gotten...
Ok this is the first picture of me on this blog. I've made it a point not to include any of myself, but MJ insisted that I put this one in, cos it really shows how hard the snow was falling. Ok..just this once.
Traffic was gridlocked and drivers were sounding their car horns incessantly, like that helps! Shops closed early, classes were cancelled and the city practically came to a standstill. Today, the city officials are meeting to address the poor measures in place to handle a snow storm like yesterday's and to see how they can better manage future recurrences...I was like, huh, doesn't this happen every year? There should be an SOP by now and this should be a norm, something to be expected every winter?!!?
Trying to shoot stuff other than ourselves. The tudor styled building you see in the background is a clock tower that's a landmark in Coolidge Corner, near where we live.

Snow Storm

The snow storm has begun. It's currently -4°C and about 4 to 6 inches of snow is expected. We're going to do the insane and go outdoors now, just to play with the fresh snow and throw a couple of snowballs! We'll let you know how it goes! In the meantime, traffic is building up outside. Cars are skidding on the roads even though their brakes are on. I think it's pretty scary driving out there right now. I'm glad we're walking!
So excited at never having played with fresh snow before.

Getting Used To The Cold...

is not an easy thing for people like us who hail from the far east. Even me, who likes the cold, am finding it a little too much to bear...and the best news is, it's not even winter yet. We've had lows of -9°C in the last week, and it snowed a few times. First snow is always best, cos after that the snow hardens and some melts but not all and then it turns into dirty slush. It's quite awful. MJ, who lacks body fat, has been finding it too cold, and so has Meg, whose solution to beating the cold is to have me carry her! The snow turns into sheets of ice along the sidewalks, and that becomes very slippery and dangerous. We're waiting for the next round of snowfall to make some snowballs and try to make snow angels too! I've heard the theory how to do that but have yet to try it. What the cold does bring though, are good photo opportunities...

This view is way better than the earlier ones!
"Kia Gua!"
Meg with Mr Frog at the frog pond.
Sunset at Boston Common

They're Here...

And they brought the snow with them! After having been snowed in at O'Hare for 2 hours, sitting patiently on the plane and being entertained by a witty air steward - an anomaly from your typical service on United Airlines, which is CR%#! - Yen and the little one managed to finally touch down at Logan at around 2100hrs Saturday evening. She called out "MUMEEEEEEEEE!!!!" from the top of the escalator but had to patiently wait til it brought her down before running into my arms and jumping into them. She looked different from when I last saw her on the day I left 3.5 mths ago. Very much more grown up and taller!.
Yen was dressed smartly in a collared shirt, a pullover sweater and a suede jacket. Quite 'ang moh' styled...and he told me he was almost upgraded to business class during the Sing-HK leg due to his dressing. Unfortunately, that didn't work out after all.

Boston's never been this cold since I got here. So they're experiencing the worst weather so far, which is probably a good thing as it prepares them for winter. Meg and I went to church this morning and she started off the journey by saying, "It's ok mummy, I like the cold, I can 'tahan'", and by the time we were on our way back, it became, "Boston is Vvvvvery cold, mummy! I'm so cold, CARRY!!!!!" Aiyoh...luckily her weight is still pretty manageable enough to carry, but I refused to carry her all the way and asked her to just walk fast.

I was lamenting my loss of total freedom just a day before they arrived, and while that kind of situation will probably never come by again, I'm loving having them here. As I type, my husband is still sleeping, and has been for the last 17hrs! Meg has been asleep for the last 3.5hrs and while we were all sleeping, the snow decided to fall but we missed everything! Here's what it looks like...freshly made...