2 for Tea and Tea for 2

For the past few days, we traveled outside of Bhutan to Darjeeling, aka the Tea Country, and also to Kurseong in West Bengal, India. The drive there takes about 5 hours one-way but Erik did wonderfully well. He adapts pretty quickly!

No Horsie Ride
In the center of Darjeeling, where it was the "jewel" of Britain because of its tea, they have a "toy train" where it can go from Darjeeling to almost outskirts of Phuentsholing Bhutan. It's pretty amazing and is still on wooden tracks (approx only 2 - 3 feet wide) and on coal. Of course, the tracks are now slowly getting replaced with steel and concrete instead.

Also in the town center are famous tourist "horsie" rides, where kids favor riding the horses around the area. Daddy thought it was a great idea to do it with Erik since he loved it when he was young. However, Great Grand Daddy (M.W.Hing) prior to our trip, told Erik exclusively, "no riding on the horse, we are Ma's (aka horse in Chinese) and horse do not ride other horses".

So as soon as Daddy set Erik on to the tiny pony, he screamed ever so loud. Erik didn't want ANYTHING to do with the pony. Then Daddy came up with the great idea of, maybe if Mummy sat on the pony?! ...even then, Erik didn't it and cried. So we didn't push the issue any more. WHEW!

Boarding School
It was boarding school opening again after a long winter break, so Erik and company (including Daddy, Mummy, Grandma Katy, Grandpa Tom, along with Grand-Aunt Mary and Grand-Aunt Ellie) decided to drop off the 2 "little" girls, aka Erik's Aunty Laijen and Laigum, off to their boarding school. We also toured Daddy's alma mater boarding school, Goethals Memorial, where he attended grade 3 through 10. We saw Daddy's old dormitory, canteen, classrooms, study halls, library, and computer room (which the furniture tables were donated by Grandpa Tom)

The experience for Daddy was pretty surreal to have Erik sit with him in his old classroom and to walk the old playing fields. For mummy, it was interesting since she never experienced boarding school before. The tour was an eye-opener. We also spoke to the principal there, Brother Beddoe, who offered an honest opinion about our "very tentative" plans on enrolling Erik into a boarding school system for a better education at a later age. His opinion is simple, kids need their parents' guidance. They are only kids for so long and for Erik since he's already in the States, he should go into the States' system first and foremost. Education is important but a parents' influence is equally as important.

Upon dropping off the aunties to their all-girls school, we came across one first-time boarder who was just in tears walking into the school. She screamed so loud and hard and began to pull her hair due to frustration trying to communicate to her parents that she did NOT want to go to boarding school. She was only 6 or 7 years old! SIGH! At that moment, Daddy immediately declared Erik as a lifetime day scholar instead. He couldn't bear parting ways with our little baby and at such a young age :o).

Tea Country
Upon our return to Phuentsholing, Bhutan, we also stopped by one of the more famous Tea gardens, Makaebari Tea estate, which Grandpa Tom knew the owner so we got an exclusive tour on how teas are made, ranging from Orthodox Black Tea to Green Tea to White Tea. Erik was fast asleep at this time so Daddy and Mummy took advantage and enjoyed our little tour.

Now Mummy knows a lot more about the tea process and can truly appreciate it a lot more. I've learned that only the lowest grade of teas goes into tea bags, which is pretty much what we drink in the States a lot more....its' also known as TEA DUST. ...Blah! YUCK! Also Mummy understands what are considered grade 1 teas and why they are the most expensive in the world. Sigh! So a little tip for non-tea drinkers, if its Darjeeling tea, drink it with a drop of lemon to get the full flavor...not the crappy milk and sugar ;o) (which I love drinking).

Happy Birthday to Daddy with a special picnic in Phuentsholing!!

The tradition in the Ma Family clan is to picnic with all the kiddies during the Chinese New Year week. For the past many many years (10+ years already), there were no such picnic since many of the kids are off to university to study and are never home during the celebration. However, for 2007 - the year of the golden pig, it was different. Almost all the kiddies are home except our dearest KhaFeng (aka Uncle Penjo), Ahman, and Mui Mui, who are all abroad doing their own thing at this time. Plus this year it coincided with Daddy's birthday! What a wonderful way to celebrate?!

So with so many kiddies, the annual family picnic was alive again, thanks to Granduncle John and Grandaunty Sonam for offering to host. Picnic in Phuentsholing was a complete different experience than the States. In the U.S., when we go picnic, everything is pretty much there, the grill, the picnic benches, and also....toilet facilities! However, here in Bhutan, picnic was definitely a DIY experience!

After the ideal site was selected, right next to the river on the dried up riverbed, wood had to be gathered to make a "bond" fire for cooking! The food is not your usual American marinated meat for grilling. It was traditional Bhutanese / Indian fare including Aloo Dum (Potato curry), Aloo Gobi (potato & cauliflower curry), Paratha, and many very delicious food. Now we know where Erik's "Foodie" personality comes from! Hahahaha

The big difference between picnicing in Bhutan versus the States is the fact that we had a LOT of eagles flying over us while we ate! They didn't attack us or anything but just waiting for their share of the food. The "kiddies" threw whatever food they didn't want up into the air and Erik was able to see (from some safe distance away) how the eagles came swooping down so fast one after another to grab their meal! It was truly amazing, even for Mummy who have not seen eagles so near!!

Erik also had a great time playing in the river, dipping his feet into the icy cold water and seeing the current run. His eyes were so sharp that he bent down and picked up a pebble and proceeded to put it in his mouth! Thank goodness Grandma Katy was quick enough to take it away! Whew! Our usual picnic would last about 3 hours max in the States but over here, it lasted a solid 5+ hours, until the afternoon tea was served (again, this was brewed on fire!). Although Daddy wasn't feeling good and had to lay down for majority of the festivities, it was a wonderful experience for Mummy and Erik!

Milestone Update (while in Bhutan)

After being here for about 1 week already, our darling Erik has achieved some amazing milestones. He wins everybody over in the family with his bright smile and his mischievous glances.

So far Erik can do the following very well:

Say "Baba" and really mean Daddy

Stand on his own two feet for 30+ seconds without any support

Point to the door to indicate he wants to go outside

Sign and Say "dog" in English and really mean dog

Sign and say "bird" in Cantonese and really mean birds

Learned to ride the "baby walker" as if it was a scooter, he just pushes really hard and watch him propel himself forward or backward. Quite dangerous if not monitored!

Clap his hands on command

Play with his mouth by doing "Wah Wah Wah" sound on the palm of his hands

Ride Daddy's old wood rocking horse - the handmade horse is over 30+ years old but still in excellent condition, where all of Erik's 10 aunties and uncles have ridden it in their childhood too!

When Great Grandparents say "tick tick tick", Erik likes to rock back and forth and smile at them!

For Chinese New Year, Erik was able to do the proper greeting, by clasping both of his hands in front. This really tickled his Great Grandparents as we greeted them with a cantonese "Gong Hay Fat Choy"!

Erik is definitely having a wonderful time here. Every morning so far, he has woken up with a bright cheery smile and clapping his hands, as if he couldn't wait for the day to begin! Another adventurous day for Erik and his culprits (aka Grand aunties and Grand uncles!)

Feast @ Grand Auntie Sally's!

Two days after the New Year celebration, the "Ma Family" clan descends upon Grand Auntie Sally's house for a noon feast! The dishes were more on the Indian / Bhutanese side, meaning spicy :o) MMmmm...YUM!

There, Erik got to try some very delicious potato and ground pork curry. It was spicy even though considered mild by Bhutanese, it still had some heat to it. Our darling boy just loved it! Erik also got to eat some Bhutanese red rice, which was selling for about $4.00 per pound at Whole Foods back at home, so its great to eat real local version without paying the import surcharges ;o) hahaha!

Everything in this side of the world is homemade, including the yogurt (aka "Dahi" in Hindi). Mummy isn't much of a yogurt person but the homemade version is very smooth and not sour at all, unlike the ones back in the States. So Erik got to taste some of those too!! Our boy is definitely loving the regular table food and doesn't like anything mush at all.

It's quite nice to here and just be with family! Daddy and Mummy haven't been this relaxed for a very very long time. Honestly, stress is a non-factor here. Now we understand why Bhutan has a "National Gross Happiness" measurement!

Happy Chinese New Year!

Chinese New Year at the "Ma Family" clan is a complete different experience. Week prior to New Year's, Grandma Katy and all the other Grand Aunties (Mary, Ellie, and Sally) make the New Year snacks from scratch. Many many hard labor goes into it.

New Year's Eve

On New Year's Eve, Grandma Katy, Grandpa Tom (they are the well-known chefs in the Ma Family clan) along with the assistance of Grand Aunty Mary and Grand Aunty Ellie are busy all day long in the common kitchen cooking up more than 12+ dishes!! The house was filled wonderful aroma of yummy food throughout the day.

As for Erik, we prepared him for the evening festivities by helping him take a long 3 hour nap in the afternoon!:o) hee hee Erik was having wonderful time having to be pampered and babied by all of his Grand Aunties and Grand Uncles. The entire clan of more than 26+ family members descended onto the main house in Phuensholing just to enjoy the very delicious food! Erik was able to play and enjoy himself also until way past his normal bedtime; he stayed up until 10:30pm!

Of course, the party still continues way past midnight! We could hear laughter throughout the house and a bit of drinking games going around. Grand uncle Bobby even showed how to make your own Irish Bailey when the real stuff ran out :o) hahaha!

New Year's Day

Bright and early on New Year's Day, everybody dresses their very best and give offerings to the ancestors and Gods for blessing us our good fortune. Afterwards, its a whirlwind of family events that will go past the the afternoon and well in to the early evening!

Erik woke up exactly at 6:45am this morning, clapping his hands and smiling away. He keeps saying "bird" in Cantonese! Seriously, Daddy and Mummy are now quite worried that when we return to reality (i.e. in the States), Erik will definitely miss all the attention and things that he's experiencing now.

Also, Erik was able to get a lot of red packet (Lucky Money) today! WhooHoo! For all those who may not know, being the youngest in the family have the utmost advantage when it comes to Chinese New Year as all the older aunts, uncles, and siblings must give red packets of lucky money! :o) hee hee. Erik will be the oldest of his generation but for now, he's the youngest one also! hee hee

After the tradition of family picture taking, we all go around the property to visit the different houses. First, we visited Grand Uncle Bobby and Aunty Dinki's house to wish them a prosperous new year. We were given lots of yummy snacks and drinks. Then, it was off to Grand Uncle John and Aunty Sonom's house for more snacks and drinks! Erik had a blast discovering that there were even MORE area for him to explore!

Then, when all the visits are done. We came back to the main house and began a good game of "10 1/2". Think Blackjack but instead of getting 21 you must get 10 1/2! :o) hahaha. It was a great game for Daddy and Mummy! We went in with 200 (local currency) each, and came out 150 and 110 ahead! WhooHoo! With all the Red Packets we had to give out this year...Whew! Thank goodness we recovered something, right?! ;o) hahaha!

Greetings From Bhutan!

We've finally reached our destination after 24+ hours of flying
time in the "Land of the Thunder Dragon", BHUTAN. However, it literally took us 3 days to get to Bhutan! For all those who are waiting to know how did Erik do on the
plane ride, our little boy was absolutely fantastic! Mummy and Daddy were too cheap to buy Erik a seperate plane seat this time around so he was a lap infant for the 24 hour journey home.

Erik slept beautifully in our laps. He took turns sprawling on each our laps. He refused to sleep in the Singapore Airlines' bassinet. We tried a couple of times throughout our journey but Erik was just comfortable with us.

So here's summary of the bad stuff that happened:

Daddy left his beloved Kelty Pack at home!

We had to make a pitstop at Babies R' Us to get a baby carrier

Erik has a bad case of ear infection but is now doing much better AFTER the antibiotics

Mummy had a very bad case of barroll ear syndrome, basically air pressure affecting the ear drum and causing it to be sucked inward and some internal bleeding going on. Had to see a doctor immediately at the Singapore Airport. Doing much better now with the medication and MUCH needed rest!

Changing Erik in the plane, no matter what, even with a changing table! It was bad!

However, with all the things, it is absolutely wonderful to be home! We get to see Erik being lavished with love and adoration! Isn't this what having a big family is all about?! Erik got to see his Great Grandparents (Mr. M.W. Hing and Mrs. I. Shen Chen). Erik got to meet almost all of us 12 Grand Uncles and Grand Aunties! Then, there are 8 other aunties & uncles (according to English, it would be 2nd cousins; however, in Chinese, they are aunties and uncles!).

Seeing our son happy and loving everything he sees is really just the best vacation of all! His personality is just shining! So I guess with all the things we've "suffered", its all worth it! Being home is what our Chinese New Year is all about!

Ear Infections...WhooHoo!

Can't ya tell Mommy is in a bit of a sarcastic mood from the Title?! Well, for the past few days, Erik has been extremely fussy with coughing and runny nose. We just thought it was his normal teething but it turns out, it was teething plus more!!! Erik's daycare teacher called in late morning asking for me to pick Erik up because he had a 103 degree fever plus he threw up all of his milk! :'o(.

So, Mommy as quickly as possible picked Erik up and we took Erik to see the pediatrician since we thought its better to be safe than sorry when we're getting ready to go for our international trip! Well, turns out that Erik has an Ear Infection :o( WAH! thus it also caused a high grade fever between 103 - 104 degrees! Our poor little baby!! He is now prescribed amoxilin for the next 10 days! Now, besides the fever, he is also throwing up constantly and can't keep any milk down! WAH!!! Thus his diet is now, no solid food...only clear liquid for the next 8 hours until he doesn't throw up any more. Clear liquid includes pedialyte or 1/2 gatorade & 1/2 water, etc...either way...its yucky!

We're basically monitoring him for the next 24-48 hours to see if the antibiotics help Erik get better or not. Or else...we will have to change our flight plans and delay our departure! SIGH! We just hope our little guy gets better, we hate to see him suffer at all! He totally doesn't deserve all these sickness or illnesses but right now, its one of the worst cases of cold/flu season in our area! Plus it doesn't help when Daddy brought home a bad bug from work sometime last week! So ...we are all trying to get well.

Let there be a miracle where we all get well before our trip!

Spontaneous Karaoke Night

It was supposed to be our usual evening routine of winding the day down with Erik. Get a little massage, get a little tickle, and into the bath tub Erik goes. Afterwards, it was be a little free play either on his play 5-key piano pad or his favorite musical toy then a little reading before bedtime.

However, after the reading, Erik was still very active and didn't want to lay down. He sometimes get like this, even though he is physically tired (you can tell, he's rubbing his eyes or he would crawl a few steps and then just PLOP! and lay his head down on the floor or on a pillow or anywhere!). So Mommy resorted in grabbing a BRAND-NEW book that we reserved for his plane trip to India, since its such a looong flight and only books really entertain Erik so far.

The "Golden" book (Dog Train: A Wild Ride on the Rock-and-Roll Side by Sandra Boynton, Michael Ford) caught Erik's eye immediately. Inside, there was a page designated as the "Tantrum Song" and it basically goes something like this:

No - I don't want to. No - I don't want to. No No.
No - I don't want to. No No No...
I don't want to be quiet. I don't want to good.
I don't want to do anything you tell me I should.
All I want to do...is throw a tantrum!.....

And as Mommy was reading / singing it to a made-up rythym, Erik giggled and laugh out loud so much! Mommy was "pounding" on the book with her finger and bobbing her head...and Erik thought it was the most hilarious thing! Daddy was so pleasantly surprised to hear Erik's laughter that he had to video tape it. Erik laughed so hard that his face actually turned red! So cute!

Afterwards, Daddy and Mommy spilled into a spontaneous karaoke session that only Erik could appreciate. We sang (or tried to sing) songs from the book about "Sneakers", "Nap Time", "Boring Song", and even "Wave Bye-Bye". However, by the time we sang the 3rd song, Erik's attention span was gone. He wanted to lay down so Daddy rocked him to sleep.

What makes grandparents great?!

This past weekend, we experienced Erik's research on "cause and effect". Erik has discovered that if he cries ...and cries hard enough, he will get mommy and daddy's attention and pretty much right away. He tried it with whining when we put him down in front of his favorite toy. He cried when we placed him in his high chair for meal time. This is also the same time when separation anxiety period starts so its very hard for us to distinguish whether he was just "whining" or is Erik really feeling anxiety. Sigh!

In addition, Erik's 8th tooth is coming out. For those who have been keeping a record. At 6 months 1 day, Erik's first two teeth came out (bottom), then roughly 4 weeks later, his top two teeth came out. WhooHoo! No troubles there. However, at 8 1/2 months old, Erik gave us the worst nights of our lives when three of his teeth were coming out! We were soooo glad it was over because we had our wonderful baby back that was smiling and wanting to play. The most important thing was, Erik wanted to eat solid food again! Before, every time teething began, Erik would have a set-back and refused to eat.

Well, now our victory dance was short lived. His 8th tooth is coming out and he has now been fussy and whiny and didn't want to eat. Frustrations are normal for parents (at least that's our excuse!). By the time Sunday evening came around, Mommy was frustrated with Erik that he didn't want to eat anything except cheerios! It's not that the cereal is bad but its not as nutritious as our homecooked food! Ugh! Daddy and Mommy were waving the white flag when Erik didn't want to eat anything for dinner except our dinner of pasta which was high in sodium for his little body........and then "DING DONG!" Our door bell rang.

Grandma Wai and Grandpa Tik came over for a semi-surprised 30 minute visit! Yay! Backup troops were reporting for duty! We immediately assigned them to feeding Erik his dinner. With those two, it was tag team action and we could hear laughter in our dining room. We'd here Erik giggling and opening his mouth...and Grandma Wai immediately uses that opportunity to feed him. So wise! Hahaha! Erik was relaxed and offering his grandparents his noodles, which of course, they played along and say "Mmm..yum yum yum!", which made Erik felt so special and loved and wanted to eat more (compared to his earlier version).

So what makes grandparents so great?! They always seemed to have the most patience when dealing with babies! Why can't we be more patient with Erik? Grandparents always seems to have all the love and happiness to shower upon the babies. Yet, why can't we be more like that?

Well, Mommy and Daddy could tell that Erik really enjoyed his grandparents brief visit because he wanted his Grandpa Tik to hold him. Erik didn't want them to leave and when they did, tears were spilled. Sigh! Our backup troop have gone home!

The Breakfast Club

In a group day care environment, babies are drawn to well, other babies! With Erik, he has a few buddies that he hangs out with on a daily basis, especially during the mornings if Mommy or Daddy can make it in time, for group breakfast. As a result, it is coined "The Breakfast Club" where 3 to 5 boys, yes all boys, just because maybe there are all older (between 9-12 months) compared to the other ones.

All the boys sit in their little toddler size chairs (strapped in) and are seated at their tables. Sometimes, there would be "conversations" going back among themselves. Very cute to watch! I really wonder if they are communicating in baby language?! At times, they become so animated that hands are banged on the table! LOL!

Then there's also the negotiation skills coming into play with breakfast items. I noticed that sometimes, one of the boys would scoot his cheerios over to anothers side and pick off either pancakes or waffles from the other boy's area instead. Hahahaha! Interesting, babies know to trade for stuff already! Then, there's Erik's best bud, Gabriel, who just loves to eat! He could eat his own breakfast and still have room for more!! If he sees Erik snacking on Cheerios, Gabriel would cruise on over and grab some! Hahaha! And he's a FAST eater too!

As for Erik, he is a natural sharer, he loves to share his food, probably comes from Daddy's generous personality, so he doesn't mind it at all. In fact, when other baby boys eat in front of him, Erik gets more encouraged to do what they are doing! So its a good thing that other boys are eating in front of him! We just basically bring more to "The Breakfast Club" so everybody can share!