Last Day In The City

MUSEUM
Our last whirlwind day in NYC, Mummy decided to take Erik & Company (well, that really includes Grandma Katy & Daddy since Uncle Penjo and Aunty Meina were still snoozing away) to the "American Museum of Natural History" near Central Park West. We figured Erik would enjoy looking at the dinosaurs, ocean life, and African animal exhibits. Daddy wasn't so sure though and thought maybe it was a bit too old/advance for Erik.

Boy! Was Daddy happy that he was wrong! Erik absolutely enjoyed ALL of the museum halls! We first visited the Ocean Life exhibit and it was filled with "Wows" and "Oooohs" and lots of "Look Daddy!" "Look Mummy!" from Erik. He round run up to the displays, point, and ask excitedly "What is that?!". Daddy or Mummy would reply and Erik will repeat the word and then point to another species of ocean life and repeat the same question. This went on for 40+ minutes!! It was amazing!

Toddler Talk In Ocean Life
ERIK: "What's that Mummy?" pointing to a huge life-size whale model hanging from the ceiling.

Mummy responds: "Oh that! That is a Grey whale, I think."

ERIK corrects Mummy: "No Mummy. That's not a gray whale, that's a SPERM whale!" and walks away.

SHEESH! If Erik already knew the answer, why did he ask Mummy in the first place?! HAHA! Guess Mummy really have to study up on marine life now! A 2-year-old corrected her...how embarrassing?!

ERIK inquires: "What is that?!" pointing to a shrimp

Mummy answers knowingly this time: "Oh that is a shrimp!"

ERIK says loudly:"Shrimp! Oooh...I love eating shrimp" and rubs his tummy.

ERIK moves on and asks: "What is that?"

Mummy replies: "That is a squid."

ERIK again says loudly: "Squid! Ooooh...I loooove eating squid" and rubs his tummy.

By this time, many museum patrons saw and heard the little conversation and the background were just filled with giggles and smiles at our son! One patron even ran to her daughter/niece and reenacted what Erik did. LOL! HAHA!

Day With My "Super Uncle" and "New Aunty"
Finally Uncle Penjo and Aunty Meina woke up from their dream state and took the 30 minute subway in and joined the rest of the gang at the museum. We were running through the Dinosaur Hall and it was like a long time reunion. Erik spotted his "Super Uncle" and had to go to him and hug him with a tight squeeze to make "Uncle Juice". Uncle Penjo literally melted at that point :o). HAHA!

Erik pointed out all the dinosaur and made lots of dinosaur noises with his uncle and aunt. Erik loved making his dinosaur horns like triceratops with this uncle.Mummy pointed out different types of dinosaur and named them. HAH! Mummy may have redeemed herself here LOL! At least she knew some of the dinosaur names, hey, maybe she can do a career move and be like "Ross" from friends!

When uncle Penjo pointed out to a globe and asked Erik what is that, Erik shocked his uncle & aunt by replying knowingly "Earth". Thus aunty Meina coined us as "over-achieving parents", which Mummy really doubts it. Erik's school did a big project of "Around the World" couple months back and pretty sure that's where he picked it up from, if not, then the credit goes to Daddy for reading to Erik every night.

TIME SQUARE
By the time we were done with the museum, it was almost closing! Daddy & Mummy decides to go out to Time Square just to do a 'tourist' thing. Erik pretty much slept in Daddy's hands at that point. So off the another 15-20 minute subway ride. In the mean time, we made dinner plants with Erik's Great Grandma Cho Lien. Erik is pretty lucky that he has 3 Great Grandparents, one in NYC (only ~3000 miles away) and the other two are in Bhutan (many many miles away).

Anyhow, Time Square, we all wanted a break...to be precise, a COFFEE break. Grandma Katy eyes literally lit up when Mummy says to Grandma "Mom, you want a coffee?" HAHA! Too cute!

We stopped at nearby Europa Cafe since Uncle & Aunty hadn't eaten lunch yet and it was near 4:30 already! Good gosh! We ordered a couple of sandwiches and soup plus some much needed caffeine and we were good! Erik was still snoozing away. We just took this time to get to know our newest family member and had some good laughs. That's what family time is all about, right? Laughter is always the best!

FAMILY DINNER (Thai Style)
Family Drama at least have stopped in for a brief visit. There's a recent tiff between Great Grandma Cho Lien and Grandma Katy. However, Mummy & Daddy felt it was unfair that Erik shouldn't spend at least some precious time with his Great Grandma. So officially Mummy became the "middle woman" and handled the delicate situation.

Since it was Daddy's last night in the city, he craved Thai food. So we picked out our local joint, Nusara. This really was our 2nd choice, our first choice was when Daddy's Aunty Ruth took him last year but since we didn't know how to get their via subway, it was easier to choose something local & nearby. We still loved and enjoyed it tremendously.

Great Grandma Cho Lien had A LOT of fun sitting next to Erik. Lots of giggles and laughters were exchanged. Honestly, Erik was pretty loud and wild in tiny restaurant, HAHA! Uncle Penjo sat directly across from Erik so he had lots of company to laugh with.

Our son's taste buds are also growing. He LOVED the thai chili fish and ate an entire plate of "Teddy Bear" rice. The jasmine rice was shaped like a teddy bear and Erik literally finished ALL of it. That was an eye opener! Erik also ate some Raad Na (thai stir-fried flat noodles). Which was just amazing! What a wonderful evening with family!

Handsome

Daddy & Erik looking so handsome!

Red-Eye Day In The Big Apple

ON FLIGHT EXPERIENCE
Okay, last year's travel when Erik was only 17 months was a BREEZE. Seriously, he slept all through the red-eye flight and nursed on Mummy for comfort. This time around, no nursing! We have officially been weaned! YAY! Thanks to Daddy's personal bedtime story time. WhooHoo BUT the downfall is, Erik has to rely on himself for soothing and its hard to soothe yourself on a plane full of strangers and late night when super tired and exhausted.

With that said, Erik did GREAT! He didn't sleep when we were on the plane immediately. Erik was just super excited about being on a "rocket ship" and did his Little Einstein "patting for take off". Very cute! He took his own time to snooze, really, for the red eye flight, he only slept a total of 3 to 4 hours at most in a 6 1/2 hours flight. Daddy had to move to another aisle while Mummy & Erik was able to sprawl over all 3 seats to try and snooze. Thank goodness Mummy is short :o) HAHA!

We arrived safe & sound in New York despite rushing from one concourse to another during our flight change in Denver (Shout out to Uncle Sean & Auntie Kallie)! Mummy held Erik (all 30+ pounds) and Daddy holding all 3 of our hand lugguages, we pretty much ran...no sprinted from one gate to another. Sheesh!

VIDEO ERRAND
After taking a long nap with Erik in the morning, we took the subway down into Manhattan to visit a store that Daddy has been a long time customer of. B & H Video. Oh yeah, this is Daddy's little candy store, seriously major drools!

While Daddy was just picking out an extended battery for his new videocam, Erik and Mummy watched the big screen TVs showcasing some major underwater sea creatures. Erik was just happy!

FUN FUN FUN

Andrew's Coffee Shop
After our little errand, Daddy & Mummy decided to stop for a mid-afternoon snack at the local Andrew's Coffee Shop. It's really out of "nowhere", at least for us. We stopped in for a little pizza bite. Our pepperoni pizza literally had 8 slices of pepperoni on it. That's it! What the heck?! But oh well...Daddy, Mummy, and Erik just needed a place to "plan" the rest of their day. After a quick replan, we decided to take the train down to Central Park & 5th Avenue!

Central Park
Central Park is one of our favorite places in NYC. Mummy loves it because Daddy took her there on her first trip out to the East Coast more than a decade ago. Erik loves it because of the very cool water play area at the Heckscher Playground.



Well, actually Erik really just loved chasing the pigeons and sparrows at the park. Seriously, we flew 3000+ miles on a red-eye and our boy was content with chasing pigeons that we can easily find at home in California! HAHA! We let him do whatever he likes though. He was running free!!

However, with urban life comes with urban conflicts. A boy around the ages of 8-10 years old was just being a jerk. Yes, I am coining a little boy a jerk. He basically was pushing and shoving all the smaller kids, included Erik at the water play area. Mummy literally chased him down saying sternly "Excuse me, you do NOT push younger kids!" and his older brother, maybe 11-13 years old, immediately came over and apologized while this jerk of a kid yells "Who Cares?!". Where is this boy's mother?! Where are the manners?! Yep, Mummy gave him the "mean Mommy look".

Anywhoo, besides that, Erik had a BLAST! He ran all over the place. Daddy had a hard time keeping up and trying not to get his camera / video cam wet. Erik splashed every where and all of his clothes were WET! We literally only had one 3T shirt for Erik and no shorts/pants. As a result, our son was paraded Central Park and 5th Avenue in his 3T shirt and pull-ups. HAHA!

Nothing like eating a $2.00 chocolate ice cream bar in Central Park. We treated Erik to one while he rode Daddy's shoulders. We thought it'd give him a sugar rush and some energy. After wards, we stopped by the pond and had a "picnic" with the ducks. Basically Erik threw in cheerios, chex mix, pretzels, whatever he wanted to share with the duckies. He loved sharing!!

By the time we were on 5th Avenue, Erik fell asleep on top of Daddy's head.

Joe's Shanghai
One favorite place of Daddy's is Joe's Shanghai Restaurant at the Uptown location. It is a MUST visit every time for Daddy. It's because of there steamed shanghai pork buns (小龍包). Our nickname for it is "Bruce Lee" Buns because literal translation 小龍 is "small dragon" but also the name of Bruce Lee in Chinese. It's our little running joke. But this steamed dish is really Daddy's FAVORITE! Daddy was super-happy :o) HAHA!

New York Here We Come

We are jetting off to NYC for a long weekend to join in on Uncle Penjo's semi-elopment wedding in New Paltz, NY.

The news traveled to us in less than 2 weeks notice and Daddy decided to be there for his little brother on his big day. As a result, the whole family is off to the Big Apple for an extended weekend! Erik is pretty excited although he keeps saying "fly on airplane to Bhutan. see Grandpa" in Cantonese. Good gosh, what is this bond between Grandpa Tom & Erik?!

Last time we were in NYC, Erik was only 17 months and can still fit in Daddy's Kelty Pack (maximum weight 40 lbs). This time around Erik is 28 months (ok ok....2 1/4 years old) and when Mummy suggested Daddy bring the Kelty Pack, Daddy's eyes just opened wide in shock and said "No Way! Last time I was exhausted carrying him and now he's 2x as tall and more than 10 lb heavier plus 7lbs of the Kelty Pack." So we will see what happens!! Something tells Mummy that Daddy should've listen to her instead, HAHA!

Wish us a "Bon Voyage!" and will post soon!

You can our last NYC trip here

Rubbing Shoulders with the Rich and Famous.

Day 1 of our visit – we took Erik to FAO Schwarz. As we moseyed around the toddler area – Erik and I walked up to this woman who was too well dressed in my opinion to be shopping for kids clothes. (Daddy is not much a dresser especially hauling 28lbs of baby + a backpack). Then I noticed an entire area closed up for this shopper – so I went towards this area to check on the price tag of the clothes there just to see what was so special when a big bulky muscular guard stopped me in my tracks and asked me what I was doing – then it dawned on me that woman was no other than Mira Sorvino who had the area blocked off to feed her daughter and son. (Mira Sorvino had just spent the Day releasing Barbie as The Island Princess at Central Park Zoo and had come to FAO to grab a bite to eat and buy some things I guess) **NOTE: Daddy was (A) to chicken to whoop out my camera to take a picture or (B) I just didn't want to take a Paparazzi picture of her and her kids. I think I would like to stick to option B. Erik - also enjoyed the performers at FAO - where these two girls were making music - dancing on this really expensive Piano.

TimeSquare Baby!

The Ma Family hit TimeSquare and where did we go? We went to the most famous place of all....Toys R' Us! LOL! It was a gigantic 4 or 5 story toy shop, with personal assistance shoppers if you need them (as in plan on spending mucho dineros people!). However, this is the first retail shop I've been in that they actually take a "tourist" photo of you! CRAZY!

Erik loved it though! It was a toy store...what kid doesn't love toy stores?! He was amazed at all the Dora stuff they had. He was in awed of all the Diego stuff as well. However, the thing that caught his eyes, was the gigantic ferris wheel inside the store! We kid you not...it was inside the store! Only at TimeSquare! We bought our tickets and rode in a car with SpongeBob mounted on and Erik loved it. He got to see all the "little" people from below and also Geoffrey the giraffe as well.

Afterwards, we walked around the store, floor by floor. Erik was a bit apprehensive at the dinosaur roaring but when Daddy roared back, Erik was more confident and let out a roar as well. Hee Hee So adorable! We found some cool stuffed toys for Erik but he really was not interested until we got to the story books and puppets sections! Our boy loves puppets now...for some reason! He found an alligator/crocodile puppet and it was just what he was looking for. For the rest of the store walk, he refused to let it go LOL! So of course, we bought it! SIGH!

A Taste of City Life

As Daddy posted, the 3 of us were off to an adventure in NYC to visit Uncle Penjo, Grandma Katy and Grandpa Tom, as well as Great Grandma Cho Lien, Grand Aunty Ruth (Katy's sister), and also Aunty Kathleen (Daddy's little cousin). Our little guy adjusted quite well and was the king of Uncle Jo's apartment! Erik would get pampered every morning by Grandma Katy with lots of TV like Barney, Dora, and anything that would distract our little guy from tearing the place down. Then he would be fed some delicous breakfast...all by Grandma! LOL!

As for Mummy, the conference days were grueling. The 1-hour each way riding on the subway to Brooklyn was not fun. The 11-hours away from my little Boo Boo was not fun. By the time Mummy gets home, she'd be tired already and the little guy would be a bit grumpy since the day was winding down. However, we ditched the schedule aside and just went wild. Family would go out for a late dinner (eh, by 7:30pm, that's late for us!) and Erik would love it but then he'd be so zonked out he'd either sleep in Mummy's arms during dinner or he'd sleep on the way home in Uncle Jo's car.

However, Erik really enjoyed the extra 1:1 time he got wiht his Daddy! ...by the 2nd day, Erik was actually calling Daddy "Mummy!". Which was quite disturbing for Mummy but guess Erik can't help it, Daddy is the doting one and just wants to see Erik smile and be happy every day. They would hit the subways together. Go enjoy themselves at the park where our little Erik learned to "monkey around" with the bars. Go walking in Manhattan and being tourists. Daddy and Erik got lots of time together and each day they grew closer together. Lots of hugs were exchanged between the boys!

Then, finally, conference was over and Mummy had a few days to spare and we went crazy! Plus Daddy was a little relieved to have the extra assistance LOL! and we were a family of 3 again! WhooHoo!

Enjoying the Big Apple with my “Buddy”

What can I say – this last week has been an awesome bonding time between my son and I. While mummy was out on training for four days – we spent a lot of quality time together exploring the sights and sounds that New York had to offer us. Each morning I would strap Erik on the Kelty backpack and head out into the city. Best part about this whole adventure is I think I lost about five to seven pounds.

Erik loved the subway – he would say “choo-choo” each time a train rolled into the station – the first couple of days Erik did a look of looking around the different faces he saw in the train and flirted with all the pretty ladies. But as the week rolled around he did most of his sleeping on the train – the rocking motion, the constant noise “white noise” was the perfect place for my son to catch up on some sleep.

We also visited a few parks – some of our favorites were the local park in Elmhurst, Mary O’Conner Playground in Manhattan and the Heckscher Playground in Central Park. I think Erik loved the playground in Central Park the best and the park in Elmhurst. He picked up something new while playing in the park at Elmhurst which is hanging on the monkey-bar he can hang up there all by himself for about 4-5 seconds. (That’s ‘Cuz Daddy counted) Another fun thing he loved to do while at the park was chasing the pigeons. After playing the parks – it was off to the local Chinese bakery to get some “red-bean” bun that Erik loves and jam filled sponge cake. He would nibble on the buns as we rode the subway back to Uncle Jo’s crib – usually leaving bun crumbs all over Daddy’s head.

Just enjoying the Big Apple with my son – was a blast and I really miss him. (I am back in the office after a long week with my “Boo-Boo.”) I am sure Mommy has a lot to write about – our adventures in NY.