Feldman Family Files (F3)

The Essential Things in Life

2007-09-04T22:55:00.000-04:00

Night after the painting is done.
These are the essential "things" in my life now:

a toothbrush
a tube of toothpaste
some changes of clothing
water and cups
cable internet connection and my laptop
of course, electricity and air purifier
lamps
a sofa used as a bed

Squeezed Space

2007-09-03T21:32:00.000-04:00

The painters are coming to do all the walls tomorrow. We spent last night and all of today rearranging the furniture and pushing each piece away from the wall, to the center of the room. Taking down books just to put them back again. Finding objects lost and forgotten for the past few years -- some of them we kept with delight but others are now lying peacefully in the trash pile...

Lily's room is done, the kitchen is done, the living room and the dining area and the main bathroom are all ready for them.

Goodreads

2007-08-28T08:44:00.000-04:00

So, I joined GoodReads to keep track of books I am reading and my friends are reading. I know, it's a geeky thing to do but how gloriously so!

Beet and Carrot Slaw

2007-08-26T13:11:00.000-04:00

Ingredients:
Beet (1, medium)
Carrot (1, large)
Lemon Juice (1 tbsp)
Olive Oil (1 tbsp)
Sugar (1 tsp)
Salt and pepper (to taste)

Peel and grate beet and carrot and put in a big bowl
Mix other ingredients to make dressing
Pour dressing over grated vegetables and toss

Voila

Braised Cabbage and Chicken with Tomato Sauce

2007-05-30T19:44:00.000-04:00

Cabbage
1. A really good looking head of cabbage, curly savoy cabbage
2. Cut up the cabbage into big pieces
3. Saute chopped shallets in olive oil
4. Add cabbage and bacon bits and cover until tender
5. Add white wine when time is right

Chicken
1. Saute shallets in olive oil
2. Chicken squares
3. Canned of diced tomato
4. Cover and cook until done

Halloween 2006 at School

2006-11-12T09:25:00.000-05:00

So.. for Halloween, I dressed up Goth... seen here with Russell, who happened to have the same idea this year - and then Joe, as Count Q., as usual. Haha.

Pre-Halloween, 2006

2006-10-28T18:58:00.000-04:00

So... for a whole year, Lily had her heart set on being an iPod for Halloween. After months of "planning" in our heads... this costume was finally made. We picked our new favorite band: Red Hot Chili Peppers as the iPod Video band; two band members, Anthony and Flea are put on sticks and can jump around against the background; and Lily sings Dani California, one of her favorite songs, as she trick-or-treats. Today, at the neighborhood pre-Halloween party, she was the only child with a home-made costume and got a lot of happy exclaims from passers-by and some of her old friends.

Back Home to NYC

2006-08-08T07:42:00.000-04:00

It's been 3 weeks now. We have settled back to life in New York. Lily goes to Downtown Day Camp from 9 to 5 every week day. Dave goes to work and I lounge around, enjoying more of my summer vacation. This lounging has resulted in reading more books and creating a new reading journal blog, editing iMovies/iDVDs of our Taiwann trip, and slightly straightening the apartment.

We saw some really hot days last week, upward to 100F but it finally came back down to the 80s -- not that it's quite cool yet.

Lily enjoys having both mom and dad around and is happy to be exploring our wonderful neighborhood again. The one amazing thing we discovered recently is the gigantic hibiscus plants all over the Battery Park City parks. See:

The last week

2006-07-15T20:18:00.000-04:00

This last week went by really quickly. We remained in Taipei and were paying close attention to the development of the light Typhoon which resulted in some heavy downpour but nothing else – not even strong wind!

Lily and I spent more time at the Mosaic workshop. I jokingly said that this month has been our “Mommy and Me Mosaic Summer Camp.” Lily met a 9-year-old Chinese boy who attends a British school and thus is fluent in English. His name is Kevin and he is extremely nice and also funny. Lily made a mosaic piece with him and the two of them worked so well together. We are going to see Over the Hedge with them today (Saturday) and then have some ice cream together.

We finally made our way up the observation deck of Taipei 101 (on the 89th floor) and spent about an hour looking at the panoramic views of Taipei city. It was quite fun.

K-TV (Karaoke) has rapidly become our favorite pastime as well. The K-TV places (lounges?) are so gigantic and so well equipped. We are thoroughly impressed.

We also spent more time with the family – had dinner at a café called the Alpen Café and sipped Herbal Tea and shared an excellent Chocolate Fondue (with really good fresh fruits and yummy flower-shaped marshmallows.)

Two of the nights we had dinner at buffet places: one is the Japanese buffet restaurant and the other is a seafood restaurant. Xin Yeh (the Japanese buffet in the department store) is much the superior, regarding both the space and the quality of the food. We had dinner with my college friend Brian and also my high school friend Daniella (Totto) there and will be having another dinner with the whole family on Sunday.

We also visited an amazing specialty store that sells nothing but Puzzles. Renoir is its name. We were quite restrained and bought two smaller puzzles to bring home.

On Friday, for lunch, Lily and I stumbled upon a traditional fire pot restaurant and ate until we’re totally stuffed: Lily was full of lamb and I was full of tofu, pork, and the Chinese sour cabbage which is its specialty. They use the traditional pot that burns coal and with a chimney in the middle. I’m pleased that Lily had the opportunity to experience what we had in our family when I was little.

Mala Bay - Taichung

2006-07-10T23:05:00.000-04:00

We went to the Water Amusement Park: Mala Bay in Taichung on Saturday, July 8th. We had a blast and didn't take pictures while we were on the water slide or water tower play thing... so, the pictures here are only for the Big Wave Pool.

Yi Lan Trip

2006-07-06T19:31:00.000-04:00

From July 3 to July 5, Jean, Lily, and I went to Yi Lan. We stayed in Forte Dong Shan (Winter Mountain) Guesthouse and spent hours strolling the streets of National Center for Traditional Art: a recreated village modeled after traditional Chinese villages. (http://www.ncfta.gov.ts)

On the afternoon of July 4th, we went to the water park along Dong Shan River and had a blast!

Here are the pictures: Yi Lan Trip.

Lounging

2006-07-02T19:54:00.000-04:00

We spent most of this Sunday at home. We must leave home in search of bathing suits, though. So, the three girls left the apartment around 3:00 p.m. and walked around the now-developed, very stylish neighborhood of Jin Hua street. We found a cute lounge, a couple of atmospheric Chinese style eateries and tea places to explore some other time. But we didn't find bathing suit "on the street" as I had imagined!

So, another cab ride took us to Breeze Center (a department store) and there we bought one suit for Lily and one for me -- in preparation of our trip to Yi Lan and Taichung this coming week. We anticipate quite a bit of water play!

some pictures of this afternoon/evening

Taipei Summer, 1.5 Weeks

2006-07-02T02:51:00.000-04:00

Lily has been having a lot of fun spending time with me and her aunts this summer... a lot of the time, we are just staying indoors, reading and relaxing because it is too hot outside.

We went to two movies: Cars (Pixar) and Take the Lead. Next week, we plan to see Pirates of the Caribbeans, II.

So far, we have finished four mosaic pieces. Lily has also been reading a lot. We are keeping track of the titles and will post next week about them.

Her new favorite read-aloud by me is Beverly Cleary's Beezus and Ramona and now Ramona the Pest! I tend to nod off as I read these really long chapters (30 to 40 pages) to her at bedtime and she has to keep prompting me to wake up and continue the sentences. It is kind of amusing but torturous to me, as well.

Some more pictures are posted here.

Taiwan 2006

2006-06-24T07:46:00.000-04:00

Here's the link to some of the pictures of our trip visiting my family...

June 28th: visiting Sacred Heart, Roxanne's middle/high school.

First Three Days

Avignon

2006-04-17T22:02:00.001-04:00

In Avignon, we had a house all to ourselves. Our daily routine was to spend some day time within the walled city of Avignon, strolling and soaking in the history of the place... its centries-old stone walls and pavements, its old trees, its architecture, and also enjoying the excellent eateries. We loved AOC and a fabulous Tapas place.

The rest of each day and the evening was spent in shopping, cooking (David did, of course,) building a fire, hanging out in the garden, reading, and playing games.

Paris

2006-04-16T21:14:00.000-04:00

This year, for spring break, we went to France again. We spent 4 days in Paris and 8 days in Avignon. The weather was chillier and a bit wetter than we had hoped for, but for the most part it was pleasant.

We have discovered a new favorite eatery: House of Tarts! Both savory and sweet tarts here are AMAZING!!!

We stayed with JB and his family on Rue Monge, in this typical skinny Parisian building.

Inside the Consierge, where many noblemen and women were held right before their execution in the French Revolution.

Yummy chocolate and candies -- A new chocolatier on Rue Mouffatard.

Lily with Lucas (left) and Piere (middle), JB's two boys, 7 and 9.

Two Words

2006-03-01T22:51:00.000-05:00

Lily and I made up two words the other day. She has been learning a lot of words and was questioning how words were made and how many words there could be and whether new words could be made.

So, we thought about it and made up two words:

1. Crunk - verb. to Find and Create something new and useful or beautiful from Junk - Crunking.
2. Shigur - noun. a shigur is a very small dog, usually with long hair, that walks with very small, enthusiastic and fast steps.
verb. shigurring describes the way a shigur walks.

This is definitely a shigur.

Staying Home

2006-02-14T07:49:00.000-05:00

Lily has been out of school since last Thursday. Hopefully, today is the last day of her staying home - if her temperature does not rise again. Otherwise, Doctor Franklin said that they'll have to draw blood to see her blood cell count.

I predict a day of many games and papercutting with her. Her skills in folding 5-sided flower pattern and cutting have matured just in the past few days. Here are three papercuts that she made last night:

Snowstorm in NY

2006-02-12T07:41:00.000-05:00

The snow is coming down fierce now. We plan on staying put, playing games, and forcing Lily to rest today. Maybe there won't be school tomorrow?

Games

2006-02-12T00:07:00.000-05:00

We love playing games. Since Lily couldn't go out today, we stayed home playing board games and Sudoku. Lily is working on the adult medium difficulty puzzles and is now so at ease with the basic logic that she wants to do one after another. We had to force her to stop playing, so she wouldn't overtax herself.

David and I played a long game of Mario Party... and, I, of course, have been playing my GoKrida game all day -- starting from around 2:00 a.m. -- creating a brand new Escape World for my organization and all the members in it. It was quite exciting when it seemed that the attempt was going to fail -- the Spatial Matrix being too crowded. Finally it worked, and all who wished to come to this new world showed up. No one unexpected came. So, it's a huge success!

Home/Sick

2006-02-11T02:12:00.000-05:00

Lily has been sick for the past two days. She's recovering. The doctor didn't think it's strep. I stayed home with her today. We played Yatzee and Sudoku. She enjoys the challenge of Sudoku very much. It has become our favorite game -- for all three of us.

It's past 11:00 p.m. and I'm debating whether to sleep and wake up in 3 hours or just stay up for the next three hours. Have to create an Escape World for my GoKrida character. And I must hit it at the correct hour. As I typed this, I worry that some "enemy" in GK will discover this account and trigger over to wrech havoc on this new world. I am truly paranoid!

Lily's 7th Birthday

2006-02-05T08:04:00.000-05:00

Lily's birthday was celebrated TWICE this year. On her real birthday, we had family over and combined the celebration with Chinese New Year. It was really fun. All the counsins enjoyed spending time with each other. We also made some Chinese pork dumplings, a true Chinese tradition.

Then, on Feb. 5, Lily had some of her friends over. They danced hip-pop, decorated their own cupcakes and just had a really nice time. So different -- 10 girls are so much easier to manage than the 20+ mixed group last year!

This is the collage Lily made to as the graphic for our home-made Thank You Card.