The third Sunday of May is the annual Bay to Breaker 12K race of SF. There is also a costume contest, in which participants would parade along the same route to the Golden Gate Park. If one does not feel like walking for miles, there are other ways one can participate -- either by simply occupying a pot on the road side to sit and watch, placing the all-time-favorite twister mat to invite people come to play in their costumes, bringing your band, or even setting a karaoke booth with a DVD player and speaker! It's even easier if you happy to live on the street which the crowd would pass by, you can simply invite friends to come over for an out-door party. Your friends would definitely love it, b/c they could enjoy the fun without having to worry about finding restrooms as those who join the parade would. But remember to blast your music loud enough so that the crowd could also dance with your music, and they would be happily doing "YMCA" together like this cover photo if you told them to!

I was visiting Maria and Astrid right after a major snow storm, which turned upper state New York into white again. In order to introduce me to her best memory from her arctic childhood, Maria took me and Astrid to a nearby Park to have a BBQ in the snow. After Maria started to make the dough for the BBQ, I realized that this was really going to be a serious business -- making your own dough for a BBQ ?! The picnic area in the park was covered in snow. It was actually a warm day, high in the lower 40s. (Yes, sadly, after being in New England for four years, I do consider this as a warm day...) Maria picked a grill and started to make the fire. Astrid was so dutifully waiting on her side holding the newspaper Maria would need later. Astrid was so smart that she picked barks which were extremely helpful with the fire. We then used the dough to make hotdog rolls - those were the very best I've ever had. The bread was slightly burnt and very crispy - one can easily eat twice as much as one normally could have! I took pictures so that I could then show my mom my exotic "arctic" experience. Maria couldn't understand why this is so exotic until she saw the picture of fire in the snow from my camera -- that's why people passing by us kept saying "interesting idea"... It was very fun - the best BBQ ever! Oh, we were also very excited about the 4 hawks that were flying and resting so close by.

After a good night of sleep at Teyra's B&B, on the second day we went into the National Park. Last time I went to the Taroko Gorge was in a family trip during the lunar new year back in the early 80s - yes, a real family trip with sis. I was very little, and I remember the gate which led to the highway that ran across the island was really big. It was SHOCKING to see how small it actually is! Not only that I have grown, but also the road has been widened which makes it seems even smaller. The Gorge is BEAUTIFUL, absolutely STUNNING - something cameras really unable to capture. You'll have to visit the Gorge and feel it yourself! (No, Maria, I didn't see any snakes, feel safe to go visit!)

It's Hualien! After some intense work in taiwan we finally decided the destination for this long-waited family trip - oh yes, one person is missing - sis is working and cannot join us on a weekday, and unfortunately i had to leave the next monday in the morning so weekend is not an option. next time we'll bring you, sis! We stayed at Teyra Yuda's fabulous B&B -- Crossing the Rainbow Bridge. Thanks to their great hospitality, we really felt like returning home. I also enjoyed catching up with Teyra -- an elder which I learned to know and began to have a lot of respect for since last May. On the first day we saw the famous Qin-xui Cliff. Teyra also showed us where the Portugese cried out "Ila Formosa!" from the Pacific back in the 17th century. Too bad that it was raining today and that we were not able to took the full advantage of the bicycles Teyra provides for his guests. We'll definitely have to come back to bike around more!

It's the last day of 2007. In the afternoon we went to the ice rink in front of the Empire State building. There were too many people and Astrid wasn't happy that she cannot speed as the way she and mommy used to do. But surely we all loved the hot chocolate which warmed us up soon after we got home. And then, guess what we had for dinner -- PITTYPANA! Kina set the standard high by chopping everything into so tiny little pieces, which all made the dish even better. We then waited until midnight to celebrate the new yar with the fabulous chocolate and Champagne which Kina got from Europe! Astrid was really tired, but she joined us by sleeping on daddy's shoulder as we each said our new-year resolutions! Let's all have a great year of 2008!