Family Day

Today was an eventful day with lots of eating! We started off the day with a dimsum lunch with my family at Mayflower in Milpitas, play time at the mall for Adrian with his cousins and then dinner with Ed's parents at China Village Seafood Restaurant in Belmont.

A is for Adrian

My Digital Perm

After years of very straight hair, I longed for a change. Over the years, I've dyed it numerous shades of red and brown and had various highlights put it. Still, I wanted something more dramatic. Having permed my hair twice in my life, I was skeptical about trying the new "Digital Perm" that I've come across over the recent months. This is a new process to perm one's hair using hot rods with the temperature controlled by a machine. The perm process itself lasts just like a normal perm, however one of the major difference is that they wash the perm solution out before curling your hair with the hot rods. I did my research on this, read lots of Yelp reviews and checked out many "before and after" pictures. Finally, I decided to take the plunge to have it done at Zippy's Hair Studio in San Francisco only to find out that they're booked out for the next month and half. Oh no! I kindly asked if I could place my name on the wait list in the event someone would cancel, and thankfully, after 2 weeks of calling, I had an appointment within the next two days.

My hairdresser, Same (pronounced "Sa Me") was really sweet and had recently had a digital perm herself too. I carefully explained how straight my hair is and was concerned that a weaker solution wouldn't hold. I also came prepared with pictures of how I would like my perm to turn out -- loose waves just like the celebrities minus the expensive hairstylists to maintain it for me. Turns out, those loose waves were do-able, but required that I blow dried my hair everyday, which is almost impossible for me having to wake up, shower and tend to an almost 2 year old before leaving for work. In the end, I left it in Same's hand to produce a medium wave that would hopefully look nice on my round chubby face.

The entire process took less than 3 hours and the end result was not what I was expecting! I had always pictured having the big loose waves like in the magazines, but mine didn't quite come out like that. Sometimes, when you stare long enough at those pictures you begin to imagine your hair would turn out the same way! Silly me! I had to be more realistic as I don't have a head full of really long and thick hair to produce the same outcome. Nevertheless, since I had read that perms can change (or improve) over time, I decided to be patient and wait. After several weeks, the wavy look finally started to grow on me and I must admit that I really do like my new 'do. While I do miss my long straight hair, I've realized that change isn't necessary a bad thing. Oh and the positive compliments that I have received from friends and family haven't hurt too! :)

Handsome Boy, Sitting Pretty

Decked out in DKNY pants and a sweater from the UK, my little boy looks ever so handsome (and very grown up!)! Too bad boys clothes here in the US isn't quite as stylish!

Adrian in a Laundry Basket

Dirty laundry, anyone? No, we're not shooting a commercial for Costco's 2-in-1 laundry hampers, but I wouldn't mind if the offer was presented to us! :) I'm happy, yet amazed that kids can entertain themselves with absolutely anything. I guess us adults don't remember how to enjoy the simplest of things as we grow older and more bitter! :) Anyhow, at a recent trip to our local Costco - a place we regularly frequent, we found something for our munchkin to entertain himself for the next 5 minutes... :)

Julius Kahn Playground in SF

Someday we should plot on a map all of the parks that we've taken the little munchkin to. I'm sure it would definitely cover a lot of parks all over the Bay Area. I have to give credit to Ed for always being on the lookout for a great park to take the little munchkin to. Whenever we're out and we have some time to kill or simply looking for a park, he's always the one that whips out his nifty smartphone to come up with a local park for us to stop and check out. Adrian's lucky to have such an awesome daddy! And judging by the munchkin's goofy facial expression in the last picture, I think he knows it too! :)

Adrian's Personal Recliner

We got munchkin this recliner for Xmas even though he doesn't know it actually reclines! :) We consider it one less potential hazard to worry about! Reclining chair or not, the little munchkin has his own creative ways to get himself comfy on the chair before nixing it for the sofa instead! What a goofball! :)

Crayfish for a Pet?

After our mother's day lunch at Little Sheep Mongolian Hot Pot in Union City, we checked out some of the stores in the plaza including Daiso and Marina Foods. As usual, we stopped by the seafood section to show Adrian the usual live seafood - crab, fish, lobster and on this particular occasion, there were crayfish! The little munchkin wasn't afraid of the little guy (not sure if he remembered stuffing his face with a cooked one on my birthday not long ago), but he actually wanted to grab this little LIVE crayfish with his own bare hands! You can call my little boy goofy, but he is no scaredy cat! :)

A Day Out To Monterey Aquarium

Our little family celebrated an early "Mummy's day" in beautiful Monterey. The weather was perfect for an outing at the beach followed by the aquarium, where we are members. Little Adrian was apprehensive with getting his feet dirty from the sand, a fear we desperately need to help him overcome before our upcoming trip to Maui. The little guy mostly resisted walking in the sand, but we did get him to sit comfortably on this rock and played with the periwinkles that we handed him. The silly monkey even attempted to place one inside his mouth, but luckily we were fast enough to prevent it from happening. During the entire time that we were at the aquarium, the little munchkin had one and only one mission -- to find Nemo! Thankfully, he succeeded in that mission! :)

An afternoon at Vasona Lake Park

I was feeling a bit under the weather so instead of ruining a perfectly nice Saturday, I sent Ed and Adrian off to the park mainly so Adrian can run around and do what little boys his age loves to do at the park. Here are some of the highlights of their outing.