Thailand Temple

We visited a dazzling temple in Phuket, Wat Chalong, is the biggest pagoda in Phuket. I love the vibrant gold colors and artistic shape of the temple. It was just magnificent.

Soak in the sun at Phuket Island, Thailand

 

 

Water Lilies in the rain

Even it rained a little during our trip in Thailand, but the water didn’t reduce any fun factors at all. Look at how beautiful the water Lilies was in the rain! I love how the rain drops from the leafs and created beautiful rings at the pond. The rain only showered for 5-10 minutes, soon came with sunshine and crisp fresh air after the rain. 

Under the sea

 

Elephant Ride

What could a trip to Thailand without riding an elephant? It couldn’t. I was dreaming about riding an elephant before the trip. This year trip to Thailand was inspired by an elephant picture frame I purchased last Christmas. I really wanted it to have a picture of me riding an elephant in this picture frame. I know it sounds very silly, but I have to tell you it was a wonderful feeling when you made your dream came true! On the day 3 of the Thailand trip, we finally went on an elephant ride in the nice surrounding out in the jungle. The view up on the elephant was completely cool. I especially love being in the ultra slow motion on this ride. You could really slow down enjoy the surrounding of this amazing jungle has to offer; the trees, the sun light and air and the people around you. The ride not only makes me feel like a royalty, but also let me understand what “take easy” means in the Thai culture. 

Elephant Ride II

My dear parents

Good bye, Phuket Island.

On the quiet and clear evening, we had to say “good bye” to our magical trip in Phuket Island. We brought all of the fantastic memories with us to the airplane, watching Phuket Island getting smaller and smaller until it disappeared in the clouds. I said to myself, I will be back in the other time. 

Moon watching on the Moon Festival

Moon watching on the Moon Festival was a beautiful thing. Everything was so quite and peaceful in the air. You can hear nothing but the sound from the airplane engine and your own thoughts. The Moon was perfectly bright and round in the beautiful gradient of blue and purple sky. I couldn’t thing of more perfect way to conclude my wonderful Thailand trip. 

Graffiti Art in San Francisco

Love this graffiti. Love San Francisco. 

Book Signing event

July 30, 2006 was the big date for me, I had my first book, Joy of Wushu book signing event at Border, Santana Row in San Jose. It was a lot of fun!

The event kicked off by Lily’s speech, she was telling the stories about how she got inspired by a Chinese Wushu demonstrations and why it was such a joy to work on this project. I also said few words on how Wushu changes my perspectives on my own culture. Afterward, many of people from the book demonstrated Wushu and kung fu, and it was a big hit!! Check out some of the pictures, see with you own eyes! (Pictures from the event)

Nice seeing so many people who featured in the book came to the event and perform, like Jack Tu, Tiffany Ryes, Collin Lee and so forth. They were fantastic! I especially excited that Cheri and Jennifer Haight from Cirque du Soleil signed my KA program. They both are so sweet. If you go to Vegas, you have to see the show, it was beyond amazing!

I was very touched by my father-in-law, Ron. He flew all the way from LA to attend this event. Also so many my friends came to the event as well, seriously it means a lot to me. Thank you guys!

I am glad I worked on this book project; this project has giving me this wonderful opportunity to showcase one of the most important aspect of Asian Culture. I hope this project will raise the awareness of Chinese marital arts in the America, it makes this project worth while.

Julia’s Kitchen

Julia’s Kitchen is named after the master chef, Julia Child. After I watched Bravo’s TV show “Top Chef” last season, I told myself, I had to eat there. The restaurant serves California-French cuisine. My husband Scott had Chef’s tasting menu and I had Sauteed Scallops. The foods were very tasty, but didn’t blow me away. I love the pastry there; all three dessert items were so good, very rich and flavorful. The service was good, the place was very enjoyable. 

Sautéed Dayboat Scallops

These scallops were so delicious! Just cooked perfectly! 

The Edible Garden

I LOVE this Edible Garden; the place is small, but very interesting. Most of plants are edible! Even though it was very hot in the afternoon, but I had so much fun at the garden tour I saw and tasted so many different herbs, fruits and edible flowers during the tour! What impressed me the most was this little green leafs called “Stevia,” it tastes very sweet, just like candy! 

Beautiful Sunflowers at Copia

 

Floating cloud

Hot air balloon ride was so unique and unforgettable. I enjoyed looking down and watching the trees, vineyards, orchards, and lakes. Feels like everything was in slow motion, feel like I was the floating cloud!

Good time was always too short. After one hour and thirty minutes of flying, our pilot Frank landed at the vineyard. The trip ended with champagne brunch. Not sure what happened, I was tipsy by 10 o’clock morning. I don’t know because of I had too much Mimosa, or because this amazing view… Probably both. :)

Get carried away by the Balloon

Waking up at crack of Dawn was not easy for me, however, July 9 Sunday morning; I got up at 4:30 A.M. and could hardly wait for my first hot air balloon ride at Napa Valley.

When we arrived at the departure site, the balloons were getting inflating with a powerful fan. When those colorful balloons get bigger, more excited I got. After the balloons got enough air, the crew blasted the propone burner flame into the balloons, so that the balloons can life off the ground. Finally, we could get into the basket. It was such a magical moment when the balloon took off the ground, the spectacular bird view of the wine country appeared little by little, beautiful sunrise shines on my eyes. Feel like I was in Heaven! 

Joy of Wushu book

After 3 years of hard work, the book Joy of Wushu is finally published. All of our hard work (Lily, Melody and I) finally paid off. It’s quite amazing feeling when I hold this book in my hands, it may sounds kind of cliché, but I have to say it feels like holding your own baby. The book is beautiful! Definitely the work was like a journey, but it’s worthy!

The book now is available at Borders at Santana Rows, San Jose. If you are interested reading more information about it, please visit our website.

Anniversary

Today is our wedding anniversary. Can you believe that we have been married for 3 years? Wow… Scott suggested that we watched our wedding DVD together, so we did. It was great watching the DVD together, it gave us a chance to relive the wonderful experience, reminded us how much we are loved. Most importantly, reflected our 3 years together.

4th of July

Scott and I went to San Jose Downtown for fireworks. It was fun! We went early to secure a good spot. Felt like the whole town was there! Normally, you won’t see so many people at San Jose Downtown, but today, everyone came to the park, lying on the grass, listen to the live music, enjoy the beautiful weather. We waited for a while time, but it was so worthy. The fireworks look so close and it was amazing! Next time, we have to invite more people to join us for this fun event.