Expense report form

Using the Google's document, I create this expense report form to track my expenses.

Voice activated light stand

6-year-old Melanie Wells helps putting out prop flames with Arnab Sinha, an EMT/Recruit Firefighter at McLean Volunteer Fire Department fire station.(Sun Gazette)

Again, Thuỵ helped me to light up the firefighter in this shot. It was at 11 in the morning, and the sun is almost directly above us. Under the big helmet, the EMT/recruit firefighter Arnab Sinha face was at almost 4 stops under. For this shot, I asked Thuỵ to hold the flash stick near the ground and point directly into Arnab face to give me a beautifully balanced exposure. When I have time, I will share with you more about my flash stick.

At the firehouses

David Cheng, 3, is trying out fire fighter bunker rubber boots for size at the Ballston Fire Station in Arlington.(Sun Gazette)

I and Thuỵ, we were at the firehouses today to take pictures for the Sun Gazette. Thuỵ was my "voice activated light stand" and he did a wonderful job. Without him, I could not take these pictures, and the lighting came out great. In the picture above, David Chen, a 3-yrs, Arlington resident is trying out the firefighter boots for size. The light inside the fire house is just not enough to light up the subject and the quality is that dreadful green neon lights. So, I quickly set my camera to expose 1 under for the background and Thuỵ was at my four-o'clock position with the flash set at 1/4 power. I love the expression of David, pulling on the boot.

Been awhile

Vienna Chamber Celebrates First Oktoberfest (Sun Gazette)

Schools started about a month ago, and the hectic life are settling in. Thuỵ reminded me last night about the blog, which I did not put in an entry for two long months. My bad.

Huân started the Linda Mood Bell program, and so far, very small - un-noticeable - changes. But we have plenty more time to go to draw the conclusion. I certainly hope that the program brings positive results, and this is not because the tuition but because Huân definitely deserves it. It's a long overdue for him.

Even though the school has started, Bảo continues to work at the Orchids For You store, one day a week. I can see a bit more mature, responsible, and confident in him. We went to the picnic about a week ago, and he was quite happy & energetic around his friends. His happiness permeates to me and other family members as well. We had a wonderful time.

Thuỵ is such a pleasure to be with. He helped me with the photo assignment shooting last week, and made the time 10 times more enjoyable. I really looking forward to have him at every photo shoot and I hope that he enjoys the time we're together as well.

I started to take pictures for the Sun Gazette. The photos of first assignment didn't come out as good as I want, even though the photo editor complimented them. Oh well, I'll try harder and apply new techniques on the next assignments. One thought keeps circle in my head: "telling the story, telling the story", it's tough to translate that into a two dimension 4x5 picture. I was looking for emotion, expression, dramatic moments; but along with that I have to worry about the lighting, the dreadful sun light at noon, the angle, the quality of light and in a crowded place. I need to train my eyes to be able to spot the moment, and work with all the difficult light conditions. Only practices and not afraid of try new things will help. This weekend, I need to produce images of kids & fire-trucks, at two different fire stations. I have been forming the images, describing the images over & over again in my head. I have been going through different light scenarios, and how the flash should be setup to overcome the difficult lighting condition. I hope those thought would help me this weekend.

You have mail!

It's wonderful to receive Bảo email today. I did not expect that he has internet access in Kyoto, so it was a pleasant surprise this morning. In the email, he said that he visit Nijō Castle and I quickly went online to check it out. It's beautiful! Wish that we could be there. Someday we will, the whole family.

Looking at the picture of the Nijō Castle, it reminds me of the Japanese TV show that I watched with my Japanese friend a long time ago. Richard Takahashi, that's my colleague & friend name back when we were working for TRW in Torrance, California. We usually watch this show during dinner on an old dinky B&W TV, which has aluminum foil wrapped on the rabbit-ears antenna. This is the only show which was visible enough for us to watch. The TV show does not have subtitle. Richard is 2nd generation, borne & raised in California, so he does not speak Japanese well. However, he can recognize few words, so he's the translator. He translates few key conversation, and my mind would fill in the rest. It's a Japanese Shogun TV drama, about the Tokugawa shoguns. Now, looking at this Nijō Castle, I bet the TV show was filmed there. Well, difficult to tell, because Japanese architecture at that time is pretty much the same, hard to tell one from the other if you do not have the whole layout of the castle. Quite interesting though, that is the first time that I know about Japanese culture. After watching enough of the show & living with Richard, I went to Little Tokyo in LA & bought myself a futon set at $200, which was very expensive for me ~20 years ago. I still have the pillow, the comforter, and the pad. I could not figure out how to take the pillow cover off to wash, so it had not washed for 20 years. But it's still hold up very well, and I use it to prop up my head at night watching TV.

Pedal, Huân. Pedal

Last weekend, Thuỵ and I took Huân to the Jamestown Elementary parking lot to practice riding on his new bike. Huân's new bike does not have any training wheel, we use a long handle which connected on to the back of the seat to give him extra balancing & momentum.

We go up & down the length the parking lot. Thuỵ is riding in front, I am running behind Huân's bike constantly reminding him to look-up, pedal & chase after Thuỵ. I also show him to slow down and use the hand brake. On a level stretch, Huân can pretty much ride by himself, but for a slightest up hill, I need to hold on to the bar and guide his bike. Huân quickly learned how to use the hand brake, but he still does not want to pedal. This reminds me to adjust his seat higher to give him more strength to push on the pedals. May be that is all it takes to enable him to ride by himself. There were lot of times I have to run along the side, up & down the stretch, holding on to the bike, and I was exhausted. I am completely out of shape, and I need to teach Huân how to ride before I can no longer run beside him.

More than once, I let go of my hand and Huân can ride by himself, it was a good feeling seeing him ride the bike by himself.

Titanium

Last week, I spent several hours with colleagues at work doing nothing but just hanging out, having fun. I work for a small company, and there are five of us developing a company product. Couple times a year we get together after work having fun, you can call it a camaraderie.

We share jokes, concerns, ideas and whatever come to mind. We talked about health (yes, we're at that age). John showed us how he recently found a cure for his nerve pinching pain, which had been with him for several years. Standing with two hands on the back of a tall stool doing steps only with the front portion of the feet. "I try to do this when I go out for a smoke, or just stand thinking. I can do 200 to 400 reps. No more pain, baby!" he said. Gene told us about the several operations he had to eliminate the pain in his back. The last operation he had, the doctor removed the old titanium bolts and replaced with better bracket to separate the joins in his spine. We all laughed when we heard: "And I asked the doctor to give me the old bolts", Gene proudly said. Gene is a handy man, he built the pool bar, the outdoor grill, all cabinets in his kitchen, and load of furnitures in his house. I suspect most of big & small appliances he can fix them himself. But I have no clue on what he's going to use these titanium spine bracket bolts. John jokingly said: "So, you are the kind of guys who wants the used parts back when taking the car in for repair, huh?". "Hell, yes! Show me the proof that you have replaced the bad part.", Gene replied. Gene keeps those old titanium bolts in a glass jar, as mementos I think. The titanium bolts last pretty long, they are strong and rust proof. My guess is those bolts would last even longer than most of us.

Looking at my friends, they are all experts at what they are doing: programing. They have many, many years of experience. Coding becomes their second nature. Sure, we're old, but our skills are not rusting or slowing down. Like those old titanium bolts in the jar. They could be replaced by newer and better bolts, which perhaps can pivot & twist, but as for the functions of the old titanium bolts; they still perform well just like the first day they were installed.

Mixed feelings

Only few more days Bảo will head off to Japan for two long weeks. It will be the first time for him to be away from home that long. And I am here having a mixed feelings, half excited and half worried. I am excited for he will see the world on his own. He will make decisions without any coaching. He will meet and make new friends, young and old, without parents interference. He will conducting himself in front of strangers without parents observation. But will he make the right decision at every turn? Will he feel content and confident with new friends? Will others accept and love him for who he is? Yes, I am worried.

For one week duration of each, there were few times that Bảo went to camp, attend seminar, worked as internship away from home; and every time I had similar feeling. This time, the feeling is much deeper, as if it grows proportionally to the distance and duration of where he will be. The mixed feeling comes up not only with Bảo, it happened to me when Thuỵ spent a week at University of Virginia last year as well. I keep asking myself: have I done enough of raising him, teaching him right and wrong, preparing him for the world, arming him with knowledges, experiences, and skills for anything throwing at him? There are so many things to teach, to prepare, to train before time runs out. His birthday reminds me of one year closer to that day. The day that I no longer able to teach him. When his mind no longer listens to my words. The feeling of that day is closing in makes me edgy. I want to pack lot of things into one long lecture, as if it's my final lecture. Yes, I realize that he does not like to sit & listen to my long lecture; but ... you see, time is running out; so I thought.

Writing these words reminds me of a saying: "If you do not trust your child, then when can your child become trustworthy? If you do not feel confident in your child, then how can your child ever be self-confident?" I guess it's time for me to step back. It's time for me to have confidence in Bảo, for he will make the right decisions on his own. It's time for me to put my trust on him, for he will conduct himself wisely in front of his friends and public. People will accept & love him for who he is, because he has been surrounded with love and care; for he has been raised with mixed feelings: excited & worried coming from me. Yes, I trust that he will feel excited to explore & learn new things. Moreover, I am confident that he will also be careful on every step that he makes.

Potstickers and dumplings

I usually mix up between the two names, so what is the difference between dumplings and potstickers? The difference is how they're cooked. Potstickers are pan fried then steamed. Dumplings are just steamed to perfection.

Here are few of my favorite dumpling recipes:

• Sohui Kim’s recipe
• Alton Brown's recipe
• Chinese dumpling recipe
• Leann Chin's recipe
  

As you notice, I do not include Bobby Flay's recipe, just because it has duck instead of pork or shrimp! And to me, that's just ain't right. I am unfair, I know.

China, China, and China

Because the Olympic is going to be in Beijing, China the Travel Channel is showing lot of shows with the destination in China, yeah, for the whole week! Last night, the Samantha Brown's Passport to China was followed by Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations which is also in China. As usual, Anthony's is packed with wits and tongue-in-cheeks narrations. But bizarre enough, watching both show back to back, they remind me of Andrew's Bizarre Foods. In Passport to China, Samantha tried deep fried star fish from a back-alley-street-food stand, and then she tasted the duck tongues in a popular restaurant. Anthony had goat's stomach, goat intestines, goat balls, and boat load of other undignified dishes which you would not want to touch if he knows of their origins.

As usual, Anthony paints a beautiful China cuisine picture with words: "the mother of all cuisines". It was funny that when Anthony was presented with a dish, mushy gray substance; being hungry, and trying to be culturally polite as well as the host of the show he chowed it down quickly. With broad smile, he gave the regular thumb up: "It's good!" The gray substance is the left-over soy bean paste, after the tofu was made, these are the left over and many have thought of nothing you can make out of it. However, when the local guide explain in Chinese accent: "You can't find this dish outside of Beijing!", Anthony smiled happily. The guide then followed: "because, outside of Beijing, people give these to pigs." The camera switched back to Anthony's face, and you can see his smile suddenly disappeared. He quickly went for his local drink and I wonder whether to wash that still lingered after taste, or he wants to push the food back down.