Since working at Twitter, Tony has had some of the most amazing experiences including riding helicopters and driving an Audi R8 on a race track. He's also met all kinds of "important" people like CEO's of other companies, Bono, Prime Minister and Governor of London, Peter Michael, and Kanye West. Of course, nothing will top that, living in London, except for the opportunity to meet the Queen. Before we moved here, I even joked that I would only move to London if I got a chance to meet Kate Middleton. Some British advisors asked, "Not sure about that, but how about the Queen?".
A few weeks back Tony received the official invitation from the "Master of the Household" to the Queen inviting him to the Buckingham Palace for a media reception. Tony kindly asked if his wife could also come along, but they said 'no'.
This Monday, Tony went to the reception held for the media at Buckingham Palace. He waited in small groups to meet the Queen. She had people that controlled every part of the meeting including how he would stand and which direction he would face when she came around. Tony was ill-prepared for this meeting. My advice for him was that he should not touch the Queen, unless she extends her hand first. I learned this from watching enough movies. Also, I told him he should address the Queen as "your majesty the Queen" which I learned from watching the Tudors. Luckily, he didn't follow my latter piece of advice. While waiting in line to meet her, he asked the person behind him what he should call her and he said "ma'am". Tony thought he was joking and didn't have time to confirm this as it was his turn next. So without addressing her, he said "nice to meet you". When he came home, I chastised him for not addressing her properly. And after some research, we learned something new. The Queen is addressed as "ma'am" as in "ham".
However, what make me so jealous when he came home was that the entire royal family was there, besides Prince Harry. Tony also got to meet Kate Middleton and Prince William and chatted with them a bit about Prince Williams recent helicopter tour. We didn't know anyone else was going to be at the reception except for the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh (her husband). Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall were also in attendance but Tony didn't meet them.
Even after meeting all kinds of celebrities and "important" people, Tony is never too impressed. He left the reception early so he could spend time with one of the most important persons in his life, Lucas, before he went to bed.
Since cameras were not allowed, Tony had only an official picture taken with her Majesty. If we get that, I will post it.
Monday, November 28, 2011
Saturday, November 19, 2011
Paris, Day 1: Taking the train
After a nap at home, we got to the train station. Lucas had a nice lunch on the train followed by a wobbly walk up and down the eurostar with daddy. It was one of the smoothest trips ever and it's great that in just 2.5 hours, we can be in Paris.
Here he is standing so cooperatively in front of the train at St. Pancras station while mommy takes a picture.
Sunday, November 13, 2011
A Walk Through Hyde Park
Lucas has been feeling under the weather the last two days and is still sick. He most likely caught the bug that Tony and I both had which included flu like symptoms, a bad sore throat, finishing with a horrible cough that just won't go away. We managed to claim some of the remaining weekend and get some fresh air, while enjoying the last days of fall.
Here are our pictures from today as we walked through Hyde Park:
Here are our pictures from today as we walked through Hyde Park:
Thursday, November 10, 2011
It's Fall!
The changing of the seasons is something we Californian's don't really get to experience. The trees pretty much look the same year round, green and full, with the exception of a few that will turn brown and drop it's leaves. And when you find that one, you can't help but admire it's beauty. The orange, yellow, red, and brown hues of the beautiful maple tree may be the only signal that it is indeed fall.
This fall, however, is a new experience for me. Everywhere I look, is an indication that winter is soon approaching. Dried leaves line the streets and fill the parks leaving all the trees bare. I love watching the sunshine hit the colored leaves and emit a beautiful radiance. Lets just say, I LOVE fall and it's my favorite season. This year, I finally get my fall experience!
Since we've been back, Lucas and I have enjoyed walking through the parks and playing in the crunchy leaves. Lucas only stops to pull out leaves caught in the wheels of the stroller. We're having fun!
This fall, however, is a new experience for me. Everywhere I look, is an indication that winter is soon approaching. Dried leaves line the streets and fill the parks leaving all the trees bare. I love watching the sunshine hit the colored leaves and emit a beautiful radiance. Lets just say, I LOVE fall and it's my favorite season. This year, I finally get my fall experience!
Since we've been back, Lucas and I have enjoyed walking through the parks and playing in the crunchy leaves. Lucas only stops to pull out leaves caught in the wheels of the stroller. We're having fun!
Thursday, October 27, 2011
First Visit Back and Turning 30
We just came back from our first visit back to the States.
It was a little surreal to be leaving London after living there for five months and return to life stateside. It's like being thrust from a Charles Dickens' novel to the set of "The Hill's". However, I found that things were just the way I left it and after the initial reintroduction to LA traffic, freeways, super chain grocery stores, and hot weather, I was home again.
I was tempted to compare life in London to the states, since it is so different. Life, overall, is easier in the States, with convenience written all over it. However, I did appreciate having a local market right outside my house and being able to walk 10 minutes to a park without driving as some of the things I missed about London while home.
Visiting Home
It was wonderful to be home with family and friends and surrounded by so many people. While in Los Angeles, Lucas had fun with Mochi (mel's dad's dog) and spending time with Poh Poh (mel's mother) and Gung Gung (mel's father) and his cousins. He also got to finally play with "Mei Mei" (Cousin Kaitlyn) after seeing only her picture on Gung Gung's iphone. I'm not entirely sure why, but Lucas has an affinity to younger babies, especially girls. He has a very nurturing quality about him.
While in LA, we prepared for Raymond's wedding and spent a lot of time with family as well as for wedding events. We had a wonderful time at the wedding and meeting Diana's (Raymond's wife) family as well as being a part of the wedding. Tony was a groomsman, I was a bridesmaid, and Lucas was a ring bearer. Lucas did really well, he made it to the end of the isle and back again!
After our trip to Los Angeles, we went up North to our home in Mountain View. Lucas spent time with Na Na (Tony's mother) and Yeh Yeh (Tony's father). He loved spending time with them, singing songs and going to the beach. Lucas also got to spend time at the local pumpkin patch with his friends Jo jo and Livi while he was there.
Turning 30
.....was exactly how I wanted to spend it. After an eventful week in LA, I spent the week before my birthday back in Mountain View. I got to see many dear friends and family. Since we ended up booking our flight on my actual birthday, I made sure I had a chance to ring in 30 properly. The weekend before I left, I met one of my best friends Esther in Vegas while Tony and his parents lovingly helped care for Lucas and also while mommy got to live up her last days as a twenty something. We had a blast! (i'll leave it at that ;) )
After returning home, we had dinner with the family for my birthday before we left. Kathryn (my sister in law) made my favorite, prime rib. Then, thinking the celebrations were over, my husband did the unthinkable. Tony planned a surprise party on the day we arrived back in London soon after getting off a transatlantic international flight with a toddler. I was thrashed....but so happy to see my small group. It was such a wonderful welcome back to London, especially after being back in the states and already missing my family and friends.
So here we are, back in London. Back in gloomy, coOold London to be exact. But it's good to be 'home'. =)
It was a little surreal to be leaving London after living there for five months and return to life stateside. It's like being thrust from a Charles Dickens' novel to the set of "The Hill's". However, I found that things were just the way I left it and after the initial reintroduction to LA traffic, freeways, super chain grocery stores, and hot weather, I was home again.
I was tempted to compare life in London to the states, since it is so different. Life, overall, is easier in the States, with convenience written all over it. However, I did appreciate having a local market right outside my house and being able to walk 10 minutes to a park without driving as some of the things I missed about London while home.
Visiting Home
It was wonderful to be home with family and friends and surrounded by so many people. While in Los Angeles, Lucas had fun with Mochi (mel's dad's dog) and spending time with Poh Poh (mel's mother) and Gung Gung (mel's father) and his cousins. He also got to finally play with "Mei Mei" (Cousin Kaitlyn) after seeing only her picture on Gung Gung's iphone. I'm not entirely sure why, but Lucas has an affinity to younger babies, especially girls. He has a very nurturing quality about him.
While in LA, we prepared for Raymond's wedding and spent a lot of time with family as well as for wedding events. We had a wonderful time at the wedding and meeting Diana's (Raymond's wife) family as well as being a part of the wedding. Tony was a groomsman, I was a bridesmaid, and Lucas was a ring bearer. Lucas did really well, he made it to the end of the isle and back again!
After our trip to Los Angeles, we went up North to our home in Mountain View. Lucas spent time with Na Na (Tony's mother) and Yeh Yeh (Tony's father). He loved spending time with them, singing songs and going to the beach. Lucas also got to spend time at the local pumpkin patch with his friends Jo jo and Livi while he was there.
Turning 30
.....was exactly how I wanted to spend it. After an eventful week in LA, I spent the week before my birthday back in Mountain View. I got to see many dear friends and family. Since we ended up booking our flight on my actual birthday, I made sure I had a chance to ring in 30 properly. The weekend before I left, I met one of my best friends Esther in Vegas while Tony and his parents lovingly helped care for Lucas and also while mommy got to live up her last days as a twenty something. We had a blast! (i'll leave it at that ;) )
After returning home, we had dinner with the family for my birthday before we left. Kathryn (my sister in law) made my favorite, prime rib. Then, thinking the celebrations were over, my husband did the unthinkable. Tony planned a surprise party on the day we arrived back in London soon after getting off a transatlantic international flight with a toddler. I was thrashed....but so happy to see my small group. It was such a wonderful welcome back to London, especially after being back in the states and already missing my family and friends.
So here we are, back in London. Back in gloomy, coOold London to be exact. But it's good to be 'home'. =)
Sunday, August 14, 2011
#LondonRiots
Living in London for two months was enough to call it my home. So when the riots hit, I had a mix of emotions. Anger directed towards the ignorant youth attacking, looting and burning down "my" city, sadness for the shop keepers who's stores and livelihoods were destroyed, grief for those who lost their lives, frustration with the met police and government who didn't seem to be responding quickly enough, and fear that the riots would come to our neighborhood.
It seemed to be so surreal that it was even happening. But, on day three, when some rioters came to our neighborhood, it really hit home. That evening near midnight I got a text from a friend telling me to check Twitter, she said "bad things are happening around your home". Immediately I searched for our streets and Twitter told me that just two blocks away there was a car on fire, a Michelin star restaurant got robbed, and further down our street, a posh store was being broken into.
Lucas was fast asleep while Tony and I were in our rooms glued to our phones, following minute by minute updates of the riots on Twitter. All we could hear was the sound of sirens every few minutes. And just to be safe, I packed a duffel bag with a days worth of clothes and our valuables. It was a possibility that our place could have been burned down since we shared a building with a storefront on a main street.
Finally, after getting to sleep, we woke up the next morning, thankful that it was morning because the looters only came out at night. Tony cancelled his meeting to stay home to make sure we were okay and to walk around the neighborhood and help with any clean-up necessarily. Luckily, our neighborhood wasn't hit too bad in terms of damage. Just some cracked windows but no broken glass.
Lastly, one breakthrough for us during the riots was that I really had my "Twitter moment". I always knew that Twitter was great for minute by minute updates about news but never had it applied so personally to me before. I felt that the tweets that were posted by our community were my eyes and ears outside our home. I could know exactly how far they were from our place and in many aspects, feel safer because of this knowledge.
It seemed to be so surreal that it was even happening. But, on day three, when some rioters came to our neighborhood, it really hit home. That evening near midnight I got a text from a friend telling me to check Twitter, she said "bad things are happening around your home". Immediately I searched for our streets and Twitter told me that just two blocks away there was a car on fire, a Michelin star restaurant got robbed, and further down our street, a posh store was being broken into.
Lucas was fast asleep while Tony and I were in our rooms glued to our phones, following minute by minute updates of the riots on Twitter. All we could hear was the sound of sirens every few minutes. And just to be safe, I packed a duffel bag with a days worth of clothes and our valuables. It was a possibility that our place could have been burned down since we shared a building with a storefront on a main street.
Finally, after getting to sleep, we woke up the next morning, thankful that it was morning because the looters only came out at night. Tony cancelled his meeting to stay home to make sure we were okay and to walk around the neighborhood and help with any clean-up necessarily. Luckily, our neighborhood wasn't hit too bad in terms of damage. Just some cracked windows but no broken glass.
Lastly, one breakthrough for us during the riots was that I really had my "Twitter moment". I always knew that Twitter was great for minute by minute updates about news but never had it applied so personally to me before. I felt that the tweets that were posted by our community were my eyes and ears outside our home. I could know exactly how far they were from our place and in many aspects, feel safer because of this knowledge.
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Car's Promotion
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