First Haircut

Chinese babies usually have their first haircut a month after they are born. I got my first haircut when I was a month old. Biajee didn't. He was too lazy and too cowardish to cut Arnold's hair at that time. I was still in bed suffering from the pain of labor and lack of sleep.

We finally made the decision to shave Arnold bald. Of course, WE means I in terms of the teamwork spirit in our family. I still like to use WE so that I don't feel that I'm doing everything. It's my self-adjusting psycho treatment. Biajee did help holding Arnold though. I locked them up in our smallest bathroom downstairs so that the hair wouldn't fly everywhere in the house.

Arnold loved the feeling of being mowed. I don't think he realized what was going on. He still had no idea of the change of his own image in the mirror afterwards. He looks like one of the Shao-lin monks now. So adorable.

Arnold is fond of Biajee's glasses these days. He was wild with joy every time he saw Biajee approaching. Biajee was so touched that he started to hold him and kiss him. Then Arnold would snatch off Biajee's glasses and pretend he doesn't know Dad at all. It's quite heart-breaking for Biajee, yet he got cheated every time Arnold laughs at him.

Flying Back Home - Jan 13th, 2007

We visited Sugar Museum on the last day of our trip and spent the whole afternoon in the mall. Our flight would leave Maui at 8:00 pm and then we were supposed to hop on a direct flight from Honolulu to Denver.

We got to the airport at 5:30 pm, returned the rental car and checked in our bags. The flights between Maui and Honolulu are scheduled like hourly buses. We were able to fit in an earlier flight that departed at 6:30 pm.

We dined at the airport in Honolulu and found out everything we were served were decorated with colorful little umbrellas. Umbrella is a big deal for this trip. While Biajee and I toured around Florida, we always got drinks with little umbrellas in them. It's a big tropical and beach thing. Yet we finally got satisfied with our lust for umbrellas on the last day of the trip in the airport.

The gift shops at Honolulu offered much wider varieties of products and duty-free items, mainly because Japanese people visit Hawaii a lot and they like to buy, buy and buy, especially alcohol and cigarettes.

We were assigned separate seats at Kahului airport on the next sector. We had to beg the ground staff at the United check-in counter in Honolulu to reassign to adjacent seats.

The monitor system of the aircraft was broken after we were all seated in the plane. We didn't take off until 3 am and we were all exhausted. Poor Arnold could not sleep well at all. We do not like United Airlines. They deserved to go bankruptcy. Both their ground and inflight crews are rude and careless. Having worked for the airlines for 3 years in my prior life, I despise all the American Airlines. They charge the most expensive price and offer the lousiest service. We do not recommend airline stocks either because they do not care about shareholders' equity at all. Their main concerns are taking other people's money and mending their holes.

New Earrings - Jan 12th, 2007

Biajee bought me a pair of new earrings at a gift shop after we dined in Pacific 'O, the restaurant on the beach. All the food in Pacific 'O are produced in a farm on Haleakala. We tried to make a reservation for the farm tour, but there was nothing available that week. I would suggest call in advance if you're interested in touring the farm.

The earrings we picked up are Hawaiian style and they match my strap-on top perfectly. Women are fond of these gadgets by nature.

We went to big beach on the south of east Maui on Friday morning. That is the most expensive part of the whole island. The Four Season's Hotel and The Prince Hotel were located there. Most beaches and land were owned by the hotels now. The water was jade-green and we could see Molinki from its back. There is a warning sign on the shore indicating the waves could be deadly and people should swim at their own risk. The sand is nowhere in comparison of that in Florida, but we still enjoyed a lot. Arnold was in the tent most of the time so he could avoid sunshine. This was the only real enjoy-the-beach time we had during the entire trip.

Bike Haleakala - Jan 8th and Jan 11th, 2007

I was a wimp. I almost fainted on the day we biked the volcano. Haleakala is the only national park on the island of Maui. The summit is 10,023 feet, the highest point on Maui. The trip to Maui would be incomplete without biking down the volcano. Thousands of downhill biking enthusiasts have experienced this adventure since the industry began in 1982. Biajee and I biked down from 6,500 feet on Jan. 8th when I nearly passed out half way. We took the van down to the winery for lunch. It was extremely cold at the peak of the mountain. I didn't choose a very good bike company at all. If we were to go again, I'd book with Haleakala Bike Company. They are cheaper and they offer a deluxe biking tour starting from the summit of the mountain. The reason we went with our little group is because they can take Arnold in the van downhill.

Jan. 8th was the day we booked our outdoor activities. We were blessed with cold, cloudy and nearly rainy weather as usual. I would suggest wind breakers and long pants as outfit for the biking.

Since we didn't start from the peak of the mountain, we had to drive back to the National Park on Jan. 11th for all the fun things we missed.

Haleakala Crater, literally "House of the Sun," is the largest dormant volcano in the world and provides incredible hiking trails across the crater floor. The east-facing chasm swallows sunrises like a giant glass of orange juice. Haleakala is 3,000 feet deep and has a circumference of 21 miles. Atop the clouds, we were rewarded with views of all of Maui's neighboring islands. Rust-colored cindercones of all sizes rise from the volcano's belly.

There are astronomy institutes built next to the summit. Biajee said University of Hawaii hosts one of the best astrology departments in the United States. I still don't want Arnold to go the U.H. We are saving money for the Ivy League colleges as his undergrad choices at the moment.

Road to Hana - Jan. 10th, 2007

The Road to Hana (or Hana Highway) on Maui's north east shore is perhaps the closest thing to a highway to Heaven as you'll ever find. The Road to Hana is 52 miles of undeveloped road that passes by some of the most breath-taking scenery on the face of the earth. It was literally a million years in the making. It's not a journey for those in a rush. With beautiful stops and sights, 56 one-lane bridges, and 617 curves & turns along this scenic route, it's the journey getting there, not the destination, that is the main attraction. We bought a CD from Wal-mart, which cost $15.99. If you buy it from other tourist places, it generally costs $24.99. Tourists are supposed to play this CD or cassette in the rental car on the way to Hana. It tells you all the points of interests on the road.

Of course, on this first day in our trip that we planned to do something on our own, it started to rain continuously. Biajee and I got used to that. Whenever we decided to go out and enjoy nature, we were always blessed by rainy or snowy weather. This has been true in our Canadian road trip to Banff National Park, Lake Louise and Glacier National Park. We've camped in high winds and rain in South Dakota as well.

As you may tell from the rainy pictures of the Road to Hana and Hana beaches, the heavenly road is still spectacular even in rain.

The plants we saw on the roadside were all sugar canes. Maui provides one-tenth of sugar supply for the United States. Biajee and I were both bitten by mosquitoes when we stopped at a trailhead to rest. The mosquitoes in Maui are much bigger, uglier and more deadly than those in Alaska. They wouldn't take off once they land on our skin. At first, I thought they were flies, but Biajee confirmed that they were mosquitoes after killing a few of them.

We visited a lava cave right before we enter the little sleepy Hana town. We were given torches to go in and look at the enormous subterranean lava tube.

Lunch was at the Hana Maui Hotel. There were not many lunch places in Hana at all. I picked the hotel because I'm tired of cold sandwiches. We've been eating junk for lunch ever since we arrived at Maui. We had fresh squeezed ginger carrot juice with Tofu hotpot and Mahi-mahi salad. Arnold was fed some Tofu soup and solid food as well. The view of the hotel restaurant was serene and enchanting, offering a tranquil escape from real life. We are speculating that Arnold may want to have his honeymoon here in future, but we would buy them plane tickets to fly to Hana directly so that he doesn't have to go through the dangerous and exhausting drive.

There was 3 miles of dirt road if we drive the round trip circling East Maui. Biajee was all prepared for it although the rental car company told him not to take the Impala to dirt road. We took some pictures on the best beaches of Hana in rain while Arnold was sound asleep. When we were ready to bump through the dirt road, we found that it was closed due to the rainy weather. It must be a lot worse than the dirt road we encountered in Alaska. Biajee couldn't drive at that time. I had to suffer 14 hours drive to get to our hotel in Wrangle St. Elias National Park.

We visited the only store in Hana town, the Hasegawa General Store. We bought two packs of playing cards and a mosquito repellent spray. They also sell T-Shirts with "I survived the road to Hana". Biajee thought it was more important to drive the road than to own the T shirt.

We had to turn back and set off for our hotel in Kahului before dark. Arnold was crying because of hunger. We weren't able to do anything while one side was mountain and the other side was cliff and the ocean. There was nowhere to pull over and feed him. The cars behind us were following closely. For a few moments, I almost thought we couldn't survive the rugged shoreline.

We got back safe and sound. I had to admit Biajee is a super driver, much better than me. I would have cursed and lost my temper and ruined the whole day. All he did was to fall into bed and snore after we settled in the hotel.

Molikini Snorkeling - Jan. 9th, 2007

Molikini is a new moon shaped island close to Maui. When I booked the snorkel trip, the lady suggested that we go there instead of Lanai for snorkeling due to the fact we are carrying a 7-month old. It's 2 hours to get there by boat. We were on a sail boat with only 8 passengers in total. It's convenient to book these things on line. We get a better price when we use the internet.

Biajee never got a chance to get a pair of goggles with prescriptions. I bet what he saw down there in water were all blurred. He jumped in three times though and picked out good sites where we could see colorful fish vs black fish. We had to take turns snorkeling since someone need to hold Arnold all the time.

Beer and wine were served in the boat while we were on the ocean. Alcohol is prohibited in the harbor though. It's a para-sailing boat. The captain shut off the engine on the way back to Maui and utilized the energy of wind to full span. Free breakfast and lunch were served. Mainly cold bread, pastries, sandwiches and salads.

Arnold was amazed by the ocean. It was his first time of a boat ride in his life. We love the fact that he is seeing more of the world than most of the kids his age.

Hula - Jan 7th Maui Trip

Hula is the famous Hawaiian dance. People dance it at Luaus and other festivals.

Hula means "dance" in Hawaiian language. It can be traced back to Polynesia and India. The hula has an interesting myth on how it was started.

Long ago Pele, the goddess of fire, told her little sister, Laka, to amuse her because she was very bored. Right away, Laka got up and moved gracefully, acting out silently events they both knew. Pele was delighted when Laka began relating victories of King Kamehameha. She showed winds circling, directed by the goddess Laama'oma'o. She described trees, flowers, waterfalls, and stars. She honored Kuula, the god of the sea, by swaying side to side to the rhythm of the ocean waves. Pele clapped. She was fascinated. The hula was born. Laka became the hula goddess.

At first there were some rules.

Only religious men and women could perform the first hulas because Hawaiian dancing was sacred. These men and women devoted themselves to Laka's hula. They only saw their instructors.

The hula began to change. Many years later, common people danced the hula. Their dances were happy and gay. Everyone danced, no matter how old they were. The hula still continued to change.

Several years later, newcomers to Hawaii had new ideas for the native dance and the Modern Hula came to be called: "Haole Hula." Rattles, drums, and other instruments accompanied the dance.

I've been to Hawaii and seen Hula before this trip, but it's completely new to Biajee. We both think it's exotic and lustrous than belly dancing.

Old Lahaina Luau - Biajee's 28th Birthday

Biajee is older and wiser now. We celebrated his birthay at the best Luau restaurant on Maui. There were about 1,500 people at this show.

Hawaiians bury pigs underground and bake them before they take them out and put pigs on dinner table. There are singing and dancing involved as well. It was buffett type of dinner. Arnold pooped a few times and messed up all his clothes and chairmats in the car seat only because Biajee refuse to feed him any cereal. It is somewhat a common knowledge that you need to eat bread, rice, wheat or oatmeal every day apart from just veggies and fruits, otherwise the poop is in a liquid format and explodes all over the place.

Maui is a Demi-God. Biajee questioned me about what Demi-God meant and I told him that the person is half God, half human. There were a few wars broken out between different Hawaiian islands in the 1800s. Eventually King Kamehhameha united all the islands and built his own kingdom. The Hawaiians are Polynesian origin. Men are very masculinary and women generally have super bodies. Biajee's chin almost fell to floor when he watched the dancing ladies.

He had a gorgeous birthday except for having to change Arnold's poopy diapers and clothes. We both suffered from diahrrea the next day. I don't think the food is hygenic.

Flat Tire

I just found out that the rear right tire was flat. I cannot go anywhere during lunch time. Biajee noticed it a month ago and didn't do anything about it. Of course we switched cars now because of the baby and I have to take the burden of everything.

We're going for the launch to Maui tomorrow. It started snowing again. We may get from 5 to 9 inches of snow today. Hopefully it won't affect the trip. We need some time off very badly.

Arnold can sit now without falling aside or afront. We haven't packed our luggage yet. Biajee enjoys doing things at the very last minute. I hope we don't miss anything or lose anything this time. At least there are Wal-mart and Costco on the island. It's awesome to leave Denver in the snow and sit by the beach holding a colorful drink with an umbrella in it.

I worked until 9:30 pm on Wednesday to make this vacation happen. I feel like this company will work my back to death and I'll have to take short term disability someday.

Relief

I went for acupuncture yesterday. Doctor said my back pain will flare up again if I ever have another baby.

I went home and told Biajee. He said we were not going to have another baby then. My heart was so filled with joy. I don't know whether he is serious about it, but he surely unloaded a big stone from my shoulder. I've been thinking of all the pain and trouble of getting pregnant again ever since Arnold was born. It's been haunting me like hell how I will evolve to the size of an elephant again, vomit for 9 months, split my hip bones, suffer from contractions, get cut at the bottom, not be able to go to the restroom for 3 days, lie in bed for 6 weeks and be up every 2 hours for 6 months...

Apart from that, what if both kids want to go to Harvard or Stanford? I cannot tell them they are not able to go because mom cannot afford it. I would sell my eyes, my liver, my spleen and all my other organs before I can say that to them.

I'm the only child in my family and I got the best of everything and never had to fight for my parents' love. Biajee's sister is 7 years elder than him - basically they are like 2 single child because they never had to fight for toys or the same kind of huddle from their parents.

Just think about how financially better we will be. We're not under pressure to move into a bigger house immediately. We have more money for vacation and traveling. We can send Arnold to Karate, piano, chess, bridge, Chinese painting and calligraphy classes...

I hope Biajee doesn't change his mind by the time Arnold turns two.

Back to Work

It's the first working day of 2007. We were all late. Biajee didn't set the alarm. Arnold woke up at 6:25 am. Biajee had to drop him off and pick him up now because my back still hurts. We have to be very careful these days and protect me, otherwise we may have to cancel our Maui trip.

Arnold has gained some weight over the past week. He is a briliant little guy. He hated pacifier ever since he was born because it was not the REAL thing. He somehow found it very soothing to suck his fingers or whole fist while speculating what's going on around him, just like a dog playing with bones. He lures us with his drunken old-man smile after pooping a huge pile of shit in his diaper. Biajee said the shit leaked out one day because there was too much of it.

I'm going for my 3rd acupuncture treatment today. My back has significantly improved. The insurance company refused to pay for an MRI though. It's safe to stay with my Chinese doctor so that I don't have to take pain killers. The modern acupuncture has all the needles linked to electricity. Biajee witnessed my treatment last Saturday and was tremendously amused.