Finally, a LONG overdue family reunion in Asia! We haven’t seen G’s bro John (+family) in SEVEN years… He moved to HK from the UK this past summer so it looks like most of our family/relatives are now in Asia. We wanted to overlap w/ his kiddos so E could hang out w/ the other cousins and had a bit of a complicated schedule, adding on Japan since E wanted to check it out given he’s never been: it was JP, TW, then back to JP, then SD and Daddy took a side trip to SG as well. Whew!

Chilling in the lounge before getting on the super long overseas flight…

See you in about 2 weeks, San Diego!

Landed in Tokyo in the evening… It’s been awhile for the parents and first time for E.

First stop, right outside our AirBnb was 7-11, of course!

Convenience store sushi here is pretty darn good.

The next day, we spent HOURS at Don Don Donki. :P KitKats in every flavor possible…

And started our matcha streak.

Part of the fun is just meandering through the city.

His first Ichiran experience.

One stall/person!

Matcha pudding for dessert.

Went to the Tokyo Tower near dusk for great aerial views of the city.

Had to check out a local grocery store — all the unique cup noodles!

And just quirky Japan things…

Lotus, kabocha bread?

Of course, more matcha!

Some preferred frozen form over liquid. ;-)

All the claw machines.

Sanrio everywhere.

And all the gashapons.

More of you know what. :)

Street art structures…

Went to a food hall… omg, soooo many options. And we’d have to say food is relatively cheaper here than the states.

Tried a cab.

We need/want this minimal Christmas tree.

Every city needs a thin, round building?

The famous Hachiko dog statue that people were waiting in line to touch.

Nintendo store.

Daddy couldn’t resist a gashapon there.

And the much anticipated Pokemon center!

The famous Shibuya crossing.

Catching some Pokemons.

These became addicting…

Went to the top of a building to view Shibuya from a different vantage point.

Hrmmm, a bit disturbing?

Orange-y loves: kabocha and two different kinds of persimmons.

We loved this AirBnb — super clean, great location and spacious for JP.

We had forgotten the train to/from the NRT airport is actually pretty long. We’re going to have to take this in and out when we’re back.

Then it was off to TW for E & G and SG for Y. (We’ll be back in a few, JP!) Ugh, the security line for our flight to TW was insane.

Made it to TW. We decided to rent out the suite in Ah-Gong and Ah-Ma’s building. It was nice and spacious!

It was so good to see everyone!

Finally met Elliott!

The meeting room in the building was all spruced up for the holidays.

Modern aesthetic of the lobby.

There was also a little game room & play room (right next to the suite).

Then hot pot was in order.

Didn’t take them very long to get warmed up.

Ice cream cheers!

Let’s just say this was not the only (3-scoop) cone Uncle Jong had, lol.

Did some arcade-ing.

On the bus.

Pillow fort.

Building/playing with some of their loot.

Followed by some roughhousing… Boys will be boys!

A bike ride with Uncle Dan on YouBikes. Ethan & Elliott didn’t come because they were too short for the public bikes.

There were some sketchy parts with traffic and construction but it was a fun ride overall.

We stopped at some points of interest.

His first Mister Donut.

Mommy’s fave vegetarian cafe at Taipei Main Station…

Hot grass jelly.

Tamsui old street.

Street puppet show and dropping some coins for the performer.

Pretty desserts.

Outdoor rides in Taipei.

Doraemon ate some of our boys. ;P

Eyeing the presents.

Which turned into shaking…

Honestly don’t remember what he was pointing to!

Another arcade.

Drummin’ with Ah-Ma.

Some VR.

Uncle Dan clawed this critter.

So on Christmas Eve, we told them they could open ONE gift each…

This morphed into all.the.gifts, hahahaha.

Then we went to a movie with Uncle Dan. It was too late for the younger boys so they opted out.

Mommy and Uncle Dan may or may not have dozed off for a bit…

More building…

Ready to order some shaved ice.

But first, bbt and dinner. :)

Too tired for shaved ice, Elliott???

Personal space is impossible at their age!

Somebody got in trouble @ the MRT station. J/K. Card issue.

Guess where?

Giant “gumball” machine.

Uncle Dan helping them open the “gumball”.

None of the parents wanted to go so we sent Uncle Dan. ;-)

Rush hour on the MRT.

101.

Uncle Dan offered to take the kids to a play place so the parents can have some free time shopping. (Wondered if he regretted it? Lol.)

Outside Ah-Gong and Ah-Ma’s building… very European influenced.

Yummy traditional Taiwanese lunch.

Then Daddy was coming to TW for a short while so we booked a hotel in Taipei.

Backtrack a bit, when we flew to TW, Daddy had a Matcha Espresso before he got on the plane to SG.

He was happy to be reunited with… laksa, haha.

Home for him.

And all his faves. Did he go back for the food or the people (his mom asks)? :D

Mama’s (what we call Y’s mom) banana tree.

Last meal @ the airport before heading to TW.

SQ.

Daddy wanted to get Taiwanese breakfast the next day.

Prob not authentic for Y but we went to a Malaysian resto for lunch.

They even had pizza?

Then we went to the Taipei Children’s Amusement Park.

Funcle jumped in. :)

None of the parents wanted to do the coaster either so guess who accompanied? Haha.

Face before the big drop… too late to back out!

And then games ’til we won this rainbow-colored chameleon!

Poor Elliott… both parents AND kids didn’t want to go on some of the rides he wanted to do so he bravely went solo.

We won a stuffie for him but he was all smiles anyway. :)

Went for niu rou mein (beef noodle soup).

The stuffies joined the table.

Stumbled on Matcha Prince and of course had to stop!

And then carried this huge guy through the MRT.

Daddy had to stop at Mister Donut.

Couldn’t NOT make a visit to Taro King.

Don Don Donki in TW. Tempting food that were on discount but we were waaaay too full after a day of eating.

Nice little church building.

Skate park.

The entrance was a wall of circuits.

Happened on a Snoopy exhibit while visiting a creative park.

Enjoyed the art parodies!

One of those huge buffets you have to reserve ahead of time and people still wait in line for. We generally don’t eat buffets anymore but when in Asia, I guess you have to go to at least one.

Of course the kids ate just a little bit of the food that is actually good and went for ice cream!

And the chocolate fountain.

Elliott went to town with it. :)

Did Uncle Dan teach him this?

The adults were still inhaling seafood.

And raw beef?

Ethan’s turn.

Yuzu jello and Royce chocolates!

Stuffie (that Elliott named Leo) gets a ride on Auntie Glo’s wheelchair.

Blind busker.

Decided to walk off lunch at Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall.

Can you spot moms and sons? :)

Can’t forget the mango shaved ice!

Last TW breakfast before we head back to JP.

Art installation at another creative park.

The boys were surprised to see a Stranger Things installation.

Girlie frame. ;-P

Then we said our goodbyes as we went separate ways on the MRT.

Sad but ’til next time, family! We really enjoyed hanging out together.

Off to the airport the next day.

The lounges in Asia are exponentially better than the US!

Douhua and fish soup… this might’ve been another lounge. Part of the fun @ the airport is going to the different ones that all have varied dishes.

Mommy is MIT (Made in Taiwan)! :))

The sign was composed of circuits… made us think of that circuit wall.

Back in Tokyo a few hours later.

Same train into the city.

Explored an outdoor market the next day.

Not sure about this. :(

Did not consume.

After going through some matcha withdrawal, haha.

Made our way to Odaiba area.

At the Diver City Mall food court.

Not your average cotton candy.

Who wants some?

Hadn’t seen a Toys R Us in forever!

Came for the giant Gundam statue.

Photo credit: Elias. :)

Sunset was quite nice!

Rainbow Bridge all lit up.

Their Wendy’s has a matcha float!

Amongst other floats…

Hrmmmm, interesting.

They had this famous jerky shop from SG.

A snowy dragon bear???

We did an authentic matcha experience. It was a teeny tiny stall with only a few seats but SO GOOD.

Think this was a ginger tea after the matcha?

More gashapon-ing

Checking out Pokemon cards.

The *BIG* one.

He couldn’t resist building out the car Ah-Gong and Ah-Ma got for him.

Flagship Uniqlo in Ginza… 12 stories!!!

This spoke to Daddy’s heart!

Also visited the 11-story flagship Muji.

Indoor RC track.

Chasing a peacock?

The egg sandos were much welcomed.

More dried persimmons.

Random electronics @ Akihabara. Seemed like it got a bit more touristy from when we came years ago.

POV: Nostalgia for the parents, weird/foreign contraptions for the kiddo. :)

A frog in a shed in front of a personal resident. Not sure if any significance?

“Purifying” at a temizuya before entering a temple.

Think it was a day to honor ancestors so the line to go in was crazy.

Kaminarimon Gate.

Swan boats in Ueno.

Hungry koi.

Went to the 8th floor of the Asakusa Culture Tourist Information Center which had an observation terrace with good views of Skytree.

Also witnessed the insane, snaking lines for another temple.

Then headed to Skytree after seeing it from afar.

Arduino in a Gashapon.

We bought some Kobe beef to try cooking.

With local ‘shrooms.

Interesting bathrooms.

Made some tonkatsu.

Back at the Pokemon Center!

Actually can’t remember where we stumbled upon this.

More 7-11 eats while on the go.

Finally got to try the sweet potato @ Don Don.

Cute rice characters.

They thought vending machine ramen was not bad.

Our flight was in the evening but had to check out of our Airbnb in the AM and the station luggage storage was full so lugged this bag around the streets while doing some last exploring.

Taxi’d to the station to take Narita Express to the airport! This would be our 4th time taking it this trip. :D

Mommy was so excited they had this kabocha salad on the plane — with the GF meal!

Heading home. What a trip!!!

E’s friend wanted to try out sailing so we took him out in the bay over Thanksgiving break.

Hung out at the Catamaran Resort (where we set sail from) afterwards.

Thanksgiving dinner at the Andrews’, our SD “family”!

It was a good combo spread of Asian + traditional American.

Kids’ table…

Post-feast fort making!

Went to a paint your pottery studio with a g.c. from a friend.

E tried to mimic a piece that broke last Halloween — adding himself in. ;-P

Evening walk, checking out some new murals in the ‘hood.

And then po-po came for him, lol. :) After writing several essays and service projects, E was nominated for a city-wide officer position in safety patrol. Part of the selection process involved spending a day at SDPD, seeing all the units, interviewing with several offers and meeting the police chief.

He had the most incredible day and couldn’t stop talking about it! They also awarded all the invitees with lots of goodies, including SDPD patches.

He’ll prob keep this badge forever, issued from Chief Nisleit himself.

Nominees were then invited a few weeks later to a special awards ceremony where they would announce the officers. This photoshopped poster was interesting. (They later hung it in the school front office for several months, lol).

With his area/school mentors… they were the best!

The ceremony was a bigger deal than we thought, complete with an aircraft flyover!

The police chief made some opening remarks.

His school patrol team won in their division. :)

And then individually, E was awarded Major Ong. It wasn’t the colonel position (given to 2 students) that everyone was vying for but 3rd highest rank selected from over 3,000 applicants ain’t too shabby either.

Proud of his service to his school and community. :) Congrats!

Some tennis days.

And then December snuck up on us. Holiday party @ the clubhouse.

The social committee did a good job with the treats, sips, decor and activities/crafts. Got into chatting with neighbors so didn’t get to snap too many pix.

Here we go, the month that’s going to be a lightning fast blur! And then off to Asia for winter break…

Guess who won 1st in the PTA Reflections art contest? :) The theme was “I Am Hopeful Because…” He had no inspiration or drawing up until the weekend before the deadline when we witnessed the solar eclipse and he somehow settled on a astronaut drawing with the idea that “I am hopeful because the possibilities are out of this world.” :)

Nice prize package. Thank you, PTA!

The Panda hat was a nice touch.

This very neat drawing of SD by a local artist was also included.

Safety patrol has been having some fun outings for team building.

Neighborhood threw a fall carnival/festival. We were impressed at how nice the booths were, complete with prizes. Food trucks also showed up but similar to the welcome party last time, lines were long and free food was claimed pretty quickly.

We scored some cool plushies and a huge inflatable bat. Then it got super crowded so we called it a day.

Behind the scenes of our fall photo session (for holiday cards) at Torrey Pines Gliderport.

Golden Hour and a paraglider. We fall in love with this place over and over again upon pretty much every sunset. :)

Daddy and E drove allllll the way to Micro Center in OC to find parts as they are building their own (gaming) PC.

A look inside…

Sneak peak at someone’s Halloween costume @ the school’s annual storybook parade.

Mr. Frosty’s one day after school with g.c. that was one of the art contest prizes.

A bit disturbing…

Trick or treating and a super tall Skellington. :-P

Pikachu & Pikachu.

Our previous neighborhood built up to some pretty spooky entrances in 4 years but our current one did not disappoint this first year.