Kai Lin's 29th Birthday!
生日快乐, 凱琳大姐!
[卡拉OK演唱黨在 舊金山! 大姐,弟弟,妹妹,凱琪]
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Taipei 2008
Kat and I are in Taipei celebrating Xmas and New Year's. Here is a quick video of this morning - I went to the open market with Grandma and Dad to buy groceries. Our morning started at 7am with a walk at Taipei's "Central Park", breakfast at Mos Burger (Gram's loves the Corn Soup!), and then a walk to the neighborhood open market. Enjoy this video. I will translate.
Me: Where did you go today?
Grams and Dad: We went to buy groceries!
Me: Where did you go buy groceries?
Grams and Dad: The market!
Me: What market?
Grams and Dad: Dong Men Market!
Me: What treasures did you buy?
Grams: We bought every type of treasure!
Me: Where did you go today?
Grams and Dad: We went to buy groceries!
Me: Where did you go buy groceries?
Grams and Dad: The market!
Me: What market?
Grams and Dad: Dong Men Market!
Me: What treasures did you buy?
Grams: We bought every type of treasure!
Friday, December 5, 2008
Gobble Gobble: Thanksgiving 2008 Part 3
Taking pictures is a big deal. And as we know, we should look our best. 45 degree is the best way to go. Here's a video of Training Camp at Thanksgiving.
Gobble Gobble: Thanksgiving 2008 Part 2 Robert Dances!
This video is tooo funny from Thanksgiving to not show the family. Everyone must watch this as Robert dances his heart out to Hip Hop music.
Gobble Gobble: Thanksgiving 2008 - Cheers to New Beginnings!
Thanksgiving at the Hayward House is a BIG BIG BIG DEAL. This year's event was the first gathering at the CHEN HOUSE in YEARS. When I say YEARS I mean it - like, 15-20 years? We finally moved back to Hayward. On this day we not only moved out our of apartment, we moved into the house and cooked Thanksgiving Dinner and ate by 8:30pm. Here's what happened!
8:30am Went to Whole Foods to pick up the prime rib
10:15am Arrived at UHAUL in Hayward to rent a truck
11:00am Started packing the apartment
1:30pm Started packing all the cars and the UHAUL with beds, big items, etc.
3:00pm Arrive at Hayward house and unpack
5:00pm Started to cook the turkey, prime rib, ribs, stuffing, brussel sprouts, mashed potato, etc.
8:30pm EAT!!!
Here are the pictures:
Cousin Albert, Cousin Amanda, their Mom [Cousin's are from our Mom's side of the family]
Chen Sisters: Jessica, Patricia, Katherine - and the delicious Pumpkin Bread Pudding
Our Family acting Funny at Dinner
A much more normal Family Picture
8:30am Went to Whole Foods to pick up the prime rib
10:15am Arrived at UHAUL in Hayward to rent a truck
11:00am Started packing the apartment
1:30pm Started packing all the cars and the UHAUL with beds, big items, etc.
3:00pm Arrive at Hayward house and unpack
5:00pm Started to cook the turkey, prime rib, ribs, stuffing, brussel sprouts, mashed potato, etc.
8:30pm EAT!!!
Here are the pictures:
Cousin Albert, Cousin Amanda, their Mom [Cousin's are from our Mom's side of the family]
Chen Sisters: Jessica, Patricia, Katherine - and the delicious Pumpkin Bread Pudding
Our Family acting Funny at Dinner
A much more normal Family Picture
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
chicken
i just wanted to post a pic of the chicken my dad made last night. it was ridiculous.
Also, mom is doing well after surgery on both feet.
Friday, November 21, 2008
Monday, October 20, 2008
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Saturday, January 5, 2008
Chen Family Photos with Grandma, November 2007
In no way is this below slideshow suppose to be a downer, but instead, a celebration of the(far too few) moments we as a family have together. i.e. Desperately trying to get Grandma to smile and show teeth in photos even though she says she's too shy and embarassed to show teeth, saying "YAY!" and throwing the "peace" signs in pictures because that's what Asians love to do, making Grandma laugh at all hours of the day, seeing how happy Grandma is knowing she has 14 grandkids to brag about to everyone she meets, but most importantly, seeing the huge family Grandma help foster over the past 55+ years through her 5 kids, 14 grandkids + extended family. Did we mention, Grandma LOVES to laminate family pictures and post them up in her living room for everyone to see?
Watching the slideshow....again and again, makes us want to laugh, smile, re-live some of those moments, makes us thankful for each other, and makes us love and feel loved in our huge tribe. The opening pictures is about 30 of the family members at dinner - about 4-5 people are missing - but the size of the family alone shows our strength and solidarity. Who wants to be Chen related?!?! Say, "YAY!!!" =)
Watching the slideshow....again and again, makes us want to laugh, smile, re-live some of those moments, makes us thankful for each other, and makes us love and feel loved in our huge tribe. The opening pictures is about 30 of the family members at dinner - about 4-5 people are missing - but the size of the family alone shows our strength and solidarity. Who wants to be Chen related?!?! Say, "YAY!!!" =)
11+ Cousins out at BARCODE lounge in Taipei
When you get all of us together - there's a whole lot of eating, drinking, basketball, jokes, being silly and a quirky kind of love that is all our own. We embrace each other, we yell at each other, but at the end of the day - it's all about living the energy and spirit of Grandpa. With 14 grandkids all together, there's a whole lot of noise and attention seeking. Since this many of us aren't together very often, here's 11+ of us at BARCODE taking our cousin ALAN out for his 18th Birthday - if you can tell, he had a pretty good time. Cheers, to many more of these moments -- only next time, may all the cousins be present together. Nov. 2007.
Newest Chen: First Great Grandkid - James Chen
James is the son of Joseph, son of George. He's quite simply the cutest lil person. Blackie, his assistant, Katherine, Patricia and me went down to Hsin-Chu(where Joseph is a Mirage2000 pilot) to go see Joseph, his wife Kelly, and the bundle of joy named James. We had a whole lot of fun playing with the kid. Gosh, we hope we get to see him grow up!
There's No Sport the Chen's love playing more than -- BASKETBALL!
CHEN + BASKETBALL!
While in Taipei in October, the older cousins Joseph and Blackie, took the youngin's (Jonathan, Bee, Alan) out to play streetball. Vicky, Azra, Uncle Tom and doggie Chief came to watch and take pictures! See them all in action! [Click once too see slideshow, click twice to see pictures enlarged one-by-one] Some food pictures as well - because that's what's we love as well.
(photos courtesy of Azra...Thanks!)
While in Taipei in October, the older cousins Joseph and Blackie, took the youngin's (Jonathan, Bee, Alan) out to play streetball. Vicky, Azra, Uncle Tom and doggie Chief came to watch and take pictures! See them all in action! [Click once too see slideshow, click twice to see pictures enlarged one-by-one] Some food pictures as well - because that's what's we love as well.
(photos courtesy of Azra...Thanks!)
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Fan Wei Qi's song: Na Xie Hua Er (Those Flowers)
Since we haven't been able to upload Grandpa's slideshow yet, I wanted to at least link you to the song that was used for Gramp's slideshow. It's a pretty emotional song sung by Blackie's gf, that really reminds us of Grandpa's life. Everytime we hear this song now, we always think of all the happy moments. Enjoy!
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Day Out at XinMenDing District Part 2
(The above: Bee,Tom,Grandma,Katherine,Jessica,Patricia,Christine,Blackie,Joseph, Uncle and 1st Aunt)
Here's the Chen Tribe going from DimSum Lunch to the screening room to see "I Wish." We're clearly having a jolly ol' time taking over the streets of Taipei! We love to flash the "peace" sign which in Chinese, really means, "YAY!". So lots of YAY'S out to all of the Chen's! The photos below are of us in the screening room, at lunch with our lil niece/nephews (adorable), with grandma, aunts and uncles and plenty of cousins. Blackie shared an emotional speech as did Grandma - who started crying intensely making her speech which made all of us tear up as well. We love your Grandma and Grandpa! Wo me do hen ai ni men!
The significance of XinMenDing: Grandpa used to work in XMD because he's been a partner in one of the nightclubs for years. While all of us were growing up or spending summers in Taipei, Grandpa would always bring back to the house treats from the XMD area after a day's work - he'd always bring back all the grandkids' favorites - potstickers, egg tarts, noodles, oyster noodle soup, oyster pancakes, you name it, he brought it home for all of us to enjoy. He always went to the same DimSum restaurant that was nearby to the nightclub and he'd bring the grandkids too eat dimsum. The restaurant pics here are inside that restaurant.
XinMenDing:
[Theater Street - Ximending became a famous theater street in Taipei in the 1930s and grew even more prosperous after the defeat of Japan. In the 1950s, every theater was full to capacity and scalpers ran wild. Gradually, more theaters opened one by one; At one point, WuChang St Section 1 had over ten theaters opening. However, in the 1990s, as Taipei City developed toward the Eastern District and away from Ximending, it began to lose business. In the late 2000s, the city government and local stores established Ximending as a pedestrian area, prohibiting the entrance of vehicles on weekends and national holidays, a move that attracted young consumers and brought back business. Today, Ximending has over twenty theaters and six thousand vendors, and is a popular area for small concerts, album debuts, and street performances.
Popularity:
Ximending is now called the “Harajuku” of Taipei. The local bookstores sell Japanese magazines, books, CD albums, and clothing, making it a heaven for the "Harizu", or Japanese culture adorers. Individual vendors gather in the streets as well as the large business buildings, such as Wannien Department Store and Shizilin Square in the early days, and Wanguo Department Store and Eslite 116 in the later period.]
[Theater Street - Ximending became a famous theater street in Taipei in the 1930s and grew even more prosperous after the defeat of Japan. In the 1950s, every theater was full to capacity and scalpers ran wild. Gradually, more theaters opened one by one; At one point, WuChang St Section 1 had over ten theaters opening. However, in the 1990s, as Taipei City developed toward the Eastern District and away from Ximending, it began to lose business. In the late 2000s, the city government and local stores established Ximending as a pedestrian area, prohibiting the entrance of vehicles on weekends and national holidays, a move that attracted young consumers and brought back business. Today, Ximending has over twenty theaters and six thousand vendors, and is a popular area for small concerts, album debuts, and street performances.
Popularity:
Ximending is now called the “Harajuku” of Taipei. The local bookstores sell Japanese magazines, books, CD albums, and clothing, making it a heaven for the "Harizu", or Japanese culture adorers. Individual vendors gather in the streets as well as the large business buildings, such as Wannien Department Store and Shizilin Square in the early days, and Wanguo Department Store and Eslite 116 in the later period.]
BLACKIE'S movie, I WISH..... out in theatres in Taiwan
Blackie's new movie came out in Taiwan at the end of November and here's the link to the "I WISH" movie website. http://spring.com.tw/iwish/
While we were back in Taiwan in November for Grandpa's funeral, Blackie rented out a screening room for the entire family to watch his movie together. This was a very generous gesture for him to do for our family as our family had the chance to share in something he's worked so hard for and a project of Blackie's that Grandpa wasn't able to live to see. The picture above is of all of us taking a walk through the XinMenDin District as our Chen Tribe walks from our dimsum lunch at one of Grandpa's favorite restaurants to the Screening Room to see "I WISH".
Below is a clip from the movie, "I Wish".
Thanks, Blackie!
Joseph Chen's Flight Demo in Taiwan in 2004 - Taiwanese ROC AirForce Fighters Takeoff/Land on National Highway!
This is older news but I wanted to add this clip because it's a big deal! Because it's Chen related of course. Joseph (Chen Jien-Liang) was one of only 4 fighters who flew Mirage 2000 fighter jets during a Flight Demo in Taiwan in 2004. Here's the YouTube Video of him in his jet - he's in the 2nd jet #2054. In more recent news, Joseph has just be promoted to Major Jien-Liang Chen. Congrats!!!!
On 2004-07-21, two Mirage 2000-5s from the 2nd TFW landed on the wartime reserve runway located at the Jenteh section of Highway No. 1 as part of the annual Han Kuang No. 20 Exercise. Mirage 2000-5DI 2051, piloted by Maj. Wei-Kuang Chang and Lt. Col. Juei-Chi Duan, and 2054, piloted by Lt. Col. Bin-Fu Wu and Capt. Jien-Liang Chen, took off from their home base Hsinchu Air Base at 0540 hrs. 2051 landed on the highway at 0620 hrs, followed by 2054 at 0622 hrs. The two jets then taxied to the other end of the reserve runway to be refueled and re-armed with two Magic air-to-air missiles, respectively. At 0712 hrs, 2051 took off again and 2054 followed one minute later. Both landed at Hsinchu at 0736 hrs.
Sunday, December 2, 2007
Patricia came to visit a few weeks ago, so me and ed and ed's wife alison went to chinatown for some dim sum. Luckily we had patricia because she could order in chinese and that gave us an advantage.
Here's a pic from last year, when the whole Chen game came to new york. this one was taken at Russ and Daughters, a bagel place that is known for the spreads and fish. good times.
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