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!!!" =)
Saturday, January 5, 2008
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.]
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