Welcome!

TWENTY MONTHS OF TRAVEL: 1/2005 - 8/2006

  • Interactive Map
    Use the interactive map, or browse archives below.
  • August 2006
    COSTA RICA: San José; UNITED STATES: New York City, Stone Harbor (New Jersey)
  • July 2006
    COLOMBIA: Bogotá, Manizales, Armenia, Pereira, Salento, Valle de Cocora, Marsella, Córdoba (Quindío).
  • June 2006
    COLOMBIA: Bogotá, Cartagena, Santa Marta; ARGENTINA: Buenos Aires, Mar del Plata.
  • May 2006
    COLOMBIA: Bogotá; PERÚ: Lima, Cuzco, Macchu Picchu, Lake Titicaca, Puno, Arequipa, Nazca
  • April 2006
    COLOMBIA: Bogotá, Cartagena, Barranquilla; ECUADOR: Quito, Guayaquil
  • March 2006
    ARGENTINA: Buenos Aires; COLOMBIA: Bogotá, Chía
  • February 2006
    COLOMBIA: Bogotá, Zipaquirá; ARGENTINA: Buenos Aires
  • January 2006
    COSTA RICA: San José, Puerto Viejo, Limón, Sarchí, Irazú Volcano, Cartago, Costa Rica; COLOMBIA: Bogotá
  • December 2005
    COLOMBIA: Bogotá, Guapi, Isla Gorgona; COSTA RICA: San José, Puntarenas
  • November 2005
    COLOMBIA: Bogotá, Guatavita
  • October 2005
    COLOMBIA: Bogotá, Zipaquirá, Villa de Leyva
  • September 2005
    COLOMBIA: Bogotá
  • August 2005
    UNITED STATES: Salem, Oregon; San Francisco, California; COSTA RICA: San José, Playa Conchal; COLOMBIA: Bogotá
  • July 2005
    UNITED STATES: San Francisco, California; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; New York City, New York
  • June 2005
    CHINA: Xi'an, Chongqing, Three Gorges Cruise, Ming Shan, Shennong Stream, Yichang, Shanghai, Wuxi, Suzhou, China; Hong Kong; JAPAN: Tokyo; UNITED STATES: San Francisco, California
  • May 2005
    FRANCE: Provence, Paris; SWITZERLAND: Zurich, Pfaffikon; AUSTRIA: Vienna; Hong Kong; CHINA: Beijing
  • April 2005
    PHILIPPINES: Boracay; VIETNAM: Saigon, Mekong Delta; THAILAND: Bangkok; FRANCE: Paris
  • March 2005
    CAMBODIA: Siem Reap, Angkor, Phnom Penh; PHILIPPINES: Manila, Vigan, Santa Maria, Paoay, Batac, Sagada, Banaue, Timpas, Roxas City, Boracay
  • February 2005
    THAILAND: Bangkok, Damoen Saduak, Chiang Mai, Doi Inthanon, Hua Hin; LAOS: Vientiane, Luang Prabang
  • January 2005
    UNITED STATES: San Francisco, California; THAILAND: Bangkok, Ayutthaya

Copyright Notice

What Happened?

Many kind inquiries have come through PandaMail and PandaCommunications, all of them different variations of "are you blogging anymore?" and "where are you?!?"

Mea culpa.  Yes, there are plenty of, ahem, excuses:  a suddenly crazy work schedule that includes travel, a bit of writer's block, two apartment moves, assorted renovations, a broken camera, random health issues of friends and family, and the quest to fit in nuclear family time.  All these add up to almost no time to blog.

But enough of excuses.  Work is semi-slow for now, spring is here, and my parents are coming soon (again)!  We will crack our knuckles, and start typing away soon enough.

Just so you know, here is a list of entries I was composing before the blogging stoppage:

  • my favorite crossword puzzle EVAR
  • diminutive Filipino action stars
  • eating out in our neighborhood
     
  • our newfound home appliances
  • biking the Manhattan Bridge
     
  • and, of course, plenty of fatherhood updates

In the meantime, I will start composing a more detailed entry to fill y'all into what's been happening in our small corner of the world.  Soon.  I promise.

14 Months Old!

He runs, smiles, does raspberries, and is on the verge of talking.  Cautious in a new situation, but quickly warming up whenever there are people.  He runs to hug everyone on site.  "Baeeeyyyyyyyyy" is his latest favorite word.

L_st14_2

It's hard to keep this bundle of energy to sit still, but somehow, we got him to pause enough to get his Chinese New Year's haircut.

Happy lives are boring.  There is no drama to recount, no interesting battles to analyze.  We are the most boring of people, a little family quietly cocooning.  Our entire universe revolves around this little sun.

L_st14_1

What these pictures don't tell:  he is not showing his 8-toothed smile, as he still has raisins in his mouth.  These have been in his mouth for the last 2 hours.  He, refusing to swallow or spit out.  They, refusing to dissolve like the Cheerios and Goldfish crackers he loves so much.


Cream-filled Colon Sections?

I had been searching for an appropriate metaphor to describe my past week.

Snku

Our family is finally pulling out of its bout against misery, thanks to a very unwelcome visitor this past week.  The boy has been pretty nonchalant about it, considering the amount of vomit that has surfaced via his nostril lately.  J. and I have been making full use of the two bathrooms we have at our disposal.

Well, life is back to normal, and I am back to ingesting strange Japanese snacks, hopefully named after a small Irish village, and not a body part.

PandaSpace On Holiday

Hope everyone is having a great end of 2007. 

Xm27

Lots of love to all our friends and family (and the occasional stranger that stumbles by).  See you online next year!

Call and Go

The boy is currently in the "mimic" stage of his life - quietly observing adults, and being pretty good at copying them.  Obviously, J. and I answer the phone all the time, and now, when the phone rings, he sometimes picks it up and tries to answer it.

Mhshmsh1

Of course, he often misses his ears entirely, or holds the phone the wrong way...but those are pesky details reserved for adults.

-

The boy also has a newfound love:  running (albeit in a Frankenstein-like gait, arms outstretched).

Rnnnnnn3

Aaaaaand...he's one.

Unnn1

It was a quiet family celebration.  After all, a child's first birthday party is more for the parents than the actual child.  We wanted something small and intimate, and it was so, with just his parents and maternal grandparents.

Not settling for the usual cupcake, and excited to indoctrinate the latest francophile into the family, we made crepes for dinner and dessert.  His candle was put atop a crepe with banana and Nutella, which he loved. 

Unnn2

The celebratory hat, however, would not stay on.

Blogger Guilt - a Confession

Yes, I totally feel guilty about neglecting this blog.  And my Flickr photo account.  I have been...cheating of sorts.  With Facebook.  Yes, it's totally dumb!  The tiny portion of my day that is devoted to leisure internet time has been consumed with reconnecting with friends and...playing online Scrabble.  But, I have to admit, it's totally...enjoyable.

Outside of busy busy work, my life has been pretty low-key.  Our apartment is slowly taking shape, and I have just been fascinated, hours on end, watching my little boy grow up.  Boo, flimsy excuses, I know.

I am making no promises about posting more often, as the crazy month of December is upon us.   But I will try my best to do mini-updates.  Like, how the little one is walking running now.  And how he knows what "kick" means to a ball, and that I have been having an amazing time, every night, teaching him mad dribbling skillz that will someday make him as amazing as Lionel Messi.

For now, I will leave you with this photo, taken this morning right before leaving for work:

Gllll

(Sorry, dear J. for posting this.  Couldn't resist!)

Copyright

the boy

  • our little boy
    To read all entries related to the boy, click on the image above.

Blogs We Are Reading

  • Gawker
    We [heart] NY media gossip. My hourly addiction, especially the snarky commentary.
  • The Standing Room
    I wish M. C- had been my music teacher in college. Erudite, classy, and a great friend. He writes about singing, new music, and, to a lesser degree, the travails of parking in San Francisco.
  • Dave
    Follow the peripatetic adventures of this Renaissance man. Part Spam Killer, part comic, part French teacher, part math student - 100% genius.
  • Keitai Goddess
    As Wallace (Gromit's partner, if you must know) would say, "mobile phone pictures are her speci-ality." A great slice of expat life in Tokyo.
  • Fugly
    Fearless critics of mis-directed celebrity fashion.
  • MichaelPanda
    Mistar Panda's hilarious misadventures in the land of the white flag with the big red dot in the middle. Is he Stan's long lost cousin, living and working in Japan?
  • RexWordPuzzle
    New York Times crossword puzzle , great commentary. His love of arcana is as big as mine. And, now you know. I'm a crossword addict.
  • Threads of Gold
    Now a Master...er...Mistress of the Universe, she reports back on her adventures in Adelaide and her connections to Japan.
  • Color of Dusk
    Musings from a muse. Is she my long-lost blogging counterpart? You decide. Latin American born and raised, of Asian descent, studied architecture, lived in the Bay Area for a time and now...dealing with parenthood.

Photostream

  • www.flickr.com
    This is a Flickr badge showing public photos from pandaspace. Make your own badge here.