joy eats

congrats to frank and vivian of their public declaration of new faith in Jesus Christ!

this post is for my brother and his fiance. i didn't have the courage to speak up during the baptism on thurs. because i started tearing while we're singing the hymns... so i knew if i were to say anything i would start crying.



































i just want to say that i'm so happy for the both of you to come to know Jesus in a personal way. i've been praying for you guys for years so have many others. it's amazing for me to see how God chose to answer those prayers. the last few months have been very intense for you guys with the marital counselings and bible studies, but i'm just so surprised how you had the desire to study God's word so diligently. i knew that it was Him who gave you the desire to want to know Him better. during the baptism, hearing you say " i do" for confirmation with such boldness and sure-ness gave me chills down my spine, because i knew that no men can come to this saving knowledge of Jesus Christ without Him working in you.




















frank and vivian sharing their testimony after the baptism.















all the people that were there to share your new 'birthday' with you.












vivian, i'm so glad that not only will you become my sister-in-law in a few months, but we have a spiritual family that's everlasting. =)
you know.. i am so overwhelmed with joy for the amount of blessings that God had shown to our family this year.

we started our leisure day by waking up at 12:30pm EST and riding the T into the city (finally). we learned quite a bit about our american heritage by walking boston's freedom trail, a 2.5 -mile historical walk (see the red line) through the city.















highlights were:

quincy market - the touristy food court where we had the best chocolate eclair ever. period. the eclair was so good that i smelled them before i even saw them. they were so good we had to take many pictures of them from different angles. they were so good that joy full-on shoved me aside to get a better view.







old north church - where we sat in box pews thawing ourselves while we listened to the real story of paul revere and the british invasion.











bunker hill monument - the end of the line, the grand finale, and it had closed an hour before we got there. that didn't stop us from milking the experience (see maria and i showing off our victory sign).















one thing's for certain... the road to freedom is very wet and very cold. we only managed to survive the gusty winds and freezing rain by taking shelter in various sites and shops to defrost and eating gummy candies (our "comfort" food).










another picture to emphasize how cold and wet it was... "there is no place like California."












-Mike

greetings from boston.. kind of...
we've visited salem (north of boston), plimoth plantation and cape cod (east). we live in quincy (south, in the suburbs). we just haven't quite made it to the actual city of boston yet...maybe we'll get around to it by the end of the trip.

highlights so far:
1. living the "high life"--high in fat and cholesterol, that is. shrimp, lobster, scallops, sherry garlic butter (yum) and lots of chowder.

2. it's way too cold for us californians; traveling outside of a state with the most wonderful weather on the planet makes you appreciate home more. there has been a running list of what's so great of living in california: top of the list so far is ethnic diversity, weather, driving habits...


3. beach hopping along cape cod: we saw the most beautiful sunset at mayflower beach. all the stress of finding it and catching the sun while it's still in the sky was well worth it.









4. funny moments and lines:
"this isn't a pretty beach...do you guys still want to get out of the car?" (pauline)

"you don't know what a good pastry shop could do to redeem your experience of a place" (maria and joy, in reference to "rainbow-flagged" provincetown)

falling asleep everytime anyone of us got into the car...and then fogging up all the windows

trying to take jcrew catalog pictures (poor mike had never seen one and didn't know what we were trying to achieve)












this is chestnut street in salem: a beautiful street lined with historic homes












the best clam chowder at legal seafoods (served at seven presidential inaugurations)











that's all for now...we'll write more when we actually visit boston.

maria

You Are Chinese Food

Exotic yet ordinary. People think they've had enough of you, but they're back for more in an hour.

You Are 20% Boyish and 80% Girlish

Even if you're not a girl, you're very feminine. You're in touch with your feelings, and your heart rules you. A bit of a emotional roller coaster, one moment you're up and the next you're down. But no matter what, you try to be as cute and perky as possible.

B

Your senses are pretty sharp (okay, most of the time) And it takes something big to distract you!

of course i wouldn't blog about my weekend in LA without any food.. haha

this is tempura curry udon at Matsui for sunday lunch
Japanese style parfait with green tea ice-cream, mochi, fruit, red bean, jelly and cookie - sunday afternoon snack
all of us eating dinner at Furaibo

the yummiest chicken....
grilled rice ball and sweet potato croquette


oh.. almost forgot, the strangest conversation we had this weekend....
grace: "i just had an epiphany. jacob, you would be perfect for martha stewart apprentice!"
luke: "yeah, that's what every guy is waiting to hear."
jacob: "what?! i'm not that overtly ...!"
mike: "overtly what? so you're more subtly ... ?"
joy: "hahahahaha"
brandon: "zzzzzz"

Yay! Andrew and karen had tie the knot! congrats!
i'm so happy for the both of you..
and just for the record, this is byron's first time being a groomsman, so maria wanted me to capture the moment...
it's amazing that these guys actually made it to the wedding. the wedding starts at 1pm but at around 10:40am bryon called maria and told her that he had forgotten his black socks, cufflinks and had no black shoes.. then when they were finally ready to leave the house, the groom and half of the groomsman took off without byron. good thing the other best man haven't left the house yet so he came to get him... sigh what a mess.

the guys are just being affectionate to andew...
these are picture that andy yoon would call "vanity"...


anyways, congrats to the newlywed again, it was a beautiful wedding.

more pictures here

i got tagged by pauline... this is really getting around...
here are my 20 random facts:

1) i had kidney infection when i was 7 years old because i refused to use public bathrooms. if you have been to Taiwan 20 years ago, you'll understand why... so i had to miss school for half a year and ate boiled veggies and unsalted crackers for 6 months.

2) in highschool i used to sneak out at night with my gangster friends and go to compton to watch car racing

3) i dont' like fish all that much except sea bass and cod.

4) my favorite TV show is Sex and the City even though people give me a hard time about it. The four of them reminds me of me and my friends, except there are five of us and of course exclude the sex part.

5) in college the one subject i hated was linguistics. it makes me frown just thinking about it.

6) before i moved up to nor cal i didn't think i need internet at home... yeah i don't know how i survive back then.

7) like pauline, one of my comfort food is sweeten thick oatmeal floating in milk. as far as i can remember, my mom made that for me every morning in elementary school.

8) i hate flying, but i love trains.

9) vacuuming is the one house chore i don't enjoy doing.

10) in college i had a boyfriend that i didn't know about. he asked me "so you think you're ready to date in this point in life?", and the next thing i know, people were congratulating us. you can imagine the confusion....

11) i love food and i eat a lot...in fact i think i can out eat some guys..

12) when i was little, i didn't like taking showers, so some nights i would turn on the water to let it run and just sit there for 5 min. then change into my pajamas and pretend i'm clean.

13) i've always been very proud that i have a good looking brother (opinion by most females) who can sing too...

14) all my aunties and uncles can't prounouce joy as one syllable.. so they would called me jo-ee. so for 26 years of my life, my cousins thought my name was Joey.

15) i've been send to the ER once because i bruised my tailbone sledding, lost feeling on my lower body for about 10 min..

16) other careers that i have thought of pursuing in the past; chef, interior designer (influnce of my mom), event coordinator, and an owner of a book/coffee shop.

17) i used to be angry at my parents for not killing bugs for me, but now i appreciate it.

18) red is my favorite color

19) some of favorite movies are; Mean Girls, Father of the Bride, Shawshank Redemption, Step Mom, Infernal Affairs and Saving Private Ryan.

20) oh my goodness, i thought this would never end... i am running out of facts, but i did go to the DMV today to renew my driver's license and got a new photo and signature too. can't wait.. because i had the same picture since i was 16.

alright. done. i will tag... whoever is left.
jacob
myron
anais
Bryan

Will I believe you when you say
Your hand will guide my every way
Will I receive the words You say
Every moment of every day

Well I will walk by faith
Even when I cannot see
Well because this broken road
Prepares Your will for me

Help me to win my endless fears
You've been so faithful for all my years
With the one breath You make me new
Your grace covers all I do

Well I'm broken- but I still see Your face
Well You've spoken- pouring Your words of grace

Well hallelujah, hallelu
(I will walk by faith)

listening to Jeremy Camp's song "walk by faith". feeling small to know that there is nothing i can do to calm the stom in me; nothing is in my control.
flood of fears wash over me, and i can only ask Him to hold onto me.

pictures from Granada is ready. our longest day in spain from 7am-12am because of the three hours train ride each way. but it's worth it tho. granada