JY和我计划九月底回上海。
我从来没去过上海那边。 这次JY怀孕时候回去，估计我们没法走太远。而且只有两个星期，也去不了太多地方。
我们的朋友Alex借给我们一本上海旅游指南和一份上海地图。 我看过以后暂时定了这些地方：豫园/城隍庙，浦东，南京路，外滩，徐家汇。 我还想看看江南水乡的景致，所以将会考虑朱家角，同里，或者 乌镇。
如果你们知道什么其他好玩/好吃的地方也请告诉我，先谢了。
United Airlines new free baggage restriction
For those of you who will be traveling on United Airlines, there is a new free baggage rule coming into effect for tickets purchased after September 7th. You can find the announcement here. Basically, each Economy class passenger is allowed two piece of free check-in luggage with each one not exceeding 50 pounds. Before it the weight limit was 70 pounds each.
You may think 20 pounds per luggage doesn’t make that big a difference, it actually does. My hard case is 15 lbs when empty, so going by the 50 pounds rule, I can only put in 35 pounds of stuff, which isn’t that much compare to the 55 pounds I could put in according to the old rule.
We got our tickets before September 7, so our trip will not be affected.
Keep the new rule in mind when you are traveling on United Airlines.
Book Review: Blink
It’s so rare a book can be so fascinating in so many different ways.
If you haven’t read the book: Blink : The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, run, don’t walk to your local bookstore or Amazon and buy a copy right now, it’s worth every penny.
I was initially exposed to Malcolm Gladwell’s writing reading his article archive on his website
He was a staff writer for New Yorker. Most of his articles are about things that one would rarely find interesting on the surface, but the deeper one digs, the more fascinating it becomes. Most his articles deals with “things of interest”, for lack of better words. He wrote articles on Ketchup, Peronality Tests, Prescription Drugs, Obesity (my favorite), and a host of other seeming unrelated topics. However, each one of these topics share a common thread, a deeper look reveals much more than what’s on the surface.
I had a minor degree in Psychology from my university days, and his extensive use of psychological testing data to explain things resonate deeply within me .
In Blink, Malcolm explores again a host of topics touching on such diverse topics as authentication of art-pieces; speed dating; war games; “thin slicing”; “Warren Harding Error”; the subconcious mind; racial profiling etc..
But this book mostly is about making snap decisions. There are other books on the topic of intuitive decision making, one of my favorite is Gary Klein’s Sources of Power: How People Make Decisions which covers the topic in much more detail.
However, what makes Gladwell’s book a great read is the fact that it’s a hodgepodge of all these information, which are seemingly unrelated. It leave the readers to connect the dots, or not to, depend on the reader’s ability and willingness to analyze.
The first time I read through the book was when it just came out. One of my colleagues highly recommended it to me (thanks Agnes), so I went ahead and got both of Gladwell’s books, the other one being The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference.
I originally thought Blink was a great read, but light, so I finished it in couple of days. It didn’t make a big impression on me, kind of like fast food, it satisfies while you are eating it, but easily forgettable.
I picked up the audiobook of Blink couple of weeks ago, and started to listen to it this week. I found the audiobook format is a great way to go through this book, the reason being that when I was reading it on paper, since the stories were so interesting, I was rushing through them, trying to get to the next ones all the time. However, when listening to the audiobook, the pace was set by the narrator (which in this case was the author himself), I was forced to think and reflect during those pauses between sections. I also benefitted from reading it previously now that the connections between the stories come up so much easier.
For those of you who read the book but didn’t think too well of it, I urge you to read it again, this time more slowly, or get a copy of the audiobook.
Overall, I give Blink a 8 out of 10.
Happy reading everyone.
Baby care class today
JY and I went to a Baby Care class today at Eden Medical Center in Castro Valley. This class is for first-time parents who are expecting, to prepare for the baby’s arrival. It covers the first two months of a baby’s life.
I enjoyed the class quite a bit. There were about 10 couples attending, most of them are expecting boys. They all looked excited and well into their pregnancy. I liked the instructor, she seems to know the material inside out, and it was great fun listening to her telling her stories.
So much material were covered during the 4 hour session that we took over 5 pages of notes. Althought all these information can be found somewhere else, I found it quite useful in reviewing what we already know and what we need to study further.
These are the topics covered:
Sleep; Cribs and beddings; hospital stay after birth; conditions that require medical attention; colic; diaper change (my favorite); burping; handling; bathing; time management; feeding and much more.
The class actually ran over for 1/2 hour, we decided not to stay for the video section on Safety toward the end because both JY and I were starving.
For any of you expecting parents out there, I think this class is definitely worth taking.
On the topic of colic, although the instructor touched on all the basic points, I think this book does a much better job of explaining the science and solution of colic:
The Happiest Baby on the Block : The New Way to Calm Crying and Help Your Newborn Baby Sleep Longer
I also would like to recommend to you all this wonderful book on baby’s neurological development, it’s an area often neglected by parents because they were busy trying to meeting the baby’s physical needs.
What\’s Going on in There? : How the Brain and Mind Develop in the First Five Years of Life
We still got a long way to go toward the baby’s birth, so please pray for us.
我家宝贝动静皆宜
JY 怀孕四个半月了。
从几个星期前（大约在做完B超之后)开始，肚里的宝贝开始有动静。
可是孩子有了动静又让我们有了新的担心。现在我么使孩子动了也担心，是孩子不动也担心。 如果孩子一直地动我们会想是不是她不舒服，如果孩子过一阵子不动了我们又会想是不是孩子发生了什么意外。
就好像上个星期天， JY发现孩子不怎么动了，我把耳朵贴在JY肚皮上。 这样过了几秒钟，小宝贝突然隔着妈妈肚皮踢了我一下，吓了我一大跳。不知道是不是孩子喜欢我的耳朵。
希望我们的宝贝不会因为不动或者动得太厉害让我和JY心急。
你们有过同样的经历吗？
Spiritual Journal
Yesterday during our weekly bible-study, we went over Chapter 39 of The Purpose-Driven Life by Rick Warren.
BTW, if you haven’t read it, and if you are a Christian, I strongly recommend studying it. It’s full of advice on goal-setting, and practical ideas on becoming a better Christian.
Anyway, in this chapter, Rick talked about having a journal to record one’s spiritual journey, and sharing one’s life experience with others.
It’s a pure coincident that I just happen to be listening to Jim Rohn’s The Art of Exceptional Living for the past week as well. In it, Jim also recommend to keep a personal journal of things he learned along the way, and he suggest everyone keep a personal journal so the valuable lessons in life does not get lost.
I’ve decided to keep a spritual journla myself. If at all possible, I’d like to share with you the extend of my spiritual journey, and hope it may be useful and even inspiring to you as well.
Shanghai trip planning part 2
Well, I did it.
I finally went ahead and booked a pair Economy Plus tickets for JY and me to travel to Shanghai at the end of September.
The EPA pass purchase went rather quickly, I was able to book my E+ seats the very next day. It’s not business class, but with the addtional 4-5″ leg room, I think we’ll manage just fine.
We met with our friend Alex and Jay today over lunch. Alex just came back from China, and he brought back tons of digital photos that he graciously shared with us. There are so much changes happenning everywhere in China. Shanghai especially, looks like a modern metropolis.
Alex got us excited about our trip, hopefully we can keep blogging while we are in Shanghai to share our trip with you guys.
BTW, a good United Aireline ticket consolidator in the bay area that we used for our UA tickets is May’s Travel in Oakland CA, here is her (May, the owner) phone number: 510-832-7128. May has access to low-price UA tickets, although they are still more expensive that Air China tickets, UA seats are slightly bigger, and they offer the E+ seats. From my dealings with her, she seemed honest and helpful.
Jay, thanks for the baby bath tub, it’s just the thing to get the job done.
Naming my baby part 1 给宝贝起名之一
I never knew there are so many possible girl names. When I browsing through the baby name section at Borders today, I saw at least twenty books on that topic.
As you all know (for those who don’t, please read my previous posts), JY and I am expecting a baby girl.
I’ve been doing name search for quite awhile, and I’m trying to come up with a list of names so we can pick one we really like.
So far, the candidates look like this:
- Angela Greek heavenly messenger
- Janice Hebrew God is Gracious
- Jane Hebrew gracious, merciful, God is gracious
- Joanne Hebrew God is gracious
- Libby Hebrew Consecreted to God
- Lisa Hebrew consecrated to God
- Nina Spanish, Hebrew girl; grace
- Priscilla Latin from ancient times
- Rachel Hebrew little lamb, an ewe, one with purity
- Sarah Hebrew princess
- Sharon Hebrew princess
JY and I want something easy to spell, sound pretty and not too popular.
Which name would you pick? or do you have other recommendations? Please vote with your comments.
我们还不知道中文名要起什么，如果你有什么好建议，也请告知。
Thanks.
Local Artist
As you may all know, JY was trained as an artist from an early age. She has done quite a few sketches, oil, and water-colors. Lately, she’s been drawing those wonderful cards for people inside my church.
It just happened that JY has a good friend named Magdalene, she’s an aspiring local artist residing in Alameda. Magdalene invited us to “Art in the Park” at Jackson Park over at Alameda. She has a booth there.
JY and I showed up at around 1:45pm. The park is on the small side, however, it was filled with people. There were many local artists displaying their wares. There’s also poetry reading, although we didn’t have time to stay over for much of it.
Magdalene has one of the biggest booths, she’s busy talking to people non-stop. We went up to her and said hello. She actually got a chair for JY because she knew about her pregnancy. We sat around and chatted with her other friends for a little bit. There were cute kids and dogs all around (there were actually models for some of Magdalene’s paintings)
We then sampled Magdalene’s work. I must say I was very impress by them. Last time I visited her, I didn’t see as much paintings, but this time, under the natural light, her paintings look vibrant, full of life. I especially like the “tiger” one, it captured the motion and posture of the tiger perfectly. I actually made the comment to her, and she asked us to write it down on her guest book.
The weather was nice, the festive atmosphere was intoxicating. It was truely an enjoyable experience. For those of you who are interested in local art, I think “Art in the Park” is definitely worth attending. It happens once a year.
Here are some photos we took at the scene.
Here is JY with the artist herself:
Here is JY, Magdalene and I:
You can find a selection of Magdalene’s work (including the “tiger” painting that I enjoy) here.
It’s a girl! 我家宝贝是女生
今天我和JY去照了超声波。整个过程差不多一个小时。
那个帮我们的护士边用超声波仪边向我们解释看到的图像，“这个是胳膊，那个是大腿 等等”. 我们开始时不知道在看什么，通过她的解释我们才逐渐能看出些端详。
JY and I were both very excited to see our baby for the first time. It’s indeed a miracle. We were told that the baby were progressing nicely, within the normal weight range, than her major organs as well as limbs are developing as planned. We actually got to see the little fingers and toes, they were tiny. One of JY’s fear was that the umbilical cord would wrap around the baby’s neck and choking her (she read it somewhere this could happen), we were told it’s not the case.
I’m still trying to calm down from the excitement I felt when I first saw the baby on the UltraSound monitor, before today it was just a concept, but now, it’s something I can see with my own eyes. Now the realization of the responsibilities and joys of being a dad also is sinking in.
We are going to make our travel plan soon since the baby’s indeed healthy and developing so well.
Please keep us in your prayers.
Here is our baby’s sonogram from today:
