Family – Page 8 – ray+ashley+emery

July 20, 2008July 23, 2008

Ashley’s Birthday, A Success!

Thought I’d steal Ashley’s post title from the one she used for my birthday, she’s so dramatic! hehehe

So, we did have a lot of fun on my huney’s birthday.Â She was worried I didn’t have anything planned but hey come on, that’sÂ what I do all day.Â Here’s some pics of the weekend.Â It wasn’t all part of the birthday plan but it was all really nice.

Friday night we saw Batman, the Dark Knight.Â Good movie but Ash thought it was too violent and bloody.Â Guess she forgot it was Batman.

Saturday morning (the day before her birthday) we woke up early and volunteered at the local Meals on Wheels organization. Ashley has been doing a lot of volunteer work lately, I really admire what she’s doing and today I finally got to come along.Â So this morning, we delivered boxed food for many seniors in the northwest Atlanta region.Â Armed witha crumpled map, bad directions, music and a car load of boxed food we set out to help out.

That night, we had some great Korean food per recommendation from a local foodie.Â The restaurant was call Book Chang Dong, in Duluth, GA.

Spicy seafood and tofu soup which was sizzling as it came out!

Korean Short Ribs.

And a dish I now forget what it was called…

Sunday morning, we woke up early again and set out to do some hiking in Tullulah Gorge in northern Georgia.Â Tullulah Gorge, is only about 1.5 hours drive north of Atlanta and was a fantastic hike per recommendation of another friend.Â We only hiked for about 2.5 hours but we climbed a good many stairs up and down the side of the gorge for a solid stair master work out.Â The views were great, including water falls, swinging bridges and rivers all against the lush Georgia backdrop.

Here are some of my pics:

Later that afternoon, post our PB&J snack break we set out for the nearby town of Helen. What a strange place! The whole town was modeled after Bavaria except no one there was remotely German. It was like Disney Epcot Center, Americans with southern accents dressed up in lederhosen! Whacked out but still entertaining and we got a really fantastic Reuben Sandwhich from the “Old Bavaria Inn”.

We went tubing on the Chattahoochee River which ran right through the town of Helen, creating it’s main attraction aside from a fake German town. Tubing was awesome, though at times it was lots of work with Ash telling me every five minutes to watch out for the rocks! She’s so cute even when she causes trouble to me.

Helen was only an hour and a half away from Atlanta so the drive was pretty quick. We ended the wonderful weekend with Ashley’s birthday cake and a rare singing from me.Â Happy Birthday Ash!

May 12, 2008June 1, 2008

Boston for Mother’s Day

This past weekend, I went home to Boston to spend some time with Mom. It’s always so nice to go back, my parents treat me like a king and feel like I am in college again. Taking the train from the airport back to Newton reminded me of how different Atlanta is from Boston. The “T’ is a way of life in Boston, where MARTA in Atlanta often gets forgotten. Also I really miss Boston’s ethnic diversity.

A few great things about being home: Hanging with my parents, seeing Bean, eating my mom’s cooking, lounging around a real house, going out with old friends from college and high school. If Boston wasn’t so cold, I might be tempted talk to Ash about seriously moving back!

Here’s some pics of the weekend.

My favorite picture of Mom and Dad.Â This was taken on the porch steps in our back yard.

Mom looks so young in this picture.Â She has so much energy these days.

Steps towards our front door.Â Taken from our driveway.

Our house is so nice now.Â Since Dad did allÂ the work, it’s almost unrecognizable from what it was when we first bought it.Â It’s so comfortable staying home.Â Â Dad did such a great job, I hope I can take some really great set of photos one day to capture his handy work.

Ah, the food.Â This is batter fried carrots and onions.Â It’s awesome, sort of like tempura sweet fries.

My mom’s cooking is so good.Â See how happy Dad is 🙂

This is what I miss living away from the hometown.Â Â We hung out at Our House, Arang (left), Wan (Center), Simon (not in picture) and Marilon (not in picture) drinking and catching up.Â Proud to say I was the Connect Four champion that night.

March 19, 2008June 1, 2008

Yippieeee!!! Home to Hawaii Again…

I have absolutely nothing to complain about being a student again. I never thought I’d have another Spring Break again after undergrad. But thank goodness… my dream came true… Spring Break 2008!! 🙂 Going back to Hawaii to see my grandma, parents and friends was such a treat. It was a lot of fun and I loaded up on papaya and pok’e. That was pretty much my staple throughout the stay. Everytime I go home, I try to take my grandma somewhere she hasn’t been to before to try new food. This time, it was Kakaako Kitchen, near Ward Center and Ala Moana. I think she liked it since it was her type of food, fried, fried, and more fried. 🙂 It’s amazing that she’s in good health after all the fried food she’s digested over the years. I’m thankful for that. Aside from her foot problem, she’s in great shape, especially for a lady who is going to turn 90 this year! 🙂 I also spent some time with my parents which was cool and of course, hung out with Cathy. She is my going-out-partying buddy everytime I go home. I also saw some friends who I’ve lost touch with over the years and hung out with them too. It was really nice. It’s always good to be home. I really do miss Hawaii and hope to go back there and live there someday.

On my way back to Atlanta, I stopped by L.A. for a day and a half and stayed with my sister’s family. We took my niece Meagan and nephew, Dylan to Disneyland!!!! My niece, of course, loveeeddd it. She was smiles ear to ear all day there and was filled with energy.

It’s tough keeping up with her! I had a great time there and was so happy to see them. We rode most of the rides at Disneyland and the lines weren’t so bad. Too bad the ride “Small World” was closed due to renovation until later this year. That’s my favorite ride since childhood. Meagan loved all the rides and Dylan was busy looking at girls. Haha, just kidding. He does like to charm the ladies, though. 🙂 He’s a great baby. He’s not fussy or hard to deal with at all. He’s usually a pretty happy baby overall. I can’t wait to see them again!

January 1, 2008January 5, 2008

Bean Knows Travel

Well it was a great time having Bean visit and on New Years eve, Bean left to go back to Boston. The trip back however was not an easy one. He faced TWO canceled flights along the way (that’s what you get flying through the mid-west during winter) but, we got through it with some joint family teamwork and the help of Kumar, a co-worker of mine from Sapient. In the end, Bean arrived home safely in Boston. Thanks Kumar for helping us out!

All in all, Bean’s trip from Atlanta to Boston took 24 hours! We dropped him off at the airport on Dec 31st at 4 pm and he finally arrived in Boston on Jan 1st 4 pm. Bean said his 24 hour trip from Atlanta to Boston was enjoyable though stressful at times. He said he felt kind of like the Home Alone kid staying in a hotel with a jacuzzi all by himself and traveling all along on a Holiday. Bean’s trip to Atlanta was also not pain-free he nearly had two disasters (almost losing his passport, forgetting his stuff at home). He also had the airline lose his baggage for a day when he got here. For a young boy I think he can now consider himself an experienced air traveler.

Here’s Bean walking to the terminals after we parted at the Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson Airport. Ashley and I miss you already!

December 29, 2007December 30, 2007

Chattanooga Part 2: Rock City

After Ruby Falls, we drove westward along the mountain range to another Chattanooga attraction called Rock City. Located atop Lookout Mountain, just 6 miles from downtown Chattanooga, Rock City is a true marvel of nature featuring massive ancient rock formations, gardens with over 400 native plant species, and breathtaking “See 7 States” panoramic views.

Our stroll through the Rock City garden was a quite an interesting experience.Â There were narrow rocky crevaces we had to squeeze through.

There was a long wooden rope bridge similar to those in the Indiana Jones Movies which swung dangerously as if it was about to snap.

There were rocks and boulder which you could jump and climb.

All along the way there was signs pointing to the next attraction.Â I followed behind Bean and Ash taking pictures of our expidition.

The grand finale was the Look Out “Lover’s Leep”.Â A outward cliff which gave the panoramic views of 7 states.Â The view was to die for!

We all had a great time.Â It was really nice to take a road trip together and see some natural beauty.Â We had a lot of laughs and plenty of fooling around through the caverns, gardens and rickety bridges.