Reading to a Couple of Friends

Lia really enjoys her American Girl books. And on occasion, she'll read to Nellie and Samantha.

Hot Pot

A type of restaurant we occasionally go to is called "hot pot." It's real simple - they give you fire, a pot with water, and your choice of spices. Then you order a bunch of plates of just about anything and toss whatever you want into the pot to cook. It's pretty tasty. I like lots of cilantro. This picture is for one of the girl's grandparents who is particularly keen on colorful meals.
At the end of the meal as we were about to blow out our fire, Lia suggested that next time we bring things to make s'mores. A good idea. But too bad we can only get one out of the three ingredients here.

Valentine's Day

The girls had a great time opening the packages from some stellar grandparents. The candy necklaces and foam garden were a hit.

Lia's 7th Birthday

Amazing. We have a seven year old.

A few days ago, we celebrated Lia's birthday with some fun events. The celebration began early - she opened up presents from her grandparents on the webcam so they were able to watch her rip the paper and hear her squeal with delight at the gifts. Very fun. Lori then took all the girls to a local coffee-type shop that has drinks, snacks, and one of Lia's most favorite things - cinnamon rolls. Also at the shop, she got to pick out a special bag for her birthday. She was so excited about the food and the bag. [Lia must get the "bag" gene from her father; he has lots, too.]
Fun in the taxi on the way home. Lia's holding her new bag.
It was a gorgeous day - highs in the lower 60s - which is very, very unusually warm. So we had a game of soccer outside. It was tons of fun, and special props to Meg for her stellar work as goalkeeper.

As usual, when it comes to planning a birthday party, I always argue to have a "birthday party" themed birthday party - you know, the kind with balloons, games, and cake. A brilliant idea I think. And as usual, I lose the argument to a much more sophisticated party theme. This year, she had a "Littlest Pet Shop" themed party.

The girls helped to decorate by coloring many pictures of various pets/animals. I took these to a small store and learned how to say "laminate" in the local language. It's great to learn this new word - I'll be lucky to use it even one more time in my life.

The girl's bedroom was transformed into a pet shop complete with a vet, bathing area, and name tag area.
Each guest could use pretend money to purchase a pet for use at the party, create a name tag, and then go see the vet for a check-up. And of course, the vet was Lia. She loved it.

Val with Simba.
Meg with Penny.
Mmmmmm - cake. [And it was my personal favorite - yellow cake with chocolate frosting. Oh, yeah.]
A big, double sister birthday kiss!!!

Lantern Festival Lights

This was the big night of the Lantern Festival. The main street through town was closed while the many and sometimes large lanterns were turned on. We began at a newly constructed gate which really does look nice.
From this gate, we headed to the main street. [cue The Monkees theme music] "Here we come. Walking down the street. We get the funniest looks from everyone meet. Hey, hey, we're the Bockmans!" The third line really is accurate.
This is the main intersection in town.
The main street was PACKED with people. The picture above of the intersection and the first picture below gives some indication of the amount of people crammed together. We quickly found out that we needed to just keep moving - stopping meant being surrounded by on-lookers to check out the foreign children. So we kept walking with the flow of the crowd. Below are more lanterns we saw as we walked along ...
A large mosque even got into the lights.
This is where we had watched the parade. And I like this picture below because included is the full moon - the reason for the festival.
By the time we stopped to look for a taxi home, Val was out and Meg was nearly so. Two tuckered out kiddos. But we sure did get our full of locals and lanterns.

Lantern Festival Parade

It's parade time! We jumped onto a VERY crowded bus, went near the city-center, and joined the seemingly millions of people to catch some of the parade action. The main road through town was closed due to the parade, and it was entertaining to see so many people fill the streets and sidewalks. I honestly didn't think it was going to be that festive of an environment, but it really was. This was a bigger deal than I thought.

Lia and Meg can't wait to see the parade! "No, Lia, I don't think they'll be throwing candy like the Ball State homecoming parade."
The locals streamed into the streets and under the lanterns in search of a place to take in the festivities. All while a masked baby enjoys a comfy ride.
This intersection looked important so we decided to camp here.
This guy's ready and excited about the parade! Or maybe it's the fact that he's lucky enough to be shoulder to shoulder with some crazy foreigners.
The parade begins with long, colorful dragons. The girls are hoisted on top of shoulders. Our shoulders, not the guy's above - but I'm sure he would have gladly obliged.
Men in wacky costumes ... on stilts! I'm sure their outfits have some meaning - of which I have no idea. I think I told the girls they're dressed up in support of their favorite sports team. Dad's have all the answers.
Hey, it's one of those lion-dog things! But I especially like how all the people are stacked up in the background.
It's the year of the cow - or ox. So some local kids are dressed accordingly. It's hard to tell if they're really having fun or not.
A couple fellow spectators.
Oh my - adorable.
Sweet jacket.
Can you say, "ornery"?! I'm willing to bet he's thinking about how he's going to knock over those guys on stilts.
Meg and I being goofy with an ox decoration/lantern.
A final family picture! Hooray! We survived - er, I mean - had a blast!
And a balloon each for the journey home.

Lantern Festival Preparations

When we went downtown, we were surprised to see so many decorations - preparation for the Lantern Festival which is the evening of the first full moon of the lunar year. Made for some great photo opps!

This gate is on the main street going through town. This street already has a bunch of decorations and more are in the process of going up. And we heard that a parade is happening all along this street so we'll definitely be checking that out.

The girls loved the big flower pot.
And I liked this here lion-dog thing. And it looks like he has a good dentist, too.

Fireworks everywhere!!!

We have never seen so many fireworks in our entire lives! It was the evening of the lunar new year, and the fireworks began at 7pm and continued until 3am. But they REALLY got going from midnight to 1am when they could be seen literally EVERYWHERE you turned -- and not little ones, large exploding display shells.

Usually, when one watches fireworks, you see them lit and then think "there it goes!" Not often do you see them lit and then think "here it comes!" - except if you're viewing them from about the 20th floor. The below shots were taken from that vantage point - no zoom was needed as the fireworks exploded right outside the window. The windows had burn marks on them from the sparks. Try to imagine this scene occurring for an hour straight. It was quite the wild sight and won't soon be forgotten.
On the ground, these shots were taken. Note how close they are to the building.
Falling sparks. Watch your head!