Days of The Dragon

Parker wanted spiky hair again, so I obliged this morning. I’ll probably be giving him a much shorter haircut soon, once it warms up. So, here’s an extremely over-exposed, fake-smile picture for posterity.

At about this time three years ago I was eagerly awaiting travel to Viet Nam to meet my son-to-be. Here is a picture from 3 years ago, note the spiky hair (natural, back then!)…and the fabulous pose.

We got a new cat about 2 weeks ago. Here’s a picture of Parker and the new cat, named Mèo.

The name is pronounced “mayo”, and means “cat” in Vietnamese. He’s settling in well, and Parker enjoys having him around. Cats aren’t my favorite pet, but he’ll do until we can get a dog.

I know this is an odd thing to post, but we went shopping at the local market and they had the most awesome looking (and tasting!) carrots in. I just had to snap a shot. Okay, so the picture just looks like your average carrots, but they are so bright orange, and not a single blemish and literally tasted like someone injected sugar into them.

Just a couple of little things I thought were neat that I wanted to remember.

Whale regarded as near royalty in Viet Nam

Thousands of Vietnamese fishermen are giving a royal send-off to a 15-ton dead whale, gathering at a southern Vietnamese village to pay homage at a funeral for the creature they call "Your Excellency."

Nearly 10,000 people have converged in Bac Lieu province to bid farewell to the 52 foot (16-meter) whale since he was dragged ashore Monday, said coast guard official Do Tien Ha.

They burned incense in his honor and planned to build a temple at the site of his burial, which was scheduled for Tuesday. Nearly 3,000 people will attend the whale’s last rites, to be held at the mouth of the Cai Cung River.

In Vietnam’s fishing culture, whales are considered sacred. They are referred to by the title "ngai," the same honorific used for kings, emperors and other esteemed leaders.

"Whenever whales arrive, dead or alive, local fishermen believe they bring luck and safety," Ha said by phone from Bac Lieu.

The dead whale was spotted 26 miles (42 kilometers) off the coast Sunday, and several dozen fishermen on 10 boats spent a day hauling it ashore, he said.

Vietnamese fishermen gather in thousands to give a royal funeral and farewell to a gigantic dead whale.

The whale was floating lifeless 26 miless off the coast yesterday before it was spotted. Ten boats full of fishermen spent a day hauling it ashore. The whale is referred to as “ngai” (“Your Excellency”)which has an honorific translation used only when referring to kings, emperors,and other esteemed leaders. “His excellency” weighs in at 15 ton and measures 52 feet in length.

Today, nearly 10 thousand people gathered in Bac Lieu province to pay their homage to this magnificient creature. Fishermen believe that whales bring luck and safety. The bones of the whale in a village temple to be worshipped.

The Cult of the Whale God

The cult centers upon the Whale God, a reverent creature that has the power tocalm the waves and lead sailors to safety. Regarded as a god, these large marine animals are never hunted. Dead whales that wash ashore are buried in a respectful, ritualistic ceremony. The bones of these creatures are typically placed in a temple to be worshipped. While the Vietnamese constution strictly forbits “superstition”, the whale cult has deep roots in Vietnamese culture and is not considered to be against the law. The whale-worshipping cults are observed in many coastal communities in Vietnam.

Whale Festivals and Temples

Many temples and festival are devoted to worshipping the whale deity. During the “Cau Ngu” (Fish Prayer) Festival that occur annually in many fishing communities, believers ask the spirits of the fish to guide and protect them during their fishing voyages in the coming year.

In Vung Tau, Danang, and Thuy Tu, there are pagodas entirely devoted to the whale god and annual festivals to honor the protection he provides to fishermen.

Since it’s founding in 1762, Thuy Tu communal house in Phan Thiet city has gathered a collection of hundreds of whale skeletons. Fishermen of the village have seen these creatures as Gods of the Sea. After a whale’s death, the remains are brought back to bury. After 3 years, the bones are exhumed to be placed in a pagoda for worship. One can see the bone structure of a whale on display at the temple in Thuy Tu. The structure is about 120 years old, measuring 22 meters in length and weighing in at 65 tons.

Ohno raised by single dad

NBC loves panning its cameras to the Olympic athletes’ families as they watch their loved ones compete. At the Vancouver Games, Apolo Anton Ohno‘s father, Yuki, has been shown numerous times, cheering on his son. However, Ohno’s mother has been notably absent.

This hasn’t gone unnoticed by viewers. Web searches on "apolo anton ohno mom" and "apolo ohno mother" have both surged into breakout status this past week. Also buzzing in the Yahoo! Search box: "Who is apolo anton ohno’s mom?"

According to The New York Times, Ohno’s father won custody of his son when Apolo was just an infant. Arecent article from the AP explains that Yuki raised Apolo alone, "after the boy’s mother" – Jerrie Lee – "left early on." A 1998 item from The Seattle Times said, "Except for a few photographs, Apolo has never seen his mother." A 2002 article from Sports Illustrated reported that Ohno had "no interest in learning more about her."

While Ohno has no contact with his mother, the bond he shares with his father is apparently unbreakable. Numerous articles and blogs describe a deep friendship and mutual respect. A story from "Good Morning America" explains that the relationship wasn’t always so good. As a teen, Apolo ran with a rough crowd, Sports Illustrated said in 2002. And, odd as it sounds, Ohno initially didn’t want to be a speedskater.

Flash-forward to 2010: Ohno has seven Winter Olympic medals to his name – and with two more short-track speedskating events to compete in, he may stand on the podium a couple more times. And that means we’ll be seeing a lot more shots of his father in the stands, cheering him on.

One of these pictures actually go back to Chanukah, but most are much more recent.

This is Parker after having received his new camera for his birthday. He’s taking a picture of a new train grandpa got for his layout. Parker loves to take pictures – he’s quite the expert at having you pose or say “cheese!”.

As I think I’ve mentioned before, one of the few non-PBS shows we sometimes watch is Ni Hao Kai Lan – and, Parker quite likes it. So, he got a couple of play sets from the line. Here is Parker and I playing with the house/fort thing.

This is Parker An inventing fun, new ways to sit “in” a chair, literally. He’s eating a carrot, and apparently comfortable. What you don’t see if that 15 minutes later he’s yelling, “daddy, the chair is eating me, help. I’m stuck!” in a semi-panicky voice that perfectly lets you know things have gone from fun to frightening.

Parker with another one of his famous faces that he’s been practicing a lot lately, with no encouragement from me, of course!

This is Parker An this past weekend with a fully decked out outfit. Let’s see, we have the pajamas, the construction hat, sunglasses, a drill, and all while building a parking garage and populating it with matchbox cars. you can see the trail of other toys scattered all over, too – fun times!

I have obviously been terrible about updating my blog, and I’m blaming it on winter, and still not having sold my house (which now I’m just plain sick of), and being busier than ever with a very active just-3 year old. So, I’ll try to do a little update now while I’m feeling ever-so-slightly inclined to do so.

I got a Nintendo Wii about three weeks ago, the sole purpose being to also get Wii Fit Plus, which I did. I’ve been using it a lot, I’ve only missed 3 days in the time I’ve had it. I actually enjoy exercising with this, which is weird for me. I’m glad, though, because obviously bike riding is out during the winter.

I also bought the Ni Hao Kai Lan game for Parker. I was really hesitant because I very closely screen what media Parker is exposed to. We don’t watch commercial television (except at Grandma’s house), and I severely limit toys and books that are tied to commercial things – like Disney, Nickelodeon, etc. I abhor how children are marketed to nowadays and how quickly companies try to get our kids to grow up – that doesn’t even touch on my dislike of how companies stereotype toys by gender, and by how extremely violent so many boys toys are. Sure, you can’t (and shouldn’t) protect your kid from every bad thing there is, but I think our society has gone too far the other way when it comes to toys and marketing, etc. Anyway, back to the game…we’ve played it twice, it’s fun and Parker enjoys it. Luckier I can play with him if you hook up both controllers. He enjoys the control over the character on screen. I totes wish they had something like this in Vietnamese!

Speaking of Vietnamese, it’s going well. I’m getting quite good at reading and comprehending what I read. I’m even getting a little better at understanding spoken Vietnamese. Earlier this week I was watching The Owl and The Sparrow with Parker…and wasn’t doing too bad following the story. That movie, by the way, is a cute film that I’d recommend to anyone. One note though, if you have children adopted from VietNam and they are old enough to remember the orphanage they lived in, you might want to screen it first…as some of the movie’s events take place in an orphanage in SaiGon – and it could trigger memories.

Parker’s grandparents are currently in the rainforests of Central America. They just went through the Panama Canal yesterday. Jealous? Yeah, me, too!

Later this year we’re heading to Seattle. My cousin, Lisa, is getting married and Parker An is in the wedding. It’ll be a fun trip. Trying to think of other places we could take a short vacation this year, as well.

Tet is coming up very soon, and I still haven’t decided what we’re doing…if we’ll stay here or go to another city that has a bigger celebration.

I’ve started playing a role playing game, a real tabletop role-playing game called Low Life, my cousin Andy wrote it. It’s a lot of fun, and I haven’t role played in years, so it’s nice that Parker An is now old enough to go over with me and play with his cousins/friends while I play the game with my cousins/friends!

This past weekend we had some friends over Saturday night to hang out and watch anime, which is always fun. Parker was hilarious – he is a show-boy sometimes! We also went to Vietnamese playgroup at the local Vietnamese church.

The picture quality is low b/c they’re taken with my phone, sorry!

Parker making a funny face (he’s into this at the moment)
 

“Playing” guitar
 

At playgroup (blurred faces for privacy of the other kids)
 

We went to the zoo on Saturday and it was pretty empty, which was really nice. We got to spend as much time as we wanted at each exhibit, the penguins, jaguars, jellyfish, and flamingos were the big hits this time!

He was really interested in how some of the jellyfish can sting you, and I had to explain how it worked several times on the car ride home. He was fascinated when I told him that his uncle had been stung by jellyfish when he was a little boy.

The Jaguars, which are usually being lazy, were giving a good show! The lemurs were also eating and jumping a lot, which Parker really liked – it was the perfect opportunity for his first evolution lesson – they have thumbs like us, daddy!