First Piano Recital

Today is a very exciting day for the whole family. We are getting ready for Sydney's first piano recital in the Chinese church. Finally this day has come for Sydney to do her first performance in front of other people. She is playing "Prince of Denmark March".

As usual, mommy hope things will go smoothly and that she will not forget her piece. She said with a glee that she is a little nervous. Her piano teacher, Salina, told her not to worry because she will be playing to a hall of strangers.

After lunch, we prepare a tray of bee hoon for potluck after the recital and set off to the church which is a short 6 min drive away. Sydney is the 6th performer and the youngest. She took a bow, sit calmly, posie and compose in her chair and then the beautiful music started.

After the performance, she said she love it and would like to perform again. She said she is not nervous and the Yamaha grand piano make her feel so welcome (like home because she has one upright Yamaha at home). A lady actually came up and said she is very steady.

Too bad her piano teacher has a stomach virus last min and was not able to perform. She would be very proud of Sydney if she was there.

Monets, Picassos and Van Goghs

Strike a Pose
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Dec 2008

We paid a visit to the biggest NYC musuem of them all last weekend. IBM donates to the Met, so we can go straight pass the ticket lines. Have IBM badge will travel !
There was some children's activity and we hurried through lunch at the cafeteria to join up.



It was a guided exploration and discussion of some of the museum's items, with the guide asking the children what they thought about the artifacts that they were looking at. At the end of it, paper was passed out for the kids to sketch any object that piqued their interest.



Sydney and her Urn with horses.

Audrey and her little bowl with a handle

At one point, a couple grabbed Sydney and Audrey and took a photo with them. Some foreigners seem to find little chinese girls irresistibly cute.













We visited some of the popular galleries later. These were in the 19th century room.

Hot and Cold

Winter temperatures here along the Jersey shore varies from a warm 60+ degree F ( about 18 degree C ) to 20 degrees F ( about -7 degree C ). During a warm day in december, one could go for a jog in the park ...

while the next day, if it gets frigid and snows, one could go skiing ...


We end up re-planning family activities quite frequently to take advantage of weather. Good thing that weather forecasts are quite accurate around here.
Also, there is always the museums.