School safety

Been a week since the massacre @newtown.  Noriko and I can't stop worrying about school safety.  Pinecrest emailed about them taking actions without much details. Surely it'll take a bit of time.  Called Kate and found out she and Jay are just as concerned. Need to work with other parents to establish and communicate acceptable standards.  Proactive and assertive engagement needed.  More to come after return from Hk.

JJ's 2nd grade 1st book report

Perfect score! 
It was a fun project for jJ and daddy. 

Pinecrest Xmas event 2012

2nd grade performance was "Santa getting fit for Xmas '. Well done.  Cute
Had a Latin finale for the whole school. JJ was looking forward to the performance.  Too bad mom wasn't here. Went to panda for jJ wanted some orange chicken and chicken spring roll.  The regular. 

LA AUTO SHOW 2012

Daddy and JJ off to convention ctr on the last day.  Had lunch in c town prior.  JJ wonton Meiji and daddy had Portuguese chicken.  JJ immediately thought of Brazil since he just learned it in international week.  Got to venue about 2 and left when it closed at 8. Had a great time.  JJ loved the Toyota kinect game and did it twice.  Toyota had a great showing.  Honda had a nice F1 race car gift.  Hyundai took pic of us and had a campaign against childhood cancer.  JJ was appreciative of what they do and wrote a nice thank you on the pic.

Pee Wee Basketball

Grade 2 just started. It's basketball season @ Pinecrest Valencia. 
JJ doesn't seem to be as into it as last year but he's playing well. Thanks to COC Coach Fischer's summer basketball camp. He is doing better in shooting, drippling, passing and moving the ball around.   Wow, what a change! It's so fun watching JJ play.   He says -"I don't like BB but I am good at it".  Oh well, at least he's playing it.  He was made Captain of the team for a match with Santa Clarita Christian Academy and won the game 18 to 14.   I couldn't stay for the whole game so it was a shame that I missed it.  Noriko was out of town too.  JJ didn't seem to mind. He did well and was cool about it. He's like his mom and doesn't get too excited about anything. 

Faith in Daddy

Driving back from the new Gold's Gym (Valencia Town Center) with JJ who enjoyed their Kids Club very much. Lots of latest video games.  JJ saw COC and asked it was a good school. Daddy said it's OK.
JJ said - not as good as UCLA? Yes, UCLA's better. The top schools are UCLA and CalTech.
JJ - What's the name of the university you will be teaching @?
Daddy - U. of La Verne.
JJ - Good school?
D - ok
JJ - You will make it better, right?
D - Thank you !

California Music Teacher's Convention 2012

JJ and I went dow to SD for his violin performance ( Minuet No. 2 by Bach) which was the piece he played for his 1st level exam which he passed with flying colors and got invited to performance at the Convention.

We were expecting big stages and audiences. Turned out the crowds were smaller than the regular recitals (15-20).  But the level of performance was definitely high since it was the top % of students who took the exams.  I'd say the average was about the high level @ the regulars.

We went down the night before. Got a room via Priceline for$80 (total $120- tax and parking) at the Sheratin Marina.  Stayed at the renovated tower which was right on the Marina overlooking the bay. Very nice view.  JJ liked it a lot. Well, he likes staying at hotels. 

The main tower was nice too.  A big Starbucks there.  We went out for sushi in Point Loma - a nice seaside neighborhood.  Turned the highly rated (Yelp) place was Korean run.  Not bad quality though.

Had breakfast @ the little shop between the 2 towers. OK for the price then popped over to the venue (Town and Country Resort).  A big place.  Had a light lunch @ the restaurant. One of the servers asked us what kind of convention was it for he had never seen so many asians around. Well, it's classical music.  Many chinese of course. Cantonese everywhere.   The performaners were more diversed. About 50/50 white and asian. Good work everywhere. 

Picked up noriko on your way own. She just got back from attending her father's one year memorial in Japan.  Otsukare sama.
Had dinner at a new izakaya called waraya in WLV on Olympics. Not bad. 

First Grade over

It's hard to believe that JJ has just completed his first grade. Our baby is growing up soooo fast!
We were delighted to find out that he got 3 awards at the end of year ceremony:

• Music
• Computer
• Student of the Year

It has been a busy year so far with JJ taking his first exams in violin (level 1), piano (level 2) and music theory (level 2).
Fortunately, he passed them all. He did well enough in violin that he got invited to perform at the annual California Music Teachers' Association
conference this year. It was a great opportunity to expose JJ to performances by other high scoring students from across the state.
Here is a clip of his recital at the event: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvpAnZ9BzdQ

Party is for meeting new people

Talking to JJ about whom to invite for his upcoming b-day birthday. he mentioned his violin teacher, Ms Karin. Mummy and Daddy thought it would be best to invite kids only because it's a kid's b-day party. To which JJ replied - She can meet new people at parties, right? JJ - Yes, you are right. Thank you for understanding one of the key premises of having a good party! Good job, you future partier!

JJ's first trip to SF cont'd - GGB

Woke up early today. JJ too. It's Golden Gate Bridge today. First, we went to the yerba buena gardens on howard and 4th to play at the kids playground and ride the carousel. JJ had a good time. We came here yesterday evening and played a little bit. He really liked it! Then, off to GGB. Not enough time to get close but took a few pic near Crissy Fields and went back to have lunch near the hotel for we are catching a 5pm plane back. Virgin America standby is working out. No problem getting on board on Thurs PM and a breeze on Sat PM too. Plane's empty. Nice entertainment even on short hauls. Got back. JJ was dead tired. Went to bed straight away and didn't wake up until the next morning

JJ's first trip to San Francisco

Stayed at the Hilton in Union Sq. Went down to Fisherman's Wharf and played classic video games (like back in the 70's and 80's) at the game museum. Brought back memories. Some games go way back so I didn't even know. Like a helicopter game. Had a great time playing with JJ. Even Noriko tried some games! Then visited the submarine USS Papanito. JJ was scared at first and wanted to get out but learnt to like it when he saw the rec area with a chess board on one of the tables. He signed his name on the log and wrote "awesome"! He was quite impressed with the little vessel and seemed to have a good time. Had lunch @ Pier 39. Quite a lot to do but had to head back for Noriko's had to go to ballet (Don Quixote) at 7. JJ and I had dinner @ Dojima An just down the street on OFarrell. Ma ma. service was quite poor. Taste was ok. Lots of bones in my unagi tororo don. JJ was a little down so I asked him why. He said he'd have liked to go with mummy to the ballet ( he didn't realise it's a bloody long one!) and he was missing mummy. After a while, he's ok. He saw Giselle on Utube with mummy and seemed to like the story so he thought he could enjoy any ballet. Probably not! Noriko's looking forward to taking him to see Giselle. Hope he can sit through the whole thing.

Piano and violin exam results

JJ passed his violin CM1 test with flying colors. He's going to the Convention in San Diego in June where he will be one of many kids who did well and perform in front of hundreds. He also passed his CM2 piano and theory. Can't go to convention because CM3 is the minimal level. He is going to a violin competition in Long Beach in July and will play the Gavotte. Recital is coming up in May where he and mum will play a chinese/mongolian vioin song. Will do two instruments. Piano will be Arabesque. Lots of staccatos!

JJ ate this much!!!!

Been a while. Lots has happened.
JJ finished his first violin (CMT level 1) exam today. The examiner told JJ that he did very good. So, hopefully, he passed. A good day

Went for FatBurger with JJ (first for both). Good stuff. JJ loved it.
He ate as much as I did (medium - 5oz - burger and fries) . He also downed a big glass of milk. OMG, how big is his stomach really??? Could he be the next japanese hotdog king (watch out takahashi-san!)??