Christina & Buddy Endless Love

This is the final song of the original 12-minute video. The second half of this segment was shot, edited and compiled the moment the wedding started. The file then had to exported to Quicktime and then burned onto DVD disc. It finished burning five minutes before showtime. Boy I was sweating! I think it turned out well. What do you think?

A Manger is His Throne

As keeping with tradition, here's the CIBC Children's Choir Christmas performance.

Happy New Year everyone.

Betty & Patrick

Last Saturday I was among the privileged to witness the marriage of Betty and Patrick. They were married at the same church we married at 14 years ago. It brought back many memories, including the fact that I met my wife at that very same church playing volleyball. If I just look among my circle of friends, I can easily identify seven other couples that either met or started dating during their volleyball days. Yep, volleyball is like a bar hangout for single Christians. My favorite pick up line was, "Would you like to bump with me?"

Anyway, back to Betty.

I've known Betty since high school. In 1986 I helped her negotiate a great deal on her first new car at the SF Autocenter – a Mazda 323 just like the one I had myself. Ever since then, I've NEVER stepped foot inside a car salesman's office again! (Thank you Craigslist!) And considering Betty's been a subscriber to my blog from the very start, I can honestly say that even after 24 years, I'm still helping her save money! Hey, what are friends for??

For those of you fortunate enough to know Betty as long as I have, you'll agree that this wedding was a bit sweeter and happier than your typical wedding. I for one, am overjoyed for her and I look forward to knowing Patrick better (I hear he's a Mac user so I already like him).

This is the first wedding I've attended since my Scott Robert training. As much as I wanted to go nuts with the D300s, I resisted. With all the other photographers firing away, I didn't want to add to the constant annoyance of rapid-fire shutter clicks everywhere during the ceremony. Plus, I think it's rude to get out of your seat to shoot if you weren't asked prior to do so. But let's say if my child was up there with the wedding party, well then I may not be able to control myself… (Mmmkay, C & B?)

So with Betty's permission, I would like to share these memories with you. Congratulations Betty and Patrick!

The pastor (and all the non-asian people) were from Ohio.

Does Hung seem a little TOO happy in this pic?

Steve asked me, "Where do you find all those great deals??"
The money I help them save will put their daughters through college.

I haven't seen Rita and Elaine in over 15 years. Both are married. They sorta still recognize me.

Well fed and rested.They brought their kids so they had plenty of leftover food on their table.

Kandace is happy because she drank four bowls of sharkfin soup.

Jerry tried to sneak off to the bathroom so he wouldn't have to speak.
Unfortunately he came back too soon and still got stuck with the microphone.

A little blurry – exactly how I remember Anna. It's been 30 years since I last teased, um saw her.
She refused to believe it's really me. I had to assure her I'm the real deal!

Christmastime (long overdue)

Sorry for the delay, I meant to get it up sooner.

Shot from approx. 70 ft. away in 720HD with the incredible Canon Powershot SX20is.
(Thanks, Wong See Mo)

YFC Christmas Party

Here are some photos from our annual YFC Christmas party. This year over 70 people showed up for $5 prime rib (although they were a few shameless people who were still hungry and went to mooch off the YAF party in the next room). We had a very fun and competitive treasure hunt this year. My team came in first, so we got to line up for food first! Woohoo!

Like any other YFC meeting, one moment everyone is fine, the next they just start getting wierd.

"Phone, keys, kids.... hmm, what else am I missing?"

30 pounds of prime rib and LOTS of gravy, courtesy of the of the SF Fongs.

"Unk Hunk" is what Justine calls him.

Josh-E makes his long awaited debut. That's a lot of hair for 11 weeks!
Unfortunately they were left starving because Myron's team came in last.

Future choir members.

Sex Talk with Dr. Dan

For those of you who missed the last YFC meeting (Christine, Peggy, Veronica, Wayland, Wenna), boy did you miss a great meeting! In our continual study of the book, Men are Waffles. Women are Spaghetti, we talked about sex, and lots of it! Actually, Dr. Dan and his lovely wife did all the talking, we just sat in wide-eyed silence soaking it all in. It brought back memories of junior high learning about contraceptives.

Did you know?
Did you know that P.M.S. is actually a real thing and not some made up excuse? ...or at least Dr. Dan seems to think so. Even though there’s scientific evidence, I’m still not totally convinced. There are women I know who are a certain way year-round.

Did you know that the United States is the most sexually active nation in the whole world? Even more so than Sweden and France? And that the Japanese are the least active? I guess if you take your mind off of sex all the time, you can build some great TV’s and cars! No offense to my American-born Japanese readers (who are really American anyway). Just telling the facts.

Did you know that the average married couple has sex 98 times a year? Ninety-eight times! If my math is correct, that’s twice a week, every week, minus three weeks of vacation! Man, I need to start clearing off my calendar and play less Scrabble! The real eye-opener is when you think about it, if you’re only doing it 50 times, then there’s someone else doing it 146 times! Speaking of which...

After the lesson, Myron (aka Han Solo) quickly announced that Grace is expecting their fourth child in September! Maybe instead of being Han Solo, perhaps he should be known as Samson. All I can say to Myron is, “Don’t cut that hair!” And let’s not forget about Grace. With three kids and that breakneck schedule, she still makes time for Scrabble and reading my blog. Wow, I am indeed honored. Grace, you are truly amazing!

So back to the meeting. Dr. Dan delivered the lesson with utmost professionalism and a straight face. His Powerpoint was informative, complete with entertaining video clips from Everyone Loves Raymond that illustrates the sexual tension between husband and wife. We noticed that when discussing certain awkward topics, he tended to talk a little faster. Haha. At the end I commended Dr. Dan for his great seminar. His response was, “I can’t believe I said ‘ejaculation’ at church!”

See you at the next meeting!

YFC Valentine's Dinner

Saturday's dinner was at the San Leandro Black Angus. We all used that $37 dinner-for-two coupon you find in the Sunday papers. The meal included the above appetizer sampler, soup or salad, choice of prime rib, ribeye, New York steak, etc. and a dessert. Not a bad deal. I totally forgot to take a picture of the meat because I was too busy chomping.

It was a great meal, start to finish. And there was a lot of food! How could I tell? Fongpay actually had leftovers to take back.

So what was the best part of the meal? No kids. Period.

That night just happened to be Daniel's birthday. He's a lucky guy.
He's 3 years older than me and still has a great head of hair.

Speaking of hair, for those of you wondering (and been afraid to ask) about Myron's lovely locks, I got the real story. Apparently it's Grace's idea for him to grow it long because she likes the Han Solo look. Hmmm, Methinks he's already surpassed Han Solo and heading toward Chewbacca... But that's just me.

I heard from a fellow blogger that maybe one of these folks don't like their face posted anywhere online. I say you should be honored to be on my blog because I only post photos of good looking people. In fact, I often spend a little time cleaning up people's facial blemishes (zits, cold sores, blackheads, cracked lips, food stains, etc), so chances are, you'll look better here than in real life! Yes, you are welcome!

CIBC Thanksgiving Slideshow

After Martin's party, we rushed home, rested for 30 minutes, and then off to the annual CIBC Thanksgiving banquet. There were over 500 people in attendance and as always, the food was very good. Unfortunately we couldn't eat much because we were still recovering from our food coma at Kincaids. After dinner, the video above was presented to reflect a year's worth of thankfulness. Even in these tough economic times, we are indeed blessed.

In the weeks prior to this, I was sharing with a fellow carpooler that I was up late every night working on a slideshow. He wondered why it took so long and asked what version of Powerpoint I was using. I'm like "riiiight." Sensing my sarcasm, he further says, "You know you can do some really nice things in Powerpoint..." Really? You don't say!

That's one thing I notice most about most peecee users. They think Microsoft is the only way to do things. They use Powerpoint for slideshows, Word for newsletters, and didn't know what a PDF was until Word added the feature. Granted if you've never used Mac OSX, then you won't have any idea what incredible programs come with it (iMovie, iDVD, iPhoto, Garageband, etc.). Yes, these are already included in OSX. And iWork (Pages, Numbers, Keynote) costs only $99 and will open/convert all your Word/Excel/PPT files and well as export back.

When you buy a cheap peecee and you factor in all the additional productivity and anti-viral software you need to purchase, it'll get rather expensive quickly (while still remaining a cheap peecee).

Below, fittingly is my favorite "I'm a Mac" commercial.



Christmas Newsletters
If any of you are fortunate enough to be on the Christmas list of a certain Fremont family with two girls, you'll know that every year they produce hands down, the most professional looking newsletter. At first glance it had me scratching my head wondering why an amazingly talented designer such as myself can't even come up with something this nice. I mean this family isn't extra special. They're just an average family with average intelligence (stay with me here...). How could they excel in something they have zero training in? That's when they told me they just used a free, pre-existing template included in iWork Pages and voila! Aha! That explains everything!! So this is proof positive that using a Mac can make the average family exceedingly above average (and in my opinion, most special!).



If you're on our mailing list you'll notice our "newsletter" is getting smaller and smaller every year. Actually, I wouldn't even call it a newsletter anymore. It's just a 5x5 piece of paper with some pics and some ramblings. I don't know how you all find so many things to write about that it will fill up both sides of a page when I'm struggling to fill even a 5x5 space. Maybe because we don't travel. Or maybe because we don't do anything fun. Or maybe because we're just raising a bunch of under-achievers... who knows. So don't expect too much from us this year. But my advice to you all: More pictures and less text. Because by the time people are done reading my blog, they'll be too tired to read anything else. Haha!

Until then, I wish you all a safe and Happy Thanksgiving. I'll look forward to your 'upgraded' newsletters and hope to reunite with you in the coming weeks. Let the parties begin!

CIBC Mother's Day

Yeah I know, Mother's Day was almost two weeks ago, but with my time off with Lasik, I'm just behind on everything. I can't believe it's already been a year since last Mother's Day when the kids sang.



Thanks to Wayland (again) for the fine videography. Unfortunately from where we both sat, they plopped the huge microphone right in front of Cameron's face (although you do see him in the first four seconds). And what's up with Alec always looking down? You'd think since he's among the smartest kids up there, surely he should have the song memorized... Hmm, could it be that he was secretly playing his DS? :o


Flashback
Look what I dug up from the last time two Fong's were up on stage... The year was 1975. In this picture, Chris and I are both 8 years old, just like Vanessa and Dustin in the photo above. Scary huh?

Other kids in the photo: Goff, Greg Y., Greg M., Baldwin, Richard, Tina, and I forget the rest.

Children's Church performance in the CIBC Christmas Cantata

Dustin sings in the Childrens' Church choir during this year's Christmas Cantata (he's the one with a tie). I couldn't get a seat downstairs so I shot from upstairs where the view was better, but the sound wasn't quite as good. I filmed it with the Canon Powershot S2is.

As you will see, the singing begins before all the kids are up on stage. So I bet you're wondering what happened. I'll tell you what happened. On Saturday at the rehearsal we had 12 kids up there. They timed the music so that all 12 kids would be on stage by the time the music was cued. So today as you can see, by the time the 12th kid got on stage, the singing began, just like it did at rehearsal. I have no idea where those extra 10 kids came from. They definitely weren't at rehearsal! Who are their parents?! This is an outrage!

:)

Oh and I can see Daniel waving goodbye...

Those are the lyrics from the Elton John song "Daniel." If you attended the special appreciation dinner for the Kims last Saturday, you would've learned that Pastor Jason's first name is actually Daniel (Jason being his middle name). Also that he never leaves his house without his fishing pole (although now with the oil spill, that may change).

The Kims will be shipping off to China next year so the evening's theme was All-American red, white and blue. Dinner consisted of prime rib, ham, potatoes, apple pie and vanilla ice cream (no ethnic food except rice). Thanks to the Fongs and the Chans for the great food. And thanks to Ken for the photo.

If you would like to download the full resolution photo (1.4mb), click here.

Vacation Bible School

Last week Dustin attended VBS (or is it DVBS?) for the first time ever. He had a great time! For the closing ceremony on Friday, the kids sang a bunch of songs that were surprisingly fresh, like something from Spy Kids. I was impressed! Especially when you consider that most of these kids never attended church before. A personal thanks to the Young family for transporting and entertaining Dustin. And thanks to Wayland for the videography.

Dedication Uncensored

On Sunday, March 25 we did our baby dedication for Justine. This photo shows the 200+ people I was facing, so you can understand my nervousness as I mumbled and stumbled my way through it. We received a ton of comments afterwards. The one thing people kept asking was, "Did you videotape it?" Well yes we did! Thanks to my buddy Chris (he's the guy in the front row making the bodily sounds--or was that Ken?), we can share it with you.

As I watched myself on video for the first time, it was weird, even worse that listening to your own voice! My gestures and mannerisms... is that how I really act? I feel like such a dork! And I apologize for mumbling through some of it. Yes, I know I have a mumbling problem. A friend of mine once told me that I mumbled a lot. I haven't seen that person in years because, well, I no longer talk (mumble) to them. So bear with me and thank you for accepting me the way I am.

This video will be most valuable in 15 years when my precious daughter is a rebellious teen and hates me. This will show her how hard I fought to bring her into this world--that little ingrate! And that her MOM is to blame for her not having a younger sister to kick around. That's right, I got an ace up my sleeve!

So if you weren't there on Sunday, or you were late (because the road from Danville to Oakland is sooooo long), or you couldn't understand just what the heck I was mumbling about, I posted this video just for you. But be warned, if you're expecting something touchy feely and inspirational, you'll be deeply disappointed.

Long Days Long Nights

Today is my 7th day of being "in charge." A good night's rest is getting 5 consecutive hours. So far I've only had 2 good nights. Surprisingly, I'm still able to function with at least 75% competency. My mom helps me with the other 25% as she plays with baby, do dishes and prepare lunch. I, though, have to do the dirty work as I quickly reacquaint myself to green slimy poop.

I get out of the house twice a day to drop off and pick up Dustin. I take Colby along and purposely park a couple blocks away to avoid traffic and to get some exercise. The boys like to veer off to these side trails so sometimes we take a long loop around (great way to tire Colby out to force him to nap at 3:30).

Home before 3, snack time, then one hour of homework starting at 3:30. Their favorite show, Zaboomafoo, is on at 4:30. For every minute he goofs off, the later we turn on the tv. He quickly realizes that the time he wastes is cutting into his show. If he's good all week, then Friday we invite a friend over for a play date and dinner.

I'm on the computer off and on all day doing research (mindless surfing). You'll see my IM icon on and off. I appreciate many of you that chat with me. It's nice to have some adult interaction every now and then. Just understand that if I don't reply immediately, it's because someone is freaking out somewhere. Or I'm passed out.

Here's a brand new site I found today: Jungle Crazy.

Do you like shopping on Amazon? I do, especially since I still have a couple of gift certificates that expire soon. Sometimes Amazon has some amazing sales, but finding them can be rather difficult. Jungle Crazy is a very cool visual search engine of ONLY CLEARANCE items at Amazon.com. They're all at least 70% off, some as much as 90% off. One item of serious consideration is this JVC Clock Radio with iPod Dock. List price $218, now $44.21 with free shipping. I need a digital clock so in the middle of the night when baby cries, I'll know what time it is (currently I have to shine a flashlight onto the wall clock). Pretty good deal for all it's functionality. And it's not some funky off-brand. Only gripe is no remote control.

Freebie Friday:
Free Starbucks Coffee on March 15
Free Lipbalm
Free Sample Sunsilk Thermashine Hairapy
As always, you can enter a fake email and telephone and even use your work address if you want to avoid spam and junk mail.

Reminder: Tomorrow at CIBC at 2pm is Pastor Tong's Memorial Service. If you cannot attend and want to see the printed program I designed, you can download the 2mb PDF file here. You can read his bio and see some great photos of his younger days. Otherwise, hope to see you there. You'll even get to hear Patty sing!

Rev. Joseph Tong 1924-2007

With great sadness, it was announced that Rev. Joseph Tong passed away early this morning.

Rev. Tong served as our beloved Cantonese Pastor from 1975 to 1990. Unlike many other pastors that retires, he continued to attend CIBC. His wife, to this day, continues to be very active in serving in various ministries. She cared for both Rev. Tong and her mother. He suffered from a heart attack due to a high blood sugar level.

Monday Update: I spoke to Esther today and she sounded quite well. They are awaiting Enoch's arrival from China sometime this week. Esther is here alone and will be staying until the end of March to help her mom. She has limited access to email, but will check whenever possible, so you can just email her at weraj@hotmail.com. Please keep the family in your prayers during this difficult time.

Tuesday Update: The funeral is scheduled for Saturday, March 10, 2 p.m. at CIBC.

CIBC 101

This month of February, CIBC will turn 101 years old. I've been attending since 1972 so my personal history with the church runs rather deep. Back in 2002 I created a 29-minute video displaying the past, present and future ministries of CIBC. It served as a reminder of previous sacrifices and a fundraiser for our building expansion project on 9th Street. Since then it's been updated/altered several times for groundbreaking and to show construction progress. This condensed 8-minute version was shown at the Centennial celebration last February. Then it was updated again for the 2006 Thanksgiving Dinner at where else? Centennial Hall.

Many of you have not seen it so I would like to share it with you. In my estimation, I spent over 300 hours working on this entire project over the last 5 years. It definitely was a labor of love and I never got sick of it. I hope you enjoy it.

It's a fairly large file so give it a few minutes to load.