This morning started with another visit to Ikea and to Ranch 99 for some Chinese food. Afterwards, Nina and I hiked up to the top of Mt. Tam in Marin County. Can I just say that my legs are in so much pain right now? Ouch.

Nina, are we halfway there yet? The fireman who lives at the top.

On top of the world - San Francisco in the background.

Contemplating... Wondering... Questioning...
Why won't Nina let my Gatorade be in the picture?

In the spirit of Margaret's falling out of bed blog, I shall share my own experiences as I got out of bed...
I woke up this morning, and my left arm was gone. Really, it was gone. It was early, and it was dark, and I wanted to reach for the little alarm clock on the window sill. But nothing happened. I finally figured out what happened. As a tummy sleeper, I had managed to fall asleep on top of my arm. So it fell asleep too. I couldn't feel it. I couldn't move it. So I just did the usual to wake it up... the Flail Manuever. Never fails. Twist your body back and forth fast enough to flail that dead arm back to life. In my medical opinion, I think it's about restoring that blood flow to the nerves. In time it's as good as new...

Smile, I say! Smile!

From Carol's Blog:

the essense of success
successful is the person who has lived well, laughed much, who has gained the respect of children, who leaves the world better than they found it, who has never lacked appreciation for the earth's beauty, who never fails to look for the best in others or give the best of themselves.
hochie.. this one is most definitely for you. i'm so proud of you, i miss you, and i luv you.
Carol Ku 9:21 AM

Thanks Carol! I love you too! From the bottom of my heart. *mwah*

Dance, I say! Dance!

I just discovered Anna's TAF Juniors pics with a narrative on her webpage! Very cool!

Shall we revisit 2001?

*yawn*

Where fatigue and the blogging addiction meet:

HoChie71: i haven't even blogged for tdoday
Fuh lank: lucky you.
HoChie71: ha.
HoChie71: that's a measure of my sanity.
HoChie71: if i blog.

I ache all over on the inside. I may pass out at any moment...

As my friends on the east coast are just about to wake up, I have yet to get a wink of sleep... Perhaps I shall just start today early. I can't feel the pain anymore.

I am on call today, and I am tired. Save me somebody!

Nina is here! Yay! We shall celebrate by drinking bubble tea!

I made it to the end of the week, and I ache and hurt inside and out. I've been so busy, and I think I've slept a cumulative 12 hours since Monday. Talk about sleep deficit. Well, I'm glad I have some dinner plans tonight with Cec and the TAYL crew plus others, and then tomorrow, I have a day off (but I guess I may come to the hospital to finish some paperwork). Nina arrives tomorrow to bum off me for the month while she does a rotation at my hospital. That'll be cool. I just hope I have some time to hang out with her...

I am pooped.

What's with all this TAF crush business in all these chat rooms? It reminds me of a movie I'd like to see... yes, I'd like to see it. I admit it.

Ai-yo. Bubble tea 3 days in a row now. It might be that my vacation is coming to an end or that the girl behind the counter is really cute. I don't know for sure. Anyways, I drink Taiwan Style Green Milk Tea. And Connie, aka CiderGirl127, is starting to refer to me as Honey Dew Bubble Tea... "Bubbles" for short. Together, we will sing a duet called "Cider and Bubbles."

Karen's so cute! We planned to test the new Vanilla Coke together on this fine Sunday morning:

lilKareBear13: i got vanilla coke !!
HoChie71: me too!
lilKareBear13: cooooool
lilKareBear13: let's drink it
HoChie71: are you ready?
lilKareBear13: yup!
HoChie71: lemme go get mine...
lilKareBear13: arite
HoChie71: ok, ready whenever you are!
lilKareBear13: ok on the count of 3
lilKareBear13: 1..
HoChie71: 2..
lilKareBear13: 3 !
HoChie71: hmmm
lilKareBear13: hmm a hint of vanilla
HoChie71: so... vanilla...
lilKareBear13: tastes kinda like a coke float hehe
HoChie71: yea.
HoChie71: lemme try again.
lilKareBear13: haha
HoChie71: the coke flavor is kinda weak.

Frank, Carol, & Tiff! Nice chatting with you guys all at once yesterday night! That's a first, huh?

So, I decided to start running again 3 days ago, and I've been good about getting my little jog in every day. But the hills here are killer... I made it up to the top of this winding hilly "fire trail" path in my neighborhood, but now I'm paying the price. My legs are aching like never before. I am a wimp. Anyways, I'm off to a BBQ at Jesse and Rochelle's this evening... but first a pitstop to pick up some bubble tea! My muscles need some boba nourishment!

Thanks for the pics Harmony! You're the sweetest! Miss you!

More bubble tea please! Harm & Lainey (looking a little tired there?)

I must take a moment and announce to the world that I finally have a dsl connection here, and what's even better is that I have a wireless link to my laptop... Yes! Catch me online occasionally and instant messaging you from the deck...

Hello. You've reached the blog page of Ho Chie Tsai. I'm on vacation from my blog today. Please leave a message in my guestbook or email inbox and I will get back to you through Instant Messenger as soon as I can. Have a nice day!

That picture uploading is almost like a job... but here they are, the rest of the pics! Have fun! Pass it on!

Off to dinner with the cousins... I'm hungry!

So, I finally got some TAF pics posted up. Here are some of my favorites... Shall we take a walk through my long weekend? First, a visit with the Junior Program - the place my heart will always be at... I miss you guys so much!

Carrie and alien. Old counselors and new.

Anna, ex-JR, now staff. Jessie, Celia, Tiff.

Jessie!! *pokes me in eye* Ouch! The future of the TAF JR program.

Saturday? Crafts with Sherry!

Junior TAF Studs! Read it and weep.

Yes, there are dreamy JR girls too!!

And, they can read you your fortunes!

If you tell me a bad fortune, I'm going to pass out like Nick, though.

Generations of TAF JR staff. Classic!
But, I can't forget my JH buddies... so many of my ex-Juniors have climbed through the ranks, and now I call them my friends. I can't believe how many years I've known some of these guys. And every year that I visit them, I make new JH buddies. They are certainly the dreamiest and most spirited bunch at TAF! *sigh*

Alice with the pretty eyes. Crystal & Karena visit! Yay!

Davef! Leave Jon alone! The JHers... so dreamy!

Lucy! Have you grown up on me? Night Market!

Linn and the ever-attentive and dedicated JH staff!

My favorite performance! Soak up the Sun! You guys rocked!

Jessica and Nicole!

Dreamy JH Girls. *sigh* I think I'm gonna faint...

TP? Tic Poo? or Taiwan Pride?

So dreamy! My heart flutters, and I'm in love!
Of course, I can't forget my original TAF buddies, my special friends, my blog buddies... these are the ones who've been with me the longest. I love you guys! And right now, I can't believe how far away I am from all of you... I may have to shed a tear...

Yearly pic with Jess. The 2 Kev's.

No PDA! But it's my little Carrie! Give us a SMOOCH!

How many Taiwanese people does it take to make a mwa-zhee?

Mags and Mayline! Way too cute!

Ives. I love you as much as my bubble tea. Even the TAF kind.

Back in Cali. I love the weather here... but I miss my TAF buddies who feel so far away... And of course, my other special friends who've stood the test of time. Now this is what makes a friendship so awesome!

I can't believe it's been a week already, and what a week it was with most of it spent at TAF or chatting with people online post-TAF... I'm heading back to Cali tomorrow morning. I didn't even call or hang out with any of my friends here... Well, except for my "li'l sisters" this morning... I'm so lame.

Yay! I'm having a mini-TAF reunion with Carrie, Sherry, and Linn...

in my awesome brand new rent-a-car!

Looking for TAF pics? I'll post them on Wednesday when I get back to California. In the meantime, check out my homepage at www.hochie.net and look for TAF links on my BUDDY page. Some of the links need to be updated, I know... If you've got a homepage or blogspot link, drop me a line...

Juniors can find pics of the week at the TAF JR HOMEPAGE, thanks to Anna!


Photo courtesy of Jon. Thanks Jon. I like the title too.

A few hours post-TAF, and already the AIM lines are jammed... Impressive. Hello to the TAF people tuning into this page by referral, curiousity, or accident...

Another week at TAF has passed, and I'm happy I could be a part of it for just a little while. My kids of years past and present make me so happy. I love them all so much.

Sherry. Vic. Diana. Loui. Junior counselors of the past reunite with the staff of today. Blows my mind. Where was Frank?

I can't explain how great it feels to be with people I care so much about... These people, young and old, familiar and new, present or elsewhere, will always be my family.

You all knew yesterday's blog was a setup... because at the moment, I'm sitting here in Manchester, Indiana. I'm surrounded by too much TAF love...

Full Circle. Once again.
So, this is how cool life is every once in awhile. If you've been keeping up with my blog, you'll remember that I know Connie through TAYL camp in the bay area. She's one of the few people I know out here that has a blog page. Here she is in the middle:

Well, she just came back from her trip to Illinois/Indiana (next to my hometown, no less) where she attended some Taiwanese Hakka conference or something. I read her blog, caught her online, only to find out that Maria was her group leader. This is the same Maria from Texas who I wrote about in my blog of April 5, 2002 while at the ITASA conference.

Connie writes: "Went to Chicago, now we're talking to people in the Hakka youth group of Naperville. Lets see if I remember all the people from the group: Jessica, Linda, Judy, Emily, Pat, Ben, Eric, Anne." Now, I bet that my very own blog buddies, Frank or Kathy, have met some of these kids or at least their parents all know each other. I'll put money on that one... Oh, and did Connie mention something about Chihuly in her blog? Was I not there just recently?

Connie, on the census count of Asians in Indiana: "I've been counting Asian people in Muncie [Indiana]. Three. I think I'm obsessed...At least in Indy there were more than 10, cause we ran into a Japanese tour..." Well, dear, if you look towards Manchester, Indiana at this very moment, you'll find many more Taiwanese Americans gathered there than anywhere else in the entire Midwest.

And once again, I've proven how small this world can be. Now, wouldn't it be even more amazing if I were in Illinois today and Indiana tomorrow?