Macau Engrish

My favorite sign on my Hong Kong/Macau journey was at Fernando's in Macau. After quite a bit of wine and sangria, I headed to the bathroom. I went back for my camera to take this photo of the sign on the back of the door.


Apparently incoherent people are common in the bathroom in Macau. Makes sense.

And a quick shot that I've posted on Facebook already of Mia in the pouring rain with the sunset behind her. Typical Okinawa summer. The sunsets are killer once again - but a little more rain would make them even better!

My Photography

I started this personal blog just before moving to Okinawa two years ago. It served me well.

Now I have a professional photography business, so I have a blog there too. Understandably a separate place for my photography. I also use Facebook and flickr.

So - a little poll....

I can't upload photos to four different places, that's just ridiculous. I barely have time to play with my personal/travel/art photography AS it is, let alone post it to 4+ different sites!

Where should I post those types of photos? Pick one, maximum of two sites please. Comment away or email me.

To satisfy you.... a couple from our Father's Day trip to Onna and north.

A quick stop by the big pigs and bull on the side of 58 in Yomitan.

Which also yielded the answer to the "who's the big papa pig?" question. Yeesh!


Some amazingly bright flowers.
And a gorgeous cape. (Manza-mo: Cape Manza) - see the little teeny people on the cliff? For scale of course.
I love this one of Mia. Even though she's wearing her HS Musical watch from the prize machine at the bowling alley. Yeesh.

I'm Back. I Think.

HI THERE. Is anyone still here? Anyone? Bueller? (crickets chirping....)

I am. Still here that is. And Craig misses my blogging. So for him, I'm going to make a valiant effort to do more personal blogging this summer. (And hopefully for one or two of YOU, readers.)

First up - a video of something pretty dern cool. From the children's museum next to the Okinawa Zoo. VIDEO.....



And for Mia & Staci (Mia's BEST friend in 1st grade, who just moved back to the states) it was a last day to hang out together. It was super fun for me too, Tiffany!

The girls playing in the costume room...



little chair

BIG CHAIR

giant donut & tea next to giant chairall the kids in the giant chair
learning about air pressure
Mia & Staci's last great hug :(


and all the kids on the koala bears at the zoo entrance.

Amazing father's day shots soon - we took a road trip. It's hot. Super hot. But we're hoping to hit Hawaii this summer via Space A. Cross your fingers! We're dying to go. I've missed this! Back soon....

Mia Quote

(I know, it's been forever. I'll post some Thailand photos soon. But this one had to be blogged.)

Mia: Today at school was fun. We had a substitute teacher.
Mom: Oh yeah? How'd that go?
Mia: He was cool. His name was kinda funny.
Mom: What was it?
Mia: Mr. Hyman! (grins & giggles) Isn't that FUNNY?
Mom: What's funny about that name? (Stifling a laugh and slightly amazed.)
Mia: Mr. Hyman. Like, "HI, Man!" Haha! Isn't that funny?
Mom: Yes. Very funny. You have no idea how funny.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Mia at the Yomitan Starbucks

Photos taken by Craig, edited and compiled by Aviva. Funny faces provided by Mia. (Who also has a very loose top tooth as you might notice due to the much larger gap in her mouth.)

More Mia Goodness...

About 10 days ago, Mia missed the bus. First time ever. I was convinced it must have left early because I send her outside in plenty of time to get there - the bus leaves at 8:15. She came back in the door at 8:17 and said she had missed the bus. WHAT? That bus must have left early.

"Did you even SEE the bus?" I asked as I pulled on pants and shoes to drive her to school.
"No, it was gone."
"Were there grown-ups still standing at the bus stop? Did they tell you the bus left?"
"Yeah, Pierce's mom told me it was gone."

I was still confused because she was back so soon after the bus should've left - so I guessed it had left early and drove her to school.

This morning Craig was getting ready and Mia was about to eat cereal, and Craig said, "Oh - did Mia tell you why she missed the bus that day??"

You can imagine the expression on my face.

"Yeah - there were some Japanese tourists out there that wanted to take her picture. They asked her and she said, "Hai!" and was busy being a little paparazzi hound for the tourists. That's why." He turns to Mia, "Sorry I dimed ya out, kid."

She looked at me and grinned sheepishly and let a little laugh out.. like, it's all good, right? Bygones....

I admit, it was hard not to laugh. But next time, she's gonna walk to school on her own. Gotta love living in a hotel!