In the NY Times Art section yesterday, they introduced the new location of Museum of Chinese in America.  Their new home is on the edge of Chinatown in New York City, at 211-215 Centre Street.

One of the most thoughtful and interesting details I am intrigued by is the two entrances designed by Maya Lin (who also designed the Vietnam Memorial in Washington).  The two entrances symbolize the museum’s twin mission: helping Americans to understand the Chinese culture better and vice versa.

Their grand opening ceremony is scheduled for September 22nd this year.  I will be blogging more about this, so stay tuned.

Fireflies – 螢火蟲 – yíng huǒ chóng

Beautiful weather here again in NJ this week, the kids were watching fireflies after dinner.  Things like that make you forget about all other stuff in our daily lives.

Cute, little gadgets at Ichiban Kan. They have lots of little things, and most things are under $5. I’ve been looking for ways to make bento boxes for the kiddo’s summer camp, so these bento boxes just seem perfect!

For those of you who are not familiar with Stephen Chow, he is a well-known, top-tier comedian and superstar of Hong Kong entertainment. One of my favorite Chow movies is The God of Cookery. It not only has the typical silliness from a Hong Kong movie, it offers mouth watering dishes that are prepared in the format of “Iron Chef”. You can pick up a copy of The God of Cookery from Amazon and get ready for some great laughs.

During a casual BBQ get together at my friend’s house, one of my friend’s daughters came in and demanded that a specific adult go out and play with them. When that adult was reluctant to comply, the young girl went on to say “If you don’t come out right now, you are fired!” While this sounds almost Donald Trumpish, it reminded me how my own kids sometimes speak disrespectfully to my husband and I; often forgetting to use the words please and thank you. The concept of not interrupting an adult’s conversation is also “lost in translation.” What’s really going on with this new generation of Chinese Americans?

I’m not trying to advocate an environment where the children are afraid of the parents, but shouldn’t there be some kind of boundaries? Please drop me a note as I would love to hear your thoughts. Do you have “war” stories from your own childhood? I know in my family, I was not allowed to speak at the dinner table until I was spoken too, and I cannot put my chopstick in a dish that an adult hasn’t had an opportunity to eat first. How times have changed!

Rain – 雨 – yǔ

Here in NJ has been pretty rainy last month.  The good news is this weekend should be pretty rain free and beautiful.  Rainy days also remind me of something beautiful though, just like this picture, showcasing some beautiful Chinese umbrellas.