the places where my dadi traveled to

dadi loved to explore new places and see new things and meet new people, so he loved to travel. he's been to many places in the world, definitely more than me!
where he's been:
1. US
2. Taiwan
3. China
4. England
5. Italy
6. Puerto Rico
7. Indonesia
8. Thailand
9. Singapore
10. Japan
11. Philippines
12. Canada
13. Hong Kong/Macau
14. Hawaii
15. I think there are others, but I can't remember for sure - Austrailia? Spain? Korea?

He always brought me and my momi presents from where-ever he traveled to, especially if he went by himself and not with us. But I think he liked to travel with us better.
And now he can travel to whereever, and with whoever he wants to! I can bring him with me whereever i go.

my dadi's favorite foods

1. hot dogs from the hot dog truck in union, nj (with cooked onions)
2. noodles, dumplings, scallion pancakes, other northern chinese food (he always added chinese vinegar to them)
3. frozen bananas (he always put peeled bananas in our freezer)
4. ice cold soda!
5. beef with turnip stew over rice, especially from wonton garden
6. a good american steak
7. peanuts
8. spicy things
9. grilled cheese sandwiches (he made those for me for school when i was little)
10. BLTs (he made those for me for school too)
11. what else were his favorite foods???

he can eat and drink anything he wants now! i hope he is enjoying his unlimited food supply (and he will never have to worry about calories, like us :) )

everyday memories

it's been 4 months now, but i literally think about my dad at least 5 times a day. i'll be sitting on the subway and remember taking the subway with him. or i'll be walking past a restaurant and wish i could take him there. or i'll see my dog and remember how my my dad loved playing with her. or i'll see a dad and his daughter riding bicycles on the street, and remember how my dad taught me to ride my bicycle in a park in livingston, NJ, and how encouraging he was i was finally able to ride without my training wheels.

or how he took me to get my ears pierced when i was 11 and then tried to distract me from the pain (even though i was the one who wanted to get my ears pierced) by walking around the mall with me.

or how when i was crying because my ears were hurting one day, he told me to be brave and showed me his scar from his open-heart surgery and said, see? i don't cry when i have to clean my scar! he was so brave, really brave.

the more i think about him, the more i see what a great person and father he really was. and it makes me sad and miss him even more, but at the same time, it makes me happy that i was able to spend 27 years of my life with someone so great like him. and because he was such a good person, i know he is somewhere where he is happy with other good people from his life. and i know he is watching over me and my momi and making sure we are safe and healthy and happy. that is always what made him the happiest...