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Asher’s had one of the world’s shortest birthdays;
he flew from home to Singapore,
crossing the international dateline late on his third birthday. Besides watching “Monsters
Inc” three times (courtesy of United Airlines), he got to celebrate
at Raffle’s (after a memorable
time-out), having Tiffin
with his mom
and dad. Still, he got to spend ten days in Cherating
Malaysia, where he enjoyed swimming with his
mother (sometimes
he needs to be enticed to get in), the beach, swinging with his
new girlfriend Natalie (cute), jungle walks,
but not “Papazatti”.
Then he flew on
to Hong Kong, to enjoy the view from the
Star Ferry, share
dim-sum with Mom (cute), and hang out on the beach at
Cheng Chau island (cute). In Hong
Kong he got a spectacular view
from his apartment, visited Ocean Park to see
the fish (it
was hot), and looked cute.
Still, his heart is in the Bay Area. Recently he took a ferry to Angel
Island where he got to play
in the sand
with his Uncle
named Ben (under no circumstances “Uncle Ben”). Sprog likes to
swing with
“Uncle” in the panhandle. He also likes to hang out at
home; here he is at breakfast with Miriam: cute; cuter; very cute; cutest.
Sprog’s nth trip to Europe was in October 2002: he
went to Brussels
to enjoy gourmet food (sometimes while watching movies
at home) and also Amsterdam
where he played
with toys through a canal trip and went to the zoo to pet pigs (quite popular)
and also see the
Floriade which had great playgrounds
for the
adventurous.
In November, Asher finally became a Premier Executive when he flew to
the big Apple (as he calls it) to play in
Central Park and enjoy the Fall
foliage. But he prefers the Left
Coast,
and hung out in
November in Santa Cruz. Back in Berkeley
he’s tried
to carry his mother in a hiking backpack, but then tired and took advantage of
her shoulders.
Asher got to skip the winter of 2002-3 by going down
under to Sydney. He stayed in an apartment across the
harbour from the Opera House with a garden for
running (cute) and playing ball.
We were near Kirribilli
and Milson’s
Point wharves (lots of ferry trips, with some waiting),
and enjoyed
Dim Sum. Asher visited the Hunter Valley
(cute) to check
out the grapes and show off a
tractor. He also enjoyed eating French
fries at
Manly beach (fish and chips at
Doyle’s is also cool). At
Taronga zoo he saw his first
(sleepy) kangaroo, rode a gondola
with a view of Sydney harbour, and hung out with his
mother. Reading with his
Aunt Sue and
Uncle Ian was also fun. Asher
also visited the Blue Mountains
at Echoes (great
view) and saw the three sisters
(very romantic).
The sandstone
was good for rock-climbing, and the rain forest board
walk was good for hiking
and hide
‘n go seek (find him!). Playing hide
‘n go seek was also popular in
Sydney. He also took his first
photograph, of his mother at Billi’s Café. The sprog also got to make his first trip
ex-utero to
Wellington New Zealand where he played with the
water fountain and his mother on Cuba St,
rode a
helicopter, enjoyed
the sculpture symposium, fed deer, and
saw fur seals
on the Cook Strait. He also met
and started a pen-pal correspondence with Zac (the first message is
cute).
Asher still loves California
and recently enjoyed hiking around Yosemite (he
liked lower
Yosemite Falls). He has also
taken Evan
Frankel for a wagon ride, and enjoyed a Seder
with his cousins, uncles and aunt. And he still likes
to sit in his Thos. Moser chair (a lot).
Sprog spent May-June 2003 in rainy Washington. He looked cute
in his hotel room, which he enjoyed
cycling around al fresco. He went to the Air and Space
museum regularly and also the Baltimore
Aquarium. He met a new friend Jake
and sister
Jessica in Philadelphia,
and also likes Alessandro
and Matteo Spilimbergo. He is sweet with his
cousin Delilah and Uncle Jeff. “Bobby”
Flood’s scooter was a new source of fun (for both of them),
and so is the
elevator to Greg’s basement.
Sprog’s first trip to Japan
was in June-August 2003. He lived in
the Minami-Aoyama area of Tokyo
near the Prada
store and other interesting
buildings. The apartment was good for playing
hide and seek
sometimes with his mother (sometimes without). Visiting the
grounds of the
Imperial Palace was as boring as Shinjuku, although it was fun to mess with his
dad’s sunglasses (a cute sequence!). Sprog went to Shimoda to see
the aquarium (nice turtles!),
enjoy the
beach, captain
one of the
“black ships”, and then learned to wear a yukata
and bow in his
first ryokan. He also stayed at a
ryokan while enjoying the
temples and
shrines of
Nikko. Yokohama
provided a fine
sailing ship to climb on,
and an interesting
fountain. Asher loved Tokyo
museums, including the kite museum,
the aquarium
(with dad and
mom), and the maritime museum
(terrific!). He also likes to
share secrets over Tempura.
Asher went on a road
trip to Kyoto, that started with pastry at Paul,
and continued with new friends on the Shinkansen. He showed Nijo-jo castle to
his new locomotive, and also admired the
beautiful gardens
of Ninomaru Palace. Higashi Hongan-ji
Temple provided a few
thrills, as did Nishi Hongan-ji,
but the highlight of the day was the Umekoji Steam
Locomotive museum. The next day
he enjoyed
views with
his mother from
Nanzen-ji temple, then saw leaping tiger
garden with his mother and new friend Tomo,
before saluting
goodbye to his defunct stroller on Tetsugaku-no-michi. This was a big drag to his parents, since
they were still on the way to Honen-In garden,
and a visit
through a thunder-storm to Ginkaku-ji’s
beautiful gradens. The sprog
also took a side-trip
to Nara to enjoy Daibutsu-den
Buddhist temple, and Kasuga Taisha
Shinto shrine. Back in Kyoto, he played hide ‘n
seek at Sanjo, and visited the
gorgeous gardens
at Shoren-In
Temple (he
learned to meditate), and also saw Chion-in.
Here’s the cutest picture
ever of the Sprog (and a smaller
version for those who need it). He remains very sweet (especially
to his mother, but also to his
father).
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