Unlike their first met up at the National Aquarium in Baltimore, Dao and May enjoyed each other’s company much more at Longwood Gardens. The weather was gorgeous, the place was not too crowded, and the “twin” (someone asked if they were) hit it off as soon as we buckled the two in the stroller together.

Once May’s mom gave Duke a piece of dry persimmon, he didn’t mind that May was leaning on him. He was just indulging himself with the fruit snack. Whenever Dao is interested in something, he is very focused. When he was playing with the water fountain in the children garden, he was just concentrating on what he was doing all by himself. In the mean time, May was running all over the place and splashing water all over herself. I thought Dao was active, but May was like a bunny energizer. She was interacting, laughing and talking the entire time. Love her smiles and the way she “wow” and “ah” the whole time I was pushing her on the stroller. Even at end of the day, May was still running on spare battery. The shot of her resting on the stroller is priceless. The lil babe was adorable.

Before we headed out, Duke and May gave each other a kiss even though they were both exhausted. Isn’t that so sweet? Thanks to Linh for joining us as well as the dried fruit, pasta and chicken for the kids. Duke was eating the entire time, which was fantastic. It was indeed a great playdate.

If you’re interested in web design, check out Andy Clarke on the Big Show. If you’re interested in politics and news media, check out Jon Stewart on the Rachel Maddow Show. I enjoyed both. Have a good weekend, folks!

The Washington Post has a very informative chart comparing democratic and republican tax plans.

An evening of thanksgiving, friendship, and solidarity that aims at sharing our blessings with underprivileged children, young adults, and women in Vietnam

When: Sunday, November 21 at 6pm

Where: Fortune Seafood Restaurant
6249 Arlington Blvd
Falls Church, VA 22044

For more info, visit vietnamdreamforsuccess.org.

Next Stop Is Vietnam consists of more than 300 songs on 13 CDs and a 304-page book with photography. More info at NPR.

Last Sunday we went to Eden center and decided to check out the grand opening of Lang Nuong Tay Do. We ordered three BBQ dishes, but changed our selection after found out that they do not have license to serve liquor yet. BBQ without alcohol just doesn’t cut it.

We switched to a 2-person meal instead. The deal consisted of 2 egg rolls with generous greens complimentary, sour soup with fatty catfish, caramelized fish in clay pot and a dish of Vietnamese spinach. Not bad for $30 at all. I was starving and tried to clean up all the food. I ended up threw up later on that night. It was my own fault. The food was actually very decent.

When I went up to pay my bill, I asked the owner if he needed a web site. I handed him my business card. As we were chatting his son came up and said, “cool, we needed a web site so bad.” I reply “cool and I’ll be back when you would like to talk about the project.” The owner was eager and asked me how soon I can come back. So I told him I can stop by after work tomorrow.

At this point I was completely forgot about the tips. So I return the next day and gave the waitress her tips and tried to explain to the owner the benefit of having a web site. He has created a niche for his business since we don’t see any Vietnamese BBQ places around here. The web site will allow him to reach customers beyond the Eden community, which is mostly Vietnamese. I explained to him how people could discover his restaurant through Google. I showed him my previous work for Le Mekong Vietnamese Cuisine. He seemed to understand the potential, but when I gave him the rough estimate of the fee, he said he wanted to check with his daughter who was on her way to the restaurant from work.

She arrived half an hour later and asked me if I have a business card. She had to leave in a few minutes. I told her I only needed a few minutes to explain things to her, but I had no chance. I spent an hour and couldn’t get a straight answer.

Reading while riding the Metro makes commuting much faster. Lately I have been interested in SEO stuff. The Art of SEO is quite comprehensive on search engine optimization. It’s a great reference for anyone who is interested in this topic. Building Findable Websites released in 2008; therefore, the information is a bit dated. I skimmed through it and found some useful tips. I am a third way through Google Advertising Tools. The book offers some good practices to review.

I also pre-ordered Khoi Vinh’s Ordering Disorder. I am looking forward to reading his grid-based design. I also want to show my support for a Vietnamese fellow.

What if the Web goes away tomorrow? What will I do? The Internet doesn’t just play a big part of my life. It is a big part of my life. I make a living off it and I spend more than half of my days on it. I interact with more people online than offline. I met my wife through the Internet. Actually, she found me through the Internet (conceited I know). I met a few great friends online. I wrote to big bro HmL the other day mentioning how wonderful it is to have met him through the Internet and his response was, “In this day and age, it’s not how we meet; it’s that we meet, no?” True that, true that.

Someone once said to me that I blog to gain popularity. If that is the case, now it’s the time to prove that person is wrong. Based on the number of comments nowadays, this blog is not doing its job to boost popularity, but I am still blogging. I still like the ability to just write things down. It’s cool if people could charm in, but it is also cool if they just read or not. This is the digital part of my life even though it is not an exciting one.

So what happen if my digital life is taken away tomorrow? Will I survive? Of course I will. I have to do whatever necessary to support my family. I am sure my creative mind will come up with something when the time comes. For now, let’s just enjoy the wonderful life the Internet have to offer.

Yes you, my lil hot boy. You love to throw around the word “nong” (hot) lately. Trying to put you into the bathtub, you’ll say “nong.” Trying to feed you some soup, you’ll say “nong” even though I made it warm. Trying to wash your butt, you’ll also say “nong.”

At night I want to hold you in my arms, but you just stick to your mom like a leech. The other day you woke after an afternoon nap and still hanging to mommy. I walked in and asked, “di tu tu train khong?” You jump over and hang on to me.

It seems like you no longer interested in toys at home. Instead, you find something else to play with. You went into the kitchen cabinet, took out a pot cover, rolled it around the house. You play with anything you could get your hand on except for your toys. I guess we can stop spending on toys. We actually don’t buy much toys for you. Grandparents, aunts and uncles always get something. You’re a lucky boy.

After a family meal dinner last night at a Vietnamese restaurant, I felt ill. Not sure if it was the fish in the sour soup (canh chua) and caramelized pot (ca kho) or I simply ate too much and too fast. There were quite a bit of food left on the table so I tried to cleaned up everything.

When I got home and got Duke to bed, I was shivering even though I covered myself with a thick blanket and I had a really nasty taste in my mouth. I had to put my hand down my throat and let everything out. Dana scratched my back with a coin and the oil helped calmed down the cold. Made it to work this morning. My stomach is growling but I don’t feel like eating.

Didn’t realize that I forgot to tip our waiter last night until we almost got home. I feel horrible. Thinking of driving back today to tip her. She was very nice, but probable was cursing me out. Sorry lady!