Weekends in Vientiane

The threat of flood is diminishing, starting this past Friday. The sun came out along with the usual summer humidity. We spent the weekend having our first BBQ and staying in door reading and entertaining ourselves. Desmond and Lani made friends with neighborhood kids and were in and out of the house (and theirs).

Yumi and I did our usual things as we did in Hong Kong and Singapore: play tennis, hit the gym, read, have coffee and get massage (in that order). Oh yeah, we didn't forget to spend some time with the kids.

Desmond, Lani, Kaili with their new friend, Helena.

I haven't done this for some time so some (ok most) were a bit burnt!

Kaili and Lani entertaining themselves thru coloring, singing, reading and of course fighting among themselves.

Noe-chan and Kaili enjoying home-made pool.

Kaili can't wait no more for Daddy's burnt BBQ.

Noe-chan is laughing at Daddy for burning the food.

Where is the damn food?

Exciting Living in Laos

You may have read in the news (again you may not since Laos doesn't get in the news that often) that Vientiane is flooding due to the heavy raining season. Luckily, we live in the highest part of town. It is no wonder the US Ambassador's residence is a stone throw away! It is business as usual for us.

That said, we are closely monitoring the situation. Some roads near our house were flooded, but it will take more than that to break the Samurai spirit of the Teso's!

Actually, the water level has gone down as at today and the worse, I hope, is behind us. Yumi and I even got to play tennis the last two nights! Flood or no flood, we will do so again this weekend.

We will take some pictures this weekend to share with you.

We considered renting a house with a Mekong river riew. Yumi said that we used to have the Victoria Harbour view in Hong Kong so we can go without the Mekong view in Laos. Smart move by Yumi!

Army boys helping with flood preventing measures.

The Mekong water level is as high as its river bank.

This road is near our house, but should be no trouble for our SUV to get through.

Noelani Turns One

We are back in Vientiane from Kamakura so I'll download on what we did during our vacation.

First and foremost, we celebrated Noelani's first birthday on July 23. Noe-chan is our fourth and we often say the most precious, simply because she is yet to talk back to us like the other three older kids. Also, she is starting to walk a few months before her first birthday, faster than the other three kids, giving us hope yet that this may be the one to make it to the WTA Tour!

Grandma cooked a special meal (roast beef, sushi rice and lots of veggies) and Noe-chan is the first one to have a birthday cake written in Japanese.

This is Noe-chan at one month old. 

At one year old, enjoying the beach with her Papa.

Opening her birthday gifts with much help from the other three. Needless to say, she didn't get a chance to enjoy the toy until the other three finished with it!

With her older sister?

Grandma spent a lot of time making a special dinner. Arigato!

Noe-chan's cake all in Japanese.

Noe-chan and her best friend since birth, Garlista.