Turning 16 is a big deal! She wants to spend her birthday with her friends by going to San Francisco’s Chinatown for a luncheon and cake. Later she wants to go to Milpitas and enjoy dinner at another Chinese restaurant.
This is by far AMS’ darkest and most frightening costume. She came up with the idea and we then found bits and pieces of material, foam, yarn, polyester fill. The mask came from a street vendor I ran into in San Francisco while attending a conference.
A vision of a waking nightmare and paralyzing terror in the suburbs.
AMS wore her costume to school for the high school Halloween Contest. She didn’t win a prize but most of her friends thought she should have gotten it.
This was the source of inspiration for AMS’ costume. A more benign bug-like representation.
September 15, 2016
Remembrances.
Finally got all moved in!
After 11 years in the College Terrace neighborhood we finally moved to a new home in the Mid-town neighborhood. I can still attend Paly !
SFO -> Shanghai -> Manila
Shared a taxi to the White Knight Hotel in Intramuros.
Spend our first full day walking around Intramuros and along Roxas Boulevard in the heat. Still jet-lagged. Drank some excellent coffee at the White Knight Hotel – Batangas coffee!
Departed Manila and arrived in Hong Kong. We’re staying at the Eaton – Kowloon. From the airport we took the K1 bus that dropped us off directly at the Eaton Hotel – Kowloon. We arrived at the hotel very late.
Spent the day walking around the Eaton Hotel. Went to the night market on Temple Street.
Disneyland
We went to Disneyland with Maria, her daughter, Vivienne. It was Vivienne’s first trip to Disneyland – her 6th birthday present. She would never dream of going to Disneyland until now.
Went to Hong Kong by Star Ferry and found the Mid-Levels longest escalator.
Hong Kong -> Manila -> Iloilo City -> San Jose
Hong Kong. Woke up early to rain pouring down. Packed up, got a quick breakfast at the Main Street Cafe and caught Bus A21 to the airport. Our check in counter was in Terminal 2 but the gate was in Terminal 1. Got through security, immigration and customs without a problem and headed off to Manila at 11:30 AM. Arrived in Terminal 3 in good shape.
Manila. Transferred by taxi to Terminal 3, got checked in for the next leg and waited. A delayed flight and gate change and we were off for Iloilo City by 5:30 PM (late).
Iloilo City. Arrived after dark and looked for a van but they were all gone already. Had to transfer to another location to catch a van to San Jose.
Two hours later we arrived in San Jose welcomed by a small group of family kids and a motorcycle taxi waiting for us.
Checked in to the Adelaide Travelers Hotel. Chill.
Part of the journey to adulthood is being able to drive – onward to the future [Baba].
First driving lesson with a licensed driving instructor. 2 hours of practice driving. AMS is signed up for 8 hours of behind-the-wheel driver training with a licensed instructor. Then she needs to drive with a licensed adult for a minimum 50 hours (with 10 hours of night driving) before taking the driving test. [Baba]
DMV Appointment – passed the written test! Now I needs one hour minimum professional training before I can start driving with a licensed driver at least 25 y.o. (Dad?) in the passenger seat.
The next step is to start in a professional driving school program for beginer’s.
http://www.californiadriveracademy.com/service/
Amelia, myself and Maya all went to the Maker Faire together by train.
Scenes from the Faire
We ended up eating tocino at a Filipino food truck “Jeepsilog”. Expensive but yummy!
“Children’s Musical Theater Marquee is honored to be one of the first local theaters to present Billy Elliot. Set in a northern English mining town against the background of the 1984-85 miners’ strike, Billy Elliot is the uplifting tale of a young boy’s struggle against the odds to make his dreams come true. The story follows Billy’ s journey as he stumbles out of the boxing ring and into a ballet class, where he discovers a passion for dance that inspires his family and whole community – and changes his life forever. Featuring a memorable score by Elton John, sensational dance numbers and a powerful story that has captivated audiences around the world, Billy Elliot is a funny, positive and spectacular theatrical experience that will stay with you forever”
We received free tickets from Intel for this wonderful production of one of the best loved musicals.
“Camp Unity is a requirement for the social justice pathway since it is great camp that focuses on social injustice of all types that help students become leaders within the school. This goal ultimately aligns with the Social Justice Pathway’s (SPJ) goals for our students as it serves as foundational understanding for our students in terms of discussion, understanding of leadership, and our perspectives when considering social justice issues.
Furthermore, this camp will help unify the students within SJP as a shared experience. Ms. Evans and I find that this will be such valuable experience for Amelia because it will give her a platform to explore issues she is interested in as well as allow her to bond with other classmates beyond her immediate friend group.”
We arrived at Camp around 7:00 PM after a long and windy trip through traffic to Boulder Creek, in which my friends and I pretty much just slept the entire way, as comfortable as we could get in the cramped bus seats, one torso piled on top of another.
First things first; bags out of the buses, and we entered into the main lodge with our duffles piled on a lunch table outside and newly made nametags secured around our necks.
“Ace Emelia Straight”
In the end the entire camp became friends and started talking about their shared experiences, triumphs, failures, successes, preconceptions. And the world moved forward one little step in one small way.
We’re going to the opening of the new Annie Leibovitz photography exhibit at The Presidio in San Francisco. She might even be able to meet Ms Leibovitz!
Portraits of Agnes Gund, Denise & Linamandla Manong, Cindy Sherman, Sally Mann, Katie Ledecky, Jane Goodall, Lena Dunham, Shonda Rimes, Misty Copeland, Adele, Malala Yousafzai, Aung San Suu Kyi, Caitlyn Jenner, Laura Poitras, Elizabeth Warren, Lupita Nyong’o, Kathleen Kennedy, Gloria Steinem, Amy Schumer & Kim Caramele, Kara Walker, Natalia Vodianova, Alice Waters & Fanny Singer, Sheryl Sandberg, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Mellody Hobson, Samatha Power, Shirin Neshat, Wendi Murdoch, Kamala Harris & the Queen Mum (QE2)…others
