Why we don't say POOPIE at the table.

(At a meal time)
Léo: " Mom? I need to go POOPIEEE!"
Mom: " Okay, go. Next time, just say you need to go to the bathroom instead."
Léo: "Okay."

(Léo returns to the table)
Léo: " Oh. I know WHY you said I should just say I need to go to the bathroom instead of POOPIEEE. "
Mom: ?
Léo: " Because you never know what comes out until it actually happens!!! "
Mom: ?!

Merry Christmas from Madagascar

It's the white snow, crisp cold air and Christmas lights decorating December back home, and it is blooming Flamboyant trees and juicy ripe litchis under sizzling hot summer heat in Madagascar. We think of you, and wish you a very happy holidays. - Ami and Simon Mark

Vacation 2009-Departure

Has anyone else than us ever been asked at the bording gate to weight oneself before getting in? It surely was the case for us at the Antananarivo international airport. What more strange? They didn't even care to weight our carry-on bags, which is MOST of the time why they have the scale at the gate! So if anyone wants to know how much we weighted BEFORE the intensive juicy-fat-steak-diet we had for 2 weeks in South Africa, please call the border control at the Antananarivo international airport.

Vacation 2009-Johannesburg

August is one of the coldest months in South Africa, and we saw patches of melting snow on the road side in Johannesburg. The West Cliff hotel where we stayed for 2 nights is beautifully siturated on a cliff and it used to be the residence of a gold mine owner. While kids were having great time with a babysitter, and we went out to learn more about this gold city. Umoja, meaning the spirit of togetherness is a great show which explains the musical history in South Africa, and we enjoyed this amazing show, and also had most unforgettable wine with typical African dish for supper. +1kg.

Vacation 2009- Lesedi

Lesedi is an African cultural village, where we slept in one of African tribe's towns, tasted meals from various tribes (we couldn't eat the delicious sun dried worms though,) and watched their traditional performance. Next day we walked through different types of African villages. Their architectual designs are facinating, and so harmoniously done to their living environment.

Vacation 2009-Sun City

Somehow we forget about the traffic hell in johannesburg to make it all the way to the Sun City once we get there. We passed many mine sites on dessert like landscape, and we wonder many times if we were lost in no where land. It reminded me of the the power of an American actor who built a replica of an Italian village in the middle of dessert in Dominican Republic, Romana, just for his daughtor. Many hours of dirt road road would take you to a fantasy land. It had the influence of Las Vegas for the Casino for its huge entertianment facilities. It then costs like an unforgettable trip to Seychelles! The Palace hotel was built on a theme of an elephant, and it was just amazing in every aspects of the hotel. +2kg only from tasting.

Vacation 2009- Safari

We had a great chance to visit 2 game views, Philannesburg and Kruger national park, during our stay in South Africa. We were told that the Kruger park is the size of Egypt, and animals live in their most natural ways. They must hunt to eat, and die when it's their time. Thanks to the animated film, Madagascar 1 and 2, kids kept themselves entertained for hours looking for the animal characters in the film, and they found them all there, and more! We saw a big herd of elephants up close, zebras, giraffes, hippos, white rhinos, mongooses, spotted hyena, inpalas(looks kind of like deers to me,) Kudu(with beautiful twirling horns,) waterbucks, gembucks, and guess what! a male roarding lion in the wilderness with the sun setting behind in bright orange!!! Wow. That was so perfect and impressive that I even forgot to take a picture of it.

Vacation 2009-Our first helicopter ride

The first time for Simon, the first time for me, and the first time for the little bunnies(kids look like cute little bunnies with those helicoper headsets.) We flew over chains of mountains, three major waterfalls, and a great thrilling view called, God's Window. After flying over mountains, we get to more less flat fields. Then all of a sudden, the field ends, and we fly right over the gigantic cliff, which opens the view to the sky.

Vacation 2009- Elephant Whispers

Elephant whispers was a great activity in Hazy View. We fed the African elephants(different from Asian elephants,) touched them to feel their skin and hair(each hair feels like thick metal wire,) we learned about how they hear, talk, then we also ride on them though the dry bush. These elephants were saved from various conditions, and trained to be close to humans without any violent techniques. They were rather rewarded with their favorite snacks when they got the instructions right. They have the most gentle eyes, and soft hearts. We even saw them feeding each other to help each other, and show affections.

Vacation 2009- Swaziland

Swaziland is a tiny landlocked kingdom which is surrounded by South Africa and one side to Mozambique. Many people come here scenery, water sports, land sports and national parks. Laiyane had stomach flu, and the receptist told us there is one doctor in entire country and he doesn't like people calling!? Ever complicated border control burocracy takes three steps in different buildings(Physically there wasn't even a fence between the borders, and anyone can probably easily walk through, like the goats and the cows we saw doing.) We lined up for all these procedures but we were never told about the last step, which is the goods control. At border gate, we were told to go back to the second building, take the sleeping kids out of the car again to show their face, and line up for half an hour to get a piece of paper stamped. Then, the border control told us to just do it right next time. I guess when the rules are too complicated, can't be respected afterall. The next day, we walked through a forest to find a waterfall as it was indicated on the road sign, and we never found it, so we just enjoyed the walk.