小金流浪記

[生活] 柏林！我們來了～

noreply@blogger.com (kimiko) — Fri, 11 Aug 2017 21:09:00 +0000

view from our apartment terrace - Night 1.

2017年7月開始都在流浪：紐約的繁華絢爛；美國西南部國家公園的壯麗road-trip，德國鄉下 – Holminden的閑靜安逸。
2017／8／6 我們終於來到柏林了。

我把小金流浪記搬走了。

無意間看到之前回應裏寫的一段話：
” 我以為我這麼愛自由的孩子，怎麼流浪也不會累；但其實愛自由的孩子，變媽媽之後，也許不再那麼渴望漂泊了。”

小金已搖身變小金媽；流浪的心也渴求安頓；但愛探險的個性沒變，好奇心也從來不減。
就在這裡開始繼續分享異鄉奇遇和生活點滴。
在看這篇文的你，謝謝你來自天涯海角的關心。

小金～～

［遊記］重回安福路 - 2014

noreply@blogger.com (kimiko) — Mon, 28 Nov 2016 07:34:00 +0000

媽媽說好了要重新回來。
說好了要暖身。要動起來。
2016年是比較坎坷的一年。
但，相信。都會好的。
再一個月就要2017了啊。

點開小金流浪記，變得好陌生。看看後台。竟然還有好幾篇“草稿”，沒寫完的躺在哪。
我看到“重回安福路”。就笑了。
我重新回來心裏第一個想寫的，就是：“重回安福路”啊！
只不過，這次是2016年版。

就先貼這篇2014年版吧。
算是打聲招呼：我回來了。
2016年版。很快就上。
－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－

四年之後，重回安福路。
這一趟上海之旅，太短，太趕，太累，太倉促，太匆忙。
然而我們太開心，太自在，太熟悉，太溫暖，太多回憶，太多令人不捨離開的好友陪伴。

在剛調好阿姆斯特丹到LA的時差不久後，再踏上十三小時半（最後變十四小時半）的旅程，飛到一個完全相反的時區去，實在是有點太過勇敢或者說太過天真的傾向。

但是一切都太值得。

'Superhero' is so much cooler!

noreply@blogger.com (kimiko) — Sun, 07 Oct 2012 02:02:00 +0000

好久沒有更新網誌。

現時日子忙碌不已，天天有種被追著跑的感覺。有時過得心慌，有時過得忙亂。有時覺得挫敗，有時只是一個累字。

還在努力學習找到“新生活”中的平衡。
同時扮演許多不同角色的切換不容易，此刻我只能說還不太上手。

Naomi的學校上週有Sprit Week。每天有不同的主題，希望家長也能一起參與。

周四是"Prince/Princess & Superhero Day"。我還不想和美國小孩的“princess culture"屈服，所以寧可讓Naomi穿Superhero的裝扮。

老師很喜歡。她不太高興。因為小女孩們各個都是公主裝出現。

法蘭克看了很心疼，Naomi今天終於有了第一件( 希望也可以是唯一一件）扮公主的小禮服了。

至少我給她選的是粉綠色的小精靈，不是大紅或粉紅的公主裝。

再看看我們可以對抗多久吧。

It's been a long time since I last updated my blog.

At the moment, life is quite busy for me. I feel 'being chased' everyday - there are so many 'to-do's, too endless tasks and too many deadlines.

Still learning to find the balance in my new lifestyle. I can only say that I am not there yet. I am still trying to sharpen my skills and to joggle all the balls better.

It was 'spirit week' at Naomi's preschool this week. The theme for Thursday was "Prince/Princess & Superhero Day". I am still fighting very hard against this "Princess culture" among the American kids(girls) so I'd rather let Naomi go to school in Superhero look rather than in Princess dress.

Her teacher loved it. But she didn't; as every other girl showed up in princess dress.

It hurt Frank to see her being so disappointed and sad; so, Naomi had her first( I hope it can be the only) 'princess dress'.

At the end, I picked a light-green little Fairy dress, (instead of the red or pink Princess dress).

Let's see how long we can 'escape' from this request.

[生活]Miss Dani的Naomi

noreply@blogger.com (kimiko) — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 23:43:00 +0000

這是Naomi的幼稚園老師用手機拍的照片。
有點糊了，照片的焦點好像在後面的地板上，只有那塊寫著字母N的地方是清楚的。

Naomi在小黃班(yellow room)，有兩個老師，一個是Miss Dani，一個是Miss Monica，她們倆都很愛她。

周二幼稚園辦了"park night"。大家下課後到附近的公園一起玩。有一半的孩子都來了吧，我藉此機會跟幾個同班的家長打招呼也親眼見識到Naomi在班上果然是名不虛傳的受歡迎。

好幾個孩子都追著老師問，"where is meimei?"
找到Naomi之後，就顧著跟著她團團轉。

那天在公園裡，Miss Dani給我看了一張某天午睡忍不住拍下的Naomi的照片。

昨天，Miss Dani寄來另兩張照片。說。

“Naomi makes me laugh so hard on a daily basis and these pictures are hilarious, love love her!! Enjoy!!”

這是我的Naomi。
會搶著帶洋娃娃的眼鏡和洋娃娃的老婆婆帽子的Naomi;
會睡午覺睡到跑出自己的小床位，還把屁股翹的高高的Naomi。

我, 和Miss Dani一樣， "love love her".

These photos were taken by Naomi's preschool teacher, Miss Dani. It's a bit out-of-focus, I think only the part of the floor in the background is sharp.

Naomi is in the "yellow room" in her pre-school. She has two teachers - Miss Dani and Miss Monica. They both love her a lot.

Tuesday night, the preschool held a "park night", more than half of the kids(with their parents of course) continued to play together in a nice park nearby. I had the chance to meet some other parents of the same class and also to experience for myself how Naomi is said to be popular in her class.

Several kids were asking the teachers," where is Meimei? (meimei is Naomi's nickname!) and once they found Naomi, they just followed her around.

Miss Dani showed me a photo she took the other day while we were in the park. Yesterday, she sent me these two and said, “Naomi makes me laugh so hard on a daily basis and these pictures are hilarious, love love her!! Enjoy!!”

This is my Naomi.
Who would wear the glasses (which makes her look so funny) and the grand-ma hat of a small doll to run around;
Who is able to 'wiggle' her way out of her little bed and had her little but held so high during her nap time.

I, like her teacher, Miss Dani, "love love her" too.

[分享] Dragon Boat Race

noreply@blogger.com (kimiko) — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 23:02:00 +0000

端午已經過了。放這個好像慢了一步。

不過，這個小片子和近來我為甚麼不太有時間更新部落格似乎有點那麼微妙的連結。
我自己看完有會心一笑了一下，像是自己最近一直努力在瞎忙地這個“小事”，忽然有一個不完美契合到也搆的上邊的預告片了。

Dragon Boat Race from Christian Borstlap on Nowness.com.

The "dragon boat festival" is already passed; it seems to be a bit outdated to share this little video.
However, when I finished watching this, I smiled.

It seems to be the "not-exactly-perfect" yet "brilliant-enough" teaser to a little business idea that I have in my head, of which has kept me busy (and super excited) lately and from updating my blog more often.

[分享] A pretty good wedding invitation.

noreply@blogger.com (kimiko) — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 06:54:00 +0000

Not to me, unfortunately.

Saw it through a friend on Facebook.
Too bad that I am not invited, as I am wondering, if a wedding invitation of this couple is already so good, the wedding probably would be a lot of fun too.

為甚麼我要分享一個跟我一點關係也沒有的婚禮邀請函？

可惜這喜帖不是寄給我的，我也沒有機會去參加這個婚禮。
因為我想，如果喜帖都可以做得這樣有創意，婚禮應該也會很棒很有趣。

http://jessandruss.us/

［分享］30 Years of Creative Chaos

noreply@blogger.com (kimiko) — Thu, 28 Jun 2012 19:14:00 +0000

wow. I have to share this one.

對NIKE從小就開始的熱愛，把我帶到Wieden + Kennedy。

記得當年面試那天，我帶著履歷，一顆熱忱的心和一張八、九年前從“Time”雜誌撕下來的單頁NIKE雜誌廣告去W+K China當時還在上海來福士廣場的辦公室。

那張單頁廣告在我高中的時候被撕下來，陸陸續續的貼在我好幾個房間的牆上。
跟去了紐約，流浪到上海。最後陪我去面試，NIKE“御用”廣告公司Wieden+Kennedy的工作。

撕下雜誌那天的那個孩子，那裡知道會有這麼一天？
只不過是因為那單頁廣告右下角的標題，太簡單卻太有力。
“ 不自由，讓人想跑！”

一早喝咖啡逛到這個部落格。
影片是Wieden + Kennedy的 Dan Wieden先生和BBH的Sir John Hegarty。
是坎城廣告奬的一個座談花絮。

Wieden + Hegarty - 30 years of Creative Chaos介紹的是W+K和BBH，這兩家都很酷的廣告公司。

看完了一整個熱血沸騰呢。

啊。想想，做廣告的時候，太短暫卻太棒也太瘋狂。

我還是十分十分懷念的。

[生活] 兩歲半的Naomi

noreply@blogger.com (kimiko) — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 05:33:00 +0000

Naomi在今天滿兩歲半了。

從阿姆斯特丹搬到洛杉磯也差不多兩個半月了。

這一年的生活顛沛流離。

孩子大了，媽媽也不再把每個新技能那麼仔仔細細的像多重要的里程碑般記住。

這幾個月忙找房子搬家和安頓，拿相機拍Naomi的機會更是少之又少。

有點對不起，剛剛滿兩歲半的她。

這裡紀錄一下，最近她的一些小事。讓媽媽在忘記之前，以後還有機會回味兩歲半的小mimi。
＊ Naomi在她的Pre-school裡，是班上最小的。她的兩個老師都知道她其實是個小猴子來的，然後一點也不像年紀最小的。

* Naomi會用中文，德文和法文三個版本唱兩隻老虎哦。（德文和法文版，其實跟老虎一點也沒有關係！）

* 她的老師有天特地跟我說，Naomi有個和班上同學都不一樣的小地方。那就是她很有“同情心”，很會關心別人（nurturing)。老師跟我說，每次班上同學誰跌倒了或誰在哭，Naomi就會主動到她們旁邊，給她們“呼呼”和“秀秀”，摸摸她們的頭或肩膀這樣，然後跟她們說“no cry, no cry”。

我聽到的時候好感動哦。這是一個作媽媽我會希望她可以一直保有的特質啊。

* Naomi在剛到美國時就會騎朋友小孩（三歲）的小腳踏車了！（當然是有附學習輪的那種）。朋友們各個都很驚奇她一點也不怕，車子明明對她來說還太大，但她騎得非常好。

是時候給她買第一部腳踏車了。

* 最近瘋狂喜歡玩拼圖！

* 中文和德文都很能說了，而且自己知道跟爸爸說就要自動翻譯。學校裡學得英文進步飛快。有天回來忽然開口跟我和法蘭克說 I love you。我們倆對看了一眼，眼眶都紅了。她之前天天說得都是，“愛妳爸爸！” “愛妳媽媽！”

*剛開始上課沒多久，她就開始自己唱完字母歌了。我們要和她一起唱，她還會要我們不要唱。一副不想要也不需要我們幫她的樣子。她當然也可以唱“Twinkle twinkle”。最近最愛的是，“itsy bitsy spider”。

還是一樣活潑好動又調皮的Naomi。很喜歡玩沙，很喜歡游泳。我們昨天幫她在後院裝好了買來的二手溜滑梯和盪鞦韆。也算是一個小小的慶祝或是犒賞吧。

慶祝我們的Naomi一轉眼兩歲半了！
犒賞跟我們一路漂泊吃了不少苦的孩子。

Today, Naomi turned 2 and a half years old!
And it's about 2 and a half months since we moved from Amsterdam to Los Angeles.

We've been 'drifting' for about a year and the past few months were all about searching, moving and settling down. It's a pity that lately I haven't had many chances to pick up my camera and take some photos of Naomi like I used to. I feel sorry to Naomi.

I wish to write down some little sweet pieces of her before I forget.
This way, hopefully, I have something to remind me of my sweet little two-and-a-half-year-old Naomi later.

* Naomi is the youngest in her class in the preschool she goes. Though she doesn't seem like the youngest at all. By now, her teachers were not only not surprised by her being youngest but also know that she is actually not a little girl, but a 'monkey', like what I've been saying.

* She can sing one particular children song in Chinese, German and French. It's called "two tigers" in Chinese, "Bruder Jakob" in German and "Frère Jacques" in French.

* Naomi's teacher told me that there is one thing that she is different from the others, which is she is"quite nurturing." Miss Dani said Naomi always goes to the kids that just fell or are crying to show her sympathy and she always pat them on the head or shoulder and say " No cry no cry".

I was very touched when I heard that from her teacher and I have to say, that is a quality that me as a
mother wish she will keep having.

* Naomi can ride the kids bike very well now. She rides our friends' son Leo's bike very well. Leo is 3
and the bike is a bit too big for her but she rides well. It's time to buy Naomi her first bike.

* She is really into puzzles these days.

* Naomi now speaks both Chinese, German and of course, some English.;She knows to switch languages between me and Frank. The day she came home and suddenly said to me and Frank, " I love you"; we couldn't believe it. She has been saying I love you always in Chinese.

* Not long after going to the preschool, she came home singing the "ABC song" and sometimes, she even insisted to sing alone and if we sing along with her, she asked us to stop, as if she doesn't want us to help and also she doesn't need us to help. She could also sing "twinkle twinkle" and her recent favorite is "itsy bitsy spider".

* Naomi is still as energetic, active and funny! She loves the sand on the beach and swimming as usual.

Yesterday, we set up the second-hand swing and slide set we bought for her.
It is a little gift for her, to celebrate our baby Naomi turned two-and-half now and also as a reward for her being drifting along with us in the past year.

[分享] Why not me? Canal +. The Bear.

noreply@blogger.com (kimiko) — Tue, 19 Jun 2012 23:36:00 +0000

我又重新活過來了。

昨天Irene閃電拜訪四小時。一整個意猶未盡。
不過她七月初就要正式舊金山灣區搬到南加州。是莫大的好消息。
櫻桃美味的不得了。
午餐偷空看了之前用DVR錄的電影。
各類別下的to-do list也一直有效率的持續進行。

啊。我真是懷念這種生活啊。

影片是法蘭克春天時受邀到紐約當ADC AWARD(Art Directors Club)評審的時候寄給我看的。
這隻“熊”最後是一口氣得了不少奬。

終於又重新浮上水面，重新開始努力美好地生活著。

I am back to the world again.

Best friend from high school, Irene, visited me for 4 hours yesterday.
Though way too short, but she is moving down to LA area from San Francisco. So great news for us.
The cherries are so delicious now.
I could finally watch a film that I recorded previously with DVR.(great innovation!)
And I managed to make progress on my to-do list tasks on each and every category.

Ahh, I miss life like this!

The little film was sent to me by Frank, when he was invited to be part of the jury of the 91st ADC award in NYC this spring. I know "The Bear" brought home quite some awards at the end. Good one!

Finally, I have my head above the water again; so I am getting back to working on having a wonderful life!

[生活]就這麼跳過了五月

noreply@blogger.com (kimiko) — Tue, 19 Jun 2012 04:45:00 +0000

好一陣子沒寫blog。
其實很想寫，但身心狀態不對。

重新打開空白頁面開始敲敲打打的鍵入文字的這個時候，發現就這麼跳過了五月。
可想而之我的五月過得多麼混亂；
而六月也都過掉了百分之六十，
我覺得混沌的狀態終於才逐漸沈靜下來。

像是猛力搖晃杯子裡的沙，然後碰的把杯子擱回桌上。
沙粒還在旋轉，慢動作地朝杯底下沈和集中。

房子已經忙完，開展新生活的瑣碎鳥事也差不多處理完。
“to-do"list 當然還是沒有停過沒有空白沒有機會消失。
但著急的事已經沒有，我已經可以喘氣喝茶，和朋友聊聊天。
開始小小的奢侈起來。

Naomi很棒。
我有好多想紀錄想分享的關於她的小事。
真的很怕自己不記下來就這麼忘了。

我的身心終於安頓了，
引擎也該發動了。

我們很好。
很想念家人和朋友。

It's been a while since I last posted anything on my blog.
I've wanted to write but I wasn't in a right 'status'.

Just when I started to sit down and trying to type again now, I realized that the entire may has been 'skipped' in a sense that I didn't manage to post anything.
Well, I guess that explained how it was for me, exactly as I just mentioned, I just was not in the right status yet.

Now, June is 60% gone and finally I feel things are finally falling into places and I am in a much better status now.

The house is pretty much set up; though my to-do list is never empty.
Nothing to urgent anymore so I started to sit down and have some little breaks to myself, even chat with friends - what a luxury!

Naomi has been great!
There are so many sweet little things I want to write about her, and I wish I'd never forget about them.
So I'd better start writing!

My mind is much more in peace now, comparing to where it was in May.
So.
Tt's time to get the engine re-started again.

We are all good.
Miss our lovely friends and family.

[生活] PINK SATURDAY

noreply@blogger.com (kimiko) — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 06:00:00 +0000

最近的生活還是壓力不小，繼續看房子，繼續克服開車上路的恐懼，繼續騎好遠的路去接Naomi.

週六，看完房子的下午，法蘭克帶我們去LA某shopping village玩耍，專程去了Paul Smith的LA旗艦店，然後順路經過了Korean Town。

我不是太愛粉紅色的那種女生，但這張照片實在太棒。

I wish our life is a bit more settled and easy by now; but I hate to admit that my life is still quite tense and full of stress at the moment.

Still searching for the perfect long-term house; still looking for the short-term solution; still trying to practice and get over the fear in my mind when driving; still on the bike consistently, riding a long way to pick up Naomi.

Saturday afternoon, we went to LA and had some fun after a house-viewing appointment.

I am not that type of girl who is into pink a lot; but I love this photo which was shot at the iconic Paul Smith LA flagship store.

[分享] The Happiest day in his life - Caine's Arcade

noreply@blogger.com (kimiko) — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 07:16:00 +0000

到Santa Monica 12天了!
時差終於消失不見，Naomi非常喜歡上學，
我也慢慢地習慣了每天中午來回加起來得騎上一個小時多的腳踏車去接Naomi回家的例行健身。

當務之急自然是找房子。

像過往遷徙到新城市的既定模式，我們依舊先暫住在附傢俱的服務式公寓，然後一邊找房子。
暫住的公寓地點不太佳，附近甚麼都沒有，離Naomi的幼稚園又很遠。
5月12日到期，我哀求法蘭克讓我們搬到地點好一點，方便一點的其他服務式公寓。

這表示我們不僅得找在Santa Monica長住的房子，也得在5月12日前找好暫住的附傢具公寓。
唉。這下子，可是難上加難咯。

法蘭克陸續寄來同事們熱心提供的洛杉磯吃喝玩樂私房推薦名單。
我啊，怎麼會有心情呢？
在沒有安頓下來，我怎麼能開開心心的去享受，去展開我的新生活冒險呢？
上週法蘭克寄來這個影片。寫了一句話。
"Nice video about a little boy and the happiest day in his life."

現在，我也祈禱一個小天使出現，讓我們找到夢想中的房子，帶給我最快樂的一天吧！
＊影片有點長。我看完又哭了。真的很值得看，你不會後悔的。

It's been 12 days since we moved to Santa Monica!
We finally got over jet lag; Naomi loves going to her pre-school so much;
and I gradually get used to my daily 'work-out' as my bike ride to pick up Naomi and back is more than 1 hour.

The priority is for sure to find the perfect house for us to settle down in Santa Monica.
Following the previous 'model' of moving into a new city, we stay in a furnished, 'serviced' apartment for the initial house-hunting period.

However, the location of our Santa Monica serviced apartment is not very good. There's not much around and it is really far from Naomi's preschool, which makes it very hard for me.
So, I've asked Frank to agree on moving to some other temporary apartment, where it is a bit more convenient.

Now, on the top of the dream house that is yet to be found, we need to search for a short-term rental as well. Ah...stress!!

Frank has been sending me many recommendation lists of LA restaurants, cafes, etc..from his colleagues. The truth is, I won't feel really relaxed and being in the mood to start enjoying our lives and exploring the new adventures until we finally find the dream house and settle.

Last week, Frank sent me this video, and wrote:
"Nice video about a little boy and the happiest day in his life."

Now, let's hope for an angel coming to our ways and lead us to find that dream house and make it the happiest day in my life soon.

* the nice video is a bit long, but it is truly a wonderful story. It made me cry(again)!
It's worth of your time. Watch it, you won't regret!

[分享]Best Job in the world. - P&G 2012

noreply@blogger.com (kimiko) — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 16:21:00 +0000

終於，今天早上我們都是六點半起床的！（而不是半夜兩點半）
時差已經漸漸不見，生活也慢慢豐富起來。

心裡想要分享和訴說的念頭太多。空閒時間卻有限。
Naomi週一就開始上幼稚園，我把握著早上的寶貴空檔，火力全開的處理長長的待辦事項。

先分享昨晚看到的這個片子。（Santa Monica的精彩生活日記，希望快快有時間開始補上）
看完我有流淚。也許是身體還是疲累，心也跟著敏感。當然，也許是因為我也是一個媽媽。

Finally, we all woke up at 6:30 a.m. this morning, instead of 2:30a.m.
"Jet-lag" is slowly dis-appearing from our life and our life is gradually getting more and more fun.

There is too much in my mind to say and to share. However, not enough free time.
Though Naomi started her preschool since Monday,I have to tackle the long to-do lists and finish as many tasks as I can in the precious morning time.

Just want to share this little film(ad) for now and I hope I have more time soon to catch up and share our fun life diary in Santa Monica.
I had tears in my eyes watching it.
Maybe I am still too exhausted which made me extra sensitive; and of course, maybe, it is simply because I am a 'mum' myself.

Hope you like it too.

[生活]Hello Santa Monica!!

noreply@blogger.com (kimiko) — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 11:54:00 +0000

2012。4。13。凌晨4點38分。
如果不是因為時差，我們不會在2點半醒來，然後看到BBC新聞上，英國首相Cameron和緬甸人權領袖翁山蘇姬召開記者會的現場實況轉播。

6大件托運行李＋一部腳踏車＋4件隨身行李＋一個嬰兒車＋一個 Naomi的小小行李一個。
11個小時的飛行＋一個小時的等待＋一個小時的車程。我們終於抵達洛杉磯的Santa Monica。

令人期待的美國生活，正式開始！

2012. 4. 13. 4:38. a.m.
If we weren't jet-lagged, we wouldn't have woke up at 2:30a.m. and got to see the speech of the Live conference of the British Prime Minister, Mr. Cameron and Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi on BBC.

6 checked-in luggages + 1 bike + 4 carry-on luggages + 1 baby stroller + 1 Naomi's little toy box. 11 hours flight + 1 hour waiting time + 1 hour driving.

Finally, we arrived in Santa Monica.

Here we come, America!

[生活]Byebye Amsterdam, Hello Los Angeles!

noreply@blogger.com (kimiko) — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 00:10:00 +0000

2012。4。12。
就要踏上新的旅程了，往LA飛去。

ByeBye Amsterdam.
Hello Los Angeles!

See you soon in the sunny side of the world!

[生活]復活節快樂

noreply@blogger.com (kimiko) — Sun, 08 Apr 2012 22:52:00 +0000

週五開始，在阿姆斯特丹的我們開始了復活節假期。

在亞洲自然是沒有甚麼所謂的復活節，在美國應該也沒有放假。但對德國人來說，這可算是個重要的節日；在阿姆斯特丹，我們有四天連假。

因為下周四就要搬去洛杉磯，這個復活節週末就乖乖在家裡打包行李，取消原先去倫敦的計畫。

昨晚到朋友家晚餐，細心的媽媽朋友準備了蛋讓孩子們彩繪，雖然沒有一起到院子裡找彩蛋，也算有點過復活節的氣氛。

今天早上法蘭克在樓下客廳裡藏了很多彩蛋，讓剛起床下樓的Naomi玩找彩蛋的遊戲，雖然沒有在德國奶奶家可以真的到院子裡找彩蛋的那樣有趣，Naomi倒也玩得很開心。

這算是離家的我們，在都市裡過的簡易版復活節了。
希望你有個愉快的復活節週末。

這裡看我們2009年在巴塞隆納是怎麼過復活節的。

Since Friday, it's the Easter weekend in Amsterdam. I don't think there is holiday for the Americans; not to mention, the Easter celebration probably doesn't even exist for most Asians ( except the Christians/Catholics, of course). For German, I think it is quite an important holiday.

Last night, we had dinner with our dear friends. The host, an amazing mother, prepared some eggs for the little ones to paint. Though the kids do the 'egg-hunting' part, like traditionally what kids will do on Easter, it still created some nice atmosphere for Easter.

This morning, Frank hided some colorful, painted eggs to allow Naomi, who just woke up and still in her pajama, to 'experience' some egg-hunting fun. Though it is not like what we would do if we still live in Germany with Oma Marlies, Naomi still had lots of fun.

I guess, it is the simplified, city version of Easter celebration.
Wish you a Happy Easter weekend!

Here is how we spent our Easter in 2009, in Barcelona!

[分享]Amstel Nest B+B & Achitecture in Development

noreply@blogger.com (kimiko) — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 21:04:00 +0000

好友Ginger的阿姆斯特丹河畔民宿Amstel Nest B+B終於開張了。
再來幫她廣告一下。

然後，這個活力十足的大忙人一直在忙的project之一 - Achitecture in Development，今天上了Shareable網站的頭版。自然也值得推薦一下。

文章是英文寫的，好想驕傲地幫她用力按個讚啊！

我也好希望可以好好忙完這幾天，到洛杉磯開始人生的下一章。讓我也可以終於安定下來，再好好的‘忙’起來。我想做的，想忙的事情也已經條列的好長呢。

Good friend, Ginger, has finally finished and launched her Amstel Nest B+B.

And today, one of this amazing, active lady's many projects, Achitecture in Development, is on the front page of the website: Shareable.

I am so proud of my friend, Ginger and at the same time, I look forward to the time we finally settle in L.A. so that I can start many projects I have jotted down in a long list.

* 圖片來自:SHAREABLE網站。

[生活]Naomi的第一次劇場經驗

noreply@blogger.com (kimiko) — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 20:12:00 +0000

距離跟阿姆斯特丹說再見，倒數第九天。有點心慌有點緊張。

即使已經如此經驗豐富，依舊和過往任何一次搬遷前的倒數一樣，戰戰兢兢。
深怕在告別前，遺漏了甚麼沒有收拾沒有辦妥沒有結束的。

倒是，還是希望最後這週能夠在忙碌之餘不忘玩樂。
所以，今天早上和Julia帶了小女孩們去看法蘭克福來的兒童劇團的表演- Anziehsachen。
原本挺擔心好動的Naomi會坐不住的。
不過她雖然在座位上動來動去，倒也沒有亂跑，大叫或抱怨。我們很順利平靜的看完了。
之後還去Hotel Arena吃了好吃的凱撒沙拉。

啊。像這樣的美好時光，向來是讓人捨不得離開一個城市的主要理由啊。

9 more days to go till we say Goodbye to Amsterdam.
Feeling a bit nervous and a bit anxious, though am already so experienced about moving, i still worry about whether I've got everything organized and under control.

But sill, there should always be some 'play' and some fun, while working hard.

So, thanks to Julia. We took the girls to a 'kids theater' performance this morning. Naomi sat through her first 'theater' experience ever!
It was nice and we loved it!

Afterwards, we had the authentic Cesar salad at the Hotel Arena.

Nice moment in life like this, is always the main reason that makes you feel sad to leave a city!

[Baby]Naomi的‘第一輛車’

noreply@blogger.com (kimiko) — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 20:20:00 +0000

忽然就四月了。
再九天就要離開阿姆斯特丹往下一站洛杉磯出發。

上週五，法蘭克哥哥嫂嫂和J-boys來看我們，也是來道別的，在我們離開歐洲前。
我們度過了一個忙碌充實而愉快的週末。
今天，馬上就重新投入倒計時搬家大作戰的計畫裡。

傍晚等修洗碗機工人離開前的空檔，不能煮晚飯自然也不能吃晚飯。
法蘭克和我乾脆幫Naomi做了輛車。

就像照片裡這樣的一輛車。她好像還滿喜歡!

Suddenly, it's April. 9 more days until we leave for L.A.

Last Friday, Frank's brother, Carsten, and his family came to visit us, also to say Goodbye.
It was such a busy, active and happy weekend together.
Today, once again we are back to our final count-down preparation of the move.

This evening, while waiting for our dish-washer to be fixed, since we can't do anything, Frank and I made Naomi a 'auto' (car), one like this one.

She seems to like it!

[Baby]Naomi的'時尚'感－續集

noreply@blogger.com (kimiko) — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 22:00:00 +0000

Naomi從很小就是個很好動的孩子。
也許是因為這樣，給她打扮一直都是實用的褲子居多，方便小猴子她爬上跳下的。

現在，已經到了她會自己挑衣服，要求要穿甚麼不穿甚麼的時候了，這一天來的比我想像的早的多啊。

她最近很喜歡挑裙子穿，或者是小洋裝式的上衣配上leggings。

這天我們去游泳，穿了去年朋友送的Zara小洋裝。收到的時候已經太小，只能當上衣穿了。還好還穿的下。

跟Naomi說要照相，她還把腳抬起來，讓我可以照到這件色彩繽紛的legging呢。

連續好多天了，阿姆斯特丹都是溫暖的大晴天，太陽晚點下山，日子也變得很長。春暖花開讓大家都好開心呢。

我好喜歡這張照片裡的Naomi啊。感覺連眼睛都笑的好燦爛！

Naomi has been a very active child since she was little, so I tend to dress her in pants - more practical for her.

Nowadays, she picks whatever she likes to wear or not and she tends to pick up skirts a lot recently or she enjoys wearing a 'dress-like' top with leggings.

This Zara 'dress' was a gift last year and was already too small when we received it. Good that it still works as a top with leggings. I like the happy, Spring color, like these warm and happy Spring days we have been having here in Amsterdam.

[Baby]Naomi的'時尚'感

noreply@blogger.com (kimiko) — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 21:45:00 +0000

今天的計畫是搭公車到Monnickendam去拜訪Dewi。
天氣很好，我們有去郊遊的感覺。

早上準備出門的時候，Naomi吵著要我戴在手上新買的Marni for H&M手環。
我給了她，繼續收拾東西，一轉眼，看到的是這個Naomi。
忍不住要給她拍照。
這是她自己搭配出的‘時尚感’啊。哈哈。

*超級可愛的鞋子是好友Weiwei送的。謝謝妳Weiwei!Naomi好喜歡哦！

Today, we planned to visit our friend, Dewi, in Monnickendam.

It'd be a bus ride and with such a sunny weather, it feels like we are going on a little road-trip!

Naomi requested the bracelet I was wearing - the new one I got from Marni for H&M.

Minutes later, this was what I saw.
This is Naomi's fashion sense we are talking about! haha...

* The super cute shoes are from Mini Melissa from our friend-Weiwei. Thank you so much Weiwei. They are amazing!!

[Baby]Naomi的第一個冰淇淋

noreply@blogger.com (kimiko) — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 23:29:00 +0000

Naomi生平的第一個冰棒，是去年夏天到阿姆斯特丹來，和Nurah一起吃的。

Naomi生平的第一個冰淇淋，是昨天在回家的路上和我一起吃的。

前幾天，她玩得超兇又沒睡好，昨天看到電力只有一半的Naomi，變得好安靜做甚麼都慢慢的，還擔心她是不是病了。

連去'托兒所'，老師都說，這不是平常的、真正的Naomi。我們都看出她真的累壞了。

昨天傍晚特地早點去接她，原本想讓她下午在家裡補眠好好休息的，沒想到她自己在上課時間左右醒來，又吵著堅持要出門去'托兒所'玩。

我看到她從早上醒來，連吃麵包都沒力氣，是閉著眼睛嚼的；到傍晚時又生龍活虎蹦蹦跳跳的來抱我了，真是鬆了一口氣。

我答應在回家的路上，給她一個小犒賞。
Da-ta！看看這第一個冰淇淋的魔力啊！

Naomi was exhausted from lots of playing and no napping at all a few days in a row. Yesterday morning, she really worried me as she was so quite and so slow and she even 'chewed' her bread with her eyes closed!

However, it changed by the time I picked her up from the 'playgroup'. Looking at the jumping, smiling and loud Naomi; I know my real Naomi is back! So I promised to give her a little treat as she's had a couple of tough days.

Da-ta! Naomi had her first ice-cream ever!! Look at the magic of the first ice cream!

[分享]Kizuna311

noreply@blogger.com (kimiko) — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 23:09:00 +0000

聽說今天日本又發生了6.8級的地震。
在facebook上看到幾個在日本的朋友寫了說，這次的很大，有點受驚嚇。

3/12那天，發生千鈞一髮的小驚嚇，傍晚，給Naomi在電視上找卡通的時候看到National Geographic關於311地震的紀錄片。我還是止不住的流淚。
一年了，我還是沒有辦法平靜的看任何311地震和海嘯的畫面。

想起來渡邊謙成立了Kizuna311網站來鼓舞日本人民。
我一直很懷念在日本的生活，也很想念在日本的朋友們。
希望今天的地震，大家都沒事。

[生活]就來去海邊！

noreply@blogger.com (kimiko) — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 22:53:00 +0000

年輕的時候，心情不好，總想往海邊跑。
對阿姆斯特丹百般不捨的這個時候，心裡雀躍期待著的是LA的海。

周末就約好了鄰居兼新媽媽朋友Julia周二來我們家playdate。
沒想到她周一晚上打電話來問我想不想去海邊，問我有沒有兒童汽車椅。
我還真的想去海邊；雖然我們沒車，我們也真的帶了兒童汽車椅（因為要帶去LA啊！）
何況氣象說這周都是晴天，實在太適合開車兜風去海邊啦。

Julia帶我們去了Tijn Akersloot。好喜歡這個beach cafe啊！
雖然講好了的太陽沒有出現，海邊風也有點冷，不過兩個小女孩還是一起玩的好開心。
兩個媽媽也聊的好開心哪。

真的很可惜我們再一個月就要離開了，Julia是我很喜歡的新朋友呢！(而且她家離我家只有350公尺啊！）昨晚，Julia在她的部落格上已經貼上了很多美麗的照片;然後，她寄給我了更多照片。

Thank you so much Julia for a lovely trip to the beach and a great morning of hanging out.

Here they are.

[生活] FOAM + Playdate

noreply@blogger.com (kimiko) — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 21:40:00 +0000

周三沒有‘托兒所’，媽媽要想很多點子安排節目‘娛樂’精力充沛的Naomi一整天！

今天照舊戰力滿滿。早上計畫去我很喜歡的FOAM，下午有媽媽朋友Emily的playdate。後來中午還臨時穿插了帶Naomi去拍美國簽證照片和去中國城吃拉麵。

早上確實早早出門，想說可以悠閒的沿著運河騎腳踏車慢慢晃過去。確實很悠閒，看到有趣的東西就停下來照照相，然後和Naomi兩個人在腳踏車上，一前一後的一路大聲唱著歌。

這些日子，Naomi好喜歡我們倆出去騎車哦，常常我們已經到了目的地，可是她不肯下來，還想繼續坐在後座要我再騎一會；或者明明已經到家了，她會吵著要“mehr, mehr”（德文的再多一點），我只好繼續在附近再繞上幾條街再回家。

到了Foam之後，因為有museum card，免費入場。Naomi今天不是太配合，好幾次都躺在地上耍賴，後來我興致也沒了，也不想打擾其他人，很潦草地看完就快快離開了。

回來後看網站才發現，今天最喜歡的展，Joel Sternfeld －' Color Photography Since 1970 '，只到今天為止。這一張是我最喜歡的照片。

其實只有去過一次FOAM，在2008年剛搬到阿姆斯特丹來的時候。和法蘭克一起看的The Hyena & Other Men，至今還是那麼多年世界各地看過的展覽裡面，印象非常深的一個。也許是因為我一直喜歡攝影和攝影展，所以FOAM－阿姆斯特丹的攝影美術館就一直是我念念不忘想要再次造訪的地方。

門票8.5歐元。其實並不便宜。因為FOAM的地方並不大，展覽一下就看完了。如果有musuem card又喜歡攝影的話，倒是可以常常來看看，因為一直有新展。比如說我現在很期待3月23日要開始的' The New York Times Magazine Photographs' 。

Foam新開了一間concept store，就在旁邊的Vijzelstraat上。我也順便去了，可是Naomi的不配合到那裡更變本加厲，我只能放棄。

今天早上，我幾乎是決定剩下來如果還有想看的博物館／美術館和藝廊，我還是自己去吧。像今天早上，我很希望她能和我一起欣賞，可是她只想爬樓梯上上下下或是躺在地上耍賴，都讓我對他生氣，對他失去耐心。這根本不是我的本意啊。

下午去媽媽朋友Emily家playdate。有畫畫、有唱歌、有點心，有很多新玩具、有小朋友可以追逐、還有另一把令人愛不釋手的小吉他。

我是playdate的忠實擁護者。在日本的時候，我和其他5個媽媽朋友每週固定在不同媽媽家輪流辦playdate。看著同齡的孩子玩在一起，一起長大，真的是很棒的一件事。
而且啊，對媽媽來說，有同齡孩子的媽媽朋友可以聊聊天，交換心得，實在太重要啦！

我以為活動滿滿又沒午睡的Naomi會像昨天一樣七點前就不支倒地了；沒想到，正要上樓睡覺的時候法蘭克回來了，自然又是一陣興奮撒嬌和玩耍。最後是八點多被爸爸送上床的。
媽媽我都累壞了！

看Naomi坐她朋友Tate的小沙發坐得多舒服啊。旁邊的小腳踏車也是她的最愛。

後來Emily開始帶著孩子們唱兒歌，幾乎都是荷蘭文的哦。