I missed going to the US Open this year, watching the best tennis players practicing and battling while snapping some of my best action shots. I also missed spending time with family and friends there. Hope US Open 2021 will return to normal with lively crowds.
First of all, a big shout out to the Forest Hills Youth Athletic Association, without whom this season, even though delayed, wouldn’t have been possible due to the new crazy world we are all living in due to COVID-19. The adequate social distancing restrictions on the fields and decent amount of policing have made all parents feel much needed peace of mind.
And a special thank you to Coach Frank, Assistant Coaches Tommy and Dre and all the families of Forest Hills Rockets, the best 8-year-olds baseball team in LLB. Here immediately blow is the whole-season recap:
Kicking off the New Year (and Decade) with a cool family project wearing my new hat – Chief Memory Officer: digging through photo archive to find gems on the memory lane…
One of the most successful recitals in his 3-year musical career. Thanks to Istein Music School and instructor Baron Fenwick.
After the whole show, the Istein principal gave a special shoutout to Yoyo as he had never seen anyone performing Chopin while standing. What a pleasantly surprising comment!
And a special thank you to Yoyo ma!
Yoyo’s first baseball season is about to draw to an end. As immigrant parents, we have embraced the sport just as well as he has. And he has definitely shown potential.
What’s the most exciting to me is, this is the perfect time for me to pull off some paparazzi action following him along on the field without worrying about myself being bombarded with 90mph fast balls. And thanks to a DJI gimbal from work, this video below has given me plenty of bragging rights.
Same tool used in a project from previous life: Time Traveling Through Dramatic Urbanization in China Over Decades (ChinaFile)
Raising a second child can be tricky, especially that we thought it was going to be ten times easier than the first. Well, that’s a misconception, or wishful thinking, debunked. When Evan Yoyo joined our life in 2012, I started shooting an insane amount of video, and photos of course. Years later, I’d occasionally question whether I had shot way too much (a little over 2TB worth of media files). The past couple of months have answered that question; we are so glad that we have a ton of visual memories that we would binge-watch while comparing notes between the two brothers, six years apart.
And here we launch a video series* that we try to relive the sweet and fun moments from the two journeys, side by side. And we couldn’t agree more with Yoyo’s proposal earlier to name his baby brother Yoyo 2.
Yoyo’s Summer 2018 recital (on June 23 in Forest Hills) is now in the books. Here’s a highlight reel, one of the two tunes he performed.
Sonatina in G Major by Beethoven isn’t an easy piece. (So I put my video editing skills to good use;)
Yoyo performed Down by the Bay on December 10, 2017 at Church of the Gardens in Forest Hills, NY
Another paparazzi parents-filled event that coincides with the pre-holiday cheer. I admire all the children who put up an amazing show. We arrived on the clock, but late in the sense that I found all the spots to set up tripods were occupied. I had to hand-hold a heavy 70-200mm lens while standing to try my best to film Yoyo’s segment. Thanks to modern technology, I got to do some stabilization trick to the footage so that it came out pretty impressive. There was still some noise as I left the sound recorder in the back while I was sneaking through to scout out the second best standing room.
Special thanks to Baron Fenwick.
An impressively perfect recital performance by Yoyo on June 25, 2017. Way to go and we are pretty proud and wowed!
Thanks to Alejandra, Juliet Music School, and all those who have been with his musical journey so far. Also, special thank you to Yoyo’s Mom!
Yoyo turns five in a few days, and 2016 has been a fulfilling year on many fronts, see video for rich details:
First recital at a new school, Juliet Music at Forest Hills Gardens.
Yoyo played Dance and Theme Variation a duet with teacher Alejandra and then Little Playmates by himself, error free:
Here below is a screenshot of that moment when he flicked his classic sneaky smile on his face after looking at us in the crowd.
Read MoreYoyo’s second recital, this time performing A Minuet for Mr. Bach’s Children, below, and another piece.
Performed on April 9, 2016 at Hunter College in New York, NY
Yoyo turns one, and here’s a celebratory documentation…
