Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Happy birthday, Daddy! (cha cha cha)

It's hard for me to believe/accept that my dad is 58. I still look at him like a big kid. I really think that's where my bro and I get our silliness and sense of humor from. I can clearly remember when we were younger, my dad playing practical jokes on us and telling the most comical stories of when he was a youth...playing practical jokes on his siblings.

I also remember when he would wake my bro and I up at like 5 or 6 AM to surprise us with a mini-family ski trip to Big Bear. He loved to surprise us...also because he knew that if he told us the night before, we would be too excited to sleep (or that may have been moreso my brother). I remember, too, the early mornings that Dad would drive an hour to drop us off at school. We always made a morning stop to get a donut (or holes) and chocolate milk (at least for me).

What I love about my Dad is that he has always openly shown his love for us. I remember thinking one day about how he defies that Asian stereotype of not showing affection. Ever since I can remember, Dad has always hugged and kissed us, and had us sit on his lap (until we outgrew that). To this day, he tells us he loves us when we end a phone conversation. And when I reciprocate, "I love you," he always says with emphasis, "Thank you." Thank you for your love.

Today, Bro and I wanted to do something extra special by bringing Dad out to dinner. We have been talking about bringing Dad to one of our favorite restaurants, Porterhouse Bistro, for so long now so I finally made reservations a few weeks ago. Now, Dad is not the type to go all out for things...he is always looking out for our well-being; translation -- he wants us to save as much as we can. So when I told him that we are going to Beverly Hills for dinner, he was really hesitant. I told him that we had already made reservations and besides, we've wanted to bring him here for a while, so he acquiesced. (What a fancy word, huh?)

We met at the restaurant around 5:30 with the Birthday Dad and honorary guests, Ama and Aunty Joanne. :) We had a really great time, enjoying the meal and company. Somehow, the 5 of us couldn't finish the meal for 4! At the end of the meal, we sang "happy birthday" to my Dad and he blew out the candle in the cotton candy.

To walk it off, we dragged Dad to the Beverly Center so we could find Ama's very belated Christmas gift. Our first stop was the pet store...which my dad apparently frequents often. Bro was going to find the men's room when he came back and said, "look, under the stairwell -- it's Adam Sandler!" I was all star-struck! I kept sneaking peeks at him, as he sat there all scruffy-looking with a stroller in front of him. At one point, a lady and her little girl stood next to me to look at the adorable labrador retriever puppy and I had a strong hunch that they were Sandlers. Later on, I saw the three of them walking away. I was still star-struck, even after they left my sight.

To end the evening, we were successful in finding Ama a new pair of Gucci shades at Bloomies. Like my dad, she was hesitant in having us spend that much, but my bro, being the natural salesman that he is, gave his usual pitches ("There's no price on looking stylish"; "if you wear it all the time -- wherever you go -- you get the value back"; "Gramma, you wear things for like 10+ years so to buy one pair is totally worth it"; "You look soOOoOOooo stylish in them Gramma") and away we walked with a Small Brown Bag. We could tell Gramma really liked them b/c she kept taking them out to look at them and trying them on. She was funny, though; she said, "With such expensive shades, Gramma better not get kidnapped!" LOL
(**I've always found it interesting that Gramma refers to herself in the 3rd person when she speaks to us. I'm not sure why. Is it a Taiwanese elder thing? I'll have to ask Aunty Joanne, mother of Genius Cousins.)

Soon after, we came home to Gramma's and Dad went home. All in all, it was a great evening.

Happy birthday, Dad! I love you!