Sarah's night out

Sarah's first big night out.
Just three weeks old and all dressed up for Bob and Vickie's big night.

Four generations of Chin/McCormick.

Who is not smiling in this picture?

Angel Island Immigration Station

Also know as the Ellis Island of the West, the Angel Island Immigration Station processed over a quarter million immigrants between 1910 and 1940.
Although they were from many different countries including Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, and Russia, most of them were Asian. And of the Asians, most of them were from Guangdong Province in Southern China.

97% of all the immigrants that went through Angel Island were Chinese.

Dad was one of these, arriving at the age of nine.
Luckily he only spent around three weeks here.

The Interrogation Table

Detainees were interrogated, sometimes daily, with the same questions to see if their stories were consistent with their previous answers.

It was a well know fact that many of the Chinese men were "paper sons".

Young detainees from Southern China.

Men (many of them young) from Guangdong province, far outnumbered women, and were housed in separated barracks.

By 1940 when the Immigration Station closed, over 175,000 Chinese had been processed.

The Game Room. Ping Pong, Mah-Jong, and a writing table.

The typical room for detainees would normally house 25 people comfortably, but were often crammed with up to 200 people.

Poem in Chinese etched on wall.

Although the average detainee spent less than a month on Angel Island, some were kept here for many years.

Some spent their time singing, reminiscing about their homeland, and etching poems on the walls.

Sarah Ann McCormick

Welcome Sarah Ann McCormick.
The jury is still out on who she actually looks like.

Grandma and Grandpa Chin

See, it's not all crying.

There's a new McCormick in town

Welcome to the latest member of the family.
No name yet but I'm sure Josh and Melissa know what it is.
More to come, but congratulations to the newest mom and dad, grandmas and grandpas, uncles and everyone else.

Mother's Day +++

Happy Mother's Day and 60th Birthday to Harry and Bunny.
And apparently Stan and Diane's anniversary as well.

It was great to see everyone and get a Hokkaido fix at the same time.
Although I'm not sure I can take more than one a year any more.

. . . and thanks to Harry and Denise for hosting.

Fishing around in Hanoi

Happy Birthday (a little late) Ed.
Thought of you when we spotted people fishing on Westlake here in Hanoi.

Not like fishing on a BASS BOAT in the Delta.

Bamboo poles and NO BAIT. Just hooks.

We saw plenty of people with fish, although I'm not sure if I'd knowingly eat fish from this particular lake. It's pretty polluted. Garbage seems to be a bit of a problem here and people seem to have no problem with just throwing things into the water.

We found a fishing supply store in town.

These are the types of fishing reels they use.

Then there are these vegetables, or are they fruit?

And finally, a dental office in town. At least we think it's a dental office.

Hello Halong

We spent the last couple of days cruising around Halong Bay in northern Vietnam.
The weather is finally turning warm here (low 80s) and we had a great time on the boat.
About twenty-five people on board, a couple of other Americans (who we talked with), a very nice woman traveling alone from Portugal (we invited her to have dinner with us), five women from Finland (some of them though I was part of the crew), and then the "French".
One very unsavory frenchman; what kind of person doesn't say good morning back when greeted with "bonjour"? Oh well, their karma, not ours.

As expected, a tiny room onboard, with an even smaller bathroom, but all very well appointed.

A very popular Unesco destination, there are around 25 tour operators offering cruises on the bay.