Leon, the bookworm

I like reading!

Must have a closer look. Is that really a dog?

Mummy, I've finished reading! I want my "ti" (soother).

New words of Leon:
ăn (eat), bánh mì (bread), vớ (socks), dầy (shoe), Schuh (german: shoe), cà phê (coffee), Kroko (german Krokodil: crocodile).
Apart from Mama (german: mommy) and Papa (german: daddy) he also says Mami and Papi (familiar form).
Bà Ngoại (grandma, but Ngoai is still difficult for him)
Teddy (gấu)
Vivi (his aunt, not vơ vơ anymore)
Lisa (his aunt)
Wau Wau (means dog)
Mio (Leons word for a cat)
mehr (german: more)
giúp (help)
Ja ja (german: yes, his favourite words!)
Hoppa ("Hoppe hoppe Reiter" is a famous nursery rhyme in Germany"...and is Leons word for to dandle)

old words:
Ba (Leons word for to have a bath)
Du (Leons word for to take a shower)

Now he understand almost everything I say. If I say something he tries to say it, too.

Visit from South Germany

Aunti Thao and Uncle Tam from South Germany were here some weeks ago.
Mum served grilled duck and prawn with vietnamese spinach (I don't remember it's name).

Leon is so happy playing with them. Usually he's very shy.

If you think Leon is always laughing...Wrong! At this pic he is in a do-it-yourself-store with us...while he has high temperature...He doesn't want to go further and is sitting there the whole time...incapable of moving...of speaking...of doing anything! He is really tired. I felt so sorry for him, but I thought going out would help him to get better faster.

Happy New Year

Tết Eve in Saigon, Taken off of Le Loi St. (January 2009)

Taken off of Ham Nghi St, district 1, Saigon

Tết is January 26, 2009...
and around Chợ Bến Thành on the North side, things are getting festive.
3 photos above by lynhdan

A blessed new year to all of you! :)

These are such beautiful impressions of Saigon Tet 2009! I wish I was there. I'm not a poet, but my uncle-in-law Chú Hùng versifies every year at this time. It's quite good.

Yesterday we had dinner at Mum's (ăn giao thừa).

Leon loves Grandma sometimes more than me.

Today we did nothing special. I cooked Spaghetti Bolognese with mushroom and grated parmesan...Leon likes that.

Who am I?
I love my mirror image. Yes, I admit: I'm narcissistic. I always have to look into the mirror if I wear something new. That's the cap of my mommy.

Let's try my baby cap.
I like bags, too.
I wish you a happy new year!

5-minute-lunch

Usually Hub has lunch in the canteen, but today he spontaneously wanted to eat at home. Fortunately, he wanted just sticky rice with an omelette. As it is such a simple and boring meal I jazz it up a little bit.

Heart Onigiris, omelette, carrot flowers and broccoli floret, served with some roasted peanuts.

This onigiri (rice ball) heart shaper I bought from a japanese onlineshop 2 month ago.

1. Form the onigiris with a shaper.
2. Cut the carrot into flowers.
3. Steam the broccoli (with a mini microwave steamer)
4. Make an omelette.
That's it. It took me just 5 minutes to do that (without the cooking time of the rice).

This is one of my favourite kitchen stuff: a mini microwave steamer (photo by Biggie).
Biggie blogs about speed bento (lunch in a box) and is very inspiring for me. With this mini steamer you save so much time!!! I also use it for Dim Sum. Just put 4 or 6 frozen "Ha Gao" (dumplings with prawns) into the steamer, fill it with a tsp water and nuke for 3 minutes. Then enjoy this delicious meal!

(DIM SUM "Ha Gao" photo by Ah Mandy Wong)

My rice cooker! It was a present of some friends last birthday and I wouldn't want to miss it! It can cook white, brown, sushi rice, mixed rice (e.g. with vegetables and meat) and even Cháo (congee). It's also a perfect cooker for Leon's baby porridge.

Chi & Mai

Chi & Mai (my cousins) sent me these cute pics. I asked for them because I want to make a family calendar for grandma in Vietnam. I don't even know when I saw them the last time in Berlin...It must have been a very very long time ago. Mai was a baby, when I met her! Germany is not that big, but I've never visit them and their family in M. (620km away from my city) before. Shame on me! But hubby did last november because he was on a business trip near M. He had a very delicious dinner at the fancy restaurant of my uncle Chuc.

How cute is that photo? A corn field left...I live in a big city so Leon will never ride a bike near a corn field. (sigh)

Beautiful...That's not Germany, right? I guess Switzerland or North Italy?

Chi & Mai could be twins!

Lightness of childhood.

Mai & the dog of her aunt

Chi looks a bit like Vivi

My paternal uncle Chuc and aunt Thao.

Chi & Mai, please comment these photos. Thx.

Coldest Winter Ever

Berlin is so cold now that I think I'm in the Anarctic! It's one of the coldest winter for the last 100 years! The temperatur was about -23°C (-9.4 °F) last night!!! In some other regions it is even colder! I believe it's the iciest winter I've ever experienced!

My flowers didn't survive the frost.

I really love a sunny winter day like this. It's a pity that Leon is still ill, otherwise we would go toboggan riding. (View from our balcony)

The black long new VW Passat is our car (hub's car). 2nd from left.
The battery of my car is low...so it won't start anymore. It's always the same in winter!

Leon is ill

Leon has been ill from christmas eve until now (with some break). He has a flu. But look, although he has high temperature (40°C ~104.0 °F) he is grinning broadly! (He cheeks are red due to temperature.)

New Year's Eve

On New Year's Eve we spent time with our two families.

Chi Oanh's (sister-in-law) New Year's Eve home decoration style is puristic and beautiful. The violet tulips and the other violet flowers matched well with the white amaryllis, which are quite typical for this season. Amyaryllis are my favourite flowers of winter. The drawings are made by Anh Bàng.

This is typical in Germany: We drink sparkling wine (we don't call it champagne if it's not original from Champagne) and eat "Berliners", in some regions they call is "Krapfen". It's similar to donuts, but without a hole the middle. Cô Ba (Aunt-In-Law) call it "Bánh Tiêu Đừơng".

Me & my son

We kept lunch simple and practical is year. We didn't roll the summer rolls at the table, but rolled it before, so we had just to eat.. :-) It didn't take much time, but someway I miss this razzle-dazzle at the table, where everyone is busy... take this and that...rolling while talking and munching.

The whole family at lunch.
(Click on photos to enlarge.)

Unlike others, family Le like the puristic style of a christmas tree. There is a cute photocard showing the kids of Dinh & Thu from Washington D.C.

In the evening we went to my family...to Aunt Phượng for dinner.

There were some friends of Vivi, too.

Brother Kỳ and friend Khôi. Two handsome guys.


Uncle Danh (friend of family) delivered a short speech.

Chú Danh took this photo. It's my fav pic of us 3. I think I'm gonna take this pic for Hub's and my purse. So far I haven't got any pics of my family in my purse!

Look! Leon clinked glasses, too!


We had a very delicious "Lẩu" (fire pot or fondue)...
...with every kind of seafood and vegetables.

Mum, Chú Danh, Cô Mỹ


Leon & Mum

Shortly before midnight we came back to Hubby's family. Aunt Út is looking very fresh here.
Hub, me, Văn & Friends and Lâm were on the streets to enjoy and set off fireworks. It was bitter cold, I guess about -5°C. I put on 4 pullovers + warm jacket. The rest of the family including Vỹ & Hân stayed at home. These two were not allowed to set off fireworks due to risk of injury.

After midnight it was party time for Văn. He celebrated his 17th birthday.


"This is for Thien, not for you!"

"Ok ok..."

This dress "áo dài" is suiting Chi Oanh well. The colour RED is used to bring good fortune.


"Happy new year!"