It was Nga’s birthday but Anise had all the fun preparing flowers, eating raspberries and grapes, and making her first toast.
Here's to you Mom!
I asked Co Loc to get some special flowers for Nga..and she went overboard
But Anise luuuved it
It's raining roses!
The camera loves us
Boutique hotel baby
The new G&R: Gums & Roses
Nga took most of these photos after she was turned away at the airport Thursday night and had to spend the weekend at home while Dad went to Bangkok. We were all headed for a 3 day trip to Thailand, but on the day of departure Nga could not find her US passport. Though she still had her UN passport, the authorities denied her exit, so she returned home with Anise, now nicknamed “Panther” since she looks so good in her black outfit, and they socialized and did fashion shoots. Ready for NYC.
Tribute to Michael Jackson
Mom, do I really need this?
Looking fresh and swanky after the arrival of her fashions courtesy of Hnin Hnin and Jacqueline, Nga’s co-workers.
Anise in fleece with air conditioning cranked up
Alternative view of AKA Smith showing off her aunt's line of clothing
Eating her way into her first pair of jeans
Showing her teeth and her split comb over
Begging for her first latte
Playing the thumbone
Nga’s Update: This past two weeks have been eventful both professionally and personally. We all went down two weekends ago to Quy Nhon town in Binh Dinh Province for the annual meeting for the global handwashing project. Then the typhoon came and we had to cancel our field trip and spend the rest of the week indoors. Stan and Anise barely made it out of Quy Nhon on Tues and my flight to Hanoi was cancelled and I had to come home one day later. Luckily he had help from the nanny and friends John and Felise (in the photos below). I was afraid Anise would forget me but she seemed excited to see Mommy and even reached out with two arms for me, which was great. I couldn’t believe how much I missed her – thank goodness for the videos her dad posted. As you will see by the pics, Dad was great and spent quality time with Anise while I was away. I tried to lift her up after seeing her Dad’s inspirational pictures but since my arms are shorter and weaker, Anise was like, “LAME Mom, LAME.”
Filmed from the taxi on the way to the airport yesterday north and south of Quy Nhon in central Vietnam. The main road had just opened in the afternoon (to high-riding cars and trucks) a day after Typhoon Mirinae whipped through the area causing more damage and flooding than expected. The central coast gets slammed every year with typhoons and tropical storms, but they appear to be getting more destructive and unpredictable. Nga, Anise and I flew down on Saturday since Nga has a week-long workshop near Quy Nhon. I came back yesterday to Hanoi with Anise, though initially we were told the roads were impassable and the airport would stayed closed a second day. We just made the flight. Nga says it’s still raining down there. Very tough for many people who had their homes and fields and goods damaged or destroyed, though we saw a lot of relief efforts underway. Click here for more info on the typhoon.
This is a short version of the video footage I took at the Life Resort near Quy Nhon, Vietnam over the past few days (I was holding Anise in one hand, and filmed mostly through a wet window, so apologies for the quality). It is a beautiful resort, but on the second day there the area was hit by Typhoon Mirinae. A ship sank on the rocks not far from the rather isolated resort, and suddenly hundreds of logs washed onto the beach. Within minutes people started showing up to scavenge the logs, but eventually the local police came and cleared the beach.
A few photos from the beautiful Life Resort near Quy Nhon, Vietnam, where we also met up with our long time friend Sam Sternin, now working for the Gates Foundation.
View from our room (pre-typhoon)
Poor quality photo, but it's the best we have of us with Sam
Anise enjoying the new shirt from John, and the new couch at John and Felise’s apartment where we had dinner last weekend.
“I love New York and I like to eat..as you can see!”
Sitting all by herself
A few recent pics of Anise: showing enough strength to hold up her sizable cabeza, preparing to brave the streets and exercising those powerful legs.
Ready to roll
Those ears just won't stay put..
She luuuvs jumping in her bouncer
Just a few random photos from home..
Notice the Cheeky and Swank shirt..
Actually, this is an older photo from July when Anise was in Ohio...learning essential self-soothing skills
