Fight Song

With K-bao's infatuation with pop music of all kinds - but particularly of the kind produced by young, edgy females articulating some kind of pugilistic message - it was inevitable that sooner or later we were going to hear about Rachel Platten's Fight Song. 

These days, besides asking for the song to be played day or night, at any given hour K-bao might burst out randomly with "My power's turned on, right now I'll be strong!" or "All those things I didn't say, are wrecking balls inside my brain!"

Below is a 20 second excerpt where we turned down the volume of the song on the iPad, and drowned it out with other conversation...nonetheless, K-bao's focus is unwavering (and of course, her singing face is classic).

Scary Song

K-bao performs a couple of spooky songs for Halloween.

Sister C-bao gets roped in for some theatrical dancing while K-bao takes care of the vocals.

K-bao did of course make sure to train C-bao to jump in with the "Boo!s" and scary cackling at the appropriate times.

Running on Water

K-bao and her sister C-bao are both big fans of her Aunt Catherine and Uncle James' band The Lighters. Here they are belting out the chorus to The Lighters' hit single "Running on Water" (which can be purchased here).

Winter Wonderland

Before the holidays K-bao's class at preschool put on a holiday music special for the parents.

K-bao has become an increasingly enthusiastic musician over the past year and practiced her songs with gusto in the days leading up to the show.

Below are a couple of clips from the 10-song program. The songs were short and sweet and filled with great choreography, which K-bao performed with zest. This first one, Winter Wonderland, is one of her faves.

台北的天空

Here is K-bao enjoying a few moments on the streets of Taipei. And yes, this is where K-Pop will post a link to the cheesy and sentimental song Taipei Sky (台北的天空), which ran through K-Pop's head for much of the trip. "The skies of Taipei hold the smiles of my youth." 

This first pic below is a little park on the very street where K-Mum grew up (Taishun Street, only a few blocks away from where K-Pop was born on Pu-Cheng Street). While making her way to the park K-bao was very nearly mowed over by an overzealous scooter. 

It is typhoon season now in Taiwan, and there was a sizeable one that engulfed the city for the first few days, leading to lots of precipitation. Even when it wasn't raining, one saw umbrellas everywhere as people sought protection from the brutal sun. K-bao carried her own mini-umbrella, which she swung about in a carefree and rather dangerous manner (which was the subject of stern conversations more than once).

Every morning K-Pop and K-Mum would rise early (due to jetlag, not discipline) and take the kids out to buy fresh sweet breads. By the way, just outside our apartment there is a fine pastry store called IJySheng (一之軒), for those of you who are visiting Taipei near Shi-Da University; we bought a half-dozen rolls there almost every morning. In the pic below you can also see the ubiquitous 7-11s, which we gave a decent amount of business to as well.

One early morning before the K-Grandfolks were up we took the kids to nearby Shi-Da University for a stroll. Predictably, K-bao ran up and down the bleachers and generally caused a ruckus while some older Taiwanese folks were practicing their Qi-Gong and trying to have a peaceful, meditative morning. 

This is where K-Mum went to elementary school! A drive-by shot taken from K-Grandpop's car, as we didn't have time to visit on this trip.

Below is the courtyard of a little hole-in-the-wall restaurant on Yang-Ming Mountain (陽明山), which was one of the finest meals the K-folks had all trip. The restaurant is, appropriately, called Discovery (Fa Xian). 

Going Over the Sea

Here is K-bao hammin' it up with a nursery rhyme she learned at SLS this past semester.

Jingle

K-bao does a little pre-bedtime jingle to wish the world a very Happy Valentines Day!