The Ho’s 2024 Recap

Work

Tiffany continues her work at Compassion Pet Hospice as a mobile vet. This is her 9th year helping aging and terminally-ill animals pass peacefully in the warmth and comfort of their homes. Many pet parents praised Tiffany’s compassion and empathy. We thank God for using her to give guidance and consolation to many grieving families during difficult times.

Calvin works 5-10 hours a week as the practice’s business manager. As a side hustle, he did a few software projects for companies in Europe and offered virtual phone assistant service to veterinarians in the US.

Travel

As a homeschooling family, and with our mobile veterinary practice which allows us to take extended time away, we took advantage of our flexible schedule and the cheaper airfares during the off-seasons to travel to places that we have not visited before – Spain, Malaysia, Singapore, and Southern Taiwan. Calvin took his parents to visit the historic sight in London, Seville, Cordoba, Granada, Madrid, Segovia, Avila, Salamanca, Toledo, and Barcelona in April. Calvin picked up Miguel Cervante’s Don Quixote for his leisure reading, and finished an 18-lecture online course on the history of Spain in preparation for the trip. While Madrid resembled a typical European city, the oriental influence on the local food and architecture in Southern Spain was palpable as some parts of Andalusia such as Granada was under Islamic rule for as long as eight centuries (AD 711 – 1492).

Tiffany and the kids flew to Singapore at the end of April. After a few days there visiting with Tiffany’s dear friend, we as a family rendezvoused in Langkawi, Malaysia, a rural, tropical island that is located near the Malaysia-Thailand border. We saw eagles, monkeys, and bats in the tropical mangrove forest. Gideon and Carina both got to drive the speedboat at 50 mph on the open sea. We finished the boat tour with some amazing snorkeling with hundreds of tropical fish in a secluded cove in an outlying islet.

Malaysia is hot year-round. It made us appreciate the moderate climate in the Bay Area more, as folks living in the tropical climate have to deal with the hot, humid, and rainy climates often without the luxury of air conditioning or the laundry dryers (we have been hang-drying our clothes since our trip to the UK). We also got to experience using earplugs to fall asleep as the chorus of cicadas chirping in the rice paddy fields were just too loud for us. These were good cultural shocks for us, for it broadens our horizon and make us more self-aware of our privileges and responsibilities.

Penang, the second-largest city in Malaysia, almost feels like Honolulu with its palm-trees lined boulevards and modern high-rise apartments. Ipoh, the third-largest city, similar to Kuala Lumpur, was founded by Chinese settlers in the 1800s (75% of Ipoh’s population has Chinese ancestry). We enjoyed visiting the old-fashion restaurants and cafes, which kept the menus and the decors of the 1970s Hong Kong.

We spent the next two weeks visiting Calvin’s parents, his brother’s family, and other relatives and friends in Hong Kong. Calvin and Tiffany then temporarily parted ways with the kids, who were staying with Calvin’s parents, and flew to Kaohsiung, Taiwan, for our 15th wedding anniversary celebration.

Tiffany and Calvin took a ferry out to a tiny island in South Taiwan called Liuqiu, rented an electric scooter, and rode around this tiny island. There were several wonderful coves and beaches for snorkeling. The water was calm and warm. With the help of a life jacket, Tiffany had enough confidence to swim out into the deep with Calvin. They saw many green and hawksbill sea turtles. We highly recommend Liuqui for couples as a romantic destination.

They took the train and other public transportation to see the rest of South Taiwan. Tainan is the oldest city in Taiwan, which showcased many cultural artifacts from the Japanese-occupation era. They also visited Guanziling 關子嶺, which boasted itself to be one of the only three mud hot springs in the world (the other two are in Sicily, Italy and Kagoshima, Japan). At the end of the two weeks, Calvin’s mom brought the kids to Taiwan and, after some more road-tripping on the Miaoli mountain, my mom returned to Hong Kong and we flew back to San Francisco.

Family

Calvin and the kids spent the summer doing some intensive “catch-up” work on school. By September, Calvin and the kids felt that they have caught up with their study and felt ready to begin a new school year. Gideon and Carina, no longer playing pro soccer, began weekly tennis lessons with Coach Glenn who has a launch machine. We practiced tennis 2-3 times a week at the nearby community parks. Tiffany and Bambi came along to enjoy the walk and exercise, which makes Bambi really happy. Gideon and Carina are now walking Bambi every morning. While in California this winter season, we looking forward to doing more winter sports (such as snowboarding) on the Sierra mountain.

Tiffany took the month of November off for self-care. She traveled to Japan and Korea with three different groups of friends (different combination of friends from Hong Kong, US, and Australia). She and her friends enjoyed wearing the Japanese Kimono and the Korean Hanbok while touring ancient streets and palaces. She also tried the traditional Korean spa for the first time. The trip was filled with wonderful memories and lots of yummy food.

Faith

Tiffany remained active at First Covenant Church and served in the nursery ministry. Her gift of listening and presence was used by the Holy Spirit in myriads of ways. In addition to her profession, she was able to walk alongside her friends who were in need of company or were in crisis. In June, Calvin was chrismated in the Greek Orthodox Church. Besides being able to participate fully during communion, he also began practicing the Orthodox fast, as well as praying, Bible reading, and participating in the sacrament of confession.

Through the People in Need charitable project, Calvin fundraised to support refugee families and children in Lebanon. This year is particularly tough as Israel entered into war with the Hezbollah, making it very difficult for many who have already struggled since the Syrian Civil War 10 years ago. After serving on the board for 6 years, Calvin stepped down as the chair at Project Peace of the East Bay. He will begin serving on the parish council of the Greek Orthodox Church which he currently attends as well as in their welcome ministry.