Category Archives: Disney

My family and I are HUGE Disney freaks; so very much of our lives revolved around the Disney culture and the Disney experience. This is where we share the love.

Standard

Posted by

Posted on

March 21, 2020

Posted under

Disney, Just Saying...

10 Year Anniversary: Life Tile Achievement, Disney World, and Social Distancing

Yes, 10 years ago — it all happened 🙂

*Bad-Dink!* — 10 Years Married
LIFE TILE ACHIEVED.
We were supposed to go on a two week vacation — well 10 days. Something like this not to unlike this…?

Then… this happened…

COVID-19 … aka: Coronavirus

And then, sadly… all of this:

Which meant… our 10 year anniversary trip to Disney World which had literally been 10 years in the making… was cancelled.
Social Distancing Began…
Wait… one meter??? They said 6 feet… ?
Where… if you got lucky, the aforementioned achievement now became a game of…
Which fortunately, at least in California… you were allowed to do so long as you stayed 6 feet away from folks.

Nevertheless… while disappointed, we were determined not to be defeated by the happenings. So, this is how it all went down.

1. My First True Straight Razor Shave

Why not? I had been shaving with a straight razor shavette for a while; and, felt it was appropriate to be cleanly shaven for my anniversary. Wifey likes. Hint to the wise, be what wifey likes 😉

In any case, having been shaving with a shavette for about a year and half, I felt it was high time to invest in a high quality straight razor and all the accoutrements — brush, bowl, canvas and leather strops, and pyramid of whetstone grits… after all, I wasn’t going to send in the razor… I was going to be my own honemeister — especially having a side hobby of sharpening knives and axeheads, why not???

And, I must say… it was a joy and a success. No cuts!

2. Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse… I mean, Take House… I mean, Take OUT

We WERE going to have Teppan in Japan, ECPOT, Disney World. But yeah… NOPE! So, we did the next best thing which had become a micro-tradition for us: Ruth’s Chris.

And, truth be told: We were in it for the Creme Brûlée.

As I ordered everything over the phone, stuff was ridiculously half off for most orders. In retrospect, that was because 1/2 the experience at the restaurant is truly the plating. So, Chilean Sea Bass… 1/2 off — and also really made realize I just prefer fish raw. Sushi is my kind of seafood.

A bunch of sides… 1/2 off. Bone in Filet Mignon. THEN, two orders of Creme Brûlée. Half Off. Weird, right?

Well… that’s because they don’t have any plating or containers for the dessert… so it was 50% OFF…… served as a “bless their hearts” trying Creme Brûlée in a Cup… well, takeout box… all smashed up .. LOL. meh. what are you doing to do?

Answer: NOTHING.

3. “We did nothing, we did NOTHING!”

A hilarious bit by John Mulaney… we did nothing. Life has been so ridiculously busy. It was actually a spiritual reprieve to just be… to rest… to be still.

4. Play with Nathan for hours.

I’m not even kidding on this one. We’ve been playing for HOURS. I’ve been exhausted lol… it’s striking how much energy children have, how vibrant their imagination is, and how genius they can be in their thought.

I was also reminded of this one meme I came across… and, has since changed my ideation of “PLAY” forever. And so… we played. For hours 🙂

5. No Disney, No Cry!

Because… we have Disney+. LOL, but really… I have been quite up and down since coming to terms with the fact that our epic 10 year anniversary trip is dashed… ours and everyone else. And yeah… I’ve seen that Canadian kid. But, I’m not Canadian (and unlike popular opinion)… I’m not that nice! hah.

But, one night, I was browsing Disney+ content and found this “Melody Time” medley and stumbled across a wonderful bit that I had plum forgotten — Johnny Appleseed.

I cried. No seriously… it made me cry and remember how much I truly have to be thankful for.

Then… it reminded me of the other day, watching X-Men The Animated Series… content which was DECADES ahead of its time. That and Star Trek TNG. Trust me on that one, I think it’s still on Amazon Prime.

Oh, and… I hadn’t really known it but I was honored and pleasantly surprised to be named a Top Dad Blogger 2020. I know, right?!

Down for some lessons learned? Down?? DOWN!!!

LESSONS LEARNED

1. Wait For Nothing

I am so blessed — even relieved… that we took that spur of the moment trip to Disney World as a family, and, that we recently had gone to Disneyland AND was able to (through a very generous series of events) experience Rise of the Resistance. Yeah… we did, it happened, and it was amazing. #SorryNotSorry

This even ties in with getting my straight razor. With the COVID-19 situation, shipping has gone to putt… unless it’s deemed essential, you won’t be getting your purchases for WEEKS…. not the usual 24-48 hours you’re accustomed to.

Want swag? Get it. It’ll be gone. They won’t make any more. We see this happen all the time at Disney Parks.

Want to achieve something, work up to something, try something out? Start now… RIGHT NOW. If anything, write it down in a piece of paper and tape it to your refrigerator.

If you write it down, you’ll be that much more likely to do it.

2. It Takes Strength To Be Kind

For reference, click here to view this Instagram story I posted. TLDR…er. Watch..??… it was about me buying a basket of food for someone who needed it. The amount of shock to kindness received was reward enough. It was my turn to be kind.

I can only imagine how the world would benefit in this outbreak of COVID-19 in such a time when fear is running amok, kindness would be that much more wonderful.

PARTICULARLY during a night where I was broken by the news of Racist Attacks Against Asians Continue to Rise as the Coronavirus Threat Grows: Countries worldwide are reporting an uptick in assaults against citizens of Asian descent. Yeah yeah… I know, it’s People Magazine. But, I dare you — Google it. It’s corroborated by many outlets… and, please remember…. I have quite a bit of mixed heritage.

At risk of hijacking my own thoughts… let’s just end this all with: Be Kind. Be Generous. Give Often.

3. Resilient. Relentless. Resolved.

The world is a rough place. Life isn’t fair. People aren’t always nice. And, there’s but a small group of people you can truly count on to watch your back.

Therefore: Be resilient in your walk. Be relentless in your pursuits. Be resolved to finish your path.

I teach my son as much and as often as I can about grit. I told him…

Grit: “Never give up. Finish the job.”

—Daddy In The Raw

LOL, yeah I just quoted myself. Common, you all know that I like to be happy. I like liking things — I have 90 minutes of me fanboying out and saying so, right here on the Duck Legs Podcast: Life Lessons from Star Wars & TROS Review with Dr. Ben Fung & Dr. Scotty Butcher [E].

Final random “dad” ideas…

During this time when we all seemed to be shelter in place…

ONE: I was thinking of doing a regular dad hour…. eh… dad 10 minutes broadcast/video-podcast/raw thoughts. Daddy In The Raw Food For Thought? LOL… yeah it’s late and it’s been a week… we’ll come up with a better name for this hair-brained-idea.

And, TWO: I was thinking about taking up comedy. I realized in all my public speaking, I tend to embed quite a bit of humor… dad jokes…… I got a great one regarding body chills, but, I’m not allowed to tell it (yet).

Standard

Posted by

Posted on

February 20, 2020

Posted under

Disney, Geek-Out!, How I Got Here, Making Ends Meet: Finance, Failure, and Freaking Out, Uncategorized

2020: Return of the Dad Blog

Historically, this blog has pretty much been an open journal to any who wishes to read it.

It started when I started on this work-at-home lifestyle.

I have a LOT of posts that I’ve pretty much hidden away… unsure of how public I wanted these parenting thoughts to be… well, enough of that. They are going public and very soon!

All that said, I want to thank a singular vocal supporter and his response to my announcement that I’m bringing Daddy In The Raw back:

Original Post

Soooooo! We begin. Many of these thoughts will come unfiltered. Some may be shocking. Others might even be *gasp* “controversial” — whatever they are… they are real, honest, true, and sincere. They are certainly imperfect. They may even change over time. But, that’s what this blog is all about — chronicling this chosen path of mine in hope that it may be uplifting to those who read it.

That’s all for now. See you at the next one!
-Ben

Standard

Posted by

Posted on

June 17, 2019

Posted under

Disney, Geek-Out!, How I Got Here, Making Ends Meet: Finance, Failure, and Freaking Out, Uncategorized

Confirming Moments For A Work At Home Dad

Plus, a bunch of other happenings and updates’ish.

Moment #1: A man makes his way out of the dining hall to say…

It was December 22nd, 2018. We had all gathered together, several branches of our nuclear paternal family, to meet together for an early Christmas dinner and visit with my grandparents.

Sadly, at this stage, they haven’t been doing that well and have been needing a lot of help — physically, emotionally, mentally. I guess, it’s normal. And, it’s normal for me to just feel a bit down and sad about the situation. Watching loved ones age and age out of their own self… it’s rough.

Well, during our dinner — somewhere towards the end of the meal; at where my grandparents are living we eat a large dining hall. There was a resident who stood up in the middle of this dining hall and made his way out and over to talk to me.

I mean… I’m in my mid-30s… I shouldn’t have any feelings of precariousness or worry when folks approach me. Right?

Well… that’s not even close to true. I totally thought he was going to confront me about something I did wrong that I wasn’t even aware of.

LOL! Oi… FORTUNATELY…. he came up to me (and, mind you… he’s significantly taller than me and is my senior — which automatically positions him with respect in my mind)… and, he says to me:

“You’re a good father.”

Then, this man looked at Nathan, pointed to him as he locked eyes with my boy and he said:

“You have have a really good dad.”

He had been quietly observing my interactions with Nathan throughout this entire dinner. And, during this time, Nathan and I were playing, snuggling, joking, laughing, and generally enjoying each other in the best ways we know how.

So, Yes… it’s good to remember how and why I came down this insane startup entrepreneur, traveling speaker, social media connecting, work at home path.

Moment #2: My son wants to grow up to be a daddy.

I like to have conversations about the future with my son. I do this regularly when we drive together, just me and him; and, when we play together — typically some imaginary Star Wars, Avengers, Legos, or dinosaur oriented game.

I asked Nathan one day:

Nathan… what do you want to be when you grow up?

In the past, he’s said paleontologist, kid chef (as in Master Chef Junior), a firefighter, a police officer, an airplane pilot… What was his answer? AND… has been his answer for the last several months?

I want to grow up and be a daddy.

—said Nathan

Nathan wants to be me. I didn’t think about this much until I talked about this with my wife. Christina’s insight was incredible. She said something to the effect that:

Kids typically want to grow up and become what their parents profession is or was at the time.

Your son wants to become a dad. That is who you are to him and that is the profession you embody. Not a doctor, not a business owner, not a marketer — a Daddy.

—Christina Fung, Super Mom & Hero Wife

Moment #3: Daddy, Show Some Grit!

I had this really telling conversation with a bunch of great colleagues… extended family, really, of the Physical Therapy profession (#PTfam) — this conversation happened in Chicago during the American Physical Therapy Association’s NEXT conference of 2019 — which I just had returned from… (which will be expanded on in Moment #4)

So, here’s the backdrop: One day years ago, I came across some stunning wrist pain — humbling to say the least. After all, what Physical Therapist can’t “cure their own pain?”

Me.

LOL! Yeah… it was humbling and actually got in the way of me doing push ups, doing certain movements in Jiu Jitsu, didn’t really hinder my Muay Thai — but did change the way I got in and out of bed, and, on and off the floor. It was an annoyance I learned to otherwise live with and had tried to self-treat many times… to no avail.

WELL…. I was sharing this story with my #PTfam and we’re all clinical geeks, of course. And, I was telling them that if there’s one thing I could impart upon my son as a life skill… I want it to be GRIT. (more on this in a TED talk, linked and embedded below)

We all knew what I meant by “grit.” And, the situation unfolded where I wanted to try push ups again this Spring of 2019. I had just spent several days teaching and reciting with Nathan…

What is Grit?

Never give up. Finish the job.

Well.. this time, Nathan was watching me try some push ups and I stopped and flicked my wrist in pain. I said, “Ah… ouch.”

Nathan looked at me with focused and determined eyes… he said to me:

Daaaaaad… Show Some GRIT!

I had no choice. I had to do it. So, after a few more fairly painful reps… the pain in my left wrist went away. Annnnnd… it has not yet come back. In fact, I’m back to doing sets of push ups and even did a few sets in my hotel room in Chicago at the conference. There’s a bunch of science on how and why this happened… but, we won’t get into that today 🙂

In any case, if you want to learn more about grit and how it’s the SINGULAR PREDICTOR of a student’s (and, perhaps… a person’s) future success… Check out this clip — it’s queued up 😉

Moment #4: Debating on a national platform.

So… on to #4. Many of you reading this know that I was one of the Oxford Debate captains on topic of social media at the 2019 APTA NEXT conference in Chicago.

It was a HUGE honor.

Every year, this conference hosts a debate that’s a blend of a stage show as much as it is a statement within the profession with aims of bringing up points from both sides of the resolution / argument — to provoke critical thought, that those who may have started out in support or in opposition might even switch sides by the end of the experience.

Well… it wasn’t so much the entire conference experience that was my Moment #4 as much as it was leading up to the conference. I hadn’t gone on business travels for quite some time since the last one, and so, my son didn’t need to deal with the emotional facts of me leaving in recent months’ memory.

As the day for my initial flight approached, poor Nathan got more and more attached to me and kept telling him how much he’d miss me. Of course, I told him why I had to travel for work and how important the platform is — that being asked in an immense honor and privilege.

In any case, I went on to ask him what he wanted me to bring back to him from the trip.

His response was too sweet:

I just want you daddy… and, a toy!

Because, I always bring him back some type of souvenir from the airports I visit. LOL! Apparently, his receptive love language right now is Gifts.

It’s not so much what he said, but how he said it — he wasn’t impressed by my position nor station, he yearned for my return and to receive the expression of love he feels is most tangible at his age and for this circumstance.

It may seem small, but having your kid want you around is a huge deal to me — it tells me I’m doing something right, that he is covetous of his time with me — which means, that I’m spending the right type of time with him…. and, I hope to only do more of this in the days to come 🙂

And, now… a bunch of stuff from Instagram.

PS. Don’t miss the really sweet moments of the “Secret Swing” video at the bottom 😉

LAST, AND CERTAINLY NOT LEAST…

I suppose this is just one big tell all post for me to journal for me, for me to chronicle for Nathan… and, for those of you looking to embark on a journey like ours… that it’s possible, it’s enjoyable, it’s not always certain… but, it IS certainly worth it 🙂

Standard

Posted by

Posted on

July 24, 2017

Posted under

Disney, Man Hour

Nathan Turns Four Years Old (and, some other stuff!)

I’m ridiculously embarrassed to see how infrequent I’ve been posting here. #NoExcuses

Nevertheless, it’s a good time to share some good times. Here’s a snippet:

  1. I’ve been trying out this Modified Ketogenic Sports Diet
  2. I got my 1st armband promotion for Muay Thai
  3. Nathan turned four years old
  4. And… woke up at 3am last night and got violently sick… threw up everywhere 🙁

Dad Fit

So, the general idea of the “Keto diet” is that you are changing the way your body burns calories. Instead of just calories in vs. calories out, the keto approach is burning the right calories out. In this case, the theory goes that our bodies process high carb diets to a detrimental fashion with blood sugar spikes, insulin issues, type II diabetes, etc.

The keto approach lowers the caloric profile while satisfying the body’s nutritional needs with higher calorie profile fat and carbs; and, within the approach I was following, as long as I held to my macros (ration of macro nutrients broken down by carbs v fats v proteins, I was good to eat whatever throughout the day).

BTW. My macros were <30g carbs; 120+ fat; 120- proteins. No cheat days for 7 weeks. The first week was AWFUL. I felt like I had no energy whatsoever. I lost 8lbs in 10 days, all water weight. Then, the weeks passed by and started noticing a rapid decline in my waistline, losing two belt loops within 4-5 weeks.

Due to Nathan’s birthday festivities, I’ve given myself a small break. However, I will be jumping back on this diet soon after.

Muay Thai

You all know I’ve been studying Brazilian Jiu Jitsu at Rebellion Martial Arts. Well, around April of this year (2017), my professor/instructor/coach, Jeff Baldwin, was able to open up a Muay Thai program under the World Thai Boxing Association flag. As a Jeet Kune Do instructor, he’s also studied Muay Thai for many years… it’s just never become a formal element at Rebellion ’til recently.

I was also privileged to attend a recent seminar held by Ajarn Chai, the founder of the World Thai Boxing Association.

All together, I’m loving the Muay Thai experience and hope to dedicate myself to getting some form of assistant instructorship in the coming years.

This will be amazing ?!! Come join us for the best Muay Thai training with an amazing teacher!

A post shared by Nathan Archambault (@ng_archambault) on

The Boy Is Four

 

From Nathan’s epic #birthday at #Disneyland. #DisneylandAP #dadblogger

A post shared by DrBenFung, Work@?Dad (@daddyintheraw) on


It’s CRAZY how fast time flies. Suffice to say, Nathan is four and he’s a big boy now. AND… He’s apparently tall enough to ride all but two of the big kid rides at Disneyland.

Yup, on his actual birthday, we went on Star Tours where Nate was the secret rebel spy!

E-PIC! There was a lot more to the day; but, that’s family times 🙂

My Boy Got Sick 🙁

And, then… last night at 3am, Nate woke up violently sick and threw up… everywhere. And, this kept happening. Over… and, over. The poor kid was a total champ. He’s always been so brave and emotionally contained, particularly when he should be freaking out. LOL, which means he freaks out over nothing from time to time. It’s a balance 😉

What my wife and I learned last night is that teamwork best happens not when everyone member has the same role. No. It’s best when each team member has specific responsibilities that compliment the situation and each other — that way, you’re not redundantly strong nor redundantly weak;  your bases are covered and your family is cared for.

#OhAndNateLeftMeASixFootVomitTrail #IveBecomeAMasterAtCarpetCleaning

Oh, yes… in the meantime, I’ve been traveling all over the place, booked to speak at multiple conference — even an NIH sponsored event. It’s kinda crazy that all this is working out. But, it’s almost expected with the support I have from my family, friends, business partners, an encouraging collegial community, and my rebel-fam at Rebellion Martial Arts… a special shoutout because they mean the world to me!