Happy 2010

Time certainly flies. It was 10 years ago when we celebrated the year 2000 with the Liangs. I remember checking to make sure my Asus laptop was still working afterwards. Has it really been a whole decade?

Speaking of which, 2010 sounds so futuristic. I can't believe we still don't have force fields, anti-gravity drives or plasma guns!

New Year's Eve report

I'm currently in Chicago on a trip to see relatives and visit some schools. This was our first time spending New Year's Eve away from home. After taking us and my uncle Peter to downtown Chicago, Dad invited his extended family to dinner at the Lee Wing Wah Restaurant in Chinatown. The plan was to take a walk around the area after making the reservation, but the freezing weather quickly changed our minds. So we headed straight to the restaurant to wait for our guests.

There was so much food that I was full in no time. Just as we were getting ready to leave, my parents noticed that my aunt Sue had secretly picked up the tab. That made us feel guilty because we were supposed to pay for dinner. *blush*

Da-Wei invited us to his house in Darien after the meal. I got to play Ninja Gaiden II on the Xbox 360 and hang out with my cousins Eric and William - things I wanted to do on our last visit but didn't get the chance to. Everyone then gathered to watch the countdown as midnight approached. The evening couldn't have been better.

It's too bad we couldn't stay long afterwards as we have to catch a flight to New York City in a few hours. I'm actually a little sad about leaving Chicago so soon.

2009 in review

I'll start by saying that 2009 wasn't a good year. The economic recession definitely affected all of us. The fact that Dad took a pay cut in January didn't help the issue. It also sucks that we lost Michael Jackson - he was one of my favorite celebrities. On a more personal level, my uncle Harrison died in April as did my grandfather Ching-Shang in September.

But the past year had its merits. The best part was getting a 200 mW green laser for free. That was a dream come true as I've always wanted a high-powered laser. Another highlight was finishing college last summer. Graduating from Berkeley was no easy job!

I'm extremely excited about what the future has to offer. On the subject of which, my New Year's resolutions for 2010 are to do well in graduate school and improve my patience. At any rate, I should probably get going as we have to get up around 6 a.m. to catch our plane.

I'll post a full trip report when we get home. In the meantime, click here to see what we ate for dinner. I was preoccupied with Ninja Gaiden II and forgot to take pictures at Da-Wei's house. Oh well. *facepalm*

Update: The complete trip report has been posted.

Currently playing: Ninja Gaiden II