Monday, October 31, 2011

not a bad Halloween...

Halloween was pretty nice.

The festivities started on Friday with "Diwaloween" at Cisco. Because Diwali and Halloween are so close together this year, the TelePresence team had a joint celebration. There was food and music, and some people even got up to dance. I've posted pictures and videos from the event online.

Cisco hosted a costume contest this afternoon as today is Halloween. From what I've heard, the company has never done anything like this before. It was definitely nice for change. I didn't dress up but enjoyed seeing other people's costumes.

Dad later had two business associates over for dinner. Mom made good food as usual - click here to see what we ate. This wasn't a Halloween party per se as the timing was purely coincidental, but everyone still had a great time. I later passed out candy to the kids, something I hadn't done in 11 years. Here are the stats for those curious:

Total trick-or-treaters: 45
First arrival: 6:45 p.m.
Last arrival: 8:57 p.m.
Candy given out: 46 pieces

So yeah, Halloween was pretty fun. It just might become one of my favorite holidays again. :-)

In other news...

Dad took us to the Nimbus Fish Hatchery and Nevada City two Saturdays ago. The fall foliage in Nevada City was beautiful. The best part was having coffee and dessert at a café before hiking some local trails. It was an amazing day trip. You can go here for the pictures.

Saturday, October 15, 2011

first company picnic in 11 years!

Today was exciting as my staffing agency had its annual family picnic. The Armada Group always puts on awesome events, this one being no exception. I hadn't been to a company picnic in over 11 years and was quite looking forward to this.

The event was held at John D. Morgan Park in Campbell. It scheduled to start an hour before noon, but we figured few people would show up at 11 a.m. sharp. Although the crowd was smaller than we expected, most of the people from the spring party came. I enjoyed reconnecting with them and meeting their families.

All of the food was delicious. There was a balloon artist and an inflatable castle as the event was geared towards families with children. This brought back many childhood memories. Though my parents felt out of place due to everyone else bringing their kids instead, the three of us overall had fun.

The weather was pretty hot for this time of the year. However, relief came in the form of an ice cream man who saw the business potential. I couldn't resist the temptation and bought an ice cream cup - another thing I hadn't done in ages.

Also worth mentioning is that our recruiting manager Crystal later invited me to join her in the bouncy house. I initially balked at the idea due to my age but acquiesced after Crystal revealed she was a year older than me. Oh, to be young again!

On the whole, the picnic rocked. It was like a throwback to my childhood. I can't wait to see what other things the Armada Group has planned. In the meantime, feel free to check out my pictures on Flickr. Another guest named Douglass has made a slide show of the event - you can view that on YouTube.

Currently listening to: William Tell Overture

Monday, October 10, 2011

happy 26th birthday to me!

I'm now 26 years old. Gosh, time flies.

So my mother made a green tea cake to share with my co-workers at Cisco. It's no surprise that everyone loved the cake because everything Mom makes is absolutely delicious. I didn't actually tell anyone it was my birthday in order to keep a low profile, but some people figured it out anyway - which I didn't deny.

The best part was when my parents took me to Fiesta Del Mar in Mountain View for dinner. The food was pretty good when we went there for my 17th birthday and didn't disappoint this time either. The cool thing is that we even sat at the same table!

Considering that we don't go out on Mondays too often, I can't help but feel like it's the weekend. One thing for sure is that it's going to be a long four days. :\