I'll probably be very busy this summer as I just started a research project on machine learning for genomics. However, my family had a nice 4th of July as we invited the Hsuehs over for lunch at our house.
It was our turn to return the favor as the last time we had seen the Hsuehs was at their place. Alan didn't come this time as he was his other friends, but all of us enjoyed Mom's amazing food and the lively atmosphere. Of note is that Aaron is a professor at the Stanford University Medical Center and was able to suggest some research directions. I truly appreciate his help.
In any case, my hope is that my current research could be used as a topic for my thesis should I successfully apply for the Ph.D. program at UCSC. Here's to hoping for a productive summer. :D
Currently listening to: Donkey Kong Country 2 soundtrack – "Stickerbrush Symphony" by David Wise
Showing posts with label holidays. Show all posts
Showing posts with label holidays. Show all posts
Sunday, July 5, 2026
Monday, May 25, 2026
a highly anticipated Memorial Day lunch
I was pretty busy up to yesterday due to assignments for all my classes. For one, there is both a paper and a regular homework assignment for ECE 204 due on a weekly basis. I also had to work on my final project for CSE 239B and a homework assignment for ECE 250. However, the highlight of the Memorial Day long weekend is we had a nice lunch with Prof. Kang and Prof. Eshraghian at a restaurant in downtown Santa Cruz called the Walnut Avenue Café.
Both professors had been very supportive when I decided to apply to UCSC, and we figured this was the perfect way to return the favor. For those unaware, Prof. Kang used to be the Baskin Engineering dean in the 2010s. Dad had had told me about him many times, but this was my first time meeting him in person. We also invited their significant others — both named Mia — at Prof. Kang's suggestion. Mom and Prof. Eshraghian's partner — whom we affectionally called Mia #2 — quickly became good friends as they had a lot in common.
Of note is the Walnut Avenue Café was very crowded. Because we were told the wait time would be about 45 minutes, our party decided to head to the nearby 11th Hour Coffee in the meantime. We got our coffee and returned to the café just in time to be seated. Even there was a lot of people, the food didn't take too long to arrive. I ordered a bleu cheese burger, and it turned out to be delicious.
Our plan was to get together last September, but we had to cancel because it conflicted with my graduate student orientation. At the time, my concern was that this would give Prof. Eshraghian the wrong message that I was trying to bribe him for a better grade. I guess things worked out perfectly in the end. On the whole, everyone had a great time. I definitely look forward to more get-togethers like this one. :-)
Currently listening to: "Orion Keygentune 2003" by Dualtrax
Both professors had been very supportive when I decided to apply to UCSC, and we figured this was the perfect way to return the favor. For those unaware, Prof. Kang used to be the Baskin Engineering dean in the 2010s. Dad had had told me about him many times, but this was my first time meeting him in person. We also invited their significant others — both named Mia — at Prof. Kang's suggestion. Mom and Prof. Eshraghian's partner — whom we affectionally called Mia #2 — quickly became good friends as they had a lot in common.
Of note is the Walnut Avenue Café was very crowded. Because we were told the wait time would be about 45 minutes, our party decided to head to the nearby 11th Hour Coffee in the meantime. We got our coffee and returned to the café just in time to be seated. Even there was a lot of people, the food didn't take too long to arrive. I ordered a bleu cheese burger, and it turned out to be delicious.
Our plan was to get together last September, but we had to cancel because it conflicted with my graduate student orientation. At the time, my concern was that this would give Prof. Eshraghian the wrong message that I was trying to bribe him for a better grade. I guess things worked out perfectly in the end. On the whole, everyone had a great time. I definitely look forward to more get-togethers like this one. :-)
Currently listening to: "Orion Keygentune 2003" by Dualtrax
Monday, April 6, 2026
first Easter egg hunt in 28 years!
Some background: the last time I went on an Easter egg hunt was about 26 years ago, back when I was in sixth grade. I felt I was getting too old for them and only attended the one at the Morgan Center. But this was one thing from my childhood that I really missed. Participating in virtual egg hunts in RuneScape just isn't the same. I know some places have adult Easter egg hunts, but I was never able to find one near me.
In any case, there was an Easter egg hunt today at UCSC's Graduate Student Commons. I didn't want to be too greedy and only picked up two eggs because there weren't that many laying around and that they all had the same items. However, this was still a pretty egg-citing experience. It definitely brought back some childhood memories!
Currently listening to: "Bright Eyes" by Art Garfunkel
In any case, there was an Easter egg hunt today at UCSC's Graduate Student Commons. I didn't want to be too greedy and only picked up two eggs because there weren't that many laying around and that they all had the same items. However, this was still a pretty egg-citing experience. It definitely brought back some childhood memories!
Currently listening to: "Bright Eyes" by Art Garfunkel
Wednesday, February 18, 2026
a great Lunar New Year + meeting some famous people!
We had a good weekend as our family friends Jeff and Sheila invited us to a Lunar New Year lunch on Sunday at their house. Our last time celebrating the Lunar New Year with others was six years ago, so this was nice for a change. Another highlight is I got to meet a few famous people this week at UCSC. :-)
I was pretty busy during the weekend as I had a homework assignment for my error control coding class. However, the good news is I managed to finish the assignment shortly before we left for Jeff and Sheila's place. It's nice to not have to worry about ECE 255 while enjoying the company of our friends. Jeff and Sheila made lots of good food like they always do. We couldn't stay long afterwards because I needed to head back to campus, but this weekend was overall enjoyable.
Of note is I got to meet two well-known people this week so far. For starters, Grant Sanderson — better known as 3Blue1Brown — came to UC Santa Cruz on the 17th to give a lecture. I admittedly had no idea who he was, but he runs a well-known YouTube channel with over eight million subscribers. I really appreciate that Prof. Eshraghian told us about this event and rescheduled the ECE 210 lecture so that they don't conflict with each other. For those curious, Grant's lecture was about deriving the surface area and volume of an n-sphere. It was pretty cool for sure.
Former actress and model Kaila Yu also gave a talk at UCSC earlier today. She mainly discussed the objectification of Asian women in today's culture, but she also talked about her book Fetishized and gave away signed copies to those in attendance. Even though I wasn't familiar with her either, this was also a neat experience. One great thing about UCSC is there are many opportunities to meet interesting people. I'm certainly looking forward to similar events in the future.
Currently listening to: "Have You Ever Seen the Rain" by Creedence Clearwater Revival
I was pretty busy during the weekend as I had a homework assignment for my error control coding class. However, the good news is I managed to finish the assignment shortly before we left for Jeff and Sheila's place. It's nice to not have to worry about ECE 255 while enjoying the company of our friends. Jeff and Sheila made lots of good food like they always do. We couldn't stay long afterwards because I needed to head back to campus, but this weekend was overall enjoyable.
Of note is I got to meet two well-known people this week so far. For starters, Grant Sanderson — better known as 3Blue1Brown — came to UC Santa Cruz on the 17th to give a lecture. I admittedly had no idea who he was, but he runs a well-known YouTube channel with over eight million subscribers. I really appreciate that Prof. Eshraghian told us about this event and rescheduled the ECE 210 lecture so that they don't conflict with each other. For those curious, Grant's lecture was about deriving the surface area and volume of an n-sphere. It was pretty cool for sure.
Former actress and model Kaila Yu also gave a talk at UCSC earlier today. She mainly discussed the objectification of Asian women in today's culture, but she also talked about her book Fetishized and gave away signed copies to those in attendance. Even though I wasn't familiar with her either, this was also a neat experience. One great thing about UCSC is there are many opportunities to meet interesting people. I'm certainly looking forward to similar events in the future.
Currently listening to: "Have You Ever Seen the Rain" by Creedence Clearwater Revival
Thursday, January 1, 2026
another quiet New Year's Eve + a look back at 2025
As you can probably guess, my New Year's Eve was the same as last time. We hadn't hosted or attended a party on the 31st in over a decade, and things were no different this year. However, last night wasn't too bad otherwise as I got to watch The Batman vs. Dracula on YouTube Movies. It seems that superhero movies have become a new tradition for New Year's Eve. I also did my dailies in RuneScape while waiting for the Times Square ball drop and the countdown to midnight on local channels. Looks like some things never change. :-)
It's true that most people just want to stay home these days. For example, this article from Real Simple says only around 24% of people are interested in New Year's Eve parties. So at least I'm not missing out on much. But man... I still miss the feeling of counting down the seconds with friends. Doing it online just isn't the same.
Of note is my cousin Cathy does like to celebrate the New Year. We couldn't see each other last night as she already had plans with someone else, but the good news is we did get to have her over for dinner on Christmas. She also says she'd love to celebrate New Year's Eve with us next time. It's certainly something I'm looking forward to.
2025 in review
On the whole, I'd say 2025 wasn't too bad of a year. Getting accepted into graduate school at UC Santa Cruz was one of the best things to happen to me, and I already had a great first quarter. I'm confident that I can complete the program and graduate on time.
For me, the worst part is that I developed a major toothache during the summer. I had to wait a while to get it checked out because the dentist was booked pretty far ahead. It turned out I had a huge cavity and needed a root canal done. I then had to wait one more week for the procedure, and then another two weeks for the crown to be made. Because the temporary crown was fragile, the dentist told me to only chew on the other side until the crown was replaced with the permanent one.
Around the same time, a tooth on the other side also started to hurt because the old filling had cracked. I could not eat "normally" until both the new filling and crown were in place. It was a miserable two months, not to mention the huge bills because I didn't have dental insurance.
Furthermore, the economy hasn't gotten much better. Food prices are still on the rise, and that's probably the reason we didn't have our annual block party last year. I mean... parties aren't fun without food and drinks.
However, the good news is that many people are saying that 2026 is going to be a great year. I really hope that's the case. On a related note, I've decided to go back to New Year's resolutions because my predictions for 2025 completely failed. So for this year, my goal is to complete my master's program at UCSC by summer. It's going to be a challenge for sure, but nothing is impossible. :-)
Currently watching: The Batman vs. Dracula
It's true that most people just want to stay home these days. For example, this article from Real Simple says only around 24% of people are interested in New Year's Eve parties. So at least I'm not missing out on much. But man... I still miss the feeling of counting down the seconds with friends. Doing it online just isn't the same.
Of note is my cousin Cathy does like to celebrate the New Year. We couldn't see each other last night as she already had plans with someone else, but the good news is we did get to have her over for dinner on Christmas. She also says she'd love to celebrate New Year's Eve with us next time. It's certainly something I'm looking forward to.
2025 in review
On the whole, I'd say 2025 wasn't too bad of a year. Getting accepted into graduate school at UC Santa Cruz was one of the best things to happen to me, and I already had a great first quarter. I'm confident that I can complete the program and graduate on time.
For me, the worst part is that I developed a major toothache during the summer. I had to wait a while to get it checked out because the dentist was booked pretty far ahead. It turned out I had a huge cavity and needed a root canal done. I then had to wait one more week for the procedure, and then another two weeks for the crown to be made. Because the temporary crown was fragile, the dentist told me to only chew on the other side until the crown was replaced with the permanent one.
Around the same time, a tooth on the other side also started to hurt because the old filling had cracked. I could not eat "normally" until both the new filling and crown were in place. It was a miserable two months, not to mention the huge bills because I didn't have dental insurance.
Furthermore, the economy hasn't gotten much better. Food prices are still on the rise, and that's probably the reason we didn't have our annual block party last year. I mean... parties aren't fun without food and drinks.
However, the good news is that many people are saying that 2026 is going to be a great year. I really hope that's the case. On a related note, I've decided to go back to New Year's resolutions because my predictions for 2025 completely failed. So for this year, my goal is to complete my master's program at UCSC by summer. It's going to be a challenge for sure, but nothing is impossible. :-)
Currently watching: The Batman vs. Dracula
Monday, December 1, 2025
a fairly simple Thanksgiving
I'll start by saying that Thanksgiving was a little different this year. It was the first time since 2021 that my family didn't have anyone over, nor did anyone invite us. However, the upside is it was a lot less work because we didn't have to clean up the house. Even though it was just the three of us, Mom still made us a nice dinner. One thing for sure is the leftovers will last a while.
We went to San Jose on Friday and checked out the fall foliage before going to a Grocery Outlet store. I really like Grocery Outlet because it has so many good deals, and there is always a wide variety of items. Our purchases were limited this time because we don't have that much space in our freezer, but we certainly plan to go back during the holidays. Otherwise, the past four days were uneventful as I mostly studied for the ECE 256 final and comprehensive exams.
This year, I'm thankful that I got the opportunity to go to UC Santa Cruz and continue my graduate studies. I've learned a lot so far, and all the professors are very kind and knowledgeable. UCSC is certainly one of the best schools for sure.
I don't mean to sound unappreciative, but Thanksgiving didn't feel like Thanksgiving this year. As mentioned earlier, there are several upcoming exams that I needed to prepare for. UCSC requires master's students to pass three comprehensive exams, and we are only allowed six attempts, so the stakes are very high. The other reason is that it was just me and my parents this time. Even though we some quality time together, I do sometimes miss having parties with other families.
On the bright side, my cousin Cathy is coming back to the Bay Area in mid-December and plans to stay until after the New Year. I certainly look forward to "properly" celebrating the holidays with her. :-)
Currently listening to: "El Cóndor Pasa (If I Could)" by Simon & Garfunkel
We went to San Jose on Friday and checked out the fall foliage before going to a Grocery Outlet store. I really like Grocery Outlet because it has so many good deals, and there is always a wide variety of items. Our purchases were limited this time because we don't have that much space in our freezer, but we certainly plan to go back during the holidays. Otherwise, the past four days were uneventful as I mostly studied for the ECE 256 final and comprehensive exams.
This year, I'm thankful that I got the opportunity to go to UC Santa Cruz and continue my graduate studies. I've learned a lot so far, and all the professors are very kind and knowledgeable. UCSC is certainly one of the best schools for sure.
I don't mean to sound unappreciative, but Thanksgiving didn't feel like Thanksgiving this year. As mentioned earlier, there are several upcoming exams that I needed to prepare for. UCSC requires master's students to pass three comprehensive exams, and we are only allowed six attempts, so the stakes are very high. The other reason is that it was just me and my parents this time. Even though we some quality time together, I do sometimes miss having parties with other families.
On the bright side, my cousin Cathy is coming back to the Bay Area in mid-December and plans to stay until after the New Year. I certainly look forward to "properly" celebrating the holidays with her. :-)
Currently listening to: "El Cóndor Pasa (If I Could)" by Simon & Garfunkel
Tuesday, May 27, 2025
a nice Memorial Day "staycation"
It's hard to believe Memorial Day has come and gone. For a while, I actually thought it was still mid-May or so. It's often said that time goes by faster as you get older. So true. In any case, our long weekend wasn't too bad.
Friday
I was pretty busy even before the long weekend started. So my father has been building an enclosure in our backyard to protect our fruit trees from birds and rodents, and he needed my help for certain jobs that require two people. However, the nature of this type of work means that times can be unpredictable. What my dad estimated to be a 30-minute job ended up taking up all morning and then some. I could swear I had barely finished breakfast and sat down when it was already 1 p.m.
Gardening can be rewarding but also demanding at times. I was helping my dad put up a wooden beam when it fell and hit me square on the head. Ouch. Good thing it wasn't serious because I've had worse before.
Mom was also busy as she had to prepare a picnic lunch for Saturday's day trip. I also had to help put some cabbage leaves out to dry later in the afternoon as Mom wanted to try out some new recipes for cabbage dishes. We were all a little tired and decided to forgo our daily stroll around the neighborhood. However, that wasn't an issue as I made sure to get plenty of exercise on my own time.
Saturday
Dad decided to take us to Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park as we hadn't been there in a while. We encountered some traffic along the way but still managed to get there on time. I should mention we didn't hike as far as we did last time because we were all a little tired. It's probably because of all the yard work we did the day before.
On the way home, my mom wanted to stop at Nob Hill Foods for groceries. We took the opportunity to get some ice cream as it was a little warm outside. I could hardly believe how much the prices had gone up. For example, Ben & Jerry's was over $7 a pint at the original price. However, there was some Dreyer's ice cream on sale. :-)
Sunday
Some time ago, I received a $25 gift card for Target for attending my health insurer's orientation session. Dad figured this would be a good time to use it up and took us to the new Target store in Sunnyvale. I wanted some snacks but ultimately decided that frozen meals were healthier. It turns out $25 was barely enough for a small pizza and three other items, and all the portions were smaller than the pictures indicate. Food prices are insane these days!
We then went to Costco afterwards. Of note is there is usually a lot of samples around this time of day. This was nice for a change as it's been a while since I went to Costco. It was again past 1 p.m. when we finally had lunch.
Monday
Having done so much in the past few days, I spent much of the time studying for the classes I'll be taking at UC Santa Cruz later this year. There is so much to learn about AI and neural networks. However, I did find some time to play RuneScape and managed to complete the "It Still Should Have Been Called Aetherium" and "Work on Your Artisan II" achievements. It was quite a grind to smith all that armor after mining the required ores.
On the whole, this "staycation" was quite enjoyable. The only downside is I started getting a toothache a few days ago. I certainly hope it's nothing serious. Pretty sure a root canal operation would be unpleasant and expensive.
Currently listening to: "I'm Yours" by Jason Mraz
Friday
I was pretty busy even before the long weekend started. So my father has been building an enclosure in our backyard to protect our fruit trees from birds and rodents, and he needed my help for certain jobs that require two people. However, the nature of this type of work means that times can be unpredictable. What my dad estimated to be a 30-minute job ended up taking up all morning and then some. I could swear I had barely finished breakfast and sat down when it was already 1 p.m.
Gardening can be rewarding but also demanding at times. I was helping my dad put up a wooden beam when it fell and hit me square on the head. Ouch. Good thing it wasn't serious because I've had worse before.
Mom was also busy as she had to prepare a picnic lunch for Saturday's day trip. I also had to help put some cabbage leaves out to dry later in the afternoon as Mom wanted to try out some new recipes for cabbage dishes. We were all a little tired and decided to forgo our daily stroll around the neighborhood. However, that wasn't an issue as I made sure to get plenty of exercise on my own time.
Saturday
Dad decided to take us to Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park as we hadn't been there in a while. We encountered some traffic along the way but still managed to get there on time. I should mention we didn't hike as far as we did last time because we were all a little tired. It's probably because of all the yard work we did the day before.
On the way home, my mom wanted to stop at Nob Hill Foods for groceries. We took the opportunity to get some ice cream as it was a little warm outside. I could hardly believe how much the prices had gone up. For example, Ben & Jerry's was over $7 a pint at the original price. However, there was some Dreyer's ice cream on sale. :-)
Sunday
Some time ago, I received a $25 gift card for Target for attending my health insurer's orientation session. Dad figured this would be a good time to use it up and took us to the new Target store in Sunnyvale. I wanted some snacks but ultimately decided that frozen meals were healthier. It turns out $25 was barely enough for a small pizza and three other items, and all the portions were smaller than the pictures indicate. Food prices are insane these days!
We then went to Costco afterwards. Of note is there is usually a lot of samples around this time of day. This was nice for a change as it's been a while since I went to Costco. It was again past 1 p.m. when we finally had lunch.
Monday
Having done so much in the past few days, I spent much of the time studying for the classes I'll be taking at UC Santa Cruz later this year. There is so much to learn about AI and neural networks. However, I did find some time to play RuneScape and managed to complete the "It Still Should Have Been Called Aetherium" and "Work on Your Artisan II" achievements. It was quite a grind to smith all that armor after mining the required ores.
On the whole, this "staycation" was quite enjoyable. The only downside is I started getting a toothache a few days ago. I certainly hope it's nothing serious. Pretty sure a root canal operation would be unpleasant and expensive.
Currently listening to: "I'm Yours" by Jason Mraz
Wednesday, January 1, 2025
a quarter century into the millennium
One of my most vivid memories was counting down to the year 2000 at our family friend Carol's house. At the time, the biggest concern was that the Y2K problem would cause worldwide chaos. I remember switching on my Windows 95 laptop right after midnight to make sure it could still start up. It's hard to believe it's been 25 years. We are now actually closer to 2030 than 2020. How time flies.
A bittersweet holiday season
So the holidays were a bit of a bummer. We had invited my cousin Cathy and her husband Andrew over for lunch on the 29th and were really looking forward to seeing them for the first time in two years. However, the couple both got sick during the holidays, as did my cousin Connie and her kids. I've been told this flu season has been especially bad. We decided to be safe and reluctantly canceled the get-together. I did get to catch up with Andrew and Cathy over FaceTime instead — which was nice but just wasn't quite the same as meeting in person.
But the holiday season had its highlights. One of my mom's friends in New Jersey sent us some high-quality candied cashews and mixed nuts. Mom did some research and found out those weren't cheap. Our neighbor Bob also gave us a box of See's Candies. We certainly appreciate all the love.
I also reached level 120 Dungeoneering in RuneScape on the 28th. I didn't actually have that much time for RuneScape as I was busy studying for cybersecurity certificates, but the XP rewards from the Christmas event definitely helped. Only four more 120's to go!
New Year's Eve report
Like the past several years, my family didn't host or attend any New Year's Eve parties. People just don't seem interested in celebrating the New Year anymore. It also doesn't help that food is pretty expensive these days. I mean... parties just aren't that fun when there's no food to share!
However, my New Year's Eve wasn't that bad otherwise as I got to watch Shazam! Fury of the Gods with my parents. I personally liked the first movie more, but the sequel definitely had its highlights. We also have a few other movies checked out from the library — those should keep us entertained for a while. :-)
2024 in review
Some say 2024 was a tough year. For one, the economy hasn't really gotten better. Food prices are still increasing and are expected to continue to rise. It also doesn't help that there are major conflicts all over the world.
We also somehow managed to elect Donald Trump again. I tend to avoid political topics, but Trump has certainly done many questionable things during his first presidency. I'm not at all confident that things will be better this time around. It's probably going to be even worse based on what I read about Project 2025. :\
Of course, there have also been personal challenges. For me, the worst thing that happened is that I was rejected in October by a company I had greatly looked up to. I felt I aced the interview and was fairly confident I'd get the job. It's no secret that the job market is extremely competitive, but that stung for a while.
I was also looking forward to a few events that ultimately didn't pan out for one reason or another. As mentioned above, my cousin Cathy and her husband Andrew had planned to come over for lunch. But that didn't happen because they both got sick after catching the flu from my second cousin Desiree. I was also eagerly anticipating the 20-year LAHS class of 2004 reunion. However, that event never progressed beyond the planning stage. It seems people in my generation don't want to meet in person anymore.
Another unfortunate thing that happened is my MSI gaming laptop suddenly died after the PSU went bad and apparently fried the motherboard. I was not immediately able to recover my data because I didn't realize the laptop also had an SSD in addition to a hard drive. It turned out the SSD had survived the power surge. I didn't have to spend a few hundred dollars on a data recovery service, but having to re-install everything on my new laptop set me back several weeks. That was a stressful month for sure.
However, that is not to say 2024 didn't have its good moments. For me, the best part was getting to see the northern lights. It's nice to not have to travel all the way to Alaska or Iceland. I also got some very nice presents for my 39th birthday in October. That was certainly one of my best birthdays in ages!
On towards 2025
A common prediction is 2025 is going to be a bad year as well. It definitely seems like the case so far, especially given what happened this morning in New Orleans. We're also less than three weeks away from Trump's second term. But as John Connor famously said: the future has not been written. We can certainly do our best make 2025 as good of a year as possible.
I'm also going to try something a little different this year. Instead of making a New Year's resolution — which I know I'm going to fail — I've decided to share my predictions for 2025. Here's what I think will happen in the near future:
Currently watching: Shazam! Fury of the Gods
A bittersweet holiday season
So the holidays were a bit of a bummer. We had invited my cousin Cathy and her husband Andrew over for lunch on the 29th and were really looking forward to seeing them for the first time in two years. However, the couple both got sick during the holidays, as did my cousin Connie and her kids. I've been told this flu season has been especially bad. We decided to be safe and reluctantly canceled the get-together. I did get to catch up with Andrew and Cathy over FaceTime instead — which was nice but just wasn't quite the same as meeting in person.
But the holiday season had its highlights. One of my mom's friends in New Jersey sent us some high-quality candied cashews and mixed nuts. Mom did some research and found out those weren't cheap. Our neighbor Bob also gave us a box of See's Candies. We certainly appreciate all the love.
I also reached level 120 Dungeoneering in RuneScape on the 28th. I didn't actually have that much time for RuneScape as I was busy studying for cybersecurity certificates, but the XP rewards from the Christmas event definitely helped. Only four more 120's to go!
New Year's Eve report
Like the past several years, my family didn't host or attend any New Year's Eve parties. People just don't seem interested in celebrating the New Year anymore. It also doesn't help that food is pretty expensive these days. I mean... parties just aren't that fun when there's no food to share!
However, my New Year's Eve wasn't that bad otherwise as I got to watch Shazam! Fury of the Gods with my parents. I personally liked the first movie more, but the sequel definitely had its highlights. We also have a few other movies checked out from the library — those should keep us entertained for a while. :-)
2024 in review
Some say 2024 was a tough year. For one, the economy hasn't really gotten better. Food prices are still increasing and are expected to continue to rise. It also doesn't help that there are major conflicts all over the world.
We also somehow managed to elect Donald Trump again. I tend to avoid political topics, but Trump has certainly done many questionable things during his first presidency. I'm not at all confident that things will be better this time around. It's probably going to be even worse based on what I read about Project 2025. :\
Of course, there have also been personal challenges. For me, the worst thing that happened is that I was rejected in October by a company I had greatly looked up to. I felt I aced the interview and was fairly confident I'd get the job. It's no secret that the job market is extremely competitive, but that stung for a while.
I was also looking forward to a few events that ultimately didn't pan out for one reason or another. As mentioned above, my cousin Cathy and her husband Andrew had planned to come over for lunch. But that didn't happen because they both got sick after catching the flu from my second cousin Desiree. I was also eagerly anticipating the 20-year LAHS class of 2004 reunion. However, that event never progressed beyond the planning stage. It seems people in my generation don't want to meet in person anymore.
Another unfortunate thing that happened is my MSI gaming laptop suddenly died after the PSU went bad and apparently fried the motherboard. I was not immediately able to recover my data because I didn't realize the laptop also had an SSD in addition to a hard drive. It turned out the SSD had survived the power surge. I didn't have to spend a few hundred dollars on a data recovery service, but having to re-install everything on my new laptop set me back several weeks. That was a stressful month for sure.
However, that is not to say 2024 didn't have its good moments. For me, the best part was getting to see the northern lights. It's nice to not have to travel all the way to Alaska or Iceland. I also got some very nice presents for my 39th birthday in October. That was certainly one of my best birthdays in ages!
On towards 2025
A common prediction is 2025 is going to be a bad year as well. It definitely seems like the case so far, especially given what happened this morning in New Orleans. We're also less than three weeks away from Trump's second term. But as John Connor famously said: the future has not been written. We can certainly do our best make 2025 as good of a year as possible.
I'm also going to try something a little different this year. Instead of making a New Year's resolution — which I know I'm going to fail — I've decided to share my predictions for 2025. Here's what I think will happen in the near future:
- We will see an improvement in the U.S. job market
- I will get the opportunity to catch up with childhood friends
- Donald Trump will be removed from office. He has already been impeached twice, so maybe the third time's the charm
- I am not going to win a million dollars from the lottery
Currently watching: Shazam! Fury of the Gods
Sunday, December 1, 2024
a productive Thanksgiving break + two major RuneScape achievements
Just wanted I had a pretty good Thanksgiving long weekend.
For starters, my family had a nice party at our house. We invited our family friends Jeff and Sheila over as they had hosted our last get-together. Our family friend Joseph happened to be in town and wanted to visit us, so we were more than happy to have the Tsais join us. Joseph also brought his brother Jeremy over. We didn't get to see Joseph's daughter Claire as she is currently on a trip to Europe, but I'm sure there will be future opportunities to catch up.
Mom made lots of delicious food as she usually does, and Jeff and Sheila also brought some to share. We felt like Jeff and Sheila were the ones hosting the party because they brought so much stuff over. It's been a while since I ate this much at a party. I put on Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny for Jeremy because he seemed a little bored. He told us he enjoyed the movie. On the whole, everyone defintely had a great time.
The three of us watched Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom on Saturday. We also rewatched Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny as we were too busy chatting to pay attention to it during the party. Both were good movies, although we liked Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny a bit more.
I also reached level 120 Slayer in RuneScape last Tuesday and 3,000 skill total on Thursday. 120 Slayer didn't take that long thanks to all the efficient training methods these days, but it was still a grind for sure. I'm level 119 in three other skills and expect to reach 120 early next year. One step closer to the completionist cape. :D
This weekend wasn't all play and no work as I also completed the Google Cybersecurity Certificate on Coursera. The program consists of a series of eight courses offered by Google. It's targeted towards people with no cybersecurity experience, but I still learned a lot from the courses. As you can see, this weekend was quite productive!
I'll end this post by saying I'm very thankful that we have been able to live fairly comfortably despite the current economic situation. This is often not the case for many families. Even though the economy has been terrible for the past year or so, I am still hopeful for the future.
Currently watching: Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
For starters, my family had a nice party at our house. We invited our family friends Jeff and Sheila over as they had hosted our last get-together. Our family friend Joseph happened to be in town and wanted to visit us, so we were more than happy to have the Tsais join us. Joseph also brought his brother Jeremy over. We didn't get to see Joseph's daughter Claire as she is currently on a trip to Europe, but I'm sure there will be future opportunities to catch up.
Mom made lots of delicious food as she usually does, and Jeff and Sheila also brought some to share. We felt like Jeff and Sheila were the ones hosting the party because they brought so much stuff over. It's been a while since I ate this much at a party. I put on Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny for Jeremy because he seemed a little bored. He told us he enjoyed the movie. On the whole, everyone defintely had a great time.
The three of us watched Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom on Saturday. We also rewatched Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny as we were too busy chatting to pay attention to it during the party. Both were good movies, although we liked Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny a bit more.
I also reached level 120 Slayer in RuneScape last Tuesday and 3,000 skill total on Thursday. 120 Slayer didn't take that long thanks to all the efficient training methods these days, but it was still a grind for sure. I'm level 119 in three other skills and expect to reach 120 early next year. One step closer to the completionist cape. :D
This weekend wasn't all play and no work as I also completed the Google Cybersecurity Certificate on Coursera. The program consists of a series of eight courses offered by Google. It's targeted towards people with no cybersecurity experience, but I still learned a lot from the courses. As you can see, this weekend was quite productive!
I'll end this post by saying I'm very thankful that we have been able to live fairly comfortably despite the current economic situation. This is often not the case for many families. Even though the economy has been terrible for the past year or so, I am still hopeful for the future.
Currently watching: Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
Monday, January 1, 2024
a year of many ups and downs
Hope everyone had a great New Year's Eve. It's hard to believe 2024 is already here!
I'll start by saying this has been an eventful holiday season. One highlight is the Hsuehs had us over on Christmas Eve. Lily made us a nice hot pot dinner, and all the food was delicious. It's not often that we get to spend Christmas Eve with other families. I'm grateful the Hsuehs decided to invite us.
Also worth mentioning is that our neighbor Bob gave us a box of See's Candies on Christmas. I didn't expect any Christmas presents, so this was quite nice. It's definitely something I appreciate. We're lucky to have him as our neighbor.
I didn't feel like making a dedicated post about this, but I completed the Wharton School's AI for Decision Making program on the 28th. Unlike the MIT course that I finished in October, this one focused more on the business aspects of artificial intelligence. One nice thing about this program is that it's not time-gated — which means you don't have to wait for a course to unlock on a certain date. I was able to finish all the videos and do the quizzes well before the course is due to end.
Of note is that the Wharton program includes several complementary courses. I spent much of the holidays catching up on the lectures because the courses expire in less than three weeks. It would be a shame to let them to go to waste because they are worth several hundred dollars — and more importantly — cover a lot of concepts. I certainly hope to put that knowledge to good use in my future career.
Dad has also been working on a huge home improvement project in the past several weeks. You see, our street has had a huge rat problem in recent years. Because they often get into our backyard and shit all over the place, my father decided to convert the gazebo — which he built in 2020 — into a greenhouse for storage. This would prevent rats from getting in and making a mess. I occasionally had to help out because there are tasks that require two people. There's still much work left to do, but the greenhouse should keep the rodents out once it's complete.
New Year's Eve
Like the previous nine years, my family did not host or attend any New Year's Eve parties. It seems few people are interested in celebrating the New Year nowadays. I miss the feeling of counting down to midnight with friends. Even though there were some public New Year's Events in downtown Mountain View and elsewhere, hanging out with strangers just isn't the same. It certainly doesn't help that food has gotten pretty expensive.
However, the nice thing I got to watch the 2023 movie The Flash on Blu-ray after dinner. It had over-the-top action as well as some hilarious scenes. I'm a huge Flash fan and really enjoyed the movie despite the critical reviews. Sometimes I think it would be so cool to have super speed.
New Year's Day
Our original plan was to participate in the New Year's Day Pathways Walk in Los Altos Hills. However, this seemed a little risky due to the recent spike in COVID-19 cases. We ultimately decided to play it safe and just go for a walk in our neighborhood.
Otherwise, this has been a busy day as I continued to catch up on the video lectures. I also had to help my dad with the greenhouse every so often. As you can see, this was an eventful two weeks!
2023 in review
You're probably aware that the past year had many challenges. For one, the economy is still in a bad state. The most unfortunate thing that happened to me was I got laid off in June. Even though I started my own data science consulting firm right after leaving Energous, finding customers is not easy either. Hopefully that changes once we have a website.
Another thing is that COVID-19 cases have gone back up. Looks like some people were right about the pandemic lasting more than three years. Furthermore, food has gotten pretty expensive as I mentioned earlier. It's been predicted that prices will continue to rise. Good thing my family has our own vegetable garden.
However, this doesn't mean 2023 didn't have its highlights. Perhaps the most important thing is I've completed two AI certification programs. I'm also around halfway through two others. Those will look good on my resume, that's for sure.
Furthermore, there were many social opportunities last year. For example, the block party in August was pretty fun. We also had several other get-togethers with family friends this summer. Let's hope the trend continues. :D
Of course, no New Year is complete without New Year's resolutions. For those curious, my goal for 2024 is to switch to an AI career. I also hope to get at least two skills to level 120 in RuneScape soon. There are also a few other nice things that are slated to happen this year. For example, Derek — the LAHS class of 2004 president — has started to plan our 20-year reunion. I'm definitely excited for the future!
Currently watching: The Flash (2023)
I'll start by saying this has been an eventful holiday season. One highlight is the Hsuehs had us over on Christmas Eve. Lily made us a nice hot pot dinner, and all the food was delicious. It's not often that we get to spend Christmas Eve with other families. I'm grateful the Hsuehs decided to invite us.
Also worth mentioning is that our neighbor Bob gave us a box of See's Candies on Christmas. I didn't expect any Christmas presents, so this was quite nice. It's definitely something I appreciate. We're lucky to have him as our neighbor.
I didn't feel like making a dedicated post about this, but I completed the Wharton School's AI for Decision Making program on the 28th. Unlike the MIT course that I finished in October, this one focused more on the business aspects of artificial intelligence. One nice thing about this program is that it's not time-gated — which means you don't have to wait for a course to unlock on a certain date. I was able to finish all the videos and do the quizzes well before the course is due to end.
Of note is that the Wharton program includes several complementary courses. I spent much of the holidays catching up on the lectures because the courses expire in less than three weeks. It would be a shame to let them to go to waste because they are worth several hundred dollars — and more importantly — cover a lot of concepts. I certainly hope to put that knowledge to good use in my future career.
Dad has also been working on a huge home improvement project in the past several weeks. You see, our street has had a huge rat problem in recent years. Because they often get into our backyard and shit all over the place, my father decided to convert the gazebo — which he built in 2020 — into a greenhouse for storage. This would prevent rats from getting in and making a mess. I occasionally had to help out because there are tasks that require two people. There's still much work left to do, but the greenhouse should keep the rodents out once it's complete.
New Year's Eve
Like the previous nine years, my family did not host or attend any New Year's Eve parties. It seems few people are interested in celebrating the New Year nowadays. I miss the feeling of counting down to midnight with friends. Even though there were some public New Year's Events in downtown Mountain View and elsewhere, hanging out with strangers just isn't the same. It certainly doesn't help that food has gotten pretty expensive.
However, the nice thing I got to watch the 2023 movie The Flash on Blu-ray after dinner. It had over-the-top action as well as some hilarious scenes. I'm a huge Flash fan and really enjoyed the movie despite the critical reviews. Sometimes I think it would be so cool to have super speed.
New Year's Day
Our original plan was to participate in the New Year's Day Pathways Walk in Los Altos Hills. However, this seemed a little risky due to the recent spike in COVID-19 cases. We ultimately decided to play it safe and just go for a walk in our neighborhood.
Otherwise, this has been a busy day as I continued to catch up on the video lectures. I also had to help my dad with the greenhouse every so often. As you can see, this was an eventful two weeks!
2023 in review
You're probably aware that the past year had many challenges. For one, the economy is still in a bad state. The most unfortunate thing that happened to me was I got laid off in June. Even though I started my own data science consulting firm right after leaving Energous, finding customers is not easy either. Hopefully that changes once we have a website.
Another thing is that COVID-19 cases have gone back up. Looks like some people were right about the pandemic lasting more than three years. Furthermore, food has gotten pretty expensive as I mentioned earlier. It's been predicted that prices will continue to rise. Good thing my family has our own vegetable garden.
However, this doesn't mean 2023 didn't have its highlights. Perhaps the most important thing is I've completed two AI certification programs. I'm also around halfway through two others. Those will look good on my resume, that's for sure.
Furthermore, there were many social opportunities last year. For example, the block party in August was pretty fun. We also had several other get-togethers with family friends this summer. Let's hope the trend continues. :D
Of course, no New Year is complete without New Year's resolutions. For those curious, my goal for 2024 is to switch to an AI career. I also hope to get at least two skills to level 120 in RuneScape soon. There are also a few other nice things that are slated to happen this year. For example, Derek — the LAHS class of 2004 president — has started to plan our 20-year reunion. I'm definitely excited for the future!
Currently watching: The Flash (2023)
Sunday, November 26, 2023
a somewhat relaxing Thanksgiving
I've been busy lately but still got to enjoy the long weekend. :-)
We invited the Hsuehs over for dinner on Thursday as we hadn't seen them in over five months. Mom decided not to cook a turkey this year, but did make a lot of other dishes. Everything she made was delicious. Lily's signature braised oxtail was pretty good too. It was great to catch up with Alan up even though we were on our phones the whole time. I guess that says a lot about our generation.
One of Alan's other friends had also invited the Hsuehs over, so the Hsuehs didn't stay at our house for too long after dinner. However, that wasn't a problem because Mom had asked the Hsuehs to arrive a bit earlier. On a related note, one thing I noticed is that Thanksgiving parties have gotten smaller in recent years. It's been a while since we hosted or attended one with three or four other families. It seems people aren't so interested in "Friendsgiving" anymore. I can't blame them because food is expensive these days.
Mom's friend Hong-Yeh had been wanting to see her for a while, so we asked her to come over on Friday afternoon. Her son really enjoys cooking and made the entire Thanksgiving dinner for their family. Hong-Yeh decided to share the turkey and cornbread with us. It's kind of funny that we ended up with some turkey after all. The meat was a bit salty but made for some excellent porridge.
We decided to hike to downtown Los Altos on Sunday as Mom wanted to see the Festival of Lights parade. Of note is that the streets were lined with people. I had no idea the event was so popular. However, the parade wouldn't start even though it was getting late. We eventually got bored and decided to head home. Even though we didn't see the parade, this was a fun experience.
I spent the rest of the weekend listening to lectures and working on assignments for my online machine learning courses. Some modules are very long and have videos totalling more than 10 hours, but they are quite informative. It's always nice to learn during the holidays!
Currently listening to: "Perfect" by Ed Sheeran
We invited the Hsuehs over for dinner on Thursday as we hadn't seen them in over five months. Mom decided not to cook a turkey this year, but did make a lot of other dishes. Everything she made was delicious. Lily's signature braised oxtail was pretty good too. It was great to catch up with Alan up even though we were on our phones the whole time. I guess that says a lot about our generation.
One of Alan's other friends had also invited the Hsuehs over, so the Hsuehs didn't stay at our house for too long after dinner. However, that wasn't a problem because Mom had asked the Hsuehs to arrive a bit earlier. On a related note, one thing I noticed is that Thanksgiving parties have gotten smaller in recent years. It's been a while since we hosted or attended one with three or four other families. It seems people aren't so interested in "Friendsgiving" anymore. I can't blame them because food is expensive these days.
Mom's friend Hong-Yeh had been wanting to see her for a while, so we asked her to come over on Friday afternoon. Her son really enjoys cooking and made the entire Thanksgiving dinner for their family. Hong-Yeh decided to share the turkey and cornbread with us. It's kind of funny that we ended up with some turkey after all. The meat was a bit salty but made for some excellent porridge.
We decided to hike to downtown Los Altos on Sunday as Mom wanted to see the Festival of Lights parade. Of note is that the streets were lined with people. I had no idea the event was so popular. However, the parade wouldn't start even though it was getting late. We eventually got bored and decided to head home. Even though we didn't see the parade, this was a fun experience.
I spent the rest of the weekend listening to lectures and working on assignments for my online machine learning courses. Some modules are very long and have videos totalling more than 10 hours, but they are quite informative. It's always nice to learn during the holidays!
Currently listening to: "Perfect" by Ed Sheeran
Tuesday, May 30, 2023
a very busy Memorial Day
I had a great long weekend even though we stayed home the whole time. For those unaware, my family has a huge organic vegetable garden in our backyard. One great thing is that we had a very successful harvest of fava beans this year. But the downside is it takes a lot of effort to shell and peel the beans. I spent all three days helping Mom as she doesn't get much rest these days. We actually still have much work to do as there are several more plants in our garden. Otherwise, I can't really complain because fava beans are delicious!
However, the weekend wasn't all work and no play as I managed to get level 99 Slayer, Firemaking and Mining in RuneScape on my alt account Traductus. Because a lot of activities are "AFK-able" these days, I was able to make some gains while helping around the house. Of course, the Double XP Live event definitely helped. So yeah... this weekend was quite productive. :-)
In other news...
Dad's old thesis advisor Dr. Trick and his wife are visiting from Illinois in a few days, and we've invited over for dinner. I'm definitely excited to see them again.
Currently listening to: "The Best" by Tina Turner
However, the weekend wasn't all work and no play as I managed to get level 99 Slayer, Firemaking and Mining in RuneScape on my alt account Traductus. Because a lot of activities are "AFK-able" these days, I was able to make some gains while helping around the house. Of course, the Double XP Live event definitely helped. So yeah... this weekend was quite productive. :-)
In other news...
Dad's old thesis advisor Dr. Trick and his wife are visiting from Illinois in a few days, and we've invited over for dinner. I'm definitely excited to see them again.
Currently listening to: "The Best" by Tina Turner
Tuesday, January 3, 2023
obligatory first post of 2023
Hope everyone had a great holiday break because mine was pretty awesome. :-)
Prelude
For starters, there was a nice holiday lunch at Energous on the Wednesday before Christmas. We had lots of great Mediterranean food. One cool thing is we had a raffle this year. You had to dress up or otherwise show "Christmas spirit" to be elegible. I wore a Christmas-themed sweater and knit cap, and ended up winning a $100 gift card for Amazon. So that was nice.
Shutdown week
The break had a good start as we watched the new Batman movie on the 23rd. It was somewhat darker than most other Batman films. I didn't like it much as Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight series, but it wasn't a bad movie by any means.
Mom invited my cousin Connie and her kids Dean and Desiree to our house for lunch on Christmas Eve. She gave them her old art supplies after finding out Desiree was into watercolors. She and Connie both love art and immediately started to paint after lunch. Everyone definitely had a great time. Connie had to leave soon afterwards, but it was so nice to see her again so soon.
One nice thing about Energous is we shut down during the holidays. I forgot about this and still went to the office. Imagine my surprise when I found no one there. Oops. On the bright side, I can't complain about having three "extra" days. :-)
Mom wanted to go to WinCo Foods for groceries as everything there is usually cheap. Dad took us to the store in Tracy as that is the closest one to our home. Due to the recent food crisis, the stuff at WinCo had also gone up in price. I can't say I'm too surprised. Otherwise, this was an enjoyable day trip as we hadn't gone too many places lately due to the pandemic.
We later saw Terminator: Dark Fate on Blu-ray Disc after dinner. It was defintely one of the better Terminator films. We didn't do much on the 29th but did get to see Eternals the next day. Despite the critical reviews, I don't think Eternals was that bad at all.
New Year's eve
Our original plan for New Year's Eve was to visit our family friend George in El Cerrito as we hadn't seen him in at least three years. However, he's very conscious about COVID-19 and prefers not to have visitors. We of course respected his wishes. I also hoped to check out some New Year's Eve events, but decided against it due to the recent rise in COVID-19 cases.
Otherwise, things weren't too bad as we got to see Thor: Love and Thunder after dinner. I paused the movie about five minutes before 9 p.m. so we could watch the Times Square ball drop. We then continued the movie after the fireworks. I then played RuneScape and watched the countdown in San Francisco before going to bed. It's hard to believe 2022 was over.
I must admit I miss celebrating the New Year's Eve with friends. Our last New Year's Eve party — whether at our house or elsewhere — was eight years ago. Counting down the seconds in a chat room just isn't the same as doing it in person. :-(
A fresh start to 2023
New Year's Day started out with a nice morning hike. It's not often that we get such nice weather at this time. We later saw Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness on Blu-ray Disc. I definitely loved the special effects. Continuing the multiverse theme, the three of us watched Everything Everywhere All at Once the next day. Although everyone says Everything Everywhere was better, I personally liked Multiverse of Madness more. But that's just me.
2022 in review
On the whole, this wasn't too bad of a year. For me, the highlight is we got to see my aunt Cynthia and cousin Connie several times. It was great to see Cathy and her husband Andrew as well. As you can imagine, these reunions were long overdue.
However, the worst thing about 2022 is the current economic situation. Dad and I bought a bunch of stocks, and most have dropped in value. Of course, the war in Ukraine doesn't help either. Can you believe we still don't have world peace?
Another consequence of the current crisis is the increase in food prices. For example, even a modest meal can cost up to $20 or more. It's expected that prices will continue to go up throughout this year. Let's hope this isn't the case. Even without the pandemic, this puts a damper on things.
But the New Year brings new opportunities. On that note, my goal for 2023 is to improve my time management skills. I also plan to get my first skill to level 120 in RuneScape this year. Hope it's not too ambitious. :P
January 9 update: Didn't feel like making a separate post about this, but I just hit level 99 Herblore in RuneScape on my alt account Traductus. :-)
Currently watching: Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
Prelude
For starters, there was a nice holiday lunch at Energous on the Wednesday before Christmas. We had lots of great Mediterranean food. One cool thing is we had a raffle this year. You had to dress up or otherwise show "Christmas spirit" to be elegible. I wore a Christmas-themed sweater and knit cap, and ended up winning a $100 gift card for Amazon. So that was nice.
Shutdown week
The break had a good start as we watched the new Batman movie on the 23rd. It was somewhat darker than most other Batman films. I didn't like it much as Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight series, but it wasn't a bad movie by any means.
Mom invited my cousin Connie and her kids Dean and Desiree to our house for lunch on Christmas Eve. She gave them her old art supplies after finding out Desiree was into watercolors. She and Connie both love art and immediately started to paint after lunch. Everyone definitely had a great time. Connie had to leave soon afterwards, but it was so nice to see her again so soon.
One nice thing about Energous is we shut down during the holidays. I forgot about this and still went to the office. Imagine my surprise when I found no one there. Oops. On the bright side, I can't complain about having three "extra" days. :-)
Mom wanted to go to WinCo Foods for groceries as everything there is usually cheap. Dad took us to the store in Tracy as that is the closest one to our home. Due to the recent food crisis, the stuff at WinCo had also gone up in price. I can't say I'm too surprised. Otherwise, this was an enjoyable day trip as we hadn't gone too many places lately due to the pandemic.
We later saw Terminator: Dark Fate on Blu-ray Disc after dinner. It was defintely one of the better Terminator films. We didn't do much on the 29th but did get to see Eternals the next day. Despite the critical reviews, I don't think Eternals was that bad at all.
New Year's eve
Our original plan for New Year's Eve was to visit our family friend George in El Cerrito as we hadn't seen him in at least three years. However, he's very conscious about COVID-19 and prefers not to have visitors. We of course respected his wishes. I also hoped to check out some New Year's Eve events, but decided against it due to the recent rise in COVID-19 cases.
Otherwise, things weren't too bad as we got to see Thor: Love and Thunder after dinner. I paused the movie about five minutes before 9 p.m. so we could watch the Times Square ball drop. We then continued the movie after the fireworks. I then played RuneScape and watched the countdown in San Francisco before going to bed. It's hard to believe 2022 was over.
I must admit I miss celebrating the New Year's Eve with friends. Our last New Year's Eve party — whether at our house or elsewhere — was eight years ago. Counting down the seconds in a chat room just isn't the same as doing it in person. :-(
A fresh start to 2023
New Year's Day started out with a nice morning hike. It's not often that we get such nice weather at this time. We later saw Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness on Blu-ray Disc. I definitely loved the special effects. Continuing the multiverse theme, the three of us watched Everything Everywhere All at Once the next day. Although everyone says Everything Everywhere was better, I personally liked Multiverse of Madness more. But that's just me.
2022 in review
On the whole, this wasn't too bad of a year. For me, the highlight is we got to see my aunt Cynthia and cousin Connie several times. It was great to see Cathy and her husband Andrew as well. As you can imagine, these reunions were long overdue.
However, the worst thing about 2022 is the current economic situation. Dad and I bought a bunch of stocks, and most have dropped in value. Of course, the war in Ukraine doesn't help either. Can you believe we still don't have world peace?
Another consequence of the current crisis is the increase in food prices. For example, even a modest meal can cost up to $20 or more. It's expected that prices will continue to go up throughout this year. Let's hope this isn't the case. Even without the pandemic, this puts a damper on things.
But the New Year brings new opportunities. On that note, my goal for 2023 is to improve my time management skills. I also plan to get my first skill to level 120 in RuneScape this year. Hope it's not too ambitious. :P
January 9 update: Didn't feel like making a separate post about this, but I just hit level 99 Herblore in RuneScape on my alt account Traductus. :-)
Currently watching: Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
Wednesday, November 30, 2022
our first "normal" Thanksgiving since 2019
Hope everyone had a nice weekend. I certainly did because we hadn't had a "normal" Thanksgiving in three years. It also helps that my company had a great Thanksgiving lunch the day before. :-)
Thursday
Our original idea was to invite my aunt Cynthia and cousin Connie to dinner at our house. But life sometimes has different plans. Connie had signed up for a turkey trot and couldn't come, and Cynthia had already accepted an invitation to a potluck at someone else's house. I figured we would be spending Thanksgiving alone.
However, the good news is that Connie later called and said she still wanted to see us. We were more than happy to oblige and invited her over to our house on Friday for lunch. Another highlight is we got to see Cynthia after all. Even though she couldn't stay for dinner, she still came to visit us twice — once in the afternoon and once after the event ended. So that was nice.
Friday
I was thrilled to catch up with Connie as we hadn't seen each other since Cathy's wedding three summers ago. Mom made us lots of good food as she always does. Even though it was just the four of us, everyone had a great time. We also wanted to invite Cynthia over, but she was in Carmel for a day hike. However, she did want to see us again and invited us to go over to her house the next day for dinner. As you could imagine, this was a pleasant surprise.
Saturday
We took a stroll to World Market after breakfast as we hadn't been there in a while. I got some potato crisps from the UK as well as several chocolate bars. Despite the food prices these days, the items weren't too expensive.
I also helped my dad pick the apples and persimmons from our trees. He wanted to harvest the fruit before the birds got to them. One great thing is that two people working together can get things done in half the time.
All of us then headed to Cynthia's place. It was certainly a pleasure to see her and Connie again. Cynthia made us a nice hot pot dinner, complete with cod and lobster. I wasn't hungry at first because dinner started around 5 p.m. or so, but that didn't matter because everything was really good. She also brought out a Basque cheesecake for dessert — which was absolutely delicious. We then had a great time talking about music and the arts. Although my uncle Dong didn't join us for reasons I'd rather not discuss, that didn't make the evening any less enjoyable.
Dad wanted to leave shortly after 7 p.m. as Cynthia also goes to bed early nowadays. As much as I wanted to stay longer, Cynthia looked a little tired. Of course, that's not a problem because we have plans to get together again around Christmas. :-)
Sunday
We didn't do a lot on Sunday as we had already done so much in the past three days. However, my family did go for a stroll in our neighhborhood twice. I also completed some quests on an alt account in RuneScape as well as studied some Python.
On the whole, our Thanksgiving break was much better than expected. I definitely can't wait to see my cousin Cathy and her husband Andrew in December. Less than two weeks to go!
Currently listening to: "Wouldn't It Be Nice" by the Beach Boys
Thursday
Our original idea was to invite my aunt Cynthia and cousin Connie to dinner at our house. But life sometimes has different plans. Connie had signed up for a turkey trot and couldn't come, and Cynthia had already accepted an invitation to a potluck at someone else's house. I figured we would be spending Thanksgiving alone.
However, the good news is that Connie later called and said she still wanted to see us. We were more than happy to oblige and invited her over to our house on Friday for lunch. Another highlight is we got to see Cynthia after all. Even though she couldn't stay for dinner, she still came to visit us twice — once in the afternoon and once after the event ended. So that was nice.
Friday
I was thrilled to catch up with Connie as we hadn't seen each other since Cathy's wedding three summers ago. Mom made us lots of good food as she always does. Even though it was just the four of us, everyone had a great time. We also wanted to invite Cynthia over, but she was in Carmel for a day hike. However, she did want to see us again and invited us to go over to her house the next day for dinner. As you could imagine, this was a pleasant surprise.
Saturday
We took a stroll to World Market after breakfast as we hadn't been there in a while. I got some potato crisps from the UK as well as several chocolate bars. Despite the food prices these days, the items weren't too expensive.
I also helped my dad pick the apples and persimmons from our trees. He wanted to harvest the fruit before the birds got to them. One great thing is that two people working together can get things done in half the time.
All of us then headed to Cynthia's place. It was certainly a pleasure to see her and Connie again. Cynthia made us a nice hot pot dinner, complete with cod and lobster. I wasn't hungry at first because dinner started around 5 p.m. or so, but that didn't matter because everything was really good. She also brought out a Basque cheesecake for dessert — which was absolutely delicious. We then had a great time talking about music and the arts. Although my uncle Dong didn't join us for reasons I'd rather not discuss, that didn't make the evening any less enjoyable.
Dad wanted to leave shortly after 7 p.m. as Cynthia also goes to bed early nowadays. As much as I wanted to stay longer, Cynthia looked a little tired. Of course, that's not a problem because we have plans to get together again around Christmas. :-)
Sunday
We didn't do a lot on Sunday as we had already done so much in the past three days. However, my family did go for a stroll in our neighhborhood twice. I also completed some quests on an alt account in RuneScape as well as studied some Python.
On the whole, our Thanksgiving break was much better than expected. I definitely can't wait to see my cousin Cathy and her husband Andrew in December. Less than two weeks to go!
Currently listening to: "Wouldn't It Be Nice" by the Beach Boys
Monday, May 30, 2022
not a bad Memorial Day
Hope everyone had a great long weekend. For me, the highlight is we invited the Hsuehs to our house for lunch on Sunday. Our last time seeing them was about a year ago. I didn't get to see their son Alan this time as he already had plans, but this is normal for our generation these days. In any case, Mom made lots of great food as always. :-)
We didn't do much on Saturday and Monday because we were still a little tired. As you might remember, my mom's friend Rong-Rong and her husband David stayed with us for three days about two weeks ago. Hosting guests can be very stressful at times. On the whole, the Memorial Day long weekend wasn't too bad.
In other news...
I finally got my car back from the repair shop on the 20th. It now looks even better than it did before. :-)
Currently listening to: Trumpet Concerto by Joseph Haydn
We didn't do much on Saturday and Monday because we were still a little tired. As you might remember, my mom's friend Rong-Rong and her husband David stayed with us for three days about two weeks ago. Hosting guests can be very stressful at times. On the whole, the Memorial Day long weekend wasn't too bad.
In other news...
I finally got my car back from the repair shop on the 20th. It now looks even better than it did before. :-)
Currently listening to: Trumpet Concerto by Joseph Haydn
Monday, January 3, 2022
an eventful holiday season
I'm heading back to the office tomorrow as Christmas break is coming to a close. One nice thing about Energous is we shut down over the holidays. I don't believe I've ever gotten more than a week off since college. Although we didn't go anywhere due to the pandemic, this was one of our best breaks ever.
Getting into stocks
You may recall that Dad suggested we make some investments during the holidays. Because stocks are often volatile, there was much research to be done. I was a little tired at times because we had to collect a lot of data to put into an Excel file. We narrowed the list down to about 40 stocks after countless hours. Here's to hoping our hard work pays off soon. *insert rocket emojis*
A new laptop and an iPad Pro
Dad wanted another computer to store old emails and decided to buy a new HP Pavilion laptop. It has a 2.9 GHz dual-core processor, 16 GB of memory and a 500 GB solid-state drive. Because my father only needs it for emails, he decided to trade it to me for one of my older devices. Although I didn't need a new computer, this was an offer I couldn't refuse. :P
I also got an iPad Pro a few days ago. Dad got it for me so that I could check stock prices in real time. Compared to our older devices, the iPad Pro is much faster. I appreciate all he's done for me. Christmas was great this year, that's for sure.
Bread machine repair
Mom has a Sunbeam bread machine that stopped working after being taken out of storage in the garage. Dad and I took it apart and found that the belt had gotten brittle and cracked. We decided to replace the belt because the machine was in good condition otherwise. Installing it took a while because the Sunbeam 5891 is hard to disassemble. However, the good news is we were able to get the machine running again. So glad we didn't have to spend money on a few one.
RuneScape gains
Of course, there was time for RuneScape too. Having almost two weeks off allowed me to gain about 35 million total XP across all my accounts. I also obtained the golden party hat on my main account and two alts. It's too bad I didn't get one on Rs2 Ixfd64 due to time constraints. However, that's not a big deal because I rolled a green Santa hat from Treasure Hunter on that account a few days ago. Guess I can't complain too much. :-)
So yeah... Christmas was nice even though we mostly stayed home. Let's hope the pandemic ends this year. It's been too long since we went on a vacation.
In other news...
I'm getting my COVID-19 booster shot tomorrow at the local Safeway store. It's often reported that the side effects are less severe because it's only half a dose. Let's hope that's the case for me!
Currently listening to: Rondo No. 1 in D major, K 485 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Getting into stocks
You may recall that Dad suggested we make some investments during the holidays. Because stocks are often volatile, there was much research to be done. I was a little tired at times because we had to collect a lot of data to put into an Excel file. We narrowed the list down to about 40 stocks after countless hours. Here's to hoping our hard work pays off soon. *insert rocket emojis*
A new laptop and an iPad Pro
Dad wanted another computer to store old emails and decided to buy a new HP Pavilion laptop. It has a 2.9 GHz dual-core processor, 16 GB of memory and a 500 GB solid-state drive. Because my father only needs it for emails, he decided to trade it to me for one of my older devices. Although I didn't need a new computer, this was an offer I couldn't refuse. :P
I also got an iPad Pro a few days ago. Dad got it for me so that I could check stock prices in real time. Compared to our older devices, the iPad Pro is much faster. I appreciate all he's done for me. Christmas was great this year, that's for sure.
Bread machine repair
Mom has a Sunbeam bread machine that stopped working after being taken out of storage in the garage. Dad and I took it apart and found that the belt had gotten brittle and cracked. We decided to replace the belt because the machine was in good condition otherwise. Installing it took a while because the Sunbeam 5891 is hard to disassemble. However, the good news is we were able to get the machine running again. So glad we didn't have to spend money on a few one.
RuneScape gains
Of course, there was time for RuneScape too. Having almost two weeks off allowed me to gain about 35 million total XP across all my accounts. I also obtained the golden party hat on my main account and two alts. It's too bad I didn't get one on Rs2 Ixfd64 due to time constraints. However, that's not a big deal because I rolled a green Santa hat from Treasure Hunter on that account a few days ago. Guess I can't complain too much. :-)
So yeah... Christmas was nice even though we mostly stayed home. Let's hope the pandemic ends this year. It's been too long since we went on a vacation.
In other news...
I'm getting my COVID-19 booster shot tomorrow at the local Safeway store. It's often reported that the side effects are less severe because it's only half a dose. Let's hope that's the case for me!
Currently listening to: Rondo No. 1 in D major, K 485 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Saturday, January 1, 2022
a hopeful start to 2022
Hope everyone had an awesome New Year's Eve. Due to the pandemic, things had mostly remained the same. We only left the house for essential reasons and didn't have anyone over. However, the holiday season has been pretty great so far. I actually still have a few more days to relax because we don't return to the office until the 4th. :-)
2021 in review
It seems 2021 was marginally better than 2020 at first glance. Life had been returning to normal now that vaccines are widely available. One highlight is we got to meet up with the Hsuehs last summer. But all changed when the Delta variant showed up. We're currently still in the middle of another surge.
To me, the worst thing that happened was when Dad hurt himself after falling from a ladder. Gardening isn't all fun and games as some make it out to be. We insisted that he go to the hospital to make sure he was fine. The good news is that the doctor said he had no serious injuries. I was definitely a little worried for a days.
On the flip side, the best thing about 2021 was getting my current job at Energous. It's no secret that Energous is going through growing pains. However, the company and its products seem to have great potential. We're actually going to be at CES 2022 in Las Vegas. Of course, the benefits are nice too. I can't complain about all the free lunches and snacks. :D
An optimistic 2022
One thing for sure is that 2022 has much to look forward to. According to some predictions, the pandemic will finally end this year. Let's hope there won't be more variants. Life has not been normal for almost two years. It's time to put this damn pandemic behind us.
For those curious, my New Year's resolutions are to kick some bad habits and get up to speed on the piano. Here's to a happy 2022 and a bright future!
Currently listening to: Prelude and Fugue in C minor, BWV 871 by J. S. Bach
2021 in review
It seems 2021 was marginally better than 2020 at first glance. Life had been returning to normal now that vaccines are widely available. One highlight is we got to meet up with the Hsuehs last summer. But all changed when the Delta variant showed up. We're currently still in the middle of another surge.
To me, the worst thing that happened was when Dad hurt himself after falling from a ladder. Gardening isn't all fun and games as some make it out to be. We insisted that he go to the hospital to make sure he was fine. The good news is that the doctor said he had no serious injuries. I was definitely a little worried for a days.
On the flip side, the best thing about 2021 was getting my current job at Energous. It's no secret that Energous is going through growing pains. However, the company and its products seem to have great potential. We're actually going to be at CES 2022 in Las Vegas. Of course, the benefits are nice too. I can't complain about all the free lunches and snacks. :D
An optimistic 2022
One thing for sure is that 2022 has much to look forward to. According to some predictions, the pandemic will finally end this year. Let's hope there won't be more variants. Life has not been normal for almost two years. It's time to put this damn pandemic behind us.
For those curious, my New Year's resolutions are to kick some bad habits and get up to speed on the piano. Here's to a happy 2022 and a bright future!
Currently listening to: Prelude and Fugue in C minor, BWV 871 by J. S. Bach
Thursday, December 30, 2021
got the iPad Pro!
You may recall that I got a master's degree in finance from St. Mary's College of California about 11 years ago. It hasn't really been touched because I went back into engineering after finishing school. However, my father suggested we make some investments during the holidays because late December is a good time to buy stocks.
Dad decided to get me an iPad Pro because he felt it would be useful for checking stock prices. He bought the 5th generation model with a 12.9" screen and 256 GB of storage. It's also quite fast due to the powerful Apple M1 chip. You could say the iPad Pro is a late Christmas present of sorts. I'm definitely loving it so far.
Another reason for getting the iPad Pro is that the iPhone 6 Plus is getting old and doesn't run some newer apps. It's almost certain that the iPad Pro will be supported for the foreseeable future. Although it's not cheap - this particular model cost over $1,100 plus taxes - the iPad Pro should pay for itself in no time. :-)
Currently listening to: Invention in F major, BWV 779 by J. S. Bach
Dad decided to get me an iPad Pro because he felt it would be useful for checking stock prices. He bought the 5th generation model with a 12.9" screen and 256 GB of storage. It's also quite fast due to the powerful Apple M1 chip. You could say the iPad Pro is a late Christmas present of sorts. I'm definitely loving it so far.
Another reason for getting the iPad Pro is that the iPhone 6 Plus is getting old and doesn't run some newer apps. It's almost certain that the iPad Pro will be supported for the foreseeable future. Although it's not cheap - this particular model cost over $1,100 plus taxes - the iPad Pro should pay for itself in no time. :-)
Currently listening to: Invention in F major, BWV 779 by J. S. Bach
Sunday, November 28, 2021
a relaxing Thanksgiving break
Hope everyone had a great long weekend. Like last year, my family didn't see anyone due to the pandemic. However, that doesn't mean we didn't have a good time. I definitely enjoyed the break even though we mostly stayed home!
One highlight is that my company had a nice Thanksgiving lunch on Wednesday. Our office manager ordered so much food that there was more than enough for everyone. All the food was delicious too. Some people were out of office, and that meant more for us. I could barely see a difference after taking some leftovers home.
On a related note, there were so much leftovers that we had them for our Thanksgiving dinner. Mom certainly deserves a break from the kitchen once in a while. Another highlight is that we went hiking at least once a day during these four days. Can't complain about getting some exercise. We also saw The Mercy on Blu-ray Disc. It's a bit of a sad movie. I also had to do some extra work at home, but at least I can say I was productive. :D
So there are two things that I'm thankful for this year. For one, my job at Energous is really awesome. Although I generally have to be in the office, you can't complain about the free lunches and snacks. I'm also grateful that my family has managed to stay healthy during the pandemic. Hope I don't jinx it by posting this. :P
I do admit that I miss celebrating Thanksgiving with friends. Although I did get to exchange Thanksgiving pictures with my cousin Cathy and her husband Andrew over the phone, that's just not the same as seeing them in person. Hopefully life will be back to normal in the not-too-distant future.
Currently listening to: Prelude and Fugue in G major, BWV 884 by J. S. Bach
One highlight is that my company had a nice Thanksgiving lunch on Wednesday. Our office manager ordered so much food that there was more than enough for everyone. All the food was delicious too. Some people were out of office, and that meant more for us. I could barely see a difference after taking some leftovers home.
On a related note, there were so much leftovers that we had them for our Thanksgiving dinner. Mom certainly deserves a break from the kitchen once in a while. Another highlight is that we went hiking at least once a day during these four days. Can't complain about getting some exercise. We also saw The Mercy on Blu-ray Disc. It's a bit of a sad movie. I also had to do some extra work at home, but at least I can say I was productive. :D
So there are two things that I'm thankful for this year. For one, my job at Energous is really awesome. Although I generally have to be in the office, you can't complain about the free lunches and snacks. I'm also grateful that my family has managed to stay healthy during the pandemic. Hope I don't jinx it by posting this. :P
I do admit that I miss celebrating Thanksgiving with friends. Although I did get to exchange Thanksgiving pictures with my cousin Cathy and her husband Andrew over the phone, that's just not the same as seeing them in person. Hopefully life will be back to normal in the not-too-distant future.
Currently listening to: Prelude and Fugue in G major, BWV 884 by J. S. Bach
Monday, May 31, 2021
Memorial Day + leaving Silicon Labs
Hope everyone enjoyed the long weekend. I definitely had a good time even though we didn't go far.
Dad wanted to take us to Half Moon Bay on Saturday as we hadn't been there since October. However, none of us really felt like going there as it was pretty hot outside. After debating for some time, the three of us decided to turn around and go home after reaching Woodside. But that didn't matter too much because we had a good weekend otherwise.
We went hiking on Stevens Creek Trail on Sunday before going to Smart & Final for groceries. I decided to try out some José Olé burritos as the price was a too good to pass up. Despite the praise, they aren't as good as we expected. Guess you can't always trust reviews.
Mom suggested going to Cost Plus World Market because I've been wanting to go there for a while. Our last time here was over a year ago. I always love shopping here because there's so many snacks from different countries. Dad decided to take us to Daiso and Mitsuwa Marketplace in the afternoon. I was surprised to find both places so crowded. It's hard to believe there's still a pandemic going on. Can't wait for things to go back to normal soon.
Last week at Silicon Labs
The other big news is that I've made the difficult decision to resign from Silicon Labs. You may remember that I joined last November as a remote employee. However, the company is changing its remote policy and plans to require all remote employeees to relocate to their home office. Having considered different options, my family decided that the cost of moving to Boston was too high.
On that note, I've accepted a position at a San Jose-based company called Energous. It's definitely great to go back to a job that's closer to home. :-)
Currently listening to: "Aloha, E komo Mai" by Jump5
Dad wanted to take us to Half Moon Bay on Saturday as we hadn't been there since October. However, none of us really felt like going there as it was pretty hot outside. After debating for some time, the three of us decided to turn around and go home after reaching Woodside. But that didn't matter too much because we had a good weekend otherwise.
We went hiking on Stevens Creek Trail on Sunday before going to Smart & Final for groceries. I decided to try out some José Olé burritos as the price was a too good to pass up. Despite the praise, they aren't as good as we expected. Guess you can't always trust reviews.
Mom suggested going to Cost Plus World Market because I've been wanting to go there for a while. Our last time here was over a year ago. I always love shopping here because there's so many snacks from different countries. Dad decided to take us to Daiso and Mitsuwa Marketplace in the afternoon. I was surprised to find both places so crowded. It's hard to believe there's still a pandemic going on. Can't wait for things to go back to normal soon.
Last week at Silicon Labs
The other big news is that I've made the difficult decision to resign from Silicon Labs. You may remember that I joined last November as a remote employee. However, the company is changing its remote policy and plans to require all remote employeees to relocate to their home office. Having considered different options, my family decided that the cost of moving to Boston was too high.
On that note, I've accepted a position at a San Jose-based company called Energous. It's definitely great to go back to a job that's closer to home. :-)
Currently listening to: "Aloha, E komo Mai" by Jump5
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