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 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
Thursday, January 1, 2026
Monday, December 22, 2025
level 120 Invention in RuneScape
I just reached level 120 Invention in RuneScape on my main character. It's one of the last 120's I needed to meet the skill requirements for the completionist cape!
Jagex increased the Thieving level cap to 120 in a recent update, so there are now still have two more 120's to go. However, the good news is that Thieving and Necromancy both give high XP rates at higher levels. I definitely hope to get 120 in those skills this year. :-)
In other news...
It turns out I did quite well at UC Santa I received an "A" in ECE 238 and ECE 256 and also passed the comprehensive exams for both classes. Hard work has its rewards, that's for sure!
Currently listening to: "Tennessee Waltz" by Patti Page
Jagex increased the Thieving level cap to 120 in a recent update, so there are now still have two more 120's to go. However, the good news is that Thieving and Necromancy both give high XP rates at higher levels. I definitely hope to get 120 in those skills this year. :-)
In other news...
It turns out I did quite well at UC Santa I received an "A" in ECE 238 and ECE 256 and also passed the comprehensive exams for both classes. Hard work has its rewards, that's for sure!
Currently listening to: "Tennessee Waltz" by Patti Page
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
Sunday, October 12, 2025
starting over at 40
"I can assure you... I'm not secretly an ageless vampure." -- me, after my suitemate Anthony said I don't look old
Summer is off to a good start as two of my aunts are visiting from overseas. Figuring we had to do something fun together, Dad took all of us to Reno and Tahoe over the weekend. Intense heat aside, this was an enjoyable vacation.
Hope everyone had a nice weekend. It was pretty special for me because I turned 40 on the 10th. Can you believe I've been on Earth for 40 years?
People have told me you will always feel "young" after a certain age. In my experience, this is quite true. I still feel like a twenty-something all the time, and only stopped feeling like a fresh college grad in recent years. However, the latter is no longer true given that I'm now back in grad school. If only my body could stay the same age. :P
It's been a while since I've had a birthday celebration with people my age. However, that's not a problem because I got some nice presents again this year. For starters, my cousin Cathy and her husband Andrew sent me some cool new socks. I want to save them for special occasions, but they look really comfortable. Definitely can't wait to see Andrew and Cathy again during the holidays.
I also got a birthday cupcake from Nob Hill Foods. It was pretty sweet but otherwise delicious. On a related note, my parents bought me a birthday card while there. It's very high-quality and quite beautiful too.
Dad also ordered a TI-89 Titanium graphing calculator for me. I actually already have a TI-89 that I used in high school and college. It turns out ECE 238 and ECE 256 both involve a lot of calculus, so we spent much of Saturday looking for my old calculator. Because the original model is not supported anymore, my father figured this was a good time for an upgrade. It's pretty funny because the TI-89 was partly a present for my 17th birthday.
We also went to Nob Hills Foods and Ranch 99 Market this morning for groceries and snacks. Our plan was to the stores yesterday after dinner, but I was pretty busy due to an assignment for my statistical signal processing class. However, the good news is I managed to finish the assignment a few hours ago. It was not easy by any means!
One downside is that there were some events at UC Santa Cruz that I had to miss. I would have loved to check them out if I didn't already have plans to come home. You literally can't have your cake and eat it too. On the whole, this was an enjoyable weekend.
Currently reading: The Martian: Lost Sols by Andy Weir
Friday, September 5, 2025
level 120 Archaeology in RuneScape
I just reached level 120 Archaeology in RuneScape and now only have two more 120's go!
Archaeology is an interesting skill as it is both profitable and also ties into the lore. It's easily one of the best-designed skills in the game. However, the downside is some items some items needed to complete certain achievements are dependent on luck and take a very long time to drop. For example, I've spent hours at the praetorium and still don't have all the pages needed for the Shadow Fall and Decimation mysteries. I won't lie — this can be quite frustrating at times.
However, the grind can be worthwhile because I've already earned a lot of chronotes. I'm really looking forward to completing the other dig sites after this. But someone please tell Jagex to add bad luck migitation to the journal pages. :-)
Currently listening to: "The Blueberry Shuffle" by Douglas Wood
Archaeology is an interesting skill as it is both profitable and also ties into the lore. It's easily one of the best-designed skills in the game. However, the downside is some items some items needed to complete certain achievements are dependent on luck and take a very long time to drop. For example, I've spent hours at the praetorium and still don't have all the pages needed for the Shadow Fall and Decimation mysteries. I won't lie — this can be quite frustrating at times.
However, the grind can be worthwhile because I've already earned a lot of chronotes. I'm really looking forward to completing the other dig sites after this. But someone please tell Jagex to add bad luck migitation to the journal pages. :-)
Currently listening to: "The Blueberry Shuffle" by Douglas Wood
Monday, June 23, 2025
bits and pieces
Just some personal updates I want to share. I didn't feel like making a separate post for each of those events, so here they are:
Level 120 Herblore in RuneScape
I'll start by saying I got level 120 Herblore in RuneScape on the 4th. I now only have three more 120's left before I have all the skill levels needed for the completionist cape. Jagex does plan to increase the other skills to 120 in the future, but that is expected to take several years.
I'm planning to get 120 Archaeology next as I have less than one million XP to go. However, that will have to wait because the membership on this account expires in like an hour or so. It'll probably be a while before I resubscribe as I'm going to be busy preparing for graduate school in the next one or two months.
A literal trip down the memory lane
Dad decided to take us to Sanborn County Park on the 7th as we realized we had never been there in all the years we've lived in the Bay Area. Even though we didn't stay here for long as it was a bit hot outside, this was nice for a change. It's always fun to explore new places. However, one highlight of this day trip is it brought back childhood memories.
For one, our route took us through the area in Cupertino where my late maternal grandparents used to live. Mom and I would always stop by their house after my horseback riding lessons on Saturdays, and I'd spend the afternoon watching cartoons. I certainly still miss my grandparents from time to time. It's hard to believe they've been gone for over 15 years.
I should mention our old family friends, the Liangs, lived fairly close to my grandparents in Cupertino. It's been a long time since our families have gotten together as we had gradually lost contact over the years. I don't think I've seen Stacey in person since 2010, and Emily since the year before. It's apparently quite common for adults to grow apart from childhood friends. :-(
Of note is Sanborn County Park is located close to Walden West and and Via West — the latter formerly known as Camp Costonoan. Walden West was very popular among my old classmates at Springer. I didn't attend Walden West but did go to Camp Costonoan in sixth grade. On the whole, this day definitely brought back some childhood memories.
A few shots
I mentioned a few times that I'll be taking courses at UC Santa Cruz later this year. Due to the university's immunization requirements, there were a few shots I needed to get before I could register for classes. I first got the updated COVID-19 vaccine on the 14th. The side effects didn't become apparent until the evening and lasted all of Sunday. However, everything was back to normal by the 16th.
The university also requires two doses of the MMR vaccine. We looked through all my medical records and could only find evidence of one dose, so I had to get the second dose on the 17th. It wasn't without side effects as my arm became pretty sore afterwards. However, that went away after a few hours. I still have to get two chickenpox shots — one for July and another in August — so hopefully those go without issues.
On a related note, I'll be moving to Santa Cruz in less than two weeks. It's both exciting and nerve-wracking at the same time!
Currently listening to: "War" by Edwin Starr
Level 120 Herblore in RuneScape
I'll start by saying I got level 120 Herblore in RuneScape on the 4th. I now only have three more 120's left before I have all the skill levels needed for the completionist cape. Jagex does plan to increase the other skills to 120 in the future, but that is expected to take several years.
I'm planning to get 120 Archaeology next as I have less than one million XP to go. However, that will have to wait because the membership on this account expires in like an hour or so. It'll probably be a while before I resubscribe as I'm going to be busy preparing for graduate school in the next one or two months.
A literal trip down the memory lane
Dad decided to take us to Sanborn County Park on the 7th as we realized we had never been there in all the years we've lived in the Bay Area. Even though we didn't stay here for long as it was a bit hot outside, this was nice for a change. It's always fun to explore new places. However, one highlight of this day trip is it brought back childhood memories.
For one, our route took us through the area in Cupertino where my late maternal grandparents used to live. Mom and I would always stop by their house after my horseback riding lessons on Saturdays, and I'd spend the afternoon watching cartoons. I certainly still miss my grandparents from time to time. It's hard to believe they've been gone for over 15 years.
I should mention our old family friends, the Liangs, lived fairly close to my grandparents in Cupertino. It's been a long time since our families have gotten together as we had gradually lost contact over the years. I don't think I've seen Stacey in person since 2010, and Emily since the year before. It's apparently quite common for adults to grow apart from childhood friends. :-(
Of note is Sanborn County Park is located close to Walden West and and Via West — the latter formerly known as Camp Costonoan. Walden West was very popular among my old classmates at Springer. I didn't attend Walden West but did go to Camp Costonoan in sixth grade. On the whole, this day definitely brought back some childhood memories.
A few shots
I mentioned a few times that I'll be taking courses at UC Santa Cruz later this year. Due to the university's immunization requirements, there were a few shots I needed to get before I could register for classes. I first got the updated COVID-19 vaccine on the 14th. The side effects didn't become apparent until the evening and lasted all of Sunday. However, everything was back to normal by the 16th.
The university also requires two doses of the MMR vaccine. We looked through all my medical records and could only find evidence of one dose, so I had to get the second dose on the 17th. It wasn't without side effects as my arm became pretty sore afterwards. However, that went away after a few hours. I still have to get two chickenpox shots — one for July and another in August — so hopefully those go without issues.
On a related note, I'll be moving to Santa Cruz in less than two weeks. It's both exciting and nerve-wracking at the same time!
Currently listening to: "War" by Edwin Starr
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
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