======= September 2007

09.04.07

We went to one of Ha's college friend wedding over the weekend.  They had 650 guests.  The food was excellent ...

Anyhow, I finished the backyard project, installed water and lighting systems over the weekend, and built a small step to the side entrance.  I also hung some cd's on the tree limbs in an effort to drive away the birds that keep pooping all over my backyard as someone had suggested it to me earlier.  It didn't really work.  I'll try to hang up a mesh curtain next week.

09.10.07

I spent the weekend in Montreal with a group of friends on a bachelor party.  We had a great time.  We played pick-up soccer in a park on top of a hill.  I really enjoyed the food, had the signature fried with gravy, a 24-ounce boneless sirloin, very unique and tasty egg benedict.

Montreal is a party and dress-up city.  The streets are filled with beautiful and well-dress women during all time of the day ...  

The combination of good food and great friends is hard to beat, very enjoyable.

09.17.07

Wow, it was a busy weekend.  Friday, I made a to-do list for the weekend, 12 items.  I managed to get 10 done and still had time for a birthday party, watching the 49ers and Redsox games (ugly, ugly win, but ..., well there's no but, unbearable to watch).

Anyhow, really looking forward to my man, the madhungarian, visit later this week.  Need to stock up on that fine smoky scotch.

09.21.07

I had lunches at Google three times in the last two weeks, still haven't tried their sushi bar yet.  With a number of friends and family visiting in the next three weeks, I am sure I'll try their sushi soon.

======= October 2007

10.08.07

I've been busy entertaining friends and relatives for the last two weeks or so, putting about 1,500 miles on the car in the process.  We've grown to really enjoy wine tasting tours in Napa.  We got our money worth for the club membership.  We spent a couple days in Tahoe last week.  I still think that my first vacation home will be near the lake.  I haven't checked yet, but I believe I gained at least 5 lbs. over one week.

Anyhow, I've determined to read more and make better use of my time.  I am really excited about that, we'll see how it turns out.

Stefan, detecting something different about my look, shook his head slightly this morning when he worked into my office, "Oh, you don't wear your glasses."

A few minutes later, Peter walked in, "Wow, you look nice today."  My response to him was "Yeah, my wife just gave me some money to buy new clothes."

Anyhow, the comments stem from the fact that I wore contact lenses and a long sleeve dress shirt for the first time since I joined the company two years ago.  I prefer to dress casually.  But I feel I've reached a point in my career that I have to pay more attention to my appearance.

I am living a good life, an extravagant Friday family dinner complete with a 2002 reserve cabinet, half an hour in the jacuzzi, an investment book in hand, and Beethoven on the stereo.  Truly blessed.

I was in Stockton, New Jersey, for Miles' and Jessica's wedding.  It was such a wonderful event.  The setting was perfect, in a 17th century castle on a big farm, complete with sheep.  Jess and Miles really put a lot of thoughts and time into the planning.  From the cozy castle setting, the color scheme, the food, the music and the beautiful wedding vows.  It was perfect in every which way.  I got to do a best man toast for the first time in my life.  Everyone loved it.

After the newly weds retreated to their suite for the night, friends and family gathered around the fire place in the main house to mingle, recount and exchange stories well into the wee hours.  The room was filled with warmth and happiness.

Congrats again, Miles and Jess.  It was a great wedding and thank you so much for letting me be a part of it.

 I got back to San Jose just in time to catch Game 7 of the ALCS.  What a wonderful game and series!  It was a perfect icing on the cake for my weekend. 

Work is going to be a lot busier in the next couple months.  And that's not a bad thing since all the projects I am signed up for are really exciting.  I can be superman when I am excited.

I saw Patrick, a fellow Techer and New Englandian, who is now an associate professor at UCSD, at Miles' wedding last weekend.  I hadn't seen him for 4 years before that.  For some reason, I am an extreme workaholic in his book, "whenever I feel unproductive and unmotivated, I would ask myself, what would Anh do?"

Either he only saw me when I was super excited about my work, or those are the only moments he remembers of me :)

By the way, today is my second anniversary at Multigig.  Time really flies. 

I used to go to the gym everyday, playing volleyball/wallyball on Tuesday and Thursday and lifting on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.  But work has been a little busy lately that I have to give up on the lifting days.  Yesterday, I faced the dilemma of playing wallyball or watching the Redsox.  I decided to go play instead since I don't exercise enough lately.  It turned out to be a good choice.  I had a great time and sweaty workout in the gym, and still managed to catch the last two innings of the game, when the Pa-ajima show was just flat out entertaining or scary (depends on which team you are rooting for).  GO SOX!!!!!!!!!

The last couple days, I've had this thought in my head of exploring the possibility of living in Canada.  Although it is not a random thought (and there is a sensible story behind it) the fact that I even think about it at all is baffling.

Anyhow, I have many circles of friends, two of which are MIT and Caltech friends.  Both have similar characteristics: smart, driven, successful ...  However, the topics of conversations can not be more different.  Among the Caltech group, everything is extreme and philosophical, and we always end up debating one thing or another that doesn't really have a clear choice or answer ... but we debate anyway.  On the other hand, the MIT group is very mellow, mostly asking everyone how they are doing, what's new and those kind of things, and we usually steer clear of any "gray" or controversial topics.

I really don't know what it is that makes the two groups so different.  Must be all the pots we smoked at Caltech ... just a thought.

======= November 2007

11.04.07

Anyhow, in my quest to learn about the financial market, I've spent most of my free time reading the following books.  I haven't finished them all yet, but pretty fun and exciting stuff.  Let me know if you have other recommendations. 

11.06.07

11.12.07

After many weekends out of town, we spent our time catching up with "local" friends over the weekend.  It was fun and relaxing.

I seem to subconsciously look at the news and events through the economic / investment lenses lately.  Must be from the reading I've been doing lately.

11.13.07

It's a gorgeous outside today.  The sun is up, yet the air is crisp.  And people always ask why I love California so much.  It reminds me of a movie line "Oh sure, I love Boston.  I also love it fine where it is."

11.25.07

It is hard to believe the four day weekend is over.  I was supposed to be in Boston for Z's wedding over the weekend.  I've been battling fever and cold for more than a week now.  And it got a lot worse right before the trip, so much that I had to call it off.  Anyhow, staying home doing nothing for four days helps a little bit.  Hopefully I'll be better soon.  I am sick of being sick.

I am looking to find a replacement for my old laptop.  I missed out some good deals on Black Friday.  I haven't really participated much on the online "Black Monday".  I'll check them first thing tomorrow morning and see if I can find anything.

======= December 2007

12.05.07

What a boring month last month!  I didn't do much of anything interesting and was under the weather for most of the month.

Anyhow, I've decided over the weekend that my next car will be the Audi S5.  Now I just have to rack up somewhere north of 80% return on my portfolio to justify buying the car.  So if you see me cruising around in the S5 next year, the investment thing is going well :)

I've been getting calls from recruiters more often lately.  Most of them are pretty annoying.  I try to be nice to them, but it's hard sometimes.  There is one guy, however, really stands out.  The guy is professional and personable.  It's always a pleasant talking to and corresponding with him.  The guy has excellent people skill.  And I've been wondering, where and how do you learn it.  I know big corporations pay for "coaches" to come and train their managers on people skill.  I'd love to have a coach sometime.

We got the first major rain earlier in the week, and today it is supposed to be downpour from noon into late evening.  It might be time to dust up those skis.  The office is in the "slow mode" today since we had our tapeout Monday.  I spent most of the morning catching up with emails and calls and reading financial news.

When I graduated from MIT, my adviser said "It's easy to keep in touch with friends for 2 years, but beyond two years is where the challenge is.  That's when you know whether it's a friendship for life."  Well, it's been more than 2 years since I left Boston, and almost 7 years since Pasadena, I am glad things are working out all right. 

It was 39F outside this morning.  Everyone was complaining about the "cold weather".  Well, I guess when you are used to 50's F during the winter then 39F is cold.

I was in Boston once when it was -15F (that's -26C for you Celsius calibrated).  Now, that was COLD.

Anyhow, I'll be at the 49ers game tomorrow ... only if they are in a little better shape ... 

Hahaha, I was at the 49ers game Sunday.  And the most exciting moment came when a guy sitting an aisle from us took a swing at a cop.  I think it's relatively certain that the guy is high on drug.  He should have shared some of that to the 49er guys on the field.  Might help them play better.

Anyhow, I am really excited about my cousin's visit at the end of the month.  I haven't seen her for 16 years. 

Is it fair to go to your boss and ask for a raise because your wife just got a raise and she is making more than you do?

I sent Nir, a former colleague at MIT, an invitation for a dinner at my place, this is what I got back from him "Thanks, But I'm in Hanoi. Back in January..."

The last time something like this happened was when I was wondering why I hadn't seen my roommate JimmyK for a while, and got a message from him the next day, asking me where are the good eats in Saigon.

I saw JimmyK a couple months ago in Montreal.  He told me he got a goal where the number of countries he's been to is greater than his age.  He achieved that goal during his birthday earlier this year. 

 These globe trekkers really have it figured out.

My from-me-to-me xmas gift came yesterday.  It's an HP Pavillion to replace my 3-year old Dell 700m.  It's pretty a pretty-slick looking machine.  I stayed up till 1am to outfit it with all the softwares and settings to my liking.

We had a Xmas dinner at our place over the weekend for the MIT friends.  It was fun.  Everyone seemed to tremendously enjoy the feast (veggie dip, potato salad, roasted quails, roasted crabs, steaks, and desserts).  As usual, Ha was in charge of the dessert.  The cake she made was so good that Carrie joked that they should open a bakery together.  Carrie makes great pastries herself.  I am sure they would have fun doing that.