back at Berkeley for the spring

I've moved back to the dorms as the spring semester has started. One nice thing about Berkeley is that we get a whole month off for Christmas. The reason is that our Christmas vacation also includes winter break and the Martin Luther King Jr. Day long weekend. This means we won't get another week off in February, but I guess we can't have it both ways.

At any rate, I'm taking Math 1B, CS 61A, Physics 7A and Music 27 this semester. Speaking of which, I should probably get back to studying as Math 1B looks pretty tough. :P

back from Tahoe

"I feel like Luke Skywalker getting ready to attack the Death Star." -- me, on intermediate slopes

I just got back from Tahoe with my parents. The purpose of the trip was to go skiing at Northstar-at-Tahoe. It was pretty exciting as we hadn't skied in over three years!

Day 1

The drive to Tahoe was uneventful. Our hotel for the night was Boreal Inn, located next to Boreal Mountain Resort. Though we don't come here much anymore, my parents booked this place because of its proximity to other ski areas.

To our disappointment, Boreal Inn absolutely sucked. The beds were uncomfortable, the heater was loud and Internet access was only available at the front desk as it was intended for staff. While it's nice to be disconnected sometimes, this was an inconvenience for Dad as he is a CEO and frequently gets e-mails. He soon decided to cancel our second night and pick another hotel.

Day 2

The three of us headed to Northstar-at-Tahoe after checking out of the crappy motel. I took some lessons to refresh my skills as I hadn't skied in over three years. It wasn't long before I got back up to speed. As a matter of fact, I was racing down intermediate slopes after just two sessions. Woohoo!

I don't think I've ever had so much fun in Tahoe. This was definitely the best part of the trip.

Day 3

The plan was to go skiing again, but we changed our minds as the weather wasn't that great. On the other hand, I enjoyed our drive around Lake Tahoe. That was a relaxing way to spend the morning.

It was soon time to head home as my parents were getting tired. The fun didn't end there as we visited the Jelly Belly factory in Fairfield. There were no more tours available, but the visitor center was still open. The art gallery was really cool. We then stopped at our family friend Mei's house and hung out with the Lees for a while before returning home. This was no doubt an awesome trip.

Currently listening to: "What Is Love" by Haddaway

Historical note: Pictures from the trip are available here.

Happy 2005!

I can hardly believe 2004 is over. Happy New Year!

For New Year's Eve, my parents invited Prof. Lee and his wife to dinner at a Chinese restaurant. They let Prof. Lee pick the place because he knew of one that had great food at low prices. Everything we ordered was delicious. I then came home with my parents to watch the Times Square ball drop.

2004 in review

It seems 2004 was a rough year: my grandmother Pi-Tan passed away in May as did my grandfather Bien-Chuan in September. Two deaths in the family were certainly hard on us. On a global scale, there's the recent earthquake and tsunami.

But the past year had its high points. For one thing, my family went to the Pacific Northwest in July and Alaska in August. All of us love to travel and really enjoyed those trips. Another highlight was getting into Berkeley in April. I'm definitely grateful for being accepted into such a great school.