Boat Dance report

I just got back from the Boat Dance. As the name suggests, this was a party cruise for Berkeley students. It certainly didn't disappoint!

Because the RHA didn't have a booth or anything, buying a ticket was difficult. I only managed to get one at the last minute. On the other hand, the $25 price was a great deal, especially considering that similar cruises are usually very expensive.

The buses departed for the Port of San Francisco around 6 p.m. Boarding the San Francisco Belle took a while due to the security checks and the sheer number of people, but the folks in charge wasted no time in getting the party started. A violin quartet played Pachelbel's Canon as we got on the boat. I could tell this was a classy event.

The San Francisco Belle was huge. There were two floors for dancing and one for movies. The view of the San Francisco Bay was absolutely amazing. Though I mostly walked around and didn't dance with anyone, I still had a great time. It was past 1 a.m. when we got back to campus!

The only downside is that there wasn't any food besides light refreshments. Those who have evening classes didn't have much time for dinner. Case in point, my suitemate Cyrus and I came back hungry as a result. It didn't help that all the cafeterias and grocery stores were closed.

On the whole, the Boat Dance was an incredible experience. While I skipped my high school prom, I'm sure this event was far better. You can read a full review of the dance here.

Currently listening to: "Take My Breath Away" by Berlin

back from our second spring break trip

So we just came back from another trip, this time to Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. I'm definitely not complaining. :-)

Day 1

Our first stop was Casa de Fruta in Hollister. The nice thing is that the store had lots of free samples. I felt guilty after eating so much and bought some chocolates before leaving. The rest of the drive was uneventful, although we made a quick stop for pictures at San Luis Reservoir. The lake was huge!

It was late when we got to our hotel. Dad and I watched Rambo III on TV before going to bed. That was a cool movie.

Day 2

Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks awaited us in the morning. Some parts of Kings Canyon were still closed for the winter, but Sequoia was pretty nice. The fresh air made for a great hike. All of us enjoyed walking among the giant trees. That was an amazing experience and my favorite part of the trip.

I saw a store in Fresno called WinCo Foods on our way home. Seeing that everything was super cheap, the three of us bought dinner to eat in the car before going back for groceries. This was a great way to end our vacation. Looks like we have a new favorite place to shop!

March 28 update: I'm now back at Berkeley as spring break has ended. I didn't feel like making another post as the rest of the break was uneventful.

Currently watching: Rambo III

Historical note: Pictures from the trip are available here.

Yosemite trip report

I just got back from Yosemite National Park with my parents. This was our first spring break vacation in five years. All of us definitely had a great time.

Day 1

Our trip began with a 200-mile drive to Oakhurst. There was plenty of free time as it was barely past 2 p.m. when we arrived. The alpine air was fresh and made for a great hike. It was a wonderful experience.

After returning to the hotel for some rest, my parents and I had dinner at the on-site restaurant. Though the food wasn't cheap, everything was delicious, especially the pasta I ordered. On the whole, the dinner was the best part of the trip.

Day 2

The three of us headed back to the park after breakfast to see the famous waterfalls. The spray from Yosemite Falls was quite refreshing. Our last stop in the park was Yosemite Village in the afternoon. The Village Store is easily one of my favorite places.

Mom wanted to go to the Gilroy Premium Outlets for a shoe sale, so that was our next stop. We managed to get there with about an hour to spare. This was followed by dinner at the Hong Kong Seafood Restaurant in San Jose. As with our previous visits, the food didn't disappoint. It was a great end to a great vacation.

Currently listening to: Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 by J. S. Bach

went to an awesome '80s dance

I just came back from the Blast from the Past dance at Bowles. Unlike the Dance & Casino Night in August and the ASUC Fall Dance in October, this one was quite awesome.

For starters, the DJ played a lot of great music. It made me feel nostalgic even though most of the songs were before my time. I heard only one slow song, but people didn't seem to mind too much. The organizers also hosted a costume contest and a raffle drawing. That was really fun even though I didn't win anything in the raffle. Last but not least, there were ample refreshments.

The only downside is that the place was pretty crowded. However, that's probably a good sign - a large attendance means the event was successful. On the whole, the dance totally rocked. You can find a full review of it here.

Currently listening to: "Heaven Is a Place on Earth" by Belinda Carlisle

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.

cactus candy, anyone?

The prickly pear candy I ordered just arrived in the mail. These confections are popular in the Southwest U.S. Though I often see them in gift shops, they're usually pretty expensive. However, I couldn't resist the temptation and bought some on eBay - even though the shipping was almost as much as the item itself.

This stuff is similar to Sunkist Fruit Gems, except it's slightly more firm and has a somewhat unique flavor. It's really nothing special, but at least I now know what cactus candy tastes like.

Currently watching: The Grey Zone

touching base with my high school choir class

I just got back from the annual Main Street Singers holiday concert. The Main Street Singers are Los Altos High School's elite choir; they have many performances throughout the year and go on an international tour every spring. Though I didn't join the Main Street Singers, many of my classmates from Chorale did. It was certainly great to see everyone again, especially Mr. Shaull and their accompanist Debbie.

The music was enjoyable as always. The most poignant moment was when Mr. Shaull invited the MSS alumni to join the current choir for the last song. The concert ended with an after-party with cookies and hot cider. There's no better way to get into the Christmas spirit!

Currently playing: Field & Stream Trophy Hunting 4

I survived my first semester at Berkeley

I've finished the finals and am back home for the holidays. It feels like I just started college, and now the semester is over. One down, seven to go!

The exams weren't easy by any means. However, the hardest part of the semester was probably the Engineering 77 assignments; debugging my implementation of depth-first search at 3 a.m. isn't exactly my idea of a good time. The final for that class ironically turned out to be the easiest. I guess I lucked out.

In any case, it's time to enjoy a well-earned vacation. The nice thing is that we get five weeks off for Christmas. :-)

an awesome Thanksgiving party

Happy Thanksgiving!

Today was fun as we invited lots of people over. The best part is that our family friend Mei also brought food to share. That was so generous of her. Everything was delicious, especially the egg custard. Though the Lu and Shieh families left early because Rae and my uncle Dong are morning people, most of our guests stayed past 11 p.m. On the whole, this was one of the best parties ever.

I'm very thankful for getting into Berkeley this year. Being accepted into such a prestigious school was the last thing I expected. Speaking of which, I should probably start preparing for my finals. Haha.

Currently listening to: "Fluid Combustion" by Synthetique

new family car!

So my parents bought a new Lexus RX 330 while I was at school. Imagine my surprise when they picked me up from Berkeley in their new ride!

Because our 1988 Volvo 240 was becoming unreliable, my parents had been looking for a replacement for some time. However, they decided to jump the gun after the engine died in the middle of the road the other day. Though we didn't have much time to carefully consider the choices, the RX 330 is really nice. I don't have any complaints so far.

Mom gave the Volvo 240 to charity because we didn't need that many cars. The Volvo has served us well for over 15 years and will be missed. On the other hand, the donation should save us a few hundred dollars in tax deductions. :-)

I voted!

I just got back from the polling station. This was my first time voting in an election. :-)

The lines were extremely long, but that wasn't an issue because the polls are legally required to stay open until the last person has voted. At least that's what I learned when I worked the polls in March. Though I received a provisional ballot because of an address change, everything else went without a hitch.

Update: The idiot from Texas somehow got re-elected. Judging by Bush's poor decisions, I'm not looking forward to the next four years. God help us all.

MCCCC trip report

I've been working with on a graph theory paper with an SJSU professor in the past few months. The cool thing is that we were invited to attend the 18th Midwest Conference on Combinatorics, Cryptography and Computing and present our research. The conference was hosted at Rochester Institute of Technology this year. It was definitely a neat experience.

Day 1

Given the tight schedule, my parents picked me up from Berkeley right after lunch. I had to miss my Math 1A lecture as a result, although Prof. Haiman was cool with that. The plane landed at O'Hare in the evening. I couldn't help but notice how windy it was outside. No wonder Chicago is also called the "Windy City"!

We bought some souvenirs at the airport before catching our connecting flight to Rochester. Because it was almost 11 p.m. when we checked into our hotel, I didn't do much else other than proofread our paper.

Day 2

The three of us met up with Prof. Lee at RIT after breakfast. There was some free time, during which we took pictures around campus. The fall foliage was beautiful.

It was then our turn to present. I was a little nervous at first, but everyone said I did a great job. Speaking of which, my parents and I took the opportunity to listen to other speakers. The topics were fascinating but over my head.

Prof. Lee had other work to do and left for his flight back to San Jose after the conference. However, my family wanted to explore the area a bit more and decided to stay another night. The day ended with a nice dinner at a Chinese restaurant.

Day 3

Happy Halloween!

Our flight was in the early afternoon, leaving a few hours for sightseeing. The scenery along the Genesee River was incredible and made for some great pictures. This was the best part of the trip. The three of us then stopped at Quiznos for lunch. Their subs were delicious!

Dad wanted to visit Syracuse as well, but we were short on time and didn't want to miss our plane. The flight home was uneventful. Back in the Bay Area, my parents dropped me off directly at Berkeley as it was rather late.

Conclusions

Though we were in Rochester for academic reasons, the trip was still enjoyable. This was a new experience as I had never presented at a conference before. I also didn't know Rochester was so beautiful, especially in the fall. Looks like we'll have to go back there soon!

Currently listening to: "Saved by a Bell" by Mike Oldfield

Historical note: Pictures from the trip are available here.

R.I.P. Grandpa :-(

The week ended on a sad note as I found out my paternal grandfather Bien-Chuan Chia had passed away from liver cancer last month. He was 80 years old. Dad was afraid it would affect my mood and didn't tell me until I asked him about Grandpa.

For those unaware, liver cancer is one of the worst forms of the disease. The prognosis is generally very poor. Though the doctor gave him two months to live, he passed away just a few weeks later. I didn't see Bien-Chuan often as he lived overseas, but we had many good times together. One of my favorite memories was lighting fireworks with him during our second trip to Taiwan. It's hard to believe I won't see him again.

I'm going to miss Bien-Chuan for sure. Rest in peace, Grandpa. :-(

Happy 19th birthday to me!

I'm now 19 years old. It's hard to believe this is my last year as a teenager. As mentioned in the previous post, my parents got me a new Dell Dimension 3000 desktop as an early birthday present. I actually just finished setting it up. :-)

The day was otherwise uneventful, although my mother bought a large box of chocolate chip cookies for me to share with my suitemates. Everyone definitely loved them. Thanks, Mom!

Currently reading: Chemical Principles by Steven S. Zumdahl

new Dell Dimension 3000

Because the computer I've been using is now six years old, my parents got me a Dell Dimension 3000 as an early birthday present. The new PC has a 3 GHz Pentium 4 processor, 512 MB of RAM and 160 GB of storage. It's much faster than anything I've ever had. Thanks, Mom and Dad!

I'm considering joining a distributed computing project, probably either distributed.net or the Great Internet Mersenne Prime Search. This will allow me to put the idle CPU cycles to good use. In any case, I can finally retire my old Pentium II box after all those years. :-)

Currently listening to: Toccata and Fugue in D minor by J. S. Bach

worst school dance ever

So my roommate Scott invited me to a party at his fraternity house. But because frat parties aren't my cup of tea - mainly because I've heard so many horror stories about them - I went to a dance hosted by the ASUC instead. As much as I hate to say this, the dance totally sucked.

For one, there was barely any information available. The only thing I could find was a flyer near my dorm. To their credit, the ASUC dropped the $3 surcharge for people who bought tickets after the early bird deadline. However, that was where the good things ended.

Only a handful of people showed up at the dance. Although I saw my friend Albert there, he didn't stay more than an hour. The music was repetitive and would randomly stop. There was little else to do as we weren't allowed to play the piano in the ballroom or use the Internet kiosks downstairs. It's no surprise that the dance ended early when people lost interest. I'd say it was a blessing in disguise.

This was a total waste of time and money. Had I known better, I wouldn't have attended the event even if it was free. You can read my full review here. Shame on you, ASUC.

my first class at Cal

The fall semester has officially started. I just came back from the Chemistry 1A lecture. It was my first college class ever!

Just as I expected, the class was very large. There were around 300 to 400 people in Pimentel Hall. This was also a new experience for me. I should mention that Prof. Nitsche is hilarious. He certainly knows how to make freshmen feel welcome.

Of note is that courses are normally split into lectures and discussions. Unlike the lectures, the discussion sections are usually smaller. Speaking of classes, the Math 1A lecture is starting soon. I should probably head out in a few minutes. Peace. :-)

Currently reading: Calculus: Early Transcendentals by James Stewart

report of my first college dance

I just got back from the Dance & Casino Night at Pauley Ballroom. This was my first college dance and certainly a new experience. As its name suggests, the event featured casino games like blackjack and roulette. This was a nice touch even though they're not my cup of tea.

Of note is that the DJ didn't play any slow songs at all. I had never been to a dance with no slow songs. That was a little weird and didn't make much sense.

The dance ended 45 minutes early when everyone started leaving and the DJ stopped the music. It wasn't her fault that people decided to leave, but she should have kept the music going until the end. Just my two cents. Shortcomings aside, the Dance & Casino Night was pretty enjoyable. Feel free to read my review for more details.

In other news...

There was also a game night at the residential computing center. I got to play Doom 3 for the first time. It was kind of scary but also pretty fun!

Currently playing: Doom 3