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.