Our last week together was mainly spent kicking back at the apartment in LA, watching movies and Simpsons episodes on her computer while sampling various restaurants in the area, with some Italian cuisine in Santa Monica, Chinese seafood on Wilshire, Indian curry in Westwood, and Japanese noodles down the street … yes, and Noodle Planet too. One of the more memorable places was this really chic restaurant called Eurochow, which featured both Italian and Chinese cuisines (not fusion as we had thought) in an architecturally dramatic white marble building, in which stark white walls climb 55 feet high to a dome, with frosted-glass floors, a glass bridge, and a two-story bar. It’s certainly a place to check out for its impressive decor, though the food there, while savory, was not uniquely outstanding. Aside from the wining and dining (actually, only just dining), we did venture out for some touristy attractions like Hollywood, Venice Beach, and of course, Disneyland. Since it was off-season, we were able to avoid the abomination of waiting in line for rides, though unfortunately, the three main attractions we were looking forward to (Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, and Haunted Mansion) were all closed for refurbishment. Nevertheless, we had a great time adventuring with Indiana Jones and Winnie the Pooh, exploring Tarzan’s treehouse and Tom Sawyer’s Island, cruising through jungles and pirate coves, flying with Peter Pan and Dumbo, riding with Mr. Toad and Casey Jr., journeying with Alice and Pinocchio, riding on King Arthur’s Carousel and Gadget’s roller-coaster, exploring Mickey’s House and Roger Rabbit’s cartoon world, driving a go-cart and piloting a spaceship, and last but not least, riding through the “It’s a Small World” exhibit (we wondered whether the song there drove the workers crazy). That evening concluded with the Parade of Stars, as we stood before Sleeping Beauty’s Castle and kissed under the stars. Thanks for everything, Melody. =*

Last Wednesday, we began what turned out to be a rather monotonous 6-hour drive up I-5 through Central Valley to visit Melody’s home town of Stockton. Despite its location further up North, the small suburban town suffered from intolerable heat, with midday temperatures in the 90’s. We spent Thursday going through her childhood memorabilia, and visited her high school, middle school, and elementary school. On Friday, we drove to Yosemite National Park. Though the landscape was gorgeous, many of the waterfalls were dried up by this time in late summer. I stared at an impressive sign declaiming “Yosemite’s Crowning Glory”, only to glance up and behold the puny trickle of water that was Yosemite Fall. Nevertheless, we did find a large flat rock upon which we could sit back to indulge in an unimpeded view of the majestic Vernal Fall, which shimmered with the colors of the rainbow under the lazy afternoon sun. Our relaxing evening which ended with a cafeteria-style buffet dinner at Curry Village, however, was quickly overturned with an adrenaline-filled driving adventure along Route 120, bearing miles and miles of sharp twists and turns in dark, unlit roads through the Sierra Nevada mountains. Happy to be alive, we decided to ease off and spend Saturday in San Francisco, where we caught an afternoon matinee of 42nd Street. The show was pretty entertaining and well-choreographed, though I’d be more satisfied if the songs and dance numbers were better-integrated into the development of the plot. We finally concluded our little NoCal side trip today with the same boring drive back down to LA. Exhausted from all the driving, we’ll most likely take our time over the upcoming week to unwind.

Greetings from LA! That’s right, my long-awaited 2-week vacation with Melody has finally begun! I arrived in the city of angels this past Friday and spent our first weekend mostly chillin’ out, doing some shopping, shooting some pool, and most importantly: eating and sleeping … a LOT. Yesterday, we drove down to San Diego to visit the world famous San Diego Zoo and SeaWorld. The zoo was fun, but since we got there relatively late in the afternoon, most of the animals were asleep, which made for less-than-interesting photo moments. SeaWorld, though more than double the price of admission at the zoo, offered some pretty entertaining animal performances, featuring dolphins, sea lions, otters, and killer whales (or Shamu, which I have yet to figure out whether it’s the name of a specific killer whale, or just SeaWorld killer whales in general … Melody theorizes that it’s like a family name, like Mr. Shamu and Mrs. Shamu, but I find that hard to believe). We also got the opportunity to pet a variety of sea creatures including sea slugs (feels like silken tofu), bat rays (like soft tofu), and dolphins (like firm tofu :9). We also made a number of more eccentric observations including the size of Shamu’s dong, as well as the color and appearance of their poop (green). We finished off our day with dinner at Hooters at Pacific Beach, before driving back to LA.

If you haven’t already, check out Friendster.com. The website describes itself as “an online community that connects people through networks of friends for dating or making new friends.” Though still in its beta testing stage, it has already attracted a large number of members, many of which are Asian, making this site more or less a meat market for Asian singles =). I just joined a couple of days ago and already I’ve got something like 80,000 people connected to me through my personal network of 17 friends! A link has been added to the links page.

Ladies and Gentlemen… Behold! The new guestbook has arrived! The old CGI script was giving me too much of a headache, so I’ve decided to write a PHP script based on the popular BIG SAM (Built-In Guestbook Stand-Alone Module) code that many people have used. A link to the guestbook is available at the bottom of this page. I’ve also added some sites on the links page. Enjoy!

Holy Moly! I’m looking down at a welt on my left forearm measuring more than 3 inches in diameter – truly an incredible sight! It all began yesterday after a memorial service for our beloved HST instructor Bill Quist, a few of us attended an MD-PhD summer dinner at our program director Nancy Andrew’s house out in Winchester. The dinner took place outside under a tent, which without the aid of citronella candles, became a feasting ground for our friend the mosquito … actually, more like our arch nemesis the mosquito. Anyways, despite using various kinds of bug repellants, which I was sure was only helping to select for some super mutant multi-bug-spray-resistant mosquitoes, most of us got nailed pretty badly. I came away with bites all along my forearms, on the back of my neck, and even down at my ankles (they must’ve bit right through my socks). Now I gotta go get me some hydrocortisone cream pronto before the welts get any bigger. 🙁

I always knew this day would come. In a matter of minutes, I will be reformatting my desktop computer. After installing my new video card (if you must know, it’s a Winfast 128MB GeForce3 Titanium Ti200), my computer’s been experiencing a number of DirectDraw and Direct3D problems. Troubleshooting has been an absolute nightmare, so I’ve decided to take an early day off from work today, treat myself to a juicy slab of grilled sirloin steak, and type in the long-dreaded command: “format c:”

Leo organized a potluck at his new apartment this evening. And despite ample notice in advance, I pulled a Glenn and waited till the last minute to throw a salad together. Fortunately, the salad turned out quite well, as was much of the food that other people brought. It feels good to finally take a break from lab to hang out with some of my old friends… will probably try to organize a similar shindig at my place in the near future.

Leo organized a potluck at his new apartment this evening. And despite ample notice in advance, I pulled a Glenn and waited till the last minute to throw a salad together. Fortunately, the salad turned out quite well, as was much of the food that other people brought. It feels good to finally take a break from lab to hang out with some of my old friends… will probably try to organize a similar shindig at my place in the near future.

Thanks to Site59.com, the home of last-minute getaway deals, I was able to schedule my first weekend
trip to LA to visit my girlfriend! I took off right after work Thursday afternoon, and despite the flight there being a total nightmare with a 3-hour delay, I was glad to finally see her again, and enjoy some quiet time with her over the course of our 3-day weekend together. After lunch at Noodle Planet and some taro-coconut boba tea, our Friday was spent mainly kicking back and relaxing at her apartment. Dinner, however, was a different story. Cafe Sierra, located in the Hilton at Universal City, featured an all-you-can-eat (Yeah baby!) prime rib & seafood buffet consisting of an endless supply of stuffed lobster tails, king crab legs and shrimp cocktails, sushi and sashimi or any kind of hand roll of your choice, shark fin soup, ginger-scallion crawfish, roast duck, and many other Asian or American goodies. Top that off with some delicious mango pudding, tiramisu, flan, and an ultra-rich chocolate cake with everything a la mode, and you’ve got yourself a very satisfied couple =9. We spent Saturday at the Aquarium of the Pacific at Long Beach, the highlight of which included a number of petting ponds with various sharks and skates for our groping pleasure 😉 We later joined Jeff and Thu for some noodles at a Chinese restaurant that is run by Koreans… an interesting concept. On Sunday, after a quick lunch at In-N-Out Burger (my first time in this Cali fast food franchise), we visited the beautiful Getty Center, a modernist architectural marvel sitting atop the Santa Monica Mountains overlooking the ominous haze of LA’s smog-filled horizon. The buildings were erected using a material called travertine, a beige-colored fossilized stone that reflects all that SoCal sunshine in a warm, cozy glow. We spent most of the afternoon lying on the grass near the central garden, listening to the nearby parents playing with their toddlers. We finally headed back to Westwood for some dinner at Olive Garden. I was so exhausted on my red-eye return flight that I never remembered taking off, landing, or when the passenger in the next seat even got on! I pretty much passed out once I buckled in and woke up when the seatbelt sign was turned off at the arrival gate Monday morning. Thinking back to this weekend still puts a smile on my face. Thanks for everything, Melody. I love you! (btw, the new thumbnails will link to larger versions of the photos)