2007 Blogs
11/04/07 - On my 5th and final trip out to China for the year.
10/27/07 - I completely surprised Angela by proposing to her in my Emperor's outfit at my Halloween party! Luckily the Empress said yes to save me the embarrassment in front of all my friends =)
10/25/07 - Robbie from China office goes back to DC with me to get adjusted to life in US before going on project.
10/21/07 - Dave C from Toronto was in HK so went to visit him late after getting back from Zhao Qing. Delayed due to bus breaking down. Good time checking out the HK nightlife late into the night.
10/20/07 - Spent a day+ in Zhao Qing in Guangdong province.
10/14/07 - Went to the 2007 China Hi-Tech Fair and it was huge! Bought a tiny 10lb collapsable bike so I can peddle around Shenzhen =)
10/09/07 - Flew to HK overnight and arrived at the train station at 6am to go from HK to SZ but did not have any Hong Kong Dollars on me. My attempt at begging people to change RMB to HKD wasn't very successful. Finally found an ATM outside the station.
10/01/07 - Loun-Loun convinces me to join Facebook and cool, it's so much better than the other social networking sites.
09/30/07 - New housemate Allison moves in and it was a great chance to clean!
09/28/07 - Slept most of the way on the long flight back to the US and found out I'll be spending 2 days  of the week back down in GA for a demo
09/23/07 - I went SCUBA diving for the first time ever. After a 5 minute lesson in Chinese, I was ready to go...uh, somewhat scary but the instructor was right there next to me just in case. For $20, a 30 minute trip 20 feet down wasn't bad. The water was really murky but I did see coral and marine-life but only when we got about a foot away! Not a bad intro, but I'll have to do this again someday in crystal clear waters w/ colorful fish swimming around me.
09/21/07 - I was debating between going to Fuzhou (East), Changsha (North) or Beihai (West) for the weekend, all about 10 hours away from Shenzhen but totally different directions. I had a small backpack packed with weekend clothes and ready to go somewhere. At 6pm, I looked up the weather of all 3 places and went with Beihai for having the best. An hour later, I left from work for the bus station for the weekend adventure. Spontaneity at its best!
09/18/07 - Canon sends back the SD750 which I cracked the screen on about a month ago. At around the same time, Canon announced their new Digital Elph cameras which I must've missed by a day or 2. If I had seen it, I'd have the SD870 now but since I sent the 750 out for repair, I guess I'll have to wait for the next model.
09/16/07 - Went to a Chinese "Dave and Busters" Pretty much the same games and concepts but much cheaper.
09/10/07 - I've been spoiled with Biz class upgrades the past 15 International overwater flights but alas, my deep-pocketed oil client and system-wide upgrades have run dry. 15+ hours Chicago to Hong Kong with mostly non-working audio plus the flailing arms of an obese man next to me is no fun.
09/01/07 - Toured the largest house in the US, the Biltmore in Asheville, NC. Quite large and impressive but I liked Hearst Castle better in CA.
08/31/07 - I went whitewater rafting in the evening on a fake man-made river in Charlotte. Sounds kinda dumb but it was really cool! It's just like real whitewater rafting with all the rapids condensed together. At the botton, you take the raft up a conveyor belt and do it again like a ski lift!
08/27/07 - This is my last week working in Augusta but I'll continue to work on the same project but from China over the next 3 months.
08/26/07 - Of all the years I've lived in DC, I've never been to the National Cathedral until today. Got a private tour and behind the scenes look and was quite impressed!08/25/07 - Plumbers suck. I had a slight leak in the pressure regulating valve and I knew exactly what was wrong but didn't have the tools to fix it. I had a guy come over to take a look and his quote to cut the pipe, replace the part and weld it back together was $700 for a 1/2 hour job. But since I was going out of town the next day and no one was going to be home, I had to suck it up.
08/17/07 - Weekend in SF to visit friends.  I priced out tickets and amazingly, a roundtrip from Columbia, SC to Washington Dulles was $30 MORE than a roundtrip from Columbia to SF with the same EXACT Columbia/Dulles itinerary in between!  Crazy huh?  Basically buy a roundtrip 800 mile ticket and get a 5,000 mile trip for free along with $30 back!
08/10/07 - Saw the Body Worlds exhibit in Charlotte which was really cool.  They plastinated all of these real human bodies and it was neat, although a bit gross to see the insides of ourselves.
07/30/07 - An error in their reservations system caused National car to get me a car for $333/day.  I asked the lady at the counter "so that means my 4 day rental with tax will cost about $1,600?"  She replies as if nothing was wrong, "yes and would you like the gas option?"  I started walking towards Hertz when I somehow instantly got a 90% discount.
07/27/07 - Met Angela in Columbia, SC 1/2 way between Charlotte, NC where she's working and Augusta, GA where I'm working to spend a weekend to explore the southern cities of Charleston, SC and Savannah, GA.
07/22/07 - My flight to Augusta, GA was cancelled due to an "operational issue" and was rescheduled for the following day.  I guess it was good they called me beforehand so I wouldn't be stcuk in Charlotte for the night.  I'll be in Augusta for a few weeks for work.
07/21/07 - Angela's parents invited my family to Atlantic City for a weekend of good food, shows, gambling and relaxation.
07/16/07 - More random sightings on planes. I ran into Helen, a friend from AMS randomly on the plane back from Vegas. 
07/14/07 - Company meeting in Vegas was nice to finally meet many of the folks I've only talked on the phone with.  I can't believe how much construction is going on!
07/06/07 - After 7 weeks away, I'm finally coming home! I think one of the most lasting impacts of my time there is that I gave English names to 5 girls, 1 guy, 1 baby boy and 1 dog.
06/26/07 - I checked my voicemail for the first time in weeks and there were several urgent calls from my credit card company. I'm not sure how it happened but apparently someone created a fake card in my name and account and has been using it in CA. What a pain, They caught it since there were charges on the same day from China and CA on it. Pretty good catch. I worked on a Fraud system years ago. I've been using that same # for over 12 years and now have to get a new one =(
06/23/07 - My friend Diane came to visit me and James, another friend from DC now living in Shenzhen. My boss Brad was also in town and we all went to the coolest massage place. It was China's version of D&B but more variety! Pool, sauna, video games, ping pong, billiards, cards, internet, food, drinks, recliners w/ personalized flat panetl tv and sound built-in, and 1.5 hour massage all for...$15USD! Did I mention you can sleep there too?
06/18/07 - Originally I was going to come home this Friday but I've been extended for another 2 weeks out in China. That translates to another dozen good meals out here =)
06/17/07 - Spent 8+ hours fishing with rudimentary gear and caught one fish! It was only 1" long though but at least it was something. My coworkers caught much bigger ones and the guy next to us was hauling in 5 pounders every 10 minutes!  I blame it on the equipment, hehe...
06/11/07 - I arrived back in Shenzhen early in the morning after taking an overnight sleeper bus. Never done that before and all the "seats" were beds!
06/10/07 - Visited my ancenstral roots in Xiamen, Fujian province. It was cool talking with some of the distant relatives there and hearing about some of the Lu family history. I'm the first in my grandfather's branch of the family tree to visit so it was exciting to see things that not even my Dad's generation has seen. Being the eldest in my generation, I feel a need to capture the data in English of 5 generations dating back to the Qing Dynasty available now that would likely be lost in future generations if not preserved and translated now.
06/03/07 - Spent the weekend in Macau and Zhuahi. Macau was pretty cool, like a mini-Vegas with many new American casinos opening up there.
05/30/07 - It's been quite awhile since I posted photos on this site but I finally updated some from China.  More to come...
05/28/07 - Spent the weekend in Beijing and saw a bunch of sights that I didn't get a chance to see last time (3 years ago). My biggest impression is that you can't trust anyone and almost everyone is trying to rip you off. That's unfortunate with the Olympics coming here in 438 days.
05/20/07 - Unfortunately, the weather sucked again this weekend in Hong Kong. Pretty much rained the entire time. This is my 3rd time here and I don't think I've ever seen the sun here =(
05/17/07 - Nice to have 2 weeks back home but I'm on my way back to China for another 5 weeks. Angela will be with me the first 1.5 weeks =)
05/14/07 - I went to renew my driver's license because it was suspended. I never got notice of a rescheduled HOV violation court date and with being out of the country for so long, they denied the request to reschedule, fined me and suspended my license. I guess that's one of the drawbacks of not being home. What a pain! It all came about because the only day in 12 years living in the DC area that I decide to drive downtown, I forgot that the entire 66W out of DC is HOV and I had no idea why I was being pulled over.
05/12/07 - My first time to Busch Gardens and it wasn't bad. They had some pretty good 3-D rides akin to the ones at Universal Studios but the rollercoasters were a bit boring.
05/08/07 - Amazing how an oil change can revitalize a car! I haven't driven Duckboy in 2 months but am now forced to as Kelly's inspection is expired (yes, I named the G35 after the first 3 letters of the license plate). I'm usually bad with oil changes but this time it was 18 months and 7500 miles. Poor Duckboy but now he drives like new!
05/04/07 - Airline lounges overseas are so much better than in the US.  I don't see why anyone would pay $300+/year to go get a small bag of pretzels a small candy bar and pay for your drinks?  What kind of Red Carpet treatment is that?  I practically had a full meal at the Hong Kong United lounge and pigged out on all that yummy free food and drinks.  US Lounges suck in comparison.
05/03/07 - Guilin was somewhat of a letdown after seeing the beautiful scenery in Yangshuo.  I met some cool people on the trip and gave English names to 5 of the folks I met =) Now I have an 11 hour overnight bus ride followed by taxis, ferry's, trains and a 14 hour plane ride back to the US.
05/01/07 - May holiday here and the entire country is off. Didn't realize when I first booked my ticket so have a few days to relax after working hard the past 8 days straight. Going to take a trip to Guilin and Yangshuo the next few days before heading back to the US.
04/28/07 - The funniest thing I have ever seen in an office setting happened today. I open the door to the bathroom and there's a guy butt naked dripping w/ water staring at me. He says don't mind me and continues to use the sink to soap up and wash himself. Wow, I saw some grown men bathing in a river last weekend but this is a new one...
04/27/07 - xi jiao or foot washes here are pretty popular and I finally tried it.  OMG, painful! It was not relaxing at all and I kept squirming and giggling from being tickled. I guess foot washes and me don't get along.
04/25/07 - LG makes crappy phones and has even worse cust service. Less than a month of barely any use, my new phone died. Long story short, it'd take 15 days to fix. No 30 day guarantees in China. My coworkers were awesome and helped me battle the store and LG. Should get it back fixed in 3 days. You have to be persistent and rude to get any attention here. No wonder there are "politeness campaigns" in BJ to prep for the 2008 Olympics.
04/21/07 - I haven't ventured out of Shenzhen since I've been here but finally got out and went to Guangzhou.  Pretty nice city with more good food!
04/19/07 - I got my Chinese biz cards.  Cool as it has my Chinese info on the back or as my coworkers here would correct me it's English on the back!
04/16/07 - For no reason, China Mobile or someone accidentally added about 800 minutes to my phone.  Weird but hey, I'll take it =)
04/12/07 - Went on an hour ferry ride to Zhuhai near Macao for a sales call.  It was a Danish company so nobody I met with was Chinese so good thing as my entire sales presentation was in English.  But my Chinese is getting better!
04/08/07 - I found Bubble Tea for 13 cents/cup here on the streets!  Wow, I can buy 25 here for the price of one back home!  I splurged and got 3 cups!
04/01/07 - Canon just made another sale to a super loyal customer.  I bought my 5th Digital Elph, the SD750 or IXUS 75 here in Asia and 8th digital camera.  This one is the best one yet, 3" screen and very good in low light.  I was thinking about upgrading to this before I left the US but it wasn't out yet.
03/31/07 - My camera was stolen out of my pocket today!  How crazy is that?  I had it riding up an escalator, at the top I was distracted by a guy selling Bubble Tea and next thing I know, my pocket is empty!  I whirled around, saw his friend disappearing in the crowd and chased after him.  I caught up to him, confronted him but it was already too late.  I was quite careful but these guys are pros.  I knew my obsession with BT would get me trouble some day =P  Oh well, I was considering upgrading anyway but upset I lost the photos.
03/30/07 - I now have a China cell phone. My driver took me to buy one so I've now joined the masses. I turned the phone on and instantly got spammed by China Mobile. Too bad I can't read what they have to say, haha. btw, Sprint sucks for int'l roaming. Spotty coverage and in HK, 1 min on my US phone costs the same as talking for 2 hours on my China phone!
03/29/07 - I was shocked to go into the bathroom at work today and use the stall for the first time only to find no TP! Not only that, squat toilets! Whoa, totally unexpected. It was a little embarrassing to go to the receptionist to ask where I can get some when I had gotten some pens and paper from her earlier. Funny enough, she opens the drawer and hands me a roll, haha!
03/26/07 - First day at the office and I have no idea what my company hiSoft is called in Chinese. The directory is completely in Chinese and the guard does not know what hiSoft is. Luckily I had an email with the suite # =)
03/25/07 - Mmmm...the food here in China is dirt cheap and oh so good!  I had the best skewered frog legs ever!  Took the ferry from HK to Shenzhen today and met up with James, a friend from DC who now lives here.
03/22/07 - Randomly ran into Danielle a former client colleague in a parallel line boarding the plane to Tokyo.  Good to catch up at the lounge at Narita.  Small World!  Shenzhen, China will be the longest stint away from home with 6 weeks overseas.  Flights directly there were almost twice as much as flying to Hong Kong so I'll spend a quick weekend there.  Haven't been there in 10 years right before the takeover in 97.
03/11/07 - Flew out to Los Angeles to meet with the client.  China schedule is now 3 months with about a 2 week break in between.
03/07/07 - Looks like I'll be spending 2 months in Shenzhen, China for work.  Details to be finalized soon.
02/25/07 - I had the honor and privilege of being Leehom's guest at his 2am concert at Mohegan Sun Casino in CT.  It was an awesome performance showcasing his musical and vocal talents.  Great to hang and catch up afterwards.  Drive back through the snow and rainstorm was not fun.
02/24/07 - Went to a bubble tea place in Chinatown NYC called Teariffic! which was really one of the worst I've had.  Should really be Teahorrible!
02/09/07 - Went home for my Mom's 60th birthday.  A weekend of seeing relatives as my Dad was back in Rochester for work and we had lunch with several of my aunts and cousins as well.
02/06/07 - Snow and bad weather delay my flight to Indy so I'm stuck in Chicago for several hours. Finally make it to Indy almost 24 hours after leaving Whistler. Ugh... Cool to see all the SuperBowl decorations still up in both city airports from the past weekend.
02/05/07 - After a nice sunny day of skiing at my favorite resort of all time (Blackcomb), I took the shuttle down to Vancouver to meet w/ my VC friends for a late dinner. Highway was shut down because a logging truck and bus collided so I sat on the shuttle for 5 hours and missed them and dinner =(
02/01/07 - As I'm packing for my trip to Whistler, I get a call from my boss that they may want me in Indianapolis next week. Yikes, gotta pack for ski and work in case it happens. Good thing I didn't get the call a few hours later after I had already left.
01/31/07 - Reorganized the navigation of this site a little bit and added a new Links page along with a new Poker page under Interests.  After this past weekend's 8th poker tournament, it's about time I consolidated all the results from all past tournaments into a single page.
01/21/07 - Duckboy celebrates 100,000 miles on the Washington Beltway in this winter's first snowstorm.  Pretty low mileage for a car I've had since 1995 and it's nice to have a 2nd car for bad weather conditions like this!
01/08/07 - First day on the new job at Envisage
01/04/07 - Skied Okemo today which was much better than Killington yesterday.  The snow in VT has been awful this year with the warm weather.
01/01/07 - Happy 2007!  Reflecting back on 2006, it was a crazy year of travel.  I had never traveled internationally for work until last year and it piled up!  For both personal and biz, I took 12 trips leaving the Continental US, was out of the country for 20 weeks, spent time in 13 countries, flew 127,000 miles and ate at 150+ restaurants all over he World.  I want to thank my client XOM and all those I worked with for making it a great year!

2006 Blogs
12/31/06 - Spent New Years Eve in Times Square on a relatively "warm" day out.  We actually had a decent view of the Ball drop and the 6 hour wait isn't bad when you're amongst good company =)
12/23/06 - I bought myself a nice xmas gift, a silver Infiniti G35 Coupe
12/16/06 - Rental minivan decides to die on me driving back from Vail on a steep incline on I-70.  We call Emergency Roadside Assistance to tell them our location only to get asked "Mile marker?  What's that and how do you spell that...M-Y-L..."  Huh?  Isn't it your job working this line to know?!  Idiots...  Finally 4 hours later after 1am, a tow truck shows up w/ our new rental car. 
12/15/06 - Flight to Chicago was delayed due to ATC groundstop so missed the connection and spent the night there.  Luckily got on standby for the first flight out and was able to ski 1/2 day at Keystone and a little bit of night skiing too.  Boneheaded me forgot to bring my ski jacket (duh) so stopped by REI in Denver to get one first.  Lift tickets at Vail are now $85!!  Crazy...
12/14/06 - Haven't skied a real mountain in almost 2 years so excited about going to Vail again, my favorite resort in the US.  I hear it's snowing there!
12/07/06 - howard.lu-gats.com celebrates 5 years of existence today! The site now comprises 1.62 GB of data and 39,217 files. Good luck wading through all the photos on this site!
12/06/06 - I accepted an offer to join Envisage, a small consulting firm based in LA.  I'll still be based here in the DC area out of my home office. 
12/01/06 - Nearing 5 years of existence, this site will now contain some protected posts and photos viewable only to those who register.  Please contact me for more details.  I had to remove my email and make the Guestbook read-only as I was getting bombarded with way too much spam and robotic guestbook entries.  Send requests to duckboy2u-addme at yahoo
11/23/06 - Huiwen made a great Thanksgiving meal in NYC!  When Alvin and I have nothing better to do, we sit around and invent competitive games.  This time we invented Football Darts with rules that closely simulates a real football game using darts!
11/18/06 - I've been in SF dozens of times and never rode a cable car...until today.  It was so touristy yet kind of fun hanging off the back.
11/08/06 - Another last minute trip out of the Country, but this time only a quick 1.5 hour flight to Toronto.  The cabbie went on a long rampage about what a terrible President we have and how it's easier to be Canadian these days.  I fly back on Friday and then depart on Sat to SF for a week-long class.
11/07/06 - Election Day: Voted Democratic in protest of the War and the dumb dude who looks like a chimp, can't talk and lives in a white mansion about 10 miles from me.  I've been around the World quite a bit this year and everyone I've talked to on all Continents thinks Bush is a moron.  He's wasted Billions of dollars, lives, time and the respect of leaders (except his buddy Yo Blair) and people around the World.  The US is no longer just a SuperPower but a SuperJoke as well.  Our currency has fallen, people hate us and I'd rather tell people abroad that I'm Chinese rather than American.  Too bad there isn't a way for citizens to directly vote to impeach their President. 
10/28/06 - Airport security in Frankfurt confiscated a nice bottle of Slovak Brandy that I was intending to use as a grand prize at my party.  Stupid liquid regulations =(  Why do they bother selling liquor at duty free shops if you can't bring them onboard?  Had to scramble to replace the prizes.  My flight was delayed an hour+ due to 160mph headwinds so only had 3 hours to prepare for the party after I got out of the airport.  Thanks to Khang and Anish for helping me mad-dash shop for 1.5 carloads of food and drinks!
10/21/06 - European airlines are tough!  My fault as I couldn't find a taxi in the street before 6am and by the time I called one and got to the airport, it was too late for my flight.  No forgiveness, no flexibility, no refund...my $300 ticket to Amsterdam was worthless.  In the US, they'll put me on the next flight and worst case charge me a change fee.  Only way in Europe is to buy a new roundtrip ticket.  I sucked it up as I was meeting a friend in Rotterdam. 
10/19/06 - Sarah Horne, here is your 5 seconds of fame on Lu-gats!  I worked with Sarah extensively this past year and we finally met in Prague!  She's very cool and now must drink a flaming shot of absinthe if she returns to Prague.
10/18/06 - We had a nice team dinner with all the Europeans.  I was the only American and learned some new gestures and terms.  Probably not very useful unless a European pisses me off =P  There was a lunch last week where 8 of us from 8 different countries went out (2 bailed) but how cool is that?
10/15/06 - Budapest turned out to be a nice city with the hilly Buda and the level Pest side.  Reminds me of Prague in its layout, castles and architecture. 
10/13/06 - Taking an overnight train to Budapest for the weekend!
10/12/06 - Went to an authentic Czech restaurant called the "3 Piggys" today where they had Piggy, Moo-Cows and Chicks on the menu.  Had the "Bear Pad" which was not Bear but rather a thin cutlet of "piggy".  I like that term!
10/07/06 - I arrive in Prague but not my luggage so Lufthansa was "nice" enough to hook me up w/ a "female overnight kit" and now I have these "big cotton swabs" I have nowhere to stick except up their ass if it doesn't come.  All of my adapters are in the luggage so I was stuck w/o power and the hotel offered me this humongous 5lb lunchbox/car battery-like adapter thingy that didn't have a ground prong.  I threatened to check-out so they let me take the thing apart and hack it.  Wow, the MacGyver in me works some magic!
10/02/06 - Completely unexpected but my previous client wants me in Prague and possibly Brussels for 3 weeks.  Need to cancel a bunch of plans but this should be cool as I've never been to these cities before.  Debated cancelling the annual Halloween party but I'll be getting back that afternoon so game on!
09/20/06 - My car is now legal to drive on the roads again after many months of neglect.  I got new tires, passed inspection, went to DMV to reregister, paid personal property tax, paid the insurance and fixed the droopy fabric inside...all in one day!  I need a new car but am too lazy to go buy one. 
09/15/06 - Last time I got gas was 7 weeks ago and it was $0.60/gal pricier!
09/04/06 - Another fun weekend in Vancouver!  I saw 10 friends from the Ocean Study Tour '94.  This was my 11th visit to Vancouver in the past 12 years and not since 2003.  I love this city and it was great to see everyone!
09/01/06 - After almost a month in China, I am sad to leave but will only return to the US for a mere few hours before going to Vancouver for the long Labor Day weekend.  It's always fun when your flight lands 4 hours "before" departure with the time change.  My Sept 1 lasted 39 hours!  Long day... 
08/30/06 - Kunming is a statue-poser's paradise!  My traveling companions Ken, Rae and I were all posed-out after the abundance of photo ops!
08/26/06 - A day of food firsts.  I had sauteed tree bark and tree flower for lunch.  Also had tea mixed w/ a fatty lard with a Tibetan monk in Shangri-la
08/25/06 - Riding a long distance bus through the mountains of China is quite the experience!  There are buckets along the aisle for those constant hackers who feel the need to express themselves through loogies.  Unfortunately, those sitting near the window do not have this luxury and use the floor instead.  A guy in the row in front of me decides to puke his brains out an hour into the 10 hour ride.  Immediately, everyone around me lights up on this smoking-prohibited bus to cover up the stench.  Finally, everyone is treated to a bonus ass-massage as we ride along the bumpy road.  I would not trade this experience for anything as it is always fun to live and travel like a local.
08/22/06 - I went around Chengdu with some backpackers I met from Canada, UK and Australia.  It was great going around with other travel lovers.
08/21/06 - I went to the Shanghai airport and bought a ticket to Chengdu.  The flight was delayed 1.5 hours and the last 10 rows of the plane was going nuts screaming at the poor flight attendants.  The guy in my row wouldn't even get up to let me in to my window seat!  Some of the rudest people I've ever met and I'm ashamed for my people that they're Chinese.
08/18/06 - After 2.5 years on the same project, I am finally rolling off.  It has been a great project and I have met so many people from all over the World.  Hope to stay in touch and visit many of you on my personal world travels.  Now I have 2 weeks off to roam around Central and Southern China.
08/12/06 - Hung out with my friend Leehom and his family today who performed an amazing show at a sold-out 80,000 seat Shanghai Stadium.  It was a spectacular show of talent, musical range and entertainment.  Truly one of the best shows I have ever attended.  Congrats Homie, you DA MAN!
08/10/06 - I was declared "Biggest Eater on the Project" today after beating Angeline, a rail-thin colleague from Singapore in a food competition.  It was originally intended to be a xiaolungbao eat-off but the place we went to had pretty large ones and was not very tasty and not too much juice inside.  We ended up mixing in other dim sum countable items and final count was 21-14.
08/08/06 - I love the food and snacks out here!  Today we had lunch brought in to the office and we had pizza with crab meat, egg tart snacks with red bean inside from KFC, peking duck and various exotic fruit juices.  Mmmm...
08/04/06 - I sat in the row behind Senator John McCain today but didn't have any contact with him until we brushed elbows standing in adjacent urinals at O'Hare.  Then Chicago to Shanghai flight was delayed 4 hours after we boarded so I sat in the same seat for 18 hours.  Wow, that was long...
07/23/06 - Was on 3 islands today.  Had an early morning flight from Oahu to Maui, rented a car and drove around during the 6.5 hour layover, and then stopped in Kona on the Big Island to pick up passengers en route to Chicago.
07/19/06 - It's been nice being back home the past 3 weeks.  Been able to catch up on a lot of neglected paperwork from this year.  Flying out to Hawaii today for my first "vacation" of the year for an extended long weekend wedding.  Looking forward to it as I haven't been to the Islands in 6 years and not to Oahu in 12 years.  Stopped in SF to say hi to Fryguy and his new kid. 
06/30/06 - Today marks 3 years at Siebel/Oracle and I now get an extra week of vacation...hmm if only I can find the time to take it.  I upgraded my pocket camera again buying my 7th digital camera with the Canon SD600.  I now have 5 working digital cameras...anyone need one for a bargain?
06/26/06 - Another hectic weekend attending Rogelyn's wedding in NYC. Crazy rains delayed the drive back, finally getting home at 3:30am. Was so tired I just slept in the car...not unusual as I haven't slept in my own bed for 24 days straight now: B767 Plane 4, Hotel in Brazil 13, Airport in Paraguay 2, Hotel in Argentina 1, Hotel in PA 2, Hotel in NY 1, Car in front of house 1
06/14/06 - I almost got mugged in broad daylight in Buenos Aires this past weekend.  I was sitting on a park bench minding my own business reading a map when these 2 thugs came up and sat on either side of me real close and started speaking really fast Spanish to me.  I was a bit stunned but calmly got up, shrugged my shoulders and said "no comprende" and quickly walked away.  They pointed at my camera but I guess I *don't* understand sign language either.  A little unnerving but photos from that camera to come.  I still love the city though and no, I did not stop to take a photo of those guys!
06/13/06 - World Cup is quite the religion down here.  Restaurants and bars everywhere are decorated in Green & Yellow.  You'd have to be buried 6 feet under to miss a score...the entire city erupts, fireworks go off, car horns honk even hours after the end of the game in celebratory rhythms.  Defending World Cup champs Brazil won their 8th consecutive WC game 1-0 and it's only the opening game!  So much excitement is built up every 4 years for this. 
06/10/06 - Buenos Aires is a great city with a ton to see and do.  Went to Locos Por El Futbol to watch the game and it was a madhouse.  Me being the naive tourist had no clue about reservations way in advance so I wandered up the street where everyone was showing it.  Argentina won 2-1 and the partying began and continued late into the night.
06/09/06 - World Cup Fever is alive and well.  Restaurants were packed w/ the start of the World Cup today.  Excited to experience what the rest of the World is crazy about.  Perhaps I will be a convert?  I guess I'll root for Brazil next week & Argentina this weekend if I don't want to get lynched.
06/03/06 - Arrived in Sao Paulo and went to the ticket counters for Varig and TAM to look into flights to Buenos Aires next weekend.  They were all sold out =(  As I was heading out to grab a taxi, I saw the Gol counter and wondered if they fly there. As it turns out, they do and it's also a bit cheaper than the others but now I have a horrible 4 hour layover in Paraguay at midnight.
05/26/06 - Spent a nice 2 weeks down in Houston where the weather was nice and the restaurants tasty.  Next up: Brazil for 3 weeks.  Mmm...cheeseballs!
05/20/06 - Participated in my first Dragonboat festival.  It was lots of fun and our team won Silver (250m) & Gold (500m) in the Open A Division.
05/07/06 - Got 5 new fish for a total of 9 now after cleaning the tank. 
05/04/06 - It looks like I'll be on the road the next 6 weeks to Canada, Houston and Brazil.  I've lost track of how many times I've changed my tickets but we'll see how long this schedule is good for. 
04/30/06 - Back in Canada for another week--no issues getting here this time.
04/21/06 - Yet another schedule change with a shortened stay in Canada for itinerary #6 and ironically, I'm on the same flight back home 2 days from now as it was on the original schedule almost $1,000 ago.
04/18/06 - Finally after 4 itineraries, I am on my way to Canada...but on the layover in Montreal, I was asked to go to the immigration office to verify whether I need a work visa.  I did not based on some forms I showed them but they made me wait in this long line anyway.  An hour+ later, everything was fine but I missed the last flight and spent the night in Montreal.  
04/09/06 - Went on an impulsive gadget upgrading kick today.  Upgraded 15" flat panel LCD desk monitor to the Winbook 32" LCD TV, cell & PDA to the Sprint PPC-6700, and printer/scanner/copier to the Canon MP800 all-in-one.  Was thinking about the pocket camera too but I'll save that for a rainy day.
04/08/06 - I packed my bags and went to Dulles to catch a flight to St. John, NB Canada for a 2 week trip but then got 5 successive calls going back and forth and the final decision was to go home.  I'll be going next week instead.
03/30/06 - Went to a real doc this time and got great info and advice on my finger.  Looks like I tore the tendon off the bone and will have it in a splint for the next 6 weeks for it to "grow" back.  Now why couldn't my original doc tell me something as simple as that and not waste my time?  Time to ditch her!
03/24/06 - Some doctors are useless.  I went to my doc as a precaution to get my finger checked out and she saw me for a minute and said "it looks like your finger's bent...you need an x-ray"  No sh*t my finger's bent ya moron, I could've told you that and how much are you charging me for literally 1 minute of your time?  She wouldn't tell me anything else to care for it and said she'd call when the results got back.  Not surprisingly she blew me off.
03/23/06 - Ouch, I played dodgeball against a team that had these guys who can whip curveballs out twice as fast as anyone else I've seen.  It was insane and a bit scary!  I bent the top joint on my middle finger bumping the ball away with a ball in hand on one of these throws (goes to show how fast they were throwing).  No pain but it looks weird bent 45 degrees forward... =(
03/18/06 - Finally had the 6th installment of my big poker tournament.  It was delayed 2 months due to travel but it was the biggest turnout to date with 66 players who either played in one or both tournaments. 
03/16/06 - I went to play Dodgeball in a confined gym today for the first time in about 20 years and it was SO much fun!  Felt like a little kid again =)
03/11/06 - Took a 2 hour bus-ride down to Pattaya, a beachtown south of Bangkok for $3.  Rented a jetski for $10 and then rented a motorbike for $4 for 2 hours.  Both were firsts for me and it was fun cruising around the beaches and streets.  What a deal!
03/09/06 - I'm a terrible massagee.  I can't stop giggling like a little girl and squirming all over the place.  A great deal at $5/hour but I was tortured almost the entire time and looking forward to the end after just 5 minutes...
03/07/06 - Went to a Thai Boxing match which was quite cool to see especially since Boyd hooked us up with ring-side seats.  Afterwards, went to the No Hand Restaurant where you choose the lady who is going to feed you your entire meal!  You just sit there and open your mouth =)
03/04/06 - Spent the weekend in Vietnam visiting Hanoi and Halong Bay.  I got a "great" deal on a cash exchange there...for 55,000 Dong, I got back 3,773 Dong in older bills.  If anyone would like to give me $55,000 USD, I will give you $3,773 USD in older tattered bills too!  For a limited time only, I will sweeten the deal and throw in a free car too!
02/26/06 - Arrived in Bangkok late last night.  It is HOT here--100 during the day.  Went to Chinatown and had the largest slab of shark-fin I've ever had at this well-known restaurant that specializes in it.  Mmmm...  Finally saw the Grand Palace which I was duped into thinking was closed the last time I was here 3.5 years ago.  Hmmm I never got those pix up...maybe I should...
02/24/06 - Flew ANA direct from Dulles to Narita on the longest flight I've ever been on--14 hours!  They had a circular World Map centered around Tokyo and interestingly, the farthest city is Sao Paulo which means I've been at two extreme ends of the World this month.  So do kids in Tokyo learn that if you dig a big enough hole in the ground that they'll end up in Brazil?
02/19/06 - Sadly, this year's ski trip out West did not happen =(  Was supposed to be this weekend so the craving was too overwhelming so I had to go and settle for Whitetail, ranked #40 (out of 42) in my list of favorite ski resorts.  It was actually better than I remembered so I boosted the rating.
02/17/06 - Argh!  My laptop hard drive died yesterday but luckily they were able to recover most of the data.  Good thing as I would've lost all the Brazil pix except for the ones I've loaded onto this site already. 
02/14/06 - This is sad but I had a Valentine's date with my expense reports =P  With our systems transitioning to Oracle's, we have to submit all expenses by 2/15 and of course I had to procrastinate.  I can predict that 2 months from today I will be having another financial date...this time with Uncle Sam.
02/03/06 - 4 weeks in Brazil has flown by!  I leave the country today as a new Oracle employee (pending acceptance of the offer letter I got this morning).  It has been a great experience working with people from all over South America and Mexico.  I will miss the food, the spectacular weather and the friendliness of all those whom I've met.  Obrigado!
01/29/06 - Spent my last weekend in Brazil locally around Curitiba.  Went to the Island beaches of Ilha do Mel off the Atlantic Coast and then saw the sights within Curitiba.  I was very impressed with how clean, modern and advanced the city is, deservedly earning its stature as a World Model City.
01/22/06 - Spent the weekend in Iguazu Falls on both the Brazil and Argentina sides.  It is supposed to be "low season" but they were still spectacular and many times grander and more scenic than Niagara Falls!
01/15/06 - Went hang-gliding over the beautiful cliffs, beaches and waters of Rio de Janeiro for almost 1/2 hour in perfect conditions!  This blows away any parasailing and ranks right up there as one of the coolest things I've ever done aside from the pure thrill activities (parabungy & skydiving).
01/12/06 - I found out today that Siebel gets MLK Day off this year and we'll get a floater since the client does not.  Use it or lose it before the Oracle transaction finalizes at the end of the month.  Cool, I still need to finalize the tix for Rio and there's no better destination to stretch into a long weekend!
01/08/06 - I finally arrive in Curitiba, Brazil in the evening when I was supposed to get here in the morning.  It was 80 out compared to 40 when I left home and I totally forgot the days are longer too.  It was still light out after 8:30pm!  I could get used to this for the next month... =)
01/07/06 - I go check-in for my flight and am told my reservation was cancelled even though I have a paper ticket and a confirmation letter?!  To make a long and frustrating story short, I got on a later flight, missed the connection and wasted 7 hours dealing with Amex Travel, United, Varig and TAM with everyone pointing their fingers at someone else.  Ultimately it's Amex's fault and they will be getting a long letter from me.  What a pain!
01/04/06 - It looks like I won't be able to plan or go on the Ski Trip this year as I've been asked to travel to Asia after my return from Brazil.  Will some Ski Trip veterans step up and keep the 10 year tradition alive?
01/01/06 - Happy New Year everybody!  2006 will kick off with some international travel for work as I will be spending most of January (4 weeks) in Brazil.  My client will be in Curitiba and I'm looking forward to some weekend travel to explore a bit.  Due to my absence, a few of my yearly traditions will be pushed off.  The Semi-Annual poker tournament will be postponed until Feb sometime and the Annual Ski Trip in March.
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2005 Blogs
12/27/05 - A week+ in SF and it rained almost every day.  It's been 2.5 years since I've been out here and it was a good training class, good catching up with friends in the Bay area and of course as always, good food!
12/17/05 - Alvin and Huiwen launch their online presence of Giraffe Paperie www.giraffepaperie.com a specialty paper boutique showcasing Huiwen's creative design talents ranging from sophisticated to whimsical artwork featuring their mascot Giraffe the Giraffe.  Alvin spent a ton of hours on the website and it looks great so check it out!
12/15/05 - I've finally started to incorporate some of the photos that I've scanned from over 4 years ago into the website.  The previously pathetic looking Personal and Interests sections have been spiced up with some photos but stayed tuned for more of the Best Of photos from my college days...
12/07/05 - Today marks the 4 year anniversary of when this site was launched.  Aside from moving the server to my new home and a few cable glitches, this site has been up over 99.9% of the time and now contains 30,957 files taking up 1.37 GB.  Hope you've enjoyed viewing as much as I've enjoyed sharing my adventures with everyone now and in the future!
12/03/05 - Jon got a Christmas tree for the place and it looks and smells really good.  It's the first time I've ever had a real tree!
11/24/05 - Alvin and Huiwen brought their professional wedding photos back home over Thanksgiving and they were very well done!  Their photographers went nuts and took 1,400 photos that day and have 10% of them featured as one of 8 photojournalistic galleries on their website somethinginblue.com
11/21/05 - Oracle CEO Larry Ellison held a Town Hall Q&A with all Siebel employees about the imminent merger and I was very impressed with his vision and depth of knowledge.  He is truly a pioneer and visionary in the IT field and in a CEO class head and shoulders above all others I've seen.
11/18/05 - I had my first turducken and it was delicious!  Thanks to Jenny who cooked the chicken stuffed in a duck stuffed in a turkey for 10 hours!
11/13/05 - I had possibly the worst bubble tea ever in Charlottesville, VA.  Lesson learned is don't get BT from college towns that don't have a large Asian population.  Last time I did this was on a project in UW Madison and the BT was also disappointing.  The real let-down was this place at UVA was from a Korean restaurant...they should know how to make good BT!
11/12/05 - My Dad was in town and had a timeshare booked in the Shenandoah mountains so I went out there to visit.  It was a nice quick weekend getaway with nice fall foliage still clinging onto the branches.
11/07/05 - Not sure why but ALL Houston hotels were booked this week.  I came back this week with a hotel booked on Monday and no availability the rest of the week.  Ended up staying at 4 different hotels in 4 nights, ranging from sketchy (glow-in-the-dark wall decorations) to posh (St. Regis).
10/31/05 - I boarded a plane for Houston for my first client travel since I've been with Siebel.  I've been working locally at the client site for the past 2+ years but I'm going down to help out at the Houston location.
10/30/05 - My childhood buddy Matt was in town so I met up with him after the party ended at 4:30am and hung out until 8:30am.  He let me drive a 70 ton 18-wheeler down I-66!  Wow, that was scary and crazy...
10/29/05 - Hosted another fun Halloween Bash this year with lots of great costumes.  The voting process was a little slow but I'll fix it for next year!
10/20/05 - By request, I took a break from doing my India pix and finished the photos from Athens, Greece!  Surprised?  Yes, I haven't updated any of the Mediterranean Cruise photos in 16 months but better late than never =)
10/13/05 - Cox Cable internet service was out this morning explaining why this site was inaccessible.  Alvin's in town!  Hung out last night and will again tonight.
10/1/05 - My flight from Mumbai to Milan landed over an hour early!  I had never experience such earliness from an airline (Alitalia) before.  This only meant a 4 hour layover rather than 3.  The Ferrari store in the airport was pretty cool.  I landed in Washington 22 hours after the initial flight and was going home to yet another set of new housemates.  My friend Jon from Rochester had moved down the day after I left and Kin had just moved out.
09/26/05 - Finally, a hotel with internet connectivity for my laptop so I'm uploading some trip highlights to my server for everyone to enjoy!  4MB of photos is still going to take a long time over 28.8 dial-up...
09/25/05 - Had a true, authentic Rajastani meal tonight in Jaipur, India.  They were nice enough to provide a plastic spoon but it was quite tasty!
09/19/05 - My driver that I hired in Sri Lanka is so cool!  He let me drive stick left-handed!  That was really weird but pretty cool nonetheless.  Sri Lanka has been beautiful and full of scenic beauty.  One more day here before heading off to India.
09/13/05 - New Dell 2300MP Projector arrived yesterday but I've been too busy preparing for my trip so it's unusual that a new toy/gadget will sit in my room for 3 weeks unopened!  I leave for Sri Lanka tomorrow!  So excited...
09/12/05 - Oracle announces acquisition of Siebel for $5.85B!  I think this is a good move for both companies but comes as a slight surprise.  Weird to think that I'll be working for Oracle.
08/28/05 - Agreed to rent room to new roommate Tri.  Welcome!
08/21/05 - Alvin & Huiwen's wedding is the best one I've ever been to (out of about 50)!  Great food (a huge variety), decor, service, events, fun and overall program of events.  Maybe I'm a little biased being the brother and Best Man but even if I barely knew them, it'd still be an awesome and very fun wedding.  Congratulations guys and I love my new sister-in-law!
08/15/05 - Another new toy & camera arrives today!  This time it's the Canon S2 IS pseudo SLR big zoom camera.  The 12X optical zoom is FAST with lots of great manual controls!  Look for some great photos from my next trip!
08/14/05 - So bummed I couldn't attend my friend Anne's wedding in Vancouver =(  Not enough vacation time to take for a Sunday evening wedding on the West coast with Alvin's wedding next weekend and the India trip next month.  Congratulations Anne & Jonathan, wish I could've been there!
08/09/05 - Canon sent back my SD200 all fixed and repaired at no cost!  It must've been the sap letter I wrote that accompanied the defective return.
08/02/05 - I joined a Kickball League in the WAKA Vienna Division and tonight was the first game and my first since 6th grade!
07/29/05 - It's been a bad week for things breaking on me.  First the A/C at the condo, then my camera and then the alternator on my car died late last night.  Luckily it was close to the shop and a random guy was nice enough to jump the car and give me enough juice to drive it over to the car shop.
07/27/05 - Some random girl emails me about my craigslist posting for the room that Justin will be vacating in a few weeks to head back to grad school.  I write back and describe the place and roommates and it turns out she knows Andrew.  They went to school together and were in the same major!  Small world huh?  9 of the 12 interested parties have been women.  As for the guys, the first guy blew me off and I had to outright reject the other 2 dudes for poor grammar.
07/26/05 - Eeeks!  I pulled my Canon SD200 out of my pocket today to take a photo and...the screen was cracked!  I hadn't dropped or bumped it?!  Hmmm...I guess it's time to get my 6th digital camera.  I really like that one though so maybe I'll get the same one again?
07/23/05 - Largest turnout to date at one of my poker tournaments.  Had a nice showing of 48 people at 6 tables, 3 upstairs and 3 downstairs.
07/17/05 - Drove 6+ hours all the way back from Rochester to DC with a loud, annoying detached muffler.  Discovered this after I got to Rochester but didn't have time to fix it during Dam's wedding day and shops were closed on Sunday.  Got it fixed the next day but should I get my ears checked now? =P
07/09/05 - Andrew officially moves into the HAJK House
07/01/05 - AA booked me on a flight at 8:30pm, 24 hours after my original flight.  Forget that, I'm not spending my day off picking my butt at the airport in STL.  I gambled and went to Dallas to take my chances on more oversold flights.  Got extremely lucky and was the last stand-by to get on.  Otherwise I would've likely got stuck in Dallas.
06/30/05 - Spent the night at the St. Louis airport on route to Vegas after a 3 hour delay and missing my connection.  American Airlines blows!  I have not flown them in about 20 years and will not again.  Over a million miles on other carriers and why did I waste my time with these guys to save $50?
06/27/05 - Put an offer on a Germantown condo.  Ultimately did not get it.
06/25/05 - Holly moves out of the HoHoJuKi House.  She's been a great housemate and we'll miss her!
06/17/05 -Raced on an Indoor Go-Karting track with timed laps and statistics on overall performance!  Very cool except I was pulled over twice for "bumping" =(  Hey, people got in my way! =)
06/15/05 - I had Bubble Tea out in Centreville!   But no big surprise, it wasn't very good...
06/12/05 - Went skydiving today...wow, that was the coolest thing I've ever done in my entire life!  Surprisingly, it was not scary at all.  It felt like I was just floating on air...very cool!  My tandem jump master had gone 3,800 times previously.  Try it at least once in your life...you won't regret it!
06/11/05 - After almost 11 months of bare walls, I finally put up some wall hangings around the house.
06/06/05 - Hung out with my bro Alvin who was in town for business.  Of course we had to play some Acorns, the best card game!
06/04/05 - Finally picked up a sideboard for the dining room.  Looks good and much better than the folding table that Yu-Lun had loaned me since last year's initial poker move-in event...thanks YL!  Also went to my first Washington Nationals game.
06/03/05 - I'm going skydiving in 2 weeks!  Will finally be able to put that deposit to use that was originally scheduled for the weekend after 9/11/01 which obviously got cancelled
05/26/05 - Got my Kirby vacuum cleaner fixed.  Pricey but worth it for a vacuum cleaner I sold in 1991 as a summer job for $1279
05/22/05 - Got 4 new Danios for my 2nd fish tank.  Apparently they are hearty non-destructible freshwater fish, perfect for my needs =)
05/21/05 - Played softball for the first time in ages.  Wow, I really miss playing and was a little sore after 4.5 hours.  Weeded my "rock garden" afterwards.  I had a jungle growing out behind my deck!
05/19/05 - Tested out the new grill and it's nice!  I didn't realize that there was additional assembly required but it wasn't too bad (3 out of 15 steps)
05/18/05 - Played in a volleyball tournament with some friends.  We were pretty bad (0-5) but had lots of fun.  At least we did not lose *all* of our games due to time running out on the last one =)
05/14/05 - Weekend of eating a ton of food up in NY.  Last time visiting Alvin's apt on Broadway of 6 years before he moves across the street.
05/12/05 - Speaking of grills, I picked one up from Home Depot which took over 1.5 hours of waiting when it should've been ready when I got there.
05/11/05 - The world's largest grill comes to ExxonMobil for their Summer Extravaganza.  That grill, the length of an 18-wheeler was huge!
05/09/05 - Roommate Justin cooks up a delicious authentic Macedonian meal
05/02/05 - First time in a few weeks where all 4 of us from the HoHoJuKi House have been together and it's not even at home but Ling's place!
04/30/05 - Childhood friend Pam Lu in town.  I haven't seen her in about 5 years as well.
04/26/05 - My cousin Lonlon was in town.  I haven't seen her in almost 5 years.
04/13/05 - Siebel just announced we have a new CEO effective immediately.
04/09/05 - Received an urgent overnight Fedex for Saturday delivery initiated by a previous client from years ago complaining about photos of confidential docs on this site.  That is such BS as there is nothing on this site that is work-related.  Docs in question were on a table taken 5-20 feet away and nobody, even Superman, would be able to discern any writing on them.  I challenge anyone who needs to get a life to prove that those docs don't contain any porn 'cause you really can't tell anything about them.  I complied with the request but hid the photo of nothing on this site somewhere.  I hope someone wastes hours of their company's time trying to find it only to discover there's nothing on there to begin with!
04/03/05 - So the impulsive side of me was going to buy another condo this weekend being built across from the Dunn Loring Metro.  I went to the Preview sale but was not officially registered and there was no easy way to get around it with too many restrictions that deter investors =(
03/29/05 - Bumped into my neighbor today and she told me about the recent sale of a townhouse 3 doors down from us.  Ridiculous real estate market!
03/26/05 - Evelyn introduced us to Speed Scrabble, a faster paced and quick version that is quick and fun to play.
03/23/05 - Project team members Laura & Todd celebrate birthdays today so I invited the whole team over for lots of food & drinks.
03/15/05 - Select Justin as our new housemate among a dozen inquiries to join Holly, Kin and myself in April.  Come visit the HoHoJuKi House soon!
03/10/05 - College friend Woody in town and we watched our crazy antics from the "Club Cascadilla" videotape from 1992!  I don't even remember making the tape but got really nauseated watching the shaky home video.
03/05/05 - International Mel hosts another theme party, this time with the "Obrigado Brazil Party" with food, stories and photos from his recent trip
03/04/05 - Met up with "Vaughn the Bird Killer" for lunch today.  Ex-Siebel coworker now kills birds with his car in parking lots for a living... =)
03/02/05 - Washington Wizards are pretty good this year.  Went to see them with Yao Ming and the Rockets in town.
02/24/05 - HAHK House HotPot & Mochi night as is the tradition on the 15th day after Chinese New Year
02/19/05 - Lots of "star sightings" in Sun Valley! 
02/17/05 - Leave for the land of potatoes for some skiing at Sun Valley!
02/12/05 - I agonized over hanging a new 70 pound mirror in the dining room.  Half the studs are wood and half are metal?  Not sure what to do now.
02/09/05 - ExxonMobil was handing out Safety Ladders today.  Curious, I requested one--it's for escaping out of a 2nd floor window.  I left mine downstairs and will resort to jumping out the window if it ever happens...
02/08/05 - Chinese New Year's eve dinner w/ some friends.  My 3rd Chinese dinner banquet in 5 days (Seven Seas, Dragon Star, Oriental Regency).  I'm Chinesed out...need a big juicy burger to balance things out a bit...
02/05/05 - Saw "Defending the Caveman", a witty one-man play about the differences between men and women.  It's pretty entertaining.
02/03/05 - I met up with my Siebel manager for lunch today!  Of the 7 managers I've had in 1.5 years, I had not met the previous 6 until today.
02/01/05 - Learned all about installing water heaters and home maintenance from Tom who was a great help at the condo rental unit.
01/29/05 - A busy day preparing for and hosting 2 poker tournaments.  Had the biggest turnout to date with over 50 people and $1,000 in prizes but ran into a few technical snags.  Was unable to simultaneously project the tournament screen downstairs but will work out the kinks for next time!
01/21/05 - One of the funniest Balderdash nights ever.  Tankle: To pee when sitting down--boys tinkle, girls tankle.  And there were many more hilarious moments.  My stomach hurt a lot from laughing and I almost tankled my pants!
01/12/05 - My little bro Alvin turns 30!  Wow, our whole family is now old...
01/02/05 - Bills almost made an impressive turnaround from an 0-4 start but choked against the backup Steelers who had nothing to play for =(
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2004 Blogs
12/31/04 - I was going to drive up to NY last night but decided against it after hearing some traffic reports.  Good thing as I established a new personal land speed record of 3 hours 15 mins from Falls Church to Manhattan
12/27/04 - Coincidental that the day after the big tsunami in SE Asia, I booked a planned leisure ticket to Sri Lanka/India for September.
12/23/04 - Selected this year's 10th Annual Ski Trip destination: Sun Valley, ID
12/18/04 - Got a group together for ultimate frisbee which was a lot of fun!  We'll have to make this a more regular event when the weather gets nice again
12/16/04 - Another Siebel Professional Services Reorg.  I now have my 7th manager in less than a year and a half.  I have not met the latest 6 who have been assigned to me the past 9 months!  Job-wise there is no apparent difference.  Ridiculous?  Yes but I think this reorg should be more stable...
12/03/04 - Strike Bethesda is the coolest bowling place I've ever been to!  Neon lights, tons of animated graphics, and they measure how fast you bowl!
11/24/04 - Horrendous traffic from DC to NY.  It took 7.5 hours to get there but only a quick 3.5 hours back, late Sunday night, both personal records.
11/19/04 - I get a "mini-fro" when I don't get a haircut for 4+ weeks but for a 70s party, this was one major 'fro!  I think I'd have to not cut my hair for 2 years and get a perm on top =)
11/18/04 - I'm embarrassed to say that I got my oil changed for the first time in a long, long time.  It's been over a year which would be ok if I had a nice car that only required it that often, but I don't...or at least not yet, haha
11/08/04 - howard.lu-gats.com just surpassed 20,000 files that comprise this site and now takes up over 870MB.  Good luck surfing through all the photos on this website =)  Stream-lined the site navigation and removed the email address on the site which I haven't checked in over a year.  Email me directly or sign the Guestbook instead.
11/05/04 - Went to the Grand opening of Todai, a predominately west coast all-you-can-eat seafood/sushi chain.  It was packed and I have never seen so many Asians congregated in one area in the DC area.
11/02/04 - The Bosox winning the WS and the Redskins losing the last home game before the election was supposed to be a good omen for Kerry.  Too bad.  johnkerryisadouchebagbutimvotingforhimanyway.com
10/30/04 - A busy weekend preparing for and hosting the Halloween Housewarming Bash.  Thanks to all my housemates of the HAHK House for putting in a ton of effort in making this a huge success! 
10/29/04 - Carving pumpkins and making poker chip costumes for everyone in the HAHK House has been the most creative and artsy thing I've done in awhile.  We will be "dressing up" as different colors and denominations!
10/21/04 - Ugh...can't believe the Yankees choked!  4 losses in a row...reminds me of my other favorite team, the Buffalo Bills...
10/20/04 - Yankees/Red Sox series boils down to tonight...  How did this happen after leading the series 3-0?  Been exciting though...  Go Yankees!
10/13/04 - Got the new camera and after playing around, I highly recommend it!  Tiny size, large 2" screen, 3x optical zoom, unlimited videos, fast Digic II chip.  Very impressed!
10/04/04 - New Canon SD200 camera is available for sale!  Been waiting for this so I ordered one.  Smaller than original Elph and packed w/ features.
11/11/04 - Hey, does anyone actually read these?  I've always wondered.  I'm doing a little survey on site traffic usage.  If you read this, can you email me with subject = Lu-gats Survey?  100th unique emailer will receive $100.  I want to keep this unbiased so no circulating to friends and no stalkers, please =)  Contest open to those who have my email address.  Thanks and good luck!
09/24/04 - Varekai show from Cirque du Soleil is really good!
09/21/04 - After a year+, I am single again.
09/20/04 - I switched the Registrar of lu-gats.com from register.com to godaddy.com  Same service but much cheaper w/ savings of almost 70%
09/12/04 - Holly's "Shrine to IKEA" is finally complete w/ new paint, outlets, carpet, lighting and furniture.  It is the coolest room in the house!
09/11/04 - New furniture arrives in the morning and conveniently I sold the old sofa set in the afternoon.  Ah, I will miss those comfy dark green pleather couches that I've spent many nights passed out on.
08/22/04 - Roommates Amy and Holly move in to complete the HAHK House
08/13/04 - Dude Ranch weekend - cool but not anything like City Slickers.
08/09/04 - Participated in a new Marriott concept room survey at their HQ to see a room w/ all the latest amenities and gadgets to see how much I liked and would be willing to pay.  It was very cool ("W"-esque) and they paid me $75 cash for an hour of my time when I would've done it for free!
08/05/04 - I thought I had my camera stolen on move day by some W/D delivery people but found it in the corner of the counter.  Weird!  6 pairs of eyes and we all missed that.
07/31/04 - Moving Day--After 8 years at the West Falls Church condo, I've accumulated a ton of stuff to move a mile down the street.  Kin moves in as well.
07/30/04 - Anish, handyman extraordinaire, cuts open my ceiling at the old place to investigate the cause of an apparent leak and finds an unsealed air duct that's probably been there since the day I moved in.  Don't ever buy a home from Pulte, shoddy construction experts.
07/29/04 - Moved my 2 remaining fish over to their new home.  Would've been 3 but CTONFY (Can't Think Of Name For You) committed suicide in his interim "flower vase".  Found him dead in the middle of the floor one day =(  I guess I won't need to think of a name anymore, although it's been about 2 years, by far the most hardy fish I've ever owned!
07/24/04 - Big poker party at the new pad the day after getting the key
07/19/04 - I close on the new townhouse and sign my life and a big chunk of my savings away...
07/15/04 - ExxonMobil client takes us out during the work day for a relaxing "Day on the Bay" aboard a private yacht in Annapolis.
07/10/04 - Surprise Birthday party for Amy which worked pretty nicely.  Mel on the bagpipes stole the show!  On a nostalgic note, this is the last party I'll have at 7052, unless my roommate Kevin invites me over for future poker games =)
06/28/04 - After some research over the weekend, I put a contract bid on the townhouse and 6 hours later...I got it!  OMG, this is probably the craziest thing I've ever done.  5 days ago, I had zero intention on buying anything and now I am about to become a "slumlord".  If anyone knows anyone who wants to rent a room inside the Beltway in Falls Church right behind WFC Metro or in the new place about a 15-20 minute walk from Metro let me know!
06/24/04 - I know of a property for sale by owner about a mile away from me.  It's roomier 3BR 3.5BA and in great condition.  hmmm..let me check my finances...
06/23/04 - Coworker Vivek forwards me an article about rental real estate...
06/20/04 - Almost had the police after me when I set off an alarm in a Bethesda $3M home.  Oooops, but hey, they left the door unlocked...
06/14/04 - On a pop kick.  Saw Madonna at MCI Center and was going to see Christina Aguillera tomorrow at Nissan Pavilion but that show was cancelled
06/12/04 - 10th Year Cornell reunion back in Ithaca, NY.  Wow, has it been that long?!?  It was great to see everyone who showed up there.
06/05/04 - Attempted to watch Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban but was asleep before the previews came on.
06/01/04 - Back at work and there were more new people at lunch that I did not know than those I did know.  Lots of new people added while I was gone.
05/30/04 - 2 weeks living like a caveman (without cell phone or email access) but it was an amazing trip, although a bit rushed at each port of call. Whirlwind tour of the Mediterranean cities and sights. Took a ton of pix and will slowly get them on the site.
05/15/04 - Leave for a 2 week Mediterranean Cruise. So excited...
05/07/04 - Week of Management changes at Siebel from project all the way up to Tom Siebel stepping down as CEO
05/02/04 - Watched Super Size Me at the DC Film Fest, the "documentary" about the guy who went on the 30 day McDonalds "diet"...nasty...
05/01/04 - Watched Alvin play in his baseball league. Wow what a boring game. Even played buck-up but there was no action.
04/30/04 - Drive up to NY for weekend. I suck at karaoke too...or maybe mediocre after going with Alan and Lee-Hom who are at 2 polar extremes =)
04/25/04 - Wow, I suck at golf. Shot a 117 at Burke Lake
04/24/04 - AMS ARCS team reunion. April has been AMS reunion month with another AMS AmFam one tomorrow
04/21/04 - Drive to Richmond for a sales call
04/14/04 - Fly to Beijing for 72 hours for Chris & Ying's wedding reception--definitely need more time there next time.
04/07/04 - AMS GMAC team reunion initiated by Linda who decided to visit
03/28/04 - Bought rollerblades on a whim a week ago and tested them for the first time going 15+ miles. Don't think I had gone more than 3 miles before.
03/14/04 - Visit Wegmans near Dulles which has been open for 2 weeks. So much chatter from Rochester and Cornell friends leading up to it--It's nicer and bigger than any in Rochester, their HQ
03/12/04 - Mom visit DC for a week
03/06/04 - Took my latest poker winnings and invested in 4 new colored chips. I now have 8 official casino colored chips for the next tourney!
03/02/04 - Eye surgery for cataracts that I got from a water skiing trauma sustained a few years ago
02/27/04 - Hosted a Hold'em Poker Tournament II. Amy won the first tourney in her first time playing. I won the 2nd...better lose the next one before people think it's rigged =)
02/24/04 - First ExxonMobil project ended a week ago; Been on the bench for a week and now am starting a new CRM project at ExxonMobil.
02/12/04 - 9th Annual Ski Trip to Big Sky! Few lines and great snowmobiling through Yellowstone
02/02/04 - Buy Dell 4600C Desktop as my "Tivo" machine. Got a great deal with a 17" flat panel monitor.
01/26/04 - Dug out my car with 6" of snow with a dustpan.  I should invest in a shovel
01/19/04 - Buy another TV tuner card to make my own "Tivo".  The software for the TV Wonder Pro is so much better than my existing Hauppauge.
01/07/04 - After almost 5 years with AT&T, my contract runs out today and I am ditching them as fast as I could!  Taking my number over to Sprint because of their cool phones.  The Sanyo VM4500 is at least 10 times nicer than any phone I've owned before.
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2003 News & Updates
12/25/03 - Fly to New Orleans for a week with a mini road trip along the Gulf Coast to the Florida Panhandle.
12/21/03 - Help Anne and Amy move to their brand new apartment.  Ten-Ren now serves green-tea tapioca balls...yum!
12/18/03 - Announcing this year's 9th Annual Ski Trip 2K4 to Big Sky, MT. 
12/13/03 - Test drove my next car, the Mazda RX-8.  Fast...to prove it, I got a speeding ticket--hey, aren't test drives free?  Went to Amy's company party and met all her fun(ny) coworkers that I've heard so many stories about.
12/12/03 - Went to the Siebel Holiday party at the Hyatt and was the lone representative from my group...c'mon, where's the team/group spirit?!
12/08/03 - Amy comes back from 2.5 weeks away in Asia and brings back lots of snacks and toys =)  My Nikon 3700 also arrived today...yay!
12/07/03 - It's the 1 year anniversary of our AmFam trip to Houston watching Yao Ming and an awesome meal at America's.  Jannelle is in town prompting all of us to get together again.
12/02/03 - I really miss having a small pocket camera so I ordered the Nikon Coolpix 3700.  I didn't have the patience to wait for the successor to the Canon S400.  The Nikon 5700 is a little too big to carry everywhere with me.
11/29/03 - Drove around Greece, NY today and saw my old elementary school and high school.  Wow, lots of new construction all around town.
11/13/03 - High winds killed the power at the client site today so they sent us home for half a day.
11/05/03 - Got my new Nikon Coolpix 5700!  Wow, lots of features!  This is a great advanced prosumer camera and I have yet to try out all its features.
10/30/03 - All Lu-gats sites have been down this entire week and I thought it was a Cox Cable problem.  Turns out my router settings were blown away for some random reason.
10/27/03 - After a month without a digital camera of my own, I ordered the Nikon Coolpix 5700 Digital SLR.  I will wait until Canon announces the successor to the S400 to get my next compact, although the just-announced Nikon Coolpix 3700 is pretty tempting, due to come out at the end of this year.
10/25/03 - Yummy!  Amy took me to try out Morimoto's in Philly.  Highly recommend the tasting menu which really isn't a "menu" but what the chef is in a mood to make.
10/18/03 - Last minute decision to fly to LA to partake in Chris & Ying's small family wedding.  It was an honor being the Best Man and I'm looking forward to the Beijing wedding next year!
10/16/03 - Aaron Boone with the 11th inning homer in Game 7!  Yankees deal the Red Sox yet another crushing blow enroute to another World Series.  This was the best game I've ever seen!  Poor Cubbies and Sox.  The curses live on!
10/04/03 - Celebrating Hetty's birthday and departure from New York City
09/27/03 - Vinnie & Mindi's wedding in Balboa Park, San Diego was really nice.  Will be using Amy's S200 until I get a replacement for the S400.
09/27/03 - UH OH!  I went kayaking in La Jolla with my Digital Elph S400 and it no longer works =(  Guess it was bound to happen as it survived kayaking trips earlier this year in Milford Sound, New Zealand and Monterey, CA so 3 time's a charm...
09/20/03 - Hurricane Isabel knocked out the Lu-gats server for 42 hours.  2 days without electricity really makes you realize how dependent we are on it.  It's nice to have it back though.
09/08/03 - I finally reinstalled and reconfigured all the software needed to update the pix and this site from the crashed hard drive over a month ago.
08/12/03 - I started a local project for ExxonMobil today.  It's so convenient being only 4 miles from home.
08/10/03 - What a gorgeous weekend out in the Carmel & Monterey area for John & Stacy's wedding!
08/08/03 - My laptop hard drive died today on my day off but I was able to bring it out to the Siebel guys at HQ in San Mateo to replace it.  Piece of crap Compaq laptop only lasted 5 weeks.  I've never had a problem with any of my previous 5 Dell laptops (except for one getting stolen).
08/07/03 - I did well on the Siebel 7 Certification Exam and am now a Siebel Certified Consultant.  I guess that means you can call me if you need an enterprise-wide CRM solution to track your personal contacts.
08/03/03 - Had a great time at Henry & Patty's wedding in Vancouver.  The early morning drive back to Seattle immediately following the reception to catch an early flight back to SF was slightly painful but well worth it =)  Living life to the fullest is always my philosophy.
08/02/03 - Flew to Seattle yesterday and stayed with Nancy & Henry in their really cute house.  Drove to Vancouver today, taking almost 4 hours waiting in traffic and accidents along the way.
07/14/03 - First day of Siebel training in San Mateo, CA.  I will be out in the SF Bay area for the next 4 weeks.
07/09/03 - Amy's 25th birthday and new highest rated restaurant in Downtown DC -- Citronelle
06/30/03 - First day at the new job at Siebel Systems.  Found out I get July 3rd off--wow, I've never had that off.  Short first week.  Half the New Zealand photos are done so check back as I'll be adding some new sections each day.
06/24/03 - Saw Riverdance at Wolf Trap today.  This is a great show and I have a new-found appreciation for men prancing around in high heels.
06/23/03 - New color scheme for PhotoPix with photo-bordered thumbnails.  All the scenic New Zealand trip photos are all sorted and ready to go.  I just need to caption them and will post them here later this week.
06/16/03 - Ouch, I got all 4 wisdom teeth pulled today.  Surprisingly, it hasn't been all that painful except for my diet of applesauce, congee and pudding.  Don't expect to see any new restaurants during the next week...
06/13/03 - After 200+ paychecks, today's my last day at AMS.  It was a fun ride and a great first job out of college.  I've learned so much and will miss the many smart and talented people there.  I will be starting at Siebel Systems at the end of the month.
05/28/03 - Sydney is now my new favorite city in the World. It is so scenic with so much to do and see.  I took 370 pictures today, I'm sure a record that will never be surpassed.  I can't think of a place that would provide more photo opportunities.  New Zealand was awesome too but we needed more time.  So scenic and so much to do.
05/17/03 - On a plane to New Zealand for 9 days and then 4 in Sydney, Australia!  I'll be sleeping for most of this 13-hour flight from LA to Auckland.
05/11/03 - Redesigned the navigation of parts of this site.  The Recent First Time Restaurant Highlights section will now include the ratings on this page.  This New Site Features, News and Updates section will also now become more Xanga-like as I write some random thoughts and stuff going on each time I update the site and/or add new photos.  It's a dreary day out so I also finally annotated my Africa Kilimanjaro and Safari Trip from some of my favorite images that I had scanned a few years ago.
05/09/03 - I start a short-term local "traveling" project up to Herndon for Fannie Mae.  This will only last a week before I take the rest of the month off on vacation.
05/02/03 - I came home today and found a 20lb package containing 500 casino-style poker chips!  It's my bro Alvin's very belated birthday present to me.  Hmm...will need to have a poker party soon to break them in...
04/27/03 - After nearly 2 years, I have finally annotated my trip to Peru & the Inca Trail
03/28/03 - Today was my last day at AmFam, after 13 months on the project in Madison, WI.  I also just got my new Camera!  Awesome!
03/03/03 - <--Nice date.  I have been in Madison, WI for 1 year now.  My future new camera is coming out on April 1...the new & improved Canon Digital Elph S400 is set to replace my beat-up S110 that has lasted 12,500 shots.
02/16/03 - 8th Annual Ski Trip Info for Heavenly @ Lake Tahoe
01/28/03 - I thought my Canon S110 had died over the weekend and was all prepared to get the S230 but somehow it's been miraculously revived.  Guess I'll just have to wait for the new model to come out =)
01/20/03 - I am finally caught up on all photos from 2002...except for the Thailand/Cambodia trip which I will hopefully get to at some point...
[Return to Top]

2002 News & Updates
07/11/02 - I leave the country tomorrow for a 10 day trip to Thailand and Cambodia.  I'm sure there will be lots of photos to come!
06/21/02 - Added a new 80GB hard drive to the Lu-gats server.  This site is currently 350MB (over 2,000 photos) but the growth potential is now virtually boundless...
05/17/02 - It's been awhile since my new project began but I had a chance on my flight home to add these updated Digital Photography and new Photo Pages sections.
02/21/02 - Revamped Photography pages with shooting techniques, tips and examples
02/14/02 - Site was down for 1/2 the day.  Still not sure why but resetting the port # seemed to fix it.  Thanks to those who told me.  This site should always be up so please let me know if it's ever down.
02/11/02 - Prototyped sample web-based Lu-gats
02/07/02 - Updated Taos Ski Trip Info (March 22-26) and Skiing page
01/16/02 - Site was down most of the day due to a router problem that has since been resolved.
01/04/02 - Fixed Netscape 4.7 and earlier photo viewing blank screen problem
01/03/02 - Split VideoPix from PhotoPix into it's own page and moved Interests under Personal.  Also added location to the Guest Book.
12/20/01 - Oops, corrected Guest Book scripting error.  Please try again if you were rejected previously.
12/17/01 - Added Guest Book for visitors to comment and offer suggestions.  Please share your thoughts.  Thanks!
12/07/01 - Launch of howard.lu-gats.com It's still under construction but at least it's a start.
[Return to Top]

2007
08/30 - 09/01: Charlotte, NC
08/17 - 08/19: San Francisco, CA
08/09 - 08/10: Charlotte, NC
07/28 - 07/29: Savannah, GA
07/27 - 07/28: Charleston, SC
07/26 - 07/27: Columbia, SC
07/23 - 08/30: Augusta, GA: Business
07/20 - 07/22: Atlantic City, NJ
07/13 - 07/15: Las Vegas, NV
06/09 - 06/10: Xiamen, China
06/02 - 06/03: Macau/Zhuhai, China
05/25 - 05/28: Beijing, China
05/18 - 05/20: Hong Kong, China
05/18 - 06/22: Shenzhen, China II: Business
05/03 - 05/04: Yangshuo/Guilin, China
04/21 - 04/22: Guangzhou, China
03/23 - 03/25: Hong Kong, China
03/22 - 05/04: Shenzhen, China: Business
03/11 - 03/16: Los Angeles, CA - Business
02/23 - 02/25: New York, NY - NYC & Mohegan Sun, CT
02/09 - 02/11: Rochester, NY - Mom's 60th Birthday
02/06 - 02/09: Indianapolis, IN - Business
02/02 - 02/05: Vancouver/Whistler, BC
01/04 - 01/06: New York, NY
01/02 - 01/04: Vermont

2006
12/30 - 01/01: New York, NY
12/14 - 12/17: Denver/Vail, CO
12/02 - 12/04: Los Angeles, CA
11/22 - 11/26: New York, NY - Thanksgiving
11/11 - 11/19: San Francisco, CA - Training Class
11/08 - 11/10: Toronto, Canada
10/22 - 10/23: Amsterdam, Netherlands
10/21 - 10/22: Rottterdam, Netherlands
10/14 - 10/15: Budapest, Hungary
10/06 - 10/28: Prague, Czech Republic
09/01 - 09/03: Vancouver, BC - Rudy & Helen Wedding
08/19 - 09/01: China
08/04 - 08/18: Shanghai, China - Business
07/19 - 07/23: Honolulu, HI - Alan & Valerie Wedding
06/23 - 06/25: New York, NY - Roger & Evelyn Wedding
06/18 - 06/23: Curitiba, Parana, Brazil - Business
06/16 - 06/18: Colmar, PA - Kin & Ling Wedding
06/10 - 06/11: Buenos Aires, Argentina
06/05 - 06/15: Curitiba, Parana, Brazil - Business
06/03 - 06/04: Sao Paulo, Brazil
04/30 - 05/12: St. John, New Brunswick, Canada - Business
04/18 - 04/23: St. John, New Brunswick, Canada - Business
03/10 - 03/11: Pattaya, Thailand
03/03 - 03/05: Vietnam (Hanoi, Ha Long Bay)
02/24 - 03/12: Bangkok, Thailand - Business
01/28 - 01/28: Ilha do Mel, Brazil
01/20 - 01/22: Iguazu Falls, Brazil/Argentina
01/13 - 01/16: Rio de Janeiro,  Brazil
01/07 - 02/03: Curitba, Parana, Brazil - Business
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2005
12/18 - 12/26: San Francisco, CA - Training & Christmas
11/24 - 11/27: Rochester, NY - Thanksgiving
10/31 - 11/11: Houston, TX - Client Travel
09/15 - 10/01: Sri Lanka & India - Vacation
08/19 - 08/22: New York, NY - Alvin & Huiwen's Wedding
07/15 - 07/17: Rochester, NY - Dan & Janice's Wedding
07/01 - 07/04: Las Vegas, NV - Alvin's Bachelor Party
05/14 - 05/15: New York, NY
02/17 - 02/21: Sun Valley, ID - 10th Annual Ski Trip
01/15 - 01/16: New York, NY - Alvin's 30th Birthday
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2004
12/31 - 01/02: New York, NY - New Year's
11/25 - 11/28: Rochester, NY
11/24 - 11/25: New York, NY
06/11 - 06/13: Ithaca, NY: Cornell Reunion
05/15 - 05/30: Mediterranean Cruise
05/08 - 05/09: NYC Again
04/30 - 05/01: NYC
04/14 - 04/18: Beijing, China Trip
02/12 - 02/16: 9th Annual Ski Trip - Big Sky, MT
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2003
12/25 - 01/01: Gulf Coast Trip
11/27 - 11/30: Rochester, NY - Thanksgiving
11/26 - 11/27: New York, NY
11/21 - 11/23: Detroit, MI - Don & Stacey Wedding
10/25 - 10/26: Philadelphia, PA
10/17 - 10/19: Los Angeles, CA - Chris & Ying Wedding
10/04 - 10/05: New York, NY - Hetty Birthday
09/26 - 09/28: San Diego, CA - Vinnie & Mindi Wedding
09/25 - 09/26: Los Angeles, CA
08/30 - 09/01: New York, NY
08/30 - 08/30: Hamilton, NJ - Chi-Yuan & Li-An Wedding
08/08 - 08/10: Carmel, CA - John & Stacy Wedding 
08/02 - 08/03: Vancouver, BC - Henry & Patty Wedding
08/01 - 08/02: Seattle, WA
07/26 - 07/27: Washington, DC - Weekend back home
07/13 - 08/10: San Mateo, CA - Siebel training
06/01 - 06/01: San Francisco, CA
05/28 - 06/01: Sydney, Australia
05/17 - 05/28: New Zealand
03/21 - 03/23: Los Angeles, CA
03/07 - 03/09: Denver, CO
02/28 - 03/02: 8th Annual Ski Trip - Lake Tahoe, CA
02/07 - 02/09: Phoenix, AZ
01/24 - 01/27: Kelowna, BC (Big White Ski Resort)
01/17 - 01/19: Atlanta, GA
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2002
12/27 - 01/04: New York, NY 
12/20 - 12/25: Las Vegas, NV
12/06 - 12/08: Houston, TX
11/27 - 12/01: Rochester, NY
08/30 - 09/02: San Francisco, CA
07/12 - 07/22: Thailand, Cambodia Trip
07/06 - 06/07: Amherst/Boston, MA
06/28 - 06/30: Milwaukee, WI
06/07 - 06/09: San Francisco, CA
05/27 - 05/27: Atlantic City, NJ
05/24 - 05/26: New York, NY
05/18 - 05/19: Assateague, MD
05/03 - 05/05: New York, NY
04/07 - 04/07: Los Angeles, CA
04/05 - 04/07: Phoenix, AZ
03/22 - 03/26: 7th Annual Ski Trip: Taos, NM 
03/08 - 03/10: Vancouver & Whistler/Blackcomb
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2003
03/22/03 Sushi Mon: Los Angeles, CA
03/21/03 Hurry Curry of Tokyo: Los Angeles, CA
03/20/03 Admiralty: Madison, WI
03/16/03 Jaipur: Fairfax, VA
03/13/03 La Paella: Madison, WI
03/09/03 Le Central: Denver, CO
03/01/03 Riva Grill: South Lake Tahoe, CA
02/22/03 Options Restaurant: Rockville, MD
02/20/03 Ocean Grill: Madison, WI
02/08/03 Cheesecake Factory: Chandler, AZ
02/03/03 Bluephies: Madison, WI
01/27/03 Bistro Sakana: Vancouver, BC
01/19/03 Ru San's: Atlanta, GA
01/18/03 Nava: Atlanta, GA
01/17/03 Food Studio: Atlanta, GA
01/12/03 Viet Bistro: Falls Church, VA
01/11/03 Sam & Harry's: Tysons Corner, VA
01/08/03 Ginza Tokyo East: Madison, WI
01/07/03 Eldorado Grill: Madison, WI
01/02/03 Delta Grill: New York, NY
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2002
12/30/02 Smith's Restaurant: North Creek, NY
12/28/02 Sarabeth's: New York, NY
12/27/02 Suba: New York, NY
12/25/02 Cafe Ile St. Louis: Las Vegas, NV
12/24/02 Tsunami Asian Grill: Las Vegas, NV
12/23/02 P.S. Italian Grill: Las Vegas, NV
12/22/02 Sushi Factory: Las Vegas, NV
12/13/02 Bethesda Marriott: Bethesda, MD
12/08/02 Ocean Palace: Houston, TX
12/07/02 America's: Houston, TX
12/05/02 Lombardino's: Madison, WI
12/03/02 Tornado Club: Madison, WI
11/23/02 Bombay Bistro: Rockville, MD
11/21/02 Biaggi's: Madison, WI
11/04/02 Weary Traveler: Madison, WI
11/01/02 Persimmon: Bethesda, MD
10/30/02 Nadia's: Madison, WI
10/22/02 Madison Masala: Madison, WI
10/18/02 Cafe Italia: Crystal City, VA
10/17/02 Ginza of Tokyo: Madison, WI
10/08/02 Bellini: Madison, WI
10/05/02 Lansdowne Grille: Leesburg, VA
10/04/02 Thaiphoon: Crystal City, VA
09/30/02 Otto's Restaurant & Bar: Madison, WI
09/28/02 Sam and Harry's: Washington, DC
09/21/02 Levantes: Bethesda, MD
09/11/02 Chautara: Madison, WI
09/08/02 Raku: Bethesda, MD
09/07/02 Phillips: Annapolis, MD
09/04/02 White Horse Inn: Madison, WI
09/02/02 Scoma's: Sausalito, CA
08/31/02 Park Chow: San Francisco, CA
08/24/02 Malaysia Kopitiam: Washington, DC
08/12/02 Cafe Continental: Madison, WI
08/05/02 Fyfe's Corner Bistro: Madison, WI
08/04/02 The Grill: Washington, DC
08/02/02 Bistro Bistro: Reston, VA
07/21/02 Fuji: Bangkok, Thailand
07/19/02 Boathouse Restaurant: Phuket, Thailand
07/15/02 Bayon II: Siem Reap, Cambodia
07/07/02 Flora: Arlington, MA
07/07/02 Diva Indian Bistro: Cambridge, MA
07/02/02 L'Etoile: Madison, WI
06/23/02 Uni, a Sushi Place: Washington, DC
06/15/02 Betawi Grill: Bethesda, MD
06/09/02 Krungthai: San Jose, CA
06/09/02 Zibibbo: Palo Alto, CA
06/08/02 Dine: San Francisco, CA
06/03/02 Harvest: Madison, WI
05/31/02 Vidalia: Washington, DC
05/27/02 Sultan's Feast: Atlantic City, NJ
05/24/02 Forbidden City: New York, NY
05/12/02 Listrani's Italian Gourmet: Washington, DC
05/08/02 Patsa Pertutti Ristorante & Taverna: Madison, WI
05/05/02 La Festa: New York, NY
05/01/02 Delmonico's: Madison, WI
04/28/02 Luna Grill & Diner: Shirlington, VA
04/26/02 Portofino: Crystal City, VA
04/16/02 Crescent City Grill: Madison, WI
04/10/02 Porta Bella: Madison, WI
04/07/02 Chaya Venice: Los Angeles, CA
04/06/02 Rustler's Rooste: Phoenix, AZ
03/27/02 Blue Marlin: Madison, WI
03/25/02 Fuego: Santa Fe, NM
03/18/02 Restaurant Magnus: Madison, WI
03/16/02 La Bergerie: Alexandria, VA
03/11/02 Peppino's Restaurant: Madison, WI
03/10/02 Ouest: Vancouver, BC
03/08/02 Monk's Grill: Whistler, BC
02/21/02 Neisha: Tysons Corner, VA
02/08/02 Tako Grill: Bethesda, MD
02/02/02 Yama Japanese Restaurant: Vienna, VA
01/31/02 Kinkead's: Washington, DC
01/27/02 Jeffrey's At the Watergate: Washington, DC
01/26/02 Jaleo: Bethesda, MD
01/25/02 1789: Washington, DC
01/24/02 Penang: Washington, DC
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