Category: Family and Friends

Friends from Hangzhou

This evening, we had friends from Hangzhou over for dinner—from Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital as well as Hospital Number Two. The visitors had been here for two months, and most of them are leaving tomorrow morning to return home.

Alice’s Birthday Party

On the weekend before Alice’s actual birthday, we had a group of friends over for an evening celebration. The menu, of course, was Thai food.

La Sierra Graduation

My cousins Ariana Anugerah and Rachel Hechanova graduated from La Sierra University. Walking around on campus brought back memories of my alma mater. The entire campus mall area looked very familiar, but so much has changed throughout. Somehow, all the buildings seems smaller than what I remembered them to be.

Mandy and Lawrence’s Wedding

For Mandy and Lawrence’s wedding, I traveled to Oakland International Airport, rented a car, and drove north. On the way, I had a chance to take night shots of the Golden Gate Bridge. The next day, I visited Muir Woods and had other excursions along various points on the coast.…

May 25

Today was special. This morning, Stuart Green came over from Irvine to give us Grand Rounds. The talk was very enlightening, shedding light on such things as the placebo effect and how the mind perceives treatment. Then, I had all the students who matched into Orthopaedic Surgery over for tea…

Reunion with Ariana

This weekend was Ariana’s big senior cello recital, and it became a big reunion as well. It was good to see everyone again.

Central Europe

I just got back from a whirlwind tour of Central Europe, which was my first time in that continent. Starting about a week before my trip, I started a time adjustment schedule, moving sleeping and waking time by an hour earlier each day. During that week, I attended a meeting…

My Birthday

My family took me out for dinner at Happy Family Restaurant for my birthday. Then, we also had a dinner at Orchid Thai Restaurant. I got to try out my new 50mm F/1.4 prime lens, which is quite nice for low light shooting.

Sonya and Ramiz’s Wedding

It was a joy to take part in Sonya and Ramiz’s wedding. The ceremony was beautiful, and we all had a good time at the reception. The entire event was like a big reunion, with so many friendships renewed. […]

Thailand

My first meal in Thailand was Pad Thai from a street vendor, and my last meal was also Pad Thai, but this time, it was at the airport. The street version was better. Thailand proved to be as hot and humid as I remembered it, even though it’s supposed to…

The Mission Inn

We went as a family to enjoy the lights and decorations and for a post-Christmas dinner at The Mission Inn.

Hong Kong and China

So it’s been almost three weeks of traveling. I left home Wednesday night, traveled through Hong Kong and China, came back home for a day’s layover, and then it was off to Boston on a red-eye. There was only enough time to get jet lagged, recover, and get jet lagged…

In China

This trip to China has been mainly about people, places and food. I got some instruction on guqin playing from Liang Qiu while I was in Foshan. Then, I have been meeting up with mainly relatives that I have not seen for more than ten years. Most everyone remain the…

Hong Kong

The days are all blurred together because of the time change and the jet lag on this trip to Hong Kong and China. Yesterday morning, which seemed like so long ago, I landed in Hong Kong. I haven’t been back since before the takeover in 1997. A lot has changed,…

Mom’s Birthday

For Mom’s birthday, we went out to Noodle 21 for dinner. Andy and Alice were away, so it was just the three off us.

Church Outing

We went with our church outing to Salt Creek Beach in Dana Point, California. This is one of my favorite beaches, especially because of the nice lawn area above the stretch of soft sand. Even though we were just there a few weeks ago, this beach is always nice to…

Salt Creek Beach

A group of us went to Salt Creek Beach. The weather was gloomy, but that made for nice pictures. As always, the water is really cold. Anyways, we all had a good time.

Zhang and Zheng

Today, we had Dr. Zhang and Dr. Zheng over for dinner. They are both from the Number 2 Hospital of Tangshan, which is an orthopaedic referral center for that entire region.

May Birthdays

For Andy’s and Aimee’s birthdays, we had several celebrations. First, it was at Cherry’s house. Then, we also had a surprise event at Delhi Palace.

Huntington Beach

We all had a great time just lounging around at the beach, enjoying the cool weather and the bright sunshine.

My Birthday

For my birthday, we made a simple meal of pizza topped with fresh and grilled vegetables. We also had grilled artichokes.

Chinese New Year

Yesterday was Chinese New Year. Many of the plants in our yard are in bloom now, and all of it added to the atmosphere yesterday. We celebrated by having company over, and to finish off the evening, we had a dumpling-making party. I took a break from making the guqin…