Hills of Hayward

Chuck and I have known each other since elementary school. Although he was a couple grades ahead of me, he tolerated my immaturity all through those years. This last year, much to the delight of his family and mine, Chuck got married.

I very much regret not being able to attend the wedding in Taiwan as Christine was deep into her pregnancy; however, Chuck was kind enough to accept my offer to hang out with Christine and I for a week this February.

We had a great time with Chuck and Danna running around all over the Bay Area eating and clicking. You see, Chuck is quite a shutterbug. If he ever bought himself a SLR, he has the talent to become a professional photographer.

Ever since Anders arrived, Christine and I have packed away our SLR and have been taking photos relatively infrequently. Hanging out with Chuck and Danna helped us re-connect a little with our love for taking photos if only with our Sony compact camera.

We think Chuck found a great match with Danna, or vice versa. Best wishes to you both, and please let us visit you soon with the kids in tow.

Below are some photos Christine and I took that week.

Christine and I biked this easy Berkeley trail a long time ago. Big aunt and I walked it yesterday. I believe this is the best time for hikes as the hills of east bay are green from the rain. It also happened to be frog mating season, and every pool we passed brimmed with loud croaks and crys. Some photos we took along the way:

夜漸漸地深了，寶寶躺在床上還在和磕睡蟲奮鬥，但已慢慢不敵沈重的眼皮。窗外樹葉被風吹得沙沙作響，也許是配合著情人節吧！這持續的風把今夜弄得特別詩情畫意。

牆上的風速計一整天都定定地指在時速15英哩，Harrison 說這樣的天氣特別適合放風箏。以前在台灣的時候，最討厭大風大雨的日子，說也奇怪，來美國愈久，就愈愛上了夜裏的風雨聲，感覺特別親切與感動。

年輕時的我總是很浪漫地喜愛著情人節及聖誕節，但 Harrison 和我自交往以來就很少特別慶祝情人節，尤其這次是第一個有寶寶的情人節。今天 Harrison 一整天都沒有發脾氣 ，也時時體貼地噓寒問暖，一句淡淡的 “Happy Valentines dear!” 卻也把情人節點綴地格外溫馨。

Happy Valentines honey, and all our dear friends!

We went to visit my father in Laredo, Texas late last year.  In total, we drove around 2,386 miles and average 45 miles per gallon.  Here is the map of our southwest adventure.

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My father needed a car, and I volunteered the Prius to him.  I could not imagine him without a vehicle getting to the business school in the hot Texas sun.

This was our first trip without Anders, and we rushed through many large southwest cities.  I was also experimenting with a startup idea involving mobile camera phones, so all of these photos are shot on Christine’s Blackberry Curve.

I was running into people all day on my birthday this wednesday.  After meeting with Tuoc and Peter for lunch, I ran into my cousin’s wife at Fantasia, then another cousin’s husband at Fry’s.

So when I ran into Howard at Dar Dar’s Restaurant, I didn’t think twice.  Little did I know that I walked into a little birthday trap set by my wife.  I have to admit that I brought it on myself by forgetting that wednesday was my birthday, and scheduled to meet up to help Duc with his renovations that night.

Here are some iPhone photos of our little party: