Annual trip to Los Angeles

Around graduation time, I always take a trip back to my old grad school, Caltech, in Pasadena.

At the time, the weather in Seattle was really dreary. So, the first photo I took was right outside the Long Beach Airport. Look, it's the sky! Isn't it beautiful? I missed the LA sun.


The next day, I drove to my cousin Kristen's place. It was past 9 pm. And, of course, I got caught in bumper-to-bumper traffic! That's one thing from LA that I did not miss.


At Caltech's Commencement, I still knew a couple of the graduates. In the center is Paul Lee, now a chemist with a Ph.D.!




I went with a couple of friends to the city of Glendora, which is an hour east of Caltech. Glendora is known mostly for the "Donut Man" shop, which is a bit of a Caltech icon. Sure enough, at the Donut Man I ran into my friend Habib, who had driven all the way from Caltech! Strawberry donuts: Mmm!!




Kristen and her husband Mike let me stay at their place for a few days. One night I really wanted a Thai ice, so we went out for dessert. We tried a place that had not only shaved ice but also something they called a "snowy." I think it was frozen condensed milk. (This can be quite different from simply adding condensed milk to shaved ice, it turns out.) In the picture, I'm pouring either brown sugar or maple syrup on my snowy. I forget which, but I remember that it was tasty.

Kristen and Mike. They ordered a mango snowy.










I really liked the mango snowy. I think my association of mangoes with healthy eating helped me like it even more. That could be a bad thing.








Toward the end of my trip, I had lunch near Caltech with my friend Cynthia. Afterward, Cynthia and I were walking through Caltech and stopped at one of the ponds with turtles in it. Then the funniest thing happened. There was a turtle about 10 feet away, and it swam right toward us. It came all the way to the corner where we were.

Then, the turtle tried to climb the walls of the pond! It was either trying to get out of there . . . or get to us! The turtle seemed to be gravitating toward me and not Cynthia.

We first thought the turtle might be hungry, but we later changed our minds.

Look! It's looking right at me!

From Trip to LA

Cynthia and I decided it must be the color of my T-shirt, which was a bright neon green.

Did the turtle think I was its mother, or . . . ?

We may never know.

Grandma has a good appetite

My grandma is ~90 years old. We don't know for sure since she was born in China around 1920, and records weren't as meticulous then.

From G-ma buffet

Despite my grandma's age, she still eats a lot. Grandma likes to go to the China Super Buffet. In the picture, all of the food is hers. And she ate it all.

We all consider Grandma's large appetite to be a very healthy sign. Too bad that isn't necessarily true for people my age. :)

Greg Mortenson in Olympia

Olympia is the capital of Washington State. To drive to Olympia from Seattle takes a little over an hour without traffic. Why go to Olympia? Because Greg Mortenson would be speaking!

I had already seen Greg speak in Seattle in December. (See these blog entries: 1, 2, and 3.) This time there was a charge for tickets, but I still decided to go. Partly, I think I needed a little inspiration again.

I made a day of it by leaving for Olympia in the morning. I spent some time driving around, and then I headed to the Capitol building, where a rally would be held.

The area around the Capitol was just beautiful. The weather was also great.






Doesn't the lake look enticing? The path in the foreground switches back and forth down the hill and leads to the park and lake. It seems easy to miss, which is a shame.


Another view of the park, the lake, and I think the Sound beyond.






The Capitol brought back memories of the one in Sacramento, where I grew up (birth through high school).









At last, Greg Mortenson! The rally was for "Pennies for Peace," which was started by Greg. The program encourages children in the U.S. to collect pennies to help children in poor countries like Afghanistan. A penny here may not buy much, but in Afghanistan, it buys a pencil.

"Pennies for Peace" is a great name, but it's also an honest description. The program encourages implementers to:

"Collect only pennies-no nickels, no dimes, no quarters, no dollars: This makes it possible for all students, including those of very limited means, to participate actively. The main goal is to teach students their capacities as philanthropists."

Despite the above guideline, I was surprised how much money families, classrooms, and schools had been able to raise.

After the rally, many kids and parents "rallied" around Greg. :)

But the main event, Greg's lecture in the evening, was still to come!


The evening lecture was held in the gymnasium of a local university, just like when Greg spoke in Seattle. Greg packed that venue and this one, which is amazing when you consider how much smaller Olympia is. Even more so: tickets in Seattle were free, but tickets in Olympia were $25 each. (All proceeds went to Greg's charities.)

From Greg Mortenson in Olympia

Before the lecture, a little girl gave her "pennies for peace" to Greg. When this happened, Greg wrote down the girl's name and info on a piece of paper. Knowing Greg, I presume he would be send her a thank-you note later. He's just that kind of guy.

That's the last photo I took that day.

So how was the lecture? It was great! Many of the slides and talking points were the same as before, but it was still good a second time. Also, it was wonderful to see how the people of Olympia responded. This event also had much more participation from the local community: it had been organized by a teacher and by a high-school student, and several students and teachers spoke or performed at the rally and at the lecture. One class had even written a song for "Pennies for Peace."

Greg had preceded the rally by visiting area schools and learning about their community service projects. After the lecture, he signed books until he had met every single person in line, which took until almost midnight. Quite a full day!


When I heard Greg speak in Seattle, I met a man who had a friend at Stanford. This man's friend liked Greg's work so much that "she would probably work for Greg for free for a year." I would, too. I think many would.

But in his lecture, Greg encouraged us not only to consider Pennies for Peace and his Central Asia Institute, but also to move beyond and start our own charitable projects. After all, if he could do it, why couldn't any of us?

It was an encouraging message, and perhaps a kind kick in the pants. Greg knows that the children and mothers of Afghanistan are not the only ones who need help: just look into any country, into the U.S., or into our own city or neighborhood. And, at least for me, it's easy to give money or volunteer time and rest on my laurels of association: "I donated to this good group," or "I worked for that good group." It's a lot harder to try to fill a need from scratch, to eschew reputation and depend on a vision.

But I don't want to get ahead of myself.