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.

Evan's funeral

My cousin Evan passed away in May. He was sick for awhile. I flew to the San Francisco Bay Area for the funeral, and to spend time with relatives.

The funeral was in Oakland. It was nice. There are many Homs (over 100), and many of them were there.

In Oakland, there is a very large cemetery that covers a huge hill.






Evan's grave has a nice view, including downtown Oakland.







After the funeral, there was a special lunch at a Chinese restaurant. Here's Mom, me, and my sister, Mary. I felt bad about smiling for a photo right after the funeral, so I wasn't going to show this one. But there aren't many recent photos of all three of us.





The next day, I hung out with some of the relatives. Since many of us are spread out, it's nice when we see each other.

Here, my cousin Alberta and my uncle Albert are waiting for some other cousins to finish checking out a silk-bedding store. I like this picture, because they're just chillin.


A motley crew of Hom relatives. From the left, it's Michael, Joseph, Frances, and kids from three households.




Clockwise from the left is Randy, Uncle Albert, Candice, and Alberta. This picture is of the same room as above. So it was crowded, but in a good way! Again, it was really nice to see everyone interact.






Later, I visited my alma mater, UC Berkeley. I took this picture low to the ground outside Zellerbach Hall. (Tip: free Wi-Fi here! Probably because they do fancy community events.) On the left, you can see the bell tower. If you look closely in the hills to the right, you can see the "Big C."

I rode the BART train back from Berkeley, and it was raining heavily. But this was neat, because the rain on the BART windows made the outside look like an Impressionist or surrealist painting.

We spent most meals eating Chinese food, which was both inexpensive and delicious since we were in Oakland Chinatown. However, one day I went with my Auntie Helen and cousin Randy to get chicken and waffles!

It's a diner next to the Jack London Inn in Jack London Square; I think the official name is "Home of Chicken and Waffles."

The diner had a fun happy hour special called, "Beat the Clock!": the time that you arrive is the price of your meal! So, if you order at 4:45 pm, your bill would be $4.45.

I had an incredibly strong desire to delay my flight home and come back the next day at 4:00 pm. :)

From Evan's funeral

Yummy! I really liked the diner, so I hope it survives. Fortunately, it seems to cater to a different crowd than the rest of Jack London Square, which seemed to be dying.

Then again, a business dying isn't the same as a person dying.

Evan, cheers to your time on earth. I pray we will all meet together in heaven.

Returning to Kingston.

At the end of April, Grandma wanted to visit Kingston.

Kingston is a small town (population 2800) across the water from Seattle. When I was a kid, we had a summer home there. Once a year, we'd drive from Sacramento to Seattle, then take the ferry to Kingston. At Kingston, I remember playing board games with my sister, picking blackberries, and finding a jellyfish on the nearby beach.

However, we stopped going to Kingston when I was in middle school. The summer home also fell into disrepair and had to be demolished. I hadn't been to Kingston in almost 20 years, so I was excited at the idea of going back.

Auntie Muriel and Uncle Ron were also in town, so the four of us got into my Scion xB, and we took the ferry to Kingston. This ferry takes both people and cars.



We ended up with a great view just from our car!







The ferry has a big map of the area and the different ferry routes. Here, Grandma was reminiscing about trips she had taken.




We docked at Kingston and drove to our old summer home. All that remained was an empty shed and the chimney. It was both funny and sad.



We also drove to a place called Jefferson Beach. It was a gorgeous day.






I liked the way the sunlight played with the ripples from the pier.







Before we got back on the ferry to return to Seattle, we stopped at a crepe place. (It's right in front of the ferry entrance, if you want to find it.) They make both savory crepes (e.g., ham and cheese) and dessert crepes (e.g., strawberries and chocolate).

The crepe place had a gigantic container of Nutella (compare to the microwave in the picture). The person working there said they sold that size only in Europe.



The crepes were really big, not too expensive, and very tasty!

From Kingston

As the ferry enters or leaves Kingston, you can see our old summer home. Just look for the chimney!








We all had a great time in Kingston! To revisit a place from my youth felt really good, but I don't know how to explain why. I was simultaneously revisiting a fond memory and looking at it with fresh eyes, as an adult. I hope to return to Kingston again soon.

My 33rd Birthday.

My birthday was April 8. I turned 33 years old!

I don't really celebrate my birthday. Partly, I don't like the attention. But mostly, I feel guilty if I receive something, because in the past people have had different expectations in return. (If you ever get a gift or even a note from me, it is unconditional. Or at least it should be. :)

So this year I didn't say anything about my birthday (except Facebook does), but I figured I should tell my roommate, Peter. I told him, and he generously took me out for dinner at Fu Man Dumpling House. Peter, thank you! The dumplings were very tasty, although I think they use a lot of MSG.

I started seeing a counselor in the fall, for "family matters." (I would say more, but I'm guessing the "family" doesn't like sharing publicly about stuff like this.) Anyway, my counselor said I should treat myself on my birthday. What's a treat for me? A new car? A PS3? Disneyland?

From Birthday meal

I decided that a special treat for me would be to buy the most expensive salad at Panera Bread. Perhaps you would have to know my family growing up, especially my dad, to appreciate this. Anyway, it was one of their "Signature Salads" (oohhh), and it had salmon in it (more oohhs). I also added a cheese pastry, since it was on sale.

In the picture you can also see my iPad. (I was reading "A Thousand Splendid Suns" by Khaled Hosseini. Reading books on the iPad is revolutionary, by the way.) To the left is my pill bottle--but don't worry, it's just multivitamins.

What's funny to me is how my $500 iPad was not a treat (it's for "work"--really!), but my $10 meal was. Sometimes the best things in life don't make any sense. :)

From Library sale

I also went recently to the Seattle Public Library's spring book sale. It's big. And cheap; most books are $1. My dad would have loved it. I tried to restrain myself from buying books just because I knew they were a good deal; I already have more stuff than I need. (Who wants my Nintendo Wii? It's fun but I never use it anymore.) I bought 4-5 books for myself, but they might also become gifts. The one that I am most excited about reading is "Christianity for Dummies." (Yes, a real Dummies book!)

Since it was my birthday, I should give a clear update: I'm still single, no kids, no paid job, no clear career, and I still don't call myself a Christian but I like reading about Jesus. Do I feel old? Sometimes, like when I compare myself to others. But actually, I think this is the happiest I've ever been, and my life has been very blessed overall. I know, I know, we'll see what happens when my bank account runs out. But, I am really glad I chose this path. So please be merciful.

The iPad Cometh.

As soon as the Apple iPad was announced, I decided to buy one. I pre-ordered the cheapest one from the Apple Store and said I would pick it up at the Apple Store in the University Village. I was curious to see what the lines would look like, so I showed up half an hour early.

There were two lines: one for people who did not pre-order, and one for those who did.






Here is the line for those hoping that the iPad doesn't sell out...







... and here is the line for those who pre-ordered. You can see the Apple Store in the background, all the way to the left.

It took me about an hour to get through the line, and that was fine because I could meet the other Apple fans.

So far, I am not sure what to think of the iPad; I have only played around with it for a couple of days. However, there are two iPad programs ("apps") that I want to mention.

The first app is based on those wooden mazes that you have to tilt back and forth to move a marble through. The app is a digital version of those, and it's called, "Labyrinth 2 HD Lite." ("Labyrinth 2" is the sequel to the app "Labyrinth"; "HD" is a convention to show that the app is for the iPad, and "Lite" is a convention to show that this app is free but there is a more expensive version with more features.)

My grandma used to have one of those wooden mazes, and I remember spending hours every summer trying to conquer it. The app does a great job of simulating the wooden maze: you simply tilt the iPad to move the marble, and the physics and sounds are spot-on.

But what's really cool is how the app does things that can't be done in the physical toy. For example, there are multiple mazes (hundreds in the $8 version of the app, and you can make your own). Even crazier, there are all sorts of gadgets in the maze that do things that are, well, magical. For example, one gadget resizes your marble, and another gadget duplicates your marble. But again, everything else seems so realistic, that it looks like . . . magic.

The second app that I want to mention is one I haven't even used: it's an astronomy app called "Star Walk." Star Walk has a feature that is just mind-blowing to me: you can go outside at night, point the iPad (or iPhone) up at the sky, and the app shows you that portion of the night sky . . . enhanced. By enhanced, I mean it labels stars, constellations, planets, and I think it can even show you things you *could see* if you had a better telescope, like nebulas and galaxies. And the program's only like $5.

From iPad debut

I wanted to mention Star Walk because it made me think of my dad, who used to like taking the family out for astronomy lessons. My dad was also a big fan of the Apple Macintosh, and it was one of the few things that I can think of that he splurged on: Dad probably paid more for our Mac 128K than he did for our cars. Also, the Mac is the only thing I can think of where my dad did not buy the cheaper alternative: i.e., a PC. For everything else, my dad always bought what was least expensive or on sale: cars, shoes, fresh food, canned food, books, toys, furniture, clothes, vacations, haircuts . . . .

Perhaps for my dad, the Mac was not really a more expensive PC; perhaps the Mac was qualitatively different, and qualitatively better.

I wish my dad were around to see the iPad. Maybe he would have bought two. He would have brought them to Blue Canyon to help us find the planets and learn the constellations. He would have gotten a kick out of that.

Game Developers Conference (GDC) 2010

Like last year, I attended the Game Developers Conference (GDC) in San Francisco. I try to go every year or two, and I always go as a volunteer. Going as a volunteer is a win-win because the conference is very expensive otherwise, and the volunteers at the GDC are almost like a second family.

From Water

Before I left for the GDC, I saw this great reflection on my street.











This year for the GDC, I joined a caravan of students leaving from DigiPen. DigiPen is a college that specializes in learning how to make video games. My car was #2 out of 3.


On the way down, we stumbled across the town of Oakland . . . Oakland, Oregon! Who knew?

From GG Bridge w/Mel & Jeanne

We arrived in SF a couple of days early, so I went on a short hike with some former co-workers.

It's been a long time since I saw the Golden Gate Bridge from this angle!



At the GDC, a small army of volunteers stuffed the bags for the conference attendees. (Probably >10,000 bags.) The girl in stripes is Sherol Chen.

From GDC 2010

If you've ever seen the surprising video-game documentary, "The King of Kong," you'll recognize Steve Wiebe (black T-shirt). Steve is one of a handful of people in the world to have scored over 1 million points in the video game "Donkey Kong," and he's a teacher. Next to him is Adam Barenblat.

Unfortunately, I didn't take many pictures this trip. A lot more happened, and I met a lot of old friends and made a lot of new ones. I only feel bad because so much was going on so quickly, that I didn't have time to absorb it all and reflect on it.

I will close by saying that I love the GDC and especially the volunteer program. If anyone wants to volunteer at the GDC, keep in mind that competition is really, really tough to get in, so treat it seriously! (You can e-mail me for more info, too.)