Musings of a (Formerly) Displaced Chinese RooBoy

Things got off to an interesting start at LAX, where the check-in line was slow and we missed the flight to Gatwick (via Dallas). We thought the next available flight might not be available for several days, but the check-in lady was nice enough to put us on a direct flight to Heathrow on the same evening, thus losing only 3-4 hours. We ended up on the same flight as my co-worker. The gloomy weather upon arrival at Heathrow was depressing...overcast with slight drizzle...typical English weather! Stayed 1 night at Hyatt and checked out Oxford St. shopping, then stayed the rest of the week in Wimbledon with Mike and Grace. It was great to catch up with them...Mike and I go way back to high school (about 16 years ago...so half my life time!). I ate a lot of cornish pastries, which are not commonly available in the US. Highlights include hop-on/hop-off of the typical tourist attractions around London, checking out Harrod's, the day trip to Stonehenge (amazing and mystic location, the f...

Work was really hectic this week...lots of stuff to be wrapped up before flying out to Europe tomorrow. Just got home and have to pack the luggages before taking off! On a side note, my total hotel nights this year is 180 (New record! Also retained top status with SPG and Hyatt). Will blog about the Europe trip when we return on 12/31.

Got my Xmas present from Wendy early this year because we'll be vacationing in Europe during Christmas. It was a XB360! Gears of War running in 1080i on the 53" HDTV is friggin' AWESOME! The XBox Live service is really cool also.

Here's a pic of us goofing around at the client site, posing in a courtroom.

Just returned from Thanksgiving weekend in Chicago. Did some tourist stuff like Field Museum (where "Sue", the largest and best preserved Tyrannosaurus rex fossil is kept), Black Friday shopping on the Mag Mile and State St. (good bargains to be had if you go to the shops at 5 AM!), Old Water Tower , Lake Michigan and looking at the cheesy shops on Navy Pier . The Bulls are not the biggest sporting team in Chi-town - that honor belongs to the NFL Bears and to a lesser extent, MLB Cubs. The range of Bulls merchandise was limited in sports shops. Also caught up with Chris Q for dinner. The weather was uncommonly warm (60 F) so it was kinda disappointing not to see any snow. Nevertheless, the holiday mood was definitely in the air, with decorations, trees and music everywhere downtown. Will post some pics when I get home in 2 weeks (I have a project go-live this weekend and won't be going home).

The next-gen video console war is now in full effect, with the PS3 (launched last Friday with only 40,000 units in the US) and the Wii (launched Sunday with more units) fighting for your dollar with the XBox 360. I think the PS3 is over hyped - the 360 has graphics comparable to the PS3 and is cheaper. The Wii has some really innovative games using the Wii Remote. Star Wars lightsabre fights anyone??? I might go down the route of getting a Xbox and a Wii - hooking the Xbox to my HDTV will be sweet! Gears of War look awesome.

Looks like we're heading to Chicago during Thanksgiving week, airfare and accommodation courtesy of SouthWest and Hyatt. The Bulls will be on their annual "Circus Trip", so I won't get to see them play at the United Center. To fund the frequency of travel, I need to increase the frequency of hopping between Hyatts to get enough FFNs to cover Chicago and Europe - time to live out of the suitcase again!

We will be heading to Europe in mid December and catch up with Mike/Grace and Chris/Simone. It's gonna be cold but we'll get to experience a real "white" Christmas, chilling out in London, Athens and Berlin. Thankfully Hyatt is running its annual FFN promo now, so some of the accommodations will be free.

The project I've been working on in San Diego for the past 9 months went live over the weekend, meaning the system is now operational in production. The bad news is that this project will have 5 more go-lives until it is fully operational and I can get outta here! The next go-live is 4 wks away...

I don't usually blog about work but this will be one of the exceptions. My public sector project is scheduled to go-live over several months, with the first one on November 6 - that's 4 weekends away. Work is now very hectic on last minute testing and defect resolutions (e.g. weekend work). We should be in good shape for the go-live though. Looking forward to this thing being successful then taking some time off before the subsequent go-lives.

Spent 9 nights in Hawaii during the week before Labor Day, courtesy of Uncle D's "4 extra summer holidays for good company performance"...which is their way of not paying bonuses. Anyways, had a great time in Oahu and Maui: OAHU snokelling with green sea turtles (honu) in Hanauma Bay Halona Blow Hole Chinaman's Hat (couldn't get to the island as it was high tide) eating shrimps from the Shrimp Shack by the North Shore seeing honu sunbaking on the sand in North Shore surfing at Waikiki visiting Pearl Harbor We couldn't wake up for sunrise at Diamond Head though MAUI drove up to Haleakala Crater (world's largest dormant volcano) for sunrise - 10,000 ft elevation where you're higher than the clouds snokelling at Black Rock at Ka'anapali Beach dinner at Mama's Fish House at Paia We didn't make it to Hana, as there was a bushfire which closed off the highway - so we didn't see black sand beach or red sand beach

Steve Irwin aka the Crocodile Hunter was killed by a stingray barb to the heart while snokelling in the Great Barrier Reef. That is tragic news as he brought in a new audience to the wildlife/animal documentary TV genre with his enthusiasm. Irwin was famous for his catchphases such as "crikey!" and "have a look at this beauty!". Australia has lost a good son and top bloke.

After 7 months on the project staying at the W Hotel San Diego, Starwood is cracking down on the use of government rate and asked us to use Deloitte rate. The Deloitte rate exceeds project budget so this will be the last week at the W. Poor timing as the 3/6/9 stay W promo has just started!

A group of us from work decided to take Spanish classes in San Diego...mostly for travel in Latin America and Europe, but some for work. This should be interesting...

Check out this clip on YouTube - it's hilarious! Chad Vader

Nintendo showcased its next-gen console, originally known as "Revolution", at this year's E3 expo. Its official name is now the obscene "Wii". Some of the games using the motion-sensor controller look really interesting - I can't wait for a Star Wars game utilizing the controller for lightsabre battles. At about $200, the Wii is a bargain compared to the PS3. Check out this clip from the 2006 E3 .

Now I know why movies released in the US summer season are normally "blockbusters". The past few weeks have been so hot (easily 100 farenheit) that people are happy to spend $7 to sit in air conditioned cinemas to cool off. We've seen: Superman Returns (IMAX 3D) - movie was ok but the IMAX screen is smaller than the ones in Australia and there were only 4 or 5 3D scenes. Not worth the extra $7 IMO. Pirates 2 - kinda long and it ended without any conclusions. Johnny Depp had all the good scenes!

Found a bunch of classic Jordan ads on youtube.com this week...some weren't shown in Melbourne, so it was a good find. Enjoy! MJ vs MJ Classic Air Jordan ad Remember this ad? Or this ad? Be Like Mike! Be Like Mike (take 2) Air Jordan XVIII ad (final season) Mia Hamm vs MJ "Is It The Shoes?" - My Air Jordan V! Mars Blackmon Jordan retirement ad from Mike Air Jordan VIIIs This one's really cool Air Jordan XIs

Independence Day weekend was spent in New Orleans...more updates to follow. The air was quite thick in N.O. - not sure if its caused by the humidity or something else. Had buffet dinner @ Harrah's Casino and sampled some southern-style cuisine liked jambalaya and gumbo. Bourbon St. is full of booze and strip clubs. We did a history/ghosts walking tour, plantation & alligator swamp tour (interesting info about the canjun people) and cruised on Steamboat Natchez. The historical landmarks were interesting, like Jackson Square and the cathedral (it was designated as a minor basilica by Pope John Paul II and is the only basilica in the US). Ate at famous eateries including Acme Oyster Bar and Johnny Po Boys too!

FARK! The Socceroos are done for this World Cup. The Italians flopped to get the penalty kick just before the end of regulation. Worse still, Guus will be leaving to coach the Russians.

Its Win-Or-Go-Home for the Aussies at the World Cup...match starts in 1 hr. We're through to the round of 16 as long as we don't lose to Croatia.

At home with our guests Micks, me, MJ and the 52" TV Wendy and I spent last weekend in Vegas with Mike & Grace, who are visiting from Melbourne. They went to the Bay Area at the start of the week, and on Saturday we hung out in L.A. before they flew out to Hawaii. Lunch was at the Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. at Long Beach, then we took some photos of the Queen Mary. All in all, we had a good time catching up. They're heading off to work in the UK next month, so hopefully we'll get to visit them before their 1-year London experience is up. BTW, Australia lost to Brazil 2-0 but had a lot of chances to equalize. We can still advance to the 2nd round as long as we don't lose to Croatia in the last group match. Go Aussies!

With the FIFA World Cup in full swing, we've been going to lunch venues with big screens showing the games...interest in the NBA Finals seems to be quite low. Its actually too bad because the Mavs are a fun team to watch, and D-Wade is doing his best MJ impersonation.

Fremont St - Downtown Vegas Me taking the Corvette for a spin Interesting street name on the I15, on the way to Vegas Me after the Corvette experience Went to Vegas on the weekend with Mike and Grace, staying at the Aladdin and got upgraded to a Strip view room. We saw Ka (by Cirque du Soleil) and some of the stunts were death defying. The highlight of the trip was GM's The Drive ( http://www.thedrivevegas.com ), right next to the Sahara. For $10, you get to drive performance cars (I chose a Corvette) and off-road cars (Hummer H2 for me) on a race circuit and off-road circuit. It was the best bang for the buck!

The scoreboard says it all. AUS 3 JPN 1. UNBELIEVABLE! Bring on Brazil!

Me and my ride Not much planned for this Memorial Day...got a Mustang convertible for work last week (awesome ride driving to San Diego). Mike and Grace will arrive in California next weekend, so I'm sure we'll have some good times.

Sony announced at the E3 expo yesterday that the PS3 is back on schedule for US sales in November, starting at $499. I'm gonna join the craze and line up on opening night, and profit from it on eBay.

NBA Playoffs kicked off last weekend. I ended the weekend "NBAed out"...8 games in 2 days was too much even for a basketball junkie like me. The Baby Bulls were bullied by Shaq in game 1 - that's too bad because I still have a soft spot for them from the MJ era.

Took last Friday off and went up to Canada (Vancouver and Whistler) to further hone my snowboarding skills. Whistler and Blackcomb mountains are really high and will host the 2010 Winter Olympics. Heaps of snow fell during the day, so good powder were plentiful (useful when you spend a lot of time doing faceplants or falling on your arse). It was also snowing during lunchbreak at the village and the whole place looked like a winter wonderland. The Westin resort has a fantastic ski valet service - you can finish your run, walk about 50 meters to the hotel and hand your equipment to the valet who keeps them for you. REI has a end-of-season sale on snowboarding equipment now, so I'll check it out this week.

Found out during the week that I'm required on the San Diego project til mid next year. Wendy and I are thinking about moving our shit into storage and moving down there for a year or so. Also, the new footy season starts this weekend. With the #1 draft pick, I'm optimistic the Bluebaggers http://www.carltonfc.com.au can rise back to respectability. Go Blues and good luck to Kouta in his 250th career game in round 1.

Finished the audio book of Angels and Demons . Dan Brown basically copied his own work from this book to The Da Vinci Code . The plot is essentially the same - just replace the supporting characters and locations. Quite disappointing. Here's hoping his next novel shows more imagination.

Flew up to Seattle last Friday night to visit Somnath and Yan. Seattle's a beautiful city - windy and cold, but it has a relaxing vibe to it. It rained as soon as I drove out of the airport so at least the city's reputation was maintained. Took the ferry (as seen from The Ring ) to Hurricane Ridge on the Olympic Peninsula. It was snowing up there and the scenery was beautiful. The crab we had for dinner was SWEET! We paid homage at Bruce Lee's grave, went up the Space Needle, had coffee at the original Starbucks store and hung out @ Pike Place market. The market had some interesting food - definitely worth checking out.

Forgot to post these pics from the trip of January. The truck speaks for itself... The pic of Dinh Van store is from Rue de la Paix - along a stretch of designer stores directly opposite the Park Hyatt Vendome. Congee - get Van to start a business with Dinh!

Over the weekend, Australia unbeliverably lost the deciding match of the 1-day series vs S. Africa after batting first and setting a world record for runs scored. In reply, S. Africa brutalized the Aussie bowlers (Mick Lewis setting a new world record for runs conceded, about 113) to win. Like I said, our bowling is paper-thin and the prospects are bleak when Warney and Pigeon retire.

My buddies from the Sacramento project are leaving the firm...Vivek got accepted into graduate school in India and Yan will be splitting town to finalize his wedding arrangements in June. Good luck fellas!

The Australian squad for the tour of South Africa was announced yesterday and Brad Hodge was LEFT OUT with an average of 50+ and after scoring a double century 2 tests ago. I've always suspected the ACB to be pro-NSW and anti-VIC (how many frickin' players from NSW have been on the Aussie squad?!?) and this simply reinforce my believe. What a joke.

TV ad for the new Air Jordan XXI started screening 2 weeks ago. I must say it's real classy. Instead of rehashing the same Jordan highlight footages, the ad has a bunch of kids reenacting classic Jordan moments, from his free throw line slam, '89 playoff game winner over Cavs and Craig Ehlo, '91 Finals hand switching layup to '98 Finals wrong footing Bryan Russell to hit the championship winning shot. Check it out here: http://www.jumpman23.com

Spent the weekend in San Diego. Woke up early on Saturday in order to get on the whale watching tour. $20 per person and 3 hours later...no friggin' whale! Not even a seal lion or dolphin! We got raincheck vouchers to go back within 12 months to do it again for free. Those sneaky operators charged the next group as well, knowing there's nothing to see. They're banking on tourists not returning within the 12 months. Anyways we went to Gaslamp District for dinner. GasLamp is a happening place...reminds me of Chapel St back home...only hipper with better looking chicks.

So the Aussies won the 3rd and final ODI at the Gabba to win the annual triangular series. Not very impressive because they were on the brink of losing game 2 before Punter and "Dreadlocks" Symonds launched the rescue mission. Aussies are old with no depth in the bowling department. They have some serious soul searching to do to get ready for next year's Ashes series and the World Cup.

Finally finished The Da Vinci Code last week. Interesting book and its probed me to do the geeky thing and google search on a bunch of related topics. Has the church been covering up Christian secrets? Was Da Vinci a genius and the head of a secret brotherhood society? Who cares!!! Can't wait for the movie to come out, starring Tom "Oscar" Hanks.

Came back from Europe 2 weekends ago and was sent straight to San Diego the following Monday. Argh! At least SD is a happening town and there are heaps of Starwood (including Westin and W!) and Hyatt hotels - time to hotel-hop and rebuild my points!

We only had 1 day in Florence. In retrospect we didn't need the 3rd night in Venice. Florence was too rushed. The hotel we stayed at was family-run - the staff were very helpful and friendly. Ask me if you want to know the hotel name. Went to the Uffizi and Academia Galleries and saw Michelangelo's David and other masterpieces by Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael and Botticelli (where was my favourite turtle, Donatello?!?). Michelangelo was involved with more than arts - he studied anatomy (by dissecting the deceased) and helped plan the city's defences. I thought he just ordered pizza take-outs! The Church was impressive from the outside, but I was surprised to find it barren inside. The guide explained that Florence used to be a republic and despised the aristocatic lifestyle where the citizens are sent to war. They said, FOCK THAT, we don't need war if we have money! We'll make our city the center of all trade routes. Around the time of the church's constructio...

For Venice, I reserved the Westin Europa and Regina in San Marcos. After landing at the airport, the cabbie took us to the main train station and told us that San Marcos is only accessible by water. So it took about 1.5 hours to eventually get to the hotel. The hotel was hard to find - we expected it to be big and brightly lit, but it was actually tucked away in a little alley. No cars are allowed in central Venice - the only transaportation are via water (gondola, water taxi or water bus) or alleyways. Venice gets kinda quiet at night. Daytime is full of tourists. Good thing about Venice (and Italy in general) is that most people speak English, so I didn't have to rely on what little I remember of Italian language from high school! We finally got to sample authentic Italian pasta and pizza. Wendy and I have been debating whether the Aussie or Yankee versions of Italian food was more authentic, so Italy was to place to settle it. We found that marina pasta does NOT have seafood, so...

Went to Madrid (3 days) and Barcelona (2 days). Most locals don't speak English so communication was a bit problematic. Used free nights at Park Hyatt Madrid - the staff were ok but not very friendly. Food wasn't cheap in Madrid. Tapas cost 15 euro each. We hung out at Puerta del Sol - a popular destination for tourists (shopping) and pickpockets. We got the concierge to book a flamingo show. The men don't do squat - they sit on their fat arses, sing and clap. An exception to that was a special performance by a male dancer, but he had the most goofy expressions that I burst out laughing! Barcelona was definitely a more happening city. Take a stroll along the shops along Las Ramblas and you will end up at the Mediterrean Sea. The Olympic Stadium from '92 is very run down, but admission was free :) BTW, we also found out that there really was a king named Aragorn (of LOTR fame).

Landed at Charles de Gaulle airport and was disappointed at the airport's age. Had to disembarked onto the tarmac, then a bus transported us to the terminal. Immigration was a breeze - there was no "Entry into France" stamp in the passport and nobody manned the quarantine section. My aunt picked us up and shock #1 was the tiny parking spaces and parking lots. Cars were parallel-parked within inches within each other, and alot of cars bump into each other when pulling into/out of parallel spaces. Shock #2 was that in central Paris, many roads don't have lane dividers - which gets even more confusing in multi-lanes, big-ass roundabouts like the ones at Arc de Triomphe (9 lanes). Wendy and I stayed at the Park Hyatt Paris Vendome using my free nights (thank you CADDIS!). Later we found out the rack rate was US$550 per night! This hotel was voted among the top 20 European hotels in Conde Nast. I'll definitely keep this hotel in mind next time I have to burn some free ...

Just got back from a snowboarding trip in Snow Valley and 3 nights in Sin City & Grand Canyon with Uncle Gabriel's family. Snow conditions were slushy (that shouldn't surprise anyone as Snow Valley is in SoCal) which made snowboarding crap. Snow accumulated on the snowboard basically melted between getting on and off the ski lifts. Vegas - not much to tell. Wendy and I got 1/2 price tickets to La Femme at MGM Grand. We stayed @ MGM Grand for 3 nights courtesy of Uncle Gabriel getting a good rate. Grand Canyon - spectacular view although we only went to the West Rim (home of the Hualapai Indian tribe) rather than South Rim. South Rim supposedly has better views but its 6 hours drive from Vegas, compared to 3 hours between West Rim and Vegas. Constance and Holman would have been bored shitless if we drove to South Rim.

Broke my personal record of hotel stays/travel this year, courtesy of my first out-of-town project. I'll see if the record can be broken next year. Work: 135 Leisure: 17 TOTAL = 152 Our accommodation in Europe will pretty much come out from hotel points/promos. I also flew so many times (roundtrip each week) to get a free 1-year companion pass on SouthWest for Wendy. Who said working out-of-town is a bad thing? :)

Let's see...plans for the 2005/2006 holidays season are: Christmas: More snowboarding (at Big Bear) and sinning (Vegas) January: Paris, Spain and Italy. Checklist: Snowboard clothing [check] Lonely Planet Europe [check] European language phrase books [check] Learning to speak French, Italian and Spainish [ongoing]

Myself and Vivek Man-cherry volunteered for the Junior Achievement program and today we showed up at at Rocklin Elementary school to teach a class of 40 3rd graders about city planning and construction. The kids were very enthusiastic and loved having visitors. They were smart and asked some intelligent questions. The classroom had TWO computers in the back - we didn't have those luxuries back in our days. Definitely worth doing again next year.

After spending 20+ years in the southern hemisphere where "White Christmas" means getting a tan at a beach, this year was really a white (early) Christmas as we headed to Tahoe with a bunch of my colleagues for a weekend of snowboarding to celebrate project roll-off. Wendy flew up to Sacramento before we took the 1.5 hr drive to Tahoe. Ski resorts are way bigger compared to the ones back home. Anyhow, we took snowboarding lessons on Day 1 at Sierra-at-Tahoe and became "self manageable". Day 2 was at Heavenly, with much better scenery including a view of Lake Tahoe. Thanks to Yan for finding the Amex discounts and providing private lessons.

What's a more appropriate place to spend your time during Thanksgiving than "Sin City" itself! Yup, Wendy and I went to Vegas during the Thanksgiving long weekend, staying at the Hyatt Las Vegas resort 20 minutes from the Strip. Sin City was crawling with people who have nothing better to do on Thanksgiving than frivilous fun and stuffing themselves silly with the infamous Vegas buffet. We went to see shows by David Copperfield on day 1 and Blue Man Group on day 2. Let me say that both shows are worth seeing, especially Copperfield where the audience are seated very close to the stage. BMG is hard to describe, but it was definitely a visual and audio experience.

Went to S.F. 2 weeks ago, mainly to see The Rock. I'm a movie buff and like to visit sites where movies were filmed. Surprisingly, there is no "lower lighthouse" on Alcatraz as portrayed in the Cage/Connery flick from the 90s. It was explained that having 2 lighthouses on a single island makes no sense! The Rock wasn't much to see. It's infamous for criminals like Al Capone and "the birdman". The prison cells resembled the movie scenes, but we didn't get to see the shower facility where the marines (from the movie) and me (from the xbox game) were ambushed. That section in the game took us 3 hours to get through!

Woohoo! The Socceroos will be going to the World Cup after beating Uruguay last night. Its been 8 years since I went to the World Cup Qualifier vs. Iran at the MCG, when the aussies blew a 2-0 half-time lead to miss qualification. So much for Uruguay's trash-talking before Game 2!

One advantage of working in a small town like Sacramento is the lack of decent hotels, so visiting NBA teams only have 2 choices - Hyatt or Sheraton. I bumped into some Pistons and Nuggets players this week...they are frickin' tall when you stand next to them in the elevator haha. I heard that Sheraton is preferred by the ballers over Hyatt because Sheraton has California King beds. Still, I'd imagine they have to sleep diagonally with the legs left hanging over the bed. I also saw the Governator himself this week in the Hyatt lobby as I was waiting in line to check-in.

Drove down from Ahnuld's place of defeat (he lost 4 propositions this week) back home in O.C. last night. Actually it was a little more than that...we stayed overnight in Sticksville aka Bakersville. Those of you who watched "The Running Man" will remember it as the place where Ahnuld refused to shoot civilians from the chopper and was subsequently framed and jailed. The "Butcher of Bakersville" haha. The drive was boring, and being at night time it was too cold to go topless in the convertible. Gotta drive back up tomorrow...should have flown instead!