Yesterday Mike and I went to get our marriage license. Do this sooner if you want to have it registered at some place cool like San Francisco county =). I checked and they only take appointments and all were taken for August, the next availability being in September. City hall in SF is so nice and it would be fun to take some pictures there holding our marriage license. But anyways we ended up going to register in San Mateo County instead which has their office located in Redwood city so that was fine.
I spent the rest of the day cleaning after taking a food coma nap. The apartment looks already 100 percent better and i can see the potential of the end result. It is starting to feel like home and i love having everything I need here in Berkeley instead of in an overnight bag which I never pack fully anyways. Still trying to tackle the rest of the final details for the wedding …
I spent my first jobless day waking up early and refreshed! This despite not being able to fall alseep until 1 am last night and yet at 8 am I was ready to get up and clean. Except that I didn’t clean my now new home because what’s the point when my new “wardrobe organizer” (aka two rolling racks ordered from Khol’s) will arrive by this Friday? Better to put it off until then when I can do it all in one fell swoop me thinks =) But in the meantime living in this mess (aka Michael’s Berkeley studio despite his great cleaning and organizing job) is sort of distracting. All my clothes, still on its hangers, are piled onto the couches.
Things for the wedding are scattered about, chocolates for the favors are in one corner, pink Victoria’s Secret boxes from my shower are in the kitchen, etc. It’ll be amazing if I can find everything we need for the wedding next week when we need it.
So even though I didn’t clean today, I did order water bottle labels for the wedding. What are these for? Well, while going over the timeline with my dad yesterday it is starting to look like people may have to kill some awkward time between the ceremony and the reception. We tried to get a later ceremony time but it just wasn’t possible and we tried to minimize the gap as much as possible but alas, there is still probably 1/2 to 1 hour at the most when people will have to wait for the reception to start. So my plan is to have lots of picture taking done at the ceremony site with our friends and family and to offer our guests bottled water. It’ll give them something for the lag time I hope. I just visited the ceremony site again yesterday too and it is still very beautiful and there is plenty of shade and places for people to mill around and chat. I am so excited about it and after picking out the music with the music director yesterday it is starting to literally “sound” like a real wedding!
I had my last day at work today and it’s hard to say how I feel. I had flowers and gifts and well wishes from anyone who I had worked with so that part was nice. But at the same time I am glad that is over and I can focus on the final details of wedding planning!!! I am also free to blog!
My schedule is clear for the next two weeks to tackle the remaining to do items on my list and it is long. Money has been flying out the window as I make final payments to vendors and it seems like there’s always another check to write. I keep track of every bill and so far we are on budget but it is still amazing what the final bill will look like, it is one big number.
At the moment I am getting ready to move from my apartment in Santa Rosa to Mike’s place in Berkeley. I just sold my couch yesterday and hopefully my coffee table and chairs will go as well. If anyone is interested here is the craigslist ad: http://sfbay.craigslist.org/nby/fuo/784918180.html
Mara and I had an eventful weekend… Mara did some weddding planning while I took the opportunity to clean up my apartment and work on some programming. We also had a fantastic dinner at Antony’s house and had the pleasure of meeting his wife and daughter… a really great family. Antony was a really impressive cook and we had a great conversation.
To cap the weekend off, Mara & I went with Bo & Victoria to Metropolitan Golf Links in Oakland to play 18 holes. We’ve been diligently practicing at the driving range for the past 2 months about 2 times a week and it was time to play our first 18 holes. Despite being relatively sunny all week, the weather conditions were less than idea. It was windy and a bit cold, very strange for July.
After about 5 hours of play, we did manager to finish the 18 holes. Mara and I played a scramble format and we shot 101, which is pretty good for our first time out. I’m especially proud of the PAR we saved on holes 3 & 18. In general, I drove the ball pretty consistently (my longest drive rolled about 240 yards) and hit my fairway woods better than expected. But I’m still having a lot of issues with my longer irons. I definitely need more practice.
I was really proud of how Mara hit Especially at 17 and 18, she teed off with her woods very well. She’s really starting to hit her irons, hybrids, and woods very consistently and I would say she has very good touch on her short game. On top of that, she’s starting to generate good pace on her longer clubs now.
I can’t describe how excited I was to go out with Bo, Victoria, and Mara this weekend… and after 18 holes I feel even more excited about the sport. Golf is such a great game to play and I’m already looking forward to our next time out. I’m already playing back in my head many of the shots to see how I can improve them for next time.
John Mayer just released a new CD of his live performance in Los Angeles. I ordered it from Amazon.
He’s widely recognized as one of the most talented and accomplished musicians of my generation. And many people I’ve talked to firmly believe his abilities with the guitar approach those of Clapton, Santana, and Hendrix. But what impresses me most about John is his dedication to growing and how he has evolved throughout the years. He started off accoustic, moves into teen rock/pop, releases an album dedicated to the electric guitar, then he blends together blues/jazz/country/rock, and now he’s performed all of these different style in the same concert. If you get a chance to preview his version of Tom Petty’s 1989 “Free Fallin’”… really pretty remake.
For me, John Mayer’s music has represented a reminder of transitions in my life. I still vividly remember watching John host and perform “Bigger Than My Body” on Saturday Night Live at my friend Dan’s house the night of my grandfather’s funeral. Before that, I had never really paid too much attention to his work. And I constantly think back to one of Mara and my first dates, where we saw John Mayer (opening act by Maroon 5) at Shoreline. I felt that night was a real turning point for us…
He’s definitely grown up so much since “Room for Squares” and has shown an incredible range as a young musician. Whenever you watch him, it’s clear that he absolutely loves his music and his guitar solos seem to be meditative moments for him… I’m interested to see where his music goes in the future.
My brother sent me this clip from From Tim Ferriss’ blog:
“Good afternoon, Mr. Buffett and Mr. Munger…” my voice boomed out through the sound system with a half-second delay, making it almost impossible to remember my lines, memorized word-for-word. I continued:
“If you were 30 years old and had no dependents but a full-time job that precluded full-time investing, how would you invest your first million dollars, assuming that you can cover 18 months of expenses with other savings? Thank you in advance for being as specific as possible with asset classes and allocation percentage.”
Buffett let out a small laugh and began. “I’d put it all in a low-cost index fund that tracks the S&P 500 and get back to work…”
This past week has been a really busy week for my family and for Mara and me. So this means lots of updates!
Last Friday, my cousin Emily graduated from Los Altos High School. I actually haven’t stepped foot onto campus since I left in 1997, so it felt strange being back. I remember my own graduation and how I felt soooo on top of the world. After 11 years, 2 degrees (working on my 3rd), 4 jobs, and thousands of miles traveled, I’m still trying to figure things out :).
Over the weekend, Mara and I diligently worked on the invitations. I was responsible for creating the maps, which I think came out really well. I even got a compliment on my powerpoint skills from Helen, an ex-consultant! Mara was responsible for printing out the labels for addresses, printing out our reception menus, and she started the process of assembling our invites. I think the whole package looks great and we’re excited that they will be in the hands of our friends and family soon. Some of them went out this week and we’re trying to get the rest out as soon as possible.
And lastly, my brother and I took out our parents for their 30th Anniversary. We had a really nice dinner at The Village Pub in Woodside. Though I’ve constantly heard others mention this restaurant as one of the best on the peninsula, it was my first time there. I thought the service and the food were both very good, and I would highly recommend it to anyone.
I was playing around with Google Maps to figure out how to best map out our Wedding Ceremony and Reception and I started using their “My Maps” Feature. The first map that I created is a map of places that Mara and I enjoy eating at:
Our Favorite Places to Eat
Not an exhaustive list yet, but we’ll be sure to update it as we find more places 
Since starting at Adobe, I’ve made it a point to take public transportation. Our San Francisco office charges for parking, so they offer subsidies for BART and a GO Pass for Caltrain. While taking public transportation takes longer for me (About 1 hour door to door), I’m constantly rewarded with the feeling that I’m doing my part in helping the environment.
I definitely have to say that I enjoy Caltrain much more than BART. Coming from Berkeley, BART is always packed and it’s hard to get anything done. Speaking with long-time BART riders, it seems that it has gotten even more crowded since gas prices have risen. On Caltrain, I’m able to read and work on my laptop.
I’ve been working at Adobe for three weeks and this is the first time I’ve driven into work… I had somewhat of a guilty feeling when I got into my car today. On the bright side, I was able to find street parking so I didn’t have to pay the $10 for parking that Adobe charges.
This weekend on Saturday we had an all day marriage prep class. Surprisingly St Vincent’s Chruch in San Rafael is a huge estate and still is a school for foster boys. The church takes them in and now funded by the state, the boys undergo counseling and rehab. I was so impressed by this church’s grounds, it still is gorgeous and so pretty! They were setting up for a show that night in the courtyard and I think it makes a great place for a wedding. See some pics below.
The marriage prep class was slow but we were able to finish it one day and got the certificate. Overall I think it was not bad, the instructor was very good, we were in an interesting locale and the pre-marital counseling actually spurred some interesting conversations between the two of us.
I also had a baby shower today and posted some pics below.
A guilty pleasure for Mara and me has always been a chocolate cake a la mode after dinner. On Friday night, Mara and I had a date at Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse in San Francisco. She had the Filet Mignon and I ordered the Cowboy Ribeye steak. While our steaks were very good, in the back of our minds we were looking forward to the chef’s special chocolate molten cake after dinner.
Now something that Mara and I share is our belief that the chocolate cake has to be complemented with an equal amount of vanilla ice cream. Not enough ice cream ruins the whole experience for us. We spend most of our energy rationing the ice cream to ensure that there is enough for the whole cake. I’m not going to lie to you… it’s a stressful situation.
Back to Friday night…. we ordered an additional scoop of ice cream to go with the cake but it still wasn’t enough! We were so unhappy with the experience that Mara and I bought a huge chocolate cake tonight and paired it with twice the amount of ice cream! Though our eyes were much larger than our stomachs, I think it’s safe to say that we got our fix tonight.
I took advantage of this long weekend to catch up on my tech news… it’s been a tough few weeks. There’s been a tremendous amount of chatter about Yahoo/MSFT. While I don’t feel particularly strongly about either one of these companies, I decided to scan into the financials of Yahoo. In my opinion, in the last several years, the only company that has done less with as much resources than MSFT is Yahoo.
One look into the income statement of Yahoo reveals why shareholders should be critical by Yahoo’s current management team. From a technology point of view, you can’t ignore management’s inability to create any new innovative products and services. While Yahoo owns a tremendous amount of real estate, it’s inability to monetize it effectively has been downright disturbing.
Now, for the financials… while Gross Profit has grown about 10% from FY06 to FY07, and 18% from FY05 to FY06 (Primarily through top line growth), the resulting Operating Income and Net Income are just downright shocking. Just looking at Operating Income, it’s dropped 27% from FY06 to FY07… and 15% from FY05 to FY06. You don’t have to be a financial guru to be appalled by these numbers. Taking this into context, Google has been growing their bottom line around 36% in FY07 and the whole tech industry has seen substantial growth over this same period.
One of the most shocking fact that I noticed is that Yahoo’s R&D costs have grown from 30% and 45% in the last two years. You would generally like to see a correlation between R&D spending and top line revenue, but we see very little evidence of this.
While being acquired by MSFT may not be the perfect option, the management team’s inability to grow the company and provide a long-term coherent strategic vision is concerning. This is a play that will help MSFT gain the scale economics it requires, improve it’s operational performance, expand it’s R&D capabilities, and help MSFT reposition itself. Whether you believe MSFT will be able to accomplish this, I admire that they are actively seeking ways to grow.
Yahoo shareholders deserve better than what their management team has done for them and I firmly believe MSFT’s offer presents a fair exit. And judging from Yahoo shareholder reactions, it looks like they agree.
I’ve been working on wedding invitations all week. I found out that they were spelling a name with a “J” instead of a “Y”. No wonder it looked strange, and I had them change the font to two different font styles so that it would be right when in reality it was the wrong letter. Argh. Nonetheless we are close to a final sign off on the proofs, still waiting for a couple more approvals. I will be so happy when I get to see the actual pieces of paper with “Request the honor of your presence…” Hehee! This will be a big check off once done.
Last Thursday, I turned in my last assignment and my summer has finally started! I’m truly excited about the wedding this summer, despite all of the “todo” items left before the big day. It has been a quiet few days without school and before I have to start work, so I spent some time reflecting on the last few years and the where Mara and I are headed to next.
Reflecting on the last 10 years, it seems obvious to me that they can be split into several chapters.
1997-2001: I think most will think of their college years to be the most transformative years in their lives. To me, these 4 years were a breath of fresh air. I got lost in the last two years in High School and used these four years to focus myself on my studies. The most important lesson that I learned at UCLA was that there were 24 hours a day and you could use all of them if you tried hard enough to.
2002-2003: This year was probably the darkest and most miserable in my life. What happened during this year confirmed a lesson that my father tried to teach me early on: When you’re in a questionable situation that is difficult to get out of, you absolutely have to get away from it as soon as possible. Leaving Los Angeles was the best decision I ever made… I just wish that I did so earlier. Additionally, the passing of my grandfather brought tremendous pain. Out of this chapter, I became stronger and learned a lot about myself.
2004-2006: These three years can be summarized as my Mara/SD/Qualcomm/Career Search years. WIthout a doubt the happiest years I’ve enjoyed in my life. Mara and I met short before I left for Qualcomm and it’s been such a great 4 years. I’m thankful she stayed with me through all of my crazy ideas and adventures. My time in San Diego and Qualcomm was very enjoyable. I always loved San Diego ever since the first time I visited… I always wanted to live there and always wanted to work for Qualcomm. Having accomplished this, I dug deep and thought hard about what to do next to advance my career.
2007-???: I’ve used these two years to transition from my previous life/career to my new one. My education at the Haas School of Business has already opened many doors for me career-wise and will continue to do so. Also Mara and I got engaged in 2007… We’re slowly transitioning to our new life together. Everyday I feel fortunate and thankful that we will spend the rest of our lives together. When I was younger, I always worried that “happily ever after” wouldn’t happen… if I could only go back in time to re-assure myself that I had nothing to worry about :).
I’m really curious to see what the next few years will lead me. There is so much I want to get done and so little time. Regardless of what happens with my life…. I feel absolutely blessed that Mara and I will be writing new chapters in our lives together.
It is so hot. My car temperature read three digits for the first time a few days ago and thankfully it has been “only” in the 90’s since. I don’t have air conditioning at my place except for a ceiling fan. It keeps the air moving but unfortunately the fan is not in the bedroom either. It cools down a tiny fraction at night but when the air is still, even the bed seems to be giving off heat. Despite it all I am grateful that I don’t live in a humid climate with no air conditioning. It could be much worse. So for the time being, it’s ice cream, cold water and staying in cool dark places for now.
Last Saturday most of the bridesmaids and I met to get our dresses fitted. Si Arima is this nice Japanese lady who works out of her home and was recommended by a lot of the bridal websites for the south bay. She was conveniently located across Rivermark and hurried us along when we chatted too much.
Dhivya, Surai, and Jyoti made it to the fitting and hopefully the finished work will be good. I’ve been waiting to get my dress fitted so that I can send it out for a good clean and press. I asked for it to be pinned and now I need to make sure it fits! It’ll be so much more exciting to see it in its final form. The veil I tried on there made the whole thing more real! I must say, after the SF picture shoot with Tiffany I feel like it’s finally hitting home. I still have so much to figure out!
Is it vain of us to have so many pictures? No. Really. We do have a lot now. And the big day isn’t even here yet. We will be receiving a big album from Taiwan and I don’t want to make another engagement album with the Adeline and Grace Photos. Seriously
I posted a few of the pictures that I like and for the full album go to here…
www.pictage.com/435792
Event key: nguyen
You can also find this link in the right side navigation bar with the new thumbnail picture.
If you have trouble seeing the album leave a comment. Because it works fine on my computer but the website recognizes me and automatically logs me in. You may have to register with the site to view the pictures but you should be able to see the event once registered.
I finally got a chance to download the pictures Mara and I took in Hong Kong from my camera. I think they came out really well!
http://grommit.com/gallery/v/mchou/2008_HongKong/
Welcome to our new website. We obtained a new url and it should be a lot easier to remember than the previous one. We’ve also transferred the previous posts from googlepages to this url so it should be all here. If you like rss feeds you can also now subscribe to this blog and it will download to your Google reader or similar app.
New pictures are up from our engagement session at Catherine Wedding Photography in Taiwan! Click on the picture to the right. It turned out a lot better than I thought and I think of them as good memories of a very tiring day but good day. Enjoy!
Mara and I just returned from our trip to Taiwan. Over the last week, we visited my relatives, shot our engagement photos, shopped, went sight-seeing, and ate a ridiculous amount of food. I had several thoughts about our trip. What struck me the most was how little my family in Taiwan has changed. They are undoubtedly most warm-hearted, generous, and kindest people I know. Second, I was surprised by how passionate people are about politics in Taiwan. Even a week after the election, the election was still on the tip of the tongue for everybody. Lastly, I always forget how amazing the food is in Taiwan. Mara and I ate non-stop from the moment we stepped off the plane until we boarded our flight back to San Francisco. Every time I return from Taiwan, I always look forward to the next time I go back.
