M&M’s Website

Recently I decided to pick up tennis again.  I’ve always loved the sport and for some reason I just stopped playing.  I think part of it was that over the past few years I’ve looked for activities that both Mara and I could enjoy together, but recently I’ve realized I have to pursue my own passions.

I can’t begin to describe how invigorating it is to be out there hitting tennis.  I was a pretty decent High School player, but my peak was actually when I was at UCLA.  A lot of people are surprised when I tell them that I got even better in college.  I used to hit about 3-4 times a week and got really good.  I was able to whip my forehand cross-court and inside-out whenever I got a short ball.  I hit my backhand with heavy spin and good depth.  And I was able to place my topspin second serve almost anywhere in the box, and disguise it with a slice as well.  I controlled pace, spin, and angles effortlessly.

When Wendy recently wanted to learn, it gave me a great opportunity to do the two things I love… teach and play tennis.  I needed to go out there with somebody who was just starting so that I could get my hand/eye coordination back.  After some sessions with Wendy, Lawrence, and Danyel (a random that I found off CL), I’ve started gaining some control over my groundstrokes.  It feels amazing to be out there.  I find myself smiling halfway through each match.

I saw something that touched my heart tonight at Rengstorff.  A Chinese father and mother were teaching their two boys how to play tennis.  If I had to guess their ages, I would say one was 5 and the other 10. I actually see families out on the court all the time, but this family reminded me of my family when I was young.  While those children probably need formal coaching soon, I deeply admired that both of their parents were doing their best to guide those two children.  I almost wanted to walk over and tell the family how happy I was to see them out on the court.

It brought back memories of my father and mother exposing Jack and me to a wide variety of sports.  While most Asian families usually didn’t see the value in sports, our parents gave us tennis, basketball, baseball, swimming, and skiing.  My father even coached one of my baseball teams, despite the fact that he never had any formal training in baseball.  The most important lessons I’ve learned in life came early on from the sports that I played.  The importance of hard work, practicing to be perfect, consistency, patience, playing to win, losing gracefully, how to play nice with other children, having confidence in myself, understanding how to handle the spotlight, and many more lessons.

I hope that Mara and I will be able to give our children the same opportunities as my parents have given me.  And more importantly I hope my children will find their own passions in life.  And while it doesn’t have to be tennis, I hope that my children will find a passion in their lives that will fill that spot in their heart as tennis does in mine.  I wonder what their “tennis” will be?

Life

Very exciting news!  This weekend, my brother proposed to his girlfriend Ivy, and she accepted!  I think Ivy is such a great girl and I’m very excited for both my brother and our family.  I’m just so happy for Jack.  I can’t help but feel a sense of pride to see my little brother growing up and taking the next step in his life.

Growing up, I always had a very strong support system.  Without exception, I always felt that I had the full attention and support of my grandparents, parents, and my brother.  As we grow older, I think it’s inevitable that we need to shift priorities a bit.  As I start a family with Mara, and now Jack with Ivy, we may have to spend more time and energy focusing on our own homes.  But I think that we’ll always do a good job keeping up with each other and helping when and where we can.

Congratulations to my little brother and his new fiancee!

Life, Uncategorized

I haven’t blogged in several months now and have primarily used Twitter as the medium to express my thoughts.  I, like many who use Twitter, love the service because the 140 character limit allows me to quickly write a thought without feeling obligated to write several paragraphs of thoughts.

I do think that blogging on michaelandmara.com is important because it’s interesting to go back to look at our lives.  But with all the craziness that has happened in the last few months (graduating, moving, starting my new job, and finding a home), I’ve had very little time to do so.  I need to carve out some time consistently to write my thoughts down.

Life

I finally got a chance to catch up on the Series Finale of NBC’s ER, which I TIVOed last week.  Back in 1996, I used to watch the show religiously with my mother every Thursday night.  At the time, I had dreams of becoming a doctor one day and was very interested in medicine.  But after one too many episodes of ER, I quickly realized that medicine wasn’t in my future.

The first indication was how uncomfortable I was with the sight of blood.  While not everybody in the medical profession become surgeons or ER doctors, I quickly started to question my career dreams.  But what ultimately convinced to turn away from medicine and turn towards engineering me was the uncertainty of medicine.  I knew that I would not be able to accept the fact that certain medicines and treatments work on certain people and have no effect on others.  What I most enjoy about engineering was how deterministic it is.  5 volts in here will give you 3 volts here… without exception.

I stopped watching ER when I left for college, but I have always been impressed with the pace, depth, and emotions ER gave viewers every Thursday night.  The pace of the show has seldom been matched (maybe The West Wing).  The characters were all flawed but all very well intentioned.  But the part that I loved the most: everybody in the ER was terrified with the awesome responsibility of being a doctor.  Every character was frequently put into situations that stretched and terrified them… but they always showed real courage.  ER showed me that courage really wasn’t the absence of fear, but the ability to overcome it.  It’s an idea that I always heard from others… but saw it the very first time I watched ER.

Television

Since my last post, I’ve been busy with school and traveling.  I also picked up twittering, so that has reduced the need to blog.  But recently I’ve realized that my writing is not improving at the rate that I’d like.  Apparently the 140 character tweets are not condusive to helping me become a better writer :).  So I’ve made a commitment to myself to blog at least once a week from here on out about a wide variety of issues.  Ranging from married life, the economy, technology, and life in general.  Stay tuned.

Uncategorized

Here are some pictures from our family’s 2008 Thanksgiving dinner.  We were joined this year by John Woods.  While it was nice having 30 people at our house last year, I appreciated having a small family get-together this year.

Cooking, Dining, Life

Great Quotes:

Alex Baldwin: “I can’t believe you’re out of the game… [snip]… Don’t you miss it?”
Steve Martin: “I do.  That’s why I’m forming a new company.  Here’s the pitch: Windpower, bandwidth, chinese market.”
Alex Baldwin: “Oh god.”
Steve Martin: “Jack, you’re drooling.”

Alex Baldwin: “Lemon, you’re going to go to Gavin’s and you’re going to work this thing like a Chinese gymnast. Wear something tight, force a smile, and lie about your age.”

Alex Baldwin: “Kenneth, I’m very proud of you. Next step, home ownership. Just kidding… the middle class is dying.”

Alex Baldwin: “I couldn’t get your money back and I’m sorry. I feel responsible so I want you to have this…”
Kenneth: “Mr. Donaghy, I can’t take that. What would this country be if our economy didn’t allow wealthy people to take advantage of rubes?”

Alex Baldwin: “I thought by now you’d be someplace that U.S. law couldn’t touch you like Bali… or Utah.”

Television

Ever since Mara and I attended Steve and Wendy’s wedding at Wente Vineyards, we’ve been craving the amazing the double pork chop that they served during the reception.  It’s been several years but we have not been able to go back to Wente Vineyards.  This past weekend, while I was at Costco, I was inspired to replicate the dish in our very home.

I had to convince Mara to let me buy a huge bottle of honey.  I then mixed the honey with soy sauce and chopped garlic as a marinade.  We marinaded the double pork chops overnight and grilled it the next day for dinner.  It turned out really well… another meat dish added to my recipe book!

Cooking

Last weekend, Mara and I went to celebrate the one year mark of our engagement.  We first went up to the Marin Headlands where I proposed.  The weather was absolutely gorgeous… very different than that morning I proposed to Mara.  I’m sure she was thinking that morning… “why in the world is Michael taking me to the Marin Headlands when it’s so foggy???”

We followed up with a dinner at Range San Francisco (http://www.rangesf.com/).  It’s the recipient of a Michelin Star for the past few years and is surprising affordable given how popular it is.  The portion sizes were very good and the quality was excellent.  It was a great opportunity for us to enjoy each others’ company and to reflect on what a great year it’s been for both of us.

Life, Wedding

This weekend, I ordered a DSLR!  I’ve been interested in taking better pictures since Mara and I took our engagement photos in Taiwan.  Taking great pictures didn’t seem like a ridiculously difficult thing to do, but I knew I wasn’t going to be able to do so with my point-and-shoot Canon SD1000.

I then started to notice that more of my friends had Digital SLRs, so it couldn’t have been a ridiculous hobby to get into (I last checked back in 2000, when I was still a student at UCLA… and it was ridiculously expensive!).  After doing my research, I picked up a Canon XSI for a very good price and a B&W UV Filter to protect the lens.

I’ll be sure to post my photos when I get my camera!

Photography

It was just announced that Barack Obama has just won enough electoral votes to be our next President.  Regardless of whether you are a Democrat or Republican, McCain or Obama supporter, young or old, liberal or conservative… you certainly have to be relieved that the past 8 years of George Bush is finally coming to an end.  Without a doubt, I firmly believe that this past administration will go down as the worst in United States history.  Not only have they failed to advance American values and leadership in the world, they have caused great harm to our nation.

I couldn’t help but think of the rollercoaster of emotions Barack has experienced these past few days.  Tragically, his grandmother passed away a few days before seeing her grandson elected the next President.  While she left this world too early, I’m sure she was already proud of Barack and all he has accomplished.  Barack has to know this and I hope that he continues to lead this country with the same values his grandparents brought him up with.

Very recently, I felt very similar emotions.  The day after Mara and I were married, we went up to my Grandfather’s burial site to pay my respects and to tell him that I was finally married to somebody who I love and who loves me unconditionally.  I instantly broke down into tears with an empty feeling that my Grandfather wasn’t around to see me so happy.  It was hard to imagine somebody who has had the hugest influence in my life, unable to make it to my wedding.  I just couldn’t accept it… it should never have happened that way… he was always supposed to be with me… to see that I’ve finally found my way.   I still remember that I slipped into a period of depression after he left us, and I wished that he could see me today.

It was suprising to me that I could come down from the happiest day of my life the day before…. to one of the saddest moments I have ever experienced.  I will never forget that day.  If Barak was as close to his Grandmother as I was to my Grandfather, I believe that I understand the emotions he is experiencing.

Life, Wedding

Wow, it’s been a long time since Mara and I have posted.  I think that there is a great deal of pressure to post something special and meaningful after the biggest event in our lives, and neither of us have had the time or energy to post something.

Mara and I were both extremely pleased by how well the wedding went.  It’s amazing how fast the actual wedding day went by and everything ran like clockwork.  Mara and I were please to be able to share our special day with all of our family and friends.

Slideshow: http://adelineandgrace.com/slideshows/chou/
All the Photos: http://www.pictage.com/435792 (Event key: nguyen)
My Brother’s Best Man Speech: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cZhR9rV3a4

We had a great honeymoon in Mexico at an all-inclusive resort.  The El Dorado Royale.  I’m glad that Mara and I had an opportunity to get away and spend a whole week away from everything.  It was a great way to start off a marriage.  If any of you are looking for a location to get away from it all, I would definitely recommend this place.

http://www.karismahotels.com/doradoroyal/

Since getting back, I have started the last year of my MBA program at Haas and Mara has started work at a brand new company.  The commute is really horrible for Mara so we don’t get to spend as much time together as I would like… I hope that changes soon after I graduate.  Mara and I will probably find a place on the Peninsula, depending on where I am working in the future.

Uncategorized

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 …

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!

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

Work

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.

Golf

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.

Misc.

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…”

Investing

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.

Dining, Life, Misc., Wedding

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

Dining