The books I read during the holiday, transported me to new places, and new experiences. The Worlds I See had been on my to-read list for ages, and I finally checked it off. It’s a memoir, an immigrant story, a personal journey, and an AI journey all wrapped into one. It doesn’t get better than this. The other books were serendipitous finds, with The Little Books offering delightful reads for everyone.
The worlds I see By Dr. Fei-Fei Li
If you search “Godmother of AI”, Google search results will list “Dr. Fei-Fei Li” at the top.
Dr.Fei-Fei Li is a through-and-through trailblazer. In the tech world, Dr. Fei-Fei Li has chased after Data, when algorithms and complex logic have been the unparalleled kings and queens in the computer kingdom. The resulting ImageNet has contributed to AlexNet and Neural Network. In the world where technology is the hype, Dr. Fei-Fei Li established the human-centered AI institute (HAI) in Stanford.
Her research and accomplishments are numerous. Her resilience, her commitment, her passion and her value stands out more in this world where the rich and the powerful get it all. It is touching to read about how she achieves, while caring deeply for her family, her parents, her spouse and her children, her students and the people around.
Her personal journey from China to America, New Jersey to Palo Alto will inspire you. The world will be better, if more of us see it through her lens.
Please add this to your to-read list.
The Little Book of Hygge: Danish secrets to happy living By Meik Wiking
I love these little books. The first chapter of light, about candles and lamps, is almost a bore. That is the whole point that many found all the normal things around us become a bore.
If you can pass through the first chapter of very normal things around us, you will be rewarded with a real sense of Hyggeligt. If you get through the last page, you don’t need to be in Denmark to discover the secrets of Happy Living.
The whole point of Hygge (contentment, comfort, coziness, and so much more) is about making the most of what we have in abundance : the everyday.
I love this little book. I am deeply grateful to the author Meik Wiking, CEOof Happiness Research Institute, Copenhagen. The world will be a better place if more people see and enjoy the common things around them.
Hippie By Paulo Coelho
I love his book “The Alchemist”. This is an autobiography of the author, travelling with a newly known Dutch woman from Amsterdam to Kathmandu. It has a bit of everything in life, the spectrum of people (real characters) they met and their experiences, the personal discoveries as they journeyed together from Amsterdam to Kathmandu. Just like many things in life, when we are seeing it as it is, there is some weirdness that cannot be comprehended or making sense of it. That weirdness stays with me long after reading the book.
The Little Book of Skin Care: Korean beauty secrets for Healthy, Glowing Skin By Charlotte Cho
This book transforms how I think of the skin care routine from a chore to really enjoying it. It has real good tips if you want to have a dewy look. I recommend the book to readers of all ages.
There are many book lovers in the world. I am one. I am not enthused about book clubs that need us to read the same book at the same time. Why? There are just so many genres to read about, each book reading pattern is as unique as the readers’ fingerprints. Just like friends, if you pay attention and don’t transport your memory of their younger days to their present days, the friends change subtly over time too. Those changes are often reflected by the kinds of books they are reading.
Just like good friends, good books don’t go away. May you find one or two, from the following reviews, that you are interested in reading right away. For all the others, I hope it is not whether you will read them, but when you will read them.
We are in a world with abundance that is so unevenly distributed. We can all relate to what life is like to spend hours every morning to get buckets of murky water to survive.
This is a book that gives concrete paths to solve the water and sanitation problem.
Supporting microloans, a sustainable market-based approach, can help hundreds of millions to tap into existing water infrastructure to give them water, and allow them to use the time to go to school or to earn more income.
Supporting resourceful teams to help utilities improve operations and find more paying customers to keep investing in better infrastructures in urban areas.
Supporting Governments, wealthy nations and NGOs can reach the poorest , most rural regions.
Check out the book or the water.org. It feels immoral to do nothing for the billions who happen to be born somewhere without water and sanitation.
Raimund Gregorious teaches classical languages at a Swiss school. Everyday is the same routine, down to the minute until one day. On his way to school, he saved a beautiful woman, who was about to jump off a bridge. This one day, he questions his life and leads him to an extraordinary book about an extraordinary person, Amadeu De Prado, in Portugal. He boards the last train to Lisbon. His adventure turns into unbelievable discoveries of deep human connections as he retraces the life of Amadeu, his families, his loved ones, and his comrades.
Life is not what we live, but what we imagine living. At times dreamlike, at times unreal, this is a book that stirs your mind to reveal something new to yourself.
For those who have immigration experience, over time, they recognize that immigration is a multi-generational journey not an event. It is an experience that sends a person, the families and future generations to an alternate universe where the new universe offers contrasts in family values, morals and cultures.
Beautifully narrated and illustrated, this book shares the journey of a first generation Korean American how she copes with the challenges of family relationship, identity uncertainty, loneliness and friendship.
Many first generation Asian American will resonate with the growing up of the protagonist Deb. It is a good read for both their parents and them to appreciate the multi-generational implications of the migration.
Charlie Munger is almost 100. He died a few months ago. His wisdom, humor and fatherly advice have lived on in his speech and his book. He said “acquisition of wisdom is a moral duty”.
His commencement speech to the USC Law Graduates, to advise them on a good life, particularly resonated. His speech is full of gold and offers values for anyone. Here are some of his worldly wisdom.
The safest way to get what you want is to try to deserve what you want. You want to deliver to the world what you want to buy if you were on the other side. It is a golden rule.
Be a learning machine. Develop a multi-disciplinary knowledge in important domains: business, psychology, math and history.
Hard work and strong work ethics are essential. As obvious as it is, we often forget it when things are not going well.
Mr. Munger continues to advise us in this universe even though he has moved on to another universe. Hope you will not miss the advice.
The abundance of knowledge and information overload overwhelm the smartest of all. This is an era of short cuts to influence decision making. It is a world where relationship building could get you further than the traditional intellectual and emotional intelligence. First published in 1984, the latest edition in 2021 continues to capture the psychology of persuasion.
If you are a compliance professional to influence others or you are someone who doesn’t want to be tricked by these psychological shortcuts, this book makes an important book to read.
For shortcuts to the book, the seven shortcuts include “reciprocation”, “liking”, “social proof”, “authority”, “scarcity”, “commitment and consistency”, “unity”. Or you can ask the large language model, chatGPT, Gemini and the like, to give you a summary to decide where to deep dive into.
You may also be intrigued by the author on the importance of preventing the abuses or misuses of these shortcuts, so as to keep the shortcuts working effectively for the majority.
You may be familiar with Mr. Benjamin Franklin as one of the Founding Fathers of the United States, a drafter and signer of the Declaration of Independence. I discovered so much more of his impact on my daily lives after reading his autobiography.
Written by Mr. Benjamin Franklin from 1771 to 1790, this unfinished account of his own life remained relevant if not more relevant with the US state of affairs.
The first set of notes is a letter that started with “Dear Son”, where Mr. Franklin talked about his lifes, his younger days, the lessons learned, the business and the errors he has made. The discourse is candid and particularly touching to share life lessons from father to son.
The second set of notes was written a few years later. It listed out the 12 moral virtues + humility. Mr. Franklin created a “spreadsheet” to practice the virtues and tracked his progress. He had expected to acquire the habit of one virtue each week, and ended up taking a year to cycle through the 13 virtues. His design and rigorous progress tracking on virtues are amazing to read and to practice.
The last set of notes illustrated his printer business and his public services. His setup of public libraries, his establishment around the concepts of firefighting and military has impacted all of us living in the United States. His kite experiment, to demonstrate the connection of lightning and electricity, once again reminded us the importance of multidisciplinary knowledge to better understand the world.
It is a book to read, also a book to read multiple times.
Every single day we are missing the people, the places and the events around us. Being in Silicon Valley for decades, I have the illusion I know about the area, until it becomes obvious that there are so many new discoveries waiting. In his unique lens, the author 鱸魚 shares absolutely delightful anecdotes that transport me to a more beautiful, more diverse, more humane Silicon Valley beyond the technology, the tech start-up, the magnificent seven and the venture capitalists.
His message will stay with me for a long time – Silicon Valley is a colorful puzzle that provides spaces for everyone to participate and there is such a broad spectrum of possibilities for everyone to have a role in it. Such contrasts make up a beautiful landscape.
This is a book for everyone to relate to Silicon Valley, including those who are too busy to notice the stories, and those who live far away.
I am enchanted by the author and his Silicon Valley stories. I subscribe to his blog and can’t wait to read his new book 我失敗的美式生活 (I fail in living the American life).
In the AI-powered world, the Large Language models, Gemini, ChatGPT and the like, can summarize a book, give a nutshell of things, answer questions, and even analyze a book together with you. It is impressively powerful. It meets the ever raising expectations of what it can do. AI writes book reviews well too. I am sure that AI can do a better writing job after it digests trillions of words which I never would be able to.
Let AI have the better ability in reading and writing. There is no existential crisis about it. I am pleased to keep the enjoyment of reading a book at the speed of a snail. I have the choice of my own interpretation of a book, the intent of its author and writing the book reviews.
It is a book about how Artificial Intelligence works and why it’s making the world a weirder place. With the hype of generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI), it feels like eras have passed since this book was published in 2019. The ChatGPT / Generative AI debut is however not a baby born out of nowhere. The breakthroughs in computing, memory and storage power, the leap in machine learning and the focus in data science are all important notes leading to the Generative AI crescendo in November 2022. Many of the “how it works” are as relevant now as in 2019.
This is a highly engaging and informative book. AI has already arrived. The best way to go forward with AI is to understand it – understand what problems AI can solve, what issues AI can create, and what can we do to manage the situations.
This book will endear you to AI, and why there’s every reason to be cautiously optimistic.
In a dehumanized world of dystopia, what would the experience of growing up, falling in love, making friends and the sense of mortality be like? The novel starts with a mystery that the protagonist is a carer unlike any carers we are familiar with. She takes care of different donor patients who need to recover from donations, and at times multiple donations. As the protagonist recalls her school lifes, her friends, her guardians and her years as carers of her closest friends, the readers discover a dystopia, unlike anything we have seen. In that world, their growing up, their relationship and mortality still resonate.
Mr. Mukherjee is among my favorite authors. His book is always well researched and is a joy to read. Cells make up everything in our body. There are step jumps in our knowledge of the cells and there are still more to be discovered. Mr. Mukherjee perfectly combines the technicality of the deep complex topics and the poetic touch of his personal experience. Through his writing, the scientists, the doctors and the patients each come alive with their own unique characters. It is a book that requires focus to read, pause, and resume. As I finish the last page of the book, I feel there is so much in it that I would like to start all over again.
Reading his book not only gives you a good set of knowledge of the topic. Reading his book gives ideas on how to write a technical topic filled with beautiful personal stories, each with a human touch. It is these human touches and their stories that endears us to the doctors, the scientist and the new scientific discoveries about the cell.
The initial chapters of the book are pretty dense as the author introduced the framework among the free will, deterministic, nondeterministic, predictable, unpredictable together with different terminologies and how our brain works in neuro-science terms.
Halfway into the book, I got the gist of the author’s position and his argument. There is no freewill or there is much less freewill than what we think we have. Our behaviors, decision-making, failures, and successes are results of our nature (genes) and nurture (environment, family, friends and societies).
So what? Why did the author, professor of biology, neurology, neurological sciences, and neurosurgery at Stanford University suspend his teaching commitments, and spend time to write about the topic?
The second half of the book would provide the answer.
Do you believe that illness is a punishment of evil acts of our doing? Do you believe that schizophrenia is caused by bad parenting? Do you agree that people committing crimes deserve the most severe tortures so justice is served? Society has changed a lot in many things. Depending on whether it is a “Yes” or “No” to these questions, we see the world with different degrees of empathy and compassion with one another.
If more people agree to no free will or limited free will, there will be more support to change the education system, the justice system, and the moral system. The author conveys that we don’t need to be heartless, and judgmental to others with less fortune. There can be better systems and societies.
This book has been named one of the best books by the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal.
I suggest reading it with patience, taking breaks and taking as much time as needed. I get a lot a lot out of the book, and it gives a new perspective of many things around us.
The March plan for Florida was simple: buy expensive soccer game tickets, fly to Ft Lauderdale, see god. I am talking about Messi. Soccer is at best the distant fourth popular sport in the US after football, basketball and baseball. Yet, Messi has become the most popular US athlete since joining Inter Miami CF last July. He is 36 years old. In the demanding contact sport of soccer, he is as aged as a dinosaur. His star power peaks further after he won the World Cup for Argentina. With the diminishing opportunities to see Messi magic live, there is little time left to earn the bragging right “we have seen the soccer GOAT”. Injury and retirement can happen any moment. He did not play in the Hong Kong stop of the pre-season world tour. He has only one or two seasons playing for Inter Miami. These cemented our plan to go catch him. Until the game starts, it is anybody’s guess if Messi would show up on the pitch.
We pushed luck to our side by following what the Inter Miami coach said : “The Concacaf Champions Cup will be the most important game(s) of the year”. Messi is more likely to play in home games in Ft Lauderdale, Florida. Few know Inter Miami narrowly won the game against Nashville last season to grasp the first ever team cup, in the nail-biting penalty shootout. We bet that if there is any game Messi will most likely show up, it will be this Concacaf game featuring Inter Miami vs Nashville in Florida.
We still needed luck after lining up the stars. Luck was on our side.
The game time was 8:15pm. Before the pilgrimage to see Messi, we visited the Everglades National Park (NP) located slightly over an hour’s drive away.
Everglades NP is unlike any other NP we have visited. It has limited parking spaces, and we had to wait for enough cars to get out before we could get in. We waited for about an hour. The time went by fast. There was this couple of colorful Halloween pennant dragonflies hopping around, inviting us to picture them. There was this peaceful stream of water. The visitor center was within a short walking distance, making it arguably the shortest walk to any NP visitor center from the entrance station. The visitor center has exhibits and gifts that help to kill time with meaningful information.
The Everglades NP is unique in another way. It is not hikers friendly. There are some paved roads, little trails, and hardly any shades. In May, we felt the warmth already. Instead, the park offers a 2-hour tram ride every hour, and a bike rental for visitors. The tram-ride is first come first served. It was a very enjoyable ride, with diverse geological landscape, alligators of all sizes, lovely blue herons, elegant egrets, colorful purple gallinule and muscular anhinga. It is one of the best NP to visit without prior planning. The park is full of life especially in this season of Spring.
We rested in the hotel briefly to build up the energy for the Chase Stadium pilgrimage.
We arrived at the Chase Stadium about 3 hours before the game time at 8:15pm. We were hardly alone. There were families. There were several food trucks outside. There were boys playing soccer and I was hit by the soccer a few times. It was a lively atmosphere. No-one seemed to be in a hurry. Truth be told, we expected the fan zones to have more activities for the fans like other sport events. We expected better food choices. We expected better facilities for the over $200 per person ticket we have paid. The stadium looked dated too.
The impression did not improve, when we got into the stadium with over an hour to spare. We were surprised that the gift store was no more than a line for the most enthusiastic fans. It was just a place to order exactly the products you have in mind. There was no shopping experience. It was a buying experience. We were surprised with the portable toilets. We were surprised with the limited food choices inside the stadium.
With little to visit, we were among the earliest to take our seats. We had plenty of time to take pictures. After some waiting, the visiting Nashville team started their warm-up first, followed by the Inter Miami home team. From the practice, we could guess the starters. It felt like waiting for the dream to come true to see all four ex-Barcelona stars (Messi, Suarez, Alba, and Busquet) as starters. We were lucky. The Messi effect was felt through the stadium every time his name was mentioned by the announcer, followed by the “Messi” chanting.
The Inter Miami vs Nashville Game started on time as expected. Inter Miami scored the first goal within the first 10 minutes by Suarez with an assist from Messi. It was a beautiful play. Everyone in the stadium was on their feet, with cheers, drumbeat, drum roll, and firework. What a moment. Shortly after, Messi scored himself. The Nashville team played well enough to keep the atmosphere tense and keep us in suspense. As the second half began, I noticed Messi had that uncommon hands-on-knees position that came across as strange at first. Within seconds, he turned over his captain armband to another Inter Miami player, and walked towards the bench. Simultaneously, the substitute board was raised, and he was substituted. I sensed that he may have an injury and the substitute was unplanned.
We have watched the soccer god play live – Messi assisted, scored, and then seemingly injured. What an unbelievable experience of a lifetime. It was not quite the same as checking the bucket list of watching the World Soccer Cup live. This one seemed even sweeter. We felt that we watched on behalf of the many HongKongers who were heartbroken when Messi did not play in the Inter Miami pre-season stop in Hong Kong. That Messi Mess in Hong Kong was something to be forgotten.
Before we flew out the next afternoon, we took a 45-minute airboat ride at the Sawgrass recreation park. The lobster claw scoobies served in the Coconut Seafood were exceptionally delicious, and spent some time on the Ft Lauderdale beaches. The beaches, the bars and the lounges screamed to tell us that this was the Spring break week of the college students.
Particularly in technology, “the” new kid on the block is to be admired and loved. We like knowing about the new kid so do the media like reporting them for the audience. OpenAI is arguably “the” technology story of this year. The recent ousting and reinstating of its CEO Sam Altman in OpenAI has added to the storyline. Just before Thanksgiving, there came a failed coup in the boardroom. We are fortunate to live in these modern days where no-one dies in the process in a coup. Being THE new kid, there has been more forgiveness and relatively few punish the company as a result of the coup.
We unconsciously ask for more from the other players such as Google or Amazon or many others “once-the”. These other players now belong to the “one of the” club. Last week Google announced its latest, if not its greatest, multimodal AI: Gemini. Surprisingly, the magical six-minute demo “Hands on with Demo : interacting with multi-modal AI” has attracted quite a bit of criticism. It was a concern that the demo is not a real-time demo of how the actual multimodal AI product behaves (yet). Rather tweaks here and there to help the narration and to show what is possible with the technology. When was the last marketing demo not piecing things together to make a more impressive narrative?
Transition happens when one changes from “the” to “one of the”, or from “one of the” to “the”.
I particularly worry about potential transitions of the US being “the” superpower to the possibility of “one of the”. Will there be more “wars” to resist “the” to “one of the”?
I particularly feel these transitions as the years go by : transition from being “the” most important person to the children to “one of the”; transition from “the” youngest in a group to “one of the”; transition from “one of the” oldest to “the” oldest in a group.
Mastering these transitions makes life good. Mastering these transitions among the geopolitics make the world more peaceful.
Set in the backdrop of the computer game industry from the 90s, the novel weaves in the novel of three co-founders creatively designing, coding and producing computer games. Not only do they creatively produce unique games for the gamers, they find themselves needing to creatively live through the different lowlights, and highlights along the way. There is always a new life after the “game over ”, as long as you keep playing.
You’ll enjoy the read of this beautiful story about growing up, love and friendship, whether you play or create computer games.
I recently joined an exciting AI-themed toastmaster club. This week, I gave an impromptu speech on “how AI would affect how we consume information?”. I seized the opportunity to talk about how humans, not technology, can keep their say in the era of internet, social media and AI.
Many are uncomfortable with new technology or simply changes. Surprisingly, the same “many” often give technology even more say on what they think and how they think. For those who are uncomfortable with AI or new technology, the following are written for you to keep your say when you consume information on the internet, on social media, or in the future from AI.
Is it fact or opinion? If you are not sure, take it as the opinion of the writer.
Is it news or entertainment? If you are not sure, categorize it as entertainment, and you don’t want to interpret most things as news on YouTube videos, Facebook live streams.
Is it confirmation bias, or a discovery of new perspectives? You can better tame confirmation bias when you are open to discovering what you don’t know. It is my opinion that humans are flawed and that we cannot be right all the time.
Do supermen and villains ever switch roles? If your information channels constantly portray the same country/party/persons are righteous, and the others are evil, it is time to read the other side of the story from other channels? There is no rush to take sides.
Does your current stand influence you the most to decide the sides to take in new event(s)? Be mindful if you let your existing stand make the decisions for you in new events. With the tsunami of information out there, you are likely going to find information supporting your current stand, even when the information is fake or opinionated. It is my opinion that it is beneficial to read different sides of the same stories. There is no rush to take sides.
Is your emotion ahead of your head to decide? We all have our emotional moments. When the emotion subsides, you have the right to change after going through the emotional reactions.
Are you ready to learn about history, cultures, and religions in the world? If this is a NO, it is my opinion that you are in no place to have a bad take on other countries, cultures or religions.
How much, with or without AI, have you enabled technology (internet, social media, online videos) to take over how you think, how you live, and what you do?
Reading is among the best ways to keep your heart and mind healthy. I feel quite sad to see books are becoming so cheap, and e-books even cheaper in the era of inflation and information overflow. You can help the authors and, even more so, yourself to find good books to read.
Radical Candor by Kim Scott I would not trade the fun of reading books, to a productivity play. Still, I tested the productivity hype about AI’s large language models. ChatGPT happily returned a clear summary to my prompt: ‘What is the book “Radical candor” by Kim Scott in a nutshell?’. I shortened its summary to this within minutes: “Radical Candor” is a practical guide for leaders and managers to foster better communication and relationships within their teams. It’s about delivering honest feedback with empathy and respect. The book provides numerous real-life examples and actionable advice on how to implement these principles of radical candor in the workplace to create a more effective and harmonious working environment.
The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark by Ann Druyan and Carl Sagan I wish this book was on the K-12 reading list. Filtering the information overload is like finding the straw of truth in a great ocean of confusion and conundrum.The baloney detection kits in this book are tools that can help you and the future generation in the much-needed critical thinking.
The things you can see only when you slow down by Haemin Sunim If you are looking for insights to “Why am I so busy?”, “When you are feeling low?”, “Being right isn’t important; Being Happy Together is”, “When you look for your calling”. My favorite chapter is “Three liberating insights” – people are not as interested in me as I had always believed; not everyone has to like me; and most things we do for others are in fact for ourselves. I keep coming back to some chapters in the book.
Message in a Matchbox – Memories of a Childhood Tehran by Sara Fashandi The title said it all. The stories of her brother from the author’s memories grow on me as I read on. Born poor, the characters have to overcome life obstacles to improve conditions for the family. At times tragic and emotional, this is a storied portrait of his brother’s childhood in Tehran. I recommend this book to see that part of the world.
The Tale of the Unknown Island by Jose Saramago I love this book and have read the 51-page twice. It is not a children’s book, though the children can enjoy it. This charming story shares how we all are isolated in our own island, and we all are on our own island until we find connections with purpose and love. I enjoyed both this book as well as “Seeing” by the same author.
* José de Sousa Saramago is a Portuguese author and the recipient of the 1998 Nobel Prize in Literature. His parables, sustained by imagination, compassion and irony, [with which he] continually enables us once again to apprehend an elusory reality.
Seeing by Jose Saramago A sequel from the book ‘Blindness’, which was made into movies. It starts with the majority of voters throwing blank ballots in the election. As the government reacts to it as a crisis, conspiracy and sedition, the story ends with the death of arguably the two best characters. It paints a vivid picture of how the world has become, how much we accept blindness to many things around us, and how much we still choose to see. It is a gem that is waiting for your discovery. It is a book that I would like to read again.
Dopamine nation : finding balance in the age of indulgence by Anna Lembke Through the lived experience of the patients and her first hand experience of guilt pleasure turning into addiction, the author highlights the delicate balance between pain and pleasure. Self discipline becomes a thing of the past when immediate pleasure is within reach in so many ways and modern day comfort gives rise to more indulgence and addiction . Maintaining the pain-pleasure balance is essential for our health and well being. A quick read recommended to those who want to overcome addiction or bad habits.
The WEIRDest people in the world by Joseph Henrich A weird book, until you realize that WEIRD refers to West, Educated, Rich, Industrialized, Democratic. How could the minority people make all the big decisions for the world? There are so many decisions made by very few people and we all live in the aftermath of those decisions. This book attempts to give an answer. Agree or not, there is some interesting stuff in it, such as why we moved away from marriage within families, or why some cultures worked better with strangers than others, how the spread of Christianity triggered the need to create contracts with strangers. This book can help kill some time.
Trust by Hernan Diaz Andrew Bevel was the protagonist who evolved into a mystical legend through a series of well-timed investments in the 1920s. The book has three versions of Andrew and his wife Mildred. This clever plot has a little bit of the 1950 classic “Rashomon” or the 2022 Netflix drama “Inventing Anna”. The story lost some momentum halfway in, and in the end, it has left the readers some open questions. Overall a good story.
The most famous restaurant in California is undeniably The French Laundry1. Located in the town of Yountville, Napa Valley, ‘The French Laundry’ is a three-Michelin-star French and Californian cuisine restaurant. Its menu starts at the minimum of $350 and easily gets to over $500 per head with drinks and tips. We have failed many times to get a reservation to experience the refined menu of Chef Thomas Keller. When a friend volunteered to organize a group dinner there, no-one in our party of nine needed a second thought. Foodie or not, the French Laundry dining experience is not to be missed.
The Napa Valley hotels were all overpriced. Just a few months ago, we stayed in a hotel at close to $500 a night with an outdoor swimming pool that you didn’t want to swim in. It was an average hotel in an expensive location. Petaluma, within driving distance to Napa Valley wine country, has newer and cheaper hotels. Nestled on the Petaluma river between rolling vineyards and rugged coast, Petaluma of Sonoma County is a picturesque town producing world-class beers and artisan cheeses served in some of the finest restaurants. It would have made a tourist town on its own, if it were not that close to the world renowned Napa Valley wine country.
We arrived in Petaluma in broad daylight with a couple of hours to spare before the French Laundry dinner. There was a Goodwill store, just minutes from our hotel. We went in and it did not take long to conclude there was no good deal. We don’t chase after brand names but there is a special satisfaction to get good deals of brand names at a deep discount in these thrift stores. In the short distance between the Goodwill store and our hotel, I saw the tents. My alert heightened as we saw a couple of homeless men who could jump out onto the road. They did not. They were telling signs of the hopeless homeless problems across the nation. Our hotel is a very new business boutique hotel. Our room was spacious with a stylish sofa, and comfy bedding. It was a warm day and the hotel room was more comfortable than the outside heat. After some rest, we changed outfits to get ready for the French Laundry experience.
Yountville, Napa Valley, is an easy forty minutes drive with little traffic. We strolled in the upscale neighborhood of the French Laundry and checked out the farm of the restaurant. The French Laundry is in a historic stone farmhouse. From the outside, the sign of “The French Laundry” is quite hidden, just like a celebrity who does not want to be discovered. Once discovered, we took tons of pictures before gathering ourselves to enter the restaurant.
Like many Bay Area friend groups, our group is tied to high tech companies in the Bay Area. These high tech companies hire college graduates in batches and then the batches stay in touch to become friend groups which get together occasionally. In gatherings, we make small talks about families, travel, work, property market, home improvement, and share good deals or good connections. We are mostly at peace with our job. No one is forced to work to bring food to the table. I always wonder how lucky we are to have graduated with a Computer Science or equivalent degree, landed a tech job in the prestigious Silicon Valley.
Soon we settled comfortably in our cool and private dining room. True to its class, the hundreds of wine choices were among the most complete and authoritative, if not the most, I have seen in any restaurant. We were not much of a drinker and ordered a bottle for the party of nine. The wine was very good. Our servers were well-groomed, attentive, and they came in groups to ensure that everyone was served at the same time for every dish. It is the small thing that differentiates a top restaurant. For each dish, one of the servers would meticulously explain the ingredients, the unique sauce and sometimes the story. They were the A team made up of a mix of gender, and races. I particularly remembered a tall black guy, a white guy with broad shoulders and the female servers were petite in comparison. Every time the group of servers came in, there was a tiny air of intrusion. The service was as flawless as the restaurant’s reputation, but could have a bit more personal touch.
The fixed menu followed a traditional tasting menu of appetizers, fish and meat, desserts plus a few special of the day chef special to surprise us. There was a Mac-and-Cheese upgrade option that would make it arguably the most expensive Mac & Cheese. There was the Japanese Wagyu upgrade which made it more expensive than a fine steakhouse.
The Oysters and Pearls was a beauty where pearls, made from tapioca and caviar, paired perfectly with twin oysters were served in pale gold creamy sauce. It was arguably the most memorable appetizer on the menu. The Garden Lettuce Salad, made with a variety of fresh ingredients, had an eye-catching biscuit in a curly shape of “W”, and was served on a charcoal-colored plate with subtle gold lines. The artistry made it an elegant dish. The other two appetizers were of high quality too.
The Atlantic halibut, served in a colorful mix of shapely ingredients, had just that fishy smell that mildly showed when the fish was not a fresh catch. We were far from the Atlantic and it made me wonder where there was a miss in the many steps between the sea and the table. The Calotte de boeuf (beef with carrots) was perfectly fine but was missing something special. I wonder if the chef may have put more creativity on the $135 Japanese Wagyu upgrade. The applewood smoked quail was perfectly matched with its double serving plates, both with bird images in green bushes. Served with red rhubarb and carmelized onions, the quail dish was my favorite. Overall, the fish and meat portion in the menu was either a slight disappointment or missing something to write home about.
The array of delicious desserts was a joy to the eyes, and to my sweet tooth. There could not be a better ending until the servers packed us a bag of sweets to take home with. A week after the fine dining, I was still able to entertain my guilty pleasure with a small bite of the chocolate desserts.
The kitchen tour after the dinner was so quick that we just had time for a couple of pictures. The heat in the kitchen did not make it a good place to stay, but maybe we could still linger a bit longer. We did not meet Chef Keller, nor had time to thank the hard-working crews serving the many amazing dishes. Compared to the Noma2 restaurant experience in Copenhagen years ago, the French Laundry crew displayed a sense of pride but not quite the passion and joy that was naturally exhibited by the Noma crew.
When we got out of the kitchen with our take-home treats, the afternoon heat was gone. There was the shining full moon.
On our way back, it was dark. We got busied discussing how well the French Launch has lived up to the Michelin’s three star ratings. We forgot the Goodwill thrift store, and no longer noticed the homeless’ tents just a few minutes’ away from the hotel.
We checked off the French Laundry on our bucket list.
1. The French laundry has been a three-star Michelin restaurant since 2007, for over 15 years? One star: A very good restaurant in its category. Two stars: Excellent cooking, worth a detour. Three stars: Exceptional cuisine, worth a special journey
Reading is an alternate form of travel around the world and across the time horizon. Below are some good reads and I hope you find one that you like.
They both die at the end by Adam Silvera
What will the world be like if death is predictable and we have 24 hours to live after being notified? This is a book about two boys living out their life in their last 24 hours. It is a touching story of loss, of love, of friendship and of living not just existing. Nice storyline!
The memory man by David Baldacci
David is among the most widely read storytellers with over 110 millions of his novels in print. His plots are good movie storylines. The story started with the brutal scenes of the murders of the protagonist’s families, that forever changed the detective’s lives in his pursuit of the murderers and the untangling of the murder motives.
Kochland by Christopher Leonard The book is a well researched documentary of the secret history of Koch Industries and Corporate Power in America. Charles Koch, a zealous believer in power and capitalism, has propelled the Koch company into arguably the most influential company in the energy policy making of the US government. In chasing the unparalleled business successes, the company has invented Market-based Management, has taken full advantage of the information asymmetric in its trading business, and established a frightening network of influence to American policies. Through its four elements in the political campaign (education, media outreach, litigation and political influence), Koch has done arguably as much damage to the climate agenda and carbon reduction as one could possibly imagine. Koch’s products are used by everyone. Political influence is everywhere.
If you admire capitalism and the American dreams, this is a must read to portray both sides of the coin. If you are concerned about the corrosive effects of success at all cost and the inequity created, this book offers the formula for success for you to feast on. If you know little about the dynamics of American politicians, and the corporation owners in the shaping of American policies, this book is a must read to gain that perspective.
Mendeleyev’s Dream “The Quest for the Elements” by Paul Strathern Not the kind of book you would pick up, it is an intriguing and absolutely enjoyable read about the history of Chemistry. Whether you like Chemistry or hate the experiments, “Periodic Table” is the thing we all remember from our high school.
When Mendeleyev organized the patterns of the elements into the “Periodic Table” in 1869, it was the culmination of a two thousand and a half years epic and a wayward parable of human aspiration. Let’s not forget the hardship of Copernicus and Galileo in their advocacy of heliocentrism as we hold contempt for flat earthers. Alchemy may be more remembered as hoax and deception, yet, it is that human aspiration to create the precious metal that allows discovery of how things work, through experiments. From the onset of scientific thought by the founders of philosophy (Thales 624, to Socrates, Plato, and Aristotles), through the ages of alchemy to the industrial revolution, the story of Chemistry witnesses cultural, social and scientific evolution. It is humbling how trivial our belief is, as we read about how human society has changed over the last two thousand years, and that two thousand years are still all but a wink in the chronology of the universe.
Chip War: The Fight for the World’s Most Critical Technology by Chris Miller This is the book to read to understand the semiconductor industry. The pandemic years remind us the critical role played by these semiconductor chips when we have taken for granted its critical roles in automobiles, in cell phones, in planes, in military weapons and pretty much in every facet of our lives. The author does a great job to chronicle the evolution of the industry, and unpack the myriad of interdependencies among the chip design software, the lithography and the fabrication. In the chip war, the current powers reside squarely in the America and a limited number of countries, together with a handful of companies evolved to dominate different parts of the overall chips ecosystem. The book will give you a deeper understanding in why the America government has sought to form alliances to restrict the advanced chip export to China. It will be a destructive play to both slow down the technology advancement of China, and at the same time, hurt the business of many global chip companies.
The pandemic outbreak in Hong Kong and Ukraine/Russia war are sources of anxiety. It is a luxury to share a few books. Until things look better, these books are hopefully sources of relief allowing you to experience different eras and perspectives. Some have plots that help us to reflect the current happenings, while a few others are sources of inspirations. Enjoy!
China in the 20th century (Swan)
French Revolution (Black Count)
The love and terror alongside the rise of Hitler (In the garden of beasts)
The life of an existential philosopher Søren Kierkegaard (Philosopher of the heart)
The foreign exploitation of an African village (How beautiful we were)
The inspirations from two women with drastically different origin and life journey (My life in full and 鏡前鏡後).
Swan by Jung Chang
Through three generations of women, the author told the story of their lives through the turbulent times in China. The 20th century has been a hundred years of dramatic changes where China has gone from Qing dynasty to the Republic of China, endured many humiliations from foreign countries, survived a world war, fought a civil war, and struggled in the many movements of the Communist party. It was an engaging read with a rich plot, tragic at times and humbling to see how China has prospered after the hard times.
Black Count By Tom Reiss
Based on the memoir of the famous author Alexandre Dumas and the archives of the French revolution era, Tom Reiss weaved an attention-grabbing biography of Alex Dumas. Alex Dumas, the father of the famous author Alexandre Dumas, has been an important influence to the author who has incorporated his father’s prison experiences into the world-renowned classic “Count of Monte Cristo” and “The three musketeers”.
Alex Dumas, born as a mulatto, rose to be the most feared generals and became the commander-in-chief in Napoleon’s unsuccessful ambition in Egypt, only to be fallen as Napoleon rose to full power in France.
More than a biography, the author gave a new perspective of the years before and after the French revolution, the racial equity progress and regress, the pursuit of ideals and the failing, the terror and the personal ambitions of Napoleon. The French revolution could be summed up as the era of ideals, terrors, and wars.
This is a great book for readers to see the bright and dark sides of the French revolution (or any revolution); and the evolution of racial equity in that era.
The author has impressive storytelling power making such a complex topic an engaging read.
In the Garden of Beasts – Love, Terror and an American family in Hitler’s Berlin By Erik Larson
A portray of the love and terror in Hitler’s Berlin in the lens of an American Diplomat. A professor was appointed to be the American Diplomat to Berlin, a few years before Hitler rose to full power in Germany. Through the experiences of the diplomat and his flamboyant daughter, the author brought to life the unique and intriguing landscape on how Berlin and Germany, in the wink of 2 years, had fallen to Hitler.
There is so much to discover through the questionable love stories, the parties, the political power play in the United States as well as in Germany.
If you are interested in seeing another angle of what life was like in Berlin in the late 1930s, you would enjoy this book.
How beautiful we were By Imbolo Mbue
This is a vivid and sad story of an African village being exploited by an American oil company and a corrupt government, written from the perspective of the children, the elder, the mother, the grandmother, the protestors, the fighters. The villagers are powerless and are left with environmental degradation, livelihood degradation, death sentence of leaders, premature death of children and a massacre. The remaining are forced to accept the changes and often have to leave behind many things they have valued for generations: their homes, their heritage, their culture.
Philosopher of the heart : the restless life of Søren Kierkegaard By Clare Carlisle
Soren Kierkegarrd was a Danish theologian, philosopher, poet, social critic, and religious author who has been widely considered to be the first existentialist philosopher. This is a biography of his restless life.
Rather than living a comfortable worldly life, he picked the less traveled journey to find meaning, to search deep in his heart, to answer what it is to be a human being and what it is to be a Christian.
He struggled in his ethical sphere in his relationship with Regine whom he disengaged with as he found the calling. He challenged the Christendom and the Church how much the believers have deviated from the living of Abraham, Mary, Jesus and their followers. He constantly lived with irony and ambivalence and suffered as he lived out a non traditional life as a pastor, an author.
If you are looking for deep and deeper thinking, this is the book.
My life in full By Indra Nooyi
Indra gave a genuine account of how she, born and raised in a traditional Indian family in Madras, rose to become the CEO of the PepsiCo.
Through education, unconditional family support, powerful mentors, unbelievable energy and unparalleled hard work, she was able to make an amazing career journey while raising her children.
In her role as PepsiCo CEO, she has transformed the company to performance and purposes. She has the front seat view of the challenges and has committed to make the world better for those after her.
Her vision of how to make the world better is an inspiration.
The famous actress of Taiwan wrote about her acquaintances, her friends, her thoughts and the characters that she admired over the years. It was unbelievably reflective of how she discovered the passion in reading and writing, made new friends and learned new perspectives.
This is the book to read for climate control. Mr. Gates translated the complex topic into concrete causes and impact analysis. He walked through a comprehensive course of action, to be done, in a scale never done before for the government, the market and the technology to work together to prevent the climate disaster. The last part of the book called for actions for individuals.
With a combined effort of government intervention, technology innovation and market forces, there exists a narrow path to go from 51 billion of carbon dioxide emission to zero.
In his last days, Hans Rosling put all his heart into finishing this book. His passion in life shows so much in his worldliness and his global perspective.
Would you believe most people, experts included, have significant gaps in knowing the present state of the globe? How would their distorted world view affect the decision making of individuals, of companies and of governments?
Are you among those who think the Scandinavian countries have always been rich? Do you know the difference in living for people earning $2, $8, $32 or more dollars a day? GapMinder of the income levels is simply mind boggling.
This book is a great read especially for the young generations who need a lift and an awareness of the possibilities.
“The secret of a good old age is simply an honorable pact with solitude”.
Through the lives and struggles of the multi-generations of Buendia’s families, the book covers pretty much everything in the world.
In the imaginary plot of the insomnia plague, the book told of the desperation felt when one was deprived of sleep.
In the old age of Colonel Colonel Buendia, he questioned the purpose of the twenty-years war that he had led his compatriots fighting the revolutionary war against the government. He chose to live his final years in simple solitude after tasting the pride, the power, the liberation.
In the strike of the banana farm workers, the government hid the massacre so well that no-one believed in the witness who escaped. The banana farm was such a vivid demonstration of colonial exploitation.
Through the deluge that continued over several years, there was the humbling reality that nature and many other species were to win over human beings.
”Races condemned to one hundred years of solitude did not have a second opportunity on earth”.
I finished the book, feeling like just touching the first layer of the onion, with so much more remains to be discovered.
Taking the stress out of homework by Abby Frerich and Brian Platzer
Through the challenges facing the students while doing homework, these two experienced teachers drilled into the challenges in skill gaps, knowledge gaps and growth gaps; and offered practical advice for both the learners and the teachers. A good read for learners of all ages.
Feel the fear and do it anyway by Susan Jeffers, Ph. D.
A good read for those seeking encouragement to overcome life hardship and take opportunities
A good read for parents who want their children to be unique, confident, and rich; as well as adults who want to better understand the culture of Jewish to inquire, to debate, and to do something different.
Nine essential things I’ve learned about life by Harold S. Kushner
Covering with wisdom and clarity, the author offers a powerful narrative of “God sends us the strength to deal with the problem”, “Religion is what we do not what you believe” and that “It is ok to have doubt and anger”.
The 100 best stocks to buy in 2020 by Peter sander and Scott mobile
Not a classic, but an easy-to-read, if you are searching for a list of companies to research more.
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