Alaska is so vast, that flying is a practical means of transportation. A much higher % of the population in Alaska knows how to fly than the lower states. Our flightseeing tour included an air taxi tour of glaciers around Denali National Park, and then a landing on the glaciers. Denali is the highest mountain peak in North America, with a summit elevation of 20,310 feet above sea level. It used to be remembered as Mckinley, now renamed with the indigenous term.
At check-in, we were disappointed that the weather was not good enough to get to Denali ranges nor glacier landing, they offered us a shorter flightseeing, a refund or a rebook. We had a busy itinerary, and picked the shorter flightseeing and fair enough, they refunded half of the tour cost. This was not the only time that the weather affected our flightseeing plan.
The air taxi was a very small plane, to accommodate 8 travellers. Each seat was a window seat, equipped with a heavy head-phone for the pilot to communicate with us in the one hour of flight. The lady in front of me did not seem to quite enjoy it, and her hand was holding tightly onto the window sill throughout. Her husband went ahead to sit next to the pilot, busy talking to the pilot, leaving his wife sitting by herself. Behind us was a family of four, the two kids seemed to enjoy the few bumps during the ride, more so than the unparallelled beauty of nature. The pilot did a good job throughout for a pretty stable ride, so the kids were only excited a few times.
We first saw a myriad of narrow rivers down there, like some picasso impressions. The river is muddy, due to the glacial till, aka the erosion of materials as the ice moved. We saw forests of purple and green spruces, and we came to know later the purple was actually black spruces, killed by spruce beetles.
Some 15 minutes into the air, we were surrounded by glaciers and mountains so close to us that we could see the waterfalls, the glacier tracks, the water amidst the glaciers (moving ices) that just looked like bluish crystals among the ices of pure white. We also saw a few tents down there. It felt like we were back to the ice ages. Even though we missed the glacier landing, I ran out of words to describe the beauty and the power of the glaciers. This one-hour flightseeing features the most beautiful scenery and humbling experience I have ever experienced on a plane. If this is the only thing we did in Alaska, it would be a good trip by itself. It is better to let the photos speak about the scenery.
After the flightseeing, we got some delicious Spinach bread from a food truck on the main street, and got some Birch syrup as a souvenir before leaving Talkeetna. From Talkeetna to Denali, it was 2 and a half hours drive on a well-paved highway, with spruces lining the highway, and often a 360 degree view of mountain ranges. It was mostly wilderness, until we got close to Denali. We checked in to the Denali Park village, which was an upgrade from the Talkeetna inn the day before.
Sitting in the Denali Park Village restaurant, enjoying food, chatting with the waitresses coming from afar to do a summer job, and some live music, life felt very good.
It has been a month since coming back from Alaska. My pixel phone was damaged during the salmon catching at the Kasilof river, and stayed in the Alaska time zone for another few weeks until it finally recovered itself.
Writing about Alaska travel is a luxury when the covid-19 pandemic is still rampaging a good part of the world. In Alaska, social distancing means that the Alaskans get out of their homes. Such is the vastness and the wilderness of land in Alaska; and at the time of our travelling, most people hardly wear masks in restaurants.
This trip has been made special not only because this made our first flight since the onset of the pandemic, but also the unusual effort put in to make it happen. We can forgive Alaska being so much more expensive than the lower states, given its tourism is squeezed in mere three summer months. Little did we know that many other Americans were thinking of travelling to Alaska at the same time as us; little did we understand the airline and rental challenges to resume the operations; little did we know about so many other things.
Day 1 Arriving Anchorage
It was a direct flight between San Francisco and Anchorage, with less than 5 hours flight time. Since we booked the air ticket, there were various types of changes by the airline. We ended up with a 5:30am flight via Denver, and by the time we arrived in Anchorage, it was 10 hours later. Denver was a busy and lively airport, everyone was wearing masks and business seemed to have resumed, there were long lines to get coffee, to get food, most restaurant tables were taken.
The car rental business has been so hard hit by the pandemic, they have been forced to sell most of the fleet, and the resumption has been hindered by major shortages of chips that affect cars, computers, phones. It was so bad that I even got a rental quote as $5000 dollars per day. That was as crazy as it could get. After thousands of clicks on the computer, and after seeing the message “sold out in all locations” hundreds of times, we finally found a car rental from Dollar, which seemed to have merged with Hertz. The rental was at a hefty price of over $300 per day. With the reservation, we still worried about our rental – would the car show up? There were lots of scary stories that renters had to wait for hours. Fortunately, we were not among the scary stories. The rental pick up was smooth, we took the smart move to join the express club to cut short our queuing time. We got a Nissan Versa 2018 model, quite some miles on it already; the wear and tear was easy to see. The car came with a CD player, it did not read our USB device, nor did it come with any smart auto setup. In other times, it would be considered as a total rip-off; this time, we were happy to get going.
The Internet has become as essential as electricity. Our mobile plan works for 48 lower states, but not in Alaska, so we had to swing by a GCI store for a SIM card. At dinner time, we learned good restaurants in Anchorage mean either a reservation or an hour of waiting. We fell back to minimizing our spend and filled our belly with KFC chickens. That Nashville style KFC chicken was still pretty bad.
Anchorage is a modest city beautifully surrounded by mountain ranges. The mountains were no longer snow-capped, the unmelted snow painted interesting patterns over the mountains, which added variations to the ranges. In our drive from Anchorage to Talkeetna, we were treated with the grandeur of the mountain ranges through and through.
Talkeetna is a nice little town and has been a popular stop for climbers to the Denali range. The main street is lined with restaurants, gift shops and galleries. In Alaska standard, the main street can be considered as a busy place. We stayed in the Talkeetna Inn. The inn has an unbeatable location, and a nice view of a flowing river. The room was new, but quite costly in terms of what it offered.
Flightseeing awaited us the next day. We went to bed at usual bedtime, when the sky was still very bright.
In this second year of the pandemic, I resign to the fact that staring at our computer screen for many hours is going to kill the eyes. No matter how the new normal becomes, the pandemic has taken a toll. It takes a break to realize we need a break, there you go for a break at South Lake Tahoe.
South Tahoe is about a 4-hour drive and made a perfect destination for our first Tesla 3 “road trip”.
Day 1
We resume our subscription to Tesla entertainment which gives hundreds of radio stations plus many other things. We found all the Indian radio stations not working and half of the Taiwan stations not working, but there are still enough to keep us entertained and we get used to the modern day standard of product testing in the high tech world. We charged our Tesla 3 to 100% for the first time but still need to fit in a charging stop. The 4-hour trip became a 5-hour trip. Along the way, we could see more traffic along the way compared to the year 2020.
We arrived at Marriott Timber Lodge. The resort area was unexpectedly crowded and it was touristy; we were also surprised that the outdoor swimming pool was open. Located just a block from the Nevada stateline, the whole area felt a bit like the Las Vegas Casino Strip: touristy and busy. It was a cool thing to go back and forth between California and Nevada many times over the next few days – a reminiscence of the Istanbul ferry ride that went between Asia and Europe all day long.
We checked out the Gordon RamsayHell’s Kitchen, a restaurant with the same name as the TV show located inside a casino, about 10 minutes walk from the Lodge. We were fortunate to get a table without reservation and there were about 90% of diner occupancy. Even inside a casino, Gordon Ramsay name brand supports its premium pricing. We ordered a few appetizers including scallops, lobster risotto and the foie gras on shortbread followed by the main course of Beef Wellington. It came with a dessert which tasted like a pumpkin sponge cake with a bit too much sugar. These dishes do not seem to be designed to complement, so it left me with a lot of different tastes but no single dish stood out that I would come back again for. My husband enjoyed the beef wellington the most. Overall it has been a worthy one-time experience but was overpriced in the casino ambience.
Day 2
The very friendly concierge told us that most water activities are not yet open: the water is cold and the weather is cool, kayaking is out of the question.
We spent the day hiking the Eagle fall trail and the Cascade fall trail. The Cascade fall trail is quite rocky, which makes it challenging for the knee and the ankle. After hiking about 5 miles, we rewarded ourselves with a super late lunch at the Himmel Haus German restaurant. The restaurant has both the outdoor setting as well as the indoor setting. The indoor was sparsely filled at this odd hour for lunch and we felt comfortable to sit on a bench table far away from the other diners. We followed the waiter’s recommendation and had no regret. The German beer came in no time, and the food followed quickly. The pretzel together with the dips made one of the most delicious pretzels I’ve ever had in my life. I would definitely go back just for the pretzel. The sausage and the pork shank were really good too. The pork shank was tenderly cooked and super yummy together with the potato paste and cabbage gravy.
Day 3
Our Tesla 3 has been telling us that our tire pressure was not totally balanced. Fixing the tire pressure was a tedious trial-and-error effort. Fortunately, we were not in a rush. After the nth time at the air station, the tires were balanced with the right amount of air pressure.
We rented a surrey at the bike shop, at 35 dollars per hour. We enjoyed nice scenery along the lakefront and some beaches. Riding surrey was more strenuous than riding a bike to go uphill and it made a good 2-hour exercise. What better than having a good meal after the exercise? We settled in Macduff’s Pub which has an outdoor booth that was like a tiny greenhouse with a table inside; and the servers were super friendly. We had an authentic Scottish meal, with Scottish beer together with shepherd pie plus fish and chips.
We decided to check out the Tahoe Keys Marina. To our surprise, we could rent a boat, at a hefty rate of $200+ per hour to go out to the lake, without a boat license. It made an adventure on Mother’s Day. We got a 10 minutes orientation on how to drive a boat and were reminded of the costly penalty should we damage any part of the boat. The orientation did its trick to intimidate; and to add to that, it could be life threatening if either got overboard into the cold Lake Tahoe water. We started the boat at a super slow speed of 5 mph. Once we got out of the marina, there was absolutely no traffic, and most of the time, we could not even see any other moving bodies. I love screaming in the wide open where nobody hears nor cares. We had no clue how long it would take to get to the Emerald Bay within our eyesight, and ended up taking a very long time. We barely arrived, and had to immediately head back. We worried that we could miss our marina closing hours, so we doubled down on the speed and took only half of the time on the way back. The boat trip was a lot of fun mixed with excitement and a tiny bit anxiety in the middle of the lake, worrying about getting lost and getting late. If driving a boat is comfortable and relaxing at low speed, driving a boat at a higher speed is uncomfortable, tiring and stressed. I would love to do it again, but maybe when the weather is warmer and with a bigger party.
Day 4
We checked out Camp Richardson, a nice resort for families and our neighbor went there often when their kids were young. We hiked on the Rubicon trail, a 16 Mile hike round trip around the Emerald Bay. It was one of the most beautiful hiking trails I remember, very well paved. The Rubicon overlook area gave a fantastic panoramic view of the Emerald Bay and Lake Tahoe. After the overlook, the trail led us all the way down to the lake and we were able to dip into the water. The sand was colorful, the rocks were shining like granite. The weather was warmer and so was the water. It was nice and quiet in this desolate area. We did a good hike of ~5 miles. On our way back we stopped at the Riva Grill for another late lunch. The outdoor swimming pool at our hotel was open, and we could not miss the chance to use it.
Day 5
It has been a lovely trip and we enjoyed all the outdoor activities much needed for both our mind and our body.
My friends and I used to do same-day trips to Lake Tahoe for skiing quite often. Lake Tahoe was 4 hours drive one way. As I got older, the same-day trip was no longer exciting, thinking of the long drive in the car became tiring. I miss the energy and the spontaneity associated with same-day trips but hardly find enough of the momentum.
Each February, when the weather is right, the sunset is at the right angle, the Horsetail Fall in the Yosemite National Park has the scene of a firefall at sunset. The firefall is a fitting description of the waterfall turning to lava-like fall down the El Capitan. We tried to catch the scene last year without success.
Feb 26 Friday, the weather was great, the sky was blue, it was a no-meeting week at work, it was almost the last day to try this year, and I had a day use entry ticket to Yosemite National Park. Moments after waking up, we made the spontaneous decision to go seek the firefall. Within two hours, our Volkswagen Jetta rental was on the freeway. We went by miles and miles of trees with beautiful tiny flowers : the almond trees, the pistachio trees.
Yosemite is a 4-hour drive one way. The roads seem to be much better paved than before, whether it is due to lesser use or active work. If there is a silver lining with the pandemic, it is the traffic.
On that day, the traffic was smooth, there were no lines at the entrance, and we did not have problems finding parking space. The park was neither quiet nor crowded. People followed the social distancing protocol and had masks. A 45-minute stroll took us to the horsetail fall. People were chatting within their group. There was quite a bit of snow along the way, which gave us hope that the waterfall has enough water to reflect the sunset. When we got to the vista point, there were already hundreds of people waiting. We barely found a spot to fit in our two low-back chairs, while maintaining some social distance with others. With our beanie, gloves, and ski jacket, there was time before sunset for books, snacks and pictures. We could hear people reminiscing about their firefall watching experiences in different years. After over an hour of waiting in the cold, the photographers started fidgeting their cameras, the amateurs were staring, with undivided attention, at the El Capitan horsetail fall. We could feel the ambience changing and it was quiet. The sunset lasted about 15 minutes, as the angle of the light changed, the firefall and its mist had a different look all the time. There were “a”s and “o”s It felt a bit like watching the fireworks in the crowd. It was spectacular and totally worth it. The pandemic has made this all the more unique. The firefall is like a scene out of the world.
We were tired and hungry as we arrived home. I checked off this item on my bucket list. The year-long shelter-in-place and extended work-from-home have not only grounded the body, but at times made us feel stuck. It is refreshing to reacquaint the spontaneity in life.
Big Sur has no Wi-Fi nor internet service providers. It was annoying and the lack of connectivity took some getting used to. I would remember this Big Sur trip as a memorable social media retreat.
Day 1 November 5
Two days after the Presidential election day, many states were still counting votes. I cared about the results and had election stress. Watching the news all the time did not get me the news faster, nor would it change any results. The true winner could well be the media as the election day dragged into the election week.
Carmel-by-the-sea is a 90-minute drive from home, through the highway 85, 17 and 1. It was a Thursday, and the place lacked the usual touristy feel. We had an outdoor lunch at an Italian restaurant. It served a scorching hot wild mushroom risotto that I had to wait some time before I could ingest the Arborio rice. The risotto was super creamy, mixed well with the mushroom, truffle and Parmigiano Reggiano; it was absolutely delicious. The portion was large and heavy with the cream, so we ended up enjoying the leftover in the next couple of days.
Big Sur is about a 40-minute drive from Carmel-by-the-sea on the winding highway 1. As we entered the Big Sur, we could smell the fresh redwood scent in the humid ocean air. Our cabin was a lovely cottage among the redwoods. It delighted us with its internal decor and made a super comfortable home. We explored a number of grocery stores in the 5-mile radius, there were basic supplies and household items, but little fresh produce nor meat. I used four quarters at a payphone to call our daughter who just got back from a trip in Cuenca, Educador. This was like going back a decade when we called each other by phone, rather than the messaging app.
We lit up some firewood outside of our cabin, had a super early dinner before retiring for the night.
The only thing that gave us updates about the election news was the poorly-received AM radio station on our car. Time has a different rhythm without the attention grabbing internet technology.
Day 2, November 6
After a home-made breakfast in the well equipped cabin kitchen, we went to the nearby Pfeiffer Beach, for its pacific ocean view and its purple-colored sand. There were few travellers in the early morning, we brought along our own beach chairs and enjoyed the whole Pacific Ocean View. The close-up ocean waves, the rhythmic wave sounds, the splashing attack of the waves to the rocks were such reminders of the power and greatness of the Pacific Ocean, and of the Nature. The strong winds from the Pacific stirred up the sand, it was a rough beach, we enjoyed the ocean with nothing between us and the ocean.
We continued driving south on Highway 1 and arrived at Nepenthe for an early out-door lunch. Sipping a spicy bloody Mary and an after-meal Coffee with Brandy, with a hard-to-beat ocean view, life was good amidst the pandemic.
We drove further south only to find the Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park close to the public due to recent fire. Disappointed, we went for a short hike down to another Oceanfront and were rewarded with the scenic pampas grass blossoming over the hill.
On our way back to the cabin, we stopped by the Henry Miller library, it was an interesting detour.
We continued our early dinner and retired to bed much earlier than usual.
Day 3, November 7
After another home-made breakfast, we went for a hike. Just when we felt that there were less animals and birds chirping among the redwoods, we were lucky to see a deer and a fawn which seemed to be as curious about us as we were about them. We went for a 4-mile moderate hike up the Buzzard Roost Trail, through the redwoods and tackled the gradual elevation up the hill. It ended up with a rather mediocre view of the Pacific Ocean far in the distance. It was a good hike and the hikers were all disciplined about wearing masks and social distancing.
We had lunch at Carmel Crossroads, with an absolutely enjoyable outdoor scallop-fish-and-chip meal, as well as fresh oysters. Our spirits were lifted with the updates on the presidential election. On the way back to the cabin, we stopped to take pictures at the famous Bixby Bridge, we were far enough to see the grand view of the bridge above the rocky Pacific Ocean and the cliff above the water. My acrophobia was getting the better of me and left me in awe.
Back to the campgrounds, we shot some hoops and even had fun climbing the cargo net, only to find that we were no longer the age to get to its top.
We cooked T-bone steak and squash for dinner at the well equipped kitchen.
Day 4, November 8
Another short hike to the Pacific Ocean at the Andrew Molera State Park concluded our Big Sur trip. We stopped by Monterey for lunch, there was no crowd and it reminded us of the cold weather and the impact of the pandemic.
As we headed back to internet civilization, I made a pledge to not let my mobile phone take away that much of my time.
75 hours of Chinese history on Youtube make for great learning. In this 100-episode series, the first episode has attracted 1.4M views, while the last episode only earns 87K views. I highly recommend the series to anyone who wants to know more about the Chinese history. If you do not have time for the whole thing, there may be a few that could interest you.
The 1918 – 1920 Influenza killed tens of millions, and there was panic everywhere when very few were spared from its impact.
The Influenza happened at a time that US doctors were far less respected than their peers in Europe when Europe was consumed with the World War I. John chronicled the Great Influenza; and gave us a great account how some colossal figures transformed the US medical training and profession; and how the political climate profoundly affected the communication and the responses to the Pandemic.
It feels strange the book reads like the current Coronavirus pandemic in 2020. Is history repeating itself? We seem to be not any better in addressing the situation. Just like the Great Influenza, the political climate has overshadowed the medical judgement for a pandemic; just like the Great Influenza, the government cannot be trusted to put our health at the top priority; just like the Great Influenza, the politicians put blame on others regardless of evidence and is lack of.
This book tells you everything to know about the 1918 Pandemic and humbles us that we have yet to learn our lessons from it.
The Matchmakers: The new economics of multisided platforms By David S. Evans
I recently joined a product development group with the goal to build an ecosystem for voice computing platforms. Building a multi-sided platform is among the hardest challenges. The book explains the different considerations for a multi-sided platform from a regular product business and raises good questions to increase the chance of a multi-sided platform.
This book would be useful to those who are in the position to lead the development of a multi-sided platform.
Good economics for hard times By Abhijit v. Banerjee and Esther duflo
Written by the 2019 Nobel prize winners in economics, the book gave an in depth look on a fairly broad set of topics: the social impact of global trade , the inertia of people to move for the better life , the unequal impact of global trade, the appropriateness of government intervention, the bias of society towards economic growth, the challenge of class mobility, the argument for universal basic income, the importance of any social welfare program to keep people’s dignity and respect in mind.
The broad brush on these economics leaves me dazzled with the impression there is just so much to be done to better the society.
Little Fires everywhere By Celeste Ng
The story portrays distinct characters in two families, with contrasting ways of living & drastic differences in their approaches to lives: the so-called fit-ins and the outcasts. It provokes thoughts on hard choices between choosing a poor biological mother and an adoption promising a better life; the hard choices between a comfortable life and an uncertain life following the passion; the fear of losing someone vs the actual loss of someone. The novel has since been adopted into an American drama TV series. I enjoyed this book.
The pandemic has grounded us mostly for air travel. After ruling out international travel, we researched for a fall foliage trip to the East Coast, or a trip to Hawaii. We have our own doubts about travel safety for ourselves and for others, so we started with small short trips that are within driving distance. We went to North Lake Tahoe to celebrate a birthday and mid-Autumn festival.
Pandemic reminds us how we miss the treasure in our lives. Lake Tahoe is such an illustration that we miss beauty right in front of us. We occasionally go there skiing in winter. Yet in spite of its natural beauty, and its offering of many summer lakeside activities, we used to have too many choices in summer to consider Lake Tahoe.
Incline Village, a small community of around 9,000, is located north of Lake Tahoe. It offers plenty of outdoor activities from hiking, to biking to skiing; and it has a slight feel of Hawaii, but not quite as touristy. The mansion, facing the Lake with its private dock, can still cost close to ten millions. Yet compared to the Bay Area, it is still much cheaper to own a home and stay during summer months.
Day 1
We got concerned with the unpredictable air quality due to the wildfire throughout California, it was too late to change plans. We got our rental car in the morning and packed up to go. On our way, we stopped for lunch at Hanami Sushi in Auburn, we enjoyed the food, the warmth of the sun and the outdoor setting.
Shortly after crossing the California-Nevada state line, we arrived and were pleased to find that the weather was great with blue sky, the air quality was moderate, and good enough for outdoor activities. The airbnb is a 765 sq. ft 1 bedroom 1 bathroom, built in 1982. I like its room layout and can imagine living in a compatible home during my retirement years. It has nice touches and thoughtful designs such as the high ceilings above the dinner table, and the space-efficient fully equipped kitchen.
After settling down, we went to explore Lake Tahoe. Hidden Beach is 2.3 miles from our airbnb. We got tricked by the Google Map ,which first stated we were 7 minutes away, then it changed its mind and claimed we were 30 minutes away. We got lost with Google Map. With the technology, we were so used to following step-by-step instructions, and no longer had that big map in our mind. In hindsight, it was simply Google Map could not guide us to make an unusual (and possibly illegal) U-turn. Once we missed the destination, we had to drive another 20+ miles for a big loop on the highway to get back to the beach. Hidden Beach is beautiful, we dipped our feet in the cold-but-not-freezing water, it was refreshing, there were only a handful of swimmers, while a few others relaxed at the beach, quietly enjoying themselves, without wearing masks. We took some pictures and watched a very beautiful sunset over Lake Tahoe. The sunset happened quickly, from the full sun to its disappearing, it only took 2 minutes.
We bought some food from a nearby grocery market, and had dinner at the airbnb while whatsapping with our children on the birthday of my husband.
Day 2 We planned to do some hiking and picked the 7-mile moderate Tunnel Creek Trail. After parking at the Bullwheel Parking Lot, there was no sign of the trail head, and we asked and got in the wrong direction. After 30 minutes or so of walking, we finally asked another person, and discovered that we were on a different trail. We were reluctant to backtrack, and decided to continue on this easy and flat East Shore Trail. The trail is paved with concrete, and offers plenty of picture moments along Lake Tahoe. We passed by Hidden Beach, the Emerald cove, the Sunset cove and to the Sand Harbour. The East Shore Trail is a 5-miles round trip from the Bullwheel parking lot. It is one of the most scenic trails, with beautiful views of the piers, beaches and the lake. If you only have time for one hike in North Lake Tahoe, this probably should be the one.
After the hike, we had burgers and some delicious garlic fries at the nearby Burgers and Brews. After some rest, we went to the nearby Inclined Beach, a private beach, to do nothing. The lake water is super clear and cool. It is a bit rocky at the waterline, the sand becomes silky smooth just a few feet into the water. My husband did a short swim and I told a picture of him sharing the lake with a paddling of ducks. We were tired after the hike and the beach outings, we barely finished a movie before retiring to bed early.
Day 3 We gave another try to the Tunnel Creek Trail for a panoramic view of Lake Tahoe. The weather and the air quality both cooperated. The air outside was cold and refreshing, the streets were quiet with one or two athletic looking joggers.
There were hardly any cars in the Bullwheel Parking Lot and it almost felt too quiet. At the trailhead, we saw and heard some California blue jays happily chirping with each other. The trail is well paved, just like walking on fine and hard sand, and easy for the feet. It shapes like many consecutive S-letters, sloping upwards. We were rewarded with the gorgeous Lake Tahoe views among the clusters of Jeffery Pines.
There are occasional signposts on the tree species and the effort to return the environment to how it has been; and how fires are sometimes planned to burn down some trees to create better forest spacing. There were pine cones almost everywhere. It was early in the morning, so we saw just a few hikers. We listened to the radio stations of Hong Kong and Spotify music along the way. The lake looks peaceful and calm from afar. We stopped often to take pictures, or called on Google Assistant to take our selfies. We could only afford two hours on the hike to be back at the airbnb to checkout.
We stopped for lunch near Donner Lake, had deep fried pickles, salad and smoky meat. The fried pickle was good and reminded us of the movie “An American Pickle” The smoky meat was too salty. Next to the restaurant is a Boba Tea shop, I could not have imagined a Boba Tea shop in this location, and spent $6 to get a Lavender Boba Tea.
I just booked another trip to South Lake Tahoe next May, and would look forward to visiting Lake Tahoe in the upcoming summer season.
I recently joined a product development group for a high tech product. After several years in the market, the product still faces significant headwinds to find product market fit. Amassing millions of users is no longer good enough, the economic value of a product is a function of the strength of the habits it creates. Increasing addiction to a product is key to drive sustained value. This book covers a recursive framework from trigger, to user action, to variable reward, to investment of users, and back to trigger. It is simple to understand and is a great read.
My children’s pediatrician is retiring from her practice and will go volunteer in Kenya. A friend, recently retired from various NGOs, suggested a book would make a good gift. This book has great Amazon reviews. I bought two copies, one for her and one for myself. I really enjoyed reading it. The genius of the author is to pick a seemingly vulnerable and unappealing woman as its main character. Eleanor is competent but lonely and antisocial with a childhood trauma that has left a scar on her face as well as her mind. After she gets off work on Friday, she spends her weekends drinking vodka until she is back to work on Monday. Everything changes as she and Raymond, her IT office support, save this kind old man Sammy . Through the kindness of Raymond and Sammy, Eleanor is able to get out of her isolation and face her past. The author weaves together a funny and charming story while portraying the loneliness and mental vulnerability of many living in a city.
On Father’s Day last week, my son cooked mom and dad a brunch, then we went hiking at the Slacker SCA trail in San Francisco. It was so beautiful to spend a few hours in nature and to give the body the much needed fitness challenge.
Who would have thought that the year would turn out this way? Who would have predicted a global pandemic? Who would have known the death of George Floyd triggering deep reflection and realization of social inequity? Who would have guessed that the United States, as the only world superpower, would be so flawed in managing public health and so flawed in its society?
New York and California are among the first states to have shelter-in-place (similar to a lockdown). Since the shelter-in-place started mid March, my family, spanning from NYC to California Bay Area, has stayed at home. On workday, I literally spend my day at home sitting in front of my computer for over ten hours with hardly any break at work. In the beginning weeks, my eyes hurt so much in the evening. It still feels unreal that we are in this world war against pandemic while my day mirrors a working day full of meetings similar to before. My coworkers and I work as hard as before, if not harder. Life is very hard with the pandemic (and even harder later with the social unrest after the death of George Floyd). In these usual times, I have stayed at home for weeks without leaving home. The weekend has become very long, the time has flown very slowly and there has not been much change of landscape between weekdays and weekends.
When I finally went out to the neighbourhood park or did some grocery shopping, it felt like the body needed adjustment to the outdoors, to the brightness of the sun and to the open. It was a great feeling though. If freedom of movement has a smell and a taste, maybe this would be it. With restaurants still close for any sitdown meals, we cook and eat most meals at home with a couple of takeouts every week. As the country opens up more, I go out for grocery or bakery shopping once every week. After the grocery, it takes time to wash hands, wipe the groceries, put them in the fridge, and then wash hands again. Some mornings I would do a 13-laps jog around the driveway, that is only a few hundreds meters in total distances, then write some journal before beginning my ten hours of work in front of the laptop and the monitor.
It was a special Father’s Day in this unusual time. The hike of moderate intensity turned out to be a stretch of body fitness to say the least. While San Francisco is a 45-minutes drive, it has been the furthest we have gone since mid March. The hike had some uphill climb and downhill moments, with over three months of shelter-in-place, it turned out to be quite exhausting. It is a scenic hike with gorgeous views of the Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco skyline, the Angel Island and the Alcatraz. The sky was a clear blue with no cloud on the horizon, and the weather was perfect for hiking. Along the 5-mile trail, we saw quite a few fellow hikers, and every time some fellow hikers were within our eyesight, we would put on our masks; for the trail, I put on and off my mask about forty times. It felt more like a training on father’s day than celebrating father’s day! The muscle pain has lasted for a few days indeed.
In this unusual time, it is a great feeling to be out in nature, to be under the beautiful sky, to feel the warmth of the sunlight and to appreciate the magnificent Golden Gate Bridge from different angles. It has been a memorable and beautiful hike on this Father’s Day.
More time reading during the shelter-in-place. For a while, libraries have been closed, bookstores have been open.
A book on AI and its commercialisation. Read more like AI for the beginners.
Written by his friend and personal assistant, the book gives a glimpse of how the very charismatic Jack Ma journeyed from being an English teacher to become the founder of Alibaba and how he cultivated a very unique company culture and group of followers.
Since Chinese New Year, I have spent a few minutes daily jotting down three things I am thankful for. In days when I am not in the best mood, it takes more effort. Habit shapes our character. These few minutes almost always pivot my mind onto something positive, and has the effect of a more positive outlook in spite of challenging moments like difficult work, fake news or bad news.
My husband and I visited Yosemite National Park on Valentine’s day. We hoped to watch the firefall at the Horsetail Fall. Yosemite is a 4-hour drive from home, and we stayed at the well maintained and cozy Yosemite Valley Lodge. The reception forewarned us this year, there was no water, and therefore no chance of any glowing waterfall at sunset. We were already there, might as well do some walking. From the lodge, it was a 45 minutes easy walk to the Horsetail Fall. To avoid damaging nature with too many human footprints, the rangers have set up a driving lane to be a pedestrian-only path. It was a bit cold, we were there around 5pm, and waited for the sunset. There were about a dozen photographers setting up their cameras in the area. Without the water, it was still beautiful to see the turn of color on the rock from granite color to shining yellow to golden then to red, before the sun was down. We joked about seeing “firerock” rather than “firefall”, we took pictures to capture the changes of colors on the El Capitan .
The next morning, we had a delicious breakfast at the cafeteria, and it was pleasing to see the many visitors in full hiking gear, looking happy for whatever they have planned for the day. It reminded me about school trips, though these are mostly strangers. We took an easy hour-long hike to the Mirror Lake. The perfect reflections and the absolute calmness of the lake have been healing, calming and just pleasing.
On our drive back, we stopped at almost every pharmacy, to look for earloop face masks. Along that 180+ miles, there was only one pharmacy shop that had 3 boxes of masks, I grabbed one, leaving the other two on the shelf.
******** Do No Harm by Henry Marsh Written with candor and compassion, neurosurgeon Henry Marsh shares first insights into the joy of brain operating, the successes and failures of his surgeries, the delicate balance of being emotionally detached from patients and being compassionate, and how he faces approaching his patient with no hope of getting better.
Do No Harm provides unforgettable human dramas that take place in a busy modern hospital, with black humor in how the medical system has created more challenges for the doctors who want to focus on just saving patients.
******** Billions and Billions by Carl Sagan Last book written by Carl Sagan, before he died a few months later in 1996.
“Billions and Billions” is a term that he has been quoted saying, but he has never actually said because it was scientifically ambiguous. This is a beautiful collection of stories where Carl Sagan unpacks many interesting subjects that touch our lives. Beautifully written, he applies scientific thinking to weave together the causes and remedy of ozone depletion, the path towards climate control, pro-choice vs pro-life, the self-inflicted military race, and his own personal life and death ordeal.
Here is how he sums up the last century: “The twentieth century will be remembered for three board innovations: unprecedented means to save, prolong, and enhance life; unprecedented means to destroy life,… and unprecedented insights into the nature of ourselves and the Universe”.
On his ordeal over his terminal illness, he writes “Six times now have I looked Death in the face. And six times Death has averted his gaze and let me pass. Eventually, of course, Death will claim me…. I’ve learned much from our confrontations – especially about the beauty and poignancy of life, about the preciousness of friends and family, and about the transforming power of love. In fact, almost dying is such a positive, character-building experience that I’d recommend it to everybody…. I would love to believe that when I die I will live again… I know of nothing to suggest that it is more than wishful thinking”.
The epilogue by his wife is so very touching. Carl Sagan stays true to his belief in scientific thinking and he experiences the fullness of life till the very end.
2019 is a year of many events and a few life moments. I hope everyone has a chance to take a moment to review the year from a personal perspective. Here is my list of top events.
I am saddened to watch the months of unrest in Hong Kong from afar. If 2019 is the ultimate outburst of deep-rooted resentment for HongKongers, let’s hope 2020 will be a year of resolution and reconciliation.
My body has been noisy this year. My gastroenterologist considered me as a challenging patient after year-long stomach issue and multiple antibiotics. A procedure, followed by a surgery to remove gallbladder stones, may have addressed the root cause, or at least I hope. Unfortunately, a number of friends have run into various kinds of health issues, confirming “when it rains, it pours”.
I took a different job within the company for a change, working on ambient/voice computing. It is a mixed feeling of excitement, anxiety, uncertainty, challenges and of course, tons of learning. On the other hand, my spouse took a break from employment after all these years. It is a year of changes for us in our career.
We travelled to five countries Netherland (Amsterdam), Belgium (Ghent, Brussels, Bruges), UK (Wimbledon, London), Portugal (Lisbon, Madeira) plus a few places in the US (Indian Wells, LA, NYC). We had scores of wonderful moments including the fairy tale like city of Bruges, the best snack @Pastei De Belem (Portuguese Egg Tart), the mind-clearing hike @Madeira PR11.
Home improvements have been on a fast track. Within the year, our home had a new furnace, a new air conditioner, a new set of recessed lights, a new 300 sq. ft plus sunroom, and soon a new Tesla. This is how much extra time empty-nesters can have.
As a parent, we had the proud moments of seeing our daughter graduating from college. She decided to move to NYC, and she got a job in Manhattan! We visited her in NYC and took the opportunity to watch US open. We feel blessed that our family of four are all home during Christmas and New Year. We went to gym, and we have some relaxing moments together. Children are cooking dishes like Risotto, Katsu, Okonomiyaki for us. We had some meet up with family and friends.
As the year approaches its conclusion, I am immensely thankful for these moments in 2019.
It is almost time to check how many 2019 goals have been achieved, and set goals for 2020.
My co-workers chose Madeira, Portugal as a destination to celebrate a project success and chose Thanksgiving week to travel. There was the element of surprise and excitement in going to new places. Madeira is an archipelago, situated in the north Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Africa. From San Francisco to Madeira, we took the non-stop TAP AIR Portugal flight to Lisbon (Lisboa), stop over Lisbon for two days, then took a short flight to Funchal, the capital of Madeira, and joined the co-workers for two and a half days on the island.
My impression with Portugal went way back to the high school years, when I studied in History the Portugal explorers and their colonization. Then there is Macau which is the neighboring city of Hong Kong which I grew up in. Macau has a historical role for Portugal, with its handover to China in 1999 concluding the arguably longest-lived Porguese empire. And I enjoy Portuguese pork chop bun (bifanas) served In Maxim’s fast food, the Portuguese egg tart (Pasteis De Nata) that has almost grown to the same popularity as the Hong Kong style egg tart.
Waiting for the departure from SFO, I alternately learned about the century-long political struggles of Portugal; and read the current news on Hong Kong political unrest; and unexpectedly, I find the Portugal history can be of good reference to the HongKongers.
Lisboa, a taste of Portugal
After 12 hours of flight, we arrived in Lisbon in the early afternoon, with still time to do some sight-seeing. 30 minutes of Uber ride got us to Belem and Pasteis de Belem, the origin of Portuguese egg tart. There was a queue inside and a queue outside, we decided to go with the inside and shorter queue so we could sit down to enjoy the tart with a drink. The inside is a look-alike of the many local cafes in Hong Kong. Its setting is plain, with some blue tiles reminding us that we are in Portugal, and the servers are busy. I like its local feel, obviously both locals and tourists come here for the gourmet pastry. The tart crust is so crisp that it is like eating crispy chips, with rich, warm and delicious cream custard on top. We finished three tarts in no time. I could be eating this tart everyday and still love them. As the recipe is said to be from the nearby Jerónimos Monastery, may be the monastery scholars used to eat this tart everyday. Inside the monastery is a large open space surrounded by corridors with spider vault ceiling atop. We strolled around in the open space and the two levels overlooking the open space, reminiscing how life was a few hundred years ago. We braved the strong wind as we strolled to the monument of Discovery and Tower of Belem, situated right next to the ocean front.
Lisbon reminds me much of San Francisco. The April 25 bridge is an obscure version of Golden Gate Bridge; and the TRAM 28 is a look-alike of the cable car, the ferry ride to Cacilhas are not that different from the ferry ride to Sausalito, not to mention the steep streets that make driving a challenge. Aside from the similarity, Lisbon is quite a charming city on its own. I enjoyed its Fado show and of course the Portuguese gourmets. Besides the Pasteis De Nata, we also went to Casa Das Bifanas for its pork chop bun, its taste was good but could not beat my memory of the Pork Chop Bun in Hong Kong. We tried the grilled sardines and ray fish soup in a nice oceanfront restaurant on Cacilhas overlooking April 25 bridge. We drank wine often in Portugal, in its pairing with Pasteis De Nata, or pairing with cod croquettes.
Lisbon is a modest city with little fashion nor luxury in the air. As a tourist, Lisbon feels more homely and relaxed, more affordable, is less touristy, has less of the hustle and bustle of a big city, has none of the snobbishness of some top cities.
If there is one thing I remember the most about Lisbon, it maybe the Pasteis De Belem (Pasteis De Nata) but Lisbon has so much more charm to offer.
Madeira, what a beautiful island
Less than two hours of flight from Lisbon, Madeira is beautiful and is a paradise for hikers. Our Uber driver from airport gave us a quick overview of things-to-do on the island. Weeks after surgery, I could not join my co-workers for the strenuous hiking activities up the mountain. That gave us a day with no scheduled activities. Few things can beat the satisfaction of a delicious hotel buffet breakfast overlooking the Atlantic ocean. After breakfast, my husband and I took an 2-hour easy stroll at levada(PR11) Vereda dos Balcoes. With the wet weather, the altitude and the fog, the supposingly magnificent view turned into mostly obscured view; at the same time, the greenery was even more lush, and offered a different beauty of nature. The trail is a loop and at the end, we were back to the start. As we waited for the bus, we treated ourselves with a Poncha, a local cocktail of strong wine, honey and lemon. We spared the afternoon In Funchal, enjoyed more shopping and the local gourmet including the caco bread, and the fresh-off-the-wok chestnut.
I did not join the co-workers for the short 4-hour hike the next day. After a beautiful sunrise, and another hearty buffet breakfast, my husband and I strolled to the nearby CR7 (Ronaldo) museum. Madeira is the birthplace of the famous soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo. The museum visit was quite enjoyable, certainly a good place to get souvenirs for soccer fans, I got a bottle of wine and a kids’ T shirt for my grand-nephew. I rejoined my co-workers in a nice multi-course Portuguese lunch before a guided city tours to the local church and local markets. The afternoon ended with the highlight of a long cable car ride up the hill followed by a thrilling tobogganing down the sloppy roads.
Next day, we had to meet up at 2am to catch an early flight to Lisbon, before the long 12-hour flight back to San Francisco. Even though it was somewhat painful to wait up at this ungodly hour, our Warsaw tourist guide made arrangements with the hotel to serve us an off-the-hour breakfast.
Madeira gave us an amazing time, and I long to be back to the island for its levada, its food & wine, and its beauty.
Written with candor and compassion, neurosurgeon Henry Marsh shares first insig
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