My new MacBook Pro just arrived! Since Macintosh computers have increased in popularity over the last few years, my father decided that a MacBook Pro would be a nice new addition. Thanks, Dad! Anyways, my new MacBook Pro has a 2.53 GHz dual-core processor, a 13-inch LED screen, 4 GB of memory and 500 GB of hard drive space. Sch-weet!

I've mostly been using PCs over the last decade, so I'm not too familiar with the new Macs right now. It looks like I'm going to have to start reading Mac OS X for Dummies soon!

The Lobster Feed at Henry Cowell State Park last night was pretty fun. We were hiking there the previous Saturday when the advertisement for the Lobster Feed at the entrance of the park caught our eye. Since Henry Cowell State Park is one of our favorite weekend destinations, my father decided to purchase tickets right away. After all, this would be a great way to celebrate my birthday!

It turned out that my father's cousin Susan and her husband Tony were coming to visit us, so we decided to take them along as well! After they arrived, we had a short tea break before leaving for the park. There was still a lot of time left, so we first took them to Santana Row, a popular outdoor mall in San Jose, before continuing on to Henry Cowell State Park. It was still quite early by the time we got there, so we went hiking first. After the leisurely hike, we returned to the picnic area just as the feast started. Had we come back a bit later, the lines would have been much longer!

The lobsters, which were shipped from Maine, were really fresh. However, a larger variety of food would have been nice, though. Aside from the bread, corn and salad, there wasn't really anything else to eat, aside from the desserts.

There was a local band called Highway One that performed bluegrass music for us. Some people got up to dance, and there was this Irish couple that totally rocked the scene with their awesome dance moves. Although I love bluegrass music, it did get somewhat repetitive since it was just about the only type of music that was played.

At $50 a pop, the tickets were not cheap. However, one important thing to note is that all the profits are used to support the park, and we were more than happy to give back to the place we have enjoyed for many years.

I just turned 24 today. Gosh, I'm starting to feel old already! :)

As I mentioned in my previous entry, we had to replace our refrigerator (which recently started leaking) today. Since we did not know when the refrigerator would be delivered, we decided to celebrate my birthday yesterday. Fortunately, the delivery arrived pretty early, so we had a lot of free time instead of having to wait for the delivery. As you probably know, the new refrigerator was more of a coincidence than a birthday present!

Of course, just because we already celebrated my birthday yesterday doesn't mean we won't have any festivities today! My father's cousin Susan and her husband Tony will be visiting from China later this afternoon, and we will be taking them to the annual Lobster Feed at Henry Cowell State Park in the evening. I can't wait for that!

To commemorate my 24th birthday, I will post three random facts about my childhood:

1. I had an alter ego when I was little. I sometimes called myself "Winston."

2. Shortly after I started middle school, my mother wanted me to attend the first LAYC dance so that I at least knew what school dances were like. However, my mother did not have school dances back in her day, so she did not really have an idea, either. She concluded that all dances required formal dresses, and needless to say, it was a bit embarassing when I was just about the only person who showed up in a tuxedo and bow tie! (I later saw another kid who also made the same "mistake.")

3. I used to think that hugs always went with kisses. Well, there was this time when my elementary school science teacher gave me a hug. You could probably guess what happened next.

Of course, no birthday is complete without presents. I received two natural history books last week, and I have a MacBook Pro that is due to arrive soon!

For those who don't know, I am turning 24 tomorrow. Since we are getting our old refrigerator replaced tomorrow, we decided to celebrate my birthday today! I generally do not have birthday parties anymore since I consider myself to be a bit too old for them, but my parents decided to invite a few guests over, namely our family friend Wendy, as well as Emily and Stacey's parents. Wendy brought a green tea custard cake from Sogo, which was really, really good!

However, it was not only my birthday that we celebrated. It turned out that Wendy shares the same birthday as me! (Since it's her birthday as well, she should not have been the one buying the cake!) In addition, Carol (Emily and Stacey's mother) and my father also share the same birthday on the 16th!

Emily and Stacey did not come since they were busy with work and school (respectively), but this was still quite a special experience!

It has been a while since we've had a major gathering, so we decided to have a party last night!

Since my father was on a business trip and did not get home until right before the guests arrived, my mother and I had done most of the work in preparing for the party. However, our efforts have paid off because the party turned out to be a lot of fun! The people who showed up were Thomas, Connie, Jenny, their parents Rae and Lisa, Casey, his parents Charles and Mei, and our family friend Wen-ching. Since Wen-ching happened to be a lawyer, we just couldn't resist livening up the dinner table by poking fun at her once in a while! Even though my cousins Cathy and Connie had other plans and did not come, our house was quite crowded!

After dinner, the other "kids" and I watched 3:10 to Yuma (the 2007 remake) while the older folks chatted at the dinner table. The movie wasn't as exciting as I had hoped, but it was better than nothing since we didn't really have anything else to do (man, maybe I should get Rock Band or something). Tropic Thunder may have been a better choice, but since Thomas and Connie have already seen it, I thought I'd put on something different. However, I did bring out my new "Spyder I Pro" laser, which everyone thought was pretty cool.

One thing that almost ruined the mood was that my laptop got infected with spyware while Connie and Jenny were using it (don't worry, it wasn't their fault), so I let them use another computer while I worked to remove the spyware. Fortunately, the offending programs was relatively easy to get rid of, although they were still a pain in the ass. (Damn, I hate those f***ers who create viruses and trojans.)

Afterwards, Connie and Jenny played Text Twist while Thomas and I tried to think up words. This was definitely the highlight of the party. Unfortunately, it was getting late, and it wasn't long before the guests decided to leave. I guess all good things come to an end, eh?

There is another thing I should mention: Casey's mother, Mei, had realized that I had recently finished my undergraduate studies at Berkeley, and she gave me a small crystal set as a gift. The set is really beautiful; click here to see it.

On the whole, this party was really memorable. This was the first time we decided to have a party during the Labor Day weekend, so I was really curious how it would go. It turns out that I might have a new favorite holiday!

However, I still have some accounting homework that I need to finish, so I guess I should be working on that right now!

You will not believe this, but I just got a 200 mW green laser for free! A few of you may have heard of Wicked Lasers, a Shanghai-based company that sells high-powered portable lasers. Anyways, the company had recently been choosing people from various laser forums to send them lasers to review, and I happened to be one of the lucky recipients. This was the absolutely the last thing I had expected, especially since I have harshly criticized Wicked Lasers' business practices before.

For those wondering, the model I got is a 200 mW "Spyder I Pro" laser. This laser is absolutely bright, and it actually burns stuff. I could play with this thing for hours.

I would like to thank Wicked Lasers for this awesome opportunity!

You can read the full review here. Pictures and videos can be viewed at my Flickr account, and the videos can also be viewed on my YouTube channel.

August 29 update: the review, pictures and videos are now online!

I got back home from Carson City last night. I'm sure you all want to report of my thrilling trip, so here it is:

Day 1: We left for our trip just before noon on Friday. Our original plan was to leave about three hours earlier, but I had gotten out of bed rather late due to staying up past midnight to finish my economics homework the night before. (Since the homework was due online on the day we were to return home, I decided it would be better to finish the homework before leaving and not have to worry about it during the trip.) Our first stop was San Francisco, where we had lunch at a Chinese restaurant. The food was pretty filling, although it was overfried.

Our next destination was Muir Woods National Monument. We had a lot of fun hiking there, although it would have been better had the weather been a bit cooler. Nevertheless, I'm looking forward to go back there during the cooler months.

Our next stop was the University of California, Davis, since we wanted to know what the campus was like. Afterwards, we took a relatively short drive to Napa. We bought our dinner and relaxed in the spa before going to bed, but not before I watched The Dark Knight on HBO!

Day 2: For some reason, all of us woke up before 5:00 a.m. and were able to fall asleep again, so we decided to take a short stroll around our hotel before coming back for breakfast.

Afterwards, we took a rather long drive to Carson City. We stopped at three wineries on the way there, although we did not stay for long since the weather was unbearably hot. After the weather had cooled down for the evening, we stopped at Apple Hill since we wanted to visit a u-pick blueberry farm there, but it was getting late, so we continued on to Carson City.

We were pretty hungry by the time we arrived at Carson City, so we had a nice dinner at Carrows. After a short rest, we visited a jazz festival where musicians (professionals and amateurs alike) were doing live performances. This was really neat.

Day 3: After breakfast, we headed northeast and arrived at Virginia City. This was an old town with a historical atmosphere. It mainly consisted of a main road lined with shops, which we had a great time browsing. This was definitely the most memorable part of the trip.

It was nearing noon, so we headed back to Carson City for lunch, which was also quite enjoyable. It was time to begin our homeward journey, but our trip was far from over! My father wanted to take a detour to Mono Lake and Yosemite before going home, but we decided against this since it would take far too much time. Instead, we stopped at one of the beaches of Lake Tahoe and spent about an hour there. Finally, we went to Vacaville and spent a good 90 minutes shopping at WinCo before returning home. Despite the heavy traffic at Vacaville, we arrived home just as the clock struck midnight.

Since we haven't been to Nevada very much, this trip was quite refreshing. For me, the highlight of the trip was Virginia City, with an honorable mention going to Muir Woods National Monument. I'm pretty busy with my graduate classes right now, but we've already started planning our next trip!

Although this trip was only three days long, it was also one of our trips with the most photos. Go here to see them!

August 26th update: pictures are online!