A digital travel diary. · WP v1.08 · Updated
The Dartmouth Middle School Band (where Alex plays trumpet in the Beginning Band) presented a Pops Concert in March 2015.. . Alex was scheduled to play trumpet in the Beginning Band. While waiting in line for the concert, Inna received a call from Alex - he forgot his notes at home. Inna rushed to get his notes and handed them off to Mr. Neipp. Alex…
Read More: Pops Concert at Dartmouth Middle School
On our drive from Whistler to Vancouver, we stopped by Lynn Canyon Park. Inna read that most locals prefer Lynn Canyon Park over the much more touristy Capilano Suspension Bridge. . . . We have been to the Capilano many times (and liked it a lot), but we were interested in trying something new. We enjoyed Lynn Canyon Park (though Capilano also offers excellent views)..…
Read More: Vancouver, British Columbia
After the hike at Lynn Canyon Park (and a delicious lunch at Tour de Feast), we drove to VanDusen Botanical Gardens in Vancouver. The gardens closed at 4:00 p.m. on Saturdays, so we had just over an hour to explore them.. . . . . There were many plants and flowers in the garden, but the vast majority were not blooming. Here is a map…
Read More: VanDusen Botanical Gardens, British Columbia
After our last breakfast in our Pan Pacific Mountainside Whistler hotel room, we loaded up our Kia Sorento rental and drove to Vancouver, BC.. . On the way to Vancouver, we decided to stop at Lynn Canyon Park - instead of Capilano Suspension Bridge. We have been to the Capilano Suspension Bridge many times before, but heard that Vancouver's natives prefer to relax in Lynn…
Read More: Lynn Canyon Park, British Columbia
Our long-awaited skiing trip to Whistler, Canada, finally arrived, and we were eager to fly to Seattle for our eventual 4-hour drive to Whistler. Our original flight on Delta 5741 from San Jose to Seattle was delayed by 1 hour, and we departed at 10:40 a.m., landing in Seattle at 12:50 p.m. This was a small Bombardier CRJ700 plane (so there was little room for…
Read More: Skiing Whistler
Since I had some free time, I enrolled in and tried out some classes, first on Coursera and then on EdX. . . With Coursera, I took An Introduction to Interactive Programming in Python at Rice University, Computational Investing, Part I at Georgia Tech (my alma mater), Algorithms: Design and Analysis, Part 1 at Stanford, and Computer Architecture at Princeton.. . I finished the Rice…
Read More: Review: Online Classes with Coursera and EdX
At the end of 2014, I would like to take an inventory of things I consider to be the best in their class: . . . . . . . Restaurants: . Mama's Fish House, Maui, Hawaii . Manresa, Los Gatos . The Plumed Horse, Saratoga . Weinstube Baldreit, Baden-Baden, Germany . Solbar, Calistoga . La Foret, San Jose . . . Dishes: . Apple…
Read More: Best of the Best 2014
The Dartmouth Middle School Band (where Alex plays trumpet in the Beginning Band) presented a Winter Concert in December 2014. . . . . . . The Beginning Band, in which Alex plays trumpet, played 3 holiday melodies:. . Beginning Band. Jingle Bells . Silent Night . For a group that never played an instrument, they sounded better than I expected. . . . It…
Read More: Winter Concert at Dartmouth Middle SchoolAfter seeing graphics performance problems with my Office PC, I upgraded its graphics card from the Zotac GTX 570 Amp! to the MSI GTX 970 Gaming. In preparation, I moved the LSI MegaRaid SAS 9260-8i raid card from the PCIe 2.0 x16 slot to another slot. Doing so, however, broke something on my Asus P8Z68-V Pro motherboard, and my PCIe 2.0 x16 slot no longer…
Read More: Haswell, We Have a Problem
After eating at our favorite Laili Restaurant in Santa Cruz, we decided to learn more about the Mystery Spot in Santa Cruz. I have often seen bumper stickers on cars with "Mystery Spot" written on them but have never understood the enduring fascination.. . . . The drive to the Mystery Spot is not too hard, though the road is winding and one-way in places.…
Read More: Where is the Mystery Spot?
Today, we saw the 12:00 pm performance of La Boheme for Families at the San Francisco Opera in the War Memorial Opera House.. . We had great seats in the second row and enjoyed sitting close to the orchestra and the stage.. . . . . The production was well presented, and the costumes and sets were exceptional. However, the singers, especially Rodolfo (sung by…
Read More: Review: La Boheme for Families
Maui time!. . We took the morning 7:50 a.m. flight from San Jose (Hawaiian Airlines HA45) to Kahului, Maui (OGG), arriving at 11:15 a.m. Hawaiian time. The flight lasted four and a half hours and went smoothly. I was surprised that Hawaiian Airlines actually provided breakfast on the plane. Most airlines charge for food and only offer peanuts or crackers.. . Once we landed and…
Read More: Relaxing in Wailea Marriott, Maui
Despite the drizzly weather, we enjoyed our regular Halloween trick-or-treating at Almaden Winery.. Inna dressed up as Cersei Lannister, a character from Game of Thrones. I dressed up as Jon Snow from the same series. Alex dressed up in his last year's costume - a banana.. . Surprisingly, during our walk in the neighborhood, no one recognized either my costume or Inna's. Not many people…
Read More: Halloween at Almaden Winery
Sunday, October 19, 2014. . To mark our 13th Wedding Anniversary, Inna and I decided to visit the well-regarded Evvia Restaurant in Palo Alto, CA.. . . We checked both Yelp and Michelin ratings and decided this was a fine restaurant. . . . We arrived in Palo Alto early and walked around, enjoying the shops. We arrived at Evvia right at the opening time…
Read More: Eating well in Evvia RestaurantOctober 7, 2014 . I have been using Yelp for many years and have posted many reviews. However, one story on slashdot.org intrigued me.. . A restaurant in Richmond, CA - Botto Italian Bistro - asked customers to give them 1-star reviews on Yelp.com.. . I knew Yelp had a reputation for extorting small businesses (not proven in court, but widely known). If a business…
Read More: Botto Italian Bistro and the Yelp Controversy
In September, Inna visited Boston to explore the city and its main attractions. She has always wanted to visit Boston but never found the time or the occasion. She found some great tickets on JetBlue with a direct flight from San Francisco to Boston. It was a very early morning flight (flight 434, departing SFO at 7:00 am PST and arriving in Boston at 3:37…
Read More: Visiting Boston aka Harvard, here I come
During my recent trip to Atlanta, Georgia, for recruiting at the Georgia Institute of Technology (my alma mater), I stayed at the Georgia Tech Hotel and Conference Center in downtown Atlanta.. . . . We arrived pretty late in Atlanta and decided to get dinner at the Sweet Georgia Juke Joint downtown. There was live music playing, and the atmosphere was a bit dark. This…
Read More: Recruiting at Georgia Tech in AtlantaSince watching the Jedi fight in Star Wars, my son has been fascinated with sword fighting. He has taken fencing classes at his previous camps - notably in Kennolyn - and liked it.. . When I saw a LivingSocial offer for an Introduction to Fencing Class in The Fencing Center in downtown San Jose for $40 / 4 lessons, I rewarded Alex with some fencing…
Read More: Introduction to Fencing, The Fencing Center
When we discovered that one of Inna's favorite groups - The Gipsy Kings - was playing nearby in Saratoga at the Mountain Winery, we had to see them. I could not find excellent seats - they were all sold out beforehand. However, the Mountain Winery's setting is relatively small, so I hoped we would still enjoy the band. . . . . . . .…
Read More: Review: The Gipsy Kings at Mountain Winery
After breakfast at Best Western, we drove to Lassen Volcanic National Park. Since we moved from Mt. Shasta, we took US-89, approaching Lassen from the north (this road is usually closed during winter).. . Our first stop was at Manzanita Lake. We hiked around the lake, enjoying the beautiful scenery. There were a lot of people kayaking and canoeing. We also saw several people fishing…
Read More: Hiking Lassen Volcanic National Park