The Year in Sports 2019

personal, year in sports

. . How was 2019 in Sports? Let's take a look:. 124 days of playing tennis (Sunnyvale Tennis Center). 66 days working out in the gym (City Sports). 20 days of surfing (Capitola, Oahu). 15 days of windsurfing (Coyote Point, Sherman Island, Crissy Field). 15 days of snowboarding (Mammoth, Verbier, Alpine Meadows). 15 days of hiking (Yosemite, Sedona, Vasona Lake). 1 day of off-road riding…

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Back to Mammoth Mountain

california, mammoth, skiing

I originally planned to leave San Jose by 13:00 for the December return trip to Mammoth Mountain, arriving in Mammoth Lakes around 19:00.. . . . However, due to Bay Area traffic and road closures on 89 South (which Google Maps did not initially anticipate), we had to drive farther on 89 East, then follow 395 South to Mammoth. Fortunately, the roads were reasonably clean,…

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Filoli Gardens Holiday Lights

california, garden, sf bay

Excited to see Holiday Lights at Filoli Gardens, Inna and I decided to visit Filoli on Sunday, December 15. Luckily, unlike the previous day, it was not raining, and we enjoyed strolling through the winter gardens festively decorated with ornaments and lights.. . . . At first, we strolled through the beautifully decorated mansion, marveling at the Christmas decorations.. . . . There were 22+…

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Exploring Sedona

arizona, hiking, holiday, sedona, strava, thanksgiving

Having never been to Sedona or the Grand Canyon, my wife decided it would be fun to travel to Arizona during the upcoming Thanksgiving Holiday. She found inexpensive airline tickets on Southwest Airlines from San Jose to Phoenix, Flight #1984, departing at 7:35 p.m. from San Jose and arriving in Phoenix at 10:25 p.m.. . . . She looked into several hotels and resorts and…

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Review: Amazon Kindle (10th Gen)

e-reader, tech

I am reviewing the 10th generation of the Amazon Kindle Paperwhite ebook reader, which I recently acquired (on November 22, 2019).. . . . I purchased my first Amazon Kindle device in April 2008. It was one of the first E-ink book readers with a strange user interface. I used it for over a year before selling it and replacing it with the Kindle 2..…

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Back to Almaden Quicksilver Park

california, mountain biking, sf bay, strava

Since I've been ill, I haven't been able to ride my Specialized FSR S-Works mountain bike at Almaden Quicksilver County Park.. . . . I decided to try a few rides on Sunday, November 17, Saturday, November 23, and Sunday, November 24. My overall time improved from 86 minutes to 69 minutes. However, I am uncertain about the accuracy since Strava keeps lowering my distance.…

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Review: Miss Saigon

california, musical, sf bay, theater

While I have heard much about the famous Miss Saigon musical, I had not seen it before yesterday's performance at the San Jose Center for the Performing Arts. Loosely based on the famous opera "Madame Butterfly" by Giacomo Puccini, I had some premonition of the plot.. . Red Concepcion, playing the part of "The Engineer" (inappropriately titled, as he should be called "The Hustler" instead),…

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Review: The Marriage of Figaro

california, opera, sf bay

A grand opera brings out inherent emotions - overwhelming joy or profound sadness.. . The Marriage of Figaro, based on a French comedy that takes place in Spain but is sung in Italian, does not bring out either. However, I felt sympathy for its main characters in several instances.. . The Marriage of Figaro tells the story of Count Almaviva, his wife, Countess Almaviva, and…

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