A digital travel diary. · WP v1.08 · Updated
. . 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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I couldn't believe Alex was turning 17! It seemed he was a tiny toddler, not so many years ago.. . Inna and I decided to surprise him with a few presents.. . Since Alex has developed a passion for surfing, I indulged him with a lightly used Firewire Tomo v4 LFS 6' surfboard. It's a small, 6-foot shortboard/fish with excellent speed for carving waves in…
Read More: Alex’s 17th Birthday
After searching Craigslist and Nextdoor for many months, I finally purchased a used 2008 Lexus RX 350 AWD Sport Utility for my son.. . I considered many vehicles for my son's first car, including the Toyota Corolla, Toyota Camry, Subaru Impreza Outback, Scion tC, Toyota Matrix, and Lexus IS250. However, none of the other cards had the safety track record of the Lexus RX series.…
Read More: Buying a used Lexus RX 350
For Inna's Birthday, I took her to Bouchon, a Michelin 1-star restaurant in Yountville, CA. I made dinner reservations in advance for 15:15 using OpenTable.com.. . . . When we arrived on Saturday at 15:15, our table was ready, and we sat down quickly. We ordered the following items from the Bouchon menu:. . Appetizer. Liver Mousse (Patte). Salads & Soups. Salade Maraîchère au Chèvre…
Read More: Inna’s Birthday Dinner at Bouchon
I decided to try the Bellagio restaurant in downtown Campbell for Valentine's Day dinner with my wife. It had excellent reviews on Yelp and Google and was nearby.. . The Valentine's Day Menu was $75/person and included the following items:. . . San Valentino, February 14, 2019 . . . Antipasti . Crab cakes, fresh crab, lemon, garlic, aioli . . . Insalata . Organic…
Read More: Dinner at Bellagio
. . . . How was 2018 in Sports? Let's take a look:. 147 days of playing tennis (Sunnyvale Tennis Center). 90 days working out in the gym (City Sports). 23 days of surfing (Capitola). 16 days of windsurfing (Coyote Point, Sherman Island). 13 days of snowboarding (Whistler & South Lake Tahoe). 12 days of mountain biking (Almaden Quicksilver Park). 4 days of hiking. 3…
Read More: The Year in Sports 2018
Is human knowledge only to be found in books? . . As wonderful as books represent, document, and express human thoughts, they are not a substitute for direct, personal contact that comes from seeing, hearing, feeling, and experiencing things for oneself.. . Can any book truly capture the exhilaration of windsurfing on Maui, snowboarding on freshly fallen powder at Whistler, piloting a Cessna single-engine aircraft,…
Read More: The Bucket List 2018
When we moved to the United States in 1980, no one in my family knew how to drive, though my dad knew the most about cars. He purchased his first car - a 2-door Ford Maverick with a manual transmission on the steering wheel. The owner helped teach my dad to drive it.. . . . After some practice with the vehicle owner, my dad…
Read More: A Personal Motor-vehicle history
For our 17th Wedding Anniversary, we decided to have a nice, romantic dinner at the Evvia Restaurant in Palo Alto. At first, I made dinner reservations at 21:00 on Sunday, October 14th (using OpenTable), but I could book an earlier time (by calling the restaurant directly).. . The last time we dined at Evvia was on Bella's 83rd birthday, and we enjoyed our dinner a…
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Since it was my son's 16th Birthday, we decided to treat him to lunch at the Michelin-rated Alexander's Steakhouse in Cupertino.. . . . I made reservations for Saturday, August 4, at 13:45. Before eating lunch, we decided to stop by for a couple of bowling games at Bowlero in San Jose.. . . . We played 3 games, and I scored 111 on the…
Read More: Alex’s Birthday Lunch at Alexander’s Steakhouse
It was Alex's first day at Bellarmine College Prep, and he was very excited. After two days of orientation (Friday, August 18, and Monday, August 21), his classes finally started. . . As parents, we also had to attend Parent Orientation, where we learned about all the activities freshmen attend. Bellarmine had a very nice "Parent Mixer" for us to prepare us.. . . .…
Read More: First Day of High School
For Alex's 15th birthday, we decided to surprise Alex with presents and activities. . . Since he has not been playing the PlayStation 4 recently, I decided to treat him to two PS4 games: Bioshock - The Collection (3 separate games) and Horizon Zero Dawn.. . Inna surprised Alex with a new family activity - an escape room. She reserved an exciting escape room in…
Read More: Alex’s 15th Birthday
How time flies! Only yesterday, Alex entered Dartmouth Middle School as a 6th grader (from Guadalupe Elementary). Three short years later, he is graduating with honors from Dartmouth Middle School and heading to high school (Go Bells!). . The Dartmouth Middle School Graduation followed the following Program:. Processional to "Pomp & Circumstance" . Flag Salute. "Star-Spangled Banner" by the Chorus. Greetings and Introduction by Mr.…
Read More: Alex’s Graduation from Dartmouth Middle School
For Grandma Bella's 85th birthday, Inna and I took Grandma to the Michelin 3-Star Manresa Restaurant in Los Gatos.. . . . We have been to Manresa a few times but have not returned since the fire (and its upgrade from Michelin 2 Star to 3 Star rating).. . . . While Bella enjoyed the spectacular desserts and Manresa, she was less impressed by the…
Read More: Grandma’s 85th Birthday at Manresa
Alex has been working hard over the past year to learn to read and write Hebrew in preparation for his upcoming Bar Mitzvah at Chabad San Jose.. . He spent many Monday afternoons with Rabbi Aaron Cunin, Sipi, Jonathan, and his fellow students learning the portion of the Torah he would be reading. He also had to learn to read ancient Hebrew.. . . .…
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Dad, or as I affectionately like to call him - Grandpa Neal - first learned of his lung cancer in October 2014, when he was only 72 years old. He had a cough that would not go away, so he went to see his Kaiser Permanente doctor. After doing a chest X-ray, he discovered that he had a tumor in one of his lungs. He…
Read More: Grandpa’s Struggle with Lung Cancer
For Father's Day, we decided to go to Mountain Winery's Sangria Sunday with Santos Perdidos.. It was a lovely, sunny day out, and we enjoyed the beautiful view from the winery.. . The band started playing around 11:30 a.m., but it was not especially loud or energetic. I expected energy, but the band sounded muted, like it was playing in the background.. . . .…
Read More: Sangria Sunday at the Mountain Winery
Today, June 12, 2014, my eleven-year-old son Alexander graduated from Guadalupe Elementary School.. . Here is a photo of Alex holding his graduation certificate with Mrs. Sarah Jellin, the school's principal.. . . . Here is another photo of Alexander with his 5th-grade homeroom teacher, Mrs. Misty Buckley.. . . . His final report card is not too bad:. . . . In the fall,…
Read More: Alex's Elementary School Graduation
Today, I rode my 2008 Honda CBR1000RR motorcycle to the top of Mt. Hamilton to visit the Lick Observatory. The Lick Observatory was the world's first permanently occupied mountain-top observatory.. . The ride from South San Jose to Mt. Hamilton follows the many twists and turns of Mt. Hamilton Road. Mt. Hamilton Road is a twisty, exciting one-lane road for motorcycle riding. A few bicyclists…
Read More: Mt. Hamilton Motorcycle Ride