Last Autumn in Sunnyvale...

This autumn will have a special place in my heart. The reddish leaves remind me of my 1st month here. Suddenly, it also tells me how i will look back with nostalgia when its time for me to return.

Spring and Autumn are my favorite seasons. However, they always seem so short. Its funny how life deals with us the good times, and the bad. Good times always seem so short, just like spring and autumn. Not-so-good times are always a little longer - winter. The beauty of autumn only lasts those 2-3 short weeks, and winter stays for months to bring all the beauty to dust.

Winter Indulgence...

Nothing like a lazy, winter Sunday morning, and a mug of Aik Cheong Kopi... plus a shot of milk...low-fat please!

How i miss my kopi-C!

Relief to be back!

Its one week back to Sunnyvale, and it is such a relief to be back! Feels terrific to be home!(err...home?!)

I realized how much i missed this place after the 'hardship' in Shanghai. Don't be mistaken. My hosts treated me extremely well, and brought me out for many lavish meals. Far more hospitable than my US counterparts.

However, the entire environment in the valley juz beats it hands-down. Why?


1) The fresh air! Nowhere beats the air in California!

2) The weather. Not too hot in summer, not too cold in winter.

3) The traffic. No ridiculous amount of horning, no unnecessary cutting into lanes, respect for pedestrians, courteous drivers etc etc.

4) Smoke-free clothes.

5) Able to walk freely without fear of phlegm "bullets"

6) 100Mbps Cable access, VS 512K DSL(the most common in China)

7) Free access to any, and every website

8) No more vulgarities.

9) Open, friendly society. No more alienation just because i can't speak a word of Shanghainese.

10) Finally, PEACE of mind.

Will i miss Shanghai?

I am finally back to Sunnyvale. On my final few days in Shanghai, I admit, i have been too harsh musing about this rapidly developing city. I was wondering what do i really like about this unique city.

1) You can live cheaply if you choose to. (ie. RMB$3 for a bowl of noodles by the streets VS RMB$50 for one at DinTaiFung) Besides, where can you find "Tao Sar Pao" for RMB$0.8(currently S$0.16)

2) I have been taking cab for the entire month, and not a single cab driver has refused me.

3) The poor along the streets is a constant reminder of how fortunate i am.

4) The night lights of the city

5) The hospitality of the Chinese

6) The beauty of the ancient towns

7) Piracy of books!

8) How this 1month helped me put on 1kg of fat.....


I dun think i have much to miss about Shanghai afterall. Its nice for a vacation, especially in autumn-winter(25 degC to 0 degC). Beware of Summer though. I heard it can shoot to a temp of 38degC.... plus humidity level equivalent to Singapore....

Being back in Sunnyvale feels so good. The air is fresh, and my clothes are smoke-free. Being there made me realize how much i detest smokers.

"Blur" Camera...or...?

Just an idea of what i had been breathing for the past month......

Musings on Shanghai..

Its one more week before i leave for Sunnyvale. I have been musing about Shanghai for 3 weeks now. Thanks to all my colleagues who have been patiently listening to me.

1) Terrible terrible service. Pleasant smile + warm service = Sunnyvale, Straight faced + warm service = Singapore, Grouchy look + cold service + heck-care attitude = Shanghai.

2) Blaring horns start at 6.30am, ends at 10pm. No tea break, no lunch break.

3) For the 1st time in my life, i see cracks on almost every taxi driver's steering wheel(where the horn is). It just goes to show how often they use their horn.

4) Ever experienced the feeling of biting sand between your teeth after you take a small breath through your mouth?

5) Every taxi driver swears at least 50 times a day.

6) Everyone is trying to snatch a piece of the road. As if there is not enough road for use!

7) "hhaaaarrrrgggghhhhh Puuuiiiiii!" - Red alert! Dart your eyes to watch out for phlegm bullets!

8) I think my lungs have accumulated a layer of 2nd hand cigarette smoke juz after this assignment.

9) Unfriendly - people look at me like an alien when i try to ask for directions.

10) Finally, how i wish i was more diligent during secondary school chinese lessons!

Waterways of ZhouZhuang(周庄）

I decided i had enough of city life, and i decided to pay a neighbouring town a visit.
Took a cab down to 旅游集散中心 where i paid an exhorbitant RMB140 to 周庄。 $40 for the bus ride, and $100 for the entrance fees. Ridiculous.
The ride took almost 2 hours, with plenty of honking and cursing from the bus driver. So much that i almost thought we would never make it.



1st impression: Very very tourist-ty.
You recognize a very touristy place in China by all the peddlers who sell tiny trinkets and snacks at exhorbitant prices. Prices are always brought down by the following steps:

1) Look like you really like the item of interest
2) Offer 1/2 to 3/4 of their asking price(which they will try to compromise)
3) Decline their offer.....
4) ...and start to walk away..


周庄is considered one of the ancient towns(古镇） of China. Having maintained their buildings for over 900 years, it has become a tourist attraction. She is largely well-known for her waterways, and is known as the number 1 water town in China.


Some interesting shops occupy the area too. There is a beancurd shop that makes soyabean milk from the "old-school", huge, stone grinder. They also have old women making clothes by spinning cotton threads.

Finally, its time to go back to Shanghai. But i managed to snap a sunset of 周庄 before i leave. Overall, i think the place is nice, albeit abit too touristy for my liking. No doubt the buildings are still in place, but the town have lost much of its ancient flavour.

Too much, in fact.

Coincidence!!

Never met a single time for the last 7 years despite being in Singapore all the time.

Its funny how being in Shanghai for barely a week help old friends meet.


城隍庙will hold a special place in our hearts.

If i was not greedy enough to queue for the famous Nanxiang 小笼包，and he was not choosy enough to shop further....we would not have met.

Brother scouts reminisce old times together reading maps. But this time, Darren & i, are reading the map of Shanghai. Worst still, its all in Mandarin!! Somehow, it helped us remember how we always got scolded by Tan Boon Heng and the rest of our chinese teachers....

Ahhh.... the good 'ol days...

20 Million People spending a weekend...

With 4.5million people in Singapore, most of us already feel the G.S.S(Great Singapore Squeeze)

Just check out 20million people in Shanghai.....




Transfer this amount of people onto Orchard Road....Unimaginable.

"Soup Bao"-汤包

Instructions to Enjoy:

1) Pay RMB$11 to get a straw, pair of chopsticks together with your bun。
2) Stick the straw into the bun and enjoy the tasty soup.
3) Fumble with your disposable chopsticks and enjoy the rest of the bun.

China blocks Blogspot!

I dunno how they do it. But i am unable to access my own blog! I can only access blogger.com to edit my blog. If any of videos fail to load, pls leave a note, i will see what i can do.

For now, i can only use Mozilla Anonymouser to access my blog. (yay!...long live Mozilla!). But still, i am unable to view the videos. I hope they come up with a solution soon!

263m up on the Pearl Tower(东方明珠塔）

I was so busy with the videos that i had forgotten about a brief intro regarding the Geographical aspects of Shanghai..


Shanghai is mainly divided into 2 parts, Pudong(浦东) and Puxi(浦西) and are separated by the HuangPu river(黄浦江）. Amazing thing is, they actually managed to construct a tunnel beneath the river from Pudong to Puxi for vehicles, and the light rail.

As shown in the map, 外滩 is actually located in 浦西, and 东方明珠塔 is located just across 黄浦江 in 浦东。

Of course there is more to that. But i am too ignorant to explain further. I only know that Shanghai is further broken down into districts.

I prefer to feign ignorance and enjoy the view from above.....

In this video, you can see 浦西 on the left, and 浦东on the right. I have noticed that the structure of the buildings in 浦西 is a little more scattered and disorganized. 浦东, on the other hand, is more organized and orderly. Somewhat like dominoes. Probably because 浦东 is newer in development, and the government has learnt from previous lessons that a messy infrastructure can create tonnes of problems.

The Bund(外滩） & Pearl Tower(东方明珠塔）..

After going to Cheng Huang temple, we proceeded to 外滩. While the vids a few days ago shows the night scene, these vids are taken in the day. Here, we can really see what is so magnificent about the Pearl Tower(东方明珠塔）.




东方明珠塔 , as i was told, is actually owned by the TV station. Reason why it is built to such a great height, towering over most buildings in Shanghai, is because it is the source of TV signals throughout the whole of Shanghai. The top of the tower probably carries the signal boosters that emits all the TV signals. Video below shows a close-up of the Pearl Tower.

Cheng Huang Temple...(城皇庙）

It was nice of my colleagues from Excelics-Shanghai, Hu XiaoYan & Hong YaPing to bring me out for some sightseeing this weekend. Its funny how they treat me like a little boy, coming to the hotel to pick me up and their gentle persistence to see me safe in the cab before they take the light rail after the long day. After the independence and that was expected of me in the US, this treatment really required some getting used to!

城皇庙is pretty grand. With interesting statues and figurines. And not scary like the ones in HawPar Villa! They are pleasant, and emit a certain character in their posture & expressions. Interesting, but commercialized. Not that im complaining. But the appearance of Starbucks in such a place really spoils the rustic feel of the ancient temple.

People actually pay a 150RMB to place their names on tags to ensure good luck for an entire year? You mean i need to pay to be a member of good luck?... Aww man...

Darkness amidst the Light - Disparity between the rich & poor..

Managed to knock off a little early, and i headed down to 外滩（The Bund) for some sight-seeing. I chanced upon this little street off the famous, brightly-lit, 南京路(Nanjing road)

Very odd feel. 南京路 is brightly lit, with plenty of branded name shops. Poshly dressed gentlemen, and ladies throng the streets. But this small alley...appears to be at another end of the spectrum.




Notice how the dark alley emerges onto Nanjing road...

Shanghai "Lights"...

Shanghai is just another city.

But i must admit, their night scenary is impressive.

古浪路-Possibly the Worst Road in Shanghai...

Taxi drivers complain about this road all the time...
You can find the deepest cracks here...

Need i say more?

Note: Videos were taken with extremely steady hands, in an Extended-BMW 7 series

Disclaimer: Pls take anti-motion-sickness pills before watching the video clips.

Chaotic...

I used to think orchard road was chaotic.

When i reached US, i thought SF was even more chaotic.

Now living in Shanghai, i think the previous 2 is nowhere near.

Shanghai "Nights"..

Had been facing the raging winds and rains(due to the typhoon in Taiwan) on my 1st day in Shanghai, and i did not want to thread too far away from my hotel.

The 2nd night was dry enough to thread further to secure my mobile line and essentials. While im curious about how "outdoor cooking" in Shanghai tastes like, i think i will hold my curiosity until my stomach fully adapts to the conditions here.

Just an idea on what outdoor cooking is like:

7 Day Tour - Singapore...

Had a great time in Singapore for a little break from work. 7 days to reminisce my past routines and lifestyles...and relive the life with family and friends around me. My 1st day made me realize how much i missed my family. And my last day made me realize that times have changed and i have to be strong. Every Singaporean....has to be global. Singapore is too small. That is our strength and that is our weakness. Because we are small, we realized much earlier than our lumbering neighbours that globalization will come sooner or later. This realization made us accept this fact more readily, than most others.

Food is still good in Singapore, and i still love it. My best memory is sipping Yuan Yang, and having thick-goey-sinful-peanut-butter toast at 新旺茶餐厅 in Marina Square. Wonderful recommendation by WP. No food pics here....was too greedy. Left hand on the yuanyang, right hand on the fork....no hands for the camera...


Weather was great too. Felt great skating in breezy ECP with WP...finally. Beats skating alone in Sunnyvale.

1st Meeting with SFBAMS

Had a picnic at the Elizabeth lakes in Fremont this weekend with SFBAMS- San Francisco Bay Area Malaysian and Singaporean Group (http://www.sfbams.biopharmweb.com/). It was certainly a nice weekend with good asian food and Singlish.

Being a non-profit group, i find this group highly commendable in providing the network for Singaporeans and Malaysians in this area. Its really funny though, how Singaporeans and Malaysians are so united overseas, but are faced with endless amount of bickering back home.

How i look forward to the next picnic!

Yosemite-Half Dome....

Have been pretty slow to update my blog due to work. Well, i can update my blog with what i had learnt about GaAs devices... hah... but it will make this blog so boring!!....

Finally managed to gather enough energy to conquer Yosemite again. This time, however, is with a group of NUSEA interns. Cool bunch of energetic students.... making me drive 5 hours through the night up the mountains!

The aim this time round was to scale Half Dome(which is not possible in Fall/Winter). But Yosemite in summer .... is not so magnificent.



This was the amount of water we saw at Vernal Falls the last time in Spring(with WP)....










This is what is left in summer...:(























But oh well, the objective is the Half Dome. After walking 5 hrs of up-slopes, we are hungry, we are worn from the lack of sleep, and dry from lack of water......we finally see the half-dome....and we see a trail of people scaling it already.



Frankly, this is my steepest climb ever. Almost 80 degrees....and looking at the trail of people, i was imagining someone from the top tumbling down like a bowling ball.... i think the outcome will be disastrous. But heck it.... we just kept going!



















Finally... the top of Half Dome.....



A video from the top of Half Dome...

Burlingame - A flavour of its own.

The harsh week ended nicely with a good lunch with Warren in Burlingame, a small town very near to SF. However, its a really pretty town with a flavour of its own.













Something caught me by surprise though..... they've juz got a new Quickly Outlet....thats like...errr... so passé...

Culture Differences - Part IV: Entrepreneurship Drive

Its has been months since i pumped up another thought on Culture Differences. Of course there are tons of many others...but this is one significant difference - Entrepreneurship Drive.

After immersing myself in the culture here in SV for 8-9mths...i have been utterly brain-washed....or should i say that my vision has "improved". Thoughts these days have constantly been on the brink of being entrepreneur, rather than a microwave design engineer. When i look back, i am surprised how much my mindset have evolved.

Prior coming to SV, i will never have thought of being my own boss. Life in Singapore is just too comfy. Being in that environment for 25yrs of my life, i always thought of joining a big company, and rising through the ranks, just like many others, just like the norm. Its stable, has good benefits, and with equal CPF contributions made by the company, what more can Singaporeans ask for? There is so much to lose if one was to come out to be his own boss. To the new, budding entrepreneur, welcome to the World of Terror!

I've always hidden behind this curtain of terror, never exploring past it. Now in SV, i have finally taken a peek behind the curtain to see what beholds. Today, i think...behind this dark curtain... it may just be worthwhile.

The Wineries of Napa Valley

This week, JC managed to coax me out of my comfortable weekend routine to join her friends at Napa. Its a good 2 hrs drive up north beyond SF into an entire valley filled with wineries and scenary.



We visited a couple of Wineries like Berlinger and Sterling. Its quite an eye opener. They are just like educational wine tours coupled with wine sampling. In sg, i can probably sample to my hearts content and take the $0.85 Volvo home. But here, we had to watch our intake as we still have to drive home.


At the end of the day, i think this place is more for wine-lovers where they can try a huge variety of wines. Not for me though.... i am still more enthused with the beauty of Yosemite anytime...:)

The "Flattened" World

I just realized how flat this world has become.

60 years ago, people who ventured overseas had only one method of communicating with their families -Letters. And it took months to reach each other. Neither was it reliable, or even cheap. And illiterate families were worse off... they had to rely on others to read the letters.

20-40 years ago, such situations relied mainly on telephones, which were more instant, and more real, and you could hear, and almost feel each other's presence. The cost however, was expensive, and each phone call was greatly cherished. Additionally, it was costly & unreliable.

Today- I just had a conference call with 3 other of my poly mates, in this almost 'flat' world. All 4 of us are based in 4 difference areas of the world, Ketan in UK, Chuan in Japan, Donald in Sg, and myself, in the States. It was instant, and FOC. The experience - Amazing.

Chat with Chuan - Japan

Chuan is now in Japan, on a similar program as i am. We were exchanging views on how Singapore is lacking. Before we came out to "see the world", Singapore was so perfect.....but not anymore. Singapore is so rush-rush-rush, and people are so concerned with their own lives, to the extent that some of us think that the world only revolves only around us.

He sent me some pics of Japan.... wayyyy cooolll.... would love to go there one day! Since he is too boh chup to blog, i will be posting on his behalf.
If there is one thing that the Singapore Government is uniquely good at, is giving out cash packages....that is Uniquely Singapore!

Baby Shower

Though i have been invited to many Vietnamese-organized parties in my company, i realized i have not posted anything on them.

This time, its an early "Baby Shower" party for 2 of the lab girls.... going away for maternity leave for a couple of months. Vietnamese party = Vietnamese food.... loads of them, in fact. Funnily, i dun find them familiar at all, even though Singapore is well-known to have cuisines of all sorts.
One of my favorites is this spring roll which they call bo` bi'a.
Not our usual "Popiah" as you can see, and not pronounced in the same manner too. Its basically like our "Chee Cheong Fun", but with much thinner "skin", and filled with all sorts of vegetables and shrimp/pork/beef.
It is usually dipped in peanut sauce, which i find it a striking resemblance with our Satay sauce.







Another hot favorite of mine is the ba'nh nam. Its just like a piece of flour cake, with some kind of shrimp concotion on top. My inexperienced taste buds could only reconize the taste of the shrimp....the rest of the flavours are kinda....ermm.. foreign??... But its simply delactable!










Some Vietnamese aunties noticed how much i was enjoying the food and further probed about my opinion of getting a Vietnamese girlfriend who is able to satisfy my tastebuds....goodness. Almost feeling myself blushing, i politely excused myself to get more food... heh.

Here is a pic of some of my wonderful, hospitable and kind, Vietnamese colleagues.


On a final note, i wonder if i would still be able to enjoy such small & cosy company events in Singapore. I'm beginning to like the culture here. And i'm falling in love with the typical US no-OT work culture. Somehow, it answers many Singaporeans' dream of having quality family life....and it answers the government's concerns about keeping families together. What is the point of having one "Eat with your family day", but eat in your cubicle for the rest of the 364 days?

Mother's Day

Its my 1st mother's day without my mother by my side....its also the 1st time in 10 years or so that i wished my mum a happy mother's day. The 8440 miles between us made me realize how i have forsaken my mother's love all these years.

An interesting phrase caught my eye in SF Chronicle today:
"You never know a man until you see him with his mother."


Happy Mother's Day, mum.

Plenty of Love,
Son

The Club

After the last vehicle break-in, i decided to buy a "steering wheel" lock from Masterlock.

When i asked for a steering wheel lock at the store, the sales-guy gave me a quizzed look, and said,"Oh!...You mean the club??? Its just down by the aisle right in the centre."..

Astonished, i just followed his directions, and i saw the "club".

Oh well, another new day, another new thing learnt.

Lack of Space in HDB

The most recent update back home is that my room has juz had some new furnishings of a mahjong table and exercise bike.

Now i understand what they mean by getting rid of old things(something that is 26yrs old), to make space for the new(<2months old)....heh~~~

Crazy US Data

The recent US data is crazy.

On one hand, the Dow is breaking new heights.

On the contrary, housing sales has just dropped 18%, coupled with rising energy costs that has hit consumer confidence. People are also finding it difficult to find jobs. Additionally, the greenback is losing ground against major currencies all over the world.

While inflation is rising, the only consolation that i see is that US GDP is still in the black. But with the ever increasing focus on Iraq, will US's reserves ever recover? If GDP falls......it will be my 1st experience with stagflation.

Time to buy insurance.

Day 10-....Gilroy shopping and Lobster Dinner

Picked my parents from their hotel in the morning for breakfast and headed down to Sunnyvale downtown for breakfast. Rainy day nearly drowned our breakfast!! Anyway, we managed to head down to Gilroy Premium outlets for last minute shopping. Believe it or not... we stayed there the ENTIRE day, until dinner time.

Met Sam & family for dinner at Red Lobster in Milpitas. Wonderful service.... but we would appreciate it if they saved a little salt on their lobster. Servings of desserts was humongous too...7 of us could't finish up our 3 portions of desserts....

And as usual, Little Alya created much smiles and laughter at the dinner table with her squeals and deep deep dimples!
All good things come to an end. And the last place of visit is SFO. As i drove that 34miles up north to SF....the memories of the past 10days flashed through my mind. Memories of the 1st hug i had with Ping at SFO after so many months....memories of 'Narnia'...memories of driving up to SF to meet my parents....Unforgettable. Memories which i was sure would resonate in my mind for the following weeks to come.

Driving to SFO suddenly seemed so fast. At that moment, i suddenly wondered why we had to have this vacation in the 1st place. Why desire for it when i know that separation will be so painful?
It is times like this one will realize the importance of having a family by your side. Living the fast-paced life in Singapore causes many to take kinship for granted. I am definitely one of them. With them constantly by your side, day in, day out.... it feels like they are there all the time, and they will be there forever. Thats a flaw of the human mind. Myopic. We fail to see far. Aging is deceptive and subtle. One day, many Singaporeans will regret.

Thats why, i always re-iterate to my friends, and parents...that i will come back. Maybe not in a year, but i will definitely be back. I will not stay here, its not home. I did not grow up here.

These 10 days made me feel human again. Having faced work and circuits and equipments for the past 6months...i felt like a fully rationale & objective robot. These 10 days made my emotions flow like a roller coaster, with the final day as a wake-up call....a wake-up call that i am not as rationale as i thought.... i am human too...

Day 9-SF Meeting with Parents!!

My parents joined a tour group for their umpteenth honey moon....extending their stay in SF for a day. Despite my short 2 days with them, it was sufficient enough to make me feel excited about their visit.

Ping and i joined them at their hotel after our dinner with Simon & Grace....which ended our day exhausted in their hotel after getting lost in SF(AGAIN!)

The next morning started off with a good chinese breakfast of century egg porridge and chinese snacks followed by cruise around the SF bay area.



Actually, i was hesitating of putting up this photo of my mum and i in my blog. As i observed this pic, i realized that she seems to be looking younger than me. Because she looks young, and looks so much like myself, she is beginning to look more like my sister than my dear mum....makes me feel that im suffering from pre-mature aging....:(


Pier39 is another pretty place we visited. Nothing very much really, except for cheap souvenirs, expensive restaurants and pretty pictures. Check out my mum's new Liz Clairborne bag she got from one of the outlet stores in Vegas. Only USD$30++ i think... good deal!























We stopped by fisherman's wharf for our crab lunch. SF is well-known for their steamed/boiled Dungeness Crabs. Again, i think its nothing fantastic....its just another crab species with short legs and fat pincers. Pincers which are not exactly very fat and meaty, short legs just like any of their asian cousins in Clementi market and IMM Giant....not impressive at all. Maybe im just missing our delicious Singapore chilli and black pepper crab....ummm hmmm....simply delactable!!
Lombard street was next....as usual. But it was the 1st time i drove down that narrow, winding, super steep road though. Halfway through, i was fearing my brakes would give way....heh...

Finally... one of the rare photos of father & son solo....

Fortunately the sun sets later in spring, and we managed enough time to rush down to twin peaks to catch the setting sun over SF city....well.... its not that far... but i had to make a couple of detours here and there....my poor mum & dad, i hope they did not feel nauseous!