I thought it kind of funny, Lenovo paid $1.25 Billion for IBM’s entire PC and laptop ThinkPad division, where as P&G is going to pay $54 Billion for some razors from Gillette!! Let’s see: high tech vs. low tech; bleeding edge vs. cutting edge, and I guess the value for those Mach-3 blades from Gillette edged over Big Blue’s foundation technologies by over 40 times!

I know I know, the profit margin for the PC industry is thinner than the razor blades from Gillette; and on the other hand, Warren Buffet’s stock of choice from the start – Gillette, although boring in the R&D sector, cleans and grooms the men around the world daily, so I guess IBM didn't stand a chance…

One man for sure is happy about the P&G/Gillette deal; Gillette's CEO James Kilts will be smiling all the way to the bank with the $185 Millions he'll benefit from the merger. Don’t know why, I feel a little nausea after reading those numbers…

Jiaying: 谁要生了？
Sam: 我！已经几个月了！
Kevin: Sam 的儿子应该叫什么？
All: ...
Kevin: Samsung!
All: ...

I am a bad bad man! Not only I got Vivian sick, I indirectly got Nancy sick too! All three of us have had very similar flu-like symptoms: fever, soreness and sleepy/dizziness. Well, it really doesn’t surprise anyone to see Vivian getting my virus, considering she force kiss me something like zillion times a day :-D; but what I am pondering on is, how did Vivian pass the viruses to Nancy?? Hummm... I am curious!

Ladies, come clean!!

Today was my second day at this new job, I was greeted by a loud “riiibbbitt” sound near the entrance of my work building after lunch. Intrigued, I wondered around the bushes and try to locate the frog, apparently the frog was in heat, and continued his mating calls and ignored my intrusion. I thought frogs had to live near a pond or something, and I don’t see a pond anywhere close. He is either lost, or had traveled a great distance looking for a mate, or I got my fact twisted... I will go peruse through the National Geographic site now...

I'd like to think that I have a good sense of directions. I usually know how to get from point A to point B and I can read maps and navigate the car fairly well. But somehow, whenever Vivian is in the car with me, those sense of directions just flies right out of the window!

It really is an interesting but embarrassing phenomenon! Whether we are chatting or just quietly driving, I'd take the wrong highway exits, or go in the wrong directions on familiar roads. It is almost like placing a magnet next to a compass, in her presence, I always become a complete road-idiot. I really don't know why, perhaps my road-senses were intoxicated by her aurora or my attention unconsciously shifts to her instead of the road... well, those were my excuses and she scoffed at those notions...

I hardly ever played any video game as a teenager. so I guess I am just trying to catch up on the childhood memories by playing a lot of games lately. I have about 80 latest games on my XBox harddrive, (Thanks to my Vivian who got me the system as a gift and modified it with a huge harddrive and mod chip) but the latest game of choice has been Need For Speed Underground 2 featuring the lovely Brooke Burke! Aside from the racing actions, I love the music in that game! It has sounds from Snoop Dog to Paul Van Dyke! I am probably driving my cats nuts with the all day long voom-vooms and zoom-zooms!

Well, I got only few more days left to play, cuz work is just around the corner!

Going to start my new job next Monday. Finally making US Dollar as salary again. I couldn't help but to feel a little "richer" than before. :-) All those things I wanted but couldn't afford with my previous Chinese salary came back in to view, so I went and grabbed a new GUCCI belt to replace my worn one, and ordered the Yonex Armortec-800 (O) racket that I have been drooling after. It's good to have money! Next purchase item will be a car...

In the spirits of flu season, I participated.

Things began to go wrong during my flight back to Cali; I was feeling drowsy and slept like an idiot throughout the entire trans-Pacific journey. My back and neck was aching, but I blamed on my old age and United airline's lumpy economy seats.

Later, I was burning up at home, two layers of comforter, an electric blanket didn't help, I was still shivering like a Chihuahua. Worried, Vivian took my temperature, at 102.6F, I had excuses to act like a baby and depended on Vivian for everything. :-) She fed me juices, handed me the pills, got me congee and fetched me the remote. Ayiiii... Good things do not last, as of last night, my temperature dropped below 100F, fluctuating around 98F; despite the lingering dizziness, I no longer possess my "patient privileges". Anyways, I was still lucky to get sick in the arms of Vivian, it would have been a horrible ordeal if I got the flu, two days earlier, alone, in Shanghai.

Back again, in the South Bay, kissed my baby Vivian, played with MaoMao, washed dirty clothes, had some hotdogs, checked some Email, and now, it is time to catch some zZzzZzZZZz and battle my cold! It is nice to be back in the sane world again!

I did a bad bad thing today -- I overslept and missed my flight back to San Francisco!

You see, it was the last evening for my current visit to Shanghai, and by default that meant a busy night out with friends, hitting the bars, and downing drinks, which led to SUI (Sleeping Under Influence), failure to wake up in the morning and ultimately -- my flight left without me. The consequence was hefty, I disappointed Vivian greatly. She was so looking forward in seeing me after more than a month of separation, she cleaned, cooked, and bought my favor food and drinks... her high spirited was dampened upon receiving my phone call informing her of my misfortune.

I am sorry baby, I want to see you just as bad, and I miss you dearly. I apologize for being irresponsible; I will see you in two days.

I bid my farewells to Sanya, and flew back to Shanghai last night with my family. We had a wonderful time there, could not get enough of that brilliant sun, golden sand and vast sea! Although I have been to Sanya once before, but those elements will make a trip special doesn't matter how many times the same trip had been made.

I was supposed to meet up with friends in Hong Kong starting on the 8th before I head back to USA on the 11th. However, after calling my travel agent, the cost for the flight couldn't justify my two days of stay there. Ruth already called me and bitched me out for standing her up. Sorry Ruthie!! We can still go to Greece together!! :-)

Whit left for Hong Kong today but I will see him in about a week. Peter, Quoc, Ruth and I are planning a trip to Hong Kong to visit Whit next week (1/8-1/10). It will be the last trip I take before heading back to US to resume the normal routine life.

Déjà vu! I've landed in Sanya again. Last year, Vivian and I celebrated the 2004 New Years in Sanya, and now, a year later, I am here with my parents and aunt for our family vacation. I picked Horizon (天域) as the hotel of choice once again due to the good experience I had there last year with Vivian.

Sanya has been growing rapidly, the airport is expanding and the city is spreading. New road constructions everywhere and even the Horizon hotel is building a second phase of its estate. I used www.100t.com again to book the hotel and car, I was very satisfied with their service and highly recommend them to anyone who’s thinking about going to Sanya for an unforgettable vacation.

Check the Trips section later for pictures...

Good bye 2004 and hel-l-l-l-l-loooo 2005!! Happy New Years!! I don’t really celebrate Christmas, but I DO celebrate New Years!

I am a very optimistic person, and I believe that I am living a good life. 2004 was surely a memorable year, a fulfilling year, and an exciting year! Aside from all the wonderful trips I took such as Cambodia, Vietnam, Okinawa, Taiwan, Sanya, Harbin, Mt. Tai, Mt. Huang, Las Vegas, Michigan, WuXi, ChengDu, LA and others, I’ve met a lot of wonder new friends!!! My experience in Shanghai was fascinating, and the biggest accomplishment of all: Vivian and I withstood the test of an one year long distance relationship!!!

Now that I have moved back to California again, and together with my baby Vivian, I bet next year will be even more spectacular! Happy New Years everyone!!