Could this be true!??!?! 

Two of the most beautiful women on earth, together?

Jessica Alba and Lee Hyori, easily my two favorite celebrities sat down side by side... I am breaking out in hives...

Most of the video is in Korean, which I don't understand a thing, but it didn't matter, your eyes can do all the listening. There is a short interview of Jessica in the middle and towards the end.

Interesting facts... makes you think, the world is changing and shifting...

I've never voted before, never cared really. Plus I didn't think my vote would've mattered in the previous elections, especially since I live in California which has been favoring democratic in the past four elections. 

Well, this election is a bit more interesting, besides the obvious highlights on Obama & McCain, the Proposition 8 has also been heavily battled by both sides. I realized although I will not decide the fate with my vote, it is still important to have my opinion counted. 

I am lining up tomorrow 7am to cast my vote...

Got so many new toys these days, feels like Christmas, love it!

Both Vivian and I have been driving sedan ever since we got our drivers license back in teenage years, we have been wanting a larger SUV for the past year. Despite the raising gasoline price, we really like the feeling of higher seating position and the ability to haul more cargo of the SUVs. Especially since our business requires us to constantly shopping for house items or cargo paintings and things, a sedan's trunk space is just not enough. 

We first starting research in SUV last year and test drove the BMW X5 and Porsche Cayenne. I dragged Vivian into Land Rover dealership just so she'll learn how the Range Rover looks like, knowing the price, I never dreamed Vivian would agree to get one, but it doesn't hurt to window shop. What do you know, it was love at the very first sight! Vivian loved the interior of the Range Rover, especially comparing to that of Porsche Cayenne's dated interior and amenities (however, the Cayenne drove the best, the power, the sound, it is amazing!), the Range Rover interior was handsome, comfortable and very functional. Comparing to the BMW X5, Range Rover's air suspensions can lower the vehicle makes it easier to get in and out, which scored big points with Vivian. That was a year ago, and I can tell that she was intrigued...

For various reasons, we didn't get finalize on anything last year, then 2008 with the debut of the new BMW X6, I fell in love with its radical styling, and again, I dragged Vivian to the dealership to test drive the X6. Well, it is a BMW afterall, it had a lot of cool gadgets and the road feel was great; well, the "road feel" meant a heavier steering wheel, which was a no-no with the petite Vivian, who was breaking a sweat just turning the vehicle around in the dealer parking lot. X6 is cool, but I do have to admit, the sloped roofline in the back ate away a lot of trunk space, not very practical. So, we are back in the waiting pattern again...

Since last year, I would periodically check up on the news regarding Range Rover, and look up on Craigslist to see if there are any good deals with used ones. Well, the researches paid off, I found about the great year end deal (not really advertised) from Land Rover, which knocked off thousands from the MSRP. This time we moved on the opportunity, and a week later, I have this beautiful piece of machinery parked in front of our office!

It has only been two days since we got the Range Rover, I had to pick it up from the Jaguar-Land Rover dealership in Fresno, 155 miles away. I didn't mind, I was glad to test out the new ride. I like almost everything about the car, but there are few things that I thought could be improved:

Love it:

• Air suspension, lowering/raising the vehicle, very convenient to get in/out
• Smooth ride delivered by the huge wheels and again, the air suspensions
• Great visibility all around (especially compared to the small windows on the X6)
• Stereo system (700 watts delivered by 14 speakers!!)
• Turning radius (I can do donuts in tight spaces! the turning radius is actually smaller than my Acura TL!!)
• Bluetooth phone integration (not only it let's me to pair my iPhone with the car, the car actually pulls off the entire addressbook from my iPhone include the missed/dialed/received call info and display everyone on screen!)
• Quiet cabin (with 3-layer windows, it was very nice and quiet, even on the highway going 80 mph)

Not so hot:

• The navigation system is not very intuitive, while it is better than BMW's iDrive, it came short comparing to my Acura TL's nav system (which has one of the best navigation system in the industry)
• The touch screen control for the GPS/Audio/Phone is not very sensitive, I'd have to really push hard to get it to register the input, tiring
• Although the HSE version we got is V8 powered, 305 horses, the vehicle is almost 6000 lbs, and can feel a bit underpowered on the highway merging ramp. 

Lastly, it is funny to see Vivian drive the Range Rover, seeing the 5ft petite Vivian driving this big chunky SUV is quite a sight, but she is loving it!!

As a coffee fan, the worst part of every morning is having to dump out the staled coffee from the day before, wash the pot, replace the filter and wait for 10 minutes before taking a sip. Then when you go for the 2nd cup later, the pot you just made is already cold, or worse, it is bitter from being left on the warmer plate for too long; what a waste!!

That routine is history now, yeeaaa! I got a Breville Keurig Single Cup Brewer for the office, which I can choose from over 150 variety of coffee/cocoa/tea K-Cups (the single disposable filtered cups). Pop it in the Breville, and a minute later, volia! Instant gratification! Love it! Love it!

You might ask, isn't it more expensive to brew coffee this way? Well, as it turns out, it is actually cheaper. Each K-cup is about $0.42, compare to a Starbucks at $1.98 (grande coffee), and roughly $1 for the old 10-cup brewer. On top of being thrifty, it is one pretty piece of machinery too!

I've always wondered about this myself. Now I know

• The Silent generation, people born before 1946. 
• The Baby Boomers, people born between 1946 and 1959. 
• Generation X , people born between 1960 and 1979. 
• Generation Y, people born between 1980 and 1995. 

Why do we call the last one generation Y? I did not know, but a caricaturist explains it eloquently below...Learn something new!

ha... this is a good reflection of our life...

Can you live like this? 

I guess our rush hour traffic is nothing compare to this!

glumbert - Rush Hour Squeeze

Another year, another anniversary, and new to this year, the date 7/11 has gained another important recognition -- Lele's birthday! (you probably thought I was going to say iPhone3G launch huh? heehee)

First, let's talk about the anniversary... no this is not our wedding anniverary, which is 9/16; 7/11 has always been special to Vivian and me as it marks the first day we started dating back in 2002. That makes today the 6th year anniversary!! Woo-hoo! GO US! The long journey we had together led to our marriage, which we are still receiving wonderful blessings and wishes from friends around the world:

"看到你们俩已经喜结连理,乐得我差点跳起来,第一反应就是拨通了selina(蔡蔡)的电话:你还记得那个佳英么?他和VIV修成正果了哦~~真的太好了呢!"

-- 寿寿 @ 2008.07.11

7/11 vs. 9/16, although we treasure both dates, Vivian and I have always favored 7/11 a bit more, since that was the date we set things in motion and tied our faiths together... and that's the "real" anniversary we'll be celebrating going forward. Surprised?

Six years, that's a long time, 1/5 of my entire life so far! In the past six years, we have grown so much and a lot of things has happened. During the six years, I have changed my jobs three times and eventually we both left the corporate world and called ourselves "small business owners" (that's another story entirely); we have adopted two cats, two dogs and four turtles; we have moved five times in total and lived on two continents... Only one thing remained constant -- the faith we have in our relationship, we're ready to celebrate the 7/11 together, in many many years to come... Love you bb!

Now, Lele's birthday! Yup our Shiba Lele is turning 1 today! First year has been rough for him, the poor thing was hit by a car, broke his right rare hip, but recovered, fully! He also had to endure more than a month wearing a cone around his head in order for his eye infection to heal, and that also healed very nicely. Lele not only turned out to be a handsome little Shiba, he is a smart little fellow too! From sit, stay, roll, spin to high-5 and bark, he has a whole bag of treat to showoff (when he is in good mood, of course, afterall, he is a Shiba-Inu!)

Congratulation BaoBei!! (the name Vivian likes to call him) Happy Birthday!!!

Oh, one more thing, wondering how we are celebrating today? Well, we have been sitting here in line outside of the AT&T store since 4am for the new iPhone3G, consider it as a gift we give to each other... and we'll probably wrap up the day with a traditional sushi meal like we do on every anniversary. ;-)

our very first pic together

our japan trip last month

at Jason/Debbie's wedding this May

clubbing in Shanghai this past Dec

This has been a busy week for Apple, software updates to iTune and MobileMe were rolled out to accommodate the iPhone3G and the me.com launches, respectively. My .Mac account went offline Wed afternoon while it was being upgraded to MobileMe. While the online community reported the new me.com was up and running late Thurs afternoon, the new look didn't appear for me until 2am Friday 7/11 morning...

It is pretty cool tho...

Ok, I am going out to line up for the iPhone3G now...

1. Carpool lane -
1st time $1068.50 starting 7/1/08
2nd time is going to be double.
3rd time triple
4th time license suspended.

2. Incorrect lane change - $380. Don't cross the lane
on solid lines or intersections.
3. Block intersection - $485

4. Driving on the shoulder - $450

5. Cell phone use in the construction zone. - Double fine
as of 07/01/08.
Cell phone use must be 'hands free' while driving.

6. Passengers over 18 not in their seatbelts - both
passengers and drivers get tickets.

7. Speeders can only drive 3 miles above the limit.
8. DUI = JAIL (Stays on your driving record for 10 years!)
9. As of 07/01/08 cell phone use must be 'hands
free' while driving.

Ticket is $285. They will be looking for this like crazy - easy money
for police department.

SO BE ALERT !!!

Robert Stark
Los Angeles Superior Court
Van Nuys-Northwest District

Finally upgraded the home internet speed. Previously with AT&T DSL, it would take 5 seconds for Gmail to load up, at information age like today, that's like watching grass grow. Couldn't take it anymore... We changed it to Comcast cable modem, knowing that the bandwidth might vary due to the neighborhood usage, but from previous experience, it is still faster than DSL dedicated line. Here is a comparison on the down/upload speed, what a difference!!!

Before:

After:

We arrived in Japan few hours ago, for tonight, we are staying near the Tokyo Narita International Airport for convenience. First thing I did was of course plug my laptop and get wired up. For 735 yen (~$7) I get 24 hrs of unlimited internet, not bad, much cheaper than US hotel internet rates. 

The network felt very zippy, and out of curiosity, I tested the network speed, and my oh my, look at this!! (Frank, please wipe your drools...)

After 40 mins sitting on the tarmac, as soon as our flight took off, Vivian was already growing restless in her seats. With the in-flight entertainment programing not yet started, I pointed to the stack of magazines I brought on board offering her something to read and fill her idling mind...

Jiaying: Want to read a magazine?
Vivian: What do you have?
Jiaying: Smithsonian, Fortune and Scientific America (shyly grinned due to my nerdy magazines)

  [PAUSE]

Vivian: I want to watch my Desperate Housewives...

I got myself a desperate wife...

;-) Tokyo, 10 more hours to go.

Excerpted from Feng Shui Dos & Taboos,by Angi Ma Wong.

Being stuck in an office can be the pits, but learn about the 13 do’s and taboos of feng shui office design and you can feel like you’re working in nature.

DO sit in the corner farthest from the entrance to the room to have a “command” position.
DON'T sit in line with the door, as you will be in the path of negative energy.
DO keep your back toward a corner or a wall for support. If a post protrudes from the corner or wall, correct it by covering it with a hanging plant’s draping foliage.
DO sit with a tall building behind you to provide the support of a “mountain” if your back is to a window.
DON'T face away from the door if you are conducting business from home. Business will symbolically come to you through the door, so don’t turn your back on it.
DON'T arrange your workspace so that you look straight out into a corridor or see the stairs, storage rooms, closets, elevators, escalators, or toilets.
DO put your computer in the North or West area of your office to enhance your creativity. Place the computer in the Southeast if you use it to generate income.
DO place an aquarium or tabletop fountain in the East, North, or Southeast. A small aquarium with black or blue fish in the North area of your desk or office will activate your business and career success. Guppies or a single arrowana are ideal for an aquarium made of glass and metal.
DO place a safe, which is usually constructed of metal, in either West or Northwest, which both represent the metal element. The safe symbolizes the prosperity and financial security of a business.
DO have a good balance of yin and yang when decorating your workspace. Balance light and dark colors, soft and hard surfaces, and smooth and rough textures in your choice of window treatments, furniture, and flooring.
DON'T have any mirrors in your office, as they can reflect negative energy from clients to other people in the room. You should always maintain control over the energy in your office.
DO treat the files in your office with respect. They represent your past, present, and future business.
DO keep the cords to your office equipment well hidden. This elimate clutter and allows for the free flow of chi.