Learning How to Ski

It’s the middle of March already and winter is finally showing some signs of ending. Because of the winter and because of school work, I haven’t done much traveling since my last post. However, over the last few weeks I did go skiing a couple of times, and took some beginner’s lessons with some friends. Here in the Northeast there isn’t much else to do in winter other than skiing or snowboarding. I got my first taste of skiing a year ago, and I wanted to get better at it instead of falling all over the place. There were plenty of skiing hills not far away from my location, and some of them were very reasonable in terms of pricing. I also joined the school ski club which offered much lower rates on equipment rentals. We had three lessons, and they definitely helped. I was able to ski down from the top of a mountain (a small one) through a blue trail and not fall in the process. Of course, I was skiing quite slowly, but it was a significant improvement compared to before the lessons.

 

At this point, I think I’m fine on green trails, but I might still take a tumble on the steeper sections of blue trails. Skiing is all about making the turns and using that to control speed, and I still need to improve in my turns in order to handle the more difficult trails with more consistency. Falling does hurt, and I got pretty sore, but overall I think skiing is a very fun activity. It’s very late in the ski season and I don’t know if I’ll go again this season, but I’ll be sure to head back to the hills next winter.

Another Winter Vacation in the Books

My four weeks at home have gone very quickly, and last week I took the flight back to the smallish city/town in the US where I’ll start another semester of graduate studies. Just like last winter vacation and the year before that, I spent most of my time at home, relaxing and doing a little bit of research work. I had wanted to go skiing, but I am not really good enough to go on anything other than a bunny hill and I can’t find people to go with me. Plus, skiing near Vancouver is expensive, so I’ll probably do it back in the states where it is less costly. Unlike the previous years, my grandparents were around this winter, and this meant that we ate out more than usual. I had quite a few big meals in Chinese restaurants while I was back home. The food was of course delicious, and I probably ate too much. The food was probably the highlight of this winter break and here is a photo collage of some of the dishes I’ve tasted.

Some of the delicious food I've had this winter vacation
Yum yum yum.

Needless to say, I probably gained around 5 lbs over the break, but I’m confident I can work it off at school. I’m unlikely to eat so much so often back in the states, and I’ll exercise a lot more when compared to my time at home. That’s pretty much everything worth mentioning, and it’s time for me to get back to the mood for school.

New Car for My Parents

One of my tasks when I returned home was to help my parents shop for a new car. My family had a 2000 Toyota Echo that served us well for over a decade, but the little problems are starting to add up and it was about time to get a new car. My parents needed a daily commuter, so the requirements were that the car is good on gas, is reliable, can fit into our small garage, but is bigger than the little Echo. In the end, my parents purchased a grey 2013 Toyota Matrix base model.

Family's new Toyota Matrix.
My parents’ new Toyota Matrix.

The current Matrix model has been around for a couple of years. It doesn’t have the greatest ratings anymore since competitors have newer models in the segment, but my family trusts Toyota’s reliability, and the Matrix is pretty tall and roomy for a compact hatchback. It’s not that much larger than the Echo, but it’s a little longer and wider which makes a difference especially in the back. The Matrix fits into our narrow garage, albeit the parking is a little more difficult than before. And the 1.8 L engine, which may consume a little more fuel than the Echo, is still pretty good on gas. With the new Matrix, we finally have a car that has power windows and locks and keyless entry. The Matrix is the third car my family has had, after the Echo and a rust-riddled 1990 Ford Tempo that was our first car. Hopefully the new car will remain problem free for even longer than the little Echo.

2012 Fall Term in Review

It’s the last day of 2012, and I suppose this is as good of a day as any to look at my previous academic semester. The fall 2012 semester was my fifth as a graduate student. Since I’ve been doing grad studies for a while now, I only needed to take two courses. The two courses I took in the fall were a little different than the technical courses that I usually take, and here is what I thought of them.

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My Second Year (and a Half) in Graduate School

Supposedly every year I write a reflections post looking back at what I did on the previous year. My last such post was in August of 2011, which means I’m four months past the due date :roll: . I only remembered because I decided to change the look of this blog, so this post will cover the last year and four months. So in the last 16 months, quite a bit has happened. I received another degree, and traveled around more than I ever had. Keep reading to find out more.

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Happy Holidays

I’ve traveled back home for winter break once again, and I’m glad to be home for a couple of weeks. The academic semester ended a little earlier than previous years, which meant I could go home earlier and save a few bucks on my plane tickets. As usual, I don’t have any plans. Grad students don’t get long vacations, and I do have to work on my research. On the other hand, I do have more free time on my hands since I don’t have to worry about shopping and cooking or classes. Maybe I’ll try to go learn skiing. One thing I’ll do is eat a lot, since it’s the holidays, and the Chinese food in Vancouver is much better than what I can get at my place of study. Hopefully I don’t gain too much weight over the holidays :lol: . I will also try to give my humble blog a new look. I’m probably looking for the minimalist look, but I want some transparency and rotating backgrounds that the previous theme had. I’ll play around with the new Twenty-twelve theme to see if I can modify it to my likings.

Anyways, I wish you all a happy and safe holidays.

Boston NBA Day Trip

I’m mostly writing about my travels these days. As a grad student, I don’t have the time nor money to travel a lot, but if I still try to go somewhere once in a while. During Thanksgiving break, a couple of friends and I went to Boston on an one day trip to catch a NBA basketball game. It was my first time seeing a NBA game in person, and it was a fun experience. We also explored downtown Boston by following the Freedom Trail. Here is a short summary along with some photos of the trip.

Boston
A view from the Boston Commons towards… some part of Boston.

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Here, There, and Everywhere

Once again, I haven’t posted here for a while. It’s not that I don’t have stuff to post nor is it that I’m that busy; it’s just that I’ve been lazy with this blog like usual. School has started, but I only have two courses and neither are particularly difficult. I’m not making much progress on research, but fortunately I don’t have any hard deadlines as of yet. In between academic obligations and everyday life, I managed to do some fun stuff along the way.

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Visiting Atlantic City, New Jersey

Some friends and I wanted to go on one last overnight trip before the start of classes, and we decided to go the famous East Coast gambling destination of Atlantic City. It was a fun trip, and here is a post with some photos and thoughts. We played around on the beach, walked around, shopped, dined and of course gambled… just a little bit.

Your's truly on the Atlantic City Boardwalk. This is actually the first time I posted a picture of myself for a trip post.

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Visiting San Diego, California

I recently went on a conference trip to sunny San Diego, California, and it was probably the best conference trip I’ve been on. San Diego in the summer is just a great place to be, and it’s even more awesome when my travel costs are paid for. Of course, this was a conference trip and I did spend most of the trip attending conference events, but fortunately I also had a bit of time to do touristy things as covered in this post.

San Diego
San Diego is an excellent location to hold a summer conference… or an outdoor car show.

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