vietnam trip

i'm flying out of SFO at midnight tonight to visit vietnam, my country of origin! it'll be my first time to vietnam (as well as to asia). i'm going on vacation with my family. we'll be returning on the 1st, so it's a rather short trip, but i'm sure it'll be great. we're flying via china air to taipei, then to ha noi via vietnam air. it'll take about 18 hours in all (not so much looking forward to that... need to pick out a book to bring, as well as make sure the ipod is charged).

my mom and dad haven't been back in 26 and 34 years, respectively. that's a lifetime (more than my lifetime, even)! i'm sure vietnam has changed a lot over the years. it'll be interesting to see my parents' reactions. it'll be interesting to see *my* reaction :P a coworker bluntly informed me that i would "freak out". i don't know if it'll be that bad, since i already have the advantage of actually being vietnamese and being familiar with the culture, but it will probably be quite a change. all the better!

i think mostly we intend to be tourists, but we're also going to see my grandfather (who just a couple of years ago moved back), as well as some of my parents' cousins, aunts, uncles, etc. i've never met any of them, and i don't speak vietnamese too well, so it may be a little awkward. i'm sure they'll remark on how tall i am! i think a quarter of our luggage consists of gifts for relatives. among these items are chocolates, soap, and lotion. somehow i find it odd that i'm lugging a big box of soap to vietnam. my mom tells me that they only have plain soap, and the american kind is expensive (though still cheaper than here, i'm guessing?). i'm not sure why we can't just buy american soap once we're in vietnam (and i don't think my mom has an answer either), but mom knows best! :) this is one of the things i need to figure out on this trip :P

i'm hoping to be able to upload pics onto my flickr account regularly, but i'm not sure if internet cafes will allow me to plug my memory card reader into their machines. we'll see! i'll definitely try to write in this blog though.

i'm off to finish packing :)

google holiday party 2005

i went to the google holiday party (pics) in san francisco friday evening. here's the flyer for the event:

Grab your passport, pack light and join us for Jetaway!

Visit Bombay where vibrant colors, energetic dancers and intoxicating music saturate your senses.

Google McDougal's Irish pub awaits you in Dublin with rousing Irish music, silly pub trivia, televised chess championships and perhaps a glimpse of a Leprechaun!

Don't forget your singing voice in Tokyo where karaoke pods, live martial arts and a glimpse of Harajuku awaits you and your friends in our Ginza district.

After the cool, modern edge of Tokyo come visit Brazil and relax in our sunny park, listen to Brazilian music and play a little soccer with some of Brazil's best!

London's ultra-hip, invitation-only Underground club rounds out your fantastic trip. Venture in the deserted subway station, where the DJ's will be battling, street dancers performing and the bass is thumping as you dance the night away.

it was a good time, though we arrived at 10pm (party ended at 12am), and missed out on a bit of the food (the sushi was supposedly good). the after-party at club q was a bit lacking, but an adventure nonetheless. thanks for the invite, dave!

goodbye, joerg!

today was joerg's last day at almaden. he was the first person i worked with when i started with webfountain. he's a great guy in more ways than i could say, and it's kind of surprising how sad i am to see him go. there have been many people leaving IBM for yahoo! and google the past year, but none that i really personally knew. i never expected to feel emotional about seeing a coworker leave. i guess i always subconciously thought of work as a necessity, something one does to put food on the table (or something like that ;)). however, i recognize how much more of a role it actually does play in my life, and especially how the people i work with influence me. in the past i've told interviewers that my ideal job is one where i can do interesting and challenging work. i now realize that the work is not nearly as important as intelligent, inspiring, passionate and generally wonderful coworkers. thanks for everything, joerg! =*)

this is how i'll remember joerg:
Joerg Meyer: any questions?
Joerg Meyer: ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
???????????????????????????????????????????????
Joerg Meyer: had too much coffee