Happy New Year

Time (like Ethan) flies at "Sprint speed"! Before you know it, 2007 has come to a close as we welcome 2008!

We wish you all a very HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Christmas

Have a Merry Christmas!!!

"Real-life" Garfield

Jury Duty

On Wednesday, I was summoned to be a juror. Well, this is my first jury duty, and I have no idea what I really have to do. Will I be selected? Will I be part of a big criminal case? Will I be tied up for days, weeks or even months? Well. the answer to all of those questions is - NO!

There were 3 criminal cases for that day and since all ended up with plea deals, none of us jurors (around 150 to 200) were needed.

On one hand, I spent 3 hours of my time waiting there, but on another hand, I got a $15 check for this, and the rest of the day off from work.....not a bad deal. I was told that the next time that I will be selected for jury duty, it will be another 3 to 5 years!

Looking back, it was a very interesting, and educational experience. Indeed, it is a privilage to have this constitution right to be part of the US legal system.

First Snow of Winter

Today, we got our first snow and it started during the moring rush hour and created a very messy morning commute. It took me 1 hour and 40 minutes to get to work.....and along the way, there were so many accidents. Will see how much snow and ice we will get this winter as this is only the beginning!

Hong Kong - day, evening & night

Always amazed at the Hong Kong skyline and that it looks so different during daytime and night time. It is indeed beautiful.

J>M>S>F

I am a big fan of Formula 1 and can't help but amazed that the ownership of a F1 team can change like this in just a few years!

Jordan: 1991-2005

Midland/MF1: 2006

Spyker MF1: (towards the end of) 2006

Spyker: 2007

Force India: 2008-????

The handsome Grizzly

A few days ago, Grizzly was taken to a grooming saloon for a well-deserved makeover, and here he is, returning home clean and handsome!

Happy Thanksgiving

Grizzly would like to wish you all a happy and relaxing Thanksgiving holiday.

Trip to HK - First stop

The first stop on the way to Hong Kong was Japan.

A colorful display outside a small cafe at the Narita airport.

Japanese are indeed serious about Re-cycling, look at all the various categories!

Pepsi

Pepsi had a promotion a few months ago, decorating its soda bottles and cans with different designs, some are so-so and some are quite interesting. These are 4 of the many designs that I found at a local Walmart.

Impressive car stunt

Karting

Yesterday, a couple of co-workers and I went karting in Richmond, VA. It is a 2 hour, 300 laps endurance race.

Teaming up with Mahesh and Nikhil in the number 3 car, we had a great time blasting around the track. I think we did get up to 30-40mph on the back straight. Racing against Joe and Paul in the number 10 car, and 6 other teams of experienced drivers, it was a physically demanding race and we finished in a respectable 8th place, or in another word, First, if counting from the bottom : )

PGM 4

Wow, check this out - this game trailer from Project Gotham Racing 4 for Xbox 360 has my dream car - Ariel Atom racing in Hong Kong, so very cool!!!

An Uplifting News Story

http://www.wpbf.com/news/14022994/detail.html

Interesting Observation

While I was getting my lunch at the cafeteria today, I noticed that among the many selections of Tropicana orange juice, I saw this 3 kinds - "No Pulp", "Some Pulp" and "Lots of Pulp".

Then I start to think - we live in such a free society, even the same orange juice has 3 choices, just for the amount of pulp!!!

And then I thought - if I buy one "No Pulp" and one "Lots of Pulp" and mix them together, will I get the same amount of Pulp as two "Some Pulp"?

New Van!!!

Today was both a sad day and a joyful day.

Sad - because after 5+ years and over 80,000 miles, we said "Farewell" to our Honda Odyssey, which has been a useful, reliable and fun-to-drive vehicle to my family.

Joyful - because we took delivery and said "Hi" to our new Nissan Quest. As you can see, Yvonne was happy and so looking forward to learn and play with all the gadgets in the van.

To the right of the vehicle is Ana, our saleslady. Last, but not least, though not picutred, KJ - another salesman, whom has been patiently serving and arranging test drives for us for the past 9 months.

Kid #17

Check this out, a couple with 17 kids!

http://www.cnn.com/2007/LIVING/personal/08/03/17.kids.ap/index.html

Initial D

Check this out, looks like a lot of fun!

http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/arcade/japanese-initial-d-arcade-booth-features-actual-tofu-car-283946.php

A drink called Ferrari

I myself is not a drinker, but I would definitely want to try this....maybe I can get the ingredients and mix it myself one day : )

http://www.autoblog.com/2007/07/29/mix-yourself-a-ferrari/

It looks like the drink is kind of Scuderia Red in color, and I like that Ferrari logo tumbler too.

Oh Sheba!!!

Grizzly is so happy today!

Why? It is because Connie had given him a delicious gift.

From the outside, it looks like a box of chocolate, but when you open it......Da Da! It is a can of Sheba gourmet cat food. Grizzly would like to tell Auntie Connie: " Meeeow Meow" (Thank You, I supposed) : )

Even the cat on the box looks a bit like Grizzly, don't you think?

Truck Drifting!

I have seen various kinds of drifing, mostly RWD cars, but with a tractor? Pretty impressive truck drifting clip.

http://videos.streetfire.net/video/2e193314-cb3a-486b-8b38-996b00181758.htm

Sparkling Clean Grizzly

Grizzly was taken to a cat equivalent of a "Spa treatment" today and look at him - clean & cute!

Very Funny Clip

http://video.yahoo.com/video/play?vid=702156&cache=1

Car Quiz

find your car personality here

Check it out, kind of fun.

Grizzly - F1 sponsor?

*photos: courtesy of motorsport-total.com

Is that Grizzly on the Red Bull car for the British GP!?!

Grizzly

Just a random pic of Grizzly....since I saw Jasper's comment on my previous post.

Self Checkout

Recently, I came across this "Scan-As-You-Go" article on cnn.com:

http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/ptech/06/21/scan.as.you.shop.ap/index.html

So, we decided to go to this Bloom (used to be a Food Lion) store and check it out, the scanner is not big at all, and it was quite cool. You pick the item, scan it and bag it!

Doesn't the handheld scanner look like a Phazer gun from Star Trek!?

Lego News

Just read about this today....

http://www.toynewsmag.com/news/27662/Lego-whips-up-Indiana-Jones-deal

As Lego moves away from Harry Potter, here comes another licensed- product line - Indiana Jones Lego!

Other than Star Wars Lego, I am not a big fan of their licensed lines - Spider Man, Batman, Harry Potter, Avatar, Spongebob....they are all kind of lame, in my opinion.

Lego: New & Old

Freshly arrived from Netherlands, and not available here in the US yet - The new Lego cement mixer (7990)!

Comment: A very nice set, especially the barrel with raised swirl lines on the inside. Throw in the included grey circular 1x1 pieces (cement cake??), as you turn the barrel to one side, the pieces will go into the barrel and turn the other side, the swirl lines will make the pieces come out from the barrel.....very very cool.

Check out Lego's previous cement mixer, from 1985! It is on the lower side.

New vs. Old

Modern vs. Classic

Complex vs. Simple

Wide vs. Narrow

Big vs. Small

Which one do you like more?

My latest

Me waking up 5:45am and realizing it is not the weekend yet, and I have to get ready to go to work.

How I spent Father's Day, with USGP on tv......sleep, sleep, and more sleep....cause I was sick : (

*Re-enacted by: Grizzly the cat

This past month - part 3

Skittles

Ice Cream (limited edition)

Caramel Ripple, Chocolate, Vanilla, Orange Vanilla Swirl & Strawberry

Carnival Flavors (limited edition)

Cotton Candy, Bubble Gum, Candy Apple, Red Licorice & Green Slushy

This past month - part 2

More KitKat.....

The flavors are:

Strawberry

Banana Pumpkin

Apple Chestnut

Orange Dark Chocolate/Orange

Mocha

Cinnamon

This past month - part 1

4/14 - New York trip with family, Connie and Steve

Ethan's must go place - M&M's World, next stop, NY Autoshow....