As part of my attempt to help doug move, I will now write up some of my first impressions about the San Francisco bay area, in particular the south bay area where I live and work in.
I have lived here for a little over 3 months now, and I like it. The Bay Area is quite spread out, so when I say bay area, I really mean Sunnyvale and Palo Alto. Palo Alto has a great downtown area - lots of nice restaurants, coffee shops and random boutiques. It reminds me of Ann Arbor, minus the snow, and a much nicer campus in Stanford. Besides the stunning campus, Stanford appears to be quite friendly to (nerdy) visitors, with a good number of free-for-all academic gatherings. I must say the speakers I've heard at Stanford are on average more famous, if not better, than the ones in Ann Arbor. Also, like Ann Arbor, Stanford brings in a good collection of classical musicians. I went to an Organ concert a few weeks ago, and it sounded amazing.
Sunnyvale is not quite as plush as Palo Alto, but that makes rent way cheaper. If you are willing to commute, you can find decent rent in the bay area. In fact, I'm only paying $30 more per month than when I lived in Austin. Granted, I lived in a 1-1 in northwest Austin, but my 3-3 townhouse now has everything I want. I usually take the caltrain to work, and it's working out very well. Even on days that I drive, it only takes about half an hour.
There are many fun things to do in the bay area: beautiful hiking trails, great snow in Tahoe, surfing, wake boarding, sand volleyball, etc. Two negatives about the bay area: potential earthquakes, and very very expensive housing.
Sunday, April 30, 2006
Thursday, April 27, 2006
Sports
People are sometimes crazy about their sports teams. This blogger, for example, writes up a play-by-play after every Michigan football game. Another blogger refused to talk to any one for a whole week after Duke lost. I myself have spent countless hours cheering for the Michigan football team. But when it comes to my favorite sporting event, it's not the rose bowl or the super bowl or the NBA finals or the AVP, it's hands down, the Inter-School Athletics Championship in Hong Kong. One of these days I will plan my vacation around this and go see my favorite team beat up on some lesser schools.
Here's a recent news clip on how DBS came first in all three age groups this year. Just like any year, DBS also dominated in many other sporting events, as well as in speech and music competitions.
Here's a recent news clip on how DBS came first in all three age groups this year. Just like any year, DBS also dominated in many other sporting events, as well as in speech and music competitions.
Sunday, April 16, 2006
About Austin TX
[In order to help Doug move I decided to write up some thoughts on Austin. I have lived there on and off for about 30 months.]
What I like about Austin:
1. Great BBQ
- Ribs that melt in your mouth are hard to find outside of Texas.
2. Awesome community
- Most of my friends there were from the Austin Chinese Church. They are some of the most friendly and easy-going people. On any given week there are lots of fun activities.
3. Affordable housing
- Unlike the bay area, you can actually buy a decent house in Austin. A nice starter house around 2000 sq. ft. would cost about 150K. If you rent out a room or two, with the relatively low morgage rates, a house can easily pay for itself. If you need a realtor, I know a few!
4. Live music
- As the live music capital of the world, Austin has all kinds of bands playing all the time. If you like jazz, I recommend the Elephant Room and the Continental Club.
5. Outdoor sports (Sand volleyball, wake boarding)
- I spent so much time playing sand volleyball, my sand game is finally respectable. At a double B men's tournament at Auzzie's, Andy and I came third out of twelve teams. Matt and I also had a winning streak of 15 matches straight. We got fed up with the lack of competition at the Riata, and drove down to Zilker park one Saturday. Even there, we dominated.
What I don't like about Austin:
1. HOT HOT HOT summers
- The 100+ degree summers are hot, but I'd take that over Michigan winters any time.
2. Houses that don't appreciate
- With so much land, depending on where you buy, your house may not appreciate much in a five year span.
3. Mediocre Chinese food
- While much better than Michigan, Chinese restaurants there still has a lot of room for improvement. If Houston were a bit closer, all the Austin Chinese restaurants would shut down. One exception is Din Ho, which, despite its numerous health citations, is quite ok.
4. Too far from skiing
5. No professional sports team
What I like about Austin:
1. Great BBQ
- Ribs that melt in your mouth are hard to find outside of Texas.
2. Awesome community
- Most of my friends there were from the Austin Chinese Church. They are some of the most friendly and easy-going people. On any given week there are lots of fun activities.
3. Affordable housing
- Unlike the bay area, you can actually buy a decent house in Austin. A nice starter house around 2000 sq. ft. would cost about 150K. If you rent out a room or two, with the relatively low morgage rates, a house can easily pay for itself. If you need a realtor, I know a few!
4. Live music
- As the live music capital of the world, Austin has all kinds of bands playing all the time. If you like jazz, I recommend the Elephant Room and the Continental Club.
5. Outdoor sports (Sand volleyball, wake boarding)
- I spent so much time playing sand volleyball, my sand game is finally respectable. At a double B men's tournament at Auzzie's, Andy and I came third out of twelve teams. Matt and I also had a winning streak of 15 matches straight. We got fed up with the lack of competition at the Riata, and drove down to Zilker park one Saturday. Even there, we dominated.
What I don't like about Austin:
1. HOT HOT HOT summers
- The 100+ degree summers are hot, but I'd take that over Michigan winters any time.
2. Houses that don't appreciate
- With so much land, depending on where you buy, your house may not appreciate much in a five year span.
3. Mediocre Chinese food
- While much better than Michigan, Chinese restaurants there still has a lot of room for improvement. If Houston were a bit closer, all the Austin Chinese restaurants would shut down. One exception is Din Ho, which, despite its numerous health citations, is quite ok.
4. Too far from skiing
5. No professional sports team
Help Doug move
My college housemate, Doug, has been out in Macedonia with the Peace Corps. After a little over a year of setting up water treatment plants and teaching English, he is now starting to look for jobs back in the States. Doug spent most of his life in Michigan, and is curious what other places have to offer. This is what he says:
"I want to know what you feel about where you live and your community. What do you get out of where you live? I'm not going to use this info to pick a best place to live but get an idea of what it means to you all and to help me figure out where I'd like to end up"
Doug is one of the nicest people on earth, so of course I'll tell him what I think about the places I've lived in (e.g. Austin and the San Francisco Bay Area). If you have any place you like or don't like, please contribute by adding comments to this post, or emailing me your thoughts, or link to your post. I will forward them along to Doug at the end of April. Doug has a Masters in Chemical Engineering (from the University of Michigan), with a focus on environmental issues. He enjoys the great outdoors and is an all-around great guy. And, Ladies, last I heard he's single!
"I want to know what you feel about where you live and your community. What do you get out of where you live? I'm not going to use this info to pick a best place to live but get an idea of what it means to you all and to help me figure out where I'd like to end up"
Doug is one of the nicest people on earth, so of course I'll tell him what I think about the places I've lived in (e.g. Austin and the San Francisco Bay Area). If you have any place you like or don't like, please contribute by adding comments to this post, or emailing me your thoughts, or link to your post. I will forward them along to Doug at the end of April. Doug has a Masters in Chemical Engineering (from the University of Michigan), with a focus on environmental issues. He enjoys the great outdoors and is an all-around great guy. And, Ladies, last I heard he's single!
Sunday, April 09, 2006
Tool of the Month
Once in a while I would come across great tools - slick and pretty tools that work well. In March, I started using bloglines, and have found myself using it every day. It is basically a web-based RSS reader that has been around for quite some time. If you don't already have a nice RSS reader, try bloglines, I think you will like it too.
[Honorable mention: riya.com - an awesome tool that does face recognition and more]
[On a side note, what's up with xanga not allowing public rss feeds? In this web2.0 day and age, unless I'm missing something, that is just backwards]
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