Kitchen Remodel is Completed!!

Update #1:
Well, the kitchen remodel has been completed since last Monday, but I haven't gotten around to post on the blog. There were some more issues with the plumbing that caused some more delay, but it went well at the end. The counter top has really grown on me. I think S made the right choice with beige sand color after all!
My aunt has been such a great help. I lost eight pounds during the three week when I was alone with Di-di. My aunt is working hard to feed us and I must have gained at least five pounds back already. I am fat, happy AND lazy again! :)

Update #2
Di-di has started his fall music classes again at Kinder Music. He is looking forward to his one-hour class every Saturday morning.

Updated #3
Di-di LOVES watching Mei-mei's video. Mei-mei is my cousin's adoptive daughter and they did spend some time living and playing together in Taiwan, but I had no idea that Di-di is so addicted to watching her video!! Every time I turned off her video, he would throw one of those now rare tantrums~~ Sorry, Baba.. Di-di was not as upset when I turned off your video this morning! :)

Bath

I went to Bath last weekend since it looks like the last weekend before things went from busy to insanely busy. Thankfully the weather was absolutely beautiful and I had a great day.

I left London at 8am and took a smooth 2 hour train ride. (Side note: During the 4 hour ride (to and from Bath) I was able to finish half of a book I am reading called "My life as a Quant". Sounds pretty boring but it is an interesting book about a physics PhD who had a very successful career on Wall Street. Although it is not required reading for my school I am trying to learn as much as possible about all the facets of Wall Street. )

When I got to Bath I walked around the whole town centre (which like most towns in the UK took all of 40 minutes). Then saw a tour of the ancient Roman baths. The baths were built around 300-400AD. It was a very impressive bathing complex with multiple bathing pools, a dry sauna, changing rooms, etc. (In retrospect, it isn't that much different from modern day spas.)

Then I had a "full British breakfast" at a department store (I know, odd place for a breakfast). A full British breakfast is a heart-attack waiting to happen....It is comprised of 2 eggs, bacon, sausage and hash browns. For good measure I also had tomatoes and mushrooms.

Next, I went to the only place in UK where you can swim/dip in natural spring water. The spa is 4 stories and top floor has an open air pool where you overlook the town. I didn't want to upset the other bathers by taking pictures but you can see the view from this link.
www.thermaebathspa.com

After that I checked out Bath Abbey (which is a stunning, well-preserved church), ate dinner, did a little shopping and went home!

P.S. - you can click on each picture to see it in all its grandeur...

Busy, busy, busy

The pace at school is picking up. I have homework due next Monday and a midterm next Thursday. I went to bed at 10:15pm but woke up at 2:30am, so decided to work on my homework.

It is getting close to 4am so I probably should try to go back to sleep as I have a busy day ahead...2 classes, study session with my 'team' of 5 fellow students and Investment Management club kick-off meeting.
There is also a 'meeting' at 8pm at the local pub to hear from fellow students about their experiences in I-banking, but I probably won't attend.

Sorry for the dry blog but I had to mix it up (most of my past blogs were filled with my little excursions in and around London)...don't worry the next blog will have some pics of my trip to Bath this past weekend.

Random Cute Pictures

Di-di is such a good boy. He went through his terrible-two stage so fast that I sometimes don't quite remember the mega tantrums.:) Now, I can actually hold "conversations" and reason with him. He is still potty challenged, but we will work on that slowly.

P.S. Kitchen is not completely done yet, but we are getting closer.

Snobbish Shopping in London

I went to the Brooks Brothers store in London recently. It is located in a very nice part of town with other expensive shops. I didn't see any prices on the shirts or anywhere else in the store. So I walked up to an employee and asked about the prices. Like many things in London, the 'numerical value' is the same as in the U.S. but is priced in pounds instead of dollars. So at current exchange rates, things are generally about 1.8 times as expensive.

I asked him whether they had any promotions such as, "Buy three shirts for x pounds". He said "No, we are not a DISCOUNT store". I told him that Brooks Brothers in the U.S. has those discounts. The Brooks Brothers stores in the U.S. often have these promotions...but I didn't mention this. I let him off easy. =)

I went to another store and bought a light blue, herringbone pattern, double French cuff, classic Prince of Wales collar dress shirt. (Say that three times fast)
The shirt was half the price of the shirts at Brooks Brothers and the quality seems excellent.

Life is good!

New counter tops are in; the new breaker is installed and nothing was "fried"!! Kitchen faucet, and the appliances will be installed on Monday, so yeah..we are making progress.

My aunt has been awesome! She started cleaning my house as soon as we arrived home from the airport! No, I did NOT ask her to do so. She just can not sit around and relax, so she has been cleaning my house every day. She has also been cooking for us every night using my hotpot cooker and she helps me take care of Di-di after he comes home from school. This week has felt like a mini vacation and I feel so much more relaxed and happy. :)

We also had a special visitor! My friend D and P traveled to CA with baby A, so they hang out with us on Wed evening. My aunt took care of baby A for 6 months in Taiwan when D and P were going through the adoption process. Baby A has been home since the end of March. My aunt was sad that baby A has totally forgotten her, but we are very happy she has bonded well with D and P. Baby A only wants her mommy and daddy now! She is turning one year old in a few days and has changed so much since I last saw her in Taiwan. She no longer looks like a baby and is so much a little girl now, so I shouldn't call her baby A anymore...hahaha.. Di-di was happy to have so many people in the house to play with him, but he was not much of a gentleman. He still had a hard time sharing his toys with A. :)

(S with baby A in Jan 08 when we visited Taiwan)

(A small conference in Dec 07 for adopted babies in my aunt's- Baby A. Mei-mei and Di-di:)

(Baby A. looks so different now!! My aunt and I just love her natural curly hair which is rare for Han Chinese.)

(Do you think they still recognize each other after 8 months?:)

Kitchen Remodel Challenges

Even though our kitchen remodel has not risen to the level of a "disaster" yet, it's soon approaching to be one..

Here are some lessons I have learned:
1. Always expect delay: I was too optimistic to believe that everything will be done in 4 days. Well, two weeks later, I am still without all of the counter tops, kitchen sink and appliances.
2. Expect project cost overrun: on top of the dining out expenses I had previously mentioned, I would budget 10% to 20% of unexpected costs. In our case, the small electrical problem with the garage plugs has now turned into a $2000 job. I hired electrician #1 who supposedly made the problem worse according to electrician #2. Electrician #1 never returned as he had promised to fix the problems after he unscrewed the plugs in question & didn't even return my calls!! I hired electrician #2 who did fix the problem at $350, but he also suggested that for safety reason I should have the entire "breaker" replaced which costs $1500 plus a $100 for permit. I of course told him to go ahead and do it.... It sounds like a lot of work and the whole house will be without electricity for one day. Hmmm how do I squeeze this one in when I still have counter tops and appliances to be installed? What if he mess up and my brand new appliances are fried... Can you feel that I am getting more and more pessimistic about the remodel!!
3. Trust your instinct and the show room display when choose a new counter top. Lowes kitchen show room featured this beautiful solid surface counter top with an awesome "desert sand" color and I was sold. It's a warmer sand color that obviously goes well with the cabinets and our existing wall color. However, S didn't like it. The color bugs him, because it didn't quite go with the new stainless steel appliances. Sigh... he liked this "beige sand" color & I just...whatever... All we saw was a small piece of sample that looked ok... However, when the installation guy showed up with half of the counter top I almost had a heart attack. It looked sooo much more gray with a little brown than I had envisioned. The color didn't go with anything in our house right now. It was too late to change, unless we put in a brand new order ($2,800). We are stuck with the "beige sand", but I am hoping it might look better once the appliances are in. It might grow on me. The installation guy joked that the gray counter top goes well with our drive way and our cars...hahaha... too bad I can't put those things in my house!!! :)

*** Picked up my aunt from the airport today!!!! Di-di and I are almost fully recovered from the flu.

(Temp cooking stove. I totally forgot that I had this personal cooker for my rare Taiwanese hot pot feast! It has really come in handy when I just don't want to dine out anymore!)

(Bathroom/kitchen sink in one.)

(Mess left by electrician #1)

(Mess left by electrician #1)

(Mess left by electrician #1: this was what caused my network outage)

(Electrician #2 did his magic.)

(Can you see how "gray" my new counter top is compared to "beach sand"? Calling it "beige sand" was too deceiving!!! The installation guy showed me a sample of the "beach sand" color that he just installed... not as lovely as "desert sand", but is still better than "beige sand".)

Degree-catchers

Some people think I have too many degrees...maybe I do, but my Professor has me beat. My Investments Professor has a BS, MS, MBA, MiF and PhD.

Then a few of my classmates are just as bad, or good depending on your point of view...Quite a few like me already have MBAs. But 2 students stand out so far, one already has a MiF degree from Korea and another classmate has a PhD in Aerospace Engineering. There are probably other 'degree-catchers' that I haven't met yet.

1st week of classes

I started school this week and it has been very hectic...but in a good way. This week I have gone to school around 7-8am and have stayed for about 12 hours. Right now class is only a small part of the day. Most of the time is spent on career training and orientation. It is a lot more intense than at UC Davis (no surprise).

The good thing is that Career Services is taken extremely seriously. When the head of career services asked her team to stand up and introduce themselves, the whole class burst out in shock and laughter as 20-25 people stood up. There are four finance specialists in career services and one of the ladies worked as a VP for Goldman Sachs!

I have my CAIA exam next Thursday so I have been busy trying to squeeze that into all the other activities going on. I am in good shape for the exam and just want to get it over with.