Top Ten 2019

Greetings Everyone Happy 2020! - here is My Annual Top Ten list, I wasn't is a particularly celebratory mood this year, until I went through and read the many Holiday cards we received, which reminded me of all of you!; So with gratitude and appreciation here is a look back at some of what made 2019 special. 

10. Funerals If one reads my Top Ten lists you will find them devoid of any unhappy or dis-comforting events. Which isn't to say I don't have them, (and most of them due to the squirrels in my head as Alison H. calls it) its just that I don’t really care to remember or memorialize them.  This past year I attended my first ever funeral. The funeral was for Vasu auntie who was a close family friend. I spent many days and nights in her house. As did hundreds of others.  The love and appreciation for her was truly heartfelt and she will be remembered by all of us.

We also received news late this year that Yufen’s dad, my father in law, passed away after a long bout with cancer.  He was always jovial and upbeat around me (and others) even though we didn’t speak the same language. He even managed to tell me to take care of his daughter in a nice jovial way when we got married. The funeral will be held in a few weeks... 

9.  Summer 2019.  I’ve got to get this back to my usual fun, memorable stuff and what better way than recounting my summer.  Once again Yufen and the kids went to Taiwan this summer without me having to face the Taiwan summer. I kept myself incredibly occupied with help with my friends.  Jamie, Cole, Natalie and special guests (including Mimi). We would start many a day fast walking the lake. We made two trips up to Sonora where we stayed at Chateau St. George.  One major highlight was finding a cave with a river flowing through it. On a subsequent trip later in the fall we returned with river tubes and went through it! We also used the stay to get to Yosemite which after the copious snow of the winter had tons of water cascading down the falls.  Always a treat! I got up to Tahoe where even in June my favorite hike was closed - although I went up as far as I could - skiing on July 4th weekend. Macey’s 50th was a blast! And I became a Brooklyn millennial for a week staying with my brother in his Williamsburg hotel/apartment in the first of my NY trips.  Not only did we change the NY skyline, we also had dinner and chatted with Jon Voight.

8.  Trip to Hawaii.   Thank you Southwest for opening up the Hawaii routes.  They had a special sale when they first announced the fares and I pounced!  Yu-fen and I scored two tickets for almost nothing and we had a great 4 day trip in Maui.  Maui had the beach side where we stayed and where we snorkeled, swam with turtles, and some amazing sunsets.  On the other side Maui is tropical and we saw tons of waterfalls and incredible foliage. I should buy a place in Hawaii…     

7.     Weddings.  We went to two weddings this year - Two weddings and a Funeral.  Kulan and Sufeng's weddng was first up - another Indian and Taiwanese couple - very elegantly done in the CIA - Culinary Institute of America in Napa.  The second was Monique and Robbie who got married nearby in Oakland. We are looking forward to the arrival of Jeremiah later this year.  (and congrats to David on Brielle).  

6.  Business - In 2018, Michael F and I started our short term rental business and I’m happy to report that that business has continued its success.  We more than doubled it on properties controlled and have put many operational improvements that enable us to maximize our revenue and more importantly reduce our time on it.  We have a development partner Rick T with whom we are trying to productize one of our Operational improvements - many thanks to Rick for his efforts. Also fun was watching the US National Swim team and a trip up to Tahoe in August where I was able to complete my favorite hike with Michael - for business of course!  

 Google Caeleb Dressel --> his mom & sister... 

The long term business continues to provide housing for our tenants - many of whom have been with us for many years.  We have a healthy cash flow from this business now while we continue to improve our properties through the years. I’m thankful to the people who make that happen.  Including my dad who not only is my book-keeper, he is trying to become a real estate developer himself. He brought Jamie and I to a seminar - where we found an awesome lobster place…  Thanks to Yufen for stepping up and learning the business and taking over parts of it - the best insurance.  

5.  Baseball and other Surprises.  Many thanks to Adam for letting me and Kaiden bum off his As All Access pass for many a trip to the Coliseum.  The A’s did well enough this year, probably not a surprise after last year, to make the playoffs and I bought the entire strip of playoff games - unfortunately the Wild Card game did them in and it was a short run. Thomas and Kaiden turned 5 each blasting pinatas.   I ran into a few people in Vegas this year as surprises. Cliff and I met for brunch in March. And then in May I totally “surprised” Jamie, Cole and Natalie as they were waiting in line to check in at Excalibur. They would say “creeped out”, I prefer surprised.  We saw a dinner/jousting show - not sure who thought horses and food would be a good combination? Halloween is always good for surprises - this year the surprise was that Yufen stole my costume! Kailee like every other 3rd grader was a character in Descendants. I would have looked smashing.   Our winter trip to Mexico was cut short due to the news of Yufen’s dad’s passing - it also marked the last trip with our Southwest Companion reward - thanks Michael A for that hack. Christmas was special thanks to Sameer and Abby’s visit - it made us miss Yufen less.  

4.  Fall Trip to NY.   I’ve always said the NY is a great place to visit and I wouldn’t want to live there.  So, this year I was blessed to go to NY with my family and friends (Natalie and Cole) for a purely sightseeing trip. With apologies to my NY friends and family who I totally dissed - this was for the kids to experience NY during the magical Holiday season.  We had watched Home Alone 2 and Night at the Museum so the kids had a great time seeing the City and some characters come alive. Thanks to my brother and Abby for hosting a great Thanksgiving meal (and the rest of the week) - the Capon rocked! Jamie next time you are coming, even if you are driving…  Lets see if Jay-Z or Lea Michele takes this video down… 

3.  Ski Trips.  There were several ski trips of note this past year.  Cliff and I hit Sun Valley Idaho and had a great three days under Blue Skys, although we missed Ed (who I saw later in NY, glad Cheryl is doing great!  Jaleel threw a Guys / 50th B’day ski trip up in Tahoe with Phillipe and Dave. Michael and Carl went up to Squaw where we Beta tested a skiing exo-skeloton that still needs much work.  

2.  100th Birthday Party with Steve

So I turned 50 and Steve and I decided to re-create our 30th Birthday Parties by hosting a joint event at the Boat House in Oakland.  Thanks to everyone who came and made it rock!!! esp , my brother for flying out for the event and our terrific party planners, Hoang, Natalie, Cole and Yu-Fen!   Thanks to Steve for being a friend all these years and so happy he is happy again. And thanks to Steve for the iPhone 11Pro discount - the photos, even of me are AMAZING!  

1.  Thanks everyone for great year - here's to 2019 and more of everyone's smiles and good nature!