My Favorite Pet
Chi-Chi the Pomeranian
I met Chi-Chi and brought him home in 1998. I was told that his birthday is Jan. 02, 1998, but I can never be sure since there is no birth certification. I was the one made the decision to bring him home and gave him the name Chi-Chi. However, since my mom is actually the one who's been feeding him, so he's more attached to her... And although my dad is probably the one who's always been the nicest to him, he showed the least respect to my dad. Well, just like those rebellious teenagers... My mom feeds him very well, so he's always been overweight.
Unlike other dogs, Chi-Chi does not like to go out at all. In fact, he is afraid of going out. He would run straight back home when brought outside. Anyways, he's a very behaved dog and almost always knows to pee and poo at the designated place. And he is very tame, almost way too tame... He won't bite you even if you put your fingers into his mouth, but turns his head away. He is also timid and always hide when strangers visit our home. Most people won't even notice that we have a dog... Anyways, he is really a lovely good dog.
My Favorite Car
1999 Ford Mustang 35th Anniversary Edition
Bought it in October 2002 from a Hungarian, who was moving overseas. I knew I wasn't going to stay in the U.S. permanently, so I wanted to drive a car that carries American spirit. The chrome yellow color was a happy accident since I wasn't actually looking for a yellow car, but just bought the right color at the right time from the right person.
It came with a 5-speed manual transmission, and still in very good shape! I enjoy driving it!! It's super fuel-efficienct on highway, although it's MPG in city is pretty miserable... It belongs to the forth generation of the Mustang family since 1964. This 1999-2004 model is also my favorite design.
Almost everyone I know knows that I drive a yellow Mustang. My dissertation adviser, Prof. Agogino, even asked me to blog on the Engineering Education "Today in History" Blog that she oversees on March 9th, the anniversary of the first Mustang.
My Favorite Websites
Engineering Pathway
I have worked on the development of this website during my graduate years. My Ph.D. adviser, Prof. Agogino, is the PI of this project. It's the engineering wing of the National Science Digital Library, and is the portal to lots of excellent learning resources of all levels and of all engineering disciplines that can be used for teaching, self-learning, reference, and any other education purpose. In addition, it also contains tons of informative features such as "today in history", "engineering news", etc. You'd be surprised how much information you can find on this website. Link: http://www.engineeringpathway.com
Smart Lighting Project
This is a dedicated website for the Smart Lighting Project, on which I have worked during my graduate years. The Smart Lighting Project started with the objective of intelligent control of office lighting for energy efficiency and user satisfaction. It gradually evolved its focus to broader topics nowadays, such as mood lighting, etc. This website documents almost every bit of my dissertation research as well as the good works done by my fellow colleagues in the Smart Lighting group. Hopefully this website will get updated frequently to reflect the most recent research of this group. Link: http://www.intelligent-lighting.com
My Favorite Bass Guitar
1976 Fender Jazz Bass
I bought this baby on eBay. The seller claimed that it is a Fender Jazz bass from 1976. Wow!! A bass guitar that is as old as me, or maybe even a couple of months older than me... When I got the bass, the finish was sanded off and the bridge, pickups and control circuit had all been retrofitted. The neck plate serial number (697424) indeed indicate that it's from '76. But other than the neck plate, there is probably no way to tell if the rest of it (neck, body, tuning pegs, etc.) are really from 1976. Anyways, I didn't really care as long as it's a genuine Fender Jazz, and it does sound 100% Fender Jazz.
I spent quite a fortune, maybe even more than what I paid for this bass, to restore/retrofit it to what I like. I first took it to a luthier to put new layers of clear painting on the body and route a new battery compartment and jack hole. The luthier told me that the body is indeed a genuine vintage Fender. Well, that's reassuring. The luthier did an okay job repainting the body, but routed the battery compartment right under where the bridge was ... That was totally not what I told him where I'd like the battery compartment to be, and I think anyone knows guitar and has common sense knows not to drill holes directly under the bridge... So it doesn't worth mentioning the name of that luthier. Then I replace the EMG pickups and preamp that came with the bass with a set of Aero pickups and Sadowsky onboard preamp as I was never a fan of the fat, electronic tone of EMGs. The sound of Aero pickups was surprisingly clear, and the sound delivered by the Sadowsky preamp was so awesome!!! The final thing I did was to put on a Hipshot D tuner.
The bass is old, and the frets have worn out quite a bit. But the sound it delivers is still wonderful. Love it!!!
My Favorite Sports
Kayaking
It all started at a trip to Hawaii, where I first paddled in a "sit-on-top" kayak at Kailua Beach with my wife. At that time the shop just told me, "there is a 20-minute DVD instruction outside, and you are good to go after watching it." The trip went well, but I just thought I need to learn it the right way. So I enrolled in the kayak class offered by Cal Adventure and learned to paddle in a "sit-in" kayak. I didn't expect to fall in love with paddling, but I did anyways...
After learning basic strokes and rescue skills, I started to explore more adventurous paddling, including rolling, surfing, etc. Haven't mastered in any of those skills, but am working on them. You'd be amazed how beautiful it is when sitting in the middle of the ocean or bay in the little boat. Although the water can get rough, I found it actually exciting under that situation as long as it's not too intimidating.
Right now I paddle mostly in the Half Moon Bay close to the Pillar Point Harbor. I've made a few good friends paddling. This community is really friendly and paddling is really a good way to enjoy the weekend all year round!
Skiing
I first started skiing in 03 or 04, and skiing once or twice every year was pretty much I did. Never thought I'd fall in love with it although it was indeed a lot fun. Thanks to my ski buddy, Ming-Tsang, who dragged me to ski almost every other weekend during the winters of 07/08 and 08/09, I found more and more fun in it. I am still pretty suck at it, but just love it. Love the slope, love the speed.
My Favorite Kayak
NDK Romany
I acquired this NDK Romany in 2011. Compared to the previous kayaks I have owned, it is shorter, and thus a bit slower. However, it's probably the most versatile boat I've ever paddled. I especially love it's low back deck, which makes it a lot easier to roll and to climb back on for a cowboy rescue. This boat is highly maneuverable and responds quickly to a turn as soon as I put an edge on it.
There's the spec of the Romany. Length: 19.51 feet; width: 21.26 inch. Other than it's performance, I also greatly appreciate the many small but extremely thoughtful features Nigel Dennis put on this boat, including the carefully arranged deck bungee cord for securing spared paddles, the sloping bulkhead behind the seat that allows emptying water easily and complete by lifting the bow, etc. I hope I will be able to spend more time with it in water different conditions.