Best of 2002

See below for our fondest memories from 2002....

Our fondest memories from 2002: Ryan figuring out "what's most important to him and why" as part of the business school admission process, scrambling to get the admissions package together, the agonizing wait made even more agonizing by the news in February that Ryan's employer, Bluefire Systems, was going to fold up shop (bet you wish you'd applied to more than one school now, don't you Ryan!). Rather than sit around waiting for the phone to ring, Ryan jetted off to join Edward for a long weekend of skiing in the French Alps. Eunice tried to do a phone conference so we could listen to the fateful voicemail together, but Ryan was only linked in to hear the final seconds... but it was the admission director, and the news was good-- business school, here we come!

We spent the rest of the spring planning our summer travels to China and Southeast Asia (watching lots of subtitled films from the region on NetFlix in preparation) and enjoying our final days living in San Francisco...

Then it was off to Asia! Read about our adventures here -- our favorite memories included early mornings playing with the foster kids at New Day, team-teaching business classes at the Chinese magnet factory, eating delicious fish lettuce wraps (washed in local water, causing Ryan to say to Eunice, "remind me how good this tasted when I'm ill") overlooking the Mekong river in Laos, hiking up a valley lined with bright green rice paddies in Sapa Vietnam, watching sun rise over the main temple at Angkor Wat, having our smelly backpacks carried up to our fantastic (free) room at the Oriental Hotel in Bangkok, picking out our $2 a night hut on an isolated white-sand beach in Ko Pha Ngan Thailand, our first scuba dive together on the reefs off of Malaysia, and our last night together sleeping on bamboo mats in a Japanese Ryuken in the shrine town of Nikko.

What did we learn? This kind of trip doesn't have to be once in a lifetime: it's surprisingly easy to let go of everything (except each other), kids won't end the adventures, we don't need luxury (just its ocassional availability!), and we like feeling a sense of connection to the places we travel. Most importantly, we learned that we will never get sick of each other.

Coming back was another flurry of activity: finding our little College Terrace cottage in Palo Alto and getting ready for the all-encompasing experience of business school. What better way for Ryan to prepare than a week of solo backpacking through Desolation Wilderness, a weekend with family back in San Diego, and celebrating our 1 year wedding anniversary by taking a bay cruise under the Golden Gate Bridge. Our experience in the first months at the GSB ranged from mountain biking trips in Tahoe to study groups in corporate finance to hosting a black tie dinner party that completely maxed out our cottage. Then there were the ongoing weekly activities: Tuesday night bar crawls, Thursday nights at "the Goose" with deviled eggs and liars dice, and Friday afternoon "Liquidity Preference Functions." Ahhh, gotta love business school.

Special memories in our life outside of b-school included the weddings of Scott and Jess, Alonzo and Grace, and Jeff and Annie; Gong gong and Po po's wedding anniversary which served as a family reunion for Eunice's extended family down in LA; and a huge, multi-cultural Thanksgiving hosted by Ryan's parents in the Marina.

We finished the year with some fantastic ski trips to Tahoe and a grand tour visiting family and friends in Palo Alto, Lake Tahoe, Oakland, San Francisco, Marin, Los Angeles, San Diego, Whistler, and Vancouver. We came back needing a vacation from our vacation!

Click here for the collage, of photos from 2002.

2003 Christmas and New Years

We toured the west coast this Christmas, seeing family and friends in Palo Alto, Lake Tahoe, Oakland, San Francisco, Marin, Los Angeles, San Diego, Whistler, and Vancouver. We came back needing a vacation from our vacation! Below are 5 galleries featuring favorite moments from our trip. Click here for photos...

2002 Thanksgiving at the Nichols

We celebrated Thanksgiving this year at the Nichols' place in the Marina. We had a group of 20, including the Nichols, the Barons, the Lins/Tangs, and some of Ryan's classmates from overseas. Click here for photos.

Autumn at Stanford GSB

Since coming back from our summer travels, we've found a house and spent lots of time with friends and family. These pictures represent some of our fondest memories of our first autumn at Stanford. Click here for photos.

60th Wedding Anniversary Celebration

30 of Gong Gong and Po Po's children, grandchildren, and great-children gathered in Monterey Park to help them celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary. Here are photos from meals, the family photo shoot, more meals, the church service, hanging out at the hotel, and more meals. Click here for pictures.

2002 Fall Weddings

We had the pleasure of attending the weddings of some dear friends this fall: Scott and Jess, Alonzo and Grace, Jeff and Annie. Click here for photos.

Bebe and Jake

Bebe and Jake were two of the finest dogs ever to roam the earth. This site captures some of our favorite memories with these wonderful boxers.

Asia Adventrues

On May 1, we left on a three-month sabbatical to China and Southeast Asia. Experiencing this part of the world had long been a dream of ours, and we were very fortunate to be able to take this trip: Eunice managed to get the time off of work—Ryan didn’t have to worry about getting time off since his company went under in March!

We started off in Beijing. After visiting Eunice's family and seeing the sights, we spent three weeks volunteering at an organization that run a foster home and community center, all funded by a small factory. We helped take care of kids in the foster home, taught English, business and computer classes, and worked to make the business side of things more efficient. Then we spent two months backpacking across Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore, with a quick stop in Tokyo.