My classmates rock! They are absolutely the most interesting and coolest people... with too many fun stories to tell. We had such a great weekend starting with dinner in Berkeley then hanging out around Russian River...

A group pic just before hiking Armstrong Woods.

Emerging out of my log. Cheers, from Hop Kiln Winery.

Lunch break at the Korbel Winery.

Goat Rock Beach. It was cold. There were no goats.

Chillin' on the beach.

Myra, me, and Sylvia.

Breakfast at the Fern Grove Cottages.

Mike, aka HoChie. Yea, that's Mike. Not me.

Me and Diep, rowing. Amin and June, relaxing.

Just before the collision...
The rest of the photos are here

So exciting... I'm about to head off to our Intern Retreat with all my classmates. This is the first time we all get to be together again since starting 4 months ago. We're hanging out in a vacation spot called Russian River where we get to live in little cottages and do absolutely no work. Yay! Stay tuned for updates and pictures!

I read your blogs. Yes, I do. You know who you are.

I have a 2 hour break this morning. Unbelievable. I'm going to get some bubble tea and bring it back to work...

It's been foggy the past couple of mornings and evenings. If this is as bad as the weather gets here, I'll be quite happy. Walking in the fog first thing in the morning feels kinda like floating in a cloud. What a way to start the day! And seeing the fog creep back in over the bay in the evening is such a spectacular sight. I thought I'd share...

I found bluerooroo again! She owns Ikea products too. That means she's OK.

I got out nice and early today. This does not happen often. All I gotta say is: Damn, this feels good! Anyways, off to run some errands, and then I'll meet up with Laura for dinner.

Silly girl! Silly boy! Silly gummies dancing on my laptop!

But we are normal. And we smell like Korean BBQ.

The roomie brought home some mango mochi's! Oh-geez! Mochi's for Ho Chie. So pleased.

It's such a nice day outside. But I have to go to work.

Nina and I met up with my cousin Cammy to see one of her friends in a band called Timmy Ramen. I'm having a hard time staying up late these days. I must be getting old.

Oh! And on a sidenote... after 4 long months, I'm finally holding a California Drivers License in my hand. I am finally feeling like a resident of California. It's about time.

It's been awhile since I last went out. I guess I've been too busy to even consider staying up past midnight unless I'm on call. But I have a decent schedule this week and next. So I took Rick to meet some of my fellow residents at a bar downtown. They're all so cute and fun! Tonight, it was Cindy, Diep, Cherie, and Sylvia. Rick was kind enough to buy them all drinks. Thanks Rick! And then we all went dancing afterwards. I might be aching even more tomorrow.

Guess who's visiting me. Yes, look beyond the extra facial hair...


HoChie71 = Rick
HoChie71: hello betttiiiiinnnnnaaaa
Mistery: lol
Mistery: heyhey =)
HoChie71: it's not hochie, guess who
Mistery: umm...
HoChie71: http://hochie.blogspot.com
Mistery: oh no, its goatee-type-looking-thing man!
HoChie71: gee thanks
Mistery: rofl

I sleep next to my window. Usually all I see are the tree tops, branches, and patches of clear sky. For the past few nights, the moon has been glowing through the trees right into my face as I drift off into never-never-land... Very peaceful. Wish I could share.

Happy Belated Birthday Margaret!


And in the past week... happy belated birthday also to: Jen, Karena, Phil, Sherry, Linn, Lucy Staci, Albert, Alex and Rebecca! I'm sure I missed others...

Happy Birthday today to Kim!

What a beautiful day today.

I'm having a craving for Korean BBQ and some bubble tea...

Waking up at 6:30 am is so much better than waking up at 5:30 am. Life is relatively better. Too bad I have this horrible cold and hacking cough.

code breaking at 12:30 AM is such a thrill...

de'bj 'bs gixguw
aeq aa sn;qq aa icr

Last day of my ward service... for now... I can wake up an hour later tomorrow morning and have a semi-normal schedule for 2 weeks. Let's celebrate!

I usually don't solicit or ask for help. But this is very cool news, I think, especially for my TAF friends reading this...

Alanna Lin (and her sibs) used to run the TAF JH program for years. She is now in LA working on her singing/songwriting career. Her brother Paul and sister Alice have also moved out there to support her, and they are working on generating some additional financial support in order to get her first CD out next month. If you know me, you know I totally enjoy seeing Asian Americans in the arts. And here we have one of our very own TAFers...

So, here is how I'd like you to help if you can...this week... write a $15.00 check out to Paul Lin for an advance purchase of Alanna's soon-to-be-recorded CD. In the FOR section on the check, write: FASCINOMA to ensure proper allocation of your investment/purchase. On a sheet of paper, tell them a little something about you and TAF (because it's been awhile since they've been there, and I think they'd get a kick out of it.) Send the check to:

Paul Lin
1546 South Bundy Drive # 101
Los Angeles, CA 90025

I think she has a great future ahead of her, so I'm sending my $100 donation tomorrow. If you're reading this Alanna - DON'T FORGET THE LITTLE PEOPLE! TAF LOVE FOREVER!

I had BBQ ribs for lunch at Tony Roma's with some old U of I friends... Shirphone, Alyssa, Margaret all got together since Felix and Joy were in town. I'm going to BBQ for dinner too. It's a meat kind of day. Heart attack scheduled for tomorrow.

Joy, Felix, Alyssa, Shirphone, me, and Marge.

The fog was rolling over San Francisco and Oakland this evening.

Armen and me and the wine glass.

I'm awake now. Again. What happened to Saturday? It just disappeared on me.

This morning I realized I never really posted many of Europe pics since I was in the process of moving here to SF. So here's a few more. I need another vacation...

Me and Broom at Disneyland Paris. Me and Ranee on the Eurail.

Cafe hopping is my life. Me and Yuling at Sacre Coeur.

Stone Age cell phone? Or rock? One of many crepe shops... Yum!

Hiking Lake Geneva, Switzerland. Leopard prints in our hotel. GRRR!

Phil and Dave at a nude beach? The artists' corner at Sacre Coeur.

Chillin' at the waterfront in Nice. A Vatican spiral stairwell. See me?

A woman in red shoes. Red roses & the Eiffel Tower.
Interesting things that capture my attention.

The pics I posted earlier are here in the archives!

YellowMnM81: hey what's with that cell phone?
Ho Chie 71: it's a rock!
YellowMnM81: hahaha
Ho Chie 71: i drew it!
YellowMnM81: eh?
Ho Chie 71: i drew on the rock
YellowMnM81: whoa!!
Ho Chie 71: looks real huh?
YellowMnM81: hahaha that's awesome
YellowMnM81: yep
YellowMnM81: why hochie.. you're great at everything! including drawing cell phone rocks!
Ho Chie 71: gee thanks!
YellowMnM81: haha yes coming from a member of your hochie fan club!
YellowMnM81: what ever happened to that anyway?!
Ho Chie 71: you mean it's dead?
YellowMnM81: well we haven't had a meeting in so long!!
Ho Chie 71: true...
YellowMnM81: we must have a revival!

What day is it? All I know is that I'm post-call, and I totally passed out after I got home. Bummer. I only meant to sleep a couple of hours and then head out to a couple of dinner parties... oops. Sorry Lara! Happy Birthday though! And sorry Cherie and Diep! I was really looking forward to your dinner! OK, now I'm totally wide awake at 1:30 am... What to do...

Hello to my Purple Team. You guys are so awesome! My transition to the ward service has been so much smoother because of all of you. Thank you all sooo much!

On a day of remembrance, there is still reason to celebrate...
Happy Birthday Karena! I love you! We all love you!
*BIG HUG*

It's your friendly neighborhood Spider Man!

Courtesy of an interesting stranger
and fellow blogger named Maryanne

A Tale of Two Ivy's.

I got a nice surprise visit from (West Coast) Ivy this evening. I guess she was headed to study near my apartment, so she made a pitstop here and we worked on chips and salsa as our dinner. Yum. Healthy. Almost. I just read (East Coast) Ivy's blog page. She's gonna be a co-director for the TAC JR/JH program next year. I am impressed. Wasn't it just yesterday that she was one of my "kids?" Is she growing up on us?

Lillian shall be my favorite person of the day. I'll take you out for bubble tea one day...

I am tired. I need sleep. Please, no more screaming children tonight.

The sun just set... A crescent moon and Venus just appeared... I'm sitting on the deck finishing my dinner... The laptop is open and connected wirelessly... I'm chatting with some cool friends... Man, I'm spoiled...

What am I to do with a 2nd day off from work? I just don't know.

It was a nice beautiful day today. We started the day with a little bit of bubble tea... The right way to start any day. Here's Nina bringing me my Taiwan-style Green Milk Tea. After that, we headed off to see an apartment where she might be staying next month. There was this cool historic Victorian home next door that basically belonged to the family that brought us toilet paper. Yes. Toilet paper. Who knows what people used to use before that. We'll let the imagination run with that one.

Then we drove around a little bit near the area and found a place known as "the Rock." From here, we could see all of downtown San Francisco as well as much of the bay. If you look closely enough, you can see the Golden Gate bridge next to me.


Then we headed up towards Twin Peaks to Karisa and Brian's new house for a BBQ where we ate lots of good food. I don't have a pic of their home, but here's a pic of the neat-o bird house on their deck. Once again, I find out it's such a small world... I saw Connie and Tom (from University of Michigan and also TAC people) at the BBQ. Turns out they are cousins of Brian and are now living in the bay area. Connie, of course, knows our dear TAF Junior staffer, Celia. Then, I meet two girls who turn out to be a cousin and a sister of one of the residents in my program. This resident just happens to be my "big sib." It also turns out that my big sib just met Karisa last night. After eating enough for lunch and dinner, we headed home by way of Twin Peaks. Here's a view from the side of the road. You can see "the Rock" at the lower left corner.

Look again, and you shall see the bubble tea in my hand. And that shall be the end of my day...

Man! I almost forgot the most important thing that happened today... I went to Court...

The Superior Court of California, County of Alameda, finds all notices required by law have been given. No objections to the proposed change of name were made. The Court orders the name of Jay Ho Chie Tsai is changed to Ho Chie Tsai. Endorsed. Filed. Alameda County. Sept 06 2002.

I did.

So far so good... A nice quiet night on call.
Did I just jinx myself?

Go Kelly Clarkson!

Ahh. After a long day, I need my sunset break. Life always feels so much grander during moments like these. San Francisco looks so amazing from here. I wish I could share this moment with you in person.


My 3 favorite palm trees. The highest peak you see is where Nina and I hiked to the other day and met that fireman who lives in the lookout tower.

Today marks the half-way point for my first month on the general wards. I'm tired, but it's nice to know that it can't last much longer. At least til the next time. And this coming weekend is my "golden weekend" - I won't have to work on a Saturday or a Sunday! Woo hoo! So, the immediate task is to find something interesting to do and not waste the weekend away. So far, it looks like Karisa will be hosting a BBQ on Saturday, and I'm hoping to go to the movies too. There's a real cool theatre which serves some excellent pizza while you're watching films. Ummm, that's about it so far. Any other suggestions anyone?