Kathy's last BDay of her FABULOUS 20s!

Last night, I hosted Kathy's 29th bday celebration at Tamarine in Palo Alto.

The biggest worry beforehand was concerning the fluctuating number of people coming. Right before I left for PA, I noticed the RSVP # went up to 17!

Let's see who's there: (in seat order)
Alan, Wendy, Larry, Kathy, her cousin, her aunt Evelyn, Jing, George, Ray, me, Shaohong, Larry Chao, Lori, Chris, Philip, Kathy's co-worker Janet, Ronnie

The MIT alumni community is indeed quite small, people either know or knew of each other. I am glad to see that so many of my friends mingled and had great dinner conversations. Surprisingly, nothing to nerdy came up (maybe a different crowd =) but the most hotly discussion topic is CA real-estate. Kathy's aunt is an experienced real-estate agent, so her opinion is eagerly sought after..

I have already realized how precious my friends are after my month long expedition to Mongolia/Korea. I am so grateful for my small circle of close knit friends, who understand and are supportive. Most importantly, I think we all share a similar value system, and that's an important bonding factor. However, I am also looking forward to build up a Christian community of friends so I can share the spiritual aspect of things with.

After dinner, I figured that we'd actually paid ~$76 for the Chinese cake!! (it was a really pretty/delicious fresh mango cake from Milpitas Sq.). But I don't think I am going back to Tamarine for another birthday party, and others beware, don't eat your cake there! =)

(pictures to be uploaded ..)