tiny fingers, tiny toes

here's an ultrasound of ryan and michelle's baby. so tiny!


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busy bee

been a busy bee lately, work has been picking up. i'm definitely enjoying the bus dev and patent analysis more now. as for the more quantitative stuff, can't say i really enjoy that as much but it's a neccessity.

still sticking with the fitness routine though. hunny and i always work out at least once if not twice over the weekend. i skipped sunday but i went spinning on monday. i had a good workout, however not a great one. having a great spin instructor with good music does wonders for the workout. i find when i'm singing or bopping along with the music and the instructor is pushing you to keep pace with the song - hyping everyone up- i really push my body. yesterday's instructor would just say things like - yeah, you know that dessert you ate ....pedal faster. if you don't like how your body looks - pedal faster. not the best motivational instructor. also the crowd was less in energy. normally there is the random person that shouts and hollers since they are excited and pushing hard. no random shouting person yesterday. as strange as those people are, it does make me excited and want to push also!

anyhow, i'll try to make another class tonight. the instructor is better but the music stinks...i like to rock out to trance/euro stuff while spinning.

results! i'm starting to see the abs peek out behind my fat again. still a lot of jigglies though...

eating - i'm eating less and more frequently. at work i have a stash of dried fruit and energy bars. fiber! i'm also keeping up with the more water versus juice rule. lots of green tea also. however i still have chocolate in my desk that i snack on from time to time. hehe...

it's also nice hunny works out so much. we motivate eachother to go. we also motivate eachother for work too. i was really stressed out with some work related things and it's always nice that he can calm me down. he's also thinking about becoming a product manager. he's currently in a more technical role. those of you who have experience in being a product manager, any thoughts? it's actually a nice deal - he would keep the same pay. however he has to start as a marketing engineer before getting promoted to product manager. so he would be starting over in a new area.

fitness goals

i went gymming friday and saturday. friday i did 45 min of intense cardio. (running and elliptical) as well as some abs. saturday hunny and i did cardio for about 30 min, abs and then weights. skipped sunday and monday, then yesterday i went to a spin class. i forgot how hard those are. however, as grueling as the work out is during that hour, i'm always glad i made it through the whole thing afterwards. 15 minutes later, i'm already fully recovered. it's just hard to remember how fast the recovery time when i'm pedaling, sweating, and looking at the clock every 5 minutes.

as for eating in moderation, i have tried to cut down on portions and stop when i'm full instead of stuffing myself. this is going reasonably well but sometimes it's hard to tell when i'm full. i need to try to eat slower and need to stop doing the asian thing of finishing what's on my plate. also i'm eating oatmeal for breakfast, however the oatmeal packets i bought seem to have a lot of sugar. I used to like it but now it's getting to be too sweet for me. I'll look for a less sugary one after i finish the box...

weight is still the same but that always happens. i have to remember to stick to this routine for a while before i'll see any results.

AUNTIE TO BE!!

mom tells me that i'm to be an auntie in july!!! congrats michelle and ryan!!! can't wait to welcome my new niece or nephew!

venture capital investments grow for 2006

being in silly valley and being involved with STIRR, i'm able to see the VC world first hand. investments are definitely growing as a number of STIRR presenters are getting more attention from VC's. It's also apparent there is a renewed interest to start companies. more and more people are emailing and requesting to get invited to our events to showcase their companies. these days we have to post a SOLD OUT page so people know we can't accept anymore people at the venue since we're already at capacity. it's also exciting to see the numbers of investments growing and what regions and areas are getting the most funding. the bay area had 811 deals and $9.05 billion invested. sure this could be considered a bubble, but i think it's more of the high point of a wave that's supposed to go up and down. innovation has to remain strong for the US economy to compete with other world economies.

see the below article.

Press Release: U.S. Venture Capital Investing in 2006 Posts a Five-Year High
January 22, 2007

U.S. Venture Capital Investing in 2006 Posts a Five-Year High, Reaching $25.75 Billion, Highest Annual Investment Level Since 2001

Ernst & Young LLP and Dow Jones VentureOne Venture Capital Report Shows that 2006 Saw Significantly Increased Activity for Web, Medical Devices and Energy Investments

SAN FRANCISCO and NEW YORK, Jan. 22, 2007 -- Venture capital investment into U.S. headquartered companies continued its ascent in 2006 with the most annual deal flow and capital investment since 2001, according to the Quarterly Venture Capital Report released by Ernst & Young LLP and Dow Jones VentureOne, the publisher of the VentureSource database. In total, deal count reached 2,454 deals for the year, slightly ahead of 2005's level, and capital investment reached $25.75 billion, an 8% increase over the preceding year.

While 2006 activity is at a five-year high point, the fourth quarter of 2006 was the slowest quarter of the year with 561 deals and $5.82 billion invested, declines of 13% and 2% from the fourth quarter of 2005.

For the year as a whole, it was clear that significant interest in some key growing industries such as the Web-heavy information services industry, the medical devices and equipment industry and the alternative energy industry contributed greatly to the boost in investment in 2006.

"I think 2006 proved that the U.S. venture capital industry has entered a new cycle with many investors renewing their commitment to the entrepreneurial spirit by focusing attention and capital on companies that affect our health, the way we communicate, and the environment," said Stephen Harmston, Director of Global Research for VentureOne. "The data also shows that investors are recognizing the economic reality for start-ups today and are willing to sustain them with round sizes that are at the highest levels in six years."

Overall, the median round size in 2006 was $7 million, up from $6.5 million in 2005, and the highest annual median since 2000. For the second year in a row, investors also are focusing more than a third of activity on early-stage financings. Overall, seed- and first-round deals made up 36% of the deal flow in 2006; about the same concentration of deal flow went to later-stage deals.

"There was a nice balance of investment in 2006 with investors deploying significant amount of capital to later-stage portfolio companies, but also supporting the emerging class of start-ups," said Joseph Muscat, Americas Director of the Ernst & Young Venture Capital Advisory Group. "The expanding opportunities for venture-backed companies to achieve liquidity through an initial public offering, merger or acquisition are having an impact. It was a relatively strong year for these transactions with investors recognizing the need to support their companies for as long as six years before they can achieve a successful exit."

By industry, deal flow and capital investment into health care companies showed the most significant increases in 2006. Health care deal flow was up 5% over 2005 to 628 deals and capital investment for the industry was up 12% to $8.25 billion. One of the largest deals of the fourth quarter, and among the largest deals of the year, was the $100 million later round for biopharmaceutical company Kalypsys of San Diego, Calif., a developer of small molecule drugs. Within the health care industry, the medical devices and equipment segment was particularly strong with 239 deals and $2.63 billion invested, which is 20 more deals than in 2005 and the most capital invested in this segment on record. The median size of a health care deal was $8 million in 2006, about the same as last year.

Driven by U.S. investors' increasing interest, there was significant deal flow and investment in alternative energy companies. Deal flow more than doubled to 41 deals this year and the capital investment increased 190% to $537.6 million.

The information technology industry posted gains in key segments, although overall deal count was down by 21 deals from the previous year. But capital invested in IT overall increased 2% to $13.76 billion, the most money deployed in technology companies since 2001. The increase was significantly boosted by investment in the information services segment, which saw the most activity since 2000, and is home to much of the Web 2.0 companies that have been attracting investors attention. Overall information services deal flow rose 35% to 321 financing rounds in 2006. Capital directed here was $2.41 billion, an increase of 27% from 2005.

The largest deal of 2006 was a technology deal, the $150 million second round for communications company Amp'd Mobile of Los Angeles, Calif., a mobile entertainment services provider.

Investment in business, consumer and retail products and services companies also increased over last year, with a total of 274 deals and $2.63 billion in capital. This included one of the largest deals of the fourth quarter, a $100 million later-stage investment to HomeAway of Austin, Texas, an online vacation rental listing service.

From a regional perspective California has become the top spot for venture capital investment in 2006: with 1,082 deals and $12.36 billion invested, it is responsible for almost half the deal flow and investment nationwide. Southern California has grown in particular, led by increased investment in health care and information services companies. For the first year ever, capital investment in Southern California surpassed the total amount invested in New England in 2006. Overall, Southern California deal flow was up slightly for the year to 239 deals along with a significant increase in capital, 25%, to $3.11 billion. The San Francisco Bay area remained the predominant market for venture capital investing, with 811 deals and $9.05 billion invested, steady deal flow with 2005 and a 7% increase in capital.

In other regions nationwide, New England received the second most number of deals, behind only the San Francisco Bay Area, but its annual deal flow and investment was down 3% and 2%, respectively in 2006. The New York metropolitan region saw an increase in deal flow to 182 deals, but capital was down 5% to $2.09 billion. Deal flow was also down in the Potomac region and in Texas, but both of these regions received substantially more capital investment than last year: a 25% increase in the Potomac region and a 17% increase in Texas. Capital investment climbed 29% in Washington State, to $1.07 billion for the year, with nine more deals completed.

i know you...

i can't really emphasize the importance of those words enough and how comforting they can be. i had dinner with will and cindy last nite at the korean place in cupertino village. kalbi, bulgogi, jap-chae and soondubu for everyone! :D dinner started at 7:30. then afterwards we headed over to breaktime cafe for dessert. we had black sesame paste, watermelon sago, and a lavender souffle.(quite good, although it would have been better for them to boil the lavender and just use the flavor rather than have the actual flower buds in the souffle.)

anyhoo, we chatted about everything as always. both cindy and will are in the process of remodeling newly purchased homes and traded tips. i absorbed through osmosis for the future chance i'll have to do remodeling. then each of us goes through our turn to dish out all the personal info in regards to relationships. we have seen eachother from the very first relationships until the most recent and all the ones in between. when one says "i know you ...you're really going to like/dislike that in a person" it really holds true. there's something so therapeutic about being able to be completely candid. and no, even though parents and siblings have been there also, it's just not the same as a peer. well of course i won't go into our personal details on a blog. however the candid conversation was refreshing and much needed for all.

being a good presenter

i know i'm probably one of the last people in the blogosphere to blog this. but i think it deserves to be shared with you. this was taken from another blog of one of the attendees of macworld.

Jobs is so persuasive because he:

• Rehearses — a lot. Jobs is extremely comfortable on stage. You can see in his eyes that he knows his content cold before he even starts. He isn’t trapped behind a podium. He knows when to get excited and when he needs to pull back. All of these things aren’t hard — provided you have the entire story you want to tell in your head. Jobs does — and that only happens if you have done the story over and over again in rehearsal.

• Is himself. Jobs doesn’t try to imitate other people or be something he isn’t. He’s not afraid to get excited and emotional over what he is talking about. As an example, when he thanks the families of Apple employees at the end, you can hear him getting choked up about the commitment and dedication they had. The audience can feel the emotion behind his words, and that adds impact to anything Jobs says.

• Uses visuals effectively. Jobs doesn’t clutter up his presentation visuals with a lot of words. In fact, the slide shown above probably had the most words of any slide he used. Most of his slides have such illuminating reading as 2.0B (the number of iTunes songs sold to date), or “Ads”. Without a lot of reading to do, the audience listens to Jobs more, giving the words he says more impact. Jobs also uses demos effectively; all of them use very simple examples rather than complicated ones. Why simplicity? Because simple ideas are easier to convey and easier for the audience to absorb.

• Focuses on the problem he’s solving in detail. Watch Jobs’ first 7 or 8 minutes of the iPhone introduction (starting about 26 minutes in and running until 33 minutes). All of that time he spends setting up why smartphones are dumb and clunky. He doesn’t even talk about his solution to the problem until he’s told the audience no fewer than three times what criteria a successful product in this market must have. And amazingly, the product he introduces has exactly those criteria. It’s not only an effective marketing technique, but it creates drama and tension where there would be none otherwise.

• Says everything three times. Jobs always introduces new ideas first as a list, then he talks about each member of the list individually, and then he summarizes the list later. And, he always uses exactly the same words each time. A great example is the three functions that the iPhone has: an iPod, a phone, and a revolutionary Internet communicator. Every aspect had its own section of the keynote, and its own icon that kept being repeated. He even got the audience to chant the three items sequentially with him over and over. The result: even listeners who aren’t paying attention get the message.

• Tells stories. At one point late in the presentation, Jobs’ slide advancing clicker failed. He switched to the backup, and it wasn’t working either. So what did he do? He told a story about how he and Steve Wozniak build a TV jammer and used it in college TV rooms to stealthily mess up TV signals. The story had nothing to do with the presentation, but it kept the audience laughing and amused while the backstage crew fixed the problem. Yet, the story fit beautifully into the larger iPhone story overall.

• Isn’t afraid of the dramatic pause. When Jobs switches topics or is about to say something important, he doesn’t rush into it. Often, he will go to the side of the stage and grab a drink of water. Or, he’ll just stand to the side of the stage and say something like, “Isn’t that amazing?” and just wait. The pauses both keep the audience from getting tired out and allows them to absorb what he has said. And more importantly, they create drama and anticipation for what is to come.

• Uses comparisons to demonstrate features. When Jobs has a feature he really wants people to remember, he always compares it to something else. In the iPhone introduction, he compared the iPhone with other smartphones. When he introduced the iPod nano, he compared it with other flash players. Comparisons allow him to emphasize the unique selling propositions of his products and paint the competitive landscape on his terms. This one feature of Jobs’ presentations puts his presentations head and shoulders above others.

If anyone needs more convincing of how much of a difference presentation technique makes, just contrast Cingular CEO Stan Sigman’s presentation yesterday with Jobs’. Despite his professionally written content, his presentation just falls flat on too many words and not enough life. The audience started clapping at once point just to try to convince him to cut it short. Ouch.

Apple has built its reputation by sweating the details for its customers. Jobs does the same for his audiences. Few companies will effectively compete against Apple until they start doing the same. Until then, Jobs’ reality distortion field will be as powerful as ever.

had a bad day

early conf call went unexpectedly without the person who is training me since she didn't tell anyone she wasn't coming in until later. made a mistake at work which was really stupid, i should have caught it, but it was fixed in time. parents were 45 min late to see the condo i was going to bid on and they even showed up at work first looking for me and i wasn't there obviously. great... bf tells me that there is a pic we took this weekend that is my worst pic ever because i look chubby. he's just being honest, but still. i was already having a bad day! not that he doesn't love me or that he thinks i'm actually fat, it was just a bad angle. then parents are pressuring me on my future plans with marriage, lawrence, housing plans...

work, house stuff, finances, parents, organizing obligations have all been stressing me out. stirr stuff is planned for tomorrow but an event has moved a week so i have to resend emails. work is super super busy, i'm doing bus dev calls more indepth now and will work more closely with negotiations. however i still don't feel like work is smooth sailing yet and am still on a steep learning curve. this bothers me. i'm not used to struggling to learn things for so long. three months! there are so many details involved with patents that i'm still learning.

*breathe*

one thing at a time

i've decided the best thing to do now is to take something off my plate. it's just too much right now. i'll continue looking for a house but i'm not going to put a bid on the place i had my eye on. it's just too much to do in a short time. with everything else going on, it's a sign that it's not the right one.

jt's crab house

this is a dif JT than previously mentioned of course. this JT is of the non-singing and dancing variety. he's cindy's(HS friend) ex-bf who quit his sysadmin job and started a crabhouse with his friends. it serves new orleans style food - crayfish, shrimp, crab, etc. i actually didn't go to all the grand opening parties because of my friendship with cindy. not that she would mind, but he was a horrible bf to her and i feel like he really said and did things that bf's should never to say to their gf's if they love them. anyhow, it's water under the bridge since he's actually not a bad guy - in fact he's an awesome friend, helps out in any way that he can. i needed to get some sony products before and he immediately helped me out with connections with an employee discount. he always asks if there is anything to do to help. excellent friend, horrible boyfriend. so for treating my good friend badly, i will never forgive him.

however hunny's friends wanted to go there for dinner. so i didn't want to decline since i know JT is more of a personal problem and not something i would make an issueof to others. hunny's friend was also kind enough to treat us out since he just got a new job at netflicks. the food was actually very good, now that they have perfected things more. we ordered crayfish and shrimp - kitchen sink (all the flavors mixed together - everything but the kitchen sink) and the garlic butter flavor. very tasty. looking at the menu, there were a lot of memories. JT and friends had talked about opening a cafe or restaurant for years. menu items i knew were certain favorites of the friends. heifenweisen was the beer that they all liked. banana fosters was i think freddy's fav - it was so delish we ordered a second one as soon as the first was finished. john made bunches and bunches of biegnets for us to try until he perfected the recipe. all the spices of the seafood was classic JT - full of flavor. JT always puts tons of seasonings in anything he cooks. it was not too much in this case, just right. JT is also meticulous about food so he took great care to figure out the way to get the best ingredients. now he fedex's crayfish from new orleans and they will have a good supply until june. so, even though i dislike him for what he did to cindy, i still respect his food.we also ordered the wok fried gator, dirty rice, beignets with all three sauces on the side. all were good and all i'd order again. go to the restaurant and try it out- it's right next to valley fair - CAJUN CRAB HOUSE , 826 S. WINCHESTER BLVD, SAN JOSE, CA

bdays and baby showers

hunny's friend sandi just turned 30 so we went out to dinner at claim jumpers and also went out for 80's dancing. i decided to have the ribeye and st francis cab. everyone else at our table got the ore cart - which was good but i don't tend to eat ribs in public. my small mouth and large cheeks = bbq sauce all over my face. however the ribeye was pretty good so i didn't regret my choice.

saturday nite we went to mezzanine for 80's music. man, everyone is getting chill in L's group these days. L was yawning a million times after we got there at 10. we were home by 12:30. i think most of the group just wasn't into the music. it was more from the new wave genre. which i totally love. depeche, blondie, anything box, new order, etc. i was never as into the more popular stuff.

i wonder why? a lot of the new wave music is introspective and dark. was i introspective and dark as a kid? introspective yes, dark maybe but i don't really remember. i know i had a lot of regrets for not being more social. obviously that has totally changed now. i can't say that i was an unhappy kid, nor was i the happiest either. i think i spent a lot of time daydreaming of what things would be like if i were different. more popular, prettier, smarter, more social, etc. so perhaps i was just waiting to come out of my shell to better experience life. i'm really glad i came out of my shell.

i went to karin's baby shower this weekend. perhaps i'm being overly sensitive but all hunny's friends have babies and are married or engaged and therefore they all ask us when it's our turn. so i know people are waiting for us. it both bothers me and makes me anxious that people keep expecting us to be engaged at any second. i've never liked to be pressured and i don't want to spend my time being anxious - wondering when he'll propose. i'd rather it be a pleasant surprise. so everyone - stop asking me because it's making me feel like i should be thinking about it more than i am, and it's making me uneasy - like i'm unprepared! if anything i try not to think about it because i don't want it to turn into something i worry about. if you really know me, i'm a worry wart and worry about everything. so if you want to ask someone, you can ask him. and don't tell me about it, because i want to be surprised!

JT concert

yes, i went to the justin timberlake concert along with thousands of screaming adolescent girls. haha. hunny took me since he knows that "sexy back" was my song for the summer as i was getting in shape. we also went with janey, tony, micki and elaine. janey, tony, mickey and elaine all fell asleep since they were all so tired from work and the concert didn't end until 11:30 - way past their bedtimes. i noticed L's eyes were closed as well. luckily i knew most of the songs since i had listened to the whole CD twice on the plane from SF to HK and from HK to SF. United had sattellite for each seat and there was a function to listen to the most recent cd's from john mayer, christina aguilera and JT. btw i really really like john mayer's new cd and need to get it.

musicians are so hot. and if they can dance too? soooo hot. I've always had a thing for artistic and musical talent. the john mayer commercial for apple is a complete turn on.he's not much to look at, but when he plays - it multiplies his attractiveness by 10! maybe more! and if someone who's academically strong AND is musically or artistically talented? well it's over. haha

i was completely impressed with all the dancers at the concert. so many different steps for all the songs, i would definitely not be able to remember all of them and would make a terrible concert dancer. haha.

fitness resolution

i'm going to cut out drinking sodas (i didn't before working, but started to since there are free sodas in the fridge) and juices and stick to water and tea, i'm also going to work out at least four days a week and really watch my portions.

saturday i went gymming for about 45 min cardio, burned about 500 something calories then did some abs and arms. sunday i did 30 min high intensity cardio then did lower body.

i really want to get back into the same shape i was in the summer if not better. i was starting to see some defined abs! ugh. of course having all the time in the world to work out since i wasn't working fulltime helped. hehe.

i've already lost the 5 pounds of vacation weight, although i'm sure most of it was water weight. it would be nice if i could trim off 10 pounds. even better if i can trim off 15. if anything, i need the extra energy. not working out as much seriously makes me feel drained!

want to be able to actually RUN the 1/2 marathon this year rather than just train for it. haha.

vacation in HK and Thailand

it was short but fun. spent 4 days in HK, then the remainder of the time in bangkok and thailand. most of the trip was eating good cheap food and shopping. while in HK, i had the chance to have dimsum with my maternal grandfather. it's been about 9 years since i've last seen him. he seemed well for the most part, just slowing down and told us about how it was more important to enjoy life than to work too hard. he had his own company when he was younger and said he would always worry about it. now he says if he were to have done it over, he wouldn't have had his own company so he could enjoy other things in life. it's kind of hard to make myself slow down these days, but i'm thankful my job is not extremely stressful and i can normally enjoy my weekends.

in thailand we didn't really go to any bars. sorry cindy. we were too disturbed by seeing all the old men with the young prostitutes. haha. actually we were all too tired to go to bars since we would wake up early and leave at 8 or 9 every morning to make the most of the day. did a LOT of shopping on the trip, although when i really think about it i didn't really buy that much. most of the time was taken up travelling from one location to the other and walking a LOT.

highlights:
exploring caves in phuket
yummy food in HK
seeing relatives (goo ma, goo jeung, cousins, grandpa)
boat ride around the islands
mango sago with pomelo
my first thai massage after a long day of walking

lowlights:
bombings in bangkok that didn't allow us to see my friend to go out for new years
sore feet


can't wait to go on vacation again

although i can do without the jetlag. i woke up at 3:30 this morning and couldn't fall asleep. :(

i'm alive!

yes the bombings happened in bangkok when we were still there. we played it safe and headed to our hotel for the night as soon as we heard the news. the bombs were about 40 blocks away, we were at a hotel in soi 2 while the bombings were in the soi 40's.

i'm jetlagged so i'll just post a few pics for now. more to come later...

up on victoria peak in HK

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drinking out of real glass coke bottles

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wonton mein for about $1.50

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dim sum with grandpa

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dinner with goo ma, goo jeung and cousins with sig others

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cousin bernard and gf youchi

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crowded HK

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hanging out at lang gwei fong

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being fobby and eating mango sago dessert with pomelo for the second time. i loved that place!!

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visiting the grande temple in bangkok. i forgot the real name but i think the royal family lives there.

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strolling on the beach at night in phuket

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hiking in caves in phuket

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james bond island

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beautiful...

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