One of the souvenirs we took back from Cindy’s Google party were these photo booth pictures. They set up the Academy of Sciences with those small black photo booths, equipped with random head props. We went nuts, as we should.

A totally automated photo booth for me? Someday.

I thought this photo would be appropriate to upload in light of the big day coming up in a week. It also gives me a reason to share some of my old photos from my stint in Japan.

On December 14, 2003 (nearly seven years ago), we just got back from Kobe—a three-hour trip from my old hometown of Okayama—to check out the gorgeous light show, the Luminarie. Back at home, we hit up a karaoke spot after dinner to unwind. It was just a bit past midnight when all my friends pulled out a makeshift cake: a chocolate log ice cream cake with pieces of Pocky as the ‘candles.’ The Pocky wouldn’t stay lit, so T-Bone held a lighter flame next to it so I could make my 20th birthday wish.

Late night karaoke? Pocky? When in Rome…do as the Japanese do!

Unfortunately, the A’s didn’t win it this year, so you got the next best thing with the Giants taking it all the way this season. Against all odds & after a World Series 56-year drought, they finally won it all last Monday. Well played!

Being in a South San Francisco company, it’s Giants fever in the office. The company wanted a Giants group photo, so being the only hardcore A’s fan in the office (it’s hard work, lemme tell ya!), I was more than happy to be behind the camera. Come to think of it, I don’t think I have any orange in my wardrobe, except perhaps my Texas Longhorns boxers.

I was in the photo in spirit. My contribution were the pros: the baseball, two gloves, the mini bat, & the Timmy Lincecum bobblehead in the center bottom of the photo.

Remember our friend T-Bone? Cindy & I met him when we studied abroad in Japan. Now we’re all the best of friends. T-Bone moved to Berkeley to get his Masters, where he met Molly, a fine young lass originally from New York. On September 19th, they’re going to tie the knot.

They’ve been busy with wedding planning, but they made it a point to hang out with the gang one last official time as single people. We reserved the day before Labor Day to be filled with food: a German lunch, followed home-cooked dinner at Alex’s.

We’re all good friends, so we know each other’s deepest desires. One of T-Bone’s wishes was fulfilled when he opened our gift before dinner:

Coincidentally, the flak jacket we bought was called the MOLLE.

If there’s any reason to give up our early Sunday morning, it’s gotta be for a good cause, & it doesn’t get better than the annual AIDS Walk up in San Francisco. At this year’s AIDS walk, 25,000 volunteer walkers raised $3 million. We were proud to a part of that number.

Cindy joined the Google walk team & tagged along with her fellow Googler Amy, her friend Jason & her little pomeranian Marco. As a member of her team, she raised funds toward AIDS research. Thanks to all her friends & family who sponsored her as a walker!

We walked away (pun intended?) feeling good at the end of the day because:

• we helped an organization & research toward ending a long-standing epidemic
• our mere attendance is the best support we can provide for huge events like this
• we got some good exercise (Golden Gate Park’s punishing hills are a killer for your legs)
• it gave us a reason to visit San Francisco

The best part about visiting the City is sampling the diverse dining. On the way to our car, we unwounded with lunch on 9th avenue at Bistro 9.

These are my friends who came from far to visit: some as far as St. Louis & Hawaii, others even farther from Japan & Thailand. It has been more than a few years since I’ve seen my international friends, so no doubt, we were really excited. They land in SFO, so it made sense to have our San Mateo apartment the meeting point for all our guests. They got to see our new apartment, too. Also a good opportunity to further explore Downtown San Mateo—it’s always better to do these kind of things with visitors!

I’m on a photo retouching roll! I got to finish a few photos taken a few weeks ago. Apparently, my new niece doesn’t even look like she does in the photo above. Babies grow quickly!

More photos are in my Flickr album.

Good news, everyone! We finally uploaded the photos. We’ve been out & about entertaining out of town guests since the conclusion of the party, so but now we’ve finally found the time to upload these lovely photos! We even hired a photographer this time around!

Check them out on our wedding page.

Everyone but my mom has seen our new place. Mother’s Day would be the perfect opportunity to show her our new digs, so we invited the family over to come celebrate with a patio barbecue.

It was the best day ever. Not only did we have good food, but A’s pitcher Dallas Braden throws a perfect game! Being a good son & a gracious host, of course, I TiVo-ed the game while I had company & watched it after they left.

Crazy thing after that: my sister has a her baby 10 days earlier than expected! Now she’ll get to celebrate Mother’s Day with her new baby.

A few weeks ago, our office video expert & former teammate Brendan left the company for bigger opportunities. Since we love him so much, the company threw him a nice party in the middle of the day. I photographed most of these shots using his Canon 7D. A truly bittersweet moment: sad to see him leave, but he has a sweet camera (did I use that word properly?).

We’ll miss you around the office, Brendo!