Testing out “You Tube” with a video of my friend Harvey’s kid named Stewart
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWmgbwMZdL8]
First blog of the New Year 2007
So this is my first blog of the New Year, so let me start off by saying Happy 2007 to everyone out there! Wednesday I started my New Job at Zazzle.com and I’m very happy about taking this opportunity. The whole company and environment makes coming to work really enjoyable.
I got initiated with 3 other newbees on Thursday, we got pulled in saying we had to make a lunch speech, then when we came out, we got blasted with silly string. I felt like I was under Spiderman’s web with all the silly string I was under after everyone was done spraying. I knew right then, this would be a great company to work for.
If you’re ever interested in making products with your pictures or want to order some cool products with pictures from companies like Disney, Lucas Arts (Star Wars), Marvel comics, Library of Congress, etc… We have a lot of products, I saw a really cool poster size image of a Fantastic Four comic book cover framed and matted the other day, as well as some pretty cool t-shirts, anyways, you should check it out. We also have this “MySpace” type feature, so you can see all the product I create at “My Zazzle” page:
https://www.zazzle.com/paulsalcedo
As for Melanie and I. Our New Year was spent with my cousin’s family Don, Lisa, Natalie, and Jake. I really enjoyed being with them for 4 days, too bad I got sick the first 2 days due to some bad oysters I ate with my friend Schalky the day before we left. Check out the pics:
Holiday’s were a little less hectic then the previous years. Unfortunately my Grandma is a little weaker these days and can’t really travel, she’s going to be 96 in March. Since she can’t travel, Melanie and I only had to go to her family and my mom’s for the holidays. Usually we also have to go to the Mari’s get-together, which we missed, but it was definitely more relaxing since we didn’t drive so much.
Melanie and I went to Whistler, British Columbia just prior to Thanksgiving were we did some snowmobiling and I did my first bungee jump. We’re planning to go to Disney world in Florida in Feb, so I’m excited about our next trip.
All-in-all we had a great Holiday and I had a really long vacation from Dec. 13 – Jan. 03. I’ve been slowly re-posting pictures to our Galley site, so if you have a chance check out our pictures. All of the pictures are there from the holidays.
Below I also added a video page (new) and inlcuded a link to our first yearly newsletter. The web version of the newsletter is edited, vs the one we e-mailed out. The difference is the web version doesn’t include our contact inf (due to privacy), but if we missed you and want the version we e-mail, please click the e-mail us link below.
Here’s the links:
An interesting month…
Well, this past month was a little crazy. Pretty much I went to China, then a little after I got back from China I got the complete blind-sided, pull you into a conference room talk of I was being let go from my current company Centrify. I don’t know all the details, but I hope them the best, since I have a lot of close friends I made there still!
Based on me getting laid-off, of course I started job hunting and I’ve already landed at a great company working with my close friend Steve Schalkhauser. The company is FilmLoop and it’s a really cool company to work for, reminds me of my Simple Star days without the commute.
I’m excited about being back in the consumer software space, and for those of you who aren’t aware, my previous company did software for networking big companies so not much fun there, other than learning a bunch.
So here’s some pictures of the new gig, we’re in Palo Alto and I commute with Melanie everyday, kind of convenient…
So hopefully next month isn’t as exciting and I’m more stable. Don’t foget to click on the FilmLoops I’ve made below.
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A lonely dinner…
Well I’m on my 5th day in Hong Kong/China and tonight was the first night I went to a restaurant to eat by myself. I hate eating at restaurants by myself, it’s always really awkward and something I hate about travelling on business. I usually like eating at the bar vs. a table, but I’ve noticed out here in China most of the restaurants don’t have bar seating.
Tonight I was eating at “The Spaghetti House”, pretty generic pasta, almost like the Olive Garden and those of you that know me know how much I love that restaurant, NOT! But they do have one killer dessert which is a caramel sago red bean tapioca dessert, think of it as a tapioca creme brulee and it’s yummy!
On the good side this whole week I had some really good company to eat with, Monday – Kang and his wife (QA engineer in China), Tuesday – Actually fell asleep, so I had room service brought it, Wednesday with the WeSoft Hong Kong team, Johnson (nickname Big Johnson) and Victor took me out to the Jockey club and we were joined with Charlie, Harvey, and Vicky, man is that a plush club! I had great drink, food, and a cuban cohiba cigar.
I’ve uploaded some pics from this trip, if you want to check them out, click on the link below
Back to China…
So I’m back in Hong Kong/China for 11 days, at least things are more familiar for me this time around. I decided to stay in TST or Tsim Sha Tsui versus Shatin, the city I stayed in the last time I was here. It’s more downtown/city here and not so suburbia like Shatin. It’s the second time at this hotel (Renaissance Kowloon Hotel) since Melanie and I stayed here when she flew out. It’s located in a great location and only adds 15 min. extra to my train ride. The room price was the same as Shatin, but I was only suppose to get a double bed, where as Shatin I got a Queen bed. To my surprise when I checked in I was upgraded to what they call a “Superior Suite”, so I have a comfy King bed to kick it on. Anyways, I’m heading to bed since I have to catch the train to China tomorrow and it’s already 11 pm.
Website’s moved
Hi Everyone,
So I think our WordPress Blog and picture Gallery have successfully been moved. You should now be viewing our website on the new Siphon Systems web hosting business. We’re still working out the details on our Siphon Systems ISP project, but if you have friends or relatives looking for a web hosting company, look us up at:
If you see changes over the next couple of weeks, it’s because I’m still tweaking out the site.
Upgrading the website
In the next week or so, you may see our picture gallery go blank. I’m in process of upgrading the software and doing some moves with our website. So if you come to this site and wonder what happen to all the pictures, then don’t say I didn’t warn you! You should be seeing a new picture gallery with some cool new features, so check back frequently.
Crazy Busy!
So I haven’t posted a blog in a while, since Melanie and I have been really busy with work, the new house, social events and our new dog Parker. Let’s get you caught up…
End of January – Purchased a new place
February – Unpacking, selling the old place, and getting rid of all the old looking stuff in the new place. What I mean by getting rid of the old stuff is, drapes, gold accessories, ceiling fans, base and door trim, and painting the new place.
March – Went to China, where I was blogging like mad. Found out my buddy Shinny got married while I was out there, CONGRATS to the new couple, and also meet up with two old and close friend Eric and JJ.
April – Got older by a year, checked out the Hearst Castle with Melanie, and Melanie and I met my friend Alan’s fiance Joann
May – Grandma had her 95th birthday and everyone came out, went to Las Vegas for a training, then to Reno for my friend Brian’s bachelors party, lost a lot of money in both gambling cities, and Melanie and I went to one of the most incredible wedding’s we’ve been to, Congrats to Mike and Thuy
June – Ya it’s the start of the month and it’s already hectic. Got a new Heartland shed put into the back yard, man is this thing big! Cleared out the garage and now we have room for two cars. Melanie and I also have 2 Weddings to attend, one of which I’m in and Melanie and I pretty much have this whole month booked.
Well that’s sums it up! Check out our picture page when you get a chance. We’ve uploaded pictures of Parker (the new dog), grams 95th, mike and thuy’s wedding, and the shed. Here’s the URLs:
Pics of Parker
http://www.paulsalcedo.com/gallery/tobi
Grandma’s 95th Birthday
http://www.paulsalcedo.com/gallery/grandma95
Mike and Thuy’s wedding
http://www.paulsalcedo.com/mike_thuy/
The new shed, which allows us to park two car in our garage
Home sweet home
Melanie and I just got back from Hong Kong today and we’re really happy to be back. As great of an experience China was, it’s always nice to be home again. Expecially me, since I’ve been gone for 2.5 weeks. We were so happy to see our Tobi Tobi! The only bad thing about being back is Melanie and I are fighting off sickness. I ate something bad our last 2 days in China that definitely didn’t agree with my stomach and Melanie thinks she’s getting sick. I guess there’s always a good chance of that happening when you travel. Anyways, we’re happy to be home again and just in time for my Grandmothers 95th birthday this weekend.
If you haven’t looked lately, all our pictures from China have been posted. My ISP (Internet Service Provider) has been moving servers, so if the site isn’t up when you check, just come back and check again.
Found a new favorite dessert in China
So I’ve been trying a lot of desserts in China. As of this afternoon, it was this dessert called hot pudding. Pretty much it’s tapiocca pudding, with red bean in the middle, then carmelized sugar on top like a creme brulee. It’s served warm and very yummy.
I ate at a Vietnamese restaurant tonight and ordered this drink that I thought was juice, it was labeled “Mango, AloeVera, and Mint drink” It came out and OH was it yummy! It’s an exotic Icee, pretty much the bottom is Mango slushy, Top is Mint, then there’s these cubes that taste like lychee, but I guess they’re aloe vera. Check out the pic.
Anyways, one more day until Melanie get’s out there to enjoy this wonderful food with me. I’ve added some new pics to food and 2 pictures to Shenzhen if you’re interested.