A quick update - we moved in last Friday 10/12. It was a frantic day unpacking and directing movers. The movers unpacked us, but that meant putting everything on the floor or nearest flat surface, so you can imagine the chaos. With Kate working and Don busy at school its going to be awhile before we get everything organized! Once we've spent some time working on the place we'll post more photos.
We are getting used to dealing with handyman type things too. In the past we just picked up the phone to call the landlord! Don will be getting a tool belt for Christmas.
We had new living room furniture delivered today. It's the first time either of us has had new couches and not hand-me-downs. We feel so grown up!
So now that we are moved in we've opened up our calendar for visitors...Any takers?
Friday, October 19, 2007
Monday, September 10, 2007
A Home!
We're happy to say that we've had an offer accepted for the purchase of a condo in Somerville, which is a small city wedged in between Boston's Charlestown neighbourhood to the east and Cambridge to the west. The condo is a 3-bedroom, 2-bath unit occupying the top two floors of a 3-story building. The house was built in 1890 and the ground floor contains one other unit. It's a 5-minute walk to the Orange line of the subway, which in about 12 minutes will drop Kate off very close to her office downtown. It's less than 3 miles from MIT, so Don should have about a 15 minute bike ride to campus. Last weekend we went for an inspection of the property, which turned up a few minor issues, but nothing of too much concern. So, here are some pictures of our new home (well, it'll be ours after Oct 10).
Front door:
Living Room:
Kitchen:
Master Bedroom:
(the original staircase of the house has been covered over with hardwood - that's the rectangle you see on the ground)
Master Bathroom:
Deck:
(we expect to spend many a fine night barbequing on the deck!)
There are two other bedrooms & another bath so everyone is expected to come and visit! We look forward to finally having our own place and being out of the tiny apartment we are in right now.
Front door:
Living Room:
Kitchen:
Master Bedroom:
(the original staircase of the house has been covered over with hardwood - that's the rectangle you see on the ground)
Master Bathroom:
Deck:
(we expect to spend many a fine night barbequing on the deck!)
There are two other bedrooms & another bath so everyone is expected to come and visit! We look forward to finally having our own place and being out of the tiny apartment we are in right now.
Thursday, September 6, 2007
Back to School
First day of classes yesterday:
It wasn't really that bad. But it's amazing how you can be so busy with only 3 hours of class time. Throw in a workshop and a couple of meetings and all of a sudden the day's pretty full.
The report so far:
Intro to technology & policy = ok
Economics = uh oh
It wasn't really that bad. But it's amazing how you can be so busy with only 3 hours of class time. Throw in a workshop and a couple of meetings and all of a sudden the day's pretty full.
The report so far:
Intro to technology & policy = ok
Economics = uh oh
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Quintessential Bostonian Weekend… Already
On Saturday we took care of some business, getting ourselves library cards for the Boston Public Library, etc. But it was that evening that we really became citizens, when we attended our first Red Sox game at Fenway Park. Making the evening more exciting still, Sox rookie Clay Buchholz threw a no-hitter against the O’s. The place went NUTS!
The final strike of the game:
On Sunday we got up extra early and stumbled over to Cambridge for sailing lessons at the MIT sailing pavilion. The Institute has about 50 boats available FREE to students and their guests, including 35 “Tech Dinghies” for novices. They gave us a few basic pointers, a couple of long-winded demonstrations of how to rig and unrig the boats, and turned us loose on the Charles River.
We can’t wait to get back out there some more!
Sunday night we met a couple of Kate's friends from Georgetown, Emily and Tommy. We went for dinner in the North End, Boston's historically Italian district. The food was great!
Monday we went to Revere Beach, which is just northeast of the city, past Logan airport. It was no Thailand, but a nice way to spend Labour Day all the same. The sand was fine and reasonably clean, and the water was, shall we say, “refreshing.” So refreshing, in fact, that we only needed about one minute to feel completely refreshed and ready to get out. The best part was that it was only half an hour away, and accessible by the T (subway).
The final strike of the game:
On Sunday we got up extra early and stumbled over to Cambridge for sailing lessons at the MIT sailing pavilion. The Institute has about 50 boats available FREE to students and their guests, including 35 “Tech Dinghies” for novices. They gave us a few basic pointers, a couple of long-winded demonstrations of how to rig and unrig the boats, and turned us loose on the Charles River.
We can’t wait to get back out there some more!
Sunday night we met a couple of Kate's friends from Georgetown, Emily and Tommy. We went for dinner in the North End, Boston's historically Italian district. The food was great!
Monday we went to Revere Beach, which is just northeast of the city, past Logan airport. It was no Thailand, but a nice way to spend Labour Day all the same. The sand was fine and reasonably clean, and the water was, shall we say, “refreshing.” So refreshing, in fact, that we only needed about one minute to feel completely refreshed and ready to get out. The best part was that it was only half an hour away, and accessible by the T (subway).
Boston Update
Kate’s been settling into her new job well enough. She's having fun meeting coworkers and making big, important MBA decisions. She has also learned Rule No. 1 of meeting with their ad agency: No Starbucks Allowed. The reason? The agency also has Dunkin Donuts as a major client. Apparently some yahoos from, well, Yahoo came in for a meeting, Starbucks in hand, unaware of Rule No. 1. They were quickly ushered into a back room and out of sight of prying eyes.
Don’s classmates are all a good lot, though many of them are very young. We’d post the pictures to prove it, but there are laws against that. Ok, they’re not THAT young, but they’re a bit younger than we expected. Class registration was today and classes officially start tomorrow. Don has been meeting with potential thesis advisors, and has been making good progress. He'll be attending one research group's meeting tomorrow to see how they all work together.
We’ve also been looking at condos, a task which has enabled us to meet all manner of interesting characters, like Martin here:
Love the hair, Martin!
We're also happy to report that today we had an offer accepted on a condo in Somerville, which is next to Cambridge. It's about 2.5 miles to school for Don, and a 5 minute walk to the train for Kate, making for very manageable commutes. We're hoping to close on October 12.
Don’s classmates are all a good lot, though many of them are very young. We’d post the pictures to prove it, but there are laws against that. Ok, they’re not THAT young, but they’re a bit younger than we expected. Class registration was today and classes officially start tomorrow. Don has been meeting with potential thesis advisors, and has been making good progress. He'll be attending one research group's meeting tomorrow to see how they all work together.
We’ve also been looking at condos, a task which has enabled us to meet all manner of interesting characters, like Martin here:
Love the hair, Martin!
We're also happy to report that today we had an offer accepted on a condo in Somerville, which is next to Cambridge. It's about 2.5 miles to school for Don, and a 5 minute walk to the train for Kate, making for very manageable commutes. We're hoping to close on October 12.
Saturday, August 25, 2007
Boston can wait no more.
We arrived in Boston last Friday after connecting in Seattle and Chicago. After a minor issue locating our bags, we took a taxi to our temporary apartment in Boston's South End neighbourhood. Before leaving, the taxi driver managed to slam the rear door of the van on Don's head. Nice guy.
We knew our apartment would be small, but we weren't expecting this:
Yep, that's the whole place, and yep, that's a murphy bed. But we don't fold the bed up because we have all our stuff stored under it.
On Saturday we worked on getting settled and on Sunday we met with our realtor and began checking out some more permanent places to live.
On Monday, Kate had her first day of work:
As you can see, there were a lot of tears, but I managed to convince her that she'd be fine, it would be fun, and that she'd make lots of new friends.
I also had my first economics "review" session on Monday, although there was not much reviewing since I've never done much in the way of economics before. More of a crash course. I also got to meet many of my classmates, and boy do I feel like an old man. Most of them seem to have one year or less of work experience. What a fresh-faced bunch they are!
Last night we met up with my old roommate, Moz, from UBC. He finished his PhD at MIT last year and is now doing a post-doc there. It was good to catch up, and I'm sure we'll be seeing more of him.
My orientation kicks off next week, and classes begin the week after. We hope to have a place to live soon, though it probably won't happen overnight. Wish us luck!
-Don
We knew our apartment would be small, but we weren't expecting this:
Yep, that's the whole place, and yep, that's a murphy bed. But we don't fold the bed up because we have all our stuff stored under it.
On Saturday we worked on getting settled and on Sunday we met with our realtor and began checking out some more permanent places to live.
On Monday, Kate had her first day of work:
As you can see, there were a lot of tears, but I managed to convince her that she'd be fine, it would be fun, and that she'd make lots of new friends.
I also had my first economics "review" session on Monday, although there was not much reviewing since I've never done much in the way of economics before. More of a crash course. I also got to meet many of my classmates, and boy do I feel like an old man. Most of them seem to have one year or less of work experience. What a fresh-faced bunch they are!
Last night we met up with my old roommate, Moz, from UBC. He finished his PhD at MIT last year and is now doing a post-doc there. It was good to catch up, and I'm sure we'll be seeing more of him.
My orientation kicks off next week, and classes begin the week after. We hope to have a place to live soon, though it probably won't happen overnight. Wish us luck!
-Don
Saturday, August 18, 2007
Murtle Lake, BC
The morning after we arrived back from Tofino, we met with a couple of former colleagues of Don's, then started driving northeast, to Blue River, BC. Blue River is about 2.5 hours north of Kamloops, and 6 hours from Vancouver. Don's mom, Peggy, and her partner Garnet joined us that night, and on Saturday, we all drove another 15 miles up a logging road and portaged our canoes 1.5 miles in to Murtle Lake, the largest canoe-only lake in North America.
Our progress the first day was hampered by strong winds, but we managed to find a sheltered spot to wait it out:
The next day, we made it to the end of Murtle's West arm, and set up camp. No sooner had we done so than we were pummelled with hail:
In the evening, the weather improved and we went fishing just offshore from our camp. Kate caught her first fish before Don could even get a line in the water. We kept three nice rainbow trout, which made for a tasty dinner that night:
The next day we did some more fishing. Here are Don and Peggy near the outlet of the lake:
And the day after that we hiked to McDougall Falls on the Murtle River:
On our way back to camp, we saw this family of river otters:
It was time to start heading back out, but the fun wasn't over. We were treated to more incredible scenery:
And on our last day, just as we were getting back to the take-out, we saw a cow moose with a calf, and a few hundred meters away, a young bull moose.
All in all it was a great trip and a wonderful chance to soak in BC's natural wonders!
Our progress the first day was hampered by strong winds, but we managed to find a sheltered spot to wait it out:
The next day, we made it to the end of Murtle's West arm, and set up camp. No sooner had we done so than we were pummelled with hail:
In the evening, the weather improved and we went fishing just offshore from our camp. Kate caught her first fish before Don could even get a line in the water. We kept three nice rainbow trout, which made for a tasty dinner that night:
The next day we did some more fishing. Here are Don and Peggy near the outlet of the lake:
And the day after that we hiked to McDougall Falls on the Murtle River:
On our way back to camp, we saw this family of river otters:
It was time to start heading back out, but the fun wasn't over. We were treated to more incredible scenery:
And on our last day, just as we were getting back to the take-out, we saw a cow moose with a calf, and a few hundred meters away, a young bull moose.
All in all it was a great trip and a wonderful chance to soak in BC's natural wonders!
Hotsprings Cove, British Columbia
On Tuesday August 7, we drove from Maple Bay to Tofino, on the West side of Vancouver Island. It was about 4 hours from Maple Bay. We checked in with Tofino Air and prepared for our flight to Hotsprings Cove. Kate was excited for her first trip ever in a float plane:
Imagine! Something travel-related that was new to Kate but old news to Don!
Our aircraft was a de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver, probably the most revered and storied bush plane in Canadian history. Although production ceased 40 years ago, hundreds of Beavers remain in service today, and are much sought after for their reliability and ruggedness. Very cool:
Once at Hotprings Cove, we set up camp in the campground across the cove from the village. The springs themselves were a 30-minute walk away along a good boardwalk through the forest. There are some great views along the way:
The springs were crowded during the middle of the day, but we were still able to enjoy them.
An especially neat feature of these springs is that you can soak in them right where they flow into the ocean, which means that you get an invigorating hot-cold-hot cycle as the waves surge in and out of the lower pools.
On the way back to Tofino, we were lucky enough to spot a humpback whale. Our pilot circled a few times at about 500 feet so we could watch and snap a few photos:
Once we were back in Tofino, it was just a 4-hour drive across the Island, a 4-hour ferry wait, and another 2 hours on the ferry and driving through Vancouver, before we could rest again. But we didn't rest long!
Imagine! Something travel-related that was new to Kate but old news to Don!
Our aircraft was a de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver, probably the most revered and storied bush plane in Canadian history. Although production ceased 40 years ago, hundreds of Beavers remain in service today, and are much sought after for their reliability and ruggedness. Very cool:
Once at Hotprings Cove, we set up camp in the campground across the cove from the village. The springs themselves were a 30-minute walk away along a good boardwalk through the forest. There are some great views along the way:
The springs were crowded during the middle of the day, but we were still able to enjoy them.
An especially neat feature of these springs is that you can soak in them right where they flow into the ocean, which means that you get an invigorating hot-cold-hot cycle as the waves surge in and out of the lower pools.
On the way back to Tofino, we were lucky enough to spot a humpback whale. Our pilot circled a few times at about 500 feet so we could watch and snap a few photos:
Once we were back in Tofino, it was just a 4-hour drive across the Island, a 4-hour ferry wait, and another 2 hours on the ferry and driving through Vancouver, before we could rest again. But we didn't rest long!
BC Day - Welcome Home
We flew from Tokyo to Vancouver via San Francisco, and promptly hopped on a ferry to Vancouver Island. We arrived at Don's dad's & stepmom's place in Maple Bay on the evening of Sunday Aug 5. We sat out on the deck and visited with cousin Margaret, and Nathan:
That's the BC flag in the background, in case anyone was wondering.
On Monday, which was BC Day, about 15 members of Don's family came over for a mini-reception and "welcome back to the continent" party.
We were fortunate to visit with Don's grandma, Donnie, whose health had forced her to miss the wedding at the last minute. She is doing better now and was in fine spirits:
It was also wonderful to see her consort, Ray, and Don's great-aunt and great-uncle, Joan and Joe:
Also present were Neil's brother, Andy, his wife Cathy, and their sons Connor and Jamie:
As well as Mary Beth's kids. Brent, Brooke, and Lee:
It was great to see everyone and to enjoy some fine BC summer weather!
That's the BC flag in the background, in case anyone was wondering.
On Monday, which was BC Day, about 15 members of Don's family came over for a mini-reception and "welcome back to the continent" party.
We were fortunate to visit with Don's grandma, Donnie, whose health had forced her to miss the wedding at the last minute. She is doing better now and was in fine spirits:
It was also wonderful to see her consort, Ray, and Don's great-aunt and great-uncle, Joan and Joe:
Also present were Neil's brother, Andy, his wife Cathy, and their sons Connor and Jamie:
As well as Mary Beth's kids. Brent, Brooke, and Lee:
It was great to see everyone and to enjoy some fine BC summer weather!
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
Mt Fuji
On Sunday we flew from Singapore to Tokyo, and took the train to Zama City to stay with Kate's friend Trisha and her new daughter, Ainsley.
On Tuesday morning we took a bus to the Kawaguchiko Fifth Station, at 2,300 m (7,500') on the North side of Mt Fuji.
We started hiking and a little less than 3 hours later we arrived at the Taishi-Kan hut, our home for the night at 3,020 m (10,000').
We went to bed early and made an alpine start at 1:20 AM yesterday. After making good time for most of the remaining distance to the summit, we ran into a little congestion:
It wasn't so different from the commuter train at rush hour:
We arrived at the summit a little before 4:00 AM:
and got front row seats for the sunrise. As we waited, the parade of headlamps continued its steady creep up the mountain.
The sunrise was one of the most spectacular we have ever seen, with the sun appearing to rise directly out of the cloud layer:
And still the parade continued up the mountain:
After the sun was up we grabbed some hot drinks and began walking around the crater.
On the west side, we were afforded a remarkable view of the mountain's shadow, cast across the countryside:
The hike up was a cakewalk compared to the descent, a 4-hour ordeal of blisters and pounding toes.
We made it back to Zama in the afternoon, and Trisha took us for some of the best sushi we've ever had. Better yet, it came on a converyor belt:
On Tuesday morning we took a bus to the Kawaguchiko Fifth Station, at 2,300 m (7,500') on the North side of Mt Fuji.
We started hiking and a little less than 3 hours later we arrived at the Taishi-Kan hut, our home for the night at 3,020 m (10,000').
We went to bed early and made an alpine start at 1:20 AM yesterday. After making good time for most of the remaining distance to the summit, we ran into a little congestion:
It wasn't so different from the commuter train at rush hour:
We arrived at the summit a little before 4:00 AM:
and got front row seats for the sunrise. As we waited, the parade of headlamps continued its steady creep up the mountain.
The sunrise was one of the most spectacular we have ever seen, with the sun appearing to rise directly out of the cloud layer:
And still the parade continued up the mountain:
After the sun was up we grabbed some hot drinks and began walking around the crater.
On the west side, we were afforded a remarkable view of the mountain's shadow, cast across the countryside:
The hike up was a cakewalk compared to the descent, a 4-hour ordeal of blisters and pounding toes.
We made it back to Zama in the afternoon, and Trisha took us for some of the best sushi we've ever had. Better yet, it came on a converyor belt:
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