AlbertLiang.net — Blog

I have to keep reminding myself that I don’t have to (1) wait until the end of the day and (2) wait until something super-significant happens. (Hah, did you catch that? I’m usually posting insignificant things.)

I think one of the most comforting/fun new things I’ve done in Ann Arbor so far is webcam-ing. I know it’s not really new technology, but I finally have a built-in web cam on my computer. I used to hate lugging an extra piece of USB thingy around, so I never used webcam. Plus, it seriously helps ease the “I miss Carol”-syndrome. If you try to webcam me, though, you’ll probably be greeted by this guy first:

That’s French Fry, and he’s the only stuffed animal I have up here with me at Ann Arbor so far. (Yes, “so far” — cuz I’m sissy like that.)

Yesterday was my first time going to Meijer [pronounced "Myer"] (the local big grocery store chain around here). It’s a lot like… well, Wegmans for your East-Coasters, and Kroger-ish (larger than Kroger?) for Mid-Westerners. The prices are cheaper (comparable/cheaper than Houston Krogers) but the quality is only medium. Well, not terrible, either. Medium-high?

Today was my first real venture outside of the apartment and onto campus. The weather was gorgeous (as usual, as it has been the past 2 days that I’ve been here). It’s around 60’s and sunny-blue-skies during the day, and drops into the 50’s and clear-I-can-see-the-stars-skies during the night.

I took pictures of green things, because I predict with the imminent winter freeze coming in a few months, this will be a rare and precious sight:

I went to go visit some professor/advisors and along the way saw this posted on the IT guy’s door:

Took the UM blue shuttle (free!) for the first time. I did the newbie thing and told the bus driver which stop I want to go to so she could tell me when to get off the bus. (Oh well, I got nothing to lose by being a newb in Ann Arbor right now… I think being a PhD newb is slightly cooler than being a freshman newblet?)

On the way, I watched a helicopter land at the UM medical center:

Wandered through their “downtown”, spent about an hour in the AT&T store debating if it was worth renewing my contract and buying a $100 phone (Samsung Impression), ended up not getting it (or I would definitely be blogging about that right now), and settled into a nearby Biggby’s Coffee to work for the rest of the afternoon. It’s a really big coffee chain in Michigan, so perhaps I should change from my “generic corporate ways” (i.e. Starbucks) and start getting more “local”.

This one’s called the Teddy Bear. It’s caramel and white chocolate and delicious:

And now I’m off to a “pre-orientation happy hour” for BME PhDs. =D

I’m loving life over here right now. Except that doesn’t stop me from missing my girlfriend like every other hour of the day.

Some of you may know… I recently sold my second Optix (Optix Studios LLC) in Houston to a new friend I met through Rotary International. Cimela and I both served on the public image committee for District 5890 (Harris County) and that’s how we met! Well, after selling the company and transferring all the hardware over to her, it got me thinking about what it felt like when it was all first getting started…

An empty room and pieces (literally) of furniture:

Putting it all together…

Optix Studios takes shape:

Infant days… a lot of marketing/thinking/dreaming:

Taking off, gaining momentum… (these pictures are courtesy of DChee Photography)

Optix Studios gets sold to its next wonderful owner:

And in the end, things look like the start:

Farewell Optix! It has been one heck of a ride, and I wouldn’t have had it any other way. I can’t wait to see what Cimela takes it next!

Yesterday was the beginning of a new chapter: I moved to Ann Arbor! Off to start my PhD career here… excited and a little bit worried. More excited to be starting a “brand new life,”, but a little worried because there are too many unsettled issues… work that I didn’t finish in Houston, classes I haven’t picked here in UM yet. But enough of that, the trip up here was far more interesting:

There was a brilliant lightning storm the night before. (Note: while I didn’t intentionally copy his idea, I was probably heavily influenced by a similar photoshoot that Tony Yang did recently.)

Checking-in my baggage for the flight went a little bit less than smooth. The check-in agent actually measured my luggage and found it to be too large. The maximum width+length+height is 61″. She told me mine was 62″ and I had to get rid of 1″ or she would charge me $39. (Seriously?) I ended up taking my pillow out of my luggage, and traveled the next 7 hours looking like this:

On the plane ride over (first time takine AirTran… I like them. They remind me of JetBlue/SWairlines type customer service and fun), the gate agent ran onto the plane at the last minute and said, “I’m looking for Cinderella. You left your brown leather shoes in the waiting area. Cinderella, your shoes are at the front.”

Back to my pillow incident… on my 2nd leg flight from Atlanta -> Detroit, I sat next to 2 Air Force cadets, clad in their spiffy blue uniforms, hats, and pins. I, on the other hand, sat next to them in my basketball shorts and bright-blue starry pillow.

Landed in Ann Arbor and my friend Karen gave me a ride! (How nice of her, considering she lives in Detroit!) We went roaming around campus with Eric Yu, pretty much eating the whole way, and ran into this on the floor of the central campus diag:

We hung out at a local pub (Brown Jug?) and the waitress recommended a pitcher of this cider+beer blend (don’t remember the cider name, and the beer was New Castle). It was pretty good! I rarely like beer, but I cider+beer tastes awesome.

Crashed at BW3s for the rest of the night, munching on potato wedges and pepper-infused wings. Saw this:

Finally, the night ended at my temporary residence for the next 2 weeks: (it’s quite comfy!)