I'm back

It's been a long (and I mean LONG) summer. I don't have much time to write, as I'm on the road next week, but here are some highlights of the fun parts of the summer, in pictures:




Moved to the new house on May 01, 2009.
In the San Carlos hills.





Judy visited in June from Manchester. Adnan visited on business for most of June and all of July.



My sister visited for all of July, and made many new friends in the Bay Area. Here she is with her 2 bothers, I mean brothers




The party, previous to Tasneem's return to France. She invited all her new friends to the party. From TOP to BOTTOM: (tip - use the top edge of a window to track the person against the list below, if you're confused!)

Sean
Alam
Adnan
Borden
Andrew
Alberto
JJ
Victoria
Cathy
Julia Marie (Cutie)
Audrey
Tasneem
Norissa
Min Xuan
Michaelangelo (Cutie)
Vahe
Konstantin
Johnny (Ace photographer)






The purpose of my trip to Europe was a visit to Hamburg, to attend Jan and Khong Bee's spectacular wedding. I met both of them in 2006, and they subsequently met in Singapore in 2007. Magic always happens in Singapore! This was my third trip to Hamburg. I visited with Rohini, KB's friend from Melbourne, who now lives in London. I was very honoured to give a speech at the wedding - in German. Thanks to my friend Christine, who lives in Bandah Aceh. She helped me practice over Skype in my hotel (the "Zleep Hotel") room. Fifty years ago, such associations would not have been possible.




While in the UK, I visited my dear friend Colette, and my dear friend Karen managed to come. I had not seen Karen since 2005. Annie, Colette's daughter, will be attending the University of Chicago to read Philosophy this year.





While in the UK, I managed to see Claire, Gavin and Arwen. Here's a picture of Arwen, now 2 years old, at the lake.



I spent considerable time on the London Underground.
Note, the Underground is a subway system, and not a political movement.
This photo was taken at about 0540, on my way back to Heathrow airport.



While in the UK, I also managed to meet my dear friend from High school, Shantu. Shantu now lives in Cardiff, and is a cardiologist. Here is Shantu with his year old son, Saurav (aka Señor Mario Gonzales).