Meng's and Cindy's excellent adventures


The view from paradise

In June 1998, I accepted the offer of admission by the Computer Science department of the University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB). So we packed our bags and in August 1998, Cindy and myself arrived in Santa Barbara, California.

Locals refer to Santa Barbara as "paradise". It's really easy to see why. The scenary is beautiful, the weather is perfect, people are friendly, the air is clear, and the city is big enough to offer some convienences of city living yet small enough to avoid the problems that plague big cities, like crime, pollution, crowding and gridlocks. In many ways, it's paradise.

This is my journal of our days in Santa Barbara, my thoughts, feelings and observations. I hope this would complement the articles of another top Singaporean engineer spending his time in America, Jek Kian Jin. I respect this guy a lot. His articles on his life in the Silicon Valley can be found at http://www.best.com/~kianjin/sv-life.  We're looking at America from 2 different points of view, he from the exciting forefront of technology and me from a beach paradise where nothing happens. I guess the main difference between my articles and Kian Jin's is that his are actually good.

Anyway, on with the adventure....

The view from paradise - stardate 980818.
We finally found a place to stay!

The view from paradise - stardate 980823.
Trying to settle in...

The view from paradise - stardate 980902.
We bought a car, and found the perfect city.

The view from paradise - stardate 980916.
The trip to the Silicon Valley.

The view from paradise - stardate 981004.
A closer look at housing.

The view from paradise - stardate 981026.
I witnessed democracy in action, and was deeply impressed.

The view from sin city - stardate 981225.
A visit to the city of sin, Las Vegas.

Appendix

Details emerging... (Letter I sent to my friends before the trip.)
 


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