Peimei,

I knew this is coming. Instead of getting my share of the loot, I got work assigned to me. No wonder Shakespear said "Curiosity kills the cat.". I am not sure about the cat, the suspense was killing me. Now that you had finally answered my question. I thought I'd honor your request of providing an introduction of myself, at the very least.

But there is a slight problem. Next week is the final week for my MBA program. I need time to prepare for my finals. So I am going to cheat by resending an introduction that I once sent to someone else (that you might know). Hope this is ok.

Seriously, I will be happy to contribute anyway I can financially and time wise now that I have some spare time after the MBA.

Finally, I want to thank and congratulate James for doing a masterful job at revamping the website.

Cheers,
Nhon

***

Elise,

Hi, happy Chinese new year. Please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Nhon Quach, a friend of Bun at Minh Vien (Ai-ban) and Tran Khai Nguyen (C5). Just like you, I escaped from Vietnam on a boat in 1978 to the US . At Bun's relentless prodding:), I finally got a chance to visit your website and am impressed by the quality of the website and your accomplishments, in your work and in life. Your long list of hobby is particularly intriguing and impressive to me since I am also a decend player of Chinese chess -- I used to read all the chess manuals on opening and end-games in Vietnam .

I am also maintaining a mailing list to facilitate chatting and sharing among a group of friends and classmates from Mien Vien, Tran Khai Nguyen, and Bac Ai (Bun is on the mailing list). We also do biannual camping and reunion, etc. But I am finding it harder and harder to maintain the level of enthusiasm and interest; the frequency of email exchange has dropped substantially over the years.

I used to play the guitar (never good at it), but love the piano much more. I used to practice 2 hours a day for three years. But still couldn't play Fatasy Impromptu by Chopin and had to give up at the end because my wrists hurt. My son, on the other hand, can play it with relative ease at the age of 15 after 10 years of training.

I am a computer architect (design CPU chip) in the morning at work, an MBA student and an adjunct professor at night at San Jose   State University , and a volunteer worker at weekends. I am learning ball room dancing. But just between you and me, no girls should ever dance with me if they care about their feet. In this sense, I admire my wife's courage for taking so much risk dancing with me :).

Your website is a great idea and I probably should build one too when I have time.

Cheers,
Nhon