Life & Interests

Passions and adventures outside the world of software engineering.

#1Scuba Diving

I got my PADI scuba diving license about 3 years ago, and honestly, being underwater is one of the coolest feelings in the world. It’s completely silent, zero gravity, and you're surrounded by turtles, coral reefs, and schools of fish just minding their own business. Whenever I travel anywhere near warm water, diving is the very first thing on my itinerary.

#2Music Instrument

My mom made me take two years of piano lessons when I was little, and back then, I really didn't appreciate it. But as I got older, I found myself drawn back to instruments. Nowadays, I like sitting down at the piano to play some easy to medium songs, and I picked up the ukulele in my spare time just to noodle around and have fun.

#3Hackintosh Community

I've always preferred macOS over Windows for daily work and development. Back in college, Apple gear was way too expensive for my student budget, so I decided to build my own Mac by installing OS X on custom PC hardware. What started as a way to save money turned into a huge curiosity rabbit hole. Even today, I still run a Hackintosh desktop for daily use and hang out on tonymacx86, insanelyMac, and osx86 forums.

#4Gaming

I grew up on video games. StarCraft, Warcraft III, World of Warcraft, Diablo, Hearthstone, CS, Dota, League of Legends, PUBG—you name it, I've probably played it. When I'm in a game, it lets me totally zoom out from everyday stress and just focus. My claim to fame was back in 2004, when I hit rank 37 in North America in the Warcraft 3 tournament at the World Cyber Games (WCG) in San Francisco.

#5Crabbing & Fishing

During crab season, I love heading out to the Pacifica Pier. The secret is buying cheap chicken bones from the Asian market as bait. You go out early in the morning or late at night, drop the net down, wait about 10 minutes, and pull it up—often with 5 to 10 crabs clinging to it! It's such a satisfying feeling. While waiting between pulls, I cast a fishing rod off the pier and usually reel in a couple of fish too.

#6Snowboarding

Like most people living in California, I head up to Lake Tahoe whenever winter hits. I'm definitely not a pro snowboarder, but I just love being up there on the slopes. Coasting down the mountain with fresh snow all around you and looking out at the lake and pine trees—honestly, it never gets old.