2025 Holiday Letter

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Hi All!

As another year draws to a close, Helen and I send our warmest wishes for a wonderful holiday season! If there’s one word to describe our 2025, it would have to be "Travel!" It was truly defined by adventure and experiences around the globe.

Our Year of Big Trips

We spent much of the year on the move, logging thousands of miles both at sea and in the air.

Kona, Hawaii, December, 2024

We capped off last year with a fantastic trip to Kona, Hawaii, where our good friend Steve joined us for a week of island exploration. Between relaxing along the Kohala Coast and tracking down local history, we kept ourselves plenty busy. We even made the trek out to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park hoping to witness an active eruption at Kīlauea—though Pele decided to sleep in, greeting us with just a few gentle plumes of steam instead of fireworks!

The rugged volcanic coastline near our hotel.

Taking in the balcony view at the Hilton Waikoloa Village, home base for the JEDEC meetings.

On the trail hunting for ancient Hawaiian petroglyphs.

Success! Centuries-old carvings etched directly into the lava rock.

Indulging in a warm chocolate lava cake with a generous scoop of vanilla ice cream.

A true island holiday: What Hawaiian Christmas tree is complete without a can of Spam?

Preparing the traditional imu (underground oven) for the luau.

Layering the hot stones and leaves to seal in the heat.

Covering the pit to let the slow-roasting begin.

Now the hard part: waiting patiently for the feast to cook!

Helen showing off the vibrant tie-dye silk scarf she created in one of the resort's craft classes.

Learning the proper art of styling a scarf as a pareo wrap.

The original King Kamehameha statue in Kapaau. The European sculptor decided to depict the Hawaiian king in the guise of a Roman warrior—much to the surprise of the locals!

A scenic roadside stop revealed Hawaiian green sea turtles (honu) basking lazily on the warm sand.

Visiting Hawaii Volcanoes National Park to check off Helen's bucket-list wish to see an erupting volcano.

Kīlauea was quiet on this visit, offering only wisps of volcanic steam drifting across the caldera.

Kōnane (Hawaiian Checkers)

While exploring the island, we took a deep dive into Kōnane, an ancient two-player strategy game. Although often dubbed 'Hawaiian checkers' because pieces jump over one another, it is actually much closer to a tactical, competitive peg solitaire.

A traditional Kōnane stone board arranged with black lava and white coral pieces.

Reviewing the official rules before planning the first move.

How it works:

The Board & Pieces: Played on a stone surface known as a papamū (often hollowed directly out of smooth lava rock), the board is laid out in an alternating checkerboard grid using black basalt stones and white coral pebbles.
The Setup: The game opens by removing two pieces from the center (or corners)—one black and one adjacent white—leaving the initial empty spaces needed for jumping.
How to Play: Players take turns leaping horizontally or vertically (never diagonally) over an opponent's stone into an empty depression beyond to capture it. Multiple jumps can be linked together in a single turn, provided the piece keeps moving in the exact same straight line.
The Objective: Capturing pieces is simply a means to an end; the real goal is territory and positioning. The game continues until a player has no legal moves left, making the last player able to make a jump the victor.

Hawaii Cruise

Our adventures began on the high seas in January with our very first voyage: a 16-day round-trip adventure to Hawaii aboard the Ruby Princess! Joined by seasoned cruisers Vic and Doris, we skipped the terminal traffic and boarded early, finding ourselves on the open bow deck directly above the bridge wings as we cast off. Watching the San Francisco skyline drift away and slipping beneath the Golden Gate Bridge was an unforgettable way to kick off the journey.

Life at sea suited us immediately. Between morning enrichment lectures, afternoon deck laps, and watercolor classes—where Doris guided Helen through painting her favorite animal, a sea turtle—the sea days flew past. Dinners in the Da Vinci dining room became a nightly celebration. We shared a table with wonderful new friends, Rose and Ron from New Mexico, while our attentive servers Anesu and Nene spoiled us rotten (even keeping a dedicated stash of soft Hawaiian rolls on hand just for Charles!). The culinary team capped off the voyage in grand style with their traditional Baked Alaska parade.

Watching the San Francisco skyline fade into the distance from high above the bridge wing.

Passing directly beneath the Golden Gate Bridge out into the Pacific swell.

A rare, crystal-clear sunlit view looking down into the massive crater of Haleakalā on Maui.

Doris helping Helen begin her sea turtle watercolor during a relaxing morning at sea.

A vibrant Polynesian music and dance troupe brought on board for an evening show in Honolulu.

Once in the islands, we hopped between all four major stops: Hilo on the Big Island, Honolulu on Oahu, Kahului on Maui, and Nawiliwili on Kauai. Renting cars at each port and guided by a GPS audio tour, we packed every shore day with adventure:

On Oahu, we rode the charming Pineapple Express train through the fields at the Dole Plantation and sampled their famous dairy-free Dole Whip.
On Maui, we drove straight from 75°F weather up to the 10,000-foot summit of Haleakalā, stepping out in shorts into 47°F air for a breathtaking panorama above the clouds.
On Kauai, Vic and Doris's bad-weather luck finally broke—the canyon mist cleared completely, revealing the spectacular, colorful expanses of Waimea Canyon in full sunlight.

The Dole Plantation's Pineapple Express rolling through the fields on Oahu.

The vibrant red and emerald expanses of Waimea Canyon on Kauai.

Helen's finished watercolor turtle on display below our anniversary banner.

The dining room staff parading with glowing Baked Alaska on the final formal night.

'Our Gang' at table 455: Doris, Vic, Helen, Charles, Rose, and Ron, flanked by servers Nene and Anesu.

On the return leg, we made our required maritime foreign port call (Google the Jones Act) in Ensenada, Mexico. After picking up Mexican vanilla and indulging in hot street churros, a stiff ocean breeze blew the boardwalk fountains straight across the sidewalk, forcing us into a frantic, laughing dash through the spray to get back aboard!

Back in our stateroom, our room steward Joemar (a 15-year veteran of towel folding) treated us to a brand-new towel animal every single afternoon. They crept onto shelves, dangled from lighting tracks, and took over the furniture. By the time we docked back in San Francisco, we had a full 14-piece menagerie guarding the bed—the perfect symbol of a cruise that completely won us over!

For a detailed day-by-day travelogue, complete dinner menus, and our full photo gallery, visit our Hawaii cruise website.

Sprinting through the wind-whipped fountain spray on the Ensenada waterfront.

Joemar's playful towel monkey swinging from the stateroom ceiling tracks.

The final 14-piece towel animal menagerie taking over the stateroom!

Taipei, Taiwan

Mid-year, we enjoyed some global family time, flying to Taipei, Taiwan, in June with brother Wayne and Rosie. We spent a great week sightseeing—from the Taipei Zoo to soup-filled dumplings at Din Tai Fung—before I settled in for a week of work.

After a 13-hour flight from San Francisco and a one-hour high-speed train ride from the airport to the Taipei central train station, we had to navigate a maze of escalators to find the exit where our hotel was located. It took us about an hour to weave our way through the station with our luggage.

Once outside, we were greeted by rain! We ended up walking around three blocks in the rain before reaching our hotel. Fortunately, I had used Google Street View before leaving home to map out the route. Of course, the elevator I had planned to use from the underground station to street level was down for repairs, forcing a search for another one.

Navigating the maze of escalators in the Taipei central train station.

Finally outside, but caught in the rain on the way to our hotel!

Breakfast in Taipei

The first morning, Rosie was up early. She wandered around the neighborhood our hotel was in and stumbled onto this neat little shop selling various kinds of omelets from a storefront. She figured they must be good as there was a long line of businessmen waiting to order. The lady running the shop owned it with her husband, but she was the only one in there. She was making six or seven omelets at a time, depending on how long the line was. They were quite tasty and made an enjoyable start to the day.

Rosie found a nice little takeout breakfast place near our hotel.

The menu was a simple signboard posted on the wall. What would you like?

Lunch in Taipei

Lunch was another interesting adventure. While wandering around looking for a place to eat, we found this little dumpling shop. Dumplings are very popular in Taipei. It was a small shop and the dumplings were delicious.

Dinner in Taipei

For dinner, I knew exactly where to go. I have been to Taipei many times and the local favorite, as well as my favorite, is Din Tai Fung. They specialize in dumplings with hot soup inside of them. The shop has been around for many years and even has lots of locations in California and in Washington State. They also have locations in Nevada, Oregon, and New York.

Yum! Yum! Don't these dumplings look good!

Toilets

As in most Asian countries, squat toilets are still popular, though the number of Western-style toilets outnumber them. Most Asian homes have Western-style, but in public, a lot of Asian people prefer the squat toilet as they feel they are cleaner since no part of your body touches them. Now....which way do you face when squatting?

Taking an Aerial Tram to the Top of the Mountain

There is a tram that takes you up to the top of a mountain. This mountain is famous for the tea leaves that are grown there. Once at the top, there are a few tourist shops and lookout points.

About half-way up looking down the mountain and over the city.

Ah, a perfect treat for a hot day, green tea ice cream.

Taipei Zoo

On the way down the tram, we stopped at about 1/3 of the way from the bottom. This station was the entrance to the zoo. Since we were still partially up the mountain, we could view the animals and only have to walk downhill! Pretty clever?

Like most animals, this elephant thinks the trees are greener on the other side of the fence!

Helen even decided to ride on the back of one!

I'm not sure I would want to be this close to the back-end of an elephant!

We thought the train station was complex. Check out the maze of escalators in this department store.

Wayne purchasing curios from a street vendor.

The game of Go—simple rules, deep strategy, where players surround territory with dark and light colored stones.

In the memorial hall, there were many pieces of exquisite ancient furniture. If you scan the above QR codes, they will link you to a website where you can make miniature models out of paper. Maybe fun to use in a dollhouse?

A random street with a fun looking arch.

We were lucky to be able to meet our friends from the Agewell center in Fremont. John and Alice are from Taiwan and return frequently to visit family and friends. They just happened to be there at the same time we were.

3-D Printing

I happened to be in the library one day and became curious about a large room named "Spark Laboratory". I found out this is actually a craft room where members can do sewing projects, poster printing projects, and 3-D printing. I have been curious about 3-D printing for a few years, so I thought this might be a good opportunity to try it out. I reserved a machine and made my first 3-D printed object, a spork (spoon/fork).

They have 4 top-end models, the Prusa MK4S 3-D printers.

Hickory, NC & Munich, Germany

The Fall was busy with family and international work! In September, we first flew to Hickory, NC, to visit Helen's son, David, daughter-in-law Karen, and grandchildren Reghan and Helena. We spent a wonderful and busy week just being with them and other family members. Immediately following that, we flew to Munich for a JEDEC forum. Though we sadly fell ill (resulting in a memorable visit to a German doctor!), we managed to enjoy plenty of traditional sauerbraten and apfelstrudel!

Hickory, NC

Charles and Helen took Helena to her first Home Depot "Kids Workshop" which is held on the first Saturday of every month. This month, the project was building a wooden airplane. At the workshop, the kids had to build the plane using various tools. Then they painted the plane.

How exciting! I think Charles was as excited as Helena.

Family Time in Hickory

While in Hickory, we had a chance to visit with Karen's parents, Dave and Janet. They like taking us to their favorite Mexican restaurant.

Over the weekend, Helen's younger brother, Harold, and his girlfriend, Janet, made a detour to go through Hickory on their way home to Florida. They spent a day with us and Helen's grandkids.

We were also lucky to have a chance to visit with Helen's cousin, John, and his wife Ginger. They took us to one of their favorite restaurants in Charlotte.

Left to right: Charles, Dave, Janet, Reghan, Helena and Karen.

Left to right: John, Ginger, Helen, Karen, Helena, Janet and Harold.

Left to right: Karen, Janet, Harold, Dave with Helena and Helen.

Munich

JEDEC had a one-day Automotive Forum, in Munich, Germany, they asked me to moderate. Of course, we went over a week early to enjoy the city. I have been to Munich many times and it is one of my favorite cities in Europe.

While there, we enjoyed lots of sightseeing and had sauerbraten with an apfelstrudel for dessert almost every night. We also took the "free" city walking tour where you tip the guide at the end of the tour.

We are headed to Ostbahnhof (East railway station) where we had to change trains to get to our hotel.

Our first Apfelstrudel (apple strudel). This dessert was first created in Munich.

The Isar river is flowing under the bridge in such a manner as to create a standing wave.

This is a very famous location where surfers come to surf the standing wave.

Whenever I'm in Munich, I stop by the Hofbräuhaus, a very famous beer hall founded on September 27, 1589, by Wilhelm V, Duke of Bavaria.

Of course, they have a very delicious apfelstrudel which we had to have.

San Francisco Fleet Week

Vic and Charles had a boys' day in San Francisco. We went to see the Fleet Week Airshow. This year, the Blue Angels were not flying due to the Federal Government shutdown. However, they had the Canadian Snowbirds which have a much more graceful show. It was a great substitute and we both had a good time.

Charles and Vic enjoying the ferry ride to the Ferry building to catch BART home. What a GREAT day!

Panama Canal Cruise

The capstone adventure was our October/November cruise through the magnificent Panama Canal. We gathered a group of eight, and Vic and I became expert tour negotiators at every port, arranging private vans for sightseeing at a fraction of the cost of the sponsored tours!

Day	Date	Port	Arrive	Depart
Wed	Oct 22	Los Angeles, CA	—	3 PM
Thu	Oct 23	At Sea	—	—
Fri	Oct 24	At Sea	—	—
Sat	Oct 25	Puerto Vallarta, Mexico	8 AM	5 PM
Sun	Oct 26	At Sea	—	—
Mon	Oct 27	Huatulco, Mexico	8 AM	4 PM
Tue	Oct 28	Puerto Chiapas → Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala (port change due to sediment buildup)	8 AM	5 PM
Wed	Oct 29	At Sea	—	—
Thu	Oct 30	Puntarenas, Costa Rica	7 AM	7 PM
Fri	Oct 31	At Sea	—	—
Sat	Nov 1	Fuerte Amador, Panama	7 AM	9 PM
Sun	Nov 2	Panama Canal (Full Transit) (Cruising)	—	—
Mon	Nov 3	At Sea	—	—
Tue	Nov 4	Curaçao (part of the ABC (Aruba, Bonaire & Curaçao) Islands)	8 AM	5 PM
Wed	Nov 5	At Sea	—	—
Thu	Nov 6	At Sea	—	—
Fri	Nov 7	Fort Lauderdale, FL	7 AM	—

While waiting at the San Jose, CA, airport for our flight to Los Angeles, Rey and Lysa, who were sitting behind us, noticed the Princess Cruise tags on our carry-on luggage. Lysa asked us about them and we struck up a conversation. It turns out they were going on the same cruise! When we got to LA, we shared an Uber to the port. They also indicated they would like to join us on our self-designed excursions as it was much cheaper than the ones Princess sells. They ended up being our tablemates for all our dinners. Since they live a short distance from us, we still see them from time to time.

At our first stop, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, Vic and I negotiated a price with an independent tour guide for six of us: Vic, Doris, Rey, Lysa, Helen, and Charles. Since he had an 8-person van, he wanted two more people and found Keith and Kamala. We hit it off really well with Keith and Kamala. During the few hours we were together on the first tour, they decided to join us on future expeditions.

Keith and Kamala are from the United Kingdom. Being European, they were used to eating dinner around 7:30 to 8 PM. The rest of us wanted to eat dinner around 5 PM so we could catch the early show. After a few excursions, we were all getting along so well that Keith and Kamala decided to change their dinner time to match ours. We felt honored they would make the change just to be with us!

Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala, was a substitute stop because our original destination, Puerto Chiapas, Mexico, had become too shallow. It wasn't really set up for tourists. We took an hour-long van ride where the only highlights were a "You Love Ztapa" sign and a wonderful lunch at an out-of-the-way restaurant.

By comparison, Puntarenas, Costa Rica, was fascinating. We visited a monkey farm where the monkeys would come right down and take food from our hands. We also took a riverboat tour, spotting beautiful birds and many crocodiles. At one point, our helmsman drove the boat onto the shore, jumped out, and started playing with a crocodile! The staff knows exactly which ones they can mess around with and which to avoid. We ended the tour at a beautiful butterfly sanctuary.

The canal transit itself was an unforgettable engineering marvel. We entered from the Pacific side under the Bridge of the Americas and eventually exited under the Atlantic Bridge into the Caribbean. Going through the locks is a tight squeeze! Afterward, one of the crew's top priorities was painting over all the 'mule' tractor marks left on the ship's hull from navigating the locks. We also had a lot of fun testing our nautical knowledge along the way—did you know a white lighthouse is active, while a black lighthouse is retired?

I also got incredibly lucky on board! Keith had the Princess Plus package, which included up to four ice cream sundaes per day. Since he didn't want them, Vic, Doris, and I made the most of his package deal to enjoy the $20 sundaes!

Our first expedition in Puerto Vallarta. Left to right: Kamala, Keith, Vic, Lysa, Doris, Rey, Charles and Helen.

The Island Princess, one of Princess's smaller ships designed to fit the old Panama Canal locks.

The 'You Love Ztapa' sign on our van tour.

A delicious lunch at an out-of-the-way restaurant in Guatemala.

Feeding the monkeys by hand at the monkey farm.

Finding our tour boat for crocodile sightseeing.

Our helmsman playing with a familiar crocodile on the shore!

Beautiful specimens inside the butterfly sanctuary.

Keith and Rey became good buddies, even buying identical shirts!

Rey brought a gorilla suit for Halloween and had a blast!

Our dinner buddies. Front: Helen, Charles, Lysa; Back: Vic, Doris, Rey.

Approaching the Bridge of the Americas, the Pacific entrance to the Panama Canal.

Entering the tight squeeze of the canal lock.

Waiting for the ship ahead to exit the lock.

A white lighthouse indicates it is still active...

...whereas a black lighthouse is no longer in use.

An optical illusion making it look like a ship is sailing through the trees!

Approaching the Atlantic Bridge at the Caribbean end of the canal.

Curaçao's strong Dutch influence is visible everywhere.

Crew painting over the 'mule' tractor marks left on the hull from the canal transit.

The town features many beautiful, colorful homes.

Taking in the view from the highest point on the island, with the Island Princess in the background.

Giant wooden shoes celebrating the local Dutch heritage.

Making the most of Keith's unused ice cream sundae package!

Gainesville, Florida

After the final cruise, we drove up to Gainesville, Florida, to visit Helen's brothers, which also was a wonderful chance to explore my old college town and reminisce about the spot where Helen and I first met 14 years ago.

We hope your year was as eventful and as exciting as ours and...

We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Love,

Charles & Helen