The personal website of Grace and Jason Rhee

  • Lunch in HMB with Jen

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    Lunch in HMB with Jen

    The weekend of February 4th, Jen had some business in the area and came out early to spend the weekend with us. The weather was nice, so we decided to head out to Half Moon Bay for lunch at the Ritz. We seated ourselves by the window overlooking the 18th green of the Old Course. After ordering, we were informed that our waitperson had a medical emergency and had to go to the ER. Though we had to place our orders again, we were relieved she would be okay. Though the manager was apologetic, they never quite recovered from being a person short and we were essentially fumbled by the staff. In the end, the manager took care of our lunch, but even that was a comedy of errors, right down to losing our valet ticket for a while. Overall, below expectations.

    That evening we had dinner with several of Jen’s friends as well as several of Grace’s work friends at Rose Pistola. It was fun to get out in the city. Prem was there, so of course Vegas was discussed – then it was proposed. I checked on after-dinner flights for a quick Super Bowl trip, but after the $900 ticket quote, it didn’t sound like such a good idea anymore. Something tells me Jen and Prem would have been in for $850.

    Incidentally, Grace and I enjoyed the Super Bowl on Sunday over at Amy and Grady’s house. It was great to see them, as well as the 20 or so kids (and parents) that stopped by at some point during the game. Grace unfortunately went into the office and missed the entire game.


  • Man’s Meal

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    Man’s Meal

    On Sunday, January 29th, a small group of us convened at Harris’ for Man’s Meal. After the meal, we placed our usual wager on the final bill. Someone couldn’t make change and suggested we just make it $10. I was the last to guess and was hazed a bit for using the calculator on my phone. O’Brien filled in for Marty as the gambling czar, but against protocol, announced the total after reading my entry because I was only a few dollars off. I was feeling good. Caskie suggested he keep reading the entries as he had guessed the amount to the penny. Foiled.


  • Seogck Ah Visits

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    Seogck Ah Visits

    On Saturday, January 28th, Grace and I had dinner with my cousin, Seogck Ah, who was here from Korea for a conference. Jen and I also had dinner with her the last time she came for this conference (2002?). It was raining and busy in the city, so we decided to have dinner at the Marriott with her colleagues, where they all were staying. Seogck is the oldest of 3 daughters to my mom’s oldest brother. When I did visit Korea, she was always busy studying, so I wasn’t able to spend much time with her. Looking back, we have probably only met each other a handful of times throughout our lives. Even so, it was wonderful to see her, even briefly, and hear about her family and her work. She may work a year in the states and bring her girls. We’d love it if she came to the bay area.


  • White Elephant Holiday Party – Ky and Rhonda Engaged!!!

    On Saturday, January 21, we had our annual Kellogg white elephant give exchange at Allison’s beautiful new home in Redwood Shores. I’m not exactly sure who invited all of us over there, as she just had her refridgerator delivered that day, but she was a gracious hostess. Coincidentally, Allison moved in just around the corner (literally 4 houses) from Dora and Ben, who hosted last year’s party. Sadly, we missed last years, but heard ALL about it and what had transpired.

    Since 2001, Grace introduced a gift to the mix that just keeps on giving. I can’t really tell you what it is because it was given to her by a family member and I don’t want to hurt any feelings. Let’s just say that to most, it is a heinous item that one would neither use nor proudly display. On the other hand, it could be some treasured artifact that would fetch a huge sum on eBay. What makes it priceless to us are the lengths to which we will all go to ensure we don’t end up with it, and more importantly, ensure it goes to the targeted recipient. Because she was so upset to end up with it the first time, that person has been Dora. Last year, apparently everyone conspired to make sure Dora picked it, and sure enough, she chose the nicely wrapped box that held this little gem. This year, there were several coalitions going on that made Survivor look tame. Dora and Ben got very tricky, by wrapping a small gift containing a certificate for the item for the recipient. Not to be outdone, Dora was duped into choosing a mug bearing a photo that captured her horror from last year. Priceless indeed.

    On a more important note, Ky and Rhonda very subtley announced their engagement, which occurred on their recent trip to Vietnam. We are very happy and excited for them.


  • McKinsey Dinner

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    McKinsey Dinner

    Sorry, I haven’t posted anything in a while. The new year has been crazy busy for both of us. That said, we’ve been keeping busy with friends and family, too, so I’m going to try to catch up. On January 20th, McKinsey rented out all of One Market for a cultivation (sell) weekend dinner. We had fun with members of her old and new teams.


  • Leaving Las Vegas – CES 2006

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    CES was a blur this year. I was ready to go home before it began. It turned out to be much more low-key than last year. I actually made it out on the floor to look around. I ran into a friend from Kellogg and Michigan who was launching the Core Duo (dual-core Intel chip that’s going to be in the new Apple Macbooks – out next month – sign me up!). Highlights included seeing Steve Young pitch Samsung products and 103″ 1080p plasma tvs. Other than that, it was ho-hum.

    We ended up packing everything up on Saturday. Anthony, my carpool buddy, was signed up to drive all the crap home. Desperate to get home a day early and worried about him driving alone, I volunteered to go with him. On Sunday, he picked me up at 9:30am and I threw my bags and golf clubs into the back of our truck. This was not your average moving truck – this was the real deal – 26′ 6-speed diesel with lift gate. We’re normally quite chatty during our commutes, but between me spending 8 days in Vegas and Anthony being out until 5am, little was said during our 10+ hour ordeal. The only thing of note was driving through my first weigh station. When it was all over, I was VERY glad to be home.


  • Vegas Vacation

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    Vegas Vacation

    Grace’s mom invited my family and Charles’ family to Las Vegas to celebrate the New Year and Grace’s dad’s birthday together. It was great to get our families and siblings together. We all arrived at the Bellagio on the 1st. That evening, we all went to see “O,” except for David and Charles, who looked after Delaney and Cameron. The next day, we took a look around on the strip and ended up shopping a bit. In the evening, we all exchanged Christmas presents. Afterwards, we all had dinner together at Mon Ami Gabi (one of our favorite restaurants in Vegas) to celebrate Dad’s birthday.

    The next day, Charles, his dad, David, and I, played golf at Bali Hai. It turned out to be a beautiful day and we all enjoyed the course. We all met up again for one last dinner at PF Changs. It was fun to spend time in Vegas with our families. The last day, everyone headed home, except for me. I was in town for CES through the 9th. I didn’t think I could survive that long in Vegas.


  • Holidays 2005

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    Holidays 2005

    The rest of our stay in NYC was spent shopping. Or, rather, it was spent by Grace and Jen shopping, while I followed. Thursday, Jen and Mike drove into the city from Connecticut (Zoe did not make the trip, though we wanted to see her). We all had lunch together with Linda at Tao. It was great to catch up with them, though briefly. Next time, we’ll have to go out to Connecticut to see Zoe and their new home.

    Friday, more shopping. This time, Linda was Grace’s partner in crime. Bad influences all around. We had dinner with Linda, Danny, Elliott, and Joon. Elliott enjoyed his OB beer with his Korean BBQ. Grace, Joon, and I met up with Jen for drinks at the Paramount hotel. Jen had somewhat of a head-start, as she missed dinner and had drinks with colleagues instead. Afterward, we went home to pack. We brought along a large suitcase for gifts, yet had to borrow an extra one for the trip home b/c of all the crap Grace bought … heartburn. Thanks again to Linda and Danny for hosting us during our entire stay!


  • Dad’s 70th Birthday

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    Dad’s 70th Birthday

    Yesterday was my Dad’s 70th birthday and we celebrated at Morton’s in Manhattan. This happy occasion brought together our extended family, many of whom I have not seen in over 20 years! Still, it was an intimate affair and we enjoyed catching up with everyone.

    Our cousins, Steve, Thomas and Heidi, all joined us with their respective spouses, Mee Jung, Jane and Bobby. The last time I saw them I was likely in middle school. I was really happy to see them. Their father, unfortunately, was not feeling well, so he and his wife stayed home to watch Heidi’s two girls.

    My uncle and aunt came in from Long Island, along with my cousin, Youngsun, her husband, Byung, and their very handsome son, Danny. Their family took me skiing to Vermont when I was younger. My Dad’s cousin from New Jersey also joined us. Finally, the team would not have been complete without all of Eemoh’s family. We were glad that Andrew and Halle were also with us to celebrate.

    We had a memorable evening together. Dad encouraged all of us to get together more often. Thanks to Jen to planning such a wonderful dinner (Grace and I spread the rose petals).


  • Christmas 2005

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    Christmas 2005

    Grace and I flew out to NYC on a Friday night redeye. My dad picked us up at JFK in the morning. Linda and Danny were down in Florida with their family and were gracious enough to allow us to stay at their beautiful place on Central Park West (we’re still here!). We caught up on some sleep in the morning and headed over to Jen’s, where my parents are staying. We had lunch and went out to do some last minute shopping. Bobby met up with us briefly in Midtown. We went back to Jen’s for dinner. Cousins Lou and Millie were in the city and also came over. Jen and mom cooked a multi-course extravaganza, which included an incredible beef tenderloin. We had a great time catching up and reminiscing.

    On Christmas day, we went back over to Jen’s to open presents with our families. Our second cousin, Jayoung, who is studying in NYC, also came over. Jen and mom did some cooking before we all headed over to Clarence’s house in Tenafly, NJ. It was our first time visiting their ginormous new home. Their townhome in Fort Lee would have been busting at the seams with all of the different clans that gathered for their Christmas feast. All of Eemoh’s family, Kwons (and cousins), Chois, Lees were there as well as their respective little ones.

    The Doctors Kwon (always so generous) brought lobsters and crabs for all and the Lees brought over the Peking Duck. Mom made several appetizers, which were also a big hit. We were stuffed.

    The first event of the evening was an arm wrestling rematch between Millie and Kenny, who is now unbelievably a senior at Georgetown. Kenny was surprisingly defeated by Millie a couple of years ago. 2005 was also not his year, though it seemed close. The pictures are priceless.

    Instead of Secret Santa, we did a white elephant gift exchange, which proved to be quite hilarious. It took a while for some to realize the implications of the rules. Soon, the Rhees were accused of collusion. Though it seemed to make no sense when my father stole a gift from my mother, it all worked out when I stole it back from the Lees who stole it from him – it was locked in our family. Similarly, my sister scored the gift my mom wanted (which she actually brought) and in return, she scored the Kiehls gift box that Jen wanted. Others soon caught on, but it was too late. Proving that you can’t judge a gift by its cover, Lou’s gift, which was nicely wrapped in a Kroger’s grocery bag, turned out to be the last item picked and also the one “guy gift” (headphones) that we all would have chosen over our bath oils and ground coffee. A very memorable gift exchange indeed.

    The fun did not end there. The cousins had planned a big Yut tournament, which is sort of like a Korean version of Sorry. Though we lost some key players due to the hour, we were still able to play amongst the clans. Jayoung played for us, which turned out great because she not only threw with style, but also had some clutch tosses. Grandmother Kwon also got in the action and proved to be a solid player. In close matches, the Rhees and Eemoh’s family advanced to the finals. We had a nail-biter of a match. It looked like they were a cinch to win with double players just a throw a way from finishing the game. But Jayoung reached down deep and threw some amazing Yut sticks that allowed us to catch two of their pieces, forcing them to start them over. We then also made it all the way around the board, and needed just one throw to win – anything but a back do (one backwards). Amazingly, that was exactly what dad threw. Drama. Luckily, mom came thru on the next throw and we won.

    The big prize is neither money nor even bragging rights. Instead, all of the other team members had to do a big bow to the Rhees. It was quite rewarding.