Gerald's blog

Nata-Kasane Express

2012-02-14T14:01:00.000-08:00

First of all, happy Valentine's Day.

Desperate times call for desperate measures. Stuck at Nata, we befriended a guy who happened to be also heading to the border town of Kasane. He was somewhat of a ladies' man, flirting with girls left and right like he was 007. Impressed by our audacity to take the road less traveled, he offered us a solution to get us to Zimbabwe, but only if we were tough enough. Without a moment of hesitation, we told him we were plenty tough. With that Mr. 007 flagged down a van packed with people and goods, high fived the driver, conversed in the local dialect before finally instructing us to jump on.

"But where?" I asked.

"The van!" he said.

"But I don't see a single empty seat."

"Oh, you guys are standing in the aisle."

My heart skipped a beat.

"How long is the ride? How far?" asked a clearly concerned Bearcat.

"About 300km. But it will take at least 4.5 hours. This will be the bumpiest ride in your ride."

Unfortunately, he turned out to be totally right.

Over those four hours Bearcat and I caught a glimpse of the raw African life. The congested aisle afforded hardly any room to even plant our feet. The lack of movement left our legs in an eternal numb state, making amputation a distinct possibility. In a bid to fight the cabin odor (partially contributed by us) and the overpowering heat, BC and I tried to open the window, only to be met with unfriendly glances from passengers who didn't like the wind in their faces. If there was such a thing as an African sauna, this would be it. And BC and I got to experience it standing up.

As an aspiring student of business, I liked to understand various ways through which business owners incentivize employees to act in the best interest of the company. Corporations nowadays put huge emphasis on this important pillar of modern business to promote sustainable growth. In the case of this "Nata-Kasane Express", the alignment of employee incentive was poorly managed at best, as evident from the fast-and-furious driving style of our teenage driver. While Bearcat mostly remembered our driver for his youthfulness, I like to remember him for his undisguised indifference to the well-being of the vehicle as well as that of his passengers. On a road riddled with enormous potholes, our intrepid driver displayed full reluctance to adjust his driving style to road condition. was enough to send Bearcat and I airborne on more than a few occasions. Many powerful impacts were made and many precious brain cells lost. We could only hope that it would help us forget this painful experience.

Aside from many adrenaline-filled moments, this journey also afforded an unadulterated encounter with true African locals. On my left sat a little girl. She could not have been a day older than five but had the appetite of someone ten years her senior. Over two hours she feasted non-stop on chips, oranges, candies and hard-boiled eggs, an impressive feat that reduced the concept of world hunger to a mere urban myth. When she finally ran out of food, she resorted to decorating the cabin floor with food packaging and egg shells. I wanted to educate her on the evil of littering, but having tossed countless old furniture off AD's balcony, did I really have the right to judge this little girl?

On my right was an African mother holding a baby girl. The lack of leg room and a crying child could not have helped her mood, but these discomforts didn't grant her the right to shove me after my ass had inadvertently kissed her round cheeks. Livid, I sized up my competition, but was distraught to find an opponent double me in size. Wary of her weight and home court advantage, I swallowed my pride and kept my head down. An hour later, the same lady asked me for some water as if nothing had ever happened between us. I wanted to ask her where her pride was, but thought better of it and simply surrendered my water bottle. Succumbing to bullies was quickly becoming the theme to my early adulthood.

The Road to Vic Falls Part 1

2012-02-07T18:42:00.000-08:00

(Ok, these are photos of Sossusvlei. Vic Falls photos next week)

Spontaneity has its strange appeal.

Planning the trip from our couch four months ago, we thought that visiting Victoria Falls was too much of a logistic nightmare for our already ambitious itinerary. But when we arrived at Maun, a town in west Botswana only 350km away from one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the world, we were helpless to resist its siren's lure.

For all our enthusiasm, certain logistics challenges still needed to be overcome. Driving was not an option, not just because of the sorry state of our vehicle (cracked windshield, flat tires, etc), but also because we needed special permit for Zimbabwe and Zambia. Flying, the most painless alternative, did not fit our schedule. A guy we met, apparently a pilot, offered us a lift on his private jet. It sounded too good to be true, but in the end we opted against trusting our lives with some dude we met at a bar. So we did the logical thing of taking the bus.

After consulting local wisdom, we learned that we first needed to take a bus from Maun to Nata, then from Nata to the border town of Kasane. From Kasane we would cross the Zambezi River on a ferry before catching a ride to Livingstone. It was not a journey for the faint of heart, but we were determined to reach Livingstone. The ride from Maun to Nata was an easy and smooth ride. We only had to step off the bus at various checkpoints to disinfect our shoes, a policy to stop the spread of Foot and Mouth Disease.

We got off at Nata and found a small crowd at the gas station. Like us, these were distant travelers, and judging from their obvious low morale and the amount of food packaging on the table, we thought that they must have been waiting for hours. It was not an encouraging sight, but left with no other choice, I bought a plate of chicken rice and joined the desperate crowd. We waited and waited, but every bus that stopped was either completely full or heading to a different destination. Pressed for a solution, BC and I agreed to a very bold move.

What did we end up doing? Find out next time on Dragon Ball Z. I meant this blog.

Sitch

Mars

The Egyptian in me

Sunrise

Salt pan

The Bear"kicks"

Photo credit: Bearcat

The Hike

2012-01-30T12:07:00.000-08:00

In the Namib-Naukluft National Park, BC and I hiked the Waterkloof trail. The 17km trail was supposed to take about 8 hours. High off of confidence, we aimed to finish in 6. There was no beaten trail, just hidden yellow markers to guide us along the way.

The day started on a high note as we took on Africa one step at a time, bouncing from rock to rock like its favorite son Tarzan. With Taylor Swift blasting on my iPod, I was having the time of my life.

We crossed the halfway point in 3 hours. After a steep climb, we reached the highest point of the trail. We sat down, feasted on Goldfish and beef jerky and enjoyed the captivating view from the peak. Fed and rested, we continued our journey, unsuspecting of the challenges ahead.

It was during our descent that things started to go downhill. Literally. The markers became annoyingly difficult to spot among the tall grass. Our patience finally expired - we decided to invent our own shortcut. It was a decision we would quickly regret. Our "shortcut" took us around a hill through human-sized thorn bushes and boulders, and then several hundred feet down a waterfall on slippery, algae-covered rocks. When we stumbled into a cove like a scene borrowed from the movie Avatar, we officially declared ourselves lost. We realized that magnitude of our mistake, and it took forty minutes of desperate backtracking and CSI-worthy searching before we found the sacred yellow marker that brought us back on track. To celebrate, BC took a dip in the river like bears often do on a hot summer day or when they are hungry for some salmon.

There was actually something else that happened before we were home safe. But you will have to wait till I finish my book to read about it.

The smell of death

Mission (half) accomplished

At the peak

The bear took a dip

Trouble

Home sweet home

Laundry time

Boiling water

Starting a fire

Shower

Dinner (it's a sausage)

Photo credit: Bearcat

Le voyageur sans bagage

2012-01-23T09:50:00.000-08:00

We were young. We were stupid. We were trotting fearlessly through early adulthood where an easy laugh was our ultimate panacea. But more importantly, we had joined the newly jobless. And so on 11th July, 2011, my friend - brother - Bearcat and I set off to southern Africa for a summer neither of us would ever forget.

My first memory of Namibia was the glorious sight of forty or so angry travelers besieging an airport customer help counter. Half the passengers on our flight were desperate for the whereabouts of our luggage, and those fortunate enough to retrieve their bags were furious to find important content missing.

"Welcome to Africa," said a fellow American tourist, whose upcoming hiking trip had become infinitely more difficult now without her North Face. "They cut my lock in J'burg, so I bought a new lock. And now they cut this new one too."

Next to us were two French ladies on their knees crying their eyes out, begging some unknown forces to help them retrieve their belongings. Standing by the luggage belt, I felt like I was staring into the end of the world.

In face of such a calamitous situation, I took comfort in the fact that my beat-up duffel bag had long outlived its expected useful life, and that I had made the correct decision of bringing old clothes for the trip, a fact that I decided to hide from my travel insurance company. I saw it as an opportunity, an overdue (and much needed) wardrobe upgrade. It was at this moment that a play I had read in high school French class sprang to mind. Le voyageur sans bagage - The Traveler Without Luggage - was the title, and I recalled nothing else about it other than its fitting description of my current sorry state.

Namibia here we come!

JMao

C Murder

Chef Mao in action

Brothers in hands

Bearcat

Makeshift lens

Not our ride

Photo credit: Bearcat

Happy 2011

2011-12-30T08:47:00.000-08:00

A year to remember...

Back to St Paul's

Macau

Hot Pot

Snow storm

Pinkberry with Mark and Shirley in NYC

Crazy Taipei

Kim's graduation

Father visiting

Quitting my job

Rome

Namibia with the AD bros

Lots of camping

Bye Cortland

Hi Boston

Back to school

Seeing Biggs in SF

Cruise in Bay area

Houston

Hot Pot again

See you next year.

Summer 2011 - Perugia

2011-12-12T10:36:00.000-08:00

In Italy, GPS' should not be trusted entirely. I learned that if you ask to be taken to city center, the device will take you there literally at all costs. While it was fun to drive through narrow pedestrian alleys 007-style to reach the heart of Perugia, getting a traffic ticket in the mail a few months later is not something you would expect happen to Bond.

Who's this guy?

Really cute

Gelato time

Trespassing

Summer 2011 - Montalcino

2011-12-06T13:51:00.000-08:00

One day, we decided to hit up a few wineries.

We set up an appointment with Castello Banfi because of its strong tie to where we went to school. Banfi was kind enough to have an American lady who worked there show us around estate. Her name was Elizabeth, and she and I didn't exactly get off to a flying start because she hinted that Cornell engineers (such as myself) are not exactly of the same caliber as our Hotel school classmates. She turned out to be very friendly and generous - my mother and Kim hung out with her after the rest of us left Italy and she gave them tickets to some Jazz concert in Tuscany.

Even though I had taken a wine course in college (allegedly the most failed course at Cornell, btw), I couldn't really speak intelligently about it. Thankfully Bearcat and Hannah (who also passed the class) actually remembered something from it so they did most of the talking.

After asking an innocuous question that led to a 20-minute long answer, Peter was banned from posing another question for the rest of the tour. But overall, it was very eye-opening and fun. Needless to say that we went home with quite a few bottles of wine.

Pro

Some beef dish

Charlie's Angels

(insert your own commentary)

Banfi

I will take one of these for my birthday

Summer 2011 - Siena

2011-12-01T18:05:00.000-08:00

Next we went to Siena.

The moment we arrived at Siena's famous piazza, we couldn't help but realize that the place smelled like horse poop. It turned out that we were spot on - the piazza recently hosted the Palio, a famous horserace that takes place twice a year in Siena. It was a welcoming development for us nature lovers, except for Kim who is deathly allergic to horses and cats. On that note, we decided it was time to consume our daily ration of gelato before continuing the journey.

Duomo

Piazza del Campo

Ms Hannah our guide

Gelato time again

Ms Hannah cracking a joke

Ms Hannah posing

Farmer Kim sighting

How to win a girl in 10 days

I Know What You Did Last Summer

Streets of Siena

Sunflower field

Somebody's sweet driveway

Summer 2011 - Arezzo

2011-11-27T12:38:00.000-08:00

Hi, I am back to this blog for good!

After the Jersey Shore cast took Italy last summer, my friends and I decided to do the same. Aside from one illegal cherry-picking event (that I swear I took no part of), I thought we were much better ambassadors for America than our Jersey counterparts.

Here is Arezzo, a city somewhere in Tuscany.

Every other Sunday, there is a large antique fair in town. Armed with an atypical adventurism, my mother dragged all of us to Arezzo for our first taste of small town Italy.

(Photo credit to Kim)

My brother

Street of Arezzo

Antique Fair

Our friend Hannah Montana

Antique market

Not for sale

Gelato time

Farmer Kim

Sweet sign

Cherry Picking

Pool time

The Situation

Mermaid sighting

White sangria

Good salad

Brothers in arms

Unemployed

2011-07-10T07:48:00.000-07:00

I am officially unemployed, and here was my boss' parting gift to me. A tip of my hello kitty hat to him.

On a different note, it is with regret that I announce the end of my quest to grow out my hair.

If left to its own device, my hair has the tendency to turn into Einstein hair, as Kim cunningly puts it, shown below.

While Einstein is not particularly known for his look, the idea of having long hair has always appealed to a certain dark side of my personality. So last Christmas, knowing that I would be jobless by summer, I decided to live my dream one last time. Well, it was fun while it lasted.

25-Year-Old HL King

2011-06-27T06:19:00.000-07:00

Sometimes, pictures are worth a thousand words.

Age 20:

Age 25:

Have a wonderful 25th birthday

Chase Challenge 2011

2011-06-22T13:49:00.000-07:00

Running 3.5miles is not usually my idea of a leisurely Tuesday afternoon, but getting to leave work early does have its appeal. So on the first day of summer, I decided to join 7000 other runners at the JP Morgan Chase Corporate Challenge.

On race day, my stomach was a little under the weather, possibly from an entire afternoon of feasting on honey bbq chips. And the fact that I was wearing non-matching socks did not exactly inspire confidence. But, being the natural warrior that I was, I allowed none of these minor discomforts distract me from our greater goals. Fortunately for me, when we arrived at Onondaga Lake Park (where the race took place), Taylor Swift's "You Belong With Me" was on at full blast. That was when I realized that things were turning around. It was going to be a good night.

In the end, I managed to finish the race without once stopping to tie my shoes (or pretending to do so just to catch my breath, as I often do). If nobody had mentioned that the winning time was 8 minutes faster than mine, I would have been pretty satisfied with my effort. But I couldn't care less at that point, knowing that waiting at the tent were ribs and pulled pork sandwiches from Dinosaur BBQ that we had been faithfully promised. It turned out to be a good night after all.

Elle Home

2011-06-14T06:01:00.000-07:00

If you are looking for an interior designer, I know just the right person.

Shirley and Mark

Reason why Mark is not 110 lbs

Good paella

Perfect Game

2011-06-04T15:18:00.000-07:00

To those who think that video-gamers are losers and will amount to nothing in life -

Suck. On. This.

Brian Kingrey wins MLB 2k11' $1 million Perfect Game Challenge using Philadelphia's Roy Halladay

http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-05-27/news/29610736_1_philadelphia-s-roy-halladay-phillies-fan-big-spender

(youtube video below)

I have always been quick to come to the defense of gamers, because to a large degree, I am one of them. Of my favorite childhood memories, a lot of them involved video games. Every major holiday (i.e. Christmas, Easter, Chinese New Year, summer, Queen Elizabeth's birthday...), I would take an hour-long ferry to visit my cousin in Chang Chau. From the moment I stepped into his place, we would spend every waking hour playing video games. With the AC on full blast and a refrigerator of food at our ready disposal, there was not a care in the world. I will always look back to those days and feel that something has since been lost.

While all those intense thumb exercises did little to help me become the universal sex symbol, they taught me valuable lessons in life. For example, you need to attack your enemies at their weakness - i.e. when confronted by a rock, deploy water-based attacks. Also, if your PS2 refused to be turned on after 50 tries, no amount of begging would change its mind. Lastly, if there were such a thing as the greatest joy in life, it is beating Ruby weapon in Final Fantasy 7.

Brian Kingrey - you are my hero. Way to go, girl!

All About My Father

2011-05-05T17:23:00.001-07:00

There are moments when you know for sure that you are your parents' biological offspring. Luke Skywalker came to such realization during his epic battle against Darth Vader. For Nemo, his father's courageous rescue mission is a testament to their inseparable bond.

I have long had my doubts about my own birth. It doesn't take much for me to speculate that I may have been adopted from an orphanage - a younger brother who shares no physical resemblance, a mother who doesn't swim, and a father blessed with none of my ninja-like qualities. But today, in one fell swoop, all lingering doubts have been swept away. In a hotel coffee shop halfway around the world, my father had committed a fearless act driven only by paternal love of the highest order.

When my father ran into Fiona, he had no idea that she was an A-list movie star. Instead, he remembered her as the woman of his son's dream (sorry Kim), and that the teenage me used to sing along whenever her songs came on on the car radio. It was no small feat for a 50-some-year-old to approach somebody half his age for her autograph in a room full of watchful eyes, but my father rose to the challenge with dignity and pride. In his situation, I would be admiring her from a safe distance like a coward that I am. At 5'8", my father may not be anyone's idea of a warrior, but today, in my book, he has become the most courageous man alive.

25

2011-05-02T20:07:00.000-07:00

The Journey

Actual time spent in Taiwan: 60 hours

Gerald's round-trip flight from Ithaca to Taipei: 44 hours

Everyone else: 1.5 hour (from HK)

Bus ride from Taoyuan Airport: 150 NTD

The Preparation

Beef noodle soup: 300 NTD

Dinner at the night market: 300 NTD

Brian's strip show at the night market (part 1 only) : free admission

Party glasses: 200 NTD

Sake bombing at a laundromat: 250 NTD

(No image available)

Bottle of Belvedere: free (courtesy of Lulu)

Shotgunning beers in hotel room: 30 NTD

The Aftermath

Roadside sausage: 30 NTD (or a can of Red Bull)

Drunken vandalism: 4000 NTD

Trip to the police station: free

Poolside detox: free

The During

Pole dancing: free

Surprising my best friends in Taipei (and celebrating my birthday in style): Priceless

There is something money can't buy, like lifelong friendship.

Justin, Brian, Lulu, DJ and Daniel - Thank you for the memorable weekend.

City Boy

2011-04-25T18:13:00.000-07:00

My car broke down on Easter weekend.

I was cruising down the highway on Friday night, laughing the laugh of the truly carefree when a flashing red light lit up the dashboard. Alarmed, I stopped the car right away and called the tow truck. It turned out to be the right decision, as I was subsequently informed that had I driven on, the car would probably need a new engine. Hoping to lighten my mood, I grabbed my guitar from the backseat and started playing Taylor Swift’s "You Belong With Me”, not just because it was my favorite song, but also - and perhaps more so - because it was only song I could play on the guitar. I spent the night at some random hotel in a town nearby.

The problem turned out to be a missing drain plug, which suggested that a local garage I use for oil changes might be to blame. I returned to Cortland on Monday and told them about my misfortune. Naturally, they denied responsibility, claiming that somebody else had applied the final touch. When they alluded that said person was me, I threw my hands up in the air and said, "do I look like I know how to jack up a car?"

They threw each other a knowing look, acknowledging my perfectly valid point.

I don’t know what is more depressing; knowing nothing about cars? Or bragging about my ignorance?

127 Hours

2011-04-18T15:35:00.000-07:00

x Spoiler alert x

I pride myself on being a natural survivor.

When I was four, a good friend of my father's tossed me into the ocean (in his defense, I probably deserved it). Caught without my trusted Little Mermaid floaties - and, more importantly, not knowing how to swim - I knew that my life was in my own hands, as none of the adults was sober enough to acknowledge the urgency of my dire situation. Armed with a sheer desire for revenge, I dogpaddled back to the boat and placed a weighted punch in my murderer's crotch. Then, inevitably, I started crying.

Fourteen years later, determined to leave for college with a bang, I joined DJ and Brian at an all-you-can-drink bar. After hours of debauchery, I lay paralyzed on the bathroom floor (thankfully my own), convinced that my life was coming to an end. In a desperate attempt to jump-start my vital signs, I headbutted the ceramic toilet bowl, which stopped the dizziness instantly and put me to sleep. Although I had to be taken to the hospital on an ambulance the next day for a mild case of concussion (actually caused by an unrelated head injury), I survived in the end. These incidents led me to believe that I am a daring man who can defy all odds just to see another day.

Then I saw James Franco cut off his arm.

The scene where he severed his nerves really put my own "heroics" in perspective. When he was done, he even took a picture of it with his camera. In his situation, I would probably swallow the camera battery just so I could die faster. There are people out there with a strong will to live, and as much as it pains me to say, I am not one of them.

Next on my netflix queue is Black Swan. Can somebody watch it with me?

Hong Kong part 2 and Snowman

2011-02-27T14:04:00.001-08:00

Huge seafood platter

Hot Pot time

Sai Kung

Christmas morning hike

The League

2011-01-16T13:02:00.000-08:00

Through some of my acquaintances, I was invited to play in a local poker league.

Its name, location and the identities of its members are details that I am not at liberty to disclose. For one thing, I don't want this article to pop up when somebody googles the league. Besides, I have no interest in getting all of them (potentially us) arrested. As you can tell, I am exposing myself to grave risk by divulging their secrets here.

United by a common passion, these strangers (at least initially) gather twice a month in this couple's garage to play cards. To call their facility a "garage" would be an insult to the equipment within - 2 standard card tables that accommodate more than 20 people, chips customized for the league, a computer displaying the progress of the game, and a TV showing football for those who want to stick around after getting knocked out. They also have an elaborate website that tracks career earnings, rankings, and every last fact you ever need to know about every player.

These are serious players who pound one energy drink after another to stay on top of their game. They bring along their pocket watches, sunglasses, iPod nanos and whatever brings them good luck. On my debut, I came armed with nothing but a copy of Better Homes and Gardens and so from the start, everyone thought I was gay.

I was not a good player to begin with, and as my nose started to itch (there were about 200 cats in that house), I began to play what I like to call "charity poker" and within half hour, I was heading home. I like poker, but I just lack the endurance to play the same game for 8 hours straight with people who kept asking me if i have a green card. Besides, going home afterwards is a huge pain considering that I have to take off all my clothes at the front door and leave them outside. THe last thing I need is to be allergic to my own home.

Hong Kong 2010 part 1

2011-01-08T06:06:00.000-08:00

Conveyor belt sushi

Old friends

Pizza Hut

McDonald Road

2010-12-27T23:21:00.001-08:00

There's nothing more disheartening than being stared down by 1,300 straight faces after I have tried to tell a joke. I only have my own bad karma to blame - when I was a student there myself, I was a full-time daydreamer and every m0rning assembly speaker's nightmare. Thankfully, I was a teenager not too long ago and knew that if I told the crowd how I once borrowed my friend DJ's underwear for an entire month, and how I betrayed my best friends for some pretty Colombian girls, I might be able to turn things around.

Thank God I was right.

Our F.2 classroom

Super Walmart

2010-12-03T09:01:00.000-08:00

I thought I would never say this, but I have officially become a Walmart Mom.

When the super walmart first opened in town, I was faced with a moral dilemma. Should I surrender to the evil corporation notorious for destroying local economies across America, or should I stand firmly on my principles? struggled to make up my mind, i decided to visit the place and get myself some ice cream.

When i got there, the only parking available was a long walk away from the store. i didn't like the walk in the cold rain one bit, but was deeply impressed by the majesty that was the size of the building. I walked in and was immediately welcomed by a man in blue uniform with slightly too much enthusiasm. I took a quick scan of my surroundings and decided that i would shop nowhere else ever again. i was warm to the idea of a grocery store that also sells everything else one can think of - the only shortcoming being that my ice-cream had all but melted by the time i was done with the video game aisle - but what ultimately stole my heart was the magnificent sight of a freezer full of corndogs. my eyes feasted upon them and then i headed straight for the appliances aisle for an industrial deep fryers.

Walmart has since changed the way i live. Food Walmart doesnt sell, I don't eat. i have long said goodbye to my favorite varieties of greens and good health.

So now that i have added "Walmart Mom" to my resume and joined Justin Bieber's enormous fanbase, what's next on my "Never Will I Ever List"?

Buying a minivan.

♫ Baby, baby, baby ohhh ♫

Trick or Treat 2010

2010-10-31T16:27:00.000-07:00

Rachel and Kim

Their costumes on me

My heart skipped a beat when somebody knocked on my door.

Through the peephole a young male serial killer was staring me down as though i had just stolen his Christmas. I thought it was finally payback time for all my inconsiderate crimes over the years. The long list includes vacuuming my apartment at 9 on a Sunday morning and parking my bicycle (the one that says "Princess") in the hallway. I thought this was the end.

But when i spotted the lollipop in his hand, it dawned on me that it was Halloween.

Unfortunately, all i had to share was a bag of skittles.

In my defense, this kind of community life was completely new to me - i used to live in the "hood" where trick-or-treating could cost you a limb or two. but i quickly learned that it is easy to be a cold, unloving person with no Halloween spirit until kids show up at your door in their elaborate costumes on a dark, frigid night. Denying them sugar, i decided, would scar me for the rest of my life. so after splitting the skittles between the boy and his little witch sister, i went for a quick emergency candy run so that i would be home in time for my next freaking-looking guests.

like it or not, i think i am becoming a grown man.

Niagara Falls and Chicken Parm

2010-10-18T18:46:00.000-07:00

Sir Yes Sir

2010-10-07T15:56:00.000-07:00

Today I got a call from a Naval Officer in regards to my application to become an engineer for the Navy.

How he chanced upon my resume was a question begging to be asked, but the moment never seemed right (it could very well have been my own doing because whenever I feel unsatisfied, I tend to find refuge in this place called Monster.com and the career of a nuclear submarine engineer sounds like something I would fantasize about).

Before agreeing on a time for a face-to-face interview, I told him I needed time to "think things over" and I would have an answer for him the following day. As soon as he hung up, I looked up "naval officer training". While a change of pace would be a welcoming development, I wasn't sure if my slender 24-year-old frame could endure that kind of physical abuse. But it was not until I looked in the mirror to picture myself with a buzz cut that I realized i will never be the daring man who saves humanity like Josh Duhamel in The Transformers - I am raised a civilian and all signs are telling me that i am meant to remain that way. I am, for the most part, a law-abiding citizen, and I like to think that I choose to live that way out of the goodness of my heart, not because I am wary of military justice.

If i change my mind, i will let you know.

Hot Pot with the Homeboys (and girls)

2010-09-20T17:08:00.000-07:00

We Chinese overcome all kinds of obstacles to immerse ourselves in our heritage. For my cousin Mui, she frequents illegal sites to download music from the motherland; Americans of oriental descent fly halfway around the world to touch the Great Wall. For me, I only need to light the stove and announce that "it's hot pot time."

Melissa and Brian

2010-09-06T20:09:00.000-07:00

Wish you a happily ever after! (and thanks for letting me copy your homework in college)

Summer time in Cortland

2010-08-21T18:15:00.000-07:00

In the summer time when the trees are green and you can get to your car without worrying about frostbite, I don't really mind being here.

Twilight

Sunday night

The fireball that is my new lamp

Party in the USA

2010-08-14T09:41:00.000-07:00

Because all our friends have gone back to Hong Kong for good at one point or another, Mark and I have become friends with benefits.

For me, he is somebody who understands what it is like to be away from home. Every now and then we would get together to eat bar food, play golf and whine about life.

For him, things are more straight foward - he just needs somebody to play beer pong with.

Welcome to our suburban life in the USA.

Amanda and Sven

2010-08-08T16:58:00.000-07:00

Wish you all the best in the days to come

Hurricane Harbor 2010

2010-08-07T08:00:00.000-07:00

My friend Tiff flew 8000 miles from Hong Kong to New York. She claimed that the purpose of her trip was to see me.

It was obviously a lie. But since I have no friends, I had no excuse not to get behind the wheel for 10 hours to meet up with her at Hurricane Harbor, a water park in New Jersey. We brought my cousin Virginia along because she knew the words to the song Tik Tok.

Most of our time at the park was spent waiting in line. Tiff is still claiming that she has overcome all the rides in the park fearlessly. She is probably right. How else can you explain the piercing scream the rest of us, along with 300 other onlookers, all heard momentarily after Tiff had began her descend down this giant water slide.

The low point of the day came when I made an insensitive comment on people who go to water parks alone. It was a general statement and I wasn't trying to hurt at anyone in particular, but of course, standing right in front of us was an Hispanic kid who was clearly flying solo. I felt like an asshole.

Unfortunately we didn't take any action shots because if I were stupid enough to bring my camera on the slides, chances are I wouldn't have taken many pictures with them anyway. But here are some before and after photos.

To all my friends - please visit me.

First things first

My cousin Virginia

the wave pool (of urine)

outside the girls' changing room

Prob the best photo I have ever taken in my life

Girl power

M for Mini Golf

2010-08-01T05:00:00.000-07:00

Kim has absolutely no interest in golf.

But she is not incorruptible. By tempting her with food, I can usually talk her into trying new things. This was precisely how we ended up at this pirate mini-golf place last weekend (after feasting on the sumptuous fried oysters that she had been faithfully promised).

To my surprise, she seemed eager to learn and curious about the rules of golf ("is there a penalty for knocking your opponent's ball away?"). But the question I had to answer the most was "can we go home yet?"

One day, when the stars align and the gods smile, she will become a golf fanatic and beg me to bring her on my outings. In the meantime, I will keep looking for a restaurant that makes fried oysters, sushi, curry and ice-cream all wrapped in a single burrito. Getting her to try real golf is going to take some serious bribe.

Key to good health

Pirate Mini Golf Classic 2010

An obvious lack of interest

Lining up a big putt

Pro

A condemned (wo)man

B for Bowling Night

2010-07-15T17:41:00.000-07:00

Gerald Take Miami

2010-07-09T07:21:00.000-07:00

Probably would have taken more pictures if I had more time.

Waking Up in Vegas

2010-06-22T19:00:00.000-07:00

Time to catch up on sleep

Mi Casita

2010-06-08T15:59:00.000-07:00

.

My new apartment

New TV - courtesy of my uncle

Where (I hope) many amazing meals will be made

Where I read and fall asleep

My plan for the summer

Clement's graduation

2010-06-01T15:33:00.000-07:00

There are two sides to every story.

A glorious day / "Should have brought my sunblock"

A proud mother / A hungover son

A moment to remember / Now what?

Family reunion / "wait, we need to help pack your stuff?"

Two years ago / How I know my parents love me just as much

.

A Very Orange Weekend

2010-05-17T17:26:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to my cousin Wendy on her many achievements (and for finally leaving the misery that is central NY)

Best of luck in your future endeavors

Next week I am heading to my brother's graduation in Boston. Give me a holla if you are in town.

Swimming Poo

2010-05-12T16:59:00.000-07:00

Wednesday nights are usually pretty miserable because of swim practice. I am never in the mood to swim - it is something I do only out of a sense of obligation.

So when i walked into practice and discovered that everyone was confounded by something at the shallow end of the pool, i could hardly believe my luck. Apparently, earlier some kid was thoughtful enough to leave behind a little brown surprise. While the lifeguard managed to scoop up the chucks, some smeared and stuck to the tiles of the pool. Perfect, i thought, they had to close the pool. But apparently our coach had other ideas.

"Okay gang, let's get," said our coach Dan.

"Are you kidding me?" I could not believe what i had just heard.

"You will be fine. They have a ton of chlorine in the pool."

He was right about that. It usually takes about 3 days for the smell on my skin to go away. But still, poop is poop.

I was dead set on walking out, but when all the girls on the team jumped in, I had no other choice.

The practice, as usual, was pretty hard. It also didn't help my stroke that my eyes were on the little brown spot at the bottom the whole time. If this isn't dedication, I don't know what is.

A Wolf at the Table

2010-05-03T08:48:00.000-07:00

Holy xxxx

for the past 3 years, my favorite book has been the Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson. But this book is making a strong case to challenge that notion.

I didn't think I would enjoy a book about a horrifyingly dysfunctional family. I have the deepest admiration for Augusten, who having survived from his psychotic parents, decided to subject himself to the painful memory once again to write about it. Reading about the hollow man that was his father was at times a disturbing experience. One can only imagine how little Augusten felt when he stared into his father's soulless eyes. I am really lost for words to describe this book, but you can take my word for it that it is a must read. This book is cruel and disturbing, but also at times humorous and strangely satisfying. I am lost for words, so just read it.

Prep

2010-04-25T09:16:00.000-07:00

For those who went to prep schools, and those interested in the things that go down at these institutes...

This book helped me rekindle some memories of boarding school. It is scary to come to the realization that it has been almost 6 years since I graduated from high school. But this book is also difficult to read at times, especially when she talked about things like being mean to her parents, her teachers, etc because i myself had been guilty of those charges. It also pains me to be reminded that that I had never broke into girls' dorms late night like the characters in the book, or play varsity basketball (not that i have ever tried), or... whoops, did I give everything away?

Chealsea Chelsea Bang Bang

2010-04-15T07:55:00.000-07:00

Hardcover 1st Edition - $26

Paying my brother to wait in line for 2 hours (on his birthday, no less) - $300

Chelsea's autograph - Priceless

There are things money can't buy, but sometimes there are people you can bribe.

Boston Trip part 2

2010-04-10T18:27:00.000-07:00

Allegedly the best Chinese food in town

Awesome sushi place

Legal seafood (and quite a train ride home afterwards)

Boston Trip Part 1

2010-04-04T18:29:00.001-07:00

I haven't visited my brother yet in his four years in college. Seeing how he is graduating in a few months, I thought it is about time that I make the trip.

Sports facility?

Outside his townhouse

Statue of someone important

Where my brother will work

Wine Tour with the Kitty

2010-03-27T15:29:00.000-07:00

My spartan apartment welcomed a rare guest this weekend - my college friend Kitty. Today was a glorious Saturday, but it was a little too cold to golf. so we decided to go on a wine tour instead.

Back in the old days, the term "wine tour" is the ultimate definition of drunken debauchery. It always involved two or three buses of bottle-chugging young men and women destroying one winery after another until they were banned from every last winery in the Finger Lakes area. I can only imagine that this type of activity brought nothing but distress to the local wine industry and was frowned upon by the community.

But Kitty and I did it the civilized way today, and we found out that the people at the wineries - undoubtedly the same ones who kicked us out a few years ago - were actually really nice people. It was a fun way to spend a spring weekend. I would do that again.

Cayuga Ridge

Thirsty Owl

Kitty

Americana

Committed

2010-03-19T05:10:00.000-07:00

Personally, I was expecting a sequel to Eat, Pray, Love, but was disappointed to find that this book reads like Marriage 101. I stopped with about 100 pages left, planning on finishing the rest one day when I am ready to tie the knot.

On another note, check out my new apartment

Bon Appétit!

2010-02-27T18:29:00.000-08:00

It all started with a dish - sole meunière. From there Julia Child became a student of Le Cordon Bleu, a bestselling author, a household name, and the symbol of American French cooking. She did not learn to cook until the "advanced" age of 36 and was able to turn a passion of hers into a dream career. Extending that line of logic, I decided that it is yet too early to give up on becoming a rapper.

Don't give up, people.

By the way, she does look like Susan Boyle.

Her Horizontal Life

2010-02-20T07:19:00.001-08:00

Chelsea Handler, Chelsea Handler - those are becoming the two funniest words in the world, at least the one i live in.

This book is about the days - or nights - she spent pursuing the idea of "playing the field." Never one to shy away from sharing her stories, she approaches life with an attitude that many men would envy. Her humor is effortless and a lot of times, all she does is stating the obvious. This is a book I wouldn't mind reading a few times.

Follow her at Chelsea Lately every night at 11. She has become precisely the reason why I still subscribe to DVR (so that I can record her show at watch it at lunch every day).

Water for Elephants

2010-02-13T07:37:00.000-08:00

This is a book about a young man, Cornell vet student apparently, ran away after his parents' death and joined a traveling circus.

I wish I had stumbled upon an opportunity like this when I was in college.

The Sex Lives of Cannibals

2010-01-26T11:20:00.001-08:00

Imagine quitting your job and moving to the end of the world for a year. The author decided to follow his girlfriend to Kiribati, an island nation in South Pacific. Contrary to popular belief, this place was not exactly your definition of a tropical paradise. This book exposes a lot of issues that we modern day urban people never even consider, such as waste disposal (including human waste), availability of music, the danger of surfing, the danger to sailing, food, etc.

Retiring to oblivion in some tropical island has been a personal ambition mine all my life. Now I am starting to have reservation. Glad I read this book before quit my job to pursue this dream.

I hate to disappoint, but there is really only one short chapter on sex. Human sex at least.

Sweet haircut

2010-01-16T17:28:00.000-08:00

You know the world is coming to an end when i stop caring about who cuts my hair.

A few weeks ago, I decided to get a new video game after work. On the way there, i walked by this hair salon and it occurred to me that i hadn't had a trim for months. Normally, I put in as much ceremony to a haircut as one would naming their first-born son. I would never walk in just any hair salon. But since I no longer have a social life, I am beginning to care less.

I walked in, expecting to see customers, but only to find a few female employees having a private dress-up party. Something was not adding up.

"You need a haircut?" asked one of the girls.

"...yyess," i replied reluctantly.

The "me" five years ago would have bolted out of the place in a heartbeat. But somehow I seemed to have changed.

One of the girl invited me to sit down. Let's call her Chastity. She was slightly on the heavy side. She asked me how i wanted it cut and began working right away.

While I was getting a trim, their party continued. Though they were a little loud, i slowly got used to it. What bothered me more was that Chastity probably didn't own deodorant.

But in end, she didn't do a bad job. never judge a book by the cover, right? I will definitely go back to her again.

My Booky Wook

2009-12-01T09:27:00.000-08:00

This is the memoir of a sex and drug addict, who also happened to be a hilarious stand-up comedian.

I first knew about him from the movie Forgetting Sarah Marshall, in which he more or less played as his real-life self. Impressed by his unconventional sense of humor, I read his book and realized that he was actually as crazy as his character perceived. I don't want to give away too much of the book (and I probably shouldn't because of its very controversial content), but I will leave you with the below excerpt.

"It might seem a bit reckless to be picking up drugs on the way to Heathrow, but my need for a regular supply of narcotics would not be constrained by the exigencies of international air travel. I generally traveled with drugs up my arse in the belief that should customs officers decide to pursue this unsavory line of inquiry my day would be ruined and the discovery of crack or heroin couldn’t make it much worse."

As you can see, he is a cunning linguist (no pun intented) who always seems to have a repertoir of choice words and description for every situation. I want to believe that this gift has nothing to do with years of drug abuse.

Maroon 5 concert

2009-11-15T17:59:00.001-08:00

If only I were a rock star.

Oompa Loompa

2009-11-07T17:14:00.001-08:00

Oompa loompa, doopaddie doo...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qw0zZttfUaw

Homecoming 2009 & Kim's 21st

2009-10-26T18:16:00.000-07:00

Last weekend was Kim's 21st birthday. It was also homecoming which means that all my old college friends were back. It was a busy weekend.

Confession of a Shopaholic

2009-10-08T17:34:00.000-07:00

Normally, I love girlie books. But this book is driving me insane (now I know how my friend Alyssa felt after she read my book)

I still have 100 or so pages to go but by now i pretty much get the idea: a female protagonist falling in debt and tries to lies herself out of trouble, only to find herself digging deeper and deeper into her misery. In the end, well, haven't gotten to the ending yet but i don't much care, but I bet somehow she finally came to a realization that she was a failure and by some luck fell in love with a nice, rich guy. That's how these things always end.

The best part of the book (I don't recommend this book, so might as well spoil it for everyone) is when Rebecca, the protagonist, put "fluent in Finnish" in her cv in when applying for a job and ended up being asked to speak the language at the interview.

And they made a movie out of this?

Shoot me

Vagabonding

2009-09-26T06:07:00.000-07:00

Vagabonding is the art of long-term travel.

Here are some of the highlights:

1. How to take months, or even a whole year off and travel the world – I honestly can’t tell you what is worse: living in hostels for a year or sitting at an office from 9 to 5.

2. Do it while you can – most people work their life away when they are young, hoping to enjoy later. But are you really going to backpack around the world when you are 50?

3. Always pack light; bring no more than a week of clothes even for a year-long trip – so that explains all those people on the train that smelled like rotten eggs.

4. Adjusting to life on the road – it’s more taxing than some would think. But at the same time, the reward you get out from the experience could be huge.

5. How to finance your trip - the author brings out a good point that fun things such as staying in tropical cabin for a month, or taking a cross country trip across China, are all cheaper than 1 month’s rent in the US

Right now, I have 2 weeks of vacation a year, so no vagabonding for me any time soon. I look forward to my next extended break, but hopefully I won’t have to stay in a hostel. Those days were over for me.

In unrelated news, here are pictures of the puppy i was babysitting.

The 4 Hour Workweek

2009-09-21T07:01:00.000-07:00

Now that the summer is over, I finally have time to write on this blog again. Hey, if you people in school get summers off, I should too, right?

In case you haven't already figured out from the title, this book teaches you how to work 4 hours a week, travel all around the world and have some money making machine generating enough cash for you to pay for all your expenses. It seems highly unrealistic, but some people do manage to make it happen.

If nothing else, this book teaches you how to realize your dreams and to figure out how to get there. Go to http://fourhourworkweek.com/. You can use the tools on the website to evaluate the true cost for achieving your dreams, which typically turns out a lot less than you would think. For example, staying on a beach resort for a month in Asia actually costs less than a month's rent in any major city in the US, and owning a DB7 can cost as little as $250 a month. While i highly doubt that the latter is true, I encourage you to look into it if DB7 is in fact your dream vehicle.

Reading On Cancer

2009-08-03T04:15:00.000-07:00

for reasons unknown to me, i have been reading a lot of books about cancer.

This book is written by a professor at Carnegie Mellon diagnosed with terminal cancer. Instead of cursing his ill fate, he used his remaining days to prepare a last lecture for his students at the university. Ultimately, he was hoping that this lecture will eventually reach his three young kids when they grow up and allow them to know the father that they will never fully get to know. Overall, it is a very touching and inspiring book.

This is my favorite line:
"We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand. If I don't seem as depressed or morose as I should be, I'm sorry to disappoint you. "

The whole book is basically one good line after another.

The Middle Place is about a young mother who was diagnosed with breast cancer. The "middle place" refers to the stage of being a mother and a daughter at the same time. The book is structured around her cancer treatment and events in her childhood.

Salmonella is fun

2009-07-21T15:59:00.000-07:00

If you haven't had salmonella before, it's worth a try.

Last Monday night, when having chicken for dinner, i was pleased to note that it was surprisingly tender. Instead of suspecting that the meat was undercooked (I couldn't have told anyway since the room was so dark), I thought that it must be my cooking skills improving. Encouraged, I finished my plate and watched some tv.

I didn't give the matter further thoughts until hours later when i experienced some minor discomfort in my stomach. it escalated to some excruciating pain at times but i managed to fight it off and continue living my life, though visits to the men's room were frequent.

this went on for a few days. On Fri morning at about 4 am in the bathroom, i saw a sign that sent chills down my spine. my blood ran cold. am i going to die?

i looked up salmonella symptoms on the internet immediately and discovered that with the exception of vomiting, i got them all. some internet sources said that some people can recover without medication, but then the internet is also known to be a reliable source that says stuff like spiderman is a lesbian.

I called the local hospital at that wee hour of the morning. a nurse picked up.

"hey, what's up? listen, i think i have salmonella symptoms."

then i shared with her some intimate details of my sickness.

"do people usually see a doctor for this?"

"usually when people have problem keeping hydrating, they go to the hospital." she was avoiding my question, clearly playing it by the book.

"well, i dont have that problem, so does that mean i don't need to come in?"

"it's not safe to give diagnosis on the phone. if you want to be seen you can come in."

"am i going to die?"

"it's not safe to give diagnosis on the phone. if you want to be seen you can come in."

"ok, thanks."

Judging from the lack of urgency in her tone, i figured that even without medical help, i had a decent chance of surviving. so i decided to take my chance and went back to bed.

luckily i didn't die. and i am now back to normal health, though it will be some time before i eat chicken again.

July 4th weekend

2009-07-07T15:58:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was 4th July, the celebration of American Independence. I had Thursday and Friday off, so I went down to New Jersey and spent a weekend with my aunt, uncle, my cousin Virginia, my brother and Kim. We sat in the sun, drank some beer, ate, and had a relaxing weekend.

We were stuck in traffic for a bit, and by the time we got to Six Flags, it was 11am and we were greeted by a humongous line of people waiting to get tickets. Weighing our options, we decided to get back to the car and drive right back home. It was a huge waste of time, but at least we cut our loss and even managed to stop by Toys R Us on the way.

We spent the remainder of the weekend playing a lot of board games -- Monopoly, Scrabble, and this game called Cranium.

In Cranium, you form teams of two and at every turn you have to solve some sort of puzzle to proceed. Sometimes it involves knowledge on pop culture, sometimes it asks you definition of words, sometimes you have to act out hints for your teammate to guess the answer. since it involves a good amount of acting and singing, automatically it becomes not my type of game. but i played along.

It is now Kim's favorite game.

Writing for Youth.gov

2009-06-18T19:26:00.000-07:00

http://www.youth.gov.hk/tc/index.htm

I like how they all start calling me a backpacker. If you read my book, you will know why.

So every other week, I write for youth.gov for their blog. Usually I write about travel, but since there are only so many places I can go to, I write about something else too. So check it out every now and then. That is partly why I haven't been keeping up this blog as often.

Article on Patagonia:

http://www.youth.gov.hk/tc/hotpicks/090616_cowboys.htm

On another note, Swindon Books is very kind to do a serialization of Wannabe Backpackers. You can read the first few chapters on their website - http://swindonbooks.com/Wannabe.asp.

Also, if any group that purchases multiple copies from them can request an Author Talk. Spread the words!

Happy Spring time and Chicken

2009-06-09T04:23:00.000-07:00

Blossoming

Spring is sweet. I have been playing golf almost every day and I love it.

A few weeks ago, we had a long weekend and so I invited my childhood friend Chicken to visit my aunt together.

It has been over a year since i last saw him, and the moment he walked up to me, I couldn't believe my eyes. We used to call him Fatty, but he apparently lost a lot of weight. He is now less than 140 lbs. I know he has been up to a lot of things, but "eating" is certainly not one of them. He said he hadnt had an alcoholic drink for a year.

But he still looks healthier than ever. Perhaps I should watch my health too

Chicken's eyes feasted upon the food

My aunt and uncle

Cookout

My friend Chicken

Lost in space

5 Year Reunion

2009-05-10T08:17:00.000-07:00

You graduated from high school, then sailed through the drunken debauchery of college, and before you realize, it is your 5-year high school reunion.

seeing these familiar faces, it felt as if we never left. some people, myself included, are bad at keeping in touch with their old friends, but that is just how it is in life these days. you move to a new place, you move on and meet new friends. but years later, you can still share stories with old friends over a beer or two. because of that, i have had quite a few beers that weekend

btw, happy 23rd birthday to Gerald, in case anyone cares.

The Mighty Queens of Freeville

2009-05-04T19:00:00.000-07:00

Tonight, Amy Dickinson came to Cortland for her book signing. For those who don't know her, she is a syndicated advice columnist whose column, "Ask Amy", appears in more than 150 newspaper nationwide. And she is a NY Times bestselling author. It was a great honor to be able to meet her in person, get photographed with her, and have her sign my book. This is the first book signing I have ever been to and I really like it. She is a very likable person. When I walked in the room, I had no idea who she was. But in mere 20 minutes, she completely won my heart with her sense of humor. I started reading the book as I was waiting in line to get my book signed and I am seriously debating if I should stay up all night to finish the book. I am her biggest fan

So why come to Cortland of all places?

Because she grew up in Freeville, which is 8 miles away from where I live now. Though I have only moved here 8 months ago, this gives me an unspeakable sense of pride.

Go upstate New York!

her website: http://www.themightyqueensoffreeville.com/

Cortland to Portland

2009-04-05T15:57:00.000-07:00

So I went on a business trip last week, all the way to the west coast, for a one-hour meeting.

When I was told that the destination was Rockaway Beach, it sounded like a timely spring break, one that God was awarding me for being a good boy this winter. so i packed my sunblock (spf 10), bathing suit, goggles, breach reading, sunglasses, and even after-sun lotion. I was ready to party.

Unfortunately, it didnt stop raining for one moment the whole time we were there. As much as i like the beach, i dont normally lounge out in the rain.

And even if the weather had been better, we didn't have time anyway. We arrived at the hotel at midnight and I jumped to bed immediately. The next morning, we woke up for a 9am meeting, which, as I have mentioned, lasted an hour. The moment the last slide of our presentation ended, my co-worker dragged me in the car and floored the gas, and it looked like we were going in the direction away from the ocean

"Wait, what happened to going to the beach?"
"Maybe next time. Let's go or we will miss our flight."

I love business trips.

Seattle Airport

Salty's

Dinner

Salmon

Exciting weather

Hi, Pacific coast

Hotel room

Backpackers on SCMP

2009-03-20T11:44:00.000-07:00

more pictures to follow...

CitySeen: Intrepid (sort of) quintet launch book about trip to faraway lands
by Annemarie Evans Mar 13, 2009

Five go to South America. No, not a tale of crime and espionage by Enid Blyton, but the story of five young male Hongkongers who embarked on a four-week trip to Argentina, Peru and Venezuela, before going on a safari in Kenya.

One of them, Gerald Yeung, 22, wrote a daily journal of 500 words. He felt he owed it to his mother, since she was financing the trip. Sometimes it was arduous to write over 30 days, but when he returned, Yeung, who works in engineering but would like to write more, decided to send a proposal to Proverse Hong Kong, which helped him to produce a book of the quintet's travels.

Wannabe Backpackers: The Latin American & Kenyan Journey of Five Spoiled Teenagers was one of three books launched on Wednesday evening by Proverse at the Helena May on the edge of the Man Hong Kong International Literary Festival. And they are spoiled. The parents pay for the trip, they stay at cushy hotels and one of their siblings keeps up "24-hour technological support". It's a Hong Kong story of roughing it the nice way. But they readily admit that. The story is about the interaction among the five during their 30 days on the road together.

The five are former pupils of St Paul's Co-educational College and have known one another for 12 years. Four of them shared microphones on Wednesday to tell tales of their escapades.

"Some things we found out about one another, we really didn't want to know," said Brian Wong, 22, who now works at the Bank of East Asia (SEHK: 0023). The others were Pierre Ying Shu-lam, 23, Justin Wang Chin-wo, 22, and Louis Lai.

fyi, SCMP is short for South China Morning Post

Finally something new

2009-02-18T17:00:00.000-08:00

So tonight I tried something new - going to a monthly book club gathering.

I have always liked the idea of a book club, but I could never get myself to join one because much that I like reading, reading to a deadline is a whole different thing. So when I saw that the Cortland library book club would be talking about Eat, Pray, Love, a book I have already read, I knew I owe myself a long overdue trip. Plus, it is about time that I find some new adventures so I wouldn't be talking about my boring daily routine on this blog for the 98th time.

I found my way through the library and arrived at this room to find 10 or so women between the age of 40 to 60, which wasn't surprising, for in truth, not many men read Eat, Pray, Love, and for those who do, they rarely openly admit it.

So we talked about the book and these women went around the room and told each other the parts that they identify with. When it was my turn, not having experienced the inner struggles of Ms Gilbert the author, I said, "I wish Geovanni would kiss me. Oh, but there are so many reasons why this would be a terrible idea." THey all applauded in amazement that I knew the first line of the book by heart so well, and I read it a year ago. I am lovin' it. Say all you want, but i do love that line.

Next month they are discussing Mary, Mary. Now if you will excuse me, I must eat my dinner, pray for spring to come, and give K some love on the phone.

Elizabeth GIlbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love

Call me Carrie

2009-02-10T15:11:00.000-08:00

Look who Kim saw in the subway

Wannabe Backpackers is now available for pre-order on Amazon and several other websites now. Kindle version will also be available soon. Target's website is also accepting preorders. My book is officially invading America (I hope that wouldn't get me in trouble with the CIA).

Lately, this whole publishing business has become my second job. As soon as I get out of work at 5, I take on the many responsibilities of a soon-to-be-published author until bedtime. Sometimes I would wake up to untimely phone calls in the middle of the night requesting approval of the latest drafts of the cover and the manuscript – the 13 hour time difference is not exactly working to my favor. But I enjoy doing it and I know that every minute I put in will eventually pay off, which might not happen until 10 years from now. But for now, at least my cover looks awesome, thanks to David S. the accomplished artist who was kind enough to help me. The best thing about my life right now is that every morning when I wake up, I felt rejuvenated by the prospect that I am another step closer to becoming Carrie Bradshaw, minus an upgraded wardrobe and the fact that i don't talk to my computer when i type.

Unless I change my mind, I am keeping the cover a secret before the launch. But there are other things I can share about the book, such as the video. If you haven't seen it, here it is again…

More than 40 people have already preordered and signed up for the party, but it's still not too late to reserve your tickets! Contact me or leave a message here! I would love to see you on March 11.

Wannabe Backpackers Book Launch

2009-01-22T17:01:00.000-08:00

details...

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

2009-01-11T05:49:00.002-08:00

Christmas Eve at World Trade

Happy New Year

So Christmas was fun - got to hang out with my friends, my family, eat, play soccer... Looks like this is going to turn into one of those boring holiday entries that everyone writes, I am going to stop now and let you look at the pictures.

Kim came to Hong Kong, so I brought her around and showed her how it is done.

On another note, my book is coming out on 11th March. That is when the book launch is going to be. It will be a party (civilized one). More details to follow. If you want tickets, let me know. It should be a fun fest.

Christmas Eve 2

Christmas day

Christmas morning

Boxing day

My favorite thing to do in HK

Out with the bros

Lulu

Four hours later

New Years Eve with Brian

Spring Fling 2009

2008-12-13T10:05:00.001-08:00

Fatima Bhutto

Ian McEwan

As you all know, I now live in Cortland, NY, where grocery store sale is about as interesting as it gets, which makes finding things to write about on this blog extremely difficult. The only reason I still adhere to this ritual is that when my book comes out, people will buy it.

Two summers ago, I learned that somebody was willing to publish my manuscript. I have since developed the habit of taking a private moment every night before bed and wonder, "when is it going to come out? What would it be like..."

Publishing, as I found out, was not always fun and game. It is very frustrating – sometimes, you would spend a lot of time on your work and just when you thought that they were perfect, like the photos I edited and the map I drew, your publisher would come to tell you that they looked like shit. That is if they cared to reply—most often than not they wouldn't. I came to learn that it wasn't because they didn't care; they were just really busy and cannot afford to babysit me all the time. Anyhow, at times I was tempted to think that this would never work out.

But any of those lingering doubts seemed to have dissipated a few days ago when Dr Gillian Bickley, my publisher, proposed to have my book come out during The Man Hong Kong International Literary Festival 2009 during March 8th to March 18th. Time Asia magazine named it the best literary event of Asia (http://www.time.com/time/asia/2006/boa/mind_litfest.html ). Last year, Ian McEwan, award-winning author of Atonement spoke at an event and Nobel laureate Seamus Heaney had also made an appearance in the past. So for me and my book it really is a great honor, and I must thank my publisher Proverse Publishing and Dr Gillian Bickley for all their hard work to make this happen.

We are deciding on the location of the book launch – either a private clubhouse (like Proverse' favorite Helena May (http://www.helenamay.com/ ) or a bookstore. Personally I prefer a book store but it's not my call. Either way, I hope that you can all come and you are all invited. It should be a gigglefest.

Not for the first time, I heard Justin will be on Tatler. Keep an eye out for that.

Let's end with some happy news:

Like it or not, I am finally reached the age when people you know start getting into the serious business of marriage. Two of my friends are about to fall into this category this winter.

Congratulations

Awkward Moments #1

2008-12-01T10:58:00.000-08:00

Spotted: Lonely Boy creeping out Ms Brown Belt. Get ready for a karate kick in the face. HIYA!

Here is what happened:

During a boring self-defense exercise, Lonely Boy decided to make a conversation with his partner.

Lonely Boy: So where do you go to school?

Partner: I am home schooled, but I take classes at a local college.

LL: How old are you?

Partner (Ms Home School): I am turning 17 tomorrow.

LL: Happy birthday!

LL: How long have you been doing karate?

MHS: 7 years I think?

LL: Where do you live?

MHS: (angry look) Stalker!!

At college, you are so used to asking where people live that it seems like a harmless question. But in the real world, especially one perceived by people who grow up seeing the world through the distorted lens of a loving home, your address is considered highly confidential information. If you don’t already know, it is usually unwise to tell strangers where you live, because the next thing you know, he (stalkers are usually men) will be expecting you at your door when you pick up the newspaper.

A more subtle way will be doing it on Facebook. Unfortunately, I don’t think homeschool has yet to establish a network. We might have to resort to approach #1.

And who am I?

Xoxo,
Gossip Girl

P.S. I got a new camera, but didn’t take any pictures on Thanksgiving. Oh well
P.P.S. I am not a stalker. Don’t call the police on me. This post is meant to be a joke. haha, lol, XD, :), 8)...

Shrinking paycheck

2008-11-21T06:59:00.000-08:00

Every other Friday, my biological clock would wake me up extra early and an unknown source would inject me with newfound enthusiasm to put on my favorite outfit for work. And by “an unknown source”, of course I mean Pay Day.

I would then whistle on the whole car ride to work, and walk into the office with a big grin and say “good morning” to everyone. It is only after the enveloped has been opened that my love for my job, co-workers and company will start wearing away at a rapid rate.

Oh dear, I would say, where did my money go?

When I first joined the work force, people warned me that credit to the glorious system of tax, I wouldn’t see at least a third of my salary. So imagine my delight when I received my first check and simply mathematics told me that only contributed 20 some percent has been contributed (I can’t say it was voluntary) to the government. But the happy days didn’t last long.

Two weeks later, I got another earning statement and more deduction items appeared—social security tax and NY SUI/SDI tax were what I recalled (what is SUI/SDI anyway? Sounds like a disease to me) Another two weeks, another smaller check, this time thanks to 401k. Today, I was shocked to find that only 50% of my base salary has been deposited to my bank account. Since when did I start paying for medical insurance AND Medicare Tax? After Obama got elected, I would guess.

I used to hate when people insult police officers and other civil servants using the claim that “they (the people) pay for their (policemen’s) salaries”. But at this rate, I might have to start doing that myself pretty soon. And before then, the puppy I am planning to buy has to wait.

Happy Thanksgiving

My life at the moment

2008-11-18T06:32:00.000-08:00

There isn't much going on for me these days so it is hard to find a topic. But many people have been asking me about my book so maybe i will talk about it today.

my publisher has been busy with other work (prob until the end of this year) so I have been working by myself. there are a few things i needed to get done:

1) find a travel writer to write my Preface
2) look for publicity opportunity
3) work on the website (www.geraldyeung.com)
4) promotional video for my book (you will like it, coming soon)
5) possibility of a book launch party
6) building my readership (this blog, for example)
7) other small tasks

also, inspired by Leaving Microsoft to Change the World (maybe i do a book review on it next time), i have decided to donate all my royalties to charity. i am able to live the comfortbale life i have now because my parents and i have the luxury of receiving a good education, and i hope that less fortunate children will be able to do the same one day, which is why i want to work with Room to Read, a very successful organization that has built thousands of libraries and schools in Asia in just a few years. so when my book comes out, not a penny you pay will go into my pocket--instead, you will be helping children in Nepal getting an education. meaningful huh?

as of now, the publishing date should be early 2009. it is hard to accomodate everyone's schedule--my publisher's, the printer's, the cover designer's, my friends', mine... but it will get done.

this whole process is frustrating at times, but i do enjoy it a lot because i am doing something i like and i am sure all the work will pay off one day.

On another note, thanks to Getclicky, I am able to see how many people actually comes to this blog. While it is disheartening to know that only a few people actually, it is interesting though that most people stumble upon this site when they are trying to search for "sailor moon" on the internet. I guess i might just have to include more sailor moon references from now on to increase the traffic here.

thank you very much for supporting this blog. i know not much goes on here but i really appreciate your support. please send it to your friends too.

Fun at car wash

2008-11-09T17:36:00.001-08:00

When i was a kid, i briefly fantasized being a fireman--what is more honorable than venturing bravely into collapsing, burning buildings and coming out with the abandoned baby over your slightly charred shoulders to receive a well-deserved standing ovation from onlookers? i have always thought that it was the heroic nature of the job that appeals to me. little did i know until my first car wash that my true passion is the rather unheroic act of spraying things with copious amount of water.

Recently, the color change of my car is becoming apparent these days; a wash is long overdue. the car wash across from where i work offers two types of services: automatic wash and manual wash. if i care enough to drive all the way there, i might as well try to do it by hand. this is how it works: you get quarters from the machine, and then you go through a sequence of commands. i think first, you soak it, then you brush it with soap, then, high pressure spray, then wax, then spotless spray. you only have 4 minutes to complete this sequence of commands, so i worked extremely fast.

my favorite part was the high pressure spray, which, by definition, had a powerful kickback. while the pressure could do little damage to the robust frame of my car, the antenna is a whole different story. yet, it didn't stop me from aiming at it from a distance and bending it like a lonesome flagpole in a typhoon, at least not until the prospect of my radio never working again suddenly sprang to mind. soap spraying was fun too, but it was a little messy. i got soap all over myself. my shirt would never smell the same

when the spraying was all done, i dried the car by hand with a rag. this reminded me of my father and of one old Sunday afternoon when he convinced me that helping him with this particular chore is super fun and meaningful. i was 5 and naive at that time, but it only took me 20 minutes to learn that my father's definition of fun should hereby be evaluated on a case to case basis.

half an hour later, i finally stood at a distance to admire my work. the top portion of the car was sparkling clean, while the lower part still looked like the car had recently conquered a mini swamp. oh well, i will know to clean the bottom next time.

In or Out

2008-11-03T08:20:00.000-08:00

I got a new phone the other day. So I decided, against my better judgment, to enter all the contacts from my old phone by hand. I know it seems stupid and computer can do it for you, I need to look over all contacts myself. It is long overdue.

There is no reason to hold numbers you no longer need in your phone, just like you wouldn’t carry extra keys in your pockets.

The obvious Out’s are the people I haven’t talked to in years. But some exceptions are taken:
1) Attractive girls get to keep their spots forever. In fact, I kept almost all girls. You never know when these numbers will come in handy. And if nothing else, it gives you bragging power in front of friends
2) Funny names, such as Face, Bag, Godfather, KY, can stay too

Then there are these numbers that still send shivers up my spine to this day. These are the assholes that will call me 3 in the morning to make me walk half hour to the house to do their laundry or light their cigarettes, or on an uneventful Thursday night, summoned me to their apartment so they could make me do their dishes, then duct taped me to a chair and made me an absurd amount of beer. Just like the part of me that is willing to succumb to slavery, these numbers are Out.

I also realized just now that I have 6 different entries of Pierre. No wonder it is so hard to reach him.

As tedious as this sounds, it gets kind of fun going through old contacts because it reminds me of the past, including some episodes that I am not particularly proud of…

For example, there was another entry that said “Kxxxxx – Don’t pick up.” That must have been a reminder that under no circumstance should I answer that call, regardless of how many beers I have consumed… Another contact of this nature was “Kxxx – hoe”. That was a dark age of my life, but for entertainment purposes, I kept them In.

There were a bunch of one-letter entries. A, T, B, V… These were girls I met from parties. I was probably not coherent enough to enter their full name so I decided to put down the first letter finish it later. So the next morning, I would often find myself sitting on my bed, thinking really, really hard, trying to remember if it was a Beth, Bethany, Betty, Beatrice, or Ballarina. It is not easy, especially when I also had to fight a killer hangover at the same time. Many potentially pleasant friendships have been lost simply because I was too lazy.

Well, if you will excuse me, I need to finish this tedious task and look back on how big of an idiot I was in college.

btw, my new phone doesn't have text message plan. call me instead

At least I am a black belt in talking

2008-10-29T07:07:00.001-07:00

My two childhood fantasies: being in Dragon Ball Z and being a ninja.

What do those have in common?

They involve kicking people’s ass.

So when I saw this ad for karate class offered at the YMCA, I realized this is my chance to make those dreams come true. Of course, they can’t teach me how to fly, but at least now my friends will think twice about pissing me off.

I went to the first trial class last night. I kind of liked it because we got to stand in front of the mirror for an extended period of time.

You know how in movies they always tell you that “we learn martial arts not to fight, but to help people, blah blah blah…” Not these guys. This is a typical conversation from last night—“you don’t want to block like that, because if you are attacked from above with a club or a bottle, you will still get hurt…” or “in a street fight, ...” Obviously, these guys take a practical approach to martial arts.

I like that. If I am a black belt, I am pretty sure I will be beating people up on a regular basis. You might as well.

But now that I have been to a class, I also realized my own limitations. The instructor demonstrated a punch. It was so hard that I thought he would crack the wall. If one of these landed on me, there is no chance that I would survive. Maybe I am not meant to be a fight, and I should leave it that way…

What's up, Michael?

2008-10-26T16:24:00.000-07:00

Phelps won 8 golds last summer, i won 5 in one day.

Textbook

I swam in high school, and I hated it. Swimming is a winter sport, and you can imagine my excitement every day after school when I walked in the snow from class and finally arriving at the warm field house, only to dive into the ice-cold water again. I was also in what our team liked to call the "slacker's lane." If I weren't such a slacker, maybe i would have learned how to swim backstroke. So after the last race in my final season, i decided to hang my goggle and call it quits. i was ready for something else. my speedo-wearing days were over.

5 years later, somehow i decided to join this ymca swim team and put myself through the same ordeal all over again. maybe being a hypocrite is fun and addictive. i might make a great politician.

after getting back into it for a month, my coach decided that i was ready to race. so he signed me up for 5 events at this Leathersock meet at Hartwick College. At one point, I literally just finished a breastsroke race and had to climb back onto the block immediately for another 50 freestyle.

I wish i didnt have to tell you this, but i will be a terrible liar if i don't confess that the only reason i got 5 gold medals was that i was only competing against myself. some 30-year-olds may finish ahead of me, but we are ranked by age groups (from 18-22 all the way to 80-85) and most people my age do have a social life that will not allow them to wake up at 6:30 on a Sunday morning. Well, they can get all the girls and beer belly they want, i am happy enough with my medals.

happy birthday

2008-10-19T17:39:00.000-07:00

What did you do for your 20th birthday?

I went on a date with a 27-year-old in my pink pants. it sounds more fun than it actually was. so i didn't want my gf's 20th to be as uneventful as mine.

wat did i get her for her bday? it's a secret i will never tell. you know you love me.

xoxo, gossip girl

I am Chuck Bass

Casino royale

2008-10-13T18:37:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, I went to Seneca Niagara Casino with people at work.

I brought Kim because I thought if I run out of money, at least i can sell her and try to win the money back.

The downside of it was that the moment we got there, i had to feed her first. So we went to this buffet at the casino, which is supposed to be one of the best dining facilities in town.

This is the only buffet I have been to where every single item of food was disgusting. i thought that was remarkable. they should consider it an achievement. the service was exceptionally good though.

Group casino trip is never a good idea. if you are winning millions, you still have to leave when everyone else does. and if you lost everything too early, there is nothing more torturous than getting stuck in this depressing place because there is basically nothing you can do for free to kill time. This is when you realize how handy money can be.

Kim and I quickly found ourselves in that situation after a few hours. Nobody would buy Kim for money, so we went to see the fall. Thank God at least that was free.

The atmosphere outside the casino was completely different. everyone around seemed so happy. When I tried to loosen up a bit, I could not help but think about the astronomical sum i just donated to the casino. i looked down the fall and briefly considered jumping in, but thought better of it because i should wait at least until after seeing new episodes of Gossip Girl.

Back on the bus, nobody looked genuinely happy. Some looked like their paychecks for the past months have just gone down the drain. Not willing to talk about gambling, they chatted about food with a forced smile.

"so did you go to the buffet?" this lady asked her friend.
"Yeah," she replied.
Kim and I exchanged a glance, looking forward to whatever they had to say next.

"It was soo good right?" There wasn't a hint of sarcasm in her tone. She must have lost her mind through gambling. But maybe she actually liked the food.

So perhaps casino really isn't for us. the smoke makes me sick, and the environment consumes you. you can't tell day and night, and the whole time, my normally creative flow of will power was wasted to two boring words—break even.

Well, I should lay low for a bit. talk next week

Why is our world falling apart?

2008-09-25T10:21:00.000-07:00

you would think that with Heidi Klum, there would not be another day of winter in this world.

but our world is not doing so hot now. people are angry, depressed, jobless, fighting, arguing... some people blame oil, some blame wall street, no one really knows the roots of our miseries. but i just have it all figured out. The Pandora's Box of the modern world, the reason why our life is so miserable, is that our week is too long and weekend too short.

Here i am, sitting in my living room on a Sunday night, watching rerun of Project Runway and typing up this post. Last Thursday night felt like a few hours ago, and next Thursday felt like an eternity away. i know, i can feel youth slipping away too.

if you want to make a difference to the world, please read a few words from my sponsor

what is this?

the world through pink lens? or photoshop at work?

No

these are images taken by a clearly malfunctioning camera.

look at this poor girl. she would have looked so cute, and her food would have looked so good. But her friend's camera has contracted a rare tropical disease and now it can no longer see the world's true colors.

For just 12.99 a month, you can make a difference today and help this boy see the world again. For more information on how you can help, please leave your contact information as a comment. you can also find out more about our organization at www.helpgeraldgethisnewcamerafounation.com

We thank you for your generosity.

but seriously, if somebody has any idea what the problem is with this camera, please let contact me because i would really like to know. Until then, all the pictures here are going to stay like this

The Big and the Small Magical Boxes

2008-09-23T12:28:00.000-07:00

When I first started planning for my new place, there wasn’t a plan for a TV.

“Yeah, I don’t need it,” I proudly told everyone. “It distracts me from what I should really be doing, and cable is expensive, and I don’t want to pay for a nice TV, and if I spend the time instead on something more meaningful I might win the Nobel Prize.” Or some words to that effect.

A week after those pompous words had been spilled, a big chunk of my first paycheck was spent on a 26-in flat screen TV. The following day, a cable box with 200 channels and DVR capability was installed, along with a 12-month subscription of all HBO channels. They came at a great cost: the TV was like 400 or 500 dollars and I pay 120 for cable and internet. But these investments are absolutely necessary, and I learned that after spending a weekend at Cortland, a town not known for entertainment and excitement. As of today, my only friends here are Brock the body builder, my swim team teammates (does it count if I don’t know any of their names?), and a waiter at a Mexican restaurant I like to go to. I don't know his name either, but one day i saw him on the way to work and he waved to me, so i think that is proof of our friendship.

I do save on other things. For example, I don’t have to go to movies anymore. And now with E!, I can cancel my Us Weekly subscription and still find out about celebrity babies (don't repeat this). and in the spirit of protecting the environment, i also try to ride my bike as much as possible.

I love my DVR. Nowadays when I get off work, I would browse through the channels and decide which shows I want to record for further viewing. On the weekends, almost all the soccer games are recorded. But what about the Nobel Prize, a concerned citizen might ask. Don’t worry, I am sure TV can give me some inspiration on that.

Here are some pictures taken at homecoming this past weekend. i was fun, but i don't know how many more college weekends i can take...

Fun at the car wash

2008-09-23T11:42:00.001-07:00

When i was a kid, i briefly fantasized being a fireman. who doesnt dream about jumping bravely into burning buildings and coming out with the abandoned baby over your shoulders to receive a standing ovation from onlookers? i have always thought that it was the heroic nature of the job that appeals to me. little did i know until my first car wash that my true passion is the rather unheroic act of spraying things with copious amount of water.

Recently, I have been noticing a slight color change of my car; a wash is long overdue. the car wash across from where i work offers two types of services: automatic wash and manual wash. if i care enough to drive all the way there, i might as well try to do it by hand. this is how it works: you get quarters from the machine, and then you go through a sequence of commands. i think first, you soak it, then you brush it with soap, then, high pressure spray, then wax, then spotless spray. you only have 4 minutes of it, so i worked extremely fast. my favorite part was the high pressure spray.

the high pressure spray, by definition, had a powerful kickback. i was aiming at my antenna from a distance and bending it like a lonesome flagpole in a typhoon and didnt stop until the prospect of my radio never working again suddenly came to mind. soap spraying was fun too, but it was a little messy. i got soap all over myself. my shirt would never smell the same

when the spraying was all done, i dried the car by hand with a rag. this reminded me of my father and of one old Sunday afternoon when he convinced me that helping him with this particular chore is super fun and meaningful. i was 5 and naive at that time, but it only took me 20 minutes to learn that my father's definition of fun should hereby be evaluated on a case to case basis.

half an hour later, i finally stood at a distance to admire my work. the top portion of the car was sparkling clean, while the lower part still looked like the car had recently conquered a mini swamp. oh well, i will know to clean the bottom next time.

Man at work

2008-09-15T17:14:00.001-07:00

Microwave ricecookers, as it turns out, are capable of cooking more than just rice, as long as you entrusted them to do so.

In the first week when gas has yet to be turned on, I would soak the rice, then dump in cut up vegetables and a can of soup into the cooker, and cook the entire pot in the microwave, hoping that the microwave wouldn't blow up and the food wouldnt be cancerous. It actually didn't taste bad at all, i could live like that for a while. Needless to say that i only needed to wash 1 bowl.

Since they ran out of cubicles at the office, I got my own manager's office for now. Argue if you like, but i think it is some sort of omen that i am an important man in the making.

Outside of work, i live a modest life. I made 1 friend so far in Cortland. I met him at the YMCA gym. His name is Brock. It is easy to remind because a) he is built like a "rock" (rhymes with his name) and b) i only have 1 friend.

When i get out of work, i play golf as much as i can. I have also developed the strange habit of swimming at 6am before work (yeah, this is the type of thing getting old does to people). After one of these morning sessions, some swim coach wanted to recruit me on his swim team.

But i am very lazy, i protested.
It's okay, he said, i will get you in shape.

And so, i became part of this organization and i have an excuse to leave work early on Wednesdays.

I bike to work. i figure i could use the exercise. Since i don't have a backpack, i wear a shopping bag like a backpack to work. So a lot of native Cortland residents can tell you that at some point in the past month they have seen an average height Asian male riding a bicycle with a plate that says "Princess", and wearing an odd looking backpack. Hello Cortland, nice to meet you

Most people in Cortland are a little on the chubby side, but they are quite friendly. People say hi to me everywhere. It only took me about two days to know the town through and through. Ok, it is a bit run down, and people stare at you sometimes. But I think I like that it is quiet and simple. Kim cried the first time she came. I told her I am the one who moved from Hong Kong and had to live there for an indefinite period of time.

Photos to follow...

Moving to small town USA

2008-09-11T07:24:00.001-07:00

Over the past weeks, if you have had any doubts that i am still alive, it is understandable.

The reasons why it has become general consensus that i had been kidnapped by aliens are as follows: a) I didn’t have Internet b) I was busy moving to my new place c) I have started working

Living independently, and beginning adult life, is as fun as it is tedious. It involves around making hundreds of trips to Walmart; my credit card blowing up, and sleeping on a malfunctioning air mattress for the first week without a proper comforter…

The good side of it is, it does make you a man. For girls that like light-bulb-changing boys, you are going to love me —- i could have been spoiled all those years, but when the occasion calls for my service, i deliver. complicated furniture assembling, mirror hanging, setting up of a surround sound stereo system, making my own shelf (with no success, I must admit), setting up curtains... Nothing was beyond my two able hands. I passed the test with flying colors, and with a touch of potpourri and other scent-enhancing stuff. My place is full of love.

If you need something to pick on, my cooking still needs to be perfected. Whenever i cook steak, it is pretty much a guarantee that the fire alarm would go off. I think my neighbors are used to it by now, which is troubling because when the real thing happens, they would just think that i was only having a little extra trouble with my dinner.

This is my place

These are my new rides

For the nerds:

I love this book. It is about a guy taking a year off to travel around the world, in search of happiness. He said that sometimes, you are happy without being aware of it. And sometimes, you are unhappy but you don’t realize that you are. The most difficult thing about the study of happiness is that its definition differs for everyone. As you can imagine, Eric Weiner did not lay out the magical formula of happiness for us in his book, but i think he found a path very close to bliss that would work for the majority of the population: traveling for a year and not be bothered by a single thing but being happy.

When in Rome

2008-08-12T05:51:00.000-07:00

We took another cruise to go from Palermo to Rome.

Going to the Pantheon and other historical sights made me want to reread Angels and Demons.

DJ decided that he would wear my halloween costume to the coliseum. he wanted to yell "this is sparta!" at the top of his lung. i begged him not to. you understand why i hate him so much now, dont you?

This was taken outside Stadio Olympico, the home stadium of Roma. This is the home of Francesco Totti.

This is Nadia, our German friend. She was the only girl who gave us her number and agreed to meet us. She is very nice.

This is the end of our trip. As soon as i figure out how to upload videos, i will share those with you. i will talk to you again when i get back to the US.

btw, I got a Macbook Air.

Southern Italy is hot

2008-08-10T18:32:00.000-07:00

They say it is dangerous; they say the mafia will get you; and they say it is poor.

But they were wrong. Even if they weren't, what is wrong with being poor and dangerous?

I like Naples. Kids were playing soccer everywhere on the street. THe girls were gorgeous with healthy skin tone. THey were nicer to us too.

THis is a shopping mall like the one in Milan

At night though, it gets a little creepier. People were warning DJ not to walk around with his camera and that he should go home immediately. He felt like a war correspondent.

THe next day, we went to Pompei. I don't remember anything about it other than the fact that it was really hot so i left. I went home and met this kid Gianluca, who told me stuff about playing professional soccer in Italy and he promised me a tryout with the local team if i want to settle down in Naples for good.

Then, we took the cruise to Sicily. Titanic with DJ tree sounded like it would suck, but at night we went out to the sun deck and drank white wine and watched stars. it was pretty sweet. so i guess my heart will go on from Naples to Palermo.

DJ went in the bathroom for like an hour to put on his captain outfit.

Giuseppe said that Sicily is his favorite part of Italy. It is mine too. People are nice and not as snooty. It was beautiful too. We met this Australian guy at our hostel and everything that came out of his mouth was ridiculously funny. we met people from Africa and finland too. they were all cool. this pretty hot Canadian girl stayed in our room.

This is Cefalu, one of the most beautiful beaches i have ever seen. ironically, DJ and i forgot to bring bathing suits. so we got some from a street vender. In our matching bathing suits (they didn't have much of a selection), we jumped into the bluest of oceans.

DJ didn't like my hat. i told him i don't like him in general.

We also went to Agrigento.

I wrote home and told people that i went to Greece.

These are the French girls who chatted us up on the train.

The Godfather theater

DJ tried very hard but enjoyed no success with this girl

I put my iPod in the washing machine and it hasn't worked since.

Next time, i will show you Rome.

Michelangelo of Venice

2008-08-05T18:54:00.000-07:00

Venice sucks, don't let anyone tell you the otherwise. It is crowded as f, people were extremely unfriendly to tourists, and it was overrated. THe only fun thing i did was running into my friend from high school and we partied with her Italian friends Michelangelo and Eduardo. they were creepy as hell, but they sure bought me a lot of drinks. i spent the rest of the night between the wrong end of the bed and the toilet seat. later when i saw the youtube video, i realized that i was at least as creepy as they.

In Florence, we stayed at this PLUS camping site. At first i thought it would be Brokeback Mountain with DJ, but it was a lot more civilized than we thought. We even ran into our friends from primary and secondary school. it's a small world huh?

If my memory hasn't failed me, Florence is the birthplace of Renaissance.

Afterwards, we went to Felsina winery in Tuscany.

THe owner, Giuseppe, and i became boys. We tried 6 different wines at lunch. We even did some olive oil tasting, even though they all tasted the same to me. I decided that Zucchini flower tempura is my new favorite food.

We had the whole guest house by ourselves. So DJ and i would cook. One night we had steak for dinner. we even put out the candle light and wipe the side of the dishes clean, like any serious chef would. the only thing that didnt go so well was that DJ marinated the meat too much that we had to hose it down at the sink midway through the meal to get rid of the saltiness.

I met this couple, Alvina and Umberto, from Australia who bought 2 villa and 8 hectares of land in Tuscany. they brewed their own wine and grow their own vegetables. hearing that makes me want to start retirement now. she said she wanted to sell me their place in 10 years. Later, they sent me a DVD on their place and it was so pretty. Now i just need to find a job and find a way to buy it in 10 years. Might have to start dealing crack.

This is Siena

For the nerds:

I found this book on the secret stash of my cousin. I usually dont like it when foreigners write about growing up in Hong Kong because they usually just live on the peak with other expat and they know nothing about what really goes on, but this guy did. This book is about his growing up in the 50's. One thing that really inspired me was when the author told his friends that the British owned Hong Kong and they were the boss, his mother corrected him and said that the British stole Hong Kong and now they owed the people. So they needed to be good to them. i thought that was a good way of looking at it.

This kid ventured on the streets of kowloon and hong kong. he even made friends with locals and went to opium smoking places. It is fun to see Hong Kong from a foreigner's perspective. and unlike a lot of British people who lived hear, this guy treated us with respect and admiration.