Finals, Paypal, Taiwan & Future plans.

Finals are over. OVER.
It's refreshing.

I'm thinking lately about my plans for the future,
time waits for no one.

I really miss TW, the culture,
Living in San Jose, to have a social life, you
gotta be really agressive, active in clubs,

Why I like TAIWAN:
- Transportation: Subways & High-Speed rail not to mention buses everywhere!!!

- Cultural vibrance, Taiwan has a modernized Japanese & Internationally infused
Chinese heritage.

- Fundamentally unique/Internationally embracing- thinking, they are night and day
different regarding how they're
taught to think about the world, view other countries, especially in regards to
Japan, which China continues to have a dicey relationship.

- Beautiful Scenery: Taroko Gorge in Hualien on the East coast has gorgeous sights.
Jiufen in the North coast is a beautiful place to relax next to the ocean.

- Electronic industry leaders: Asus, Acer, Foxconn. These are just a few famous
International companies that have a solid reputation in the electronics industry.
Taiwan has its work cut out, they need to capture market-share

- NIGHT Markets: Yaesu: Even mentioning the night market floods my memory with
countless delicious and inexpensive treats available at night to escape the daytime
heat.

Need to make some $ for the holidays, but my last semester is coming up also...

I was in an ad for Paypal recently, woohooO!
Kinda scary seeing yourself come in your own email haha.

Thats all for now~

Thinkin' to myself

This is another post about relationships.
I'm talking about them in general, NOT referring to
lovey dovey bf/gf.

Yes relationships are everything in life, one can
become a geek, have infinite tech or other skills
and still be a total social incompetant.

Until recently, yours truly didnt put enough weight
or importance on relationships. I'm definitely
late as far as learning to understand ppl and such
but I'm progressing quite rapidly now, I feel it.

What matters is what I call "prime timing." This
concept means spending focused & concentrated time
with any particular person that you're with and ALSO
means you're focusing on people that matter to you
and that care about you, not just some extraneous
superficial friends.

Relationships are..Investments, yes of time, energy,
and sometimes money. Is yours an asset or liability?
That's really what it comes down to. Does it enhance
your life or detract from it, its really that simple,
no need to make it more complex/etc. If it is an asset
to your life then pour yourself into it. If it's a
liability then cut it as cleanly and non messily as
possible. There's no point trying to "pretend" to be
friends with someone that turns out to be a totally
different (and nasty (recent experience)) person.

I have personal goals such as getting relationships even
with my own two sisters back to functional, I want the
easygoing relationship that they depend on me. It's taken
time for them to mature, and one of them ahem needs more
time haha. I love my sisters but as is, the relationsihp
isn't how it should be, needs some surgery.

I was frustrated recently by multiple people in my life,
one *ahem* korean exchange student girl who I thought was
cool, and was interested in me as a person, and turned out
to be totally flip-side nasty after she got my phone, that
I loaned her for free...not...cool...
Another friend was somoeone I know in another country, dont
wanna put names/info because these days nothing is private,
and I know this quite well, being an avid google user myself.
Anyways it comes down to the person being all flipside weird
immaturish as well. I absolutely don't tolerate animal/immature
behavior unless I've known the person for a long long time and
it rarely happens, but otherwise there's basically no excuses
regardless.

its 6:00AM now, I've stayed up all night thinking and stuff...
So brain dead but leaving for school in 2 hours haha.. I can sleep
later...tty next time

Back in the Bay

SO I'm back in the US...for a bit =P

Things that matter most to me:
- Relationships w/people (still working on them)
- Guanxi: Look it up ;P
- NETWORKING : Because with the right network you can get anything you want/need
- Traveling&Freedom: Why be tied down to a job LT over a year unless you love it? This is the 21st century, nobody gets married till they're sperm and eggs die anyway, hell,live it up!!!
-

Traveling has allowed me to discover my passion, and find
elements of other countries that I truly fell in love with,
that just dont seem to exist here. I'm talking about real social
connectivity. The Bay area is not such a bad place to live, but
people just basically do their own thing. And oh, man jose? Don't go there.
I agree perspective matters in a very very huge way, but that logic
goes so far. A positive healthy, vibrant environment is vital, not optional,
and I would know since I've lived in multiple locations in multiple countries
now, Japan, Taiwan, Korea, China. Surround yourself with bright, positive,
energetic, intelectual people, well those are hard to find honestly, but
you get my picture.

Lately I did a photoshoot for overstock.com so I'm expecting, in a kinda
disturbed way, to see my pic on some holiday ad coming up...with another guys
wife...haha. I told her to give me ample notice to leave the country =P
The ad is totally decent, its just me putting a necklace around her neck, no
indecency, 0, 0, 0. The photoshoot was sweet! Not to mention I was getting
$100/hr basically...ahh that was tough ;) I'm searching for more of those jobs!!
I'm gonna milk networking here as well as when I go abroad again! Next step
is to find an agent~

I have just one job now, looking for another, but man is this one great. All
I do is shuttle someone to SF couple times a week. Fits perfectly with my
schedule usually so works for both sides, YA!!

Need to keep tighter managment on time and study locations.
Dang I miss Lucycato's cafe in Korea, that place was freakin sweet,
they even gave me a piece of cake my last day, cuz I told them, in
korean obviously, that I was goin back to the US~

well enough for now. gonna go drive my rental car
and release some plasma energy~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Zooom zooom ZOOM.

School/Life/Future & Silicon Valley

I don't like to rant/rave w/o reason,
therefore when I rant I shall back it with logical reasoning,
and boy do I have reasons. Where shall I start?

Got back from Asia the 14th and I swear, everytime I come back
its harder to fit into the drone lifestyle here. Yes a lotta ppl
work hard perhaps, but I'd argue that just having a steady job
does not qualify one's life as a.provocative/vibrant/adventurous.

I realize realistically people need to work for $ to survive, of course.

I'm talking more about priorities in life. Everyone, ultimately, chooses where
they live. Most ppl in Silicon Valley are content, I suppose, to exist in a work dominated lifestyle in a place that has little to offer culturally (compared to Asia or Europe). Hey whatever floats your boat. I'm a dreamer, not content , and def. more
inclined to listen to my passions regarding living abroad in a place with vibrant
expression of culture, i.e. higher density areas where you can interact with more ppl.

For me I'm not settling for living somewhere in an environment that doesn't
suit me. What do I prefer? INTL open-minded well-traveled people. Why
am in San Jose or much less the uber-apathetic SJSU? It just happened, and nobody
(though I would have thanked them kindly)

Hindsight is 20/20.

Alas I've b*******d and complained enough. Let me say some positive things.

I'm thankful there IS a program called CSUIP, allowing students to see other
cultures affordably while in school. There are HUGE budget cuts recently but
luckily it seems that INTL programs will not be affected...thank God, that would
be a serious mistake.

Going abroad has taught me the most about life, legions more than going
to school, in the overall scheme of things.
Once you go abroad, your perspective is forever altered, in most likely a positive
way. Exposure to culture teaches you in a hands-on way you can never learn by
any amount of TV, classes, or even just learning the language. To get into the mind
of another culture you have to be there, even then it takes years to understand
what makes it tick.

Goin Back 4 Real

T-12 hours and I'm outta here.
Leaving Asia behind for the time being, but hell yea I'll be back.
Always am. So many thoughts going through my head.

I'm kinda anticipating Reverse culture shock, nah thats not really
my worry. I'm thinking more about the cumulative affect of this study
abroad experience on my life overall. I'm definitely glad I had the
opportunity to go abroad.

More Americans need to get their minds stretched, everyone should have the
opportunity to go abroad, or make it a major priority. Life BEGINS when
you step into another culture and your perspective WILL get broader, because
you see, "O, people in other countries live, think, and act TOTALLY differently!"

Yea its that big of a difference.

Some expecations I had were unrealistic for this trip, and other things
I had no idea what was possible. I met people went places, lost money, gained
friends, burned bridges, and perhaps started to see more clearly myself and
what I can do about self-improvement.

Just going abroad in and of itself isn't an escape, though I and many others
who go abroad wishfully view it as that. Sure environment change is great,
but all the baggage, mental patterns and constructs that that were built in your
brain since day one come right along.

I realize the need for bigger goals in life. Definitive goals, that no matter
how slow you progress towards them, are meaningful, timely, and valuable.
Everyone needs something that gives meaning to their lives and I feel the same
especially as I get older. I need more meat in my life, something that I can
really dig into in a positive way, not a relationship, not job necessarily but
something bigger perhaps.

What will I do when back?: Be ACTIVE in
- Couchsurfing: Events, try to host
- Friends
- Tennis, exercise
- SCHOOL
- $$$ To survive
- Work towards JPLT & going abroad to TW, need refinement here.

Next post from the otherside!

Stock Loss, Acting % & More

Today was on set w/ Jay Chou in a drama I won't mention
now for obvious reasons,it's a new one :) Jay Chou
started as a singer, did some acting, and now directs.

It was a HOT day, standing around in a police uniform haha,
with shoes that were size 9, I'm size 12, ahum. Wow
what a cool opportunity being on the set!!
Forget being back home, this kinda stuff just doesn't
happen like being near a huge star so easily ;)

Lot has happened since I wrote last. Jumped into Japan
for 10 days, then to TW, where I've been since July 4th,
and LOVING IT.

Met up w/ CS'ers in Japan and of course in TW here.
I've been pursuing various opportunities since I landed
here in TW and boy have they started to come through :)

Today I was in a drama shooting w/ Jay Chou all day ;)

Well I LOVE Taiwan, wanna find some real connections
I can come back to for work etc. after finishing up
in the US. Needless to say I feel at home here more
than I felt in the US. I'm staying here long as I
can though I gotta jump back 2 the US mid Aug.

Well GREAT news also, I've found a great place to
live for the time being, a CS friend I know jumped out 2
Philippines for temp traveling and I got his pad!
A/C and prime location....ahhhh.....

I LOVE Taiwan BECAUSE:
- People are FREAKIN KIND
- Transportation
- NIGHT MARKETS
- Zen zu nai cha AKA PEARL TEA, yes ITS FROM TAIWAN!!!

I gotta put some pics up from my recent
adventures~

Things to work on
- Real Job contacts/leads for future
- Study Chinese & Japanese

I plan to be here for a long time in the near
future and I will do what it takes to make this
happen~ Follow your dreams!

<3 TW 4EVER~

Stardate 6.20.2009

Wow so I'm leaving Korea in 5 days for traveling in
my fav. countries. I'm actually coming back for about
a month to more/less enjoy myself w/o the stress of school
pressures etc. The time here has been tough and stressful
at some points and hilariously ridiculous at others.

I made friends, cut people off, was cut off, haha.
Lots of learning experiences, some that aren't remembered
some that are. Lots of soul searching. It's really
difficult to put my time here into words, there's
such a plethora of thoughts and emotions, experiences
that I'm gonna think about for awhile before I spill
them on the page~...

PDT & GYM

This is a rant/rave one only in the beginning ;)
I was hit with PDT, and thats not Pacific Daylight time,
it's a stock trading acronym.

Hey so you know the SEC? Well I don't like them,
I hate them. YES I DO. Absurd regulations like only
3 day trades per week, well eat this, I found a way
around it. I hope it works. I'll be b******** a lot
if it doesn't. I should be up and functional trading
again by mid next week....we'll see..

I joined the gym today in front of Yonsei, yea i needed
that for like months ago. I had gone to the Gym regularly
in the US, why hadn't I started it here?? One reason was $$,
it costs $100/mnth here vs. the 20 I was paying in the US...
Well I'm only doing a one month membership cuz I'm like so
outta here soon, and yea I'm ready to move on w/ my life.

There were a lotta experiences here, and I def don't regret
coming here overall though I wish some things had gone
down way differently.

ATV BLASTin

Wow today was just wow.
I'm like totally exhausted now due to the
awesome

Today, this is my ATV adventure story.
I rushed to the Cheongryangri station to catch the
4:10 subway, biting my nails mentally cuz didnt
wanna wait another hour for the next train. I was
in a zombie daze from being tired but rushed to the counter,
he said (translated) "You can make it if you rush"
and boy did I rush, I beat 80% of everyone running for
the train hahaha PHEW.

Got to Gangchon 1.5 hours later and called the ATV company,
theres lots of rentals there, but a friend had suggested
Exciting Sports ATV rental who offer ATV rental for 1Hr
for only 20,000 KRW!!


I LIVE for experiences. I literally start to die
when I don't have enough random adventures. It's my
nature, something that I can't see changing ever.

DJ Fest 2009 & Korean Drivers Licenses

So I've been pretty psychotically hectic lately with CS people
staying over, that was last week, it was FUN but a bit much.

Last night went to Seoul DJ Fest with some friends and had a free
hookup 2 get in ;) Music was blasting. DJ TOWA TEI was my fav, loved
his remixes of "one more time" etc~~ Drunk people, people sleeping on the
ground spooning each other in triplets (friends) was commonplace!!
See what you missed out!? If you read this, you can watch the video I took
of the DJ Fest on Youtube HERE

Got my Korean Drivers License, LEGALLY! Yea amazing. I did it all so
I could go ATV'ing!!!! Yea, wild right? When I set my mind to it, I do it.
Now for making my studies the same way...hmm.

Well yep I should go study or ATV hmm hard decision. Kinda summarizes the
story of my life ha. I have to decide about what to do in TW and other
fun stuff ~

CyA

CS Heaven!

So I've hosted a few different people from CS
lately this week so I've been VERY VERY busy!!
Sounds like I've become a Seoul-ish person cuz
everyone is BUSY here.

Also had some "special" PT jobs this week,
as in you can see me on TV in a very short clip..haha

So one CS (www.couchsurfing.com) Do I need to say
much about CS? It's an amazing way to connect
with International people and have a place to stay
anywhere and everyhwere!!

Hosted a guy doing his PHD @ Harvard along with
a traveling student from Singapore this week!

The best thing about being in Korea is the random
opportunities, meeting people at places, meeting models,
usual stuff like that~

I really regret being in a Korean language class @ KLI
that is far below my level.

What can I say, savor the times with friends and
interactions with ppl.

I need to go shopping 4 clothes~
Tata~

Missile Launches and B-Days

So apparently, in honor of my birthday of course,
N.Korea has decided to launch a "Happy Birthday" missile.
There's enough about the missile in the news so I won't
go into it but hey, If S.Korea ceases to exist tomorrow
then well it's outta my hands anwyays. I will say it's
interesting if you ask MOST S.Koreans about it, they
will say "Ahh, it's another one." Well it's pointless
to speculate, time will tell.

Since being in Korea, a lot has gone down. The global
financial crunch and (subsequent US ownership of AIG,
Chase swallowing up WAMU to name a few)

Recently as my time here winds up a lot of things
come to mind. I'm thinking that I want to focus
on "prime timing" with people, meaning quality time
and less chaotically meeting so many different people.

I'm going to a temple stay, with meditation and such
in April but I want to go more times before I leave.
The TaeKwonDo class I'm taking is somewhat interesting,
While it is interesting and I'm glad to be taking it
in S.Korea it's too focused on kicks and punches. Learning
Aikido or Hapkido is more interesting because it focuses
on energy flow. Joaquin, a friend suggested taking this,
he's also taking Tango, spicy, I'm interested in that as well!

The G!Forum presentation at Yonsei that I, Justin, Jane (Yonsei
Global), and Joaquin created/presented went well considering
it was the first time. There are 3 more Forums scheduled,
We created the forum to directly tackle cultural differences.

I'll make a vid of it and put it online eventually ~ :)

The Path to Enlightenment?

I think I've just experienced one of the realest moments
in my life. I'm typing this quickly before the thoughts
vaporize into thin air.

For the last 6 months I've been in Seoul, Korea,
it has honestly been extremely difficult, and yet
only now I've come to see many of the problems,
frustrations I've had were exacerbated and even
created by the person typing this blog.
I believe now learning from every experience in life
and especially traveling are two of the most valuable
things.

Yes there are many things I perhaps don't prefer
about this country but more importantly its about
finding peace wherever you are in the world.
That's of course not to say go live in a dump and
be happy, environment matters of course, but perhaps
more so is our perspective of our environment, and
how we let it affect us.

Life is full of many disappointments, failures
and situations out of control but thats not the point,
it's how we deal with it, how we take that experience
be it positive or negative and use it for good.

For many years I've been a negative bias thinking
type of person, I want that to change starting today, now.
I'm also thinking I've been too self-centered. It's focusing
on others/making others lives better that directly makes
our own lives worth living.

All this is easier said than done, of course, but this
is the type of thinking I want to drive my life from now
on till I die.

Everyone has different paths in life to reach new
plateau's, living in Silicon Valley I felt the pace
of life was so dizzying that I rarely had any insights
like this. I want to remember how not optional
it is to slow down and clear one's head like this.

I used to cherish computers, cars, motorcycles,
and have a fixation with electronics in general
but now much of that interest has faded, what remains
is a clarity that the quality of relationships
we have with others is what determines the quality
of our lives. People need each other of course, and
while unhealthy codependency is never good, when
both people are solid in their lives and in how
they care for each other it literally changes
the individual.

A lot of the reason I thought about this stuff
was due to eating much less the last few days,
aka to some, fasting.

It's taken 25 years to come this realization in
my life, but that's how life goes, you must follow
the path forward and keep climbing, learning, growing.

Clearing the mind: It's amazing how much clearer
I (or anyone for that matter) can think when they eat
less. Food clogs the brain, since the efficiency of digestion
or rather having less food to digest allows an amazing
state of clarity. try it.

HERE'S TO LIFE, PART 2, Cheers~

Bullets and Registration

Lets start with the Lotte shooting range.

For $20,000 KRW ~ 18 US u get 10 bullets,
yes its expensive but for once in a life WHY
NOT. I'd have taken a picture

I put on the earmuffs and took the 9mm in my
hands. A real gun has a comfortable weight to it,
I love that part. BAM its loud haha, I said "S***"
Takes time getting used to for sure.

Registered for classes today!
It also snowed a bit today, was hoping for a huge
amount so it would get warmer, its COLD recently.

I plan to capitalize on the remaining 1 week of Ice
skating at the lovely Sichung, where you can skate
for only a BUCK yes 1000 KRW!! WOOHOOO, here I come!!
Went there 2x already and had a great time :)

N.Korea is upping there ant and claiming to have
intercontinental missiles ready. I for one, along
with many others are SICK of hearing about N.Korea
just wipe out their SICK government already!! I dont
wanna die here in S.Korea, along with anybody else in
this country, but seriously now just get rid of them!

When it's cold in Korea, people stay inside, but I still
see many girls in short shorts and I wonder how they
don't get instant frostbite...not that I mind them wearing
the shorts ;)

Tata for now!

TAIWAN for New Years!

I've had a BLAST in Taiwan,
I feel I'm leaving a piece of myself here.
Taiwan also kindly left a piece of itself
on my knee when I was running to the Wen Chuen -_- ha.

By joining the couchsurfing website I met
a ton of cool people! There's a LOT of
cool open-minded people on that site,
many of which I spent New Year's Eve with
while using my Nokia N810 to play vocal trance for the
party haha.

In Hualien, Taroko Gorge is amazing, definitely
worth seeing. I and a couchsurfing friend rented a
125cc scooter and rode up the mountain side in the fog
and rainy weather without any mishap, but it was BEAUTIFUL.
I also went to Kaohsiung but didnt see much there so I
definitely love Taipei the most.

I'm at a crossroads. Sitting here in the Taoyuan Airport
I'm thinking collectively about the experience I've had
here as my 2nd time in Taiwan, as well as the reality of
going back to Korea. A ton of thoughts are running through
my head as normal for most people, definitely a scattered
feeling. Thinking of the future, where I belong in the
world. I want to be done with school now and be free to
work in TW or elsewhere. I've grown and experienced a lot
by traveling, and feel that I want to move on to the next
stage of life, working and being free to live where I wish.

One things for sure, I need to work to get my accounts back
to the 0 position!!!!!

I miss Taiwanese food already, the night markets, the beautiful
scooter ride, the ability to meet a lot of open-minded people
and do couch-surfing, the Christmas Eve party at Luxy in La Mei
heaven. The DAMN best Christmas I ever had!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Woohoo! It's 2009 now, and I intend to buy new shoes ASAP so
I'm not walking around with a hole. You have no idea how hard
it is to find size 48, or US 12 or 13 in Asia..