New Travel Diary!

This will be the place I post all my travel diaries!!!!

Obviously, I have no traveled recently and I did not have a chance to write any during my trip to Taiwan back in Sept. 08, so the posts you are reading on here are actually transferred from my other blog. I will only add entries to this blog whenever I am travel.

Please feel free to share with your thoughts and enjoy!

Vancouver, BC (Day 3) Went to the Vancouver Art Gallery today and saw several different galleries. Georgia O'Keeffe was really special. Since I am not an Art History major, so I won't even try to explain everything, it would just cause more confusion. Her art work is controversial, some said that her works excessively expressed the human sexuality while a lot of her work is mostly abstract. There were other exhibits, but I won't even try to explain everything since, again, I am not an Art History major. Overall, the experience to the Art Gallery was great. I would want to see it again when it displays in either San Francisco or San Jose. I also met with Charles, it was really nice to see him again after a year and half. We had a great time catching up since the TTT 2006. We met at a Starbucks on Robson and Thurlow. Rumor has it that you'll usually find some famous stars who would pay a visit there. Sadly, no star sighting today, but the good news is it was great catching up with Charles and hopefully we can meet again either in Vancouver, Bay Area or even Taiwan sometime again. Afterwards, I visited the campus of UBC (University of British Columbia). I thought it was a pretty campus, due to time contraint, we had to come back to Downtown Vancouver area for dinner since it was dark and cold. For the New Year's Eve dinner, we had Malaysian Cuisines, Mee Gerng and Bagutae (I am not sure if that's the correct spelling for it). They had good food, and I thought since it is not everyday that I'll have Malaysian Cuisines, it was worth the time and money to try some. Since there were no fireworks law in Vancouver, so we could not find any fireworks, but the people in Downtown area were really into the party mood. Even as I am writing this, there are a lot of people outside. I am heading back to California tomorrow, winter and New Year in Vancouver has been a really interesting but fun experience. Happy New Year!!!!

Monday, December 31, 2007

Vancouver, BC (Day 2): Taipei Style! The weather is much nicer today in Vancouver, I actually saw the Canadian sun peeking through! In the morning we had breakfast at a restaurant on Bute and Davie Streets. (aka, Gay Village) The BC Omelette was pretty good. It has eggs, ham, cheese and a few veggies, along with potatoes on the side. Afterwards, we went to English Bay and checked out the view, it was gorgeous!!! I really enjoyed it! Again, pictures on Facebook later when I am back in US. I met up with Aaron for lunch. It was nice of him to come downtown to meet with us before he had to go work. We ate at a authentic Korean restaurant. I had the Kimchi Tofu Clay Pot, Aaron had the Seafood Bowl with rice. It reminded us of the Korean Dram (Da Chung Jin) I am not sure how to pronounce it in Korean tho.... Although the meeting with Aaron was short (too short), but it was still nice to catch up with him since TTT 2006. Oh by the way,.... thanks Aaron for treating me the lunch. It's my turn when you visit me in California or we meet up in Taiwan. Spent part of the afternoon power-nap since I felt a bit tired. I did managed to do sightseeing around Vancouver on my own, Taipei-Style! (Taipei-Style: My own term for a lot of walking, and taking public transit, including Rapid Transits) On foot, I visited Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Park, Chinatown, Coal Harbor, hop onto the SkyTrain to Metrotown Shopping Centre. The Shopping Centre reminded me of Taipei 101 Shopping District and Valley Fair. It is HUGE!!! I think it is either the same size as Valley Fair or bigger! It is very crowded since they are still on Boxing Week Special. For dinner, I met up with Michelle, she took me to the mountain of Burnaby so I can act not only as a visitor, but a 100% tourist.(Lots of picture taking... again, pictures on Facebook when I am back to US) We caught a Coyote and I acted as a CSR (Crime Scene Reporter) we drove by the scene of an accident BEFORE the paramedics arrived, so Michelle decided to stop the car at the gas station while I took some pictures. It looks like people in the cars were okay, but it sure served as a reminder that no matter where we are, Safety First! We then went up for some night scene in Simon Frasier University. It was cold up there, a bit snowy + black ice. However, the view was GREAT!!! For dinner, we were at a Taiwanese Cuisine place where I had a Spicy Beef Noodle, Beef "Stomach" and Pork "Intestine" and she had Shao-Lung-Bao. It sure reminded us of great times in Taiwan! Boy! The beef noodle was REALLY spicy! Thanks Michelle, for treating me for dinner tonight! I am so touched that everywhere I go, my friends has been so nice to me... MAN!!! I am spoiled by knowing a lot of great people in life. Not sure if it is allergy or a mini-cold, but my nose is itchy and runny, I plan to take some Advil Sinus, hopefully it will get better in the morning. What is your new year resolution?

Saturday, December 29, 2007

Vancouver, BC (Day 1) The first day in Vancouver was relaxing after a rather interesting start at SFO. My flight was scheduled to take off at SFO on 8:20am and arrive in YVR (Vancouver International) at 10:47am, but it was delayed for almost 2 hours because of the following reasons as told by the flight attendant: 1. Missing First-Officer and a replacement was here, but he went to the wrong Terminal (He came directly from Seattle) 2. Flight Attendant team was formed at the last minute 3. A kid wanted to go to the bathroom during taxi After all these, the flight safely arrived, unfashionably late, in Vancouver at 12:08pm. We took a short walk on Cole Harbor and then took a long walk in Stanley Park. The view was incredible! I think it would be an ideal place for a date (wink wink hint hint!) Afterwards, we walked around the Robson St. and window shop around and checked out the "Boxing Week Sales"; very similar to The Black Friday in US. Lots of Japanese, Koreans, Chinese, and I even passed by a few Taiwanese if my hearing is correct. We went to White Spot for lunch, they had pretty good hamburger. I had their BC Burgers and IT WAS GOOD!!!! Although I usually doesn't like fries, but they do have good French Fries. I also had a Fruit Flan for a snack after the walk in Stanley Park. For dinner, we at at a Japanese restaraunt for Japanese style fried noodle. It was pretty good and we got 40% for each order, so not bad! Hopefully I'll be able to meet up with some of the TTT people in Vancouver and have a mini-reunion. It would be good to see them after 1.5 years. Well, time for some rest and plan for something fun tomorrow. I'll post more tomorrow. Also, I'll post pictures when I am back in US.

Tuesday, March 13, 2007

Travel Since a vacation may seem like a distant future for me at this point, so I can only dream about it or watch travel program on TV. It has been my dream to visit different country for each person I know. (They are from all over the world) Here's a run down of a brief list of places I wanted to visit, not in any particular order: 1. Taiwan (Of course!) 2. Japan 3. Canada 4. New Zealand 5. Europe (Inspired by Rick Steves' Travel Series on PBS; Especially UK, France, and Spain) 6. Philippines 7. Singapore 8. Malaysia 9. South Korea 10. Hong Kong And many other places!!!!!! Of course, I can only dream and hopefully I can visit at least some of these places during my life time.... I've been back to Taiwan a few times (I always wanted to go back more often!), I've also visited Vancouver, BC in Canada. Good experiences so far.... Oh, and I've been to South Korea for a flight lay-over, does that count?

Thursday, August 24, 2006

The end of TTT and still many mixed emotions 7 weeks of internship went by just like that! I felt during these past few weeks, I've learned a lot and it would for sure look great on my resume. However, the most important thing is that hopefully these experience I've gain would help with my career in the long run. There are several group of people whom I really wanted to keep in touch and I am sure I'll be able to do that with the technology we have today (MSN, AIM,...etc.) As much as I feel sad that I may not see them for quite sometime, but I am sure faith will bring us together someday in the near future. In the meantime, I guess I'll just make the best use of the technology we have today. On the positive note, I'll have few more excuses to visit different countries around the world from now on. Thanks everyone for making these 8 weeks so memoriable!

Monday, August 07, 2006

Taiwan Tech Trek TTT. Week 5 (7/31~8/6) It's hard to believe that TTT internship is almost over. These days we have just been busy gathering replies from the survey we sent out to different companies. While it has been fun reading the responses but at times it is also overwhelming. I must say that the treatment from the employer has been really nice; maybe because it was the promotion season when many people got promoted to other departments. I've met lots of interesting people in TTT (the guys, the girls, the handsome, the pretty, the ugly, the cute, the cold, the hot, the young, the old....etc.) and I am beginning to have mix emotions about the ending of the program. There were certain group of people that took me a while to feel comfortable approach them, but there were others whom I have no problem approach them or just hang out after work. I believe I've grew up during the program. These days I feel that I get along with others, and I've learned to be independent. One thing that I still need some work is to talk more and speak out. Although I am satisfied with my progress, but I know there will always be room for improvement. And now,... I shall wrap this up and go gather some more survey results.

Monday, July 31, 2006

Taiwan Tech Trek TTT. Week 4 (7/24~7/31) The project has been in full swing now. We have received several response from companies who were nice enough to help us out. The week was somewhat hectic but fun in a way. I had to rush back to Taipei on Wednesday after work to sign a visa application because the signature had to be original.... then rush back to Hsin-Chu on the same day thanks to the convenient of the freeway buses . We also had a send-off party for our lovely peer counselor, Mei. She is leaving for San Jose. Although I'm sure I'll probably see her after 8/31, I still wish her well. We all had dinner (Total of 16 people) at the Chung-Sho BBQ Place. It was so much fun and the food was pretty good. Saturday and Sunday was fun too. We went to Jiu-Fen for some old town tour. It was a really charming town and the weather was nice for the most part, we all had a blast! The rest of the gang went to Shi-Lin Nightmarket briefly for some snack. On Sunday, we went to Yang-Min Mountain for some hiking trip. I took a few pictures to go along with the good weather. I guess you'll just had to be there to enjoy all the fun. I am not sure what will happen this coming week, but I am sure it will be just as productive as previous weeks.

Monday, July 24, 2006

Taiwan Tech Trek TTT. Week 3 (7/17~7/23) The internship has been interesting. We continue to work on our survey and contact companies. I think in a way, it was great to practice my communication skill but at the same time it is also frustrating simply becase it is really time consuming and a lot of companies are not willing to help. At any rate, I am still keeping my faith up for a meaningful result when it is all over. The Yi-Lan trip was interesting and fun. It was really nice to see most of other fellow TTT'ers as well as lovely peer counselors. It is amazing how a lot of us really bonded during the first week. I just feel that the friendship we've shared will last for a long time. I have some pictures posted, since my digital camera was not on its best behavior, but I did manage to have taken pictures with other people. Go to this site and take a look: http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/poweiliu@pacbell.net/album?.dir=a5bbscd&.src=ph&store=&prodid=&.done=http%3a//pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/poweiliu@pacbell.net/my_photos

Saturday, July 15, 2006

Taiwan Tech Trek TTT. Week 1 & 2 (7/1~7/16) The first two weeks of internship has been mostly trying to become familiarized with the office as well as become familiar with the city of Hsin-Chu. We did not have too much work until the end of this week (Week 2) Our project will be survey and accounting and its impact to the Hsin-Chu Science Park. Due to the nature of the project, I cannot go to specific details about the project on my blog, but if you see me in person. Hopefully, this will provide a really good opportunity for me both education as well as career searching. Life after work has been relatively steady, mostly just dinner, workout (weather permitting), chat with other fellow TTT'ers, shower, read and rest. Usually I wake up around 7:10am in order to get ready for breakfast and take the bus at 8:20am. The normal work out usually is 8:30am-5:30pm, depends on the time you arrived to work. In addition, we also have 1.5 hours for lunch break. Sort of miss the good weather in The Bay Area. I am really looking forward to the Weekend Trip to I-Lan next weekend. If anyone from TTT Group 8 is reading this blog,.... Hi everyone! I hope your internships are going well so far! Just want to say What Up!!!!!!!

Sunday, July 02, 2006

Taiwan Tech Trek TTT. Week 1. Part 3 (6/25~7/1) We had a lot of workshops and visits, some are better than the others. I'll pick out the mmorable ones..... In Kaoshiung, we visited China Steel Company and China Ship Building Company. It was amazing watching a new ship being built. On average, it takes 4 years to build a ship. It really is a challenging job. Another amazing site I saw was the crane that was about 10 story high! If you see it from the bus, it does not seem tall to you, but if you actually stood under the crane and look up, it would take your breath away. In Tai-Chung, we visited 921 Earthquake Museum. It was made from a school that was badly damaged from the earthquake. There were exhibits that had pictures of damages around the island. It was a rather dramatic site to see, and it sure brought tears to my eyes. Also, there was an outdoor track that has been lifted to at least 6 ft. above the ground. It reminded me to not to mess with mother nature. In Taipei, we attended the International Night and met the President of Taiwan. The president seemed similar as he did on TV, but he seems like a nice fellow. I had a really good angle so I got a pretty good look at Mr. Chen. So there...... That's another one of my Once In a Life Time Moments.

Taiwan Tech Trek TTT. Week 1. Part 2 (6/25~7/1) Let's talk about housing..... In Kaoshiung, we stayed at Kaoshiung Hospitality College. The facility is nice for the most part. I like their advanced keyless entry scan system. Their food is pretty good. Besides, since it is a hospitality college, we even get to be a chef for one afternoon. We made TM, N, and ʦ̯! So remember, if Paul can cook, so can you! In Hsin-Chu, we stayed at Forte Hotel, the facility was Business Class, so it was REALLY nice and comfortable. Since we only stayed for one night, I did not have the chance to use all of their facilities. In Taipei, although I have the option of staying home, but I choose to stay with the group at Fortuna Hotel nearby. I remembered my relatives had several dinner and lunch gatherings there back in the days. Since my internship is in Hisn-Chu, the dorm is NTHU (National Tsing-Hua University). I will be there until 8/18 and you are welcomed to visit me.

Taiwan Tech Trek TTT. Week 1. Part 1(6/25~7/1) The TTT program has started this week. Although it was just an orientation week, but I visited more places compared to the previous times I visited Taiwan. I've met a lot of people, saw lots of famous CEOs, officials, including the president of Taiwan, Ah-Bien (Mr. Chen Shui-Bien) Since the entire program has around 300 interns plus 20~30 team leaders and staff members, there were total of 32 groups and we had 8 buses. and Our bus, Bus 2, consisted of Group 6~8. Although everyone seemed really nice, but I did not have a chance to meet with every single one of them. We took pictures, as well as on-board Kareoke. It was a really fun experience. The people in my group, Group 8, has been really nice! People came from U.S., Canada, and Germany. Our group leader, Mei, is just a sweetheart! She was really caring, helpful, funny, and was really easy to get along with. Since I have never lived in a dorm or travelled with a group (besides the trips with MSF) It was a really great opportunity for me to really be independent, and socializable; I realized I have became really quiet in recent months due to unknown reasons. So, I know you've been wondering, so I'll answer your questions...... 1. Yes, I have met a lot of people! 2. I will stay in Taiwan until the end of August. 3. I will be in Hsin-Chu and maybe Taipei on weekends. 4. Have I met somebody that I may be interested?..... Hmmmm......, it's a secret at this point.....

Sunday, June 18, 2006

Taiwan. Week 2 (6/13~6/18) I had a chance to visit Eslite Center located in Shin-Yi District near Taipei 101. It's a great place to shop (although you may not find the best bargain there), read, or just enjoy some afternoon tea. The selection were great and everything were well categorized. What's interesting was that they even have a section exclusively devoted for collections that are written in Simplified Chinese (²). One of the books I read was a history on the railway systems in Taiwan, it sure brought back a lot of great memories. (FYI: I love looking at trains and railway systems) The book talked about there were a lot of stories took place on the trains of Tamsui Line, there were also a lot of couples fell in love on Tamsui Line. I still remembered riding on the Tamsui Line with my family as a kid and just loved it..... Now, a lot of couples fell in love on Tamsui Line???!!! Now there's one more execuse for me to take the MRT-- Tamsui Line. My dad also took me to Tien-Lai for hot spring. It was really nice and relaxing. We took a short hike to the origin of the hot spring. The smell was strong, but it smell was wonderful and had a lunch at a wonderful charming family restraunt nearby. I must say the highlight for this week was the brief encounter with the Mustardseed Mission team in MRT's Taipei City Hall Station. As I got off the train, I saw two women who appearantly looked like Ah-Sun (Joy) and Winnie. Then I took a closer look and... WAIT! It is THEM! Then I saw Janice, Ivy, Sandy, Henry, Lay-Lay, and Pin-Pin. A historical moment indeed! We took a picture right on the platform. What a small world!

Tuesday, June 13, 2006

Taiwan. Week 1: Reacquaince (6/2~6/13) It has been a little more than 1 week since I arrived in Taiwan. I will try my best to write a weekly update every Friday or Saturday; Taipei Time. The first week has mostly been reacquaint with some relatives and familiarize the area. The memorial service on June 6 was small but emotional. It was a good day to reflect on what I remembered the most about Ah-Gong, as well as remember the man that he has always been. Few days after I arrived, I caught a cold. The good news is that I am much better now and have then gain back my appetite.... I have not ate a lot during this past week because of the cold, and felt really tired during the day, on top of trying to get rid of my jet lag. The internship will began at the end of this month, but I have been doing some errands with dad so I can get some idea of a real "working person" lifestyle.

Thursday, July 07, 2005

7/6/2005: After a going with my dad on his business trip to Taichung yesterday, we found a perfect parking spot where we saved $60 NT and had the rest of the afternoon to ourselves to enjoy the view at Bali Left Shore near Dan-Shui River. We enjoyed some traditional snack called "Twin Sister" (Similar to doughnut), and we both had 3 bottles of freshly squeezed white sugar cane juice. Afterward, we had light dinner at Bali Left Shore Cafe where I had rice over beef and my dad had salmon stir fried with rice. 7/7/2005: I had a chance to spend the afternoon with Cindy at the Miramat Department Store in Nay-Hu. Although we only had lunch at a McDonald's in Shi-Lin, but we took a look around inside the Miramat. That is a pretty cool place to be, very similar to Breeze Department Store in Taipei and as of now, it's not as crowded as many other department stores I've been to. The most special thing at Miramat is the giant wheel, very similar to the one you see in some popular Japanese dramas, for those of you who are huge Japanese drama fan. I must say that while I enjoy the convinience of the public transit systems in Taipei, (buses, MRT, and taxis) I am not enjoying the traffic at all. Although I have visited Taiwan several times already, I am still afraid of crossing the street because I know that something is going to drive by out of nowhere at anytime. So I usually try to wait until there's more people and I'll walk side-by-side with them, or I'll use the overhead ped crossing.

Sunday, July 03, 2005

	Yesterday's memorial service was very touching and emotional. I cried. However, I know that grandpa is living well in his "new place" now and when I think that way, it gives me a sense of relief and comfort. I feel really fortunate to have such wonderful group of friends and relatives for support.

Sunday, June 26, 2005

As many of you already know, I am in Taiwan right now. I arrived in Taiwan on the evening of 6/15, Taipei Time. The flight was bumpy, but since my seat on the SFO-Taipei flight was upgraded, I had a spacious asile seat with nobody next to me on Economy Deluxe Class. There has been several mini memorial services for grandpa and I had a chance to meet several relatives as well as distance relatives whom I have not seen since I moved to U.S. Although I have not have a lot of time to visit many places yet, but I did experienced once again the spa at Tian-Lai. As usual, the food over here are wonderful, but this time, I am being more cautious as there has been many reports of "Black Heart" food being sold to the consumer. I also visited Central Library of Taiwan, the place looks like an university library, but since I do not have an ID Card of Taiwan, the staff issued a one day, visitor's pass which allowed me to browse the collection. I also went on shopping spree and bought a few shirts as well as 3 sets of Japanese Dramas. on Friday, my father and I supposed to take the MRT to Nan-Gang to run some errands. We got off at the Taipei Main Station to transfer the train. As the train approaches the platform, it "stuck" for 20 minutes, we later found out from the newscasts that someone has jumped off the track. I will have another update hopefully next week.

Sunday, January 23, 2005

	Honey~! I am home!!! Came back from Taiwan earlier this afternoon. It was a great trip. I will have a wrap-up on my next entry. In the meantime, I better get to bed and try to get over my "Time Difference Symdrome"

Tuesday, January 18, 2005

Today I got together with Hank, Peter, and Peggy at sTV near Taipei Main Station. We had lunch at h. Hank, Peter and Peggy all had a steak and I ordered a German Pork Feet. While we were eating, unexpectedly, the emergency gate came down and malfunction. Since our table was right under the gate, waiters evacuated and moved us to another table. Then the manager replaced our main course for free, in addition, he took 10% off the entire bill. So, I guess afterall it was a good deal. Then we took the MRT to Taipei 101, and "window-shop" It was great seeing everyone and hopefully I can see them again real soon.

I have been to many different places since the last entry. I took the train to Tainan and visited Charles. He took me on a tour to a few different historical sites such as r, G\], xnռq, g. There are guided tours included in the price of admission. Also, since his father is a professor at Cheng Kong University, so we took walks on the campus. Unforturnately, the memory card on my digital camera is running out of memory, so I couldn't take any pictures on the trip. Otherwise, it would be wonderful. After I am back in Taipei, my dad and I decided to try our luck and invited Auntie to join us at Shi-Lin Night Market. Although we already ate dinner earlier in the evening, she still ordered a few goodies for us to enjoy. Then, when we stopped by a Boba/Grass Jelly Tea place and was waiting for our order. We saw a dog barking madly at a what appears to be a homeless woman, according to the owner, the dog has been angry at that woman for over 10 years (!) So, remember, kids,... don't fight with dogs, otherwise, it will be a very long 10 years.

Monday, January 10, 2005

I went to the spa resort in Tien-Lai with my dad, Auntie Wei, and Cousin Judy. My dad and I went up there first on Saturday, then Auntie and Cousin joined us for lunch on Sunday. The spa room has a great view looking out towards the mountain. There is a river below the mountain. Since it was raining, we can hear the rain and running water outside. Afterwards, we gathered together in the room and had tea. I played pool afterwards with my dad being the coach and then later I played against Cousin for the rest of the afternoon. We all had a great and relaxing time up there. I thought Tien-Lai is a great place. The only down side was the area had too much moisture. I think I will go there again if I have the chance.

Friday, January 07, 2005

Yesterday (1/6/05) I went to Taichun. I went and visited my cousins and their kids NN and Yu-Shuan. The niece is 3 years old and nephew is 1.5 years old. They are so adorable! I just wanted to hug them so tight and eat them up. In fact, all of my nieces and nephews are so lovely, it's hard to decide who is my favorite. Then we took a visit to my cousin's husband (Cousin-in-law(?)) in the Department of Biology on the campus of Dong-Hai University. That is such a beautiful school. They even have their own farm and their own lines of milk product. Today (1/7/05) I went to Hsin-Chu. While my dad had meeting with his client, I took a short visit on the campus of Chou-Ton Univeristy and had lunch at a Chinese theme restraunt along the Science Technology Industrial Park area, the view is great and the food was incredible! Then we past by the neighborhood where my grandparents (mom's side) used to live. It sure brought back a lot of childhood memories where I would take all of my cousins and pretended to be a tourguide and took them to walk. Then on the way to the freeway, we had carwash and I went into the classic train station across the street and took a few pictures. It is so rare to see a classic train stations like this now-a-days. Looking forward to the spa trip tomorrow with Auntie Wei and Cousin Judy.

Tuesday, January 04, 2005

We (My father, myself, Auntie Wei and Cousin Judy) took a quick visit (but long drive) to a theme restraunt in Hshin-Chu today. The food is great and the place is very romantic. We ordered lamb chops, steaks, soup and salad plus two pots of fruit tea. Afterwards, we took a walk in the garden and took a few pictures with Cousin Judy. I think the restraunt has great view looking out towards the other side of the village. We can see clouds moving into the mountain as we are enjoying our meals. The place is super romantic, so I bet their Valentine's Day dinner reservation has already booked. It is far away, but I wouldn't be surprised if the couple drove all the way up the hill despite the long and tough driving condition. Now if that's not true love then I don't know what is.

Saturday, January 01, 2005

My first full day has been non-stop eating and shopping. Our family had lunch with "Baskin-Robin Uncle & Aunt" along with Dr. & Mrs. Suzuki, my grandparents' friends, at a vegetarian buffet and had a lot of healthy food. Later in the afternoon, my dad and I shopped for my winter clothing at sTV. It's a great feeling of being a shop-a-holic even just for one day. I was very surprised that I was actually able to buy cloths my size. I got myself, actually my dad got me a dress shirt, wool sweater, a turtle neck sweater, a water-proof pants and a pair of winter time PJ. We stopped by Idee next door and unexpected met one of my dad's younger cousin and her daughter and joined them for dinner and tea. It was a wonderful time! I thought I was able to escape the cold weather in San Jose, but I guess I must have packed the cold weather with me because it is SO COLD~! Brrrrr~!!!

Happy New Year from Taiwan!!! Hehehe~!! I guess a lot of you didn't see that one coming didn't you? I believe I have celebrated New Year at least twice when I am on the plane and just didn't know it since the plane traveled through several different time zones. The first full day of my stay in Taiwan has been great. As always, the food is good!!! And I believe I must have carried the cold weather along with my luggage with me because it feels just as cold as back in the State. However, compared to what they are going through in other parts of Asia, I am very lucky! And my thoughts and prayers going out to all the victims. 2004 was a rollercoaster ride, but I have a feeling that 2005 will be a great year for me personally. Happy New Years everyone!!!

Tuesday, August 24, 2004

It has been good to come back to U.S., but on the other hand I wanted to stay a little longer since I have not been to Taiwan for 12 years. My trip to Taiwan this time around has been a fast-paced while fun-filled experience. I will list all the places I've been to, but if you want the long version (I mean really long version) of my trip, feel free to send me a message and I'll meet up with you somewhere. The places: 1. Grand Hill Hotel for lunch 2. Yingge Museum of Ceremics 3. Tao-Yuan Da Shi: My aunt and uncle's mension. 4. Mt. Don-Yan (Mt. East Eye) for hiking trip. 5. Yang Ming Mountain & Da-Tuan Mountain for hiking trip. 6. The Left Shore @ Ba-Li 7. Dan Shui's Fisherman's Wharf 8. Taipei 101 9. Taipei World Trade Center 10. Taipei MRT 11. Guan-Hua Market Place 12. Shi-Lin Night Market 13. S.Y.S Memorial 14. The traditional farmer's market 15. Numerous shopping centers 16. Short bus trip to Keelung 17. Train ride to Tai-Nan That's all the places I can think of. I wanted to visit the central part of Taiwan as well as the East part, but due to The Flood of 7/2, a lot of highways and the tourist attractions were destroyed by mudslide. I think from this trip I have learned that although majority of the people in this world are friendly and nice, but there will always be some bad apples regardless where you go. After several long conversation and reminders from my father, I have also learned that whenever I am given the opportunity to do something, I must cherish it and do it well. I must also try my best to do everything by myself and not rely on others to do it for me. Or, if I choose to be lazy, I'm a gaurenteed failure. From my trip I have also learned that I really need to keep in touch with the people I love and care about, especially the family relatives. Time will not wait, therefore I have to value and cherish each moment I have with each of my friends as well as my family relatives, otherwise if anything unexpected should occur, I may regret for the rest of my life. So, everyone-- go out and spend some quality time with your family and the ones you love, and cherish every moment of it!

Saturday, August 21, 2004

Honey, I'm home! After a short 10.5 hours of flight across the Pacific Ocean, I am home. Although I wanted to stay a few more days in Taiwan, but the school start on 8/25 and I need about 3-4 days to get over jet-leg and adjust back to CA time. It's almost 2am and I can't seem to be able to fall asleep, but I will post the link to the pix of my Taiwan trip later on. In the mean time, I want ALL of you to post me a welcome back message! Alright, take care!

Thursday, August 19, 2004

My last week in Taiwan has been fun. On monday, Grandma took my sister and me to Keelung for a short tour. We stopped by graves of my Great-grandparents, granduncle and a grandaunt and paid our respect. My granduncle and one of the grandaunts passed away few years ago (If I remember my family tree correctly, they are not related) and I was at US at the time, so my Grandma took this opportunity and took us there. The visit to their graves was emotional since I was pretty close with all of them and it was the first time I visited them. I missed them very much and I believe in my heart that they are at a much better place now. On Wednesday, I visited Taipei 101. First I had lunch with a few of my uncles, aunts, cousins and nieces at Taipei World Trade Center. They invited me to lunch as their way of saying goodbye since I'll be leaving tomorrow. Afterwards I visited Taipei 101. I spent a total of 4.5 hours over there. I visited the outskirt of Taipei 101 building, Sin Kung Mit..... (Sorry, forgot the spelling at the moment), New York New York, and Warner Village. I wanted to visit more places near Taipei 101 area but after 4.5 hours of walking, I was exhausted! So I caught the crowded MRT train home (I mean CROWDED! It was 6:30pm, right in the middle of the evening rush hour. The station and the train was PACKED! There were barely any room to stand!) I will post my Taiwan trip pictures later. Oh and,... I know you all missed me already, the good news is that I'm leaving Taiwan tomorrow night! As always, I better see you all at SFO 8/20 around 4:30pm. Be there! or else.....

Hello all!

Yes, I have not been blown away by the Typhoon. If you are interested to know.... I just had to make some changes to my sightseeing plans and push them into one day, so... no big deal. It's my first encounter with typhoon for the first time in 12 years!

My original plan was to go visit the Taiwan University and take the tour at the Goo-Gong Historical Museum, but I guess I'll have to go another day before I leave for U.S.

I am going to Shi-Lin Night Market tonight for some food! Man! Haven't been there for so long!

Well, I'll cut this update short, and I'll see you all next time!

Greeting everyone! I have been to several more different places now since the last update. I just got back from the train trip to Tai-Nan and hang out with Cindy and Charles for a while. It was a fun trip, but the only regret I had was the trip was too short. It was actually very difficult for us to hang out, have meals, and sightseeing at the same time. Especially there are a lot of historical places to visit in Tainan. For this time tho, I visited "Small West Gate" and remaining pieces from Small North Gate and Small South Gate. I was amazed as to how those people built the building at the time when the equipment is not very advanced. It was a very quick trip, but I was very happy to see my friends Cindy and Charles. I visited a few of the famous shopping centers in Taipei. Wow! the mall over here is really nice! A lot better than what they have at Valley Fair! and people are so nice too!! Ok, I admit it,... I meant girls in the store are cute. Within the next few days, hopefully I'll finally be able to meet my young nephews and nieces. I can't wait! Anyways, until next time. Take care of yourselves! Oh before I go.... Greetings to all friends at Mustardseed and congratulations to the newly weds Bruce & Tina!

Greeting all!

During my second week of stay, I am still helping out in my dad's office few times a week, but I also got a chance to visit around a bit and all of these places I've been to were fun.

I went to Dan Shui, a town near Taipei, where there is a Fisherman's Wharf. It looks a lot like San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf, except it's a combination of other places I am not sure. Since it was a weeknight, the place was not too crowded, otherwise, according to my relatives, Fisherman's Wharf is packed on the weekends. The view was nice, and it was a charming places. The one complain I have, as I am sure all of the other visitors have, is the smell of place. The smell of the river is terrible! However, it was not THAT bad. Overall, I thought it is a very romantic place, a great place to take my girlfriend to. Oh, speaking of girlfriend,... if any of you want to be my girlfriend, I'll take you there! (Xanga is such a nice way to annouce my relationship status, isn't it?! )

Anyways, moving on.... I took a 4 hour hiking trip to a mountain resort near Tao-Yuan called Dong-Yang Mountain (East Eye Mountian) Again, a romantic place. It has a scienic trail which will take you 3-4 hours to go up to the top and see the view of entire northern Taiwan. Since the weather was nice, I saw the Taipei 101 Building all the way up on the Dong-Yang Mountain. Afterwards, we visited my aunt's mension in Da-Shi for relaxation and sunset watching.

I am amazed that this place has been able to maintain its traditional culture while continue to be modernized. I can clearly see the evidence of it during my trip. And of course, the food over here is so delicious!

Well, that's all folks, I'll share some more on my next entry.

Greeting from Taiwan!

This place has really changed since I left in 1992. I almost didn't recongize the place. However, few things that haven't changed were the hot weather and the crazy traffic. The temp at night is about 80 degrees F and it's very humid. If you combine the summer weather of Las Vegas and Miami Beach together, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about. Also, where are the traffic rules over here? people seems to be driving like crazy over here, cars loves to honk and suddenly merge into your lane constanly and those motercyclist loves to sneak up on you! And I thought traffic in the Bay Area is bad?! During my first week of arrival, although I have not traveled to many places yet, but I have been acting as an intern at my dad's office doing some clearical works as well as some computer troubleshooting. Also, I have been able to get reaquainted with several of the relatives whom I have not seen for over 10 years and had meals with them. I have been having really good meals almost everyday, the food over here are SO GOOD! and one thing that I have noticed is that BOY!.... people over here can really eat! and they all looked so skinny! Hmmm,.... I have to find out what their secrets are and many places opened really late compared to U.S. (several small stores stayed open until 2am!) Due a recent typhoon, a lot of places my relatives had planned to take me were either heavily damanged by this typhoon or the roadway were washed away by the flood. So I think this time I will mostly be staying and traveling within the Northern part of Taiwan. I have a pretty easy access over here so I will try my best to keep you guys updated. Until then, take care of yourselves.

Spring Break 2004: Part 3

I am back!!!!!!! Wow! Vancouver was so much fun! There were a lot of good places to visit, great restraunts to eat. If you are there, you won't feel hungry or bored. Oh yes, of course, guys,... there were a lot of nice looking girls I am sorry, I can't help it... Even on my flight back, there was a cute Japanese girl sat across from my seat, she sat in 25A and I was in seat 25F. I wanted to talk to her but she was sleeping and I was trying my best to be in my best behavior.... Oh well, she is cute and maybe if I am lucky, I'll bump into her someday. (Dream on, Paul! dream on!) There are a few things that I found out about that place which is rather interesting, Vancouver is like a much cleaner San Francisco without those hills and (fewer, if any) homeless. And I have also noticed that there are a lot of tourists in the city from Taiwan, Hong Kong, S. Korea and especially from Japan.... I heard Japanese people LOVES Vancouver. If there is a tour group, the most common language I have heard was Japanese, Chinese/Mandarin/Taiwanese (If you really want to be politically correct) and Korean. Vancouver is a great place to go and I sure hope I can go back again, or maybe even visit other provinces in Canada. I think it is always good to travel out of the area once a while to just getaway from this chaotic world of ours to just relax while expand your horizon at the same time. This has been a fun spring break, ski and Vancouver trip was a blast! I have seen a lot of pretty uh,... views (if you know what I mean) I had a great time, I learned a lot of things about life, responsibilities, planning, as well as priorities, it is probably the most fun I had in quite a while. I think it might be hard to adjust back to reality, but I am sure I'll adjust... eventually.

Spring Break 2004. Part 2:

OK everyone, calm down!!.... there is no need to panic, I know you are missing me right now, don't you? (I hope so...) Well, just wait a few more hours, because I am coming home tonight (4/2/04)! I'll be arriving at SFO at 8:15pm. Be sure to look for another entry either later tonight (Depends on how tired I am) or this weekend on what I have been doing while I am in Canada. Here's a brief run down on what I did: (list only) 3/30: SFO->YVC/Lunch in Downtown Vancouver/Stanley Park/Vancouver Public Main Library/Dinner in "Top of Vancouver"/Late Night Drink at Dragon Ball Tea. 3/31: Vancouver->Victoria via BC Ferry/Tour in UVic/Tour in Downtown Victoria/Victoria City Hall/Miniture World/Butchart Garden/Victoria->Vancouver via BC Ferry/Dinner 4/1: Tour in UBC/Museum of Anthopology in UBC/Oakridge Centre(?)(Wow! lots of cute girls in the mall!)/Japanese all you can eat dinner (They have 'hot/pretty/cute' waitress there!)/Late night herb tea 4/2: TBA It's 2:30am Vancouver time and that means I should get some sleep. I will post a detailed entry later. Goodbye!

Vancouver, BC

I will be gone for vacation in Vancouver, BC. Now, I better see every single one of you at SFO at crack of dawn tomorrow (3/30) or else...... And I do mean at crack of dawn,..... 5:00am Pacific Time, is that early enough for ya? If I don't see you there tomorrow, beware!!