January 19, 2010
As I turn the corner to another birthday year, I wanted to post up some pics. They say a photo is worth a thousand words…with that in mind, here’s some self taken pics as I travel the world…
January 6, 2010 –
Sun Moon Lake -
peace...
Thoughts going through my mind when I enjoyed this mornings sunrise was…
1. How lucky I am to be able to travel and be alive ‘n healthy to appreciate this
2. How true quietness is rarely achieved or experienced these days in our lives
3. How amazingly beautiful this place is
Today as I got back from Sun Moon Lake back to Taipei, I heard a song that touched my heart. Lately (perhaps due to a new year and a new decade) I’ve been looking for inspirations, doing a lot of soul searching, and thinking/doing things that make me happy. So you may laugh when I write this…when I heard this song this afternoon it made me think of the picture of the lake I had taken this morning and it also brought tears to my eyes. It’s amazing how our minds connect things together logically or illogically…anyways, the song that touched my heart for the day is: “When You Believe” by songwriter/composers Kenneth Edmonds and Stephen Schwartz. Parts of the lyrics is below…but i think it is both the lyrics and the music composition together that truly moved me.
…There can be miracles
When you believe
Though hope is frail
It’s hard to kill
Who knows what miracles
You can achieve
When you believe
Somehow you will
You will when you believe…
Apart from my possible emotions of melancholy, missing the US, or moody day…regardless, Sun Moon Lake is truly breathtaking…from the beauty of the lake itself to the early morning hikes where you can see the mountain and the clouds playing tag with each other, to learning more about the aboriginal tribes of Taiwan…it’s a trip worth taking.
December 29, 2009 -
Went to the Longshan Temple which is a buddhist / folk religion temple dedicated to GuanYin (The Goddess of Mercy). It’s located in the Wanshua district, which is one of the older districts of Taipei. Nearby is the famous ‘Snake Alley’ night market. The temple is very ornate and from the looks of it, very crowded with tourist and locals alike.
Address: 211 Guangzhou Road (near junction with Guilin Road, Wanhua district) and is open daily from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. The nearest MRT station is ‘Longshan Temple’ on the Ban-Nan Line.
Dec. 27, 2009 -
There’s just something so delicious about handmade piping hot dumplings that makes you all warm and happy inside. I tried the Din Tai Fung’s dumplings at their branch located in the new Sogo shopping center (level B2). For two people, we ordered food for like 4…and guess what…we ate it all! Except for the plate of stir fried spinach which was left due to being over stuffed and the Pork/Glutinous Rice Shaomai which unfortunatley was not our crowd favorite. I would highly recommend the Spicy pork ‘n spinach dumplings in chili oil for those who can take a bit of a kick…it was my favorite one. Of course, no one should ever leave the dumpling house without trying the famous steam pork dumpings. Enjoy!
Din Tai Fung (???) – 45 Zhong Xiao East Road, Section 4
Taipei City 106 Taiwan, Level B2 of New Sogo
My first full weekend in KL, Malaysia continues with a Saturday night dinner at Tenji…food heaven for those who not only love to eat, but love to eat LOTS! It’s an all you can eat buffet with stations of Japanese, Chinese, and Western food. Words can’t even begin to describe the amount and types of food served there. I loved everything from the fresh coconut drinks, to the oysters, sashimi, baked escargots, grilled/steamed/you-name-it fish, herbal soups, fresh crabs, and oodles of desserts…i think just writing all this is making me hungry!
Check out this site for some pics of Tenji:
http://food.malaysiamostwanted.com/venues/tenji-japanese-buffet-sohokl
After a glorious food fest, the night continued on with drinks and entertainment at the Zeta bar located in Hilton Hotel. The bar itself is pretty typical, with 1 bar, a few booths which were all booked out already when we got there, 1 tall ‘island’ table in the middle of the bar, and an elevated stage with a bit of dance room up front. While the bar itself is typical in my opinion, over priced drinks and the place is filled with your usual expats and local chickees (typical of an expat bar 
), I liked the live band that was playing on stage. A mix of 80’s, punk rock, hip hop, ‘ghostbusters’, ACDC, boy george, MJ hits, etc…with each set having the band members go through various costume changes to mimic the actual artists, it was overall entertaining and I had fun. Hey…good peeps, drinks, live band, and a new city for my adventures…what’s not to love? 
Friday night – after a long day of work, I headed out to Bhangsa One (just told the taxi driver Bhangsa One, and it was all good), a street lined with a plethora of foreign cuisine restaurants where all the restaurant buildings are bungalows. For dinner, Yen and I ended up at Cungdinh Vietnam restaurant. Sat upstairs on their outside porch and had the best tasting vietnamese food i’ve had in a while! Totally recommend this spot for those of you looking for good eats in this area.
Now for the foodie in me, below is what I can re-call us having and we loved every dish…
Cungdinh Vietnam Restaurant:
1. beef wrapped in betel leaf – we made our own rice paper wraps of mint, lettucde and the beef wrap…YUM!
2. Tiger Prawns grilled with rice wine
3. Grilled Chicken
4. Chicken ‘kabob’ wrapped around sugar cane, grilled
Check out their website: http://www.cungdinh.com/
Love It!!!
Yep, this site needs a serious re-vamp… as usual it’s been a long time since my last entry. Oct 5th, after 2 years and 10 months in Melbourne, Australia…I’ve left a country that I’ve come to know and love and am now in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
First true week of mentally realizing I’ve left Australia and am in a totally new environment and country. My thoughts?…wow, i forgot what working in Asia is like, and how different it can be. And…i now miss both US AND Australia!
Finally after many years talking about wanting to go to India, I finally had the chance to go.
March 7 – 24, 2008 found me flying to Chennai for work and on the weekends a group of us headed to Mumbai (Bombay), Delhi, and Agra. India is a beautiful place which fills our mind with wonder with all the different sights and sounds. Words that come to my mind when I think of India…rhythmetic chaos, bright colors of saris, cows ‘n bulls in the streets, gorgeous and ornate architecture, delicious food, dichotomy of the very rich and very poor, and very down to earth people.
Chennai moments – Kingfisher, Peshawari restaurant, Fisherman’s Cove, IDC, Sheraton Chola
Mumbai – Taj Palace Hotel, Gateway to India, Laundry market, temples, Bollywood, Elephant Island, the Slums, more Kingfishers
Delhi & Agra- Cosmopolitan city, European influenced architecture, Taj Mahal, enchanting mix of old and new india intertwined.
Amazing how time flies. As I look at my last entry, it has already been 5 months since I’ve been in Australia!
Quick catch up of the things I’ve done and places I have been since then…
1. Tasmania – went there on the ‘Spirit of Tasmania’ overnight cruise with friends/co-workers. Tasmanian devils, koala bears, kangaroos, and way too many drinks’n bus rides…great time!
2. Australian Open in Melbourne – Wandered around and saw Amelie Mauresmo and other great players and games. In the end Federer beat Gonzalez, and Williams beat Sharapova.
3. Formula One – 2 words…LOUD! AWESOME!
4. New Zealand – Flew to South Island (Christchurch) and then drove to Lake Tekapo (stayed a night on the gorgeous Lake), then drove to Queenstown and went through Milford Sound. This place is truly awe inspiring and after being there, I can see why Lord of the Rings picked this place for filming. Very surreal and beautiful. Oh yeah…and definitely sheep country!
5. Lake Eildon, Victoria (138km NE of Melbourne) – Spent a weekend here on the lake on a house boat with friends. What better way to spend a weekend then being on a moving house surrounded by scenery, friends, and fun?
6. Footie Game! Collingwood Magpies defeated Carlton Blues – fun game and very easy to understand
6. Metung, Gippsland, Victoria (314km E of Melbourne)- charming village on the Gippsland lakes.
For the last 5 months, it’s been a mix of work and play. Checking out the Melbourne surrounds, taking advantage of the great events that happen in Melbourne; sports, festivals (comedy fests, exploring the different precincts of Melbourne, discovering the little alleys/streets filled with cool shops/restaurants/bars, as well as have my friends visit (Mindy/Linda! =) ) and making friends down here has all kept me sane and enjoying this wonderful part of the world. Definitely miss my family and friends, and can’t wait to fly to see them or have them come visit me.
Well, I’ve been here in Melbourne for just about exactly a month…Its amazing how quickly time flies at times, and yet other times, each second ticks by and the light at the end of the tunnel seems so far away.
So, what have I done in the last 4 weeks? …as I look back, truly quite a bit…
Jan 13 – My first weekend after a work week, I checked out the Docklands area while peeps were playing american flag football.
Jan 19th/21st – Went and checked out the Australian Open…saw Amelee Morrismo play in doubles, watched a few games, chilled with friends
Jan 25th – We got Friday off due to Australia day so took the long weekend and went to Tasmania. We took the ‘Spirit of Tasmania’ cruise ship there and then Virgin Atlantic coming back
Feb 4 – Went surfing about 1.5 hours west of Melbourne. Took lessons and attempted to stand on the board…hehe…3 seconds counts right?
Feb 11 – First weekend of no events planned. It was nice to just be in town, chill. I moved into my apartment finally…its small but its located in a great location. Corner of Little Burke and Elizabeth, pretty much the heart of the city.
So now that I’ve jotted my last few weeks of my life in a few paragraphs…some thoughts?…
I guess of all my assignments, this one has been the easiest to get acclimated. I’m here in a country that is not truly unlike the US…in fact Melbourne reminds me of san francisco with all its trams/metro/etc. The docklands remind me of south beach, looking out to the bay. And right now my apartment looks out to Flanders Station which reminds me of the Ferry building in SF. With all these correlations of similiarities, it still gets me now and then that I’m not in my own country. The G’day mate, cheers, people picking up my accent and my choice of words as American…the list goes on. As I was giving money to my taxi driver and said ‘Have a good one’…he said, “Ahh…i know where you’re from now. Wasn’t sure until you said that.” Apparently ‘have a good one’ is VERY American. Part of the easy transition has also been just the amount of people I know here from previous projects. People whom I’ve worked in Slovakia, Europe, China, around the US, seem to have all converged here for this project. The world truly is small!
Well, its sunday night around 11pm…time to try to get some sleep and prepare for another grueling week. As always, i’m already looking forward to Friday…ready for that friday afternoon pint!
cheers!