It's almost a month since I've been back my hometown, I hadn't had time to play, though I managed to squeeze some time to walk and eat around, doing some Taipei loving.

Now Taipei is my home and I love it, but I find that Taipei is full of duplicates though, first there are the ridiculous amount of convenient stores. It's quite amazing that the companies managed to place all these stores to create real "walking distance" effect from virtually anywhere in Taipei, Starbucks got nothing on 7-11. Then there's the tapioca places, coffee houses and restaurants in the same format. Though at night the streets are quite lively, it's not that fun to see the same things over and over again (except hot girls), it's almost like walking straight into Deja Vu.

And it's not just the streets, at home when I'm watching TV, the news are reporting the same thing in all different news channels, mostly about Green vs. Blue political bullshit, which I find to be pathetic. It's the presidential election, and all the news report is how Blue nominee says one trivial thing and the Green's agressive feedback, then next day's in-dept follow up would be the Blue nominee's answer to Green; it's almost like the entire Taiwanese media is being a massive communication device designed to deliver messages between Blue and Green; I didn't really see any meaningful proposals these presidential nominees are planning to do about Taiwan.

The morning news are even crazier, they straight up report summaries from the morning newspaper, in other words, the news anchors are literally reading morning newspaper to us! One thing about the news in Taiwan is that they ONLY report local shit, I have not seen ONE SINGLE international news, the news rather report how stray dogs are living a tough life in Taiwan than anything that happened outside of Taiwan, and the sad thing is that stray dogs are STILL a problem in Taiwan; after how many years of complaints and "correctional procedures"?

The TV programs are all the same too; it's the same American Idol wannabe shows all over, or talk shows where people talk about the same issues such as a celebrity's gossips, what we find in their purses and what they like to eat. The same cooking shows where people cook exactly the same thing but gave different names. The same gambling shows where Xu Nai Ling literally appears in 4 different channels playing Mah Jong and dices at the same time.

Even the commercials are the same! I'm not joking, you will see the same commercials in several channels, I couldn't tell what channel I was on because it's the same thing everywhere. And the same commercial comes back every other commercial, it's like there are no commercials to run at all.

However, I still like to go out and just walk on the streets, the massive convenient stores and restaurants are indeed convenient. I like taking the MRT and walk into a sea of people; I still watch TV every night to cure my boredom. Maybe I need more free time to play around to really see Taipei, but this time I only got excited till the first week.

You know I don't like kids, they're always so loud, annoying, happy, and constantly staring at me at restaurants when I sit across them.

But last weekend I had an opportunity to go visit my mother in Tainan, and at her place I found some pictures of a child that changed my thoughts towards kids, I thought it'd be my own kid to make me like kids a little more, but that kid just happened to be myself. I never knew I could be sexier than I already am, check it out, I've never even seen these!

Tom in the middle

 
and BAM!!! this kid went through some kinda transformation and became...

What the hell happened? That is the question...

Haha... till next time...

Here goes my first YouTube, a compilation of my last night in the U.S.

I have uploaded all the pictures and you can check them out HERE

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JIMBO~~!

Vivian says "Hi" and "You're dead!" (in Taiwanese, which is "a he li zai xi a li!")

Sorry bro I told her about you being a bigger asshole than I was for not visiting her last time you went back, OOPS!

But anyway, she said she's used to being mistreated so I guess it's cool...HA HA j/k.

Hope ya'll had your minimum fun without my holiest presences, have a wonderful 25th year man, we in this together!

City of lights.

I am currently at Taipei; getting to know the factories and fellow employees here in Tao-Yuen, it is located near the international airport; the drive is quite long considering only 2 lanes open for an international airport, usually jammed after 7am.

The working environment here is much better than Malaysia; however there are only 8-10 people working, business seems quite dead here, the production area is considerably greater than the ones in Malaysia though, I hope in couple of years we can work that baby to run full capacity.

Last weekend I got a chance to go out and explore Taipei, got to meet a couple of friends from the old times, it's pretty cool how we still connected though.

I have not touched alcohol since my departure; but you just can't resist this. I got buzzed with 1 long island, it's such a universal economic drink.

Xi Men Ding still crowded as ever

Shi-Ling, this is crazy, and it's raining too.

Sick and tired of traffic jams? Try Taiwan for a change; I'm sure you'll feel a lot better.

You see the red truck on the left? That's a fire fighter truck, and it's stuck...I actually walked out of my car and took this picture.

Till next time!

Yep, though there is absolutely no theater within 50 km radius from where I live, I managed to obtain a bootleg copy DVD of AMERICAN GANGSTER at the night market here in Malaysia.

I cried tears of joy when I saw the copy, I mean, the film was available on November 2nd in the U.S., and I actually got a DVD already released for as low as 6 RM, which is around $1.8 USD 5 days after it was released in theaters.

I was particularly worried for the quality, as I already knew that the DVD is probably filmed through video cameras in actual theaters, where you can see annoying heads going up and down as if there are something else they're supposed to be aware of.

Anyway so I asked the owner if the DVD is truly DVD quality, she said: "Yeah it's watchable." ...It's a dumb question to ask but WOW, I mean, is it readable as well?

Then I rephrased and asked if it was the type that people filmed in theaters with cameras, she said "it's a DVD version. And it has Chinese."

To avoid further confusion and people including my dad thinking I'm a retard, I decided to cop that baby and just watch it later. I invited my dad to join, since the owner told me "it has Chinese too."

I put that thing in the DVD player and BAM!!! it's simply GANGSTER! Because it's not only watchable, it actually has DVD qualities AND functions such as subtitles ranging from: Malay, Chinese, Thai, English, and Spanish. Surround sounds, trailers, photos and all that!

SHiieeEEtttt~~!!!!

What's more gangster is the subtitles, you gotta love the translation...

"What's up man?" --- “什麼是向上的男人﹖”

"We're moving..." --- "我們在移動中“

"You fucking killed him!" --- "你性交中殺他﹗“

"My man!" --- "我的男人﹗“

"Fuck me like a cop!" --- "性交我喜歡一個警察﹗”

As a result, my dad went to sleep within 30 minutes this film started, I guess we'll have to go back to Korean soap opera soon...

Till next time!

From the first minute I arrived Malaysia, my dad had been intensively brain-washing my innocent mind. One of the very first reminders he injected into my brain is that I must think and act as if I will be successful and that success will be the only result.

What is success? He said that making a whole lot of money will not be success, but will make your life a whole lot smoother, it’s a very vague thing to define from person to person; until two days ago we went checking out the apartment that we rented for foreign labors that work at our factories.

I was immediately shocked with how miserable these people must live through their lives. I can not fully describe how shitty the so-called apartments are, but take it this way; you can really film a great horror flick in the DAYLIGHT with one single setting.

The apartments are small, not to mention the rooms, there are minimum air circulation, merely two to three windows per apartment living unit. The entire building is made of simple concretes that had been simmered by the Malaysian afternoon storms and long periods of humid. Everything moldable is already molded with, conservatively speaking, 2 million generations of molds. Most of the stairs are cracked and left with sharp edges. You’ll find dead cockroaches, or at times, live cockroaches around the rooms. There is no layering of any sort on the floor, just rusty nails and dusts.

Through out many days of observation and conversation, my father insisted on asking me to not pay too much pity or empathy to these labors. I was told that the tiny wages they make here in Malaysia will support a family of 6 back home. My dad said that helping these labors by being empathetic will only distract and mislead my way of thinking.

What is success? He said that one day when I have the ability and responsibility to hire 10, 20, or 100 more labors and provide better living environment to not only them, but the entire world, be it a tiny little effect, then I am one step toward being successful. Till then, get your ass busy.

 

What's up guys, I've just landed in Malaysia and am now introduced to my dad's company and home. The bad news is that I have very limited internet access since there is only one computer at the office with very slow connection and there will be no internet access at home; the lifestyle here will be dramatically different than I was in the bay area; well it is only the first day and I am starting with my "training" already.

It looks like I will be doing intensive sales, mainly following my father around and doing presentations to potential clients and such. I will be going to Taiwan in maybe about two weeks to further familiarize with my father's company. Everything is definitely a brand new start for me, the weather, the language, the way people talk, the way I will be living, the mosquitos, and a whole bunch more of stuff.

Anyway, I will still try my best to keep myself updated as often as possible. Hope you all have a great time back there, see you next time! ^_^

THANK YOU EVERYONE!!!

This post is dedicated to each and everyone of you that was able to make it to my 25th birthday and farewell party.

The rest of you who no call no show? Your ass is FIRED! No really, I apologize for not being able to reach some of you and I do understand some of you simply could not make it for various circumstances, still much love and thanks for ya'll, I hope you were here!!!

To be honest, I still don't quite feel the fact that I am leaving my home that I've spent the last ten years in. Maybe I'm just having the longest procrastination ever? Or maybe it was just too damned good to be true. However, through the graduation of my school, followed with the quitting of Starbucks, then paying most of my tickets and debts, then finally the biggest and LONGEST party I've had, I feel that it was the greatest moment I've had, it was a time that had been accumulated then condensed through our lives in the past ten years!

I feel very special to have each one of you to be part of the most important event in my life. It sounds cliche as ever, but I still gotta say that words can not express how much I am glad to have all of you to be part of my life. It's just beautiful, I'm going to post a few (actually a lot...) captures in the party, much, much appreciation to Shaina for posting them super quickly and many many hugs and kisses and frenches to all you SAVAGES WHO KNOW HOW TO LOVE JACKY THE RIGHT WAY!!! also special thanks to future iron chef, no, DIAMOND CHEF Russell for preparing the delicious dishes for everyone of us!

 

Now that I've still got about 3 days till my leave, there're so many things I want to say and many things I wanna share with you in the future, but this will make a perfect ending of my chapter in the U.S., once again thank you everyone for making the most beautifulest thing in my life!

My grade report just came out, and it turned out that I've passed all my classes, above my expectations too. So I guess I have finally acquired my BS degree. (the actual paper is not in yet but I think I'm 90% safe.)

The immediate action I followed through was calling my dad, and as usual he didn't seem too impressed; however, it seemed that my days in the US are numbered, as I will be dedicating my time to the family business.

Right now I actually feel really confused, as I will need to make GREAT necessary changes in my life in a not so distant future. I find very limited words to write to express my feelings right now, and all I can do is sit here and just try to make sense out of myself.

Anyway, please do drop me a "congratulation Jacky!" or "GOOD SHIT HOMIE!" or anything like that!

Because...shieeeetttt... YOU ALL ARE A PART OF MY GREAT SELF!!! WHEN I CONQUER THE WORLD, YOU CAN BE SURE TO GET A TINY PIECE FROM ME FO' SHO'!