Alrighty! I went to Taiwan to spend my New Years Eve and every time I go to Taiwan you know I have some funnnn adventures! ..and of course this time was nooo different!

and so begins my third adventures in…. Taiwan!!

Taiwan Adventures III - (Sarah, Ngan, Alfred)

Immediately after 2 conferences and finishing up our last day of filming in Beijing I jetted off to Taiwan for some “fun in the sun” per..say. I was like a hitman out to have fun with precision accuracy.. haha… I say this because I had a pretty planned out and packed schedule. Upon arriving in Taiwan, my good homeboy E and I met up at the airport. He was stopping over for about 6 hours on his way over to Malaysia. I hadnt hung out with him for close to 8 months.. I havent really seen a lot of people in the states since I left for China… so we had a good couple hours to chat, get food, and catch up.

A and E

We took a picture “outside” of the airport just so E could say he technically visited Taiwan. haha.. also we thought taking a picture in the mirror at the same time would be cool.. but it wasnt that cool. lol

After the airport I immediately went to meet up my two US Wushu teammates! Ngan and Sarah. I had lunch with Ngan while Sarah was at work.

Pork Chop Noodles with Ngan

Here we are getting some delicious Taiwanese food. Ngan and I caught up and I was talkin to her about life, some recent religious concepts, my businesses, and other goals and such. She really got what I was saying and we chatted for quite a while. When Sarah got off work, she met us up at this little old style coffee shop.

Coffee Shop Time

Sarah just got lasik so she’s wearing crazy sunglasses at all times of the day! So by the time she arrived it was time for dinner! D and Sarah decided to take us to this Beer Factory for dinner.

Taiwan Beer Factory

Food at the Beer Factory

It’s not a beer factory without beer on the table! The place is simply a Taiwan beer factory with tons of beer bottles everywhere. Then you can order some “re chao” and chomp down with your beer.

After beer time we went to a Jazz bar via invitation from my friend Mei!

Mei Yi Ho it up at the Jazz Bar

Last time I saw Mei was in 2009 so it was exactly a full year since kickin it in Taiwan. We had some good chats about her work and her thoughts on the current situation of the film industry in Taiwan. After this I called it a night.. after all it was essentially my FIRST day in Taiwan.

The next day I met up with another friend.. and for the first time too! I think this trip I really squeezed in a lot because I knew I only had about 10 days to hang out with all my good friends in Taiwan.

So yeah, the next day I met up Nadia and we went for dinner. We were going to cook some food with her FT crew I think.. but then plans changed so we ended up going to chill at her friends studio. It was a totally pimptastic spot with a great view. Some pretty awesome beats gettin made there! There was simply too much goin on this trip.. I couldn’t document it all! After a while, we got hungry again and went for a snacky snack. See below!

Oil Treats in a Bun

I’m thinking about how unflattering the name of this sounds if it’s directly translated into English… it’s called “oil sticks” hahaha.. cuz this is a completely vegetarian snack.. and its basically dough dipped in oil… haha.. but it tastes so good.. AND I was introduced to the crack of all sauces. If you look in the background of the pic you see this awesome sauce. I don’t know what it’s made of or what it’s called but it made the oil stick taste pretty ridiculously delicious. haha

Oil Stick Chomp Down

After eating on some oil sticks, I was pretty much ready to call it a day.. the next day was New Years Eve and I needed to charge up. Plus, I was going to wake up early to work out!! Rah!! Also, I think all my exhaustion from work and then flying in to Taiwan and getting settled into my hotelmotel was catchin up.

Stay tuned for part 2 of this adventure… New Years Blast Off!

Last week I had the fortune of squeezing in 2.5 days in Taiwan! I essentially had 48 hours in Taiwan because the other half days were occupied by actual commute time. My parents happened to be in town so I asked my boss for a few days off. Fortunately he graciously accepted my request…. and so I was off to Taipei! My mom actually won a free tour to Taiwan from some raffle (she tends to win raffles all the time) so my dad bought a ticket and that’s how they ended up in Taiwan.

Madame Tusades hk wax figure

I had just finished a wax figure opening ceremony at Madame Tusades in HK and then was continuing work on a film in Hubei when I found out that they would be in Taipei at the last leg of their tour. Since we were just about to switch filming locations I squeezed in 2-3 days to see my parents in Taiwan.

When I first got there I met up with my sis – Sarah! We’re wushu “bros” and every time I visit Taiwan I always crash with her and kick it with her whole fam (minus Cheryl who is not in Taiwan) so we always laugh that I’m basically part of the family.. with that said… right when I landed I met her up at this HUGE family dinner of hers. Her dad’s cousins who hadn’t seen each other in 30 some years were there.

schang's family dinner

Then we went back to the pad to regroup and figure out the plan for the night. Even though Schang had work the next day she was down to hang out since I was only in town for 2 days. She is awesome. Another person that was awesome was Ngan – my scwa wushu teammate. So Sarah, her cousin, Tim, and Ngan planned to meet up for some karaoke at cash box! We were thinking it could potentially be more fun if we had more people, but it was kinda last minute so we rolled over.

Jerry Liau, Jack Tu, Jackie Chan

Guess what? As we were waiting outside waiting for Ngan some guy walked by me and quickly said.. “alfred” and i turned my head.. and it happened to be Jerry! It was pure chance that I ran into him. The week before we all met up for dinner. He is part of the New Seven Little Fortunes – a tour group that performs with Jackie Chan. I met him through my friend Jack Tu who is on that team and who was also the winner of the BTV show The Disciple. So Jerry was waiting for a few friends as well and we ended up all sharing a room and having a huge group karaoking the night away. haha. We had only planned to stay out till midnight but since everyone started singing we forgot about time and ended staying out till about 3am.

Lunch with Ngan

Even though we went out until 3am I made plans to get breakfast with Ngan the next day. I had to make the most of my 2 days! I met Ngan at 101… but totally got mixed up that Hua Na Wei Xiu aka the Neo19 place was a little ways off.. so we had a little exercise while meeting up for breakfast. Fortunately Ngan is super chill so didn’t mind the mix up too much. We met up at this breakfast place I like to go to for lounging, surfin wifi, and chatting. We chatted over pancakes and milk tea. We had some really great conversation – talked about random things but also some very insightful things. Within a few short minutes Ngan had a very thorough grasp of what I was doing and where I was heading with my goals. It was pretty amazing how quickly she was able to assess my situation. We also talked about personality types and recognized that understanding yourself helps you understand the best decision to make.

Eating Delicious Rice in Taiwan

Since we chatted for so long it became lunch and I HAD to visit this delicious “lu rou fan” (a taiwanese rice dish) mom and pops Taiwanese hole in the wall by where I used to live last year. After lunch I took a few steps and found a hair salon and got my hair cut.. then was off to meet another friend.

Environment Friendly Chopsticks

I’m starting to go green. On set we’ve decided to use our own chopsticks and bowls instead of using the disposable ones. I think this is awesome because for ONE thing.. if you use your own chopsticks and bowls your meal taste better than eating out of a paper bowl with splintered wood chopsticks. Another thing is that it’s more sanitary to use your own utensils. Most importantly though is – if you think about how many paper cups, plates, plastic spoons, wooden chopsticks are used PER DAY for a cast and crew of a few hundred. You easily go through a thousand spoons and plates per week! This goes back to www.storyofstuff.com – I am strongly against the increased consumption of our consumer society. I think we all need to scale back on consumption and I am happy to start with using my own bowls and plates. I know I went off on a tangent there.. but it’s something I get pretty heated about. So anyways, I went shopping for environmental objects with my friend and then she had to run to go teach a dance class.

I also saw this random pic while shopping.

Darth Vader Party

TW Star Tour Team

For dinner I met up with some colleagues I worked with on a star tour! Sarah and D met us up as well. We ate at a “re chao” place that was also more local and a chill hang out spot. Good for having some down home taiwan style food and beer. We hung out for quite some time and eventually ran into Tim and his friends! It shows how small a place Taiwan is because at night I was planning on meeting up with Tim anyways.

Re Chao in TW

We rolled to Tim’s friend’s house and did a little pre-partying and then headed to Luxy. I had no preference on where we were going that night since I was more down to just hang out with everyone… since Tim promotes at Luxy that’s where we ended up. This time I didn’t have to flip over any lasers to get in.. but they had lasers there anyways.

Luxy Lasers

The next day despite staying out late I woke up super early again (sarah had work too so she was up early).. and I spent a good 4 hours on my business. I was up at 7 and before I knew it.. it was 11. I took a shower and all that and by then started getting pretty hungry. I saw Leeway online so I said ‘yo’ lets get some lunch.. and he was like ‘yo’ i want to go workout. So we did both. After we ate and rested for a bit.. he took me to this community gym near his place. I showed him this HIIT Cardio program I’ve been workin on.. while we were warming up on the bicycle machine I said “hey u wanna try this HIIT cardio program? its pretty crazy but u might die.. im not sure though..” and then he looked at me like “what??” then i said “but hey! itll be fun!” so he said okay. Normally I go through 14 drills. Let’s just say we only got to the 4th drill… haha…

I’ll let Leeway give u his feedback himself.. or u can just look at this pic.

Leeway after A Cardio Session

Aside from his death cardio workout we had a really good chat about where we both are in our careers in entertainment. He updated me on his band Cool Silly and the progress he’s made since I left Taiwan in 09. I look forward to more awesome jams from Cool Silly. I also look forward to more clips of Tony holding a gun.

By the time we finished hanging out it was about time to meet up my parents! I took them to Kan Pai because that’s where I celebrated my birthday last year. I thought we could have some beers and chat.. and we did. The meat tasted fattier than last year… maybe it’s because I’ve been eating healthier or maybe it was just more oily this time.

i-baked

After dinner I hung out with my parents a little more at Tong Ling night market and then parted ways for a bit to go check out my friend Ivy’s new cookie store called i-baked. It was kinda late when I got there, but amidst customer’s coming in and out we talked about a lot of business ideas. She also caught me up on what I had been missing out on since 09. Since I had left she finalized her cookie recipes, set up a physical store, and designed all her logos and flyers, and etc. I was pretty happy for her and her accomplishments. I always like seeing people hustling, using their brains, and moving up! She also added fuel to the fire on this idea I’ve been moving forward on. It’s been taking me quite some time, but I think things are coming together. My goal will be to have it ready to roll by the end of this year. (If you know a patent attorney out there, let me know.)

Ivy's dogs at her Cookie Store

The next day was my last day in Taiwan before flying back to Beijing. I woke up and caught up on a little work before heading to Breeze Center (Wei Feng Guang Chang) to meet my parents, uncle jerry, aunt tan, and sarahs dad for lunch. We ate some good Shanghainese food and I was off to the airport. On the way to the airport we did stop by i-baked again since the cookies were so tasty and also since my uncle wanted to talk to Ivy’s partner who is an animal rescue volunteer.

Well that’s it for my 48 hour taiwan trip. It was awfully action packed just the way I like it. There were tons of other people I wanted to meet up with but simply did not have enough hours in the day! I hope I will be back soon!

lights camera action

In the past 3 days I got 3 auditions. I had an audition per day Wed, Thurs, and will be going to one today Friday. I also had an audition last Sat so that makes 4 in the past week! I’m glad that I feel more active progress. This is the area I have been trying to focus more on this past month… and its manifesting!! Of course, now I just need to actually book these gigs. haha! I’ll wait to hear back in the coming days/weeks to see how I did on these 3 auditions.

I also updated my demo reel which I posted in the post before this. It seems fitting that I have it in this post as well since I’m mainly discussing my entertainment endeavors.

Someone told me it was pretty epic.. and I said.. I hope it would be slightly epic since it’s everything I’ve done in the past 6 years or so compressed into 1 minute and 30 seconds. =P

I finally finished reading this acting book that I bought 7 months back. It was a great read. It taught me new things and reminded me of things that I knew. Acting is fascinating because it really lets you learn more about yourself, people in general, and human nature. I feel like the more I delve into acting, the more gates I am unlocking in myself.. freeing myself of limitations, judgments, and fears.

The audition I went to today (Thurs) was some “Unitled Project” which I thought was going to be some glorified extra role, but it ended up being a top secret project at Paramount Studios. I don’t even know what its about, but it would be sweet to land that.

Saturday I will be going back to do adr for Barry Baz pilot project. It was supposed to be done done final 2 weeks ago, but little things keep coming up and these guys want it perfect so I’ll be back one more time on Saturday. After that hopefully this thing will be signed and sealed. It has already been submitted to the LA Pilot Festival. This is the same festival that It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia got noticed.

its always sunny in philadelphia

Currently still planning on shooting a short in June and either episode 1 of a web series or just a trailer before I go to China. When I’m not auditioning or practicing I’m going to be doing a lot of writing.

Beijing Night

International Travel
In other news… I booked my flights to China, HK, and Taiwan… so it is OFFICIAL OFFICIAL. (When I say something twice you know it’s official) Here are my official but never permanent travel dates:

Aug 19 LAX -> PEK
Sep 09 PEK -> HKG
Sep 13 HKG -> TPE

Let me know if you will be in ASIA at this time! Even though I only booked flights for Beijing, HK, and Taipei, it doesn’t mean I won’t end up in Thailand, Vietnam, or anywhere else. Hoping to follow up with a few entertainment contacts while I’m in Asia. I am really looking forward to seeing a lot of good friends. I’ll also be training wushu and sanda in Beijing. It should be a really good trip.

The Beijing part of the trip will be covered, but for HK and Taipei, I’m still finding places to live. In Taiwan if anyone is renting a place, let me know!

Martial Arts
I’ve been going to the gym, tricking, doing wushu, or kickboxing at least once a day 7 days a week. I might be adding one or two more private lessons. I feel like it’s going to be awesome.

As far as competitions go, I got quite a few potentially lined up. I might be doing a ton of traveling in the next 2 months (next 4 months if you count all the flying to Asia).

June 12-13 – Tiger Claw KungFuMagazine BASKA tournament in San Jose
June 18-19 – AKA Grands in Kentucky
June 26-27 – Strikeforce Cung Le Fight (as media / to watch) in San Jose
July 09-10 – NASKA US Open – in Flordia
July 30-31 – NASKA US Capitol Classics – Marlyand
Aug 25-30 – Sport Accord Combat Games in Beijing

Looking for New Roommate
This part of my post refers to exactly that – I am looking for a new roommate available to move in starting June 1st. My old roommate is moving out in a week. Please spread the word if anyone needs a room in the Alhambra area. Lots of good Asian food in this area!

Business
Finishing up some ads, negotiated better merchant transaction rates, and set up my shipper account. Focus has been on the entertainment stuff this week. Sales have been steady and the business is much more cleaned up. Little minor to do for the business will be to clean up FAQ on the email response portion, add in “how do shoe sizes run” question and response, switch over to dedicated work email, test run new shipper account.

Daniel Wu, Alfred Hsing, Pat Lee

Maggie and Alfred at Diesel Party

Alive Not Dead at Racks in LKF

Well its been a while since I actually posted a blog entry with my thoughts in writing. My latest entries have been filled with video blogs of my random and fun adventures in Taiwan. I’ve actually been without a stable internet connection for the past week or two. In Hong Kong I only had the lobby internet and since I moved in to my new place in Taipei, I was also internet-less for a few days. I just got a wireless card from http://www.ivideo.com.tw/rent_memory/video_detail.asp?film_id=39545 yesterday so now I can finally go online at home. Yay!

Let me first give a shout out to Pat / rottendoubt for inviting me to a cool party at the W hotel in Hong Kong and introducing me to a lot of other artists on Alive Not Dead. I had a good time and not just because it was open bar. =P

Seriously though, with the amount of “going out” I’ve been doing in each country bouncing back and forth from Taiwan to Hong Kong to Macau to Hong Kong to Taiwan… its a wonder that I am still alive… not dead literally. Don’t get me wrong.. I am having a GREAT time, but my body has needed to rest/recover from Day 1 upon arriving in Asia. I mean after all prior to arriving in Taiwan I flew from LA to SF to Toronto finishing world games then back to SF before flying to Taipei… so my body was already pretty tired.. then the first day I arrived Sarah took me clubbing at Primo – and since then it has been non-stop.

However! My partying has not been in vain. I have met some really cool friends and had really memorable experiences that you can’t put a price on. Also I met an agent through randomly going out. The agency is called Evert agency – www.evert.com.tw – Has anyone heard of it? If so, what are your thoughts as far as their capability in the tv and movie area? I would like to be referred to a few more agencies so I can see what they are all like. Evert just sent me out to an open casting for a 7-11 commercial. It was my first experience auditioning in Taiwan. I think the casting guy was cool with me, but I could use more practice nailing the feeling he wanted faster. I am going in for headshots on Friday. So far the agency has been cool and quick with things, but I haven’t signed anything and just want to learn the ropes out here first.

One thing I do notice out in Asia is that casting is a lot “easier” in some ways. I don’t mean that it’s necessarily easy to get work, but I just noticed that the day I went in to talk to the agency, the next day they were able to send me to an audition.. the reason being.. its Taiwan so more than 90% of commercials/work are FOR asians whereas in the US asian males most likely only audition for roles that specifically mention “Asian Male” or possibly “Mixed Ethnicity” which is far less roles out of the total possible. Anyways, it will be interesting to see how it goes out here this month.

JC Stunt Team Victy Wong

Meanwhile, while I was in HK I met up with Jackie Chan stunt team member Victy Wong who mentioned he would be interested in having me teach wushu for an action/martial arts/stunts school he is opening up for kids and actors. Of course these were just talks and I was just in HK for a week so we will be in touch and playing it by ear. I also met Daniel Wu and also ran into Jackie Chan’s son at Racks.. apparently I hear he is out partying in Taiwan quite often as well.

As a means to clear my own thoughts I came up with my GOALS for the acting/entertainment world.

1) Star or Co-star in:
1 HK gangster feature film
1 Chinese Wu Xia Period feature film
1 Hollywood action blockbuster
1 National Commercial

2) Demo for or work with Jackie Chan in a film
3) Host a Travel Channel show

Those are my clear cut goals. If I achieve that I would be pretty happy with my acting/entertainment career.
…and if you are curious why I want to be in those specific types of movies, it’s because I love action and those are the movies I grew up loving. I want to be a part of the movies that inspired me in so many ways and contribute to paving new paths in those movies to keep inspiring others.

I think I’ve also decided I would like to give Asia a shot and live here for a while, but first before I do that I really need to get my ass in gear and set up my businesses properly in the US. When I get back in January, it’s purely hard work and focus.

That’s it for now, time to eat. I’ll be uploading more taiwan and hong kong adventures soon!

...in the palm of my hands

It is technically my fifth day in Taiwan this morning. I have done a lot of fun stuff in a short amount of time. Let’s do a picture update.

Fri- Went out to Primo.

Outside Club 7

Needless to say, it was very fun. I met a bunch of cool people. A lot of people were from UC’s and USC on study abroad. I also met the band members of CoolSilly (http://www.coolsilly.com) who were Sarah’s friends.  One of the band members Tony grew up in the san jose bay area so we had a lot in common and a lot of mutual friends. It is pretty cool when you are so far away and meet people so close to home. The picture above is with Ray, one of the singers in the band. I’ve only heard one of their songs, but it’s catchy.

Next day we went to this Firework Festival. SO many people came out. I didn’t even know what the event was for exactly.. except for the fact that there was a concert with singers and then there were fireworks at the end. There were SO MANY people that I felt like the entire city literally congregated in that one area. CoolSilly performed at this event which is why we went. Here it is live:

It was cool meeting and partying with Ray, Tony, and Leeway the night before and then seeing them on stage performing. I had a chat with Tony and we both feel the same way doing our respective arts – seeking to inspire and  follow our passions. I love the feeling of being on stage performing. That’s when you know it is a calling.

Straight after this performance everyone went home and just knocked out. Everyone was pretty drained and needed to recharge. The next day Sarah and I went bike riding with her Aunt Francis.

Xindian Bike Ride So Fun

We rode from Xindian back to Xingsheng nan lu. The view at Xindian was quite beautiful and the ride itself was pretty fun though there were so many people that it was hard to really ride long without having to stop or evade other bicyclists.

I’m going to try NOT to post too many pictures of food after today because then I could just have a blog dedicated to eating after this trip. There has been so much good food this trip that I must make a short picture post on it. Here are some of the foods/drinks I have eaten so far.

Dan Bing

Cool Coffee Shop

Coffee with Hennessy

Din Tai Fung Dumplings

Dan Dan Mian

Zha Jiang Mian

Organic Food Shabu Shabu

Mouthwatering oysters and clams

Smoothie and Porridge Breakfast

The dumplings above were from Din Tai Fung which we have in LA, but they are so delicious I had to post about them still. The last picture is what I’ve been having for breakfast at Sarah’s place. It’s very healthy and she makes it for her dad. At first I had to get used to the smoothies because it’s not like a Jamba Juice smoothie, but yeah its super good for you and pretty tasty.. and with all the other junk food I’ll probably be eating its a good balance.

Here is a funny picture of me with Sarah’s fam.

Dum di dum elavator time

Haha, It’s pretty funny because her parents have been so cool to house and show around this random wushu friend of Sarahs and I really appreciate it. Her fam has been super cool.  In any case, its like her fam.. and then.. me just chillen which is what I feel this picture captures.

Now to the progress of my goals.
1) Having fun? Check

2) Entertainment – Met band members of CoolSilly which is related to entertainment. Hopefully we will all be able to collaborate together in some way. Also another friend who was a former TV show host submitted me to be on a TV show where I would perform wushu. My mom (love this woman) also reached out to some contacts and a TV person called me this morning to get me on a TV interview for Channel 10 possibly. I’ve only been here for 3-4 days so nothing is confirmed but I do feel I am making progress on this.

3) Living information – Did some research on hotel, hostel, and apartment costs. Found hotel rooms from 1,000-7,000 NT. Found apartments for 7,500NT a month but of course it all depends on the area. I like the Zhongxiao Dunhua area, but nearby areas are cool too and it would depend on my location if I had a job or not. Job wise – I emailed and called a few tutoring places. One of them responded to me this morning telling me that I would need to submit a resume and citizenship information. I will get back to them today.

4) My Chinese – I have been consciously trying to read signs while I’ve been here. Usually I will just glaze over signs, but this time I have been trying to recognize words and remember them. Also, I will look into signing up for some Chinese class at Shi Da University (National Taiwan Normal University) but since I am here for only 2 months, I may not be able to enroll on their scheduled enrollment periods. Also, depending on my schedule I am looking for some acting classes here.

5) Business – I haven’t gotten much on teas yet, though I did meet Tony’s friend Annie who is a fashion designer and has contacts to manufacturing clothing. This has been something I have been looking for for my martial arts clothing design. I already have the pattern made but need a source for fabrics and a place to mass produce.

6) Martial Arts – Went to the Taipei wushu place once, but they had to practice for an upcoming performance so I didn’t get to practice. I have decided I definitely want to improve my Tai Chi while I am here. The 5 hour bike ride I went on was my exercise for the trip so far.

My favorite food in Taiwan Dan Bings

Hey guys! I’m here! I made it passed my 14 hour flight and am in Taipei now. I arrived at 6:10am and was able to take the Guo Guang bus to Zhong Guo Zhong Xiao stop and then hop on the MRT to meet up Sarah who is my temporary Taiwan host. Thanks Sarah!

I had some complications at the airport with immigration because I am staying here for 2 months and I was planning on using my Taiwan passport, but since I don’t have citizenship I still had to have a visa with my Taiwan passport in order to stay for more than 30 days. In the end I had to use my US passport and NOW.. I have to either get an extension visa or leave the country within 30 days and then come back.

LEAVE THE COUNTRY? Yes, if this happens I will be coming to Hong Kong around December 3rd. Mark your calendars. I will let you know if I book a flight to HK or not. Either way, I feel like its a good thing if I’m “forced” to come to Hong Kong, that could be a sign and either way it would be plain fun.

Yesterday was Day Zero because I just got here and it wasn’t a full day. (Plus I just watched “Lelouch vi Britannia – CODE GEASS” – some of you may get this if you’ve seen it) On my first day here the first thing I did was get my FAVORITE food – “dan bing.” It’s an egg breakfast food. SOoooo good. I also bumped into someone from UCLA within my first 2 hours of being in Taiwan at the dan bing place. It was very coincidental! I just happened to be wearing a UCLA wushu shirt. Also two of the friends who were eating at the dan bing place happened to be on the same flight as me.

On day zero I ate with Sarahs family and family friends. I met her cousin Yingling. We dropped by to visit Coach Zhang Shi Bo at the Taipei sport school. I bought a metro card. For lunch Ying’s mom made some food and this one dish with peanut butter sauce was delicious! At night we had Japanese food and also met Sarah’s other friend David who picked us up to go to dinner. The Japanese food was good and we had really fruity tasting cabernet sauvignon merlot from Chile.

WHY AM I IN TAIWAN?
A lot of people have asked me why I am going to Taiwan. I want to answer this on my blog to clear my own thoughts, set some goals, and answer why I am here.

1) It’s a vacation – I just finished World Games and have been practicing a lot for Team Trials, Worlds, etc. This is a much needed vacation as well as a recharger to get me rested up mentally to prepare to start up my own business hardcore when I get back to the states.

2) Explore work/entertainment opportunities in Taipei – I want to do acting and action films so why not explore those opportunities in a place that I love… Taiwan. Aside from Hong Kong, I want to see if I can get any acting or film work while I’m here. If I am not able to get such work in the short 2 months that I am here, at least I hope to meet some cool people who can point me in the right direction next time I come back for longer.

3) Decide if I want to live here longer – I have always wanted to live in Asia for a year. This trip I plan on gathering information like “where will I live?”, “how much does housing cost?”, “what work can i get?”, “what legal procedures do I have to go through?”, and most importantly “do I like it enough to stay for a year?”
Additionally, meet more people so that I’m not a loner if I do move here. haha

4) Improve my Chinese – This trip I want to step up my reading and writing game. By nature of being here and using chinese, I think my speaking ability will improve, but mainly I want to be able to read things a lot easier and be able to take my chinese speaking ability up to a business capable level. 2 months may not be enough, but I can definitely take my chinese ability to the next level beyond the average ABC.

5) Gather information for my business – I want to find a source for different types of teas and tea tin manufacturers while I am here. Taiwan is quite well known for high quality tea. Also, if there are any fabric supplier or clothing manufacturers I have a pattern already made that I need mass produced so I want to find a place that I can do that in an affordable manner. In the end clothing, I feel might be still done in China, but definitely the tea and tea tin sources I could look into while here.
Also, should look to see if there is a market for vitamins as I have a supplement brand that is going to be big on the horizon.

6) Practice martial arts in general – Even though I may be taking a break from competitive wushu it doesn’t mean I am done with martial arts. While I am here, hopefully I can practice some sparring, learn other weapons in that I don’t usually use in wushu, and learn some tai chi. Taiwan’s tai chi is first class even in comparison to China. Since I’ve started learning Tai Chi, I figure I might as well see if I can improve it while I am here.

6) Miscellaneous – Spend my birthday and new years abroad! Have a blast. Meet up with a whole bunch of various friends that will be coming here. Learn great spots to party and to eat. Watch the Taipei 101 building ignite on New Years. Visit old friends that are in Taiwan.

To Do:
1) find housing for a few friends who plan on coming for a week
2) find tea sources
3) find apt costs/living locations
4) take an acting class
5) learn tai chi
6) improve reading ability
7) explore film industry / drop by film festival
figure out legal process to live here for a year (citizenship / work visa)

Taipei 101 on New Years Eve!

It’s been decided! I am going to Taiwan Nov through mid January 2010! I will be spending new years in Taiwan and watching the Taipei 101 building ignite as the seconds count down to the new year! I’ve never been abroad for a new years celebration so this will surely be an exciting occasion!

I am up in Northern California right now. I will soon be in New York and drive to Toronto then fly back to San Francisco just in time to jump on a plane to Taipei. I just decided ALL of this yesterday for some reason. Somehow it all made sense.

Here is where I need help! I basically have to decide today by 5pm. My flight stops in HK to transfer to Taipei. I was thinking of stopping in HK which I’ve done in the past, but I don’t really have any particular plans in HK and not sure what I would do. I would love to meet up with some of you AnDers but this is all very last minute so I am just throwing it out there and curious to see if there are any compelling arguments to make a stop over in HK.

This is a sudden decision, but I guess it makes sense because I feel like I have a calling to be in Asia. Plus when I finish competing at worlds I am going to want to chill out for a bit so I figure I’ll spend that time in Asia. The entertainment industry along with some businesses slow down during Christmas and the holidays so its a perfect time and when I get back fresh in Jan 2010 I will be ready to go!