Hualien

Here are some photos of our train ride and life in Hualien so far. :-)

We rode in the family car, which was AWESOME! Only four rows of three seats in the whole car (!) and a huge open space with kid tables and a nursing room. 

Leaving Taipei:

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Getting close to Hualien:

Surprise! Didn't know there would be huge mountains in Hualien-- this is in the taxi leaving the train station:

And exploring Hualien:

We're on the 4th floor of a walk-up, and we're smack in the middle of everything, so we can pretty much walk anywhere within 15 minutes. :-) Here's our living room:

We're almost unpacked and settled. Hope you're all well! :-)

free bystander intervention training

Hollaback's now Right To Be, but either way, their Bystander Intervention Training is empowering and informative not just for people who want to support our fellow Asians who have been harassed— this is a training that will enable you to help anyone being bullied in any way while staying safe yourself.

It's free and really well done.

chinese exclusion act of 1882 - free on pbs now

PBS is currently streaming (for free) this powerful film on the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, and like most of us, I had no idea this was a part of American history. It's heartbreaking that the Chinese were singled out as the only group in American history to be excluded from immigration while millions were streaming in from the rest of the world and how the Chinese were treated when they did try to settle here, and it's a part of our history that should not be forgotten.

how a password can revolutionize your life

via

This article may make you erase all of your saved passwords as a password-as-mantra becomes a life-changing new tool.

Can password therapy really improve your life? Mauricio Estrella, an associate creative director in Shanghai, developed a unique way to create and remember passwords. He used a personal goal to create an affirmation and it became a password infused with the power of positive thinking. Here’s his story…

“How could she do something like this to me?” said the voice in my head, over and over.

It was 2011 and I was stuck in middle of a pretty bad depression due to my divorce.

Thankfully, I think I was smart enough (and had great people around me) so I managed my way out.

One day I walk into the office, and my computer screen showed me the following message:

“Your password has expired. Click ‘Change password’ to change your password.”

I read this dumb message in my mind with angry grandpa voice: The darn password has expired.

At my workplace, the Microsoft Exchange server is configured to ask thousands of employees around the planet to change their passwords. Every 30 days.

Here what’s annoying: The server forces us to use at least one UPPERCASE character, at least one lowercase alphabetic character, at least one symbol and at least one number. Oh, and the whole thing can’t be less than 8 characters. And I can’t use any of the same passwords I’ve used in the last 3 months.

I was furious that morning. A sizzling hot Tuesday, it was 9:40 a.m and I was late to work. I was still wearing my bike helmet and had forgotten to eat breakfast. I needed to get things done before a 10 a.m. meeting and changing passwords was going to be a huge waste of time.

As the input field with the pulsating cursor was waiting for me to type a password — something I’d use many times during every day — I remembered a tip I heard from my former boss.

And I decided: I’m gonna use a password to change my life.

It was obvious that I couldn’t focus on getting things done with my current lifestyle and mood. Of course, there were clear indicators of what I needed to do — or what I had to achieve — in order to regain control of my life, but we often don’t pay attention to these clues.

My password became the indicator. My password reminded me that I shouldn’t let myself be victim of my recent break up, and that I’m strong enough to do something about it.

My password became: “Forgive@h3r”

a speech to fire you up

This speech was delivered in 2008, but it remains as relevant and powerful as ever.  Enjoy.

Life and How to Survive It
by Adrian Tan

I must say thank you to the faculty and staff of the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information for inviting me to give your convocation address. It’s a wonderful honour and a privilege for me to speak here for ten minutes without fear of contradiction, defamation or retaliation. I say this as a Singaporean and more so as a husband.

My wife is a wonderful person and perfect in every way except one. She is the editor of a magazine. She corrects people for a living. She has honed her expert skills over a quarter of a century, mostly by practising at home during conversations between her and me.

On the other hand, I am a litigator. Essentially, I spend my day telling people how wrong they are. I make my living being disagreeable.

Nevertheless, there is perfect harmony in our matrimonial home. That is because when an editor and a litigator have an argument, the one who triumphs is always the wife.

And so I want to start by giving one piece of advice to the men: when you’ve already won her heart, you don’t need to win every argument.

Marriage is considered one milestone of life. Some of you may already be married. Some of you may never be married. Some of you will be married. Some of you will enjoy the experience so much, you will be married many, many times. Good for you.

The next big milestone in your life is today: your graduation. The end of education. You’re done learning.

You’ve probably been told the big lie that “Learning is a lifelong process” and that therefore you will continue studying and taking masters’ degrees and doctorates and professorships and so on. You know the sort of people who tell you that? Teachers. Don’t you think there is some measure of conflict of interest? They are in the business of learning, after all. Where would they be without you? They need you to be repeat customers.

The good news is that they’re wrong.

he opened more libraries around the world than carnegie...

You've probably never heard of John Wood, but he's doing some pretty amazing work.  Here's Nicholas Kristof's New York Times piece on his libraries around the world:

OP-ED COLUMNIST

His Libraries, 12,000 So Far, Change Lives

By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF

Published: November 5, 2011

CAI LEI, Vietnam

 Peter Stuckings

Room to Read, a charity founded by John Wood, builds libraries and fills them with books. These girls in Cai Lei, Vietnam, accepted new books as if they were treasures.

Nicholas D. Kristof

ONE of the legendary triumphs of philanthropy was Andrew Carnegie’s construction of more than 2,500 libraries around the world. It’s renowned as a stimulus to learning that can never be matched — except that, numerically, it has already been surpassed several times over by an American man you’ve probably never heard of.

step aside, susan boyle

I'll just let this video speak for itself.  (I will admit it made me cry.)

Enjoy!

chinese boy carries his friend to school for eight years and counting...

via

This is pretty amazing:

International Business Times, May 6, 2011 6:43 AM HKT

In Hebei, China, a teenager named Lui Shi Ching, 16 years old, has carried his friend to school daily for the last 8 years. His friend Lu Shao has a congenital disorder which makes it difficult for him to walk. 

Eight years ago on a rainy day, Lu shao was stuck at school when his mom didn't come to pick him up. Lui Shi Ching, who was smaller than Lu Shao, decided to help and carried him home. Since then, he has carried Lu shao to and from school and even to restrooms.  

Lui shi ching said in an interview: "How did I carry him when he's so heavy? I was happy helping him out and it's been 8 years already."

Lui Shi Ching didn't brag about his good deeds too much; his parents didn't even find out until 4 years after he first helped out his friend. 

Lu Shao mentioned in his diary that Lui Shi Ching's help has lifted a dark cloud in his life and let sunshine into it.

the world through a little lens

the world through a little lens (This preview shows 14 of the 40 pages.)

I'm still over a year (and several continents) behind in going through my travel photos, but I've compiled a photo book that I hope you'll enjoy.

(NB: I'm not getting a penny from these, as I'm trying to help raise some money for two of my friends' nonprofits-- and I'd be happy to support any of your fundraising efforts, too, if you think I can be helpful.)

Book intro:

This is a simple tribute to the little digital camera. While fancy cameras keep adding impressive zooms and megapixels, sometimes, when all you want is a memory preserved, an idiot-proof point-and-shoot is just the answer.

All of the following photos were taken with a standard pocket camera, and none of them have been enhanced in any way, in the hope that their natural beauty will shine through, imperfections and all.

So, here's to the little guy that braved hail in the Falkland Islands, trekked across the Sahara on camelback, tramped up a glacier in New Zealand and dove down over 100 feet into the seas of Indonesia and never let me down. I hope you enjoy seeing the world through its little lens.

Blurb for good:

Proceeds from the sales of this photo book will go to support Grizzly Youth Academy (http://ngycp.org/site/state/ca/), a rigorous National Guard/SLO education partnership program that gives troubled youth the discipline and confidence to start healthy and productive lives, and Alpha, a nonprofit committed to helping and supporting expecting and new parents and babies (http://www.sloalpha.org/).

So, spread the word-- it's for a good cause!

world tour itinerary take iii

Happy new year! I'm optimistic 2010 is going to be absolutely amazing. So, let's begin!

We've completely changed our travel plans, and I'm really excited.

Old plan: go to Taiwan and Thailand in January and work our way west via India, Turkey and Greece to western Europe, where we were going to catch our one-way flight from Madrid to Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro in March and then work our way back up to the States to arrive by summer 2010.

Cut to: we were in Mexico spending the holidays with my (wonderful) in-laws, and when we were going to fly back to L.A., our flight was overbooked, and we got vouchers for $400 each. Woo hoo! We went back the next day and got another $400 each (totaling a whopping $1600 for our two-day delay). This works nicely when you have a home to go back to (and in-laws nice enough to drive you to and from the airport).

So, long story short, we were only going to be in L.A. for two days before flying to Taipei, and staying in Mexico for an extra two days meant pushing back our flight to Taipei. And since we had to rebook our flights anyway, we've decided to go to South America instead of Asia so that we can meet up with family in Buenos Aires and catch carnival in Bolivia. Yay!

So! New plan: we'll be in South America from January to March and doing our westward Asia to Europe trip from March to June. Anyone want to meet up anywhere in there?