Fresh Start

As half of 2010 is done, I decided to restart my blog. A new design and a new objective.

I did a pitiful job the last time I tried to create and update my blog while in Taiwan, so now I am focusing on my passions and endeavors. That translates to posts on photography, skiing, deal hunting, and a pursuit for higher education.

I have always been interested in photography, but I have really started to get into it within the past 6 months. Hopefully, I can use this blog as an avenue to exhibit my growth.

So as I finish wrapping up celebrating our country's independence, here are some pics from the independence day / fireworks celebration in Philadelphia. Enjoy.

Out of Bed Finally...

September 3, 2008

So after pretty much sleeping the whole day, my boss picked me up from the hotel and took me and two other coworkers to the apartment complex we will be living in. He also started to give us the run down of everything going on in Taiwan (work, transportation, bar scene, life, etc.). It essentially was a bitch session. So did not start out too good, but then again, he likes to complain a lot.
Checked out his apartment and the complex. Complex was not too bad. Had a grocery store in the complex, and the whole complex is huge. His apartment was not that bad either, but there is a bit of a smell. Then I started to find out the smell is design flaw in most of the country. Seems the pipes here do not have traps, so the sewer lines tend to back up into the pipes. Will see how that goes...


Then he took us to work and we started our administrative stuff. Got me a badge with my name in chinese. Started to see all the other Delaware folks and met all the Taiwan employess I had met back in Delaware about 5 months back. Toured the facility and saw what I would be working on. Oh, and they had a full court basketball court at work too. Pretty cool...

Long Flight...

September 1, 2008

Left Richmond, VA on a Embraer jet (~50 people capacity). Small airport, but 3 hours on an Embraer is not much fun. Pretty much slept the whole time.

Got into Houston and had about 4-5 hours to kill. Randomly saw Sean Penn at the Houston Airport (being escorted by some security personnel at the airport - you know, like what you see in TMZ). Met up with my family at Red Lobster, so I enjoyed that. Got to play with all my neices and nephews before I flew out. Got onto another plane, but got upgraded to first class this time. Pretty much slept again the whole way (4 hours).

Got into LA and had to figure out how to get to the other terminal. Wow, the international terminal at LAX is huge and packed! China Air had lines going out the door. Walked over to the Singapore Airlines counter, which was fairly empty, checked in, and they gave me a complimentary pass to their lounge area. The lounge had sushi, snacks, ramen noodles (the good kind), bottled beer you could take right from the fridge, and of course Orange Juice. What would I do without my orange juice. Had about 3 hours to kill for this one.

Boarded my Singapore Airlines flight in Buisness Class. Talk about nice. The seats felt like a pod. 10" screen with on demand selection. Area was half empty (empty seat next to me). Pretty much watched a couple of movies (Ironman is the only one I can remember). They even gave us noise cancelling headphones to use on the flight. Also gave eye covers and slippers. Bathroom was normal size as other flights, but they had perfume, cologne, and aftershave at your disposal. Then slept for about 4 hours. The seats reclined into a bed, but not completely flat. Still nice enough to sleep. The meals were good, but not fantastic. Still better than other airlines. Stewardesses were nice (and nice to look at too :) ). Pretty much served food and alcohol non stop. After 14 hours, got off my flight (at 5 am), and proceeded to go through customs, immigration, pick my luggage up, exchange money, and randomly run into some of my Phoenix coworkers at the airport.

Got into my chauffer driven benz and headed off to my hotel. And what did I do my first day, I passed out and slept the whole time. Nice Hotel though, check out the pics below...

Packing up

Leading up to my move, I was travelling quite a bit (Dewey Beach Delaware, Cozumel Mexico, New York City, Chicago, Washington DC - All in August if you can believe that). I was planning on moving out of my apartment and moving 75% of my stuff into public storage. So this meant I essentially had no time to pack all my items. And if you know me, you will know that I have way too much stuff.

Pretty much stayed up till 4 am every day my last week packing all my items and placing items into public storage (had movers come and move heavy items in public storage). Company movers came to pack up 25% off my items and air ship it to Taiwan.

Said my goodbyes to coworkers and friends, placed my last items in public storage and my car, locked that bad boy up, and drove off to Virginia.

Dropped off my car at my cousin's place, and flew out of Richmond, VA to head to Taiwan...

New Blog

Today is Sep. 14. As I sit in the bar in my hotel drinking a beer (brand: Taiwan - no, literally Taiwan Beer is what it is called), I start my blog that I have been meaning to start for the past 2 weeks. I will begin by reliving the past couple of weeks that have occured in sequential order, including the events leading up to my move.

Now, why am I starting my blog now?!?! Because, hey, I am in a new country exploring new locations and having new adventures. I don't have time to sit down and write everything! Actually, work has kept me busy, and my hotel is not the most central location, so most of the meals I have been having have been in the hotel itself (about 5-7 different restaurants). Leave the hotel at 8:30 and come back from work around 6. Also, I am in the middle of a typhoon (actually a supertyphoon - Sinlaku), and there is really nowhere else to go other than the hotel lobby. It is raining quite a bit outside and very windy (almost as windy as Chicago). I am doing well, but worry about all those in Houston. Keep seeing pics from Houston, and wondering how long it will take to clean up everything. Hope everyone is safe and doing well. Alright, here is the path that I have taken...