"Hey you guys!"

I went camping last weekend. 

The above sentence, though true to every word, failed to capture what really went down the 2.5 days out on the road, away from the city.  Nothing scandalous or dramatic happened.  On contrary, it was a weekend adventure Spielberg himself would be proud of.

Sure, the first night in a questionable motel somewhere in Hangzhou wasn't quite roughing it, but after a 3 hour bus ride and arriving past midnight on a cold, rainy Friday night/Saturday we were happy NOT to be in a tent.  Katie and I got rooms on the top floor (ballers, holler) and it was a room with a squatter toilet + 4 beds.  Anyway, it was suffice to say we passed out right away. 

8AM breakfast -- before I write about breakfast, the plaster on the ceiling fell on me in the wee hours.  Plus, we were idiots and forgot to turn on the heat.  So even though we were indoors, it felt like the great outdoors.  I noticed Katie had put on all her clothes/jackets as she emerged from her sleeping bag of a cocoon.  Back to breakfast.  The tour group said western style breakfast -- toast with PB &J does not constitute as a western breakfast, but whatever.  I 'heart' PB&J.

10:30am.  How many blondes does it take to set up a tent?  Apparently just 1 Italian guy. 

12pm.  We rappelled 50 metres (estimate) over a cliff into a cave.  Took a good 3 hours for everyone to make a go.  2 things to highlight during rappelling.  1)  Lady in white sweat pants defied all odds and kept her fuckin white ass sweat pants dirt free.  2)  Food truck lady and her not so reliable husband.  They both went down the cliff together, she was scared shitless and her husband just scurried past her to get to the bottom.  Big time douche.

3pm.  Underground caves.  Lady in white pants managed to keep herself dry and dirt free.  She either had 3 pairs of the same pants or she's a magician.

6pm.  BBQ + lanterns + campfire.

11pm.  3 little pigs in a tent.  No ghost stories, unless you count the "I killed a man" story from Kristen, which isn't worth repeating.

7am.  Cue "Circle of Life".  Yes, that's Kristen's alarm and it was quite fitting as the sun was shining and a million fuckin birds were chirping.

10am.  After breakfast, we went to a new location to explore more underground caves.  But this time, it was straight out of Goonies.  No safety harnesses or gear, it was just a pair of revolutionary made shoes (with holes), 1 flashlight and our wits.  It took 2 hours (maybe more) to trek down and circle back, but the last leg of the excursion was the most memorable. 

Imagine yourself 50 yards below the ground, in caves that not many people have had the luxury to explore.  Makeshift ladders made of bamboo/steel and a rope to guide you further down into the cave.  Imagine a body of water, a rickety bamboo raft and a waterfall at the other end.  Yes, we had to hop onto the raft (2 at a time), pull ourselves across the body of water, hop onto the ledge and climb up the mother fuckin water fall (it was like a 30 feet vertical climb).  All this in the dark, without a safety harness or anything.  Its a testament of what we can achieve when we're put to the test.  Spielberg would be proud -- heck, I'm proud of us and thankful no one had gotten hurt. 

Lady in white sweat pants was still lady in WHITE sweat pants.

4pm.  One last hike to get to the bus.  After hiking for an hour or so, we came upon a cliff and had to walk down.  This one wasn't too bad.  Down the cliff and another hour or so hike later, we finally made it to the bus.  It was a great end to a great weekend adventure.

10pm.  Back to the city.

Starbucks-ing

At the neighborhood Starbucks working on a very lovely business plan.  Go go Argentina wine brand!


This week back in the grind felt like a month - no joke.  It's mind bottling how quickly one can just go back into routine.  I had a pretty awesome Friday night in recent history.  Productive day in the office, followed by massages, then Korean BBQ and capped it off with an episode of Forever in bed.  If only I could live everyday like that.


A coworker messaged earlier today inviting me to hang with him and his wife later on.  I should back track to earlier in the week, he had asked me what I did for fun during the weekends.  With much hesitation (for some reason that question caught me off guard), I replied with tv and doing nothing.  Which for me, is pretty awesome.  So fast forward to today, a pleasant surprise invite to hang.  I have a feeling he felt bad for me, but I quite like my 'me' time.  Plus, I spend most weekends catching up / attempting to catch up on work. 


So as I'm wrapping my afternoon PPT session, I shall have dinner with him and his wife and finish up the PPT later tonight at home and hopesfully get a few km's around the creek.


Not too shabby for a slacker.

Back to the grind

Jeez, its been almost a year since I've last posted.  Stupid China, blocking crucial websites...

I installed a couple of VPN software, so hopefully I can keep my mind sane and blog about my wonderful and exciting time in China!

Since the last update, BS drama from 2 people that couldn't differentiate business and personal.  Saw some bits of China and the long history.  Chinese people are still nice and polite (for the most part), its unfair to generalize the entire 1.2 billion population based on the news clips.  If this were applied to everyone, it would be end of humanity.

Started a new adventure in the wine business.  So far, its a back and forth of ass kicking and being kicked in the vagina.  Can't say I love it nor hate it.  Sometimes, I just find it annoying -- if that makes any sense. 

I also find it funny I escape to Taipei every chance I get.  2nd trip in 4 months and I'm already planning my 3rd trip in May.  Whatever it takes to survive and to keep a peace of mind, yah?

I keep telling people my future plans, not to brag, but to act as a constant reminder and to keep my sights on the targeted goals for 2016 and 2017/18.  Maybe that's why it's wearing me down, thus mini breakdown of 2015.  Fun stuff.

Itty bitty bits of wisdom that has floated in my mind the past couple of years:

1.  when needed, ask for help -- sometimes easier said than done
2.  no one really cares/remembers when you make an ass of yourself -- unless it was epic and filmed
3.  giving others a break also means giving yourself a break
4.  taking the time to stop and pet the neighborhood dog is an awesome feeling
5.  saying 'ok, I'll handle it' only leaves the door open for more crap.  choose wisely when uttering these deadly words.