Netherlands - Vlieland - Camping - 2008/09/27~2008/09/29

Lying in the Wadden Sea, Vlieland is the second island of the chain of islands in the North Sea of the Dutch coast, counting from west to east. It took two hours from Harlingen to Vlieland. We arrived Vlieland at around 4PM.

After finding a good spot for camping and setting up our tents, the guys cooked an amazing delicious dinner. We ate, talked, drank, and enjoyed the incredible sunset. Since it was cold, I actually drank quite a few Vodka to keep myself warm, but didn't feel drunk.

On the way to Vlieland, two DJ's invited us to join a company party. To find the party place, we walked around one hour on the island at night. It was an interesting and successful party with people dressing up in black and white back to old times. Walking back to the camp site Stortemelk at 4 o'clock in the morning, with the stars, the fresh air, and the gloomy street lights, I felt such a tranquil life. It's a strange feeling right after a crowded party.

Since Vlieland is the second-least densely populated municipality in the Netherlands and it's almost the end of the season, it's not crowded at all and the pace is very slow. The only village on the entire island, Oost-Vlieland, is tiny but lovely.

We cycled around the island, crossing the dunes, the bushes, and the meadows. Watching the ocean, walking on the beaches, eating natural cranberry, and etc., I wondered what else would be important in lives. :P

On Sunday evening, we had a nice dinner at a restaurant, played pool, and went to bed early. Waking up with the sound of the rain and the cold on Monday morning, I thought of the regular business meeting with my boss which supposed to be happened at that time. ha ha... the island is for sure much better than the cold office. :P

The guys went for surfing in the early morning, but I took it easy and walked along the coast. Later we had a brunch and more cycling. It's a pity that we couldn't have horse riding because the business was too relax to have it without a reservation. Actually I like the answer "The coach went to the supermarket as planned so can't take the case." The priority is nice.

Netherlands - Eindhoven - Moving to a new apartment - 2008/09/17

Being sick of the hotel feeling at my nice Sofitel apartment, I asked to move to another apartment for a homely feeling. The new apartment is not as big as Sofitel apartment, but I really like the wooden floor/tables/chairs, the balcony, the decoration, and etc. I love it!

Germany - Mainz & Frankfurt- 2008/09/13

To deliver the DVD writer for Dany, I visited my RSM colleague Jenny at Mainz. It's a nice and easy weekend. Taking a walk in Mainz was relaxing. Due to my exchange to UT Austin during MBA study, I actually hadn't caught up well with Jenny for a long time. Therefore I like and appreciate this weekend very much.

We went to a bar for a drink after dinner. I think this bar could be my favorite bar so far. First of all, it was a church with relatively huge space. Sitting on the couch with the high ceiling, I felt extremely comfortable. Secondly, since Jenny is a wine expert, we got a nice white wine. I love the cozy feeling over there.

Drinking at the balcony, looking at the full moon, smoking cigar, chatting with friends, somehow we celebrated the Mid-Autumn Festival while we are far away from home. On Sunday, after the great breakfast, taking four bottles of nice wine from Jenny, we were on the way back to NL. Thanks for Jenny and Patrick's hospitality!

On the way back to Eindhoven, we visited Frankfurt. The city itself is OK. Walking along the river in a sunny day surprisingly made me to like a big city like Frankfurt a bit. :)

Belgium - Camping & Kayaking - 2008/09/06 ~ 2008/09/07

Before this camping, I only camped twice before. My first camping was supposed to be cool while I studied in the junior high school. However because an accident happened in another school's camping trip, the trip was executed in the campus at the end. It's fun to sleep in the tent with friends, but in the campus... well... it's not exciting at all... :P The second time I slept in a tent was when I climbed the Jade Mountain. With small rocks under my back on a slop, I couldn't fall into sleep at all. However we couldn't sleep long because we needed to wake up early for the sunrise anyway.

This trip, my third camping trip, with two friends in Belgium was really nice and comfortable in the camp site Le Val de L'Aisne. We even had a bed in the tent. At night, someone played really fine fireworks and it was like a personal show in the sky with stars in the back. How lucky we were!

Next day we went for a 18km kayaking. Once I felt that I could somehow control the kayak, I started enjoying the view and the people along the river. Somewhere in the 18km, when we stuck by the rocks, we took the chance to take out our bread, chocolate jam, cookies, fruit, and etc. to ha ha... that was nice. Although at the end I got a bubble on my hand, I felt very exciting and relaxing.


On the way back to the Netherlands, we had dinner at Belgium. I was surprised at the relatively low price of having such nice food and atmosphere. Maybe I stayed at NL too long... :P
Ristorante - Pizzeria J Giardini
Rue d'Amay 10
4000 Liege
Tel: 04 222 03 64

Netherlands - Eindhoven - Business trip - 2008/08/17 ~ 2008/11

I am back to the Netherlands again for a project. In total this year I would have stayed at the Netherlands for half a year. Knowing the people and the culture a bit, somehow it has become my second home country I think. :)

This time I stayed at the apartment of Sofitel Hotels & Resorts. It's great even with two bedrooms, but I am looking forward to moving to a more homely apartment.

Thailand - Bangkok 2008/07/31 ~ 2008/08/06

I never thought of staying at Bangkok for up to 7 days, but I did stay at Bangkok for 7 days. :)
Actually it's a family trip which is arranged to spend time with my 86-years-old grandpa, my parents, and my brother. We all love traveling, but never traveled together. We took it easy to explore and experience the city.

Siam Naramit is a Thai culture show. The theater was built only for this show, within a culture park around. Before and after the show, people could watch Thai dancing, ride an elephant, take a look of traditional Thai house, taste traditional Thai desert, and etc. in the park.

Sky Bar at the Dome at the State Tower is really cool! Having a drink at the outdoor bar on the top the tower is definitely a special event. The atmosphere is kind of modern but relaxing.

Well, local lives on the streets are always my favorite sightseeing spots. :)

Bodytune is a nice shop for massage. Two hours Thai massage costs only 590 Baht with relatively nice atmosphere.

Naraya is a famous shop for Thai bag. If buying a suvinor is a must, the Naraya bags could be considered.

Dusit Thani Hotel is very fine, but I remain neutral on the recommendation.

For more photos, please visit http://picasaweb.google.com.tw/aprilhsutw/ThailandBangkok2008#

Note. There are some Information recommended by friends, but I didn't use this time...
Resort http://www.sunsetvillage.co.th
Local agent 余美芳 +66873247332

Being considerate of the people you love & holding the world with tolerance

The title of the article forwarded by a friend is "Being considerate of the people you love & holding the world with tolerance"

The article started with a story...

One professor asked the class "I would like to play a little game with you, who would like to participate first?" A girl raised her hand and walked to the front of the classroom. The professor said "Please write down 20 names of the most important people who you couldn't give up in your life." The girl did so, writing down names including her neighbors, family, friends, and etc.
The professor said "Please write off one who is relatively not so important to you." She wrote off one name of her neighbor. "Please write off another one." She wrote off one name of her colleague... At the end there were three names left, her parent, her son, and her husband. Now it's quiet in the room, because it's not felt like a game anymore. The professor said "one more please." The girl struggled, and then wrote off the name of her parent. "Please, one more." The girl got shocked, wrote off the name of her son hardly, and got tears in her eyes... Few minutes later, the professor asked the girl "The closest people to you shall be your parents and child. Your parents raised you, and the child was born from you. You shall be able to find another husband. Why did you think your husband is the last one you couldn't give up?" The girl said slowly "as the time passed, my parents would leave the world before me, my son would leave me for his own life, but my husband is the one who are going to company me for the whole life."

The story doesn't mean to lead to a specific choice among our parents, children, and partner. Instead, it reminded me of the priorities. Spending time with people you love, opening heart to people who care, sharing life with people around the world... We might not encounter the situation of choosing who to survive among the people we love, but we would face the situation that loved ones left the world and us. What is a success life? It could be building a success career, traveling around the world, keeping healthy, or having someone who loves you and whom you love.

Another story just jumped into my head. A successful business man with lots of friends reached the end of his life. Lots people stopped by or sent flowers. However, no one really spent time with him to share his feeling, because he didn't really love anyone or have someone who really loved him.

We keep looking back and right now, and reminding ourselves of the importance of the priorities. If we can't have everything we want, we could set priorities to go for the most important one, and have other things planned around. In this case, we could have the most important item, and enjoy the others sometimes as well. Well, running a business is easier than running a life I think. :P

Taiwan - Jade Mountain 2008/07/11 ~ 2008/07/13

I made it, reaching the highest point of Taiwan, and northeastern Asia! :)

In the Yushan National Park, Mt. Jade Main Peak, 3952m high, is the highest summit in Taiwan. A drawing is required for getting the permission to climb Jade Mountain. Thanks for Zong-Jin's help, Zong-Jin, Shelby (my brother) and I joined the trip with a climbing club three weeks before the depature with permissions, while some people might wait for half a year.

At 8:30AM on July 12th, we started climbing from Tataka (2300m high). Climbing 8.5km, we reached Paiyun Lodge (3402m high) at 15:30PM. I was exhausted. Who told me that it's an easy public hiking trail? Shelby, I won't forget it! :P

Because it was fully occupied in Paiyun Lodge, we climbed another 30 minutes to camp illegally next to the trail. With the small rocks on the back and the weird slope, I didn't sleep at all. Well, actually it's not a big deal. When we went to "bed", it was 20:00PM already, and we need to wake up at 2:00AM next day anyway. When I saw the stars spreading in the sky in the early morning, I couldn't care less.

There are 2.4km between Paiyun Lodge and the main peak. The last 300m is the most steep part. However since there were lots people climbed in the morning, the speed was relatively slow. At 17:00AM, we reached the summit! The view at the peak is amazing with the color changes of the sunrise and the sea of clouds, although the guide said that it could be even much better! While the sky shifted from dark to bright, standing on the top of the world (ok, I know it's only the top of Taiwan...:P), I thought of Simba in the Disney's movie The Lion King. I am the king (queen) of the world! :)

It's easy to climb up, but hard to climb down. In the early morning, we just followed the person in front in the dark. While climbing down in the day time, I couldn't believe that I climbed all the way up. It's beautiful and fun!

After another 2.4km, we were back to Paiyun Lodge and had the second breakfast. Foods in the mountain tests even fresher and better. Taking 3.5 hours down, we finished the 8.5km which took us 7 hours up. Why did we walk so fast? It's because delicious watermelons are waiting! :P

On the way back to the civilization, my muscles started aching all over. Saying goodbye to the lovely natural, I was thinking when I could visit other beautiful mountains in Taiwan.

More photots are available here.

閱讀 穿條紋衣的男孩 and Q&A

It's about two of the books I read recently.

穿條紋衣的男孩
一個九歲的男孩 認識另一位男孩
圍籬內 圍籬外 單純的情誼 殘酷的世界
書的背後 沒有深入的簡介
讀者 因為不清楚故事 更深入故事
可惜 中間猜到了故事 少了更深的驚訝
故事結束 然而
幽幽的惆悵
淡淡的哀愁
沉沉的無奈 依舊

Q&A
故事 隨12個益智題目 展開
驚奇 巧合 勇氣 真誠
章節 環環相扣
拼湊出一個平凡中下階層的顛簸人生
有些事 經歷才知道
有些人 認識才了解
有些故事 正常邏輯沒辦法解釋
事件發生
幸 與 不幸
信 與 不信
別人數天的飯後話題
自己數年的深刻體驗

Taiwan - Hualien 2008/06/01 ~ 2008/06/03

Because of a VISA issue, I couldn't go to the Netherlands for the project as planned. Well, why not take the chance to have a short holidays? Charlene and I made a quick decision of doing nothing in Hualien! :)

There are various B&B(Bed and Breakfast) in Hualien, but it's not easy to find one with original and simple style. Fortunately I found Karimas and it's definitely what we were looking for! It's next to the ocean so we fell into sleep with the sound of the sea, read with the endless ocean view, walked on the rocks along the coastline...

The owner is from Australia. His wife is from Taipei. Life is so relax over there. When we read in the garden, the owner was making a furniture. When we walked back from the coast, he was playing with the dogs and the cat. When we felt like, we chatted a bit. In the morning on the last day, we had the nice breakfast with the owner's wife, and the owner showed us the beautiful seaweed view. Standing on the coast, I didn't want to go back to the city yet and believed that I would come back soon. :)

There are two dogs and one cat. Mulla, one of the dogs, always slept in front of our door, companying us to the kitchen, the shower room, or the coast. When we see the sight of her back watching the ocean on the coast, we really think she considers herself a human being. :P

The website of Karimas is at http://www.karimas.url.tw/ (click "welcome")
If you are looking for a well decorated, modern or fancy place, don't go there.

This time I didn't go to Taroko gorge. However for photos of last trip with another friend Fareh, please check http://picasaweb.google.com.tw/aprilhsutw/TaiwanHualien2007.