Life Update

Life has not been easy since the end of my Asia trip in 2008. While gone the stock market too a great big dump and what is being called The Great Recession was in full swing. I lost a huge portion of my life savings in the stock market crash. I had not been paying attention to it so imagine my surprise when I checked it at home. Yikes! It was pretty heart wrenching; they say in your 20s to put most of your investments in stocks and to be aggressive, well..... the down side is you can lose a ton. The upside is, you still have the rest of your life to slave away and re-earn that. Wonderful.

I got home just before Christmas in 2008 and I wanted to enjoy the holidays with my family and still relax a bit before trying to rejoin the real world, or the matrix, or whatever you want to call it. I wanted to try and do my own thing first. Well less than three months into 2009 calamity struck my family. There was a rather serious and unfortunate family health incident that occurred. Since I wasn't employed I took it upon myself to stay at home and basically became a full time caregiver. That lasted pretty much the rest of 2009. It was a hard time for my family but things are alright now. To friends, if you're wondering why I disappeared off the face of the planet in 2009 this is why. To sum it up, basically 2009 was a lost year for me.

The new year, 2010, came along and brought about new challenges, mainly the search for a job. With The Great Recession still in full swing the job market was bleak. Unemployment nationwide was I think a little over 10%. CA, hit harder by the recession, had a higher unemployment rate, 12% I think. Of course actual unemployment was much higher both nation wide and in CA. A lot of people called the 99ers were no longer being counted. These people had been on unemployment for 99 weeks and their unemployment benefits had run out; therefore they were no longer being counted towards the unemployment numbers. It's a hard thing to swallow when you're supposed to live the land of plenty and opportunity.

Having not worked for so long my skills had become rusty. I had to study to jog my memory or just relearn things I had forgotten. This doesn't happen overnight, it took weeks and sometimes months. The tech industry has a culture of having ridiculous interviews complete with brain teasers that are rather useless and not applicable to your actual job function. I knew I'd fail any I took so I decided to get practice. I did so by interviewing first with as many dumb companies as possible that I didn't actually want to work for. I had to increase my interviewing skills quickly so I could be more comfortable with the process when it was for real. Of course I bombed a few interviews early on, and yes I knew I would, but it still feels pretty crappy. You just have to get yourself back together, use it as a learning experience and try again.

Eventually, through the help of some people I knew, I was able to get in touch with the company I work for now. The interview was tough, it took all day and yes it had a brain teaser. It's a good group though and I feel lucky to have landed with them. I was more fortunate than a lot of other people out there during desperate times for some, and hard times for most, in that I was able to get a little bump from my last salary.

So for now I'm back in the grind, working like a dog again, doing everything I rejected in the reason why I left for Asia in the first place. Well..... I did say I'd go back to work eventually didn't I? And so I did. I must say I am much happier here than at my old work place so in general things are good; well considering that I still have to work... but, hey you can't win them all.

Life Update: American, Damnit!

The main reason I chose to backpack around East Asia and then Southeast Asia is that as an Asian American I can blend in as long as I don't speak. Having never traveled before, this whole trip was exciting but also scary. Being alone in foreign countries where language can be a problem and not always having people around to help you can be daunting. I'm pleased to say that the world is not as evil as you think it is. People in general are nice or just want to mind their own business, but that is a tangent.

Let's bring it back to the American issue. I blended in easily in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, China, Singapore, Malaysia (many Chinese in Malaysia), and oddly enough sometimes Thailand. But when it became apparent I was not a native, the people would ask me "Where are you from?" I would always answer America, or USA, or The United States. Often times, and always in Japan, people would always follow up with "ok... but where are you from?" or "ok but where are your parents from?" In the beginning this didn't bother me and I would tell them. Then they seemed all to happy to label me as that kind of person, not a real America.

In places like China, part of my heritage, the youth would say "You're not American, you're one of us! You are Chinese!" Don't even get me started on the whole my father is from Taiwan to the Chinese.... they'd say "Taiwan is China too!"

In Phuket I ran into a big drunk fat swedish guy who, in addition to saying he loved me (drunk idiot) asked "How can you be an American?"

In Siem Reap a little kid asked me "Where are you from?" I answered "America." He giggled and said "But you're Asian!" I said "Yes, yes I am". Then he ran away.

The only country where the people were satisfied at "I'm American" and didn't ask anymore was Singapore. I think that's because pretty much everyone there is an immigrant or descended from an immigrant to Singapore.

By this point I have to say I'm really annoyed that I can't just say I'm American and have that accepted. Just because I'm not white I'm some how not a real American? That really pisses me off. The next person that asks where my parents are from I'm going to say Jamaica. Look, I'm happy to visit the countries of my parents and grandparents and anywhere else in the world. It's good to see your roots and if you want to take a measure of pride in that, I think that's ok too. However at the end of the day I don't identify with these people... especially not with the people in China. America is where I was born and raised and that is my home. My high school computer science teacher, Mr. Franz, had a sign printed on his wall that I remember to this day: Americans come in all sizes, shapes and colors. Come January 20, my country will have it's first black president. There is no reason why I cannot be an American. So dammit people, I'm American. Ok, I'm glad to get that off my chest.

Life Update: Annoying Family E-mails

So even though at this point I'm still blogging about Japan I'm actually in Thailand. Of course if you follow international news you know about the political protests going on in Bangkok. Yesterday protesters were able to shut down the Bangkok Airport leaving many tourists stranded. A bomb exploded earlier this morning in the airport and shots were fired yesterday injuring a few people. Source: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article5234917.ece

PAD Protesters outside Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok, Thailand

I got the following email from a family member of mine:
Hi Vincent:

We all hope the best until you came back US.

Bullet doesn't care where you are, especially you are US citizen.

It's easy to think the worst and think Bangkok is a very unstable, dangerous place when reading news like this. And yes, tourists need to be vigilant wherever they go, but really, things are not as bad as they seem, especially if you simply avoid the protests. In this unfortunate case the airport, a major hub that tourists use, was affected. However, when I was in Bangkok the political protests were generally confined to the government buildings. Protesters left the tourists alone, and tourists should avoid areas of demonstration; in this case the airport - just extend your vacation or take the train to a different city's airport.

The reality is the world is not as evil or dangerous a place as everyone makes it seem. Not every place in the world is war torn Iraq. Yes, bad things happen, yes, terrible things happen; but these things occur everywhere. Trains collide in Los Angeles, fires rage in California, shooting happen in schools in the USA, bombs go off in London, lethal gas is released in Tokyo Subways. Does this mean everyone in CA should flee the fires? I mean.... CA is a big place. Did people at UCLA stop going to school after the tragic and horribly fatal shootings at Virgina Tech?

Thailand is not that small of a country. I'm currently in Phuket which is 500 miles (840 KM) from Bangkok. In Phuket there are no signs of trouble, just many old European men with young Thai bargirls.

Old European Man with Young Thai Girl at Kata Beach

Everything in Phuket is safe, and based on my visit to Bangkok I would imagine most tourists places in Bangkok are actually fine. If you're planning on flying into Bangkok I might try to hold off on it just because the airport would be unavoidable, but if you're already there chances are you're probably ok.

Be smart when you travel, get informed on the places you're going, avoid trouble spots, and don't be stupid. In general the most you have to worry about are pick pockets.

By the way, if you happen to be stuck inside Bangkok Airport or need to get in I found a post on the Lonely Planet forums that will inform you on how to do so. I'm going to cut and paste the information below:

By the way according to the Local thai news it is possible to access the airport via the back road from bangna trat road. A few BMTA buses go this way and thus avoid the crap. Provided one can get from the terminal building to the bus terminal a few KM away to the north east.

Routes 558, 552, 552 A use Bangna Trat road to get into the back of the airport.

Otherwise its along walk down the road to bangna trat road (10km plus about 4 hours)or to the SRT station at Hua Takhe (6 km at least about 2 hours).

That might help some people stuck in the airport get out

Suvarnbhumi Airport Flight Status

As for me, I'm done playing in Thailand actually, but I'm not going home quite yet. Next stop... Singapore. I'll do my best to catch up on my blog as soon as possible!

Life Update 1

So as I sit here today it's been 22 days since I began my trip. A few things have changed.

• I feel like I have been gone much longer than 22 days, the days don't just fly by like when I had a job. I don't just look forward to just the weekends, I look forward to everyday. Maybe that's the difference.
• Speaking of weekends... Sometimes I dread weekends because everyone is out. Everyplace I want to go becomes crowded and sometimes more expensive. I can't wait until Monday because that means another four days without the crowds.
• I haven't exercised regularly, but I have been losing some weight. I'm still not great shape, but my pants are looser, even with having gone to mcdonald's a few times.
• I cannot stand the weather in asia.... hot and humid, hot and humid, and more hot and humit. Mix in scattered showers while it's hot and humid, and a typhoon. I'm spoiled being from Southern California, and I always took it for granted. Just sitting around I sweat like crazy.
  
• Mom and Dad, and Grandpa and Grandma, thank you SOOOOOOOOO much for going to the United States to provide a better future for you children and your children's children. It's not that I'm not happy at the places I've been, it's just that after seeing some of what people here do on a day to day basis I'm so glad I was born and raised in America.
• Street Vendor food is awesome.... to die for. Just make sure you bring some Immodium, then you can go to town.
• The hardest decisions I deal with are: crap I just saw a snake should I keep hiking up this trails? And: hmmmm, which city should I goto next.
• My supposed antimicrobial (thus antistink) towel smells awful, and I washed it!
• Deet doesn't work. Blood sucking insects love me.
• I don't feel stressed everyday, I hope my white hairs have stopped sprouting out at the torrid rate it did before.
• Life is good.