------Updates April 27, 2024 ------

Please READ my profile.

I have plans in summer, so I won't be hosting May - August 2024. I also plan to be in Montreal in October 2024. Meet me at CS Canada Crash 2024 in Montreal: https://www.couchsurfing.com/events/cs-canada-crash-2024-montreal

There's also my intro in Chinese below 下有中文“太长不看版”自我介绍

***About Me***

Known to be foodie, curious, nerdy, scientific, musical, quirky, entrepreneurial, and technically minded, I enjoy serving and helping people, and I prefer being kind over being nice.

With a family root in Penang Malaysia, I grew up in Southern China. I speak fluent English and Mandarin, I can communicate in Hokkien/Taiwanese, and I know enough French to order food (parce que j'habitais à Montréal). I have extended family across Canada, China, Germany, Singapore, and US. I've lived in Canada since 2012, and I'm exploring where else to base in the next chapter of my life.

I've been a couchsurfing ambassador since September 2019, active event organizer, and very active in global couchsurfing community. You can learn more about the ambassador program here: https://www.couchsurfing.com/about/ambassadors/

Couchsurfing is an important part of my life. I host, I organize local events in Halifax, and I also travel and stay with other Couchsurfing hosts. Read the references on my profile to find out more. Especially if you're new to couchsurfing, please read my profile, read the references. In my opinion, the profile page is a couchsurfer's identity, and the references on that profile speaks to the person's character.

Covid changed my couchsurfing routine completely, and I hope to host more and organize some events now. I got 3x shots against covid plus I survived from omicron if that’s important to you.

Having been a solo traveler for over a decade, I now explore new places without much planned. My goal is to spend more time with myself, meeting people, listening to people, and building meaningful connections with others. The key word on Couchsurfing is "people". I'm a senior product/program management professional, and I build technology that serves people with good faith.

In addition to all the blah blah above, I am a competitive Rubik's cuber:
https://www.worldcubeassociation.org/persons/2017CHEY27
My record to solve a 3*3*3 cube is 36 seconds, I cook and bake, I love photography and movie critics, and I like to debate about science and politics, find out more in the "Teach, Learn, Share" section of my profile.

***About Halifax***

Halifax Regional Municipality, or HRM, consists of nearly 1/2 million population and 3 major areas: Halifax, Dartmouth, and Bedford-Sackville, making the city a triangle shape. The Port of Halifax is a warm-water port that doesn't freeze in winter. The harbour splits the city to two sides, and there're 2 bridges that connects the two sides. There are public transit bus that run between Halifax side and Dartmouth side via the bridges.

The city centre is, of course, Halifax - a peninsula with 4 major neighbourhoods: south-end (university area), downtown (business area), north-end and west-end (residential area). I can show you some secret spots of public pianos around the city, stroll waterfront, tour micro-breweries, take you to the farmer's market in the weekend, or maybe even drive you to my favourite beech outside the city. If you come with your bicycle, I can ride with you around the city.

***For Guest in Halifax***

If possible, please read "My Home" section for the details of my couch.

My parents live in my house in Halifax now. If you’re coming to Halifax, I’d like you to spend some time with my parents. They’re avid travellers who have been to many countries including a few in Africa, and they’ve lived in China, Japan, Germany, and now Canada. My father speaks fluent Chinese and fluent Japanese, my mom speaks some English, fluent Mandarin Chinese, and fluent Hokkien.

-We only host one group each time;

-We live in a house, guests have private bedroom, there's also additional couch for more people;

-The guest bedroom is also my home office during the day, so I need access to it when I work from home;

-Full kitchen: feel free to use it as long as you clean up afterward;

-Hot shower, we can provide towels;

-Please send an official request, not messages.

-If my hosting calendar is blocked for the time you're requesting, I'm hosting someone else or not in town;

-Once I accept your request, please CONFIRM your stay ASAP with your estimated time of arrival. Then I will send you my address.

***If you're one of the followings, we cannot host you***
1. A man who only hosts women on Couchsurfing. I will check your profile and references.
2. Nudist, regardless of your gender.
3. Staying for less than 24 hours. Couchsurfing is about community building, it would be impossible to connect with you if you're staying for that short amount of time. Exception: Couchsurfing Ambassador or reciprocal host always have a place to stay even if you’re here for less than 24 hours.

Now ready to send request? Call me "UG" in your request, that's also how to pronounce my name. I will decline your couch request if you do not mention "UG" in your request.

***自我介绍之太长不看版 ***

(Google translator won't work cuz some sentences are in ancient Chinese language)

鄙姓程，名友佶，字子健，号棲冷，出身落敗世家，客異鄉多年，而今心安處乃故鄉也。吾非紈絝，卻也好庖廚，好琴瑟，好藏書，好美女，好詩，好酒，好名山大川、風花雪月、花鳥蟲魚，尤喜結交三教九流。

远方的朋友，也许我们未曾见面，但这个世界很小，人生苦短，你若有心看到这里，说明我们有缘，彼此相见，做个朋友，聊古今风流事，岂不快哉！

在发订沙发时，请称呼我阿佶或“UG"，这样我就知道你看过了我的资料页。如果你没有称呼阿佶或“UG”，我会拒绝你的沙发请求。

我是在福建出生长大的华人，而我家祖祠在马来西亚槟城。 虽然来加拿大十多年了，我认为华语比英文有内涵，英文和中文普通话都可以算我的母语。现在我的父母年纪大了，和我住在一起，我们有一栋很大的独立屋，沙发客会有自己的房间。我的父亲可以讲流利的中文和日语，我母亲可以说一些英文以及流利的华语和台语/闽南语，他们在中国、日本、德国和加拿大都生活过。如果你申请住我家的沙发，我希望你花一些时间陪陪我的父母。

我做科技产品和项目管理，在政府部门和私人企业都工作过，也曾自己创业。虽然弹了20多年钢琴，却没做成职业音乐人。我兴趣文言文，也可以讲相对流利的闽南语/台语，不论你的母语是不是中文，我都鼓励你给我发中文的讯息，简体字和正体字我都可以读哦 😊

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

When I was first introduced to couchsurfing by my friend Mackenzie (who wrote my very first CS reference), I was surprised how late I got to know the CS site. Over the past few years, I made friends with many like-minded people via CS, some of them are THE MOST interesting friend of mine. I’ve met many great souls via Couchsurfing over the past few years, including my friend Micheal who died of cancer a few years ago, I miss him: https://www.couchsurfing.com/people/michael.cuskelly/

I host, surf, and organize local and international events. This world is small, why don't we connect?

Interests

• piano
• bungee jumping
• scubadiving
• rubik's cube
• roadbiking

Music, Movies, and Books

Music:

I grew up with classical music and have played piano for 20+ years. My mother also plays piano. I have an upright piano in my living room, and I play and listen to a wide variety of composers: Beethoven, Chopin, Dvorak, Mozart, Saint-Saëns, Sibelius, Strausses, Tchaikovsky, etc.

I also love contemporary musicians such as Hilary Hahn, Rafael Payare, Yo-Yo Ma, and Maxim Vengerov. I also listen to folk and indie musicians, such as Walk off the Earth, Coeur de pirate, Lily Meola, William Prince, Grace Yurchuk, and Chinese-speaking folk musicians：李宗盛、赵雷、苏运莹、李志、陈粒、宋冬野、马頔、李健，etc.

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Movies:

If you know and like these movie quotes, we might become very good friends:

"Don't you want to take a leap of faith? Or become an old man, filled with regret, waiting to die alone!"

"And you know what they call a Quarter Pounder with Cheese in Paris?/They don't call it a Quarter Pounder with Cheese?/No, they get the metric system there, they wouldn't know what the f*ck a Quarter Pounder is!/What'd they call it?/They call it Royale with Cheese."

"For what it's worth: it's never too late or, in my case, too early to be whoever you want to be. There's no time limit, stop whenever you want. You can change or stay the same, there are no rules to this thing. We can make the best or the worst of it. I hope you make the best of it. And I hope you see things that startle you. I hope you feel things you never felt before. I hope you meet people with a different point of view. I hope you live a life you're proud of. If you find that you're not, I hope you have the strength to start all over again."

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Books:

What are you currently reading? I read in 2 languages and a wide range: technology, sexuality, fiction, business, history, poetry, etc. A recent favourite of mine is Mating in Captivity (by Esther Perel). Currently, I'm working on When the Body Says No by Gabor Mate. I am also quite into traditional Chinese literature, and I write poems in Chinese (尤好宋詞，讀東坡詞選，手不釋卷，亦常填詞自娛).

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Climbed to a cliff in the dark to see 7am sunrise at Wadi Rum, Jordan.

228m bungee jumping at Kusma, Nepal - I loved it and would do it again.

Teach, Learn, Share

I cook well and can potentially teach you some recipes, but it'd be more awesome if you can beat me on Rubik's cube and teach me some new algorithms.

I can teach you how to solve a Rubik's cube, and maybe, some Mandarin Chinese simultaneously (cuz I started cubing back in China). Check out my profile on the World Cubing Association: https://www.worldcubeassociation.org/persons/2017CHEY27

I’ve played piano for over 20 years, classical mostly. If you play instrument, I'd love to learn new songs from you.

I can explain how government works in China and in Canada, and in return, I'd like to learn how politics works in your country.

Additionally, I'm also interested in healthcare policy, nuclear power, and robotics, debate me on any of these topics!

What I Can Share with Hosts

Omelette recipes, travel stories, and maybe postcards :)

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Egypt, England, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Japan, Jordan, Malaysia, Mexico, Nepal, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Canada, China, Nepal