I have spent almost half of my life in another country. Away from home, I have been independent ever since I was 18. What comes next is nothing but ME....so read up future friends :))

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

No longer new in couch surfing. I can share my small studio space with you if you do not mind (a bit cluttered with my collections - from books to collectibles to souvenirs from my travel, n recently board games) - shared sofa bed or mattress. I wasn't a fan for this couch sharing in the past as I have the fear for security reasons; however after recommendations and assurance from my god bro, I think this will be a good platform to know more people from around the world, especially in this era when pen pal is no longer popular or hardly in existence. Through other platforms, I have made good friends from Taiwan and China; my god bro from Taiwan is one of them, just like a real brother to me.

Interests

Before starting the journey on my interests, do you want to take some motion sickness tablets?

I love to travel around China; visited many cities within the past few years. My aim is to visit as many UNESCO heritage sites in China;

These are the list of UNESCO heritage sites that I have been to:

- Imperial Palace of Qing Dynasty (Beijing)
- Summer palace (Beijing)
- The Temple of Heaven (Beijing)
- Ming & Qing Tombs (Beijing and Nanjing)
- The Great Wall (Beijing)
- Historic Centre of Macao (Macao)
- West Lake of Hangzhou (Hangzhou, Zhejiang)
- Classical Gardens of Suzhou (Suzhou)
- Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor (Xi'an)
- Longmen Grottoes (Luoyang, Henan)
- Historic Monuments of Dengfeng, Shaolin Temple (Dengfeng, Henan)
- Silk Roads (Xi'an, Shaanxi)
- Huanglong Scenic Area (Sichuan)
- Jiuzhaigou Scenic Area (Sichuan)
- Mount Emei Scenic Area (Sichuan)
- Wulingyuan Scenic Area (Hunan)
- Mt. Tai (Tai'an, Shandong)
- Confucius Family Mansion & Cemetery (Qufu, Shandong)
- Mt. Wutai (Shanxi)
- Yungang Grottoes (Datong, Shanxi)
- Ancient City of Pingyao (Pingyao, Shanxi)
to be continued....

There are many more to come but the next trip will be to Tokyo/Osaka (Apr 2018)

Besides traveling, I love to eat good but cheap food - so if you want to know some good place for local food, do meet up with me :)

I play strategy games too; Caesar 3 and 4, Pharaohs, Rise of the Middle Kingdom are my favorites. I play DOTA2 too - can you imagine myself playing this game for the entire night without sleeping until the next morning, just in time for breakfast? That use to be me in my Uni days, guess I am too old for that now.

I like to sing as well. I was a baritone in the choir during my university years but that's history. Singing in the toilet or karaoke is the present.

I do a lot of photoshop designing and some simple video editing, from invitation cards to posters, for my own viewing or for company events (for free)....I love handicrafts too; if you are lucky enough to get some hand made items from me, you are someone special :))

Let's talk about food. I am not choosy about food, however there are food that I will not consume - meat that is not usually eaten in my hometown (e.g. Dog meat, horse meat), meat that is from cute animals (e.g. Rabbit meat), meat that is from animals liberated for religious purposes (e.g. Quails, pigeons, frogs, snakes, terrapins, tortoise, etc). Taiwanese, Korean, Thai, Japanese, Vietnamese, Indian, Malay food....are all my favorite (western food included). Age is catching up, so fast foods are slowly getting out from my mind....I love to drink tea and coffee too; wouldn't mind spending lots on tea, recently spent quite an amount on some Tibetan tea which gets better as it ages. Coffee?? I grew up in a hometown that is famous for their white coffee....so that's ME, my coffee and tea :))

I have a habit of drinking a glass of water every morning upon waking.

I have quite a number of collectibles - old Nintendo Game & Watch consoles, Some collectible dolls (you won't wanna know this but I can show it to you if you are curious) and figurines, and recently out of print classics.

If you have taken great efforts to come to this paragraph; Your first meal with me will be on me. Too lengthy a story makes one sick, hopefully you won't get motion sickness by reading this especially when you are traveling on a vehicle. I shall stop writing for now, write to me if you want to know more. Cheers :))

• animals
• dogs
• culture
• humanities
• writing
• books
• singing
• dining
• breakfast
• coffee
• fast food
• drinking
• board games
• reading
• traveling
• karaoke
• surfing
• teaching
• history

Music, Movies, and Books

MOVIES: I am a horror freak as I have watched most of the horror movies in cinemas - I like to watch them alone in the dark and I have a projector in my room for movie viewing. Besides that, I also have a liking for sci-fi, thriller, animation and comedies.

MUSIC: I do not have a particular genre, neither do I have a particular favorite singer or band; but whatever that is soothing to my ears....mostly sentimentals. I love to sing too....Chinese, English, Malay or Cantonese....

BOOKS: I love to read books on science and mathematics - I have recently, developed an interest in the 4 great classical novels of China. I have a library of cook books as well; once my ambition was to be a cook....well it could be my mid-life career change in time to come

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Not sure if that's considered amazing but I have walked the whole circumference of the West Lake in Hangzhou within hours and cycled on the whole Xi'an city wall.

I have done these round cities tour in China (despite not being able to read Chinese, I planned out my own itineraries)
=> Zhengzhou - Xi'an - Luoyang - Zhengzhou
=> Taipei - Kaohsiung - Hualien - Taipei
=> Hong Kong - Shenzhen - Zhuhai - Macau - Hong Kong
=> Shanghai - Hangzhou - Nanjing - Suzhou - Shanghai
=> Beijing - Jinan - Qufu - Tai'an - Beijing

Teach, Learn, Share

TEACH: I can't say I am a good teacher for anything; but who knows what I can offer? Cantonese or Malay language maybe?

LEARN: Will be good to know the cultures of people from different cities around the world, but currently I am more interested to learn about the Asian culture. Once I have know deep enough about Asians (I am proud to be one), I shall move out and get to know others.

SHARE: my listening ear, my caring shoulder and my helping hand....if I have the free time, maybe some Cantonese cuisine??

What I Can Share with Hosts

HOSTs: my travel and life experiences and local goodies

GUESTs: my travel and experiences and local delicacies and where to eat good food....the must visit places, must eat food and the must see things :))

Countries I’ve Visited

China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

Malaysia, Singapore