2016 Vietnam - Backpacking
2017 The Netherlands, France, Switzerland, Germany and Austria - Backpacking
2018 Indonesia (East Java, Bali and Flores)
2019 Taiwan (Bike packing 800km)

I lost my verification since 5th November 2017 because CS admin decided to only give me 3 months free verification because I hosted once. Now I no longer a verified member

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Before you continue with longer version, here's a simplified version of "About Me":
1. Love hiking
2. Love cycling
3. Love nature
4. Love travel
5. Love culture
6. Love architechture
7. Love history
8. Love to try out new language

Now you can continue with super long version of "about me".

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---------ABOUT NAME ---------

Hi, you can call me "Lai", which is my surname, it's ok to call me by surname because there aren't many people carry the surname "Lai". "Yu Zeng" is the given name, it's harder to pronounce, even harder if you include the Chinese intonation, so I'm okay if someone pronounce it wrongly as I'm already used to it. I don't have any Anglophonic name (some Chinese prefer to add English name in front of their original name) because I appreciate the name given by my parents.

---------CULTURAL BACKGROUND---------

I'm Malaysian-Chinese, of Han ethnic, Hakka dialect. My ancestors came from Southern China (around the ShenZhen-HongKong area) and settled in northern part of Malay Peninsular a century ago (I'm 3rd generation).

---------HOSTING STATUS ---------

Me and my wife live with my parents. My parents still still hasn't get use to the Couchsurfing concept so frequent acceptance of surfer is impossible. Still, you can try your luck to write me a request and I might accept it.

---------PERSONALITY---------

Personality wise, I'd say I'm a disciplined person (I like military stuff and I practice some of the military spirit in my life). I love to follow rules as it makes life easier without the need to think too much (I'm a lazy thinker). I think I'm open minded, I try not to criticise nor discriminate and I'll try my best to get along with everyone unless they're the jerk, then I'll stay away from them. I'm always ready to accept new concepts and changes in life. I try not to judge people base on their religion, races, sexual preferences (LGBT) or political preferences, I mean, who am I to judge, right?
My friends say that I'm a punctual person, I'm impressed by the German culture of punctuality and I model my daily life after that concept.

---------HOW I TRAVEL---------

The way I travel is… while most people might want to try out the food, the touristy places for selfies. Well, I'm kinda different, I look for stories, all the details in buildings architecture and the stories behind each of it. I'm curious about people, culture, history, geography and languages (I'm always hungry for those things) I can travel without trying local food, but I'll definitely need to know some stories behind the places I travel to.

---------OTHER SOCIAL PROFILE---------

I'm an amateur Youtuber. Most of my channel contents are about travel and hiking around Malaysia.
Check out my channel at:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQA4ZOiiWZ9DeY36Bie0mZA

Also be sure to check out my Facebook account at:
https://www.facebook.com/laiyuzeng

and my Instagram name: laiyuzeng

My wife's CS profile: https://www.couchsurfing.com/people/pchingtan
and her blog: http://pc-yz.blogspot.my/

---------WORK---------
I just graduated from Malaysia's teachers training college and has been working for 3 and a half year in primary school as a teacher in Southern Part of Malaysia, but as June 2019, I just got my transfer back to Kedah, my hometown. I majored in Chinese study but currently school assigned me to teach English just because I'm more interested in English (that doesn't mean I'm too expert in English tho, I'm more towards sharing things about geography and history)

---------TRAVEL STYLE---------
I don't mind travel on foot, or on bicycles. I love travel on budget.

I have a lovely wife. We always travel together.

I learn language through Duolingo, Memrise, MP3 clips on car audio and Youtube language channels.

I respect host's culture, religion and taboo. Just tell me anything and rules inside your house, and I will follow it.

I already got used to following rules (5 and a half years of college hostel life and 3 months of national service)

---------CONVERSATION TOPICS---------

I can be a little bit introvert at first when meeting new people, but once the ice is broken, I will have a lot of topic to cover in a conversation. Do expect me to be quiet and awkward the first time we meet. In case you're hiking+history+ geography+culture and economy political nerd, then we'll have a lot to talk.

I'm okay with any kind of hosts, if the host is busy, I will surely leave them alone and I will try my best not to disturb them. If the host is talkable and I will try my best to continue the conversation :)

---------HABIT---------

I don't drink nor smoke nor gamble. If you offer me a little wine, sure I will drink it as a sign of respect, but don't expect me to finish a whole bottle of beer, let alone a bottle of wine. However, I do love coffee a lot. Can't live without coffee.

---------INTEREST---------

I love to play games (historical war games: World of Warships, World of Tanks, Total War, Company of Heroes). Through the games, I learnt a lot about history and values of heroic acts done by some ordinary people with extraordinary courage. Wars shaped human history. I know it's not a good thing, but I think it makes me appreciate peace in modern time by understanding what previous generations had went through during the war time.
History must be studied so that it must not be repeated itself!

---------ACTIVITIES I LOVE---------

I'm an adrenaline junkie and thrill seeker. I'm not afraid of height and I love to jump off from things like waterfall and safe ledges. I love sitting on cliffs (as long as they're safe and stable) and bow of boats and ships. I'd like to try out bungie jump, sky diving and whitewater rafting one day.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

Discovered the website while doing research for future travel to Europe (mostly about France) since 2014

WHY I'M ON COUCHSURFING

1. I want to learn from real people while travel. I don't want to just visit a place, take some picture and say goodbye.

2. To earn more references (gain more trust) and learn foreign culture, everyone have something to learn from someone, ain't it?

3. To meetup with interesting people from all over the world. So far, I've met teachers, full time traveler, digital nomad, ex-anchorman, expat, social worker, adventure cyclist, hitchhiker etc. Each of them have their very own interesting stories to tell! And trust me, I'm super hungry for interesting stories, they make every meetup the most memorable one. Through them, I feel like I'm already traveled the world by just listening to their travel, hitch hiking and adventure stories. I found that the more meetup I had, the more I want. It's so addictive to meet new people from new countries. I've learnt lots of trivias of some countries that normally cannot be found in the Internet.

4. I love to travel on budget (Thats one of the reason, but nothe the main reason I'm on CS. I mean, who doesn't, right?). Travel in Europe can be very expensive for me in terms of food and accomodation. I would like to save those money for museum, flight, train and bus tickets.
Why I have to travel on budget? Weak Malaysian Ringgit to Euro exchange rate, basically it's 1 Euro=5.0MYR. So average wage for Malaysian is only about 600Euro per month, spending those money in Malaysia is sustainable, but not so much if travel to countries with high exchange rate. However, dont worry that, I'm not going to force you to treat me a meal or what so ever, nor I'll rip your off or take you for granted. I'm going to bring dried food along so that I can sustain myself in case I cant afford the food there. You can eat my food too if you dont mind eating Malaysian food. Plus, I'd like to help out with house chores too as exchange for your offering to host me.

5. I can cope with sleeping on the floor as long as it can save my travel budget so that I can travel more. I'd like to be kinda vegabond or hobo (sort of) but my job dont allow me to do so. :(

6. I want to introduce my country to the world. I'm litterally proud of my country, Malaysia. Even though our country get into international headlines and people might laugh at us (1MDB scandal, flight MH370, flight MH17, assasination of Kim Jong Nam in KLIA) but trust me, Malaysia is a beautiful country worth visit if you love mother nature. Cheap food, cheap currency, everything are cheap if you come from western countries.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE
I joined Couchsurfing since the day I was still a teenager and I didn't get the chance to surf nor host. But right now I've had the chance to host for the first time in August 2017. It was a great experience. Learnt a lot from people of different culture. I realised that showing fellow surfer around my town and telling history to them brings me joy beyond description.

Addicted to CS since Europe trip in 2017. Met a lot of nice souls. Convinced myself to continue CS whenever I travel. Learned a lot of cultural stuffs, history and off beaten path. Never gonna look back to some typical boring travel agent tour.

Interests

I love European history especially Roman times, neo-classical era, Napoleonic war, WWI, WWII, Korean war and Vietnam war era. would love to visit all the castles and historical sites in Europe and learn all the stories behind them.

Violin, but I'm just an amateur self learner from Youtube videos
Musics
(I play violin and Erhu)
Archery
(which I'm not so good in)
Architecture
Equestrian (horse are such a noble creatures)
Historic Weaponry
(just for historical purpose)
History
War history
European Culture
Travel
Hiking
Canoeing
Kayaking

Versailles, Fontainbleu, and historical places in France

• coffee
• classical music
• equestrian
• hiking
• archery
• geography
• history
• architechture
• drone
• world of tanks
• world of warships
• sports camera
• total war

Music, Movies, and Books

Music:
Classical (Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Vivaldi)
Country (American country songs, I mean, who can resist the magic of ukulele+fiddles+banjo?)
Pop (Coldplay, Onerepublic, Maroon5, Charlie Puth, Taylor Swift)
EDM (Avicii, David Guetta, Swedish House Mafia)

Movies:
Horror: Lights Out, The Conjuring, Insidious, Thai horror movies etc
(the creepier, the better, I'm an adrenaline junkie)
Thriller: Jack Reacher, DaVinci Code, The Purge, Inferno, Sherlock Holmes
Adventure: The Revenant, Django Unchained
Comedy: Anchorman, Grown Up, Hangover, The Wolf of Wallstreet, Crazy Stupid Love, The Interview
(the funnier, the better)
War: Saving Private Ryan, Flags of Our Fathers, The Last Samurai, Letters from Iwo Jima, The Pacific series, Band of Brothers, The Longest Day, A Bridge too Far, Pearl Harbor, Unser Mutter unser Vater (War Generation), Das Boot, Der Untergang, Inglorious Basterds, Fury, Dunkirk

Books:
Factual (history, geography)
Science
Technology
Fictional (Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Narnia)

Favourite Youtube channels:
GeographyNow
TheGreatWar
EpicHistory
Channels about drone, travel tips, science and interesting facts

I love Stand up comedian: Trevor Noah, Russell Peters, Gabriel Iglesia, Jim Jefferies and Harith Iskandar are my favourites

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Cycled 800km around Taiwan in 22 days

Walk on the crater rim of a volcano

Cycled 80km around Penang Island for 9hours

Walked 35km in one day around Paris

Snow hiking in Lauterbrunnen in -3 degree Celsius for 6 hours without proper snow boots. Almost contracted frost bite.

Hitchhike waiting for almost 1 hour in freeze temperature.

Performed Erhu solo and violin solo on stage several times

Got lost in Phan Thiet while searching for our budget hostel

Sand gliding in Mui Ne, Vietnam

Travel Vietnam with just a pair of Croc shoes (a kind of sandals)

Sit on the edge of the cliff of Mount Baling (you can see that in the picture section)

River rafting for 8 hours under scorching sun in Perak River with my co-curricular course mate

8 hours non stop hiking at Bukit Kutu (Lice Hill is considered a hard hike among hikers in Malaysia)

Jumping off a waterfall

(You might think those aren't amazing, but they're amazing for me tho)

Teach, Learn, Share

I'm learning French and German, the way they talk sounds cool
(but my German is weaker)

I can teach you Chinese and Malay since I'm a school teacher

You can ask me all about Chinese culture, history, and tradition.

You can ask me all about Malaysia, be it politics, history, geography, demography etc

If we spend time have a walk around the old town, I can explaining to you a lot about the evolution of Melaka's house architecture from the beginning till the end.

What I Can Share with Hosts

I'll bring some Malaysian local food along my trip to Europe as most of the food in Europe and western countries are very expensive. If you don't mind, I can share the food with you.

I can share the chores or housework if you allow me to, I'd love to help out. I can sweep the floor, mop the floor, fold the laundry, wash the dishes, wash the car and even mow the lawn. Don't worry, I like things clean, neat and tidy.

If you have a farm or shops, I'd like to help out. I'm sure it'll be an interesting and memorable experience. I just hope I wont mess things up. :D

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, France, Germany, Indonesia, Netherlands, Singapore, South Korea, Switzerland, Thailand, Viet Nam