------Updates Nov 8, 2024 ------

Please READ my profile.

Next few places for me to roam:
November 2024: Las Vegas and Seattle, USA; Vancouver, Canada.
December 2024: a few cities in Germany and Zurich, Switzerland.
January 2025: Milan, Naples, Rome, Italy; a few cities in Spain; Lisbon and Porto, Portugal.

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

***About Me***

I'm a digital nomad. Known to be foodie, curious, geeky, musical, quirky, entrepreneurial, and technically minded, I enjoy serving and helping people, and I prefer being kind over being nice.

Canadian by citizenship, Chinese by birth, and Malaysian by family root. I've lived in Canada since 2012, and I'm exploring where else to base in the next chapter of my life. I use English and Mandarin as a native speaker, I can communicate in Hokkien/Taiwanese, I know enough French to order food - parce que j'habitais à Montréal, and I recently started to learn Spanish. I have extended family across Canada, China, Germany, Italy, Singapore, and US.

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 events, 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.

Since covid re-opening, I aim to host more and co-organize some events. I got 3x shots against covid plus I survived from omicron if that’s important to you.

Originally a computational biochemist by training, I've been in biotech for a few years. Currently, I work remotely for a BC-based company called joni: https://getjoni.com/ we're on a mission to improve women health, and we believe in sustainable and high-quality menstrual care. I advocate for more men to be educated about menstrual cycles!

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 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.

I'm a digital nomad, and I host people in my temporary home wherever I go. I own a house in Halifax Canada, and I can host you in my living room, please read "My Home" for more details

-I only host one person each time. The living room can be converted to a private bedroom, but the couch only allows one person.

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

-Hot shower, I 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.

-I will check your reference, especially if there's negative reference, and I will make decision accordingly on whether to host you. I have zero tolerance for sexual assault, harassment, bigotry of any kind.

-Couchsurfing is about building genuine relationships, and it would be impossible to connect with you if you're staying for that short amount of time, I generally don't host anyone who only stay for less than 24h. Staying between 3 and 5 nights are the most comfortable for me to host.

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！

我是在福建出生长大的加拿大华人，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。我有一栋独立屋，沙发客一般睡在一楼的客厅里。我的父母住在二楼，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闽南语和中文，他们分别在中国、日本、德国和加拿大生活过。

我因为工作大多数时候不在哈法。如果有缘，希望我们在旅途上相见。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。

我的背景是生物化学，在医疗器械行业做销售。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

I met my late friend Micheal via Couchsurfing, he died of brain cancer years ago, I miss him: https://www.couchsurfing.com/people/michael.cuskelly/

Michael summed up why I'm on Couchsurfing:
"Couchsurfing has given me an opportunity to share. It has been a very uplifting experience."

People come and go in my life, and we're lucky if we get along and stay in touch, sometimes I bond with people for odd topics such as bread recipe or real estate investing. We human beings are social animals, we need belonging.

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 and Yo-Yo Ma I also listen to folk and indie musicians, such as Walk off the Earth, Lily Meola, William Prince, Grace Yurchuk, and Mandarin-speaking folk musicians：李宗盛、陈粒、宋冬野，etc.

---

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."

---

Books:

What are you currently reading? I read in 2 languages and a wide range: technology, sexuality, fiction, business, history, science, poetry, etc. A recent favourite of mine is Mating in Captivity (by Esther Perel). Currently, I'm working on No Rules Rules by Reed Hastings (founder of Netflix) and author Prof Erin Meyer. 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

"All models are wrong, but some are useful." - George E. P. Box

All algorithm, model, philosophy, and religion are ways that humans use to explain the world. We all build our own models and systems based on our experience, I'd like to learn about your model

I used to be a competitive Rubik's cuber, and I can teach you how to solve a Rubik's cube. My record of solving a 3x cube is ~36s. Check out my profile on the World Cubing Association: https://www.worldcubeassociation.org/persons/2017CHEY27

I cook, I bake, and I have a few speciality recipes to share, but it'd be more awesome if you can beat me on Rubik's cube and teach me some new algorithms.

I’ve played piano for over 20 years, and I enjoy classical music. I also write song lyrics for Chinese folk songs 我有时会自己填民谣歌词 If you play instrument, I'd love to hear new songs from you.

Additionally, I like to debate about healthcare policy and biomedical ethics. My work is related to healthcare, and I do have some strong opinions about it.

What I Can Share with Hosts

I send former hosts postcards from unique places

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