FAQs

Photo credit/source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/virtualeyesee/

Your posts seem a tad old, why?!

I'm in the process of rebuilding and recounting my past experiences. The backlog of stuffs I want to share are well worth it despite their age.

When do you do post new stuffs and updates?

When I have the spare time to (or just not that lazy to).

Are these experiences real or just a figment of your own imagination?

It is what you believe it is. With that being said, I cannot be held liable for anything you might see and read here.

You take awesome pictures, are you a photographer by any chance?

No need for flattery, I'm just an amateur when it comes to photography, taking one photo at a time and learning in the process. I take my photos in high-resolution jpeg but never in raw. Why? because I don't have a need to, and besides it takes a huge chunk of space in my hard drive. Though, I save two copies of the same pictures in my hard drive, one which is the original resolution and dimension I took 'em and another, the resized one that I post here. Why resize my photos before posting? It's because of storage limitation from the host service.

Awesome! So what camera do you use?

I use a first generation Sony NEX-5 mirrorless interchangeable lens camera.

Why?! I heard they suck.

Why not? It's a lightweight digital camera with most of the features of an SLR camera. It's durable and handy, so you can just grab and shoot anytime, anywhere.

Do you retouch your pictures?

There is no such thing as absolute perfection. Whether you like it or not, there would be something that would prevent you from taking that picture perfect shot. It may be the weather, the crowd, or just plain error on my part. But who cares, as long as you retouch a bit, it can make your photos from being dull to awesome.

You mentioned you like to watch food programs and travel shows, can you recommend some?

Here are some of my favorites arrange by the host's name:

• Anthony Bourdain- No Reservations, The Layover, Parts Unknown
• Andrew Zimmern- Bizzare Foods, Bizzare Foods America
•  Adam Richman- Man v. Food, Amazing Eats
• Bobby Chinn- World Cafe: Asia, Bobby Chin Cooks Asia
• Luke Nguyen- Luke Nguyen's Vietnam, Luke Nguyen's France
• Samantha Brown- Passport to Europe, Passport to Latin America
• Denise Keller- Passage to Malaysia, Passage to China.
• Buddy Valastro- Cake Boss, Next Great Baker

I read somewhere that you studied Mandarin Chinese? How was it?

Chinese is a very challenging yet fun language to learn and it's not as hard as most people think. All you need is motivation, perseverance and the right kind of attitude in order to learn fast. Practice with the locals, or with your classmate, it helps. But the most helpful thing that can aid you in your quest to learn the obscure language? TV and YouTube. Just by watching Chinese TV shows and listening to Chinese songs, you can exponentially increase your learning speed.

What books did you use in school to learn?

In our school, we used the Practical Audio-Visual Chinese Books 1 to 5(實用視聽華語) published by National Taiwan Normal University. It is a well-written, easy-to-use and easy-to-understand book. I'll make a post about the book in the future.

Taiwan mostly uses the traditional character script in writing but since they are adapting to the student's needs and the changing times, the books we used also include the simplified character scripts and PinYin, which China uses, for reference.

How long have you studied Mandarin Chinese in Taiwan?

I've studied for a good one year and three months. In a little over a year, I've learned a lot of things in and out of the classroom. Yes, I can speak/listen/read and write. And yes, I can read some magazines, newspapers, books and online articles. And yes, I can understand most movies and TV shows that I watch even the news.

The only problem is retention. As in most cases, if you don't practice and apply the knowledge you acquired, it won't be able to help you. You won't forget them as I believe everything that we learn, everything we take in, is never forgotten, forever stored in our minds, in our subconscious, waiting for the right trigger to help remember them, but it won't help you when you most need them.

Simplified vs Traditional??

As far as I am concerned, I prefer traditional as it conveys the original meaning of the word or character used. It may be hard to learn at first but in the long run, it'll help you learn faster. Trust me. But hey, who am I to tell you what to choose, it's to each their own. Go choose your side.

WTF is SpiritB?!

It's a moniker of mine when I used to play World of Warcraft, a massively multiplayer online RPG game, as a Druid Bear/Boomkin.

I've got more questions.

I'm sure you have.

No, I'm serious!

Alright, if you say so. Send me a message using the form at the bottom of the page. Click here if you're lazy!