first ever father & daughter photo

i've taken tons of pictures of olivia the past couple days but then i just realized i haven't taken a photo together with her yet

with the wifey sleeping and no one around i had to do it myself and take a self-portrait

check it out...



my very own mini-me

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hello baby!

today our lives changed forever

a new chapter has began in our lives on this world

lives and world which are now better because of her

born on november 26th at 12:35am, weighing in at 3280 grams (7 lbs, 5 oz)

our baby

our daughter

Olivia Yu


"hi everyone. my name is olivia yu. nice to you meet you!"


"my dad is a big bruce lee fan, so here's a bruce lee pose just for dad... wooooohhh"


mother & daughter... both doing great. the wifey still looking fabulous.


stamped and approved.






all cleaned up and getting some rest.




"happy feet"




that's my baby pic on the left. did we come out of the same mold or what?!?!

i'm actually posting this from the hospital

we got an awesome private room which looks just like a fancy luxury hotel room with internet connection and all


this is the hallway outside our hospital room. fancy, huh?








our room. not too shabby, not at all

got lots more pics and videos but i'm just too exhausted right now so i'll post more in the coming days

this is the most wonderful experience and exciting time in our lives

we are enjoying every second of it!

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still pregnant

we've received a few messages and emails asking if baby arrived yet

nope

the wifey's still pregnant

the estimated due date is next tuesday 11/27, so no worries as we've still got a few days, but damn... am i anxious!

i don't think i've ever felt so anxious and eager in my life

these past couple weeks, i get really nervous and my heart picks up a couple extra beats every time the wifey calls me when i'm not home

we're thinking it'll happen in the next couple days because her belly has dropped quite a bit and she's having contractions a couple times a day

patiently (and anxiously... and eagerly) awaiting

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shameless self-promotion

hey, it was bound to happen sooner or later, so might as we get it over with

go check out this week's featured blog at bloggers in taiwan...



a little self-promotion never hurt anyone

ok, i do feel some shame

i'm gonna go hide now

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a walk in the park - chang gung university in linkou

a couple months ago we drove up to linkou to go swimming at the pool located in the chang gung university campus

they were closed for renovations but since we were out there already, we decided to take a stroll at the park located right inside the campus

surprisingly, there were a lot of people out there

mainly family with kids playing games and having picnics

it was very nice to see since outdoor activities are a rarity amongst the local city and suburban families out here


this is a pan shot of the pond which sits in the middle of the park. click on pic to see large version.


the wifey. she's about 28 weeks in this pic.






these are some of the ducks and drakes that live in the pond. people were feeding them bread, cookies and fish pellets.


there were also a lot of turtles and fish in the pond but this little fella caught my eye. at first, i thought to myself that's gotta be some kind of taiwanese turtle because it sure has a big head but then it didn't look like a turtle. it sure didn't look like a fish either.....


after getting a closer look and zooming in with my cam, i realized it was a rat! it had jumped into the water to get some of the food people were throwing into the pond to feed the ducks, fish and turtles. after paying more attention and taking a good look around, i saw a bunch of rats running around in the outskirts of the pond. not just a small bunch, a lot! easily at least over 30 running around. can you imagine how many more were hiding in their burrows and lairs??? that's pretty disgusting, especially considering how many kids were out there playing around. i am not taking my kids there in future!

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new cloverfield trailer in hd

lost has been one of my favorite tv shows these past couple years

the creator and producer of the show, jj abrams, has been working on a new film called cloverfield

the film has created a lot of buzz and a huge following on the internet, altho' not much is known about the film yet except that it's a monster movie and shot in the style of the blair witch project

well, a new hd tralier has just been released

check it out here: http://www.cloverfieldmovie.com

here: http://www.apple.com/trailers/paramount/11808

or ...



that was monstrous

still not much is known, but i hope it doesn't suck like the blair witch project

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inside the taiwan high speed rail

enjoy...

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a free ride on the taiwan high speed rail

ever since the taiwan high speed rail inaugurated in january, i've been wanting to take a ride

i finally got the opportunity to do so a couple weeks ago and best of all it was free!

my company paid for the trip because i had to take a customer to ching fong located in changhua in central taiwan

chin fong is one of the largest stamping press manufacturers in the world and probably in all of taiwan

the other taiwanese brand for presses that gives chin fong a run for their money is seyi

i'd say these are on par with each other

just think of coca-cola and pepsi

the reason we had to visit chin fong is because my customer bought a 400 ton press, so since he was in town, he wanted to check on the progress of the machine and at the same time tie up some lose ends regarding logistics

as usual, lots of pictures to get to, so let's get it on...


we met at the lobby of the caesar park hotel which is right across from the taipei station. our meeting time was 7am, but i got there a little earlier than expected. i took the bus out there from my home in xinzhuang and since i never take the bus i had no idea how long it would take, so i gave myself a little extra time. a little too much extra as i got there by 6:40am. also, i can't believe how many people are out there at 6am. most of them are students too. i really feel bad for them since i see students all the time late at night (10pm-ish) carrying their books and school bags, and then they are up on the bus by 6am!?!? kids just don't get to be kids out here. that's why i plan and hope my kids do not go to school here in taiwan. anyways, that's another post for another day.


i bought the tickets online a couple days ahead of time to make sure we had seats. didn't really have to as the train was pretty empty but hey, better be safe than sorry i say. here's a look at the ticket. since the train doesn't stop in changhua, we had to stop at the taichung station, which only turned out to be about 15 ~ 20 minutes drive from the chinfong factory. look at the ticket... 49 minutes from taipei to taichung. nice! it takes at least 2 hours to drive there... on a good day without much traffic on the highway. nice!


our train.


a look inside our cabin. hmm... the inside of a plane is called the cabin. is the inside of a train called the cabin too? or is it called wagon? cart? car? anyone? anyways, i'm very impressed at how clean it was and surprised at how roomy. man, i wish economy class on an airplane was that spacious.


here's a "map" of the train detailing the amenities and facilities. click on picture to see larger version.


me and my traveling companion aldo from chile.


a few minutes into the ride, this girl came through with her shopping cart selling snacks and drinks. i'm not even sure what she was selling exactly. i remember seeing some bags of chips, cookies and her saying coffee, but that's it. she came from the back so we didn't even know she was coming through until she passed us. i really think they should come from the front so people can get a heads up. now i wonder if she had beer?










above are few shots out the window.




and we arrive at our destination. look at the time of arrival on the ticket i showed you above... now look at the time showing on this last picture. impressive! yup, same deal when we departed too. as soon as that clock on the platform turned 8:00am, we were off. that was some smooth sailing. that was nice, considering sometimes it takes just as long to drive into taipei city. i really enjoyed the ride. the one thing i'd like to complain about is how loud the trains are. i don't mean the people, i mean the train itself. i was expecting something quieter.


the view from the train platform.


inside the taichung station.


outside the station awaiting our driver.


our driver picked us up and a short 15 minutes later we arrive at our final destination. the factory is big, but not as big as i expected.


after spending the rest of the morning meeting and discussing this and that, we were given a tour of the factory after lunch. here's part of a press frame one a cnc machine.


side view of an 800 ton press going through final assembly.


a crank and shaft awaiting to be assembled.


a couple frames for straight sided presses. these are most likely for 300 or 400 ton presses. for what its worth, these are about 2 stories high.


a few more frames just sitting around waiting to get worked on then on to assembly. those to the right are some gap frame presses. most likely 110 or 160 ton presses.

are you bored yet???

here, have a laugh...


i think my head is too big for that helmet! since it's my blog, i'm just gonna go ahead and say the helmet was too small. yup, that's it. the helmet was too small!


after our tour of the factory, it was time to go. back to the station to buy tickets.


a chart showing all the stations.


awaiting for the train.


here it is...


all aboard!

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