Vince Blog

May was certainly the month of visits. It kicked off with catching up with Mia, who was in town from Shenzhen visiting family. We dated for months when we both lived in Beijing, until she eventually dumped me when I blew her off to watch WWE Royal Rumble 2019 with the boys. While things rekindled a few times in recent years during LA and Hong Kong visits, we met as friends this time. That same week, Jenny from Trash Panda Cycling was in Taipei for a week for visiting family in China. We hung out a few times, got to catch up on LA cycling scene gossip, and we got a bike ride in!

Unfortunately, I forgot to take pics of those hangs. BUT the visits didn't end there! My good friend Kathren was in town with her kids and husband, who is Taiwanese. Me and Kat met back in 2017 in Chinese school and became good study/drinking buddies. We attended our language teacher's wedding, I attended her and Tim's wedding, and she hooked me up with her Kaohsiung friends when I visited Taiwan in 2017. One of them was Lim, who is in the photo, whom I also got to catch up with! He lives in Taipei now! We got Wednesday drinks at Tim and Kat's hotel bar, while their babysitter watching the kids.

Lastly, my buddy Kevin was in town to visit family. We were drinking buddies in Beijing, and had a solid friend group of good times. Dude has lived in Germany, Egypt, and is now in Shanghai, and recently married to a woman from Russia. Homie is the real Mr. Worldwide. We got drinks at my favorite neighborhood bar, and eventually some of my new friends joined us. Solid Friday!

It's pretty epic how life brings people back in your life, whether it's folks you knew you would see eventually or ones you never thought you'd see again.

Took the opportunity of nice weather to visit Jiaobanshan Park in Taoyuan's Fuxing District. Spectacular views. Highlight of the day was a pond with an epic gathering of turtles, including a full-on turtle slap as it swam by one of its brethren.

9 months flew by. Thank you.

Went with four friends to see the home team Wei Chuan Dragons take on the Fubon Guardians at Tianmu Baseball Stadium. My first baseball game outside of America!

Some interesting differences compared to attending live American baseball games: Tianmu had livelier crowds with more chants and folks bringing their own flags and banners, there was a seating section for the visiting team's fans, food was a mix of classic baseball food and Taiwanese food, outfield seating was an expensive open area instead of the cheap seats, and best of all, they have cheerleaders. Looking forward to attending more games.

Up to Taoyuan this weekend for nature and FIREFLIES. There's no way my phone camera would capture fireflies in the dark, but the first picture is where we saw them when night fell. The excitement of when they start coming out shortly after sunset is really fun.

Egg in photo was consumed by me at a restaurant located a few blocks from Taipei Main Station.

I was invited a picnic/live music event at Meiti Riverside Park, where the headliner was my favorite modern R&B singer, 9m88! I last saw her perform when her tour brought her to The Echo in LA a few years back. It was awesome now seeing her perform in her home country. Since it was a free outdoor event, it was a short set so I still got to hit up a show of hers whenever I can.

Last time I did karaoke in Taipei was way back in 2017, so this was a long time coming. This time a buffet was included. I love how similar to Hong Kong KTVs, English songs always have the cheesiest videos playing.

Afterward, we went to a whole other part of the city to hit up this 24/7 game center, where they had bowling, tabletop games, pool tables, and video games, all unlimited for whichever hour set you purchase. I really loved the old computer tech used for bowling scores, pictured above. We left after a final session of DDR around 4am. Good times!

Peige, who is on my Mount Rushmore of best friends, made a pixel bear version of me! It's part of their plan to make pixel bears of close friends. Based off of Sylvia's pixel bear template, I've been wanting to jump on creating some bears as well. This made my day :D

My old LACC film department classmate, Yuta, visited Taipei this week from Nagoya. We first became friends over pulling all-nighters when he asked me to be editor for his class final project short film back in 2010.

Since he left the US, he has also gotten into solo travel, and in recent years moved abroad again to Ho Chi Minh City for 6 months. Over the years, we have hung out in Japan twice, Malaysia, and now Taiwan. Life's crazy, man. Pics of our hangs and recent times below, including a subway rat.

Damn, switching to crystal deodorant has been a game changer, pits-wise. The true test will be when summer heats up.

Joined my colleague and her boyfriend to check out the monthly comedy show, Funny Women Taipei, at Two Three Comedy Club. Solid sets, including open mics and a first-timer. Felt great doing Vince things. Afterwards, made friends with a local comedian and his buddy from Connecticut, talking comedy at the bar until around 2am.

Coming home tonight from what might be Taipei's equivalent to Hong Kong's Lan Kwai Fong party hood. Met new folks! I had fun! I'm very, very drunk! And I'm going to crash sooooo hard. Why am I even typing this?

In order: Yongkang walking street, near Dongmen MRT, and a great view Taipei 101 where a jazz musician was making for some nice background vibes.

In order: drunk selfie with the boys, Glendora's famous Donut Man, rainy day movie night with my cycling friends, my homie Alan and I, enchiladas, and as my final meal in California for now—chicken fried steak with mac 'n cheese and mashed potatoes.

Farewell to my apartment of 5 years! You were the longest place I lived at independently and you were a good home.

Took a day trip to San Juan Capistrano with Ma, seeing both its downtown and its California mission. Love Metrolink's weekend $10 rail ticket program!

Class Photo 2026! (aka my cycling fam no matter where I am in the world)

My portfolio site is simple. I created it on Cargo Collective years ago. However, the site isn't size-responsive and it's mobile look sucks. After loving how Bear Blog works, I decided to redo my entire portfolio here. I spent the entire weekend inside putting this baby together and it's coming along!

Trash Panda Cycling's Tuesday group ride took us to Jollibee in Koreatown, where I currently live. Despite being in my hood, it was my first time eating there! I ate so much, I rode back to downtown with the group for extra miles.

Met a friend in Larchmont today, hitting up one of my favorite pizza spots, Village Pizzeria. The pepperoni side = me.

Celebrated Pa's belated birthday with L.A. Kings tickets, followed by dinner at BCD Tofu House. It was my first hockey game ever. I found it amusing how it seems to be a tradition that when fans with drinks appear on the jumbotron, they immediately shotgun their beer.

They listened to my concerns and worries, and worked with me to help. With a new date set, Taipei is back on—LFG!

First group ride of the year, bay bay.

Rainy weekend, capping off with the classic allergy 1-2-punch of a runny nose and watery eyes. Let's see if these allergy pills still have some fight in them—only expired 8 months!

Day 1 is here. Let's do this.