I remember my dad taking me to a construction site when I was a kid. Jumping up on a bulldozer was the greatest time. So my kids will maybe have a similar memory on visiting a factory and seeing some production line work. Being back in Shenzhen has been intense, and this is the second visit to a factory we …
Walking Into A Live Video Streaming Studio + Creating Opportunities
Jumping full steam into living in Shenzhen again. And as you can imagine, there is just so much to do. My buddy James Sung at Zocus invited me to an amazing opportunity: a brand new live streaming studio office operation in Nanshan High Tech Park. They are still working out the details and pulling together resources, but over the last …
“Fight For Love” – A Saturday with My Son
Getting into the groove of these regular vlogs again now that I am out and about (it’s hard to do vlogs when you are isolated in an apartment). We are now back in Shenzhen and I’m trying to take this vlog camera around with me. A great time to do this was Saturday with my son. Last Saturday was Chinese …
Back to Business in Shenzhen
After an overnight adventure landing and settling in to Shenzhen, we settled in a bit and then hit the ground running! Today I took the vlog camera out with me to some business meetings to give you a little sneak behind the scenes on “what does Mike actually do”? Anyone who is in the know knows that Shenzhen is the …
Journey BACK to Shenzhen Living
It’s just like those mobster movies I used to watch as a kid. They always say, “Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in.” This is definitely the case for business and life in China, but it especially applies for the city of Shenzhen. After about a year and a half in Shenyang, China (a northeast …
May 1 Holiday – Local village + Culture Shock
It’s been a while since the last vlog that I did. But with all of us locked down, there’s not much to vlog. I have barely left the 2 block radius of this apartment, ha! But we did take a TRIP! We took a 2-3 hour normal drive (4 hours with the holiday traffic) to a lake / beach near …
Adjusting to New Normal – Online School For Kids (and your kids?)
One year into a new post-covid19 world, we are preparing to launch a new online school. This will be under the brand of our cross border business community, Global From Asia. A small pilot summer program is coming in June and we even did a podcast about it. You can check the GFA podcast here. In this short clip, Mike …
Virtual 40th Birthday Shot
My buddy Andrew and I were born in the same city hospital, 2 weeks apart. Our social security numbers are super close! He is turning 40 today. I’ll be 40 in a couple of weeks. We are getting old, we don’t even use Facebook or Whatsapp. We’re sticking to old school SMS (lucky I have Google voice). So, I shot …
Daughter Turning 5, Birthday Again in Lockdown
Getting towards the end of Jan 2021, and preparing for Chinese New Year (mid Feb 2021 this year). And, it is always our daughter’s birthday during this time. She was born on the coldest day on record in Shenzhen, China in 2016 (watch that vlog here) And her last 2 birthdays have been in lockdown up in cold Shenyang, China. …
New Year, New Covid Test
Welcome 2021! We are all adjusting to the new normal and here in Shenyang, China there is a new outbreak of COVID, some new strain. I’ll be honest, I am not following the news. But all I know is, New Year’s morning, we woke up to mandatory COVID swab tests in a vocational school turned COVID testing center. A bit …
My Son Wants To Become a Kung Fu Master!
We all have new year’s resolutions. My son, Miles may not even be aware of what those are yet but he has one: To become a Kung Fu master! All those Atom Man cartoons and toys combined with his love for Spiderman led him to want to learn Kung Fu. So Wendy found a nearby (well, 30 minute taxi ride) …
Merry Christmas From Shenyang, China
We are coming to a close this year! While no Christmas tree or Christmas “Culture” here in Shenyang, China – was able to get a “hong bao” from Wilson Blues and went to the mall to grab some books and dig through various markets to find some wrapping paper. Kids pushed to open on Christmas Eve – but we insisted …
Why Rico Moved to Asia
I caught up with my friend, Rico Ngoma, CEO of Source Find Asia, in Manila, Philippines early this year. This was before the whole COVID-mania took over most of our lives. We talked about why we moved to Asia, what made us take that leap from where we were and why we decided to stay. It was fun thinking about …
Staying Healthy and Fit (Positive) During Challenging Times
The year 2020 is coming to an end, and many of us have gone through dramatic changes. One small thing I have done – when I had to flee Philippines and left most of my possessions behind – one was a TRX set for my morning workout. Been doing basic stretches in the meantime – but then was lucky enough …
Mountain Hike During Golden Week Holiday in Shenyang
Yes, been a while since the last vlog – but hope you are enjoying the shorter more focused videos on a specific topic or thing we are working on here instead. Those who miss these vlogs, here we go – finally leaving the house again (seems whenever I leave the house I have to take the camera!) for an extended …