Oh, to be a father of a daughter turning 7. Seems like that age when she is forming her own mind and can no longer be “contained” by my influence ha! Maggie is a super independent kid and we chiseled it out more this past Saturday at a “family day” trip to We arrived 10am-ish and for sure were one …
Trip to the Chiang Mai Planetarium
Snuck a quick afternoon trip to the space museum in Chiang Mai, Thailand Sometimes you just need to take the kids out and play. Been cooped up waiting for mommy to come back from her trip – and with Christmas almost here – lets make it happen. We were able to get a seat at the 2pm viewing in the …
Meeting 15 of the “Shadstone Ninjas” on the Philippines Company Retreat
Many who follow my blog don’t even know about our main “operations and creation” company Shadstone. Since 2007 it has existed as a B2B agency for Asia business and boutique marketing. Since Covid, we have really doubled down on BUILDING LEADERS. Janette Toral has been coaching us and we have made some hard adjustments but am proud of the team …
Traveling to Manila from Thailand in the “new normal” of December 2022
On the road again. My Uncle Bill would comment on this very blog (rest in peace Uncle Bill) when he saw me “in my element” of being on the road in China and Asia. With Covid, the world stopped – at least my world – been a few months now in Chiang Mai, Thailand – but time to go “solo …
Trip to the Chiang Mai Waterfall Wang Bua Ban Pond
Family day, family trip. Decided to take the vlog camera with me and share this trip for those curious on the waterfall in Chiang Mai named Wang Bua Ban Pond A rather simple hike (or maybe we didn’t know how to find otherwise a longer path) around the falls. It had many small “pools” where people were dipping their toes …
Planning Manila , Philippines Trip in December 2022
So planning my Manila trip – and will be there from Midnight Tuesday Dec 6 (so technically Dec 7, Wednesday) and flying out on Monday late afternoon December 12. Dec 7 to 9 I am 100% focused on our amazing Shadstone team retreat. Will drive up to Tagatay resort where as many our team are there will focus on team …
Trip to a Mountain Factory in North Thailand
With just under a month in Thailand – can’t help myself and had to do a factory visit. This is the factory of one of our brands – Akitai, handmade jewelry. Andres our business partner flew up from his home in Phuket Sunday morning, where we meet in Chiang Mai airport and drove 4 hours to a lake in the …
Arrival in Thailand (Allowed To Leave China)
Typing this up from a hotel lobby near the BKK airport, on the last day of the month of August 2022 – ready for a fresh start in Chiang Mai for the month of September and the rest of 2022. Still don’t want to reveal too much about the process of getting approval for my wife and children to leave …
Nice Reunion with Melissa, Who Helped Me Come to China
As we approach 2022, it feels as if the years just keep flying by. I’ve been back in Shenzhen now for a few months and I’ve realized that old friends are also returning. One example is Melissa. She was in South Africa with her husband and daughter (her husband’s job relocated him there), but in the last year or so, …
7-Day Mountain Temple Experience Recap
No video blog, no photos today of the actual experience, sorry. Just have this one photo of the map I took while hiking one of the mountains in case I got lost (which I did anyway – but what is it to be lost in reality anyway?) Like many things in life, I wish I had done this earlier. My …
HuaQiangBei Electronics Market Post Covid Tour with my Son
I’ve done a Hua Qiang Bei market tour video blog before, but that was all in the “pre-COVID” world. Friends like Andy Lee have been asking me for a vlog showing how the Hua Qiang Bei market has transformed since COVID became a reality. Today, my son received a DIY spider robot in the mail and made most of it …
Forcing Yourself to Take a Couple Days Away: Huizhou Beach
For months, since we were up in Shenyang, we’ve been discussing with the family about taking at least a few days. The original plan was to go to the Shaolin temple, but the heavy rains and flooding there caused us to skip those plans. Then we decided to come down to Shenzhen and I hoped to get a bit of …
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 …
Company Retreat
March 2020 was crazy! I went to Bohol in the Philippines to meet my team. The plan was to do a strategic planning and team building or retreat. I just want to get to know the team better. Then, it happened. Lockdown. We were having fun one day then scrambled to try to get home the next. The rest, well …
Mini Vacation in China (Yes, in today’s Climate)
Been quite some time since last vlog, feels strange even recording and typing it up. A bit rusty with the video came – hope you can enjoy! A few of you have been missing the videos – but I do not want to just make videos for the sake of making videos. The point of the vlog is when I …