In July 2022, Bonita and I traveled to Austria, Slovenia, and Croatia for our honeymoon. We were there for two weeks. This post documents the things we did specifically in Austria over five days. Among the 24 countries I’ve visited, Austria is one of my favorites. I hope this post inspires you to visit the country.
I recently replaced the lawn in the front yard with drought tolerant plants. The total out-of-pocket cost of the project was $536.81. Here was our entire process from start to finish, along with cost breakdown.
Most of this post was written next to my wife on a return flight from our honeymoon. My choices were to watch movies with no earphones, or write. Easy decision.
I just turned 32. I call the Bay Area home. I’m married. I work from home. I almost have an MBA degree. I play tennis regularly. I’m riddled with physical injuries. As I contemplate how we got here, I reflect on the past 10 years leading up to the present, and I envision how the next 10 years will pan out.
How did we get here?
Continue reading “10 year reflection @ 32 years old.”Grandma,
I’m sad that I will no longer hear your voice every time I call 05-245310. I’m sad that, when the family gathers together all over from Chiayi, Taichung, Kaoshiung, and California, you won’t be able to sit at the table with everyone. I’m sad that I won’t be able to eat the delicious cabbage and egg soup you make, the fresh fish you get directly from the market, and everything in between. And I’m sorry that I could not see you last year because of COVID. I really wanted to see you again.
Continue reading “In memory of Taiwan grandma.”2020 began with fireworks in Hilo, Hawaii, preventing Bonita and I from falling asleep well past our usual bedtime. No worries; we had spent New Years Eve exploring a waterfall, eating poke, and watching the sun set at the world’s newest beach.
When I think of grandma, I think of all the meals she prepared for the family. For the 21 years I lived at home, grandma cooked the vast majority of dinners. Not only did she care about the taste, the presentation was equally important. She’d carefully choose which dinnerware to use; place the foods down with intention; portioned the amounts to make the dish look aesthetically pleasing. I always told her she was an “artist cook.” The cuisine changed depending on season, as she preferred buying groceries on sale, but the quality was always there.
I was supposed to visit Taiwan last month, but due to COVID-19, had to cancel plans. I miss my relatives dearly, but thankfully have good memories from my trip last year to Taiwan and Japan.
This post shares my three days in Taiwan, followed by four days in Japan. This was my first ever non-business solo trip.
Continue reading “7 days in Taiwan and Japan: how I survived traveler’s diarrhea in my first ever solo travel.”Early on in 2019, I created a budget on how much money I’d spend for the year. This post shares how much money I expected to spend, what I actually spent, and my analysis of the results.
Continue reading “2019 budget: expectations vs. reality”
As the year comes to an end, I wanted to reflect on 2019. It’s been a good year, one filled with joy and fulfillment.
I first focus on the two resolutions I made, followed by other things worth noting throughout the year.
Continue reading “Retrospective on 2019.”
This essay shares my perspective on product strategy. I allude to takeaways from a product management workshop I attended hosted by Amplitude (a product analytics company), along with some learnings from Guy Kawasaki’s The Start of the Start.
The objective of this post is to help you set the right metrics that align with your product strategy, to effectively track those metrics, and ultimately build the right product.
Continue reading “Product Strategy: Defining & Tracking the Right Metrics.”
Andy Cheng 