My Story (in less than 5 pages.)

to know a person, you really need to know a little bit about their family history. so, before I get off on myself. a little background info...

this story came straight from my father...

before 1938, my ancestors resided in mainland china. my grandfather was a rich merchant who had 2 ships with which he used in his import/export business. grandfather had 3 wives. #3 wife was my grandmother. grandmother was age 16 when she married grandfather. he was age 58 at the time of the marriage. grandfather had 13 sons with his 3 wives. my father was #10 son. grandmother had 4 sons with grandfather.

my grandfather passed away in 1931.

of the 13 sons, I am not sure if any of them are still alive. frankly, just lost touch. uncle raymond was #13 son. if he is still alive today, he would be over 80 years old.

personally, I was fortunate enough to have met sons #9-13. I remember meeting #9 son back in 1959 when I was about 5 years old and he was 50+. I remember his face because he gave my little sister a teddy bear that brought a big smile to her face. one of those smiles you don't forget. hehehe.

I met son #11 in china back in 1985. son #12 in 1971. uncle raymond who was son #13 was always around all my life until my father passed away in 1991.

an interesting tidbit about my family...

the oldest son of son #1 was about the same age as my father who was son #10. the guy lived across the street from my father in roseburg, oregon. and until the age of about 15, I thought he was just my uncle.

now, my father himself was pretty active in the bedroom. he had 3 wives too. 7 children with my real mom who passed away in 1969. 1 adopted son, 2 paper sons, and 1 step-daughter. maybe 2 years after my real mom passed away from heart disease, my father remarried. no children with her. the marriage lasted from around 1971 to 1989. step-mom then passed away. my next step-mom was someone from mainland china. and I didn't really get to know her. my father passed away in 1991 at age 74. he had just gotten married with step-mom from china. not even 6 months.

there's more to the story. but since this is my bio, let's focus on that now.


I was born in 1954 in roseburg, oregon. the 4th of 7 born. names? let's see...
annie, linda, milly, yours truly, bill, mary, james - youngest to oldest. adopted son john, paper bros - george, and james, step-sister rita.

the first year of my life was in roseburg. then, the family moved to medford, and stayed there for about 5 years. returning to roseburg in 1960. one year after the roseburg disaster of 1959. my father purchased a small 25 seat restaurant for $10,000 which was why we all moved back to roseburg. this restaurant became my father's dream business. he named it chin's restaurant. so original.


I grew up in the family restaurant. the whole family did.

my whole life changed when I went to college back in 1972. living in the dorms, and just enjoying college life in general was what really opened my eyes to the world beyond roseburg.



I essentially grew up to be an adult in college. aaahhhhh. the memories at the university of oregon. my first love was "wo ai li". then, there was grace wong. I wonder what happened to them all? the all night mahjong games. the rec room. the karate club. yes. had a great time back then.



studies-wise, I started out college with the intent to become an accountant. but a year into the program, my eyes got so bad, I had to rethink that route. so, then, I changed my major to financing. this went well for a while. then, this girl broke my heart, and I ended up being in limbo for a year. during this year, I focused on philosphy, and studying mandarin. I remember it got so bad, I even took a break and went down to cal state la for 6 months to mend my heart.



those 6 months in la were interesting. first time being in a commute world. everywhere you went you had to drive. I spent most of my spare time checking out kung fu and karate schools for fun. my little sister was nice enough to let me stay at her place during this period. and I feel somewhat bad about never thanking her enough at the time. (if she only knew about my broken heart.)

when I got back to eugene, oregon, I was ok. and enjoyed life. the all night mahjong games and hanging out really helped a lot. somehow, I got through college with a BA in finance/bus.administration, minor in mandarin. I remember my father being very proud of me at the graduation ceremony.



I had such a good time during my college years. I really didn't want it to end. so, I enrolled with the Yale-in-China language program in hong kong, and pretty much became a foreign exchange student for close to 2 years. talk about an eye-opening experience, this was my first trip overseas. and I got sold on traveling after that first experience.

met a lot of interesting people while studying in the chinese university of hong kong. first, you had the ivy league folks from the usa. then, there were the local hong kong students. had a great time there. back then, hong kong was inexpensive. so, it was like a party every night after classes. although I still keep in touch with many people from then, I wonder what happened to katie, ted, ed, james, etc?

funny, I remember having a great time while studying in hong kong, but I never did fall in love with anyone there. I wonder why? to the peanut gallery in the back - no, I am not gay. at least on 2 different occasions, I remember a couple of my classmates coming into my room and striping down to the buff and - like a total idiot - I didn't do anything. aaahhhhhh. Ooohhhhhh. the vision of the moment is still with me like it happened yesterday. hehehe.

after returning to the states, I was set on working in the family business. but things didn't work out, and I had to leave. what was the problem, you ask? to be blunt, after traveling around for 2 years, I couldn't sit still. I feel sort of bad about not being able to help out my father with the family business. but what could I do?

I moved to california with some anticipation. but it quickly turned to excitement. in total, I spent about 19 years in california bouncing around from moraga, oakland, san francisco, berkeley, kensington, el cerrito, pinole, albany, etc. I went everywhere, and had a lot of fun. I distinctly remember the days at the cafe med in berkeley, the bike rides with don blasingame out to sausalito, and beyond, the owl and monkey cafe in sunset district in sf, and of course, my days south of market street.



even got married for while. the girl's name was ophelia escoto. she was the only girl I fell in love with since my college days. but it didn't last long. things didn't work out. so, I was heart broken again. (yeah. I know. ...wimp.)





I think I had a great career in my prime. I didn't do anything earth shattering. but I was able to work at some pretty good companies. my last job was at genentech working as a IT consultant. in my eyes, good work, good pay, and fun.



in the late part of 1998, I decided to go into semi-retirement. that means I will not work until I need money. hehehe. mind you, I am not a rich man. so, my coming out of retirement could conceivably happen unannounced someday.

so, what do I do with my time nowadays, you ask?

pretty much what I did before - but not work.

I live in bangkok, thailand most of the time. and do regional trips around the area when the desire comes up.

later this year, I am thinking of exploring mainland china. to check out the place where my ancestors come from. to hang out in the very spot where my grandfather lived. wouldn't that be cool?

to happy memories... and the pursuit of them.
www.bangkokbuddy.net

..is that less than 5 pages??