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| Norway: Preikestolen. . . .O lala... Fresh air, open skies, no one in sight.... About to turn around after a 90 minute hike past the pulpit rock. I wish I could stay up here for the sunset but we must go drive to Oslo for 8 hours... we did consider staying another night but one of us has a flight around noon....(long story short, our drive took 11 hours, he realized his flight was actually at 10 am, so he had to rebook anyways, and we could of stayed another night.... oh well)..if you come, stay 2 nights to enjoy the place and maybe even 3 days as the weather is usually foggy. |
STORY: I had my dream job and got promoted to run the Brand Experience Team for several global brands the entrepreneur owned. It was a great opportunity, but how much will I learn? Is it my passion? Is it my next step?
DECISION: I decided to resign to do what scares me, to start my own company, side projects I’ve delayed forever, some for fun and some the world needs. I’m doing what my future-self will thank me for. I’m going to build my own dream instead of someone else’s.
I SAID GO: Before going into StartUp Land, I’ve dreamed to Travel the World. This is not a vacation, but a project to rediscover, experience, do, and learn. To go where I might not visit in the future. To Experience behind the scenes, the making of, the thought process, the real magic in everyday life.
This is the start of “I SAID GO” which I’ll write about as I embark on my global safari, encouraging others to say GO!
WHY: I’ve dreamed to explore our mysterious world like Anthony Bourdain since I’m an uber foodie and traveling wanderlust. I’ve worked my butt off and the years kept vanishing. No more waiting, I Said Go!
During this time, I’ll be seeking culture, process, philosophies, beliefs, etc… This will be a foundation to challenge my own beliefs posted above, and create a better principle for my future and those around me. Ideas on life, business, and the random.
INSPIRATIONS: – Seth Godin Quote: “Instead of wondering when your next vacation is, maybe you should set up a life you don’t need to escape from.”
"The jumps represent taking a jump in life, not following the status quo, and being your goofy self even if people look at you oddly. You have to take a jump in life to succeed".
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| Japan: Awaji, Water Temple, by Tadao Ando. . . .Looking up the concrete stairs going straight up through the oval water temple, which lead down to the intimate temple. . . . Some of y'all know Artist James Turells @jamesturell work where he plays with light, space, and sense. Anyhow, this staircase somewhat frames the sky and shows you how magical the thing we are all so spoiled by is so extraordinary. Look up always... Look down in planes through the clouds into the landscapes... Stay curious. |
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| Japan: Awaji, at the Water Temple, by Tadao Ando.. . . Here, again, last time in 2001. This is the concrete entrance, a material the master architect Ando is famous for. Architecture and nature are Art together. Every angle in here is composed, intentional, minimal, a work of Art. . . . .I am so happy to return after 16 years, only to appreciate this space even more... Some might go in and out in about 10 minutes, but I stayed for over 2 hours observing, respecting, and feeling the space. It's set semi underground and the powerful silence is magical. I'll post a few more shots inside, though not inside the red temple shrine itself. |
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| Japan: Nara, Nara Park. . . .I thought I'd be visiting a bunch of temples here in Nara, but these deer stole the show... They are EVERYWHERE roaming the park! . . .They sniff you out for food and once you give anything the whole flock comes after you nibbling anything that fit their mouth. . . .It's amusing watching Japanese girls feed, scream, then run away as the deer chase after them. Oddly a few run away while sticking their hands backwards with a biscuit in hand... think like what you see in Japanese animations... . .An amusing experience is watching the angry biscuit seller guy completely ignore and shrug at deers cuddling and rubbing their heads like a cat at him the entire time... they just want free food, he just wants them to go away! . . . Anyhow, I'll keep this one short... Visit and play! |
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| Hong Kong: Tsim Sha Tsui. . . Yes, my cousins also jump... |
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| Hong Kong: Cheng Chau Island. . . .Another seafood island to try out, though about two hours out from the harbour.... .Though the food was good, the environment was a bit touristy, though I've never seen so many bikes in Hong Kong... But they also guzzle gas on mini scooter cars, so still polluted.. . .Not much to say here, but I tried a new island for seafood... It's more relaxed but very local touristy... They have a seafood market that I only got to peek into... Otherwise my ranking thus far for seafood spots: - Tai O . . . Taipo. . . Sheung Shiu - Sai Kung . . . Lei. . . Yu Mun . . . These all have the gritty environment, cheaper cost... All this you can get in Hong Kong, just cost 2-3x. |
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| USA: Los Angeles, Jet Propulsion Laboratory. . . . Mars Curiosity Rover, an Australian Magician, and a jumping Chinese... How are these things related? Do one of these things not belong here... . Ha, I have no clue, but all three are about Curiosity and all of us have been a gathering known as EG @egconf. It's mid April... Join the Curiosity. |
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| Greenland: Axel Heiberg Island. . . . Jump time! . . . . Awaiting our return flight, I noticed operations lead @vladsilver1 doing my jump! I took a few shots until he waved over challenging me to a jump battle! I setup my camera then @hdjoey setup a high speed... and boom, we jumped! . . . I'll say we are even in height, though my heads up higher, but I'll give him the style points for pulling off the splits! You'll notice our chopper as a black dot under me... I wished it were closer creating a vortex of snow upwards capturing the moment, but this still works as a one shot deal. I'm not sure if Joey will have the slow-mo posted anywhere... Link if you have. . . I met Vlad, also a photographer, in Antarctica on my first Polar expedition on an epic @quarkexpeditions trek through the Falklands and the MUST go to South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands. He's seen me jump around the world for almost a year now and he's appeared in a previous post before, so now here we are, jumping like goofballs, in the North Arctic snow summit somewhere... check! |
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| Greenland: Deck 3, Kapitain Khlebnikov!. . . Welcome to deck 3, the floor of the engine room, staff, sauna, gym, ping pong table, and yes, an arctic pool which would let in fresh brewed arctic water in and warm it up a bit...a dive in here, a quick beer, and sauna time are big musts for the expedition experience. This is where you meet the Russian crew on their little down time, even though most don't speak English, you communicate however you can...even the language of pong!. . .I'm here with Sy, from Toronto above, who is 87 and challenged me to ping pong almost daily towards the end of the trek...he plays for exercise, and we played straight back to back 25 some games over 3 hours...he would of gone longer, but I was beat..though I won all the matches, though he came close at 19 at few. . .. As to the pool, yes, there is a Danger Crocodiles sign up there...very Wes Anderson...I forgot to take a jump at the pong room next door, but this is where late night 3am battles occurred (especially with head chef Peter), yelling fight club like matches with one of the Russians, and on the last night some weird crazy disco dance party with the #GeneratorArctic team, ship staff, and chopper crew....which happened in this empty pool as well... |
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| Canada: Axel Heiberg Island, just past 79°N. . . . It's been an enchanting morning hiking up large snow covered mountains, but down towards the shorelines fractured ice clusters scatter throughout like seashells in chilling wavy waters... This treasure chest of frosty gems echoes across the sandy beach to pebbling land....simply gorgous... Some of these ice formations are the size of minivans and many large boulder like segments...slushies anyone? |
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| USA: Newport, Cliffwalk tunnel. . . . Wheeeeeeeeee!!! . . . This is like a warp drive into the unknown blinding light! The ribbed metal rings create a pathway through though a mere 30 yards. It's calming here, listening to your own voices echos, gushing winds, ocean waves pounding against rocks, then rattling back in over stampeding crackling pebbles..... . . Time... perhaps we will figure out time travel in the future..perhaps we have already but suffer the consequences in not knowing... if I could go back in time it would not be my lifetime which I know, but rather a time unknown... perhaps in the caveman era, or when dinosaurs roamed the lands, or maybe when the pyramids were being made.... . Where and when would you travel to? |
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| Canada: Montreal, Quebec. . . Three Asian Amigos! . . . This time we are joined by @TEDxMontreal @happykaty8 who showed me around the city the past few days. I think we are just being goofy and jumping again randomly street fighter style though Ben wins the flying kick style, Katys having a blast, and I look like I've been watching the Olympics lately, ...had plenty of fun jumping a few times though we also just had fun with Ben's Booster Skateboard which has a remote control to boost you around...and we were in a rush to the Olympic stadium for some extremely sports action... |
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| USA: Newport, Rhode Island. . . . And now for the solo jump. . . . Though I jump with friends often, sometimes they dont want to, or prefer to stand nearby...and sometimes both...so I posted the group jump before, but here's the solo jump probably 3 minutes apart. . . .So since this is not a new spot and more like my home escape, I thought I'd mention my favorite things to do in a day visit: - Providence: roam Thayer St, Waterman, and South Main.- RISD: venture around the school, sneak into the studios, talk to students, check out the store. Also Brown campus has a few things. @risd1877 - Cable Car cafe: simple stop, yummy bagels, coffee, and a retro theatre. - Bob'n Timmys pizza: my favorite flaky local pizzza spot (get the spinach mushroom)and RI Calamari with peppers. @bobandtimmyspizza . - Al Forno's: a bit higher end, but must get the corn pizza to start, then some great seafood and pasta! - Pastiche Dessert: a boutique cute pie/coffee house with the most unbelievable Fruit Tart that sells out. @pasticheRI - Waterfire: a weekly event over the spring and summer where the canal is lit on fire, food vendors pile in, entertainment flicks the closed streets, and its a bit magical. #waterfire - Newport Cliffwalk: an immaculant New England walk on the beautiful coastlines rocky cliffs wrapped with Batman like mansions. Newports port is also very relaxing to walk around. #newportcliffwalk . Theres lots more to do, but tge many years, those are my must do's. If you have any, let me know and I'll come and perhaps jump. |
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| France: Paris. . . The Louvre at day. . . .So here's the infamous Louvre Museum and pyramid during the day...as you can see it is packed with tourist and has more security because of the Eurocup. Luckily I got a midnight shit when no one was here in my last post...even here it was hard to setup this shot as every inch here is taken up by people... . . Did I mention it's odd how people just stare into cameras once you set them up...like the two here... not just temporary, but they keep looking shot after shot like they are not in it. Sometimes people stand or sit right in front even though they acknowledge your about to take a shot...I mean like really... I even had a guy once ask for me to help them take a shot, then he sat in front of my camera obviously setup for a shot, and he just looked through his photos.... . . Anyhow, the front of the museum is covered up by the great artist known as @jr ... he must of just taken this shit as he posted on it recently... too bad I wasn't here for tge shot.. maybe that's why the security was here... |
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| Guess where I am this early at 6am wandering around on this famous bridge... |
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| Chile: Easter Island, at Ahu Tongariki! . . . Yup, here again, but I'm in freaking Easter Island so I'm not restricting myself from posting this again even though I've posted this same location twice already...this ones just a bit closer and I look freaking happy... . .Many people ask me how many jumps do I do. Thus far I've posted about 500 jumps, but what have I not posted? So in each location it varies on jumps based on what I learn, find, and feel..or what's cool. I don't just jump anywhere, and some huge cities I don't find anything to jump to... . . I'd say I post about 50% of my jumps as many do not make it or are variations in a spot. Also each jump takes several tries... Sometimes once works, but often times it takes over 15 tries for each composition, hence let's say here near the Moais maybe 5 possible angles, I might jump a total of 50 times, to get one shot. It's seriously tiring and often agonizing to kick up that high especially after 14 straights months in doing this, but here I look pretty comfy. Also if I invite someone to take the shot, they often do not press and hold the button for burst shots long enough, so after 5 tries, I check and have to do it all again. . . So in total after 14 months ID say I've jumped maybe 10-15,000 times to post 500 shots. I might make use of the bad jumps one day, but if you look at my early jumps vs the later ones, they are very different :) |
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| Argentina: El Calafate, Perito Moreno Glacier. . . . I love ice! . . . As I've journeyed the world to learn, I've realized how much I love icy environments... From Iceland Ice Caves, to New Zealand Glaciers, then the Antarctica full immersion, to the Patagonia mountainous icescapes... Ice is mysterious, numb in immense power, both our historical past and hopeful future, and makes for breath taking landscapes such as what is behind me here... Wowww! . . . . It brings people in close, they share, help, are not as greedy it seems, and seek to look after one another...ice seems to make for unique communities... I know ice is also hated in places that go from hot to cold, but in places that are always icy... People are happy, chill, open, and kind... It's not how you look, but just that your human... But then again, cold environments people seem to drink more than usual and can be silly, ha... . . Did ya know ice is blue because it is the only color spectrum it can not absorb, hence it reflects... This is what I've been told at least. . . . Along with the vivid blue ice is the warmth of the red vibrant rocks below me. After the long day hike, several of us sat here waiting for the ferry a good hour... Soaking in the frigid view and warmth of the sun... Hi nature, you are awesome. |
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| USA: Brooklyn New York. On the iconic Brooklyn bridge connecting to Manhattan near the financial district....I've actually never been down here...pretty awesome walk! . . . I rushed down to NYC a few days to catch the experimental TED LIVE evenings with PBS which happened for 6 nights though I only saw two. It was incredibly refreshing but a bit different than the Conference which occurs for several days and facilitates a community though I can easily see how these live events can form an incredible after event discussion gathering ....a real camel appeared on stage too!! Great to see soooooo many good friends. . . . It's been awhile since I have been in NYC. . . . Oh what a city...I had a chance for an incredible jump at 4am in Times Square but my group was pretty tired after a loooooong day and night...next time...reminds me I have yet to see the 9/11 memorial and the new building....I've also realized some of my favorite stores (KidRobot) and restaurants have changed...yack... . . Anyhow, I won't say much about NYC but it is as diverse as any city I have traveled to and is more hectic than I recalled..or maybe I've softened up not being here for some time. I just might stop by again if I don't figure out my travels in November... Any must do events in NYC soon? |
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| New Zealand: Miramar Wellington, WETA Cave...one last shot with the Trolls of the Hobbit! (There are 3 at the entrance to the Cave) . . . If your into Entertainment, this is a MUST visit to just appreciate the talent, sweat, tears, and imagination that the staff here have poured out to the world. . . No sighting of Peter Jackson, but thank you Peter Jackson, Richard Taylor, and Jamie Selkirk for creating this amazing family of talent for the entertainment world. |
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| Australia: Sydney at the iconic Sydney Opera House near the waterfront built in 1973 and designed by Danish architect Jørn Utzon though the construction collaboration caused much drama with development, budget, and government though the results are why you know it today. . . . Initial budget was 7 million but the final cost went 1,457% over budget and delivered 10 year later at a cost of 102 million. Controversy came when government rushed the construction before design completion which caused problems then later the government stopped paying the architects and builders. When Utzon demanded the government must pay the 100k in fees in 1966 or he would resign, the government said "I accept your resignation. Thank you very much. Goodbye." . . . A new team was installed lead by architect Peter Hall and many fundamental changes were made which acoustically did not make it what it should of been or spacially..primarily the interior designs were scrapped...but fast forward to today and there is much discussion on reconstructing Utzons original designs...he was asked to return many times but refused though he he collaborated on an interior room before his passing in 2008. . . . Anyhow, amazing place to visit even though only a few moments of blue skies occurred. Great location which really just of for all to see and next to the iconic bridge. O e thing I didn't realize after all these years is that the shell is not concrete but thousands of tiles of white and cream... . . This reminds how sometimes rushing things before they are designed actually slow down things... Design before constructing...unless its fast or cheap to iterate...which a building is not. |
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| Cambodia: Siem Reap, Bayon (Khmer: ប្រាសាទបាយ័ន, Prasat Bayon) Temple. . . . Here's another angle to see all those sculpted faces upon the temple... What a great place to roam... Feeling Indiana Jones like here...or Laura Croft, but those Tomb Raider shots are next... |
All Images are copyright by: Aaron "Tango" Tang
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