My life in Taiwan since January 1999 in five-year blocks

SUNDAY, 15 FEBRUARY 2026

January 1999~January 2004: Settle in Taiwan. Identity crisis. Continue writing notes started in 1994. Work on own projects. Existential crisis. Move to second apartment. Produce hundreds of pages of notes and pieces. Visit South Africa four times.

(Abandoned house in my new neighbourhood)

January 2004~January 2009: Write more. Meet my life partner. Start obsessing over “make money from home”. Experience one failure after another. Learn how to self-publish. Quit smoking. Visit South Africa three times.

(New chapter begins)

January 2009~January 2014: Start personal websites. Publish writing. Even more failures with “make money from home”. Get more classes and rebuild finances. Move to new “office”. Visit South Africa three times.

(Boxes move to a new space)

January 2014~January 2019: “Make money from home” shifts to pre-race trading and football betting. Repeated failures and high stress. Spend six days in Kyoto and Osaka. Publish several thematic collections of my writing. Visit South Africa two times.

(Damned pre-race trading)

January 2019~January 2024: Spend six days in Ho Chi Min City (Saigon) in Vietnam. Covid-19. Classes are cancelled; schools close. Revenue drops by 60%. ChatGPT and other Artificial Intelligence commercially available. Publish my first products created with new resources. Travel around the entire island of Taiwan for the first time. Visit South Africa one time.

(Important crossroad in Vietnamese history)

January 2024~January 2029: Utilize various AI resources to produce more products. Visit South Africa twice (so far).

(South African breakfast)

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Deep gratitude as defiance

SATURDAY, 14 FEBRUARY 2026

Deep gratitude as defiance, a form of “Fuck you” to anyone or anything that wants to keep you down.

“What if you are diagnosed with cancer, or even worse, you’ve been suffering from cancer for months?”

Deep gratitude that I’m still alive. I still have a chance to beat it.

“What if you have terminal cancer, with mere weeks to live?”

Deep gratitude that I still have time to get my affairs in order.

“What if you have actually died from the cancer?”

Deep gratitude that the pain is over.

“Okay, what if you’re a man and you’re in a fight and it’s not going well?”

Deep gratitude that I’m still standing.

“What if you’ve actually lost the fight?”

Deep gratitude that I’m still alive.

“What if the other guy actually killed you?”

Deep gratitude that I don’t have to deal with assholes like him anymore.

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Wednesday, 31 December 2025

If this piece were too long, people would think it was written by a machine.

So here follows a short photo story of my existence in 2025 …

2025 began, like just about every year in the past decade, at Kaohsiung’s Love River.

The first day was spent at the remains of an old village in the middle of the industrial area of Kaohsiung.

In February we went to South Africa, for the first time since before the thing that happened in 2020. On the way, we spend a few hours in Hong Kong.

In March we headed in a random direction one Sunday afternoon and then Googled, “Coffee shop near me.”

In April I discovered a fishing village about a thirty-minute drive from our apartment.

In May, I made an appearance in one of Kaohsiung’s top universities to talk to students about the rest of the world – on which I am of course an expert because I come from the rest of the world.

Also in May it was time again to visit Tainan – the oldest city in Taiwan.

In June, we enjoyed Italian food on the campus where I made a short appearance in May, to celebrate me turning a year older. Also discovered on the campus: one of Chiang Kai-shek’s many cars.

On the way back we were caught in an ugly downpour and we were left with no choice but to stop for snacks.

Taitung was our choice for a mid-year break.

In August we visited IKEA.

In September, I photographed myself in an empty classroom …

… and we viewed pretty boring art in Kaohsiung’s pretty boring art museum (maybe I should have taped a series of my classroom selfies to an empty wall in an empty room).

In October I photographed at least one old building …

… and discovered an old National Geographic.

In November, I visited my parents, my sisters, and some friends again in South Africa, and took a few dozen photos of food.

And in December we discovered more old buildings and an abandoned factory.

… and put together a visual story of 2025.

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Everyone gets their turn

SUNDAY, 19 OCTOBER 2025

Here’s a thought for middle-aged people, and for young people who may eventually become middle-aged.

For me, turning 50 was a shock. I was definitely not prepared for it. It was also in the middle of the so-called pandemic of 2020-2022, so everyone was a little nervous anyway.

At 54, I’ve had time to get used to the idea, and I can also see myself getting older by the day – and definitely looking older than when I was 48.

The point is, everyone gets their turn. One day you’re a kid, and a few years later it’s your turn to be a teenager. And a few short years later it’s your turn to be 21 or 22. Then 25 … and you realize time doesn’t stand still. Then it’s your turn to be in your thirties. And just as you get comfortable with what it means to be that age – how you’re no longer a teenager but still have decades to work towards a comfortable retirement, you hit 40. A new role again, and a slightly different identity than when you were 35.

And unless the train drops you off at an earlier station, you’re suddenly 50.

The fact is, someone has to be 50 while other people are 40 and other people are 30 and other people are 20 and other people are teenagers and children and toddlers. And after a few years, everyone moves on a few chairs while new people occupy the old positions.

And you accept it with dignity and a good sense of humour. And hopefully a little wisdom to share.

Only death can change that: Everyone gets their turn.

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Things that age you

SATURDAY, 27 SEPTEMBER 2025

Battled with fever this whole week, stuffy nose, cough … but the worst were the nights: hot, muggy, and because any breeze would have made my nose even more congested, no fan or air conditioning.

A person’s immune system protects you from germs and viruses that are constantly on your case, pursuing you on every turn 24 hours a day, seven days a week, waiting for the slightest chance to penetrate your defences and make you sick. Lower your weapons for a moment – like sitting in front of a fan with wet hair, and your fortress is overrun.

Same with your mental immune system. As long as you’re relatively healthy, and everything is working as it should, you can also fend off most of the mental germs and viruses that want to undermine your emotional well-being. But the moment a general weakening is detected …

There are so many things going on in the world that one has to try to make sense of. So much violence, and crime, and corruption, and political leaders sending people to their deaths and then congratulating themselves on a job well done. And there are personal memories from ten years ago, and twenty years ago … memories of your childhood. Memories of when you had a fever in another city in another country. And then other memories from those times also seep out that you keep carefully packed away most of the time. And all these mental germs and viruses rush through your gates as you struggle in the small hours of the night to get some sleep before the sun comes up.

It ages you. It changes you.

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