Since our whole blog is about dancing and our life around it, I thought it'd be a good idea to do a bio page for those of you curious about what I do outside of that world.
What got me into dancing?
This is an odd story. I was looking for something new to do with my life and I had picked out four things I was interested in pursuing: guitar, voice, golf, and dance. So I flipped a coin between the first two and guitar won, then it was guitar and golf in which golf won, and finally golf and dance, and dance won. Now I know that wasn't the fairest way to do it but at the time it seemed like a good idea. The rest as they say is history.
Careers:
I started out as a pharmacy technician and and was held captive behind a raised counter for six years. It's really not a bad job and pays fairly well, just boring as hell. In fact it was that boredom that sparked the fated coin toss. After pharmacy I was the IT Systems Administrator for a water company for a year and after that I moved to San Francisco to be the Community Manager for a dot-com start up. Exactly a year later (to the day), the dot-com sold out and I moved back to Washington. That's when I started training to dance competitively.
Dance Partners:
I started dancing first with Natalia which only lasted one month. Ironically she got offered a position in San Francisco and it was too good to refuse. Right after that ended I began dancing with Sarah. I have to say I've been really fortunate in finding dance partners. Both have been easy to find as well as great partners. Can't complain.
Outside of Dance:
Boy, where do I start. So many interests, so little time and money. First and foremost my friends will tell you that I'm a nerd and geek. I like computers, the Internet, video games, electronics, etc. However, I like to think that I'm fairly well adjusted for a nerd/geek.
I like cars (what boy doesn't?). I used to tinker with them quite a bit and go racing. Not street racing, but autocross and some drag races. I own two cars; a 2004 Infiniti G35 Coupe and a 1992 Toyota MR2 Turbo. The MR2 is in storage most of the time as it is now a track car while the G35 is my daily driver. It's weird to think back about all the time and money I used to spend on this hobby. Performance car parts, tires, brakes, etc. are not cheap. But as I get older it seems like I have less money even though I make a lot more now than I did back then. I am a member of the Toyota MR2 Club. They are a great group of enthusiasts who not only love their cars but the other people who own them. The club organizes "spirited" drives and events many times a year. I have tons of crazy stories about my adventures as a young and stupid boy driving a car too fast for my age. Old age has mellowed me out some. One of these days I will make an effort to put aside some time and funds to continue this hobby.
Music is another large part of my life. I almost decided to major in music and was definitely and proudly a band geek. I play two instruments, the piano (DUH! I'm Asian), and the trumpet. While trained as classical pianist (five years), I enjoy playing new age genre music as well as messing around with video game music (told you I was a nerd). Aside from playing music, I love listening to it. Any and all kinds. Recently ballroom music has been a larger focus of mine, not surprisingly. It's not hard to see why dance was so addicting for me. Below is a YouTube of a piano duet of the Final Fantasy VII Boss Battle Theme that my friend Kevin and I arranged in high school:
As you can probably tell (assuming you've checked out the Photography page), I'm also into photography. This hobby literally started with me just buying a camera and clicking away. I've always wanted to take some photography classes and hope to do that someday. Until then, I try to practice as much as I can. Shooting ballroom competitions is no easy task. Usually the lighting is sub-par, not to mention the speed at which the subjects are moving at and when they might pose for a good shot. The audience is also tricky to navigate. But I'm getting better at it. I can tell you that wedding photography is completely unnerving. It's too much responsibility if you're the only one on the job. Other shoots like landscapes, cars, friends, dogs, etc. are lots of fun. Since everything is digital these days, taking up photography means I also had to familiarize myself with PhotoShop. It's an amazing piece of software, but definitely too complicated for it's own good.
Aside from these hobbies, I enjoy the same stuff everyone else does. Movies, food, friends, dancing, etc.
Family:
I am the oldest of two, in a family of four. My mom and dad emigrated from Taiwan. My brother Andrew and I were both born in the States. I've lived in Washington for most of my life and currently reside in Redmond (or Microsoft Land). The other immediate family member at this point is my dog Toby.
