Cities I've Lived In

I was born and raised here. Most people's perception of Macau is casinos and hotels. My memory of Macau is the food, people, and the swimming pool, where I spent most of my childhood at.

The city itself is pretty unique, because its so small, you will see a mix of old buildings (唐樓), schools, casinos, parks, hotels all in one neighborhood. Also throw in some Portuguese vibes in there. In my opinion, it's beautiful and characteristic.

Transportation is good enough, though buses can be very busy during traffic hours. I have never driven in Macau, but sat through enough rides to know that parking and traffic is nightmare. Mostly due to a lot of people with very little land.

Food is great, but I think a lot of it comes from nostalgia. I ate mostly Chinese food growing up, Cha Chaan Tang (茶餐廳 - Hong Kong cafes) and noodle shops are my go-to.

Weather is ... disgusting. Very humid, which makes hot very hot, and cold very cold. I used to wear all-white uniforms to school, by the time I arrived, I'd be sweating and you could see through my shirts.

People are great, I have met many life-long friends, who are genuinely caring and kind. There are ambitious people, but only a few. I think it's the culture and the environment we grew up with.

I moved to LA in 2018 for school. I went to Pasadena City College (go lancers) for 2 years, where I've grown so much as an adult.

LA was amazing. Coming from Macau, the weather stood out the most. Sunny, warm, not humid like Macau, not windy like San Francisco. I think if I have to assemble the perfect city, I will take LA's weather.

I think everyone's LA experience will be different because it's just so big and so many neighborhoods, so my experience is mostly Pasadena and the 626. I only travel to other cities to visit friends or try new restaurants.

That being said, transportation in LA is non-existent. There might be some local transportation that takes 30 minutes to get to 2 streets down, but that's about it. Having a car doesn't solve all the problems though, because traffic on freeways is one of the worst I've seen. It's fine if I commute just within a couple neighborhoods that take 20-30 minutes. But for people that commute across East/West, you might be driving 15mph on freeway.

Food here is amazing though, I think it's the best overall in all the cities I've lived in. Especially Koreans, Mexicans, and Vietnamese. Even I think some HK cafes here are better overall than the ones in Macau. More expensive of course, but you get unlimited refills on milk tea and lemon tea.

I don't think I can generalize people in LA, because it's very diverse here. I've met locals, international students, first-gen, second-gen, etc. Everyone is different, yet most people are very acceptable to each other. That was new to me too, because I grew up with 99.9% Chinese. I love the diversity.

I transferred to UC Berkeley during covid, so I had a very short stink in here (lived only one year). It felt amazing to finally see people on campus after one/two years of lockdown. It felt a lot more lively here than I was in Pasadena.

I got around mostly walking, because the campus is not that big (but hilly). Restaurants are mostly on the south of campus, the opposite of where I lived. Most of the friends I made also lived on the south side, so I walked there a lot.

The buildings are really cool, made me feel like I am actually a scholar. During the homecoming week, the Doe library will light up with Berkeley blue and California gold colors, that was really cool. Also loved the trees on campus, felt like hiking sometimes just walking through them.

Weather can be a bit colder than LA, but overall it's still very nice.

Food here is not bad honestly, I think it got even better now when I visit there. I didn't eat out as much, so most places I would just go and try them, but not a frequent visitor.

People are really smart. It's not very diversed here. I've met most people through cs classes or swim club. People are really smart at cs, and really good at swimming here.

After graduation, I moved to Seattle for my very first big boy job. At first, I didn't like it because it's gloomy, rainy, and cold.

A typical day in Seattle is going to the office at 9am, leave at around 5:30pm, and it is all dark already. I legit could not feel the sun in the winter. But once I made it to the summer, I grew to like it because the weather is as amazing as California, with so much more to do outside. I think the summer in Seattle is better than summer in LA or SF, but it's a very short period. The rest is worse.

My experience is not really Seattle-Seattle, but more like Kirkland/Bellevue with some sprinkles of Seattle. Driving in Kirkland/Bellevue is very easy, and transportation to Seattle is also not bad.

My favorite thing about Seattle (or I should just refer it as Washington) is all hikes and lakes in the summer, and snowboarding in the winter. It's very accessible to go on hikes or snowboard. 2 hours to Mount Rainier, 45 minutes to a ski resort. I went snowboarding after work one time and it was fun.

Mount Rainier has been my favorite national park. I've been there in all seasons, and they were all amazing in its own way. Plus you get to see it just driving in i90 in the summer. oh I miss Seattle now.

The only thing I wish it had was beaches (specifically one for surfing). Instead, we did paddleboarding in the summer.

Food is not as good as California, but I think that's okay. There are still a lot of great restaurants, just maybe not as many options (SF/LA has too many options, you won't be able to try them all anyways). Bellevue has a growing Chinese population, so a lot of good Chinese food there. My favorite restaurants are Modoo (Korean) and HK-Bistro (Cantonese).

This is where I currently live. I've visited here while studying at Berkeley, but it felt different when living here.

The weather is about the same as LA with more wind, so no complains.

The food here I think is one tier lower than LA, but I've been trying more restaurants this year, and I am liking them more now. There are so many burritos in Mission, chinese food everywhere not just in chinatown. My top 3 is probably Daeho (Korean), San Tung (Chinese), and La Taqueria (Mexican). Get the wings at San Tung, and the super burrito Dorado style at La Taqueria.

There are many great parks in SF, which I found lacking in LA. mission dolores, painted ladies, golden gate park, etc. Someone neighborhoods are not very walkable because of the hills, thats when Waymo comes in.

My core memory in SF is running from Mission Bay all the way to Golden Gate Bridge. It's about a half marathon there and back. I've done it multiple times and it's lovely on a sunny day. Starting off with Chase center, then go up along the coast to the ferry building, then Fisherman Wharf, and lastly Marina. You get to see a mix views of the bay, the bridges, the city, the locals/tourists, the Alcatraz island, and more. It's really fun and I'd highly recommend it even if you don't run.

I also enjoy biking in the city. I've been trying to work at different coffee shops in SF by biking there to explore the city and add a lil 10-20 minutes workout for the day. The neighborhood I go (form Mission Bay to FiDi/Union Squares) is pretty bikable.

Lastly, the people. Not diverse at all. Mostly tech startups. You've seen the memes. I have no problem with it because I'm in it, but I get the hate.