Happier Abroad Forum Community

Some photos of my toddler years in 1977 that I just scanned from old albums. The one of me in NY in 1977 shows the WTC in the background.

In Taiwan when I was 3, before I went to America.







Me in NYC and Washington DC in 1977. The NY photos show the WTC in the background. Some show the Statue of Liberty. The DC photos show the famous monuments.











Is that the Liberty Bell?



Disneyland



Don't I look happy and playful?

Didn't I look so intellectual and freethinking in these photos? lol

Some more:

In Luray Caverns, Virginia.



Top of Empire State Building.





In apartment in Queens, NY.



Back in Taiwan.





Me with my Eurasian cousins (half white half asian) Tina and Lisa. They look very open and happy in these photos. But if I call them up now, they will be very stuck up, rude and cold. Isn't that so sad? Why do people have to be stuck up once they grow up? The second photo below where Tina puts her arms around me is cute.









At Tina and Lisa's home in New Jersey. Me in photos on the right.

Not sure where this is.





San Francisco, CA.



Yosemite National Park, CA.





Mountain View, CA. Home photos and Kindergarten graduation.





Kindergarten graduation.



Kindergarten portrait (didn't I look serious, intense and deep? lol)





Kindergarten class at Peninsula Day Care Center in Palo Alto, CA (me in bottom right corner)



First grade class at Springer Elementary School in Los Altos, CA (me in bottom right corner)



Card given to me by my Kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Betty Newton. I was her "teacher's pet". As you can see from her words, she was a kind and caring teacher who appreciated me and made me feel appreciated.






These photos were the only happy moments in my childhood. After that, in 1982 when we moved to Fremont, CA, it all went downhill from there and never recovered.

Winston, you lived in Queens, NY for a while? Where in Queens did you live and what year? I'm interested to know, since I'm still living in the borough. Did you like living in NYC, or were you too young to remember?

zboy1 wrote:Winston, you lived in Queens, NY for a while? Where in Queens did you live and what year? I'm interested to know, since I'm still living in the borough. Did you like living in NYC, or were you too young to remember?

It was 1978 and no I don't remember anything. lol. I just have vague feelings and flashbacks.

Superb photos Winston, they're a great reminder of how f***ed up everything has gotten!

I felt both angry and depressed looking them over. Notice the faces then and now, the loss of innocence and character. People acted like people before the television and liberalism took over their minds. But lets be honest, America was already a land of dimwitted degenerates by 1978. It seems Asia has fallen even farther than Americans since then. Because if you look at Taiwanese or Japanese from the 60s and 70s they seem so down to earth. But by the 90s they started becoming unbalanced, unsure of themselves, jaded, mean, and just plain weird.

Many urban-dwelling East-Asians today look as if the will to live has been beaten out of them, like depressed prisoners or domesticated animals in line at the slaughter hose. Even the youths are demoralized, the males are alarmingly unmasculine and females are plastic inside and out. Perhaps the conservative mainland Chinese are an exception to this (for now) as they are still in the economic boom phase ripe with optimism, as are those from rural settings with old-fashioned lifestyles and social norms.

The film "Network" from 1976 talks about people becoming "as replaceable as piston rods." Meaning they are becoming like clones of eachother with no originality or passion. Extremely predictable drones concerned only with consumerism.



This is why I like to have friends much older than me, because every generation that has been produced in the 20th century has been less tough and less interesting than the last. Speaking with people that are "old-school" (and I'm not talking about baby-boomers), does wonders for your sanity in this insane society. Once upon a time countries like Japan produced men that were confident and idealistic, but as the bolts were tightened and life was made more regimented (and perhaps easier while work hours were made longer), there were fewer and fewer environments that nurtured boys to become such men. And there is some evidence to suggest the Philippines 40 years ago was more advanced (compared to other countries of the time) than it is today, and its people more sophisticated. We're not advancing we're degrading.

odbo wrote:Superb photos Winston, they're a great reminder of how f***ed up everything has gotten!

I felt both angry and depressed looking them over. Notice the faces then and now, the loss of innocence and character. People acted like people before the television and liberalism took over their minds. But lets be honest, America was already a land of dimwitted degenerates by 1978. It seems Asia has fallen even farther than Americans since then. Because if you look at Taiwanese or Japanese from the 60s and 70s they seem so down to earth. But by the 90s they started becoming unbalanced, unsure of themselves, jaded, mean, and just plain weird.

Many urban-dwelling East-Asians today look as if the will to live has been beaten out of them, like depressed prisoners or domesticated animals in line at the slaughter hose. Even the youths are demoralized, the males are alarmingly unmasculine and females are plastic inside and out. Perhaps the conservative mainland Chinese are an exception to this (for now) as they are still in the economic boom phase ripe with optimism, as are those from rural settings with old-fashioned lifestyles and social norms.

The film "Network" from 1976 talks about people becoming "as replaceable as piston rods." Meaning they are becoming like clones of eachother with no originality or passion. Extremely predictable drones concerned only with consumerism.



This is why I like to have friends much older than me, because every generation that has been produced in the 20th century has been less tough and less interesting than the last. Speaking with people that are "old-school" (and I'm not talking about baby-boomers), does wonders for your sanity in this insane society. Once upon a time countries like Japan produced men that were confident and idealistic, but as the bolts were tightened and life was made more regimented (and perhaps easier while work hours were made longer), there were fewer and fewer environments that nurtured boys to become such men. And there is some evidence to suggest the Philippines 40 years ago was more advanced (compared to other countries of the time) than it is today, and its people more sophisticated. We're not advancing we're degrading.

Yeah I agree. Even though I was born during the 70s and grew to my early teen years in the 80s, people back then seemed much more genuine and down-to-earth then people today. Now, people seem so rude, angry, and hostile, and very disillusioned about the state of the country today. Am I the only one to feel this way, or am I just being too nostalgic for my own good?

Winston wrote:Not sure where this is.

That looks like Coney Island in Brooklyn, NY--if I'm not mistaken.

zboy1 wrote:.....people back then seemed much more genuine and down-to-earth then people today. Now, people seem so rude, angry, and hostile, and very disillusioned about the state of the country today. Am I the only one to feel this way, or am I just being too nostalgic for my own good?

I would add, insecure and self-conscious as well. And simultaneously, entitled.

Very true observations Odbo.

Last night I called two women in China that I know. The conversation with them was very authentic and meaningful. I felt like I was talking to a REAL SOUL, not a plastic mannequin like the young people here in Taiwan are. It was amazing. I had Rock talk to one of them before too, and he agreed with me.

Btw, look at this card from my Kindergarten teacher below. I was her "teacher's pet". Notice in her words how caring and kind she was. I felt very appreciated by her, and never had a teacher like that since. Were teachers like this common back in the 1970's?

Wow those pictures brought warm feelings.You were a very handsome kid. I can tell you had loving parents. It's a shame how your cousins are now. It's like people then had real emotion and not robotic like today.

No offense, Winnie, but are you struggling now with some serious disease? I came to this conclusion from comparing your toddler photos to your adult photos. Observe:





This is, in no way, the natural process of aging. What gives?

zboy1 wrote:

Winston wrote:Not sure where this is.

That looks like Coney Island in Brooklyn, NY--if I'm not mistaken.

Yes, that is the Coney Island that I remember. Back then, the area was relatively safe and fun. Today, those housing projects in the background are no joke. New York will never be what it used to be.

Nice pictures Winston.

All_That_Is_Man wrote:No offense, Winnie, but are you struggling now with some serious disease? I came to this conclusion from comparing your toddler photos to your adult photos. Observe:





This is, in no way, the natural process of aging. What gives?

Dude, that's not a fair comparison. The photo on the right was taken when I was drunk at a birthday party in Angeles City and I was purposely trying to make funny weird faces. My friend took them so he could use them against me later during our internet war. lol

You should use a photo of me when I'm sober and look my best. Geez. Who are you? An adversary?

People age like that all the time. The pollution, heat and humidity in Angeles City may have damaged my health. Also, the mercury fillings in my teeth may have poisoned my body and cells too. There were weird changes in my body when I was 13, changes for the worse. I don't know why.

Here is a photo of me when I was a teen. I don't know when this was taken. But as you can see, I looked a lot skinnier before.

http://www.niagaraparks.com/garden-trai ... clock.html