

Chiwi Journal
Camellia Yang
Conversations between global citizens on culture observation, identity and self-actualisation.
Host Camellia Yang, a Chinese New Zealander, interviews people she met on her digital nomad journey who are on a unique path to creating a better future and shares the lessons and tips they learned.
Season One (1 - 111 episodes) is in Chinese.
Season Two (112 episodes - current) is in English.
Host Camellia Yang, a Chinese New Zealander, interviews people she met on her digital nomad journey who are on a unique path to creating a better future and shares the lessons and tips they learned.
Season One (1 - 111 episodes) is in Chinese.
Season Two (112 episodes - current) is in English.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Dec 11, 2021 • 1h 12min
#127: Human/Computer Language, Rationality vs. Intuition, Women in Tech and Job Interview Tips with Xuan
Kia Ora, Nihao and hello! Welcome to the Chiwi Journal Podcast.
My guest today is Xuan. Xuan's footprints covered from a small village in China to the capital city Beijing then moved to DC and NYC and now settled in LDN. She studied English lit, Linguistics and Philosophy at university, trained herself in programming, and currently works as a software engineer.
We discussed:
How does exchanging poetry every day help us find beauty and truth during a lockdown?
The encounter of divided brain theory and how we have become enslaved to an account of things dominated by the brain’s left hemisphere?
The journey from studying human language and philosophy to computer language and machine learning
Will get rid of emotion help us to deliver information in a more accurate way like computer code?
The relationship between time and language
Have you ever used your rational mind to structure your intuitional decision?
Are humans doomed to be misunderstood due to the nature of language and communications?
How does writing online generate the serendipity for people to meet IRL?
How have women in tech evolved in those years? How can an individual do to help get more girls into technology?
How to prepare for a job interview? A story of finding a tech job without any working experience during lockdown
Books and links mentioned in this episode:
A Paradise of Poems
Infinite Loop Podcast with Tom Morgan — All you Need is Love? (EP.74)
The Matter With Things by Iain McGilchrist
Responsive Web Design
Neuralink
San Pedro Retreat
Self Authoring
Flowism
Yi Jing (易经)
Dao De Jing (道德经)

Nov 24, 2021 • 46min
#126 SPECIAL EPISODE | Life is VIC NIC with Hugo Branco and Jorge Loura
Welcome to the special episode of the Chiwi Journal Podcast.
I'm sitting with two artists in Aveiro, Portugal to record this episode.
Hugo Branco, musician and artistic director of VIC // Aveiro Arts House
Jorge Loura, musician and guitarist from Troll's Toy
We share the behind-scene stories of the 1st Unclassifiable Music Festival of Aveiro and introduce the difficult labelled artists who will perform on 26th and 27th November at VAGA Festival!
Come and join us if you can!
We talked about:
Portuguese treasure artist Vasco Branco and his residence Vic Art House in a glance
VIC NIC, a sanctuary for wild artists, thinkers and technicians, aiming to stimulate togetherness, experimentation and co-creation via sound, visual and literary works.
The story of music band Troll's Toy
The new trend of undefined music
VAGA Music Festival 2021
The artist way of living
There is much beauty and inspiration everywhere in life.
The vision of VIC NIC and the digital transformation facing musicians
What's #ATERELINCHAS
Introduction of the featured artists 【BGM】
Troll's Toy (Rock | Jazz | Improvisation | Exploratory) 【Troll's Toy - Inibicao Da Ira】
Azia (Psychedelic Rap | Hip Pop) 【Azia - Foque-o! (ft. DEL)】
LÄGRIMA (Folk | Exploratory | Visual Art) 【Lägrima - live at VIC Aveiro Arts House】
Santi Lesca (Exploratory | Electronica | Rock | World) 【Santi Lesca - Simultaneidad】
Skier and Yeti (Original | Humor | Electronica) 【Skier_and_Yeti】
DJ: OMLET JD & FREIMATIC DJS
JOIN US FOR THE FIRST-EVER UNCLASSIFIED MUSIC FESTIVAL IN AVEIRO!
https://lifeisavicnic.com/vaga2021/

Nov 19, 2021 • 1h 1min
#125: Asian in Western World, Buddhism and Neuroscience, Stay True to Yourself with Christin Chong
My guest today is Christin Chong. She is a neuroscientist at heart and enjoys investigating consciousness through the Buddhist lens. Christin's work history continues to evolve—from research in the lab to biotech marketing, to creating a delicious self-care tea for physical + mental health, to establish a community for accelerator compassion.
In today's episode, we discussed:
Our experience with Write of Passage Cohort 7 online writing course led by David Perell.
What's it feel like to be the Third Culture Kids/Adults?
How to deal with a multi-culture identity crisis?
The journey of moving to the US and a serendipitous chance to study neuroscience under a strict apprenticeship model
How does intuition help us make decisions? What's your hero's journey?
What's the difference between western and eastern Buddhism? What's the connection between Buddhism and neuroscience?
What's Alliance for Bhikkhunis? And what's Theravadan Buddhist tradition (e.g. four noble truths and noble eightfold path)?
The San Pedro psychedelic experience. How does psychedelic help us to have different perspectives about the world and clarify life purpose?
Why is meditation not the cure for every your problems?
What's the future of online courses to build the community?
Introduction to Compassion Accelerator and Honeyritual Tea
Books/Links mentioned in this episode:
Write of Passage
Third culture kid
Third Culture Adult Book
American Born Chinese (ABC)
Trainspotting
Why Buddhism Is True by Robert Wright
Buddha's Brain by Rick Hanson
Jiro Dreams of Sushi
Antonio Damasio
The Hero's Journey: Joseph Campbell on His Life and Work
Infinite Loops Podcast: Tom Morgan — All you Need is Love? (EP.74)
Theravada 南传佛教
Four Noble Truths
Noble Eightfold Path
The San Pedro psychedelic retreat experience
Flowism: My Philosophy of Living
Connect with Christin:
Christin's website
Christin's Twitter
Compassion Accelerator
Honeyritual Tea - CHIWI20 for 20% off (US customers only)

Oct 31, 2021 • 57min
#124: Unschooling, Innovating Education, Intuitive Learning and Startup Cities with Zach Caceres
My guest today is Zach Caceres. He is an experienced software engineer and focuses on modern web technologies. He is interested in education and ##StartupCities and initiated a couple of cool projects in the relevant areas.
In today's episode, we discussed:
Zach's unschooling experiences at a young age and his way of learning.
Why choose to go back to university later on?
Hilarious stories on the arbitrary bureaucracy of our modern education
What's the essence of education?
Case study of innovating education from within Guatemala's top university
Sneak peek of The Intuitive Programmer project, learning how to learn
What's community technology? What's Startup City?
Stories on informal entrepreneurs and almost dead experience in Africa and South America.
How does technology power up the city building and enhance people's living conditions?
Brief introduction of Benjamin Blooms's two sigma problems
What's 'The Great Fact' raised by Deirdre McCloskey
What get you most excited about the future?
Books and links mentioned in this episode:
Zach's super cool website
Mindshift: Break Through Obstacles to Learning and Discover Your Hidden Potential
Innovating Education from Within Guatemala's Top University
Professor Barbara Oakley
Polymath Michael Polanyi
The Intuitive Programmer: Learning How to Learn Programming
Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs)
Learning how to learn | Barbara Oakley | TEDxOaklandUniversity
Focused vs. diffuse thinking: which is better for learning?
Pathological Altruism
The Start Of Startup Cities
Culdesac Tempe: The first car-free neighborhood built from scratch in the US!
CityDAO: Blockchain Cities IRL
Informal Entrepreneurship
Stealth of Nations by Robert Neuwirth
City of God movie
Amazing video shows 10-story high-rise built in a day
Maybe the Coronavirus Was Lower-Hanging Fruit
Benjamin Blooms's two sigma problems
Khan Academy
Duolingo
Ad Astra Academy
The Great Fact- the humongous increase in humans' standard of living that began about 200 years ago.

Oct 27, 2021 • 49min
#123: Kiwi returning home, Global talent relocation, NZ working culture and TCK with Bridget Romanes
My guest today is Bridget Romanes. She is the Founder of Mobile Relocation Ltd, helping Kiwis returning to work and live at homeland, assisting migrants and expats relocating to New Zealand, and offering a tailored program for businesses to recruit and retain international talent throughout Aotearoa.
We discussed:
From expat herself to founding the company to help expats, Bridget's cross-culture career journey
The motivation behind starting a business solving talents relocation challenges.
What are the top three struggles facing returning home Kiwis?
How to overcome the reverse culture shock and mentally prepare well for returning home?
How will children get affected by moving around? What's The Third Culture Kid (TCK)?
What's the MIQ system? How can we better assist global talent to relocate to New Zealand?
Thoughts on future work. Will remote working become mainstream in New Zealand?
What's unique about the Kiwi working culture?
What's the top three factors of NZ that will appeal to global talent to come?
How to deal with the negative attitudes from locals toward migrants?
If you could change one policy that will make your job easier, what would that be?
What do you get most excited about future?
Books and links mentioned in the episode:
Bridget Romanes LinkedIn
Free Move to NZ Checklist
Tall poppy syndrome
30 Kiwi Slang Terms you need to know before you visit
Third culture kids (TCK)
The Third Culture Adult Book
New Zealand MIQ System
Are we returning to the office? Or is the future remote?
Christchurch mosque shootings
New Zealand Offers One-Off Resident Visa to 165,000 Migrants
Mobile Relocation— Impacts of Reverse Culture Shock for Returning Kiwis (mobile-relocation.com)

Sep 21, 2021 • 58min
#122: Digital Nomad, Self-actualization, Chinese Buddhism and Love with Allison Wang
My guest today is Allison Wang. She is a founder of a yoga brand, Awake. She is currently living a digital nomad life and writing a blog, and running a podcast channel. Allison and I used to be online friends, but we finally met in Madeira and recorded this podcast sitting in front of the Atlantic Ocean. The sound quality might not be perfect, but you’ll be able to hear the sound of waves and feel the zen vibes while we were talking about meditation, self-realisation and love.
We discussed:
Our random meetup in Madeira and some highlights at this digital nomad village.
How to support yourself while living a digital nomad life?
The journey of becoming a content creator
Why the late 20s is the most painful period for the majority of people?
Why do people never get satisfied even though they’ve achieved so-called successful life?
Which four parts contribute to Self-actualization?
Brief intro of Chinese philosopher Zhuangzi and Daoism
What Chinese writer Su Shi taught us about life?
How did early Chinese education on reciting poetry help us understand life better?
The experience of egoless, can we hold this status forever?
Why is love inconsistent, and how do you know he/she is your soulmate?
Is there a cure for our modern loneliness?
Books and links mentioned in this episode:
Digital Nomads Madeira Islands
Tim Ferriss 4-Hour Workweek
Impact Theory with Tom Bilyeu
煽风点火 Shan Feng Dian Huo Podcast
Rumi
American neuroendocrinology researcher and author Robert Morris Sapolsky
Yoga With Adriene
Transcendental Meditation
Zen Buddhism 101 - The Power of Zen Meditation
Henry Shukman — Zen, Tools for Awakening, Ayahuasca vs Meditation, Intro to Koans, and Using Wounds as the Doorway
"Memento Mori": The Reminder We All Desperately Need
Ryan Holiday
Seneca
Chinese philosopher Zhuangzi
Chinese writer Su Shi
Zhuangzi loses his wife
Prelude to Water Melody by Su Shi
Qingyuan Weixin three stages of life

Sep 13, 2021 • 60min
#121: Chinese Philosophy, Traditional Festivals, 4 Character Idioms and Podcast Lessons with Jay Yow
My guest today is Jay Yow. Jay is a recording and mixing engineer and a gamer. He was born in Malaysia and immigrated to America in his adults year. Jay is currently the producer of one of my favourite podcasts James Altucher Show.
We discussed:
What's it like to be a bilingual writer producing two newsletters to two different audiences?
How James Altucher adopted Jay and trained him to be his sound engineer?
What are the top three lessons learnt from James Altucher Show that interviewed 700+ guests?
How does playing games teach us about life and learn a new language and business strategy?
What's the traditional Chinese education role in the Malaysian education system?
What's the origin story of famous Chinese festivals such as the Dragon Boat Festival and Mid-autumn Festival?
Who are the most famous poets in ancient China?
Why there are so many different versions of history? What's the TRUTH?
What's the fundamental difference between Chinese philosophy and western philosophy?
Share some four-character idioms that are valuable: Wo Xin Chang Dan and Sai Weng Shi Ma
Books/Links mentioned in this episodes:
David Perell Write of Passage
Jesse Itzler: The $160,000 Lesson
How to connect with the greatest network in the world with AJ Jacobs
How to Have Impossible Conversations when facts don't matter with Peter Boghossian
How to start a conversation with Strangers? with Joe Keohane
Fantasy Premier League 20/21 Review
One Hundred Thousand Whys
A story of Sima Guang
Three Character Classic
China’s Shakespeare - Du Fu
Li Bai and Du Fu
Dragon Boat Festival
Mid-Autumn Festival
Dynasties in Chinese history
Qin Shi Huang
Burning of books and burying of scholars
Legalism (Chinese philosophy)
Opium Wars
Journey to the West
Black Myth: Wukong
Full version

Sep 3, 2021 • 47min
#120: Sovereign Individual, Digital Age, Multi-incomes/citizenships with Doug Antin
Kia Ora, Nihao and hello! Welcome to the Chiwi Journal Podcast. I’m your host Camellia Yang.
My guest today is Doug Antin. He is the Founder and Author of TSI Global Media, a company covering the Digital Age and how the current digital transformation creates a new class of people. Doug is also writing The Sovereign Individual Weekly Newsletter, providing insights, analysis, and actionable advice helping you become a Sovereign Individual and make the most of the digital transformation.
We discussed:
What’s the definition of the Sovereign Individual? Why should you care?
How does a book written 20 years ago perfectly predict our current world?
What digital trends support sovereign individual lifestyles?
How do we deal with information abundance as a content creator?
What role does blockchain and bitcoin play in this Sovereign Individual movement?
Is there a conflict between becoming a sovereign individual vs be part of the community?
Why should you have multiple citizenships?
What stops people from becoming sovereign individuals? What’s the reason behind that?
How to cultivate multiple income streams?
If you can live and work anywhere, where would you go, and what criteria to consider?
What’s the difference between a sovereign individual and an anarchist?
How to build the system to run a weekly newsletter?
Which three books to read when consider being a sovereign individual?
Books and links mentioned in this episode:
The Sovereign Individual: Mastering the Transition to the Information Age by James Dale Davidson and William Rees-Mogg
How to Start a New Country by Balaji Srinivasan
Neo-medievalism
The Sovereign Individual Weekly
Important Things About the Digital Age
Future Shock by Alvin Toffler
Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely
Night as Frontier: Colonizing the World After Dark by Murray Melbin
Thanks for listening to this episode.
Remember that you can join my monthly newsletter email list at camelliayang.com, where I spend 140+ hours digging valuable insights from books, articles and podcasts and share them in a 6-min easy-to-read email.
Please rate or leave a review on Apple Podcasts to help others discover this podcast if you like the show.

Aug 18, 2021 • 1h 7min
#119: Born as a Girl, Chinese Higher Education System, Stereotypes and Migrant Entrepreneurship with Royal Reed
Kia Ora, Nihao and hello! Welcome to the Chiwi Journal Podcast. I’m your host Camellia Yang.
My guest today is Royal Reed. Royal has 20 years of experience in the NZ legal profession. She is also well respected in the Chinese community as a TV and Radio presenter and for her legal education programs for the community. Her legal practice and excellent cross-cultural dispute resolution have received recognition in New Zealand and Greater China.
We discussed:
What’s it like of being a girl born in a traditional Chinese family that parents favour boys over girls? What’s the bias that the old generation hold of giving birth to a girl?
The decision making process behind picking up a career and move abroad.
Why do Chinese people consider the National College Entrance examination as the only way to lead to a bright future? Does it contribute to many competitive Chinese students?
What’s the difference between the New Zealand education system and the Chinese education system?
How many stereotypes have Asian women received overseas?
What’s bamboo plus glass ceiling facing Asian migrants in career?
How to skin in the game and achieve a career breakthrough?
Does local working experience still matter that much in today’s digital world?
What internal and external factors drive Royal to start her own business?
How to cultivate business culture as a female migrant leader?
A brief introduction about On Being Bold organisation?
Books and links mentioned in this episode
Qingming Festival
One-child policy
The National College Entrance Examination (aka Gaokao)
Empowering Women | On Being Bold Conference
Bamboo ceiling
Royal's interview on OBB
(*Correct: The year I attended Gaokao was with 10 million people, not 20 million)

Aug 14, 2021 • 53min
#118: Zen Meditation, Most Recommended Books, Competitiveness and Know Thyself with Richard Reis
My guest today is Richard Reis. He is the co-founder of Most Recommended Books, a voracious reader and a blogger. Richard also enjoys finance and building stuff.
We discussed:
Richard recently has done a three-month Zen Meditation retreat and shared his experience.
What’s so unique about Zen Meditation compared with other meditation (e.g. mindfulness and TM)?
Why should we focus on cultivating our intuition?
What’s the motivation to build the Most Recommended Books?
What’re the most recommended books in common?
What’s Tim Ferriss’s effect?
How to deal with self-doubt when building something new or running a startup?
What traits of Larry Ellison worthy learning?
Where does people’s competitiveness come from?
What are the benefits of speaking multiple languages? Do people change personalities while speaking different languages?
How to deal with loneliness and lack of community support while moving around very often?
Is personality test the way to help Know Thyself?
Books and links mentioned in this episode:
Mountain Cloud Zen Centre
A conversation between Sam Harris and Henry Shukman
The Mysterious/Unsolvable Zen Koans - Henry Shukman, Associate Master of Sanbo Zen
Japanese Zen Buddhist Philosophy
10% Happier by Dan Harris
Principles: Life and Work by Ray Dalio
Mind for Numbers: How to Excel at Math and Science by Barbara Oakley
Steve Jobs on Intuition
Most Recommended Books
The Tim Ferriss Show
Derek Sivers
The Facebook Effect by David Kirkpatrick
If it's not a hit, switch
The 4-Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss
Softwar: An Intimate Portrait of Larry Ellison and Oracle by Larry Ellison and Matthew Symonds
The Billionaire and the Mechanic: How Larry Ellison and a Car Mechanic Teamed Up to Win Sailing’s Greatest Race, The America’s Cup by Julian Guthrie
Founders Podcast (Highly recommend!)
How to think like a programmer — lessons in problem solving
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