The Audio Blog of Steven Sirski

Steve, if people wanted to pay you for your services, where would they go? Good question. Website building 101, here we go. Can’t I just AI this?
Workout in, how’s the watch holding up? Good, but the APP is slow. It does have a food tracker, particularly good for Chinese foods, but doesn’t seem to have a function to add custom entries. Apparently has a 21-day battery.
The apostille process continues, what’s the latest? Understand this one: “Also, I have to let you know, last time I called, the Chinese institution told me that the authentica...

Authentication continues, can’t I just get this done here? Paying $300 for a certified photocopy?!
Why DID my TikTok video get so many views? Apparently there was some sort of trending song with “Taiwan museum”… no idea. Most of the views were only a second or two long.
Re-assessing how often I’ll post, and thinking it might be time to scale back.
We got the watch! Discount and all! But we had to do an unboxing right away because they needed PROOF! How is it so far?
Workout in! Chest day followed by 7km run in 48.21!<...

Some rain! Finally things will cool down.
Up and out to the gym I go! The cleaning lady… didn’t really clean. Barbell rows, shoulder press and then 100 pull ups (no push ups or squats). 7km run done in two parts.
Update on the Beijing ID card sale: you have to choose whether to get it in store (more expensive) or buy it online. Once you choose, you can’t change it. And not applicable to foreigners.
Steve, you mentioned you’d talk about your biggest mistakes in trading, what were they? AEM.to = sold too soon. PD.to...

Ow, I’m sore! Guess the leg workout was good enough.
Steve, sounds like you don’t like Warren Buffett, nor Mohnish Pabrai. But what if they offered you a job? Would you take it? What would YOUR value proposition be? (Or what if Codi Sanchez offered you a job, would you take it? What would your offer be? She has a podcast studio!) Key takeaways:-Keep your job (Buffett was employed in several capacities and didn’t become Berkshire Hathaway’s chairman until 1970… when he was 40.)-Put all your eggs in one basket… AND WATCH THAT BASKET!-Don’t get divorced...

Workout in! Leg day truncated by a tweak in the back. Did get a run in
Hey, Steve, did you buy SpaceX?! NO! Why not?! Stupid buying GOLD!
Warren Buffett and the circle of competence… WTF does that even mean?!? I don’t know SpaceX so I shouldn’t buy? But who am I to disagree with a billionaire who got stock investing right? And I don’t mean Mr. Buffett, but Mr. Mohnish Pabrai on the Cody Sanchez Podcast.-Buffett’s Dad was a stock broker and then a US Congressman = money-The pinball machine = made up a name to so...

Back to the regular set up, it’s just easier.
Rough cuts done! Gotta work on those AI prompts!
More people playing and downloading! What does that mean? There are more plays and downloads overall, but I don’t know those exact figures.-320 impressions-84 plays (can only be 30 seconds)-97.5% completion rate… meaning those who tune in finish listening.
Trump signs a deal, OIL goes down and GOLD goes up… but I thought GOLD was a contrarian play in times of uncertainty?
New York Knicks win!
Carolina Hurricanes win!
How’s the World Cup going...

Workouts in! The QR scanner worked! So… how long do you stay in the gym if you know it’s priced PER VISIT?
Thinking about a YouTube rebrand… something a little more… generic? Or, generically specific!
You’re doing social wrong! Boost those posts that go viral! Send them to your website! TikTok shorts going crazy!
New podcast app for Chinese! Thanks teacher!
And why did that Video Night in Taipei video NOT take off on TikTok? Cause I mentioned YouTube.
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Is GOLD dead?! Let’s take a look at those options. And a note about option pricing, especially after-market.
Workout in! Went to the gym but couldn’t get in! The scanner wouldn’t recognize my QR Code! (I bought a coupon!)
Pull ups done! 106, 212, 318! 1hr 1 min 34 sec, no weight vest today.
Live stream in! Continuing on with the TikTonks!
Sports games a go go! World Cup starts! NHL wrapping up! And the NBA causing riots… but no news on that??
And a man repents! Slaughtering dogs ain’t nice! Way to go, Western media! SHAME THEM...

Hey, is podcast equipment a tax write off? Only if it makes money, Steve. Is this the benefit of working from home?
Publishing continues. A difference in numbers, but YouTube is the only one that pays.Video night in Taipei TikTok = 0YouTube = 79Instagram = 118XHS = not published yet
How long do you stay in a museum?TikTok = 27194 (and climbing)YouTube = 49Instagram = not published yetXHS = 180
GOLD getting low, time to look at it a little more closely. 894 RMB as of this recording, and RSI is in oversold territory.
Workout in! 6.51km in 46.22. Then some kettlebell work.
And...

Chinese classes continue! How is your Chinese? Bought a few packages in an effort to bolster my speaking. Thinking… new YouTube series? Speaking to a Billion? One man’s quest to speak with every single Chinese-speaking person?
Chinese subtitle workflow getting easier to do, continuing on with the basic FCP caption workflow.
FM! Missed DELL! Micron! Markets continue to crash! (I put them on the list on May 7th!)
Run done 6.51km in 43.36, kbells done, no gym fun, but out in the sun.
It’s that time of year! Spraying for bugs! Got sprayed by a mist o...

The YouTube dream is dying! Down to 5 cents a day!
Steve, what would you do if someone gave you $1000?
Not sure Substack live will continue. It feels a little weird. Maybe something to do every now and then.
Following up from yesterday’s episode:“Money you hold with Wise, in any currency, is not insured by any deposit protection scheme, including the Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation (CDIC) and represents an unsecured claim against Wise. Except where otherwise provided under the terms of a specific product or program, Wise owns the interest or other earnings on these investments, if an...

Let’s live stream this one! Will it work?! Got some ideas…
Feeling sniffly! What a weekend! Is it sickness? Is it the heat? Is it China? Or is it allergies?!
Off to the gym this morning, how much did it cost? (33 RMB, up from 14 RMB when I put more money on it.) Run done, 4.5 km a struggle in 35min 34 sec. Still hurtin form Friday’s workout anyway!
Markets get slammed! Sell in May and go away, not June! Or… is that why they say to sell in May? EVERYTHING got hit, including GOLD and SILVER! Important question...

How was the health check? Did you pass?
New bank account opened! CAN’T BUY GOLD! Why not? FOREIGNER!
Workout in! Not only did I cycle to AND from the health check, I once again tried my modified Murph workout: a couple laps around the compound, 104 pull ups, 208 push ups, 312 squats with a 6kg weight vest, all in 1hr 5min and 8sec. Did NOT want to! Post workout elixir of coffee, cola, water, soda water, and collagen!
Second thoughts on that social shopping idea… I need a new sports watch. Would I rather watch ten review videos, surf...

A quick thank you to the elderly lady from yesterday… she gave me the content for the episode!
Today is that day that which we shall not speak of!Jeffery Wasserstrom on Lex Friedman: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7udd0SkbSHI
Health check tomorrow, gotta go through the hoops.
Workout in! 6.5 km run done in 40.57… I need a new watch. Garmin? Meta glasses?! Also got some kettlebell work done… and that knocked me out.
Social shopping not taking off in North America, why not? First garage sales. Second, distance. Third, no manufacturing of the goods (we can...

Slowly getting better, got up before 7.00!
Workout in! No gym membership just yet.
Live stream done! And the challenge of living in Beijing continues… connection issues.
And what is the state of my Chinese? STILL having trouble talking to the elderly lady on the compound!
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***Show notes n tracks up on stevensirski.com
And on Notion: https://stevensirski.notion.site/SSAB-The-Audio-Blog-of-Steven-Sirski-00acfe344e164bfab191d3cddf6952b2?pvs=4
Newsletter over at stevensirski.substack.com
Language vl...

Still knackered! No run done today, but late day kettlebell work. hot and humid, smoggy too!
Job application continues and a reminder why I want to build something up online! BA! MA! Transcripts! Name changes, etc.!
New method of social media marketing is to create multiple accounts for your different brands. OMG, when does it end??
And Household registration done! Don’t forget! Twenty four hours!! Thirty more days! What will you do, Steve?!
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***Show notes n tracks up...

New month, new city, new country! Yes, I’m back in Beijing. How was the trip back?
Taipei > Shanghai > Beijing, 3hr layover in Pudong… I WOULD’VE been bored but I had something to keep me entertained: reconnecting to the outside world!
Did I focus overly much on my content creation talk? Maybe, but I think that was because I was getting really tired along the travels. Wasn’t sleeping all the best and wasn’t working out all that much.
Dropped 3kg! Workout in today but need to get a new sports watch! The old one literally...

Well, you’ll either love the way I travel… or hate it.
One more night in Taipei, I promise! Why??
Went to Taipei 101… wasn’t going to go up the tower but… gotta get the content done. And met an apparently famous Singaporean YouTuber.
Live streams done, walking down Taipei, Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial.
And, Steve, given all this hubbub, do you have a philosophy of travel?
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***Show notes n tracks up on stevensirski.com
And on Notion: ht...

One more night in Taipei! Hostel change, no problem with that. Didn’t sleep well last night… maybe too much coffee and… can you sleep with the taste of garlic in your mouth?
May have to get going tomorrow anyway, what’s the cost of staying another night?? BIG MONEY!
Workout in! Body weight at the park, and waving to my new friend who has a beer at 8.30 am!
To the National Palace Museum I go. How was it? Got some content done. Was thinking of some of the origin stories of things like Qu Yuan, Mr. Zongzi G...

Fingerprints done, that’s a load off! How much did it cost?!
Did you enjoy yesterday’s episode? Didn’t get it published till this morning… I was SO TIRED!
Am I done with Taipei? Maybe not just yet. But the weather is about to turn.
Run done, 7km, tomorrow, go again or take a rest? Looking forward to getting back to my old routine.
And more people working online and travelling in their spare time… or most of the time.
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Steve, if you’re not going to do cultural stuff, why are you still in Taiwan?
Off to the museum today, how as it? Cheap!
Fingerprints, apostille and visa applications, how is it going?
How is the hostel? YOUNG! Lots of recent grads taking a few weeks off before finding or starting a job. They talk about going to all the places I’ve been!
And an interview with another expat, Russ, from the USA! Hear what level of Chinese he’s at already! What was his key to success??
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Fukuoka - why did you stay? Thinking about the costs.
To Osaka, thinking it would be better to fly out, it just cost me more.
To Taipei, why didn’t I come here earlier?
How long will I stay?
AND HF! The size of a spider in Taiwan!
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***Show notes n tracks up on stevensirski.com
And on Notion: https://stevensirski.notion.site/SSAB-The-Audio-Blog-of-Steven-Sirski-00acfe344e164bfab191d3cddf6952b2?pvs=4
Newsletter over at stevensirski.su...

Recording this one quietly because I’m not sure if this is a cult! 9Hours capsule hotel… complicated set up. Different floors, reception, storage, capsules… all through one elevator per gender.
Still in Fukuoka, will I be able to make it out tomorrow, or will I have to leave another way?
Busan ferry SOLD OUT!
Manila at midnight? Is it safe?
Taipei, what do you say? Can we make it tomorrow, eh?
And what did I do in my last day in Fukuoka? Walked around, livestreamed, went to an art gallery, and to the ruins of the...

Steve! Enough with the content talk, how is Japan?? Have you done anything else?!
YES!
Staying one more night in Fukuoka, debating whether it’s a good idea to take the boat to Busan, stay a day or so, and then fly to Taipei. I feel like I’d be repeating myself. Of course, I could just always return to Beijing.
Went to the Fukuoka Asian Art Museum… lots of China/Taiwan stuff. It’s Museum Week and it was free to go. Good thing, cause it rained today. Tried to make an origami crane and couldn’t for the...

520! Did you forget? What if you’re in another country?
The lady at the front desk speaks Chinese, from Xiamen. Lives and works in Fukuoka now.
Hostel is nice, got to make good use of it today cause I slept most of it.
Did venture out a little bit, through the Kawabata shopping lane and stopped by a cafe that smelled really good. Carried on and somehow (again) found the red light district, which was literally just across the bridge from the rather large Canal City shopping mall.
Did some live streams, and thinking, How do to...

Could’ve taken the bus for a FRACTION of the cost of the train. AND had a place to sleep! Oops. 1700 yen vs 21,000 yen PLUS 6100 for the hotel. Ouch.
Off to Fukuoka for the day, taking the bus! Was alright. Slept most of the way. Free WIFI on board so tried looking up hostels on the way. This idea failed. Two were closed by the time I got there and just about everywhere wants you to book online. New trend?
Throat feeling rough, coming down with something. How am I sleeping? I’m not! Last night was a snor...

Hey Happy Birthday to me… podcast!
Welcome to Nagasaki! What a trip! Forgot the PIN to my credit card so it took a little work to get everything booked. Cashier only took cash or card, no tap. Luckily another service staff member helped me book the ticket online. That way, you enter the card number and a password then use that same card to pick up the tickets at the station. A run around but it got done. Maybe should have taken the night bus
Why Nagasaki? Very good question. Why not? The bomb exploded here and I wa...

Up early-ish and out the door for a 7 km run. Ran a lot quicker today than previous days. Made my way through Utsubo Park, very nice peonies I think they were.
Osaka Castle for the afternoon. What’s next?
Starbucks vanilla donut?? How was it? Not worth it!
Bought some summer clothes from Uniqlo! UV protection gear. Nice and breathable!
And I think I figured out a simple way to do Chinese subtitles in FCP: just export the default captions! Should speed up production a little bit.
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ht...

Out for a run but it was hard to get going! Didn’t get last night’s episode up until around midnight. Hope you enjoyed the talk with Art after yesterday’s episode. His website is artimax.com
Logistics of running! Japan obeys the rules and that means stop lights! And there are quite a few of those in the neighbourhood! Found it a bit difficult to navigate, not least of all because everybody was on their way to work.
More live streams! YouTube and TikTok, both through Shinsaibashi.
Starbucks has donuts here! And how is the food...

And hello from Osaka!
Finally booked the flight last night… completely forgetting about the idea of taking the boat! Darn!
Lemon Cass, not bad. Had a few of those and some soju with the other hostelites. And I’m reminded why I don’t drink with people nor hang around 20 yr olds!
Flight was uneventful, but getting to Osaka Station was a bit of work. I didn’t realize you could just take the airport limousine bus from T2. Also, customs searched EVERYTHING!
And how’s the hostel? Not really as advertised, but it’ll do for now.

Staying one more night? Why?? Cause it's so quiet!
Walking around Hongdae again, did one live stream on YouTube... I think I have a new content creation idea.
Met up withthe Korean lady we met back in Australia! She lives in Gimpo so came over to Hapjeong for tea.
Tried some BBQ, but not samgyupsol, some sort if pork barbecue.
And I'm missing Trump again!
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***Show notes n tracks up on stevensirski.com
And on Notion...

Happy Mother’s Day! Did you remember to call? If not, do it today and you can blame the time difference!
Still in Seoul, South Korea, most likely flying out tomorrow to Osaka. Need to find a finger printing place and then need to apply for a police background check somehow. Seriously doubting this job application.
How has Seoul been? Very quiet! Only 9 million people here contrast that with Beijing. And it’s definitely not as hot!
Walking around Hongdae and saw a local band playing on Sunday afternoon.
Quiet nights in the hostel because… they aren’t...

Dae ha min guk! Clapclap clapclap clap! Arrived!
BARELY got onto the flight! I completely misjudged the time it would take to get to T2 and when we got to the airport the check in was closed. Since I only had carry on, I asked if I could just get the boarding pass. He said no, it closes an hour ahead of departure. The papers have already been sent to immigration. Interesting. Gf chimes in and tells him that my visa expires today he has to leave. I was then ushered through.
Now, that could’ve been avoided if...

OMG! DON’T WORKOUT AND THEN EAT CAROLINA REAPER BEEF JERKY! OWWWWIEEEE! Each idea unto itself was good, the beer, the jerky, the curry. All together? OUCH! “Like menstrual cramps”.
Streaming and broadcasting, thinking… a comprehensible English podcast? A relaunch of the Language Vlog Podcast but intended for language learners. Do I have to do this? Or do I vibe code some website?
Ready to go? Seoul baby! Am I excited? Not really! Let’s hope this doesn’t fk up!
And an article on using Claude in China… everyone is using it and the government won’t stop them. Bes...

Friday is D-Day! Departure day that is. As far as I understand the rules on the Chinese Embassy to Canada’s website, it’s entry day+1 for the 30 days. That is, the count doesn’t start until the day after so technically (hopefully) my visa doesn’t expire until Saturday. Good, tickets are a little better on Friday than Thursday.
Will be hosteling it up and wondering, how will this go? Will I even want to do this?
Is teaching really the only thing I can do?
Chinese markets open again.
And niche vs newspaper? Maybe my niche...

End of the long weekend and getting closer to departure day, where shall I go?
More live streams done, spending much of my morning editing clips. Will need to get some help for this.
Thinking about my stuff and it’s not about the stuff I’ll get rid of, it’s about the stuff I’ll keep: where will I put it?
GOLD STOCKS bottoming?? Chinese markets open again tomorrow.
And marriages abound! Did my video editor get married??
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May the Fourth be with you! And such and such.
Prepping to get going, where should I go? Should I go around the world? How much stuff AM I taking with me?
Posting to XHS and developing a better Chinese subtitle workflow — it’s getting easier.
Substack and live streaming, what if I just focused on one platform, not ten??
And how was Burger Fest?
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***Show notes n tracks up on stevensirski.com
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Just watched the speeches! How were they?!
King Charles is in the US! What do I think?! What do the Brits think?! Charles’ speech in Congress was steeped in history, but the speeches at the dinner were a lot more funny. “He got the Democrats to stand.”
Historical references throughout! Did you get all of them? His comment about re-arranging the White House back in… 1814. And if not for the Brits, then the US would be speaking French!
First of the month and the countdown begins! Gotta get going or else risk visa problems! Where should I go?

End of the month! Hope you got your taxes done!
Live streams continue! Today… YouTube!
Hope you enjoyed yesterday’s episode! All about how I got started teaching English! Was a bit of a mess BUT, did you see the album art? Well, did that ever take me down memory lane AND showing the gf what I look like without a beard!
More stock talk. How many stocks can you really own? Another look at my spreadsheet and the addition of a couple of columns. Have the banks topped? Putting them on the list!
And a youn...

Relocation done and did! To China an expat goes… from Korea? This guy I knew back in South Korea has now moved his family to China. Is China the place to be or is it done?
Guess I should tell the story of how and why I started teaching English overseas. It’s rather simple.
Tiktok Live Studio now available for MacOS?! Content, Call to Actions, and Clients. Get going!
And wondering, what if I just went travelling?
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***Show...