Daniel Chiu

Daniel Chiu

Iron Will

Hi, my name is Daniel. Welcome to my website and blog! My mission is to help people self-actualize by maximizing their potential and living with integrity. I used to live in Silicon Valley, where I was a professional software engineer. Not too long ago, I left that behind to pursue

2016 Mid Year Review

Today is the last day of June. Half the year has flown by since I set out to complete an ambitious array of goals including completing several triathlons and reaching measurable proficiency in two languages. With only six months left to make good on these commitments to myself, I want

2016 New Year's Resolutions

Last year I neglected to write my resolutions down or to think proactively about how I would achieve them, but I believe most of my resolutions had to do with personal fitness. Notably, last year I trained for four months and then ran a marathon, proving to myself that if

From Reluctant Reader to Bookworm: Why I Fell In Love With Books

“A half-read book is a half-finished love affair.” –David Mitchell, Cloud Atlas A Reluctant Reader… I used to be a reluctant reader at best. I managed to get through high school English and college humanities without reading very much. It might surprise you how far one can get by skimming,

Japan Day 0.5: When Life Gives You Lemons... Go to a Maid Cafe

Today, life, laughing, said, “Close enough” and dumped in Tokyo instead of Taipei. Having always wanted to visit Japan, I laughed back and welcomed the opportunity to get a small taste of Tokyo before I return in 2 weeks. I got back to San Diego from Greece around 11pm on

Greece Day 6: The Oracle at Delphi

Today we spent most of the day in Delphi before jumping on a bus back to Athens. In my opinion, we spent just about the right amount of time in Delphi. Delphi is a small, but beautiful town nestled in the mountains. The town is built almost like layers on

Greece Day 5: Monasteries of Meteora

For whatever reason, I couldn’t sleep this morning. I woke up at 3am and passed the time by reading and exercising. Around 5:50am, my parents woke up as well to find a good place to watch the sunrise at 6:05am, and I decided to go for an

Greece Day 4: Mountains of Meteora

When we finally arrived in Meteora, we took a cab to Saint Georgio’s Villa, a small bed-and-breakfast-like establishment on the edge of a village called Kastraki, which lies at the bottom of the mountains in Meteora. Kastraki is the smaller of two villages at the base of the mountains;

Greece Day 3: Street Markets

I’m a little bit behind on chronicling my travels. Looking back on my pictures, it’s hard for me to believe how short a time it’s been. I had a mild sense of disorientation when I realized a few days ago that I had completely lost track of

Greece Day 2: Learning the Language and Ascending the Acropolis

Today started bright and early at 9am with healthy servings of jet lag and groans. A shot of espresso as we walked through the streets of early morning Athens helped take the edge off. First order of business for our first full day in Greece was visiting a travel agency