I’m JONNY

“THERE ARE NO BAD PICTURES; THAT’S JUST HOW YOUR FACE LOOKS SOMETIMES.” – ABRAHAM LINCOLN

I am the person on the left of the picture. 

I also have my more “professional”  blog called Mr Jonathan Jones where I talk more about analytics, tracking, Google Data Studio, and Search Engine Optimisation. 

This is more of my personal blog where I’ll talk about my travels and more personal matters. 

So who am I? 

I’m a half British & half Taiwanese person living in London and I like to travel and have some ambitious travel goals for 2020. I created this blog a while back when blogging seemed to be the cool thing to do in 2010. However, time and work have got in the way, hence I’ve not been able to blog as much as I’ve wanted to blog. 

Here’s hoping that will change in 2020 and beyond. I’ll be travelling quite a bit this year, so I’ll hopefully have a lot of interesting posts up on this site. 

What have I been up to whilst in lock down in London?

I am still alive and well! I've realised that I've not posted on this blog in a while, so thought I'd take some time to write this blog post to give an update on what I've been up to. First of all, I'm now a published co-author. I work in the marketing field,...

January 2020 – Running & Fitness

Originally created on January 1st, 2020: Updated daily until the end of January. I've decided that I will be keeping a log this year of all the runs that I've done this year by day and have a blog page for each month of the year. This blog post specifically will be...

Saint Espresso & Kitchen, Kentish Town

Hanging around or about in Kentish Town? Want to go somewhere nice for brunch? Why not stop by over at Saint Espresso kitchen, just a 1 minute walk from Kentish Town underground station. The cafe is usually quite busy on the weekends and at around lunch time, so...

Hot Wok Kitchen, Archway

If you are looking for a peng place to eat, and that's close to Archway or Upper Holloway, then look no further than the restaurant that is Hot Wok Kitchen.It is a Japanese restaurant that serves excellent food and in fact, I'd say they are the best Japanese...

London Marathon 2015 – Training & Thoughts – 42.1km

This is more of a retrospective post, looking at how I managed to do the London Marathon on April 26th, 2015. The London Marathon was my first, and currently only marathon that I've ever done. It holds a special milestone in my life, given all the issues I had gone...

A run through Primrose Hill, Kentish Town & Camden – 6.03km

Today I ran 6.03km, which is the longest distance I have run so far this year. It was a slog, and it wasn't easy, but I'm getting back into it having now completed 4 runs this month. I started off where I live in Tufnell Park, headed down through Kentish Town, then...

What weight is a good weight to get back to?

As part of my plan/goal for 2020, I want to lose weight and get jacked up. I've gone through quite a journey, historically speaking, and given my sort of bumpy road of losing weight, then gaining weight, and then being content, and then not being content with my...

Becoming a Taiwanese national through descent…

Originally posted Sep 6, 2011. Updated: Jan 3, 2020. Once Taiwanese you will be required to serve 12 months as a conscript in the Taiwanese military. Anyways, this blog post is essentially just the process you'll go through to get all my documents verified by two...

First run of 2020 – 5.89km

I have not run properly in a good while so I found today's run quite tough actually. It was definitely not an easy run - given that Christmas and New Year's had me eat a lot of food and frankly, I've not been eating with health in mind - let's just say. So as part of...

Happy New Year #2020 from London

It's now officially 13 minutes past, and we're well into 2020. For the past 3 years, I've been going to Hampstead Heath Park with Victoria Levine, to celebrate with the many hundreds that turn up to watch the London firework celebrations from afar: Here you can see a...

A Trip Away to Amsterdam

In November I went away with my other half, Victoria Levine, to Amsterdam for the very first time. We stayed for about 4 days, and the trip was certainly an experience. Central square in Amsterdam Ever thought of setting up your own rubber duck shop? This shop here in...

5 Things To Do In Taichung

Taiwan is a beautiful place; however, as a person who has lived 2 and a half years of my life in Taichung, the middle of Taiwan, I feel that I need to give tips and ideas to those who would like to visit this dear island and this great city. So, in this I'll be...

Gallery & Travels

I will be travelling and taking pictures quite a bit in 2020, so below you’ll be able to see the pictures I’m sharing and also see all the trips that I’ll be going on and that I’ve been on. 

A visit to London’s Olympic Park in Stratford

A visit to London’s Olympic Park in Stratford

I recall seeing the Olympic stadium being built during early construction stages before leaving this country and I wanted to the see the games in person, but jetted off to the island of Taiwan where I then spent the next two years of my life studying and working....

Finding a place to live in London

Finding a place to live in London

I've been looking at moving house and very recently found a place. But unfortunately the deal fell through as the landlord decided that they he would favour a member of his family in place of me. This is a small setback, but just means I'll have to live where I'm...

Chinese food at Westfield Shopping Centre & Pretzels

Chinese food at Westfield Shopping Centre & Pretzels

This weekend has been somewhat eventful. I have actually found a Chinese restaurant, which isn't too expensive and that actually serves some great Chinese food. In fact, it's inside Stratford's Westfield Shopping Centre and they actually cook the food fresh - believe...

Where NOT to eat in Chinatown

Where NOT to eat in Chinatown

Review of China Buffet - Chinatown On the 29th of October it was my birthday and I turned 22. In celebration of this I thought I'd go to a Chinese restaurant as it's food that I love and it's part of my heritage. What better place to go to than Chinatown in Leicester...

5 Ways to Treat Your Loved One in London

5 Ways to Treat Your Loved One in London

Photo Credit: Ania Mendrek If you’re planning a trip to London with your loved ones, say for a birthday, anniversary, or even just because, you may want to treat them to something a little bit extra special, something out of the ordinary that will make your trip go...

GumTree – A scammer’s wet dream

GumTree – A scammer’s wet dream

I’m writing this as I’ve recently been scammed out of 235 pounds. I’m of course now going through that stage where I’m thinking I could have handled things better. I basically looked on GumTree for a HTC One smart phone and came across a great deal. In fact, a deal so...

Fitness & Health

I’ll be taking my fitness in 2020 very seriously. Below are all of my latest blog posts on where I am with my fitness and the point of which I’d like to get to. I’ll be doing triathlons, half marathons and short distance runs throughout the year, so I am quite excited about what I have coming up.

My stamina seems to fluctuate

My stamina seems to fluctuate

I've just taken a shower, after having exercised in the park for around 40 minutes, and I feel as though my stamina fluctuates. Some days I can run for longer periods and some days I'm absolutely flustered. In all of my runs I try to push myself and I can usually keep...

86kg to 84kg! Weight lost!

86kg to 84kg! Weight lost!

I've lost weight! This year I weighed around 86kg after putting on weight when my sister left Taiwan. She visited for like a month and during that period I did not exercise. Before my sister arrived in Taiwan, I exercised every single day and sure enough I was...

Weight loss journey from 2010 – 2013

Weight loss journey from 2010 – 2013

Losing weight has always been something that I've wanted to do, but that I've never done until recent. I didn't use to be overweight (I'm not overweight now - as I write this) and at one point I could run for as long as I wanted and was one of the best long distance...

Fitness update

Fitness update

Let's just say that while my sister has been in Taiwan I've gained weight, as I've been going out and eating at restaurants and I simply have not had enough time to exercise. However, I've changed all that; now that my sister has returned to the UK I've started...

Now doing morning exercises

Now doing morning exercises

Let's just say I've done my own personal research, just like in school, except less physical and less challenging. Instead of exercising in the evening, I'm now exercising every morning. I just started this morning and as always I have taken advantage of the...

I have arthritis…

I have arthritis…

If you know me, you'd probably have added me on Facebook and likely would have seen the x-ray scans of my leg/foot/ankle. Ever since I came to Taiwan, I have exercised a lot and I mean a lot. I was on a strict diet and my goal was to lose 16kg. I achieved that goal in...