Becoming a doctor and travelling around the world
When Eason was a child, seeing his grandmother in illness, he once said he wanted to be a doctor, and this children’s talk dropped a hint about Eason’s future. He was impressed by the American TV series “ER” when he was in high school, along with the initial intention of helping people, he made up his mind to become a doctor and eventually entered the medical school. When asked why he chose the emergency department, Eason said with a firm look in his eyes, “In the emergency room, you have to learn how to quickly solve the patients’ problems and even flip their fates!” Knowing his own traits, Eason chose to stand on the front line of medical care, striving to multitask in the chaotic circumstance and fight for every minute for the patients. “Among the 30 patients with chest pain, how to find the one in the most critical condition is to rely on the ruler in the heart of the emergency physician.” The training of emergency physician enables Eason not only to calmly face the sudden challenges of life but also to analyze the fundamental meaning of things and pursue the best solution with a practical attitude.
As both his parents were Mandarin teachers, Eason had received the gifted education since elementary school. In the expectation of his mother, he once studied in the art class for talented students, where his art appreciation ability was cultivated. Being busy with schoolwork and under a lot of pressure since he was little, Eason joked that he had the “national education teacher’s child syndrome.” Not until he left home for college did his rebellious phase begin. And he first experienced the things he had never tried as a student only after finishing college. Once on a trip to Mexico for a medical symposium, the tour group originally booked had been cancelled, and thus Eason and his classmates had to travel on their own. Watching the local people carrying live chickens and other belongings to ride the bus with them, along with other unpredictable surprises on the road, he tasted the fun of travelling for the first time. Since then, he fell in love with travelling and started to visit the wonderful scenery around the world.
Pursuing perfection in details with people in mind
“When you have seen a lot of good spaces abroad, you’d hope that when foreigners travel to Taiwan, there’s good lodging for them to stay as well.” With a wealth of experience of staying in lodgings in different countries, the idea of establishing a lodging in Taiwan gradually developed in his mind. From studying the travel industry in Taiwan to personally visiting locations to do venue scouting, he put a lot of effort into building his dream step by step. Eventually, he chose to settle in sunny Kaohsiung where he found the ideal house – a 40-year-old residence within five-minute walk distance from the MRT station. As a result, with his persistent efforts, the outline on the blueprint of his dream become clearer and clearer.
Apart from putting his own travel experience into the design concept of the lodging, Eason also invited his classmate from elementary school, Dizhen Zhang, a top-notch aerial view painter to draw the street scenes of Kaohsiung on the walls of In Style House. The delicate paintings bring Kaohsiung’s daily scenery into the space and give the travellers a taste of local life. In order to realize his ideal blueprint, Eason supervised the construction himself, while even rolled up his sleeves and do the cleaning work on site. But sometimes, troubles just came out of a blue. A severe typhoon hit Kaohsiung and the huge rain storms poured down into the drains that had not been completed, leaving In Style House flooded from the fifth to the second floor. Eason and friends lost no time in cleaning the water with mops. However, the traces left by the water stain just couldn’t be removed. In the end, Eason had to replace all the wooden floor that had already been laid. “As this is your own house, you need to get hold of every detail, so you’ll know how to maintain it in the future.” A determination was shown in his eyes, along with the attention to every minute detail, Eason even personally selected the beds of quality. Thinking in the shoes of the travellers, Eason insists on building the perfect space for his guests.
Inviting travellers to stay in life and opening up windows to different lifestyles
In the future, Eason hopes that In Style House can serve not only as a lodging space but also as a window opening up to different lifestyles. Exhibitions and special exchanging gatherings will be held sporadically here. Eason also plans to open a select shop, so the foreign travellers can bring home Taiwan’s creative ingenuity as souvenirs and wonderful memories, while Taiwanese travellers can also discover more beautiful things through the shop with good taste.
“This is the place closest to the daily life of Kaohsiung. I’d like to take this lodging as a starting point and bring travellers to walk into Kaohsiung’s life!” Eason said in a calm and confident tone. What lies behind the scene is the unremitting endeavors, unique aesthetics, and considerate thoughts. Eason turns his travel experience into the designs that meet the needs of travellers. Start from In Style House with Eason, let’s stay close to the most authentic and intimate lifestyle of Kaohsiung!