Yau-man: Hello everyone..
Yau-man: Let the fun begin... I just ate dinner.. cooked by my dear daughter. My wife is out of town visiting with her sisters. Yes.. My wife is out of town and all I do is play on the computer with you guys.. what a life huh..

Jokerette: How did you happen to apply for Survivor?
Yau-man: I did not apply. I was one of the recruits
Jokerette: oh really? How does that work?
Yau-man: "Recruit" means that one of the PA's (production assistant - read gopher) called me up and ask me to submit an app.
Jokerette: are you glad you did Survivor, then?
Yau-man: They were looking for older people and Asian - very few older people or Asian apply for the show. Yes. I'm glad I did

Jokerette: draconess asks: How did you manage to stay out of so many of the arguements between tribe members?
Yau-man: By nature, I'm an easy guy to get along - I don't let stuff get to me easily - so I stay out of everyone's arguments.
Strkaholic: Wasnt that difficult in that environment though?
Yau-man: It was very difficult environment - must more tougher than I every thought.

Jokerette: what was the hardest thing about survivor for you?
Yau-man: I think that know what I know now, I probably won't do it if the prize was not $1,000,000!!!
Jokerette: would you do All-stars?
Yau-man: The toughest thing was the hunger.. we were always hungry and thirsty.
Jokerette: (and neither would i.. i'd run out of cigs lol)
Yau-man: Speaking of cigs.. you know why Rocky was so volatile and obnoxious ? He's a chain smoker and he was going through nicotine withdrawal.

Jokerette: draconess asks: When did you first start using the phrase "Love all,trust few. Do wrong to none."?
Yau-man: I start using that phrase at one of the tribal council when it dawn on me that that's what it takes to get far. Actually, it was a missed quote from Shakespeare
Jokerette: which of his plays?
Yau-man: The right quote is "Love All, Trust Few , Do wrong to none" but it's been 40 years since I read All's Well that End's well (I think.)
Strkaholic: It set you apart when you did that though Yau..
Yau-man: Yes, it did.. but I hear from a lot of Shakespear scholars about my mis-quote...

Strkaholic: SuperLisa asks: if you need medication can you not be on survivor- whether it's blood pressure meds or anxiety meds, etc? Amber was given drugs on Big Brother.
Jokerette: xanax, yes.
Yau-man: No, I do not take any medications at all. I am lucky to be 55 years old and very healthy. I have blood pressure of 110/68 the last time I check and heart rate of 58!!

Strkaholic: Fiddlestickz asks: Don't you get a manuel about the show and the location you are going to so you can adapt to your environment ie. what you can eat like berries and fruit?
Yau-man: Thanks.
Yau-man: On the day before we were launched on the island, we were given a half day of safety training- where they told us what we can and cannot eat.

Jokerette: that's not much training is it did it help a lot?
Yau-man: Most people had no idea of where they were going.
Yau-man: The "training" was very basic - we were shown pictures of fish and shell fish that we cannot eat and what to do if we were bitten by the deadly sea snakes.
Strkaholic: It looked like there were an awful lot of those
Yau-man: Yes, they were everywhere and very real.. not kidding.

Jokerette: How hard was it to be on Ravu initially?
Yau-man: Ravu was horrible. We had not potable water so we only drank coconut water - I was an expert in opening greeen coconut and not lose any of the water - so I was considered valuable to keep around.
Jokerette: which is a good thing!

Jokerette: What made you decide to use the idol at that exact moment?
Strkaholic: You were valuable for much more than that!
Yau-man: On the Idol - I was very worried at that TC and when I heard Stacy mentioning break up of the alliance, I knew I had to use the idol. Ok the big question.. ta..da!! As soon as I saw the truck.. I knew I was going to do something with it to get further in the game. So, with the 6 of us left, I know that only Boo had beaten me in any challenges. None of the other 5 have -and we need to get rid of Boo. That leave Dreamz as the last potential threat - but so far he has not beaten me in any challenge - but I was just buying an "insurance" policy. If I use the truck as a deal, I have to offer it to someone who I am sure will not turn me down - I was not sure about Boo - I knew Dreamz will want it so I made the deal with him.

Jokerette: Did you & Dreamz talk after the show about him not keeping his end of the deal? What did he say?
Yau-man: No, I have not talked to Dreamz since the Reunion show in NYC. I really don't want to see his life ruined because of that bad decision and I want to help him. He said he's going to auction off the truck and donate the money to charity - I told him if he does that, I'll be happy to make a joint appearance with him - sort of help him rehabilitate his image in the public. So far, I have not heard back from him.
Jokerette: thats quite an offer, on your part.
Yau-man: Going back to Dreamz again.. could you imagine if he had lived up to his deal and as someone who runs a gym for inner city kids, when he goes to Cooperate America for donations, they will throw money at him.. he really blew it.

Strkaholic: sil asks: thanks so much for joining us tonight... How did your family handle the whole "fame" issue?
Yau-man: My family is ok with it so far. The show is not that popular in the San Francisco BAy area, so I don't get recognised that often - which is ok with me.

Strkaholic: Fiddlestickz asks: Since being on Survivor, how has the overall experience impacted on your life. Positives and Negatives, please
Yau-man: My overall experience has been very positive. (No stalkers or nasty email so far!!!)

Strkaholic: Yau..did you know that Dreamz tried to get you out before final 4?
Yau-man: Yes, I knew that he was trying to find a way out of the deal without having to go back on his words. But what he did not see past his nose is that if he goes back on his words, no jury member will give him a vote and he would have made an ass of himself in front of 20 million views world wide..

Jokerette: Loony asks: Yau, what were you hoping would happen when you created the fake idols?
Yau-man: I was hoping that someone will find it and use it. Since, other than me and Earl at that time have seen the real thing, none of the other people have any idea what the idol looks like!
Strkaholic: Did anyone ever find it that was not shown?
Yau-man: No. The cleaning crew who cleaned up Moto after the merge dug it up - I think it was sold on EBay. I wish I had thought of the ideal of making the fake idol at Ravu - I would have dug harder and probably Lisi will find it.. can you imagine...
Strkaholic: OMG..that would have been awesome!!!

Jokerette: <Loony> could you ask him what he did to occupy his time on exile? Were the cameramen there 24/7? Did he interact with them?
Yau-man: It's boring on Exile Island - except to try and keep away from the snakes. There is only one cameraman/producer there - they showed footage of me sitting under a tree in driving rain frozen still with a sea snake 2 inches from my foot!

Strkaholic: Did they talk to you guys much? Were they allowed to?
Yau-man: Misty- I don't know why they made both idols the same.. I guess Fiji was the first season that they have two idols.
Yau-man: The crew don't talk to us much - only during the formal "confessional" times. but by the end of the 6 weeks, they were getting homesick and goofy too and started to chat us up a bit.

Strkaholic: reality asks: Hi Yau-man! Give us some behind the scenes scoop on Survivor China- we know you have some!
Yau-man: I am still under contract with SEG/CBS - with a $5 million penalty clause.. so I have to be careful what I tell.
Yau-man: Ok.. here something -- Jeff Probst is really a very nice guy.. I'd love to sit down with him at a bar and have a beer.. he is very personable and charming and here's the scoop - he's not very tall - about my height.. they make him look tall on TV!!!

Strkaholic: Sapphire123 asks: what was the most challenging thing Yau-man had to face in his season of survivor?
Yau-man: The most challenging thing was to be mentally alert in spite of all the physical difficulties - the lack of food, the dirt, the plotting etc. It's a lot more mentally exhausting than I ever imagine.

Strkaholic: Fiddlestickz asks: What was a typical day and week like for playing Survivor?
Yau-man: The typical day is a lot of down time. We have no watches or calendars - we had no idea of time - so we don't know what coming up next.. until one of the producer tell us to get ready for challenge in 20 minutes! I get by quite well just sitting around and listening in on all my tribemates blabbling.. They like to talk about food all the time and exchange recipes off the top of their heads. I hated that - I want to forget food when I am hungry.

Jokerette: Mriver asks: Is there any type of first aid offered to the sick or injured?
Yau-man: Yes.. but.. we were basically told that if in ordinary life we don't go to the Emergency Room, we don't call the doctor on the island. The weather in Fiji was ok. It was suppose to be the rainy season, but we were lucky - they had a drought.. meaning that instead of raining every day for 2 or 3 hours, it rained every other day for and hours! It really never got cold.. we slept without blankets ..

Strkaholic: But couldn't you have used rain water as drinking water?
Yau-man: Yes, we try to catch rain water to drink but with only one cast iron pot it's tough - the water becomes rusty before you bring it to your mouth!! The cold is not the problem - the mosquitoes were.. they buzz around us all night like B-52 bombers .. I can still hear them..

Jokerette: Joyce asks: what did eliminated players do after their elimination? Were they taken on sightseeing tours? How were they kept busy?
Yau-man: First, if you are booted out BEFORE the jury, you are held up in the losers lodge (it's tent cabins - not 5 star resort in this part of Fiji.) and wait for the last of the Pre-Jury. So, if you want to get booted out, be the last prejury like Anthony. When all the pre-jury are assembled, they take them to a paid vacation. In the Fiji seasaon, they were sent to Syndey to hang out in a resort till the filming is over. Now, the jury has to come back to tribal council every 3 days so they have to just hang out at the loser lodge and then after the last TC, we all went home the next day. so, I was the lucky one since I only had to spend one night at the LL and flew out the next day. We cannot bring anything to the island that they didn't give us. We were asked to bring a lot of books to read - in LL since there is not TV or radio . No, not a bad deal for me. For Rocky, he was the first juror so he spent the most time in LL!!!

Strkaholic: cjj3 asks: Zhan Hu on this year's season premiere seems a bit dysfunctional. What can they to to right their boat before capsizing big time?
Yau-man: I am still trying to figure out this seasons cast.. I thought they were fans of the show and not recuits.. but didn't they learn anything from watching? Oh my gosh, as the season goes by, viewer all know more and more about the show and yet, these yahoos were caught with bad shoes and no bra going on the island!!!!
Jokerette: and they NEVER know how to start a fire!
Yau-man: Speaking of fire starting, here's an inside info (I hope I don't get in trouble!) I was the one who told everyone how to start fire with glasses but it was raining season but we tried whenever the sun was up and Michelle got lucky and got the credit for it!! No, you don't just hold your glasses over dry fiber - it would never work since your glasses are concave lenses and cannot focus the sun. the trick is to put a drop of water on the glass - it acts as a very powerful magnifying glass.

Strkaholic: Joyce asks: Does the jury discuss the remaining players much? And does the jury do a round-table discussion about the final 2 similar to Big Brother?
Yau-man: No. At the LL, we can talk about anything but are not allowed to talk about the show. So, the jurors can only listen in and questions the finalist but we cannot discuss among ourselves.