Wong's Weblog
Is that a tattoo…
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This past Sunday, I went with some of my good family friends up to Shenzhen. The plan was to go up, eat some good food, relax a bit, and play some golf. Sounded like plans for an excellent day but was it…
We started the day by taking a bus up to China around 9:30 in the morning. After we passed the two border check points we were picked up by another friend and driven to my uncle’s factory. It has been 2 years since I’ve been back to this area and quite a bit has changed. The city has many new buildings including lots of new sports facilities and dormitories for the 2011 World University Games.
As we were driving to the factory, I reminisced about the last time I was in Shenzhen to visit my uncle. I spoke with my friends about how incredibly insane the driving was in Shenzhen and a short while later, we encountered our first wrong way driver. Yup, there he was, driving right at us. You would think that a median there would clearly allow a driver to determine which lane is the proper one to be driving in. This was not the case. As we passed the wrong way driver, I quickly noticed that there was a stoplight and all the lanes were filled and all of the cars were stopped, which leads me to my next thought. How the H did that driver end up driving the wrong way??
Once we arrived at the factory, we had a nice time sitting down and chatting with everyone over a cup of tea. Oh I’m betting that you think that is so cliche right, a bunch of chinese people sitting around having a cup of tea. Well, we’re in China, so do as the Chinese do right? After tea, we went next door to grab some lunch. Whenever I eat in China, I feel like a King. There is always so much good food. Lunch consisted of 10 different entrees that was served family style. The food was delicious especially the chicken. Chicken tastes so different here in China. Number one reason: it isn’t pumped full of hormones like in the states (if you don’t know what I’m talking about, go watch the documentary Food, Inc and then you can thank me for not wanting to eat anything at all). The chicken is literally a third of the size of the ones we find in the US which is fine because it tastes so very much better. I really wish we could find more free range chicken at a reasonable price back in the states.
Well after lunch, we all drove to the driving range to hit some golf balls. It was a very nice time there and the weather was actually pretty decent out that day. The facilities were extremely nice and the service was wonderful. We all got wet towels to allow us to freshen up. While we were there, I helped give a mini golf lesson to my friend. If you’ve ever played golf with me, you’re probably doing 1 of 2 things or possibly both. #1 You’re probably thinking to yourself, “seriously, he’s giving a golf lesson” and #2 you’re probably rolling on the floor laughing. Yes, I know. I am clearly not qualified to teach anything that involves golf period. In fact, i’m so bad at golf that I should probably just quit. But if I did quit, who would keep the golf economy afloat in AZ…
After golf, we all went to get a massage. Shenzhen is pretty well known for having good massages at good prices. I haven’t had a massage in over a year so I was excited to have a nice relaxing time. The place we went to was like the Disneyland of massage. It was 3 floors of relaxation (I use the term “relaxation” loosely here, you will understand later). The first floor had lockers, showers, pools, spas, billards tables, shuffle board and probably a bunch of other things that I didn’t see. The second floor had tons of lazy boy chairs with TV’s where you could sit and relax, eat, get your feet massaged. There was also places to eat on the second floor. The third floor had all of the massage rooms.
With a myriad of options for massages, we thought things over for about 5-10 minutes. Everything was in Chinese so I just went along with and did the same massage as my friend Kevin. We were “supposedly” doing the same massage as his fiance, Claudia, so we thought… I’m not even going to explain what I thought we were getting in our massage because I honestly didn’t know. I just figured that it would be nice and relaxing because thats what massages are for. All I knew was that the massage was going to last for 110 minutes.
When Kevin and I got into the room, I saw the masseuses bring in these tiny cups. I’ve heard about those before, they use heat to create suction on your back and afterwards they leave little red rings on your back. Claudia came in to our room and told us that once she saw the cups that she told her masseuse that she didn’t want to do that and she told us that we should probably do the same. I thought, well I might as well try it, what’s the harm…
Also, before our masseuses entered the room, I noticed some strange bars that were on the ceiling above the massage tables. I asked Kevin what that was all about. He told me they were for Thai massages and massages where they walk on your back. I thought that was interesting and that it was quite logical to have those to help the masseuse keep their balance.
As our massage began, it was quite nice. Gentle but firm kneading of the muscles in my back and shoulders. Many thoughts came to my head such as: good massage, relaxing, this should be a really enjoyable 110 minutes. After about 15 minutes of this nice, gentle, enjoyable massage, things took a turn for the worse.
*Sidenote: I would also like to mention right now that our masseuses did not shut up the entire time we were in there. They only spoke Mandarin and because I wasn’t speaking Mandarin, they thought I was Japanese. They were saying things like they weren’t going to give me a massage or something like that because I was Japanese and because they had a bad Japanese customer last week (lots of Japanese Chinese tension right now because of the captured sailor, look it up if you don’t know what i’m talking about). They finally got the point that I was an American-Chinese but kept on talking the entire time asking far too personal questions like how much money we made, who our families were etc. At one point, one of them turned on the TV in the room. So needless to say, relaxing ocean sounds was not the soundtrack to this massage. *End Sidenote
*Continue “things took a turn for the worse.”…
Somehow, nice massage turned into, ok so you’re standing on my back. Now I see the aforementioned bars on the ceiling being used. The following are the thoughts that went through my head while the masseuse was standing on me: “Well at least you don’t weigh all that much. This feels ok I guess. You’re walking up and down my back, fantastic. OK so the way you’re standing on me is not very conducive to me breathing. Wait, are you seriously walking up and down the back of my thigh right now? GET OFF MY CALVES!! Thank you for getting off my calves and working your way back up to my back. OK this thing you’re doing standing on my butt is not only kind of uncomfortable but seriously awkward. Ah finally, back to my lower back. FREAKING A!!! YOU’RE JUMPING ON MY BACK!!! I am not a trampoline.” This walking around on the backside of my body goes on for literally 25 minutes.
After she finished doing a plyometric workout on my back, she started using some oil on my back which I thought would be a start to some relaxation again. She proceeded to start using a tool on my back which I never saw but later found out was a tool formed from a cow bone. It did not feel that nice from the beginning. Using a credit card and running it up and down your skin isn’t that bad but using a cow bone and forcefully running it up and down your back and spine does not make me jolly fun time. I literally thought that layers of my skin were being peeled off. Trust me, I am not exaggerating and the picture that you will soon see will make my pain yours. This was used all over my back and it was extremely painful when it went up and down my rib area. This lasted a long time. I can’t even recollect the time it took and it has probably been put into my repressed memory bank. I later found out that the purpose of this “practice” is that it helps to open up the pores in your back which in turn help your body release toxins.
Now on to the wonderful suction devices. The masseuse started off putting one on my lower back. I heard a 4 clicks and each time I heard a click, I felt the spot where the cup was get tighter. It actually kind of hurt. It felt like a hard pinch. She left that there for a while while she kept on scraping. Once the scraping stopped, she used another cup , clicked it a few times and started running it up and down my back. This didn’t feel all that great either. She started putting more of these cups on me. I had a few knots in my shoulder/trapezius area, and she put some there as well. I ended up having 7 of them on my back. I originally thought I only had 6 of them but had a nice little surprise when I came home and looked in the mirror. After she placed all of the cups on me, she covered me up with the towel and walked out for a little bit. I asked Kevin who was lying a few feet from me if his masseuse had started with the wonderful cups yet. He said no. A few minutes later, he told me that he finally had some on him. He told me had 6 of them as well. Then he told me that he had 6 on one side of his back. I couldn’t help but laugh to myself. He ended up having over 10 placed on him.
Well after all the pain and misery of having these suction cups sit on my back for what seemed like an eternity, the masseuse came back and too them off. She did another 5 minutes of what I would normally think of as a normal massage, sat me up, did a couple of chops to my shoulders and voila I was done. The masseuse had us put our shirts on and then they left. I asked Kevin to let me see what his back looked like. I stared in awe. I couldn’t stop laughing and then I thought to myself, oh crap, I have that too. Then he saw my back and started laughing hysterically. We spent the next 10-15 minutes waiting for Claudia and another friend to be done with their massages. Once they came out, we showed them our battle wounds. They laughed a lot and we all acknowledged our stupidity with going through and having them done. Then we compared what we had done in our massages. Turns out that our massages were completely different. Somehow they had a very nice, enjoyable massage and feel asleep moments into their massage. We endured nearly 2 hours of pain.
You may have been asking yourself while reading, why didn’t you stop the masseuse when you felt like you were in pain. Well my train of thought with massages is that they are supposed to hurt. The more it does, the better it is for you. Guess I was wrong in this case.
Well, I guess I will show you the by product of this “wonderful” experience…
Now you’re probably doing one a few things: completely shocked, feeling sick to your stomach, feeling my pain, laughing, laughing hysterically or crying from your laughter. It’s ok, I will accept all of those reactions. I laughed a lot too. I still laugh every time I look in the mirror. And do you know why I laugh? It’s not because it looks like I have tire tread marks down the middle of my back. It’s not because I have 5 gigantic bruises on my upper back which can at times be viewable if my shirt hangs down. It’s not because I can’t wear white shirts for the next week or 2. It’s not even because of the fact that I pretty much have giant hickies all over my back. It’s those 2 freaking ones on my lower back. I can’t believe I have a freaking tramp stamp for the next week!!
I’m on a boat
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Previously on 24:
7:30pm: I was playing footy with my mates in Kennedy Town. My new British friend Damian told me that he was going to play an extra in a film directed by Steven Soderbergh with Matt Damon, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Winslett, and Marion Cotillard. He asked if I was interested in going with him, I said, “sure, why not.” He told me they were meeting at 3:30 am. I was contemplating it, although at that point, it was unlikely that I would be going because come on, 3:30 am… Then he got an email telling me it was changed to 6:15 am, at that point it was more feasible. I told him to give me a call in the morning and we would see what happens…
The following are the detailed events, albeit vague at times, of my time as an extra on a major Hollywood film. All times are approximate for this day (all the times are pretty accurate up until I get to the set).
12:15 am: get back to the flat exhausted after playing football the entire night, jump in the shower, send casting director a picture of me.
12:35 am: contemplating if I am realistically going to wake up in 4 hours to be an extra. Set alarm for 5:00 am just in case.
5:00 am: Wake up time. Aaaaaaaaahhhh so tired. Need more sleep. Snooze option available? No.. Screw you Hollywood, time for some more sleep.
5:30 am: Wake up call from Damian.
Damian: Hey, are you going to meet me in Causeway Bay?
Me: (pretending to be awake) uh ya sure. I’ll be there.
5:31 am: (inner thoughts) crap, I need to get my suit on, shave, brush my teeth, look somewhat presentable and awake, find a cab, get across the harbor, meet everyone by 6:15 or I’m not going to be in the movie.
5:45 am: miraculously get ready in time, almost forget my suit jacket inside the flat as I got into the elevator.
5:56 am: still have not managed to locate a taxi that will take me to my destination. I am screwed. It starts to sprinkle a little bit of rain. Crap.
5:58 am: found a taxi, on my way
6:12 am: find my friend Damian, go to the meeting spot, looking forward to an interesting day.
6:30 am: meet with the casting agent, he sends Damian, myself, 2 French dudes and an Irish man named Darrin in a taxi to Aberdeen where Jumbo Restaurant (a floating restaurant in the harbor) the location of the movie shoot.
7:00 am: make it to Aberdeen, see a bunch of tents set up. People are getting wardrobe and hair and make up done.
7:15 am: still sitting around waiting for instruction
7:30 am: lined up to get hair done
7:38 am: get some breakfast brought to me while standing in line waiting to get hair done, breakfast consists of dry noodles, shumai and sausage.
8:01 am: getting my hair done
8:10 am: waiting for my friend, Damian, to finish up with his hair and walk over to the ferry that will take us to Jumbo Restaurant where the movie is being filmed.
8:15 am: get on to the ferry with the other extras and begin the wait
9:00 am: still waiting, decide to sleep
10:30 am: wake up, still waiting…
10:50 am: By this time, my butt is seriously hurting from sitting on a hard seat for two and a half hours, they decide to split up the Hong Kong chinese and the non-chinese people to the upper and lower floors of the ferry, I ask them what I should do since they were asking for the chinese speakers to go up stairs, they say they don’t care so I just stay on the first floor with my friend. By this time, my butt is seriously hurting from sitting on a hard
11:30 am: the ferry starts making its short journey to Jumbo
11:35 am: they start letting all the chinese off the top floor off and then they select 30 of the caucasians off the first floor to get off the boat and tell the rest to wait, at this time i’m seriously the only chinese person left on the boat, this sucks…
11:40 am: I’m stuck on the boat with literally only like 30 other people, the other 100+ are moved inside to the set. they decide to let the rest of us off the boat, my level of depression lessens
11:48 am: some of the producers tell us to clear the way so that the actors can walk through to the scene
11:50 am: Holy crap! Gwyneth Paltrow walks by followed by a small entourage!
12:02 pm: they move us from the area right off the boat nearer to the set
12:04 pm: we are sitting and waiting once again, contemplating at this point if I’m actually going to be in this movie, depressing thoughts start settling in
1:00 pm: one of the casting agents takes in around 10 people, at this point I give up hope on being in the movie and thinking about how much better it would have been if I hadn’t been sitting around all day in my suit doing nothing, thanking God that the weather was nice out that day
1:10 pm: they decide to take the rest of us up to the set
1:20 pm: they pair me up with this older gentleman, our job is to walk back and forth in the background talking to a waitress and watching people play craps
1:40 pm: They change camera angles and I spot director Steven Soderbergh for the first time, I walk up closer to see them filming the scene
1:53 pm: They pair me up with a young girl to start walking back and forth in the background past the actors, I start chatting her up in cantonese and my chinese is holding up better than expected
2:07 pm: new scene, paired up with another girl, chinese director gives me instructions to walk with her and look around in awe at the amazing interior, starting to feel pretty good about being in a couple of scenes,
2:29 pm: get placed in the background in another scene, this time I get to chat up another girl and grab a drink from the waitress, standing a few feet away from Gwyneth Paltrow
2:54 pm: get paired up with yet another girl, start walking back and forth in the background again, at this point every girl I talk to is apparently a model
3:15 pm: start getting pretty hungry for lunch, it has felt like a full day already, quitting time should be pretty soon
3:36 pm: break for lunch, everyone back on the boat, we get our lunch and start heading back to the dock, word is some will get picked to go back to film additional scenes
3:53 pm: some old dude starts throwing up all over the place in front of me, time for me to exit stage right
4:00 pm: exit the boat, walk back towards tent area
4:10 pm: everyone is lined up again, assistant director is picking the cast to return to film additional scenes, feeling beyond exhausted at this point
4:18 pm: get picked by the assistant director to return, am a bit surprised
5:04 pm: return to boat to head back to the restaurant to film more
5:32 pm: sitting around waiting with the other extras to get hair and make up done again
5:45 pm: get hair touched up
6:00 pm: sitting down exhausted
6:02 pm: make up artist tells me I don’t need make up since I’m wearing glasses, can’t see the circles or wrinkles around my eyes
6:10 pm: get picked along with 3 other guys and 4 girls to film small scene, get moved to other side of the set,
6:23 pm: make up artist comes by again, tells me I need to shave
6:24 pm: shaving…
6:25 pm: done shaving
6:26 pm: they decide I need make up done, and I need to remove my glasses since I had them on in earlier scenes,
6:28 pm: producer is waiting on me to get make up finished, rush me down to get me into the small boat scene
6:32 pm: on the boat, Ms. Paltrow walks in, holy crap this is crazy, she seems very nice
6:35 pm: start driving around in the boat around the harbor taking pics (I wasn’t allowed to take pics of this sadly)
6:58 pm: return to the restaurant, it is looking really cool at night
7:02 pm: walk up stairs to film another scene, wait around for a bit
7:14 pm: get placed with 2 girls at a table, one is a model from hk, the other is from Holland
7:30 pm: holding my own speaking in canto, pleasantly surprised at how well I can carry a conversation, girl is complements my canto
7:38 pm: told to take girl as my date, get up from the table and walk out of the restaurant for the scene
7:50 pm: still filming, well into OT by now, everyone is tired and falling asleep
9:00 pm: filming is done for the day, wait for boat to take us back to the dock and to get paid
9:30 pm: getting paid, feel screwed because my caucasian friends are literally making twice as much money as me but whatever, I did it for the experience
10:30 pm: get home, sleep
Fun Time All The Time
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Saturday:
The next morning was the wedding reception. I spent the morning ironing some of my shirts. As I was ironing, I noticed that it was extremely hot outside. Ruh Roh. Bad sign. It turned out to be miserably hot and humid out that afternoon. This was not an ideal day to be wearing semi-formal clothes (or as my friend calls it, “smart-casual”) outdoors.
People were to meet up by the MTR station to board a bus to take us to the reception at New Territories (which is pretty much China). I was a bit concerned about who I was going to know at the reception but I found some of my old friends from Island ECC on the bus. I was much relieved. It was good to catch up with them on our ride there and at the reception.
When we got to the reception, my mind was blown away. We were at this country club and it did not feel like we were in Hong Kong at all. It felt like the Hamptons or something like that. It was a bit funny though at the reception. It was so insanely uncomfortable in the heat that some people were hanging out indoors. When I went to use the wash room in doors, I felt instant relief (not just from actually going to the restroom although that was relieving as well, sorry, too much information?) for it felt like I was inside an ice box. I thought to myself, would it be weird if I just hung out inside the wash room? Yes of course it would so I didn’t do it…well maybe just for a little bit…
As the reception drew to an end there was some singing, some dancing, and then some music, and then all of a sudden I heard a very familiar song and my jaw dropped. Are you serious? Can this really be happening right now? Well i’ll give you a little hint. It was from an SNL digital short film. A song with a word that starts with a J and ends with a Z and then some thing about it being in your pants…Thats all i’m going to say. As I sat there in horror, I gazed out to the distance seeing if any body else realized what was going on. All I could think of was, “Do chinese people know what this word means?” And then I locked eyes across the room, downed my drink as the rhythms boom. Saw one of my friends, he shook his head in disbelief, Along with me, utter shock was plastered on both of our faces. The song finally faded out. I didn’t know what to say. Did that really just happen? Is this real life?
Sunday:
I joined up with some of my friends again in the morning to attend the new sister church of Island ECC, Watermark, which now meets in Cyberport. Cyberport is really far away. Like really far away. Anyways, it was great to see the church just starting out and the mission that it has to develop the community and to bring Jesus to unchurched areas in HK.
After church, I met up with family to get lunch. We went to a Japanese ramen restaurant. I’ve got to tell you, Japanese ramen is amazing. It was one of my favorite things that I had in Beijing and Hong Kong 2 years ago and a specialty that I missed having in the states. It is not your typical Top Ramen. It is ramen fit for Kings. It is so good I may just need to bring it back home since PHX is seriously lacking in this cuisine.
The day before, some of my friends had invited me to go play soccer with them that night. I’ve had the itch to go play soccer for quite some time after watching the World Cup. I had really started to develop a new found love in the beauty of the game and how plays develop in a soccer match. The last time I played soccer must have been in grade school so this was definitely going to be interesting to say the least. We got to the fields, well they weren’t really fields. They were miniature sized concrete courts made for soccer in the city. I really wish they had these in the states. It was actually really fun running around playing. When I got there, I met a couple of new friends. One of them was a Brit named Damian. He was telling me about how they were filming a Hollywood movie and how he was taking the day off to go be an extra in it. He told me I should totally be in it. After he named off some of the stars in the movie such as Matt Damon and Gwyneth Paltrow, I was somewhat convinced I should do it. Then he told me they were filming that morning at 3 am which was just a few hours away. I was a bit reluctant to go and then he got a follow up email that said it had been pushed to around 6 am. I told him to give me a call in the morning to see what happens.
The first match, we scored first and ended up tying. Then we got kicked off the court and moved to another court where we ended up waiting for about an hour before we got to play another match. When we were finally let on, we didn’t have enough players to field a team so we got the two kids that were maybe in middle school and then this old man. The other team was beyond confident and made remarks about how they were going to wipe the floor with us. 10 minutes in, we scored the 1st goal. These two kids were pretty darn good. They definitely had skills. The other team is a bit perturbed. 15 minutes in, the kids are playing a 2 man game and score again. The other team is definitely pissed at this point. They are yelling at their goalkeeper. 25 minutes in, we throw the ball in and the old man heads it in. The other team is beyond irate now. 35 minutes in, they finally score a goal and call the game and walk off the court. They were not happy.
We ended up playing a mini game with a few other guys for another hour before we headed back to my friend, Kelvin’s home, where his girlfriend graciously prepared a delicious Thai meal for all of the boys. It was joyous time of filling our bellies and telling stories. Our conversation covered a gamut of topics from angels to psychological tests to determine if we fit the profile of being a serial killer.
During dinner, I got a call from my friend Damian. He told me that if I wanted to be in the movie, that I would have to send this casting agent a picture of me to guarantee me a spot the next morning during the film. By this time, with the logistics and the timing of everything, it seemed more and more unlikely that I would be going through with this. I left my friends place around 11:45 pm so the likelihood of me honestly following through was slim to none. So am I telling you there’s a chance?? Stay tuned…
Reunited and it feels so good…
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One of the main reasons to come out to HK was to see my dear friends Jacky and Cadence who had just gotten married the week before. I met the two of them 2 years ago in HK and spent 3 months with them in Beijing while I was attending Uni there to learn Mandarin. So needless to say, I was very excited to see them after such a long time apart. We decided to meet up for lunch and got to spend time catching up and seeing what had happened in the previous 2 years. It was crazy that literally 2 years ago, the 3 or us were visiting the grasslands of Inner Mongolia. Oh the good times of Inner Mongolia…
After lunch, I went with Jacky to run some errands and do some shopping. We went to a really great store in SOGO that carried a lot of vintage items. They had decent prices and their products were actually very cool. An interesting thing about this store thought was the it was literally 6 feet by maybe 12 feet. It was tiny but it worked. Anyways, that afternoon was a good time to just hang out.
That night, I met up with another one of my friends, Kate. We went to Tequila Jacks which is one of the few places in HK to get Mexican food. I wrote about them 2 years ago and how they were not that good. Long story short, things didn’t really change. I did get the fajitas this time which were okay at best.
I forgot to mention that Friday was also a Chinese national holiday so there was going to be a huge fireworks display in Victoria Harbor. Tens if not hundreds of thousands of people were already sitting and waiting at the harbor to watch the big show that night.
We were planning to go to watch the fireworks after dinner but my friend Kate got a bit sick and was unable to make it that night. I decided to have a go at it myself.
There were tons of people all over the streets of TST as the police had closed down most of the streets nearby.
I decided to get a better vantage point to see the fireworks. Right about that point I thought, maybe I should just leave, there are quite a few people down there and I might get caught. Stupidly, I chose the former and watched the last minute of the show. Stupidly, I got caught in the hoard of thousands of people walking back to get a van or bus back home. I ended up walking 5 miles home that night. I ended up really tired.
A funny man
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One of the investments that I made literally days before the trip was buying a new camera. I started my search after realizing that my camera had somehow vanished. My old Pentax fit comfortably inside a green Altoids can. I guess after years of being easily found within an Altoids can, the miniscule size of the camera was bound to get lost. So I did some quick research. Realized that the camera I wanted was a discontinued Canon G10 and started my search on craigslist. I did not find one in Phoenix but after talking to one of my friends, I was able to locate one in Denver. Now you may wonder, how in the heck am I going to get a camera from Denver into my hands literally days before I leave. Well thanks to some good teamwork from my friends Karen (who is becoming quite a good photographer, become a fan of hers on facebook) who found the camera in CO and my traveling friends Erica and Mariana, who helped traffic my camera back to PHX for me. The whole deal seemed very shady how we handled it but it all worked out for the best 🙂
Now that I am done with that wild tangent here is the camera that I got. 
I have been having a great time with it so far and hope that I can get some good pics from it this trip.
I decided on my first morning out that I would go to TST and get some pics of the city. The weather was still quite hot and humid on this day. I hate the that combination. I ended up taking a minibus to Jordan not remembering that it could actually take me to my final destination. I ended up walking to a completely new nearby named Austin that has some on HK’s newest and tallest high rises. From there I walked to the harbor at TST which ended up becoming quite a long walk for me that day.
Walking. That is an interesting topic that leads me to another investment that I made on this trip, TOMS! By now i’m sure you have heard of TOMS shoes which is a brand developed by social entrepreneur Blake Mycoskie. For every pair you buy, TOMS donates a pair to a child in need. The idea is quite brilliant I must say. It just makes the customer feel that much better about making their purchase. So for the next 4 weeks, these are my primary mode of transportation. 
I’ve got no complaints so far. They are light and comfortable. I can’t really ask for more except for an amazing TOMS tan.
The day was a bit cloudy which would turn out to be nice for photos. I never get sick of looking across Victoria Harbor and seeing this sight.
While I was taking some pics of the city, I was approached by a Hindu man in a turban. Well all I knew at first was that he was a man with a turban, I did not realize he was Hindu at first but thats beside the point. He came up to me and said “I can tell you are a funny man.” I kind of laughed it off and said thank you. Then he proceeds to take my hand and start giving me a palm reading. It was quite uncomfortable to have a strange man start giving me a palm reading. To be respectful, I allowed him to do this thing and do his spiel. He said a bunch of stuff that I can’t remember. He stopped touch my forehead which was also weird and then stopped to write something down. I looked down at his feet and he was rocking out these sweet Adidas shoes with rainbow shoelaces, double rainbow all the way across the sky… (if you don’t get that reference watch this), and I told him he had some sweet kicks. He didn’t respond to my comment. Maybe I wasn’t so funny to him which is kind of ironic no? So he finished writing whatever he was writing, crumpled it up and gave it to me. He proceeded to ask me what my favorite color was. I said blue (in hindsight I should have said some ridiculous color like periwinkle). He told me to open the note, and lo and behold it said blue. Creepy huh? He then told me to wear blue from on Fridays from now on and yada yada yada he opened up his little book, saw some pictures of hindu gods in there and he asked for money. So I lied to him and told him I didn’t have money because I just came in the day before. He’s like I don’t care give me your American money. I took out my change purse (don’t make fun of that because it is necessary to have on in hk) and gave him $1 HK dollar (equivalent to a bit more than 10 US cents). He mockingly laughed at me for my generous offering to him. I guess I was funny after all 🙂
HK 2010 Day 1
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Well it is hard to believe that it has been over 2 years since I last visited the Hong Kong. My good friends, Jacky and Cadence, whom God divinely placed in my life 2 years ago, invited me out for their wedding reception. After finding an amazing deal for a flight out to HK, I had no choice but to take some time off to spend time out here 🙂
I took off last Tuesday (10/28) and made the long journey back to Asia. This time around I decided to fly Cathay Pacific because I just remembered United being awful when I flew them last time across the Pacific. Boy was this a good decision. Cathay offered amazing onboard entertainment. I was able to stare at this glorious screen for my 14.5 hour flight. 
This beautiful screen gave me the ability to watch over 50 movies on demand, many which I haven’t had the chance to see yet. United only offered a large screen that everyone watched and you were subjected to watch what they wanted you to see.
1st move up was Hot Tub Time Machine. Don’t really know what to say about this movie. I guess it was interesting and kind of funny. Well what I really guess i’m trying to say is watch it if you’re really bored and having nothing else better to do with your time and money…
2nd movie up was A-team. This movie was entertaining to say the least. It had some funny parts I guess and it was a good for wasting an hour and half of a long flight. There was nothing really memorable about it which is why I am pretty much rambling on about nothing at this point…
3rd movie up was Hurt Locker which is a movie that I have been wanting to see for quite some time. The Academy Award winning movie lived up to all of its accolades. The acting was superb and the story was definitely intriguing. It gave a view point that I did not previously possess into the war in Iraq. It was interesting to see how the soldiers have to deal with IEDs and the extreme dangers to go along with it. I won’t go into the politics of the movie but I did want to discuss the ending. SPOILER ALERT ahead so don’t read about the ending if you don’t want to. In the end, the main character decides to go back to the war after returning home to his wife and son. Does he go back to the war because he no longer feels alive settling into the mundaneness of family life without the adrenaline of war time and deactivating IEDs or does he go back because he sees his family and believes that he needs to fight for their freedom and their safety?
4th movie up was She’s Out of My League. I guess I needed a more light hearted movie after watching a very intense movie about war and life. This nice guy finishes first movie gave me just that. It was a fun hour and a half and I would give it 3.5 out of 5 stars. Probably worth while of a watch if you don’t have much else going on.
5th movie up was 500 days of Summer. This is a movie that I previously watched that is quite good. Great music, followed with good acting and a good story. Can’t really ask for more than that. Also, Zooey Deschanel is on my play list for tunes on my ipod this trip so be sure to check out her band She and Him. Although this is a great movie, I did fall asleep because this was about 16 hours into my travel day and I was quite tired at this point.
I’m pretty sure I watched a 6th movie but I honestly don’t remember what it was. I think at this point I only had a few more hours until I landed in Hong Kong. I ended up landing in HK after about 24 hours of traveling (including layovers). First thing I felt walking to the bus to take me home was the humidity. Dang ma, it was like walking into a wall of water or sweat or something wet. Buckets of sweat started rolling out of me. 90 degree weather with 85% humidity = not fun for me. I will take 110 degree weather with 5% humidity in PHX any day.
As I traveled along in my hour long bus ride back to my Aunt and Uncle’s flat in Hung Hom, I started seeing and experiencing the feelings that I love most about HK. Seeing my first high rise on the hill set my heart aflutter. It could have been just the sight of it or possibly that mixed with the fact that I was rocking out to Jamiroquai at the same time. It was a beautiful sight.
As I neared the city and saw Central, excitement started to rise up in me. Reality set in that I was back in one of my most favorite cities. There’s no way to really explain it. There is just a certain energy that the city gives off when you are here. The lights, the sounds, the people, the fast pace, the high energy, all of it mixed together, it just brings about something within me that makes life exciting.
Anyways, I know i’ve been a bit late posting since I have been her for a week already but at lot has happened and I’ve got some stories to tell already including my foray into Hollywood. I look forward to writing down my experiences once again and thank you all for reading!
Back in the USA!!
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Well i’m back in the USA! Can’t say that I’m not excited to be back to see my great friends and family! Just wanted to say an intial thanks to all my friends back in Hong Kong and Beijing for all the good times and memories and we will see each other again in the future 🙂
Just some inital thoughts as I was like a child driving my car again around the city:
1) They are still putting up the car pool lane on the 51. I’ve been gone for nearly 9 months and its still not done.
2) More speed cameras? Well, I guess the city does need an economic stiumulus…
3) City North – Sorry but i’m just not impressed. Same box construction i’ve seen time and time before in PHX. At least some of the restaurant interior design looks nice.
4) Scottsdale Quarter sure got built up fast. That should be interesting and it will be nice to finally have an H&M in Scottsdale and an Apple store.
5) Chipotle still tastes great and it tastes great at Midnight! Thanks to Ashley, Jeff, Christine and Rowdy.
6) Man, I’ve missed the clean blue skies of Phoenix and the beautiful sunsets.
It’s good to be home.
Excellent Adventure Pt 2
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Well, I haven’t written for a couple of weeks even though I had material to write but my attention was back in PHX so I blogging about my random thoughts was the last thing on my mind. I’m writing here from the Hong Kong International air port about to board my plane to Beijing. Free airport internet = pretty freaking cool. Anyways, a whole new adventure awaits and I can’t wait for what the next 3months ahead. Summer Palace, The Great Wall, Tiananmen Square, there is so much of my Chinese history to see. I’ll try to keep you guys posted about everything thats going on and hopefully i’ll be able to post some cool stories and pics. Thanks for all your prayers and support so far, the past 4 months have been a truly great experience for me and in my growth in faith and as a person. HK peeps, it’s been truly a blessing having been with you the past few months. I didn’t think I would develop such great relationships in such a short amount of time. We will meet again soon. PHX peeps, start the countdown for 3 months, I’ll be back soon.
p.s. I found out the chinese character for my name actually means yellow…Fantastic, I can just hear Karen laughing out loud. I’m officially giving you a head start to come up with new jokes, and they better be good.
Catch Phrase Hilarity
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So I discovered my new favorite board game. By the title you might think it’s just Catch Phrase but then you would be wrong. I love Catch Phrase don’t get me wrong but unless you’ve tried Catch Phrase with Chinese people, you’re missing out on a whole lot of fun. You may say to yourself, but you’re Chinese and I would reply “yes, but I sound like a white guy…” One of the things I haven’t mentioned is the wide and very diverse range of English accents we have here in Hong Kong. You have the American accent, the Canadian accent, the English accent, the Australian accent, the New Zealand accent, Chinese accent (of course), the Singaporean accent and probably more that I have left out. Well, firstly I would like to say that having all these accents are amazing. It is the coolest thing hearing a chinese friend speaking English with an English accent. I wish I could do that. But, when you mix in this smorgasbord of accents into a game of Catch Phrase, man there may not be a funnier thing out there. One instance, someone my UK accent Chinese friend threw out the hint, “what sounds does a dog make?” My American friend instantly yelled out “Quack!” thinking he said “what sound does a duck make?” Another instance my Austrailian accent Chinese friend gave the clue, “not a ten…” (atleast thats I thought that’s he said) so my other friend and I yelled out “A nine!” We were wrong, the person was saying “not a tan…” And one of my favorites from the night went like this:
Friend: Ok its something you put on your foot… Eventually the team guesses Sock. Then he’s says 2nd word, “it’s where you go to buy a book, or food, yada yada yada…” and they finally came up with the answer Market. He passes the disc to me. I looked at the word and then I looked at him and said “dude, it says Stock Market not Sock Market.”
Get Smart
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No not the movie. Way to go Spain, way to be classy…
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