Wong's Weblog
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!
Macau
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So like about a month ago I visited Macau with my uncle, aunt, and little coz. Ya, sorry it took me a month to write it. I got quite discouraged with the last post because posting pictures took about forever so I guess it took me a month to swallow my pride and take one for the team.
Macau is quite an interesting place. It is becoming known as the Vegas of the East. Steve Wynn of Wynn Hotels has put in quite a bit of change into this place banking on this idea of it becoming Vegas-esque. It’s filled with some really rich history too which I thoroughly enjoyed. It was once ruled by Portugal and that can be seen through many of the Portuguese street signs and the beautiful European architecture. There were a few really neat old churches there. Beef jerky also seems to be really popular here. Why you may ask? I have no idea but the street vendors give you tons of samples and it is quite tasty. Well here’s some pics of Macau…
Here is the Kun Lam Statue. It’s quite interesting when you get up close and look at the face. It’s supposed to be a Buddhist temple but the face has a Caucasian look to it which was a little different.
They had a lot of this interesting Mosaic tile flooring all over the city which was just interesting to see. It definitely made normal sidewalks look boring.
Here is the old Macau Post Office that was built in the late 1800’s.
This is a picture of one of the most popular areas in Macau. This square had beautiful old architecture and tons of shops to walk through. It was definitely one of my favorite spots in Macau.
These two pictures are of the Ruin’s of St. Paul which was dedicated to the Apostle Saint Paul. It was built in the 17th century but after a fire, all that was left was this stone entrance. I would have loved to see it in it’s original form as a cathedral but was truly amazed nonetheless at the stunningly crafted facade.
Day 4
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I left the mainland on this day but before we left, we played a round of golf. The facilities were beautiful and they had a fantastic clubhouse for the players, which included private lockers, individual rain showers, sauna, etc. The course was very nice also. It was very green with lots of foliage everywhere. When we got changed and ready to play, I was kind of shocked because we each had our own caddie. I’ve never had a caddy before. I had two thoughts, wow this is the coolest thing ever and why do I suck so bad at golf. I started the round off with a pretty shot on a par 3. I got probably 30 feet from the whole so it was an easy chip and at most a 2 putt right? Nope, I shanked my chip and chipped again, then proceeded to 3 putt on some ridiculously slow greens. Great start to the round. My round that day consisted of a lot of draws and then switched to slicing the ball. It was nice to have the caddy position me and even give me the line on putts, which helped tremendously. Near the end of the round of some par-4s I started to actually hit straight so instead of my ball going to where I was hitting before, I pretty much killed some drives they were no where to be found. All in all, I realized that man I am really bad at golf and I should never touch another club in my life but lets face it, that’s not going to happen.
Mainland Extravaganza Pt 1
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Day 1
This past week I got to go up to the mainland and visit one of the factories that my uncle manages. Not really having any expectations, I had no idea what to really expect of the few days that I would get to spend up on the mainland. The drive from HK was only about a couple of hours. When we arrived, we got a quick lunch with my uncle’s friend. They spoke Mandarin during lunch. This gave me my 1st test of how much I could really understand the language. Well, I left that lunch pretty much not knowing anything that was said. One of he 1st things I noticed was that people in China drive on the right side of the road like in the US. I always thought they drove on the left like in HK and in Europe. I asked my uncle about that and he said some people from HK get confused when they drive across the border and drive on the wrong side of the road. I thought that was pretty funny. Now, the thought of it was funny, but when it actually happened to us later that day, not so funny. I don’t think I will ever touch a steering wheel in that country. I was literally scared to death at how people drive. Most streets don’t have medians, let alone lanes to keep your car in. In fact, most of the 4 way intersections didn’t have stop lights. The way it works is, you drive full speed up to the intersection, ease off the gas a little bit to see if anyone is coming and then you keep on going. The intersections that did have lights on them, some people just blew right through it like there was no red light. My face was in utter shock. I asked my uncle, “is this how it really is?” His response, “This is China.” I couldn’t stop laughing after that.
When I got to the factory, I got to meet a few people that I would be spending the week with (otherwise known as the young English speakers that I could communicate with). There were 3 young ladies there that were just finishing up their 1-month internships before they went back to their university to finish graduating this summer. I spent most of my time with them as well as one of the guys that worked in the office of the factory. They all showed me around the factory, showing me the different departments and the processes for the development of the product. It was all very interesting seeing the product move from a raw material to the finished good. My supply chain class actually came in handy for once. On the site of the factory, there is also a very large dormitory for the workers. I stayed in one of the dorms next to my new found friends. Then one of the most kind things happened to me. One of the interns that was with me when I got to my room said, “the floor is dirty, we need to mop your room.” The floor really wasn’t dirty but she proceeded to go back to her room, got a mop and mopped my floor for me. I was kind shocked, she by no means had to do that and when I insisted that she didn’t have to and she still did it anyways. This reinforced some of my preconceived notions of people form the mainland as very hardworking and on top of that, very hospitable.
Nihao
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So this is my first blog ever and I am speaking to you from the future, kind of, not really. Well its Monday April 14 from where I’m at and I am 15 hours ahead (future haha, I am so lame).
So I’m guessing some of you are wondering What? China? Why? When did this come about? Huh? Well its kind of a complex answer. One of the big reasons, go to learn Mandarin so the next 8 months are for the next 20 years of business. That was a big reason but so many more come into play. Leaving Scottsdale. I’ve been a Scottsdale boy my entire life, definitely needed a change. I wanted to test myself, my character, my faith. Who am I when I am stripped away from all the comforts of my life? Who will I choose to be when the people that know me are half way across the world? This is a trip of growth, discovery and adventure. One of the true inspirations for this trip was from a book “Barbarian Way” by Erwin McManus. In the book, he told of a story of when he and his wife were out doing yard work when their son appeared standing outside the second story window of their house. He asked his dad if he should jump. Erwin said “Go for it,” the wife says “are you crazy?” As a child you have such a sense of fearlessness, innocence and need for adventure. Society tames that wildness away as we grow up. Risks become harder to take. Life becomes a routine and easy. So, there I was on the second story window and here I am jumping off to see what this adventure will bring…
We had a long day of traveling, which started on Saturday April 12 at 4 am, flew to LAX where I have a 4-5 hour layover (WHY do I have a layover for that long in LA??), get on a 747 and finally get into Hong Kong after a 15 hour flight. Before we left LAX, they asked for 20 people to give up their seats for the flight and in return would offer a upgrade to business class, $500 in future plane tickets and free hotel for the night in LA. FYI, if you’re ever taking a flight to Hong Kong and this offer comes up, take it. Let me tell ya, 15 hours in coach is not exactly the most comfortable of arrangements and no Britt, seating on this plane was nothing like the Holiday. They played some pretty good movies during the flight. First up was Enchanted. I was skeptical at first because come on, have you seen previews for this movie?? Princesses, Princes, talking squirrels in New York City…Well I walked away (figuratively) from the movie thinking ahhh that was cute. Next movie up, August Rush. I’ve been wanting to see it for a while but never got the chance. It was a good one, made me want to play the piano again but lets face it, that’s not going to happen while I’m gone. Movie #3, National Treasure, which also turned out to be another movie that I wanted to see. This was a fun movie with all the puzzles and such and lets not forget the amazing acting of good ol’ Nick Cage. Guess it’s not really that hard to be amused when you’re sitting in a prison for 10 hours. Now this is the point of the flight when tears started rolling down the face for 10 minutes. Not because of National Treasure, but because I say to myself, saying 8 months is sure easier than actually have to live it, man I’m going to miss home L So what I’m learning right now is “live one day at a time”. Now for Movie #4 was The Great Debaters. Wonderful movie that I’ve seen before and highly recommend. Unfortunately I feel asleep because being up for 30 something hours straight takes a little toll on the body. So I guess the point is, there was pretty good entertainment on the flight. So the flight seemed to drag on forever even with the movies and all. We land and the last thing our pilot said to us was “Well, we got here no where close to on time but…at least we’re here.” Haha that’s funny… NOT.
Leaving the airport we take about a 40 minute drive to Kowloon where my Aunt and Uncle live. Driving through the city, I forget the grandness of this urban utopia from my last trip here 5 years ago. There are amazing freeways, mass light rail transit (Yes, I am a strong supporter of this in Phoenix), ridiculous architecture all over the place, crazy cool lighting that shines up the bridge just because it looks sweet, buildings that change color top to bottom, 30+ story high rises all over the place, I mean this place is pretty fantastic. I’m very excited to go around and explore everything.
Here is where I will be living for the next couple of months (i’m figuring out the picture thing so if it doesn’t work too bad). A 10th floor, 850 square foot flat with 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, office, kitchen, dining room and living room, I bet you can’t do that in Phoenix. Oh ya, I forgot to mention that this sells for about $750,000 today. $500/ft at Optima doesn’t sound too bad now does it? Woke up early this morning to a true Urban lifestyle. Woke up, didn’t even change from my baller shorts and Dodgers shirt, didn’t do my hair, didn’t, looking like a total scrub I walked down stairs around the block to get breakfast (and yes I think people looked at me funny). My mom, grandma, sister and myself had a hearty breakfast of rice porridge for under $10 US. Not too bad. Then we went to the grocery store a few stores down got some food and walked back up to the flat. I’m telling you, this is a fun lifestyle and I am glad that I get to experience this over Suburbia over the next few months.
I’ll try to post as much as I can when I get free time and a select few of you know who to call to get me out of you know where if I don’t post at least once every other week J My friends, I love you all and miss you. Take super good care of yourself until we speak we again.
Wong's Weblog 
