So we’ve been in China for a couple days now and I’ve been a little sick since I left Hong Kong… With the help Vitamin C and actual sleep I’ve been getting better by the day… But I wanted to take a little time out and give a much deserved thank you to S and Mac for hosting us for over a week in Hong Kong… Not only did S give us a place to stay…It was our own 2 bedroom apartment complete with a lovely maid… I know what you all are thinking… So stop. Mac a co-worker with S also lived in the building and took the time out show us around town and try to destroy our bodies with either alcohol at night or hiking the peak in the day… So again I wanted to say thank you for opening your home to us and showing us the parts of HK that most would never get to see while on a holiday…
Blogging from my iPhone at the Hung Hom train station in Hong Kong… Just arrived here at 3:20pm to find out the one and only train to Beijing left 5 mins earlier, oh but no worries we are told…the next train is at 3:15pm on Friday… It’s Wednesday now…
Guangzhou will just have to do for now as it is the only train out of HK tonight… More to come soon…
Sorry for the lack of posts, I know you have been on the edge of your seats waiting for more…. But I’ve been busy tying up some loose ends, brainstorming and designing the last couple of days…
We are off to Beijing in the morning… 15 hour train ride, yes please. So if you don’t hear from me for another couple of days, well you’ll know why.
Just a quick shout out to B in the PDX office. Thanks for the pic of Daisy… Miss her too, even though you cut her hair…..kidding.
Day in and day out I have to be “creative”… Whether its creating new logos, new websites or writing blogs I have to find a way to stay fresh and on the forefront of what’s going on in the industry… Today I just wanted to share a few videos I watch about once a week for motivation to stay creative. It’s videos like these that get me thinking outside of the box and keep expanding my mind… Let me know what you think about these pieces of art.
It’s late Sunday night, actually 3am Monday… I’m laying out another new blog right now… I’m a monster. I’m a maven. I know this world is changin’.
Today was also our friend “S” birthday… So naturally we threw a rooftop “Beer Kong” party for him. Along with Mac, the four of us had a great time playing two on two for a few hours. I am personally trying to share this game with everyone I can around the world, two countries down… More to come.
Enjoy these photos from the rooftop of our apartment, they are some on my favorite I have taken in the last few months.
Today again started at 6am with another 5 mile hike to the peak of Hong Kong. Since it rained most of yesterday, there was no smog to ruin this amazing view this time around. I also beat my time up the hill by two minutes from the time before, maybe getting more than 2 hours sleep helped… Click on the second pic in the gallery below for the full view, breathtaking, but maybe that’s be cause the hike was all up hill…
After another stop at the Chinese embassy, this time to pick up our $130 visa I was off to school. Yes, you read that right I went back to University for the day. The University of Hong Kong to be exact. As I mentioned a few days back I’ve met few new people here and one asked if I would be interested in tagging along for a day of classes… I jumped at the opportunity! Math and English were the on the schedule for the day. The only thing was, I wore a pink shirt today…talk about standing out. The classes were pretty fun, took me a minute to remember how to do Stats but I even answered a few questions in the class… Overall, very strange feeling to be back in classes, yet at the same time very interesting to go back to school for the day.
Again its these opportunities and experiences that I’m looking for over here… Always saying yes and taking risks because when will I ever have this chance again…
The long day ended with a night in Lan Kwai Fong… It’s kinda like Vegas without the lights… Always crowded.
It’s raining here…pretty damn hard. But I couldn’t resist going out and enjoying a nice walk… It was very interesting watching people watch me walk around in the rain with no hood and no umbrella. I already stand out being white and a half-foot taller than most people, what was one more thing right… Anyway, I’ve now been locked inside for the rest of the day working… The walk in the rain was refreshing though… I’m weird like that.
6am…WAKE UP!… 30 mins after I slept through my alarm… Today we went on a 5 mile hike to the peak of Hong Kong… Straight out our front door, through the business district and up the mountain. However being out before the sun had come up was quite an eerie feeling being that I have never heard the city so quite… Check out the quick video below as I walk down one of the busiest streets in HK as all the news vendors are setting up shop. Two hours later you wouldn’t even be able to move on this same street…
As we made the trek to the top, which was quite the feat, the fog was still set over the entire city… So the view on the way up wasn’t what it could be… But as soon as we made the turn over the top and back down the other side we were met with some of the beautiful scenery (images below). It felt great to be back in nature… After being in these major cities for the past month it was such a re-energizing feeling and so refreshing… Just what I needed.
After the two hour tour straight up the peak and the nice stroll down the back side it was time to really start the day… With the help of our friend “S” we were taken to a traditional Hong Kong restaurant for congee… Cantonese congee made when white rice is boiled in many times its weight of water for a long time until the rice breaks down and becomes a fairly viscous white porridge, added in are century eggs (I’ll talk about more later) and pork. Donut bread is also use for dipping and is extremely delicious.
Overall it was a great morning with some new adventures into Hong Kong and its breakfast traditions…. Living and learning new things everyday…and eating things I never thought I could…
I just ate some amazing dim sum with this guy… Well not really, but I did with two Chinese and two Australian friends. Prawn dumplings, rice noodles, pork belly and turnip cake among other dishes. Dim sum (literally meaning “touch the heart”) is the name for a Chinese cuisine that involves a wide range of light dishes served alongside Chinese tea. Let me tell you…you haven’t lived until you’ve tried some pork belly dipped in mustard… yum.
But: The Dodgers??