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We took a 9 mile hike along the coast of Lantau Island from Tung Chung to Tai O, a small village built on stilts.
ngong ping 360. we decided to save the 140+ hk dollars & hike instead
Mmmm... there's something magical about floating villages
Hong Kong, part 2
Friday, February 04, 2011
airing out the laundry
best pan fried bbq buns ever
wedding time.
happy chinese new year festival
A solid kick in the butt
Monday, January 31, 2011
Cheers for the last day of january and the first 31 days of 2011! Heyoooo! This month has unfolded in ways unimagined and unpredictable and just plain magical. I'm off to a solid 31 days of growth and understanding not the new but the already known. I feel ready to jump back into work not because the hunger for travel has been satiated but because of restlessness. Ironic. I still have a solo adventure in me. It's not a knock against Varnum or anything but I do crave the self-sufficiency, ultimate vulnerability and limitless freedom. I feel like this trip was to prove I could travel via business funds. The next will be to simply do it the way I love.
I think this lovely trip to hong kong (which I'll explain in detail w photos later) was the kick in the butt i needed to remember why I make and save money. It's not for an eventual downpayment on something expensive, but to spend on something vague and intangible... Adventure!!
I think this lovely trip to hong kong (which I'll explain in detail w photos later) was the kick in the butt i needed to remember why I make and save money. It's not for an eventual downpayment on something expensive, but to spend on something vague and intangible... Adventure!!
Switchin' it up like whoa
Thursday, January 27, 2011
I've noticed that this trip is quite different than others. First and the most obvious, I'm not traveling by myself. Second, I'm not staying in Asia for more than 6 months (dawwww major sad face). Third, I've listened to no music on this trip. And last, I've got my iPhone. Part 'wah wah' and part 'oh sweet'.
Before I go on I'd like to note that hong kong is unlike any city/state I've ever been. In a good way! Elements of it remind me of new york city (diversity, food), Tokyo (mrt, organization, near cleanliness), Mumbai (the crowded alleys and living) and none of it reminds of mainland china. I'm continuously amazed that my nostalgia for the Philippines has been cured by hearing tagalog or some Philippine dialect around me. Most people speak English (lazy American dang). They even have their own version of teh tarik! Gahhhh... I had some with a toasted buttered brioche w sweetened condensed milk drizzled on top. Oh brother what a world!
I have to say having my iPhone is kind of a buzz kill. I should have self control but there is just free public wifi everywhere! Trying to figure out where I am via gps vs squinting at street signs and trying to match characters and foreign words on a map... Oh I kind of miss the simpler times. I feel like I'm cheating. My old travel sketch books used to have travel notes, directions, hastily scrawled maps in between the sketches. This one's pretty clean and orderly. Having the phone definitely has its perks like not paying to use an old computer in a coffee shop or hostel lobby. But there is charm to complaining about slow internet or getting that last email out before times run out. I mean, i left america to be in a place completely different so does it count if i bring the luxuries with me? I pride myself in sleeping in cheap hostels with a backpack's worth of clothes, showering with a bucket of cold water but having this fancy phone, i feel, undoes all that. I cant hate it entirely though because i am blogging from my phone (but sadly can't post pictures lamecore fest 2011). I can chat with my friends, check on my etsy and business emails. So I wonder if that's a compromise I have to make to maintain a functioning business as I travel. Shrug. Perhaps!
Ok this is getting long (that's what she said!). Skeedaddle yankee doodle.
Before I go on I'd like to note that hong kong is unlike any city/state I've ever been. In a good way! Elements of it remind me of new york city (diversity, food), Tokyo (mrt, organization, near cleanliness), Mumbai (the crowded alleys and living) and none of it reminds of mainland china. I'm continuously amazed that my nostalgia for the Philippines has been cured by hearing tagalog or some Philippine dialect around me. Most people speak English (lazy American dang). They even have their own version of teh tarik! Gahhhh... I had some with a toasted buttered brioche w sweetened condensed milk drizzled on top. Oh brother what a world!
I have to say having my iPhone is kind of a buzz kill. I should have self control but there is just free public wifi everywhere! Trying to figure out where I am via gps vs squinting at street signs and trying to match characters and foreign words on a map... Oh I kind of miss the simpler times. I feel like I'm cheating. My old travel sketch books used to have travel notes, directions, hastily scrawled maps in between the sketches. This one's pretty clean and orderly. Having the phone definitely has its perks like not paying to use an old computer in a coffee shop or hostel lobby. But there is charm to complaining about slow internet or getting that last email out before times run out. I mean, i left america to be in a place completely different so does it count if i bring the luxuries with me? I pride myself in sleeping in cheap hostels with a backpack's worth of clothes, showering with a bucket of cold water but having this fancy phone, i feel, undoes all that. I cant hate it entirely though because i am blogging from my phone (but sadly can't post pictures lamecore fest 2011). I can chat with my friends, check on my etsy and business emails. So I wonder if that's a compromise I have to make to maintain a functioning business as I travel. Shrug. Perhaps!
Ok this is getting long (that's what she said!). Skeedaddle yankee doodle.
Greetings from hong kong!
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Greetings! I just work up from a 7 hour nap. Let that be a lesson to you to turn your phone off silent mode if you want to hear your alarm. Dang.
It's okay though. My headache has disappeared and I no longer feel exhausted from a 20 hr flight and 6 hours of wandering Kowloon like a zombie because the hostel room wasn't ready yet. So far, we've experienced the growing festivities that is the Chinese new year. We actually leave at the turn of the new year but are deeply considering going to Disneyland hk on our way out since it's on the way to the airport. That and I friggin love disneyland. we passed a sign on the highway that just had mickeys silhoutte head and an arrow suggesting Disneyland was the next exit. Awesome. I respect brevity in universally understood shapes.
We spent the early morning wandering through kowloon park. I love seeing all the old folk doing tai chi. I tried to draw them but found it incredibly difficult because one, I'm rusty and two, it's a challenge to sketch a defining key position because there is none! You know the pinnacle moment in a baseball pitch, someone running, etc. but that's not really the case with tai chi. It's all fluid, equally seeming significant poses. Ill keep practicing.Maybe I'll start doing yoga next to them. Whuttup playaaaa!
It's such a different experience walking around w James who is blond, tall and blue-eyed. I really love traveling in asia because I have an ability to blend in! But dang. James. Buzz kill. Tailored suit sir? Rolex watch, copy watch, sir? Every single time we step out! O brother. I also wonder if we look like a couple where Im the Asian girl he's saving from poverty in exchange for her youth and great wife abilities. And I'm in it for the cash money dolla dolla billz.
On a random note, Im very glad I do yoga. The flexibility skillz came in handy on the plane. A major buzz kill on long flights is the blood circulation issue from sitting for hours. My feet get so swollen I start to doubt if I'll ever fit into my shoes again! So here and there I would stretch my legs up perpendicular to the floor. I felt a little self conscious with everyone seeing my orange snoopy socks but hey! Beats feeling like you have fat feet.
It's okay though. My headache has disappeared and I no longer feel exhausted from a 20 hr flight and 6 hours of wandering Kowloon like a zombie because the hostel room wasn't ready yet. So far, we've experienced the growing festivities that is the Chinese new year. We actually leave at the turn of the new year but are deeply considering going to Disneyland hk on our way out since it's on the way to the airport. That and I friggin love disneyland. we passed a sign on the highway that just had mickeys silhoutte head and an arrow suggesting Disneyland was the next exit. Awesome. I respect brevity in universally understood shapes.
We spent the early morning wandering through kowloon park. I love seeing all the old folk doing tai chi. I tried to draw them but found it incredibly difficult because one, I'm rusty and two, it's a challenge to sketch a defining key position because there is none! You know the pinnacle moment in a baseball pitch, someone running, etc. but that's not really the case with tai chi. It's all fluid, equally seeming significant poses. Ill keep practicing.Maybe I'll start doing yoga next to them. Whuttup playaaaa!
It's such a different experience walking around w James who is blond, tall and blue-eyed. I really love traveling in asia because I have an ability to blend in! But dang. James. Buzz kill. Tailored suit sir? Rolex watch, copy watch, sir? Every single time we step out! O brother. I also wonder if we look like a couple where Im the Asian girl he's saving from poverty in exchange for her youth and great wife abilities. And I'm in it for the cash money dolla dolla billz.
On a random note, Im very glad I do yoga. The flexibility skillz came in handy on the plane. A major buzz kill on long flights is the blood circulation issue from sitting for hours. My feet get so swollen I start to doubt if I'll ever fit into my shoes again! So here and there I would stretch my legs up perpendicular to the floor. I felt a little self conscious with everyone seeing my orange snoopy socks but hey! Beats feeling like you have fat feet.
Seeeyahhh...
Monday, January 24, 2011
Tonight I leave for Hong Kong. Strangely, I'm not too excited. Most people seem to be more excited than I am. I think it's because I have work on my brain. I gotta visit Modern Mouse for an inventory restock, mail out a box of plush to NJ for a toy art exhibit, & prep my sister for maintaining my etsy shop. Oh & pack! These are all wonderful things but it's incredibly overwhelming to only have a day to accomplish it all. I must say it's very strange having to delegate tasks & modify my system so that someone can easily step in & take over. It's definitely a good adjustment & a sign that my business is growing. I think once I get all the business stuff outta the way, it'll be smooth sailing. I'll put on some Community, pack & drink Pinot Noir until it's time to fly.
On the drive from LA to San Jose, James asked me what my intentions were for the trip. This is something Karen suggested two nights ago and it made me really happy that James asked me before I could ask him. My intentions: to rediscover and experience that wonder, openness and overwhelming inspiration that comes from wandering a new world. It's been 8 months since I got back from the Philippines and I can feel myself getting comfortable in my American ways. I gotta shake things up again! Feel unsettled & unsatisfied and reconnect to my art. This trip comes at a good time & a marker that I can still self-finance my travels to foreign countries. LIVE THE DREAM!
Oh man... I didn't even get to finish writing but I gotta go! SEEEYAAHHHH
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