…hell week begins…

Wow, where does the time go?! I can’t believe my time here is winding down so quickly! I’ve three finals this week, and it doesn’t look like it’ll be pretty, but I guess I need to just take things one at a time…

I went to Macau again this weekend, this time with my girls: Shirley, Daisy, Jenn, and Nikie. On Saturday, we explored Senado Square a bit, then headed over to Taipa Island to have some authentic Portugese food. We each ordered an entree and had a wonderful dinner. We heard that they were famous for a couple of dishes, so we totally decided to give it a try. The African Chicken wasn’t all that, the Portugese grilled steak was all that and more, as was the curry crab and fried clams. After dinner, we all headed over to the New Century hotel and casino to see a show and to gamble. The show was incredibly…TRAGIC!!! All the dancers were Russian, and could NOT move at all! It was beyond white-trash-Reno-tacky, which I didn’t think was possible. Thankfully, they played some good songs, and we all decided to just not pay attention to the dancers and just enjoy the music instead, hehe. Oh well, it was a free show, so I guess we shouldn’t expect too much from it, right?

After the show, we all decided to try our hand at some gambling. We hit the black jack tables and did quite well. We basically broke even, then left to explore some of the nightlife and the Sands casino. The nightlife was non-existent there, but the Sands was cool. The table minimums were too expensive at the Sands, so we decided to play the slots instead. Shirley and Nikie got lucky and left in the plus, whereas Jenn and I left in the red, hehe. Ah well, it was fun. It totally made me want to get back to the States to go to Reno or Vegas though.

I left Macau after breakfast this morning, and met up with Jason and his friend to go to Lamma Island afterwards. I hadn’t been to Lamma Island before, but it was quite nice. I have to say that it was really cool to be around gay friends again. Not that my straight friends here aren’t a barrel of fun and laughs, but there’s just something about being around other gay friends that make me feel at home again. We had a blast just walking and talking about guys that we think are cute, shopping, clothes, more bois, educational systems, etc. I miss the flames, hehe…

The humidity has hit. It’s quite hot now. I don’t like it. Humid weather = more mosquitoes. More mosquitoes = Ty getting bit a lot. On just Friday night alone when I was hanging out with Keith, I got bit a total of 9 times. I am soooooo not pleased with this. I hate mosquitoes! Again I ask, what are mosquitoes good for?! They are carriers of dengue fever, they’re utterly irritating, and they suck! I really think we should just kill them all! Who’s with me?!?!?!?!?!

…crunch time…

Whoa, sooooo many tests in the next two weeks, it’s craaaaaazy! I only have my oral final left for Cantonese and I’m done with that class. Then I only have 3 more finals left, and then I’m free! Wheeeeee!!!

So this has been a fairly tiring week, even though it’s only Wednesday. Kuala Lumpur totally tired me out this past weekend. I had an incredible time there though, I just wish I could have stayed longer. Oh well, guess I’ll just have to visit again soon, hehe. A couple of notes about the whole trip though…

1) Flying out of Macau was fun because I got to see Macau for the first time. It was an amazing place, but was definitely a hassle.

2) You get what you pay for: flying Air Asia was worse than flying Southwest! It was one of those things that you do for the sake of having done it, but I sincerely doubt I’ll ever fly it again. In all the years that I’ve been flying, only one of my flights had ever been delayed, and even then it was only for like 10 minutes. Air Asia managed to delay my flight to KL by 2 hours, and then on my way back from KL to Macau, it delayed it another 2 hours. Sooooo stupid! Additionally, the service sucked, as did the other passengers. They were more rude and obnoxious than some of the people on Southwest, not cool!

3) Chinese people are incredibly LOUD! After having been in Japan where everyone is respectful in regards to their volume level when they speak on the cell phone, my tolerance level for rude cell-phone-screaming people is close to non-existent.

4) Kuala Lumpur was very HOT! Despite the beautiful and hot sun, I still wasn’t able to get rid of my farmer’s tan though; maybe a trip back down to Singapore will do the trick.

5) The bois at the club were even HOTTER!! If only the music were better, but they were beautiful nonetheless. I seriously think that Singapore, Japan, and Malaysia have some of the most beautiful men in the world!!!

6) Straight men should not go to gay bars to try to pick up girls! Ok, if you can’t get a girl at a straight club/bar, what makes you think you can get a girl at a gay club/bar?! More importantly, if they IGNORE you and tell you to go away, why not spare yourself the embarrassment and bounce?!

7) Traveling is totally fun, but quite TIRING!!!

Here are some pics from my latest trips in chronological order…

GUANGZHOU!!!

Here’s the youth hostel we stayed at, quite inexpensive, but also difficult to find…

A view of the Pearl River, a tad bit dirty now though…

Yes, there are a lot of people in China…

I thought this was interesting, it shows the stages of transformation that the women of the area have undergone–from ultra conservative to conservative baring flesh, hehe…

Me, Ms. Chen, and John in Beijing Lu enjoying some shopping!

Welcome to Guangzhou!

A contrast to what city life is like…

TOKYO!!!

Welcome to Tokyo…

First stop: Tokyo Disney Sea!

I couldn’t resist, I had to be a tourist!

In Shinjuku enjoying the nightlife…

At the HUUUUGE temple in Asakusa…

Yes, Tokyo is also crowded…

First memorable thing about Japan: Space is limited, look how small this bathroom was!

Second memorable thing about Japan: THE TOILET!!! I miss my bidet!!!

Yes, Japan was truly…GOOD TIMES!!!

MY BIRTHDAY @ TIFFINS DESSERT BUFFET!!!

Desserts…

More desserts…

And even more desserts!

The dessert bunch…

Ahh, the trio strikes again; yes, we’re everywhere, hehe…

Christie and Dat…

Christie showing off her talents with fruit…

Awww, looooook! We’re so straight, haha…

Ooooh, action shot. I’m actually thinking about what I’ll have next, hehe…

Wheeeee! What a concept, fruit on sticks!!!

Look, we survived the dessert buffet, albeit a bit bloated, hehe…

MACAU!!!

Mmmm, my dinner in Macau; this picture totally doesn’t do it justice though…

The architecture was beautiful!

Heh, Macau–the Las Vegas of Asia, hehe…

KUALA LUMPUR!!!

Petronas Tower during the day…

Petronas Tower at night…

Nikie, me, and Christie rivaling the towers, hehe…

A view from KL Tower, supposedly the largest tower in the world!

KL Tower at night…

Kevin, Nikie, and me taking the tour atop KL Tower…

Nikie and Matt being true tourists at the orchid garden, hehe…

Um, so we saw some monkeys and reeeeally wanted to take pictures of them: our solution–the dynamic duo of Christie atop Matt’s shoulders…

Mmm…enjoying a Malaysian shaved ice dessert…

Having lunch with some local friends (me, Matt, Ruth, Vincent, Jared, and Marcus)

Did you know that 7-Eleven’s in Malaysia actually have a slurpee machine?! What a trip!!

Ahh yes, the terrific trio strikes once again (Christie, me, and Nikie)

…another year…

This is an entry I meant to post before I left for Malaysia, but didn’t get a chance to finish, so here it is now…

…final words about Japan…

Yes, I truly am in love with Japan. I stayed in Asakusa my last two nights and had an incredibly rich cultural experience there. I went to visit the old Senso-ji temple and just explored all the little Mongkok-like shops they had there. It was really interesting and quite infested with tourists, hehe. The people were so different from the mainstream areas like Shinjuku and Ikebukuro though. They were more real and down to earth. It’s like making a comparison between mainlanders in China versus Hong Kong people, soooooo different, not that that’s a bad thing though. So to continue with my cultural observations:

1) Japanese people are beautiful, simply beautiful!

2) Japanese people are so respectful and considerate–except when it comes to smoking. I swear, they don’t speak at all on subways; it’s dead quiet because they want to be considerate of other’s personal space. However, when their nicotine addiction is knocking, they simply cannot resist answering it–this must change.

3) The subway system needs a little work, it’d be easier if they just list all the stations that you want to get to in English, then next to it, the amount it would cost to get there. Some stations have this, but most don’t. I don’t know how to read Japanese, therefore, I do not know how read the Japanese characters on the subway map.

4) Japanese people are incredibly helpful and friendly. Even when they don’t speak English, they make every effort to help you. This one old lady noticed that I was totally lost and crossed the street just to ask if I needed any help. She then pointed me in the correct direction. Another girl actually took me all the way to my destination in her PJ’s and slippers, hehe.

5) Japanese people are taller than most Asians, and sometimes bigger too. My theory is that they’re bigger because of all the seafood they consume. All the protein from the fish definitely helps in the creation of muscle mass.

6) Gay Japanese bois are uber horny and aggressive. I

…and so another year lapses…

I’m officially 23 years old today. Hmm, it still feels kind of weird saying that because I still feel as though I’m only 18, hehe. I’m not quite sure if I’ll ever really grow up, acting young is just so much more fun!

This year’s birthday is an especially sweet one. Aside from the fact that it’s my first one outside of California since I was 5, it was also extra special because of all the warm birthday wishes and cards from all of my friends back home and here in Hong Kong. I know it’s hard keeping up correspondence what with the distance and time zone difference, so it’s especially meaningful to me that they also remember my birthday despite their hectic lives and schedules. In short, from the bottom of my little ecstatic heart, thank you.

My friends here in Hong Kong took me out to a dessert buffet last night, and were going to take me to dimsum this morning, but I hadn’t finished my paper yet, so unfortunately I didn’t get to do dimsum with them. We’ll all be in Kuala Lumpur together though, so we’ll party hearty down there. Jenny was really sweet, she got me a Chinese cd and a fruit tart–aww girl, don’t ya know?! Your left bicep is all I need, hehe. ;D

After having been alive for 23 years now, I can honestly say that I’ve finally started to live. In just the past couple of years, I’ve learned and grown so much, so many people have passed in and out of my life–some good, some bad, but each one contributed something to my life in some way, shape, or form. Every day that has passed has been a blessing and I’m incredibly grateful to be where and who I am today…

…ack…

I’m back from Japan, and as expected, I’m behind in my work…I miss Tokyo already. I’ll write more about my adventures later, must get some work done now…

Lightbulb moment of the day: I’m getting older, less than 24 hours before I’m 23…holy shit, I’ve been alive for almost a quarter of a century, and I sooooo feel it!!!

…Japan in a minute…

 

OMG, I LOOOOOOOVE Japan!!!!! Last night, we met up with John’s friends from back home, Jack and Paul, who are here on their 10 year anniversary–yes, you read right, 10 freakin’ years! By gay terms, that is beyond a lifetime, and in straight terms nowadays, that’s like 20 years, hehe. Anyhow, we all decided to go out clubbing in Shinjuku nichome. We hit up GB first to whet our appetites. Everyone there, as usual, was old though, plenty of expats all around, but there were some cute guys there; it’s too bad I can count them all in two fingers though, hehe. Anyhow, Paul and I were craving some action on the dance floor though, so we headed out for Arty Farty–known to have a younger crowd and better music…

Arty Farty was simply SPECTACULAR! Dang, the Japanese really know how to work it, lol, well way better than Hong Kong bois, but then again, that isn’t saying much, hehe. I ran into Suhara again from the night before, he was still cute as ever, too bad he didn’t decide to make a move until the latter part of the evening. I did, however, meet a local boi named Shinichi though. He was really sweet and offered to show me around town during the remainder of my time here. Yay for local insight–things will make just a little more sense with him showing me around, lol. Anyhow, yes, the music was fabulous, the people were beautiful, there was FOAM!!! YES, GOOOOOOOD FREAKIN’ TIMES!!!!

I soooooooooooooo don’t want to leave Japan…

Oh, before I forget, a couple words of advice:

1) Do NOT, I repeat, DO NOT order a sizzling hot iron skillet plate when you’re wearing good clothes and/or when you’re about to go out–you’ll leave the darn restaurant wreaking of the smell, ugh–soooo not cool…

2) If you’re ever in Japan and want electronics, go to Akihibara–things are so much cheaper there–you save like $100 US! I’m pondering whether I should get a new digital camera now, hmm…

Until next time…

…back on the road again…

…five hours later, and I’m in…TOKYO!!!

Yup, one quiz, one all-nighter paper, and one losing battle with a cold, and I’m finally back in Japan! The last time I was here was with my whole family when we had just left the refugee camp in Thailand, ah memories. Speaking of which, I have lots from just this past weekend alone…

My friend, John, came to visit me for the week, and so the vacation began, or shall I say debauchery…

He first introduced me to Hong Kong a year ago, and is thus responsible for me studying abroad here now. Anyhow, he got in on Thursday night and we totally went out to Lan Kwai Fon to meet up with some of my friends even though it was already some 2am. We didn’t get back in until 5am or so, and there was still lots to do on Friday. We spent most of Friday shopping at Kowloon Tong, then went out for the evening, again, to Lan Kwai Fong. We actually went to Propaganda this time, and the music was actually a little better, although still quite crappy. I miss the US clubs, actually, just the music. Anyhow, the scene hadn’t changed much since the last time I went a couple of months ago. Hong Kong guys are still playing stupid cat and mouse games and I’ve grown accustomed to it I suppose. I met this one guy there though and we started up a conversation, but of course, he wasn’t a local. Leave it to me to attract non-locals in a club full of locals! Ugh! Anyhow, the guy had a really fobby Thai accent, and really could’t speak much English, and I couldn’t speak any Thai, so that evening’s conversation consisted of assumptions of what the other person was saying. Needless to say, the interaction went nowhere. Note to self: quit going after foreigners and find a good local!

We left for Guangzhou on Saturday, and both of us were absolutely dead tired from clubbing the evening before. Guangzhou was a trip though! We stayed at the Guangzhou Youth Hostel in Shamian, where all the expatriates were at. It was pretty nice, and the weather was wonderful there. I actually felt the sun! After crashing the moment we checked in, we decided to explore the scene in Guangzhou, assuming that there was one. Stephen referred us to this place called Rich Club and I was pleasantly surprised at how lively it was there. John was, of course, the only white guy there, and there was very little to no English to be heard there. I immediately noticed that mainland guys are much cuter than the Hong Kong bois I had been seeing though. Most of them were taller, had better hair styles, and were definitely more outgoing and extroverted than the typical Hong Kong boi. This is both a good and bad thing as I’ll explain later. This night, alone, wound up being one of the most intense experiences I’ve ever had…

When we got into the club, we were fortunate enough to meet a local who actually spoke some English. His name was Winfield, and he would definitely prove useful later. Anyhow, I’ll skip the long drawn out description of the whole evening and highlight some of the more interesting incidents and epiphanies that happened that night…

So as usual, John went out on his search for a boi, and left me to seek out a boi for myself. I still have to work on this though, I’m just not aggressive enough. I did find out the hard way that mainland guys are incredibly aggressive though. I got hit on by several guys that night, all of whom thought they owned me. The first guy asked me to dance, and I said ok. Merely two seconds after that, he was all up on my neck and pulling me closer into him. He was pushing himself onto me so much that I was leaning back and falling into other people as I was yelling “Bu yao!” The guy asked me why I was afraid of him and I told him that I wasn’t afraid of him, but that I simply didn’t like him. Anyhow, the next couple of guys were kind of the same thing, except not quite as aggressive as the first. There was one that just couldn’t take a hint though. I would walk to another side of the room and sit elsewhere, and the guy would follow, repeatedly! Ugh, take a hint buddy! So after a fair amount of this and waiting around for John for about an hour or so, I decided that I wanted to go home. John had left the club with some guy, and I wasn’t sure when he’d be back, but I figured he’d know how to find his way back to the hostel since he had stayed there before. Anyhow, so as I’m trying to figure out how to get back, I come to the realization that I don’t know how to get back to the hostel. I don’t know how to say the name in either Mandarin or Cantonese, and I definitely don’t know the directions as to how to get there either. Shit, I was stranded. This is the moment when I had my second intense moment of the evening…

So picture this: I look Chinese, although most have guessed Japanese or Korean first, but I’m not completely fluent in either of the main languages–Mandarin or Cantonese. I can get by, but I have to switch between the two because my vocabulary in each is so limited. So I’m standing in the lobby waiting for John to come down because I figure that he has to come down at one point or another, when the guard starts yelling at me and telling me that I can’t loiter in the building. I try to tell him that I’m waiting for a friend and that I don’t know how to get home. He starts yelling at me some more. I tell him that I’m an American and I can’t really understand or speak Chinese. He starts yelling at me more rapidly in Mandarin, saying that it’s impossible to be Chinese and not be able to speak Chinese. Shit, I can understand what he’s saying, but it’s so damn frustrating because I can’t really respond. Ugh, anyhow, after a couple moments of me staring blankly at him, he finally believes me and says he’ll try to help me. Right at the moment though, Winfield came down and I just asked him to help me get home. Thank goodness he was there, he and his friend stuck around with me trying to get a hold of John, and trying to get me to the hostel. It took us another half hour before John finally showed up, and we were finally able to go back to the hostel. At that point, I was just so tired and fed up with the whole night, all I wanted to do was get into bed and sleep. Winfield and his friend decided to go with us in the taxi so they could explain the directions to the guy though, and of course, after a long night of clubbing, they were hungry. Once we got to the hostel, we decided to treat them to a late night dinner to thank them, but on the way, this retarded guy totally proved why smoking is stupid! I was walking right past him on the sidewalk and I know he saw me, but he decided to push forward regardless, as if he was going to be able to walk through me or something. Anyhow, as he did that, I guess he must have forgotten that he had his cigarette in his hand because he burned the damn thing straight into my arm! WTF?! ARE YA BLIND, STUPID, OR BOTH?!?! This was not my night! After much walking and no food to be found–not surprising since it was like 3:30am, we decided to give up on the food and just head to bed. Once we got into the room though, John explained why he was gone…

He had met a local boi who had expressed interest and they decided to take a walk outside of the club together. Not smart. Some time during their walk, the local boi demands that John give him money. He supposedly holds onto his shirt and has John’s fingers spread out ready to be broken. Hmm, not good. He demands the money again. At this point, I’m getting impatient with John and I borrow Winfield’s cell to call him up. When he picks up, he’s supposedly struggling with the guy, but he doesn’t tell me or ask me to get help. Um, maybe he can’t think clearly because of what’s happening. At this point, let me just point out that the local was half the size of John and unarmed–of course you could never tell if he was armed or not though. In any event, John opens up his wallet and eventually gives him 1000 RMB before the kid takes off in the other direction. So some insight after the fact; first moral of this story, don’t think with the wrong head. Second moral of this story, screw being polite, when your life is threatened, kick ‘em in the crotch and run like a bat out of hell! Third moral of this story, face-saving rules do NOT apply when your life is threatened. And so the night finally ends…

I’ll continue the next day’s adventures later, it’s 3:30am now. Time to get some much needed rest!

…overdrive…

I just realized the other night that it’s already the middle of March and I’ll be heading to Japan soon. I’ve so much work that I have to get done before I go, it’s gonna be crazy. I’ve two papers, a quiz, and a statistical test that I still have to run, ahhhh! When it rains, it really pours!

Just a quick update thus far…

Thanks to Justin, I’m going to the gym more often now. I’ve gone three days in a row, that’s a new record!

I got a haircut today, tryin’ to sport a pseudo-fobby look, we’ll see what happens.

I’ve got lots of new DVDs to watch, can’t wait til I’m all done with my schoolwork so I can just watch them! I’m especially excited to watch some of Won Bin’s films, he’s soooo hott!!

Christie got me this totally cute shirt the other night as an early birthday gift. I totally love it! Thanks girl!

Yay for Chinese music! Mom would be really happy with my current selection of music, it’s all Chinese, lol.

Ben Jelen is INCREDIBLE. Again, many thanks go to Justin for getting me hooked on the guy. If you haven’t heard any of his songs before, I recommend “Come On,” “Rocks,” or “Christine.” The whole album is good, but those are a couple of my favorites!

Ok, this is about the most fractured entry I’ll probably have, but I just had to get an entry in to further procrastinate before I start up my papers, time to be studious now…

…the many faces of water…

The scariest thing happened today. So I woke up late this morning at around 11:30 am, then went to my business law class at 2:30 pm, got out at 5:30 and met up with James to work out at Shaw at 6pm. All without having eaten or drunken anything the whole day–not good. Needless to say, after a 1.5 hour work out, I was quite dehydrated and started to black out. Thank goodness James was there because I totally started to feel the shivers, but was still profusely sweating, and I couldn’t do anything about it. Apparently, I had fallen asleep at the leg press and James was talking to me from the rowing machine, but I wasn’t responding. He came over to me to check on me and I just wasn’t looking good, so he tried to help me over to a chair, but I wasn’t conscious, so I couldn’t really walk. He helped me over to the chair though and I just sat there as the room just kept getting colder and hotter all at the same time. It was totally freaky. Anyhow, he went and got me some water and I couldn’t even hold the cup up myself. Once I got some water into my system though, I started to be able to see again though. By the second cup, things were getting clearer, but I gave the attendant one hell of a scare. He was apparently asking James if I needed an ambulance. Thankfully, I was able to walk on my own after the water–crazy shit! James said that I had suffered a heat stroke; I never really knew what it was before, but after that, I don’t ever want to experience it ever again. Thank goodness for work out buddies though, I don’t know where I’d be if James hadn’t been there. Thanks James!

In better news, I went to Shenzhen this past weekend with Jenny, Don, Lucy, Nikie, James, and Abraham. Jenny, Abraham, and I had to go there on a field trip for our Japanese Economy class, but we met up with the rest of the group after our trip was done. The field trip was to Zhong Shan where the Japanese company was located. The owner of the company was a close personal friend of our professor, so he totally gave us the red carpet treatment. He came to pick us up at the University and rented a tour bus to take us there instead of having us train it in. It was a pretty cool company, and totally gave us a glimpse into what globalization was all about. The company makes cell phone antennas for companies like Samsung and Sony, and owns 70% of the market share in Japan, so it was pretty cool. The factory was pretty good in terms of working conditions, not quite the sweatshop I was anticipating. The workers, mostly women, lived in quarters that were provided by the company. They generally slept in bunkbeds with about 6-7 people per room. It was cramped and all, but I guess you do what you have to do right? Anyhow, after the factory visit, the owner took us to lunch at this magnificent restaurant and we had an amazing lunch!

I was seriously full after that meal. Anyhow, here’s me and the CEO of the company, a pretty cool guy to know.

After lunch, we started to head back to the border of Shenzhen, where Jenny, Abraham, and I were going to get dropped off to meet the others. On the ride there though, the professor’s daughter, Madeleine just kept bugging us the whole ride. I had stayed up playing Risk with Nikie, Christie, and Don the night before and was hoping to catch up on my sleep on the bus ride, but Madeleine would have none of that. She’s a Hapa girl: her dad’s Japanese and her mother is British. Anyhow, throughout the whole trip, she grew an affinity for Jenny and me. When we got to the Sun Yat Sen museum, she clung to us and the three of us all walked around together. So picture this: Jenny (White/German), me (mixed looking Asian), and Madeleine (Hapa girl) all walking together everywhere sharing just one umbrella. Needless to say, everyone thought we were a family. People were staring at us the whole time, and the professor even thought it was cute so he took a picture of us and called us a family, lol. After that though, everyone started to call Jenny and me mommy and daddy respectively, even Madeleine. By the end of the trip, the whole class on the bus was calling us mommy and daddy–so embarrassing, if they only knew, lol. Anyhow, here’s a picture of my “daughter,” lol.

So after we met up with the rest of the group, we had an amazing dinner at this really great restaurant. It was awesome not only because it was cheap, but also because we were given our own room. Apparently, in good Chinese restaurants in China, you get your own room, complete with a bathroom, a dinner table, a kids table, and a relaxing tea area with a TV inside. It was simply put, craziness! The meal cost all of $10 US for each of us, and we were really pampered. After that, we headed over to this massage place where for only $25 US, we were able to get a 3 hour massage that included a facial, manicure, a fully body massage, and a shuttle back to our hotel! Man, this is the life! I’d show pictures, except we weren’t allowed to take any pictures. Anyhow, here are some random pics of us goofing around in our hotel though. It was a 3 bedroom suite for really cheap, less than $100 HK per night…

Me and Nikie doing yoga

Aww, we got the order wrong, but you get the phrase…

Watch out! It’s Shenzhen’s Angels

Don diving onto Jenny

The boys putting away all the DVD’s we bought, hehe

Aww, it’s the circle of friends

The Pyramid: Nikie makes it look as though I weigh a ton, lol

So a recap on Shenzhen: despite the freezing cold weather and being stopped at the Immigration checkpoint and then being released even after they caught me with my fake DVD’s, Shenzhen was a blast and I can’t wait to go back for more. China is such an interesting place. From driving on the wrong side of the road, to nearly getting killed from all sides, it was definitely an experience. I got to brush up on both my Cantonese and Mandarin, and I’m quite sure I confused a lot of people with switching back and forth between the two languages so darn often, but hey, they should know both languages pretty well anyway, it is southern China after all. Anyhow, I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t want to live there, but it’s a fun place to visit every now and then. I’m heading to Guangzhou this coming weekend, so we’ll see how that compares to Shenzhen…

Oh the places I’m gonna go…

…sushi buffet, enough said…

Tonight was fantastic! First, I finished off the tennis season undefeated , but my college still took second, but oh well, we still did well. We played Shaw College tonight, and it wasn’t much of a competition. I played Fumi, this Japanese student who totally speaks Mandarin well. I was up 5-2 and was at 30 all, when things just went sour. My serves were still kicking butt, but for some strange reason, my groundstrokes just weren’t there tonight. In any event, I wound up giving up two more games to him and finally finishing him off at 6-4. It was an okay win, but I definitely should have done better. I need to work on closing things out better. He was a good guy though, and really sweet too. His serves need work though, I think he was really nervous. I was going to offer to help him with it, but he disappeared after our match and I didn’t get to exchange numbers with him. Oh well, I’m sure I’ll see him on campus some time. Anyhow, James and Jenny came to watch my match again. They’re so cool. They’ve consistently come to all of my matches and cheered me on. They’re so awesome! I’ve never had people come watch my matches before. People usually think it’s so boring, but yeah, I was totally jazzed that they even came to one, let alone all three. Wow, what troopers! Aww, I love you guys!

After the tennis match, Kevin, Heidi, Daisy, Matt, Jenn, Shirley, Vlad, James, Don, and I all went to this incredible sushi buffet place in Jordan. OMG, sooooooo much food, and it was all soooooooo good! As usual, I ate quite a bit of food; I always feel like such a glutton, but whatever, food is my friend, hehe. Besides, it’s the only way I’m ever going to gain any weight around here. Yeah, it was nice, I had to have eaten at least $500+ worth of sushi, but only had to pay $160–yay for buffets! I’ll bet they never thought there’d be someone like me to come around when they set the price, lol. Either way, I’m happy, hehe…

Ok, so I’ve mainly been mentioning the fine and dandy things about Hong Kong, but I just wanted to take a moment to gripe about some of the minor disadvantages of being here in Hong Kong…

1) Roommate: I’ve never really had a roommate before in my life and it kind of sucks to have one in my last semester of college. Yes, it’s an experience to be had, blah, blah, blah, blah. I’m over it. Each day that passes by that I have to deal with him, the more I look forward to having my own room and space again back in the US! He’s a nice guy and all, but in all honesty, we just don’t click. He does his own thing, and I do mine, which is fine, but there are just some things about him that really irritate me. For example, he still uses hairspray. That’s right, I said HAIRSPRAY! Ok, not only is it bad for the environment because it’s an aerosol can, but it also makes me GAG! It’s incredibly disgusting and I swear I’m going to develop some kind of allergic reaction to it by the time I get back to the States. A part of me just wants to tell him off and have him spritz his crap in the bathroom instead of in the room, but I just feel bad for the poor sap, ugh! DAMNI IT! GET SOME GEL OR GARNIER STYLING GUM ALREADY!!!

2) Gay life sucks: It’s incredibly expensive to be gay here. There’s only one real gay club here, and that’s Propaganda–not much of a club at all though. The DJ really sucks, the music is mostly house and trance, the men are generally older, and cover is almost like $30 US–NOT COOL! At that rate, I’d be better off just going to a different country and clubbing there, it’d all wind up being about the same, give or take $100 HK, but that’s negligible. In any event, it’s better to just go to a different country, hence Singapore…

3) Mosquitoes suck, enough said.

4) Did I mention I dislike my roommate?!

…the sun, the sun…

For the first time in a very, very, very long time, I felt the rays of the sun again today…

This weekend was the first weekend in a very long time that I didn’t go anywhere. It was nice to just chill here in Hong Kong without having to worry about rushing to the airport or rushing to see as much of [insert country] as possible. Life, for a brief moment, was simple, was sweet, was satisfying…

On Saturday, I went to Lantau Island with Thomas, Jessica, and Thea. It was really nice, albeit cold. The MTR ride out to the island was actually one of the most memorable moments of the whole excursion. I had never taken the MTR out that far before, so it was an amazing sight to see us pulling away from the island; it was as if we were going to a completely different country. I wonder if this’ll be how I feel when I finally do leave Hong Kong for good in May…

We went to Outback Steakhouse tonight to celebrate Kevin’s 22nd birthday. It was the first time I had had steak in Hong Kong. I was really looking forward to it–salivating quite profusely as a matter of fact just thinking about it. When I finally got my plate, I was a bit disappointed at what I saw. I tried to be positive though and figured that I shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, perhaps this steak will be rich with flavor and melt in my mouth. Unfortunately, I was wrong, and to my dismay, the steak tasted just like it looked–bad. Whatever, I consoled myself with Hui Lau San afterwards, so it was ok. I guess I’ll just have to wait until I get back to the States to get real steak…

Speaking of the States, I’ve had a handful of people ask me recently whether or not I was homesick yet. I hadn’t really thought about it, so I guess my answer would be “no”. Coming to Hong Kong, and to Asia in general, has been one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. Last semester at Berkeley had to have been one of the most trying semesters I’ve ever had there, not because it was academically demanding or anything, but it was just incredibly taxing emotionally. I know that the rough times we experience in our lives helps us build our character, but sometimes, all the bullshit and drama’s just not worth it. Okay, strike that, most of the time, all the bullshit and drama’s not worth it. I counted down the days to when I’d finally get to leave it all behind me, physically and psychologically, and now, 2 full months into my exchange, I’m dreading the day I have to return to it all. Yes, things will be different as I won’t be a student anymore, but I will still be working in the same general area, and I wonder if a tabula rasa will truly be possible. Well, whatever happens, happens, and I’ll be ready for the challenge…

Asia has rejuvenated me. It’s nice to be back amongst my fellow people, to be able to look around and know that only minor cultural differences separate us…welcome home…

Places I’ve been from placenta to present:
- Battambang, Cambodia
- Phnom Peng, Cambodia
- Khao-I-Dang Refugee Camp, Thailand
- Tokyo, Japan
- Long Beach, CA
- Mexico City, Mexico
- Wiesbaden, Germany
- Zurich, Switzerland
- Lyon, France
- Paris, France
- Manhattan, NY
- Washington, D.C.
- Berkeley, CA
- San Francisco, CA
- Columbus, OH
- Phoenix, AZ
- Portland, OR
- Seattle, WA
- Vancouver, Canada
- Sydney, Australia
- Cairns, Australia
- Melbourne, Australia
- Bangkok, Thailand
- Pattaya, Thailand
- Singapore
- Hong Kong

Places to visit before I finish my program in Hong Kong:
- Macau
- Shenzhen, China
- Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
- Manila, Philippines
- Beijing, China
- Shanghai, China
- Taipei, Taiwan
- Guangzhou, China

Places to visit before I die: too many to list…