Come Buy 香草奶茶.wmv

So many fun times just hanging out -- "haee" (do nothing 无谓)-- but something about this Soy Street that I enjoyed. The lively atmosphere and local places nearby really made me call it home. So I thought it would be appropriate for me to end my Hong Kong experience here. The video doesn't portray the full Soy Street experience because my friends Stephy, Flora, Craig, Vanessa, Jason, or anyone else could not make it. I will sure miss drinking Vanilla Milk Tea here!

Beach

Jacob - you're hilarious. Hallie - your photogenic. As for me - I am soozai傻仔

Filipino Dinner

Thanks Filipino Baptist Church!!! You guys are such a joy to be around and I will miss coming to visit you all. I enjoyed the food and I'm glad that you didn't make me eat a "balut" aka Chicken Embryo!! Can't wait to go visit the Philippines someday.

Volleyball

It was a great day - gonna miss these fun times. Not too easy to get to the beach from my neck of the woods.

'Pearl TV' Interviews

Thank you Hallie - and happy birthday to you. I will be praying for you as you go to the United Kingdom for a year. Please know that we will always be in touch!
Thank you Jacob - I look forward to working with you in the future. I know that you have a big calling in life and I will support you wholeheartedly as you share the Good News of Jesus.
Thank you Nate - for all of the great arguments on who is the best NBA team. I appreciate your love for Lebron James and hope that your 40pt loss to the Celtics in Game 5 was acceptable :) (Rondo is amazing, isn't he? Probably because he is from Kentucky!)
Thank you Joshua - for your hilarious jokes and your fun personality. Be sure to get Thai food in Kowloon City more often!
Thank you Rodolfo, for caring about my future and giving me advice on how to be a minister. Your kind words have impacted me as well and I hope to be partnering with you in mission opportunities with the Philippines.
Thank you all, especially KIBC, for being such an encouragement for me in my transition back to the States. I am definitely Asianized and that means I will have to come back sooner or later. If not next summer, then hopefully after I graduate in 2012.
Know that I am trying to live my life according to Jeremiah 29:11 and Romans 4:1-2. My Life in Hong Kong is coming to a close, but I'm anxious to see where I end up next. Hopefully I will still be posting on this blog and please help me think of a new title!

乒乓 Ping Pong.wmv

Aaron, Peter, and I in the infamous ping-pong room at HKBU. Though I didn't play as often as they did, I did manage to dominate them both in a few friendly matches towards the end of the semester :)
Just good fun and good memories here on video for keepsake - I sure hope I don't get addicted to ping-pong when I go back to Georgetown College!

香港 Hong Kong: UNPREDICTABLE

Hong Kong is UNPREDICTABLE. Kowloon Tong is my neighborhood; more quaint and home of the rich. Jackie Chan lives right down the street - Bruce Lee's childhood crib is also here. My church is Kowloon International Baptist Church and it is a wonderful church with a cowboy pastor from Texas with members from Liberia, Pakistan, China, Philippines, US, everywhere! Kowloon Tsai Park is right next to HKBU's campus and it's awesome. From the park there is a nice view of Mong Kok and Tsim Sha Tsui at the edge of Kowloon.

Mong Kok is crazy! If ever I feel the need for a busy, local atmosphere then I go to Mong Kok. Here is where people of all walks hang out. But the best hang out spot in Mong Kok is definitely Soy Street. That's right - Soy Street. Here you can get Curry a la King, Vietnamese, Shanghai, Japanese Udon, Gaidanzai (waffle balls, Dantart, and most importantly....VANILLA BUBBLE TEA @ Come Buy! I probably go here at least once a week. You can also go the market and bargain/practice Cantonese :)

Tsim Sha Tsui aka TST is probably the most international hub in the world (I would argue). Indians hanging out at Chung King Mansions, tourists from all over the world to watch the light show at 8pm from the city skyline at night from the harbor. Businessmen and locals like myself also enjoy the occasional ferry ride to and from Hong Kong Island to TST for only 2 HK! I love taking bus no. 7 from TST to Kowloong Tong because I can see all of the activity going on from the double-decker bus second floor.

Hong Kong Island is definitely the highlight of Hong Kong. Only the rich can call this home and all other visitors simply admire the high class culture that goes from Wan Chai to the oldest city zone of Sheung Wan. You can enjoy the nice bars and restaurants at Mid-levels in Soho District or if you are a crazy party person unlike myself then you can have late-night fun at Lang Kwai Fung aka LKF. As for me, I enjoy putting on my suit and pretending to be an important businessman! Or I can dress casually and go to church on the 75th floor of Central Plaza to worship with Hong Kong City Church - which is such an amazing experience (and view)!

So what makes Hong Kong unpredictable? Well, alllow me to introduce you to the New Territories. North of Kowloon in between Shenzhen is quite a bit of mountains and reservoirs and of course beaches! Besides being home for a lot of residents, you can also hike and explore many areas around here. Kowloon Tong is the last train station before entering New Territories and my favorite train station on the line to Shenzhen is definitely Sha Tin. Something about the atmosphere and the fact that it's not on the tourist book that attracts me and I could definitely see myself living here if I were to ever consider coming back to work in Hong Kong.

If I wasn't coming back to Hong Kong, I would then consider Shenzhen. This is a recently sprouted city that is also like a Hong Kong a Special Economic Zone (SEZ). This SEZ is bigger now though and it's where I should be because it's in Mainland China! This would mean I could speak Putonghua! Cantonese is also used here, but Putonghua is encouraged as the lingua franca. Although I enjoy speaking and learning Cantonese, it just makes more sense for me to speak and learn Mandarin. So much more useful! Especially when all HongKongers nowadays can speak English.

Yea, but that's just a brief recap of my now home away from home. I have learned so much about Hong Kong and China having now lived here a year and I definitely want to come back and see how things change. I know they will because construction is the biggest business in Hong Kong and with all the tall residential buildings all over this small patch of land I can see why that is so!

Somber Goodbye.wmv

Time flies! I can't believe two semesters in Hong Kong are getting ready to be a thing of the past, but my time is nearly up. It's funny how I've traveled to Tokyo and Hong Kong, two of Asia's prime-time cities. You'd think coming from Kentucky I would go somewhere more quaint!

Either way, I'm gonna miss seeing the city lights and the crazy amounts of people on the streets. I guess I'm a city-boy now...and I was thinking about what it would be like to come back and work on Hong Kong Island. That would be nice, but who knows where I will end up in the next few years. I'm sure those few years will fly by too, and when that time comes I will be anxious to see where I end up.

I'd like to go to Indonesia, or back to rural China (uniquely quaint). But I'd also like to travel to Singapore and Korea. Then I'd also like to check out Shanghai. Those would be my long term stays - my vacation would definitely be a 2 month Euro Pass (extended stay in Spain and then Austria with my friend Daniel). So much to see in this world, but I guess I better first see the Grand Canyon and Rocky Mountains!

Pizza Party.wmv

HK Museums and Sushi Buffet.wmv

This video is in honor of HKBU student ambassador Stephy Pang, my favorite Hong Konger hands down! She and I both are "Soozais", but when we are together we always have a good laugh. She helps me learn Cantonese and even tries to help me improve my Mandarin, so for that I'm very appreciative. Stephy is convinced that I am going to come back and work in Hong Kong so that we can have bubble tea and gaidanzai together at least twice a week, haha.
Thanks Stephy for helping Craig, Vanessa, Craig, and I have such a good time in Hong Kong. We will never forget you and will always keep in touch. Promise me that I will forever be your number one exchange student :)
Finally, promise me that you will see us again - even if that means you have to come to Kentucky!

Temple Street & Chinese Studies

旺角 Mong Kok with Jessica_0001.wmv

This video is in honor of my 知己 (best friend), who has been with me through thick and thin the past two semesters as exchange students at HKBU. She is from Guangzhou, China and is a student in Beijing studying abroad in Hong Kong. We will be keeping in touch for sure and though it is sad to go our separate ways, I know that we will always appreciate our friendship. Wish you all the best Jess!