6.5 months in

I 'm picking up again almost 5 years from my last blog post. So here I am again, 6.5 months in and what I have learned so far:

• San Francisco is to be referred to as "SF" or "San Francisco" not "Frisco", "San Fran" etc. There's actually a website that explains this quite clearly.
•  It gets cold at night and for someone that's spent the last 5 years near the equator, a heavy peacoat is always at hand
• Hipsters exist everywhere in SF and slowly disappear the further south you drive, unless you're near an arts district. 
• Parallel parking isn't too scary, only if it's on a hill (i hate hills) 
• There's an app for everything, dating, paying, maps, rides etc. (i even have one for a cupcake shop)
• "The odds are good but the goods are odd" is a real saying. Still debating if that's true in that context. 
• I didn't know what a succulent was until I moved here and apparently they grow like weeds but in a cute fat way. 
• Living in the suburbs sounds like a great idea after living abroad without grass and confined to a tiny apartment but it's lonely cause no one lives close enough

What I've learned in the past 6 months is that there's constantly new things to learn. Whether it be about myself or others, I think God has only revealed the tip of the iceberg as to what His purpose is for me to return to US is for. More importantly I've learned that I'm still dealing with the same issues that I faced when I was in HK which was insecurities in relationships and there really is no way out but to face them head on and grow from what seems like failure.

"But blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence. They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long month of drought. Their leaves stay green, and they never stop producing fruit." Jeremiah 17:7-8

5 months in

ha. wow blogging is definitely not my friend.

So I've been in Hong Kong for almost 5 months now. Things that I have accomplished:

- moved into an apartment.
- moving to another apartment in a month and signing a 1 year lease.
- signed up for a gym
- joined a church
- sign up for chinese classes
- quit chinese classes
- manage to communicate with clients via email and phone in chinese.

I think I'm definitely still homesick. But I've been fortunate to have visitors.

My Dad <3 here for my 22nd bday and planned a dinner.

Stacy. My British Friend =] spending nights at my apt with the worse security guard. and LKF prowler


Yily. BFF even though definitely worked better when she stayed in LA, at least I talked to her more then.

Brother. even though he spent most of the days waiting for me to get off work.

Mom. in town now =]

Come visit! =]

Oh and since I've been here I've definitely had some FML moments. i.e.

- Sprained my ankle (being crippled in HK definitely makes it hard to get around)
- Tripped and fell on the escalator (broke a bracelet that scattered everywhere)
- Broken my sandal while walking at the Subway station (def embarassing)
- Have someone say that my chinese sucks and to put someone else on instead.
- 3rd iphone in 6 months.

Yeah I'm sure there's more, but hopefully a new update when I move =]

P.S. it's very popular for guy's to carry their girlfriend's purses here. like full on. weird.

two weeks in

So I've been here for two weeks but some reason it feels like i've been here forever. I've finally settled into an apt although temporary for 3 months till I can find a proper roommate. I started work and HK people work long hours. First day I got in at 8:30am and left at 7pm. So yeah yay for pictures!

I think it's so awesome that in such a busy sophisticated city you can still find places like this.

View from my little cubicle.

Saw this when I was riding in a taxi.
¹ I look up to the mountains—
does my help come from there?
² My help comes from the Lord,
who made heaven and earth!

³ He will not let you stumble;
the one who watches over you will not slumber.
⁴ Indeed, he who watches over Israel
never slumbers or sleeps.

⁵ The Lord himself watches over you!
The Lord stands beside you as your protective shade.
⁶ The sun will not harm you by day,
nor the moon at night.

⁷ The Lord keeps you from all harm
and watches over your life.
⁸ The Lord keeps watch over you as you come and go,
both now and forever.

Psalm 121

Times Square

Maid Cafe! Basically it's a cosplay thing kinda like anime and the waitresses dress up as french maids and call you master. Yeah kinda weird... also you have to go up some ghetto old elevator but HK people love it!

So since I'm "new" in town I decided to wander one day and walked from Mongkok to Tsim Sha Tsui. Apparently I underestimated how far it was and ended up walking for about 2 hours where I finally got to the harbor to take a tourist pic! So I decided to be touristy and asked a family to take a picture for me in which they asked if I was by myself in a sad aww voice.

Mushrooms at Times Square! They always have the most random displays.

Dinner 红烧豆腐饭

Lunch at a mexican restaurant but no good =[ dang I wish I had carne asada fries!

Breakfast! 火腿通分 with 港式奶茶

jet lagged.

so i'm not very good at blogging. but since i have relocated i suppose i can post up random pictures with explanations to them. The weather's pretty weird. My mom told me not to bring my coat but it's been windy and cold.

journey to hk. alone. bye parents!

So my flight left at 12:20Pm. 13 hour flight with a broken tv screen. so no movies for me the entire trip =[. Then originally a 2 hour layover in Tokyo got delayed for an extra hour. Plus another 4 hour flight. By the time I got to HK it was 11:30pm (suppose to arrive by 10).

Pretty clouds
Some Random baby holder thing in the stalls.

my life in 3 bags.

so while I was packing for this trip I packed. unpacked. repacked. originally I was going to bring a medium size suitcase and a big suitcase. but I decided to simplify my life. so i left a lot of my stuff at home. resulting in one medium, one carry on, and one duffle.

my temporary stay in HK. for 10 days.

Sooo.. remember how I said who wants to come stay with me for a week. I really meant it. Thanks Parents for trading in timeshare points so I can shower with one of those rainfall shower heads.

new work place.

So since I was jetlagged. for the first day I decided to wander around HK. just near by. Just so you know I meant to look fobby and try to fit in. But. i think i still stood out.

Bird store

So for those of you who took Chinese at UCI. Do you guys remember Taiwan Today Ch1 where it talks about 有些人在公园提者鸟笼让心爱的鸟出来呼吸呼吸新鲜空气。 yeah.. that's what these birds remind me of.

So I was watching tv. And I guess it was a kids show. These are the cutest kids ever.

I think i will blog once in awhile. this post took way too long.