HK Day 19 (Mon Jul 16)

The last full day in 香港!

i decided not to put too much pressure on myself to do anything in particular. i did, however, need to pack up and make sure i'd be ready to leave early the next morning since i planned to be out late with WingTsun friends.

i ended up spending a decent chunk of time chatting and catching up with people both in and outside of 香港, and didn't get around to updating the blog for the previous day. finally, with things pretty much packed (except for things i needed that day, and things to be bought :P), i headed to Mong Kok (via minibus!) to meet up with Sifu Robin's friend Queenie (whom i had met in Sha Tin a couple of days before). the minibus is definitely the more quick and convenient way to go, but i figure that having done the bus to MTR route gave me a better feel for the area and to see more, as well as get to ride the MTR, which is pretty nice.

i realize my last post was probably full of boring details (analyze THAT, eric :)), so i'll skip some stuff here. did some shopping for gifts, and also gave in and picked up a pair of shoes (see yesterday's post).

after shopping was done, we went to -- yes, everyone is getting sick of reading this i know -- Hui Lau Shan. 許留山. after that i went to meet up with Robin and then we grabbed dinner at a Japanese place back in Mong Kok. after dinner i went to GM Cheng's class and Sifu Robin went off to Baptist University to teach. i planned to join him later, but wanted to stop by and say goodbye to my 師叔公 (si-sok-gung). on my way to class, i actually bumped into my 師公 again so got the chance to say goodbye once more. Got to do some more chi-sau with 師叔公 and to soak in the atmosphere of the main gym one last time, then headed off to Baptist U.

got a little lost, but finally made it. the Baptist U class was very large and festive that day because it was one of the instructor's birthday. shortly after i arrived class ended and we went to their usual after-class dining spot. they ordered a whole lot of food but i couldn't really eat since 1.) i was still full from dinner, 2.) it was really hot and i am less hungry when hot, 3.) i had just exercised and i'm less hungry after exercising. i sat between two of my 師兄's, Sifu Jon and Sifu Robin. it was a nice way to spend my last night, just chilling in a local spot with a bunch of people--who i knew to varying degrees--who shared a common love for 詠春拳.


people gradually parted to go their own ways home, and at the end it was Sifu Robin and i at the Mong Kok MTR station. i was feeling thirsty again when Robin asked, "would you like to get a drink?" i thought he meant from a vending machine in the MTR station or perhaps a 7-Eleven. "Sure." "How about 許留山?" Ha. how could i say no? so off we went!



we drank my favorite 許留山 drink (of the ones i had tried), and reflected on the past couple of weeks, on many things WingTsun, and on thoughts of the future. i think both of us were tired, but neither wanted to call it a night quite yet. around 1:15 am they were starting to clean up and close up shop, so we headed off to the minibuses.

one last trip with the "psychotic" minibus drivers back to Kennedy Town. one last time getting off at the last stop on the 西環 (Sai Wan) bus line. one last night in 香港. one very memorable trip.

HK Day 18 (Sun Jul 15)

sunday morning i had wanted to attend Sifu Jon's class at the main gym, and Anna had said she'd be interested in checking it out. However, i couldn't quite get myself out of bed from sleeping late the past couple of nights (and not really enough the ones before that), and also wanted to make sure i was rested enough for GM Leung Ting's class that evening. plus, i had wanted to treat Anna to lunch since it was possibly my last meal with her (it was).

we got sushi with Colin and his friend Jason. i don't think i mentioned it in my last post when we ate there, but the place's cooked salmon belly sushi is amazing... we ate kind of late, and were all pretty hungry so ordered a ton of sushi. maybe too much :P. i was definitely more than full by the end. next, we went to Mong Kok to do some shopping.

so i knew one probably existed but never bothered to look into it, but the minibus from Kennedy Town to Mong Kok is twice as fast as the routine i had been following (5 bus to Central, then the Tsuen Wan MTR)... and cheaper! we took that to Mong Kok to do some shopping. Colin bought some cool casual shoes and i was tempted to get a pair too, but refrained. i figured if i really still wanted them, i could come back the next day since i'd be in the Mong Kok area anyway (hoping to prevent an impulse buy. EDIT: failed).

after shopping in the hot hot sun we got a respite in a Hui Lau Shan (of course). Colin and Jason were going to head to Flower Street and Anna and i walked with them 'til Anna's other friend Mark found us. He also wanted to get some shoes (running) so Anna and i went with him and Colin and Jason went on ahead. (my main motivation was staying closer to Yau Ma Tei since i had class that night). Went to some shoe stores, then we looked at some cell phones. Apparently a Taiwanese company has a cool new touch-screen phone that's meant to compete w/the iPhone. it was pretty darn cool and had some nifty UI tricks that could make using it less of a hassle. it also made me realize how unimpressive my phone is, but oh well. :) someday i might get a cutting edge fancy phone. i'm a happy camper as long as it's functional enough, has decent enough UI, and has good reception (ie--NOT AT&T/Cingular).

we parted ways and i had about an hour left before class. i was kind of hungry but not really, so grabbed a mcchicken sandwich and coke :P.

at the school, i was waiting outside for a bit since the door was closed (and the window in the door was covered up still, though i could see light through the top of the door). finally, the security guard in the building told me there were people inside and i should knock. i didn't want to interrupt anyone since i was early, but it was very darn hot in the hallway, so i decided i could blame the security dude if it all went south... it didn't. Sifu Leung Kwok Wah opened the door and there were a few students there with him. got changed, did some stretching, then did some chi-sau with another student. Sifu Jon arrived so i chatted with him a bit and then started doing some chi sau with him. And then, , Great Grandmaster Leung Ting arrived. i enjoyed very much seeing my si-gung in his "natural" environment... it was, after all, the LEUNG TING GYM that he started around 40 years ago, and the very same space that the late Great Grandmaster Yip Man had opened a class. He mostly taught in Cantonese, so Jerry was kind enough to translate for me and Danilo (another non-Cantonese speaking instructor). When explaining something mainly to Danilo and me, GGMLT spoke in English, and when just talking to me, he used Mandarin. i learned some good stuff, saw some great stuff, and had a simply wonderful time being there at the international headquarters learning from the Grandmaster himself.

afterward, i went to eat with some of the other instructors. once again, i was blessed that everyone made me feel like i belonged there. afterward, we said some goodbyes, as it was my second to last night in HK i would not be seeing some people again.

HK Day 17 (Sat Jul 14)

having slept not too much earlier than 6 am, i managed to rest until 1 pm. 7 hours! not bad, right? sleeping late (or early, depending on how u want to look at it) usually screws with my body/system a lot, but since i don't have the usual stresses of life, i've been pretty adaptable (i think).

after getting up, i gave Sifu Robin a call to see if he was still free to meet up. we decided to meet at 3 pm in Mong Kok. i took a quick shower and set off (takes me ~45 min to get from Anna's apartment to the Yau Ma Tei/Mong Kok area). (for the record, i had wanted to enter the Day 16 blog entry before i left, but was short on time). after getting off the bus at Central, i had a funny moment where someone stopped me and asked me for directions in English to the H&M. i kind of actually knew where it was so (hopefully) pointed them in the right direction. made me wonder if i was starting to fit in a bit in my current environment, but the fact that i haven't picked up much Cantonese quickly deflated that notion.

Sifu Robin and i got dim sum (by my request). initially conversation was a bit slow, but i think it was 'cause we were both pretty exhausted still. things picked up a bit when we started talking about "the unavoidable subject" (as GM Leung Ting referred to our favorite topic when describing his tea time with the late GGM Yip Man). After "yum cha", we went to Sha Tin to meet with Robin's friend Queenie. We met her at the big indoor mall there. I had been there when i visited Mel a few years back on my first trip to Hong Kong. i didn't realize at the time how ginormous (now officially a word according to Merriam-Webster!) the place was. although i hesitate to admit this publically, one thing that is so cool about HK (or maybe just Asia) is all the Yoshi and Stitch stuff they have! good thing i'm on a budget otherwise i'd buy more than i could bring back.


we made our way to a Double-Star Cafe where we had some snacks and tea. i, naturally, got a 凍奶茶 (cold milk tea). although i still prefer 台灣 style, i think i'm getting more accustomed to the 香港 ones. we chatted for a while before the manager started signaling to Robin that we should be on our way. it was worked out alright since Queenie had somewhere she had to be. Robin and i proceeded to Causeway Bay, where we planned to get our "K" on that night.

since we were waiting for Mak Yu and Anna, i asked Robin to show me around the shops, since i hadn't spent much time at all in Causeway Bay yet. we walked around a bit and took in the scenery until Mak Yu was able to meet us. Anna had gone to Shenzhen with Colin and others, so was not expected back 'til after 10 pm, so the three of us proceeded to start off the singing-fest. We went to a place called CEO, which was, like most Karaoke places, much nicer than anything in the states. we had a buffet dinner with our package, as well as a private bathroom. the room could've easily sat 10 people, so it was quite spacious for just the three of us (and also spaciousness enough to comfortably do some chi/goh sau ;)).


Anna called around 10:30 or 11 and they were still on their way back. i wasn't sure if she'd make it in time. she called again later when she was back to her apartment and we were deciding what to do. since she wanted to Karaoke still, i asked Robin and Mak Yu if they were up for staying. the deal was if we paid the same rate again, we could've stayed there 'til 6 am so we decided to stay (just no more food at this point). we ended up singing the night away 'til about 3 am.

i was very beat, but Anna wanted to go to Privé again. although i was slightly tempted, i was 95% sure that it would be a bad idea for me to go. so i was set on going back. Anna initially decided to head back with me, but en route back to Kennedy Town, she got a text message that changed her mind. the taxi made a stop in LKF for Anna before dropping me off back at Anna's apartment. i was extremely happy to crawl into bed (where i still am with my laptop).

although i could save this for my last HK entry (or when i blog from back in Beijing), i just wanted to share how fortunate i feel to have had this chance to spend time here. that Anna was gracious in letting me crash at her place for 3 weeks. that Robin was so caring in watching out for me (making sure i got home, etc.), encouraging and guiding me in WingTsun, and trying to make sure i was entertained at all times. that the weather cleared up from being gloomy and rainy my first few days to becoming sunny and clear (though hotter). that i met many new interesting and diverse people, both within my greater WingTsun family and people in general. i think i at least partially achieved my goal of getting a feel for what it's like to live in HK, as well as get a sense of what life is like as a WingTsun practitioner here. i obviously could get to know the place much better, but am happy for the areas and bus routes i've become familiar with. i hope to have more chances in the future to revisit and enjoy 香港.

HK Day 16 (Fri Jul 13)

so i've fallen behind my usual d+1 blog updates. perhaps this means i have been less lazy and have been doing stuff! perhaps...

so on Friday the 13th, i got up extra early to go meet Sifu Robin at the Leung Ting Gym to hang out and watch a TVB camera crew film a commercial for an upcoming TVB television series. Unfortunately for Sifu Robin and i, the popular actresses that are to be in the show weren't part of the commercial. still, it was interesting watching them do multiple takes of the same 30 second bit (at least initially :P).

afterwards, we headed to the IWTA office. since i had no other plans (this should not be news to those who've been reading the blog), i decided to catch up on some reading. i looked through GM Leung Ting's book, Skills of the Vagabonds, which talks about a lot of the tricks that people used in the olden days that were thought to have been magical, and often times the same types of techniques were used by those who practiced Ninjitsu (and the Chinese practitioners that preceded it).

we ordered in lunch, and after lunch i continued my reading by looking through the Chinese version of Roots and Branches of WingTsun (mostly at the pictures), followed by the English version. even though i own Roots of WingTsun, i haven't read it carefully in over 2 years. it was good to re-read many of the stories about the history of WingTsun. it was quite fascinating how different things stood out to me, perhaps since i've evolved in my own thinking and understanding of WingTsun in the past couple of years.

after the office closed up, did some training with Sifu Robin, then grabbed a small dinner before heading to Shek Tong Tsui for Sifu Leung Kwok Wah's class. because of a long wait for the bus, i got there on the late side. Anna was already there working on her Siu Nim Tau (小念頭) form. She's "shopping around" for a si-fu/class, trying to see which situation is most suitable for her. i helped give her some corrections, observe the class, and do some training with the students.


after class, i picked up a drink from 7-Eleven while Anna got some Korean food for dinner. we went back to her place, and later headed to Privé at Lan Kwai Fong. Met up with her friend Moon, and later ran into Wendy with some of her friends, and then Colin with some of his friends. i'd like to stress how freakin' annoying it is that people try to smoke and dance at the same time. if the stench of cigarette smoke wasn't bad enough, you have to worry about getting burned in a crowded space. Unfortunately, this happened to Moon while we were just hanging out by the bar. the only other complaint was that they rotated DJ's, so with three or four different DJ's, we heard several songs as many times.

afterward we were homeward bound when Colin asked if we were hungry. we made a (great!) decision to grab slices of pizza at a place called Cul de Sac (i think). while not New York pizza by any means, it definitely hit the spot at 4 am. as we headed to the taxis, we passed Volar and Colin asked if we wanted to pop in. i wasn't sure if he was serious or not, but i think he was. we were all pretty beat and so headed on our merry way home (for those who aren't up to date, i'm being hosted through the generosity of Anna and her apartment).

of course, once back, Anna and i were brilliant and got on our computers! she managed to sneak off to bed without my knowing. by the time i shut down my laptop, i looked into her room and it was bright in there. i was thinking she left the light on when i realized that the source was the big light more commonly called the sun. i confirmed this by looking at the window in the living room (where i'm crashing). great. fortunately, i was still able to fall asleep without much delay (usually i have trouble when there's light).

all in all, it was a great last Friday night in Hong Kong.

HK Day 15 (Thu Jul 12)

so where did the time go? is my 3 weeks really almost up? i definitely feel the pressure to make the most of it, but that usually results in me doing very little. :P had this discussion with Eric the other day (yesterday?) about how we tend to start missing a time before it ends, but that usually helps in not regretting not making the most of it later (even if i don't actually succeed in the endeavor...).

so what happened yesterday... i think i tried to get a bit caught up on responsibility (though probably didn't), then went and met Mak Yu in Mong Kok. we got dim sum (yum!) in Mong Kok, then walked through 女人街 and i took in the various shops on the street. i'd been good about not buying anything (except for WT clothes on the first day) but then i saw it. a BIG yoshi! so i had to buy it (pic to come. EDIT: pic on right; DS Lite in pic to help with scale :P). i already have a medium (okay 2) one and a small one, but had only seen the big one on eBay and web sites and not in the states. this left me with less than 200 HKD left, so fortunately we made a stop at the bank and i exchanged my "just in case" USD for HKD. there, Mak Yu pointed out the new plastic $10 HKD bills that just came out this week. they are pretty cool. they look pretty much like the existing bills, but just made of diff't materials (so sharing a pic is kinda pointless).

after i felt a little richer, we walked toward Yau Ma Tei and made a pit stop at Saint's Alp! (some will get why that's significant, others will not.) i'm happy to report the Almond Milk Tea tastes as good as the one from the old, no longer existing Bleecker St. store in NYC. again, pic to come.

afterward, picked up a milk tea to go and brought it to the IWTA office for Sifu Robin, who was working hard as usual. my left shoulder, while better, was still pretty sore, so Sifu Robin proceeded to use some cupping technique he had learned, followed by a rather intense massage on the sore spots. it helped quite a bit, with side-effects being three dark bruise-like circles and certain points be very sensitive to any pressure. but at least i can fully form a bong-sau and hold some pressure... :P

after i was healed, did a little training with Sifu Robin before we parted ways and i headed to the Leung Ting Gym for GM Cheng's class. Got to do some chi-sau/goh-sau with my si-sok-gung. :D got some good corrections and things to improve from that, and the class overall. at the end of class, GM Leung Ting stopped by briefly.

After i left the gym, i met up with Mak Yu and a couple of her friends for some Hui Lau Shan in Mong Kok (substitute for the dinner i had skipped). i was, however, dead tired from the ~4 hours of training that day, so i wasn't very good company. since i was such a loser, we called it a night and i got to get home to rest.

HK Day 14 (Wed Jul 11)

so i'm about 2/3 of the way done with my HK trip. there's really less than a week left (of my three week trip) since my flight back to Beijing is next Tuesday morn. and this thought saddens me. it's not like i've been doing any extraordinary things (by most people's standards; i mean, you've been reading this blog, right?), but i am definitely one of those that subscribes to the belief that it's all about the people, even if you're doing simple things.

so i hope in the next 6 days i have many chances to walk around in HK, eat simple things, and have good conversations and laughs (and some karaoke!) with my dear friends in HK. it's unfortunate that not everyone is so lucky as me as to have no real obligations at the moment and they have their regular lives. Sifu Robin, in addition to working six days a week, teaches WingTsun four nights a week. i've definitely enjoyed spending time in his classes, but it would be nice to roam Mong Kok some more or other areas for a couple hours and just take in the night. perhaps sometime this weekend...

that being said, i spent today being a total bum. i finally got up at around 2:30 PM. this is justifiable because i haven't been sleeping enough and i want to make the most of the next 6 days so i thought i'd make today my "lazy sunday."

also, my left shoulder is absolutely killing me (was just reminded of this when i sat up to adjust my seating). i'm definitely challenging (or straining) my muscles more with my attempts to develop the my WingTsun fighting skills (versus techniques, theory, and teaching, which i normally focus on). it's a little better now than when i woke up with it in serious pain. hopefully it's better by tomorrow night's class with GM Cheng.

anyway, i finally stepped outdoors around 8:30 PM when Anna and i went to get dinner at the ("fake") Taiwan restaurant nearby. it was quite oily. i was happy to have the Taiwan-style milk tea though. :)

anyway, here's to me making the most of my last week staying in 香港!

HK Day 13 (Tue Jul 10)

a week before i leave i decided i should finally do some more touristy stuff. going to Lantau Island with Anna on Sunday was a good start, and so i followed it up with a day going up to "The Peak" and then going to Tsim Sha Tsui.

Mak Yu offered to be my tour guide, which was much appreciated so i didn't need to use my brain or try to communicate with people. :P at the line for the tram to the peak, we noticed that we were the only Chinese (Asian) people in line. yup... a sure sign of a tourist attraction. or maybe it was just 'cause we were there in the middle of a work day.

up at the top we went through the various levels of the building they had to see what shops they had, etc. Anna's friend Rob had mentioned there was an EA (Electronic Arts) setup to let people play games, but he had not described how awesome it was! (he had just said he couldn't believe his brother wanted to play video games at the top of the peak--but seriously, who wouldn't?!) Mak Yu and i played a game of Fight Night Round 3 and then NBA Homecourt (on xbox360 kiosks) before continuing on with more cultured events.


the view from the peak was quite breathtaking. it was a nice and clear (and too hot) day. after walking around the shops some more and grabbing a bite to eat, we took a bus down to central to take the ferry across to Tsim Sha Tsui (TST).

In TST, we walked the Avenue of the Stars, kind of like Hollywood's walk of fame. At first most of the names were totally foreign to me, but then i saw some familiar names: Jackie Chan, Bruce Lee, Bridgette Lin, Andy Lau, Stephen Chow, Tony Leung, Maggie Cheung, Jet Li, Raymond Chow, etc.. Also saw the big Bruce Lee statue that they have. By this point we were sweating pretty good and decided to get some refreshments so went to get (you guessed it Eric!) Hui Lau Shan.

At Hui Lau Shan, i was kind of disappointed in the mango/strawberry/jelly drink i got. Perhaps i've finally overdone the mango stuff? Or perhaps it was the strawberries that counteracted the goodness of mangoes? I will have to try again later this week to see which is the case. :)

After Hui Lau Shan we went to the IWTA office to meet up with Sifu Robin. We got dinner at a local restaurant in Mong Kok (see photo of me with Sifu Robin below).


After dinner, we bused over to Baptist University for Sifu Robin's class. Before class started, i had the chance to do some goh sau with Sifu Robin. Since attendance in class was lower than usual, we also had some time during class to train now and then. It was extremely helpful for me since Sifu Robin is very skillful and well-trained. He's helping me become more aggressive and improve my "offense." i also had the chance to do some chi sau and goh sau with one of his students, James.

i'm not very dead tired from constantly sleeping too late. i think i'll take it easy tomorrow and rest up a bit, and maybe go out later. we shall see. 'til next time!

HK Day 12 (Mon Jul 9)

woke thinking 'why did Anna turn the light on in here (living room) and not turn it off before going to work?' after my mind cleared a bit i realized it wasn't the living room light, but the big light otherwise known as the sun. oops! :P somebody needs more sleep...

talked to Mel for a bit yesterday morn (her evening) but she was kind of busy at work. i remember spending some time on the computer but can't recall what exactly i was doing... probably chatting and surfing the web? i guess that's obvious.

went to meet up with Sifu Robin at the IWTA office and chilled a bit as he finished up his workday. Went with him and his si-dai, Jerry, to grab a quick dinner before heading to the Baptist University class. it was a well-known authentic Hong Kong restaurant, which i actually hadn't really had yet, so it was a nice change of pace.

in class i got more involved than previously (where i had mostly watched, done a little chi sau, and given some simple corrections). i got to do some chi sau with GM Leung Koon (GGM Leung Ting's younger brother) which was very cool. he gave me some corrections that were very helpful, and it was also just a great experience getting a chance to work with the fourth-highest ranking WingTsun practitioner in the world. after a bit one of the students was lacking a partner so i started working with him. it was a good experience because he was very good at goh sau (freefighting chi sau), which i am not so good in. i'll place part of the blame on the fact that it was never emphasized as much in the states as compared to what i've seen in Hong Kong. the other part rests with myself, since i've always known i'm not as good in being aggressive and haven't really challenged or tested out my skills enough. but last night was a good step in improving myself in this area, and i hope i can have enough opportunities in the near future to find people that i can work with to improve myself in this area. i initially struggled very much, not being accustomed to using much force and being too slow to respond to my partner's strong and quick attacks. fortunately, with some helpful insight on mistakes from GM Leung Koon, and some self-analysis on how to take advantage of my partner's weakness, i was able to make some improvement as we kept training. again, a good start on the path of improvement, but barely the tip of the iceberg. fortunately, the experience made me very motivated to improve this aspect of my WingTsun which i have let lay dormant for far too long.

Anna also came to try out class and was under the watchful eye and thoughtful explanations of Sifu Robin. It was also good to see my "old friends" (of four months) again: Sifu Jon (for only the second time so far on my trip), as well as Doris, Ming, and Mak Yu, and newer faces as well.

coming to HK i wasn't exactly sure why i had come. it was a mix of visiting friends and hoping to train some WingTsun and also to get to know HK better. i have gained an orientation of HK, but still am not so familiar with getting around. i have seen a couple of friends, and spent much time hanging out with Anna. but most significantly, i have spent much time hanging out with and talking to Sifu Robin. he's been a gracious host, a caring si-hing, and a good friend. i hope in this last week i have remaining, i get to spend more time with him, despite his always-busy schedule.

time to get up and get today started!

HK Day 11 (Sun Jul 8)

Went to Lantau Island to see the big Buddha. The ferry boat ride was very nice and it was beautiful out, but being sleep-deprived, I slept mostly on the way to and from the island. :P

It was a particularly hot and sunny day. The sun and clear skies were welcome since it was beautiful out, but the heat wasn't necessarily as welcome. Had lunch at a vegetarian restaurant within the Po Lim Monastery, which was surprisingly filling. Then made the trek up to see the big Buddha.

i'll upload some pics and add more later, but gotta run now. :)

EDIT: photo above is me giving buddha some love (high five!)

HK Day 10 (Sat Jul 7)

slept in a bit this morn, then went with anna to get lunch. tried this new thai place near her apartment which was alright, then followed it up with some yummy mango desserts. :P

she had some afternoon appointments so i stayed in and caught up on some stuff and worked on some music. also got started on laundry!

when anna got back, i gave her a brief WT lesson before we went to meet up with Robin, Jon, Inez, Ming, Doris, et al for a barbecue in Lion Mountain (EDIT: i think it's called something else... Nine Mountain park? OH--and we saw wild MONKEYS!) Park. I had met all of the aforementioned named people in Hungary four months ago, so it was great to see everyone together again. Besides them and me and anna, there were another 9 people, all WingTsun students/instructors.

after a bit of time getting the fire started, we got to finally cook and eat! my fave was bratwurst (that i picked out) since it reminded me of eating them during my childhood in Wisconsin when my dad would BBQ them. i was seriously full after 20 or 30 minutes, but everyone else seemed to keep eating. and eating. and eating. from around 7:30 PM 'til around 11 PM! i wanted to eat more, but simply had no where to put the food.

lots of pics were taken (esp. by MakYu), so i'll try to post some when i get them.

EDIT: here's a group pic that was taken that i had Makyu send me first before i got the rest of the photos:


i'll also fill in details more when i get pics. :P

EDIT: I must comment on how lame wimbledon.com is; it lets you download large video files (300 MB - 1 GB+) , but only when you attempt to watch it do you realize you have to PURCHASE the rights to watch it. LAME. try being a little more user friendly and have us BUY the rights before we waste time downloading the file.

HK Day 9 (Fri Jul 6)

so are people getting tired of reading my blog? i'm getting kind of tired of writing it. maybe i'm just lazy, but also 'cause i think my days aren't exactly all that varied.

yesterday i went out earlier than usual since Sifu David was leaving in the afternoon. we had dim sum and then hung around the IWTA office (chatting, training, etc.). all too soon it was time to say goodbye. it's funny how something you had no expectations of could become something very meaningful (in this case, knowing i would meet someone i had heard of and wanted to meet, but didn't truly know anything about). i'm sure our paths will cross again. just hope it's sooner than later. :)


Sifu Robin was still very busy so I spent the afternoon online and being a bum. One of Sifu Robin's si-dais was kind and took me to a place to apply for another Chinese visa so I could possibly make a trip to China with my si-gung (before heading back to Beijing). The lady said I wouldn't be able to apply for another one until I had "used up" my current one. Annoying. Did I mention it was ridiculously hot outside and not a short walk? (okay, it wasn't really that far, but it felt like it 'cause of the heat/humidity.)

Had Japanese for dinner with Sifu Robin before heading to Shek Tong Tsui to meet Anna to check out Sifu Leung Kwok Wah's class. After class, got some milk tea and then pretty much called it a night. :)

HK Day 8 (Thu July 5)

So i've officially been in Hong Kong over a week! my sense of time is a bit skewed, but a week does seem about right.

i arrived at the IWTA office around 12:30. i was pleasantly surprised to see Sifu Leung Kwok Wah there, in addition to Sifu David, Sifu Robin, and si-tai. i spoke with Sifu Leung for a while, catching up a bit since we last saw each other back in March. i also chatted with Sifu David a bit, while Sifu Robin was busy as usual with the many things he takes care of in the office.


a little while later, we left for a dim sum restaurant, where Grandmaster Leung Ting would be joining us. no matter how many times i've met my si-gung, it still is always a little surreal to see him and talk to him. after dim sum we walked down the street and parted ways with Sifu Leung Kwok Wah and GM Leung Ting. Robin, David, and I returned to the office briefly before David and I went to get some coffee.

Sifu David got a latte, but i ended up getting a mango smoothie. :P we chatted a bit (about all things WingTsun, of course) before ordering a hot milk tea for Sifu Robin and getting the check. It was pouring out when we wanted to leave, but fortunately the cafe was a couple doors down from the school and the path was covered.

After giving Sifu Robin his milk tea, Sifu David and I trained a little bit; a most helpful session for me! It is too bad he has to leave HK so soon. :(

Around 6 PM Sifu David had to leave to meet a friend for dinner. Sifu Robin had much to do so he and i ordered some food and ate in the office. Afterwards, he had to head to teach at Baptist University while I went to attend GM Cheng Chuen Fun's class at the main gym.

It was good to see si-sok-gung again, and i was happy that he hadn't forgotten me. :D we chatted a bit and i was thankful for the corrections he gave me in what i was doing. the 2 hour class was also the best workout i've had since getting to Hong Kong. Sifu David stopped by to say hi to si-sok-gung toward the end of class. After class ended, Sifu David and I were supposed to hang out and wait for Sifu Robin, but he has been under a lot of pressure and not sleeping enough so he needed to get some rest. Since it was late, Sifu David and I decided to get something to drink and chat and leave training for tomorrow.

We went to Hui Lau Shan and i got, surprisingly, a mango drink! Despite having had a lot of mango stuff already, i still enjoyed it very much, especially having worked out. Had some more good conversation, and reflected on how happy i was to have met such a good friend and si-hing in Sifu David.

calling it a night, i made my way to the mini buses once again, and can happily say i now am very comfortable getting back to Anna's apartment late at night from Mong Kok. :D

HK Day 7 (Wed Jul 4) - American Independence Day!

happy 4th of july!

if you've been reading my blog, you'll realize that i'm not joking when i say i'm bumming around Hong Kong. that being said, onto talking about my day!

had lunch with Sifu Robin at an Italian restaurant then hung out a bit in the office. Sifu David joined us a little later on, and we hung out and talked. After the office hours ended, Sifu Robin and Sifu David started doing some chi sau when a question on bong-sau reaction was raised. As this was being discussed, I was already late for my dinner plans, so had to depart. (I still need to process it some more)

Went with Anna and Rob to the American Club in Stanley for a 4th of July celebration. Also met some cool people that Rob invited. The American Club in Stanley has a beautiful view of the ocean (?) and some of HK's islands. It was very picturesque, and our table had a perfect view of it all. Unfortunately that benefit was lost as the sky darkened.

For dinner we had a diverse buffet but i picked only American foods! (and bratwurst :P.) After dinner and hanging out for a bit, we decided to head to Lan Kwai Fong. In the taxi, we wanted to listen to some music but none of the radio stations worked. Rob asked if Anna had brought a CD and the driver said there was a CD we could listen to but it was in Chinese. we figured it was better than nothing so popped it in. at first it was some folksy Cantonese music, but then subsequent tracks reminded us all of Beijing opera. it wasn't the most pleasant sound for us since we hadn't acquired an appreciation of such arts. finally, after a solid 15-20 minutes, we decided to stop it and listen to music off Anna's multi-talented PDA-phone gadget. The driver was laughing when we stopped it and Anna asked the driver if he liked the music and he said no, that the CD wasn't even his. :P

In LKF we popped our heads into California Bar where not much was going on (besides the Gasquet match) so headed to a pool place that i believe was simply called "Rack." shot some pool, had some drinks, and sang along to some American songs. since all but yours truly have work the next day, we called it an "early" night at around 12:30 am.

HK Day 6 (Tue Jul 3)

i've decided i need to sleep in more. it is my vacation, right? i didn't sleep in yesterday and felt blah so had to take a nap to feel better. i guess alternatively i could try to sleep earlier... but what fun would that be? :) anyway, i think yesterday was by far my laziest day so far of the summer. had no motivation whatsoever to do anything. but that can be good, 'cause i think most people feel that way every now and then, and after it passes, they're extra motivated for a bit to make up for lost time...

anyway, so i finally got off my lazy arse and went to Yau Ma Tei (note to self: takes about 45 min without any traffic delays) to meet up with Sifu Robin. He showed me some more cool WT vid clips. :D Also met his si-dai, Jerry. Sifu David Tvilling (from Korea) was to arrive that afternoon, so we were anticipating his arrival.

we got a quick dinner at Yoshinoya (yum and cheap!), then had to jet off to Baptist University for Sifu Robin's class. along the way, Sifu Robin got a call from Sifu David. Sifu Robin asked Sifu David to meet us at the Baptist University. met some nice students at the class who pretty much all spoke English. had a fun time watching Sifu Robin teach and suggesting some corrections to the students, as well as working with a couple of them. Sifu David finally found us, after asking around for where the class might be or where a payphone might be (he doesn't speak Cantonese either). it was great to get to meet him, since i had seen pictures and videos of him and heard much of him over the years. He was very friendly and we chatted for a while. Then we trained for a bit. ;D

It was very inspiring to have the three of us (me, Sifu Robin, Sifu David) together, who all have learned WingTsun in different countries and environments, from multiple teachers, and with various training partners. We all share a like passion for the art, and the same fundamental understanding, yet there is a different flavor and "accent" (as in languages) to each of our movements that strike one another as familiar yet not completely. It's quite a beautiful thing. :) Through new stimulus comes growth and better self-understanding.

After class we went to Mong Kok to get some food. Went to a Shanghainese place. Got to chat some more, but it seemed all of us were a bit tired. We soon called it a night.

I was happy to discover that the last stop on the Sai Wan minibus is the stop i need to get off of. Or at least it was last night (hopefully they're consistent). Even if not, i think i can finally recognize about where i need to get off (things look different at night).

HK Day 5 (Mon Jul 2)

so today, for the first time since i got to HK, i slept in!

i woke up around 7 or 8 but refused to get up, so went back to bed. i finally got up around noon.

spent time with the laptop and with Mel (via GoogleTalk) (kind of like life back at home!) for a bit, then finally took my lazy ass outside and got a mango dessert thing (a sweet mango, pomelo, soupy thing) for a late breakfast/lunch, then went to a bakery (Saint Lowlands) and got a couple of breads (for breakfast tomorrow). Returned to the apartment and started working on the script and then a song. Got hungry so ate a hotdog bun i got from the bakery :P.

went out to get Korean BBQ in Causeway Bay with Anna, Colin, two of Colin's friends, and Leslie. Hadn't seen Les in a while, so it was good to see him again. Afterward Les had to go "price something" (for work) so Colin, Anna, and I went to get foot massages and see if Les would be done to meet up to do something else. An hour later, with more relaxed feet, Les wasn't done yet. We went to Hui Lau Shan (Mel's fave) and got these sweet mango (and i think pomelo, again) drinks. Since it was getting kind of late, we decided to get the drinks to go and call it a night.

HK Day 4 (Sun Jul 1)

Listened to more music in the morn as I slowly woke myself up.

Went to a Japanese restaurant with Anna and her friend/Cantonese Tutor, Sara. Sushi and sashimi (and wasabi)... yum!

Afterward, tried to figure out what HKSAR 10th Anniversary events there were. Apparently we had missed some already (parade), but could make a protest as well as fireworks. Anna had a friend from college who lives in Singapore in town, so we met him for afternoon drinks. Went to Staunton's Bar in SoHo and chatted a while. Afterward, went to 1 IFC (International Finance Center), a huge shopping mall, where we scoped out a place to watch the fireworks. I finally convinced Anna to eat McDonald's for dinner so we went to grab it to take to stake out a place for watching the fireworks. The McDonald's line was ridiculously long. Then we got sorta lost going back to the terrace. Made it all the more exciting.

The fireworks started off kind of lame, but got bigger and slightly better at the end. Supposedly the biggest display ever in Hong Kong, but the planners didn't seem to have a good sense of building up the show at all. It was pretty flat throughout, though they set off a ton in the end; so much so that the smoke masked much of the final fireworks set off. (EDIT: Perhaps i was too far away and it was more impressive from a closer vantage point...)

I should probably get more sleep...

(btw--not that anyone really cares, but i've noticed that the dates/times on my posts are still in NY times...)

HK Day 3 (Sat June 30)

A weekend day! Not that it really makes a difference to me, but it means my friends who lead normal lives are free. Anna had some plans saturday morn, while I stayed in, updated the blog, and talked with Mel on the phone. :) Also, it was the least gloomy (almost sunny) morning I'd seen!

After Anna got back, we (took some time and) decided to go to Havana (in SoHo) for lunch. We had cuban tapas for brunch (not lunch--lunch doesn't exist there on weekends). After a nice meal, we were ready to go when we noticed it was pouring out. Not so fun. We headed back to Anna's since someone was supposed to come fix the A/C in her living room (yes!). We made a stop at a local place that had good mango desserts! Anna had a mango, pomelo slushy type mix while i had a mango and 豆花 dish.

After getting back to Anna's apartment, she got a call saying the guy couldn't come 'cause it was raining (hrm... reminds me of luggage story at HK airport from earlier post). Since the weather was ugly out, we stayed in. We shared some music with each other (her more than me since I don't have that much with me. Anna's a big American Idol fan, so I heard the names of some former Idol-contestants many times... also heard songs from various artists, including those that have been to jail...

After the excitement of that died down, I had a stimulating time whittling down my gmail inbox to under 40 messages! It's been a very long time since the number's been that low. Anna had plans to get dinner with a couple of friends and invited me along, so we waited for them to call. And waited. And around 8:30 PM we decided we'd just find something to eat when, with impeccable timing, she gets a call. We decided to go with Staunton's Bar & Cafe in SoHo. A later phone call revealed that we'd be getting picked up in a cab and that we'd been vetoed on going to Staunton's.

In the cab I met Trudy, Phil, and Colin (today i noticed stickers on cabs that say SEATS 5--so i guess we were legal!). As we drove, Anna suddenly asked "where are we going?" when she sees a bridge. Apparently we were going to Kowloon (unexpectedly leaving Hong Kong Island, which I had earlier joked that Anna never did). We went to 798 Unit & Co., a NY style gastropub (as i was told). We had a variety of delectable foods that we all shared, making quite the awesome meal.

Afterward, as the rain kept falling, we walked to the MTR station to go back to Central. Colin and Trudy left to make a stop at Trudy's apartment while Phil brought Anna and I to Azure to meet some of his coworkers for drinks. Next was clubbing at Volar followed by clubbing at Prive. Lastly we got food at a "famous" restaurant since it was one of the few that was opened late at night ('til 4 or 5 am). Not being very hungry, I happily drank a cold (HK style) milk tea.

A not-too-long cab ride later the fun day ended.

HK Day 2

are the titles of my posts too boring? in response to reader comments (all two of ya... thanks Eric and Chris :P): Yes, Eric, i've spent lots of time (and money) already on WT stuff; think of dan:WT::eric:tennis. :) it is quite hot and humid. yesterday (day 2) was not as bad as day 1 though. the humidity is kind of welcome since Beijing is so dry. the KFC (and other standard American fastfood fare) is crazy here. they had like chicken cutlet over rice with vegetables and other decent looking plates. it's almost as if you want to get Chinese takeout style food (but less greasy), you have to go to a KFC or Pizza Hut here. i may get adventurous and actually try one of those dishes out... Christopher, what's on lockhart street?

something i forgot to mention in yesterday's post that been on my mind is how just in a day (and reinforced further on my second day) i've come to very much appreciate two things: 1.) the kindness of strangers in helping you know where to get off your bus or get to the MTR (subway), and 2.) the greatness of air-conditioned buildings that you can walk into freely on hot hot summer days/nights.

yesterday i stayed in 'til pretty late, "planning" ahead (read: surfing the web and chatting). i finally left to go meet with Sifu Robin around 3:30 PM but the bus (to the MTR) hit some major traffic. it took me nearly 1.5 hrs to get to the IWTA headoffice. saw some more cool historic video clips (lots of ones from HK news reports) on Grandmaster Leung Ting and WingTsun. instead of going to train at the Leung Ting Gym, we decided to get dinner and head over to Baptist University early to train there before the class started.

we got Japanese food at a good place (don't remember the name) near the HQ, and Sifu Robin was being the overly gracious host and refused to let me pay. he said i could get the next one, so hopefully he doesn't make it too difficult for me to pay next time. :) (fighting over the bill... serious signs of getting older...?)

after dinner it started to pour so we grabbed a taxi to Baptist University. we ended up running late for class, but still made it there before most of the students. there was a decent turnout of students, including all the students who went to Hungary. The class is taught by GM Leung Koon (GM Leung Ting's brother), Sifu Robin, and Sifu Jon (who's apparently in Taiwan for a few days). It was good to see si-suk-gung again, as well as be in a WT class again after having been away from one for over a month.


after the class ended i started training with Sifu Robin a bit, and received some nice corrections and guidance from GM Leung Koon. Unfortunately, the security guard came by and told us it was time to leave. some of students regularly get dinner together after class and asked if i wanted to go, but Sifu Robin and i decided to find somewhere else to train some more. we found an empty (and non air-conditioned) hallway and trained for about another hour. :D

close to midnight, we headed to Mong Kok where he showed me a mini-bus that could take me back to Kennedy Town. we couldn't figure out if it brought me to the area i usually took buses, but it was the closest bet so i jumped on. the bus driver told Robin to have me pay first (everyone pays when they get off) since i don't speak Cantonese.

fortunately on the bus, the girl sitting next to me a.) spoke English and Mandarin, b.) knew where the bus terminal was (where i usually get on buses when i leave). it was actually not bad at all getting back on the minibus, except for the fact that the bus drivers here drive like absolute lunatics. the minibus driver had a penchant for quickly swerving and accelerating whenever possible. at one point, we almost slammed into a double-decker bus. we brake so hard that everyone lurched forward and a guy's small shopping bag either fell out of his hand or tipped over and stuff went rolling down.

so i should probably have said this earlier in the post, but yesterday wasn't a terribly eventful day. :P it was a fun and relaxing one, so thanks for sharing in it with me!

HK Day 1

Despite my hellish "adventure" in getting to HK, I couldn't quite fall asleep my first night. There was some wicked lightning going on that seriously brightened everything. So i did some reverse psycho on myself and tried to stay awake. That seemed to work. i think i slept around 4something am.

i got up around 9:30am and updated y'all on my fun yesterday. then got ready and headed out. stopped by a 7-Eleven to refill the Octopus card Anna had given me to use, then found my way to the bus and rode to Central to catch the MTR to Yau Ma Tei. There I met up with my friend and WingTsun si hing (shi xiong), Sifu Robin. It was raining pretty hard, and the weather all day was pretty gloomy. After he took care of some official IWTA business, we headed back to the IWTA/Leung Ting Company head office. I remember the first time I visited with Mel back in '03; I was totally a little kid in a candy store with all the WT stuff everywhere. This time it was some of that coupled with a joy in returning and seeing Si-Tai (Grandmaster Leung Ting's wife) again. She's the sweetest lady, whom I had actually just seen 4 months ago in Hungary (for GMLT's 60th Birthday celebration).

After a quick pitstop at the office, we went to get Dim Sum nearby. It was a very good meal (esp. since i had skipped breakfast, which reminds me i'm getting kind of hungry now, but anyway...) and we got to catch up a bit. It's funny how you can be close to someone even when you first "talked" through e-mail and have communicated mostly through online means. In this case, i am very thankful that that is the case. After lunch, we went back to the office.

[ALERT: WT-details alert that prob will bore most of you so feel free to skip:]
Robin gave me the second Chi-Sau book that was recently published. I got to read through most of it and found some interesting comments/techniques/gems. :) He works in the head office so he had to take care of business while I occupied myself with the many WT things surrounding me. I bought a pair of new WT pants, two pairs of shoes, and a new T-shirt. It was tempting to buy more, but I had to restrain myself given my lack of income and impending debt.

After Robin was done with work, we stopped by the school and did some training! :D After that we walked down to Mong Kok and he showed me some of the shops and places that a lot of young people seem to hang out. He pointed out a milk tea place that happened to be Mel's favorite (Xiu Liu Shang) that he had brought Alex to when Alex visited. Then a little later I saw my (formerly) favorite milk tea place -- Saint's Alp! There was an awesome one in the village on Bleecker that sadly closed down. The one that still remains (around 10th and 3rd Ave) is not bad, but just not as awesome. I said to Robin that we need to come back at some point. :) I also messaged Mar that we have to go. Hopefully it's not disappointing...

Robin had to go off to teach class so I hopped on the MTR back to Central. I walked around a bit to familiarize myself with the area. Eating by myself and not wanting to spend too much money, I stumbled into a KFC. :P So not the healthiest meal, which is another concern. Afterward I met up with Wendy in the LKF area and we grabbed drinks (she had mango juice i had cranberry) and caught up. LKF is the ex-pat area of HK and it's crazy how many people are there. Ex-pats, foreign visitors, locals... just a big mix of young people looking to get their party on. After Wendy and I chatted a while, Anna and her friend Rob met up with us and we went to this place where everyone who worked there seemed to know Anna's name (as Rob said, it was like Anna's Cheer's). They had this live band that performed some classics of the 90's which was a nice treat. After that, we called it a night.

Overall standout impression today: HK has tons of young people. During the day it seems like the age-distribution is relatively standard, but at night, they're just all over the place.

Comments:
1. Thanks to Chris for the heads up on falling cable cars in HK (fell during testing sans people).
2. I'll get less verbose as the days pass and i'll try to replace them with some pics for your viewing pleasure. :)