Favorite quote right now:
'I am who I am because you are who you are.' -Janet Lau
Yoga has not only brought me great physical and mental health, but it has given me an extremely supportive and positive community that has taught me life principles and spiritual teachings as well. These yogis are all so inspirational, kind-hearted and lovely to hang out with! That's why I try to always make it when there's a dinner or get together. We've had a lot over the last few years. There's been birthday dinners, farewell parties, graduation celebrations, and more. I have learned so much from all of these loving souls and feel so blessed to have met them and have them in my life. And for those who have moved on from Hong Kong, may our paths cross again! Favorite quote right now: 'I am who I am because you are who you are.' -Janet Lau
1 Comment
We did it!! HKU graduates! We are very excited and proud to say that we both graduated with a Masters degree in Education with distinction from the University of Hong Kong! Originally, we moved to HK from South Korea because Keith wanted to pursue his postgraduate studies. Little did we know that just 3 years later, we both would have completed the same program, along with several other professional development in new areas (yoga, personal trainer, IB certificate, etc.). That's the positive effect that Hong Kong has on you- it keeps you moving forward, finding new opportunities and reaching your goals- even ones you never saw in the first place. During this time, Keith has moved up to some leadership/administrative opportunities at his current school, Singapore International School, while also teaching PE and helping tremendously with setting up the PE curriculum. I have moved out of the school system to work freelance- teaching English privately in homes, as well as pursuing my passion in teaching and studying yoga. We're both ready to relax at the moment and focus on our jobs, saving and enjoying life in Hong Kong. Knowing us though, I'm sure we'll soon have new goals to accomplish! We feel grateful for God, our friends and family for always supporting us! Love you all! We feel grateful to have such incredible friends here in Hong Kong to spend holidays with when we're away from family. This was the second year we spent Thanksgiving at our friend, Laura and Jim's place. We all pitched in for a turkey which came as a set menu with a lot of side dishes, ordered from a restaurant in PMQ. It was excellent! Great night with wonderful people! There's other photos below of great memories for b-day celebrations and other get-togethers. Adopting Gino and Ginger has been such a blessing! They have brought endless amounts of joy to us these past 2 years that we've had them. Raising them has seriously been like raising kids and their personalities have really blossomed. Gino is the ultimate cuddler and affectionate cat who loves bags..plastic or paper...tummy rubs, acts sometimes like a dog, is clumsy, loves dry food, and is afraid of heights. Ginger, on the other hand, loves being up high, is acrobatic and great with balance, loves to jump on our backs, likes to go underneath blankets and hide playfully, loves canned food, and has fun climbing up into my closet. They both love each other and keep each other great company when we're away for work or traveling. They are extremely loyal and always come to the door when we arrive home to greet us. They sit with us all the time, sometimes even sleep with us, never act vengeful, and are the sweetest cats we could ask for! We feel so grateful for them! There's always yoga events it seems like going on around Hong Kong. I try to join when I can because it's great to learn from new teachers, volunteer/teach/assist where help is needed and to connect with others in the yoga community. We had a yoga event going on at Yoga BamBam promoting Rockport's heels. They were super comfy!! Even comfy enough to practice yoga in believe it or not. I went to a class with Carly and ended up demonstrating for the next class for Emily. It was a good experience. Glad I stuck around! Afterward, Carly and I enjoyed Mana vegetarian food next door. There was another yoga event called Yoga in the Dark, where there were black lights. Emma did a hoop performance so I wanted to go support her. There was also an impressive acroyoga performance. The yoga flow class was fun too! I helped assist at the IRIS event for one class taught again by Emily. There were probably 50 or so students. I joined in on the next class, which focused on alignment. It gave me some new ideas for my own teaching. Along with yoga, there were wellness businesses set up in tents. I picked out my first yoga towel mat there. I love it! It's especially useful for power yoga, to help you not slip when you're sweating and want a good grip. I'm sure they'll be more events coming up soon! Artists from around the world have added to the art graffiti around the streets of Sheung Wan. It's quite impressive! Since this is around our neighborhood, Keith and I are always walking through when heading to Central for food, events or when I go to Anahata Yoga. I'm not sure how long it will be up for so I wanted to catch some photos when I had a chance. Luckily, I also was able to get some professional yoga photos taken by my friend and photographer, Yun-Yun Juang. They turned out lovely! You know it's that time of the year when you start seeing lanterns all over- the Mid Autumn Festival! Check out the decorations we saw up all around our neighborhood. Keith and I were grabbing breakfast after my Yoga BamBam Sunday Hatha class and passed by Sheung Wan Park where it was filled with beautiful lanterns. Glad we bumped into this! It's nice to be part of the celebration. We found a little secret getaway beach, park and waterfall in PokFuLam. What a great place to have a picnic! We picked up some Ocafe and headed over to this area on this beautiful day. Check out the view! There's always new spots to explore in Hong Kong. This is one thing we appreciate about living overseas....every day is an adventure! There are tons of restaurants to check out in Hong Kong, but we have some favorites just around the corner in the neighborhood. We love getting brunch on the weekend at Loco Fama. They get their veggies fresh from local farms and there are plenty of vegetarian options for me. They have great, organic coffee as well. We also love Bijas, which is on HKU campus. It serves vegan Chinese cuisine, you can't beat the prices, and they have mindful buffets where you pay by the plate (which includes tea, rice and soup). All their veggies come either from local farms or from their own rooftop garden on campus. They also use recycled chairs and other eco-friendly materials in their restaurant. I love it there. It supports all the causes I believe in and the people working there are super friendly. There is also a herbal Chinese tea stand and a separate juice stand that we are big lovers of. So healthy and great prices! We had an incredible time when both my parents, and my aunt and uncle visited last April. My parents came for 2 weeks and 10 days of that time was spent in Hong Kong, while 6 days we went to the Philippines. On the very first day they arrived, I met them excitedly at the airport with a welcome sign, just in case they had trouble finding me :) Although we thought they would need to catch up on sleep and rest because of the 15 hr flight, they were troopers and actually requested to start exploring. We grabbed some OCafe snacks and hiked up Victoria Peak to stretch out their legs. At the top of the peak, there's a park with a reflexology stone path that we walked on (without your shoes) and then we continued up further on High West trail which gives you a 360 degrees view of HK. It was a foggy day but still very enjoyable and we could see some views. After the hike, Keith and I took them to Din Tai Fung for dim sum and also grabbed a taro bubble tea from the best local shop we know of in Causeway Bay. They saw Times Square and then we went home to rest for our Philippines trip. After returning from our trip, we saw loads more in HK. On one sunny day, we hiked up Dragon's Back trail which has stunning views. The trail ends conveniently at Big Waves Bay so we hung out at the beach and ate Thai food. I also took them to visit HKU, as well as my old primary school that I used to work at, then to nearby outdoor markets (flowers, birds, fish, food markets) in Kowloon Tong. Another day, my dad joined the weekly swim group at Repulse Bay and he did an hour swim there. It was pretty cool that he could enjoy his passion here in HK and keep up his practice. My parents tried a lot of local food, like fish ball noodle soup from a Michelin star restaurant in Soho. My mom even impressed me by using some Cantonese from her guide book at a very local breakfast dim sum restaurant one morning. Nice! They also tried Chinese herbal tea along the streets of Sheung Wan, we stopped at some parks, and we went to our favorite middle eastern restaurant one night where they met our friend Joe, the friendly Egyptian owner and chef. One night, we saw our friend, Emma's hooping performance at a bar in Lan Kwai Fong in Central and later enjoyed a drink at the Ritz Carlton's Ozone Bar in ICC, which has a great view of the entire city and is the highest bar in the world! Another day, my parents went off on their own after getting a lot of practice on the public transportation (buses, train, tram, taxis) in HK. They visited Lamma island, where they hiked around the island, hung out at a beach, and ate fresh seafood. That night we took a taxi up to Victoria Peak so we could see the whole city lit up. The sky was clear so we had a fantastic view! On the last few days of my parents' visit, my aunt and uncle arrived. They were taking a cruise from Hong Kong to Taiwan to Japan. Their first stop was with us, so my parents and I took the Star Ferry (we Facetimed with Tom on the way) from Central to Kowloon side where they have Avenue of the Stars, met my aunt and uncle at their hotel and then we all visited the Big Buddha together on Lantau island. It was super foggy and humid up there which made the views look very mystical. Another day, we all visited Chi Lin Nunnery and Nan Lian Garden, along with Kowloon Walled City Park, which has a lot of history of Hong Kong so it was all interesting to my family. We checked out Mong Kok afterward, saw the dance performers, shops and busy street life, then went out for hot pot. I think we were all surprised with how much my family was able to experience during their trip! A big thanks to Keith for planning their days to the fullest and ensuring they made the most of their time out here in Asia. I'm happy they had so much time to take it all in. What a wonderful trip- quality time with my parents, new experiences for all of us, and endless memories! |
All Around HKOn this page, you can read and view pictures about the surrounding areas we visit in HK. Learn what there is to do, see and eat in this world city that we're living in, and what we've been up to. Categories
All
|