Second Post

Ni men hao!

It is difficult to make the time to update the blog because there is so much to do and I don't want to miss out on things. My HK visit is now officially over and I have arrived in Shenyang, China (which is like 3 hours North of Beijing) visiting with Nikki and Nate.

HK was an amazing time. Chris was a great host and helped us get around and see parts of the city that normal visitors would never get to see. We got to meet a lot of people on staff at his school and we went for a tour of the school last week. You would not believe how nice the school is and how many resources they have. Each student has a laptop, they have an artificial turf soccer field, a full swimming pool, a beautiful auditorium with two levels of stadium type seating and on top of that the school is built on the side of a mountain overlooking the water. I can see exactly why Chris has been in HK 8 years and has enjoyed his time so much! It was cool to also see how it would be like to actually live there. One day I went with Chris to a track meet for the kids that he coaches and helped with the timing (which of course I have done many times back in Windsor). It was ridiculously hot, but the kids toughed it out. It was funny, but the athletic director at Chris' school is a former Lancer track athlete Mike Balo and he knows a lot of the same people, so we had some good chats!

A lot of the pictures I am going to post this time are from hikes that we did. I did not expect this part of HK; all I pictured was the hustle and bustle of an exceptionally dense population. In fact, there is a very interesting portion of HK with trails up and through mountains. One day we visited a famous Budhist temple called the Big Budha. It was like 300 steps or something to get up to see it but well worth it. As you will see from the pictures, the architecture is fascinating. But the more unbelievable part of this experience was the hike after seeing the Budha. It was a part of the area where not too many people ventured. The hike was pretty much straight up....non stop stairs. When we reached the peak, the sign told us that it was almost 1000m! You might not realize, but the descent was actually the toughest. It was slippery and really took a toll on the legs!! Overall, this was probably one of the most interesting parts of HK and definitely a good way to try to stay fit while on holiday!

After being in the city for almost 10 days, Kali and I decided (upon the recommendations of Chris and some of his friends) to go to Boracay Island in the Philippines. We wanted to take a side trip and craved a vacation from our vacation. As such, the powder white beach and crystal clear water was an ideal choice. We relaxed on the beach, had dinner on the beach, shopped on the beach and drank cocktails on the beach. It was a great 3 days and very relaxing!! The pictures won't even do justice to how nice it was; really touristy but beautiful.

Overall HK was a great city to see and it was awesome to get to spend some time seeing what it is like for Chris living there. I am very thankful to have such a great host and fun Uncle to spend time with out there!!

On Friday night, Kali and I arrived in Shenyang and Nate picked us up at the airport. We drove about 45 minutes outside the city to their flat and have spent some time looking around the area. We have done a couple runs and gone for a few walks. Shenyang is a lot more Chinese than HK, but cool. Nate and Nikki are quite the conisseurs of food and have introduce us to a lot of awesome Chinese dishes. Tomorrow we are headed to their school to check it out and meet some of the kids. I plan am looking forward to playing a little bball with Nate and the other teachers at lunch!

Anyways, I will update again soon. Kali plan to head to Beijing on Tuesday to tour around. We are going to see Tienamin Square, the Forbidden City and of course hike the wall!

Happy Birthday Mom! And Happy Father's Day Dad! Let me know when you are home and I will skype you.

Take care everyone!