Life isn't as stable as it seems to be...But it's worth living it!

Moving around China is a whole new can of worms. First of all there is definitely less travelers and not too many understand my caveman conversation skills. When you have stood in line for an hour and a half to get a train ticket to find yourself still with out a ticket cause the lady behind the counter won't take the time to work with you, it is slightly frustrating. For weeks now I thought, "Wow...These people like to stare and smile at me a lot!." After a while someone says to me,"Why are you wearing a green hat? That means that your wife cheats on you." Maybe ignorant of me but I am not buying a new hat because of it's color. I have had 10 smiles a day now because of my green hat and therefore I think that makes it the perfect color. Getting around is much more difficult, but I don't care cause if I end up in the wrong place, I just make the most of where I am and enjoy myself. Since I have been in China I have found myself by myself a lot more then from when I was in Central and South America. Those of you who know me, know I like to talk A LOT. I think this is good for me to close my mouth and open my ears. It's a liberating feeling wandering around a place so foreign, no one being able to understand anything you say, knowing you are all by yourself and as by yourself as you could possibly be in this world. I really feel alive and I am completely comfortable with who I am. Being in my position would scare some people out of their mind and I have a lot of pride that my family has raised me to be such a strong individual. It is at times like this that you really see yourself in a different light and realize how comfortable you are or aren't in your own shoes. So many people come and go in ones life, and at times in life, we are all alone from time to time. I heard a quote that I really like, " Uncertainty is worst, then the worst certainty." We always fear things in life and once we tackle our fears or step way outside our comfort zones, it's not as bad as we thought. I hear from you all back home and by the sounds of it, America is really worried. Things aren't sounding on a real positive note and everyone sounds so stressed. I hope that all of you who read this take a little inspiration as I did. Igor, a friend from Slovenia was one of my favorite people that I have met along my travels. If met him your couldn't help but like the guy. He has the education of a Scholar and the build of brick house. With English as a second language and the patients of a 2 year old, he brought tears to my eyes everyday I spent with him. In his baritone voice this stocky guy would sit in a restaurant and proclaim comments like, "I do not eat beef meat." Out walking around he would say...."Let go out on the bridge that leads into the sea. You know....What is the word for the bridge that leads into the sea?" (Pier?) Anyway Igor had to go home in mid December a few days early because his Grandpa had passed away, and before he left he was making plans to meet back up with me in Nepal. It had been a few weeks since I had chatted with him and my other Slovenian friend indicated to me that Igor was in the Hospital fighting to stay alive. Come to find out, about a month after Igor got home he got an infection in his lung and in turn caused his lung to collapse. He was in a coma for a few days and lucky to survive the incident. A few days later, while still in the hospital he had a stroke at the age of 29 and found himself in a coma for the second time. Currently Igor is struggling to regain control of the whole left side of his body. Although I have had little conversation with the guy, He has a more positive attitude about his situation then most people in America do about the possibility of maybe losing a little bit of their extravagant lifestyle due to an economic downturn. My heart goes out to you my friend and I know you will pull through this! Thank you for the inspiration, the laughs, and good times. It it doesn't kill you, it will make you stronger. If it does kill you, it will make your Mother stronger...and me too. Life is not always stable, but we should all remember to pick and chose our worries in life. If your worried about driving a car that isn't as cool, or losing a little bit of your extravagant lifestyle that we have all come accustom to, step back and look at Igor's positive attitude towards life! On a further note I have also found out that my Grandfather is in the hospital and I am impatiently waiting for news on what is going on!
Uncertainty is definitely worst then the worst certainty!

Macau

Is it just me or does that mat look really far away?



Am I a bird......Nope...the head is way too heavy.




Still going!














Look Familiar? This is inside the Largest Hotel and Casino in the world....The Venetian! It is so similar to the one is Las Vegas it's hilarious.


I would call Macau the Las Vegas of China. Hong Kong and Macau each have a border that you must cross and although they are now controlled by China they are called special administrative regions. They have different laws then China and Hong Kong was given back to China in 1997 from the British, Macau in 1999 from the Portuguese. It funny how in Macau they have an MGM Grand, Winn, Sands, and other similar resorts that you can find in Las Vegas. As my guide book has indicated, Macau brings in more revenue then Las Vegas does? Macau is worth seeing but in my opinion it will never compare to Vegas. One of my favorite things that I did in Macau was going bungee jumping off the highest bungee platform in the world. A whopping 764' fall gives you plenty of time to really think about things as you spend nearly 10 seconds falling off the side of a building......It will definitely be in one of my top highlights of my trip!

Hong Kong

Here they have these high speed boats that lift up out of the water as they speed up and for a big boat these thing fly across the water.

They had a really nice fireworks show for the Lunar New Year but it was not a good night for getting good photos.

I couldn't stop laughing about how they called this the World's Happiest Party! I guess the ironic part was I didn't see anyone smile or laughing.

As I travel I meet a lot of people who ask me the same question. "What is your favorite place or thing that you have done?".......My answer is always the same ....The reality of everywhere I go is my favorite part. I expected Hong Kong to be very different then South America, but I never expected to it to be so advanced. Their subway system is amazing, there are so many huge buildings with some impressive architecture, and between the elevated walkways all over the place to the underground world full of shopping I have to say it is way more then I could of imagined. I was lucky to actually be here during the Chinese (Lunar) New Year and that was just another great experience to add to my trip. Other things I did in Hong Kong was take the Peak Tram up at night and saw the amazing skyline of Hong Kong, rode the longest chair lift I have ever been on up to see Ngong Ping (Largest sitting Budda in the world), and took a ferry to some of the outlying island to see the area outside of Hong Kong. All I have to say is go to Hong Kong and check it out!

A little cut through San Francisco, California

Quack Quack..............

I left South America on the 16th of January and in my route to Asia I spent 2.5 days in San Francisco. It felt weird being back in the United States but the best part of being there was seeing an a great friend of mine while I was there. For 2 days we (Teresa) hung out, took a tour of San Francisco, and caught up on all the things that have happened in the last 9 months. On the 22nd of Jan I arrived in Hong Kong and plan on seeing Hong Kong and Macau before moving into China. There are talks that my Mom and my Sister might come out to see me in China and I hope they can get the time to come! My trip is a little more then half over now and I am looking forward to the new experiences to come.