Best of Hetzel

My dear friend Kristin Hetzel from PWS came to visit!  She goes down in the books as my only visitor.

Tai Loooong Wan

Me and Kevin and his bro and sister in law hiked Tai Long Wan, on the NE coast of HK.  On our way back, we realized maybe we didn't have too much time before sunset.  So a guy at the one village we passed (shown) called us a taxi and said, "Go straight for 45 mins.  It will be there when you get there." We didn't know where we were going, and no flashlight.  So we justfollowed  instructions and actually had to start jogging back b/c it was getting so dark.  No cell phone reception.  Fruit consumed. Water drunk.  Thankfully, we had just enough light to make it to the pagoda, where, sure enough, the taxi driver was waiting for us.  Props to the village guy, wherever you are. 

BeiBei JingJing

Some Beijing pictures.  I went with my friend Kevin, who is an exchange student like me.  Pretty much a great guy and great travel partner.

10k Buddhas

Menou and I went to the 10,000 Buddhas Temple in northern Hong Kong.  After over 430 steps, we finally reached the top.  For the movie buffs, the opening scene from Internal Affairs (a Hong Kong movie from which The Departed was copied almost exactly) was conducted at this temple.

Location: Bacolod, Philippines

This trip requires explanation. All in all, I was glad I went.

Beach w/ SW

My friend SW and I went to Clearwater Bay beach one afternoon.  She lives on my floor, and is extremely bubbly.  I like her.

Garden Nunnery Temple

Visit to the Nan Lian Garden / Chi Lin Buddhist Nunnery and Wong Tai Sin Temple.  These are about 15 minutes from my school.

Boomerang Pollution comes back from Mainland

House1

Meet House1, my dorm.  We play mahjong and celebrate the Mid Autumn Festival by eating mooncakes, being together, and looking at the moon.

Living in the sink

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/en/hk/index.html

Liquid iron-ore sludge spill wipes out an entire village in the Shanxi province; 151 dead.

Unsustainable development, according to economists

The fishies are dying.  The same story, which was the front page of a Hong Kong newspaper last week, noted that about 12,000 fishermen may be out of jobs...

I wish I could say I hunted down all these articles for the last few weeks but they were all in today's paper.  How does this relate to being a blessing?

Intro to HK UST

"Even a fool is thought wise if he keeps silent,
and discerning if he holds his tongue."

This is how I feel about blogging right now. I am still in reflecting/taking it in mode. So... enjoy the pictures!