july 20th - 30th - destination: hong kong

it's been sooooo much fun! if it's too much for you to read, i want to say, in this trip, I AM VERY HAPPY AND VERY MUCH BEING MYSELF WITHOUT HIDING AND EVEN DOING SO MUCH STUPID THINGS I NEVER WOULD HAVE DONE!

before we went, we had no idea whether we would be performing or not. they didnt say so we dare not assume. but i was rather at peace. i know God asked us to deliver a message so that was my faith. then it's up to God to make sure there a place for us to perform. our job was to obey him to go and prepare the message in the dance. if we didnt perform i was also at rest and if we are asked to, we are prepared. i was very at peace. i even made up the testimony card to put in to all the dancers' goodie bag to encourage the dancers to involve God in their production!! and i was thinking to myself, even if we didnt dance to perform, we testified in the card. i was already happy as i see how we've obeyed and how God is going to bring us through.

(20th) day one i arrive, my wonderful host, mei fang, took me for the famous peanut sauce noodle for lunch.and i also discover the great view from her apartment. it was looking out to the sea to the other island . amazing place. below the apartment is the promenade where lots of ppl walk and jog in the evening. i sat there a few times just savoring the view and enjoying the peace and quiet. that night, i went dinner with their church's kidzone team. the team was just hilarious, making fun of each other and i was there laffing the whole time.

(21st) day two i went to visit my fifth grand uncle and aunty at 'sheung shui.' it's one train station away from shenzhen and i saw many ppl with luggages going back i think. here's the trip - i took the green 'van' which actually is a bus to jordan mtr station, then took the mtr and later change to the train to sheung shui. i was scared because if u watch hong kong drama, this is the kind that u need to shout to the driver 'yau lok' before the driver stop! haha... i was sooo uncomfortable!
coming back, i took the train from sheung shui to hung hom and take the van back to whampoa garden and walk back to the laguna verde condo where i was staying. i've not taken so much bus since i finish college!

i had a long visit with them and had dinner with them and my two uncles and the family. it was just catching up after ten years. they missed the nasi lemak here and our family recipe curry chicken!! haha... they took me to dinner of course and the food was gooooooooodddd.....i miss my grand uncle and aunt. they really sayang me. i didnt know what to give them and tot to give them angpau so they can buy what they want. before i can do that, he gave me angpau double of what i intended to give them and insisted i take it to buy whatever i want!!! and didnt want to take my ang pau. i felt so blessed.

when i was left them at the station, i teared. i do miss them already. they wanna come here but my grand uncle is not well and cant travel so it's rather hard for him. but i'm glad i get to see them this trip. this is one of the biggest highlight in my trip. when i reach home, i told mei fang i cried.

(22nd) day three i met with another uncle - my uncle from my third grand uncle. he's malaysian, pr in hong kong with his wife and daughter. he took me for lunch and we yum cha. it was good food and really delicious! then he took me festival walk mall and also gave me pocket money! double blessed! he's a tennis coach. yau-ying-leh.... hehe...

it was the hottest day of the year. my tee shirt literally can squeeze out water! this is his wife and daughter. She went to disneyland like 19 timess! (last count!)

then i went to ymca to pass our butterfly flyers to one of the project dance committee for the goodie bags. i went home and tot my day is done.

mei fang surprised me by informing me after i take my rest that we are going out to watch the symphony of light show at victoria harbor! i was sooooo excited cos this is one of things i want to see in HK but the show was quote a disappointment. it wasnt as grand or as exciting as how it was described in the tourism flyers.
but after that we went dinner at this restaurant. we had peking duck-skin and the special noodle. it was deliciously yummie. they had a guy demonstrating how to make the noodle and of course they skin the duck at your table so u can see it. if u order beggar chicken (which we didnt), they even let you hammer it to break the hard shell. i think it's very tourist-y!! hahah... we had fun.

they even took me for a walk at mong kok and i discovered that eason chan teaches tuition! hahha....
we also went to check out the hotel we would be stayng to see if it's dodgy or not. it was not. in fact it look real nice. after that we went to eat 'siew yuen chi' dessert near their condo. IT WAS GOOD! though i was so cold and was shivering. it was still really yummie! oooo... i like-y.


(23rd) day four begins the exciting shopping time. but first, i had polo-pau for breakfast! it was one of the things i wanted to eat in HK. it was yummie. as i was writing this, i am also swallowing my saliva. this wan came out from the microwave - it was all soft and fluffy and exquisite-ly yummie! hahah....
mei fang took me to fa yuen street and she's got amazing taste. i think i bought all that she say is nice. towards the end, i just told her to pick, i'll pay since i've been kind of doing that. haha.. oh oh oh... i must mention this. we were waiting for the bus to go to fa yuen kai and the bus driver came. he's sooooo leng chai... and then he whipped out his sunglass and put it on. sooooo 'yau yeng' (ada gaya)... i ALMOST ask him to take a picture with me.... but then............... of course i didnt! haha... i told mei fang instead and she laughed so hard!

the day end with a dinner with madam surianty, ps karen and a few of the malaysians that were there. we had dinner together and adjourned to mdm surianty's studio where she showcased the performances that they are rehearsing for a fund-raising charity show for the abused children in sep. the choreo was astounding. i stood there watching in awe. later i took a bus back on my own. passed the court house that always appear in the drama series but didnt get to take picture of it.

after everyone went to sleep, in dim lights, i did my warm up and practised my dance in front of the condo's full length window overlooking the sea (mou-dik-hoi-keng)! it was such a breath taking view i smsed all my team mates telling it to them. practising was not a chore but nice-y.


(24th) day five was also another shopping day but this time i didnt buy as much as the day before.
we then feed ourselves with 'ma lat' noodle. (ma lat = spicy till it's numb). it was so spicy we were both sniffing soon. after a few days without chilli, i was glad for the spici-ness!
but i walked pass this shoe shop and saw the shoesss soooo interestingly creatively cute. after a long contemplation between the slippers and the shoes, i decided to buy the shoes because i can wear it to work.
i rushed off for dinner with yin ling (sophia's godmum, nancy's friend) and family. i had to take a long bus ride there. her condo is nice too and she was friendly. she was coming to KL the next day.

i took a bus and a van and walked back to mei fang's place. i was just lazing at the hall, flipping channels cos mei fang was tuckin the children to bed. then the youngest son, came with a bag and wish me 'happy birthday'. hahahahhahhaha........ i assume the bag is for me even though it's not my birthday. the whole family came out laffing and asked him why he wish me HB! i laughed too but i also gasped because i knew the bag! it was the slippers i didnt buy! after dropping me off to take the bus, mei fang and husband went back to the shop and bought me the slippers!! so i got both pairs now! i told them i'm wearing it to bed! amazing host. give me shelter, spent me good food and even buy me presents. all i brought for them was necf prayer booklet, conversations with cathryn dvd and a box of pineapple tarts!


(25th) day six i woke up some time in the morning, got an sms from nailin saying her passport don't have six months and might not be allowed into hong kong. i was sooo at peace to know that if God brought us thus far, He would also not short change nai lin - so i fell back to sleep. later i woke up again to get up only then did i pray and pack my bags and left the amazing home i was staying in to check in to Hotel Acesite at Mongkok. we had lunch at this fish-soup shop. everything is cook in their secret recipe fish soup. if u order beef ball noodle, u get beef ball and noodles in fish soup! hahah... i stuck to the original and had fish ball + noodle in fish soup. at least it sounded more normal!

then we went to the bus stop to wait for my amazing team to arrive. we stood there for almost half and hour and they came after the third bus!! i was sooo happy to see them. at my request, they 'smuggled' in ten packs of nasi lemak for me cos i wanted to bring it for my grand uncle and family. hehe...

they check in to hotel, we went lunch at the famous beef ball noodle shop nearby (it was really good). and i left them as i take the train to surprise my grand uncle with the nasi lemak. doreen stayed with jay to check in while nai lin went with rachel to register us for Project Dance, submit performance CD and sign us up for workshop classes. later i met with them and went to albert + serina's room to rest before the night session.

so of course we found out that they granted all our THREE performances but we didnt do the third one (break free) cos we didnt prep for it. our first was 'changed lives' and second was ' who am i.' then come the nite concert plus worship session. i really like that. it was such a ministering time focusing on God as we each prepare ourselves for the performance day they next day.

if you think the day is over, it is not! here comes another exciting part. mei fang and family invited us to dinner at Little Sheep!! (in chinese it's actually called 'siew fei yeung' = 'little fat sheep'). i heard of the name but didnt know what is it. it's steamboat! haha... we had steam boat in the middle of summer in hong kong, sooo hot! haahah... but it was good and delicious. i think i was too hungry since i didnt eat frm lunch till like ten plus pm and i was eating the ma lat soup that i later had stomach pain all night till the next day afternoon. it was stupid of me. but it was still delicious!!

(26th) day seven is performance day at times square. but first, pit stop at mido cafe for the famous fluffy polo bun and rib rice i think. it was not bad at all. i've also just discovered that nailin likes to act behind me in my pictures!

we are all set to be God's postmen!

our second performance with 'who am i.' when we came down from the stage, this lady came and say to us, "very good. very nice. i like the song." we were speechless and just lol.

i saw this guy standing there looking so familiar. he turned around, saw me and exclaimed ... "hi sharon. do u remember me..." i smiled. hahah...... then he say, "i'm ps jonathan".... i knew it. he's one of the every nation pastors! hahah... he is the one on far left. second last from right is ps sam (every nation hong kong). the lady beside me is tess.we had dinner at this old restaurant famous for roasted meats - goose, char siew and such lah. immediately after performance, we were hungry since we didnt really had lunch. but of course the exaggerations was for your laughter's sake! we are people with table manners mar...
after the dinner at causeway bay, we took albert n serina to our hotel room and also the dessert shop nearby. not sure what's the name of the shop.

apparently, they are our friends. albert and serina. on their honeymoon and also joining project dance.

after walking the entire sports street till all the shops also closed, nailin finally decided on THIS pair of basketball shoes as her birthday gift! phew. i tot need to walk another day! hehe... it's nice but not my kind.

(27th) day eight is workshop day. we were suppose to wake up early for breakie but soooooo sleepy cos we stayed up late each nite to chat that we ended up having pork burger for breakfast.it's a dancers' life after all. grab a quick bite (instant noodle at 7-11) and head back to workshop d!

after the workshop at 7pm, we rushed off to meet sidney and mei fang. they are taking us to sai kung for seafood but we are buying them dinner this time. the place is soooo filled with live seafood. u pick, they bag it, u decide how to cook it and it comes to your table, we whallop it all up!!!! woo hooo.... delicious, yummie and really really really really really really good!

apparently, this is 'sharon pose'. i think i saw myself do this a lot in photos too! hahha... but jay, ur face is real funny! hahhaa....


not sure what happened to rachel. we were supposed to be posing dancers. guess she became the chinese opera dancer! hahahaha...

what's also good is the dessert after that! we had durian desserts! it was yummie to us but when Sidney took out his mask and put it on cos he cant stand the smell, we all instantly laughed till we fell to the table. u can see how his wife laughed too. it was sooooo farnee....

to me, the desserts were really good and yummie.
to me, this was one of FUNNIEST time we had there - when he whipped out his mask! hahha..

we really want to thank the couple for their hospitality, generosity and really been so nice to us that what we have is our dance and so we told them we will dance for them there and then. i play the song from my phone loud speakers and did it for them at the streets of the bus station. ppl were watching us from everywhere (not nearby). later sidney told his wife that he tot we were like angels dancing. we also took an exciting bus ride back as the driver whooshed at all the corners, we held on tight! each time we meet them for meals, we always have a great time. it was always funny and super enjoyable. this was where we danced for them.


(28th) day eight is free and easy day for all of us. nai lin went out with her cousin and we went to our own shopping day. i took them to fa yuen street. doreen went shopping on her own, jay and rachel went with me to search for my shoe shop to change my shoes to another design. rachel ended up buying a white dress which we made her wear to disneyland and a bag that she really like.

shopping day out for us!
yeah! i like the squid..
we were so tired that we took a break at this cafe 'RBT' and the seats are like swings. hehe... so nice. like dating in a garden.

then we took a bus to Victoria Peak. took some pictures there and we wanted to the take the tram back down. but the queue was like soooooo long, we knew we wont make it back in time so we took the bus back down to meet doreen's aunt and then nailin's cousin and family.
she wanted us to dance for the cousin at the park too. so rushed there and did it for them. she'd yet to send us the video but i saw it from the camera. we were not bad at all. hehe...
nailin 'chiah' us dinner because we did that and then we even ended up buying street food and eat it in the room. it was good but i was having two ulcers one on each side in my mouth that eating was a painful ordeal. i couldnt enjoy eating anymore. look at me n jay in the photo below u will aldy know who initiates the street food fiesta! haha...

(29th) day nine is disneyland day. yeah. yahooo... wooo hooo.... ah ha! this is how the train looks like! we started laughing and all so excited the moment the train arrives, we look more like small kids than the small kids that were there (they probably went disneyland many times unlike us!)when it come to disneyland, we are all just kids! we drew a lot of attention with the kind of pose we put up to take photos. i think if we charge them for staring at us, we might make a fortune ourselves as disneyland's attractions! ahhaha...

we brought rachel's brother along - ker soon. it was such a good day. the sky was cloudy, rachel's leadership side turned up and she was taking charge the whole day directing us where to go for shows and rides! soon this and soon that... haha... we later laughed till we rolled on the hotel floor as we reflect on the day!

no wonder i cant pull it out. wrong technique!

dumbo is kidnapping me! i really like this picture. dunno why i did that too. probably cos too tired and not thinking. ppl walk pass and show surprise faces. again we should have charge them for being an attraction! haha..

we had such a good time at disneyland. i like the 3-d show, the golden mickey show and also the boat ride - the story telling driver was hilarious and making us the butt of his jokes. u got to un cantonese else it wont be funny. me and jay was laughing sooo hard. he was just saying crazy stupid jokes but it was funny. we were really having our own fun. look at us laughing!

we bought some souvenirs but everything was so expensive.
i just took pictures with the 'souvenirs-i-wanted-to-but-didnt-buy'. ehehe...

this is a gift my pdhk team gave me as present from disneyland. they didnt really say for what but something about 'cheering me up'??? haha... i've been wearing it all weekend! it's my new necklace!

we left early so that we can all go shopping and spend all our money at fa yuen kai again. and we did. nailin bought five pairs of shoes, three pairs of slacks, and one bag. i lent her all my money so i didnt buy much also. doreen bought a few things too. jay and rach was just waiting for us. i was so tired that i insisted we take cab back because it's so cheap when we divide by 5 people, it's only a few dollar. we finally took a cab and when we arrive, i realised both me n nailin actually have no money and we made jay pay!!. hahah... oopps... sowee, Jay, u're the man! since it's my last night, i bought one of the seafood balls stick from the stall we ate street food the day before and savor it. yummmm....errr... money is borrowed from doreen. ha!but that is NOT the highlight of the last nite. we gathered and thank God for whatever that come to our mind. we took turn and went many rounds as we thank God for this and that and how much grace He had in this trip, in our lives. there were so many things to mention....


(30th) day ten means going home.
i called all the ppl i know in hong kong to say good bye. when i call my grand uncle and aunt, i also almsot cried at the phone.... when we were boarding the flight, i saw mr. airport guy again!!!! ooo... he was also sourcing out for other single travelling ladies! argh! teruknya! i told nailin n doreen which is him and they shielded me all the way. he's been calling me since we landed. home sweet home. i reach home after sending doreen home, nathan with nailin, eat my mom's specially cooked dinner. then i waited for pc to go home. i brought all my souvenirs to her, let her pick one she like and shared all that happened at the trip. then only get to crash my bed.


some conclusions:
1. i didnt see any artiste at all in this trip.
2. i really prayed a lot for this trip.
3. project dance is really good because they not only focus on building skills but also spirit. i like that.
4. i'm super blessed in this trip.
5. hong kong has A LOT OF PPL! everyone is queuing, packed or human-jam!
6. after my team came, the pictures we took started to become 'tak senonoh'/'crazier' and we took pictures no matter what we do, where we are and how it is posed! ahaha....
7. i didnt meet my knight in shining bmw....... yet! oh.. where art thou....
8. i didnt get to volunteer at media evangelism too. they were in the midst of restructuring.


day eleven & twelve i was soooo sick i cant think. i even fell asleep sitting on my chair in my office that i took mc two days!! ahaha... i made so many tissue-wanton that i lost count d. but i did went to vision casting and testify about Project Dance and the trip with Nai Lin. we showed the video too.