Sunday, August 7th, 2011

Proverbs 22
"Do not move an ancient boundary stone
set up by your forefathers." ~ v. 28

I write this back home in Hong Kong. During my time in Israel, I promised myself to not use the internet. This was, after all, my pilgrimage, and I didn't want any distractions. Everybody knows, a vow to go lacking is hardest to keep towards its end, and it was near the end that I was tested. I was carrying my Aunt's laptop for her, and the last few nights we stayed at Radisson. Free broadband in the room. Praise the LORD, my resolve remained. Nevertheless, this got me thinking: there's so much inaudible "noise" that encapsulates us nowadays, besides the physical noises. I suppose school and the internet are the two biggest ones. In Israel, I had a hour, more or less, each night, where I could just sit, pray, read a chapter of the Bible, and write down my thoughts for the day. Spiritually speaking, it was so refreshing! I could listen to God, both around and inside of me.

I write this now because I just happened to pass by a friend's blog and re-read his post about silence. In the post it mentions a video about silence, which we watched during fellowship one night, about a month ago. When we watched the video and when I read his post the first time, I have to admit that I didn't give it much thought (sorry!). Actually, asides from the passing moment of inspiration, the last few years I never really gave much thought to anything. If I was asked for my thoughts it was usually very superficial. If I was asked for my attention, I didn't give it fully. I listened and thought exclusively about myself. Everything had to lead back to myself. I almost thought that I forgot how to listen to others. In Israel, I discovered that this wasn't true. That I did remember how. That I was just excusing myself from it. I expect to habitualize a daily time of silence for God, from the foundation I laid in Israel. Who knows, some of it might find its way here.

As mentioned above, in Israel, I set aside time for prayer, one chapter of the Bible, and some writing each night. I actually began a daily reading of the Bible in Hong Kong, but it was just that - reading. I chose to begin with Proverbs, because it has many lessons which I have heard much of, but thought little about. While I may not have time to write like this every night during the school year, I hope and even expect to habitualize a daily time of prayer, Bible reading, and thought, building on what I started in Israel. This actually was a habit until I got undisciplined, complacent, and distracted for the past few years. May the LORD grant me a new resolve.

Each night in Israel, I began writing by copying a verse from the chapter of the day. Tonight, I begin with a verse from the 22nd chapter. This verse is interesting. I looked it up; originally it referred to land distributions that the LORD set out for Israel during the time of Joshua, and the law which dictated a reset to these boundaries every 50 years. However, nowadays this verse may have a different application. Our nation's laws were founded on Biblical notions. Even the national motto is taken from the Bible. Today, our lawmakers do exactly opposite of what King Solomon warns. They have begun to put the nation on a slippery moral downslope. While we may not be able to reverse or even stop them, it is our duty as Christians to not be pulled along with them, to hold our ground, and to keep our "ancient boundary stone" exactly where it should be. Coincidence or not, the Ten Commandments were originally written in stone. Let this be a reminder to us.

That's it for tonight. Good night!

Pilgrimage

I'm very blessed to have the chance to undertake the Christian pilgrimage...after flying to Hong Kong later today, I will have a couple weeks in the Holy Land. I'm rather excited, being able to walk where my Lord has walked. I do hope I am brought closer to Him when all is said and done. At the same time, do pray for my and my brothers and sisters' safety, as our trip will take us through both Jordan and Egypt, and both nations are still quite unstable.

If I find internet access, I will try to remember to blog along the way.

I'll miss everybody in Vancouver, for sure, but six weeks will pass in a huff and a puff...

Home. Sweet, sweet home.

After a good six and a half weeks away, I'm finally back in Vancouver. As I stepped out of the arrivals hall and into the fresh, open expanse that is the city of Vancouver, I was greeted with the Canadian Pacific high summer. Immediately, I put on my jacket.

It was refreshing as hell to be able to step outside a building and not immediately be hit by a wave of humidity. Honestly, however, it was cold.

Well, now that everything's been put away in their respective places, and everybody in Hong Kong knows I'm safely home, it's time to tackle the jet lag. Coming back is always so difficult to adjust to. In Hong Kong, there's so much to do that you don't have time to be jet lagged. Here, it's so different. Here's to being at least being able to stay awake during service on Sunday. Here, as an aside, I would like to say how nice it was to see everybody again.

There were at least a couple things that I've thought through over these past month and a half. Now we'll see how I put these newfound understandings to good use.

Flustered thoughts

It seems to happen with quite often, and with some degree of severity lately, doesn't it? I'm flustered again. I have no idea why. Maybe it's because I'm an indecisive person, which I have found quite pronounced lately.

This time, it's about leaving home and going home. I don't want to leave Hong Kong, but I want to go back to Vancouver. Obviously the plane ticket's been bought and I've got responsibilities in Vancouver, so I have no choice. But what if I DID have a choice? I can't decide. Perhaps I have a week mind. It's always been evident, given the number of times I've caved to various requests from other people.

In any case, I'll be back in Vancouver in under a day's time. Bittersweet, just like every other time I've had to leave Hong Kong.

I always like to end on a good note, so on the bright side, I'll be back for Christmas. =D

It's official. I miss Vancouver.

I never thought I would, but after 41 days, alas, it cannot be helped anymore. I had my official "I miss Vancouver" moment, and there is only one thing to blame.

The stupid time difference. Being 16 time zones minus daylight savings away, I have been severely cut off from the rest of my world. News does not reach me in time, and when it does get to me, everyone's already asleep. Being constantly in the dark, I am also unable to keep up with all the little foibles that crop up.

Oh, and one more thing. I MISS MY STUFFED ANIMALS. Seriously I should've brought Mr. Tuttles or Pooky along to HK, but according to certain somebodies they are a "waste of space." Never before has anything proven to be so wrong, and never again will I let somebody insult my stuffies like that. So uncalled for.

So I guess that's two reasons. Oh well. It's just 4 days now, and it's not like I don't like Hong Kong either. I'll live.

Troubles with an antique laptop

7:22 - Switches laptop on
7:24 - Logs in to laptop
7:27 - Start-up appears complete, clicks on IE
7:29 - IE opens
7:31 - Clicks Messenger
7:33 - Messenger opens, logs in to Messenger
7:34 - Messenger finishes logging in, but freezes
7:35 - IE loads home page, and freezes in the process
7:36 - Ctrl-Alt-Del finally works
7:37 - IE closes
7:39 - Messenger closes
7:40 - Task Manager FINALLY shows up
7:41 - Desktop temporarily freezes
7:42 - Start bar finally works, but freezes
7:43 - Ctrl-Alt-Del again
7:45 - Task Manager appears, but start bar unfreezes
7:46 - Clicks on IE a second time
7:48 - IE opens
7:50 - Messenger opens itself for no reason
7:51 - IE temporarily freezes
7:53 - IE unfreezes
7:54 - IE loads home page successfully
7:55 - Successfully logs in to Messenger

Total elapsed time between pressing of power button and functionality of the two major programs: 33 minutes.

Windows XP - It stands for X-tra Problem.

Spewing out sh(!)t

Recently, it has come to my attention that a group of students at a university in Hong Kong attempted to do something that can only be described with one word: NONSENSE.

It appeared that they wished to protest the Beijing government (which really doesn't govern Hong Kong directly anyways) over some nondescript point about democracy. Of course, when democracy is on the cards, a favourite of students is a replica or imitation of the Statue of Liberty. And so it fell that the group of students decided that bringing a large statue into the student union building was a good idea, and they thus appealed to the board to be granted permission to set up this statue.

Due to reasons such as obstruction of traffic and its sheer size, the board could not say yes. Now, the group of students could just as easily have set up the statue out of doors. But they decided to take the high road, and accuse the board of being undemocratic as well. Here's where they lose me.

So suppose I wanted to make your kitchen into my personal landfill. Obviously you wouldn't let me. Am I then, on those grounds, to accuse you of having undemocratic house rules?

Seriously, the sheer volume of refuse these people spew out from their lips, it's mind blowing. Sometimes, one cannot help but think that their brains grow in their asses, and that their digestive systems go IN from there, and OUT the mouth.

Good heavens!

Writer's Block

You may have noticed that it's been a week since the last post. That's because of two things. One, I SAW PEOPLE OVER THE WEEKEND AND DID COOL STUFFS LIKE BADMINTON AND GOLF. Yippee! So that's a complete distraction from blogging already. Two, asides from that, nothing really happened...so I had no reason to blog.

So anyways, tomorrow is Thursday, and it happens to be the last workday of the week for me, because I took Friday off. I'll be seeing friends again ^_^ AND WE'RE WATCHING DESPICABLE ME. OMGWTFBBQ I'VE HEARD IT'S REALLY CUTE. Please pray that I don't die of fluffiness xD. Mebbe I'll do a movie review afterwards.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaanywho, back to earth now. The above paragraphs are probably totally different from any style of writing I have ever used on either blogs of mine. Usually I save the giddiness for chatting with friends cause it's more fun that way, but well...none of them are online right now, and I needed some way to get myself started with this post, so...yeah...

On a complete non sequitur, it is now...1, 2, 3...3 days and a night until I leave for Guizhou. Fun stuff. I'm actually fairly excited, although at the same time slightly apprehensive. Excited because this is pretty cool and meaningful, but apprehensive cause it's such a new and exotic experience. I really hope the love of God will be able to shine through from my actions, so that the kids and the people there can really notice something different, even though I'm not allowed to explicitly say anything about God. For those of you reading this, a prayer request for: physical protection on the trip, a sincere heart towards the children, a way to glorify God through this, and an experience I can learn from and cherish forever.

And that's where things stand. For now, this is Eddie Wong, signing off from Hong Kong. Good night, everyone!

The sky is falling!

What Chicken Little so famously uttered was almost reality this week.

The lack of a landfalling typhoon does not mean the lack of inclement weather affecting Hong Kong. Really, this past week has been extraordinary. The black rainstorm signal was issued again today. That makes for twice in a week. And "black rain" is supposed to be less common than typhoon signal 8 (equivalent to a tropical storm warning). Also, there were a total of 5 reported waterspouts over this same week. So all in all, some pretty crazy stuff from the skies.

Anyways, it's the middle of the second week of work now, and it's definitely less "nice and fresh" than at the beginning. Still, I guess it's better than just sitting at home and rotting every day...now that I am no longer a child. Although there are still many many things that make a part of me wish for another shot at childhood. Oh well...there's no take 2 in life. Hah, if only I'd managed to tell myself that before. I need poetic release.


Hell, If Only I'd Managed to Think of That Earlier

Such is life. Sometimes you only see things
after the fact. With the benefit of .thgisdnih
Or maybe I was just nearsighted. Maybe I just lacked

foresight.

Whatever happened, it was too -- l...a...t...e...

Life goes on
But only for a certain amou//_____ it can be cut short, at any time
nt of time. ____________________ we never know.

If only I could have thought.
If only I could have known.
If only I could have seen.
If only I could have done things right the first time.

Upon reflection, I wish to revisit.
And still life goes on.
You can try to fxi ifx fix it,
But still life goes on; it won't wait,
Because fixing won't erase anything,
It will just scratch out the past,
And the rebuilding will take up more time.

It remains possible --
sometime in the future --
It remains possible.

I hope.

Let the skies fall! Let the earth gape!

Still I hope.
I dare to.
I hope.

A recap of the week

I sat in the office for 4 days...on Wednesday I went up to visit the company factory at Dongguan. That was quite the trip. I could never have imagined the amount of heavy machinery and modern technology that goes into a board game. Never again will I take for granted what appears to be a simple board game. Oh, by the way, a shout out to all you Monopoly owners out there...chances are that board came out of our factory. And have no fear, for this is the cleanest factory in China. It may not be largest, but size isn't everything.

Also, this week was rather eventful for weather. No, Typhoon Chanthu did not manage to come even remotely close to a direct hit, but it did generate the first black rainstorm warning of the year. Hong Kong's rainstorm warning signals range from amber to red to black. Amber means 30 mm/hr has fallen or is expected to fall. Red is 50, and black is 70. Yes, 70 mm/hr. Once you've been in the tropics, you really can't complain about the rain in Vancouver. It's almost pathetic what passes as a rainfall warning back there. I believe the criteria is 40 mm/DAY. It's also embarassing what passes for a snowfall warning in Vancouver, but I won't get into that today.

Right, so I got vaccinated today. On both arms. It was necessary since I'm going to Guizhou soon for a short volunteering trip. So it's all good. I'm vaccinated, the stuff is generally all set to go, and the mood is positive. Except my arms are slightly sore, and I'm golfing tomorrow. Whoops. We'll see how it ends up.

Well, that's about it for this week...you can't really say THAT much about sitting in an office. Even though it consumes the better part of the day, nothing of true excitement happens but for once a blue moon. If something even distantly resembling action happens at work, be sure that it will wind its way onto this blog. For now, the pillows and sheets beckon. A good evening to you all.

Office hours

Well...9:30 to 6:30...so slightly staggered office hours, but office hours nonetheless. Honestly it's not quite as boring as some poeple make it out to be. You always see those cubicles on TV, everyone's slacking off trying to find something to occupy themselves with until the boss walks in, at which point everyone sits up straighter and makes haste to appear to be busy with work.

I can tell you it's not like that. People actually do stuff, and the atmosphere isn't tense with "WHEN'S BIG BOSS WALKING IN?!" It's actually fairly relaxed, you can walk about to talk to other people, and the time actually passes by fairly smoothly if you're occupied. There is no office bully that everybody kowtows to, people are all nice and respectful to each other, it's almost all first name basis.

Of course, there is etiquette and manners and whatnot of the working world, and there's the challenge of those assignments you're given, but you know, that's exactly the stuff I expected and wanted to face and learn when I told my aunt I would do it. I just hope that I get as much as I possibly can out of this, and keep it in my life for future use. It's a brave new world out there, and I'm going to embrace it.

Slowing down

People in Hong Kong are generally pretty hurried. It's a bustling financial centre, and time is of the essence. Have you ever sounded the horn on a car? What does it sound like?

HONG KONG! HONG KONG!

But, bad joke aside, this was the reason I expected to be accustomed to speeding vehicles on the streets of Hong Kong.

Apparently not. For whatever reason, maybe the rampant radar setups or traffic cameras, people in Hong Kong just don't speed. They may change lanes on a whim and be amazingly adept at squeezing their cars into puny parking spots, but they DO NOT speed. Hell, I'd probably have an easier time finding a speeding driver in the streets of Flin Flon, Manitoba than in Hong Kong.

Yes, Flin Flon is a place.

All I can say is, thank goodness I don't have to drive in Hong Kong, because with my level of patience, I'd probably never get through a day without flashing road rage at another driver, nor would I manage to go a week without a speeding ticket.

Once again all passengers...

Welcome to Hong Kong, Part II.

Yes, I wasn't done yesterday night, just overwhelmingly tired after being unable to sleep all flight long. I am NEVER able to sleep on planes. It's so damn cramped and the seating position is too upright. And for 14 hours too. It's like a nightmare, except you're awake. Or, rather, half-awake because you're so tired. Why don't they give people more leg room? After all, we're not all just tall enough to take the kiddies roller coaster. However, you can't expect too much, and really, Cathay Pacific is among the best already. You will not believe what they dished out for dessert: blueberry cheesecake and tiramisu. It really doesn't get any better.

And, never mind the sleeping blurb, cause I did manage to get in 8 hours of sleep on the first night. Really, jet lag isn't an issue when you arrive in Hong Kong. It's going back to Vancouver that's the problem. There's just so much to do during the day, you can't help but stay awake until it's a proper time to sleep. Such is Hong Kong. The brain gets the message after the first day. The kidney, however...will take up to 72 hours...

Speaking of 72 hours, a storm brewing in the South China Sea was supposed to be near Hong Kong in about that time, but as of now it is heading in a more southerly trajectory than originally thought, and will probably miss Hong Kong to the south and west. Damn. Oh well, I have a month and a half, so plenty of time for more tropical weather to brew.

So that's that. More to come in the days to come.

Once again all passengers...

Welcome to Hong Kong.

Ah, yes, the great hub of Asia, where East first met West. And the first thing I notice stepping out of the airport building is, alas, the suffocating heat. It was 9 at night, and the temperature was 31 C with a heat index of 42. Joy.

Thank heavens for air conditioners.

Of course, speaking of tropical weather, once has to mention cyclones. The Asian Pacific, after being dormant for most of the season, manages to eke out a storm in the South China Sea to welcome me to Hong Kong. Currently there is still a distinct possibility of a landfall in Hong Kong...should that be the case, this blog will be on storm watch mode. =D

But alas, it is currently midnight, and I will be sleeping shortly. Good night.