After working at Rockefeller center in NYC (Christmas Tourist central of USA) the last few years, it's no wonder I am missing the Christmas spirit here in HK.  The Christmas lights in TST is nice, but it lost that magical affect it had on me as a kid.  Instead of seeing the tree at 30 Rock, what I see everyday now are signs for holiday sales and further reductions to lure customers in.  May be I spend too much time in the malls in Central, but I can't help it working at the IFC and having to pass by all those shops a few times a day.  I think I was getting too sold on the whole materialistic aspect of Christmas and I really need to check myself from getting caught up in it. 

After I read James Mar's blog  about his gifts of 4 ducks and a goat and it inspired me to do the same.  They have some really nice gifts that you can give to the needy people of our world.  This past year was full of ups and downs for me, but there are many blessings that I need to really be thankful for.

For Christmas, I thought it's appropriate to get a sheep to provide wool and milk for the needy.  As you know Jesus was born in a Manger where Shepherds and their flock came to welcome Him to the world.  I got this in my sister's honor and for my niece because she's born in the year of the sheep and one year she played a sheep in the Christmas play... and I played one of the wise men.  I was young then, and I hated being on stage back then too.



For the AnD crew, i decided to donate to the Sichuan fund.  It's December now and more than half a year from the earthquake disaster, but I encourage people to remember there are still many needy people in that region that needs our help in the cold winter.  AnD were great in responding to the disaster on their site and urging us all to give, so I thought it's appropriate to make this donation at Christmas in their honor.

There are also many other great donation choices there.  I saw you can get a whole school for US$22,000.  Imagine that... for the price of a car you can bring education to many children.

Even when the economy is not going so well, I encourage you all to give this Christmas.  There are many others worst off in the world, we need to realize how lucky we all are. 

Check link below for all the donation options:
http://www.worldvision.org/content.nsf/give/ways-to-give

I hope you all can count your blessings this year and enjoy a very Merry Christmas.

After exposing the dirty secrets of Hollywood, "E!" does a story on the rise fall and rebirth of Hong Kong's Hot New Comedy group "CB Fresh". 

You'll laugh so hard, you'll piss yourself.  Watch it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OgRDjTvWWV4&fmt=18

Congrats to my friend and CBFresher Vince Matthew Chung for winning The Amazing Race Asia 3.  Great to see them come back from 3rd place to win the treasure chest of cash.  Everybody loves this guy, even if he didn't win the race.

Vince Matthew Chung: Team HK and Team CB Fresh (two #1 winning teams)

www.cbfresh.com

On October 29th 2008, I was not yet packed, and still considering cancelling or delaying my trip back to NY/NJ.  After finally making the decision to go, I stayed up all night to pack my clothes and all the gifts for friends and family.  I still had no solid schedule planned for the trip at that point, so I had no idea what to expect.  Thankfully, I do have many good friends back in the states who took great care of me when I got there. 

After a 16 hr flight, I landed on 10/30 in Newark, NJ where I got picked up by Kevin So.  Kevin generously offered to pick me up from the airport and let me stay at his place.  It was great to see him after 6 months and to chat about food, movies, music and politics.  It was great to be back home.

While at his place, i got to be cameraman for him while he got his dog Monk to sing for us.  Check out the amazing footage below:

 

That night he drove us out to Chinatown for a great light meal and then we met up with the Teabag/Fivepoint gang.  It was a great night of conversations.  Definitely missing those nights back in NY where a few guys just sit around and discuss any and everything.  It was great to be back in the City I love and a City that loves back.

Just got back to HK from a 2+ week trip.  The trip worked out really really well given that I didn't even plan it at all.  Lots of stuff were planned on the fly during the trip, so it was a nice little adventure.  To end the adventure, today I almost missed my flight back at the Tokyo Narita Airport... but I'll leave the details to another blog.

I filled out a full 2Gig memory cad with 700+ pictures... some you will see in future blogs.