Loving it

It's been a while, i've been rather busy lately. Now the wearther is much more bearable I'm loving it!

I have a group of friends that i can train with now and really enjoy having a laugh with. My weekends are actually busy now. Even have a few BBQs lined up with some of mine and Pauline's friends :) Still haven't been to a beach in HK yet... have to do that soon, before the locals start finding it too cold.. wimps!

Even this working from home as a freelancer thing is working better because i can actually work comfortably and concetrate much better, still I'm still planning to chuck it in at the end of the month and hopefully have something new in 2010 after a 2 weeks trip to UK in Decemeber with Pauline, really looking forward to showing her what being REALLY cold means.

Can't believe time had gone so fast already! Been doing parkour for a few months and what a thrill it can be - there's been a few injuries here and there, bits of my palm ripped off and bruised knees but it's well worth it. It was strange to be helping out on the workshop for new members.  it's not working out as well for capoeira... not really feeling it to be honest and i might stop it for a while and concentrate on parkour....

Standing up and delivering punches

For once this has nothing to do with my love of of martial arts and apparent aggression which i still insist I'm not... 99% of the time. Im actually talking about stand up comedy

A few Saturdays ago i went to a stand up comedy class. Ive always knew the cleverest people are those that can make us happy and laugh. I loved the show, it was really good. At the end of the show, we were told about a class on stand up comedy, slightly intrigued i sat up a little, but thought "Nah that's not me i don't really wanna be in the spot light, sure like most i enjoyed the attention but on stage like that. No freaking way". But over the next few days that idea kept on creeping up in my mind.. Its only a class right? Its not like ill be on stage, just sit there and listen to the ins and outs of being funny. So i emailed the organiser and said i want in, in return i was given some homework, ten things i truely hate and ten faults my friends see in me. That pretty much meant i would have to speak up at some stage, a little nervous i got emailing and writing.

Fast forward a little and there i was sitting in class being asked if i want to give it a go. Knowing fully well i haven't wrote the best or most suitable stuff i forced myself to put my hand up. A few people went before me and i was thinking they're good, very good for beginners at least, am i gonna be their level with what i wrote... I've always been able to make my friends laugh, spotting perverted situations faster then most, how bad could i be? I found that out when i stood under those million watt bulbs feeling like i was standing on a tiny platform 10m above the ground, i read out what i had in mind from the shit loads of notes i've made and boy did i crash! I don't mean badly here and there either i meant from beginning to the end, not so much as a chuckle, the silence felt incredible painful, ironically one of the things i hate the most is noise! (Ring tones, people talking loud, construction sites 10m from my window) I knew i was doing badly about 90 seconds in... so I cut my loses and got off the stage with my ego the size of a penny.

We were warned there's nothing that would get us going for comedy but the real thing and getting on stage, I'm glad I got on that stage even though I sucked (Thank you for the class and opportunity Jami)... A very stubborn part of me is still thinking, no freaking way can i leave it like this... but the other 99.995% of me is thinking, don't you even think about doing that again. it was an interesting experience and I really would love to be better at this... maybe once I've settled in HK a bit more without working 13 hour days I would give this another go, at least now I know what a punch is. Meanwhile I'll keep on taking notes on what's going on around me and go to as many shows as I can despite the 2 hour journey to get there!

I'll post my "10 things I hate in life" & "10 faults my friends see in me" later when I get around to scanning it.

Anyone in HK should check out TakeOut Comedy they do shows both in Chinese and English!

Thailand - Koh Samui

What a brilliant place, Thailand was brilliant! Ned and Abi's wedding was really really gorgeous!

Sun, Sea, Beach, Girlfriend, Good Friends, Cocktails, Jet Ski, Water Skiing, Snorkling, chased by lightening storms, Wrestle Masks, Custom Suit, Flips and Sommies and 3 massages! what a beautiful holiday

Construction Site

Since I've moved back to HK working as a freelance designer, i've had the luxury of working my own hours, I can crawl out of bed whenever I like,even noon if i like.....but it all changed 2 weeks ago.

So what happened a fortnight ago? well the answer is power tools! the construction site that's less then 10 meters from my room window had started working on a lot of exterior work for that house. They start work around 8am most mornings, 5 days a week with only Sunday and Tuesdays off... The noise for a construction site as you can imagine can be rather loud but that i can deal with, if i blast my speaks on loud I can drowl them out.. but not when they started using power tools, digging parts of the wall and ground up! Just imagine it's 8am, you intending to sleep for at least 2 more hours! The dreadful sound of power tools suddenly fill your room to a shocking waking!


Fine, I admit it's just me not being more disciplined to be sleeping that late, so i try make peace with that working as a freelancer mean i work from home and working under these conditions are very difficult, every now and then the tremendous roar of a circular saw or deafening thunder of a power drill does wonders for ones concentration.

I am mighty annoyed about it all, but the truth is, I really am not mad at the workers. In fact I rather admire their hard work, I literally saw them add a tile at a time onto the wall, painstakingly remove all the old pipes using drills, hammers, chisels and brute strength. I personally already find the weather here unbearable while sitting of a 20" fan. How these 40 - 50 yr olds climb up the bamboo scaffolding like 10 year olds on a monkey frame for hours at a time, in blistering sun with temperature reaching 32C is beyond me!

I respect them so much for their professionalism and craftsmanship for their job. now i know they're only doing it as a job for the money, a case of if they stop, they stop getting paid, but it still require a shit lot of will power to motivate themselves not to just call it quits and live on benefits. I have to also admit i've been fascinated by how things are put together.

Saying that, i can only pray they finish their job SOON and that they do not move on to the next house... now that would really drive me crazy!

HKPA 飛躍道 Workshop

Steve, Louis you should be happy to hear, i finally had my first Parkour session, it's such a shame i never had a chance to train with you two, but my first experience was damn GOOOOD!

I ache all over today and man does it feel good! It's been more then a month since i last had a proper training session and the guys at Hong Kong Parkour Association does not mess about! I admit, my lack of training meant I'm not as strong as I was in London, but i didn't expect my legs to be shaking so badly from exhaustion at the end of the 2 hour session!

I've known about Parkour for quit a few years now and I have always been interested. I remember looking around a few years ago for a place to start Parkour but unfortunately that's when i fractured my right foot, taking me out of training for 9 months. Once i was fit enough to train i focused on TKD and gymnastics and didn't really have enough time and fully functioning limbs to try Parkour. Now I'm finally in HK, I'm so glad i can finally try this out for my self.

I've seen countless videos on Parkour over the years and I've certainly known about HKPA, I know what's it about and the kinda things they do but i never really looked into the believes behind it. Fung our main instructor on Saturday explained Parkour was more about improving oneself then to compete with others... to progress at your own rate and not get overly worked out on others progress, afterall we are all different with different strengths and weaknesses.

Another point they made was the sharing of knowledge, to help each other advance. When i left London, some of my good friends got me a really good book and it said:

Don't Covet your ideas
Give away everything you know, and more will come back to you

It's not how good you are, it's how good you want to be by PAUL ARDEN

I was reading the book from a designer's perspective, so to see this being adapted in physical training was a nice surprise to me.... guess i have a lot to learn.

Can't wait for my next class! Need to get stronger!!!!