Hong Kong (2/4 - 2/19): In HK, You'd Already Be Sick ...

It's been a while (16 days, in fact) since I last posted on my blog. To be honest, I just haven't that much drive to update anything here -- either because I have too much going on and don't want to bother writing it all down, or because nothing much is really happening so I don't have much to write. But really, it's a combination of the two -- at times it's quite hectic and at time it seems a bit slow.

The main line of continuity through my last 2 weeks is the daily evolution of my illness; from pneumatic flu-like symptoms, to seeming-bronchitis, to losing my voice, to being unable to swallow, to having my ears hurt, to having a persistent, ineffective hacking cough, to having an occasional, effective throaty cough, to being unable to sleep from the tossing and turning, to the weird fever-laden dreams, to the constant desire to replace my lungs -- each day has brought about a new change, a new evolution, of this rather persistent viral infection.

On the whole though, while I continue to develop new, random symptoms as the virus makes it's way around my system, I am actually on the mend. Each new symptom is actually less of a bother than the one before it. So, that is a good thing. Whereas 2 weeks ago I couldn't get more than an hour's sleep at a time, tossing and turning in a fevered state throughout the night as I downed various cough medicine's, flu medicine and the like, drinking more fluid than surrounds this Island I live on, it has progressed over time to a night with only one or two random cough's in the deep of night, a more-or-less pleasant sleep, and only the barest quantity of medicine's on duty at any given time.

The other consistent thread in the last 2 weeks has been my work. I (for the most part) have been quite productive with my various tasks. My current primarily chore is finishing up the bilingualization of jetli.com before the end of the week. And it's almost there. I think another 2 days of work and a half day of fixing random odds and ends and it will be ready.

The other side of work is developing things for AnD's website, which is a tricky matter since it's technically not yet existing. But not to worry ... things will be up and running soon enough, and preparations for that launch are what fill the other parts of my days.

Aside from work (which is a good 9 - 13 hours of any given day) I hang out at home. My home has been pretty sparce since all I had for the first week I was there was a bed. Then I went to Ikea a week ago and got a couch delivered. So now I have a bed and a couch. I got tired of that though and this past Saturday I went back to Ikea and loaded up on some more furniture. This Wednesday I will have a table, TV stand, Dresser, Wardrobe, Nightstand, Tray table, Foot rest and shelving unit arriving. The total cost for all this wonderful Swedish furniture? about $4,000 HKD. That includes delivery and assembly too. I can't wait for Wednesday night when I can pretend I have things to put in/on all this furniture.

I watched "An Inconvenient Truth" the other day. I really liked it so I watched it again last night. I was talking to my dad on the phone and asked him if he had watched it and he said something to the effect that there were a bunch of people writing articles saying that the science of the movie is not necessarily sound (which, to be honest, is rather ironic to hear once you've watched the movie) and that he had read several reviews and docmentation on global warming to get the gist of what the movie was about. But he did say he'd check it out when/if it gets on netflix or makes it's way to his local library's DVD shelf.

But that got me thinking. I think the power of a film like this isn't actually in the science itself. When I'm thinking about the things in the movie I like I'm not thinking about the statistics on CO2 emmissions over that past 20 years -- I'm thinking about the feeling I gained from the movie -- the perspective on my part in the greater scheme of our environment. To say that the entire merit of this film rests in it's science seems to be ignoring the more important reason to watch this film in the first place -- to inspire one's self to take action.

When I was younger and went door to door in a nearby community to invite people to a inter-faith dialogue sponsored by the local Baha'i's, my friend and I came across one man who this whole thing reminds me of. He had gotten a degree in religious studies through a local Christian College (which I believe is now a University) and had said he once wrote a paper on the Baha'i Faith. Based on his exhaustive research (which it turned out, didn't include actually reading any Baha'i writings) he came to the conclusion that this "cult" (as he called it) didn't follow true religious doctrine and wasn't a real religion. I was only a teenager at the time and barely had the cognitive ability to put together a well-formed sentence, let alone discuss the issue with this guy, so we tried to be as polite as we could, left him the invitation (it was actually for a discussion related to Race-Unity Day) and went on to the next house. The truth is, we were there only to invite people to a discussion on Race-Unity issues put on by the local Inter-Faith group, but I guess he heard "Baha'i" and decided to talk about that particular topic.

But in later years I came to realize that while this person may have felt that he did pretty exhaustive research on the Baha'i Faith, he didn't actually know much about the religion itself. For myself, and I think for people of all faith's, the true importance/passion/significance of being a part of one's religious community isn't based on research, comparative fact-finding and scientific data, but it's based on matters of the heart. It is about how you feel -- the love and connection you have with those people in your community, and with human beings at large. I think that is where a lot of the significance of religion lies for most people.

And I'm not saying that one shouldn't do their research and investigate the "truth's" which are presented to them -- it's very important to be unwavering in your approach to developing a sound understanding of these sorts of things. But when that is said and done, what pulls you towards a certain set of beliefs is what your heart tells you is RIGHT.

So when I think of this film, An Inconvenient Truth, I feel that it's merit isn't actually so much in the science (Yes, the science is important and, if you watch the film, you can see that they did a lot of work to really make sure their science is sound -- which is why I find it ironic that people would say it isn't) but in the message they are conveying. It's a good message. It's an honest message. And it speaks to the heart. Maybe the science isn't 100% there, but you know what? I don't really care. Because what the film did for me was help me shift my paradigm to one where I'm considering new things that I might not have thought of before.

I didn't mind taking the taxi to Kennedy Town before, but now I think it might be better to spend the extra 20 minutes and use the Tram. I was thinking about renting a car when I'm in S.F. next month, but now I'm thinking that BART is probably just fine on it's own. It's these sorts of things that I think are what makes a film like this worthwhile (or any film that helps open one's eyes and mind) -- more than the science of it.

Anyway, I'm beating a dead horse now. It's something that was on my mind today, so it's what get's written down here. If I had written this blog a few days ago you might have had to read me griping about the messed up plumbling in my apartment. Or possibly about the dietary recommendations Jason Tobin gave me related to my cough. Or if it was yesterday you would have heard me spouting a BUNCH about my swollen ankle and how I got almost zero sleep Saturday night because the excrutiating pain kept me up around the clock.

But it's Monday, so you get a rant about Global Warming and Religion.

Future plans? I have to get my China visa renewed this week because I'm flying to Jinan this weekend with Tiffany to help her train with the Shandong Team. It'll be great to see everyone up there again. Those people are really nice and SMSing with friends just isn't the same as hanging out and chatting with them in person.

After that I might go to Fuzhou for the weekend in early March to visit the National Team before they stop their training there (and supposedly YYH hooked up some Dog Boxing training for me, but I've been sick for over 3 weeks and haven't trained in 2 months so I'm not holding my breath for that to happen).

Then I have my trip to the U.S. at the end of March / early April. That should be fun, but very hectic. Over the course of about 11 days I will take 8 different plane rides. I'm going to be really happy to just settle in to my life in Hong Kong once I get back from all of that.

Oh, and here are a few pictures from the last few weeks ... just so that this entry isn't a total bust.

Stephen, Pat and TY at Hot Pot on the 5th

Lots of hot pot -- and actually ... I don't even like hot pot all that much ... 0_o;

Getting back at Raffi for The photo of me here, although for better revenge I should take one of him getting his hair washed. ;-)

Lisa and Dan

Dan and Stephen chatting.

And here are two pictures from the 7th -- which is a day I ended up getting a recurrance of my fever. Ah the joys of the flu.

Here is one of me. I'm filming some footage that will never see the light of day. Isn't that fulfilling?

I have no idea who this is. Do you??

Oh, and before I forget, Happy Chinese New Year everyone! It's the year of the pig. Technically it's a holiday, but I have nothing to do and everyone went to Xiamen this weekend so I came in to work to get things done. Kim came in to the office a few minutes ago and said "Did you see the fireworks?"

I didn't even know there were fireworks. Actually, I have no idea WHAT people do in Hong Kong on New Years. From what I can tell by looking in the streets they all skip out on work, dress up in bright clothing and carry around red boxes filled with assorted varieties of chocolates which they picked up at the local convenience store. But, that's just what I figured out from my tram ride to work this morning ...