Daily Routine

Back in my idealist-thinking days, routine was a bad thing. What a boring thing to have the same patterns and things to do every day. Even eating was something I did only when I had the mood to.

But routine is about holding myself accountable, self-discipline, to make sure I make the best use of my time during the day, and that I'm thinking about the trajectory I'm taking during the day, not just this very minute. So for example even if I'm lazy to do it, I still gotta eat a fruitful breakfast...and ever since I've added breakfast to my life I've stopped sleep-walking through my days :)

My routine in Hong Kong ideally begins with a morning jog, from my apartment, through the famous (in China) Avenue of the Stars to the clock tower by the Star Ferry in TST, and back. Dodging the Mainland Chinese tourists who come by the tourbus-loads - bending over to fit their hands with the hand-prints of Andy Lau, Jet Li, and others on the promenade - and running around the Sikh men who like to stop random pedestrians and talk really friendly to them (about religion I think?), the Mandarin chatter filling the air is punctuating by occasional English, Korean, Japanese, and Cantonese. Running fills my lungs with 'fresh' air so that I have enough energy to carry through my day. But as you might be able to see from this video of my leisurely stroll, the air isn't so fresh!



After my jog, I get ready to take the train up to the City University of Hong Kong, which prides itself on being ranked the 149th best University in the world. Usually you cut through the Festival Walk mall there, which, until last week, had this huge XMas tree shooting through several levels.



This is what one section of the library looks like. It looks like the bridge of a starship, especially because of the futuristic incandescent blue lighting they use, which doesn't show too well in the picture.

I usually have lunch in the canteen (dining hall for American English), and after another several hours at the library, I head back home by train.

Sharing my nightly dinner with my mother, I'll usually go for Capoeira across the harbor by taking the Star Ferry, which I'm really impressed by just because it's not just a tourist ride, but a cheap way of commuting to and from work...another part of the matrix of efficient transportation in HK. The rest of my night is usually spent self-studying Chinese, and going online. My weekends tend to be more open and flexible, although I do go to church on Sunday mornings, which I must admit, is a great way to learn and practice Cantonese!

Here are some pictures taken from my time in HK so far. My professional quality camera is dead on batteries, and my charger is back in the states :( so I have to settle for showing these first. The first album has people pictures, and the second has interesting sites in Hong Kong!

Hong Kong 2008 people pictures

Hong Kong culture