Post-Grad Trip #1 - Recap

Back to Reality...

Christmas has passed now here in Toronto (and everywhere else of course) and with New Years quickly approaching, I've finally had some time to sit down and reflect upon my trip. I've only been back for a couple of weeks and I'm surprised at how much I miss Hong Kong already. When people ask me why I miss it, I really don't have an answer for them, the only thing I can say is that for the time I was there, I was strangely drawn to the city in which I was born. I've made a promise to myself that I'll be back soon, and I will try. With my new HK identity card, it should be as easy as a simple thumbscan to get in.

My first hockey experience (Seattle)

Standing on a rock high above Hong Kong

Steering (Pretending to) a raft in Water City (Shanghai)

Singapore's Cadet School

To be honest, I didn't really expect to enjoy this trip as much as I did...I didn't expect much of it at all. This was supposed to be a little "tune-up" trip before I really get to go travelling in January. I didn't even have much time to think about it, I left just a few short days after writing my Physio licensing exam (which I still haven't heard the results from) and hoped for the best. The reason we were going back was to get my identity card and take care of some unpleasant family business...and I was travelling with my MOM! So on the outset, it didn't scream excitement.

But it turned out that I had an amazing time! and now I'm back here in Toronto reminiscing on how much I enjoyed my time away from here. Perhaps it was exactly that, a time of care-freeness and stress-freness...finally set free from pressures of school, demands of leading multiple ministries at Church, high-maintenance relationships and all of that. Even travelling with my mom was a great!

In this trip (we'll call it Post-Grad Trip #1) I did a lot, saw a lot and experienced a lot. I visited many countries, experienced vastly different cultures and learned so much about this world that all of a sudden doesn't seem so small after all. I think got to see a little bit of everything:

A lil' of the OLD...

A lil' of the NEW...

A lil' SNOW

A lil' SUN

OLD FRIENDS...

NEW FRIENDS...

RELATIVES...

Vancouver

Hong Kong

and was left in awe at the beauty of God's creation everywhere I went...

Vancouver

Hong Kong

Singapore

Genting - Malaysia

Final Stats:

- 3 weeks

- Thousands of Kilometres

- 10 Cities

- 9 flights

- 50 degrees (-20C to +30C)

- ONE bag of luggage

Back to reality I guess...

But if reality is coming home for the holiday season and leaving for Europe in just over a week, I'm thinking it ain't gonna be so bad =D I've got the travellin' bug now, and there's just so much of the world to see. What next? Europe 2007 - London, Amsterdam, Rhine Valley, Lucerne, Innsbruck, Venice, Rome, Florence, Nice, Lyon, Paris, Budapest, Vienna, Prague and Berlin to be exact. Keep readin' for Europe adventures, thanx for keeping up with me the last month or so, this blog is for you all, you guys are the best!