It's already been two weeks since I came home, time does fly! Here's a brief picture recap of the events and more to come...
~This is the first time we traveled as a family again in about 15 years. Japan is such a literally neat place and a nice change from living in the always hustling and bustling Hong Kong. I wasn't too into the "cute" culture of Japan before that I always thought people were always living in their dreams as I learned as a minor in Japanese Studies as an undergrad. It's not too bad of a thing after all. People strife to maintain order and natural beauty in all places. Things are way cheaper than I expected because of the economy downfall earlier. The trip included Nagoya, Kyoto, Kobe, Osaka, and Wakayama which is the southern suburb of Honshu.
This is actually one of my favorite pictures. It's not me and the Buddhist monk at the Kiyomizudera (Clear Water) Temple was chanting the whole time as he asked for donations.
I was thrilled to visit Universal Studio in Osaka and I'm a ride fanatic. We hopped in the Spiderman rider the day Spiderman 3 came out! It's the best ride of all time! And I think I'm as ugly in the picture as that big lizard from Jurassic Park on my head...
My fam in Japanese robes after visiting the hot spring at the hotel. The hot spring experience was such a cultural shock for me and I'm still recovering from it... It did feel good afterwards though...
I think "bidet" (toilet seat equipped with "seat warmer", "washer", and even "dryer" is one of the greatest Japanese inventions. But this is my first time seeing and using one with a sink on top which you can wash your hand right after you flush using whatever water it comes out on top!
I revisited my alma mater high school for the Young Ambassadors' visit. After all the corresponding and arrangements I'm so glad things turned out fantastic. It's surreal to see the YA's perform on that tiny stage in the school hall of my high school. As Principal Liliana put it, "it's a dream come true!" I wish I had something like this when I attended SGSS over a decade ago.
Randy's giving a presentation on singing at one of the workshops afterwards. The other two workshops are on dancing and acting. The students and teachers totally enjoyed it and I heard nothing but great things from them. Some of them said they had never experenced something like this in their lives.
I hanged out a bit with the cast with a trip to Lamma Island. Here it is me and Meredith (one of the Chinese speakers in the cast who is a Taiwanese RM), Sterling (we auditioned the same year singing the same song and his brother was my mission companion!), Stacia (we were in the same tap class), Peter (a 3-year YA veteran), and Chloe (YA in my year) at an Indian restaurant. It's both awkward but fun to reunite with all the YA friends. Fond memories. Good times...
I also just saw the new BYUTV documentary on our YA Chinese tour 2 years ago and I'm in it again! You can check it out
here (look for the program titled "Children of the Dragon" -- by the way, I handpicked that song!) It will be rebroadcast at the following times:
# Sunday, May 13, at 3am
# Monday, May 14, at 7 & 10pm
# Wednesday, May 16, at 3pm
# Thursday, May 31, at 6 & 9pm
~time for friends and family.
~time off doing nothing but eat, sleep, watching or reading whatever I want.
Have a happy holiday and wonderful new year!
Waiting in line to get in to the Tonight Show. With Doris on the bottom left...
After Doris left I saw both Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull as well as Iron Man over the memorial weekend. I like both movies but the former has a wacky ending while the latter a predicatable plot. I prefer the Indy film just because of the nostalgia and the comradarie it brings back. Watching it is just like taking the disney ride again.
Then we were headed to my much anticipated West Grand Canyon and experienced the Skywalk.
It was smaller than we expected but the view was spectacular and it did feel scary when I took the first step onto the middle of the glass floor with 4000 feet deep of Grand Canyon clear below. I wish they had built a complete glass platform instead of a U-shape walkway with only a tiny path of trasparent glass. We chose to stay at the cabin there in the ranch for the night. It was shockingly barren and primitive when we arrived at the "cowboy town" but it turned out to be a nice, peaceful, and quiet stay in contrast to the hustle and bustle of the concrete jungle we are always in. We even befriended a local native Hualapai tribe member that he taught us how to toss horseshoes, throw axes, and even play with guns. He also told us a little bit about his background and the area. My friend said the horsewagon ride was even more fun than Skywalk. I would not mind doing this kind of living in the wild more often.
Horse wagon ride towards Grand Canyon
Playing with a gun!
Being a silly and stupid cowboy...
Sunrise looking out from our cabin.
We also drove pass the Hoover Dam en route to Grand Canyon.
Historic building in Balboa Park
How can this be possible?! I did see both zebras and giraffes at the zoo which is waaaayyyy coooool.
There are more than one SoHo areas that have popped up in Hong Kong. The one in Central is filled with international restaurants and pubs.
Krispy Kreme is here too! I realized they have more flavors here and they are not bad at all. There are already three stores in HK now.
Close to the escalator area of course is Kom Tong, now known as Dr. Sun Yat Sen Museum. It's a great museum for learning more about modern history of China. 
The portrait of Jesus Christ at the entrance is now replaced by a statue of Dr. Sun.
It means most to me of course because this is where I grew up in the Church, served my mission, had my first car accident...
...and I was baptized in this very place!!!
Another nice place to visit is the Hong Kong Heritage Museum in Shatin. I learned a great deal myself through my first visit. And the huge museum was close to empty on a Friday afternoon when I visited!
Their singing was phenomenal and I personally think they did way better than we did 2 years ago. My singing was ok that year but what went behind the scene was a nightmare... Anyways, it was all like yesterday and sometimes I even imagined if I could relive that experience all over again. It was even a bit difficult bidding farewell again and I have no clue when if I even get to see any of them ever again... 
I was gonna get all the YAs from 05 for a snapshot but after the fireside the hall was as chaotic as most firesides at HMT afterwards as usual that the closest thing I got was this: a shot with Chloe with the Boothe's and the Barrington's in the background. Ha! :)
This is actually one of my favorite pictures. It's not me and the Buddhist monk at the Kiyomizudera (Clear Water) Temple was chanting the whole time as he asked for donations.
I was thrilled to visit Universal Studio in Osaka and I'm a ride fanatic. We hopped in the Spiderman rider the day Spiderman 3 came out! It's the best ride of all time! And I think I'm as ugly in the picture as that big lizard from Jurassic Park on my head...
My fam in Japanese robes after visiting the hot spring at the hotel. The hot spring experience was such a cultural shock for me and I'm still recovering from it... It did feel good afterwards though...
I think "bidet" (toilet seat equipped with "seat warmer", "washer", and even "dryer" is one of the greatest Japanese inventions. But this is my first time seeing and using one with a sink on top which you can wash your hand right after you flush using whatever water it comes out on top!
I revisited my alma mater high school for the Young Ambassadors' visit. After all the corresponding and arrangements I'm so glad things turned out fantastic. It's surreal to see the YA's perform on that tiny stage in the school hall of my high school. As Principal Liliana put it, "it's a dream come true!" I wish I had something like this when I attended SGSS over a decade ago. 
Randy's giving a presentation on singing at one of the workshops afterwards. The other two workshops are on dancing and acting. The students and teachers totally enjoyed it and I heard nothing but great things from them. Some of them said they had never experenced something like this in their lives.
I hanged out a bit with the cast with a trip to Lamma Island. Here it is me and Meredith (one of the Chinese speakers in the cast who is a Taiwanese RM), Sterling (we auditioned the same year singing the same song and his brother was my mission companion!), Stacia (we were in the same tap class), Peter (a 3-year YA veteran), and Chloe (YA in my year) at an Indian restaurant. It's both awkward but fun to reunite with all the YA friends. Fond memories. Good times...
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