China has not left me mind. I have been desperately wanting to travel back since I got back in 2010 and it looks as though God is granting my wish! I am proud to say I have been accepted to Fudan University in Shanghai to study Chinese for a five week intensive course. I am very humble to receive this honor and I am going to spend a considerable amount of time studying Chinese so I may place high over at Fudan. The scholarship covers my living expenses, meals and tuition costs! The only costs I will have to endure are the plane tickets (which are continuing to rise) and some field trip costs to Beijing and Hangzhou! I am not sure if I want to travel back to Beijing because I did not enjoy it. I sensed a lot of anti-Americanism there, but I have heard many great things about Hangzhou! If I do travel to Beijing it would be to hopefully see my two nieces, half sister and her husband. I submitted all of the final requirements for this scholarship and I am waiting for my documents to arrive to Fudan! Now all I need to worry about is increasing in my Chinese and raising enough money for the plane ticket! I will keep everyone posted!
Gwailo Singing Canto?
•2011/11/22 • Leave a CommentWell needless to say I was somewhat surprised to see a beautiful western face singing in flawless Cantonese! I thought this would be a good video to share with you guys, especially since its been a while for me to post anything on this blog. Apparently she is from Australia and her parents were missionaries to Hong Kong. So she speaks fluent Cantonese! I think this is extremely cool. Well I hope you all enjoy Connie’s voice.
Robynn Yip
•2011/10/22 • Leave a Comment
Since I discovered Robynn Yip on a DVD from WongFu Productions a while back, I have been a fan of hers. Shortly after that I discovered her on YouTube and I have been following her work ever since. I love her style of music and I admire her use of social networking in order to promote her music. I wish my sister would take some pointers! 
Anyways Robynn Yip is a local Hong Konger if I’m not mistaken and she sings beautifully in Cantonese, English and Mandarin. She has one of her songs available now in iTunes which I included the MV in this blog post. There are not a lot of Hong Kong singers that I like, but Robynn is definitely one of those. I can count on one hand the Cantonese singers that I enjoy. So support the local talent and support her once she releases her first CD from Hummingbird Music! Until then if you enjoy her MV purchase the single from iTunes. Hope you all enjoy the recommendation!
醉後決定愛上你! Love You!
•2011/10/22 • Leave a Comment
School has been kicking my butt, especially with having to do 40 hours of student observations that was required from my two classes combined, I have much more time to relax now. I recently stumbled upon this new television show browsing the web and since Rainie Yang is in it, I figured I would check it out. She recently did another show I loved called Hi My Sweetheart. This drama that Rainie is starring in is about a young girl who is in love with some guy who ends up breaking her heart. She meets up with another guy who has just had his heart broken and one thing leads to another! They both get drunk and by the end of the night, they are both married! I have only watched the first episode, but I am anticipating this will be a pretty funny drama. Check it out sometime if you get the chance! Just google for it and I am sure you will end up with a lot of ways to watch it online/ download it. Enjoy and use this as an opportunity to practice your Mandarin! I liked the Theme Song so much that I downloaded the MP3 and probably have listened to it a hundred times since Thursday! lol
端午節
•2011/06/05 • Leave a CommentWell today is a public holiday in Hong Kong. The Dragon Boat Festival is going on today and I believe everyone gets a day off from work. Today locals get the the ability to spend it with their family and friends! So to all the Hong Kongers, have a Happy Dragon Boat Festival! Enjoy the public holiday! Btw, I saw this video on youtube and I thought it was pretty funny! Have fun!
A.I.N.Y
•2011/05/16 • Leave a Comment
I just found this music video on youtube and I wanted to share it with everyone! I thought this was a good song by GEM, even though the MV is a little obsessed with the make out scenes! lol But GEM Tang is one of my favorite Cantonese singers, so I hope you enjoy the song!
Brandless Products
•2011/04/23 • Leave a Comment
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Companies like Adidas, Apple, Nokia and Nissin are all international brands that customers in the West are probability more than familiar with. In my household alone we have brands that vary from all over the world, a rice cooker from South Korea (Lihom), a TV from Japan (Sony) and a pocket knife from Switzerland (Swiss Army Knife). These brands have managed to obtain an international brand that have penetrated markets all across the globe. But with these brands, how many of them are Chinese brands? China has become the second leading economy in the world, yet it has not successfully managed to generate an international brand as of yet. Not only is it the second economy economy in the world as of 2010, but it is known as the world’s factory. America imports a huge percentage of its goods from China, yet they still are not known for their brands. The term for Chinese brands are typically known here in America as “no name brands” or “brandless products”.
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With China becoming more of a major role in the world, it is about time for China to establish some global brands. I was reading an article from Monocle about this topic and I found it very interesting. After Monocle interview some of the many Chinese brands interviewed, they came to the conclusion that many Chinese brands do not wish to establish an international brand! The profit margins of some of these companies are so small that many cannot afford the jump into an unknown market. Unlike many European or American brands who have plenty of money to test markets, the Chinese markets are not in the same situation. These western brands have already established their brands and have been drawing in plenty of profit, whereas the Chinese have not established their brands. This scenario is almost as senseless as a college student graduating uni and then going out for a job interview and then the employer says that they do not have enough experience! Well of course, they have just gotten into the job market! But how can they obtain experience if they cannot get hired? Hmm anyways I highly recommend this international journal. Its called the Monocle and is from Britain. This is the primary reason for me driving to Barnes and Noble every month
(For the sake of this article, I am using pictures of Hong Kong business that I took during my last trip. I am sure these HK businesses make much more money than businesses in the mainland, but I could be wrong)
Shout Out to Raising Rock Star
•2011/04/14 • Leave a Comment
Today I was looking through my comments and I realized that one of the comments was from a blogger in Hong Kong! 
The blogger’s website is raisingrockstar.com and it seemed like a very nice little blog, much nicer than mine! But I just wanted to give her a shout out because this seems like a really nice little blog and a really good idea. The tagline for the blog is “For when he becomes a teenager who knows everything”. So judging from the content and all the pictures I have seen on the blog, this is almost like a journal for this blogger’s son, so when he gets older he can look at all the material about HK and his early childhood. The blog also seems to be about living in Hong Kong and parenting in Hong Kong. Check it out and support this fellow Hongkonger and her blog!
Her latest post was a pretty funny music video about HK. Check it out! Funny Song
升呢 (Sing Le)
•2011/04/12 • Leave a CommentMaybe someday I will start my own videos teaching the Cantonese that I know, but in the mean time, I might as well outsource it! There are plenty of good videos already out there on youtube! This video is from a western blogger in Hong Kong. This particular word of the week deals with leveling up. This word can be used at anytime something great is going on. Check out the video and subscribe to his YouTube channel!
The Steve and Harry Podcast
•2011/03/31 • 2 Comments
大家好 Da ga ho! I have not been to Hong Kong in almost two years now. I am actually really beginning to feel a little homesick when I think of Hong Kong. I have really adopted it as my second home I think. So until I move to HK in hopefully January 2012, I am trying to remain active in learning Cantonese and with keeping up with whats going on in HK. Some of my friends in HK actually mock me for listening to the RTHK, but I enjoy it. The RTHK is a news broadcaster in Hong Kong, who also has an English broadcast.
So the RTHK actually sponsors a pretty funny podcast called the Steve and Harry Podcast. This podcast is extremely funny and generally talks about the pop culture of Hong Kong or stories that the major news will not pick up. If any of you are familiar with the Bob and Sheri Show here in the United States, it kind of has the same flavor. The talk show hosts just really enjoy focusing on funny stories circulating around Hong Kong.
Unfortunately the podcast is apparently not on a set schedule, because it sometimes will be weeks to a month at a time before iTunes picks up another show. Judging from the show, I think Steve and Harry actually have a full time job outside the radio studio at RTHK and they only do the show part time. But this is definitely a good show to keep in your podcatcher for a rainy day. I am providing a link at the end of this article for those who are interested in listening to the show, until next time! 再見 Joi gin!
