Hong Kong – Not The Same, Still Exciting

It's incredible how friends can make a place to be somewhere great and fun or not-so-good. Study abroad and my exchange year in Hong Kong was incredible due to friends, to people that I met and created the great and fun environment that once was around here. Now that I'm here again without most of you around, things have changed. Walking pass CityU Hong Kong isn't the same. Trying to meet friends for food and late night talks isn't the same. Hong Kong isn't the same. Anymore.

My Insight to Art — Reiko Muranaga

I've always been curious when it comes to careers and hobbies. And most of the times curiosity leads to fresh and interesting conversations like the one I had a couple of weeks ago when I had the opportunity to meet Reiko Muranaga, a San Francisco Traditional Oil Painter.

30 Days of Running

San Francisco State – Final Semester

One week of break (not really) and university life has begun, again. As I approach this semester, my last semester at San Francisco State as a college student, I've come to realize how much I've personally grown throughout college and how each one of my goals set years ago have been seen accomplished little by little.

30 Days of Running + Trail Running

As some of you guys might know, I've set up a running challenge to myself of running 30 consecutive days for at least 3 miles every time. It's mainly to keep myself active and create a habit. I've run 13 days out of 30 as of today and it's been difficult during somedays; however,  I believe we shouldn't have excuses to get ourselves out there and do at least 30 minutes of exercises in a daily basis – called it weight lifting, yoga, power walking, TRX, running or something else. In the end, it's all for yourself and your loved ones.

San Francisco Street Food Festival

After five intensive weeks of summer courses, there are few things better than catching up with great people over a nice meal; especially if the street food festival is happening in San Francisco during the weekend.

Accidents Happen, But Don't Run Away From Them

Yesterday night, Wednesday July 23rd, 2014, at 10:20pm in San Francisco I got into a car accident. Yes. It was a car accident, but don't worry, I am just fine. It was a minor accident; one of those that happen daily.

Relaxing at Oyster Farm + BBQing

Last weekend before going back to school for some hardcore work... things cannot be more exciting than driving through California Highway 1 towards Marshall – north. If you know what I'm talking about, you've probably experienced the many curves and narrow roads Highway 1 offers, yet enjoyed the fresh and yummy oysters from Tomales Bay Oyster Company. 

What a nice place to spend some time out of town and relax a bit barbecuing!

Life in San Francisco

Coming back to San Francisco has been awesome. This city has something special that makes me feel good in every sense; although life here feels slower than in Hong Kong, it's still exciting. My dreams' list is quite full and I'll work on them during my stay in San Francisco, and I'm willing to work hard for them.

Hong Kong #27: Study Abroad Finale

We all started this journey studying abroad in Hong Kong knowing for sure that this time will come sooner or later; yes, we all knew there would be an end in this once in a lifetime adventure.

Seoul, South Korea. Day VI*

Last day here in Seoul. Everything has been awesome and cool, especially traveling with Nelson because he's been here before and that helped not getting lost while visiting places. Since today is his flight day and my last day, we decided to chill a little and just walk around places near the hotel in Hyehwa. It's indeed a nice place to stay because the location offers almost all you need, from clothing and cosmetics to restaurants and coffee shops.

Seoul, South Korea. Day V*

It's been a long day walking and exploring places such as the YG Entertainment building, Seoul World Cup Stadium, Gyeongbok-gung Palace, Myeongdong, and Insadong.

The YG Entertainment building is a special place where young potential talents in the artistic area are trained for years before their debut. Some Famous Korean stars that have trained in this building are PSY, 2NE1, and Big Bang. I'm not into Korean music, but Nelson was excited to check this place out; and was also expecting to see a K-Star; too bad we couldn't. 

Seoul, South Korea. Day IV*

Traveling without knowing how local people live and behave culturally is just to become a tourist.

We decided to head over to Gangnam –the place from the song "Gangnam Style", and check out how lifestyle is over there. No real surprises since we found out quite many plastic surgery clinics as well as most of the girls had "some" work done. To be honest, it was a little bit uncomfortable when we went for coffee around Gangnam and most people, including some guys, had some kind of plastic surgery done. I mean, girls look good, but in the inside you know it's not real. And that's a little turned off, at least in my case. I like the real thing, the real you.

Seoul, South Korea. Day III*

Waking up quite tired because you spent all day outside although you're supposed to relax while traveling. That's what happened during my third day in Seoul. But it was and is worth it.

Seoul, South Korea. Day II*

A long day is meant to be finished with a relaxing chat time leaning on the sofa.

Long story short is that my friend Nelson arrived from Hong Kong early this morning, and then we explored Dongdaemun the whole afternoon. First, we went to exchange some money because good rates are in Dongdaemun, according to Nelson. This happened to be real true cuz the rate was close to the official exchange rate. Later after this, we headed out for some food... It was really good.

Seoul, South Korea. Day I*

Booking an early morning flight isn't often the most convenient thing to do, but sometimes you just do things.

My flight to Seoul happened to be at 7am, which meant that I had to be at the airport before 6am if I really wanted to catch the flight. For my convenience, Hong Kong public transportation gets you everywhere you need to go at any time. I caught the overnight bus N29 at 350am sharp and made it safely, on time. However, for me to do so, I had to remain awake the entire night, otherwise I know I wouldn't have made it. I've been accumulating lots of hours without quality of sleep due to final exams and trying to catch up with all my closest friends before leaving Hong Kong for good.

Hong Kong #26: Happy Mother's Day!

Today I went to the famous Flowers Market at Mong Kok to choose the perfect flowers for my Mamá.

The place was beautiful for its great variety of flowers, colors, and smells surrounding the area. I wanted to make this day special for her because I know how hard she and all the moms around the world work everyday to bring their children not only daily food, but also unconditional love, support, and hope.

Hong Kong #25: 10,000 Buddhas Monastery

It was a few weeks when my British friends and I, commonly known as BRITCH, decided to take a day to visit the 10,000 Buddhas Monastery located in Sha Tin, New Territories.

Hong Kong #24: Lion Rock Hike

It's been a long time since I've hiked and since I've mentioned I'd hike Lion Rock in Hong Kong before the study abroad adventure finishes.

Hong Kong #23: CityU Football Tournament

This week we played an amazing football tournament in which 6 teams participated with players from all over the world. Although I twisted my ankle and it's now sprained, the tournament was a huge success. Our team, formed with exchange students from last semester, won 3 games, tied 1, and lost 1, and finished in the 2nd position, just 1 point behind the champion.

Hong Kong #22: Shenzhen + Guangzhou + Jiangmen.

Finally I've got some time to sit down and blog about my last weekend 3 days 3 cities backpacking trip through Shenzhen, Guangzhou, and Jiangmen.

For those of you who don't know about these three cities, they're just hours away from Hong Kong by road. The route from Hong Kong to Shenzhen is about one hour in MTR; from Shenzhen to Guangzhou is roughly two hours in bus; and from Guangzhou to Jiangmen is a little bit over two hours. Well, this is the path I followed...

Hong Kong #21: Football. Jo's Birthday. Shek O Beach.

 http://www.rchrdchn.com/rich-blog/hong-kong-21

"A lot of small people, in small places, doing small things, can change the world."

“Mucha gente pequeña, en lugares pequeños, haciendo cosas pequeñas, puede cambiar el mundo.”

– Eduardo Galeano

Hong Kong #20: Venezuela*

Have you been checking out the news recently? If so, you might have noticed the protests going on in Ukraine. But, have you realized that there are protests also going on in Venezuela right now? Maybe not so much. Why? This is because of the government's censorship on the national and some international media. We, the Venezuelan people, only have social media such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to express our ideas, to report the current situation, and to spread the news on what's happening in the country's protests.

Hong Kong #19: Hong Kong Marathon.

Running and finishing my 4th marathon today, The Hong Kong Marathon, was gratifying As well as enjoyable.

I barely slept tonight, not because of the emotion or excitement of running another 26.2 miles / 42 kilometers, but rather for the lack of tiredness. However, I still slept some hours which gave me enough energy to feel great throughout the entire course.

Hong Kong #18: #TheReturn + Stanley.

The best thing study abroad does is to leave you amazing friends in life.

Hong Kong #17: InstaMeet HK + Shek Kip Mei.

InstaMeet Hong Kong - Taken by @LiElaine

InstaMeet Hong Kong happened this weekend as most events that happen during my weekend life, unexpected.

InstaMeet Hong Kong.

Although it was unexpected, it was a really awesome experience meeting up with so many Instagram enthusiastic users and chatting with some of them about photography and social media, which is something I'm more than passionate about. Throughout some of yesterday's chats, I realized and was surprising how serious some of these mates take Instagram. For some of us it might be just one more social media in which we enjoy sharing moments of our lives through photos, but for others it's a serious business and dedicate that extra amount of time to edit their photos with different smartphone applications and sometimes being rather perfectionist.

Hong Kong #16: Backpacking > Thailand. Cambodia. Vietnam. + Trip xVideo!

Bangkok, Thailand.

Staying one day in this big "Hangover" city would never be recommended. However, plans are meant to be followed sometimes. As we arrived during December 21st, we encountered a city that is still developing, where cars have no respect for pedestrians whatsoever, as in most third world countries.