Kick-start my heart Part I

She searched the entire city I let her explore/ And now she’s sayin’ she’s more lonely than every before – Aubrey Drake Graham, Fireworks

PART ONE of TWO in my magical, fantastical journey into Hong Kong

The first few days of a holiday is like waking from a nonsensical dream. There’s a series of events, but you don’t really know how you got to where you are in the first place – only snippets of it. I can’t remember much about the flight-in. See, the only thing I could remember was this bad joke I made about a well placed and meaningful airport sign (see, caption below) – everything else is a blur, which makes me retelling this narrative awfully convenient.

Hey, what did Ahmed say to - oh no! STOP! NO! YOU CAN'T...

It is my first holiday in six years and I must admit, Hong Kong hasn’t changed much. The moment you get out of the airport, you are greeted with Chinese people. A lot of them. Seeing Asians in flu masks like a fashion trend can be slightly disturbing to some, but it’s an afterthought to me.

Neon signs hang off sides of buildings, and the streets are always crowded with bustling people. Billboards shouting out brand names; Cartier, Hermes, Rolex etc, plaster the streets with robust, doctored faces of celebrities – Western and Asian alike endorsing them. Some of these billboard-plastered buildings are vined by cheap, decaying bamboo just to add to the irony. As if that wasn’t enough, buses, and trams are decorated with even more brands and slogans.

The whole nation is dictating what to buy, right to your face, whether you can afford it or not. I feel like such a country bumpkin.

But this place is incredibly pretty, I have to say. I’m going to dedicate the rest of this post to pretty snippets of pictures I’ve taken. As much as I love wordly paragraphs as the next writer wannabe, this fortnight’s going to have some literary downtime.

A gigantic cruiser, in the middle of the street, turned into a shopping mall

If imitation was the greatest form of flattery, then I'll have to say NEEEWW YAWWWKKK

Concrete jungle where dreams are made of?

These lights will inspiiire youuu

This was just outside the place I was staying at. Apparently it's a quieter part of Hong Kong, too.

As you can see, my photography is nowhere near as great as my writing skills, and I was equipped with just a phone camera. With 12 megapixels, but sadly just a phone camera nonetheless.

Moral of the story: Hong Kong is a shiny place.

Also, don’t forget to check out Project Popeye to laugh at all the bland food I am eating to prepare myself for my Thailand Kickboxing trip at the end of the year.

Sing with me, sing for the year/Sing for the laughter, sing for the tears

A person’s success in life can usually be measured by the number of uncomfortable conversations he or she is willing to have – Tim Ferriss, The 4 Hour Work Week

A highlight reel of January 2011 – Dedicated to Future Peter

That's 46kgs of luggage from Hong Kong to Sydney. Booyeah.

It’s New Years Day, and I’m on the last leg of my Hong Kong trip. I know when I get back home I’ll be brimming with inspiration and a new direction of life. But at that point, I was quite fatigued and shopped out.

Fast forward to the middle of January and I’m spending a whole week seeing one of my best-est broes (I’m a writer. I write however I please) heading off to Queensland to study medicine for four years. I realise I have this inability to internalise unresolved attachment issues to people.

Blink through another week and I’m at the Enmore Theatre in Newtown. The 1920’s art deco style of the Enmore makes home for Lupe Fiasco – one of my favorite rap artists of all time. I thank God that I was made like a handsome, hairless hobbit that allows me to worm my way into the front row behind the metal divider.

A rapper caught in a rockstar pose. Because Lupe pulls it off

It was one of the most intimate concerts I’ve been to. He has literally an unlimited amount of energy that amps up as the show goes on. Youtube videos will be uploaded soon.

Jump to to early February and I’m having a very uncomfortable conversation to my manager. I’m going to quit the job I’ve had for five years now. Farewell. Adieu. What I imagined was far worse than what had happened. Relief.

This is when I realise what I’ve been holding on for so long was just a crutch for me. Now I don’t have to worry about financial stability because I am not earning much but I’ve never felt more wealthy, because my wealth comes from time. Like my bro living in Queensland now, I am not confined to live a reality that does not have my dreams in it.

However, I am as poor as Oliver Twist, and I cannot survive alone on unhealthy peasant food, especially if I want to continue my other dream of being a cage-fighter. I plan a disciplined diet that involves eating a strategic amount of proteins, fats and healthy carbohydrates. My staple food become canned beans and spinach.

Follow Project Popeye here. Technically, it’s still peasant food.

Sometimes we just have to let go of our inhibitions to drive through to what we really want in life. It’s gonna involve a lot of hard work, self-discipline, and taking risks. Let’s take this gentleman for example:

I meant the 50 Cent doppelganger.

As the little-known drummer for Lupe’s little-known supporting act, he wasted no time after his set to join the crowd. As the most famous person on the floor allowed him countless vanity pictures – and picked up two African chicks he so blatantly gamed on. Well played.

Moral of the story is. You never know until you try.