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Kilanz
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Name: Sky
Country: Hong Kong
Metro: Hong Kong
Birthday: 12/8/1983
Gender: Female
Interests: playing soccer in the rain, hanging out with friends, food, dancing, painting(s), a good laugh,sunny days, maroon and olive colours...brown bears.
Expertise: sleeping. its addictive.
Occupation: Administrative
Industry: Education/Research
Message: message meEmail: email me
AIM:  kiyanto
MSN: skyanz@hotmail.com
Member Since:
6/15/2005
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| When I went to the US, everything was new to me - the food, the
clothes, the way people pronounced the word "aluminum" instead of
"aluminium" and it was all just fascinating. Taylor of course enhanced
some of those new adventures and educated me not only in the culture of
western living, but in the culture of western relationships.
"Ring-downs" was always a favourite for the girls. It was a time
when one of the girls got engaged and there was a secret ceremony of
sorts to let the cat out of the bag to everyone. It was a time for
girly giggles and stories of the often sweet and sweeping
proposals. I remember feeling all giddy and unusually girly at my
first "ring-down"- still a freshman, still new at being a college
student and anxiously sitting there wondering if any of my future
friends would be telling us stories of how the diamond came to
be. 3 years later and I was a pro at attending ringdowns. Not
only did I know the girls who sat in the "special chair" gushing
romantic details, I particiapted in dozens of bridal showers, went to
many bachelorette parties, weddings and even became a bridesmaid! To
complete the whole experience, I had even begun to nurture a
nagging feeling of wanting to be in that special chair one day, telling
my story. I had finally become cultured.
Over on this side of the great divide, women in Asia are independent.
They are strong, confident and they dont get married until they are
almost in their 30's or older. Marriage isnt much about the romance
anymore, its more about practicality and timing. To announce that
you are engaged is the equivalent of the sending out of invitiations,
inviting not just your friends and family, but your parents and their
extended friends' families. Having a diamond isn't necessarily
the sign to your girlfriends that your man finally popped the question,
but its an accessory to a matching outfit, a fashion trend urged and
promoted by jewellery shops. Bridal showers are uncommon and rare
as are bachelorette parties and mostly the highlight of many
pre-wedding activities, would be for the bride and groom to-be to have
professional pictures taken in a variety of outfits and background
settings...It would be the perfect stiff-necked, wide smiles 8am to 8pm
date with your local photographer.
I'm not sure how I feel about the vast differences between the two, but
I have been told that a fusion is really the way to go. Besides,
there's no harm in believing in a practical AND romantic relationship. What's mixing a huge cost-efficient wedding with lots of layers of romance before, over and in it?
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| Most people when thinking of Hong Kong simply bring up the image of
skyscrapers, exotic lights and cheap fashion. Maybe electronics and
chinese food galore. A metropolitan mix of the east meeting west.
However, most people overlook the other side of it, the real side of HK
where tradition and cultural family views still run deep and affect
most of what people base their decisions on. Where there is dirt
and trash everywhere. Where relationships get complicated and triads
control communities using fear as a tool...
My parent's place that I lived in for the whole last year is situated
almost near the airport island, packed away in the mountains but still
overlooking the sea...there everything was very "hong kong" as my
friends here would say. There was no way you would ever hear a single
word of english and I could not find even a tiny packet of taco
seasoning (and usually you can find that at regular supermarkets...) In
any case, living there was really eye opening on understanding what it
meant to be in Hongkong without the hype of its 'internationalism'. Now
that i've started school, I've moved on the hong kong island side, or
what the gueilos *foreigners* would call the more 'happening' side of
town. It's been a different adjustment, and my roomate and I are living
quite near the sea, but in a neighbourhood where there are many people
and its just busy. I can't get over the fact that just on my street
there are two 7Elevens, Circle K's, a McDonald's, a Fairwood fastfood
and about 3 major bank branches. 
Its crazy. I feel a similar vibe of this area being hauntingly old and
yet at the same time, its evolving to fit the rest of the picture and
to blend in with the fast paced growth of selling HK to the outside
world as being an international city.
Tonight, Kare and I were putting the finishing touches to our new
apartment...we had gotten a bunch of things from IKEA (love that
store!) to complete our new home, but it had started raining and we had
no choice but to lug our stuff from the store to our street in the
rain. Because HK is so limited in space, some of the old
furniture that had been left in our house coudln't be just left outside
our door or in the lobby, it had to go to the district rubbish dump
about 3 streets away from us. So, around midnight, the two of us joined
the night rubbish street crew, borrowed an old lady's cart and moved
out pieces of random furniture out into the rain and to the dump. Phew
was that an adventure! It was a total disregard for traffic and lights  Apparently, rubbish carts rule at this time of the night in downtown Hong Kong!
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| Wow. I can't believe the last time I truly enjoyed and looked forward
to a class this much! I just got done with the summer course: Health
and Society taught by a guest professor from the Havard School of
Public Health and wow...that's really all I say. I wish that every
class to come this year would be like this, but I understand it really
is about what i put into the courses that determines how much I get out
of it. Doing detailed research on society and the causes of
malaria was just...i dont know. I've always wanted to be in the
profession of health care...and always thought I needed to be an MD,
nurse or PA to be able to do it, but now, the thought of being able to
prevent diseases before they come rather than saving lives AFTER they
become infected is so much more appealing and within my scope of
passion for health in this world. Perhaps its the globalization aspects
of it that really draw me to going out to communities where health
disparities grow subtlely but in such a widespread fashion or maybe its
just me, wanting to promote things from the bigger picture rather than
individual world views....thank you God for finally setting me
straight! I just pray that I will continue listening out for His
directions from here on...
Now i have two more weeks before school starts again! yay!
and I get to go to SG this weekend to watch Mike graduate from Officer
Cadet School! Yay for him! He's going to be Officer Lin! 
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|  So it has become a family tradition that each time we get together
after a year or two of being apart, we'd go on holiday somewhere in the
world. Lately, its been mostly in and around China, and last week, we
spent 5 days touring the southeastern part of China starting from the
coastal Hangzhou leisure city and then heading north through the
JiangSu province and finally ending up in Shanghai. It was a good time
to just relax, not worry about anything and just follow a group and the
tour guide with our meals provided for at the right times and a good
hotel to stay in when we got tired =) i like tours. the only downside
with these little trips is that you gotta go with the flow of a group
of strangers and sometimes, there is no flexibility...but its
definitely worth it!
The day after we got back, my new roommate and I went downtown HK and
did some serious apartment shopping!! At the end of the day, we found
the perfect apartment with a really good deal and lots of exciting
ideas to decorate and make it all homey =) I'm excited! I'm even more
excited to start school again.. although, i am a little baffled by the
weird class times.  seriously. My first class is on Sunday. in the afternoon. hmpghf.
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| I'm officially unemployed again....it feels weird to be in this state
of mind again, y'know the feeling where you have nothing to do, except
relax and do nothing?  Of course there are
things that I can be doing at this point, like apartment hunting,
tutoring, hanging out with the folks...but these are just all
unplanned, non-schedule like activities which dont motivate me as
much~! Not that I dont want to do them...i just dont have a deadline on
it, so i'm...all slothy and couch potatoey. bleah.
Last day of work was sad..had done alot of preparation for this
already, so I had pretty much gotten most of what i needed to pass on
done...but it felt a little surreal as well because events is such an
on-going thing, that my mind is still rolling with possibilites and
ideas...but then i have to check myself and say "aiight, no more.
you're moving onto something else..." I think that's always the hardest
thing to do. Especially with me having enjoyed it so so much. Anyways,
i'm rambling.
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Mags my gym partner and accountant extraordinaire
Yan, me and Ying drunk on water and melons
Bye bye party at the office...
I couldn't help it, but I was crying at the end of it all...my prayers
are with them. Alors, c'est la vie. Nous avons besoin
d'avancer
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