City of Plenty

Have you ever had the epiphany one day that you were not living life anymore and that you were just going through the motions?

This happened to me this past Aug. I was at home in my latest home and I realized that I had moved into this home almost a year ago which made me think about what I had accomplished that past year. Turns out, I had been working a whole lot and not much more than that. As we all know, the economy in the past two years had changed and of course I was one of the only people who resigned, not from just one position but two. Both of which I was asked to stay, but at the time it didn't seem to make sense, nor were they what I wanted. I was asked to move from the design department to Sales. Thought it was time to make some changes and push myself to grow some more, so I asked myself "why not??!!". Turns out, I have ethics and a conscience which doesn't prove to be all that helpful in a slowing housing market where everyone is trying to make a living. I fared well enough even in the slowing market and was asked to stay but it just wasn't my cup of tea. I then thought being a broker would be a good idea, I could always do this at home as well which again I thought was a great idea. I like numbers, and there are plenty of people to work with, it's not that underhanded of an industry. Got my license and liked it well enough, but just wasn't the stimulation I was looking for either. I know, I know....

So hence the epiphany, and I thought for kicks, I'll list my house thinking in this market I'll have a few months to plan something. Well in 17 days I sold my home and in two weeks they wanted possession. I guess something was telling me NOW is the time to go and travel, I've always talked about it and everything lined up perfectly. I sold and gave away everything I had, (all my furniture that filled a 2000 sq. ft. home) in the same two weeks, and have minimized my life to about 15 boxes, mainly consisting of filing boxes.

That's the epiphany I had.

I realized I was chasing money, and I had always hated being that materialistic person, the one who always had to keep up with the Jones'. I had nice things, a nice home, a nice little audi to drive but what happiness did it provide me? I was in a position that didn't fit my needs of career growth, and was dating a guy (for far too long) that I thought I could grow to love. Don't get me wrong, he was a great guy, just not a great guy for me, there IS a difference! What was I doing?? A whole year of my life had passed, and what 'fun' had I had? People would ask what I do for fun, and other than the one night a week volleyball league I was in which was the highlight of my week, I wasn't having fun. I don't recall having hobbies or interests anymore other than reading finance books, how the housing market was slowly recovering, and learning new ways to market myself and network. FUN I know!

I thought HOW did I turn into this person? What happened? Have I been TOO money oriented and forgot that life is supposed to be about living..not living to work?! If I continued down this path I was going to be miserable. So I sold everything and decided it was time for a long sabbatical. I wasn't happy where I was living and thought why make a decision on where I was going to live for the next 10 years based solely on only what I've experienced. Let's pack things up, travel THEN decide where I wanted to live. I called my ever supportive and loving brother about my changes and he asked "are you going through a pre-mid life crisis". I LOVE my brother...LOL. I do plan on living past 66 so I'm thinking it's definitely not that. I like to think that I'm crossing off items on my bucket list. I stopped for a year so I might as well get that year back and go full speed ahead.

Ok - so fast forward to today - Jan 7th 2010 and I'm here in Hong Kong. I left everything behind as of Oct 1st 2009, went to visit my wonderful brother and then my family and stayed with some amazing friends in San Fran before I came here. Let's just say SF was great and right now it's my top choice of places to grow roots when I'm finished. You'll have to purchase my book to read about the beginning of my journey, once I finish writing it AND have it published. Next on my bucket list!

I've labeled this the "Journey to a smiling heart" as I felt these past two years for myself just hasn't made me smile inside. The big grin you get inside when you're immensely happy. You know the one I'm talking about. I don't know if it was a compilation of everything, job, place of residence, and relationship that took a toll but I had to make changes. I've heard courageous, brave and all other adjectives of that nature but to live the life I had been, simply putting one foot in front of the other, not living, would be more courageous than to move forward and grow. I just couldn't be THAT person. I found success in my career and now was the time to find and foster the other side of that and find a balance in the end. The nail in the coffin was in having lunch with a friend, he just had his third daughter and we were talking about family, I mentioned I would love to start one sooner than later, and he looked at me with this puzzled look on his face. I asked him what he was thinking and he said to me...I never thought you'd be one to want to stay at home with kids. OK time to find the happy median.

That was me a few months ago.

Hong Kong is a juxtaposition of old and new, rural and urban. I'm sure a few of you have been here, maybe even more than just a few, and you can understand what I mean. I love how they are such geniuses as saving space. Walking down any street here and one glance at the buildings/architecture and you'll know exactly what I mean. There are so many old, almost decrepit buildings with laundry hanging out the windows amongst huge towering new building covered in metal and glass. It's incredible. If they can't build out, they'll build up. We are geniuses I know! Ha ha. I love the character it brings. You get a little bit of everything when you come here. It's still a culture shock to me every time I come, and I've been here 14 times now. It's this huge city with bits of shi shi amongst old school, nothing similar to anything else I've experienced. Of course I haven't experienced that much hence the year long trip! It's definitely a place of abundance. If you love shopping, eating, drinking and people watching this is your place. There are wafts of fresh bread and buns around every corner. There are people everywhere, and a bargain is to be had everywhere you go. It's ridiculously inexpensive here when you're used to paying a lot more for the same items back in Canada. This is also definitely a place where you will ever be hungry...as long as your adventurous! Don't get me wrong there are still things I certainly don't try or eat either!!!

I was at the IFC mall today, (International Finance Center), one of the more shi shi places to go. Met my cousin for a delicious, spicy - not a tongue numbing spicy, but more of a tart spicy, warm bowl of rice noodles not far from the mall. She and her husband love this little joint and go all the time. For about $4.50 you get this giant bowl (ok giant for me, which is still pretty big) filled with noodles, some veggies, meat of your choice - I had pork which was ridiculously tender, and some bean curd AND a drink was included in that price. What I have never ed experienced before today either was waiting for a table. Not your traditional waiting at the front where the host/hostess takes your name and you wait, you choose a table whom looks like they are almost finished and you stand beside their table waiting/hovering until they finish. When in Rome... there isn't a waiter/waitress, only someone who goes around after your finished to collect your bowl and cleans the table. It really is about getting what you paid for. You pick up your bowl of noodles at an opening attached to the kitchen and bring it back to your table yourself. When you're done you leave it for someone else to pick up. Ok, so there isn't a maitre D with white gloves and a bow tie in a suit seating you but it sure was delicious.

My cousin had to go back to work so I ended up heading to the shi shi mall only a few blocks away to kill an afternoon. How malls work here is the higher up you go the more expensive the stores are. Three story building, with Zara on the bottom, Prada in the middle and some ridiculously expensive stores at the top. We're talking $1500 for a pair of flip flops. Albeit they were nice flip flops!! This has been quite the shopping experience for me already. One would think being in HK where they make things my size you would think I'd have no problem finding things that fit me. I've always hated shopping due to the fact that I always had to hem, fix or tailor all the clothes I buy and rarely could I ever wear off the rack. Yeah, not so much, turns out everyone here is my size therefore there are no more sizes left in my size! To top it all off, being that I'm traveling for a year and on a budget, a budget that really doesn't allot funds for shopping, I've had to pass up shoes/clothes that I normally wouldn't have to think twice about purchasing. I was spoiled I know. But c'mon if YOU found a really HOT pair of shoes/jeans/dress you didn't have to alter and it fit like a glove you would splurge too, although these recent years far more than I should have. If you know me, you know I love shoes, so needless to say it's a fairly extensive collection. Don't get me wrong, I don't have Jimmy Choo's or La Boutin shoes (yet) but I do have a nice collection, which I miss more than a normal person should. It was a pretty big decision to not bring any heels on this trip. I know who am I??!!! LOL.

It's taken me awhile to unwind from this whole not working thing, but I think I've started to finally enjoy. After some extensive window shopping I grabbed a glass of wine, it was 4:30 after all, and a blueberry flaky crust desert thingy and sat in the little cafe along the large glass window staring out at the pier watching the boats and ferry's crossing from one side to the other. It was a bit smoggy out today as it usually is here with the immense amount of people and pollution, but it was nice and relaxing. Had the ipod on, pumping some tunes and enjoying life as it should be. I even took a walk down to the pier and picked up a news paper, financial news, I felt out of touch and couldn't succumb to the smut, and really enjoyed myself. This is what life should be about....enjoying.

Alright, now you have the background of how I got to where I am the next blogs will be shorter. Figures why I'm good at sales, I like to talk...I have had the comments that I write a lot. That's the start of my trip, and I'm beginning to love it....