Catching up to current
Monday January 18th:
I'm playing a little catch-up and trying to get all my posts up to date. I'm about a week behind so here I go. Monday, Sammy and I tried to get her 6 month chinese visa. Unfortunately, I forgot to bring her passport and we ended up going to the CMA building office in Central. We ordered new simple business cards with our new HK numbers so people could contact us for jobs, interviews, etc... After lunch I went with Sammy to the Wan Chai Computer Centre to shop for phones. To my surprise, she purchased an HTC Hero before I even bought any electronics. So now, she has an HTC Hero and it's working pretty well. The evening was spent downloading applications and setting up the Hero.
Tuesday January 19th:
Tuesday morning, Sammy and I went to get her 6 month multi-entry chinese visa. It was a success this time around. The cost was around USD$140 but we didn't have to wait in line all day or fill out extra paperwork. Not bad if you want to save time. This week, I didn't carry around my camera that much since it totally did not occur to me that I would need to take pictures to blog. The evening was spent dancing at Grappa's where I requested to DJ the next week. Also an announcement was made that Sammy and I would be teaching classes on Thursday nights.
Wednesday January 20th:
Wow, it's all been a blur. I wish I could remember what I did on Wednesday but I seriously don't remember O_o.
Thursday January 21st:
Again, it's all a blur until classes at night. Sammy and I ended up being late for our first lesson due to traffic. We had to take the 49m bus from North Point to Tin Hau and King's Road was flooded with cars. We were about 10 minutes late but beginner class went well. I think I may have gone a little too quickly through the beginner material for some of the leads in the class but overall, it wasn't bad. For the advanced lindy class, it was all about swingouts and keeping good lines. I showed basic footwork and body positioning for the swingouts as well as drilled the swingouts closer together so people would be more aware of their space usage. This is a constant issue when social dancing here in Hong Kong so I figured the best way to get people aware of their space was to close them in. As time progresses, I think some of the students should try to take some beginner and intermediate classes to further hone their techniques. It's one of the things I did when I plateaued several years ago and went on a mad quest to refine and relearn. With Sammy and me as instructors in Hong Kong, I'm hoping to get people past their current plateaus and get them to dance with more awareness and some great technique. After teaching, we went to get dessert at a small local eatery.
Friday January 22nd:
Foie Burger!!!
We started our day late on Friday. We went to eat lunch at The Burger Room in Causeway Bay. The burgers there were AWESOME!!! I had a foie burger and Sammy had a double burger. These things were humongous. It was so yummy but we just couldn't finish it all. During lunch, we had a nice chat with our great friend and fellow dancer, Anna Reguero. Since Hong Kong cellular plans can include international minutes, we called her to chat about how things were with her and also to see if she would come to Hong Kong in the near future. If there is enough demand for West Coast Swing instruction in Hong Kong, Anna would be one of the best instructors I know to bring over since she's travelled to Asia before. After lunch, we promptly made it over to Time Warner offices in Tai Koo where Sammy had a job interview. After the interview, we went back home and hung out.
Saturday January 23rd:
Saturday afternoon was spent teaching beginner Balboa. I quickly figured out that optimal time for classes was not during the weekend. I should try to procure space at the studio during the week for balboa, fast lindy, and another course. The other thing I figured out was that during the weekend the studio and also the dance scene here would benefit more from 1-2 hour special workshops. Possibly for the 2nd semester, I could reschedule some things and get these changes in action. Beginner balboa went decently well and the 3 students we had were able to do balboa basics by the end of the class.
Sunday January 24th:
Today we had Performance Team practices. Basically we drilled the first 4 8s of the routine until our eyes started bleeding. Overall, this was a great practice and the hours we put in really helped with development of the students. Before, they couldn't do swingouts in unison but now, they can all do swingouts in unison with correct spacing. I believe that with more practice and a new choreographed routine, they may even be able to compete in international competitions. I have high hopes for them and I think that instructing the more advanced students will help bring more pride and more people to the swing dancing scene here. I'm certain that this team will drive forward and get more recognition into what the HKSwings community is doing.
Monday January 25th:
Lunch at the American Club today. Again, I wish I took pictures of the food. The Carpaccio was sickeningly sweet but the pork chop was cooked perfectly and had a great jus to it. I'll have to re-evaluate food more at certain restaurants and I think I now have a good eye for seeing restaurants as the businesses they are and how to differentiate between profit making operations and profit losing operations. Who knows, I may be the next Gordon Ramsay ^_^. Monday afternoon was spent getting Sammy's visa back with a fully approved 6 month multi-entry visa. Things are looking up. Maybe a trip to Shen Zhen next Friday maybe? Monday night was spent relaxing at home.
Tuesday January 26th:
Phillipe and Gwelie dancing his Birthday Jam
Phillipe and Mel dancing his birthday jam
We had a leisurely lunch at Simply Life in the IFC Mall and then stopped off at Causeway Bay to do some window shopping in Sogo and some small shops while the traffic was light. Tuesday night was spent DJing the night away at Grappa's where we got a lot of feedback on our music. It seems like everyone liked the music and it was instantaneously recognized as something new and different. We had a lot of people stay until the end where we wrapped things up around 11:30pm. Definitely a great night for us.
Wednesday January 27th:
I'm sitting at home trying to be productive and currently blogging the entire last week. It's been an interesting 2 weeks so far and we are in our 3rd week in Hong Kong without jobs right now. We ordered McDonalds today to try out some of their stuff. McDonalds in Hong Kong is different. Sammy and I had Double Wasabi Fillet O' Fishes with fries, apple pie, and a coke. Not only is McDonalds obligated to deliver your meal to you in Hong Kong, but they also serve really good food. The Double Wasabi Fillet O' Fish was essentially a double Fillet O' Fish with a creamy wasabi mayo. It was really yummy and the wasabi mayo really cleared out my sinuses. The fries are just like the american ones except smaller in size. The apple pie is different too. The apple pie has the same filling as the american apple pie but the crust is a thin, extra-crispy crust that encases the molten apple filling. So far, that's all we have done today since we slept in due to lack of sleep.