852

So today marks my one year of being in Hong Kong to mark this day I thought I'll pop onto blogger to answer and share a few questions people have asked me over the year about life and experiences here - as per usual non too personal.

Going to another country for a 'longer-than-a-holiday" time period.
My first advice would be, prepare everything and give yourself enough time to. I left myself about a fortnight to get my act together and prepare myself to go somewhere in which I won't easily return for a period of time that I wasn't sure of (to answer questions - I'm still unsure of how long that will be). Now in terms of preparing yourself this breaks down into a lot of categories;

Emotional preparation is key as you need to accept that you won't be back for a long time, I spent a good chunk of my time in the UK visiting family and friends dear to me as I never knew when I would see them again, even to this day it breaks my heart about how I selfishly moved away, so before making the decision of moving for a long time ask yourself seriously if it's really what you want.

Financial preparation, this is standard procedure, ensure you have enough to last you and ensure that you have a safety to enable you to go back to where you started. After all if it's hard for you to leave, you don't want to have the mistake of not being able to return should you want and/or need to. Tying up loose ends is also a good thing to do, ensure you have enough left over to pay any outstanding direct debits should you find yourself tied to contracts, I know this maybe an obvious point but sometimes it's the most obvious that you'll leave out. This also goes across the board for any contracts/legal documents/business related issues, make sure that they're all cleared for you to leave for whatever the time period it is that you're going for, it's a bigger hassle trying to organise such important issues across different timezones (not to mention being on hold for hours whilst paying an overseas surcharge)

Belongings preparation, pack things to remind you of where you came from, things that you hold dear to your heart. At the same time you can't take everything so you need to think wisely about this. You'd want to go out and pick up a few things (backups) of items you can't live without especially if they're not easily accessible where you're going to. The worst thing you want to do is be in a panic situation and not have a clue where to find these items, neither if the products from the foreign companies are trustworthy, different countries have different consumer standards so if it's important than stock up on things that you trust and know.

Physical preparation, like my last point, if you have any health issues you'd want to go get medication and check up in a hospital and/or with a doctor you know and trust, foreign countries also have different health standards and systems in which you may not be familiar with. Dependant on where you'll be travelling to there could be health issues you may need to be assessed for, including vaccinations should you need any - after all if you're planning on staying for a long time you would want to make sure you'll still be alive when you come back (touchwood).

Attitude preparation, just because you've spent a long time in one country and things work well for you it doesn't go to say that they will all work smoothly in another, keep an open and positive mind, stay curious, and of course be humble. After all you are part of the minority now, you should learn to adapt to their culture, I'm not saying you should become one of them, but look past the negative sides of the cultures and embrace the positives they have to offer - you chose to go to the country for a reason didn't you? So don't focus on the negativities, it'll make you homesick and you'll only begin to question your own decision which isn't a good road to go down. Friendliness is key, building a contact base of locals in which will provide you with advice and invaluable knowledge of the area, social skills within reason are essential here.

Little London
Or some of you may refer it to being Hong Kong, this place is rather comparable to London in terms of convenience, in which allows you to be a stones throw away from society, there's a wide variety for food and activities to suit any liking. Lifestyle really does boil down to mentality in which you have the choice to do what you want so long as you feel like it, which in different peoples eyes can be either positives or negatives, it's hot and humid here from time to time, it can also get really chilly, so adapting to climate change and processed air would be essential here, learning to air out your washing properly to avoid the horrifying damp smell as well as finding the perfect deodorant for yourself, tweaking everyday routines and healthcare for climate changes is a minor adaption.

Home
They say your heart is where your home is, in which inevitably is true. Home is within the memories and experiences that we have created and engraved into our hearts. As it has become something we know well it's where we feel at ease, in which is why we feel at 'home'. This doesn't necessarily mean that it is down to the precise neighbourhood you grew up in, because as time goes on the people and the area changes and it wouldn't be the same as you remembered. So home to me, is within my heart, and that will never leave me.

I believe I've covered most topics aside from the touristy questions, but that's all down to individual preferences and tastes so I won't cover that here.

Who knows where I'll be next

with love,

k x

forever and ever

Do you know what's beautiful? Every person you meet is essentially a one life stand. You'll only meet someone for the first time once, ever - what you do from there is up to both of you. But that first encounter, that initial moment, is once in a lifetime.

enjoy appreciating every person you've encountered!

it's a short one today.

k x

I know you're somewhere out there

There's only one issue with moving far away that has become quite a topic lately, now I don't know about yourself but I'm not the best at keeping in contact with people, least to say any kind of long distant relationship isn't ideal. Needless to say I keep to myself alot in which if it doesn't need sharing I won't bring it up, day to day banter and that.

What I'm trying to project in this little exerpt of my blog is that you shouldn't be afraid of distance and 'growing apart'. I have a good handful of people, about 6000 miles away from me now, that I will keep deep in my heart - even years from now. Because with them, I carry some of the best memories of my life. In fact, this can apply to every person that you'd come into contact within life in which at any point you'd grown close to, because people in fact do change, feelings will change, but what will change is what you've already experienced together. That, exactly that, would be why they would be in your heart forever regardless the distance.

Dear _____, if we (dont) ever see each other again. Know in your heart, that you're in mine eternally x

k

the lights will keep changing

Ok, so there are various issues swimming around my head right now so do forgive me if the message is unclear, but they all seem intertwined in one way or other.

So far in my short life, one main thing that I have grown to know is that we are always students, life has a funny way of always giving us new lessons to learn. At any point in your life when you think you know it all, I'm afraid that a lot of us - even at the end of our lives, still haven't learnt it all, possibly some learn more than others, and at times you may be fortunate enough to not have to go through issues that others had to.

However, these lessons may not necessarily have to be a hard time to go through, looking back at the past recently I found myself just smiling, I truly believe that it's not because I've only been looking back and forgotten about the bad times. However as time has passed and allowed me to think it over, I had learnt to accept that all events in my life have in fact happened, and regardless the outcome I am where I'm standing now regardless of the emotional ups and downs. Even if you're going through a tough time now, cheesy as this may sound but even when they say life is short, they only mean it because no matter what emotions you feel at this point, time will only keep rolling and pass you by, and time wasted on looking back bitterly you'll only miss what may be infront of you.

To be honest with all 'issues', I had learnt that there are no right nor wrong answers to things, just the way of thinking. So if you aren't happy about something, try change your perspective and soon you will see that things aren't in fact as bad as you may think they are. So there you have it boys and girls, my secret to be happy - acceptance.

smile, k x

summer ombre

Hey guys and dolls, it's been a while that I've blogged anything remotely beauty related so I went and did my huuur for the summer! Got me some pre-lightener kits from my good ol relly who came to stay for a lil while - cheers for that! So here's the stuff and how I did it!

lekit

Wrapped tips in tin foil 20 mins from root to..where ever that it... 3 inches below my chin?

Then after that I applied it to up to my chin for another 25 minutes and voila! Loving this look for my summer hair.. and that's all I have time for folks!

kx

peculiar

Recently not only have I been asking myself these questions but I hear a few people have been asking these questions too, either about myself or the people surrounding me. Questions about defining yourself.

There are multiple ways of tackling this, however we spend almost all our lives attempting to define ourselves, how people view us and how we want to be seen ourselves (ideal ego and ego ideal malarkey). However at the end of the day we will never find the answer, we are evidently who we are.

The older I get the more I find that characteristics are just ideologies made up to create certain statistics about one another; but to one person the level or meaning of those characteristics can be vastly comparable to another's definition of it.

For a while I fell into the trap and began questioning who I was, where I was headed and what I wanted and kept falling into the loop that I knew I don't know and never will. Which is when it hit me, who says I need to define myself? Who says that I should need and have to know what I want or what I want to do with myself? They say without focus there is no life but I say I'm just enjoying life. You could say I'm reckless and immature for thinking this way, but then again... When did it matter what you nor I think?

peace, k x

for him.

I've come across a little brainwave recently that men, in fact, put a darn lot more into things than us women give them credit for.

Ok, I understand that we're the ones who will 'loose' out on the most should anything happen, reproductively therefore would like to be respected and treated better. But where is the line?

Ask yourself ladies, for everything you expect from a guy - would you really do it for him? Would you sit and think out and plan a perfect date for him, really listen and care about the things he talks to you about, monitor his every move and habits. It just seems that a lot of the time us women expect a guy to do all of these things yet unknowingly do nothing at all.

Appreciate him a little more ladies, if he's even putting any effort in at all, make sure it's appreciated, because it's probably that little more effort than you're doing.

k x

Put them to bed.

Chivalry, is this a dying concept? I'm not sure whether I'm a kid who grew up in the 90's listening to cheesy pop and stories of fairy tales and listening to sweet nothings, growing up like a naive fool.

Is it wrong to want a love that has true emotion and not like the other brainwashed materialistic kids one the streets these days?

I'm not sure if it's just me anymore, but one thing that really catches my attention in a guy is his chivalry, it's such a rare thing these days that if you ever do come across a gentleman ladies, don't take him for granted.

Guys: pull out her chair, open her door, tell her she's beautiful, be a sir, she'll love you for it.

k x