The king of cities! I have dreamed of living in Hong Kong since I was very little. Watching all those Kung Fu movies influenced greatly as a kid. Whenever I felt bad, I would just close my eyes, and my imagination would take me to the streets of Hong Kong. 

I don’t know if I accomplished this, but I really wanted the video to be an inspiration to people. I want people from Hong Kong to watch it and be proud of their incredible home! I want people who have never been to Hong Kong to see this video, and be filled with wonder and excitement just like I was as a kid. That is a powerful feeling that changed my life. I hope that Hong Kong can inspire others the way it has inspired me. I filmed some blogs along the way, but the final video can be found here: https://youtu.be/bSqUIt0zGeA
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This was my Hong Kong adventure!

Avenue of Stars
One of the biggest challenges I faced in Hong Kong was shooting scenes with no people. This is a huge city that is densely populated. Finding a second to film anywhere is a challenge, let alone at the most popular tourist destinations! 

I came to the Avenue of Stars 6 times in order to get this shot. Each time I arrived before the sun came up, and each time, this place was packed by sunrise. Runners and joggers were there even before the sun came up. Getting this shot was absurd, but I couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful day. As difficult as it was at the time, I enjoyed the challenge. 

Also, it is difficult to tell, but I started this video in front of Jackie Chan’s star. He is not very popular in Hong Kong at the moment, but his movies influenced me a lot, and I am very grateful towards him and the work he has done. This location in particular is one of the busiest places on the Avenue of Stars. 

Big Buddha
The world's largest sitting Buddha statue can be found at the Po Lin Monastery here in Hong Kong. The statue is 34 meters tall and weighs over 250 tons! I enjoy this statue because you cannot grasp just how large it is until you make the hike to the top of the mountain. In fact, I thought it looked pretty small when I first saw it, but as I walked up the stairs to the base of the statue I began to see how truly grand it was. Although it is also beautiful when covered in fog, I wanted to catch a day that you could see the statue clearly from below. One day there was really bad weather all day. However, at about 4pm, it started to clear up. I rushed to the Monastery, and filmed. It worked out really well because there were not too many tourists due to the initially poor weather. I love reading from the Dhammapada at Tian Tan:

“Conquer anger with loving-kindness. Conquer wickedness with goodness. Conquer selfishness with generosity. Conquer dishonesty with truth.” - Words to live by.

Causeway Bay
Hong Kong’s Times Square! This place is almost always packed. Located in the center of Causeway Bay, Times Square is a great place to grab something to eat, shop, or just walk around. This entire area is ranked as the world’s most expensive place to rent. It has beat New York City since 2012. After living in Hong Kong, I feel like every apartment I move into is like a mansion! I like the feeling of Causeway Bay; constantly pulsating with energy.

Escalator
The mid-levels escalator was pretty to easy to film, I just had to wake up early enough to catch a moment where I wouldn’t disturb people. The escalator and walkway system in Hong Kong is the longest outdoor covered escalator system in the world. At first I wanted to film on the top of the escalator’s roof, but if I stepped off that rail, I might have broken through the floor >< So I got down from there…Surprisingly, nobody yelled at me for being up there. 

Golden Bauhinia
The Golden Bauhinia in HongKong is a special place for me. I would often run from Sheung Wan to this statue and back. This statue symbolizes the half-way point for me. Once I get half-way, nothing can stop me from getting back. I complete the run, or I don't make it home.

Kind of like when I travel. It is funny to see the look on people's faces when I tell them what I am doing. The look of disbelief in people's eyes is always the same. For the first 10 to 20% of my journey people all look at me like I will never finish it. But after I past the 50% mark, most people's eyes tell a different story.

This is the same flower as the one on Hong Kong’s flag.

Jade Market
I filmed twice at the Jade market. I shot for about an hour in one row with no people. I finally got the shot I wanted, started to pack up and walk out, when I passed this row. I don’t know why, but I really liked it. I liked the people in the shot. I think for the first time ever…haha…

I asked if I could film, set up my camera, and asked them to ignore me. There is something so nice about this scene. I really liked it. The guy in the pink shirt seems so serious, but in reality, he was so funny and kind. 

Never judge a book by it’s cover, right?

Lan Kwai Fong
Hong Kong is known for it’s night scene, and nowhere is more famous than Lan Kwai Fong. It’s funny, I lived literally 2 minutes walk from LKF, but I never went there at night. It is totally not my scene, but it is so famous I felt the need to include it in the video. It’s hard to tell from this shot, but at night, these streets are literally PACKED. It’s madness, but I guess people love it. Halloween night is crazy. I think for most Hong Kongers, it is rare to see LKF with zero people, so I kind of like this shot. 

Nam Sang Wai
Filming in Nam Sang Wai was a dream. Nobody was there! So easy to just go out and shoot peacefully ^^ but it was such a hot day~~ I forgot to bring water, and after filming I was super dehydrated!! 

Many visitors come to Hong Kong for the extravagant shopping, towering buildings, and spectacular night views, but the true beauty of HK is found outside the major city limits. New Territories, Sai Kung, and some of the smaller islands is were you will find the true heart of the place. Nam Sang Wai is beautiful and one of my favorite places in all of HK. 

Peak
The Peak was very important for me because I believe it showcases Hong Kong sooooo well. If someone asked me if they could only go see one thing in Hong Kong, where should they go? I would respond with a resounding: "The Peak". 

Because the Peak was so important for me, it was imperative that I filmed on a day with spectacular weather! I waited so long for the perfect day!! I live quite close to the bottom of the Peak, so I would often run up old peak road to check the weather, and enjoy the view. When the weather was finally good enough, I ran up with all my camera equipment. Normally, there are very few people (if any at all) at the place a planned to film, but on this particularly perfect day, when I arrived, there were groups of photographers lined up on my rail! Disaster!! Haha...I set my camera up, and waited. 30 mins...nothing. 1 hour...nothing. I finally asked them if they could move over a little for just a few seconds. 

I NEVER ever ask anyone to move...I felt so bad asking~ it was the first time for me, but I really wanted to finish filming on that beautiful day. So I asked. I did the rail walk three times. Not thrilled with the shot in terms of "stunts"...as the rail is quite high, I felt I needed more time to do something cool...but very happy with the weather that day.

Repulse Bay
Hong Kong is amazing in that you can go shopping in the nicest stores in the world, swimming on a beautiful beach, and dinning atop a mountain with a view at a luxurious restaurant, all within the same few hours. Everything is so close and convenient here. The biggest downside to living in Hong Kong is the rent, but the upsides far outweigh any possible downside. 

They say that this bay was used by Pirates back in the day!

​Tsing Ma Bridge
Was the world’s second longest span suspension bridge at the time of completion, but is ninth now I think. The bridge was named after two of the islands at its ends: Tsing Yi and Ma Wan. I often traveled over this bridge when I lived in Hong Kong. On Ma Wan there is a park dedicated to Noah’s Ark. Strange, but true.

Victoria Park
A big part of HK culture is the diversity. Being in Hong Kong at a park named after the Queen of England, surrounded by Indonesians and Filipinos having lunch is amazing to me. I love the diversity here. Nepali, Indian, Pakistani, Australian, American, and everywhere in-between! Hong Kong is truly a melting pot of the world. One of the best attributes of this place. 

Every Sunday this park is packed with people. Everyone smiling and happy that they have a day off. It is beautiful. 

X.O. Sauce
The biggest challenge in terms of letters was “X”. There is no “X” sound in Cantonese. While in mandarin it is commonly used, like “xiao”; Cantonese uses the “S” sound more, like “Siu”. There is one bar in Wan Chai that starts with an “X”, but it seems kinda…not nice…haha…I didn’t go in, but the outside looked sketchy enough for me to go home and keep searching. “X” was the last shot I filmed, and X.O. Sauce was the best I could come up with. XO sauce is a spicy seafood sauce that originates from Hong Kong. So, there’s that.

Zoological and Botanical Gardens
This park holds a special place in my heart. When I was living in Central, I came here to train. I literally came to this park everyday for a year. I knew all the old people that came at one point. They became my friends, and greeted me really warmly each morning. 

Disney 
I have said this many times before, but I absolutely love Disney. Disneyland is the happiest place on Earth. I love going there, and have been to HK Disney more times then I can count. There is magic here, and I love it. So much! 

“The dreamers are the saviors of the world.” 

One of the things that is not portrayed in my videos is the interactions I have with people after filming. I love meeting with new people, and trying to make them smile : )

Floating Restaurant
Filming at the floating restaurant JUMBO was a bit tricky to plan. The floating restaurant is...well...a restaurant. Tough place for my kind of style~~ haha...but the rooftop was really pretty!! So I filmed up there as quickly as possible, and left as it was closed for renovations. 

Happy Valley
I went to the Happy Valley racecourse soooooo many times while trying to film. Several times just looking for a good place to shoot, and several times I went but the sky was just too cloudy to film! When I finally got a sunny day to film, it was so hot, the metal burned the skin off of both of my hands. Ouch! 

ICC / IFC
For the “i” section of the video, I struggled between choosing the ICC or IFC building. I think I prefer IFC, because it was close to my apartment and I saw it everyday, but ICC is taller. In the end, I got both in the shot for the “i” scene. 

Kowloon Park
By far, the biggest struggle for me was Kowloon Park. Much blood, sweat, and tears have been shed at that park…haha…There is always one place that is a bigger struggle than everywhere else. It was Wisconsin in the USA, and it was Kowloon Park in Hong Kong for me. I’m sure South America will also have that one location that is tough, but it is the tough times that really count. Work the problem. Always focus on finding a solution. There will always be problems, but there will also always be solutions. 

Kowloon Park was tough for me. All that work, I needed to stop and smell the flowers for a bit : )

Man Mo Temple
I love temples, churches, and mosques. They are some of the most beautiful and powerful architectural wonders in the world. And the spiritual feeling at these places is often dynamic. This is the largest Man Mo Temple in Hong Kong. Dedicated to the god of literature (Man), and the martial god (Mo). Many students come here to pray for success. The best word I can think of to describe the interior is: “thick”. I love the smell, the design, the feeling of this place.

Ocean Park
The challenge with Hong Kong was matching the scenes together. I couldn’t film each scene in order (That is, A, B, C, D, etc). One day I would film A then maybe E, or M. It was a challenge to remember exactly where I left off a week ago filming Nam Sang Wai for the transition and positioning of Ocean Park. The whole video had to be shot in sync. Doing that from memory was tough. Sometimes I would get home and review the footage I shot, to find that it didn’t match properly with the previous letter. So I would go shoot again. and again. and again…haha

Queen's Road
When I think of Hong Kong the first image that pops into my head is the Bank of China building. It has been there for a long time, and always sticks out to me. I like it and wanted to incorporate the building into my video somehow. I did so with the letter Q. Going to film the letter “Q”, I thought I would only get one shot at it. Surprisingly, I got three before someone called the police. 

As usual, I told them what I was doing, they told me not to, and I said ok. Recently, I visited that same place I was filming, and I saw they installed a security camera in the exactly place I climbed up…haha…Chris Across the World: Making the world a safer place day by day…lol

Sai Kung
I like to capture scenes with no people for 2 reasons: 

1. I want the natural beauty of a place to come alive with each scene
2. Some people might not want to be filmed

So I try very hard to film super popular busy places with no people >< haha…It is a challenge I often worry about. However, on my way to Sai Kung, I was thinking about which stunt to do….And I was so relieved when there were people there. Just in case a got knocked out, or bumped my head hard and started to drowned. I was hoping someone would save me. This was the one and only time I was a bit relieved that people were in the shot. 

University
Nearly every place I film I get yelled at by security. HKU was no different. After about ten minutes of setting up my camera, an officer approached me and told me I couldn’t film here. I didn’t have the shot and was really worried he was going to force me to leave, but before I could say anything He told me he was going to take a 10 minute walk around the premises, and asked me to pack up before he got back. 

I really appreciated that. It meant a lot to me and after I finished filming I found him to thank him again for the little extra time. When i finally caught up with him and thanked him, he said, “Oh, you so nice, next time I give you 20 minutes”…haha

Just goes to show, a little kindness in a tough situation goes a long way. There is always a nice way to say something. There is always a way to put a little more kindness into the world. 

Wong Tai Sin
A splendid temple area in Hong Kong, dedicated to a Chinese deity with the power of healing. First and foremost, I am a martial artist. I wanted to incorporate a little more traditional style martial arts into my videos here. Nowadays the masses consider dance and freerunning cool, and I totally agree, but I am personally much more passionate about the martial arts. They are not so popular now, but I believe they will regain popularity in the future. “Fashions fade, but style is eternal”…Some traditions can never die. 

Yau Ma Tei
The Letter “Y” was also a bit of a challenge. Certainly not as difficult as “X”, however, there is also not a lot of really great things in HK that start with “Y”. This is the Tin Hau Temple Complex in the center of Yau Ma Tei. It was fun entertaining people for a while after I stopped filming for the day here. 

I lived one year on Hong Kong island, and one year on the Kowloon side. There is a HUGE difference between the two sides of HK. It was a really interesting experience for me. The people are different. The shops are different, and the general feeling is different. I liked both! I think they both have really great attributes. The Kowloon side was a really good experience for me after the HK side : )

Hong Kong is a radiant city full of vibrant, free-spirited people. The diversity in Hong Kong has made the people here very warm and welcoming. The city is as diverse as it’s people; from towering skyscrapers to marvelous hiking trails, and sun-drenched beaches just minutes from one another. Hong Kong should not be missed by anyone. There is something here for everyone! I loved my time in Hong Kong, and will never forget the people I met and the experiences I had in this fantastic city.

Thank you HK ^_^

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