Its been awhile since my last entry! Since coming back to Hong Kong things have been very busy. I guess it's time that I do a mini update.

Today is the one month mark for when I will leave Hong Kong to move to London! I am absolutely thrilled to bits to embark on a whole new experience in my life. I'll be joining the English National Ballet after one more set of Swan Lake shows with the Hong Kong Ballet.

I remember the first day I arrived in Hong Kong so well, I can't believe six years has gone by since that day. So much has happened during those years and I remember each and every memory so vividly and I will treasure it all for the rest of my life! I'm currently reading an autobiography of a lady named Olga Geddes entitled I Kept On Dancing, which so clearly describes her memoirs of her life, including her hardships during the war while living in Natzi Germany. Sometimes when I read how detailed her accounts are, I am amazed at how she could remember it all. I then start to think of my life and on reflecting on these past six years in Hong Kong, I understand how it is possible to remember events with such detail. I have written many journal entries over the years which I suppose will also help in keeping those memories. It's really interesting to read back and see how everything panned out from every situation I wrote about. Many times I see how my emotions blocked out the reality of situations and reading journal entries written during hard times, in hindsight, the solution to those problems seems painfully clear. But I suppose that is being unfair, as hindsight is always 20/20 as they say!

So here's to life- memories, ups and downs, love and broken hearts, endings and new beginnings. It's all so precious and I just can't wait to experience more of everything!

So this past weekend I took the opportunity to do a little hike up the mountain in my back yard! Living on Discovery Bay is such a pleasure and I am ashamed to say I hardly ever take advantage of it's beautiful nature trails. I wasn't sure what I'd find when I set out on my journey of epic proportions. I thought I'd just walk and keep walking and see where that would take me. I got to the peak lookout (literally called that) where there was even a little roofed area. Obviously this was the most amazing view of all of Hong Kong. I could see everything. I took pix on my phone since I didn't have my camera, so I can't show any photos here. But I'm sure you can imagine how gorgeous it was. I recommend it to everyone. It's ten times better than the view from Victoria peak IMHO. I mean it is so peaceful up there. It was only me, unlike on the peak where you'll find 70% of the tourists visiting HK all in one place fighting to take pictures and a whole lot of fog to boot.

I've always loved going on walks with no particular destination in mind. It is so incredibly rejuvenating. It's a form of meditation I guess. A time to just be with yourself and reflect on everything. Nature walks are the best because you can also be with nature and also meditate with God if that is what you believe in. It seems so much is reveiled to me about everything from little problems to coming to huge decisions about my feelings about something every time I just take time out of the busyness of life and let God just speak to me. I just imagine if I could be that freed from every day stress all the time, and what I see is a life of so much more joy. That is one of my major aspirations, something I'm constantly striving for, to find that infamous balance in life and to keep grounded in what I've come to value is a major truth about life. That truth has to do with what is simple and pure and comforts me by taking me away from all the fluff that life can so often become stuffed with. So I therefore HIGHLY recommend a nature walk or two to all! If anything you'll get a nice breath of fresh air :-).

I just got back from Beautiful British Columbia on Tuesday night and it's now almost 5am Thursday morning. Yes, I'm a little jet lagged. It was such a great holiday, as it usually is. I feel everything one is supposed to feel after a holiday, rested, rejuvenated and most importantly inspired to get back into things.

I left home to go to school in Toronto for my last two years of high school. So i was fifteen at the time, and although I thought I couldn't wait to get out of the house and embrace my independence, I remember the second I left my family at the gate I started bawling my eyes out. Too late to go back! So off I went to endeavour on becoming a ballerina at the National Ballet School. That experience I would not take back for the world, but at the same time I really believe it traumatized me in some way. I think I am such a little mommy and daddy's girl that part of me was just not ready to leave home that soon. I know people do it all the time, and especially at the National there are kids who left home at ten or eleven! I guess I had it too good at home, cause I have been homesick ever since that time at the gate. Even here in Hong Kong, I've suffered numerous bouts of homesickness, however I am happy to report, despite my skepticism on ever recovering, it has improved!

I've come up with a technique so to speak on how to cope with painful goodbyes. I've been testing it out and more and more it has proven to help. When I say a long-term goodbye to someone, most often what immediately flashes to my head is when will I see this person next? or oh my gosh what if I never see this person again? That then procedes to spring upon me this surge of nostalgic-like pain and anxiety. I then start to reminisce over all the memories I experienced with that person and then come the welling tears behind the eyes and on and on it goes. The door opens and out comes the picture of me leaving the gate at fifteen. Well seeing as I work abroad, you can imagine the number of long-term goodbyes I've had and will have to make. Logically, I've decided I cannot handle this big drama anymore. It's been too painful saying goodbye to so many close friends over the years and of course family for such long periods of time. So I came up with the idea to trick my wayward mind into not opening that door. I simply don't let those first few questions enter my mind and refuse to reminisce in that moment. I instead concentrate on my current task at hand, ie. getting through security at the gate, and think about something else. It seems so simple, but really it works. It may seem cold, but it really isn't. Deep inside I know my true emotions are not cold, but they are simply still being forced back behind the door. It was so painful saying bye to my sis who is now nineteen and in her prime years for maturing into who she is. Although those tears were hard to force back, I managed to realize that her life will still go on and so will mine and even though physically we are apart, we are always connected!!

As promised a photo of my finished pavlova:



I think I prefer just a normal white pavlova to the chocolate version, but my sister is a choco fanatic, so at least she ate some this time :-).

The yearly Costa-Wong gathering was fun and we basically stuck with tradition and played games until the wee hours of the morning. Our usuals are The Game of Life, poker, mah jong, etc...But this time since the parents were here too, there were ten of us in all and we opted for a round of Cranium. Sort of a mish-mash game with four categories each focusing on different types of challenges. One category had a "hum this song" type thing and it was hilarious. Quick! Hum, "Don't Worry, Be Happy"! Hard right? Well I blanked out and all I could get out was that part of the song where Bobby McFerrin saaaays and not actually sings, "don't worry be happy". So my clue to my poor teammates sounded something like this reads: hum hmm hum, hum hmm hum. Pathetic...yes, but an incredibly good laugh too.

All in all, a lovely night ending with my sis and I staying up even later to continue more of our Lost marathon. Woot!

Welcome to a sneak peak of my life. Most people would define me as a ballerina. I won't deny that I live and breathe for my art...blood, sweat and tears. But at the same time, I have come to believe that in order to be a great artist, one must first be a great person, and that all seems to boil down to one key word: balance. So as I continually strive for this perpetual challenge of balancing my physical, emotional and spiritual self, may this blog be a record of my progress.

A quote shared with me by a close friend and kindred spirit:

"Due cose che non ti lasciano mai in questa vita- Gli ochhi di Gesu e il cuoro della Mamma."

Translation: "There are two things in life that will never leave you- The eyes of Jesus and the heart of your mother."