Hey! Haven’t written much in the past few days/weeks. We’ve been on set for 2 films – Dragon Gate and White Snake. I won’t go into too much detail.. but it’s been busy and not the most comfortable of filming environments. We are filming in the desert and near some mountains meaning the weather has been COLD to say the least… and there’s always sand in your eyes and mouth. =P bleh! Everyone is wrapped head to toe with hats, scarf, big jackets, glasses, waterproof boots, 5 layers.. and its still not enough! Regardless it’s been cool to be on 2 films at the same time because I can easily compare and contrast.. and see how each production works differently…. not to mention one film is in 3D so I am essentially getting a super crash course in action films, wu xia, 3D, choreography, acting, filming, production, scheduling, etc etc..

The hotels we have been staying at our basically really “roughin it” style since the shooting locations are far from the city and there aren’t really any 5 star hotels. Although when I am in the situation I am complaining.. looking back I’m always happy to have gone through it because only when you go through these tough times can you be truly grateful for the comfortable times. Helps remind me of how fortunate I am.

Couple days ago we had the One Foundation Annual Meeting which was wrapped around a full day event. Tony Blair came as a guest speaker. In the evening awards were handed out to top philanthropy groups that met various standards in their operating processes. Overall good event. Yesterday we went to a YangLan 10 year anniversary event which congratulated Jet on his achievements in philanthropy.

Updates aside I edited a clip of some tricking. I played around with iMovie on my macbook pro. I’m looking to get final cut but for now iMovie will work. I had edited some of these clips before on Windows, but the software made the video quality pretty poor.. so I made this remix.

If watching from China:

So I’ve been in China and on the job for a bit now. I can say that my Chinese has improved, I’ve gotten to meet a lot more people, and I am definitely getting settled in to Asia.

With that said, a lot has happened since my last update… for one – Hong Kong Colin has come and gone back to China already. Colin and the rest of the Hong Kong wushu team were in Beijng for team training. It was good to see him. I was made into honorary HK Wushu Team when the whole team plus me went to go eat with the team coach. =) Colin even had his birthday at Mix during this span of time. We went out a bit while he was here like old times. =) He just headed back to HK a few days ago. The team is preparing for the Asian Games. Good luck Colin! Jia you!

Danika, Vanessa, and other friends were here from the sates too. It was good to see them in Beijing/at Colin’s Bday.

Climate Group

One of the events we went to during this time of settling in was The Climate Group event with Jet and Tony Blair. It was a discussion about how to improve efficiency in energy consumption. It was a closed door breakfast with a few other company head figures. Mr. Blair had uber secret service types around him… however on his way out from the meeting (to the elevator) as I waited for Jet, he looked me in the eye and said “hi”. Of course I replied hi as he vanished with security into the elevator.. haha =) so that was the extent of our dialogue.

Ritan Park

Last week my friend from the UNDP introduced me to Ritan Park. It’s a very beautiful park with trees that have been around for thousands of years. We ate some really awesome Beijing style food… our lunch wasn’t cheap, but lunch was well worth it for the taste and ambiance (and good company of course!).

Delicious dish and fish

Haha I know that normally you’re supposed to take pictures when the food first arrives and looks all pretty.. but it was so delicious that I decided to take a picture of the aftermath.. after we devoured all the delicious dishes.

So my last update is going to be about Health and Exercise. When I first got here I was wayyy too focused on getting acclimated to my surroundings and job.. as is understandable. I’ve ended up traveling to some very nice hotels, restaurants, etc which means good eats. Good eats combined with pressure from a new job setting plus very little working out created a bad combination for my fitness standards. As a result, I decided to get back into shape!

My good buddy Andy Tong who is a CEO and amateur body builder created a very disciplined diet/workout program for himself and got ridiculously in shape in 6 months. He documented and posted his results for 6 months straight. Inspired by my buddy Andy’s program combined with the fact that the 2010 Sport Accord Combat Games, which I will be competing in, are coming up — I decided to get back into fitness mode. I set a 2 month goal to be way more ripped and have a healthier diet. I started this program for myself August 8th, 2010. I have managed to work out once or twice every day since August 8th so far. I have also decided to minimize red meat and in particular decrease pork consumption. I am trying to eat less simple carbs and more fiber and protein to match my workouts. Here are the results of my diet and exercise execution from August 8th until now:

2 Month Fitness Goal

I’m not planning to be as strict on my diet and exercise program as Andy because my job requirements are a little more sporadic + I still want to enjoy some new awesome cuisines and I’m not trying to enter any bodybuilding magazines. I’m just doing this for myself and to feel healthier. Also for functional wushu/martial arts training I want to stay more flexible and quick as opposed to being too big which could hinder some of the acrobatic moves in wushu.

I’m going to head over to the gym soon and do some swimming and lifting. Tomorrow we head out to a One Foundation event. I think my coworker and I might go for Hutong Pizza tonight! =) Peace!