Today, I am hosting my first guest here on my blog! Maggie and I have been blog buddies for several months now. I love her sweet personality, her trust in the Lord, and her desire to see Him be glorified in her life. Her sweet comments on my posts have been so encouraging and I am so glad to have met her through this crazy blog world. I am so blessed to have her as a friend!
Because of this, it is not surprise that I was beyond excited when Maggie agreed to be a guest on my blog. I got even more excited when she told me should would be doing a travel post. Once again, the excitement increased again when I read her post this morning. Come on guys, she posted about her recent trip to Asia. How cool is that?!
I hope you enjoy Maggie's post and check out her blog too because she is the bees knees. And thanks Maggie for writing this post! :)
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Hey Hi Hello! My name is Maggie and I blog over at Daisies' Bliss.
I can't tell you how thrilled I am about guest posting here at Jess & Joy! I bumped into Jess's blog late last year and may I say I was hooked?! I love Jessi's fun-loving personality and the fact that she thrifts? She meets all my requirements of a gal pal.
Just kidding.
But, really, I have enjoyed Jessi's posts and I hope you will enjoy this post of mine, too! :)
I was born and raised in the city of Hong Kong; I recently traveled there to visit family and friends.
If you would, please allow me to share, from a local's perspective, a few do's I think everyone should do in Hong Kong.
1) Do embrace the culture shock: for example, a much smaller personal bubble
Having resided in the States for quite a few years, I have forgotten how small personal bubbles are in this small city!
But don't let that stop you from embracing the love of those people towards you!
See to it as a way of showing you affection - the closer they are to you, the more they like you! :)
2) Do take a morning walk - it will open your eyes to see a completely different city
^^ The picture above shows two high schools right next to each other (the yellow one and the green one), surrounded by tall buildings of condo units.
^^ a teeny tiny pineapple, anyone?!
It is so refreshing in the morning; you will unveil a side of the city you never knew existed - the quiet side.
On a morning walk, you will likely run into elderly people who will exchange "good morning's" with you.
Everyone around you is just in a happier mood; and trust me, that will make you happier, too!
3) Do be adventurous with your food choices
^^ These are a few of my favorite things
Come on. You travel half way around the Earth, you need to be adventurous to make every penny of your plane ticket count.
I would roam around in a grocery store and pick out anything that catches your eyes.
Or, if the grocery store overwhelms you, hit up a 7-eleven or a Circle-K, they will have less of a variety but will offer the best of the best.
In addition to snacks, I encourage you to visit ethnic restaurants. There are plenty of Japanese and Korean restaurants; there's also Thai, Indonesian, Vietnamese, Indian, French food and many many more available.
4) Do visit a neighborhood not featured in your travel guide
I never knew of this neighborhood until someone took us there.
It's called Park Island - it is a quiet neighborhood with a couple beaches and even a Noah's Ark museum.
I don't think a travel guide would ever take us here.
That's why I think it is a much more precious spot, don't you think?
5) Do explore the outdoor - you will realize there is different kind of beauty in this city
Hong Kong does not simply offer you skyscrapers.
I encourage you to leave the busy districts and enjoy the nature!
You will be surprised at how beautiful Hong Kong is!
There are many trails/hills to hike, just pick one and... GO!!! :)
That's all I wanted to share about the do's in this city of the East.
Hopefully you will be inspired to go visit this dynamic city yourself some day,
do let me know of any questions/comments you may have and I hope I'll see you over at Daisies' Bliss! :)
Happy List of the Week
4/11/14
1. Wearing shorts every day.
2. Finally seeing Catching Fire. We almost had the whole theatre to ourselves.
3. Putting down my deposit for rent in the Fall (WHAT?!)
4. Eating sweet potatoes and trail mix.
5. Hiking a mountain insanely fast and hiding Easter eggs along the way.
6. Buying shoes for camp.
7. How good my clothes smell from my new detergent.
8. Sipping Joe Beans in sketchy parking lots and trying to come up with places to sit besides the car.
9. The anticipation of Mom coming to visit this weekend.
10. Reading about Peter in Acts.
Lynchburg Life | Cao
4/10/14
At the end of last week, I felt the need for an adventure. This sweet little lady showed up at my door just a the right moment. We decided to go hammocking, but right when we go there, it started raining. Not wanting to get poured on, we went for the next best thing: chocolate.
Cao is a new chocolatier place in town and I have been a few times now. I have gotten something different every time, and it has all been delicious. I might have a new favorite now though.
^^Probably the best mocha I've ever had.^^
^^And its all gone. Sad moment.^^
^^I may or may not have taken creeper pictures of my friends that were also there...^^
^^Oh, look! There's Foose!^^
Travel Lessons | Chennai, India | Lavender
4/8/14
For those of you that have spent any significant of time around me in the past (almost) year, you have heard me talk about India on multiple occasions. It hasn't really ever left my mind, but these past few weeks it has been on my heart more then usual. I could share dozens of stories with you all, but today I am just going to share about one sweet friend that I made that will forever have a place in my heart.
On Sunday, my pastor mentioned a story from our India trip. It was not a long story or very detailed at all, and it didn't even have to do with who I am telling you about today. But for some reason, I sat there in my seat and remembered my dear friend and tears came to my eyes.
I met Lavender on May 24th, 2013. Our team was going through local neighborhoods, praying over families and for their specific needs. My team of three headed out, but soon realized that the "leaders" of our team, two sweet ladies from the church, spoke barely a few words in English.
This resulted in a lot of awkward smiles and nodding of heads by us and lots gesturing by them. Do we go into this random house? Is it okay to sit on the one chair they own? Oops, don't forget to take your shoes off at every door. The hardest part by far though was that I found myself becoming very routine in my prayer, as I did not and could not know the needs of these people I was praying over because of our language barrier.
About an hour after we had been visiting and prayer over families, we ran into two young teenage girls. The oldest came up to me with her younger sister behind her shoulder, smiling shyly.
"Hi, my name is Lavender. What's your name?" I'm pretty sure at this point I hugged her right there and let out a sigh of relief as I screamed, "YOU SPEAK ENGLISH!" She giggled, and replied sweetly that she did indeed speak English.
After introducing myself, I realized that if I could communicate clearly with this girl I not only wanted to know her needs and pray with her, but I wanted to really talk with her and find out if she knew the Lord. I asked her a question about if she knew of the church that we were partnering with and she said that she did. I began to tell her that we came from a church in America, to which she quickly interrupted me and exclaimed, "You are a Christian?! I am too!"
Lavender was such a blessing in our time of need. She walked around with me for the remainder of our time in that neighborhood and translated back and forth for me. Not only was she an answer to prayer in our time of need, but she taught me so much just from the two short hours I spent with her.
Lavender was then 17 years old, finishing up her last year of school. She planned to attend university after she finished her schooling. When I asked Lavender what she wanted to do when she graduated from university, she quickly replied that she has always wanted to be a teacher. I had a mini freakout inside (okay, maybe outside too). I told her that I wanted to be a teacher as well, and upon telling her that I wanted to teach overseas, she quickly told me that I should definitely teach in India. I told her I would think about it. Little does she know I still am to this day. Lavender wants to be a math teacher, and when I told her that my mom was a math teacher I don't think she could have smiled any bigger.
After talking about why we wanted to teach for a while we moved on to other things as we were walking though the streets of her neighborhood. She talked about her hobbies, her family, and she told me her testimony of how she came to know the Lord. Her courage, boldness, and quiet spirit amazed me. She had been through and was going through SO much at such a young age, but I don't know if I have ever witnessed someone that sincerely trusted the Lord that much.
Lavender lives in a small two room house in a poor neighborhood of Chennai with her parents and two siblings. Her family was slowly falling apart at the seams, and she was doing all she could to keep her younger siblings safe, happy, and fed. All the while, she is still going to school, and aspiring towards her dreams of teaching someday.
Whenever I remember my sweet friend Lavender, I feel so humbled. I may be hundreds of times more wealthy then her and have healthy relationships, but that's not where the hope that Lavender is clinging to comes from. She finds her hope, her treasure, and her assurance in her Savior alone.
While I sit here on my comfortable bed in my warm room, worrying about what next year will hold, I thank the Lord that I met Lavender and the lesson she taught me (and continues to teach me) about complete trust, hope, and abandon to the Lord.
As I did not purposefully take pictures during my time in India (more on that later if you want to know), I do not have a picture of Lavender. If I did it would be on my wall, right beside my bed for me to see everyday. Regardless, I pray for this sweet friend often and think of her just as much.
Maybe there wasn't really an "ending point" that I was trying to make with this post, but I just wanted to share about a young woman that challenged and encouraged me through her words and faith, and changed my heart. My hope and prayer is that someday our paths will cross again, if only for a short time.
Late Night List
4/3/14
Photo Cred: Emily :)
2. Tonight I realized I am a sweet potato snob now...
3. I love surprises.
4. I got the email with my packing list for camp this summer!
5. I pretty much cannot put into words how excited I am for this summer.
6. Every time I play Frisbee, I love it even more.
7. I am currently listening to Sights by London Grammar.
8. Lists make me happy.
Lynchburg Life | Riverside Park
4/2/14
On Sunday, my roommate and I adventured to Riverside Park.
She had never been here before, and I hadn't done much exploring myself, so we took one of the trails down by the river. It was so great. Kinda like a mini-hike and just what I needed to clear my head.
This lady blesses me so.
^^I literally screamed from excitement when the train came.^^
^^Liz: Outdoors woman, mountain conqueror, and trail runner.^^
^^Two words: leg bones.^^
^^She told me so was not photogenic. Pshh!^^
^^"Smelling" the flowers.^^
^^She also likes to climb things.^^
Liz, thanks for going on unplanned adventures with me, listening to me talk WAY too much, and always encouraging me.
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