Phili

黄耀宗

There's been many times I've wondered when to pull the plug on this website, but

as years gone by, I've developed a close bond with it. The site has grown up with

e for the past couple of years. It's my place where I can voice my views, write my

iaries, showcase my photos and videos aswell as being artistic with my creative side -

yes, a man of many talents.

Now living in London, its always important to be positive about life and be as

approachable as possible (in order to survive). That's why on this page, whoever

does read it, hopefully you'll learn a whole lot more about me. There are topics

I wouldn't generally bring up in a conversation, like those shitty times when your life

goes crazy for abit. All in all, however you think of me.. good/bad boy, I now want

to share abit of my time with you.

Born on Christmas day 1981 (which is never-ever hard to forget) at the Irvine Royal

Infirmary, Ayrshire. My first present was a supply of free nappies from the doctors

and nurses. Lived in Sanquhar, Dumfrieshire throughout my childhood. This was a

very small countryside village. Everyone knew each other. I attended Sanquhar

Primary School and had a really great pal who I can remember by the name of Steven.

My first best friend!

In the late 80's, we moved to a small seaside town in Ayr. First dates, great

mates, being a teenager. Been through alot in Ayr, seperation of my parents and

the death of James, my baby brother has left a big hole in me and my family.

I've played a big role of responsibility throughout my life. At times I found it too

much to handle. I'd dealt with tragic consequences at a very early age. Ayr is

very important to me, I have sound memories of it. I attended Ayr Grammar School

and the Kyle Academy where I've met some of my long lasting friends. School discos

were a blast. This is where my short relationships began. Small flings that were

normal for every teen. One memorable moment was trying to persuade an adult to

get us a bottle of Buckfast at a local Spar.. how embarassing?!

We had great neighbours, nearly everyday we'd meet! We'd climb over the wall to

get to each other. We also went on bike rides around the town. Our house was

big, the backgarden was the size of a small football pitch! If I could turn back time,

then it would be in Ayr.

In 1996, my brother and I moved to East Kilbride with our mum. East Kilbride was

a big step and most probably one of the hardest one. My whole world had turned

around. I left all my close pals behind. I remember my first day at St Bride's High

School thinking, 'good nice people, now where are my friends?'

It felt like I was picked up from my world, and flung into another one full of strangers.

I knew nobody from East Kilbride and it took quite a while to adapt to it.

Milestones in East Kilbride include my first job as a waiter when I was (sweet) sixteen,

followed by The Stuart Hotel, the now scandal-hit closed down hotel.

In 2002, I studied Business at Glasgow's Central College of Commerce. Alot of my time was spent at the city, I made some good friends that I still keep intouch with today. I love the city very much. For it's architecture, people and greenery, I always recall Glasgow as my home.

In 2003 I moved to Edinburgh. Studied a degree in Marketing Management at Napier University. It was a great new environment. I've met lots of nice people.. lots of partying! It was also my first time living away from home. Stayed at Napier's Student flats in Riego Street with four great flatmates. Edinburgh is my second home, there's such a good feel in the city. The Edinburgh Castle overlooks the entire city, it almost feels like you're living in a fairytale and it feels extra special at Christmas. My part-time job was at WHSmith, it was great and a good banter. The city played an important role as it opened me up to fresh new experiences, changing the way I see things today. The Phil today aint the same, as some of yous may already know.

In September 2004, I pursued my dream of travelling around the world. Words cannot explain the adventures I've been through. My first country was Nothern India, the culture shock took abit of getting used to. Despite the problems we faced, I always have fond memories of this beautful country and woulf always do it again. The Taj Mahal is one of the best things I've ever step foot on in my life. I don't think I'll ever experience anything like this again. The countries followed include Thailand, Malaysia, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia and Auckland, New Zealand. Each country is important to me in many different ways. Travelling gave me the opportunity to meet new people and aspire to different cultures. It is here I met a Canadian traveller called Dwayne, we travelled rough together for three months and confronted some of the most shocking moments including that of witnessing death of a lorry crashed woman and sharing a bus with an armed gun man. These painful images are scarred in my memory.

One of the highlights of our journey include our hill tribe trek up in Northern Thailand, where we encountered nights without electricity and days with cold showers. The experience was breath-taking treking around the lush green jungle, riding on an elephant (which nearly topped me over) and playing with lovely Thai children.

The families in these villages are isolated from the modern world and rely heavily on tourism. It's amazing to see how wild life can be.

By March 2005, my Italian stallion friend Davide and I took a winter break in Canada and New York. Again this triggered off my love of travel. Toronto and Montreal are two very different Canadian cities. They both speak different languages. From Canada, we ventured down to New York, the world's most famous city.

New York seemed like one of those incredible cities that you'd be lucky to ever step foot on. For whatever it costs.. its worth it.

I finally graduated in the Summer of 2006 and took another great opportunity to travel (surprise, surprise), this time in grand country that is China. Here I reunited with my soul mate Alan in Shanghai, Beijing and Hangzhou. I have developed a facination for developing countries. I like the way they are, full of history and culture. The problem is too much development and too little to preserve the history. In a few years time, Asia will be far more modern and perhaps superior (due to its infrastructure) than the Western world.

Having spent little time with my family and my dad in particular. I decided to help my dad with his restaurant business in the following year. This meant I could bring fresh new ideas to his business aswell as spending alot more time with family. Although the hours were grouling, I enjoyed my time in the firm.

In April 2008, I made the bold decision to move down south. This was so quick (to most people) that I did not even had time to say my goodbyes. My time in Glasgow was coming to an end, I needed a new experience. London was my next home.. away from home.

After a few months sharing with students in Denmark Hill, Alan and I decided to rent a flat together. We now live just a few minutes away in a lovely old flat. It was unfurnished so we had to buy everything ourselves. The good thing was that everything was tailored to our tastes.

Last updated : 1 Nov 2008

My celtic/tribal tattoo on my lower inner left arm was made from the previous henna I had.

The henna was just a testing point to see what it would really be like and after one week, I decided to have this unique design permanently tattooed on the 24th October 2004 in Bangkok's famous Khao San Road. To me it means luck, and I feel it has given me luck for the past year. It also reminds me of my time in South-East Asia esspecially in Thailand where it was created. One part of the spine is my friend.