Located in the heart of the French Concession and built in the 1920′s, this place definitely has a very classic feel from one of the guest rooms…

…to the kids bedrooms…

…all the way up to the master bedroom on the top floor.

I know I’ll be enjoying the study area too on the top floor.

At a listed rate of 38,000 RMB (~$5940 USD) per night, it’s a little steep.  However, you can rent it for a one year lease at a discounted 5 Million RMB (~$781,250 USD).  Yep…this is printed right and NOT a typo.

And just as I was ready to pack my bags and move it, I woke up from a dream within a dream in my significantly smaller abode to discover that this was merely a dream!  Oh well…it’s never a dull moment when you’re dreamin!  

Earlier this week, I went to the Tag Heuer office at LVMH to pick up a few pieces I ordered, and I was pleasantly surprised when a former colleague gave me a gift which included old pictures of my times with the brand.  I haven’t seen many of these pictures at all so it was really a treat to catch a glimpse of these images from a time years ago…

Here are a few of the studio shots we did with photographer Geoff Ang…

I’ve never been much of a golfer so I’m sure this ball never made it in the hole!

Agghh…the trip to St. Tropez in France with other regional celebs was pretty kewl tho…

On another night, I even got to relive my biggest “fear”…

Even though I still have a problem defining Formula One as an actual “sport,” it’s still cool to meet some of the drivers from the circuit…

…and even though I wouldn’t mind just drumming away into the sunset…

I think you’ll get a better laugh with this 80′s-style beefcake pose!

Now it’s time to see how much I’ve aged since then after my recent birthday so I’ll catch ya next time!

…we also got to finally check out The Great Wall of China.

Even better, I had the opportunity to hang out with this “small time” director Feng Xiao Gong, Hong Kong star Rosemund Kwan, and some China actor named Ge You…

Only later did I find out that Feng Xiao Gong and Ge You are (like) the biggest thing since sliced bread (or actually steamed Xiao Long Bao) in China…and they still are!  Now, that was an awesome trip in itself!

…but then again, it’s always nice to have more “normal” pictures like this one with Harry Hui and Wong Lee Hom…

…and let’s not forget the most talented singer of The Heavenly Kings, Jackie Cheung! 

People always asked me how did my hair look so “plastic?”  Well, the hair stylist got some dry plaster and mixed it with water and orange paint before slathering it all into my  hair.  As difficult as it was to keep jumping on a tiny trampoline for this shot, I had an even more challenging time trying to get all the dried up plaster outta my hair!

Oh yeah…if you look really closely, you’ll also notice that I even ripped my white kung fu pants in the crotch area from all the crazy jumping!  Luckily, I was sportin a pair of rockin Mickey Mouse boxer shorts! 

Of course, most of the other MTV shoots weren’t too crazy.  Here’s a shot with the other VJ’s at the time including Miranda Lu, Janet Lee, and Stacy Lee (Sorry, but I forgot the guy’s name–Do you happen to know it?)…

The stylist for this shoot really liked big bright contrasting colors…

Wow.  That was definitely a while ago, but it still seems like yesterday.  I had a most memorable time adapting to living in Asia all by myself and learning the language and culture.  It was always fun to party with the MTV VJ’s and also the ones at Channel V including Angela Chow and Rick Tan…

And of course, how can I forget the original “Wu Man”…David Wu!! (Wait…is that the Fullerton Hotel in the background?  )

Back when I lived in Hong Kong, I not only got training in Wushu martial arts, but I got the full-on S.D.U. (Hong Kong version of S.W.A.T. team) special weapons tactical unit training for another movie.  Like most guys (and some women), I really enjoyed learning new skills that involved some military training.  I don’t think any of us had a problem firing off all sorts of semi-automatic and fully-automatic weapons in various tactical assault situations, especially when we got to train alongside Hong Kong actor Lau Ching Wan (First Row Second to the Right next to me)…

Once all the ammo was popped off, it was time to disarm and derobe the assault gear for some partying.  Here we are minus the “makeup” and uniforms ( Andy On, Lau Ching Wan, David Lee, and Marco Lok)…

I wonder if Kelly Lin and Cecilia Cheung preferred us in “civilian” clothes or the uniforms? 

I had a blast spending over a month there doing some intensive martial arts training with my homie Andy On, who later took over the role of The Black Mask from Jet Li in the sequel.  Here we are with our Wu Shu coach, Kali…

We were both blown away with how many young children were attending the various Wu Shu academies in Shaolin.  From the crack of dawn until sunset, the children would be disciplined in the pugilistic art of traditional martial arts…

For many of them, this would be their only “option” in life since their family was so poor that they could not afford to take care of them anymore.  All these children could hope for one day would be to aspire to be the next Jet Li with their comprehesively-honed skills in mortal combat…

I really felt for them and the difficult life that they were presented before them.  To this day,  I still reminisce to that amazing experience and how happy and cheerful each of the young students were despite how challenging and demanding their lives may have been.

Memories like these really put our own lives back in perspective.

…And of course I gotta start with two of my closest HK homies who are also two of the “Godfathers” of Alive Not Dead, Daniel Wu and Terence Yin! 

And wait a minute…is that Jerry Yen from F4?

Hah!  Ya betcha!!  It’s great to still have these old pics to see how we all started.

I hope you enjoyed that and I’ll plan to put some more up soon!