Andy
Andy Lo spent three weeks this summer on an international adventure.
Lo, who has become a well-known Greenwood personality through his various jobs, said he wanted to take some time off for rest, relaxation and fun.
“You work so much, and it can be stressful,” he said. “I just wanted to get away.”
Lo, a graduate of Greenwood High School and Mississippi Valley State University, is a professional photographer and a freelancer for The Greenwood Commonwealth. He has a screen repair business and serves as manager at his family’s grocery store on Carrollton Avenue.
For a much-needed break from his busy schedule, Lo decided to travel to Hong Kong, China, and to Almaty and Astana, both in Kazakhstan.
HONG KONG
Lo’s first stop on his three-week vacation was Hong Kong.
“I spent five days with my uncle — my mom’s brother,” he said.
In the vibrant and densely populated city, Lo spent the first day flying his drone around taking pictures and videos of all the sights and sounds. He also visited the Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens, where he snapped lots of photos.
Lo and a friend visited the Hong Kong Science Museum’s “Eternal Life: Exploring Ancient Egypt” exhibition.
“I went there to see the mummies,” he said.
After that, the friends grabbed some food.
“In this country, I want the spiciest thing I can eat,” said Lo.
He hasn’t been able to find a dish in America spicy enough, but he did in Hong Kong.
“I ate these noodles that were so hot. It was too spicy for me,” he said.
0820andy5.JPG
Lo said the rice noodle brought tears to his eyes.
“I couldn’t handle it,” he said.
Lo also enjoyed other dishes, such as sushi and noodles made from fish meat.
“The food was awesome,” he said.
One of his favorite pictures he took was with his drone was at Victoria Harbor. The scene is at night with the bright cityscape of Hong Kong glowing.
0820andy10.JPG
ALMATY
Lo’s next destination was Almaty, Kazakhstan, where he stayed for eight days. The first time he traveled there was about two years ago.
“I met a lot of people from Kazakhstan and made friends here at Valley,” he said. “Since I have a lot of friends there, I just wanted to see how they are doing.”
Lo said he had an even better time this summer in Kazakhstan than on his first trip there.
“I actually got to see a lot of places, and I tried a lot of street food this time,” he said.
Lo said he had a more authentic experience. Rather than visiting all the normal tourist destinations and restaurants in the city, he explored the more rural areas of the Almaty region.
With his drone in tow, he did stick out from the crowd in rural Almaty.
“A drone is kind of new for them, and I heard people say, ‘Look at this American with the drone,’” he said.
The Almaty locals were also amused by Lo’s reaction to authentic foods.
“If I drank or ate something local, they took pictures because they wanted to see my expression,” he said.
During his travels, Lo stayed with a friend and his family about 30 miles outside Almaty.
“This time, I got to see the country life of Kazakhstan,” he said.
As a traveler from a faraway place, he was considered a guest of honor, which meant he had to partake in a local custom.
0820andy11.JPG
“They let me sit in the middle of the table as the guest of honor, and they cooked a sheep head for me,” Lo said.
The family prepared other items to eat, such as sheep meat and locally made cheese. However, the guest of honor is always presented the sheep head to eat first. Lo said the sheep head is a way to honor people at dinnertime.
“I only ate the ear, and after that, I gave the rest to the oldest person of the family,” he said.
0820andy1.JPG
While in Almaty, Lo also visited the Big Almaty Lake, which is a natural alpine reservoir surrounded by the Trans-Ili Alatau Mountains.
“The landscape in Almaty was awesome, because you can see mountains and beautiful scenes,” he said.
The next day, Lo traveled about three hours outside Almaty to the Charyn Canyon National Park, which is the second-largest canyon in the world behind the Grand Canyon. He carried his drone and took pictures of the breathtaking landscape.
0820andy9.JPG
ASTANA
Lo capped his international journey with a five-day stay in Astana, the capital city of Kazakhstan.
He attended Astana EXPO-2017 Exhibition as a member of the press. The event focused on energy and featured exhibits from about 300 countries.
0820andy7.JPG
“Sometimes you had to get in line to see the pavilion,” Lo said.
0820andy8.JPG
At each country’s pavilion, there was information about history, culture, traditions, places of interest and recent achievements in energy.
Lo said Kazakhstan’s pavilion was the most impressive, and Germany also had a very interesting one. Learning about the different types of energy was informative, but he enjoyed learning about the cultures the most, he said.
“You need to take about one week to see everything,” he said.
While at the Expo, Lo worked with the public relations office.
0820andy3.JPG
“They were really helpful and nice,” he said.
Outside of the Expo, some event volunteers showed Lo the sights of Astana.
“It was a great experience,” he said. “I had a good time.”
• Contact Ruthie Robison at 581-7233 or rrobison@gwcommonwealth.com.
0820andy.JPG
