KELVIN WU AND ME AT DUCK RESTAURANT

Beijing has one very famous restaurant for Peiking Duck and off we went to try it out. Here pictured with Kelvin Wu who is from Beijing. Needless to say this photo makes me look older than I really am.

PIECES OF THE FORBIDDEN CITY

For several years before the Olympic games in Beijing, They disassembled many of the structures in the Forbidden City to restore them to their original beauty. They did complete the job and anyone going there now will see a magnificent place of palaces and other buildings in this enormous complex. This is probably the most important thing to do in China other than the Great Wall.

THE FACE SAYS IT ALL

You can see by my expression that this Burberry trenchcoat was NOT keeping me warm. To say the least I was freezing in -20c windy day. Still was a nice afternoon when I wasn't standing out in the open. Wonder why I always end up in this place in winter....

ENTERING THE FORBIDDEN CITY

This is the familiar front of the Forbidden City that faces Tianamen Square. I've been here maybe 3 times and its so huge you can never really take it all in. Learning how they lived there, however, is very interesting. Occupants could have been living on the moon as they had no contact with the world outside these walls. Very very interesting place.

A COLD WINTER MORNING IN CHANGCHUN

I went to the Asian Winter Games in Changchun in 2007...one of the coldest places on earth. That is a huge river in this picture with a giant ice rink carved out on the surface. 40c below zero is common here. Needless to say this is NOT the kind of ice skating I prefer. Photo taken from my hotel room window.

INCREDIBLE DAVID LIU

I know a lot of talented people on this earth but none are more so than David Liu (www.davidliu.org). An accomplished ballet dancer, choreographer and Olympic skater, David has done a number of shows for me as director and star. This photo was taken at Spherical, a show which I will post on this site very soon. He's choreographed for people like Brian Boitano, Katarina Witt, Chen Lu and many others. David lives with his life partner, Darren Olivero, another gifted and creative individual.

RYAN AND KILBY MAHONEY

Not married. Brother and sister. They and their mom, Linda, own the largest real estate company in the middle east, based in Dubai. Kilby was one of my star skaters in Dubai and performed for me in Hong Kong several times. Ryan is her brilliant brother who is GM of Better Homes.

HANGING OUT

The photos are in reverse order. Here is Paul again, this time hanging out on a cliff and feeding a friendly elephant in Thailand. Is there anything this guy won't do????

PAUL BELSITO, A MAN OF THE WORLD

This is the same guy in the next photo below. Talk about adventure. This guy will do anything and seems to always be wrapped around a snake, a monkey or hanging by his fingers from a cliff somewhere.

THE GREAT PAUL BELSITO

Maybe once in a lifetime you might meet someone like Paul Belsito. The son of my former boss at the Hyatt Regency in Dubai, Paul is the most entertaining, clever guy I know. Comes from a wonderful family in Vancouver. He is an absolute nut for soccer and goes to every world cup match. A great snowboarder, skater, comedian, talk show host, actor, restaurant manager, bartender, etc. Super super nice guy.

SOME OF MY STUDENTS

This is an old photo taken around 1989 in Hong Kong. All of these kids have grown up now. The little guy in front was a vice president of HSBC. Little girl on left is a coach. Interesting how little kids grow up and become into their own....

TONY WONG

Good friend, Tony Wong. Graduated with a medical degree at Chinese Univ in Hong Kong but moved to Sweden where he never really pursued his career in medicine. Talented guy. Just made contact with him again and so happy. Wish I had been a better friend to him in Hong Kong. Super person to know. He also loved my dog Lucy very much. Saved her life actually.

ALEXIS KWONG IN HONG KONG

Alex is a good friend who lives in Hong Kong. He's with STAR tv, a satellite channel that serves all of Asia and middle east. I think he's conntected with Channel V, which is all music. He and once did an around the world trip and flew on the concorde from London to Paris.

GURINDER SINGH

Another shot of Gurinder when I knew him in Shenzhen. He's an engineer and was last working on a nuclear power plant project in China, but think he's doing the same now in India. He's actually British and lives in London.

KELVIN WU UP IN BEIJING

This is Kelvin Wu, a good friend who lives in Beijing. Over 6' tall and a super nice guy. Helped us with Skate Asia in 2006. Lives near the Birds Nest national stadium with his parents.

THE MODEL OF OUR MALL

I am working on the ice arena which is pictured here on this corner of the mall. As you can see its an enormous part of the structure. Ice is 31m x 60m

GOOGLE EARTH SHOWS MY APT

This view of Hangzhou shows Westlake on the left and my apartment on the right. Bike ride to the lake is 20 min.

SKATE ASIA 2006 PRESS CONFERENCE

Before we held Skate Asia, we had this press conference. One of the few photos I also have of Raul Gomes who is next to me in this photo on the left. Randy Winship is on right wearing glasses. He was our competition director for this event. 1100 skaters took part over 8 days.

PARIS? NO, CHINA!!!!

This replica of the Eiffel Tower and Arc de Triomphe are located at Window of the World park in Shenzhen, China.

INDOOR SKIING IN SHENZHEN

This is the small indoor ski slope at Window of the World theme park in Shenzhen.

IN TOKYO WITH KIM CHOL SUNG

Photo of me with Kim Chol Sung, former champion skater of North Korea, on a train in Tokyo a few years back. Well maybe 10 years back.

RICHARD, GERTY AND TONY

A rare photo of Richard with his dad, Tony Dwyer who lived to be 102 years. Pictured here with Gerty Verbiwski, one of Richard's former skating partners. Gerty lives in Vegas while Richard lives in the Hollywood Hills overlooking Universal Studio's and the big Hollywood sign.

LLAMA ON ICE

Yeah, a real Tibetan Llama skating on the rink holding the hand of a young guy dressed in a Chinese symbol. Actually there were 2 Llama's skating that day and they did quite well. Wonder if there is an ice rink in Lhasa.

WILLIAM CHENG

This guy is like my guardian angel. When I was sick last October, and no hospital in Shenzhen could take me, he found a doctor at Yan Chai hospital to put me in right away. Probably saved my life too since I had a serious operation a few days later. Thanks William. I am forever in your debt.

KITA'S GODFATHER, EDDIE XIE

This is Eddie Xie (pronounced "she"). Lives in Shenzhen and is my dog Kita's true godfather. He loves her as much as I do. Eddie is probably my best friend in China. He really cares about my dog, and is always there to help when I need it.

EVAN ZHANG

A former staff at our rink, now working at Coastal City ice rink in Shenzhen is Evan Zhang from Harbin, China. Evan is a very good skater and loves being around this sport. Good luck Evan.

DING YIN, THE DANCER

One of my friends is a student at a national school in Beijing. He was fortunate enough to appear in an important sequence in the Olympic opening ceremony where several dancers, using their bodies, painted a caligraphic message. A very talented guy.

JEFFREY HONG....LOS ANGELES

One of my very best friends and nicest people on this planet is Jeffrey Hong who lives in Arcadia, Calif. Jeff is a multi-talented guy with a great singing voice and plays a mean piano. He's studying at the U of Calif and lives with his mom and brothers. Never will you meet a nicer guy than Jeff.

A WITNESS TO HISTORY

On the day before I was to leave Los Angels, I stayed in a hotel in Santa Monica. When I came back one afternoon I saw all these television trucks and hundreds of people. Turns out there was a funeral home across the street from the hotel, and former President Ronald Reagan had just died and was taken there. People were lined up to see the arrival of the casket and the Reagan family. Sharpshooters were on top of every building around the funeral home.

ONE OF MY SKATES

I put this photo in of my skate because the blade on it was designed by me. Only 50 pairs of these blades were made and fortunately I still have a pair myself.

CHINESE CHAMPIONS

This photo taken in Harbin after a major competition. On left is Zhang Min, Champion of China and Li Xia, the silver medalist. Obviously I am the character in the center wearing that fur hat which, I am happy to say, was the last time I wore real fur. NEVER AGAIN...

SHENZHEN VIEW FROM MY BALCONY

From my bedroom balcony I had this view. The watery lakes beyond are actually in Hong Kong and that river is the dividing boundary between Hong Kong and the Mainland. I lived right next to this border so I could go to HK in less than 5 minutes.

WITHOUT MUSTACHE

One of the photos I had taken when I shaved it off. Decided I didn't like this look so started growing it back again immediately.

AT ALEX YEUNG'S WEDDING TO TINA

The entire World Ice Arena management team at the wedding of my good friend and assistant, Alex Yeung. They were married at a beautiful lakeside ceremony in Shenzhen, China. Pictured L to R are Jason Zhang, Dave Chen, Tracy, Lisa Lee, Alex and Tina, Susan, Ted, Andy, King, Dion and Ben. Photo 2007.

RICHARD DWYER

One of the truly great people involved in skating for nearly 60 years is non other than Richard Dwyer. Approaching 74 years of age, this amazin guy is still on the ice daily at Pickwick Ice Arena in Burbank, CA. He performed in Spherical and recieved the only standing ovation every night. I hope we can enjoy his skating and his friendship for many years to come. I think we will...his wonderful dad Tony lived to the ripe old age of 102.

INCREDIBLE DIRECTOR - DARREN OLIVERO

One of the reasons Spherical was so successful was the creativity behind the entire concept. While the skating was left up to David Liu, the visual concepts were devised and developed by Darren Olivero, one of the best directors one could ever work with. From the stage set, overhead balloons to lighting and sound as well as computer graphics, Darren went totally overboard in every area. Its my dream to work with these two again. Both live in New York.

SPHERICAN...PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN

The ice dance champions of Lithuania, Polivas and Drobiazko perform their famous swordfight during Spherical in Shenzhen, April, 2005.

MICHAEL NOVALES IN SPHERICAL

This was Mike's first real professional gig, doing a solo in Spherical. Was a great routine. I will post the entire Spherical show on this site very soon. Mike just finished a 3 month stint at Ocean Park in Hong Kong and is now preparing a 6 month trip on Freedom of the Seas working for Bietak Productions. Freedom is the world's largest passenger ship and is out of Miami to the Caribbean.

MY SHENZHEN STAFF AT OPENING OF SPHERICAL

David Liu and Darren Olivero from New York created an incredible spectacle for the Grand Opening of our mall called SPHERICAL. Every detail was taken care of including outfitting our entire staff as shown here, to act as ushers for people being seated prior to each performance. The staff loved being a part of the is huge event which was broadcast nationwide in China.

CITYCROSSING AND THE MIXC SHENZHEN

Citycrossing is an enormous development that comprises a 28story office tower, the MIXc mall shown here, the new Grand Hyatt Hotel, Park Lane Manor residences and a large pedestrian street with the largest LV shop and other luxury brands. I was GM of the ice arena and Vice GM of Citycrossing from 2004 to 2008.

Lucas and Jim He

Two very good friends in Shenzhen (and brothers) are Lucas and Jim He. They work at the new Shangri La Hotel there.

IRELAND, ENGLAND, WHERE IS THIS GARDEN

This beautiful setting is Jerry Thayer's garden at his upstate New York retreat. The ruins of an old home sit on his property and serve as a natural setting for this very beautiful and peaceful garden.

CHANGING AREA OF SHENZHEN RINK

This is the changing area of the rink. If it looks colorful, it really is. Very nice decoration, plenty of free lockers and live plants give the room a warm feeling. Large spacious restrooms, a dance studio, a snack bar with tables and live internet connections as well as WiFi.

OUR FIRST LARGE RINK IS IN SHENZHEN

This is an evening shot of the World Ice Arena in Shenzhen which was the first rink to open in the city in many years. Later in 2007 other rinks began to open including Window of the World's enormous rink, the smaller rink at Coastal City and even smaller rink at the Holiday Plaza mall. Our rink still reigns as the best and with the most professional management and operation, and the best location. Only 5 minutes from the Lowu border crossing into Hong Kong and across the street from Diwang tower, the tallest building in Shenzhen.

ONE OF MY VERY BEST FRIENDS.

Christopher Chan, a Hong Kong guy, who later went to Univ in California, then lived there until 2008. He's married to a beautiful nurse and has the heart of gold. Such a great guy to know and have as a friend.

LAKE TAHOE

I took this photo at the top of a mountain on a ski trip to "Heavenly" ski resort in 2007. Actually the mounts on the far side are in Nevada and on this side are in California. The lake itself is the top of a huge volcano. Best skiing in America is here.

MY FRIEND TONY WONG

Tony is a friend from Hong Kong, pictured here with Gaga, my beautiful Bichon dog. Tony lives now in Sweden. He graduated from Univ in Hong Kong with medical degree and promptly dropped the idea of being a doctor after he went to Sweden to live. Plays the Sax and the Piano extremely well and does a nice double salchow on the ice.

TANIA, MACHIKO WITH LITTLE NINA

Apologise for now knowing Tania's husband's name but this photo take just after the birth of Nina at a hospital on the Reunion Islands off the coast of Africa. Both Tania and husband are doctors in Paris and she used to be one of my top skaters appearing in all of my shows. Machiko works for Air France at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris.

AN AMAZING ANIMAL

It always amazes me how some animals can just staight to your heart and this little Yorkie, named Ginger, did just that. She could stare at you so intently that you know shes reading your mind. Instant love to anyone who meets her. She lives at my Laguna Hills home and now calls Mike Novales her papa and master.

WITH MOVIE STAR TONY LEUNG

This photo taken outside Cirque du Soliel show in Hong Kong with Movie star Tony Leung Kar Fei, his wife and twin daughters. We all went together to see the show. His kids used to take lessons at our rink and we became friends. If any of you remember the film called "The Lover", Tony was the star of that film which made headlines around the world because of its content and nudity.