China (limited)

Shanghai traffic, the Olympic torch viewers, Emma pondering the Shanghai skyline, temple at the summer palace, me at the great wall, 21st birthday celebration with the girls in Beijing, one of the many Olympics stores

Reflection

I am leaving for Bangkok on less than an hour.

I am running on grapes and a kudos bar and seven hours of sleep.

I wanted to bring some closure to this blog and to my time here in Hong Kong but I can't keep up with the pace of things that are happening. So, I am sure I will go back later this summer and fill in more about my travels, if not solely for myslef, as I learned a lot in China and am sure there is only more to be experienced and reflected upon. China was the perfect trip to end my time as a student in Hong Kong. With amazing travel companions I got to see the ancient and modern side of China from the Forbidden City, the infamous Great Wall and the Terracotta warriors to locals hawking up spit in the street, smiling cab drivers, Olymipic cartoon characters and i yuan street dumplings. I only wish that I had one more day here to do errands and to say goodbye to people. I am really going to miss it here. I can't really start to begin to write about what a priceless time I have had here and how I have feel I have been changed for the better because of it.

There is no time to be sappy but I will try to fill you in on the tears, smiles and sweat later. But for now enjoy a few preliminary pics of China and thanks again for reading this, for caring.

A word of advice

Don't get your wallet stolen in China

Lantau Island

Erin and I get our "buns of steel" as we trek up to the rather foreboding Buddha

Kung Fu is a strange blend of military moves, gymnastics and breakdancing

The colors inside the Buddhist Po Lin Monastery

If only I could read Chinese...I could reach Enlightenment

Instead I just accepted this cluster of slates as another photographic memory to add to my collection of unexpected wonders

What better thing to do on a beautiful, sunny day two days before your only exam but to leave the stacks of library books and your laptop behind and go on a day trip with a good friend? My only regret is not going to Lantau Island earlier because I know that I would have wanted to return again if I had. Now I fear I don’t have time to go back and experience the additional sights that we did not manage to see (the remote beaches and fisherman’s village) for my time in Hong Kong is dwindling. But I truly have no real complaints as the day was full of things I prize most: exploring and seeing new things, good conversations with someone whose company you enjoy, the blazing hot sun whose Vitamin D always rejuvenates me, delightful food you have had before and trusted but also new goodies to sample and assess, also the breath of fresh air that only comes with stepping out of your little bubble and taking a look at what is outside it. The highlights of the day were getting off the bus and being startled that the “Big Buddha” (supposedly the largest seated Buddha in the world) was staring down upon us, the bus ride itself which passed stray cows and let me see that Lantau was how green and lush Hong Kong Island could be, a free Kung Fu display which Erin and I decided was not in line with anything Buddhist, the wisdom path (which legitimized me not studying that day…) which led us to some unexpected large tablet-like pillars that were reminiscent of a Chinese version of “2001: A Space Odyssey” and our mini hike that landed us as two solitary figures alone amongst the whistle of the wind through the bushes with the view of two disparate bodies of water that we looked down upon (we tried to jump up and catch a cloud but, alas, our efforts were in vain). All in all it was a lovely day that is fresh in mind as I now sit in the library and await my final. The “stress” of school will be behind me in four hours!

We shall name him Fred

okay this picture really doesn't it justice but in other photos taken you could see the spiders mandables and everything!

Cafe Siam's most rambunctious table for the evening

I don’t consider myself an overly squeamish girl. I have always liked to compete with the boys and never ask for help when I don’t really need it. This being said, last Monday when we went out to celebrate Emma and Jojo’s actual birthdays and I found myself with my hand over my mouth and my eyes bent in fear, I considered this an outlandish event. I guess it is often easy to forget that we are in a sub-tropical region (despite the humidity) because when you are surrounded by sky scrapers and the conveniences of modern, urban life you just don’t realize what lush trees, exotic birds and strange creepy crawly things used to lurk where buildings now stand. This dinner was a reminder. About half way through our delicious Thai meal all of our heads turned upwards as we laid eyes on the most humongous spider I have ever seen not in a cage. This massive, black arachnid was just hanging out in the ceiling vent right above our heads. Who knows how long it could have been there before we realized it. The poor waiter had to “man up” and pry our new guest out of the vent. What did he use? None other than chopsticks. Many squeals and shrieks later, the spider was contained in a plastic bag, we resumed our positions at our table and the restaurant’s other inhabitants went back to their business. When I approached the waiter in private to inform him that we had two birthdays, he said that free dessert was already in the works. All in all the spider was the highlight of the evening as it stretched my mind around the fact that such things exist, it reminded me how people innately (or perhaps preprogrammed) act in these situations and because I love free black sticky rice with mango.



P.S. just tried kiwi and grapes and are adding these two to fruits that Melissa actually quite likes...YAY!

Winding down

Hong Kong is a place of order. And I can appreciate this. Note how you line up on the right hand side of the escalator and let the rushed people who want to climb the stairs pass on the left. Us human beings can be so civil sometimes...

An inside look at one of the MTR stations. I reiterate how hard it is going to be going back to BART (he will always have a soft spot in my heart but he just can't compare to the MTR in terms of efficiency)


Some people just don't know their limits

You can tell this man (jojo judd) was made for the beach- Shek O beach was a lovely refuge from the hustle and bustle of the city and the sun and swim amidst big rocks (trying to block out the crowds of people that had the same brilliant idea as us) was truly a delight!

Our early BBQ where we seemed to have eaten enough meat to wipe out a farm or two. The honey you drown your veggies and meat in really make for a delicious end to a day of fruit popsicles and Tsing Tao


The Rugby "pitch" in the middle of the Happy Valley race course. Our University team played a tough match in grueling heat as I sat in the shade admiring what a strange valley or fishbowl we appeared to be encased in.

We ordered not three, not four but FIVE orders of chah shu bao (our favorite BBQ pork bun). And then we ordered two more once those were gone.

Us girls and our Beijing friend Phillip. We took this picture after our last dim sum together and to commemorate the fact that he was the first one to help take us out and show us the wonder of this meal

China drama

school girls make up the bulk of this stretch of crowd that toot red flags (can you spot the everpresent facemask?)


Aerial view of torch parade viewers

I am leaving for China in a week. I have been really on a vacation recently as my first and last final is in five days and I am not stressing out too much about it. I started preparing for my China trip sometime last week when I went down to the China Resources Building to get my Visa. I was told ahead of time that I needed proof that I had a flight into Beijing so I came prepared with a copy of my flight itinerary. Little did I know that after 1.5 hours of waiting, that I would be rejected at the window by a woman telling me I needed a proof of a hotel booking and also a departure out of the country. I explained to her that I would be taking the train back. She explained to me that I then needed to buy my train ticket. When I left the building, fuming for having waited so long for nothing, it started raining. Just one of those days.

So I went back again after Erin so graciously got us train tickets and I successfully secured the promise of getting my Visa in 3 working days. The Chinese government is really cracking down on policies as of late due to the hype and concern over the Beijing Olympics. The price has gone up considerably for Americans who want a China Visa ($150) but I figured I would splurge and do this China trip because I am never going to have the opportunity to be in China during such a momentous time than right now. Plus, there is so much talk of mainland China and I have met several people from its various cities that it seems like it would be wrong not to go.

I watched from the bathroom window of the China Resources Building as a hoard of people waving little red flags lined the streets below me. It was the day of the torch relay through Hong Kong and there has certainly been as much excitement about it as there has been fear that protesters are going to pull something. I heard from word of mouth some exchange students that had protested were arrested and that even though there were only three of them they attracted quite a bit of attention. I saw pictures of the Golden Gate bridge in a news paper here where men were climbing its foundation to post signs protesting the Olympics. We really are living in a connected world—one of interesting times.

Soho

The "travellator" as we recently found it to be called (apparently it runs down hill in the morning so people don't have to actually inconvenience themselves and have to walk down hill)

"The Feather Boa"- an indiscriminant bar that is always packed of peole sipping $10 strawberry margaritas with glasses coated in frosty chocolate that are simply to die for. Too bad you can't move from point A to point B without feeling like you are going to spill your drink.

Knicknack Chinese goods for sale (red being a lucky color, imagine how I felt when I wore a green shirt the day of the torch relay when everyone was decked out in red...)

A restaurant lined street strung with red lanterns and construction

I don’t really know what you could call Soho. It is a district or area of Hong Kong that is filled with a strangely segmented mixture of ex-pats in nice suits and heels and local Hong Kong people who sell fresh vegetables just a block over. It sits about LKF and so you see a younger more rambunctious crowd traipse through it during the nights and it reeks of good, over priced food and what they have come to call “fine living”. There are antiques, western breakfasts, kitschy stores and the ever important “travelator” that carries people up and even down its steep slopes. I have told you all that I have tried to like Chinese food but have sort of thrown my hands up after so many tries. (The only street food place I have been to in Hong Kong is in Soho). So, when I am not cooking, I am usually eating a nice meal, just every so often, in Soho. Departing there shortly for Emma and Jojo’s official birthday dinner (us cheapO students do the 2 for 1 Monday specials “I love Soho” puts on). I didn’t want to fall into a Western lifestyle when living in the East but the thing about Hong Kong is that you can get unidentifiable street food and boba tea for lunch and then get a five star meal later that night. I don’t know many places that are this diverse. And I am all about diversity.

My 21st Birthday Celebration!

The "Berkeley" girls- defying American girl stereotypes one person at a time (we do have nicely crafted smiles though...)

as you can see, the roof's ambiance is certainly not the most romantic but you make do with what you have when you are living in a building that literally looks like a prison

Emma gives Adele a big thank you kiss. Adele pooled enough money from all of Emma's friends to go out and buy her a new ipod nano. She had previously been running on the treadmill and exercising without music- now she is hooked.

Me, Jojo (the kiwi) and Emma (an Aussie) (21, 22 and 20 respectively) pose for a bday photo

First let me start by saying that I wish that you all could have been there. It is strange celebrating such a societally-deemed important occasion without so many of the people in my life that I value and care deeply for. But, alas, I couldn’t skype you all into a virtual birthday party because, well, that would just be lame in my opinion and way too much work so instead I threw a three way joint birthday party on the 2nd of May with fellow exchange friends. I live in a hall that is in a more isolated complex of buildings that is sort of a pain because we have to take the mini bus to school everyday and those 4.5 HKD add up! But, there are perks to living out on Sassoon road and one of the biggest ones is that our security is not as tight as the other halls that are closer to campus. So we could manage to get 50+ people on our roof top which has a 360 degree view of the city. This was the biggest rooftop party yet and I felt inwardly pleased and proud that I had had some part in making the event happen. We put out quite a gourmet(ish) spread of finger foods and sweets and had many guests bring the creative gifts of large bottles of hard liquor. I don’t want to go into the specifics of the night, to spare you, but let’s just say I celebrated my 21st birthday like a true American girl would. I ended up safely in my bed by 2 (with good help) and woke up the next morning not too devastated. It was a very wonderful and memorable night (especially for some cab driver out there somewhere) and I thank anyone who is reading this now that helped make it possible. I hope to be somewhere exotic for my real birthday…maybe the Great Wall of China for instance or the Summer Palace. Either way, friends really make a birthday and want to reiterate how lucky I feel to have met such generous, open and kind hearted people here.