Still Missing HK

It's been four months since I've returned home, and I find myself still missing my time in Hong Kong. I miss the people I met there. I miss the cheap food. I miss the wonderful public transportation. I miss Lan Kwai Fong; I didn't go nearly as much as I should have. I miss having to attempt to use my limited Cantonese.

I am so glad I decided to study abroad in Hong Kong. It was truly a once in a lifetime experience. No student should miss the experience of studying abroad.

Here's a list of reasons why Hong Kong is a great place to study abroad:

• Hong Kong is truly Asia's world city with a great mix between modernized Western culture and traditional Eastern culture.
• The public transportation is fantastic, especially the KCR and MTR. The trains are clean, fast and efficient. There are many buses that can take you where the MTR can't. Plus there are taxis everywhere, and the fares are significantly cheaper than in the States.
  
• The food is pretty cheap and really good (I miss all the bakeries!). You can find groceries from all over the world, and there are restaurants of all kinds.
• Lan Kwai Fong - with dozens of restaurants, bars and clubs all clumped together within a few blocks on Hong Kong Island, it's so convenient to enjoy the nightlife.
• I never felt like my safety was compromised. I have heard stories of girls getting groped on the MTR, but I'm sure it's worse in other countries.
  
• Hong Kong is in a great location for travelling anywhere in Asia. Trips can be really cheap if you go during non-peak times. Southeast Asia is amazing!
• You can get by without knowing a word of Cantonese, but the locals appreciate it when you try.
• The shopping is amazing! There are so many malls to choose from. Many are high-end with designer brands from all over. Or you can visit the small local boutiques in Causeway Bay and Mongkok. Plus there are the street markets if you feel like practicing your bargaining skills.

If you are thinking of studying abroad, please consider Hong Kong. I would be more than happy to answer any questions.

If money is an issue that's stopping you from studying abroad (it almost stopped me from going), you can apply for a Freeman-ASIA Award. The Freeman-ASIA Program provides need-based funds to support undergraduate American students who plan to study abroad in Asia.

Favorite Snacks in HK

School has started, and I am still trying to readjust to being back at USC. I'm already missing the freedom and friends that I had in Hong Kong.

So, I will post some things I miss about Hong Kong.

Top Ten Snacks in Hong Kong:

1. McVitie's Caramel Milk Chocolate Digestives (found in Taste in Festival Walk)

2. McVitie's Go Ahead Cinammon Apple (found in Park 'N Shop)

3. French Wooden Milk Bread (from A1 Bakery and Das Gute)

4. Anything mango from Hui Lau Shan

5. Frozen yogurt flavored with the fruits of my choice (Appolo in Island Beverly, Causeway Bay)

6. Loh Bahk Goh with XO Sauce

7. Mr. Softie soft serve cone

8. Honey Pear Ice Tea

9. Best Berry (Level 5 in New Town Plaza)

10. Garden Lemon Crackers

Stanley Market and the Peak

This afternoon, Aaron and I finally went back to Stanley Market since the IASP field trip there at the beginning of the semester. The market ended up being a disappointment. Things were more expensive than at Temple Street and Ladies' Market, and it wasn't as big as we had remembered it from the first time we went there.

We realized that it probably looked so cool and exciting when we had first gone there because it was the first market we had seen. Now we realize it's just a tourist trap. At least the views going up to Stanley Market were nice.



The restaurants at Murray House are expensive. But it's a good place to go for a romantic dinner.

We took the bus back down to Central, and then walked to the Peak Tram. There were tons of people in line to take the tram, but the tram fit a lot of people. The trip up was pretty pricey (HKD$22). We went to the viewing terrace, took a few pictures, then took the bus back down to Central.



I don't know what I will be doing in the next few days before I leave. I know I have to go to Shenzhen one day, and I have to pack everything up and move by Dec. 30. I guess I better continue packing tomorrow.

Last Month in the Fragrant Harbor

At the end of the semester, my workload for classes got a lot heavier. Final exams weren't so bad, but it was a 15-page research paper that had me worried. I managed to finish it on time before I had to leave for Malaysia.

I flew to Kuala Lumpur on Dec. 11 with Kim, and we spent a week going through Malaysia from KL to Penang, to Langkawi, back to Penang and KL. Compared to Hong Kong, KL and Penang were so-so. But Langkawi Island was amazing.

We did the touristy thing in KL:

going to the National Museum

the Planetarium

the orchid garden

the hibiscus garden

and the National Mosque

We also checked out Central Market and the night market. Central Market had a lot of little shops with neat souvenirs, but it was a tourist trap with high prices. The night market was nothing compared to the ones in Hong Kong.

When we returned to KL at the end of the trip, we went to Suria KLCC, a really fancy mall that reminded me of malls in Hong Kong. We tried to get tickets to go up to the bridge at the Petronas Twin Towers, but they were sold out by the time we got there around 10 am.

In Penang, we went to Komtar (really disappointing), the Chinatown markets, Khoo Kongsi Temple, Kek Lok Si Temple, and the Botanical Gardens. We walked through Gurney Plaza (movies are only 6RM on Wednesdays at the movie theater) and ate really delicious, cheap food at Gurney Drive.

Soy Milk with Black Sugar Syrup and Laksa

Langkawi was the highlight of our trip. We stayed at the cozy Sunset Beach Resort, which had its own private beach area.

We went to the Oriental Village and took the cable car up to the top of the rainforest.

We took the Coral Island Cruise to the Pulau Payar Marine Park and went snorkeling. One of the workers took me snorkeling at the deeper parts. It was one of the best, most surreal moments of my life.

Everyone was really nice on Langkawi Island - even the taxi drivers! The island was so beautiful and had such a relaxed vibe. The beach was amazing with the softest sand my feet have ever touched.

And souvenirs were really inexpensive.

All the food we had in Malaysia was phenomenal and really cheap...

Except for the slightly expensive big dinner Kim and I shared on our last night in Langkawi at the Matahari Malaysian Restaurant. But the food was well worth it.

The public transportation in KL doesn't match Hong Kong, but it's decent. We had to pay for taxis to get anywhere in Penang and Langkawi. I think that's what gobbled most of our money up, even though taxi fares there are cheap compared to US prices.

******

We returned to Hong Kong for a day to rest, then Kim and I, plus Jiesi and Crowny, headed off to Thailand on a tour with Hong Thai Travel.

The tour was decent. Our tour guide, Woody, was really cool and funny. I wish I had understood everything he said, though, since he spoke Cantonese. Our tour group was really small and consisted of a family, a young couple and us.

We landed in Bangkok, then went to Pattaya. We rode on elephants and horse wagons.


We saw a monkey show, and were given the option to pay to shoot at a shooting range or ride ATVs. My friends and I didn't want to pay, so we just walked and sat around. We had a buffet dinner at our hotel, the Cholchan. Then we went to Mike's Shopping Center.

The next day we were taken to a beach where we could parasail. We had a really bumpy ride to Coral Island, which was so packed with tourists.

Even though the sand and water were nice, the beach was filthy with litter.

Out of the water sport options we could choose from, Jiesi and I decided to share a 15-minute jetski ride. We would have liked to do the underwater walk, but it was too expensive (1500 baht).

******

Most of my friends have left. Some for home and some on trips. I spent Christmas Eve helping Jiesi bring her luggage to her auntie's, then watching "Confession of Pain" with Sherman and his friend Edna, and barhopping with Aaron, Becca, Gaby and their friends in Wan Chai and LKF. I had Christmas dinner with Aaron and his friends at a Brazilian BBQ (not really) restaurant. Then Aaron and I just went walking around Central to see the decorations and pass by Santa's Town.


Christmas in Hong Kong is different from the US. Instead of everybody staying home with family to celebrate, everybody goes out walking around the city. There are hawkers selling glowing toys and necklaces for kids, and families walk around taking pictures of all the Christmas lights that businesses put up. A lot of people go to LKF, too. I had never seen so many locals in LKF until Christmas Eve. Even the MTR and KCR run all night.

I only have 6 full days left in this wonderful city.

First Trip to China

Jiesi, Kim and I woke up bright and early to take the KCR to Lo Wu and then take the train to Guangzhou. When we crossed the border to Shenzhen and were about to buy tickets for the train, there was an announcement about the trains not running because of an accident. The woman at the counter told another woman that the train probably wouldn't start running until 10 p.m.

We didn't know what to do. There were buses that probably would have gotten us to Guangzhou, but Guangzhou is a big place. We wouldn't have known how to get to our hotel from wherever the bus would drop us off. Plus there was a horde of people waiting to get on the buses, and it would take longer than taking the train.

We decided it wasn't worth taking the bus to Guangzhou and possibly being lost when we get there or getting scammed by taxi drivers (everyone says people in Shenzhen and Guangzhou are shady). We would just stay in Shenzhen and do some shopping.

I bought a fake agnis b. purse. But I haven't even seen agnis b. purses in California, so noone will really care whether my bag is real or not. But I don't care about the authenticity of the purse. It's really cute and it's made out of quality material. I can't exactly say the same about the tokidoki for LeSportsac bag I bought at Ladies' Market the other day, but it's cute.

I bought my mom the toothpaste she wanted that's made out of watermelon skin. It was ridiculously cheap!

Kim wanted to buy some tea, so we found a nice shop where the saleswoman asked us to sit down on these lacquered wooden stools as she brewed some tea leaves on this setup on the lacquered table top. We got to try two different types of tea - oolong and ginseng. I liked the special ginseng tea the most and bought a bag. It would make a very nice gift.

At the top floor of the plaza were tons of tailor shops. I saw a lot of really nice wool coats and spotted some houndstooth, but I didn't like any of the ones I saw. I spotted two white coats in different stores that I tried on that were really nice. As I was thinking them over, I spotted a really nice houndstooth peacoat in another store. I tried it on and, with the advice of my friends, decided that that coat was the best fit for me.

The price was decent, so I decided to get one tailormade for myself. The tailor took my measurements and I put down a deposit of half the cost. I will pick up the coat in a few weeks after my trips to Malaysia and Thailand.

I'm excited about picking up my new coat! All my other coats are too loose on me now. Plus I've been searching for a good houndstooth coat or skirt for weeks!

My friend, Aaron, has been getting a lot of things tailormade for him in that mall. I guess it's one of those things to go to Shenzhen for.

Overall, I was very happy with the way the day turned out. I bought what I intended to buy in Guangzhou, and I have more time to work on my final research paper that's due Monday. Plus I got sick of all the salespeople beckoning us, and I didn't like the feeling of having to clutch my purse and being super careful every time I open my bag or take my wallet out. And I wouldn't have wanted to see anymore people spit into trashcans.

I just hope I can take a trip to Guangzhou the next time I head into China to pick up my coat!

When in Rome...

Today was one of the few days that we went to local favorites.

We had really great dimsum at Maxim's Palace in New Town Plaza in Shatin. It is one of the most famous restaurants here in Hong Kong, and it is the only restaurant mentioned in my Cantonese book.

The wait was quite long, so we decided to have a snack during the hour-long wait. I had some really delicious Irish Coffee and Ferrero Rocher flavored gelato at City Super.

Maxim's Palace is really large and very pretty inside. A lot of weddings are held there, and there was a wedding planned for the evening, so decorations were up on the walls.

The prices were a little higher than most dimsum places, but the service was good (the cart ladies walked by frequently), and every dish was pretty good.



I even took a liking to the tripe because the flavoring was so delicious! And best of all was the mango pudding with really great whipped cream.


Afterward, we went to Festival Walk for a really quick trip into the IT Sales Shop inside http://www.izzue.com, and bought a few snacks from Taste.

Then we headed to Mongkok, where all the locals like to shop. We spent most of our time at Ladies' Market, and I found a lot more lovely gifts for people. My hands were full of heavy bags by the end. We were all tired and were happy to sit down at a restaurant along Ladies' Market for some Chinese-Thai food.

The food was cheap and tasted pretty good.

I am nearly done buying gifts for people. I really have bought tons of gifts!

Starting tomorrow, I will be extremely busy with papers and studying for my last final exam until my trip to Guangzhou from Friday to Saturday. Then I am off to Malaysia and Thailand!

I really am going to miss this place and the people who have made my semester so great.

A Very Busy 24-Hours in Hong Kong

This was the busiest and funnest 24-hours I've had in Hong Kong!

Since classes are almost over and people will be travelling or going home soon, a big group of us (Jiesi, Brian, Crowny, Mary, Aaron, Becca and I) decided to go to LKF.


Of course, we started off the night at the good old "chut suhp yaht" (7-eleven) at LKF for some cheap drinks.




We saw a lot of other CUHK exchange students there.

Next we decided to go to a hookah bar.

By "we," I mean the rest of them, because hookah wouldn't be good for my cough. I just had a drink while the others did hookah.

Becca, Aaron and Crowny went to the bathroom upstairs and didn't come back for a long time. We were all wondering what the heck they were doing before they finally came back and showed us some of the provocative pictures they were taking upstairs because the lighting was good.

Mary, Jiesi, Brian and I decided to head up there and check it out. We took a few pictures, but we weren't as sexy as Becca and Aaron. Haha.

They finished off the hookah then walked along the streets of LKF searching for a good club to go into. Some guys were handing out flyers for Mooch, saying that girls got in for free plus two free drinks. We decided to check it out, but we took the longest time to finally go up there because they were charging a lot for the guys. Aaron flat-out refused to pay and would not back down, but Brian agreed to pay.

So Jiesi, Crowny, Mary, Brian and I went upstairs to Mooch. It was a really tiny club. Us girls got two free drinks. We danced for hours and hours, but it didn't feel like it.


Around 3 a.m., we decided to head out of the club. We saw the McDonald's that's open 24-hours, so we went in and grabbed some food. I decided to try the McPepper, because I've never seen it before in the States, and it might not be out at home.

Afterward, we took awhile trying to hail a taxi that would take us all the way back to Shatin for less than HKD$150. A lot of taxis passed us up or refused to drive that far. We should have taken the first taxi we hailed that offered HKD$150, because we ended up settling for HKD$160 after being passed up by a lot of people.

I slept in pretty late. Then I got ready for High Tea at the Peninsula with Brian, Kim and Jiesi. We got there around 4 p.m., and there was a line of people waiting to be seated. There were a lot of tourists and some wealthy locals.

We didn't have to wait too long to be seated. We ordered two trays of food and tea.

The food was delicious! The tiny slices of ham sandwich were really yummy. The bread was amazingly soft, and there was pesto mayo (I love pesto!). I also tried my first cucumber sandwiches (I always think of "The Importance of Being Earnest" when I think of cucumber sandwiches). They were equally yummy.

All the items on the tray were so good. I savored every bite of food and every sip of tea. There was also a string quartet playing songs from the balcony, which was quite enjoyable. At the end, we were given Christmas ornaments to write a wish on, which would be hung on the tree in the lobby.

Afterward, we revisited the Hong Kong Museum of Art gift store to buy some more souvenirs for people. I think everyone bought something this time. It's one of the few places with nice touristy souvenirs in Hong Kong.

We then visited Harbour City to shop at Zara. I had never heard of Zara until I came to Hong Kong, but it's sort of a classier (and a bit pricier) H&M that originates from Spain.

After we finally worked up an appetite, we went to Dan Ryan's Chicago Grill. The Harbour City location is pretty small, so we had a bit of a wait. When we were finally seated and got our order in, we realized that we weren't being treated the same as the more obvious Westerners (read: White people) were being treated. We had to ask for more muffins and bread about three times before we actually got it. That really bugged all of us. It was probably the worst service we've had at any restaurant in Hong Kong.

We finished our meal, paid the bill and left for CUHK. By the time we got back to the University KCR stop, we had already missed the last University bus that took us from the bottom of the hill to our dorms near the top of the hill. I was wearing tall wedges, but was able to walk up the hill in them.

Jiesi and I got back into Xuesi Hall and had to write our names on the same page of the late sign-in list that we had signed our names on the previous night.

And that concludes the busiest 24-hour period I've had in Hong Kong.