Under a Rock

I've been deprived of a car for the past 3-4 months and when that happens, I don't listen to the radio or hear new top 40 songs.  So I decided to see what's popular back home through the billboard charts and found the addictiveness of "Meet Me Halfway" by the Black Eyed Peas.  I'm sure everyone at home is already sick of it as it has probably saturated all pop radio stations, but alas, I am addicted!

On My Mind

Random things I want to mention, but never took the time to write.  I wish I wrote this when I got here since some of my impressions may have changed and other things I wanted to say I've forgotten....

"At MOST you look 18"--said to me by a hair stylist last week.  Just today, a full-time int'l student and another exchange student asked if I was 18 too.  I don't feel necessarily that this is a bad thing, just shock? or like, really??  I guess I can see it though.  Oh gosh, I'm 22.

Most of the American exchange students are 3rd/4th years, though I do meet more Australians/Europeans/other nationality students who are 22+.  I remember when I first got here, I met a few American exchange students who would bulge their eyes and be in shock when I told them I was a 5th year (yay avoiding real world!)

Haircuts in Mong Kok are $98HKD=$12.60USD.  AWESOMENESS because I love haircuts.  Only got a trim though and may be getting a straight perm this Friday so I can save 10 minutes of my life.  I've been thinking of dyeing my hair, but what color?

Food.  I love food and good food here can be $3USD for a good meal.  Yes, it's amazing.  Why America can you not do the same?  Even McDonald's is cheaper--a meal is around $4 USD.  Ate all you can eat sushi for $6 USD too.  Mexican food however is "expensive" and something I still have to try.  Reminds me of when I had to explain what a burrito was to some local students...

Majority of people here are small--guys and girls, so I feel relatively tall.  The girls are super skinny and the guys can be too. 

Slimming ads are everywhere.  Korea seemed to be face conscious (hence all the plastic surgery ads) while HK seems to be body conscious.  Though they can be toooo skinny.

When I first arrived, it was HOT.  So humid you step outside and feel like you're sweating without doing anything and you wish you could just rip your clothes off and run through some cold sprinklers.  Now my blog title no longer fits the weather.  Just last week it got cold and windy around 55 degrees, but now it's back to a nice 75 (without humidty, thank god).

I remember thinking HK was pretty stylish from my last visit, but when I got here I realized HK is very casual.  Lots of tshirts, shorts, etc.  but then I figured out why I had that impression from my last visit.  Why?  Since it got cold last week, everyone dressed better..layers, peacoats, scarves, oh my!

My ethnicity/nationality is in question.  A few weeks ago, a hair dude thought I was Korean (which I get back in the States sometimes too); a local student, my cousin's friend, and dragon boat steersman thought I was Japanese; a few local students asked if I was "mixed" though they couldn't say with what; and after hearing my broken Cantonese, people have asked if I was from Singapore, Vietnam, or Thailand--these I think because I'm tan.

Whitening creams, lotions, body washes, anything you name it everywhere.  I already knew this obsession before I came here, but it feels more apparent now that I'm here.  A grand contrast to tanning products and salons everywhere back home.

The taxi and bus drivers here are crazy.  They tailgate like mad.  However, in a way, they are really good drivers because I rarely see accidents and they know how to brake really really well. 

In my opinion, my Cantonese has improved considering I never/barely spoke it back home.  My mom and grandma would speak to me in it, but I'd respond in English and for my gma, I'd have trouble responding or would say something simple.  My mom however, thinks it has not after our skype sessions haha.

I've joined the Dragon Boat team and Photographic Society!  More on those later.  (Super fun!)

Poke Her Face

Keepin' it classy with buzzed myspace-esque photo taking in the bathroom.

Halloween 2009 @ Club Billion, Lan Kwai Fong in Central, HK

Blonds do have more fun.

June?

As expected, I let my blog die for a bit. There's so much to write about, but not enough energy (as this requires thinking) to do so at the moment. At the end of October I decided to extend my HKU program for another unnecessary semester. Unnecessary since I didn't have to do a 5th year at all, but I wanted to come to Hong Kong and I'm glad I did. I am soo not into studying especially in HK, thus this year may (sadly) drop my GPA. Classes end in less than 2 weeks and then finals and then (mostly) everyone goes home. 1 semester is way too short and I feel like there's so much more to do. I hope I'll satisfy this craving with the addition of another semester. Hopefully they'll let me move into a real hall next semester so I can see how that goes.

I haven't changed my plane ticket yet, but I expect to come home in June. June seems pretty far away. I definitely didn't prepare myself for a year away before leaving. The thought of it is almost scary in a way. I wish I could go back to Cali for at least a week. I thought I didn't get home sick and I don't, but here, I'm friendsick. When I studied abroad in Italy, I didn't really get this feeling. Sure I wish my friends were with me, but I suppose Italy = summer, fun, weekend trips to different cities, adventures, a new culture to experience, and my first time studying abroad. To any friends reading this, I MISS YOU!!!

I end with Khalil Fong. A friend's friend told me to check him out before I came to HK since he's from HK (but sings in Mandarin)and is super popular here. I don't know any Cantopop though since I don't listen to the radio nor have I listened to local students' ipods. Though I do know that most of Cantopop consists of love ballads (which imo, can get boring). Though this love song is not:

Always Good

Made for Walking

via hm.com

I've been eyeing these Doc Marten-esque boots on fashion blogs for a while and then I went to Seoul, which made me want to actually buy a pair.  They were in shoe stands everywhere. The lowest price they would give me was 45,000 won = about $38 US, which is reasonable, but I figured I could get them in HK for a cheaper price.  I still wonder what the price would've been if I was Korean because whenever we asked, How much?, they would pause and we could see their minds churning to make up a price for us.  Hopefully they'll be in HK shoe stores once "winter" rolls around.

 

via zipia.net (<--I love to look at this online Korean store for the way they style everything)

*not writing a paper (what's new?)

Home Sweet Home

It's been almost a month since I've updated and so much has happened!  My goal was to update at least once a week...maybe I'll try to do that now.

Before I got my housing assignment, I was really hoping to get an actual hall with local students so that I could meet more of them and get to know how Hong Kong college kids are compared to UCI.  HKU is also famous or notorious for hall culture.  The week before school starts, they have orientation or "O-Camp," where the newbies are essentially hazed fraternity/sorority style.  They have to do tasks until the wee hours of the morning, learn the hall song (some of my friends said they could hear them from the 15th floor), and then after O-Camp, they have to participate in hall activities like sports or culture clubs (drama, choir, dance, etc.) and weekly dinners with your floormates.  Due to this, I've been told that their GPAs usually suffer or they just don't sleep much.  They also have to participate if they want to continue living there every year.  I've met a few who hated it and just moved back home, but for the most party, people love their halls and have tons of  hall pride.  I though it'd be fun and interesting to experience it, but alas, I didn't get a hall.  I might've been able to switch, but I found out later on and by then, I figured it'd be too much of a hassle.

For the past 2 months I've been living in Patrick Manson Student Residence, where only exchange students live (I usually get a "huh? where's that?" from local students because it's sort of hidden on Sassoon Road).  Since we're not a real hall, we don't have many rules or hall activities.  I live in a triple and both of my roommates are from UCLA and they're both Communications majors with Asian American Studies minors.  We figured they put us together because of our majors since my majors are very very similar to theirs.  What were the chances of them studying Asian Am too?

I've come to accept that I can't have hall life, but it creeps up out of the back of my head every once in a while if someone else mentions it...

 

 

My side:

Thought I'd show you the beautiful shower (as long as it runs water!)

No complaints, buuutt...it'd be nice to control water temperature or have continously running water

A prime example of Hong Kong's paranoia of germs (somewhat understandable due to the fact that there are 7 million people packed in very little space)

Don't forget finger webbing!

Sweet Tooth

I forget the Chinese name, but it's just soft toasted bread, butter, and condensed milk.  Perfect for afternoon tea--a tradition picked up from Hong Kong's colonial days.  Beware, the milk tea can keep you up for days.  Simple and delicious.

@ Tsui Wah in Central w/ my aunt

A favorite since childhood: dan tat or egg tart.  I don't eat it a whole lot back home, but here, I've been in search of the best one.  Needs: flaky crusts over cookie crusts and the custard should be just right in sweetness.  Po tat, the Portuguese version famous in Macau, is good too of course.

This one is from a bakery near my aunt's in Ma On Shan in the New Territories.  So far, it's been the best.

I've never heard of Hui Lau Shan until I came here.  Apparently it's in California, but it might just be more popular in NorCal.  It's everywhere in HK, sort of a fast food dessert place with numerous mango desserts that I know my friend Sara would love.

Pictured are different forms of mango with sago and coconut milk.  The watermelon one was refreshing.  Plus, I <3 watermelon!

Honeymoon Dessert is another popular dessert station, but better.  My cousin took me to the original/first shop in Sai Kung in the New Territories where we tried durian pancake, mango sago with grass jelly and pomelo, coconut milk with sago and green tea, and I tried a spoonful of her friend's walnut with tofu.  I've never tried durian before and it wasn't bad!  It was definitely different for a fruit.  I'll have to eat it again.

My cousin claims she's had more desserts this past month than she ever does because of me. : )

Wan Chai

Walk around Wan Chai at night and you'll find Hong Kong's red light district.  Strip clubs, neon lights, (unattractive and oddly non-Chinese) prostitutes, and old white men with cash in their hands and a hooker on an arm heading straight up to a motel for some lovin'.  So why go there?  Every Wednesday is ladies night at several bars that sit (almost) in a row--Carnegie's, Typhoon, Swindler's, and Mes Amis.  The crowd consists mostly of non-locals, businessmen, and of course, exchange students.

Ladies Night is something we need in Cali!  Free cover and free drinks for ladies all night.  Drinks are pretty much any hard alcohol mixed with any soda or juice.  The essence of it is to get girls super drunk so that all the guys who head out on ladies' nights buy expensive drinks and hope to eventually land a chick (at least this is what I think).  I haven't actually seen much of it going on, but I'm sure it does.  The first time we went out there, we had drinks at Mes Amis and they were half alcohol, half juice, and all disgusting...way too much alchie in there all at once, but it definitely made ladies night clear.  As we had more drinks, I noticed more guys standing around the bar waiting. 

Other than that, it's a good place to go to on Wednesday nights (though not as good as going to Lan Kwai Fong on Thursdays, in my opinion).  Although each bar is pretty small, we still find a way to get drunk and dance!  I've been there almost every week, but I'm staying in for the first time tonight (bit of a cough/sore throat)

9/2 First night in Wan Chai at Mes Amis-Susan, Melody, and me busting out the Asian poses

9/9 with Noelle and Mario who dance to everything including electro! <3

Listen to these and you're there:

I hear this song way too much:


Of course:


Love:




ahh they don't fit in my blog

My Fair Lady

 

  

Last night we went to watch the first race of the season at Happy Valley Racecourse near Causeway Bay.  Horse race betting is huge here as there are HK Jockey Clubs everywhere.  But we got there late, so no more free beer, we saw 1 race and I didn't bet on anything...I'm lame.  I still had fun though!

Next time.

  

Straw + Beer
 

Melody (one of my roommates), Hattie (from Wales), Susan (fellow anteater!) and Me!

Dog Eat Dog

 

We stumbled upon Bao Dim Sin Seng bakery in Mong Kok on Friday (9/11).  I had to get one since they're so damn cute!

I love hot dog buns!

<3

When (most of) the City Sleeps...

Monday September 7th

At nighttime, a bunch of us received a text from Phuong, an exchange student from Australia.
"Anyone interested in leaving at 4am from the halls for dim sum then to the peak for a 6am sunrise? Let me know! Ask others too"

I was tired when I read it, but I knew I had to go.  Before that day, it felt like something was missing...perhaps the sense of adventure?  I'm not sure, but after going, I was happy that I did.

By the time we arrived at the dim sum place, it was already 3/4 full of old men.  Apparently, the place opens at 3am!  At this hole-in-the-wall, you go up to a table and grab your own dim sum to take back to your table instead of ordering or picking dishes out from rolling carts (anyone know if rolling carts even exist at yum cha places here?).  Of course, all of it was goood.

Me, Sungmin (from Korea), Phuong, & Ellen (my roomie's friend in HK for vacation) finishing dim sum on Hau Wo Street

random snap of the inside: bus drivers in light blue shirts (I wish I got a better picture of them)

 

The guy in green ended up being our taxi driver.  He played tour guide and dad, telling us which buildings were around us and warning us to stay safe.  I highly recommend going to The Peak before sunrise.  Although we couldn't really see the sunrise due to all the clouds, the air was cool and breezy (in great contrast to the usual hot and very humid weather) and the city was calm.  I love city life, but it's a nice little escape.  Plus, you can actually see the HK skyline (though still a bit hazy), which is often covered in smog.  

 

I'm On A Boat!

My face is a bit pink, my body's sore and I'm a bit sniffly, but I had an amazing time playing on the sandy beach of a random island, riding a "banana boat," and chilling on a yacht.

Today my cousin, Mary, took me with her on a boat trip coordinated by one of her friends. It's popular in HK to go on boat trips in order to escape the hectic city life and relax for a whole day. In the morning, we departed from Sai Kung, which is located on the east coast of the New Territories. I got a glimpse of it and it's a town I definitely need to go back to and explore.

We went out until we reached a small island (the name of which I forgot already) where I played games (which is why I'm sore) with my cousin's friend's friends (to be specific) like one called "Counting Numbers" in cantonese, a squirrel/tree game, volleyball, and a version of dodgeball on the beach. Then we waded in the water to cool off. It was the perfect temperature unlike the freezing water back home--though the only downside is that their water is saltier (rather unpleasant up your nose).

After a few hours under the sun, we went back onto the boat and ate tasty tasty chicken, crab, fish balls, etc. prepared by the cook. The boat moved on out onto an open area where they took people out on a small speedboat to go wakeboarding--something I totally wanted to do, but the boat was too full so while we waiting around, we just swam near the boat.  I did however get to ride a banana boat!  My groups were pretty good, so we stayed on for a good amount of time until we fell off when the captain sped up the boat too much or went on crazy sharp turns.

After all that, we dried off and laid out on the yacht...I'm on a boat style until we reached Sai Kung by 5pm. 'Tis the life.

My cousin and my closed eyes on the beach of the island :)

playing a version of dodgeball

remnants of the feast

banana boat!

32 people!

Back in Sai Kung, we walked around and went to Honeymoon Dessert or "moon gei" in canto (though moon gei doesn't mean honeymoon?). It's a popular chain in HK and we went to the first/original place where I tried a bunch of desserts including durian! Well, durian in dessert and it wasn't bad! I've never eaten durian, so it was interesting/tasted like something/ok/good/need to try it again and again. By the time we finished, it started pouring. A typhoon just arrived and luckily, not when we were on the boat.

My cousin and I waited until it subsided and then headed to the bus stop to go back to Mong Kok in HK Island. While we stood there, thunder roared, lightning struck, the wind blew, tension in the air...the elements of a disaster movie. A mini bus came around, but it was full when there were only 2 people ahead of us--soo close! We waited..and waited..and then it poured. It was really like taking a shower in the rain. Everyone in line scrambled to get something to cover up--mainly towels, which helped, but of course it was soaking wet. By the time we all got on the bus, we were dripping wet and the A/C was on hence my sniffles here and there now. We warmed up with fish ball noodle soup in Mong Kok and went back home to take some nice hot showers.

Walking around Sai Kung...they're known for seafood (but I think this was just for show)

Honeymoon Dessert
There are 2 spots next to each other. One for durian and the other without.
durian "pancake"-one of many desserts we ate

(Day 19 of life in Hong Kong and I am finally blogging. A goal of mine was to update frequently, but I still need to get into the habit. Not really a space to be writerly, but to remind myself of what I'm doing here when I look back on this experience)

Click