Picture Time!!!

These will all be on Facebook with many more pictures, but I figured I should post some on the blog too.

Dragon Boat Races in Sha Tin

The Skyline of Hong Kong at night



Temple Street Market



Buddhas in the Temple of 10,000 Buddhas



Pagoda in the main square of the Temple of 10,000 Buddhas



Bruce Lee Statue on the Walk of Stars with the city in the background



Inside of a Buddhist Temple in Central

Getting Around Hong Kong......Sort Of

I'm back!!!! And I have eaten ate Ruby Tuesdays. And yes, the salad was amazing, but I have decided that it will be more economical to actually go to the grocery store and buy food to cook for myself. Wish me luck because I don't think I have ever cooked anything more complicated than pasta and quesadillas. This week, I will attempt to make vegetable stir-fry with fried tofu. It's not that hard, but it is a start.

In other news, I did get to go to the temple of 10,000 Buddhas which was amazing. There were literally 10,000 Buddhas, but most of them were really small. However, the quarter-mile stair walk up to and down from the temple were lined with life-size images of different Buddhas. And because some of my friends are getting mad at me for not putting up pictures, I'll try to see if I can post them in this entry.

Friday was probably the most exciting part of this week. The day started off with my morning Chinese class which included a test (yuck) that I did pretty well in (hurray!). After finishing and getting out of class early, some friends and I decided to have a day out on the town. The first stop was to get Indian food in an area of Hong Kong called Tsim Sha Tsui, which is right across the harbor from the central part of the city. The restaurant was in this covered market center that was completely occupied by Africans and Indians selling food and other goods. The food was delicious, especially the samosas. I did see some good bollywood movies, but when I asked the stall owner about them, he said that they didn't have English subtitles. Better luck next time.

We then headed over to the Walk of Stars, which is basically a Chinese version of Hollywood's Walk of Fame. It was cool though because I managed to find the Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee stars. There was even a Bruce Lee statue. The Cat Street antique market was next, where the goods may or may not have been actual antiques. Everything was interesting though over priced for the quality and very little bargaining was possible. If I had enough time, I could have found some pretty interesting pieces that were actual antiques, so I highly recommend Cat Street if you just want to do a little market shopping.

Church today was great, although it was an adventure to try to find it since the woman who took me there the first time decided to attend her church today. The hour long MTR ride was fine, it was the mini bus that was the problem. In order to get to Hong Kong Adventist College, it's necessary to take a mini bus that has a route, but, to my recent knowledge, no set bus stops. Added on to this, I didn't quite remember how far I had to take the bus to get to the church. By the time I got anywhere close to the college, I was the only one on the bus. The bus passed the entrance to the college, but I didn't say anything because I was lead to believe that there was a bus stop shortly after the church road. No such thing. I must have rode the bus for another mile before the bus drive stopped and basically told me to get off. So I walked until I found another bus stop, but no bus came. So I learned a new and valuable skill, how to hail a taxi. Granted, this was a half hour after church started, but I got a taxi and that's the point. While in the taxi with a driver who couldn't speak English, I practiced another life skill, the art of gesturing. With these two skills, I was able to make it to church. After church was even better because I participated in a Bible study and met about 30 college students who either attended the school, or commuted to the church. This means that I have 30 new friends! After Bible study, we went to a church member's house and had haystacks, the Adventist staple mean which is basically a taco salad. This was a great week over all, and I'm finally able to recognize where I am in Hong Kong.

While I was at church, some friends went across the border to Shen Zhen in mainland China and returned with stories of cheap bags and other goods. And I thought that things couldn't get any cheaper than they were in Hong Kong. I'm super excited to make a trip of my own. I'll keep you guys updated about that, and maybe post more often.

Birthday Week!

So, this past Wednesday was my 19th birthday and I celebrated it Hong Kong style! Of course, Hong Kong style really means that I went to class and did homework for most of the daylight hours. At night, however, my classmates and I went back to Mr. Wong's to eat and I celebrated my birthday there. I'm not sure if I was embarrassed or pleased that everyone on the street looked when 30+ people sang "Happy Birthday" to me at the top of their lungs.

Afterwards, I went with a smaller group of friends to this night market on Temple Street. It sells everything from travel Chinese tea sets, to fake designer purses, to leather bound notebooks. It was fantastic, and I got myself a nice Chinese fan to combat the humid and hot weather. Getting this fan was even more fantastic because I was able to bargain for it in Chinese and I got it for half of the original price! I definitely recommend a trip to Temple Street if anyone is ever in Hong Kong.

In other news, I went to a different church today. Mrs. Chuah decided to take to me to the church at the Adventist University so that I could meet other people my age. It was very enjoyable, although twice as long as it needed to be because everything was first said in Cantonese and then translated into English. I must admit that I never before have had to listen to a translator rather than the main speaker, and it was an interesting experience. It made me pay close attention to the sermon because sometimes the translations did not make sense or did not flow with the last thought. The constant pausing and starting of the speaking did not help either. After five minutes though I got a system down. I first listened to the Cantonese, then the translator's English , then I would quickly translate it in my head to English that I could comprehend. By doing this, I could comprehend the fact that the sermon was about how nothing should stop us from receiving God's love using the story of Jesus visiting Martha and Mary as an illustration. After church, I went to the fellowship hall to eat Sabbath lunch with everyone. There are so many carbs in Chinese cooking. Besides rice we had noodles, and then a seaweed soup with more noodles! Luckily, this was balanced out with VERY small portion sizes. Dessert was ice cream with red beans. It was an odd combination for me because this ice cream was not as sweet as the ice cream in America, and it was eaten with a bean that looks like a kidney bean and tastes only slightly sweeter. I don't know if I'll be having that again anytime soon. Of course, all of the desserts here are much less sweet than any desserts back home. I did have great company though. I sat with several of the Adventist University students and we really enjoyed each others company. They even offered to teach me how to speak Cantonese like a local! I'm very excited to go back next week, especially since they are having a potluck and the youth are going over to another American church member's house after lunch for a social gathering. I think I found my new church home.

So, now that I've lived in Hong Kong for two weeks, I have noticed some things about the city. The first is that this city would literally stop functioning without the ever-constant presence of 7-Eleven. Yes, I'm talking about the convenience store. They are literally everywhere in this city. There are at least two in every subway stop, two outside of every subway stop, and if you go walking and you don't pass one for at least five minutes, then you are probably no longer in Hong Kong. And you can do so many practical things at the 7-Eleven. You can buy a sim card for your phone, reload your sim card, reload your octopus card (your metro card that you can also use to buy things in convenience stores and some other shopping places), and buy food. It's baffling how integral a part 7-Eleven now plays in my daily life, and how often I come in contact with one. And here I was thinking that it was an American thing.

The second thing that I've notice is that the local population of Hong Kong doesn't seem to take gym exercise very seriously, or at least not group classes. The first class I went to was a Zumba class where half of the class were men in extremely small gym shorts. I have never come across this mix of people in a group gym class in my life, and never have I seen men's gym shorts that are so small. But they were out there with no shame, dancing to Lady Gaga. However, most of the people there didn't seem to be trying to get a work out. They were dancing as slow as possible and minimizing all of the moves so that they didn't get to tired. I think I was the only person working hard enough to break a sweat. It was even more frustrating when I missed the kickboxing class by five minutes and got locked out of the class because it was too full. I decided to watch for a few minutes to see if it was worth coming back for. The routine seemed alright, but the way people were doing it made me wish that I could replace someone. I don't think anyone was actually punching or kicking anything. Their movements were closer to gently reaching their arms and legs out. There was even one woman in a jersey knit dress. Dejected, I went running and did circuit weight training instead. Oh well, I'll make it next time.

This week, I've finally opened the Hong Kong travel book that my mom bought me before I left and looked at the places I want to go. I think I might visit the peak, which has really great views, and the Temple of 10,000 Buddhas. Of course at the top of my list of things to do is eat at Ruby Tuesday, I need western food and a salad.

Subways, and Buildings, and Chinese, Oh My!

So my wonderful roommate Sydnie convinced me to start a blog about my adventures in China. I'm not really a diary or blog person, but because she asked nicely (read: threatened me), I decided to go ahead and do one. I was supposed to write during my first week in Hong Kong, but lo and behold, using a Chinese network makes things like BlogSpot appear in Chinese. Luckily I just found out how to change the language to English so we are back on board. Because I missed the first week, I will give everyone a recap on what happened.

Saturday,  June 4

I arrived in Hong Kong sometime around 7:20 am with my flying partner Tyler. Customs was easy and because English is one of the official languages, it was on almost every sign. So far, no luck in practicing what little Chinese I know. The taxi was easy enough to find, though it had to be a green one because that's the color that goes to the New Territories (where my school is). For those of you that don't know, the New Territories are north of the main island of Hong Kong. Actually, I'm about three subway stops away from mainland China!!!

The rest of the day was uneventful, but that night the first group of students in the program took us out to two clubs to go dancing in Central, the main part of the city. The DJ played mostly American music, but it was fun none the less for my first clubbing experience. Besides that, the second club was on the 28th floor of the building, providing excellent views of the skyline.

Sunday

I went to Ikea and bought bedding and other dorm items. Honestly, that was about it. Not the most daring day in the world, but completely necessary. Besides, the Ikea is only 2 metro stops away from the university.

I suppose I can also talk about the mall closest to me in Sha Tin (it's a block away from Ikea). It's crazy big. That's pretty much the only way to describe it. Actually, all of the malls here are crazy big. The Sha Tin mall is really three malls in one with skyways connecting them. The entire 1st and 7th floors are dedicated to food and there is a food court besides that. The shopping is great because there is a Zara for all of you out there who appreciate European fashion.  I've personally been coming to appreciate Asian fashion which, to my never ending delight, includes many cute dresses. I could get used to shopping here.

Monday

Today was the Dragon Boat Festival in Hong Kong, which is a holiday that warrants people a day off from school or work to watch crew teams race each other down rivers. It was interesting, though I have yet to learn of the cultural significance of the holiday. A large group of IBCE students went down to the river in Sha Tin to watch some of the race. Unfortunately, another classmate and I got separated from the group, However, we did find this great Thai restaurant in the mall with some of the best curry ever! Definitely worth getting lost for. We then went to get frozen yogurt. Easily one of the yummiest days ever.

Tuesday

Class started today. I have a morning class every day that goes from 9:30am to 12:00pm and on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday there is an afternoon class from 2:30 to 4:15. The classes so far have been nice and I really enjoy them. I know most of the vocabulary right now, but we are mostly working on tones, an essential part of the Chinese language. Afterall, it would be awful to accidently call someone's mother a horse (they're the same sound but different tones).

Wednesday

More class! And some homework. We did get out today though and went to this restaurant owned by a Mr. Wang. It's all you can eat and drink for $40 HKD which is about $5 USD. Some of the other students went bar hopping afterwards, but I went back to the dorm to chill out.

Thursday

I think I went to Mong Kok, a big open air street market, on this day, but I can't really remember. I did go sometime this week though. Oh! but I was also tired of Chinese food so I went to this really nice Italian restaurant and ordered a grilled chicken, vegetables, and mashed potatoes. Finally, a meal that I would eat at home. I'm thinking of making this a weekly thing.

Friday

I can't remember!!! Is it bad that I can't remember? I think I went to Tai Po, another open air market that mostly for food. Then I went to the mall and finally got a phone and a sim card so people can call me. I don't know how I survived that long without a cell phone.

Saturday

This was by far the best day. First, I went to church in Happy Valley, located on the main island of Hong Kong. It's a really nice and kinda ritzy area. The church service was great and everyone was so kind. Afterwards, I went to a church member's house for lunch. She was also hosting a group of five Malaysian nurses who were stopping in Hong Kong for a while before heading off to mainland China for a mission conference. The lunch was delicious and the after lunch nap was even better. When we woke up two hours later, we all decided to take a walk to Central (this is about a two hour walk) where we got to see all of the main buildings. We hardly ever walked on street level, because the skyscrapers in Hong Kong are all connected by walkways in the air. We also visited several parks, all beautiful with their Chinese water features and plants. At the end of the night, went across the bay by ferry to see this laser light show timed to music that the City of Hong Kong puts on every night. What a thing to spend money on! However, it did offer an amazing view of the skyline of Central. After that, we went to this mall that had every designer store you could possibly imagine, with people actually carrying bags from these stores. And not little bags either. They were huge bags, multiple bags that proved that they clearly just spent $1000 USD on clothing. I did get to eat at this great Japanese place in the food court though. Let me tell you, the food courts in Hong Kong malls are so much better than the food courts in American malls. Even though it's all Asian food, the Japanese, Indian, Korean, and Vietnamese places are all really good. Finally, I went back to my dorm and slept very, very well.

Sunday

Today I went to a mall in Mong Kok to go shopping at H&M, one of my favorite stores every. The H&Ms in Asia have so many more things than the ones in America, including really, really cute dresses. And this one was three stories so there were many, many, really, really cute dresses. Two of my classmates went with me and we all decided to eat at the food court there. I decided to try Korean stone pot rice which was basically rice, beef, vegetables, and egg in a really hot stone pot. It was FANTASTIC!!!!! That was basically it for Sunday.

Monday

I went to my morning class and then signed up for a gym membership, which was nearly impossible to do without a Hong Kong based credit card, but I did it. Muhahaha!!!!!!

Tuesday

And now there's today. I went to class and now I'm about to leave for the gym. I'll let you guys know how it is. Hopefully I can take a kickboxing class there so that I can vent some of my adjustment and social frustrations from this move. Oh yeah, and tomorrow's my birthday!!! I'm going to party it up Hong Kong style!