Temples Temples Temples

My mission this week was to explore as much of Hong Kong as possible with all the free time I have over break. To fill up some of this time a few of us decided to celebrate with the locals and visit a few of the popular temples for New Year.

First stop was Man Mo Temple located in Central just off of Hollywood Road. Man Mo Temple is a temple for the worship of the civil/literature god Man Tai and martial god Mo Tai (hints the temple's name). It is a popular spot to wish for exam success!

The temple was full of worshipers for the New Year and inside was an unforgettable sight. The altars were full of New Year offerings, incense sticks burned everywhere, and the incense coils filled the room with a thick cloud of smoke. There were also lines of people to strike the gong and bell which in addition to all the spoken prayers echoed throughout the temple.

The next temple I visited was Wong Tai Sin in Kowloon. It was a little crowded (and by that I mean a lot crowded) so we weren't able to go inside but I did take a few pictures and I definitely plan on making a trip back! 

New Year decorations for sale

Making an offering and prayers

Incense Burning

After the short visit to the temple Haley and I hoped on a random bus and stayed on it until we felt like getting off. Sometimes it really is not knowing where you are going! We ended up in Yau Ma Tei/ Mong Kok area and stumbled upon the Jade Market (it was closed) and also a very authentic (and by that I mean local) street market. A lot of the vendors were selling vegetables and a few sold fish. We even had a fish jump out of its tank right in front of us! The locals all pointed and laughed of course. 

Selling "gently used" merchandise

Closed for New Year

After a long day exploring temples and finding local markets we headed back to City U! 

Keung Hei Fat Choi

Keung Hei Fat Choi- Happy New Year!

I have now officially celebrated my first Chinese Holiday, the Chinese New Year. This holiday is the most important of the traditional Chinese Holidays and is often referred to as the "Lunar New Year". Not only did I get to celebrate the occasion, but I also have the entire week off of school (a definite bonus). The celebrations last a lot longer than Western celebrations. Traditionally the holiday is a full 15 days long starting with New Years Day (this past Sunday 2/10) and ending 15 days later with the lantern festival. Modern adaptations of the holiday don't allow for everything to be closed for 15 days but a lot has been shut down for the past couple of days. A trip into central on Sunday showed the eerily empty streets. 

Empty Streets in Central

This year, 2013, celebrates the year of the snake! My celebrations kick-started last Monday when I attended the College of Business' CNY party. Here I saw my first lion dance performance, learned to write characters with a real brush and ink, and tried the traditional big pot meal. The big pot meal was definitely traditionally Chinese. What it comes down to is a bubbling pot of meat parts. While I did try everything in the pot (including the large and small intestines) it wasn't all that appetizing and a trip to McDonalds was necessary. To be honest, i'm not sure how much better quality the McDonalds meat was but it definitely tasted better! At the party I was also given my first red-envelope and traditional Chinese jacket.

Lion Dance

Flowers, candy, and money gifts are all given over the holiday period. Flowers, in addition to being gifts, also decorate locals' homes. Leading up to the New Year there are hundreds of markets and fairs that sell the flowers. Thursday I visited the largest Lunar New Year fair in Victoria Garden. Not only did experience one of the largest Asian crowds I've ever been in, but I also saw some of the most amazing flowers. Hong Kong Phooey (a doll-sized replica) arrived Wednesday night and got to tag-along to the festivities!

Trinkets Sold at the Fair

People, People Everywhere

Friday night a large group of us headed to Prince Edward to taste-test the "cheapest Michelin Star restaurant in the world"- One Dim Sum. After a two hour wait we finally got a seat in the little shop and ate more dishes then you ever probably should. I think we had a total of about 30 different things for thirteen of us. One of the delicacies I got to enjoy was "gingered chicken paws" (aka chicken feet). It actually had very little taste and was basically all grizzle and bone. Haley was a little off-put by the claw she bit into. 

Sunday rolled around and the official start to the CNY began. In the evening the IU girls all put on our Chinese New Year Jackets and headed to the Cathay Pacific New Years Day Night Parade. I scoped out a great spot on Canton Road and we watched the majority of the performances. In all honesty, the parade was similar to every other one minus the Asian influence of lion dances and over the top neon lights/glitter. 

Asian in a Kilt

Asian Mickey

Finally the celebrations went out with a bang when we watched the fireworks display over the Harbour from TST. The show was pretty amazing and my new favorite skyline definitely added to the magic. The only cliche was the grand finale which ended to the American artist Katy Perry's "Firework". Actually humorous if you ask me and the royalties she made off of the show must have been huge! 

All in all I've loved celebrating the New Year here and the break from school has been a great opportunity to immerse myself more into Asian culture.

Four Weeks Already

Time really does fly. I've already been in Hong Kong for four weeks and it feels like I arrived yesterday.

Although it still feels a little bit like a long vacation I'm surprised at how quickly I have acclimated to life in Hong Kong. I still get the occasional culture shock or "ah-ha" moments, but in general i'm not as phased by the Eastern culture. It's still fun looking at all of the differences between the East and West and understanding what an amazing opportunity I have been given, but over the past four weeks I have definitely found a new level of comfort here in my new home.

We often joke that we're practically locals (I don't think this could happen unless I spent years here) but in all reality I no longer have any issue getting around and things that were once a little scary or annoying are now part of everyday life.

Life here is clearly different than that at home but I'm loving every minute. I think it's going to be more of a challenge getting used to life in the West again. The only withdrawals I'm having is for better tasting/ healthier food. I would also love to sleep in my big soft bed. The so called mattresses of the dorms are getting a little old.

I can't wait to continue my adventures over the next four months here in Asia!

Saturday Hikes and Afternoon Dim Sum

Started today off with an early 7am start. I was off to meet up with Rambo (a local who is a connection from friends back home). The plan for the day was as followed: 

1. "Short" 3 hour hike

2. Dim sum lunch

3. Explore Causeway Bay

I arrived in Chai Wan (the very end of the Island Line) at around 9:30 and stocked up at 7-Eleven with some hiking supplies (water and a snack). I met Rambo at 10 and I took my first "public light bus" trip to the start of our hike. The hike wasn't too bad (minus the 500+ steps) and offered some great views of the ocean. We ended our hike in Tai Long Wan (Big Wave Bay) and then walked to a bus stop which we took into town.

 

Public light bus

 From there we hopped on a tram that took us to Causeway Bay for lunch. With lots of transportation firsts and a nice hike I definitely had an appetite by the time we got to the restaurant. 

Big Wave Bay

Here's my thoughts on the dim sum lunch. First off, you know that the place is good when you are the only white person. Second, dim sum is easily my favorite local food. Third, I still don't understand how Asians eat so much and stay so skinny! 

We had so many different delicious dishes and I was very full after lunch. Some of the things I tried today included: 

1. An almond bun-a warm pastry filled with almond paste served as an appetizer

2. Sticky rice- A leaf wrapped package of sticky rice mixed with meat and some vegetables

3. Duck- small pieces of duck breast covered in a grapefruit sauce

4. Meat balls- No not Italian meat balls. Instead pork and celery and mushrooms smushed together and
                      steamed 

5. Pork dumplings- pork and some vegetables wrapped in rice paper

6. Jasmine tea- Rambo taught me how to clean off all of the utensils and cups when the tea came! 

After a filling lunch we walked around Causeway Bay and Rambo showed me some of the local markets, shops, and  the ten dollar shop (the HK version of the dollar store). 

Tired and sweaty from a long day out I headed home to shower and sleep! 

A Day Spent Getting Lost

After another wild Wednesday night in Wan Chai (Mexican sombreros and making up new identities were all involved), Thursday called for a day of rest and exploring was postponed until Friday. Haley and Hattie hit the city with no plans but to get lost in one of the greatest places in the world.

We took the MTR to Tsim Sha Tsui (TST) and followed the conveniently placed tourist sign posts to some of the "hot spots". Of course though, being the two of us, we had to find some food before our adventure could really begin. We decided to eat at the local fast food chain Cafe de Coral. They had pictures and some english to help us decide what to eat. Spaghetti bolognese with vegetables has never tasted so good! I'm seriously nutritionally deprived here- my diet is white rice, salty noodles, and questionable meat.

Busy at the pier

It was nice and sunny out (also a little warm) so Haley and I walked the Avenue of Stars and took some pictures of the island from the Kowloon side. We even saw a junk boat out on the water!

Ice cream van on a hot day

New Years decorations 

After a good walk we took the Star Ferry across the harbour to central for a whopping 32 cents! It seriously is one of the best ferry rides in the world.

We got to central and found the post office to send off a few postcards and then walked around and shopped a little. Our getting lost tour led us to LKF in the day time (very strange to see in daylight) and then the mid-level escalators.

Not sure whats being sold...

Lucky bamboo!

 Mid-levels is the longest outdoor escalator system in the world! We hopped off at Hollywood Street which is supposedly full of antique stores (we didn't find too many, but were tired by that point). After some more browsing we came across a few shop selling Chinese New Year decorations and made a few purchases for ourselves and then headed home after a long day of getting lost.  

Lion Dance Puppets!

Organize My Life Days...

Although it sometimes feels as if i'm on a permanent vacation here (which in some ways I am), I have to take a step back and take a breather. We are constantly exploring, going out, and learning. All of the action is physically and mentally draining.

What was supposed to be a relaxing girls night in with a fabulous Italian dinner last night turned into something a little more eventful. Stephanie casually mentioned in one of our hundreds of group chats that she was at the hospital with Paul. To make a long story short we think that he had some allergic reaction to stomach medicine and he ended up spending the night in the hospital. His room was arranged after a $4000 USD deposit (apparently a 21 year old male is a huge flight risk-white people are always questioned here). Actually, i'm pretty sure that the deposit amount is the same for everyone but it was a little ridiculous.

It's times like these that you really learn who your friends are abroad. Haley and I quickly cooked up dinner and took it to go. We met Paul and Steph at the hospital; fettuccine in hand as well as some other necessities for Paul's overnight stay. Everyone else sent out text messages to make sure he was okay.

The situation was a little scary but all is good now. We did get a little laugh out of everything when I took a few masks for us all to wear (a prime photo opportunity).

After a somewhat stressful evening last night I think tonight maybe calls for an organize my life day. Believe it or not I do have homework, I need to put due dates in my planner, and organize a few more trips for the semester. Laundry has to get done somewhere in all the madness too!

You Know You're In Hong Kong When...

I've come to the conclusion that although I may not be learning in class here in HK the city provides so many other learning opportunities and "ah-ha" moments that the so called missed learning in school is balanced out.

Here's another list of some things I'm learning while I study in this fabulous place...

1. There are mirrors everywhere! Either HK residents are extremely vain or they like to let you know that you should take more pride in your own appearance

2. You are NOT allowed to talk in the library. I forget this a lot and get some pretty dirty looks.

3. What shouldn't be expensive is (almost 10US dollars for sliced cheese) and what should be isn't.

4. Everything is tiled. Buildings, streets, walkways. Literally everything has little tiles on it. Seems like a giant waste of time to me...

5. Locals giggle at very strange things. I've come to the conclusion that they are pretty immature and don't know how to hide that.

6. Fire alarms and school bells or a mixture of the two seem to be constantly ringing.

7. Taxi drivers are often clueless as to where we want to be taken (this of course is due to our poor Cantonese) but if you want to get out an try finding another cabbie who knows where you want to go they start driving with the door half open (yes this actually happened to me).

8. The common rooms (well at least on my floor) are filthy. I know that I'm a neat freak but the level of cleanliness is questionable I'm sure for many Americans. Someone told me its because all the locals are used to maid service at home and don't know how to clean up after themselves. Not sure if that is true or not.

9. The green skittle in skittles candy is apple not lime flavored! Definitely a great find!




10. There are major English translation fails everywhere.




11.I love this city more and more everyday!

Tonight is a girls night in. We're making an Italian dinner (chicken alfredo with broccoli). It will be nice to finally have some vegetables that aren't drenched in sweet and sour sauce or extremely salty! Haley and I of course are also sharing a bottle of chardonnay!