Shanghai Nights

While abroad I've traveled a lot which has allowed me to get very familiar with Hong Kong airport. My usual way of travel from City U to the airport is a 45 minute bus ride on the E22 City Flyer to HK international airport. Today my Mom (the one who hasn't lived in Hong Kong for the past five months) introduced me to my new favorite mode of transportation to get to the airport- the Airport Express. 

Not only do you get to check in at the train terminal, but you are also allowed to get rid of your checked baggage here and avoid the lines and hassle at the airport. Plus it's only a 24 minute ride! I was loving it. My student budget doesn't normally allow for these kind of luxuries so this train trip was just another perk of mom visiting! 

Sticking with tradition I grabbed a McDonalds breakfast at the airport (the sausage and egg Mcmuffins in Asia are 10x better than in the states- one thing they have us beat on). We waited around for a little and made use of the free wifi and last few hours on Facebook before we headed of to China! 

All of my time abroad has really racked up my airmiles. Out of boredom and curiosity I thought it would be fun to calculate the number of planes I've actually been on this semester. Granted this will be nothing compared to what I'll be doing if I make it as a consultant, but here's the list... 

1. Indy-Chicago 2. Chicago-Beijing 3. Beijing-Hong Kong

4. Hong Kong- Taiwan (Taipei) 5. Taiwan (Taipei)- Hong Kong

6. Hong Kong- Philippines (Cebu) 7. Philippines (Cebu)- Hong Kong

8. Hong Kong- Thailand (Bangkok)  9. Thailand (Bangkok)- Hong Kong

10. Hong Kong- China (Shanghai)

Future Flight...

11. China (Shanghai)- China (Beijing)

12. China (Beijing)- China (Shanghai)

13. China (Shanghai)- Hong Kong

14. Hong Kong- Chicago 15. Chicago- St. Louis

Our short two and a half hour flight to Shanghai was definitely entertaining. I took a short nap (like usual) and then woke up and watched some sappy and predictable chick-flick the rest of the flight. Nothing too unusual about that I know but what was entertaining was the number of pictures a group of old ladies took while in-flight. I imagine they took close to 100 pictures on the plane alone of goodness knows what. Also as soon as the plane touched down in China and the fasten seat belt sign was still on half the plane unbuckled and were up getting their bags! Apparently FAA regulations don't apply to China locals. In all my travel adventures I have never seen a landing quite like this. The people were definitely anxious to get off of the plane that was not yet even at a gate!  

We made it out of the madness, avoided getting ripped off by a private taxi company and headed into downtown Shanghai! 

Initial Impressions: 

1. There are not many tall buildings making everything seem very open

2. There is a haze of pollution

3. The streets are very wide and "American"

4. Some of the buildings are surprisingly Western.  

After checking into our hotel we took the short walk towards the Bund in search of a drink and snack. 

Shanghai is definitely an interesting city and something like I've never experienced before. It is also very clear that it is a financial/business hub over anything else. Besides the Bund I'm not sure there are many other tourist "attractions". There is definitely a European/Western influence on a lot of the architecture which makes Shanghai different to any other Asian city I have visited, but besides that there wasn't a lot to see. 

Western looking buildings

 

We walked along the riverfront and snapped a few pictures of the Bund. The most amazing site was the width of the Hangpu river that runs through the city. The size of some of the container ships a few hundred feet away from us was unbelievable!

We found some authentic "Shanghai noodles" to eat which were not Fi's favorite and decided to head to Costa Coffee for a more appetizing snack. Tired from travel we went back to the hotel, watched some very repetitive and censored news, and had an early night before a flight to Beijing in the morning. 

 

50 Lbs of Food

My Mom finally arrived last night. After much anticipation, a big thunderstorm, delayed flights, and two layovers Fi arrived safe and sound in Hong Kong! I was excited to show her my new home, but more excited just to see a familiar voice and get a big Mom hug!

We caught the E22 bus back to City U to drop of a very large, filled to the brim suitcase. Fi was not kidding when she said the majority of what she was bringing was food for me (I'm very lucky  to have a personal food courier- I know). By the time the bus dropped us off at the university and we followed all the ridiculous security procedures for bringing a guest into the halls it was close to midnight which is the end of visiting hours. We quickly unloaded, said hi to my not so friendly roommate, and I introduced Fi to Haley.

Tired and exhausted we cabbed over to our hotel in Causeway Bay- The Vela. Snuggled together in a king bed and sleeping on a pillow that is not completely disfigured made me very happy and Fifi too considering she had just hauled herself across the entire world to see me!

As it was dark when we arrived at the hotel last night we were not able to appreciate the fabulous view our balcony offered. Mom got lucky with the room because our balcony opened up to a fantastic view of Happy Valley! Too bad it wasn't a race night.

Balcony View

Body-clock disoriented due to jet lag Mom wasn't quite sure if she was hungry, tired, or just anxious to hit the city. With no real plans except taking thing slow today we headed off to find a place for coffee.

By chance we stumbled upon a great breakfast spot, "The Brunch Club", and I had the best breakfast I've had in months! The eggs were not runny, the toast was not burned, and my juice was surprisingly cold. Lets just say the Asian take on Western food falls far below true Western standards...

After a nice breakfast and time to catch-up on all the gossip back home we headed to Central via MTR. The ticket turnstiles turned out to be a bit of a struggle for Mom but by the end of the day she had it mastered. The majority of our day was spent traveling around on the MTR and completing random errands like money exchange.

Rain and clouds put a bit of a damper on our exploring, but we did get a decent amount of gift shopping done at the Jade market and a cute tea shop. We also managed to squeeze in a cloudy Star Ferry ride and a trip to Marks & Spencers!

With an early flight to Shanghai in the morning we grabbed dinner at a "pub" next to our hotel, each sipped on a beer, and passed out in our bed early to get up at 5am the next day!

Jungle Jane

As the semester comes to an end the exchange kids have come to the realization that our countdown doesn't revolve around exam dates and paper deadlines but instead the number of nights out in LKF we have together. My last count of the number of ladies' nights that remain before I ship out is 7...not nearly enough!

To mix things up a little and have a real end of year party this past Saturday a group of 70+ of us exchange kiddos paid to hire junk boats for the day and live the pirate life.

The Crew on Jungle Jane

That's right- our junk boat party was pirate themed. After much preparation (I spent a few hours painting a shirt, Haley spent hours costume shopping and altering, and some people rented costumes!), we woke up early and headed to TST public pier. That wasn't before a quick stop at taste for supplies (rum was essential). The looks we got on the MTR and in Festival Walk were quite comical. Granted I think we would have gotten some odd looks at home as a group of 70+ students dressed as pirates grocery shopped together.

Because of our large group 2 boats were rented. Jungle Jane was my ship for the day along with all my other close exchange friends. There's not much to say about the day except that it was an awesome way to end the year! We got some sun, had some drinks, danced a lot, and just soaked up a beautiful day in Hong Kong.

Some of us forgot sunscreen, some of us drank a little too much, some of us were definitely bruised on Sunday but all in all the day was unforgettable.

Pirates got the better of him...

 

Real essential for a pirate

In true sibling style, Paul and I got lots of pictures together with our home made shirts (they were definitely a hit); lots of people didn't believe that we had painted them. Haley also got a lot of praise as she was one of the only girls to go all out!

Sibling pic- Homemade pirate shirts

Hong Kong Shuffle

This week has been a little frustrating to say the least. Study abroad in Hong Kong has been a phenomenal experience and I know that I really have no reason to complain, but sometimes your emotions just get the  better of you.

I know that a thousand other people would trade places with me right now- it's not that I'm ungrateful for this opportunity or ready to go home quite yet, but Asia this week really knew how to push my buttons.

It started on Sunday when I had a scheduled group meeting for 10am. As a 21 year old college student a 10am meeting on a Sunday morning is a little ambitious. Nevertheless, I set an alarm and woke up to finish some research before our meeting. Haley and I decided to order McDonalds for breakfast as nothing is open earlier than 11am on Sunday mornings here at residence (frustration number one). Frustration number 2 came when the delivery people called back five minutes after my order and told me they would take over an hour to deliver. At 3am I understand that but honestly Asia (at least college Asia) doesn't wake up early on a Sunday so how many orders could they have actually had...

Got the call that the delivery man was here. He wasn't where he said he would be. Went to look for him. He disappeared. Tried to have security speak Cantonese to him. No use. My McDonalds was getting cold!- Clearly the whole deliver debacle was frustration number 3.

We went to meet our group mate on the lawn promptly at 10 and he didn't show-frustration number 4. At home I love group work. It is definitely an environment which I thrive in. Here in Hong Kong though group work is another story. People don't seem to take school seriously or they just don't know how to act professionally or a mix of both (i'm not sure). In the end we did meet and figure out the project, but the whole ordeal was stressful.

Frustration 5: As the semester comes to a close group projects and paper deadlines have begun to pile up. Because I've not had more than two homework assignments a week this entire semester, the stress of everything coming at once actually got to me. The classes here are quite easy but what is most frustrating is that I have no idea what the professors expectations are.

Imagine this- you are dropped into a school which you have never gone to before and have no idea what they consider to be the norm and to top it all off the school doesn't really use rubrics. That is me this semester at City U. I am never usually clueless in school. I've always been the nerd of the family. At City U though I have no idea what is expected of me and what is considered "good" work.

Frustration 6: Presentations are the worst. I make my power points to "Kelley standards" (few words per slide, no script, etc.), but here the slides are filled with words and the presenters literally read from the slides or worse have an entire scripted presentation. They also seem to use an unnecessary amount of audience participation. It is extremely awkward to say the least. I'm sure its just a cultural barrier, but i'm definitely ready to be learning from Kelley professors again next semester. You really don't realize how good you've got it until it's gone.

The rest of my frustration this week really just came about because I was stressed with all my school work. I have had an amazing time here in Asia, but definitely had a good whine session this week. I've mentioned it before but things that got on my nerves this week are as followed (frustrations 7-10):

1. The inability for locals to walk on the right side of the sidewalk/in any order at all. They are constantly looking at their phones or walk in giant stretched out lines across the sidewalk which makes it difficult for anyone else to move.

2. Locals walk soooo slow. I call it the Hong Kong shuffle. You can never really get a full stride in when you walk.

3. The food. I missed the convenience of a kitchen this week and Western food in general. I decided to go to the grocery store on an empty stomach and with a sour attitude towards Asian cuisine- NOT a good combo to say the least ($30 dollars later I was satisfied with a pasta, chicken, and Alfredo meal I made for myself).

4. Poor sign posts. I swear that the Hong Kong gov't has it out for Westerners. The directional sign posts for tourists are great; however, the signs for everything else always get me. The loop-around arrows, contradicting directions, and mass of escalators and footbridges makes the city very challenging to navigate sometimes. Today I spent half an hour looking for the China Resources Office to apply for my Chinese visa. I've also had horror stories in the past (looking for the student Octopus card office for example).

I definitely had a little bit of a rough week but things are looking up and I can't wait to live it up the last 4 weeks I have here in Hong Kong. I also can not wait for my mom to get here in less than a week!

Perks of 24 hour McDonalds

Traveling has definitely gotten the best of us. While it is great exploring new countries it is also a bit wearing. By the end of our 11 day trip we will have done the following:

1. A 3 hour flight to Bangkok
2. 1 hour taxi ride from the airport
3. 5 hour bus ride to the Poipet Cambodian border
4. 2 hour taxi ride from the Cambodian border to Siem Reap
5. 2 hour taxi ride back to the Poipet border
6. 5 hour bus ride back to Bangkok
7. 3 hour bus ride to Khao Yai National Park for elephant riding
8. 3 Hour bus ride back to Bangkok
9. 8 Hour bus ride to Chumpon
10. 2 hour boat ride to Koh Tao
11. 3 Hour boat ride back to Chumpon
12. 8 hour bus ride back to Bangkok
13. 1 hour taxi ride to airport
14. 3 hour flight back to Hong Kong

All together our travel time (minus tuk-tuks and small taxi rides) totals 49 hours!

The worst journey of them all was most definitely the second 8 hour bus ride back to Bangkok from Chumpon. We sat in front of a very obnoxious group of travelers who would not shut-up the entire ride back. To top it all off the bus reeked of latrines for the full eight hours and the air-conditioning was not working properly.

With not a lot of sleep we arrived back at Khao San Road around 3am. Our plan was to camp out in the 24 hour McDonalds until a little later in the morning and then head to a floating market.

Seeing one two many drunk arguments I was fed up and decided to walk to our favorite hotel, Tara Place. We checked in at 5am and slept until 1pm. The floating market idea was quickly scrapped for a few more hours in bed. Relaxing on our last day in Bangkok, we spent the rest of the afternoon in the A/C and watching more HBO/BBC. In the evening we headed to an airport hotel ready for our early 8am flight back to Hong Kong the next morning.

Turtle Island- Koh Tao

9 hours later and we arrived in Koh-Tao. The Island is beautiful and all of the locals are extremely friendly.

Sparing a few details, our bus ride was more than interesting; it's funny how public affection doesn't seem to bother some couples in the slightest, and it't also very entertaining when they think that no one else has any idea what they're doing under a blanket less than an arms length away... crazy travelers.

Our resort picked us up in a pick-up truck (we got to ride in the bed), and drove us to the bay where we would be staying. After checking in and showering we hit the beach.

Our short stay in Koh Tao was definitely relaxing. After a delicious lunch and fresh banana shake we walked the length of the beach in search of the infamous Thai massages. Different from the harassment of people in the Philippines, it was actually difficult to find someone to give us a massage. We came across a little "spa" and decided against the Thai massage and opted for an oil one instead.

One hour later I was completely relaxed.

A day of pampering is always nice; especially when you get an hour long massage and a pedicure for $15 usd!

Completely unwound we headed back to the resort for an amazing beach barbecue and a good nights rest.

The next morning we woke up late after watching HBO all night (it's one of the few English channels). We headed to a restaurant at the end of a pier for an early lunch. Asian food is definitely getting a little boring so Haley and I opted for salads and decided to split some nachos.

Why we ever think it's a good idea to try faux-western food always baffles me. The nachos were definitely sub-par, but it sort of gave us our Mexican fix (minus the soapy flavored sour cream). Let's just say that we learned to stick to local food and beach BBQs the rest of the trip.

The rest of our time on Koh-Tao involved laying on the beach, sitting by the pool, and more HBO movies. We really were beach bums.

Less than three days later our trip to the famous Thai island was over and we were on a boat back to Chumpon.
 

Waiting for the Thai Royal Family

Back in Bangkok again (it's quickly becoming the hub of our trip), we finally had another night in an air-conditioned room.

No alarm and no real schedule we woke up ready to explore the city a little more.

Because we had to catch a bus to Koh Tao at 7pm our late start didn't leave us with much time. That didn't bother Haley or I though because in all reality you can only take small doses of the Thailand heat.

Our very friendly and helpful receptionist staff at Tara Place gave us directions to the closest pier. Sea bands on and water bottles in hand we braved the heat and headed out for the day.

We knew that we should not pay for the tourist long-tail boats that cost over 1,000 baht for a short one hour trip, and we knew that there was a public ferry that would take us up and down the river somewhere...

A little disoriented we walked past the pier that offered the cheaper 20 baht public ferry tickets and had to ask for help at the tourist information center. After a longer than necessary walk we got to Pier No.13 and decided to buy a ticket for the hop on hop off tourist boat for the day.

The majority of our trip on the river involved trying to figure out exactly where we were, strategically planning when to get off (the boat stopped for 1 minute max), and trying to avoid the dirty river water hitting your feet in the waves (my foot got flooded with water).

One of the stops we made was supposed to be to a famous market, but it turned into a long and hot walk. We dodged the heat for a little by stepping into a 7-eleven and also avoided another tuk-tuk scam. The driver tried to convince us that the Thai royal family was coming down the street and we had to get in a taxi to avoid the blockade- no thanks!

The rest of our day was spent in an air-conditioned restaurant and getting back to Khao San Road. The heat really turned out to be too much and we wanted to relax a little before boarding our bus to Koh-Tao.

Resting for lunch

The trip in the evening would be an overnight bus (8 hours) to Chumpon and then a fast-cat (2 hours) to the island.