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| Hiking Dragon's Back |
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| In the gondola! |
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| The view from Ocean Park |
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| My walrus friend and me :) |
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
We are almost done with our time in Hong Kong! Time has flown by so quickly here. Now we just have 10 days in China touring and only three weeks in South Korea, then HOME! Wow, it's crazy to think how far we've come. I am both extremely excited to see friends and family but also sad about how little time we have left when I think about going home in a month.
We had our final test and turned in a paper on Monday! It felt so good to be done with this class, definitely the hardest one we've had so far, in my opinion. Right afterward, we celebrated by hiking Dragon's Back, a hike near Stanley that, from a bird's eye view, looks like the spines of a dragon. We found out that the trail was actually designed by the grandfather of a friend of mine from St. Olaf! He grew up in Hong Kong. Small world, huh? Anyway, it was WINDY up on that mountain and I almost fell off a few times, but it looked like the Sound of Music scenery and we kept singing "the hills are alive..." It was pretty awesome and the view took my breath away. Hong Kong is a great place to really revel in what God has created. We went to a food market after the hike and let's just say for the vegetarian in our group it was overwhelming. Even for ME it was overwhelming. Live fish were being chopped up left and right, wriggling as they tried to escape their head being cut off, and animal entrails, legs, hooves, and heads were hanging in the shops we passed. There was fresh produce for sale and the others were a little hesitant to buy anything that was in the midst of all of this blood and guts, but I bought an onion which made me cry later (the onions are EXTREMELY strong here).
The next day (yesterday) we went to Ocean Park, a huge theme park in the mountains! It was like Disneyworld (there is also a "Disneyland" here, by the way but we decided not to go). There were two sections of the park and to get to the farther one we took a gondola through the mountains with the sea to the left of us. We went on rides galore, including roller coasters that took you out over the sea and made you feel like you'd fall in, as well as "power tower"-like rides that took you up for the view and dropped you at hurtling speeds back down to the earth. My favorite was a roller coaster called "Hair Raiser" that literally made your hair stand on end--we got to see THAT attractive picture in the photo booth afterward. After all the rides, we went to a polar exhibit to see seals, penguins, and a giant walrus--we got to go in an underwater exhibit that took us through the bottom of the tanks in tunnels! So I stood right next to the walrus in his tank... it was awesome. After this we saw the rainforest exhibit to see birds, the smallest monkey in the world, and spiders and frogs. We took the gondola back to get egg waffles (one of my favorite foods here) and see the aquarium, which was GIGANTIC and had windows the size of a whole wall, as well as underwater tunnels, sharks, stingrays, piranhas, coral reefs, etc. We tried to see the panda exhibit but they were asleep, and we ended at a goldfish exhibit, which believe it or not was one of my favorites. Each type of goldfish seemed to exaggerate a different body part--there were fish with huge cheeks, huge bellies, huge eyes, huge brains, pompoms coming out of their mouths, and much more. Wow! It amazed me. Afterward we took the train home and were pretty exhausted.
Today was a more relaxing day, we went to the mall and shopped around a little, but my feet are still tired from all the hiking and walking we've been doing lately! They'll get a rest tomorrow, because hopefully we'll be going biking instead.
Next time I post will be in CHINA! The mainland. IF we get internet, which hopefully we do! There will be many exciting things to keep you posted on.
We had our final test and turned in a paper on Monday! It felt so good to be done with this class, definitely the hardest one we've had so far, in my opinion. Right afterward, we celebrated by hiking Dragon's Back, a hike near Stanley that, from a bird's eye view, looks like the spines of a dragon. We found out that the trail was actually designed by the grandfather of a friend of mine from St. Olaf! He grew up in Hong Kong. Small world, huh? Anyway, it was WINDY up on that mountain and I almost fell off a few times, but it looked like the Sound of Music scenery and we kept singing "the hills are alive..." It was pretty awesome and the view took my breath away. Hong Kong is a great place to really revel in what God has created. We went to a food market after the hike and let's just say for the vegetarian in our group it was overwhelming. Even for ME it was overwhelming. Live fish were being chopped up left and right, wriggling as they tried to escape their head being cut off, and animal entrails, legs, hooves, and heads were hanging in the shops we passed. There was fresh produce for sale and the others were a little hesitant to buy anything that was in the midst of all of this blood and guts, but I bought an onion which made me cry later (the onions are EXTREMELY strong here).
The next day (yesterday) we went to Ocean Park, a huge theme park in the mountains! It was like Disneyworld (there is also a "Disneyland" here, by the way but we decided not to go). There were two sections of the park and to get to the farther one we took a gondola through the mountains with the sea to the left of us. We went on rides galore, including roller coasters that took you out over the sea and made you feel like you'd fall in, as well as "power tower"-like rides that took you up for the view and dropped you at hurtling speeds back down to the earth. My favorite was a roller coaster called "Hair Raiser" that literally made your hair stand on end--we got to see THAT attractive picture in the photo booth afterward. After all the rides, we went to a polar exhibit to see seals, penguins, and a giant walrus--we got to go in an underwater exhibit that took us through the bottom of the tanks in tunnels! So I stood right next to the walrus in his tank... it was awesome. After this we saw the rainforest exhibit to see birds, the smallest monkey in the world, and spiders and frogs. We took the gondola back to get egg waffles (one of my favorite foods here) and see the aquarium, which was GIGANTIC and had windows the size of a whole wall, as well as underwater tunnels, sharks, stingrays, piranhas, coral reefs, etc. We tried to see the panda exhibit but they were asleep, and we ended at a goldfish exhibit, which believe it or not was one of my favorites. Each type of goldfish seemed to exaggerate a different body part--there were fish with huge cheeks, huge bellies, huge eyes, huge brains, pompoms coming out of their mouths, and much more. Wow! It amazed me. Afterward we took the train home and were pretty exhausted.
Today was a more relaxing day, we went to the mall and shopped around a little, but my feet are still tired from all the hiking and walking we've been doing lately! They'll get a rest tomorrow, because hopefully we'll be going biking instead.
Next time I post will be in CHINA! The mainland. IF we get internet, which hopefully we do! There will be many exciting things to keep you posted on.
Saturday, December 15, 2012
Our second to last week in Hong Kong has been BUSY! We have had our last round of classes that ended Wednesday, and since then I've been focusing on finishing a paper and getting prepared for our final big quiz. It's titled a quiz, but it's actually more like a test. Also, my wonderful mom sent me a care package! We decorated our room with the contents and the food is long gone by now--sooo yummy. She is awesome. I had to choose carefully who I mentioned the caramel puffcorn to because in Global once one person knows, all 27 people know and before you know it your food is gone. On Monday we also took a trip to the art museum for a guided tour--we saw some of the paintings and pieces we'd talked about in class, which was pretty interesting. The art museum has a gorgeous view of the harbor and across from it is the skyline of Hong Kong island--GORGEOUS. The Avenue of Stars is located next to the museum and we loved the view so much that we went back on Wednesday night to watch the Hong Kong light show from there! I thought it was really cool, although some people in my group got bored within minutes. There was music coordinated with lasers shooting off of certain participating buildings and all of the buildings facing the water had Christmas lights and messages on them as well. One of the buildings participating was the building that Batman "jumps off" of in the latest movie.
On Thursday we went to the Tea House in Hong Kong park and met the owner, who sat us all down and gave us a lecture on the art of Chinese tea. It's amazing how artful it actually is, and they have it down to a science of how they collect the leaves, how long they let them oxidize, how long they let them steep, etc. It's amazing, and we got to sample all of the different basics. Greenish tea was my favorite. He also demonstrated kung fu tea-making technique for us and taught us the detailed way of drinking Chinese tea like a connoisseur would. It's complicated.
Friday we had an art viewing at the gallery on campus, and then at night we went to... the Nutcracker! It was a group event organized by our social committee and it was such a great night. We dressed up and took pictures. The show was really good and made me miss ballet (which is strange, I never really even liked ballet) but it was a different style than the shows I've seen before. There were scenes taken out and not as many dancers as what I'm used to. Still enjoyed it though, and watching ballet for 2 and a half hours apparently made all of our stomachs growl because half the group went to sushi and half went to the Flying Pan for breakfast again! I went to get breakfast... mmmm. We barely made the last train back home and I wish I could have seen how ridiculous we looked flying through the train station in high heels and dresses and laughing all the way.
Yesterday. Was. AWESOME. And also pretty painful! We decided to go on a hike that my friend Katie said was an hour and a half, labelled very easy online, and included three peaks. We got there and it turned out the hike was over three hours, labelled VERY DIFFICULT on the trailhead, and involved FIVE peaks. Phew! Hardest hike of my life! The peaks didn't have switchbacks either to help you climb, no, they gave you STAIRS straight up the side of the mountain. We climbed thousands of stairs, sometimes for half an hour straight up or down. Our legs were shaking. But it was worth it! The views were gorgeous and I only got a LITTLE sunburned. The trail spit us out at Stanley, a cute ex-pat beachside town where Katie's godfather lives. He invited us to his apartment where his cook had made green mango salad (spicy!), brownies, baguette slices with beef and cheese, and lemon meringue pie. We ate homemade food to our hearts' content and it was nice to meet him! Then we headed home after looking through the Stanley market. It was an exhausting day, and I woke up with extremely tight calves this morning. Oh well, it was well worth it!
Sorry for the long post! No need to read the whole thing if you get bored :)
On Thursday we went to the Tea House in Hong Kong park and met the owner, who sat us all down and gave us a lecture on the art of Chinese tea. It's amazing how artful it actually is, and they have it down to a science of how they collect the leaves, how long they let them oxidize, how long they let them steep, etc. It's amazing, and we got to sample all of the different basics. Greenish tea was my favorite. He also demonstrated kung fu tea-making technique for us and taught us the detailed way of drinking Chinese tea like a connoisseur would. It's complicated.
Friday we had an art viewing at the gallery on campus, and then at night we went to... the Nutcracker! It was a group event organized by our social committee and it was such a great night. We dressed up and took pictures. The show was really good and made me miss ballet (which is strange, I never really even liked ballet) but it was a different style than the shows I've seen before. There were scenes taken out and not as many dancers as what I'm used to. Still enjoyed it though, and watching ballet for 2 and a half hours apparently made all of our stomachs growl because half the group went to sushi and half went to the Flying Pan for breakfast again! I went to get breakfast... mmmm. We barely made the last train back home and I wish I could have seen how ridiculous we looked flying through the train station in high heels and dresses and laughing all the way.
Yesterday. Was. AWESOME. And also pretty painful! We decided to go on a hike that my friend Katie said was an hour and a half, labelled very easy online, and included three peaks. We got there and it turned out the hike was over three hours, labelled VERY DIFFICULT on the trailhead, and involved FIVE peaks. Phew! Hardest hike of my life! The peaks didn't have switchbacks either to help you climb, no, they gave you STAIRS straight up the side of the mountain. We climbed thousands of stairs, sometimes for half an hour straight up or down. Our legs were shaking. But it was worth it! The views were gorgeous and I only got a LITTLE sunburned. The trail spit us out at Stanley, a cute ex-pat beachside town where Katie's godfather lives. He invited us to his apartment where his cook had made green mango salad (spicy!), brownies, baguette slices with beef and cheese, and lemon meringue pie. We ate homemade food to our hearts' content and it was nice to meet him! Then we headed home after looking through the Stanley market. It was an exhausting day, and I woke up with extremely tight calves this morning. Oh well, it was well worth it!
Sorry for the long post! No need to read the whole thing if you get bored :)
Sunday, December 9, 2012
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| The gondola disappearing into the cloud on the mountain! |
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| Our view from the gondola |
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| Beautiful Lantau Mountains! |
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| In the cloud. We couldn't even see the gondola in front of us! |
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| Our hiking crew! |
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| The Big Buddha |
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| Lantau Trail |
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| The view we were supposed to see vs. the view we DID see. Imagination required! |
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| At the Mirror Hall |
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| My friend Sudip sitting at the table with himself. |
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| Stairs to the Ten Thousand Buddhas monastery |
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| Ten thousand Buddhas! |
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| The bee house. |
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| Breakfast at 2 in the morning? |
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| Our honey. |
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| Skating! |
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| Merry Christmas at the mall! |
This past week has been filled with fun! Wednesday I planned a trip to the Science Museum because frankly, I am a museum nerd. I went a little bit crazy when we got there...the mirror hall was my favorite--it was fun to sit at a table with a bunch of me's and to see myself upside down, reversed, headless, squat, and tall. On Thursday, I went out to an Italian place with our professors for a group dinner; the topic was book lovers and you KNOW that I had fun with that! We all talked about our favorite books and I have a lot of recommendations now. Lots of people in my group (and in the Global group in general) really love the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Afterward we got yummy frozen yogurt. Friday I also went out to eat with a couple of the girls at yet another Italian restaurant, and got my secret santa their gift! (shhh don't tell. It's PERFECT and I can't wait to give it to him/her). That night we had a big girls' night and watched the movie Love Actually to get us in the Christmas spirit. We'll be watching whatever Christmas movies we can get our hands on in the next few weeks.
On Saturday, a group of us visited the Ten Thousand Buddhas Monastery in Sha Tin, a beautiful monastery on a mountain that literally has ten thousand Buddhas inside. The walls of the temple itself were lined with little golden Buddhas, each with a light in front of it so that the whole room glittered and glowed. Outside in the courtyard there were Buddha statues of all shapes and sizes, some with extra long arms or legs and all with varying expressions on their faces, from grumpy to insane-looking to extremely serene. It was pretty interesting, and the view was gorgeous. On our way back down the mountain we encountered some scary dogs (thankfully they were behind a fence) and some HUGE monkeys that we were scared to look at because we felt like they could see the fear on our faces and they might attack! But they scarcely noticed us actually. We also stopped at Wing Wo bee farm halfway down the mountain, which was pretty much just a small farm located in the back of someone's house. We saw the boxes where the bees made their honey and literally walked through swarms of bees. They would smack into us every so often but each bee was so busy that they didn't bother to sting us. It took a huge effort not to swat at them or scream and run. We bought some delicious honey too! That night our group had planned a night out on the town, and we went to Central, the bar/club/restaurant center of Hong Kong. It is a happening place late at night for the youth and mid-twenty crowd! We ate some nachos at the Hard Rock cafe, walked around for a bit, and later went to a 24-hour breakfast place called the Flying Pan. That was MY goal of the night, to eat breakfast! And it was delightful.
To end the weekend, today we were taken, compliments of our professors, to an ice skating rink located on the 5th floor of a mall. These Hong Kong-ians are crazy, aren't they? Who thinks to put a skating rink that high up in a mall? Anyway, it was very fun and I only fell once... however I DID make a fool of myself trying to learn figure skating moves from my friend Kelsey. It was so nice to feel like I was doing a Minnesota-type activity and it made me miss home a little bit. Some grocery shopping happened afterward, and now I'm back in the hotel writing to you all! Pictures to come in the next post!
On Saturday, a group of us visited the Ten Thousand Buddhas Monastery in Sha Tin, a beautiful monastery on a mountain that literally has ten thousand Buddhas inside. The walls of the temple itself were lined with little golden Buddhas, each with a light in front of it so that the whole room glittered and glowed. Outside in the courtyard there were Buddha statues of all shapes and sizes, some with extra long arms or legs and all with varying expressions on their faces, from grumpy to insane-looking to extremely serene. It was pretty interesting, and the view was gorgeous. On our way back down the mountain we encountered some scary dogs (thankfully they were behind a fence) and some HUGE monkeys that we were scared to look at because we felt like they could see the fear on our faces and they might attack! But they scarcely noticed us actually. We also stopped at Wing Wo bee farm halfway down the mountain, which was pretty much just a small farm located in the back of someone's house. We saw the boxes where the bees made their honey and literally walked through swarms of bees. They would smack into us every so often but each bee was so busy that they didn't bother to sting us. It took a huge effort not to swat at them or scream and run. We bought some delicious honey too! That night our group had planned a night out on the town, and we went to Central, the bar/club/restaurant center of Hong Kong. It is a happening place late at night for the youth and mid-twenty crowd! We ate some nachos at the Hard Rock cafe, walked around for a bit, and later went to a 24-hour breakfast place called the Flying Pan. That was MY goal of the night, to eat breakfast! And it was delightful.
To end the weekend, today we were taken, compliments of our professors, to an ice skating rink located on the 5th floor of a mall. These Hong Kong-ians are crazy, aren't they? Who thinks to put a skating rink that high up in a mall? Anyway, it was very fun and I only fell once... however I DID make a fool of myself trying to learn figure skating moves from my friend Kelsey. It was so nice to feel like I was doing a Minnesota-type activity and it made me miss home a little bit. Some grocery shopping happened afterward, and now I'm back in the hotel writing to you all! Pictures to come in the next post!
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
Happy December everyone!
I hope it's snowing in Minnesota, we have quite a lack of that here. It's been a mix of fog, rain, clouds, and more fog. It's the kind of weather that chills you to the bone because it's pretty wet and all you want to do is curl up in bed and drink hot chocolate. We haven't gotten a chance to do that though, because we've been busy! This weekend I went with a couple of girls to the Ladies' Market in Mong Kok, an outdoor market with very cheap (in price but also in quality) items and delicious bubble tea. Some of the girls went back to the hotel, but my friend Thao and I decided to go to Tsim Sha Tsui, a shopping area nearby. This ended up being quite the adventure! We got off the train and got a little lost on our exits but took an exit labeled "Peninsula Exit." A lightbulb went off in my head and I realized that this was the same Peninsula Hotel that my great-grandma had stayed at in the 1900s, and also the one that I'd read about as being one of the nicest hotels in Hong Kong! Thao and I got very excited and decided to pay it a visit. However, we soon felt very out of place as the first thing we walked into was the hotel's "shopping arcade," filled with designer stores such as Hermes, Bvlgari, Chanel (we actually went in there because Thao loves it and tried to act classy), Louis Vitton, to name a FEW. It was a whole different world, the world where people dress up in the designer clothes of the very store they're at just to shop there. We were wearing jeans and fleece jackets. It was a funny contrast. Anyway, we ventured toward the hotel lobby and it was MAGICAL. Christmas lights were everywhere and a giant tree stood by the main entrance with designer bags as the presents underneath. People sat having afternoon tea and the line was immensely long. Outside, the parked cars took our breath away; there was a beautiful Lamborghini and a Rolls Royce, among others. It was a lot to take in. We snuck around the hotel for a bit, almost crashing some wedding photos and then the same wedding banquet. It was the nicest hotel I've ever seen, and all I could picture was my great-grandma walking around in a fancy evening gown in the 50s or whenever she was there. In the bathroom, I was shown to my stall and my paper towel was neatly placed by the attendant next to my sink so that it was easily accessible to me. After this classy adventure, we walked around Tsim Sha Tsui for a bit more and it was sort of like New York City.
Enough about that. On Sunday we had quite the opposite experience. We went from cosmopolitan to rural when we traveled to Lantau Island to hike in the mountains. We took a gondola through the gorgeous mountains and the clouds to get to Ngong Ping, the village where our hike was and where a large seated Buddha sat. We visited him and then hiked all over the mountains. It was so foggy that our views were not quite as they should have been, in fact we didn't see ANY spectacular views. It's been foggy every day though, so we decided not to put off hiking for a beautiful day as there may not be any. We used our imaginations though and it was a blast! It seemed like a spooky fairy tale with all the fog.
Today we had a tough quiz for our art history class, but to celebrate finishing a huge group of us went to get dim sum at the nearby market. Our Global friends who speak Chinese (one is from Hong Kong) did all the ordering for us and we received dish after dish of steaming egg buns, pork rolls, chicken feet (these are actually decent), chicken, rice, and nameless dishes. It was all delicious, and a good cultural experience.
That's all for now!
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