An ordinary and great day at HKUST

Many of our blog posts have been about trips, outings and special events that we've experienced during our exchange term. Those were indeed awesome, but I also wanted to share how a regular, normal day would be for us as exchange students at HKUST. There were days where we didn't go out because, yes, we had to study! Although I may have complained and grumbled about being stuck in the library, I still view every part of my experience as a luxury. We were able to travel halfway across the world to attend a great university, continue to learn and expand our knowledge base, meet new friends, experience Hong Kong culture, eat such delicious foods and see beautiful sights. So I would like to share, from my point of view, what a normal day would be like for an exchange student experiencing student life at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology :) I hope you read on and enjoy!

7:30am was still too early...in any time zone. But, I made a vow to myself to not sleep in and skip classes during my time here. After all, the grades I achieve here at HKUST still counts towards my GPA for graduate admission committees...

The room was dark; I would have love to throw the curtains wide open but I didn't want to wake my sleeping roommate. I sneakily took my toiletries and proceeded out of our room door.

I would say that my roommate and I probably have one of the best rooms on the floor. It was far away from the washroom so we don't get disturbed by students walking past our bedroom, slamming doors and showering at ungodly hours. In addition, instead of having a room directly across from us, we have a balcony that displayed crisp Clear Water Bay scenery and beautiful mountains. There would be times where, if I woke up early enough in the morning, I would enjoy a few moments out on the balcony, taking in the glorious view and feeling the morning breeze.

Lamma Island Outing! 南丫島

I woke groggily, stumbled as quietly around as I could without waking up my roommate, grabbed my toiletries and opened my door while rubbing my half closed eyes.

Sunshine poured in from the window across from our room. The view of the mountains from the balcony was clear, in HD and beautiful. Instantly I felt awake, and thought myself crazy that I wanted a few more moments in bed. Besides, we were going on an adventure today - to Lamma Island!

Lamma Island is the third largest island in Hong Kong, behind Hong Kong Island and Lantau Island. It is located southwest of HK island, and a 20 minute ferry ride from there. The island boasts great seafood, relaxing atmosphere and beautiful beaches! According to Wikipedia, the name 'Lamma' was given because of the shape of the island - it resembles a fork of a tree. In Chinese, Lamma Island is called 南丫. The first character 南 means south and the second character 丫...is not really a character in Chinese. However, it is still used and is pronounced as 'ah'. Lamma Island can also be translated to 'Southern Peninsula'.

Cheung Chau Bun Festival! 長洲包山節

The legendary Cheung Chau Bun Festival is a special day full of dancing lions, street food that allure tourists and locals alike...and buns. Lots of lots of buns. Buns all shapes and sizes, made from many materials (although you wouldn't want to eat the plastic ones really).

Happy Canada day! (belated post)

Although this day isn't part of our exchange trip to Hong Kong, I thought it would still be proper to include it here. After all, our exchange blog is about our travels to different countries in the world and once upon a time, I was a traveler to Canada :) This country is such a special place to me and I'd like to wish her a happy birthday while writing a bit of my own reflections!

My family and I immigrated to Canada in 1993; I was a wee three year old kid, unaware of the giant life change ahead of me. Due to his business, my father had to say back in Asia while my mom supported us here in Canada. It was difficult; although I couldn't comprehend it then, I now know the struggles my mother had to go through to raise 3  young toddlers while holding a job on the side. The three of us were lucky in that our mother is a strong and intelligent woman and gave up very much to provide us with the best childhood possible. We were also lucky that we were able to see family, such as our grandparents and father, every so often so we weren't completely apart from our dear ones.

Thailand - Part 6: Koh Samed

Free breakfast.

That was one of the first things in my mind when I woke up the next morning. It was a groggy morning as we did end up having a few drinks in our hotel room the night prior, but we readily got up and prepared ourselves for the day's activities.

The free breakfast was indeed awesome. They served a wide range of items that we usually wouldn't eat for breakfast such as stir-fried veggies, coconut curry soup and pasta - but of course I didn't care. The 5 of us filled up our plates and took a seat on one of the tables of the patio to enjoy the sunshine.

Mmm, buffet breakfast.

Thailand - Part 5: Koh Samed

A riveting sunset; a calm, embracing sea; the echoes of laughter from the restaurant, bars and beach hoppers; a warm seabreeze caressing our hair. If I worked in a travel agency, this would probably be how I would describe Koh Samed. Except maybe with better words, but oh well.

The first step of our journey was to board a small boat and ride across the ocean to the island of Koh Samed. Thank goodness that numbers are internationally known as all of the words on the signs around the station were in Thai...but we understood enough to know that there was a sailing every hour or so. We nearly got lost while trying to find the station and were a bit confused as to which station we were supposed to go to, but eventually we knew we want to get from 'Bangkok' to 'Banphe'. Good enough.

The timetable for the ferries