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).

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

Dessert: 芒果芝麻腸粉

One of the most amazing desserts we had in Hong Kong was while on Cheung Chau island for their Bun Festival  which is held once a year in April or May. We had the pleasure of experiencing it first hand. The humble island of Cheung Chau, literally named long island (長洲), is best known for their dessert specialties. One of the our favourites was a variant on the cheung fan noodles that is made with sesame and has mango fruit and sauce on it. My canto friends call it "manguo jima cheung" in Cantonese, so the literal Chinese would supposedly be 芒果芝麻腸粉. Delicious!

East on Ma On Shan - a Stroll alongside the Ocean

Not having a plan at all was the plan for March 4th. I, having finished a midterm, was ready to leave the campus and set out to explore! We met up with Chris, and left for our adventure readily. 

Jordan: Hopefully we can knock off 2 stations today...maybe 3 if we're ambitious!
Me: I don't think we should get ahead of ourselves, I think 2 is ambitious enough!

Our goal for our 4 months here in Hong Kong is to visit every MTR station. There are 84 MTR stations in total; we have completed 25. Our progress isn't too bad so far, but we have to take in mind that we will become busy as finals are progressing nearer...but anyway, we still are trying our best!

   

Mountain!

We transit to Choi Hung MTR station, transfer 2 times and soon enough, we were at our destination - Wu Kai Sha (烏溪沙), situated in the Northeastern area of the New Territories. The station is the East-most station along the Ma On Shan (馬鞍山) line, and from our little research we did the night before, we were aware that it was by the water. We also found out that there is a mountain nearby to be hiked - the Ma On Shan mountain, which one of the top 10 highest peaks in Hong Kong!

Aberdeen and Ap Lei Chau

It was another cloudy day in Clear Water Bay in Hong Kong. We were hoping for a bit of sun, but the slight fog definitely wasn't going to dampen our spirits. We were headed to a new place for adventure today - Aberdeen!

  

Jordan by the ferry boats

Now, the name 'Aberdeen' to Vancouverites means a shopping mall in Richmond, but it had quite a different meaning here. Aberdeen in Hong Kong is know for their fishing and seafood industry, as well as more tourist geared places such as floating restaurants. The public transit trip there took quite a while - approximately an hour and a half, but we enjoyed the ride as we talked to our fellow exchange friend, Chris, about school, Hong Kong, a bit of philosophy and lots of food.

Valentine's on the Peak, Part 2

...continued from Valentine's on the Peak

Although the view was gorgeous, and the atmosphere romantic and relaxing, we noticed that we were getting chilly and definitely very hungry. So we decided to head on down to the most touristy, non-local food we've had so far in Hong Kong - Bubba Gump Shrimp! 

Bubba Gump Shrimp Co is a chain of restaurants originating in the US, that serves shrimp as their specialty. This restaurant is themed around the novel and movie Forrest Gump - you would have to either read the book or watch the movie to know why in fact, it's called "Bubba Gump". The atmosphere in the restaurant was very...North American. I felt like I was back home, at a regular restaurant in Downtown Vancouver or Toronto. Artists such as Taylor Swift was playing in the background, the place was decorated with pictures of Gump and American friends, and there were signs with English quotes written on them, such as "Stupid is as stupid does". The only thing that felt different than North American restaurants was the waiters and waitress communicating to each other in Cantonese. It was quite an interesting mix...

The dinner was incredibly enjoyable. I must say, as much as I love Chinese food, I do miss American food. The fries were well cooked, the coleslaw was a nice alternative to vegetables in soup, and the shrimp - oh my gosh, the shrimp - was delectable. We ordered the Shrimper's Heaven, a shrimp platter, which we were told was a must get here at Bubba Shrimp. There were 4 kinds of fish - cocktail shrimp, coconut shrimp, tempura shrimp and fried shrimp, and it came with a few dipping sauces that were made to compliment each of the shrimp. We also ordered some Captain's Fish and Chips to share. I was very, very happy. In addition to stuffing ourselves with seafood, I also enjoyed some of the quirky things of the restaurant. For example, if you wanted the waiters'/waitresses' attention, you display the sign, "Stop, Forrest, stop!" and if you're all good and happy, you display the sign "Run, Forrest, run!". The theme and atmosphere of this restaurant spurred us to watch the Forrest Gump movie the next day :)

Since we started the night off being tourists, we of course, ended the night being tourists as well! We wandered around outside for a while, trying to see if we could identify hiking trails that we can take up in the future. We took a couple more photos, then decided to take the scenic route home - the bus! As the bus winded down the mountain, we got to see the beautiful view once more. The buildings became taller and taller as the bus rolled down the mountain, and we became tinier and tinier in comparison, and soon enough, we were once again, only a small fraction of the grand skyscrapers of Hong Kong.

Taiwan Adventure Journal - Day 9!

Day 9 (Jan 25) was our last day in Taiwan :'(
We started our day off with a trip to see the Martyr's Shrine. It is reminiscent of Chiang Kai Shek square with its immaculate upkeep, large stone architecture, and brilliant red contrast decorations. While we were their we walked around the inside and entered rooms that are dedicated to martyrs who have died throughout history while serving Taiwan.

 The main gate. Note the stone-faced guards under the arch

Taiwan Adventure Journal - Day 7!

Day 7, aka Jan 23, was our first day of the Chinese New Year. Our first day in the year of the Dragon. As mentioned in other posts, Taipei practically becomes a ghost town when CNY rolls in. People travel and go on vacation, visit family, and generally take a break from their daily grind for about week or so. The city being nearly empty, is a good time to sight see any of the open venues for pictures, but isn't as good for shopping and markets, as many of them are closed.
On this day we went to Sun Yat Sen memorial hall and took a look around. 

It was a cool, overcast day. Taipei 101 loomed in the distance, spire occluded by the clouds overhead. The general lack of crowds and the low hanging mist created the feeling of a quiet morning that endured throughout much of the day. 

We walked around Sen's Memorial hall and then moved on to the notably bigger Chiang Kay Shek Memorial square. The large square is bordered by a gate on one side and three large, traditionally decorated buildings on remaining sides. One of which is the National Theatre, National Music Hall on another side, and finally the memorial hall, which lies to the South-East side.

Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall

Taiwan Adventure Journal - Day 5!

January 21st was actually one of my favourite days, simply because we ate such amazing food. All the food we had was pretty amazing already, but today was EPIC. My uncle and dad picked us up from the hotel, and we set off to Tam Shui (淡水). A more proper translation is actually Danshui). The first stop was at a temple called Guandu Temple 關渡宮. This temple is a Tao temple, so there were many different statues of different gods that they worship. Like many other temples, this one was very beautiful as well! It was special in the way that it was very large; the part we entered in was where people would practice and light inscents. We walked up the stairs and onto the look out area, where we can see a majestic view of the infamous red bridge that brings people into Tamshui. Before this bridge existed, people had to take the ferry over to get into this town. As we progressed further into the temple, there was a park and garden area where people can relax enjoy the beautiful view. We didn't have much time to spend around the garden area, because we were actually on a schedule today, but it was nice to enjoy the calm, serene part of the Guandu temple.

 Outside GuanDu Temple

Sai Kung weekend: Seafood and hiking

Ended up in Sai Kung twice this weekend. Saturday night was a seafood adventure. We got off the bus and walked around looking for restaurants to eat at. Found this one place and managed to get a pretty reasonable price for an amazing dinner. Initially found out that the prices were generally high in the area following the period of Chinese New Year. Finished dinner and went around for a walk. Found their "Temple Square" where a large bamboo stage was built for a traditional Chinese Opera, which was about to start. We ran across the street to one of the three 7-11's that we saw in Sai Kung and bought some beers and went back to enjoy one of the acts in the show.
We didn't have a very Cantonese dinner group so we didn't stay at the Opera for long, but we were there long enough to admire their intricate costumes. Walked further around Sai Kung and found some of the larger restaurants with their fish tanks - the ones that you point at a lobster and get to have it steaming on your table 20 minutes later.

 Beautiful Scallops dish

Taiwan Adventure Journal - Day 4!

January 20th is another packed and fun-filled day! Both my uncle and my dad were busy in the morning/afternoon, so it was Jordan's and my first adventure out into the BUSY STREETS OF TAIPEI BY OURSELVES! Dun dun dun. My brother told me of this awesome area where they sell a lot of stuff for crafts, beading and DIY (Do it yourself) stuff, so we decided to set that as one of our destination points. We did a bit of researching on how to get there, and set off explore the city!
Fortunately (and amazingly perhaps?), we did not get lost and we ended up in the middle of many DIY and beading stores. We shopped around for a couple hours, got a few awesome crafts stuff (Jordan got some too!) and starting heading back to the MTR (subway) station. BUt we realized how hungry we were, so we followed our hungry stomachs to the smell of yummy street food. It was the first time we looked for street food without my dad or uncle's help! We ended up eating some awesome fish cakes, dried stewed beef noodles and also so dumpling-like pancakes. Our next stop was the Long Shan Temple (龍山寺), because Jordan really likes looking at the different temples. It is right beside an MTR station, which is really convenient. I love the Taipei MTR! There is just so much to do at many of the MTR stations, and the MTR is so fast, efficient and cheap.

 Food stand 1!

Taiwan Adventure Journal - Day 3!

Day 3, Jan 19th, was probably one of our sunniest and warmest days. We chose this lovely sunny day to go to the Taiwan Exhibition buildings and see area that was setup to showcase Taiwan to the international community. It's a nice open area that has some gardens for walking around and has plenty of families with children and tourists. The whole setup is a park with these different green areas and some cafes and the exhibition buildings are grouped in one area. The admission into the expo buildings is quite reasonable (about 60-150 TWD depending on the show) and showcase some pretty nifty technology as well. Each of the buildings has some neat and different architecture and the combination of that and the green space makes for some lovely photography. The three expos we watched were the Taipei Pavilion, Future Pavilion, and the Pavilion of Dreams.