A few more updates: Vietnam, hiking, Thanksgiving, EAG

So far I have been terrible at blogging but I hoping to turn over a new leaf and post my blogs more regular! I'll give a brief run down of a few things that have happen in Hong Kong so far.

Watch out for Chicken Heads

-I stepped on a chicken head in the middle of the street and only realized what it was after Sara Beth screamed "Watch out for that chicken head!" It was fairly traumatic seeing that it happened in the first few weeks of my arrival.

Ho Chi Min, Vietnam (Saigon)

- Over a long weekend I was able to travel to Ho Chi Min, Vietnam. While I had planned to travel along, I was fortunately able to meet up with a family friend who was on business there. Having someone to show me the city was fantastic and I'm not sure what I was thinking going to Vietnam alone! It would have been disastrous if I Todd had not been there to even help me cross the street! He meet me at the airport and In Ho Chi Min I shopped at Ben Thanh, a famous market with cheap souvenirs and knock off anything! I visited the Chu Chi tunnels where the people of Chu Chi built underground an underground city to protect themselves from the fight as well as fight back. There was definitely signs of heavy propaganda here and it was interesting to see the war from another prospective. I could not image living in the tunnels for months at a time like the Vietnamese people did. Like my tour guide said, the tunnels were built for Vietnamese sizes people, very small. I walked through the reunification palace where some of the radio equipment used in the war was still on display. One of my favorite things I did was ride a motorbike (see video) around the city at night. I loved seeing the things people carried on the bikes and also that a family of four could fit on one bike! The most impressive thing I did in Ho Chi Min was cross the street without getting run over!

Hiking in Hong Kong

-Now that the weather is tolerable, I have been on a few hike outside the city. The first one, Dragon's Back hike, gave us great views of the South China Sea and the sky line. It was beautiful! A group of us also went to Monkey Mountain where we were able to see real monkeys in the wild. Even though the monkeys originally escaped pets, they have now settled about 20 minutes outside the city. It was really cool seeing monkey outsides cages but a bit frightening too! We learned quickly from the locals to carry a big stick. The monkeys were quite forceful in getting food. If they even thought you had some, the monkeys would creep closer and closer and search through any bag you had. Lucky, the monkeys didn't think poor teachers like us had any food but others on the mountain did. One man brought food specifically to feed the animals and had to consistently point a stick at them to keep them from attacking. ( No harm was done because these smart animals knew not to get near) Despite fearing for my life at times (See picture of a monkey attacking Sara Beth) I thoroughly enjoyed Monkey Mountain.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was definitely not the same as it is back home but Sara Beth, Tripp and I did make reservations at a nice restaurant on the Peak (the highest point in Hong Kong with real estate prices to match) that advertised a set traditional Thanksgiving meal of turkey, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie, and a few other traditional items. The setting was beautiful over looking the city but when we order our Thanksgiving dinner the waiter told us they were sold out! I almost started crying. If being away from my family was not bad enough, I was not going to get turkey on Thanksgiving. However, Thanksgiving was not completely ruined and my meal was delicious, the restaurant was wonderful, and company even better! I feel so blessed to have Sara Beth and Tripp here to share little things, like a Thanksgiving meal and to remind me of home.

Beautiful Fireworks
The opening ceremonies of the East Asian Games (EAG) in Hong Kong gave us a spectacular fireworks display that beat out the fireworks show for the Chinese National Day. Mostly because I could see this time. But nonetheless, Hong Kong knows how to do fireworks right! 15 minutes of not stop amazing fireworks that deserved an applause at end! Seeing the fireworks show makes me glad to be in Hong Kong because no where else in the world will I get to see a show like this over the harbour with such a grand skyline and who doesn't love a good fireworks show?


Well that's just a few updates that I should have put up ages ago but it's better late than never :) I have a few things to look forward to in the next few weeks: my boyfriend, Toby, is coming to visit me, a teacher at my school invited me to her wedding ( a traditional Hong Kong wedding!! I'm so excited!), I'll be going home for the holidays, a friend from college, Sara Frances, is getting married and I'm a bridesmaid in the wedding and most importantly I get to see my family!! I'll leave you with a few pictures from my precious kids. Happy Holidays!!

A snapshot of the first few months

Beaches: The heat became so stifling that the only enjoyable outdoor activity was a going to the beach and Hong Kong being an island there are numerous beaches spotted throughout the country. The first beach excursion landed the other teachers (Sara Beth, Tripp, Amy, Rebecca, and Tracy) and I at Stanley Beach about an hour away from our apartment. There was a great little market close to the beach with little souvenirs, clothes, fabric and other random things. The beach itself was very nice with a great view of the outlining islands. The ocean though was dirty and had a ton of trash along the shore! Hong Kong gets so much water traffic that the pollution and dumping effects the beaches and oceans tremendously! Even though, in typical Hong Kong fashion, workers were cleaning and picking up trash all day, the water was still littered with trash. After catching some sun and walking around the walking around the market, we prepared ourselves the the white knuckle bus ride back to town.

Another trip to the South China was to Man Ho Tin, an island that required a ferry ride to get there. The ferry ride was more of an old timey Chinese style boat (see picture) where you felt every wave and bump on the ride. Maggie had arranged a Chinese style BBQ at this island for all the teachers. In 100* weather we gathered around an open charcoal BBQ pit and started cooking. Most of the unidentified meat was delicious but I got a surprise when I bit into a squid ball!! After a lovely day on the beach, Maggie treated everyone to a local Hong Kong seafood dinner. Located next to the open air restaurant was tanks with all types of interesting fish, crab, lobster, other types of shellfish and even starfish! As Amy pointed out to me, these were not aquariums, these fish were about to be eaten! You could literally point to a specific fish, take it out of the tank, and then have fresh fish for dinner!
Dinner was interesting to say the least and the plate that gets the award was the chicken plate with the head displayed on the plate looking back at you as you eat.This was not the last time I had close encountered with chicken heads. This was a dinner that I was happy to experience and is very typical for Hong Kong locals, but I'm not planning on making this an every week affair.

A snapshot of the first few months

Now that I've settled in after about two months of living in Hong Kong, I've decided to start a blog! With some encouragement from Dr. Lewis and advice from my roommate, Sara Beth, I will share my experiences for all to see. Soo much has happen in the short period I've been here and I will give a brief run down on some of the more memorable events. My grammar and spelling my not be perfect but I hope the stories I share will give some insight to my life in Hong Kong.

First Impressions: I arrived in Hong Kong August 20th after spending a wonderful two months in New Zealand. Only one word can describe my first few days in Hong Kong: overwhelming! The city seemed massive, my 450 square foot apartment was claustrophobic, and the humidity surpassed that of Columbia, SC. I had no idea what I had gotten myself into! The first few days Hong Kong seemed like New York on steroids. I was thankful that Maggie, my boss, helped all the teachers and I settle in; setting up Internet, phone and housing which would have been an overwhelming task in itself.

Mong Kok: Maggie escorted us to Mong Kok ( the most densely populated place in the world) in the middle of the day with temperatures soaring above 100* for the essentials but I also discovered the everything else I could buy. If I felt the need for a pet fish, all I would have to go is walk down Goldfish Street for not only goldfish but also dogs, cats, hamsters, turtles, and snakes. For flowers to spruce us the apartment, I headed to the Flower Market. The Ladies Market is perfect for not only the ladies but also for anyone in need of cheap souvenirs. My phone, that closely resembles an iphone and aptly named the 'phone,' was found amongst hundreds of other electronics. Pretty much anything you would want to buy, you can... You just have to shop with 130,000 people per km² in over 100* temperatures to get your purchase. While Mong Kok seemed like my personal hell in the beginning, I am now braving the streets of Mong Kok as if I were walking down King Street in Charleston. After getting over the initial shock of actually being in Hong Kong, I began to take in the sights, sounds, and sometimes unpleasant smells of the city.



Macau: In order to get a Hong Kong visa validated, one must leave Hong Kong. On return, your visa will be stamped by immigration verifying that your visa is acceptable. So off all the teachers went to Macau gaining my second passport stamp of the South East Asia countries. At 8am on my first Sunday in Hong Kong I boarded a jet ferry to make the two hour trek to Macau. This country is know as the Las Vegas of Asia so of course we made a stop at the Venetian Casino to do a bit of gambling and escape the heat. I'm not sure if you call putting $20HKD (2.5 USD) in a slot machine and blindly pushing buttons gambling but Sara Beth did come out the big winner with a winning of $2.10HKD! After our attempt to earn a little extra money, Maggie took the crew to the world famous Fernando's, a Macueses (part Macau, part Portuguese) restaurant with a great ambiance but no air conditioning. We had a smorgasbord of food including fish (head included), pork, beef, veggies, and topped off with a nice cool, refreshing glass of sangria. Eating in sweltering heat has never been a favorite of mine but the food at Fernando's was worth every bead of sweat. Still sweating, the group made our way to see the ruins of the church of St. Paul, considered to be one of the greatest monuments to Christianity in Asia to help the illiterate understand the Passion of Christ and the lives of the saints. Seeing the ruins of this church was truly amazing! By this point in the trip the heat was starting to take a toll so a few of us decided to move the remainders of our sightseeing inside. We headed for the Macau Tower, home of the highest bungy jump in the world! My hopes of jumping on that particular day were crushed by wardrobe choice of a dress but I have a feeling I will return to Macau to jump of the tower one day soon!

Hong Kong Island: I once heard someone say that Hong Kong is 100% Asian and 100% Western. I didn't understand what they were talking about until I made my way over from Tai Kok Tsui to the other side of the harbour. It was in Central Hong Kong that I saw the 'Western' side of the city. Restaurants' names started becoming 'Taco Loco' 'Just Salad' 'TGI Fridays' and many other familiar names. Main Street Deli and Fat Hamburger was a nice change of pace from the food close to my apartment where everything is very local to say the least. Hong Kong Island is where most of the expats and tourist live, work, and hang out. A typical night in Lang Kwai Fong would rival a night out in Bourbon Street in New Orleans.

The best part about Hong Kong Island, besides the food, is the light show. The Symphony of Lights is presented every night at 8pm where the skyline is illuminated with lasers, flashing lights, and music; it is considered the "World's Largest Permanent Light and Sound Show" and involves over 44 buildings! You can stand on either side of the harbour to watch the buildings come alive with the lights that are accompanied with music to match the show. It's an amazing view that will forever remind me of Hong Kong.