e-Blog (International Students)

As some of us exchange students from Singapore do not have any classes on Monday, we decided to head to the Ocean Park Hong Kong today. We gathered in front of Hall 4, our usual place for gathering before we head to any places, at 9am.

Tamar, Rebecca, Zahabia (Z) and Ciaran (CC) and I went to explore the New Teritories. We got off at station … from the train and had been walking around the place for two hours. Then Tamar and CC tired and leaved for the residence (res).

We went further two-three stops with a bus to a more suburban area of the city and decided to go on foot to the last station. It turned out to be one of our best decisions. First we encountered a somewhat untouched site of suburban, local, hong-kong people lives. We saw locals preparing dishes outside over open fires for the that time approaching new year’s celebration. We could take pictures in a medium sized and vacant temple without disturbing the locals. We were lost for a few times and even trespassed. This did not seem to bother Rebecca who was just going forward exploring with her half smile, blond hair and definite eyes. There were children playing on the streets and we even spoke with some of them. We were asking if they knew where a restaurant was and had to follow them running with loud laughing on the way to the closed restaurant. It was a great day and we experienced something from the culture that I believe tourists usually can not. And all it was due to not taking the bus the the temple.

January 22, 2012 ( Sunday )

We visit the flower and new year’s market. We met at Tin Hou station and walked to the market. You cannot imagine a crowd of people like we found ourselves in. What was not even as tough as it gets during the night according to Calvin. On the market, high schoolers and younger adults were selling children toys with loud phones and tables. There were political parties giving speeches and selling good wishes in chinese characters written on red papers. One half of the market was the flower market which had thousands of different flowers, plants in hundreds of colours.

January 23, 2012 ( Monday )

Today was the first day of the Chinese new year, the year of the dragon. They had a great parade near Tsim Sha Tsui and the coast. There were several different masked people and a massive crowd. With Phil we could not stand in the rain for two hours before the whole event started so we went to explore the shops, yet is also meant that we had to give up our place and could not see a lot. Half an hour before parade start we climbed up to a construction sight onto a neighbouring building and had been enjoying the perfect view when police spotted us.

January 27, 2012 ( Friday )

we went to the place called Mr Wong’s, where you have to pay 50 HK$ and you can eat and drink as much as you want. (On the picture there is (from the left Tamar, Benedetta, and behind them, Mr Wong). )

February 27, 2012 ( Friday )

I usually go to Shek Kip Mei, to a Wellcome store. Last week, I was just exploring that area on the way to school when I spotted the market. Seeing its colorful patterns of the counters full with fish, vegetables and fruits made an great impression on me. I did not have enough time since I had to go to Globalization and the Environment course, so I promised myself that I would go back after finishing the Portfolio mid-term.

Today I did go after handing in the papers. I went with my camera and headed directly to the market from the school.

My first meal in Hong Kong. Just wanna make it fun!

On arrival, I had a hard time to unload luggage to the Student Residence but I was thankful to the local people for offering a helping hand. After a series of check-in procedures, I finally received the room key and find the assigned room ---- the “Home” that I’m supposed to live in the next four months! I enjoyed my first meal very much at the student canteen. I rearranged the position of the sausages and meatballs of the noodles and created a funny or weird face. Just hope my life in the next few months will be fun, exciting and full of surprises.

January 23, 2012 ( Monday )

The first day of Lunar New Year.

I attended this special dinner gathering with my friends and other Chinese students. Each of us were being informed to bring in raw food and then cooked together. Apart from a few of them who have lived abroad, none of us have mastered cooking skills and we had experienced great difficulties recognizing food items and in the end, the cooked foods are not as good as we expected but we enjoyed very much. Behind us the screen shows CHUN WAN, the most popular Chinese New year show in China.

January 31, 2012 ( Tuesday )

Hall 9 Poon Choi Feast. New friends, new life.

I started to make new friends at CityU after two weeks of adjustment. This night is the Poon Choi Feast with residents of 2^nd floor of Hall 9. It’s also my first time to have a taste of Poon Choi, a name which is totally unfamiliar to me and I just hope the food is not just made up of vegetables. During the feast, we congratulated the newly-elected presidents, enjoyed our meal and played exciting games. Lots of people were lucky enough to win game prizes!

February 4, 2012 ( Saturday )

The three of us from BIT. Ready to go!

I didn’t know my fellow classmates from BIT before coming to Hong Kong even though we studied in the same university. I think CityU brings us together. We helped each other to go through the lengthy application procedures and course selection; and we shared happy and sad moments in a place far from our homes; and we shall continue our “adventures” in Hong Kong for the rest of the exchange study. Guess where we’ll go next?

Enjoy dessert at Sham Shui Po

I love the dessert in Hong Kong very much! There’s no exaggeration- just look at the glutinous rice balls with peanuts and yellow sugars. They are chewy but tasty~ I also enjoyed very much the mango sago dessert and ice cream with sago in coconut sauce . They are arranged nicely and most importantly, they are delicious.