Thursday, March 1, 2012
Katerina Douskova, from University of Ottawa, Canada
February 13, 2012 ( Monday )
I woke up around 8am and made the short trip to the canteen on Campus known as Homey Kitchen. This is the usual place for students to be found who want really inexpensive food but you do get what you pay for so the quality isn’t exactly out of this world. After this I had two morning classes; Mandarin and Asia Pacific economies, class in Hong Kong is quite different to back home, especially Mandarin which felt a little bit like a singing class for the first few weeks when we were learning the various tones used in this language. This was quite an experience.
In the evening some friends and I decided to take our first trip to The peak, this is one of the highest points in Hong Kong giving an amazing view of the city. We travelled up there via a tram which had the same kind of incline expected on a rollercoaster for around 10 minutes. Getting to the top gave me a breath taking view of the city by night and that first sight of the skyline is something I won’t forget.
February 14, 2012 ( Tuesday )
Valentine’s Day in Hong Kong. Flowers everywhere and more chocolates than I have ever seen. There were couples kissing at every corner and because my friends and I have our boyfriends at home we decided to go and have a girl’s day. We took the MTR to Central in the Hong Kong Island and had a spa day. We got massages and our nails done for very cheap price. After our spa day we decided to try and find a restaurant, but because it was Valentine’s Day all the restaurants were completely booked, but we managed to stumble upon this little pizza place. It was completely empty and it was the best pizza we have ever had. We order Greek and Caesar salads and two large pizzas. On the way back to campus we decided to take the fair that runs between the Hong Kong Island and the Mainland. It was a clear night so we got an amazing view.
February 15, 2012 ( Wednesday )
Wednesday is my busiest day. I have class from 9:30 until 4:30. My first class is my Chinese Management class that has mostly exchange students. Always a fun class because there are so many exchange students. Class lasts 3 hours and we have a break every hour. We usually all grab a coffee and a late breakfast at the school cafeteria in Academic 1. After my first class, I got right across the hall to my Japanese Management lecture. This class is very small, only about 20 students or so, and the teacher makes the lecture very interactive. She usually calls on exchange students to try and compare the Japanese culture to the Western cultures. It makes the class more interesting and you learn more that way, when you compare different examples to your own situations at home. My last class of the day is my Asia Pacific Economies lecture. This is in a big lecture hall and the class is very full. The professor talks about today’s economic problems and usually calls on the students to ask for their input and opinions. After class we decided to head to horse races to try our luck!
February 16, 2012 ( Thursday )
No classes today so I get to sleep in. A couple of friends decided it would be fun to go out and explore a little bit today. We googled some ideas to do around Hong Kong and found a place that rents bikes just two metro stops away from us. I grabbed a friend and decided to go on an adventure. We got lost once we left the MTR but managed to find our way after asking a few locals. After several attempts we found the bike shop. We rented two bicycles for the day and decided to head out along the Sha Tin Hoi river. After biking for a while we hit the end of the river and decided to bike through the city. We were very surprised to see how many bike paths there were throughout the city. We got to explore areas that we normally wouldn’t have been able to. After we returned to the bike shop to return our bikes, we asked the employees where would be a good place to eat. They pointed us into a direction and told us to keep walking for a few minutes that we would end up hitting a dim sum place. After getting dinner we headed back home.
February 17,2012 ( Friday )
One of my friends from back home decided to come and visit so I went to go pick them up from the airport. We decided to take a weekend trip to Singapore for a couple of days. Our flight was leaving later that afternoon so we didn’t get much done, rather than unpack and then pack again for the weekend. We got to Singapore before dinner time and tried to find out hostel. Got lost in the subway again, but thankfully found a person who helped us located our hostel. After we found it, we decided to explore the area a little bit and try and find some dinner. Walking around the area for a bit we found some restaurants, parks and little shops. We walked until we hit downtown and watched the light show at the Marina Bay hotel. First night in Singapore was very successful and we were looking forward to the next couple of days here before heading back to Hong Kong.
Labels: 2011/2012 Semester B
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