Monday, October 21, 2013

 

Sabine Wagner, WU Vienna (Austria), Germany

8/9/2013 Sunday 

On September 8th, I decided to start my Sunday with a short but steep early morning hike on Hong Kong Island. And as pretty much everyone who has ever set a foot in this city claims Victoria Peak is a must – so that is where I decided to go. Of course, there are convenient options like the Peak Tram and several bus lines. But I decided to take the small path starting on Pok Fu Lam Road and climbed all the way up to High West before walking around The Peak. It was quite exhausting, especially because it was a hot and humid day in beginning of September, but I was rewarded with stunning views and took some of my best panorama shots of Hong Kong.


16/9/2013 Monday 

After a long day at university, there’s nothing like a good dinner with friends. And for a good dinner, there is no place offering more choice than Mong Kok. So we left from CityU campus, took the MTR, and mingled with the numerous people that make Mong Kok one of the most vibrant parts of Hong Kong in the evening. After a stroll down sneaker street, we settled for some street food and tried different specialties of the Cantonese cuisine. We would spend the rest of the evening on the Lady’s market and the surrounding streets with their countless shops before going back home on the last MTR.


19/9/2013 Thursday

In September, I had the chance to experience some of the festivities around the Mid-Autumn Festival. Besides moon cakes, that contain around 1,500 calories each and are served and sold pretty much everywhere during this time, there is the tradition of fire dragon dances. I had the chance to experience the dance of several fire dragons in Pok Fu Lam Village, a small community tucked away from the hustle and bustle of Hong Kong Island at a hill south of Victoria Peak. Incense and colourful paper lanterns were everywhere and a huge crowd was waiting for the parade to begin. The whole event took several hours during which the dragons were carried all around the village. Eventually, the dragon was carried downhill to the ocean sore with countless people, both locals and foreign visitors, following. 



12/10/2013 Saturday
Weekends are perfect for discovering some more of Hong Kong’s outdoor treasures. One of the most beautiful sceneries I have seen is in Sai Kung, or, to be more exact, Tam Hin Wan Beach. It is an amazingly beautiful place where you can unwind perfectly. So we walked the MacLehose trail from Pak Tam Au to Ham Tin, rented tents there, pitched them up right on the white sand and went for a long swim. We watched the sunset from the water, then had a tasty dinner with a seaview, and finally got some bottles of cold beer that we enjoyed watching the starry night sky while sitting in the sand.
On the next morning, we had a hearty breakfast and hiked to Sai Wan, where there is just another beautiful beach as well as a natural sweet water pool where you can do cliff jumping. It took us some hours to get back to Sai Kung Town, and finally back to our homes, where we washed a lot of sand off our skin…



15/10/2013 Tuesday

Tuesday means no lectures in my case so I decided to use the free time and go on a day trip to Macau. My cousin from Germany was visiting so that was just perfect. Starting from TST, we took around an hour to get there by ferry. At arrival, we were pleased to find that free shuttle buses take you to the city center in regular intervals and we started our day with an extensive visit to the Portuguese Old Town with its squares, countless bakeries, markets, and ancient buildings. We could not resist and had a Portuguese egg tart which tasted quite close to the original ones you can get in Lisboa back in Europe. Our second stop was the beautiful A-Ma Temple in the south of the city. We relaxed a bit afterwards in the shade of a tree on a quiet square before hopping on a bus to Taipa’s famour Cotai Strip. Wandering around the artificial town of Venice that has been reproduced inside the big casino-hotel “The Venetian” was a stunning finish to a day full of impressions.








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Ines Nsiri, Concordia University, Canada

Monday : Macau one day Trip


On the first week in Hong Kong, many exchange students need to get their student visa validated at the border. Some of us needed to go to Macau to make the trip. For me a I decided to take the full day to explore Macau
We took a one-hour ferry to Macau (300HKD for round trip) and arrived there at 10am. We spent the morning and early afternoon visiting A Ma Temple, Saint Paul’s ruins, Senado Square, St Domingo’s church etc… and of course we ended the day with a visit the famous Macau Casinos. An absolute must for anyone who likes make some money, or lose some….

Tuesday : Big Buddha Lanatau Island


The first week i arrived to Hong Kong was very busy with the university orientation events that i didn’t get much time to visit the city. Luckily our orientation program included a visit to Lantau island to see the big buddha.
The big buddha is located in Ngong Ping Lantau island and it is part of the Po Lin Monastery
Tian Tan Buddha statue (informally known as the Big Buddha) was built in 1993. It is 34 meters high and faces the north (Usual Buddhas face south) to look over the Chinese people. It is the second largest outdoor sitting Buddha in the World (The largest one is in Taiwan).
You can climb 286 steps to get to the Lotus platform where the status is sitting. It might seem like a sweaty climb up but the view is totally worth it
Inside the big Buddha, there are three accessible floors containing the relics of Gautama Buddha. Access there is limited and you can not take pictures inside. However the platform has an amazing view and you can also enjoy looking at the  ”Six Offering Divas” surrounding the big Buddha and kneeing in front of him with offerings.


Wednesday : MongKok street food

Even if you are in Hong Kong for the first time, you must have heard about MongKok. It is a great place to experience the real Hong Kong street life.
MongKok is house to the famous ladies markets on Tung Choi street, Sports markets on Fa Yeung street and the well known Nathan Road.
When I first visited MongKok, I walked for hours shopping and looking around. And I was very happy to have a wide range of food options available for me. There are a lot of sit down style chinese restaurants, food stands serving soups, bbq chicken and beef, fish balls etc.. These food stands are so famous that sometimes you find a lineup of people in front. You can also grab of the Hong Kong famous Gong Cha (Bubble tea) on your home home 


Thursday :  Sunset at Lau Fau Shan


When living in Hong Kong, skyscrapers and high-rise building always block your view. However it only takes 30min to get away and enjoy a more natural landscape. This time, i went to watch the sunset at Lau Fau Shan.
Lau Fau Shan is a fishing village on the North coast of Hong Kong’s New Territories, facing Shenzhen in Mainland China. It used to be known for oyster harvesting but not anymore. Now is it famous for for its street of seafood restaurants.
It is also one of the most popular places to see the sunset in Hong Kong, the old fishing boats, rafts and Shenzhen bay bridge.
I arrived to Lau Fau Village, around one hour before the sunset and there was already a lineup of photographers setting up their tripods. So if you are really serious about getting good shots, you should get there early. As the time passed by, i get to see the view turn from gold to pink and afterwards the bridge lit up and the lights from Shenzhen made up a beautiful night landscape.


Friday : Hike up Victoria Peak

I arrived to Hong Kong in early September and this year, the temperatures were above average. In the first couple weeks the weather was so hot that i would think twice before going out. This made any day hikes out of question, so i decided that my first Hong Kong hike would be a night hike to Victoria Peak.
Victoria Peak is the highest mountain on Hong Kong island with an altitude of 552m. It is one of the biggest touristic attractions in Hong Kong offering views over Central, Victoria Harbor and Lamma Island
The total length of the hike is 11 km with an elevation of 500m. It took us about 2hours 30 minutes to finish the hike with few (or many) breaks to take photos
The hike starts at Central MTR along the Des Voeux Road. Then, we crossed through LKF until the Old Peak road . From there, the road was very steep that i started sweating in no time and felt so thankful for not doing this hike during the day. We stopped by the Peak Tram station to catch our breath and take some photos.
We kept walking until we reached the touristy observation point. Then walked around the Victoria Peak counter clock wise on Lugard Road trail and had some great views over Victoria harbor.





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Low Kai Jie Samuel, National University of Singapore, Singapore

1/9/2013 Sunday 

Lantau Island excursion is an excursion that is organized by the college of business. We took an hour ride to there and met up with fellow exchange students there. One of the highlights is the great Buddha of the Lantau island where the bus brought us there with much effort due to the steep slope. From the great Buddha, one can take a paranomic view of the whole Lantau island and the view is awesome! Attached is the group photo that I took with my Singaporean friends after climbing down from the flight of stairs. After visiting the Buddha, we went to have vegetarian lunch in the restraint near the great Buddha. The foods are quite nice with some local dishes. Following that, we went to the Tai O fishing village to see the shop houses which is situated near the river bank.  The view is breathtaking. I tried the doughnuts which is quite crispy and nice. Following that we proceed to the bus after a long day out there. I would like to thank college of business for planning such a wonderful event.


13/9/2013 Friday

What is going to Hong Kong without going to Victoria harbor? Today, one of my friend’s buddy Derek decided to buy us to the Victoria harbor to watch the night sea as well as the laser show which is only shown at 8pm every day. After we met up at Tsim Sha Tsui mtr, we proceed to have a quick dinner. After dinner, we ran to the Victoria harbor. However, we managed to only catch a glimpse of the laser show only. Despite that, we were amazed with the night view of the Hong Kong as the lights from the business districts buildings are quite beautiful at night. Another highlight of the Victoria harbor is the galaxy of stars whereby it shows the famous artiste in Hong Kong such as Anita Mui, Jacky cheung and Andy Lau. Lastly, we came across the statue of Bruce Lee which is an icon of Hong Kong. It depicts the fighting spirit of Hong Kong. My friends and I managed to take a group photo as a remembrance of the beautiful scenery of Hong Kong.


20/9/2013 Friday

One of the highlights of my Hong Kong exchange is the Mid-Autumn festival here in Hong Kong. Unlike Singapore, it is actually a public holiday here. The most happening place to celebrate mid-autumn festival is at the Victoria Park. My group which consists of fellow Singaporeans, Koreans and China exchange students decided to go there together.  We were amazed by the colorful lanterns there. For example, there are lanterns which are showing a person selling Dim Sum and lanterns which are of the shape of Bao.   Furthermore, there are lanterns showing the Cai Shen Ye which is the god of fortune which symbolizes good luck and fortune in this joyous occasion. During the mid-autumn festival, the Victoria park is packed with people picnicking at the grass patches and lighting up lanterns which is one of the traditions here. Finally, we took a group photo near the globe which I found is one of the most beautiful scenery here in Victoria park. This is because the globe changes color every few seconds. After walking out from the Victoria park, we started eating the mooncakes that we brought over there. It is one of the memorable ways to celebrate mooncake festival here.


25/9/2013 Wednesday

Among the hikes which I had been to, such as lion rock, Mui Wo and lamma island. The scenery at dragon back is quite awesome.  This is because from the top one can see the blue sea which I found is quite clear and it forms a total contrast with the blue sky. Hence, sitting at the grass patch to watch the scenery is quite relaxing. Another special characteristic of dragon back is that the shape of the rocks in the mountain resembles the shape of the dragon. In addition, from the top of the dragon back, one can see the tiny houses, people playing golf and the beaches. After climbing up to the top of the dragon peak, my friends and I did jump shots there because of the beautiful scenery there.  Following that, we took a long time to get to the foot of the mountain and proceed to the big wave bay beach for picnic as well as watching the beautiful waves at the beach. It is really a relaxing experience to enjoy the waves while eating sandwiches by the beach. This is another side of Hong Kong away from the hustle and bustle of the city.


28/9/2013 Saturday

One of the highlights of my exchange is the Macau Trip. We took a fast ferry there which took about half an hour. The first stop of Macau, we took a shuttle bus to Senado square. After lunch at one of the restaurants there, we proceed to the Ruins of St.Pauls’s which is one of the main attractions in Macau. I found the buildings of the church interesting because of the historic value. This is the photo taken by my friend of my jump shot in front of the church to capture the essence of the magnificence of the church. Following that , we proceed to try out the snacks at the snack stores which is quite famous here.The hotel that we are staying is at the venetian which is quite a beautiful hotel because the structure of the hotel resembles that of the Venice. In the night, my friends decided to go to watch fireworks by the river bank of Macau.  For the last day, we accompany our friend to the Macau tower for the bungee jump. It is the highest bungee jump of the world. Hence, it is quite brave of her to jump from such a height.









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Tuesday, October 15, 2013

 

Beverly Teo, Nanyang Technological University of Singapore, Singapore

Monday – Date: 27/8/2013


Touchdown! We had finally reached Hong Kong’s international airport after much anticipation. It was definitely exciting to be in Hong Kong for the first time in my life. The airport is beautiful with many amiable and helpful staff around. We were briefed by one of them on the numerous tourists’ attractions in Hong Kong and when are the best times to visit these places. Absolutely thrilled at the prospect of spending the next few months here!


 Tuesday – Date: 31/8/2013


We wanted to see the day view as well as the night view of the harbor hence we reached the harbor during evening and went back again after we had our dinner. Both the views were amazing and the night view was especially exquisite. We were in time to see the light show as well. It was spectacular!



Wednesday – Date: 1/9/2013


Being a huge fan of candy, I was delighted to see that candy floss is actually sold in such a huge portion at the mall beside our loft. Furthermore, its colour is very much different from the pink candy floss that I am used to seeing in Singapore. Its taste allowed me to indulge in wonderful reminiscence of my childhood. J




Thursday – Date: 3/9/2013


There is a Tim Ho Wan outlet in Singapore but I have not had the chance to try it as the queue is always almost ridiculously long. Thus I hoped to try it during my time in Hong Kong and we managed to do that on this day! To make things better, we were able to secure a reservation via the phone which means we did not have to wait to get a table there. The dim sum at Tim Ho Wan indeed lived up to its reputation – delicious and satisfying. Hopefully they will open more branches in Singapore so that we will be able to continue patronizing it even after we return home!



Friday – Date: 5/9/2013


It feels incredible to finally own an album of my one and only idol, Fiona Sit. Her albums are not available in Singapore hence I could only get my hands on them here in Hong Kong. Her songs have tided my through several events in my life thus there was a sense of sentimentality upon first setting my sight on it. Oh what a nice touch to the end of the week. J







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