(39) Come to HK!

John and Jimmy, my floormates, are on the right. I got to know them and their friends Yandy, Tammy, and Suki (in left-to-right order) during a late night, card-playing session.

Why or why not choose Hong Kong for study abroad? As of today, I’ve been on vacation in mainland China for almost a month now. I’ve had plenty of time to reflect on a wonderful semester, and I’ll try to summarize some of my thoughts in this second-to-last episode.

Nothing’s ever perfect - there’s plenty of things I won’t miss when it comes to Hong Kong:

Unlike UMD, the dorms at City-U are separate from the academic campus. Whenever I went to class or to the library I would have to take an uphill hike back to my room. The worst was when I went grocery shopping, I’d be covered in sweat by the time I got home. Usually, a grocery run was followed by a shower and nap.

Speaking of sweat, the weather in Hong Kong was muggy and humid most of the time. I started going to class in shorts and t-shirts by the end of February. My bath towels weren’t really ever dry, and I’d bring smaller towels whenever I went on one of my excursions. If the humidity ever went under 80 percent, the city would issue a fire warning.

My room had a great view, but the window was placed right over a freeway. Late night drivers speeding by below sometimes gave me a hard time falling asleep.

Now that the not-so-great stuff is out of the way, these will make me miss Hong Kong so much:

For the most part, the City-U students were friendly and helpful. One notable example was during basketball practices, the rest of the team would discuss a play in Cantonese, and then one teammate would translate it to me in English. I was also the only exchange student in my math class of about 90 people; the professor took extra measure to repeat anything to me that he had already explained in Cantonese.

I’ll miss the chance to give back too - I already work as a tutor at UMD, so it felt natural to help some of my HK friends with engineering problems and writing formal letters and Resumes - they had to do these in English for their graduate school applications.

Hong Kong is a busy place, but there are quiet places if you know where to look. The park system here is wonderful, and there were so many beautiful vistas found in remote places such as Sai Kung and Tai O. Hiking trails ranging from short to long, and from relaxed to perilous, are there to be taken.

The Smithsonian is in our neighborhood in the States, but I think Hong Kong’s museums can compare. I’ve mentioned that they are especially geared toward educating young children. The exhibits are packed in to make best use of the limited space in Hong Kong.

Meals in Hong Kong were only average at times (I prefer spicier cooking), but the range and creativity of HK’s snacks were truly special. The egg tart is Hong Kong’s signature snack - you should also try pork buns (my favorite), “Ma La Gao” (a sort of cake, I don’t know the translation), cold tea, dried seafood, the jellies in Tai O and of course dim sum (which covers about twenty more varieties of snacks).

Wow, that was a lot to read… I think all you need to know is the overwhelming conclusion I’ve made: If you don’t mind the weather, come to HK!

Next Episode: "Ng-goi-sai”

(38) Ocean Park

My last week in Hong Kong was indeed a whirlwind of dinner and lunch plans, packing and cleaning, planning with my relatives, and sad goodbyes with my new friends. I did squeeze in one full day for Hong Kong’s most popular tourist attraction. This short episode tells of my very last adventure of the semester.

Ocean Park is both an amusement park and a small zoo located on the southernmost tip of Hong Kong Island. Visitors can buy advance tickets for around 10 percent off (compared to the price “at the door”) at the Admiralty MTR Station - another one hour bus ride to the park itself starts from a special station outside the metro.

Honestly, I haven’t been to many different amusement parks, so I’m not sure how Ocean Park stacks up. Many rides are staples of the prototypical amusement park - a looping roller coaster, swinging ship, vertical drop, and river ride are some examples. Mini-games offer the chance to win prizes, but I think I wasted my money by trying the Ring Toss - that’s supposed to be the hardest one right? I did manage to win small stuffed animals playing a basketball-type game. The zoo at Ocean Park sets it apart, with an Aviary, Aquarium, and Giant Panda habitat. The Aviary exhibited exotic birds of all colors, including a flock of red and pink flamingos. The Aquarium showed me nothing new, which might be due to the National Aquarium in Baltimore being so close to my home in the States. I wondered how Giant Pandas could live in Hong Kong’s humidity, but I understood right away when I walked into the ice-cold, chilled habitat.

A final note: this Blog is almost finished - I’m planning to write 40 Episodes and tie up this study abroad experience nicely. When I finish all 40 Episodes, it’ll be fun to read back through this story. What a semester…

Next Episode: "Come To HK!"

(37) Tai O

The view here isn’t great, but you can see that Tai O is sort of a “floating town” - homes here are supported by beams protruding from a shallow river that runs through the area.

Located in the far east of Hong Kong, it takes 45 minutes on the metro and another 45 on a bus to get to Tai O. However, this unique community is a worthwhile trip. First, I paid 20 HKD to take a ride on a 10-person motorboat: the driver first drove along this stream (see title picture) further into the town to give tourists a glimpse of Tai O’s floating homes. Next, he drove us out into the ocean, picked a good spot, and stopped. Before you know it, dolphins started jumping out of the water! These were small and white, unlike your Seaworld dolphins. Camera shutters started clicking immediately, and my best effort was a perfect picture of… the splash that a dolphin made after re-entering the water. You’ll have to see them for yourself sometime.

After going dolphin-watching, you can walk into the town to sample some local snacks. The yellow jelly here is made of tea and the darker jelly is made of red beans. Both jellies were lightly sweet and cooling to the taste buds - perfect for a hot day. In the album, you’ll see that people would leave duck egg yolks out to dry in the sun, and sell them when they have dried to a bright orange color. Other shop owners specialized in sweet buns, fried fish, and dried cuttlefish (or squid). Lastly, tourists queue up for up to an hour waiting for mini egg cakes baked in a metal container placed inside a hollow tree trunk section. According to locals, the cook - an elderly man - only comes out to make cakes when he feels up to it, funny enough. His “unofficial” stall is the most popular in town nonetheless.

Album Link: http://picasaweb.google.com/jasonylu89/TaiO?feat=directlink

Next Episode: "Ocean Park”

(36) Shenzhen Revisited

Sometimes when your original plans go awry, you can find something unexpectedly and equally rewarding. A little background: Shenzhen is just across Hong Kong’s northern border into the Mainland, this city became China’s first Special Economic Zone in 1980- high-rise apartment buildings and office buildings sprang up, making it one of the richest Chinese cities in only a few years. I came here last in 2007 during a family trip and the plan was to visit the beaches and landmarks, take in Shenzhen’s urban scene, and relax in a nice hotel room for 5 days. That time, I didn’t plan on getting sick from the heat and becoming bed-ridden for 4 out of the 5 days

This time around, a friend and I wanted to visit Shenzhen’s Window to the World - an Epcot-style theme park that I had missed out on in 2007 (title picture). It was the rain that washed out our plans on that day. So we took a walk around the city to see what else we could find. The first would be the Shenzhen Civic Center; it has a very unique design, see picture below:

The second was that I found Mother’s Day and Father’s Day gifts here, at the Shenzhen Book City. In the Foreign Bookstore (The Book City was divided into many smaller shops pertaining to certain fields, this was the only bookstore with books in English), I advised my friend to buy To Kill A Mockingbird, a classic with easy enough language to help him sharpen his English skills - he bought The Alchemist on my recommendation too. I bought Pride and Prejudice for my mom, a Jane Austen reader; and Yao: A Life in Two Worlds for my dad, an avid Houston Rockets supporter. Maybe for me visiting Shenzhen’s big tourist attractions, the third time would be the charm…

Album Link: http://picasaweb.google.com/jasonylu89/ShenzhenRevisited?feat=directlink
Next Episode: "Tai O”