Winter Vacation in Guangzhou

I spent my winter vacation in Guangzhou.

The only notable thing I did there was go to the hot springs. LOl.

Bishuiwan Hot Spring Holiday Inn (碧水湾温泉度假村) (Liuxi Hotspring Tourist Spot, Liangkou District, Guangzhou 510960, China)



From my cousin's house we had to walk to some sort of shopping center. Then, from there, we took a bus to this hot spring place. I think it took about an hour.

I actually came here twice. Once with my older cousin and her friend, and the other time with my older cousins and my mom, who came to visit for Chinese New Years. :)

This place is a hot spring resort. If you're staying overnight, then you check-in at the entrance. If not, then you go straight to the locker area to change into your bathing suit. Then, you could start exploring the resort. It's actually pretty big.

There's a big swimming pool (for the summer) and a lot of little hot spring soaking ponds. Each pond has different flavor-infused water(?). I don't know the right terminology, lol. I went to a ginseng one, jasmine green tea one, etc. It's recommended that you stay in each pond 20-30 minutes each. I think it has something to do with blood pressure? I don't remember why.

There's ping pong tables... There's a hot swimming pool, where you can get aqua massages. You kind of just sit in this one area and all these high pressure hoses will shoot at you... I spent most of my time just napping at a place with heated wood floors... because you can only stay in X amount of ponds for X amount of minutes before you get super bored of it.

I went in the winter... so I had to run from pond to pond because it was SO freaking cold. -_- Makes me shiver just thinking about it.

--

Aside from that random outing, I was just staying at my cousin's apartment. She had work for most of my vacation... so I just stayed at the apartment. OH, did I mention she lives on the 8th floor? WITH NO ELEVATOR?! T_T

Anyway, during my extremely free time, I taught myself the fundamentals of Korean. I was interested in Korean and had planned to enroll in Korean I at CUHK. I thought it would be good to kind of learn ahead since I am extremely unfamiliar with the language. Little did I know, this was going to pay off big time.

I couldn't enroll in Korean I because everyone was trying to take Korean. I was able to be placed into Korean II though! I basically taught myself Korean I in one or two weeks.... lol. I was using multiple textbooks and one of the textbooks happens to be the one Korean I uses. Lol! Still can't believe the coincidence. Oh, but Korean II was really hard for me. :( The teacher spoke in Korean 70% of the time. -___-... I managed to pass with a B or B+ though. I'm satisfied.

Anyway, I could have went back to HK for the remainder of my vacation, but I wasn't sure what I would've been doing there. So... I decided to stay in Guangzhou because I get to eat homemade food everyday! LOL. :(

Jenn

Ocean Park (Christmas Edition)

The day after Christmas, I went to Ocean Park with my older cousin (who came from Guangzhou) and her friend (who came from Hainan).

Ocean Park (180 Wong Chuk Hang Road, Hong Kong Island)

I think Ocean Park was HK's only theme park for a long time... until Disneyland came along. Again, it's just one of those touristy places that you have to go to. Was it extremely fun? Would I go back? Probably not. I mean, it's still nice to see. :) But, it will set you back $320HKD.

I actually went twice because I had another cousin from China, who had never been to HK before, so my older cousin and I took him here. I didn't have to pay for my own ticket, but if I knew I was going to go again, I would've bought the student pass for $580HKD.

Directions to Ocean Park: I took the MTR to Admiralty station. There should be signs that lead you to the bus station, and from there, simply take Cityroute Bus 629. It'll take you straight to Ocean Park. Eaaasy.

Ocean Park was decorated for the holiday season. :) Well, if I remember correctly, only the entrance was decorated... but that's the only place that matters (for picture taking purposes anyway), right?

Near the entrance is the aquarium and panda place... Most of the "fun" things are on the other side of the park, which requires the riding of a cable car in order to get there (15-20 minute journey). You get to enjoy some nice-ish views if you go on a nice day. As you can see, I went on a particularly foggy day... In fact, I think it might have even drizzled, lol.

 

The other side is probably the better side. You get to see seals and penguins! You get to ride rollercoasters! AND, you get to watch the dolphin show!

I think this is their most "extreme" rollercoaster... Naaaa, not really.

Seals

Penguins

OMG. This was the cutest penguin everrr. It was super tiny!

Seal at the dolphin show

Dolphins... at the dolphin show, lol.

You might even run into this little guy on the other side, LOL!

After the dolphin show, we went back to the entrance side!

Don't mind me. I'm just an agricultural entrepreneur... (those are vegetables in the basket)

Panda chillin on the rock

Lunch time

Jenn

Christmas Eve

It's Christmas Eve... and all the exchange students are away from home. So, some of us go together for a Christmas Eve potluck. :)

This went down in I-House (International House). I think most of the exchange students live here. It's just a short walk away from my dorm. It's not really close to the main campus, which is where all the classes are, so you definitely do not want to miss the bus if you get placed there.

At this point, almost everyone was getting ready to leave HK. A lot of students are only here for one semester, but I was here for two. D:

On the day of Christmas Eve, we decided to go shopping for the potluck together. Everyone met at the MTR station and then we headed to Shatin. 

The most popular supermarket in HK is probably ParknShop (spelled exactly like that).  ParknShop was my best friend for a while. I started getting sick of canteen food (cheap but super greasy), so I bought a lot of fruits to eat at the dorm. I actually tried cooking and stuff once upon a time, but people started stealing my food from the shared refrigerator. Like, one time I bought a dozen of eggs, and the next day... I literally had four left. What the heck................ -_____-

Anyway, I bought ingredients to make mac and cheese (an American making mac and cheese...). We bought a lot of meat... and just pan-fried it since we didn't have a grill to do it KBBQ style. I forgot what else we had.

Oh, we had cake too. :D We got it at some hole in the wall bakery (there are tons of those here)... for like $10USD or something. So cheaaap!!!

My closest and only California friend was leaving me. :( Sigh. Did I mention how I had to talk in proper English all the time?! I was so happy to make a California friend because I was finally able to talk slang again. LOL. :(

By the way, China does not recognize Christmas as a holiday, but Hong Kong does, lol.

Jenn

Dai Pai Dong (大排檔) in Tai Po

What is dai pai dong (大排檔)?

I didn't go to this specific one, but this is what a dai pai dong usually looks like.

Hong Kong is known for their street food. Most of you will probably imagine those small street food vendors. According to Wikipedia, dai pai dong is characterised by its green-painted steel kitchen, untidy atmosphere, the lack of air conditioning, as well as a variety of low priced great-wok hei dishes. They're really not known for their cleanliness, but the food is really good and really cheap.

I did go to something similar to this in Shatin with a big group of exchange students from Fudan University. I didn't bring my camera though, so I don't have pictures. :(

BUT, I did go to an indoor dai pai dong with my Cantonese class (my favorite class, by the way).

Sister Sam Seafood Restaurant (三小姐) (Shop 35, 2/F, Tai Po Market Complex, Heung Sze Wui Street, Tai Po)

There's actually more people, and we ordered more food later!

REALLY good coconut pudding/jello thing, served hot

This is my whole class minus one.

Cantonese was my favorite class ever. I had classmates from the US, Canada, Japan, and Korea! 

The teacher is this awkward, funny guy. He really made class enjoyable. LOL. I accidentally corrected his English once because he was pronouncing allergy like allergEE (gee like geese). :X I didn't do it to be a smart ass though. I kind of muttered it under my breath, and he caught it. :(

Anyway, we had taken our final on the same day. Then, we met at night for dinner. The teacher wanted us to experience something more local, but he didn't want to go too far, so we ended up at Tai Po (I think I talked about it before). Dai pai dong for dinner is as local as it gets!

I had the same teacher again for second semester but with other classmates. It just wasn't the same with other people. :(

Jenn

American Food in HK

So, I've had McDonald's, Burger King, Pizza Hut, and Starbucks in HK.

McDonald's 

For obvious reasons, McDonald's menu caters to the people of HK. There's the standard hamburger and chicken McNuggets, but there's also lemon ice tea, Horlick McFlurries, etc. (side note: I really like Horlick... it's a malted milk drink that's very popular in HK. Something about it is just so good. I always have it with my meals!)

The BEST thing that I had there was the taro pie. OMG. I can't even describe how good it is. I also had a pineapple pie in China... that was a little weird. Didn't like it. But the taro pie... mmMmm. Well, of course, all good things come to an end. Shortly after I discovered it, it disappeared from the menu. -_- My guess is that it's a seasonal thing.

 

Burger King

I actually don't even really go to BK in the US. I only went in there once to get fries because it was more convenient than going to McDonald's, lol.

Pizza Hut

 

Yes. That is Pizza Hut. Pizza Hut is just a fast food place in the States. There is almost no way to dine in, unless you're eating at Target (but that's really not the same). In HK, it's pretty fancy, LOL.

Pizza Hut is my favorite pizza place in the US. FAVORITE. The experience I had in HK was just alright.

Pizza and pasta!

Starbucks

It's supposed to say Jennifer. A for effort though.

One thing is for sure... Starbucks is expensive all over the world. I brought my gold card over, and that kind of shocked all the employees since they've never seen it before. 

Some time after my arrival, they started pushing the gold member thing, so it's still fairly new in HK. But, just so you know, your gift card from the US will work in HK... no need to convert the money or anything. 

Starbucks has most of the standard drinks, except for passion tea... which means there's no passion tea lemonade (my favorite drink). I was so sad. :( They also don't really have a 'light' option like they do in the US. I think their only sugar-free syrup is vanilla. 

So, the Starbucks' that I've been to have all been in the shopping center with self seating (no real storefront). Some people just rest there, but don't buy drinks. I guess because buying a drink isn't really enforced or anything. Most of the time when I go in the afternoon, Starbucks is filled with high school students... T_T 

Side note: High school students have to wear uniform... and the uniform is seriously not flattering on anyone at all. They also have some qipao style uniforms.

 

If you come across uniform that actually looks decent... chances are those students are going to an international boarding school or something. I mean the uniform they have is actually fitted and the skirts are actually shorter. I don't have a picture, but they just look a LOT better.

Jenn

Ozone and Woobar

Fridays are Fridays... no matter where you are. Partying, clubbing, drinking... you know, the works.

Exchange students seem to really enjoy the clubbing scene here, especially in Lan Kwai Fong... (another post for another day).

Just so you know, I am not big on the whole partying scene. For one, I'm allergic to alcohol, so that already kills everything for me, LOL. I mean... okay, yeah, you could have fun sober, but really, it's not that fun when everyone around you is not sober. Oh, yeah, and getting back to CUHK after midnight is a mission too. -_-

Also, if you're trying to hit up bars or clubs in less than conservative clothing, public transportation, especially the MTR, can be a little... weird. I am not speaking from experience. :)

Anyway, I met up with a few other exchange students to go to some fancy bars on the Kowloon side of HK.

Ozone (Ritz Carlton Hong Kong,1 Austin Road West, Hong Kong, China (West Kowloon))

Ozone is the highest bar of the world. It is located on top of the Ritz Carlton on the 118th floor of the International Commerce Centre (ICC).

Fancy right?!

View from the Ozone

Even the restroom is fancy!

We didn't stay for too long. There was no cover fee, but a table was about 3000HKD (~$400!!) or something... Yeah, no. They did have little tables with no chairs scattered around. Most of them were taken though. We weren't trying to stand in the corner or anything, so we left.

Ozone had a dark, club feel to it, but it didn't have a dance floor. There's a part of the bar that's outside in a patio-like place. I guess because of the altitude, the wind was crazy out there!

I have to say though... it's a really nice place. Seriously, see it for yourself if you can!

--

Woobar (6/F W Hong Kong, No 1 Austin Road West, Kowloon Station, Hong Kong, China (West Kowloon))

Woobar is located in the W Hotel. Yup, it's another super fancy bar. There wasn't a lot of people, but it was a pretty nice place. No nice view, but the atmosphere is good.

It wasn't a dark bar or anything. It was pretty well-lit. I think it's one of those bars you go to just to relax after a long day.

Of course, everyone got a drink... and I got watermelon juice, hahaha. Nothing interesting happened... but we did get complimentary shots from the manager. :D

Note: The MTR stops running around 12AM. So, if  you have late night outings, you can either go home via mini buses or taxis. Mini buses are much cheaper, but you will have to kind of do some research ahead of time. Usually with mini buses, you get dropped off near the entrance of CUHK. So... you will have to walk back to your dorm because the school buses don't run after 11:30pm. :( Of course, if you take a taxi, you can get dropped off right in front of your dorm.

Jenn

Disclaimer: Most of these pictures are not mine.

My First Month in Hong Kong

Hi everyone,

Sorry for the overdue update. I've been busy exploring my new surroundings! My first month in Hong Kong passed by in a blink of an eye! I still have about eight more to go.

On academics...

I actually like my schedule very much. Most of my lectures are on Wednesdays, so my other days are pretty relaxing. My language classes are pretty easy. I'm taking two general education classes. One is called Evolution, Human Nature, and Behavior. The other is called Choices in Life: Self Development. The workload isn't heavy either. I just have to worry about a project, midterm, and final. My last class is Operations Management. I think with the exception of Operations Management, all my other classes are rather interesting and engaging.

Since I get out by 12:15PM three out of five days, I usually just hop on the train and explore Hong Kong.

On my living situation...

I'm living in United College, Chan Chun Ha hostel. My dorm room is alright. Some parts of the closet and walls have strange stains, but I don't really notice them anymore. I think my dorm was built in 2004. It's one of the newer ones, so I really wonder what the older ones look like.

The pictures above would be the view from my window. Yes, yes. I get to wake up to lovely construction every single day. -_- I guess I should be grateful though because the people that live on the other side of my dorm look at a side of a hill. It's like a high wall, so they don't really get sunshine. I know some people that have nice lake views, but they live in other dorms.

Canteen food is rather bland here. The better canteens are near the quad, but I don't always feel like going all the way there to eat (not that it's really far). I haven't tried the one near my dorm because I have heard nothing but bad things about it. And... every time I step in there and look at the menu, I always end up walking out because there's nothing that I want to eat. The good thing is that there's a kitchen, so I can cook my own food.

My room mate is a freshmen. She's only 17. We have like this four year age gap going on, but she's really nice. She's part of my dorm's student association. They basically plan activities for the dorm and what not. She's always out past like 2AM doing her activities. Poor thing.

Anyway, one thing I realized is that the clubs in CUHK vote for cabinet members in the beginning of the school year. I just find it strange because we usually do it at the end of the year in America. That way, the members kind of know who is capable of what and if the potential people can work together. o_o

On exploring the city...

I haven't really went to many places that were worthy of being blogged about. I went to Lantau Island to see the Big Buddha, but I forgot to bring my camera that day. =( I had to use my phone's camera, which takes less than stellar pictures. Anyway, it wasn't all that interesting to me. I went with my uncle and his friend. I think there are several ways to reach our destination, but we took the cable car. For those of you that don't know what it is, you get transported from point A to point B in a container that is suspended in the air. I think we were in the cable car for at least half an hour. If you're afraid of heights, I think they also have boats that can take you there. Overall, I wasn't impressed, but it's still one of those places that you should go to if you're in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong is famous for its street food so that's what I've been eating a lot. :p Most of the foods that I've tried have been delicious, but I would say that these street vendors aren't very sanitary. I think most people already know that and don't mind. I have a weak stomach, so I'm usually a little hesitant to try some things.

I LOVE egg waffles. It's like crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside. I love that combination!! It comes in different flavors too. Again, it's one of those snacks that you have to try if you're in HK. 

On shopping...

I haven't done a lot of shopping for myself. I think most of my money goes to food and transportation. There are places where clothes, shoes, etc. are really cheap, but you usually get what you pay for. The quality is so so, and the style is kind of strange (at least that's what I think). Other than that, if you go to a regular shopping center/mall, I think most of the prices are similar to America. It's just that we don't have to pay for tax here. If you're going to shop in HK, don't assume everything is cheaper than US. I guess it would be smart to do some research before hand. I think my friend said that certain Clinique items in HK are double the US price. o_O

I think the single most useful thing that I brought with me from America is my universal power strip, so if you're going to study abroad, please keep that in mind! I think I only have two wall outlets here which wouldn't have been enough for me. I currently use four of six of the outlets on my power strip.

Until next time...

Jenn

Shenzhen

I spent my first long weekend in Shenzhen.

Mid-Autumn Festival (中秋節) was on September 30 (Sunday), and the National Day of People's Republic of China (國慶節) was on October 1 (Monday)... So, to make up for Mid-Autumn Festival, we had October 2 (Tuesday) off too. Four day weekend. ^__^

Mid-Autumn Festival

 
 

For those of you who do not know what Mid-Autumn Festival is, it is a traditional holiday celebrated on the 15th of the 8th month on the Chinese lunar calendar. As such, the date usually varies from year to year.

I'd probably compare this holiday to Thanksgiving Day of the States. Traditionally, family members get together to eat moon cake (月餅) and appreciate the bright full moon. A full moon is a symbol of peace, prosperity, and family reunion, so that's why many family reunions take place on this day.

Some other customs include playing with lanterns (燈籠) and viewing dragon and lion dances (舞獅舞龍). I think it's also a popular custom for people also eat rice balls (tang yuan - 湯圓) on this day. Tang yuan is supposed to sound like tuan yuan (團圓), which means reunite in Chinese. It's kind of like... family members reunite to eat rice balls.

After school on the September 28 (Friday), I left to Shenzhen (深圳). The best way to go to SZ from CUHK would be to take the East Rail Line from University Station straight to Luo Wu, which is where you would cross the border from HK to SZ. It takes about half an hour. But, that doesn't include the time that you need to go from your dorm to the train station (add another 30 minutes -___-). You will need a China visa to cross the border, so do try to get that done at the Chinese Embassy or Consulate General of your home country.

Luo Wu is the busiest border crossing in HK. A lot of people live in SZ but go to school/work in HK because crossing the border isn't really a big hassle or anything. But, you can be sure that the day before any holiday, trying to cross the border is going to be a mission. A lot of HK people have family in China, so everyone's rushing back to be reunited with them. So, be prepared to wait in line for a million hours... OH! And, if you have a student MTR card,  you usually get 50% off train fare, unless you want to take a train to any of the border crossing places. It's full fare, and I think no matter where you're coming from it's at least 24HKD(?).

The border crossing on a normal day

The border crossing before and after holidays

I went to SZ because my aunt and a few other cousins from my mom's side live there. Like I said, going there and coming back was terrible... When we cross the border from HK to SZ, we go through the foreigner channel, so the wait might be bad but not unbearable. But, from SZ to HK, I think we wait in line with all the other HK people... or is it just me? I had an HKID because I was staying there for about a year, but I also had to bring my passport. Hm, I'm not sure now.

Anyway, on the day of Mid-Autumn Festival, I had dinner and moon cake. This is pretty standard for all Asian families. Back home, we'd eat rice balls too, but we didn't do that here. This was probably the only time I felt homesick. I was kind of teary-eyed after dinner because I realized that everyone was with their mom and dad, except for me. :(

National Day of the People's Republic of China

The National Day of the People's Republic of China is celebrated every year on October 1.

I went to Shenzhen's Splendid China Folk Village (锦绣中华民俗村) on the 1st. According to Wikipedia, it "is a theme park including two areas (Splendid China Miniature Park & China Folk Culture Village) located in Shenzhen, People's Republic of China. The park's theme reflects the history, culture, art, ancient architecture, customs and habits of various nationalities. It is one of the world's largest scenery parks in the amount of scenarios reproduced."

There are 56 ethnic groups in China, and this theme park is built to help people get a taste of each one. Literally just a little taste though. There are performances scheduled throughout the day. You get to watch different folk dances or special rituals. You can buy different foods and souvenirs specific to certain ethnic groups as well.

I went to the Splendid China Folk Village the day of China's National Day... There were SO much people everywhere and a lot of them were waving China flags. I guess this is the day to be extra proud of being Chinese, haha.

This place is really more for sight-seeing. For those who are curious about China culture, this place might be of interest to you. Be prepared for a lot of walking and don't miss the special performances.

That's all I really have to say about this place, LOL. :( The Splendid China Folk Village was highly recommended by my uncle. He said that it's a really fun, interesting place. I went with my cousins (who are from China) and we were like... how is this place fun... lolol.

I left SZ on October 2. As expect, the Luo Wu Border Crossing was not a pleasant experience. At least, it only takes half an hour to get back to CUHK.

Side note: My skin got really bad ever since landing in HK. I had acne back in the States, but it got TEN TIMES worse in HK. Ugh. :(

Jenn