I got an internship!

FINALLY! I got a call yesterday and it turns out I'll be interning at DDB Worldwide Ltd., an advertising agency. Im not sure exactly what I'll be doing yet, but I'm assuming (err hoping) it will involve their creative department. To get a better idea of who they are, check out their fresh stuff, it's actually quite entertaining. I start work this Tuesday (Monday is National Day)...finally I'll have a routine. I'm not going to lie, having classes only on Wednesdays was nice but it probably isn't the best for one's health. I'm really crossing my fingers for it to be paid as well, money here is like water through my hands. Of course, I'm not going to hold my breath.

In other news, Katy and I are going to see Armin Van Buuren tomorrow night and I'm totally pumped. It would normally cost $60 USD to get in, but because she's reporting on a story for JUICE we are getting in free. I wish I got paid to report on big parties...although being friends with people who do isn't so bad either.

I also booked my tickets for Thailand yesterday. It will be from Oct. 13-22. We fly into Bangkok, stay a few days. Then we'll take a train to Phuket. From there, we will probably take a trip to Phi Phi Island and Koh Phangan (possibly for the Half Moon Festival?). If anyone has been to Thailand or has any suggestions, please let me know! I heard the beaches are beautiful.

Mid-Autumn Festival

I took this picture in Victoria Park, where lanterns like these hung everywhere for the Mid-Autumn Festival. Considering I got a day of classes off for it (coincidentally I only have classes on wednesdays right now-- the day we got off), I'd say the Moon Festival is a pretty big deal in Asia. From my point of view, it essentially involved lanterns and mooncakes (I tried a mooncake, it's not exactly on my list of reccomendations). Things we saw included the Tai Hang Dragon Parade, lanterns and entertainment in Victoria Park, and a trip to Repulse Bay for a better view of the moon. Honestly, we couldn't have planned it better.

The first thing we saw was the Tai Hang Dragon Dance. This was my favorite part of the festival, partially because I find the story behind it so interesting. It's basically a 220 ft dragon that the townspeople march around with. They stick incense all over it, so it actually looks fiery...or at least smoky. The video below is when the dragon first took off-- I was at the tail. I didn't edit these videos, so apologies ahead of time for the lack of asthetic appeal.



After that, we ran to another location so we could see the whole thing paraded through. Despite the mass amounts of body heat surrounding me, I got a pretty big kick out of it. Check it out:



After that we walked over to Victoria Park. Random decorations were everywhere. Example:

What a baller! While I'm in the habit of posting videos, here's one I took of some of the entertainment that went on:



I read online that young people traditionally go to the beach on the night of Moon Festival to get a better view of the full moon, so that's where we went next. On the way, I noticed the city lights were so bright they looked like day...I'd post a picture but I think you've seen enough.

The beach was fun. We played games to keep ourselves entertained and it was a nice change from what I'm used to. There were lots of people there, too. Everyone had glow bracelets that they stuck in circles in the sand to represent their group and we did the same. Even when I left at 4am, people were still there. Overall, the moon from Repulse Bay looked good considering how smoggy Hong Kong is...We even caught sight of a star or two.

Have I mentioned I have yet to take a breath of fresh air here? I think that's one of the things I miss.

A Trip to Lamma Island

Last weekend, three friends and I went to Lamma Island, the third largest island in Hong Kong (if you click zoom '+' twice on the map from my last post, Lamma should be visible). The picture to the right is one I took on our hike back from one of Lamma's beaches (I wish I could remember the name). I chose it because this is how I like to think of Lamma-- raw, natural beauty. It's not very often that I see such mass amounts of untamed vegetation (before I came to Hong Kong, at least), which is sad-- it takes my breath away.

Our trip began when we reached the Aberdeen ferry port around 9pm on friday night. It isn't the most obvious of ports, so when the taxi dropped us off we were a little nervous. Upon entering the nearly empty terminal, we were greeted by an older man who only spoke Cantonese. He kept saying something about "9:30", when the next (and last) ferry was scheduled to arrive. Upon sheer and utter confusion, we ended up climbing into an empty taxi boat with this man (consequently paying quite a bit more than if we had taken a ferry).


The ride was satisfying nonetheless-- it was nice to have a little boat to ourselves. When we were about halfway, it looked as if we were heading straight for a large cargo ship. We missed the ship, but we did catch a huge wave that caused our bow to dip under and flood the boat.


A lot of soccer was played on this trip...the soccer court was one of the first places we stopped. After an hour or so, we walked through the dark until we came to a beach (we heard it's okay to camp out on beaches in Lamma).

I think four people was the perfect number for a trip like this. We ate food, played music, istop (a turkish dodgeball game), chicken fight and card games (I even got everyone to learn Euchre!). The water was perfect...I'm pretty sure we were in it for hours.


At 6am, we tried to sleep. Unfortunately, we were attacked by swarms of viscious mosquitos...I still have bruises (yes, bruises) from the encounter. The sun rose within minutes anyway and I soon made it my mission to get a picture of the crabs that skuttled the beach (the gray dot in the picture above is the best I could do).

The people on Lamma Island were more than friendly. Everyone we passed on the walk back greeted us with "jao sun," or "good morning" in Cantonese. We stopped at an open restaurant for coffee, where we met a local named Barry.


This is Barry (playing soccer, of course). His ancestry goes back for hundreds of years on Lamma Island. Although he went to college on Hong Kong Island, he came back when he got his degree to help his family with the seafood restaurants they own and run on Lamma. He told us all about the upcoming Tin Hau festival, which celebrates the goddess of the sea (Lamma is traditionally a fisherman community). It occurs in May, although I believe he said another celebration may take place in late September.

A Better Scope of Things

I meant to do this earlier.

In case you're still wondering where I am in the world, I've embedded a Google interactive map, with the exact address of my residence hall (Wei Lun) in Hong Kong. Feel free to zoom, drag, or change it to satellite.


View Larger Map

Have I mentioned I love Google? Seriously, go ahead. Give it a whirl.

The Peak

Hey, it's me and Jackie Chan! Or at least the wax version of him...I swear Jackie Chan is everywhere. He's on the sides of buses, billboards and even at the bottom of the tram to Victoria Peak (where this picture was taken).
If you're looking for another anti-climactic touristy event to experience, go to the Peak. There's two ways to get there-- you can take a 30-minute walk up a mountain (there's walkways, I heard it's pretty easy) or if you're really lazy like me, you can take the tram. At the top is probably one of the last things I would have expected-- a mall. No museums or informational pamphlets, just a mall with name-brand stores and restaurants with a view at the top.

Of course, I'm an American so I didn't exactly complain.

In fact, I decided to make the most of it by getting a whopper from Burger King.


The view, however, was still probably worth it. To the left of my head is the IFC tower, the tallest skyscaper in Hong Kong.


I heard the view is better at night.

Wetland Park and the New Territories

Here's the post I promised from when I toured Kowloon and the New Territories last week. For the more visually inclined, you're in luck-- I'm posting mostly pictures today.




The two pictures above are just outside of Hong Kong Wetland Park, which provides education and recreation for locals and children of the New Territories, who don't typically see the nature part of Hong Kong. It's purpose is to emphasize Hong Kong's wetland ecosystem and why it needs to preserved.


I had to laugh when I saw this sign because really, how often do you see a universal sign that stands for "no flash photography and don't feed the crocodile"? On the tour we learned about Pui Pui, Hong Kong's (only?) captured crocodile. It was a big ordeal to catch, they hired crocodile hunters and everything....Unfortunately, Pui Pui was nowhere to be seen that day.


It was wet. It was land.

Below, is Sik Sik Yuen Wong Tai Sin Temple in Kowloon:




People burn sticks of incense in threes for good luck. I was told this is to represent ancestors in Heaven, Earth and Hell.


Crucial family decisions are often made by the deity. One may ask a question (silently) and then shake a can of sticks. Each stick has a different number on it...the first stick to fall out is the answer to your question. When you receive the number, you tell it to one of the many fortune tellers at the bottom of the temple. Upon paying a (very) small fee, you are handed a fortune from a box with your number on it.

As you may see, I was an excellent stick-shaker.

Chi Lin Nunnery:



Above is Chi Lin Nunnery, also in Kowloon. I found the architecture very attractive...supposedly, no nails were used in the process of its creation (I never heard what was used instead).

Graveyards, the Mafia, and the Red Light District

I almost forgot to talk about the graveyard in my last post! The picture above (which is the view from a different window in my dorm) is a Christian graveyard here in Hong Kong. It's basically a multitude of gravestones carved into a huge sloping hill. I got so excited about it that I forced some other exchange students to walk through it with me at night. I tried to take pictures but it was too dark to give it any justice. Unfortunately, no one shared my enthusiasm.

Now for the Mafia--last night, about 10 other students and I (almost) went to a jazz club in SoHo*, an entertainment zone located in the Mid-levels. The place was called the Jazz Roof. I was very close to walking in the door until two of my friends ran out and told me not to go in...they were inside for about 2 seconds when they realized the place consisted entirely of Mafia members, commonly referred to here as triads. Don't go to Jazz Roof.

*On a side note, SoHo is the location of the Central-Mid-Levels escalators, the longest outdoor escalator in the world. My friend David and I went up it one day-- very anti-climactic.

From there, we mozied on over to Wan Chai, considered the Red Light District of Hong Kong (last night I learned prostitution here is legal, I guess I didn't think about it before then). We went to a bar called The Wanch, where local bands that don't consist of cantopop play. It was mostly rock and metal and it was exciting to see this different aspect of Hong Kong society (one that I must say is quite hard to find based on my experiences here so far).

Where to Start?

Well folks, I'm here and Hong Kong is everything I hoped it to be. It was actually a week ago today that I arrived. Since then life has been incredibly nonstop, so apologies for not creating this blog sooner. In fact, I wasn't even able to set up internet in my room until today (I swear, you have to jump through hoops just to do the simplest of things here) and I wanted access to pictures before I posted.

So lets start with picture #1 shall we? The image on the top left is the view from my dorm window. I took it at about 6:30am in the morning of my first full day here. Speaking of which, jet lag for me has been virtually nonexistant. The time here is exactly 12 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time, yet I'm so exhausted by the time I have to go to bed I haven't really thought about it.

The flight from Chicago to Hong Kong was 15 hours. It was long, boring, and cramped. The part that intrigued me most was breakfast:


Yep, I'm pretty sure it was Ramen noodles.

As soon as I got off the plane, I was in awe of Hong Kong's clean white airport, which I've learned is the 2nd most recognized and renowned airport in the world (Changi Airport is the first). From there, I took an Airport Express and a taxi to get to my dorm. At this point, it was about 7pm in Hong Kong.

I greeted the person at the front desk, who didn't speak a word of English. By way of hand signals, I signed a piece of paper and hauled my luggage upstairs. Walking down my hall for the first time, I was confused by all of the shoes I tripped over, which I can only assume is a cultural thing.

I took this picture the first night I came, although by now the number of shoes that scatter my hall have just about doubled as more students have moved in. I suppose the one redeeming factor about this difference in custom is that it's easy to point out where an exchange student lives due to the lack of shoes in front of their door.

This is my dorm room:
It's not much to look at, but it does the job. I was under the impression before I came that there would be stores readily available my first night to buy sheets at (which I'm sure there probably were)-- but I swear, I didn't meet a soul that night who spoke english-- I was so tired I ended up passing out on my bed with no sheets and my duffel for a pillow.

Luckily, Katy (the other MU exchange student who arrived the same night as me) was just as flustered and sought me out at my dorm the next morning. Together, we figured out exactly what we needed to do at HKU.

Since then, I'm proud to say that I've accomplished quite a bit in my Hong Kong explorations. I've met loads of other exchange students from around the world, all of whom are just as eager to explore Hong Kong.

This is Mong Kok, where I went my second night in Hong Kong. More specifically, we went to the Night Market, a collection of stores and street vendors open from about 9pm to 2am that sell just about anything and everything. Most things are cheap and people are encouraged to bargain (I got a new cell phone here for about $300hk, or $38 US). This picture was taken on a week night-- I heard people are shoulder-to-shoulder on weekends.

My third and fourth nights in Hong Kong were spent in Lan Kwai Fong, which can only be described as a young person's paradise. It's just streets and streets of bars and clubs and what looks like billions of people in the streets, all drinking and looking fancy. If you're a girl, it gets even better. Most Wednesdays and Thursdays, ladies not only get in most anywhere for free but drinks are free too. Talk about incentive! I'd like to see a system like that work in America :)

On Saturday, I signed up for a tour to explore the New Territories, but for the sake of your attention span I'm going to have to save that and the rest of my past week for my next post. I promise I'll have this thing up to date soon...

Until then,

Leah