Explorer Week celebration!

How are you guys!!! I hope the month of March has been as amazing for you as it has for me!

Cantonese phrase of the week: sàangyaht faailohk (生日快樂) – Happy Birthday

Since our last chat, I have further explored Hong Kong, met more friends, taken a few exams, eaten a lot (like usual), learned new things and celebrated a cool event!

Let’s get started!

Remember a post or two ago when I mentioned a “station-hopping” program was on the way? Well, it has already started! Here are the stations by list.

•        HKU

Situated very far on the left end of Hong Kong Island, HKU station is the home of another great teaching institution, Hong Kong University, where the name of the station comes from. There I found a very alive trading venue. That is also where I bought this amazing set of pottery, which I am a big fan of.

View from the inside the tram that took us to HKU

Street art.

•        Chai Wan

The last station on Hong Kong Island, Chai Wan was quite interesting as well. For some reason, multiple schools were located in that region and students were everywhere. Still on a quite fast paced rhythm, that location was interesting for its simplicity and sometimes completely empty public places.

•      Tin Shui Wai

So far this has been one of the most different parts of Hong Kong I have seen. In a small town like paced rhythm, people in TSW seemed to be enjoying themselves and not only working, rushing, and running chores. In this calm and not as densely populated location, I was able to ride an electric train, observe nature, and help a friend with a project.

Different flower gazebo in the middle of the park.

Photo credits to a friend. 

Despite Hong Kong’s size, as you move across the island, you get to observe very different people, habits, and landscapes.

Midterms here in Hong Kong are not easy. This past week I took a few and it was an intense experience haha. If you are thinking about studying here, being extra prepared will not hurt.

Lucky for me, after midterms, a special date approached. March fifteenth was my birthday and I’m happy I could celebrate it in Hong Kong. Even luckier is the fact that I have amazing friends that put together a phenomenal surprise birthday party at a really good restaurant! I could not have been any happier!

A table full of amazing people. 

Food

Peanut sweet.

Multi-layer mango smoothie.

I apologize for this post being short but I promise, the next one will be longer! You have a great week my wonderful readers!

Marvels, Macau and Midterms

Hello everyone!!!!!! How are you doing!!!! Hopefully amazing!!! Excitement is in the air in Hong Kong! As days get warmer, the skies get bluer, people get happier, and blog posts become even better…hopefully haha.

Cantonese phrase of the week: Lei sihk jo faahn meih a?, (你食咗飯未呀) – Have you eaten yet? – Meaning how are you doing?

The past two weeks have been incredibly interesting. The atmosphere at school has incrementally taken a more serious and concerned tone as midterms approach. Students at CUHK are extremely hardworking and like anywhere else, before these major examinations, much reviewing is necessary. 

At the same time examinations have taken place, other events have as well, such as a wonderful increase in temperatures and a few adventures!

Carps on the Chung Chi lake. 

Sunset view from United College

The first adventure happened two weekends ago when my friend and I visited the other Chinese Special Administrative Region: Macau! How amazing! One of the most exiting things about Macau was to see the Portuguese language and culture everywhere. Both Macau and Brazil were Portuguese colonies so obviously we had an immediate connection haham and I also imagined they would be similar, but not quite. Macau is heavily influenced by China since almost its entire population is Chinese but curiously, the Portuguese lifestyle was still visible not only through architecture, food, and writing but also in people’s daily routine. There, we were able to see the big Macanese casinos, an UNESCO World Heritage site, and try amazing street and Portuguese food!

The famous Grand Lisboa Casino.

Portuguese Egg Tart! Classic Portuguese desert. 

High stakes gamblers in Macau. Bond is in town again. 

Downtown Macau.

Portuguese influenced meal. Seafood rice, cod fried balls and garlic bread. 

City Hall.

The Ruins of St. Paul, an UNESCO World Heritage site. 

Street candy!

Taoist temple in the middle of the city. 

Catholic church not very far from the Taoist temple.  

Incense used in multiple temples. 

After the return from Macau, I attended the lantern festival in Kowloon. Not like the Taiwanese lantern festival, where people write on a small paper-dome structure (sorry for the horrible description) and then attach a lantern to it, allowing it to float, but with big colorful statues and an amazing light show, celebrating the year of the monkey.

Okay, so finally here it is. Truth is, you cannot spell Hong Kong without Bruce Lee, well, technically you can, but you get the idea. One of the seventies most iconic movie figures and inspiring individuals as well, happened to grow up right here in Hong Kong.

So by following Master Lee’s footsteps, I started taking Kung Fu lessons here at the university! We meet twice a week for about 3 hours of pure excitement, fun and hard work. Everyone that participates in the classes has a great amount of experience and patience as well since teaching a twenty-year-old with no experience is no easy mission.

This style practiced here is called Northern Shaolin and it was developed in China around 500 A.D. Beginners start learning eight different routines of movements before moving on to the more advanced trainings. Along with the routines, students also learn multiple forms of stretches and demonstration moves. While training Kung Fu, agility, flexibility, strength, form and correct breathing are highly emphasized. Also, as students advance with their training, they can begin to practice with a weapon of their choice such as double-edge swords, spears, Nunchucks and etc.

Kung Fu is most certainly a beautiful art and I plan on continuing training even after I leave Hong Kong. 

After all the training, let’s speak about food. These two weeks for some reason have been particularly gastronomic. Here are some of the samples:

Rice roll covered spring roll. Oh yeah! That is Dim Sum for you!

Shrimp Siu Mai or shrimp dumpligs.

Pineapple buns, one of Hong Kong’s most delightful sweets.  

Japanese noodles, pork and calamari. 

Eggplant stew and beef and pepper stir-fry. 

Amazing Dim Sum - breakfast served all day. 

Yum Yum 

Yakult smoothies!!! Yes they are real!

Sesame covered dough with lotus seed filling. 

Tofu with salty black beans and scallops. 

Best pork bun I have ever tried. 

Yes, we went to a restaurant Anthony Bourdain has been to. And yes, it was delicious. 

Finally, here is the unanimous decision of the week. A courtesy picture from my friend. 

                                   

I hope you guys enjoyed this post!!! Have a wonderful week!!!