All Things Come to an End

I have never understood the term bittersweet more than I have in this homecoming. I have been home for 3 days now and I both love it and miss HK. 

It is great to be home, with my family and in my own house. I know where everything is, I can get exactly what I want,whether it is at home or in the grocery store or elsewhere. Plus it's great have all of the things I missed that are not in HK.

However, I already miss Hong Kong. I miss the friends I made there that are already scattered across the world.It has been only a few days, but I havce been near constantly messgaing my friends from HK (thank goofness for texting or I don't know what I would do).  I miss the conveneience to get anywhere, with a long list of things to do. I miss the adventure we always managed to find.

No matter where I am, I will always have the numerous, incredible memories from my time there! It was an unforgettable 4 months, and I will use these memories to tie me over until I can go back to the amazing city! For now, hovever, my adventures in Hong Kong have come to and end and I must learn to make the most of my time here. If Hong Kong has taught me one thing, its that there is more to do in your town than you think, you just have to look for it, so I am going to look for it!

Beijing

I am excited to say that Izzy and I were able to make it to Beijing! The trip was eventful, and cold to boot, but no less fun.

It started out with me getting food poisoning or a 24 hour stomach bug or something that had me spending the first day in the hotel room to get better. On the bright side, at least there was heating, English TV (I have never watched so much news in my life, and room service to bring me rice to calm my nausea. On an even brighter side, I was only out for the day, so starting Monday I got to get out and experience Beijing. I couldn't do too much (I wasn't hungry so I fueled my days on a few bites here and there) but I still got to nearly everything Izzy and I wanted to see.

We started our adventures with a tour trip to the Great Wall. The funny part is, is that another person on the tour was from Ohio, so I went all the way to china to meet a guy from my country. The tour started with a stop to a silk factory (it was really just one long sales pitch) and then a stop at the nations premier jade factory (they sculpted and inlaid the jade for the 2008 Beijing Olympic medals). After those stops and lunch, we finally got to the Great Wall. Because it was so windy, we had to take these sliding cars up and down to the wall (it was like a sad amusement park ride) but eventually we made it to the wall. It really is an incredible sight! Nearly every direction you look there are sections of the wall branching out. I wish I had, had more strength so I would have walked more of the wall, but I spent a lot of our time up there being another sight to see (many tourist there come from villages and really haven't seen anyone that isn't of their race, so they were rather intrigued with me). The day really tired me out, so Izzy and I headed back for nap time, before we ventured to a local market for food and fun.

Our third day was just a full. We went out to see the Temple of Heaven, using the Beijing subway for the first time. When we first began planning this trip, we were warned of the absence of English and how hard getting around was, but we really had no problem. The subway had English, many of the market shopkeepers could get a few informative words out, and my charades skills have really improved. The temple of heaven was ornate, full of color and extensive, truly a sight to see!

From there we made our way to Pearl Street market, which is a 6 level indoor market with different themes to each floor. We scored some amazing deals there, from fans to wallets to headphones. I even bought the greatest scarf ever, its like a blanket but scarf sized. 

Then, because that would be our last night in Beijing, we got the famous Beijing Peking Duck! It was delicious, I crave it even now. The restaurant we went to was one of the top 10 best places to go and it was one heck of a place. They were pulling out chairs for us, and pouring my sprite into wine glasses, the whole shebang. Then they brought the whole duck to our table and carved it in front of us

It was so,so, so good! One of the best meals I have had, and a total recommendation. 

Our final day was the day we flew out, but that wasn't until nearly 8 pm, so we spent the morning at Tienanmen Square and the Forbidden City. Tienanmen square leads into the Forbidden City, so doing them before we left was a breeze. The entrance to the square was immense and Mao's face was everywhere.

The real show stopper was the Forbidden city. When they say city they mean it! It went on for what seemed like forever. There were temples and homes and large courtyards and everything a civilization would need to live. It was incredible to see it go on and on, and to see the different halls and read about life when people lived there.

that little dark blob on the horizon is more buildings contained in this city

The trip was incredible. Though I wish I could have done it not sick, but it was still worth while. From the markets, to the sights, all of it was exciting and I am so glad I was able to fit it into my trip.

Into the Fire

Finals week is now in full swing and I already can't wait until it is over! The only sad part about it being over is that it means that I have to leave this amazing place! It is depressing that we have to spend our last weeks here in Hong Kong studying our time away and stressing out over grades, but I will take my time as I get it.

Final's here happen rather differently than they do back home. At BG, and many other institutions as I am told by my friends, you go to room and take the test with only your class, or those in the same class as you. I have never had more than a hundred or so people in a room for finals before; well, before I came at least. At HKBU they stick nearly 400 people into a large ballroom with rows and rows of desks. It was like Harry Potter and other movies, evenly placed desks, not one out of place, as hordes of student march to what seems like their death (the feelings about finals seem to be universial,even if the methods are not).

They have the floor plan layed out so that the people next to you are both taking different tests so no cheating is possible. Then, if you arrive more than 30 minuites late you aren't allowed in, and you can't leave the testing room with in that time either. Also, if you are a fast test taker, you need to be done with the test more than 15 minutes before the end, otherwise you aren't allowed to leave until the end. There are so many odd rules!

It was an interesting experience. I prefer the way we do it at BGSU but it was cool to try a different way of testing. I also prefer that finals week is only a single week, instead of drawn out over 2 or even 3 according to my European friends!

Well, I'm off to do more studying, so I'm not so totally lost during my tests. The thought that I get to go experience Beijing in 3 days is what is getting me through these hard days.

It's been a while!

Hey all!

Sorry it has been such a long time since my last post! Finals week starts tomorrow, so studying has begun in full swing! I only have 4 tests, and I'm not too worried about most of them, but I am worried about my Finance one, so I'm crossing my fingers and praying for luck!

On a much happier note, Izzy and I will be venturing to Beijing China this weekend to see all of the sights and sounds there! It'll also prepare us for going back home, because Beijing is about the same temp as Wisconsin and Ohio and we get back to Hong Kong only 3 days before we leave for home! I do have to thank the pastor at the church Izzy and I attend, though. Were so worried about the cold, because neither of us had prepared for it when we packed in the summer, so we thought we would have to buy coat and everything. However, out of the kindness of their hearts, the Pastor and his Wife loaned us winter coats, gloves and scarfs so we wouldn't have to pay or freeze! Makes Beijing even more exciting!!

Getting the visa was far less of an ordeal than I expected, the hardest part was getting the picture to turn in with the application! It has to be a formal photo, which neither of us had, so we went to find these photo booths that are stationed in the subway terminals around Hong Kong. So we entered the closest station and asked the service desk where to go, and they directed us to Sha Tin, the opposite direction of where we needed to go, saying it was the only one. We didn't think that was right, but who were we to disagree with a worked and we had to have the picture, so we had little choice. So off we go to Sha Tin's service desk, where they tell us we have to go to the government office outside the MTR(Hong Kong subway system), which doesn't open for more than an hour!So instead we Google the Photo Machine, turns out there is one at our destination station! We were so mad we didn't start with Google. So, finally, we make it to the station, nearly an hour later, and we get our pictures and make our way to the Chinese embassy to get the actual visa, only to learn they had a photo machine in the visa room!!Gah! we were so in awe of the situation, the only thing we could do was laugh! After all of that, it only took about an hour to get in and out, and only 4 days for the visa to be processed. We received the visa Friday, so it official, someone is crazy enough to let us into China!

We've got lots of plans for our 4 days there, and I wish we were able to stay longer and see more! Ill post my adventures when I get back, but I should really stop procrastinating and head back to studying! I do have a test tomorrow.

Dinner and a Show

Well it was more like lunch and a show, but cool either way!

At a mall close to campus, there is a market that sells fruit, meat and food. After lunch at the local mall, we headed over there to pick up some fruit to have in the room for later. As we wondered around the market, we came up to a fish stand.Tanks covered all the flat surfaces, each filled to the brim with different varieties of fish. While the fish in the tanks were alive, they definitely didn't leave the stand that way

As we walked past the stand someone decided that they wanted a fish, so we stopped to see the whole process. I'm sure many would have left, but the whole operation of getting the fish to the customer was so intriguing. To get the fish from the tank, the shop keeper just cornered a fish with a basket and pulled him out. After knocking the fish out, I was amazed at how smoothly she cleaned the fish and gutted it before giving the whole thing, head, scales and all to the customer in a bag. The best part however, was that the second shop keeper noticed that Izzy and I were watching and moved out of the way so we could see better and proceeded to watch us, amused that we were so enthralled with the operation.

It was an odd thing to watch, but so interesting at the same time, and the fact that no one even blinked an eye during the whole thing was just as great. There really isn't any importance to this, I just thought it was cool, so I'll talked to you all later.

Singapore

So, a little over a week ago, 3 friends (Catie, Jenna, and Pedro) and I decided to step outside Hong Kong and test the waters in Singapore. We spent 4 days experiencing what Singapore has to offer, and it was by no means long enough! I already can't wait to go back!

Our trip started crazy early (we got to the airport at 5am!) so we could make the most of our trip. So. after sleeping the entire 4 hour flight (I wasn't even awake for take-off and my friends are all amazed at how well I can fall asleep in any place) we landed in hot and sunny Singapore. We made our way to the lovely hotel (I still miss the bed I had there) before really starting our day.

The first real thing we wanted to do was have lunch, so we asked the hotel where a good place to get local food was and they directed us just down the street. Following their directions lead us to something reminiscent of an open warehouse. It was huge, with rows and rows and rows (we never saw how far it went down, but I made it to row 8) of permanent food stalls. They had a variety of local cuisine, from stir-fry, to noodles, to dumplings, and it all smelled delicious. Plus, there were fruit juice (fresh squeezed too!) with fruits like watermelon and starfruit that I wish were sold everywhere they were so good! It was a great start to the day!

After eating we headed over the Marina Bay, a scenic area of Singapore. It has several points of interest around the lake like area. First, and hardest to miss, is the Marina Bay Sands Hotel, famous for its infinity pool at the top of the towers:

It is meant to look like a cruise ship at the top. We wanted to go to the top, just to see the views (the pool is restricted to guests only sadly) but you had to pay about 20 USD to get up there and we didn't want to do that. 

Another thing to see is a bridge that you take to walk the bay. It is a twisted metal walkway that is modeled after the double helix of DNA. 

Finally, is the mascot of Singapore, the Merlion (a mermaid lion combo). I have no idea how it came about (though I'm sure a Google search would tell me) and apparently they are all over (they sure do love to sell them as souvenirs) but it really is neat to see!

They love to take the Starbucks logo (because she too is a mermaid) and put this guy in her place and sell it on every souvenir ever (I totally have a tote bag with that on it). 

Though each sight was awesome on its own the big picture was beautiful as well!

We ended the day by going to the Gardens by the Bay to see some of the famous gardens at night. Not much was open so latte, but we did manage to have impeccable timing and walked up just as the holiday light show was beginning. We were serenaded by some holiday favorites from the Nutchracker, Frozen, and stars like Mariah Carey. 

It was a great first day, but day two was just as fun! We started the day a little late (we all wanted sleep!), but when we all were finally ready, we made our way back to the view above at marina bay to eat some pastries we bought and enjoy the morning view.  From there we headed to China Town to see how it compared to Hong Kong and to waste some time. It was all very similar, but I did pick up some beautiful raw stone necklaces and I got more of the delicious fruit drinks. 

From China Town we headed to an appointment we had at Breakout Games. They can be found all over the world, but Singapore is known for having lots of these. What it is, is that you pay 20 to get locked in a room. Though there is (thankfully) more to it than that. You pick a premise (we were magicians assistants who broke into the magicians home to take his tricks and managed to get locked in) and then throughout the room there are boxes to unlock and clues to figure out and other rooms to get into, all so you can figure out the combination to get you out of the rooms! You get 1 hour, but it took us 1 hour and 6 minutes. Mostly because we were crazy unorganized and lost everything we needed as some point. Also, none of us had ever done this before but we managed to pick the hardest premise to complete! No matter the troubles, we had so much fun!! I can't wait to try again (because there are some back by my college) and get a better time.

Sunday started with more exploring. We got a small snack at the local market before heading over to Little India to see what that was like. It was far different than China Town, and functioned more like a city than a market. There was less to do there, so after wondering through the city for a while, we found an Indian restaurant that seemed good, and had lunch there (my first Indian food and I love it)before moving on to see more exciting things.

Our next stop was back to the Gardens by the Bay, where more attractions were open, and we went into the flower dome and cloud forest, each beautiful in its own way.

Cloud forest:

waterfall in the dome

walkway above the waterfall, despite my fear of heights I did go up there

its a car made out of moss!

waterfall from the back, closer to the top

Flower Dome: this one was full of very pretty flowers, and decorations in preparation for Christmas

one of my favorite flowerr

the beginning of their Christmas decorations

From the gardens we headed to see what Arab street was all about. By this time it was rather late, so a lot of things were closed but there was a beautiful mosque at the beginning of the street

plus there were several carpet shops still open (not exciting) but they also sold some beautiful scarves (odd combo but far more exciting) and everyone, including Pedro (though for his mother) bought at least one! While wondering the street we found a restaurant that had a lot of people, so we thought it must be good, and we were right! We all had some delicious dishes we shared as well as some tasty sodas (hand made according to the server but who knows) and the whole meal came out to be like 5 USD a person and we were stuffed! I wish we had something like that back home!

Monday was sadly our last day,but we spent it having a blast at the Singapore Zoo!! They have the zoo set up so it is all free range-ish. Like the monkeys swing on ropes over the walk ways, and there was even a peacock walking wherever it wanted through the streets! Plus I got to ride an elephant, and feed some giraffes and some elephants!! It was an incredible day and I am totally not too old to enjoy this zoo!

this guy was right above me!

told you he was just walking in the streets!!

he was at waist level sitting on a feeding post

lizard just climbing on walls around the park

these bats were in a caged area that you could walk through so they would fly right over your head

these guys were in the same cage as ran right past you on the road

ditto, see above :)

Overall, these days in Singapore were in incredible! The city was so clean, and had a great mix of Western and Asian culture. There was so much to see and try that we never got the time to do, and I crave so much of the stuff and the places that were there. If I ever had to live outside of the US, this place would definitely be on the top of the list!

Sunrise Hike

One of the big things to do here is venture to Lantau Peak in the wee hours of the morning, to hike up a mountain to see the sunrise, so today, a group of us decided it was time for us to gain this experience.

The day started early, at 2:00 am, where I dressed and readied to catch the cab with my friends at 2:30. After about an hour taxi ride, we made it to the bottom of the peak.

We began our trek up the mountain side at 3:27 ( I remember the because we made it to the peak at exactly 5:27 which I though was rather incredible). It was nearly pitch black out when we started our way up, so I was very glad me and Izzy cam prepared with a flashlight each. The way up was a little steep, and high (which didn't really help with my fear of heights, but we all made it through ok. We took several stops along the way, to rest and enjoy what we could see of the view. One of the most amazing sights, which we were unable to capture in a photo because it was too dark, was the tip of a mountain peaking through the fog and haze of early morning, looking like it was just floating there in the sky. After two hours and a gazillion steps to the top (that is an exact number by the way), we finally made it, with about an hour to rest and eat before the sun came up. The four of us (me, Shane, Izzy and Catie) sat together resting and snacking on fruit and granola, taking in the view. I'm glad we went on a week day. The landing at the top, while spacious enough for the few small groups up there that morning, would have been over crowded should be have gone on a more reasonable day like a weekend. Thank goodness I had a friend warn us that it was cold, because I sure needed the sweatshirt and scarf I had with me!

Sadly the sky was cloudy as the sun rose, so we didn't get to see the blossoming of pink across the sky, but it made the sight no less incredible. From our vantage point, you could just see the Big Buddha in the distance, as well as the coastline and several cities that came into view as the day began. It was also incredible to see the fog roll down from the mountains to engulf the Buddha and towns in a thick layer.

the Buddha is that hazy figure almost directly in the middle of the photo

And this is him only a few hour later! I've never seen it empty, the whole place was unnerving 

After taking in our fill of the views, we made our way down the mountain on a path that was to take us right back to the Big Buddha. It was amazing to see the Buddha go from being a speck in the landscape to standing at the bottom of his steps in the empty town. The walk down was steep, so I took it slow, taking care for my knees, as the miles of stone steps were unforgiving. Along the way I nearly had a heart attack, and I had to pause to collect myself after seeing the most gruesome, largest ( the size of my hand at least) spindly spider hanging on its web over the path. The thought of it still makes me squirm and the pest will haunt my dreams for years! We finally made it to the end (after running my way under the spider) and made the trek back to school on the MTR.

We managed to get back at about 10:30 (so he had been up over 8 hours at this point) and got back while breakfast was still being served. So after a nice western breakfast and the greatest shower of my life to date. I laid in my bed, but refused to nap. I had meetings, and class(with a presentation) to do in less tan two hours and I was afraid if I went to sleep I'd never get up. I made it through the day alrigh,t a little sore and weak, and by the time class was over, I couldn't be more excited to pass out. My stone hard bed had never felt so inviting!

So here I am, after 5 hours of sleep looking back on the day in awe. I managed to do 16 hour of adventure and activity on less than 4 hours of sleep, and I couldn't be more glad that I took that hike this morning, Though I don't think I will be doing it again, it was definitely and adventure for the books!