Thursday, January 31, 2008

Ladies, ladies, ladies!

My first attempt at "Flipping" via YouTube. This video was taken while shopping in the Ladies' Market. It's a little shaky, but I'll work on that in the future. Just click (or copy/paste) the link below and you should be able to see it.

Highlights:
- Clothes
- Pajamas
- Lingerie

Note: LP, pay special attention!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UhplMeWmrE

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

The day before school starts

Last night when we were in Causeway Bay, Jenn and I went looking for an Internet cable. We found a place called Computer World on the 10th floor (otherwise printed 10/F in Hong Kong). Of course, the man didn't speak very much English, so in my best efforts I tried to explain what an Internet cable was. As soon as he figured it out, he said "Lan! Like Lan!" Maybe he would have figured out what I was talking about more quickly if I talked about Asian guys hanging out in dark rooms at ridiculous hours playing video games. Oh well.

When we were shopping, I discovered I wear a size 40 in Hong Kong. If that doesn't make you feel HUGE enough, it's the largest size they sell in a lot of non-western stores. We also discovered that one-size-fits-all applies to bags, scarves AND coats. I so badly wanted to get another sweater/coat to stay warm, but it took a while. I finally found a 40 that fit... and I snatched it up. Like a fat kid and cake (right?!) PS: Kristin, you would hate how cold our room gets.

Steven, maybe if I find a CHI I'll buy it just to be funny. Then again, most of them have straight hair around here. Why sell straighteners?

I'm also not sure where Chinese people buy underwear. There are no Victoria's Secret stores or other lingerie stores anywhere. Maybe they all wear the briefs you can buy at the drug store. I'll let you know if I figure that out.

Orientation this morning was fine. I'm on one waitlist for a marketing (Brand Management) class. I'm #4, so hopefully it'll be updated in the next few days. My other classes are:
- Women's Movements in China (gotta include gender somewhere, right?)
- Business to Business Marketing
- History of US-China Relations

I've been out of school for too long. Tomorrow is going to be interesting.

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

And so we shopped

Turns out Causeway Bay is a shopping mecca! The first mall Jenn and I went to at Times Square was 13 stories. We walked around a bit, and when we got tired we stopped for lattes at Starbucks. Roughing it, I know. I bought two light sweaters for about $17US each and two jackets for about $45US to help offset the cold weather.

Steven, you'd be happy to hear that we had dinner at Outback Steakhouse. Funny story-- they brought my dinner and it looked a little strange. 1) The steak came with sauce and 2) it had the wrong side order. When I corrected the waiter, he assured me it was correct and would fix the side order (no problem!). About 10 minutes later another woman came by with my correct dinner. Turns out, he brought me someone else's order. I had two dinners for the price of one (not including the price of awkwardness).

Jenn and I came back to the room early. We got food for breakfast and stocked our mini-fridge with some Chinese version of skim milk. Diabetes = mini-fridge = jealous friends.

I have a stuffy nose and ridiculous cough. It needs to go away or people might think I have SARS.

Orientation is tomorrow. School is the next day. *Sigh*

Monday, January 28, 2008

Macau

For those of you who read my first email, you'll remember that I wasn't an official resident of Hong Kong because my passport was mis-stamped going through the airport. To fix that (and do some sightseeing), a few of us went to Macau for the day. Macau is another Special Administrative Region of China that was acquired from the Portuguese in the late 90s. You can read more about the region at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macau.

To get to Macau from Hong Kong you hop on the ferry and go! It took about an hour to get there on this really nice high-speed boat. We got off the ferry and went straight to the tourist information area because we had no idea where we were going. We knew we wanted to see some of the ruins and old buildings in Macau, so that's what we told them. In return, the man handed us a giant two-sided map and told us to get on the #3 bus (stop unknown). When I say this map was huge, I mean like the size of a small child. Jenn was sitting next to me on the bus when I was trying to read it. I told her during the next leg, she would have to find another seat so the map and I could have more room together.

After about 15 minutes on the bus, I decided to ask a local lady where to get off. I pointed at the map and said "I want to go here." She proceeded to tell us where to go in some mix of Chinese and Portuguese. I just nodded and smiled. Another man on the bus noticed that we didn't understand and quickly said, "Go! Get off here!" So we did.

SIDENOTE: People in Macau were much nicer than in Hong Kong. Strangers were completely willing to listen to us and give good directions. We had another "bus moment" after dinner, but we had plenty of help getting back on the right bus.

We walked through this little square with the most gorgeous walkway with lanterns hanging overhead. It was just before dusk on Sunday, but the square was still packed! We saw some sights, had dinner at a small Portuguese restaurant (yum!), and headed back to the casino area to gamble (about $3 worth) and have drinks.

The girls in front of the New Years decorations (it's year of the rat FYI).


Festive!


Church of Santo Domingo


Inside the church.


In front of the Ruins of St. Paul




New roomie pic at the top of the fortress near St. Paul.


Walking to dinner! So gorgeous!


We definitely don't know 1) where we are or 2) where we're going. Oh well!


Unfortunately, since you can't take picture inside casinos, we didn't get any good shots of the casino entertainment. All I can say is you missed "great" dancing,"great" singing and "great" outfits.

Last leg of the guided tours: Man Mo Temple

I arrived on Thursday morning-- late for the 9am tour I paid for. On Friday, the last tour day, we went into Hong Kong to see the Man Mo Temple, eat lunch, and visit the Hong Kong Museum of History. I talked about this in another post. Here are some pictures from the trip...



These giant incense coils are lit inside the temple and fill it with the strongest incense smell you could imagine. The temple isn't that large, so the smoke completely fills the space. Locals dedicate these incense coils to themselves/their families for protection from the gods (or something like that).



The altar.



Myself with Frances (Michigan) and Kristen (UF) outside the temple.



Hey, Ma! Look what I saw when we were driving through town.



Lunch at a seafood restaurant. The seafood part doesn't really apply in this picture. Notice the garnish.



Lots of Chinese food to share!

They don't have napkins.

Things I'm going to have to get used to while in Hong Kong:

1. Restaurants don't provide napkins. If anything, they'll give you a wet-wipe or bowl of lemon water to clean your hands. There's nothing to dry them... ever! Jenn was smart and bought a handkerchief at the Ladies Market the other day. I think she's on to something.
2. Locals on the MTR (metro) stare. Like an unreasonable amount. Remember when you were younger and your mother told you not to stare when something unusual caught your eye? Yeah, mothers here apparently don't say that.
3. I don't have a CHI. I think I'm addicted to my straightener. I'm beginning to detox.
4. Locals YELL. Even when they're standing right next to each other, they shout. It's bizarre.
5. Local students stay up late. Refer to number 4.
6. The Chinese food is different. It needs more flavor (or my taste buds need to fall off). I think this will just take some time.
7. The time difference between here and home is still strange. I'm not used to talking to friends and family who are doing the exact opposite. Good morning, good night!

Saturday, January 26, 2008

I win the contest for cheapest sushi!

Two small rolls + Diet Coke (or Coca Cola Light in HK) = $24HK = $3US! This could be a wonderful find!

Friday, January 25, 2008

"You're from Texas? But where's your accent?"

Singapore Air would be even more fantastic without so many other passengers. The flight attendants were wonderful-- almost as wonderful as the built-in monitors on the backs of every headrest. I watched "Nanny Diaries." "True Lies" was a close second (not really).

My flight from San Francisco to Hong Kong went on to Singapore. The flight was pretty full. However, the row behind mine only had one person occupying the window seat. The man in our aisle seat, therefore, moved to the empty row behind us. Unfortunately, the man sitting next to me failed to pick up on my cues to move over leaving the seat between us empty. He was gross. I even found his elbows (that continued to jab into my rib cage) and his feet (which were de-socked about 2 minutes after take-off) to be revolting. I'm pretty sure most of it was in my head.

SIDE NOTE: I'm in the computer lab and I just looked up and did a double-take because this kid looks exactly like Chinh Vo. (I wish Chinh Vo lived here)

But back to Gross Guy. When the flight attendant delivered his pre-arrival snack of curried potatoes, bread, roasted tomato, and orange juice, I thought I was going to lose it. He individually soaked every potato in sauce by smushing them around his tray with his fingers. By the end of his meal, I was surprised to find that his shirt wasn't stained yellow. Good for him, his mouth served as the perfect wet wipe. I should have asked for his extra napkin when my -Merican meal of potatoes, sausage and beans arrived. I didn't eat the beans.

Other than Gross Guy, the flight was enjoyable.

I landed, went through Customs (in the wrong line), exchanged US dollars for Hong Kong dollars, and got a cab. I was lucky because my cab driver spoke English. It wasn't the greatest English, but it was good enough. He kindly pointed out important buildings along the way. I tried to tip him, but he refused. I think I like this place.

The campus here is something like I've never seen. Since it's build into the side of a hill (or small mountain), everything is on a different level. To get from my dorm to the main academic concourse, I walk up a hill, go up 11 floors on an elevator, walk across the main bridge way, go up 10 floors on another elevator, walk up 3 escalators and a set of about 20 steps. Voila! I'm there!

I'll post pictures once I get an adaptor to charge my camera that died.

It's about 5:15pm here. Our tour today was nice-- cold, but nice. I think the most important part of the tour was meeting the other international students. A handful from the US, a BIG handful from Canada, and a few Europeans. We went to the Man Mo temple in the middle of the city. It was built to honor the gods of literature and war. Chinese people go here to pray to the gods, burn incense (LOTS) and give money. Our guide showed us a way to pray to the gods and get our fortune told. You kneel on a cushioned stool and shake a cup full of numbered sticks. As you shake the cup forward, one stick will eventually fall before the others. You take the number written on the stick to a man with a chest full of numbered poems. These poems are supposed to tell you something about the year ahead for you.

My poem was about a famous Chinese woman that goes to the Great Wall and cries for her husband. The advice I was given: Don't get married this year. Thanks. I think I knew that. It also said I should be careful. Thanks. I will!

From there we went to a Chinese seafood restaurant. The "seafood" part didn't really apply. Our table shared a lazy-Susan full of dim sum. Again, I'll have more pictures to post. Some of which include a plated chicken head. Mmmmmm.... Luckily, chopsticks make you eat more slowly, so I filled up on not much food. I think my clothes will appreciate that in the coming months.

After we ate, we went to the Hong Kong Museum. Enough said there, I think.

At the moment, I think I'm going to take a nap. You all are still sleeping, so why shouldn't I?!

I emailed out my phone number this morning. Email me when it's good to call you. Otherwise, you should be able to call me by dialing 011 + 852 + 6840-4800.

If you call, I want to hear about exciting things like eating Mexican food. (Jenn, good email by the way.)

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

...Make Lemonade!

Traveling just got a little less glamorous (sort of).

Thanks to a two hour weather delay in Houston, I missed my connection from San Francisco to Hong Kong. My Singapore Air flight was due to take off at 12:05am and we landed at 11:30. I had 30 minutes to get off the plane, find the international terminal, go through security and get to my gate. There was hope. I even did the "embarrassing airport run." The kind of awkward movement that only occurs in airports among those who are either habitually late, traveling with kids, or set-back by long lines. It's funny to watch. That was me. Running... with a heavy backpack and duffel bag. I was the first one of our group (7 people trying to make this connection) to make it to Gate 95. As soon as I got there, the employees said, "I'm sorry. The plane just left." I looked out the window and saw the plane slowly pulling away from the gate. Like some terrible movie.

Of course, I make the situation even more awkward by crying. It was the kind of "I'm-tired-and-stressed-and-don't-deserve-this" kind of cry. It only lasted about 15 seconds, but it was enough to make everyone feel uncomfortable. Hilarious, right?

Our whole frustrated group walked the 300 yards back to the Continental counter only to find out that the "earliest" available flight to Hong Kong was two days later. We all got our hotel (and $6.00 breakfast) vouchers and left for the Hyatt.

The rooms there were surprisingly modern (note picture below). More than anything I was happy to be horizontal. Too bad my toothbrush was packed in my checked luggage. Oh, and did I mention that all of my clothes were checked too? Nice. Also, check out those puffy eyes in my second picture. Yeah, 4am!

I woke up this morning in a surprisingly good mood. I moved my flight up a day thanks to a nice man who let me call Singapore direct from his Blackberry (who does that!?). After talking to my mom, I decided to tour San Francisco with the 12 extra hours I had before my re-scheduled flight.

I got to see...
- Union Square
- Lots of gorgeous stores and buildings
- The Bay Bridge
- Sausalito
- Alcatraz
- The Golden Gate Bridge
- Fisherman's Warf
... and of course, Chinatown!

What started as a miserable sequence of events turned into an exciting day of sightseeing. It would have been better to share it with others, but I can't complain.

Flight update: I should now arrive in Hong Kong at 6:50am on Thursday, January 24 (that's 4:50pm on Wednesday for you). Let's hope for the best.








Monday, January 21, 2008

I almost forgot!

I have lovely friends at UT now studying all around the world.

Katie Brehm (Marketing) in Paris, France
Maggie Bang (Marketing) in Perugia, Italy
Lauren Welker (Geology) in Aix-En-Provence, France
Piccola Macerola (Government) also in Perugia, Italy
Emily Muehr (Human Development/Fam Science) in Salzburg, Austria

If you'd like to live through them as well, feel free to read their blogs. They're posted by name and place of study on the right side of this page. Enjoy!

Wait?! So you mean there's jetlag?

I leave Houston in less than 24 hours. My travel plans are as follows:

Houston to "San Fran" (haha) at 6:30 pm Monday
San Fransisco to Hong Kong at 12:05 am Tuesday
Arrive in Hong Kong at 6:35 am Wednesday

Just a friendly reminder that Hong Kong is 14 hours ahead of US Central time. Convenient? Maybe not. The upside-- I'll let you know what "tomorrow" is like.

I should have access to email by Wednesday afternoon. As soon as I recover, I'll update again. Thanks to everyone for making my last weeks in Austin/Humble/Houston/Dallas so wonderful!