Visualizations

Impressions from the flower market at Victoria's Park on HK Island



Exchangees on the boat and in the bus, view on XX island, women cleaning mussles in the NT, HK Island skyline from Kowloon side

What is Chinese New Year?

(Almost) The end of January- and I have been here now for almost exactly two weeks! It feels like much, much longer- I don’t ever want to leave!
Time has gone really fast especially since there is so much to see and to do in Hong Kong alone- not even mentioning the travel possibilities with most destinations only a short (and cheap) plane flight away. But the intensive program is starting to wear people out- everyone is tired including myself. I haven’t slept for more than a couple of hours for the past days and got a bit ill but am feeling better after some longer sleep last night. And I never understand how tired I am until I really start sleeping, as you all know, the “hyper-mode”* is quite common … I think it is the exhaustion, activities and all the new things together- learning every day- that make me ill- not avian flue (although I did think of it). In connection with “bird” flue I have to confess that after the first time of really feeling like eating chicken, I haven’t thought of it. Everyone here eats chicken and I myself have converted into a dedicated “meat”-eater, since non-meat containing dishes are very hard to come up with (especially since you never know exactly what you get or what is meant by the dish description) and not very nutritional. In general people eat a lot of meat and little fruit and vegetable or dairy products- when I get back to Finland I want some good yoghurt and cheese and fresh milk!!! Sounds bad but I have to say, I don’t want to be picky and there is a lot of delicious food here too; and I don’t care whether the chicken when roasted is served with legs and head on or not! And the best so far are shrimp dumplings bought from the street vendor- I don’t care where or how it is cooked! Best principle: go to the shabbiest place with a lot of locals inside- the food is good and cheap! This is the prime example of how standards change –forced? - quickly: what was dirty is clean and what one would never eat is every-day. I love that!
But back to a quick recap of what has been happening the past couple of days since I last posted some writing… Thursday (26th- and I now always add the date since I hardly remember which weekday/date it is not to mention that I have not read a newspaper or anything alike since getting here) was a quite day on campus. I had bought running shoes (Reebok, 200 HKD only) the day before- the stadium and all sports facilities are really inspiring me and I have now (as a Chinese New Years promise) decided to exercise regularly… and I will try to be honest and post my exercising since (Chinese) girls here do not exercise and motivation is difficult to find…. (well, maybe not?) I played tennis double with some guys for a couple of hours, afterwards ran five laps in the stadium. I met some Canadian exchange students coming back from my run on the village main street- they also had decided to opt for off-campus accommodation. A nice surprise since I do not all the time have to explain to someone why I am the only one not living on campus. It was a bit embarrassing in the beginning but after two weeks people understand the reasoning- especially those living with non-locals (locals usually go home over the weekend). The campus is a whole city of its own and you don’t have to leave it if you don’t want to. And most of the rooms are pretty crappy to be honest: in a PG hall you live in a bunk bed with someone else in a room of 7 square meters. Manageable but not nice in the long-term. Anyway, we had some lizard wine (ordinary wine with either a dead lizard or rats); after finishing the bottle the guys decided to eat the lizard; in addition this deed had to be taped – ugly and completely childish. Typically American I would say (you are not supposed to eat it). I left them and went out with some other girls to Lan Kwai Fong- the party district for the “white” (and rich or Asian and rich or hookers) population of HK. Ladies night= free drinks (and going out is expensive)= a lot of fun.
Friday was orientation – a completely unnecessary procedure of reading to us from a leaflet on how to change our course selection, application deadlines etc. the usual BS. And being slightly hung-over did not really help matters. The only nice thing was that we got our student cards- they have “card machine” which takes your picture and spits out the card with chip (for loading money) 3 minutes later. Amazingly efficient and it looks fancy! And the guys of course are all completely taken by Wendy, our exchange coordinator- she has the typical Asian body and wears high-heeled black leather boots and tight mini-skirts and speaks in a soft and very innocent voice….well, well.
Friday was also the first day of preparations for the Chinese (Lunar) New Year – the most important holiday of the year. Celebration last here from Saturday until Tuesday, with all shops closed from Sunday to Tuesday. People started to decorate streets and doors, altars and shops with little orange trees (orange sounds like fortune), flowers and red banners. People go to temples, which have special opening hours during the holidays. We visited the Man Mo temple in Soho on HK Island- this is one of the oldest temples in HK (see picture). People usually celebrate with their families (little yellow sticks with pumpkins are sold on every corner and they -as I have been told- symbolize families coming together). I should mention that everything and anything here seems to have some symbolic meaning but it is of course never explained but you have to ask the locals, who are generally very eager to explain everything. Another essential part of the new year are the flower markets which we visited on Friday evening (Victoria Park on HK Island) and Saturday evening (at Prince Edward station in Mongkok): they are open until midnight and sell flowers of all kinds (but mostly orange trees, orchids and red lilies), Chinese New Year delicacies (nuts in sugar, all kind of dried fruit and candies, freshly pressed sugar cane juice and bamboo *highly recommended* and new year cakes) and decorations. Since the coming year is the year of the dog decorations include dog balloons, furry dog costumes and dog bones- very kitschy but people go crazy in front of the stands in order to get these items! The markets are packed with people- and the “Hong Kongese” truly know the elbow tactics- although this seems unexpected from such small people who are one head smaller than me. Police/security presence on Victoria Park market which is favored by tourists was high and since people love signs here, all streets in the markets have a direction in which one is supposed to walk- but who cares about the rules? The market in Mongkok was a bit more peaceful and we saw no tourists there.
I continued my exercise program by running 11 laps on Saturday evening- the track was closed and I climbed over the fence. After the 11th lap the usually so friendly guards came with flashlights and threatened to call the security center- or that is what I understood. So there was nothing else to do except to climb again over the fence- this they watched with amazement: a girl disobeying the rules twice (running at night and climbing over a fence).
One component of our new year here was to get to know HK better and the uni had organized some tours for exchange students from all the three schools at UST. Sunday (29th) we started at 9 a.m. (me with an aching butt and back from running) to explore the “ancient culture” in the new territories of HK. When first signing up for the tours I thought it was really cheap and a good way to get to know people- having been here for some time I know that a lot of things offered are a complete rip-off, as was this. A high price to pay for socializing and getting to know people! I was warned from exchange students of previous years but thinking back on the past two days and two tours it was pretty funny. Like again being on one of these high-school trips where people show up late, hung-over and are after calling of names and counting huddles into a bus. Once inside everyone just wants to have peace- look out the window, chat, prolong the inexistent night’s sleep. But no, some clever instructor has planned a program- in this case we were provided with little green pieces of paper with a table of numbers no-one had ever seen before. After awakening from temporary naps and trying to figure out what was going on our guide J-e-r-r-y (the real Cantonese name means something like “American”, the funniest guy ever, but please just stop giggling and shut up for ten seconds once in a while!) explained that we were supposed to play bingo. What? And they (him, his assistant and one student helper who were there to shepherd us) took it really seriously. What enthusiasm! After finishing the game, random numbers (our names were matched with numbers) were drawn and we had to go in front to sign something into the microphone. Or that was what was supposed to happen and I guess Chinese people like it- they want and like to be entertained all the time and by each other. So of course we played bingo being polite and open-minded young people *hear the sarcasm* but the singing was a bit too much. The loud objection of the crowds was silenced by Jerry’s response of: “You’re so LUCKY, you’re so SPECIAL [to come up here and to perform]” * all this in strong Canton accent*, until someone really did sing etc. It was pretty embarrassing and we all tried to disappear in our seats- but I guess he would have taken it as a personal insult not seeing us entertained the whole time while on the bus.
After seeing several small villages with old houses and temples (no clue where, who, hw why due to complex communication difficulties), most of which people lived in and which (thus) resembled more of a dump, we had a nice seafood dinner with a lot of dishes to try. Some of the Americans and –of course also- Canadians had never eaten with chopsticks (and had survived on campus-McDonald’s food since arrival) needed some quick intro lessons. It was sad and fun… We then walked through a fish market nearby and found a grill place near the shore where locals grilled clam on open fire. Bought some for HKD 10- the best I have ever had (with garlic and ginger). Absolute highlight of the day!
In the evening we went to see the New Year’s parade in Wanchai- it is not worth mentioning, since after standing still without room in a crowd waiting for 1 hour we left in the middle because it was so –literally- boring. The parade was organized by Cathay Pacific- the Hong Kong base airline of the year and pride of the city- and completely westernized with Disney figures and the lot. The most interesting part was again the efficiency and system of the public authorities (mainly police and dpt of transportation) here- in this case the logistics of managing the hundreds of thousands of people along the route without causing major bottlenecks in the flow or panic. Being there longer one could follow the system of compartments along the roads filled first and how the flood was controlled and directed. What organization!
The second tour day was fortunately limited to one bus ride to the ferry; I was so exhausted from the previous day that I think I could not have taken any more bus-tainment: I couldn’t wake up even after 12 hours of sleep. The weather had over night turned into Finnish mid-July-perfect-summer-day-without-clouds mode and I first noticed the (exotic) birds singing on my way to UST. We took the ferry first to XX- island. I was surprised to see that the vegetation here is pretty scarce with reddish soil and rocks which is why it takes so much effort to even the land for new high rises. Then we went to Lamma island with a private boat where we had dinner and were then transported to Vistoria Harbor (between Kowloon and HK Island) to see the fireworks. Highlight: enjoying the sun and view on HK’s islands on the deck of the boat (keeping in mind that it is January…) as well as eating grilled chicken with head.
I am still moving internally with the waves –although did not get seasick this time. Jussi just arrived from Indonesia and we are briefing him now. It’s pretty funny to recap. And I think he is completely out… we are planning a big party on our rooftop terrace on Thursday if the weather is favorable. We’ll see… tomorrow first another tour- to some jail and British housing complexes – or that is what I have heard (I have read some description ages ago; can’t bother to remember) How interesting!

Some random uncategorizable things I have to mention before going to sleep and curing my throat ache and cold: most of the exchange students are male (3:1 probably) which seems odd (but maybe not so since almost everyone studies finance) and young (avge. age around 21). Both can be good signs; but the ignorance barometer is approaching end-of-scale (have to redefine = downscale expectations). There are rarely pregnant women to be seen on the streets. Where are they? Met some interesting people, e.g. a Swedish economics student who had lived in Saudi-Arabia, on Mallorca, in Barcelona and Madrid and had a previous diploma as a flight stewardess. And what is with the Indy-style of clothing that seems to be so fashionable (and suitable) for Asians? And how do group dynamics really work? Do I play my cards (i.e. conscious choice) or is it just random and coincidence? And why is there no cheese in supermarkets (but they use it in the British bakeries/sandwiches) and you can only buy a dozen or oranges but not one? Why all the noise and entertainment for nothing? Why do Chinese-made converters/adaptors break after one week of usage? *so annoying* And when do people sleep (ok, in Shenzhen they nap all the time on the streets, but inHK?)???

Summarizing: Chinese New Year left me without new sensations but rather a confusion of Western kitsch and commercialized show-biz and dragon dances in the villages. A good experience, but the heritage remains untapped for me. Unfortunately.

* swollen eyes, slow reflexes, hysterical laughter, bad jokes

What is the Hong Count?

Some advertising- and I fell I have to advertise this because seeing it made me really happy!- even though I am commercially spoiled yet not indoctrinated (or that is how I'd like to see it). Check out Dani's or Martin's sites (links on the sidebar) for the ultimate Hong Count (all rights reserved). This is a countdown with millisecond-accuracy until these two friends will leave Finnish soil and start their journey to HK in the end of May!
Thank you Finnair for the special offer!
*I will try to obtain the Hong Count and post it directly to my site as well, if I can do it technically...*

Diverse stuff

This picture is so unecessray, but maybe it symbolizes the fact that every company is here, those who are not, want to, prices are negotiable- IKEA uses franchises in HK and has adapted its concept to a certain extend- not too much though.... (=
The campus viewed from the seaside from the second barbecue place. Towers are all named after UG/PG and some random number- the numbering makes no sense. Right in front on the left is the stadium- the academic building where the previous pictures posted were taken is the one completely in the back. The campus continues on the left and right with staff towers which did not fit into the picture. The height of each building is around 10-15 floors to put it in perspective.
View on HK Island (Wanchai/Central districts) from the promenade of stars (Kowloon side). as you see the weathe has not been very nice so far, but today for the first time we have some sunshine. The green-white (star) ferry boats are one of the symbols of HK, they operate between Kowloon and HK Island.
The best sushi place ever--- no further explanations needed!

Real or fake: what does it take?

What is fake, what is real- in Hong Kong everything and nothing, anything always all the time, every day. And what is the “real” China?
This is a pretty lousy and too generalized approach of attempting at summarizing the whirl of chaotic thoughts in my head. I like to be structured especially since I can’t be there personally to elaborate and explain what I want to say. So to the point:

We went to see the “real” China today (Wednesday, Jan. 25). Whatever “real” the contextual classification of the word. And “we” is Joel and Martin from Sweden and Erkki, my dear roommate (who by the way is not gay, just to avoid any mis-understandings …). Surprise, I really get along well with the Swedes- or at least so far- and we have a well-functioning little group. Group- building here is another very interesting development as more and more people have arrived during the past couple of days. There is clearly the group of “first-arrivals” and “party-people”, anything in between, as well as a little divide between Americans vs. Europeans and other (also funnily including U.S. citizens which do not want to be seen as “Americans”)- most people are from the U.S. An interesting dynamic as if starting school all over –turning the time back two years- and trying to find people o “your” kind. I feel, it is a very important time to be here, since I guess although everyone is quite open and friendly, things will change and group building will be one of the better-not-miss- developments.
Anyway, the day started pretty shittily so to say. Erkki was supposed to wake me up and we were supposed to meet Joel and Martin at Uni for breakfast at 8:30. Erkki did wake me up, but only at 8:30 which meant we were really late. On top of that I was still drunk. How great is that? I am so embarrassed to write this since I thought I was out of “that typical” college age where one really gets uncontrollably wasted, but hey, I promised: no censorship (or well, I will spare some details of course). So I have to write it. To explain my physical state I have to go back to yesterdays (Tuesdays, Jan. 24) happenings.
The day was relaxed- I slept well for the first night here and woke up at noon- which is again explained by going for a late dinner in Soho (great Mexican food) and good drinks with some other exchange students as well as walking through Lang Kwai Fong (the party quarter) on Monday. I went to Uni for some food and got books to read as well as explored campus and the sea shore at campus which I had only seen by night and in the morning until then with Julie- just sitting on the pier and enjoying the breeze (which is now warmer at around 15-18C). It s actually not that big because there is a lot of space and green in between buildings and everything is scattered, the area covered s huge though.

Anyway, we met some exchange students later on and heard of a bar opening at Wanchai. Wanchai is located on HK Island and I known as the HK “red mile”- by day and night. But it has good clubs too- as was this: located on the 21st and 22nd floor with a great view onto other “skyscrapers”, good music and … free drinks! And “open bar” à la K style means yes, free drinks but since it was so crowded that basically translates into free bottles of vodka champagne, whiskey etc. which is time efficient and thus more practical. Imagine the results! A bunch of jet-lagged American and Canadian kids (and some Finns), most my age, nobody knows each other and everyone is on a student budget, plus free bottles of alcohol? Not good…. Well, unfortunately, I can now incude myself in the group (I have “assimilated”) at least for one evening…! Facit: it was fun, I slept two hours and woke up drunk…

Joel and Martin however are great guys (and although I am usually punctual and appreciate that also in others), they waited and together we went to Kowloon to get our visas for China. We had left our passports at a Japanese travel agency on Monday: a multiple entry visa for six months is HKD 450, which is pretty cheap considering that you have unrestricted entry. Well, the part that the travel agency was Japanese is important because in that quarter in East Kowloon there seems to be a concentration of Japanese stores and restaurants- including the BEST sushi place I have seen here in Hong Kong! Great food! (Anyone who comes here: remind me of taking you there! HKD 9 a plate…) KCR (Kowloon China Railway) East Rail goes directly in 40 minutes from the center of Kowloon to the border of the new territories with China. The train is high tech- a lot of people commute daily back and forth since living outside HK is much cheaper. Whether that China on the other side is “real” remains questionable- HK is a special administrative region (SAR), as is Shenzhen, the city at the border with the HK New Territories in the north.

Shenzhen is industrial, a continuum of the HK concept of “the whole city is a shopping mall”, but prices are much lower and most of the products sold are copies. One can buy everything from “Chinese” ipods to jewellery, shoes and (fake) real bags. We walked around town for the whole afternoon, but saw only a tiny part of the eastern part of the city, which as a whole is pretty big. It was founded only in 1979 and now grows as fast as Shanghai with currently 3.95 million inhabitants and the highest per capita GDP in China (except HK). So how Chinese is that? Probably not very, but in any case, the city- though modern- is very different from HK: people are clothed differently, there are shoe cleaners and all kinds of vendors on the streets, there are more beggars. In the malls people try to drag you into shops- it is like an uproar if anyone western is walking through which makes me personally feel very uncomfortable. “missy, mistah, buy bag, watch, dvd, cd….” Whatever. White = Western = rich and it is ok to take as much off them as goes. It’s fake it’s cheating. But it’s real.

We attracted a reasonable amount of attention just walking in the streets: blond and tall I guess compared to everyone else (speaking of the guys). We had a great time and learned a lot- never get your shoes cleaned, trust the right amount, avoid getting into situations with no way out but getting ripped off- it was like a first step into China. Or that is what I would like to think. And not to make everything sound too negative, a funny little scene: we were walking in the suburbs, with little kitchens and smells on every corner and old women selling tiny oranges off shabby wooden boxes near the sidewalks. Since we only had –freshly exchanged- 100 dollar bills and of course no street vendor would have change for that- Erkki decided he would trade apples for oranges. They did not completely get it and were really confused- since tourists are only supposed to pay with money and not be too proactive. But in the end it worked and they were all laughing, chatting and got nice apples- and we got tiny juicy oranges!

We went back by train and I stopped in Mongkok to buy some jogging shoes and sports clothing since the track is really nice and it is warm enough to go running (what I generyll do when it is warm)- I really didn’t even think of bringing half the stuff I need here! No wonder, I had 15 kg including some books and bedsheets which does not leave much room for other things. Ok, I can buy more here and be sure I will have room to transport it back- but although cheap, nothing is free! Of course. Just watching the crowd in Mongkok makes one realize: HK is rich. The people have money to spend on clothes and lifestyle; that shows on the streets, even if going into the more non-tourist areas. Watching people as they watch me is in general really interesting: guessing the age of people is difficult for me, since Asians do not have “wrinkles” or other determinants of age typical for westerners which I subconsciously detect when thinking of age. People my age (guessing) wear a mixture of colorful Indy-clothes, mixed with cute-hello-kitty and other more funky stuff that works on skinny, lightly build bodies- and it’s the combination that generates the style. It is fascinating and I think I could never blend in- not sure if I even would want to.

I had some discussions about this with Simon, who has been here since August and has been traveling a lot in China, about collectivism and the Chinese society under the system vs. individuals. I feel that in HK people are to certain extend a mass- this is one element of the safety here that I mentioned before- and this conformity is partly automatically generated culturally but often questioned and extended through e.g. clothing. This is the real difference between HK and Shenzhen- not the fake bags (which everyone has in HK too).

However, the group is closed in looks and way of thinking and I could never overcome the barrier. Reaching over temporarily is however easy if you bring some patience. We met some people in the sushi bar and a CD vendor importing French, Swedish and German CDs on his own and selling them in front of the KCR station and exchanged email addresses to get some local contacts- and they write and offer advice. So interest is there; judging the understanding is difficult.

With shoes, clothes and some IKEA items I am practically set now and have to restrain myself from shopping- instead I am making lists of what I have to absolutely buy- the lists get longer every day. Some words about IKEA (we went there on Sunday): a prime example of local adaptation. There are ice creams and hot dogs, but no Sweden-shop. Other products are the same, the layout and store design is different. No round walkways, no conveyor belt at the cashier, no kötbullar. Plants are marketed and categorized according to the “feng shui”: either bringing health, happiness, money or something else. IKEA is expensive; a little piece of Scandinavia in HK… we decided that when getting homesick, we will stop by to get some pepperkakor, Estrella chips and just to walk through. (We did also now buy chips –I never buy chips- but maybe it was too early for that? They were REALLY good though…)

The rest of the time went in sleeping (a bit at least) and trying to meet as may people as possible. I am a bit afraid of missing something all the time- this is crazy since I have only been here one (!) week- it seems like so much longer! I don’t know where this feeling comes from, but it is just there and I should relax more and take it easy…But I just feel I need to know everything now- and as much as possible. We have been walking around Kowloon and Soho a lot and my feet hurt terribly. Everyone is preparing for the Chinese New Year coming up this weekend- paper and light decorations (including red light chains which make the sounds of exploding fireworks) and little orange trees have been appearing everywhere. Some nice finance conversations about the job market and investment banking, but mostly people are concerned of how to combine studying and partying. Students here apparently never leave campus –ok, traveling and public transport are expensive- and study all day and night. Usually people are awake until 3 or 4 a.m. and even if the hasn’t started yet I have seen people sleeping with their books in the coffee shop. Grades are given based on relative performance (“curved”)- in most classes the average is around 85 and for a “B” one needs over 90%- that is just crazy! I have now officially lowered my expectations to simply passing my classes- that is all I want!!! I will hear more on Friday on our official academic orientation on Friday, 10 a.m. (let’s hope I’m fit since Thursday is Ladies night =free drinks); spring term starts after the holidays on Feb. 1. I’ll se then… but what I know now is that I will also try to see more of HK and not only travel abroad- maybe go hiking (there are great trails in the new territories)- and spend some time in the library- it’s huge with sliding bookshelves that have sensors for the lighting etc.
Wrapping it up (it’s now 2:30 a.m.): real or fake- everyone decides on the mixture, but you have to make yourself really see the distinctions- in people, things, cities, facades… and this applies to any culture but maybe more to those that are closed and intransparent for the outsiders (depending of course on outsider priorities ad principals). Does the difference matter- it is contextual I would constate diplomatically, but essential if self-deception is not a declared goal of existence.
Intense days, a lot of thoughts - now I freed some space in my head.

Lessons learned:

1. I will never again trust Erkki to wake me up (on time).
2. Thou shall not be tempted by the expression “open bar”.
3. Define fake and real for yourself- always.

Images from Shenzhen: We were really scared that we would not get back anymore since it says on or visa: single journey only. And all the papers and exit/entry cards, quequeing at both HK and China checkpoints, in between a channel and barbed wire fence.... Apparently we have equal status as HK residents, which means we are not classified as "foreigners"... nice surprise among all the bureaucracy!

Missing Pictures from previous post

Due to some technical difficulties the pictures were missing from the previous post but I hope it works now.

xtras

(Review of Sat, Jan 21) This city is crazy. The crazyness gets apparent once you stroll through HK Island, with skyscraper and street markets side by side. And of course when after climbing Victoria Peak, the highest “mountain around”, you look down and see HK and all the green forest around it.

We actually went to HK island to fin the longest escalator in the world- it goes up towards the inland for about and is 800 m long -this is not counting all platforms and kinks nor crossing of little streets in between. The great thing about it is though, that the whole escalator is not on ground level, but about halfway of the second and third floors of the buildings around so you can see into the fitness centers, hairdressers, tailorshops and everything else around. And of course you have a great view on the little side streets and street markets on every block and the vegetable stands (where fruit is still weighed with old weights and counter-weights) at every corner. The escalator takes you up through the lower west part of HK island (Queen's Road Central) up to Hollywood Road (antiques) and Soho (Staunton Street), a quarter full of street markets, little snack bars and restaurants of all kind. The escalator ends on Caunton Road, and with no other tourists left there we still decided to take the "20-min-walk" to the cable car station to Victoria Peak. Somwhere on the way we must have however gotten lost, since we did not find the station. Having climbed a lot already, we decided to climb on to the peak. The path goes through a park and is very steep (but fortunately not step but even)- most people walk with their dogs or do jogging downwards. Everyone -judging from their looks- felt really sorry for us it seemed. We reached the mid-station of the cable car after 360 or so meters of climbing up and afterthat it was still quite a piece of walking. Finally on the top, it felt great just standing there and enjoying the view and the moment. Breathing the fresh air in (fresh relative to anything in the center) and looking down at the skyscrapers and harbour. The weather was not the best as can be seen below, but at least it was not too warm- rather cold and windy- in the summer this would be impossible.

After getting back to tourit masses we had great Indonesian food in Soho (recommend getting lost there) and then I went back to pick up Erkki, who arrived happy and fit from Bangkok. We went to Tsim Sha Tsui (TST) in Kowloon to an Middle-East-style place with shisha/waterpipes and all the rest. Walked a bit around and I dared to try white fishballs from a street vendor. The consistency is that of lipeäkala- but the curry flaour is good. I recommend however tasting the satay chicken from these vendors, which are to be found at almost every corner, cooking everything outside and live! (costs 5 HKD (around 0.55 euros) for one large cocktail stick of e.g. beef or fish). On this tour we were together with Damien from the U.K. (Manchester) and Gabriel from Switzerland (Basel), who gave us some good tips concerning traveling here. I have myself tried to put all classes on Tue-Thu, leaving Monday and Friday free to spend every weekend in an extended form somewhere... flying to Bangkok or Malaysia is really cheap: around HKD 1000 per flight, a bit more as a package including hotels/resorts, although I prefer hostels and my own choice I guess. Booking on the internet might also be cheaper, but it depens, since prices in travel agencies are here usually set only for one month at a time and then change. It seems at this point all a bit chaotic and unorganized, but we have to start planning and reserving trips now or right after the start of term if we want to go in February. All of the girls from Queen's left for the Philippines, so that puts some subconcious pressure on one to do something as well. But I'd rather plan on where to go, how and when... and get to know people a bit better before deciding, since I am no a resort-person myself by prefer looking around; more the "backpacking" style (at least for really seeing a different culture and a country). And even if everything is cheap, the money goes and fast. Talking to Damien and Gabriel and how much they spent (scary!) on various trips- well, I really have to rethink my budget and set some realistic limits to where and what to do... also considering the time at hand. Mongolia is definitely one, Tibet seems as expected already more and more difficult, especially because of all the special permits and visas. We'll see... but I m sure I will find someone similar-minded people here!

Street market on HK Island; View from Victoria Peak (smart tourists take the cable car up and walk down, we did the opposite, I recommend it); View on street in SoHo; The guys I have been hanging out with the past days here: Mike (U.S.) , Karl (SWE), Martin (SWE), Jimmy (CAN/FRA), Antonio/José (U.S.). Joel (SWE) is missing since sick after eating Thai noodles on Friday...

Two more crazy days

It is now 4:33 Hong Kong time on Jan. 21, Saturday. I just got back from the centre, took a shower but can’t sleep. The past two days have been again completely crazy and amazing. I will start in backward-chronological-order from today.

This morning I woke the first time up when my alarm clock went off at 9 and I had slept amazingly 7 hours. The tactic to tire myself out had apparently worked! And it was the first morning I did not feel hot nor did my clothes stick to my body after getting dressed. It is -I guess- a bit colder but I have also gotten used to the humidity. It has so far rained every night and in the morning the water stands on all the ceramic floors. In the Uni there are a lot of (mis-constructed) architecturally beautiful glass roofs and it rains in there every morning which is why they put up funny yellow signs everywhere (more about funny signs later on). Until evening everything has dried off a bit and at night it is cold and windy (HKUST is away from the pollution and higher up from sea level)- also inside since houses here have no heating whatsoever.

Anyway, I slept well although I am still too tall for my bed (and I think that won’t change), the fridge froze and all my water and coke had turned into bottle-shaped ice cubes. I don’t know which button I turned into the wrong direction- Chinese instructions only. I went to Uni, met with Antonio (a Puerto-Rican/Panama/U.S. citizen from Georgia Tech), and we went to search for the Finnish consulate. Of course I had to fulfill my “civic duty”, now that I sow bragged about its importance! The consulate is on Hong Kong Island in Wan Chai, which is near the HK exhibition centre in midst of all the high-rise financial centres. They are open until 4 p.m. during elections and we made it there just in time – it is sometimes difficult to find the correct buildings, since the numbers are not necessarily ordered in a sequence. Well, I voted and signed myself up as “Finnish resident in HK” in case of any emergencies. Probably not a bad thing to do.
Then we walked around on HK Island in the Central district. This district is very “western” with a Marks and Spencer and whole department houses for e.g. only Louis Vuitton or Armani clothing. Everything is branded, chic and clean. Looking into the side roads in Central they are street markets with bulk goods à la “hello kitty” (which is really big here) - a perfect contrast. However, compared to Mongkok, of which I posted the pictures, it is luxury, tourists and bankers (a lot of westerners but most are Asians) and great old cable cars (with two floors) and no windows in the back. Southern Kowloon around the Kowloon city park is in between Mongkok and HK Island; and where Mongkok is masses of people, some non-Asian tourists, chaos, bulk goods, cheap food, a buzzing atmosphere….it seems very Chinese or HK-local, much cheaper, just normal chains and shops, small kitchens and restaurants (a meal costs around 20 HKD), HK Island is the rich West (in the south). I spent the whole day in Mongkok on Thursday and it is quite tiring after some time. There are just so many people and so much to see. I spent 4 hours alone just looking for an adaptor, a HK prepaid sim-card and shoes. You have to bargain for the right price not to be completely ripped off. But it is also fun. Picked up Lie (from HSE) in southern Kowloon and we went together for some early dinner.
Back to yesterday’s happenings: After my voting and the little HK tour, we had our first official event with the international student office: Thai food in Sai Kung (beautiful little village at the coast near HKUST, great seafood restaurants I hear). Somehow, his branch of bureaucracy and admin seems to attract similar kind of people around the globe, since there are a lot of similarities to the equivalent institution at HSE- not mentioning any names. Point being, I met some interesting people, especially since everyone I have so far been “hanging out” with has been American or living in the U.S. (which in the case comes down to the same, people just want to avoid mis-judgement). Besides the two Polish guys, I met three guys from Sweden, two of which are in the Engineering School, a girl from Canada who was here already last semester (and is really homesick and would have liked to leave…great…), one girl from L.A. that didn’t understand that Europeans look different and (most) Italians are not blond naturally. From the 30+ people being here (out of a 167 Business School exchange students who will arrive later) most are North American- 7 from Queen’s alone, 2 from McGill, 1 from HEC so far… and a lot of U.S. (Georgia, Wisconin, Maryland, California, L.A., Florida). And almost everyone is a Finance major and wants to be an investment banker. Surprise, surprise! I miss some European perspective, and interesting people (not Finance-majors that don’t know the difference between IRR and NPV nor that Sweden and Finland are Scandinavian (ok, Finland technically not) countries and Switzerland is not, nor the difference between Thailand and Taiwan etc. etc. etc. and who think their school and U.S. schools in general are the best (absolutely the best) in the world and who love resorts-best part of Asia right?). To put it nicely: I miss some European counterweight – I do not feel like going to the Philippines to lye on the beach in a resort for a week now, cause it is “soooo culturally interesting”…what can I say? Grow up people? Maybe that I know that I have slight bias in writing this? Ok, yeah….
After the dinner, three Swedish plus two American guys and me went to a Seven Eleven and then the MTR –drinking our way to town. I feel like such an ignorant American college kid. Horrible! Ok, the impression used is a bit exaggerated but judging from peoples’ looks it probably was not a good thing to do. We decided on pursuing the plan anyway since there was no sign for this sort of “crime”- and believe me, in Hong Kong everything is full of warning and prohibition signs. Spitting costs 1,500 HKD in a public place, smoking up to 5,000 HKD. Signs warn of trashing property, littering, slipping, gaps, vehicles that will be “prosecuted” if parked there, jaywalking can lead to jail etc. But consuming alcohol in public places is not forbidden, at least not by any signs. I think it is not approved, also not on campus, but the guards (who stand around in very official uniforms) just smile and say “Tsingtao” (Chinese beer brand). Anyway, two of the guys who had been here for three days were now on their 4th night out- one of the Swedes arrived on Monday at 6 p.m. and hit the clubs at 8 p.m. That clearly sets the priorities for this term. He is pretty funny, in a very Swedish way; actually he could almost be Finnish (if he is on the MTR without beer, something is wrong; vodka is better nutrition than food cause it is compared to calories cheaper in Sweden than food…). The French guy seems to be some gigolo/playboy mixture running after literally every cute Asian girl, which is a bit… how should I say? Well, you know what I mean. (and I hope they never find my blog).
Anyway, we went to a club in a district called Lan Kwai Fong. Where Mongkok has parallel streets of 15 blocks selling only shoes in one, the next street selling only mobile phones, the next only clothes etc. this district on HK Island had only bars and clubs. It is filled with a mixture of people- a lot of bankers in expensive suits from the nearby huge Bank of China and HSBC towers and all the other banks around. Then the average tourists (older couples), backpacker and a lot of western young people from all around passing through for the sake of partying. And of course (wealthy) Asians whose age in general is difficult to determine. A lot of couples with Asian women/western men… a lot of drunk people puking on the street: you pay 200 HKD into a club and have an open bar all evening. But here the cleaners actually stand at the corners and immediately swipe the streets. Also the music is so loud that everyone is dancing or drinking (buy from SevenEleven=cheapest) standing on the street. There are bamboo baskets every couple of meters where one can leave empty bottles (and people do). Everything is crowded of people…. It’s a mixture of cultures and ages, different music, a bit perverted, hip-hop culture in the middle of HK.
When leaving you have to walk along the line of taxis which goes on for blogs and just say Fo Dai (or that is at least how my ear hears it) which means HKUST. We tried to bargain to 120 HKD, but had to pay eventually 200 for six people in a cab for four. Two had to sit somehow on the floor with the others covering us, because the police fines 1,000 HKD (and the driver loses his licence) if there are more people in the car. The driver seemed a bit concerned, but compared to the bureaucracy of mini-bus drivers he was pretty relaxed: if you get into a mini-bus (and you pay when entering) and there is no places left (which you did not see/notice when entering), they will throw you out immediately without refund. Anyways, it was pretty fun in the taxi; I learned some new Chinese phrases and how to count from 1-10in Cantonese. Had a good evening.
I will try to sleep a bit now.

1 p.m., Saturday.
A tech-guy from pccw was just here to hook me up on the internet. He didn’t speak English but it worked somehow. They used my passport number as ID for the internet account. Problem: “ones” are vertical lines without the “hook”, if there is a hook it means “seven”. I forgot that completely, so nothing worked at first. And I also got a cable box for TV which cam with the internet. Don’t know why and he couldn’t explain, but apparently it was somewhere in the contract, I just didn’t get it.
I tested the washing machine and it worked ok. I was a bit concerned about what washing powder I had – this stuff comes only with Chinese/Cantonese labels, since most non-fluent people here are tourists who do not need it. Same with most food products in supermarkets or everything which is not the typical tourist-bulk-good.
I think I will take it easy for today, write a bit read, find a bookstore with nice novels (we have no library cards yet), wait until Erkki is here tonight and find out what I want to do next week. Maybe do a day trip to Macau. It is like Tallinn here in a sense, but people do not go for the cheap booze but the gambling. It is only casinos but I am attracted more to the Portugese architecture. It’s 40 min. with the ferry there and they go every half and hour. Practical.
But first I need to clear my thoughts. It gets a bit overwhelming just trying to take everything in. I see so much all the time. It is enough just looking out the window here and there is nothing except an empty field there. Yesterday I discovered little concrete shrines or altars ( I don’t know what it actually is) with candles and this burning incense sticks, which someone is lighting at some specific time. You can see those everywhere if you look closer. But they are small and there is also so much other. I think after grasping the general atmosphere and surroundings I now start looking for details. Like people always talking into their phones in Cantonese but every conversation ending with “bye, bye”( which here sounds like bah bah). Or a lot of Asian girls “trying” to have curly hair. And I say trying because it does not work really. It looks rather flat with waves and really frayed after an electric shock. I understand it is trendy, but why ruin such nice black hair?
Or then the girls (and also elder women) who speak English acting completely foolish giggling all the time about everything even if it is not really funny. It is probably conventional to be “cute”, but when you are trying to have a conversation or really need to get some information it can be very annoying. I’d just love to say: shut up! But of course I don’t. Or then the fact that there are nowhere paper towels/napkins, e.g. in any canteen in our Uni (except for the McDonald’s there, but since I don’t go there it does not help).
Of course there is positive stuff too…

Lessons learned:

1. Always write numbers really clearly. And remember the difference between 7 and 1.
2. Never pay for a bus or other transport before checking availability of seats.
3. Never go to a club with a purse or bag or coat; you can’t leave it anywhere.
4. Never ask a question (yes/no-question) where anyone you ask might know what answer you expect since this –for the sake of simplicity- will be their answer and in most cases it will not be very helpful.
5. Ignore the giggles.
6. Bargain. Always.

Some light stuff

I just re-read my post from yesterday and realized that it was a lot of text. I'll try to keep it a bit lighter in the future since I know that not everyone is willing or has the time to read my detailed explanations on a regular basis. I guess I am motivated by selfish reasons to preserve my first impressions for later on and to self-medicate in order to get over the culture shock. When I think about happenings here and how I would like to explain what is going on and what I am experiencing here to all of you guys, i.e. how to write it down, I start to see a humorous side of things, which makes things a bit easier. And I guess I think more about what is going on and do not just forget and bury things because of the wave of impressions hitting me every day.

View from HKUST in the morning

Ladies market in Mongkok (two above) /Impressions from Mongkok (below)

Morning thoughts

I woke up at 4 a.m. today. Again. I don’t understand how my body lasts with so little sleep (for three nights in a row now) but I am not tired. Tonight I managed to sleep six hours, which is –thinking about it- ok. But it feels weird getting up at four. And this was the first night in the apartment- alone, since my Finnish pal left for Indonesia yesterday together with his parents. Anyway, it might still be jet lag or then the Chinese mattresses: they feel like a Finnish self-made rug on a wooden floor (and believe me, I have slept like that for 2 weeks), i.e. there is no mattress.

The apartment -as mentioned briefly in my post yesterday- is pure luxury. I thought it would be some student box (=opiskelijaboksi) but it is really nice. Small bathroom and kitchen, a living room and three small bedrooms, which are box like but in a positive way: very space efficient. There are shelves and closets on one wall of each of the bedrooms, with a bed in front. The closets reach lower than the bed, but when sitting on the bed you can reach down. Below the bed there is even more storage. Clever! And the best thing is the terrace on the roof overlooking the “jungle” (not the correct term probably, but let’s just call it that)!
The company renting it was very pro and had arranged everything for us. Despite some communication difficulties, we got all papers signed and went shopping for some basic necessities in Hang Hau. This tour was arranged by the Uni, but there was only Jussi, me and some American guy from Maryland (Michael as it turned out later). Jussi then left for Kowloon and I went back to the office to ask about internet prices. Once our contact person there (Sammy) noticed, that I was on my own, she asked whether I was his girlfriend and whether Jussi’s parents were married etc. etc. and when I said I was not she was really disappointed and just remarked “but he is sooo good looking”…. Well, so much for the term of an Asian high-context culture (= Anyways, they actually thought Jussi was a girl and told the landlord that three girls were moving in, so it must all have been quite a shock…

Later on I met with Michael in the university. Or first I was supposed to meet him and was waiting and he did not show up because he had fallen asleep (jet-lag or bad excuse?). Instead I met two Polish exchange students (don’t remember their names) coming back from shopping at Ikea; just being desperate of talking to someone! Well. Michael turned up eventually. It was worth waiting just for the fact that I noticed one interesting “habit” standing at the main entrance everyone unknown-to-you “western” greets/nods and smiles compassionately to you (but nobody else) – probably because I looked so lost- Asians don’t and vice versa. Interesting.

We went to dinner in the worst/best restaurant on campus (depends who you ask)- the guy is really funny (he can’t eat with chopsticks and given the food which is not the “Chinese-adapted-to- Finnish-tastes” it is also for me difficult to do it with some sort of “style”, we were however both of us too embarrassed to ask for anything else… so I guess that makes both of us really funny in the eyes of everyone else). Ok, let’s change the topic…I should at this point however add some points about the campus. The campus is first of all HUGE! I have never seen anything like this (probably because I never went to an American university)! Ok, back to earth. The campus occupies a whole peninsula at Clearwater bay. It has basically one main academic building with lecture halls, library, book shop, two banks and a lot of cafeterias and restaurants. Around that are staff towers and student halls (residences) as well as laboratories, a swimming pool and stadium (for athletics). The coast here is everywhere really steep, i.e. no sand beaches, a bit rocky and with cliffs. That means that in the centre of Hong Kong, most buildings are along the shore and in the middle of the Kowloon peninsula, there are parks and just some buildings. When going with the MTR you can see how the land is gradually quarried (is this equivalent to louhia?) with huge machines to make it flat for high rise buildings. The “HKUST peninsula” is pretty much similar geographically (just more trees) with the academic wing with lecture halls on top and some other buildings on the shore. The two areas are connected with walking bridges. I will post some pictures later on when I get an adaptor for my laptop. Anyway, just to say, it is very difficult –even from the pictures- to see how steep and high everything is. Between the different walkways you have to use elevators to go down step by step. There are over 30 elevators in the main buildings only- some stop at only at even floors some only at odd floors, some are shut down in the evening at some point of time. It is a bit confusing, but I think I will get used to it. Anyways, back to the steepness: to get from the ground floor of the main building to the ground floor of the residence halls at the shore, you have to go around 30 stories down. I haven’t bothered counting the floors of the main building yet, but it is high. So every time I go down, I have to “reopen” my ears, it is like being in an airplane…

To go on with the story line: it get’s dark quickly as it gets light at 6:30 as if someone lit a match. There is not much of a dusk or dawn. And if there was I would not notice since it is so humid. Everything is damp or wet all day long and you have to walk carefully in order not to slip- especially since walls and floors in- and outside are mostly covered with ceramic tiles, on which the steam condensates. I don’t know if it is because of the constant cleaning everywhere, the weather or just water, which seems to run everywhere on and below the ground. Yesterday it was so humid that I could not tell whether it was raining or not. Everything is just a white fog, misty, cloudy. Mysterious…! I have heard that the weather will get better (=hotter) however. And I hope so- especially since my hair has turned all curly (!!!) and I can’t get it straight….

Now I am sitting in campus and have been writing for quite a while. When I got here at 7:30 or so, everything was empty. I will meet Michael soon to go to Mongkok to buy a Chinese SIM card etc. To say so much about public transport: the network has a wide coverage in the area, and has (so far) been efficient, on time and organized. The MTR (subway) is really easy to use and you can’t go wrong – every station and subway van has digital plasma screens showing the route and the next station. If a train is announced in 1min, it will be there in 1 min. Buses are a bit more tricky, since there are UK-style buses (double with fixed routes and mini buses with fixed routes and fixed stops or then fixed routes but no fixed stops (i.e. they let you out wherever you want). Taxis operate in certain areas depending on their color code. Everything is really cheap and the system works like in Helsinki with an Octopus card (matkakortti) but it is more sophisticated: you flip the card when entering and exiting e.g. the subway system and the charge is determined when exiting depending on the distance traveled.

Summa summarum: I am starting to realize that I am actually here! I like it so far, except for the Chinese-Western divide. Of course I understand that I can’t understand… at least not everything at once. But still I feel, that the basic setting here does not allow you to understand. A lot of things seem to be Chinese-only (and these are unspoken rules) in a sense that if you are not/ do not look Asian, there is no chance that you might try or be a part of. But maybe I am wrong and just imagining a nonexistent divide…..

Plus for the morning: I found coffee!

Des images

Impressions from HKUST

First day

A lot of stuff has happened today as well. But unfortunately I have to run off to the University soon to upload everything and to check my email –yes, I already have a password to the University intranet.
Shortly: I found Hang Hau and went from there to the real estate agency who rented out the apartment to the three of us. The apartment is superb- three bedrooms and a small living room plus a roof terrace!!! And al of this in the middle of the “jungle”! More precisely: between Tseung Kwan O, Hang Hau and HKUST. There are also some nice beaches around here, but since everyone is dressed as if in the arctic (and it is 22C), I think I will leave that for later on….
The contractual formalities took hours and we barely made it to HKUST to report to the international students’ responsible to sign up, get our passwords etc. Then we all went shopping in the Hang Hau mall, a nice and modern pretty big shopping centre at the nearest MTR station (subway).

View from the apartment

Jet-lag(ged) confessions

I don’t know when I will be able to post this, but I’m writing anyway. It is now a bit to 5 a.m. on Jan. 17 and I am sitting in a hotel in Mongkok, which is a northern neighborhood in Kowloon. It is +20C but airconditioning is really effective. Have been trying to sleep for some time, but don’t really feel tired. Probably because I slept through the whole flight.

The flight was ok- but this is really the last time I will fly with Finnair! The plane was completely packed with 60+ aged men (most drunk; vodka, gin and brandy cost 4 euros a glass on the flight as was pointed out asap) flying for 1 month vacations to Pattaya. I did not bother with the details. Also: no own TV or choice of food!!! (*not so important*)
I had around 30 min in Bangkok, which was enough for walking once from one end of the airport to the other. I had to leave my boarding card when leaving the plane though and only got a blue plastic card saying “Finnair transfer, Nr. 13”, which was a bit suspicious. Anyway, I met Jussi, one of the two other Finns at HKUST who had been waiting for me there for 7 hours, and they let both of us back into the plane.
In Hong Kong we took a shuttle bus to our hotels. I almost missed my bus because the driver called for someone going to ‘Kankau’ which translates (when deleting the Chinese accent) to C-o-n-c-o-u-r-s-e Hotel. Well, I should have known that I guess!
The trip to the hotel took another 1.5 h (I was dropped off last) but I got there eventually. I was put on the VIP-floor (!) and given that it’s a bit shabby I don’t know what it says about the place in general…. Well, once the city wakes up –streets 9 floors down still seem really empty- I will be out of here!
But the general impression of the city is great! Before trying to sleep I wandered around a bit and I have to say: this place is totally crazy! Everything is high rise and one can only make out the approximate height by the silhouette of buildings created by lights in the apartments. Haven’t bothered to count the floors…. (after seeing the huge harbor and fields of containers beyond eyes reach with “little” 15-storey or so control towers every once in a while, it did not seem to make any sense to count). It looks all neat and nice from further away, but in the “canyons” between the houses it seems like organized chaos. Most of peoples’ stuff is hanging out of the windows and along air-conditioning units of various shapes, there are aquariums with lobsters and living shrimp on the sidewalk, traffic is crazy (left-side traffic but overtaking from any side), there are people everywhere; everyone is of course Asian and nobody speaks English (that I understand)! The city was completely alive when I got there at around 11 p.m. with people getting haircuts and everything buzzing from people and traffic. I went to one of these little restaurants which you can find in every street corner here to get some food. They are more like little rooms with some chairs and tables and a kitchen in the back, which is separated from the rest with a glass window. But you can’t really see anything inside cause of the steam coming out of the kitchen. Unfortunately all menus were in Chinese so I just picked something with vegetables. Which I got was something green (see picture below), which could be defined as some form of spinach-asparagus with a strong texture (like this vegetable which in German is called Sellerie). Interesting. (see picture on left)

I will now continue waiting for the city to awake and then find some coffee somewhere (hotel nights here do not include breakfast). Until then I will watch some more of this interesting Jianxia TV, MTV Asia (with European bands I’ve never heard of) or the StarWorld, a mixture of American entertainment (including Christian sermons and testimonials of god’s gory on earth) adapted to the Asian taste (I guess).

Lessons learned so far:

1. 
   Always take everything with two hands even if it is really unpractical. It does not matter whether it is a room key or green vegetable.
2. 
   Always listen carefully and try to use your imagination in eliminating the accent of anything said in (presumably) English.
3. 
   In a hotel room, you have to use your key card to put the electricity on by sticking it into some weird device. Otherwise the lights won’t work.
4. 
   Always smile and be patient even if you don’t have a clue about what’s going on (especially with cab drivers or others trying to sell you stuff).
   
   
   08:40 a.m. Jan. 17
   Just got back from my second “stroll” in Hong Kong. I left the hotel when it got light, around 7:30 a.m. It seems that this city is one which stays up late and also wakes up late. There was nobody on the streets until 7 a.m. and then at once as if some alarm had gone off, streets were suddenly crowded immediately after that. Have to find out if there is a specific reason for that. Also, stores open only at 10 a.m. or noon, which means everything before that consists of newspapers etc. sold on the street plus little Chinese kitchens selling indefinable foods.
   
   In my search for morning coffee (which I absolutely desperately need every morning) I passed two Mc Donald’s restaurants and found one Starbucks, and –I am ashamed- it was extremely tempting to go in and buy something recognizable. (Un-) Fortunately, Starbucks was closed, and I decided at that point that during my stay here, I will not set foot into any western chain nor eat western food, never, ever!!!! I will be difficult, I have noticed, since I did not manage to find any place selling coffee. Everyone seemed to be eating and drinking something though, but I had no clue what it was and from where they got it. I found bakeries selling minced pork/beef/tuna or pork-BBQ-buns, but decided that was too much for now. Can try it later on….I ended up with a bottle of KOwloon dairy milk (do not try it) and water.
   
   Other remarks I should make at this point before I forget: Hong Kong is geographically speaking really small. Or at least the centre (Kowloon side) is, since I managed to walk through half (measured by north-south distance) in 45min.
   And the city is really clean. This morning there were dozens of people cleaning one block and although equipment is really simplistic (wooden brooms, cleaners cloth themselves in old garbage bags, see picture), it seems to work.
   People are friendly, but just keep staring at me. And I keep staring back, I guess. There are not many non-Asians around- the “westerners” really stand out (and being one myself, I of course look for them too, since it gives you some security… I hope that will pass after some time). Or maybe it is just me?
   That’s all for now. Have to find a KCR station now and the apartment we rentd, which is somewhere between Hang Hau and Tseung Kwen O. And anyways, my battery is running out and I need to buy an adaptor somewhere….

Advertising and schoolgirls in uniforms (leftover from British rule) on Nathan Rd.

Farewell (s)

It is now a bit past 8 p.m., Monday January 16 and I will be leaving to the airport in about half an hour. Just finshed packing, i.e. threw everything in my suitcase (it was packed well in advance so I admit that my attempts to convince the people I met today of the opposite were kind of fake...) and thought I could spend the last minutes starting to fulfil my promise of reducing the asymmetry of information regarding my stay far, far, away, in another galaxy.... öhm... called Hong Kong.
Gotta go in a sec so what I wanted to say was:
Thanks to everyone being there on Friday for the official farewell party! I had a great evening and it was extremely important for me seeing all of you before leaving! I hope some will actually grab the opportunity to visit me in Hong Kong- I will try to actively monitor the cheap-flight-situation! Until then I try to mentally prepare my mind for the miss-everybody modus....