Pig's feet, Ox tripe, and more to come...

Wow, a thousand apologies for the not-so-prompt blogging. I have been on the go 24/7 and have hardly a moment to myself to post. Lots has happened.

I had my first experience with Dim Sum. We went to a restaurant in Kennedy Town, which is basically down the hill, and at sea level, from Hong Kong U, and I kept the menu, but since most of it is in Chinese, the name of the restaurant is still about as foreign as the food served. There was a group of 16 of us, split up into two tables of 8, and my table ordered I think 18 or 19 dishes of the following (some were good [+], others, not so much, or interesting I should say [-]): Shrimp Dumplings (+), Dumplings with vegetables (+), Chicken feet with black bean sauce (+/-) (I already had chicken feet in Peru so I wasn't much interested in that), Ox-tripe with spring onions (-), BBQ pork buns (+), yolk-cream buns/yellow custard buns (-), pork balls (shiu mai/pork and a bit of shrimp balls) (+), steamed squid (+/-), rice paste with mushroom (+/-), pig's feet (-), fried radish cake (-), and finally mango pudding (+). I am proud to say that I tried everything. So much so that I accidentally ate an enormous piece of ginger that I mistook for a piece of pig's feet (it was the first dish to come out and I had no idea what I was or wasn't supposed to bite - but that log of a ginger sure was the wrong thing). Overall it was a great experience, and I'll be sure to go to other places recommended by locals.

After Dim Sum, a group of us decided to go check out the Peak since it was the most gorgeous day since any of us arrived. Victoria Peak is the highest point on Hong Kong island (552m) and the more popular way of getting up there is by taking the Peak Tram, which is located in Central. So we took a bus to the Tram station, which is conveniently located directly across the street from the US Consulate (some handy info), and took the 10 minute ride up to the top. On the way up, glimpses of the city showed themselves in between the openings created by green trees and bushes on both sides of the tram. The clear skies allowed us to see all the way into Kowloon and a large part of the New Territories, as well as some Outlying Islands. At the top, there are a few malls full of pricey shopping stores geared directly at tourists, so we mostly just followed a few trails around the top of the mountain, to get different glimpses of the city. It was unbelievably beautiful. The bay was full of ships and you can see just how big the skyscrapers are. It's also interesting to see how much bigger buildings on Hong Kong Island are than on Kowloon because there was a height limit on building when the Hong Kong airport used to be on Kowloon peninsula. After an hour or so of walking, we decided to sit in a cafe on the western side of the mountain, with a gorgeous view of the ocean, some islands, and boats crossing our path, as the sun began to descend slowly on the horizon. Drinking a glass of wine, having great conversation with interesting people, watching a ball of energy erase the light was just so amazing. The best part was that normally the sky is not this clear, so you can see the sun halfway set, and then it's just darkness. Because of the absence of any clouds or fog or mist whatsoever, we saw the sun, and in turn the sky, go from yellow, to orange, to reddish, until it became just a dot barely coming up on the camera screens. The pictures just don't do it justice.

That night, a bunch of us went out to Lan Kwai Fong, and just hung out on some side streets waiting for some people from last semester to come back from their break. Thta was the night where I realized just how cool and interesting the fellow exchange students are. One girl, Diana, is from Germany but studies in Paris and she told me all about the classes here and her various travels around southeast Asia, and how she does Model UN. I had a really good time talking to her. The main person we were waiting for, who came from the airport to LKF just for HK$35 Long Island Ice Teas, was Morgan (a.k.a. MoMo), another student from France. She is just a bundle of energy - completely filled with joy, one of those people everyone loves to just be near because her energy is so contagious. After she found out I spoke French, her mouth warped to a space shuttle and spit out French faster than I have ever heard, just excited to finally be able to speak her native tongue with someone else. I told her to slow down, and she obliged, but it was still great. There are actually a lot of students here either from Quebec or France who speak French, so I am not afraid of forgetting that at all. I also met another girl named Anisha. Check this out: father is Nigerian, mother is Malaysian, lives in the UK, but studies in Belgium. Quite a background! Just another example of the interesting exchange students here. The night didn't end until we ate poutine (french fries covered in cheese and hot gravy which melts the cheese) and took a cab back around 4 am.

The rest of my time here has been more productive so no worries. I finished a phenomenal book - Shadow of the Wind, by Carlos Ruiz Zafon, which was given to me by another travel buddy in Nicaragua last summer, so now it only seems appropriate to pass it down to another eager reader/traveler. It is one of the best books I have ever read; highly recommended to anybody and everybody! I also actually ran up to the Peak, the place I had just visited the day before. I learned that there is a trail/path behind Hong Kong U that leads straight up it, and so even though it was foggy and a little chilly, I decided to make the trek. It was certainly worthwhile, even though I had never run a little over 1.5 miles straight uphill before. I stopped a few times, but it was nice seeing meter marker/signs ever 100 meters, just to remind you that you're that much closer to the top.

Classes also started this past Monday. I have no Monday classes, which is awesome, and only one discussion on Friday, which I may have to skip if travel plans get in the way. But in general, I am very excited about what I am taking. First, Chinese metaphysics (something so abstract and unknown to Westerners that makes it that much more interesting to discuss and learn about). I'm also in Putonghua I (for you ignorants out there, that's another name for Mandarin, but literally it translates to "common language" or "language of the people"), which focuses only on learning to speak Mandarin. Already I feel I'm making progress, especially after talking with my roommate. Finally, I'm in two politics classes (China and the world + Hong Kong politics), and deciding between another politics class (Issues in Chinese political philosophy) and an econ class (Economic History of China) which conflict with each other. By the end of this week I'll make up my mind. But everything seems to be interesting and exciting. It's crazy though how much people (mainly locals) study here. On a Friday/Saturday night, before classes have even started, my roommate said he's going to the library to study a bit. I then realized that he has to take 6 classes this semester because he only took 4 (on an exchange program) last semester so he has to make up for it, but still, the study/work ethic here is much more intense. That doesn't mean they don't have their fun either. After that night where I came home at 4 am, every single person in my hall was fully alert, chatting and arguing with each other. After asking them why they were still awake and what they had been doing, they responded: "We just got done with a huge game of Warcraft - 3 hours long!" I could not believe it. Though I'm not keen on stereotypes, it's hard to not call these kids nerdy and dorks when they're playing WarCraft from 1 - 4 in the morning on a Friday/Saturday night. Still, they're fun to hang around and chill with.

I also went this light show that occurs every night at 8 pm on the harbor. A group of us took the MTR across to Kowloon into an area called Tsim Sha Tsui (or for those who cannot pronounce it correctly, TST) and stood on the waterfront facing Hong Kong Island as choreographed music and lights entertained us mildly. The PA system actually announced to the audience that this was in the Guiness Book of World Records for best symphony of lights (or something lame like that). All that happened was all the big buildings on the waterfront lit up differently with various patterns across the skyscrapers that went along to the worse-than-elevator music that played. We enjoyed its cornyness and walked some more around Kowloon before turning in.

The more recent weather is not nearly as nice as it was when I went to the Peak - it's pretty gray, cloudy, and in the 50s, but still far better than the DC/NOVA weather. Apparently, the heat and humidity in the summer is just unbearable.

It's interesting how fast-paced life is here. I heard that there is an enormous difference between life in Hong Kong and life in mainland China, and one of the jokes people make is that you can tell the difference between a Hong Konger and a mainlander by looking at how fast they grab their passport when they go through immigration. If they snatch it from the officer's hand and walk briskly away, more than likely that's a Hong Konger. Someone more relaxed who does not appear to be in a hurry is probably a mainlander. Other signs of the pushiness reminiscent of New York is when, after eating Dim Sum, we were on the sidewalk deciding what to do, the whole group of us. And a little old lady with a cane, no more than 4'8", is walking through us and just sort of backslaps lightly one of the girls to get her out of the way, so the lady can continue going to wherever she needed to get. It was just a funny small detail that summarized pretty well Hong Kong life and how nobody takes crap from anybody - at least not a small Chinese lady.

This is already ridiculously long, so I should stop. Last night was pretty wild - we went out to this district called Wan Chai (basically the Red Light District of Hong Kong, where neon signs advertising strip clubs line both sides of the street). It was Lady's Night there, so all the girls got free drinks, and you can order a tray of 30 glasses of beer for HK$300 - so 10 of us ordered a try and then just got free drinks from the girls. It was a good time. Tonight, I'm going to check out this club that actually has poker from 7:30-10:30 (I got a flier from them walking out of the club last week, so a couple of us guys are going to see what it's like). The Grand Prize is a round-trip flight for 2 to Bangkok. Who knows how much the buy-in is, but we'll just check it out. Friday, a club is rented out for all the exchange students in LKF, so that should be pretty fun. And for the weekend, I signed up for some tours that takes us around Hong Kong Island, Kowloon, and the New Territories, so hopefully I'll become more oriented with the rest of the country.

Side note: I met a guy who went to high school with Vivian, another exchange student, who goes to UC Davis. Last night, I found out he's a brother in AEPi. Crazy small world!