you know what? i think i'm growing up. it's probably not hard to believe given the circumstances of being in a new situation in a different country...but it's taken awhile.
i'm learning from the past how to stand up for myself and not be treated poorly. i deserve more respect and dammit, i'm out to get it.
anyway, i had my ismt101 final today and i got there at 8:30 only to find out that it had been rescheduled for 10. after that i slept and bummed all day....and now tomorrow i will have to study sooo much for my logistics test but after that, i will be free!!! until july when i start chinese...
my family comes here in about 10 days, i can't wait!
24 May 2008
21 May 2008
spinning like a whirlwind
These last days in Hong Kong are dwindling so fast! I only have 25 more days until I go home and see my wonderful family and friends and of COURSE, my DOGGIES!!! Yes, I am obsessed with them and no, I do not care what you have to say about it.
On the homefront, things have gone sour in one of my relationships with a friend. I just now realized that he didn't treat me right for some years now, and it's time to let go. This happens a lot to me, and I don't think it's just a weird coincidence, but obviously something to do with myself and how I view myself and treat myself. And I am ready for some change in my life because honestly, drama is draining.
I hugged Katherine goodbye today! So sad. Then Vish wrote to me from his home too and that made me feel a little sad as well. I just realized that it's getting late in may and I thought June was so far off but it indeed my friends, is not. I just finished the third of my finals and now I have two left to go, one of which I just finished making my study guide for.
I sort of just want to get out of here. I am lacking motivation to be happy in Hong Kong, and I didn't expect it to end this way.
So bittersweet.
On the homefront, things have gone sour in one of my relationships with a friend. I just now realized that he didn't treat me right for some years now, and it's time to let go. This happens a lot to me, and I don't think it's just a weird coincidence, but obviously something to do with myself and how I view myself and treat myself. And I am ready for some change in my life because honestly, drama is draining.
I hugged Katherine goodbye today! So sad. Then Vish wrote to me from his home too and that made me feel a little sad as well. I just realized that it's getting late in may and I thought June was so far off but it indeed my friends, is not. I just finished the third of my finals and now I have two left to go, one of which I just finished making my study guide for.
I sort of just want to get out of here. I am lacking motivation to be happy in Hong Kong, and I didn't expect it to end this way.
So bittersweet.
18 May 2008
the beginning of the end
woe is me! classes have ended and its only a few short weeks before finals and the entire semester finishes as well. i can't believe it! part of me is really sad and trying not to be emo while another part of me is pretty excited to go home. it's just that everyone says nothing changes when you go home...everyone is doing the same thing and can't relate to you. and no one wants to hear about your travels over and over, but obviously they're a huge part of your life and who you are....so yes. it might be a difficult transition at home. but i look forward to it anyway.
people have been planning going away parties and get togethers and it's freaking me out a bit. ghoribet already left, katherine and beata are leaving this week...and stupid david leibman is in laos so we all are feeling a little deprived. went to a toga party on thursday, then to jen fo's performance and club 9 on friday, then out to oyster bar, dragon i, cliq, volar and home base last night with my best boys. i love those guys so much!! theyre the best.
so now i have some work ahead of me if i want to do well or at least acceptable on my last three finals and paper. then its done. but im taking two classes this summer so the fun continues!
anyway i'm going to live this up. it's too short.
<3 me
people have been planning going away parties and get togethers and it's freaking me out a bit. ghoribet already left, katherine and beata are leaving this week...and stupid david leibman is in laos so we all are feeling a little deprived. went to a toga party on thursday, then to jen fo's performance and club 9 on friday, then out to oyster bar, dragon i, cliq, volar and home base last night with my best boys. i love those guys so much!! theyre the best.
so now i have some work ahead of me if i want to do well or at least acceptable on my last three finals and paper. then its done. but im taking two classes this summer so the fun continues!
anyway i'm going to live this up. it's too short.
<3 me
07 May 2008
malaysia & singapore
i've recently returned from a trip to singapore and malaysia with an awesome group of friends for a week of traveling...let me recount my experiences!
wednesday: we arrived into singapore late at night without any hotel reservations or an idea of what to do. so we headed to fragrance hotel in the red light district on a private minibus and as we approached, were alarmed at the lines of hookers on the streets. the drive there was pretty as i have decided singapore is quite pristine and fairytale like.
thursday: after a little morning mrt hiatus, rizzardi frances and i made it to the the killaney restaurant to meet alex and kristen. we had some odd jam with our toast and then headed to the bus station to hop a 2.40 ride into malaysia. after we got to jb, it turned out that we had to wait HOURS before the next bus to mersing. so we stayed in the bus station, mainly in mcdonalds, just sitting. we ate some weird sweet potato chips and banana chips and alex bought blood diamond. then we finally boarded the bus and ended up in mersing at omar's backpackers hostel. let me tell you...omar is a big deal in mersing. we had dinner at a pirate cove place with our new friend from england, ben, and then headed to bed. well that didn't work out so well because of the whole nasty-bed-eew-ouch-mosquitos-killing-us-loud-noises-incessant-scary-chanting-burning-hot-with-no-ac issue.
friday: we got up pretty early to catch the boat to tioman island. the ride there was quite comfortable and cold and i slept like a baby. when we arrived, the island was so gorgeous and i couldnt wait to get off the boat. we ended up at abc and stayed i
n a pretty bombass bungalow. the mosquito net wasnt quite big enough and there was no ac but i slept well. we went out on the beach and i drew pretty things in the sand with coral and a rock and eventually the tide rose so we headed in. that night we had curry at some place and brought our duty free wine with. because of the wine, i was able to sleep well. oh and malaysia enjoys stray cats.
saturday: we headed back to mersing and had a little group dispute. frances wanted to still go to taman negara the national park but we decided it was too far to trek in a short amount of time. so after much debate, she headed away and we took a slow, diesel burning, odd van to endau rompin for some jungle time. we were greeted by a pretty cool guy who didnt mind that we didnt have enough m
oney with us...and then sent to our awesome bungalow. since we didnt have electricity until 7pm, we sat around playing spades and other card games in the hot hot heat. then i did some yoga and hopped in the shower. afterwards we went to dinner and had some weird shit and then went to a night walk in the jungle. we saw some cool stuff like tracks, an ant nest, awesome foliage and the like. after being bit by a red ant and wanting to chop my knee off, we headed in for some rest in our COOL air-conditioned room.
sunday: we woke up early to have breakfast which was spicy ramen noodles without soup and then headed out to hike toward a waterfall. after peeling leech after leech off of my feet and alex being bitten by a few through his crocs, we ended up at a beautiful waterfall that was about 70ft high. we jumped into the water and on the way up the pressure killed my ears and the pain lasted for QUITE SOME TIME. like a FULL DAY. owch. then we drove to mersing and then got on a bus to johor bahru and ended up in singapore late at night. we waited for a bazillion years to get the bus to the next customs check point and then hopped a moving bus without paying to get there. we ate at a cafe outside our hotel (yummy indian food) and then headed into our bombass room with the bombass three person bed and watched blood diamond and drank jim beam coolers.
monday: today i found out that singapore is amazingly beautiful! we slept in late and then checked out of our hotel, leaving luggage behind. we took a taxi to the boat quay and had a vietnamese/singaporean lunch next to the water. aferwards, we walked along the quay and headed to the esplanade. on the way we saw the merlions and the second largest ferris wheel in the world! (and rats!) at the esplanade, lisa and i shopped around a bit while alex ventured into the violin shop and played us a few tunes. we then went to st. andrews catherdral which was beautiful but exteremly hot and then spent two hou
rs in the singapore art museum. i actually enjoy art more than i had originally thought! after that we had dinner at delhi, a nice restaurant in little india and then headed off to our night safari. we watched a 'creatures of the night' show and then went on a little safari where i discovered a CAPYBARA which is the world's largest rodent hwich is like a sheep but a hamster. then it was off to the airport!
so overall view of the trip:
malaysia is beautiful, but hot and buggy and has ants that are on steroids. the malay language is interesting.
singapore is awesome, but i would be afriad of being caught chewing gum orsomething. the old architecture in conjunction with the modern buildings is beautiful! the water is gorgeous and the sites are nice but the prices are a little too high.
now its time to explore taiwan. :)
wednesday: we arrived into singapore late at night without any hotel reservations or an idea of what to do. so we headed to fragrance hotel in the red light district on a private minibus and as we approached, were alarmed at the lines of hookers on the streets. the drive there was pretty as i have decided singapore is quite pristine and fairytale like.
thursday: after a little morning mrt hiatus, rizzardi frances and i made it to the the killaney restaurant to meet alex and kristen. we had some odd jam with our toast and then headed to the bus station to hop a 2.40 ride into malaysia. after we got to jb, it turned out that we had to wait HOURS before the next bus to mersing. so we stayed in the bus station, mainly in mcdonalds, just sitting. we ate some weird sweet potato chips and banana chips and alex bought blood diamond. then we finally boarded the bus and ended up in mersing at omar's backpackers hostel. let me tell you...omar is a big deal in mersing. we had dinner at a pirate cove place with our new friend from england, ben, and then headed to bed. well that didn't work out so well because of the whole nasty-bed-eew-ouch-mosquitos-killing-us-loud-noises-incessant-scary-chanting-burning-hot-with-no-ac issue.
friday: we got up pretty early to catch the boat to tioman island. the ride there was quite comfortable and cold and i slept like a baby. when we arrived, the island was so gorgeous and i couldnt wait to get off the boat. we ended up at abc and stayed i
n a pretty bombass bungalow. the mosquito net wasnt quite big enough and there was no ac but i slept well. we went out on the beach and i drew pretty things in the sand with coral and a rock and eventually the tide rose so we headed in. that night we had curry at some place and brought our duty free wine with. because of the wine, i was able to sleep well. oh and malaysia enjoys stray cats.saturday: we headed back to mersing and had a little group dispute. frances wanted to still go to taman negara the national park but we decided it was too far to trek in a short amount of time. so after much debate, she headed away and we took a slow, diesel burning, odd van to endau rompin for some jungle time. we were greeted by a pretty cool guy who didnt mind that we didnt have enough m
oney with us...and then sent to our awesome bungalow. since we didnt have electricity until 7pm, we sat around playing spades and other card games in the hot hot heat. then i did some yoga and hopped in the shower. afterwards we went to dinner and had some weird shit and then went to a night walk in the jungle. we saw some cool stuff like tracks, an ant nest, awesome foliage and the like. after being bit by a red ant and wanting to chop my knee off, we headed in for some rest in our COOL air-conditioned room.sunday: we woke up early to have breakfast which was spicy ramen noodles without soup and then headed out to hike toward a waterfall. after peeling leech after leech off of my feet and alex being bitten by a few through his crocs, we ended up at a beautiful waterfall that was about 70ft high. we jumped into the water and on the way up the pressure killed my ears and the pain lasted for QUITE SOME TIME. like a FULL DAY. owch. then we drove to mersing and then got on a bus to johor bahru and ended up in singapore late at night. we waited for a bazillion years to get the bus to the next customs check point and then hopped a moving bus without paying to get there. we ate at a cafe outside our hotel (yummy indian food) and then headed into our bombass room with the bombass three person bed and watched blood diamond and drank jim beam coolers.
monday: today i found out that singapore is amazingly beautiful! we slept in late and then checked out of our hotel, leaving luggage behind. we took a taxi to the boat quay and had a vietnamese/singaporean lunch next to the water. aferwards, we walked along the quay and headed to the esplanade. on the way we saw the merlions and the second largest ferris wheel in the world! (and rats!) at the esplanade, lisa and i shopped around a bit while alex ventured into the violin shop and played us a few tunes. we then went to st. andrews catherdral which was beautiful but exteremly hot and then spent two hou
rs in the singapore art museum. i actually enjoy art more than i had originally thought! after that we had dinner at delhi, a nice restaurant in little india and then headed off to our night safari. we watched a 'creatures of the night' show and then went on a little safari where i discovered a CAPYBARA which is the world's largest rodent hwich is like a sheep but a hamster. then it was off to the airport!so overall view of the trip:
malaysia is beautiful, but hot and buggy and has ants that are on steroids. the malay language is interesting.
singapore is awesome, but i would be afriad of being caught chewing gum orsomething. the old architecture in conjunction with the modern buildings is beautiful! the water is gorgeous and the sites are nice but the prices are a little too high.
now its time to explore taiwan. :)
26 April 2008
minnesota, hail to thee.
so it's been quite some time (two weeks) since i've written. i guess i've been busy with life!
yoga has been becoming a bigger and bigger part of my life and i am grateful for it. i've discovered that it's my coping mechanism. when my long-term relationship ended last year that's when i first discovered yoga and it healed me for the time being. then i got better and fell out of the yoga loop and only went once in the winter. but since being in hong kong, ive gone about 10 times and each time is a new experience. i gain strength and peace of mind and learn more and more from each teacher. it's the one chance i get to have a quiet mind in this fast-paced stressing environment. it's my escape.
but it only goes so far.
i still have so much here that is on my mind and that im letting drag me down. im longing to go home, but at the same time trying to enjoy the remainder of my time here. i love some of my friends here, but i really want to be with my friends at home. and some people here don't treat me right. they just don't and i'm beginning to finally realize that i deserve more than that. it's interesting how before you pay attention to someone, they strive for it and work so hard to get you to notice them and want to spend time with you all of the time. then you give them an inch and it's over. but it's all so temporary here anyway.
i just need to get back home and get back into the minnesota swing of things.
honestly, i miss mn so much.
yoga has been becoming a bigger and bigger part of my life and i am grateful for it. i've discovered that it's my coping mechanism. when my long-term relationship ended last year that's when i first discovered yoga and it healed me for the time being. then i got better and fell out of the yoga loop and only went once in the winter. but since being in hong kong, ive gone about 10 times and each time is a new experience. i gain strength and peace of mind and learn more and more from each teacher. it's the one chance i get to have a quiet mind in this fast-paced stressing environment. it's my escape.
but it only goes so far.
i still have so much here that is on my mind and that im letting drag me down. im longing to go home, but at the same time trying to enjoy the remainder of my time here. i love some of my friends here, but i really want to be with my friends at home. and some people here don't treat me right. they just don't and i'm beginning to finally realize that i deserve more than that. it's interesting how before you pay attention to someone, they strive for it and work so hard to get you to notice them and want to spend time with you all of the time. then you give them an inch and it's over. but it's all so temporary here anyway.
i just need to get back home and get back into the minnesota swing of things.
honestly, i miss mn so much.
15 April 2008
i love my new yoga headband.
Or "joga" as Seb calls it. (Those Brits...) Anyway, I'm beginning to love yoga as I try out different classes and instructors. I also got a new lululemon (canadian yogawear brand) headband and it works wonders. I don't have hair in my face and I feel awesome! So I wear it all the time, even to bed sometimes...Anyway, I envy one of my teachers because not only is she fit, but she is super down to earth and has really wonderful advice to give about aligning yourself with the present and living in the moment. If you find yourself misaligned, it's okay but realign yourself because NOW is the only time you can enjoy. (Sounds simple but it really isn't....I'm always thinking of the past or looking to the future).
I've started hanging out more wiht Betty and Eva and they are both sweethearts! We have a lot of fun together, do schoolwork together, and a lot of other stuff. Last weekend we went to dinner at a Mediterranean restaurant in Soho and then out to Avenue to party it up! Oh and the day before I brought Betty to Soundwill Plaza to have our nails done for her bday present. Anyway, Betty and Eric are hosting a yacht birthday party this Saturday on the harbor and I am so very excited! I love the harbor!
I'm trying to plan one last trip now...even though my parents wouldn't approve. I also want a fancy lifestyle.
That's all.
I've started hanging out more wiht Betty and Eva and they are both sweethearts! We have a lot of fun together, do schoolwork together, and a lot of other stuff. Last weekend we went to dinner at a Mediterranean restaurant in Soho and then out to Avenue to party it up! Oh and the day before I brought Betty to Soundwill Plaza to have our nails done for her bday present. Anyway, Betty and Eric are hosting a yacht birthday party this Saturday on the harbor and I am so very excited! I love the harbor!
I'm trying to plan one last trip now...even though my parents wouldn't approve. I also want a fancy lifestyle.
That's all.
09 April 2008
it's getting hot in herre.
That's right! Hong Kong is now the tropical, icky-weathered place I imagined it to be. I'm just glad it took this long for the little country to realize it was off in temperature. I have made use of my air conditioning and it is amazing. One aspect of my res hall that is not so amazing is that there is a cheese thief on the loose that I have dubbed "cheese monster." I wonder what CM's motivation is...hunger, lack of resources to buy own cheese, pure evil...? Joce and I are trying to figure out a trap for said thief. :)
You know how I was feeling so down lately? Well I might not have expressed the feeling quite so explicitly in my blog, but really, I wasn't feeling too hot for a myriad of reasons. But after doing pretty well on a midterm, getting time to myself, working out and doing a little retail therapy, I feel a bit better. I even painted my nails all gold and glittery, something I have found to be very HK. The only problem with gold, glittery nails is that that gold glitter is a bitch to get off. Since I want to paint my nails with silver glitter tonight, I'll leave it on until I get a manicure (I'm treating Betty for her birthday) and then make the manicurist take it off. Bahaha. Take that.
Anyway, I've been thinking about life. It's too big of a topic for me to normally tackle but I feel like I should make some changes in my life to optimize...my existence I guess. Ha. That sounds odd. I am too hard on myself and too easy on other people, mainly those of the opposite sex. I'd like to change that.
What's more is...
I'm starving for home.
I am starting to eat better, which is a somewhat difficult feat in oily, msg-infested Hong Kong.
I love to work out, I'm doing interval training now (per Jeremy).
I want to learn Chinese so bad.
I want to go somewhere...sitting in Hong Kong is boring me a bit.
I love economics and learning about development...I should study that more.
I also should study more, so I am going to go do that.
But anyway, relationships and issues in dealing with them are what's on my mind lately. I don't know where to go, how to go, or if I want to go...from here.
You know how I was feeling so down lately? Well I might not have expressed the feeling quite so explicitly in my blog, but really, I wasn't feeling too hot for a myriad of reasons. But after doing pretty well on a midterm, getting time to myself, working out and doing a little retail therapy, I feel a bit better. I even painted my nails all gold and glittery, something I have found to be very HK. The only problem with gold, glittery nails is that that gold glitter is a bitch to get off. Since I want to paint my nails with silver glitter tonight, I'll leave it on until I get a manicure (I'm treating Betty for her birthday) and then make the manicurist take it off. Bahaha. Take that.
Anyway, I've been thinking about life. It's too big of a topic for me to normally tackle but I feel like I should make some changes in my life to optimize...my existence I guess. Ha. That sounds odd. I am too hard on myself and too easy on other people, mainly those of the opposite sex. I'd like to change that.
What's more is...
I'm starving for home.
I am starting to eat better, which is a somewhat difficult feat in oily, msg-infested Hong Kong.
I love to work out, I'm doing interval training now (per Jeremy).
I want to learn Chinese so bad.
I want to go somewhere...sitting in Hong Kong is boring me a bit.
I love economics and learning about development...I should study that more.
I also should study more, so I am going to go do that.
But anyway, relationships and issues in dealing with them are what's on my mind lately. I don't know where to go, how to go, or if I want to go...from here.
08 April 2008
here in these deep city lights, a girl could get lost tonight
sometimes that is just how i feel, lost...not to mention, overwhelmed and frustrated with hong kong. sometimes, the overcrowded streets where you can barely move or breathe are just too much to handle and after being in mongkok about three times this week, i've definitely had my fair share.
what's more is that last weekend i alienated myself and studied, watched a tv show, and bummed around for the entire weekend while my friends went out. they planned a trip to taiwan that's a boy's deal and doesnt get to involve me. so that kind of sucks since i've wanted to go there for a while but couldn't get anyone to go because they all said 'there's nothing in taiwan.' well shit.
on top of that, not being in minnesota is getting to me...and now that im doing the whole beijing thing, it's going to be even longer before i get that taste of home again. and a bit of a tiff occurred the other night that just makes me stressed out and it is definitely not worth it...obviously in hind sight.
i also failed to plan well so i missed yoga twice...after making it out to causeway bay already...so wasted trips. but i bought some cute clothes today so i guess that is a plus! also i had a midterm yesterday that was fairly easy given that i studied so much and i have one on thursday that i must study for but lack the motivation to. oh and on yoga, i had the teacher from hell the other day because she was pretty harsh and bitchy, but it makes it better i guess when she corrects my posture and such. but there was no music and i was super dehydrated because i didn't drink enough h2o before hot yoga, go me!
anyway that was my complaining for the day.
katharine and i might go to hot yoga tomorrow! jen fo wants to go with sometime too! :)
what's more is that last weekend i alienated myself and studied, watched a tv show, and bummed around for the entire weekend while my friends went out. they planned a trip to taiwan that's a boy's deal and doesnt get to involve me. so that kind of sucks since i've wanted to go there for a while but couldn't get anyone to go because they all said 'there's nothing in taiwan.' well shit.
on top of that, not being in minnesota is getting to me...and now that im doing the whole beijing thing, it's going to be even longer before i get that taste of home again. and a bit of a tiff occurred the other night that just makes me stressed out and it is definitely not worth it...obviously in hind sight.
i also failed to plan well so i missed yoga twice...after making it out to causeway bay already...so wasted trips. but i bought some cute clothes today so i guess that is a plus! also i had a midterm yesterday that was fairly easy given that i studied so much and i have one on thursday that i must study for but lack the motivation to. oh and on yoga, i had the teacher from hell the other day because she was pretty harsh and bitchy, but it makes it better i guess when she corrects my posture and such. but there was no music and i was super dehydrated because i didn't drink enough h2o before hot yoga, go me!
anyway that was my complaining for the day.
katharine and i might go to hot yoga tomorrow! jen fo wants to go with sometime too! :)
29 March 2008
my country
i promise that when i get back to hk i won't do these recaps so often. it's just that in a third world country on vacation, it's not that easy to have a good internet connection. so here we go!
24/3: we woke up super early and headed to the airport for hue. when we got to hue, we met our tour guide and immediately started touring. we saw the same things ive seen before but having and english speaking guide was key. we went to two emperors tombs, the imperial city, thien mu pagoda and to a traditional folk song show boat ride. it was a lot of touring temples and things that began to look the same. but the architecture and the use of yin and yang within it are pretty neat-o. or as jbo and i would say, super cool.
25/3: we left beautiful hue for da nang and our tour guide immediately brought us to hoi an. there we toured a silk factory (complete with worm farms and all) and i felt bad for the worms, even though they are just worms. but they could have been butterflies instead of being boiled for their cocoon. shit man. then we went to the old village of hoi and saw some old house (really that's all it was to me), the japanese covered bridge, a chinese assembly hall (which was neato frito) and then had coffee and pancakes on the water. i also met an old man that i fell in love with and so i gave him some money because he was awesome and because i took his picture. then it was dinner (i also fell in love with the waitr) and that's all.
26/3: marble mountain! it was only 200 steps but we had pitstops to admire buddha statues. then we went to the marble factory where they make tons of crazy elaborate statues and i bought a little buddha for my room. i think this one is siddhartha, the original. then we went to the museum of the cham people in vietnam and looked at their relics or artifacts or whatever. then it was time for yet another flight, this time from danang to hanoi. from hanoi we drove 3 hours to ha long bay and ate dinner. michael and i walked through the night market, had fruit at club 18, got foot massages and went to sleep.
27/3: our tour guide, nicknamed leo for his lion eyes, brought us to our private boat in ha long bay. we cruised and spelunked for four hours and had lunch on the boat. the scenery there is just so amazing, i could go back a few more times. i could do without the bat caves though, oh god. well we drove back to hanoi and went to the fiditour office to book another tour to sapa. kevin met us at the internet cafe we go to and brought us to have cha ca at cha ca la vong on cha ca st. HA. it was so yummy! then we booked it to the train station, hopped on le train and went to sleep. exciting night, i know.
28/3: sapa turned out to be amazing! we sat in the hotel for an hour or two before visiting cat ca village and trekking through the terraced rice paddies. alogn the paddies there were tons of baby pigs and goats and cows and buffalo and chickens and doggies. i love baby animals. or even animals in general. i sat next to a buffalo and he didnt even get mad. :) then we went to a mountain and got an awesome view of the city of sapa which is more like hills and houses and awesomeness. the climb wasn't too bad and the view was very rewarding. on the way up we met two ostriches, so cool. they are definitely dinosaurs. i love dinosaurs. then we had the rest of the night free so we walked around the market and called it a super early night.
29/3: city tour at 9:30 and it only lasted like 30 minutes. so after being bombarded by hmong ladies selling stuff, i pinky swore two of them that i would buy something later on. those tricky ladies. then jeremy asked the guide to take us to a valley or anything we could hike through. so jeremy, michael and i jumped down a bunch of terraces and it was sort of a difficult task because each one was almost my size and that's a far jump for that many jumps. michael decided to head back up to the village and i was determined on going further so jeremy and i climbed down and ran into a tourist on the path. the nice guy from australia had a guide with him and let us follow them to another village, but we only went half way because of time constraints. we trekked to a small waterfall type river thing and sat in it on top of rocks to cool our feet off. afterwards, jeremy and i hiked back by ourselves and boy was i tired and dehydrated! we got to the top, had a bite at a cafe michael was at and then headed to another village. we saw a house of one of the villagers and they had buffalo meat and hooves just chillin out. (eew).
the place was super dirty, there was an open fire and tons of mosquitos and smelliness. i can't imagine living like that. i suppose they don't know anything else and would think our way of living is absolutely nuts too. who needs all that luxury? (i like it) then we attempted to go in a cave but these little shits wanted to charge us for it and we didn't pay because its a public cave and so the shits turned the lights out on us. the only good thing aout the cave (besides it being a cave) was that it was freezing cold.
afterwards we headed back to lao cai and had dinner. we had to spend some time before the train departed so we spend an hour on the computer, which happens to make time pass by quite quickly. all aboard and we went to bed.
30/3: shit shit shit. it's now 8:30am, ive been up for three and a half hours and i am tired, groggy, bug bitten to the max, sunburned for the first time ever, smelly, sweaty, a cockroach just ran by my hand and i can't check into the guesthouse until 12 so i cannot shower for another 3.5 hours. fuck. there are these really lame tourists here who are fighting with mgmt over 6000d which is like....idk, less than 50 cents. and also i want to put my contacts in because sweaty glasses are gross. and my pants are ripped from trekking into that damn cave yesterday. so now i am crabby. but on the UPside, i just spent like an hour talking to nancy and although i now miss her more, i love her so much and it was a good talk! :) linda and eric attempted to gchat with me but theyre stupid joint account pissed me off and then they had to go back to work and it was 'game time' for eric. maybe ill call kevin. i dont like hanoi today! :( wahhhh.
24/3: we woke up super early and headed to the airport for hue. when we got to hue, we met our tour guide and immediately started touring. we saw the same things ive seen before but having and english speaking guide was key. we went to two emperors tombs, the imperial city, thien mu pagoda and to a traditional folk song show boat ride. it was a lot of touring temples and things that began to look the same. but the architecture and the use of yin and yang within it are pretty neat-o. or as jbo and i would say, super cool.
25/3: we left beautiful hue for da nang and our tour guide immediately brought us to hoi an. there we toured a silk factory (complete with worm farms and all) and i felt bad for the worms, even though they are just worms. but they could have been butterflies instead of being boiled for their cocoon. shit man. then we went to the old village of hoi and saw some old house (really that's all it was to me), the japanese covered bridge, a chinese assembly hall (which was neato frito) and then had coffee and pancakes on the water. i also met an old man that i fell in love with and so i gave him some money because he was awesome and because i took his picture. then it was dinner (i also fell in love with the waitr) and that's all.
26/3: marble mountain! it was only 200 steps but we had pitstops to admire buddha statues. then we went to the marble factory where they make tons of crazy elaborate statues and i bought a little buddha for my room. i think this one is siddhartha, the original. then we went to the museum of the cham people in vietnam and looked at their relics or artifacts or whatever. then it was time for yet another flight, this time from danang to hanoi. from hanoi we drove 3 hours to ha long bay and ate dinner. michael and i walked through the night market, had fruit at club 18, got foot massages and went to sleep.
27/3: our tour guide, nicknamed leo for his lion eyes, brought us to our private boat in ha long bay. we cruised and spelunked for four hours and had lunch on the boat. the scenery there is just so amazing, i could go back a few more times. i could do without the bat caves though, oh god. well we drove back to hanoi and went to the fiditour office to book another tour to sapa. kevin met us at the internet cafe we go to and brought us to have cha ca at cha ca la vong on cha ca st. HA. it was so yummy! then we booked it to the train station, hopped on le train and went to sleep. exciting night, i know.
28/3: sapa turned out to be amazing! we sat in the hotel for an hour or two before visiting cat ca village and trekking through the terraced rice paddies. alogn the paddies there were tons of baby pigs and goats and cows and buffalo and chickens and doggies. i love baby animals. or even animals in general. i sat next to a buffalo and he didnt even get mad. :) then we went to a mountain and got an awesome view of the city of sapa which is more like hills and houses and awesomeness. the climb wasn't too bad and the view was very rewarding. on the way up we met two ostriches, so cool. they are definitely dinosaurs. i love dinosaurs. then we had the rest of the night free so we walked around the market and called it a super early night.
29/3: city tour at 9:30 and it only lasted like 30 minutes. so after being bombarded by hmong ladies selling stuff, i pinky swore two of them that i would buy something later on. those tricky ladies. then jeremy asked the guide to take us to a valley or anything we could hike through. so jeremy, michael and i jumped down a bunch of terraces and it was sort of a difficult task because each one was almost my size and that's a far jump for that many jumps. michael decided to head back up to the village and i was determined on going further so jeremy and i climbed down and ran into a tourist on the path. the nice guy from australia had a guide with him and let us follow them to another village, but we only went half way because of time constraints. we trekked to a small waterfall type river thing and sat in it on top of rocks to cool our feet off. afterwards, jeremy and i hiked back by ourselves and boy was i tired and dehydrated! we got to the top, had a bite at a cafe michael was at and then headed to another village. we saw a house of one of the villagers and they had buffalo meat and hooves just chillin out. (eew).
the place was super dirty, there was an open fire and tons of mosquitos and smelliness. i can't imagine living like that. i suppose they don't know anything else and would think our way of living is absolutely nuts too. who needs all that luxury? (i like it) then we attempted to go in a cave but these little shits wanted to charge us for it and we didn't pay because its a public cave and so the shits turned the lights out on us. the only good thing aout the cave (besides it being a cave) was that it was freezing cold.
afterwards we headed back to lao cai and had dinner. we had to spend some time before the train departed so we spend an hour on the computer, which happens to make time pass by quite quickly. all aboard and we went to bed.
30/3: shit shit shit. it's now 8:30am, ive been up for three and a half hours and i am tired, groggy, bug bitten to the max, sunburned for the first time ever, smelly, sweaty, a cockroach just ran by my hand and i can't check into the guesthouse until 12 so i cannot shower for another 3.5 hours. fuck. there are these really lame tourists here who are fighting with mgmt over 6000d which is like....idk, less than 50 cents. and also i want to put my contacts in because sweaty glasses are gross. and my pants are ripped from trekking into that damn cave yesterday. so now i am crabby. but on the UPside, i just spent like an hour talking to nancy and although i now miss her more, i love her so much and it was a good talk! :) linda and eric attempted to gchat with me but theyre stupid joint account pissed me off and then they had to go back to work and it was 'game time' for eric. maybe ill call kevin. i dont like hanoi today! :( wahhhh.
23 March 2008
bats, rats, snakes & dogs
it's the fourth day of my spring break trip in vietnam and i'm loving it...so here are a few recaps and impressions of my love, vietnam.
thursday: we arrived in hanoi at about 7pm and after looking around at flight prices and hotel information, we hopped into a cab and told the driver to bring us to 'city gate hotel' in the old quarter. after being lost for some time, he made a phone call and pulled over to the side of the street about a minute later. (sketch) the hotel owner came to the car and opened the door, presenting a business card of the hotel we were looking for...yet both jeremy and i couldn't seem to find the actual hotel we were supposed to be staying at. the manager found out we didn't have reservations and directed us to the sister-hotel, sunflower. we picked a room for $15 a night and then we went to dinner at a jazz club and walked around hoan kiem lake. hoan kiem lake at night is not that great. do you know why it's not that great? because BATS SWARM overhead and RATS crawl on the ground. RATS.
friday: we slept in until 12pm and then headed to a cafe for caphe sua da and some breakfast. afterwards we bought a ton of dvds for dirt cheap (mistake buying at the beginning of the trip since our bags were already heavy...) and then we walked around hoan kiem once again. hoan kiem is surrounded by stunning trees that are hundreds of years old and some dip down into the water. anyway, we walked to the pagoda in the middle of the lake and took a few pictures before heading to an internet cafe where i had soda chanh. after that and after being played by the hotel owner, we got on a plane en route to saigon. tien, ha, huy and co were eagerly awaiting us (so cute) and took us to our driver (same one we had last january) and then found us a hotel. then it was night night time.
saturday: the day started at noon again. hey, we're on vacation right? so we went to eat at the yummy restaurant that my mom was telling me about and that my dad loves eating at and who did we see? julie, jb & sam from hkust! then we went to the reunification palace, this time with an english speaking guide, which made it much more interesting. after that we headed to the war remnants museum that seemed to demonize the americans with photos of results of agent orange and phosphorous bombs. there were also two jars of preserved, deformed fetuses that were affected by agent orange and it was difficult to look at. bleh.
then my family dropped us off at the hotel (tan my dinh) and kevin, jeremy, michael and i went to ben thanh market to look around and the boys bought some snacks and we sat down to eat bun xeo which was actually very good for being at a dirty vendor. then we went to kevin's friend's house (baller) and had a beer before heading out to eat dinner in the big city! after a yummy dinner of ca ri tom (shrimp curry) we went to the 23rd floor of the sheraton and had a drink that lasted two hours while we overlooked the city. i never knew saigon was so immense! we headed to the club called bounce where we had free bottles, fruit, and perrier (compliments of kevin's buddy) and then headed back home for some rest.
sunday: we woke up at 8ish and had breakfast at the hotel. tien, huy and huy's brother came to meet us and then we picked kevin up and headed straight to cu chi. after about an hour or so, we arrived in cu chi and they actually charge foreigners more as tourists are seen as supporting the attraction while locals are there for nationalism strengthening. we toured the village and saw some traps and things and then headed over to watch some slanted view of cu chi movie. it was so awful! i felt brainwashed. "the cute and gentle of the fields girl became a hero for killing american soldiers" "american soldiers bombed our people, our schools, our pots and pans, even our buddhas" "he became a war hero and received three awards. one award for killing american soldiers, one award for shooting american planes, and one for..." (i forgot what the last was for, but im sure it was something against the americans)
after the movie that we ditched before it was done, we went into the tunnels that were extremely small, even after some were 'widened for western tourists.' we entered the underground through tiny holes where we had to put our arms in the air to fit through and then traveled 100 meters in the dark, dusty, dirty, not to mention TINY, tunnels. these tunnels are miles and miles long (the whole thing is about 200km) and they're so genius (if you want to call it that). i couldn't believe that the vietcong/nlf could dig these, even though it took them about 17 years total. their booby traps were scary too. they have punji sticks at the bottom of the traps (which are sharpened bamboo sticks) sticking up with feces, poision, or other contaminants coating the tips of them so that infection would quickly spread to the americans who were pierced by them. frack.
after cu chi we went to tien's house and had the best lunch ever. we had clams, shrimp, bun beo, rau muong, bread & curry, watermelon and drinks. yum! michael liked the bread, jeremy liked the squid...success! afterwards we got dropped off, which brings us to this point right now. on the way to getting dropped off we saw at least 25 weddings being held because apparently saturday and sunday are the only available days for workers to get married so they all do it in the same area of saigon at the same time. (who gets married during the weekday anyway?)
tomorrow we leave at 5:40am to get on a plane to hue and start our tour of the central part of vietnam! we have a private guide for hue, hoi an, da nang and ha long for the next four days, it's going to be awesome.
until then han gap lai! (see you later)
thursday: we arrived in hanoi at about 7pm and after looking around at flight prices and hotel information, we hopped into a cab and told the driver to bring us to 'city gate hotel' in the old quarter. after being lost for some time, he made a phone call and pulled over to the side of the street about a minute later. (sketch) the hotel owner came to the car and opened the door, presenting a business card of the hotel we were looking for...yet both jeremy and i couldn't seem to find the actual hotel we were supposed to be staying at. the manager found out we didn't have reservations and directed us to the sister-hotel, sunflower. we picked a room for $15 a night and then we went to dinner at a jazz club and walked around hoan kiem lake. hoan kiem lake at night is not that great. do you know why it's not that great? because BATS SWARM overhead and RATS crawl on the ground. RATS.
friday: we slept in until 12pm and then headed to a cafe for caphe sua da and some breakfast. afterwards we bought a ton of dvds for dirt cheap (mistake buying at the beginning of the trip since our bags were already heavy...) and then we walked around hoan kiem once again. hoan kiem is surrounded by stunning trees that are hundreds of years old and some dip down into the water. anyway, we walked to the pagoda in the middle of the lake and took a few pictures before heading to an internet cafe where i had soda chanh. after that and after being played by the hotel owner, we got on a plane en route to saigon. tien, ha, huy and co were eagerly awaiting us (so cute) and took us to our driver (same one we had last january) and then found us a hotel. then it was night night time.
saturday: the day started at noon again. hey, we're on vacation right? so we went to eat at the yummy restaurant that my mom was telling me about and that my dad loves eating at and who did we see? julie, jb & sam from hkust! then we went to the reunification palace, this time with an english speaking guide, which made it much more interesting. after that we headed to the war remnants museum that seemed to demonize the americans with photos of results of agent orange and phosphorous bombs. there were also two jars of preserved, deformed fetuses that were affected by agent orange and it was difficult to look at. bleh.
then my family dropped us off at the hotel (tan my dinh) and kevin, jeremy, michael and i went to ben thanh market to look around and the boys bought some snacks and we sat down to eat bun xeo which was actually very good for being at a dirty vendor. then we went to kevin's friend's house (baller) and had a beer before heading out to eat dinner in the big city! after a yummy dinner of ca ri tom (shrimp curry) we went to the 23rd floor of the sheraton and had a drink that lasted two hours while we overlooked the city. i never knew saigon was so immense! we headed to the club called bounce where we had free bottles, fruit, and perrier (compliments of kevin's buddy) and then headed back home for some rest.
sunday: we woke up at 8ish and had breakfast at the hotel. tien, huy and huy's brother came to meet us and then we picked kevin up and headed straight to cu chi. after about an hour or so, we arrived in cu chi and they actually charge foreigners more as tourists are seen as supporting the attraction while locals are there for nationalism strengthening. we toured the village and saw some traps and things and then headed over to watch some slanted view of cu chi movie. it was so awful! i felt brainwashed. "the cute and gentle of the fields girl became a hero for killing american soldiers" "american soldiers bombed our people, our schools, our pots and pans, even our buddhas" "he became a war hero and received three awards. one award for killing american soldiers, one award for shooting american planes, and one for..." (i forgot what the last was for, but im sure it was something against the americans)
after the movie that we ditched before it was done, we went into the tunnels that were extremely small, even after some were 'widened for western tourists.' we entered the underground through tiny holes where we had to put our arms in the air to fit through and then traveled 100 meters in the dark, dusty, dirty, not to mention TINY, tunnels. these tunnels are miles and miles long (the whole thing is about 200km) and they're so genius (if you want to call it that). i couldn't believe that the vietcong/nlf could dig these, even though it took them about 17 years total. their booby traps were scary too. they have punji sticks at the bottom of the traps (which are sharpened bamboo sticks) sticking up with feces, poision, or other contaminants coating the tips of them so that infection would quickly spread to the americans who were pierced by them. frack.
after cu chi we went to tien's house and had the best lunch ever. we had clams, shrimp, bun beo, rau muong, bread & curry, watermelon and drinks. yum! michael liked the bread, jeremy liked the squid...success! afterwards we got dropped off, which brings us to this point right now. on the way to getting dropped off we saw at least 25 weddings being held because apparently saturday and sunday are the only available days for workers to get married so they all do it in the same area of saigon at the same time. (who gets married during the weekday anyway?)
tomorrow we leave at 5:40am to get on a plane to hue and start our tour of the central part of vietnam! we have a private guide for hue, hoi an, da nang and ha long for the next four days, it's going to be awesome.
until then han gap lai! (see you later)
16 March 2008
to find your way, you must first get lost
and that is exactly what i did today in mong kok. i went there to buy a new phone battery because the karma gods made mine dysfunctional and after 35 USD, i now have an operable mobile.
i guess it's time for another week recap, if youre at all interested. even if youre not, im sure ill be interested to look back on this.
tuesday:
betty was in my strategy class for the day so we decided to go running right after class and it was my first time on the track! it was such an amazing view, we ran two quick miles, did some ab work and then headed in. i had a group meeting for ismt and then wrote up a proposal and had dinner with seb and betty at lg1.
wednesday:
i went to an english conversation workshop at the unibar and had free food and met some really cool people (both exchange and local) and we had so much fun playing texas hold 'em and chatting. betty and i studied hardcore for economics and then at midnight, called it a night.
thursday:
full day of class. or it should have been. my phone died and made it so i didnt wake up (no alarm!) and missed my first two classes. i headed up for lunch, went to logistics and strategy, then emailed zuji about my change of address (they send spring break tickets to minnesota...) and
then headed off to my stupid quiz in east asian miracle that i did SO HORRIBLE in and i thought it was the easiest econ test ive ever taken. i guess im better at computational bitchass economics problems instead of easy questions in a multiple choice 25 question quiz. okay so im bitter. anyway after that i headed back to my room, quickly curled my hair and then headed out to brazilian bbq in tst which was pretty good and had cheap wine. it also had cheap beer which later had the effect of making rahul crazy. after that we headed to sugar and beat the line because of jake's genius bullshit talk!! love th
at kid. jeff, joe and his sis came over to say hi to us but didnt end up joing us. wasnt feeling it so i left with juliette at about 3 and stayed up til 6 on skype with mikey.
friday: celebrate rahuls birthday. we went to a
woke up a little bit late and then had lunch with the advisors from the u of m and they gave me EASTER EGGS!!! REESES!! (hong kong does not make or import reeses) then i slept all day (awesome productivity, i know) and then headed out to taco loco in soho for lisas bday. shes only 20! after that, we went to an african bar and met up with jeff and his posse. then his sister wasn't feeling it and went home and we headed over to lkf and hit up fong. it was a little too much on the main floor so jeff, kristen, joe and i went upstairs to have a beverage or two. joe bought me a beer (how nice) and we chatted it up before heading back home. joe and i had pillow talk (separate beds, kids) and it was a good night.
saturday:
i am so lazy. woke up at noon. went to lunch at diamond hill with kevin (awesome pasta) and then we had a thai dessert and checked out a pet expo. after that i rushed to yoga but to no avail as i was 5 minutes late. i was frantically running all over causeway bay to get there on time but apparently not fast enough. so that was a bummer and it really killed my day. until terence asked if i had watched lost yet, which i hadnt so he downloaded it and it was a super sad episode that revealed a couple of things!
sunday:
woke up at about noon (really i am a bum), sat around for a while, headed to causeway bay for hatha yoga with maurice (awesome) and he picked on me a little and made me smile (really he told me to smile) while i was in cobra pose with my hands off the mat. then after that exhilarating feeling, i had dinner at city!super and bought some tea (amazing) from there. went to mongkok for the new battery and discovered a computer repair center so my computer will NO LONGER be a spaceship!!! i headed back to my room and had some bread and cheese...someone stole some of my cheese though. theres a note on the fridge in the common room "i hope you get fucking poisoned from my french cheese. i will fucking kill you for eating my fucking cheese" so i guess the thief got two of us! after that i had a chat with betty and we did our laundry together, then i headed over to jakes to have some catch up chit chat, then up to my room to talk online, back down to jeff/jakes to chill with joe (we counted jeffs change in his cup=over 800 HKD so go steal it) and then back to my room to skype with mike and read my intl management case. good night. oh and im obsessed with the beijing mascots for the olympics!
i guess it's time for another week recap, if youre at all interested. even if youre not, im sure ill be interested to look back on this.
tuesday:
betty was in my strategy class for the day so we decided to go running right after class and it was my first time on the track! it was such an amazing view, we ran two quick miles, did some ab work and then headed in. i had a group meeting for ismt and then wrote up a proposal and had dinner with seb and betty at lg1.
wednesday:
i went to an english conversation workshop at the unibar and had free food and met some really cool people (both exchange and local) and we had so much fun playing texas hold 'em and chatting. betty and i studied hardcore for economics and then at midnight, called it a night.
thursday:
full day of class. or it should have been. my phone died and made it so i didnt wake up (no alarm!) and missed my first two classes. i headed up for lunch, went to logistics and strategy, then emailed zuji about my change of address (they send spring break tickets to minnesota...) and
then headed off to my stupid quiz in east asian miracle that i did SO HORRIBLE in and i thought it was the easiest econ test ive ever taken. i guess im better at computational bitchass economics problems instead of easy questions in a multiple choice 25 question quiz. okay so im bitter. anyway after that i headed back to my room, quickly curled my hair and then headed out to brazilian bbq in tst which was pretty good and had cheap wine. it also had cheap beer which later had the effect of making rahul crazy. after that we headed to sugar and beat the line because of jake's genius bullshit talk!! love th
at kid. jeff, joe and his sis came over to say hi to us but didnt end up joing us. wasnt feeling it so i left with juliette at about 3 and stayed up til 6 on skype with mikey.friday: celebrate rahuls birthday. we went to a
woke up a little bit late and then had lunch with the advisors from the u of m and they gave me EASTER EGGS!!! REESES!! (hong kong does not make or import reeses) then i slept all day (awesome productivity, i know) and then headed out to taco loco in soho for lisas bday. shes only 20! after that, we went to an african bar and met up with jeff and his posse. then his sister wasn't feeling it and went home and we headed over to lkf and hit up fong. it was a little too much on the main floor so jeff, kristen, joe and i went upstairs to have a beverage or two. joe bought me a beer (how nice) and we chatted it up before heading back home. joe and i had pillow talk (separate beds, kids) and it was a good night.
saturday:
i am so lazy. woke up at noon. went to lunch at diamond hill with kevin (awesome pasta) and then we had a thai dessert and checked out a pet expo. after that i rushed to yoga but to no avail as i was 5 minutes late. i was frantically running all over causeway bay to get there on time but apparently not fast enough. so that was a bummer and it really killed my day. until terence asked if i had watched lost yet, which i hadnt so he downloaded it and it was a super sad episode that revealed a couple of things!
sunday:
woke up at about noon (really i am a bum), sat around for a while, headed to causeway bay for hatha yoga with maurice (awesome) and he picked on me a little and made me smile (really he told me to smile) while i was in cobra pose with my hands off the mat. then after that exhilarating feeling, i had dinner at city!super and bought some tea (amazing) from there. went to mongkok for the new battery and discovered a computer repair center so my computer will NO LONGER be a spaceship!!! i headed back to my room and had some bread and cheese...someone stole some of my cheese though. theres a note on the fridge in the common room "i hope you get fucking poisoned from my french cheese. i will fucking kill you for eating my fucking cheese" so i guess the thief got two of us! after that i had a chat with betty and we did our laundry together, then i headed over to jakes to have some catch up chit chat, then up to my room to talk online, back down to jeff/jakes to chill with joe (we counted jeffs change in his cup=over 800 HKD so go steal it) and then back to my room to skype with mike and read my intl management case. good night. oh and im obsessed with the beijing mascots for the olympics!
10 March 2008
just a few of my favorite things...
1. hong kong in general. the efficiency of the mtr. the availability of everything. the cool shops. the yummy restaurants. my school. terrance the travel man. the parks and birds.
2. indian food. today i ate at 'curry in a hurry' and despite it being fast food, it was delish. also i ate at jojo's last night and that was also indian food and also scrumptious.
3. new friends. today i hung out with jeremy all morning planning our vietnam trip and trying to return his torn converse (to no avail) and i can't wait to travel with him. then i had lunch with terence and that was also fun, we talked about all things LOST, hong kong, and life after college.
4. yoga. i just signed up for a 3-month membership at pure yoga in causeway bay and although it is costly, it is definitely going to be worth it. i use yoga as a way to destress and to clear my mind and meditate. that, along with the fitness of it, is enlightening my mind, body, and spirit. today i tried hot yoga (note: hot yoga is not bikram yoga because mr. bikram doesnt want people to call it that if they haven't been trained by him and use the same texts, temperatures and poses) and it was absolutely fabulous. sweat pouring, body aching, and mind focused for 60 minutes was a very good way to spend an hour of my time. i can't wait to go back in two days!
5. skype. i just talked to my sisters on skype and it's so nice to hear their voices. besides them i talk to my parents, brother in law, katrina, mike and jessica and it makes me a lot less homesick and a lot more appreciative of them when i can talk to them. i feel so happy each time.
6. music. lately i've been listening to a lot of regina spektor, matisyahu, the strokes, sara bareilles, coldplay, ingrid michaelson, and the juno soundtrack. thank goodness for itunes and for artists who make my ears sooo happy.
7. being a semi-hippie. i love eating vegetarian. i contemplate issues of peace and the lack thereof and it frustrates me. i now use mostly reusable bags unless im careless and forget it in my stupid res hall. i take mass transit all the time (basically because i have to but also it makes me feel good). and yeah, i like being a semi-hippie.
8. i think that's it for now.
but you know what i realized recently?
im no longer in the process of finding myself.
i'm creating myself.
2. indian food. today i ate at 'curry in a hurry' and despite it being fast food, it was delish. also i ate at jojo's last night and that was also indian food and also scrumptious.
3. new friends. today i hung out with jeremy all morning planning our vietnam trip and trying to return his torn converse (to no avail) and i can't wait to travel with him. then i had lunch with terence and that was also fun, we talked about all things LOST, hong kong, and life after college.
4. yoga. i just signed up for a 3-month membership at pure yoga in causeway bay and although it is costly, it is definitely going to be worth it. i use yoga as a way to destress and to clear my mind and meditate. that, along with the fitness of it, is enlightening my mind, body, and spirit. today i tried hot yoga (note: hot yoga is not bikram yoga because mr. bikram doesnt want people to call it that if they haven't been trained by him and use the same texts, temperatures and poses) and it was absolutely fabulous. sweat pouring, body aching, and mind focused for 60 minutes was a very good way to spend an hour of my time. i can't wait to go back in two days!
5. skype. i just talked to my sisters on skype and it's so nice to hear their voices. besides them i talk to my parents, brother in law, katrina, mike and jessica and it makes me a lot less homesick and a lot more appreciative of them when i can talk to them. i feel so happy each time.
6. music. lately i've been listening to a lot of regina spektor, matisyahu, the strokes, sara bareilles, coldplay, ingrid michaelson, and the juno soundtrack. thank goodness for itunes and for artists who make my ears sooo happy.
7. being a semi-hippie. i love eating vegetarian. i contemplate issues of peace and the lack thereof and it frustrates me. i now use mostly reusable bags unless im careless and forget it in my stupid res hall. i take mass transit all the time (basically because i have to but also it makes me feel good). and yeah, i like being a semi-hippie.
8. i think that's it for now.
but you know what i realized recently?
im no longer in the process of finding myself.
i'm creating myself.
07 March 2008
pomme de terre, jambon, faire du velo
oh how life turns around! the past few days have been so much fun and they were well needed. let's recap.
tuesday: a crap ton of classes, dinner w/rahul & seb where i met soul (or however you spell his name), party in jake and jeff's room with the sausages, then out to sai kung where we ran into mickey's crew for his birthday. i bought a vending machine toy that ended up being a replica of a vending machine that sebastian and i have yet to assemble. i also found a piece of chalk and changed the happy hour sign at a bar to say happy whore. i wrote all my guys names on a metal door gate thing. then i made up the jambon song. which goes something like "jambon, jambon, jambon, jambon..." and michael hated me for it, but that's because he's french and after four years of french, i can only sing about ham. then i sang it to guillame when i got back and he didn't know what the hell i was saying, despite his being french as well.
wednesday: la
b, quick bite with seb, class, watched jeff eat, did some homework but not enough, group meeting for east asian miracle,then went to have sushi with rahul, dave and jeff in hang hau. we decided to go to genki sushi instead of the usual meguro place and it was good but the lack of hotpot forced jeff to eat sushi for the first time! he had some trouble but we think it'll grow on him...acquired taste style. which is weird because why would you want to start to enjoy something that sucks to you in the first place? i was a little adventurous and stepped out of the whole salmon/california roll thing and instead ate inari and some kind of claw thing and had edamame, my fav. i had to read a case study for logistics that night which went pretty well. i hate to say it, but i love logistics. i love supply chain and value chain management and i love to figure out problems with deliveries, quality, and all of that. this basically means: i am a big super freak who shouldn't have admitted all of that and also that im going to be awesome when i work at my dad's company and make some improvements! and also i have a crush on my logistics teacher so that doesn't hurt either.
thursday: early morning test in ISMT101, which i did horribly on because i failed to study. failing to study
leads to failing to do well! weird. since i finished the test in record time, i went to the cafe and had breakfast with kevin and read some of my east asian miracle readings. then i headed to the east asian miracle class...then went to the library to do some more reading, back to the cafe and had lunch with haley and katharine, off to logistics where we discussed a case study, then off to strategic management and learned some more. then at night rahul, jeff, jake, david, michael, tristan, edouard, kevin and i went to eat at "thai delight" where we watched some thai karaoke and had delicious food. i had my go-to tom yum kung, which was awesome but too filling. then we went to tribeca which was fun (and free). the entire stage was filled with ust kids and i had the best margarita of my life. that about sums it up. we took a taxi to lkf for some ebeneezers and then accidentally left kevin in lkf because we didn't know he had left to go to 7-11 and then he got caught up in a convo and oh shit, it was bad. so then i got home but forgot my keys and couldn't wake kristen so i slept in the common room for an hour before jake came back and let me sleep in his room (but not in his bed, don't worry). jake and i had a chit chat, then i fell asleep...
today: and woke up to my mother calling me freaking out about the "new sars" which didn't turn out to be true once i looked it up online. but she was adamant about me seeing the doctor if my throat still hurt and to also maybe wear a mask. then seb told me he got the new sars and freaked me out, geez. anyway, seb and i went to work out which felt awesome (i forget how much i love running, seriously). annnnd now im going to do some homework, shower, watch lost, eat and who knows what.
but now i love my life again. :) that's all.
tuesday: a crap ton of classes, dinner w/rahul & seb where i met soul (or however you spell his name), party in jake and jeff's room with the sausages, then out to sai kung where we ran into mickey's crew for his birthday. i bought a vending machine toy that ended up being a replica of a vending machine that sebastian and i have yet to assemble. i also found a piece of chalk and changed the happy hour sign at a bar to say happy whore. i wrote all my guys names on a metal door gate thing. then i made up the jambon song. which goes something like "jambon, jambon, jambon, jambon..." and michael hated me for it, but that's because he's french and after four years of french, i can only sing about ham. then i sang it to guillame when i got back and he didn't know what the hell i was saying, despite his being french as well.
wednesday: la
b, quick bite with seb, class, watched jeff eat, did some homework but not enough, group meeting for east asian miracle,then went to have sushi with rahul, dave and jeff in hang hau. we decided to go to genki sushi instead of the usual meguro place and it was good but the lack of hotpot forced jeff to eat sushi for the first time! he had some trouble but we think it'll grow on him...acquired taste style. which is weird because why would you want to start to enjoy something that sucks to you in the first place? i was a little adventurous and stepped out of the whole salmon/california roll thing and instead ate inari and some kind of claw thing and had edamame, my fav. i had to read a case study for logistics that night which went pretty well. i hate to say it, but i love logistics. i love supply chain and value chain management and i love to figure out problems with deliveries, quality, and all of that. this basically means: i am a big super freak who shouldn't have admitted all of that and also that im going to be awesome when i work at my dad's company and make some improvements! and also i have a crush on my logistics teacher so that doesn't hurt either.thursday: early morning test in ISMT101, which i did horribly on because i failed to study. failing to study
leads to failing to do well! weird. since i finished the test in record time, i went to the cafe and had breakfast with kevin and read some of my east asian miracle readings. then i headed to the east asian miracle class...then went to the library to do some more reading, back to the cafe and had lunch with haley and katharine, off to logistics where we discussed a case study, then off to strategic management and learned some more. then at night rahul, jeff, jake, david, michael, tristan, edouard, kevin and i went to eat at "thai delight" where we watched some thai karaoke and had delicious food. i had my go-to tom yum kung, which was awesome but too filling. then we went to tribeca which was fun (and free). the entire stage was filled with ust kids and i had the best margarita of my life. that about sums it up. we took a taxi to lkf for some ebeneezers and then accidentally left kevin in lkf because we didn't know he had left to go to 7-11 and then he got caught up in a convo and oh shit, it was bad. so then i got home but forgot my keys and couldn't wake kristen so i slept in the common room for an hour before jake came back and let me sleep in his room (but not in his bed, don't worry). jake and i had a chit chat, then i fell asleep...today: and woke up to my mother calling me freaking out about the "new sars" which didn't turn out to be true once i looked it up online. but she was adamant about me seeing the doctor if my throat still hurt and to also maybe wear a mask. then seb told me he got the new sars and freaked me out, geez. anyway, seb and i went to work out which felt awesome (i forget how much i love running, seriously). annnnd now im going to do some homework, shower, watch lost, eat and who knows what.
but now i love my life again. :) that's all.
03 March 2008
gon' be the birds when they don't want to sing.
so i've had a rough past couple of days due to my inability to not like guys wherever i go. it's just something that happens to me, i find someone who i like and likes me and then we get closer to each other and if it doesn't end well, then you can probably guess the alternative: absolute shit.
i liked someone who liked me but turns out he has a gf who he also likes and is going to stay with. so i guess i can deal with that, i knew he had a gf going into it, i didn't think it was very serious but why should i want someone who doesn't adore me? i deserve at least that and i shouldn't and won't settle for less. he said im his best friend and he pleaded with me to stay friends and after denying him that friendship for about a day, i felt fabulously awful and decided to move on with my life. if all i am going to get is friendship, that is better than enemyship. and friendship, according to jake, is the best kind of ship out there.
i laid in bed for the entire day feeling sorry for myself and being sad, the usual way i deal with things. then rahul told me to get off my ass and go to dinner with him and that was the moment that changed everything. i don't need to sit and sulk by myself when i have such great friends that i would be missing good times with. and dinner WAS a good time with david leibman being all goofy and rahul being all crazy, the usual. and then i went and chatted with jake and jeff about some travel plans and headed back to my room to hang out with kristen and alex.
things are looking up. i've realized that in the past i've dealt with issues about relationships (or lack thereof) in a very poor way. i sit and feel sad and don't eat and hate the world until it finally dissipates. but i'm taking action to make it go away...my life is way too short to feel sad. i was lecturing someone about this the other day, so why not heed my own advice? really, life is so beautiful and i don't want to waste it. i am healthy, i have a beyond wonderful family who i adore and love and miss so much, i have the best friends in the world who care about me an ungodly amount, i have cute little doggies to brighten my day, an awesome school at home, an awesome school in hong kong, and on top of that, i'm pretty freakin' cool too. :) just kidding. sort of.
so in an effort to be happy and healthy in mind, body and spirit, i've decided to forgive the poor guy. he made mistakes, he knows it and feels bad for it. i made mistakes and i'm ready to move on already.
i just want to be happy. that's all.
i liked someone who liked me but turns out he has a gf who he also likes and is going to stay with. so i guess i can deal with that, i knew he had a gf going into it, i didn't think it was very serious but why should i want someone who doesn't adore me? i deserve at least that and i shouldn't and won't settle for less. he said im his best friend and he pleaded with me to stay friends and after denying him that friendship for about a day, i felt fabulously awful and decided to move on with my life. if all i am going to get is friendship, that is better than enemyship. and friendship, according to jake, is the best kind of ship out there.
i laid in bed for the entire day feeling sorry for myself and being sad, the usual way i deal with things. then rahul told me to get off my ass and go to dinner with him and that was the moment that changed everything. i don't need to sit and sulk by myself when i have such great friends that i would be missing good times with. and dinner WAS a good time with david leibman being all goofy and rahul being all crazy, the usual. and then i went and chatted with jake and jeff about some travel plans and headed back to my room to hang out with kristen and alex.
things are looking up. i've realized that in the past i've dealt with issues about relationships (or lack thereof) in a very poor way. i sit and feel sad and don't eat and hate the world until it finally dissipates. but i'm taking action to make it go away...my life is way too short to feel sad. i was lecturing someone about this the other day, so why not heed my own advice? really, life is so beautiful and i don't want to waste it. i am healthy, i have a beyond wonderful family who i adore and love and miss so much, i have the best friends in the world who care about me an ungodly amount, i have cute little doggies to brighten my day, an awesome school at home, an awesome school in hong kong, and on top of that, i'm pretty freakin' cool too. :) just kidding. sort of.
so in an effort to be happy and healthy in mind, body and spirit, i've decided to forgive the poor guy. he made mistakes, he knows it and feels bad for it. i made mistakes and i'm ready to move on already.
i just want to be happy. that's all.
02 March 2008
01 March 2008
so frustrated.
since most of my posts have been happy and informative and all of that wonderfully fabulous happy stuff, now it's time to let out my frustrations with life.
i am homesick. as much fun as im having, the people im meeting and the adventures im embarking on, i miss home. i want to cuddle up in my bed in my bedroom in blaine and walk upstairs and hang out with my parents and call my friends and talk without being charged up the ass for it. i want to hug my family and mikey and jessica and katrina and everyone. but i cant. i want to go to a house party or bar in dinkytown and hang out with my roommates from before. today im not living in the present, but very much longing for the past or what could be.
and on top of that, it's been a while since ive worried about what people think of me and now im wondering what certain people here do. certain people who i have developed an interest in but cannot do anything about. and its frustrating the hell out of me although it should definitely not be.
and my throat hurts. its been three weeks and my frackin cough won't go away.
but yesterday i hiked up a mountain with kristen as my guide and jeff, dave, and seb as my fellow hikees. it was exhausting and difficult but i made it! and then we had a picnic at the top of the mt and then trekked down through the forest which was a bit difficult but definitely fun. the night was low key after that: dinner @ unibar, homework and LOST with seb, late night convos with kristen and jeff, and then sleep.
now im going to shenzhen with dave and hopefully today will be a good day. ill make it one.
but im s
till frustrated.
i am homesick. as much fun as im having, the people im meeting and the adventures im embarking on, i miss home. i want to cuddle up in my bed in my bedroom in blaine and walk upstairs and hang out with my parents and call my friends and talk without being charged up the ass for it. i want to hug my family and mikey and jessica and katrina and everyone. but i cant. i want to go to a house party or bar in dinkytown and hang out with my roommates from before. today im not living in the present, but very much longing for the past or what could be.
and on top of that, it's been a while since ive worried about what people think of me and now im wondering what certain people here do. certain people who i have developed an interest in but cannot do anything about. and its frustrating the hell out of me although it should definitely not be.
and my throat hurts. its been three weeks and my frackin cough won't go away.
but yesterday i hiked up a mountain with kristen as my guide and jeff, dave, and seb as my fellow hikees. it was exhausting and difficult but i made it! and then we had a picnic at the top of the mt and then trekked down through the forest which was a bit difficult but definitely fun. the night was low key after that: dinner @ unibar, homework and LOST with seb, late night convos with kristen and jeff, and then sleep.
now im going to shenzhen with dave and hopefully today will be a good day. ill make it one.
but im s
till frustrated.
28 February 2008
the ghostest with the mostest
there's a ghost in my room. something supernatural and freaky and that's all i know. let me explain.
two nights ago i woke up in the middle of the night to someone standing at the foot of my bed, on my bed, looking at me. i thought my roommate had sleep walked over to my bed for some reason, so i yelled "kristen!" to get her to wake up. well then i heard her stir in her bed next to me, and definitely not in front of me. so i stared at the person and as my heart was about to beat out of my chest, it finally went away. so i thought i was delusional but now people are telling me there's a ghost and since people commit suicide at my school more often than normal, maybe that's why.
but maybe i'm just delusional.
anyway, all the trauma caused me to sleep late through my 9:00 and then when i was ready to go to my 10:30 i lacked motivation and instead sat around until i met oscar (local student) for lunch @ the cafe. he brought me some dessert from 'pie and tart' which is a famous hk bakery. it was an egg/dough/cheese concoction. it was good but i could have done without the cheese part of it. anyway, rahul joined us and later apologized for barging in our date but it was very much not one of those. then i went to my 1:30 and then i had my 3:00 and then a group meeting at 6 and then that was over. (thankfully).
kristen, jeff, michael and i went out for indian food and met up with oliver and krisstopher there too. it was my first time having indian food abroad and boy, was it needed! although my tummy hurts a little bit today and i wonder if thats a result of the delicious meal.
we went to a club called volar that jake told us about and got free shots until midnight (which was about 20 minutes away from the time we arrived) and then just kind of hung around. there was a famous dj there from paris and im not really into that kind of music so i didn't think it was all that grand. but jake and rahul were loving it. and i mean lovin it! (i think it was because they went to vistory's pub night "drunk in four shots" before they met up with us) (and also sebastian was sick so he didn't join us) (and so was david leibman)
after a stop at 7-11, we headed back to mine and kristens room and hung out and ate chips and drank water. it was a grand old time until i was ready to go to sleep. which i did at 3 and now at noon the next day im awake and my only obligation for the day is to go to the gym. and perhaps i could work on homework. but...yeah.
oh and on a purely separate note from anything i have written above: i think im starting to find religion or spirituality or something like that. i've been thinking about a lot of things since i've been in hong kong regarding myself and what i believe and now i think that i'm leaning towards buddhism. however, im going to refrain from categorizing myself because what does that matter? all that matters (to me) is what i believe and it's a personal thing so i don't need to declare it. but i do like to talk about it, for instance, right now.
i think the main goal in life should be to be happy. finding contentment, i have found (haha), is NOT an easy task and takes a lot of time & effort. i've been so used to feeling sad, dull, bored, depressed, anything negative for the longest time and then a transformation occurred and here i am, happy and healthy and wonderfully excited about everything in life. and now all i want to do is keep progressing toward that enlightenment, which i think is the point of life. you have to find out who you are and what makes you content.
all the rest is just fluff.
two nights ago i woke up in the middle of the night to someone standing at the foot of my bed, on my bed, looking at me. i thought my roommate had sleep walked over to my bed for some reason, so i yelled "kristen!" to get her to wake up. well then i heard her stir in her bed next to me, and definitely not in front of me. so i stared at the person and as my heart was about to beat out of my chest, it finally went away. so i thought i was delusional but now people are telling me there's a ghost and since people commit suicide at my school more often than normal, maybe that's why.
but maybe i'm just delusional.
anyway, all the trauma caused me to sleep late through my 9:00 and then when i was ready to go to my 10:30 i lacked motivation and instead sat around until i met oscar (local student) for lunch @ the cafe. he brought me some dessert from 'pie and tart' which is a famous hk bakery. it was an egg/dough/cheese concoction. it was good but i could have done without the cheese part of it. anyway, rahul joined us and later apologized for barging in our date but it was very much not one of those. then i went to my 1:30 and then i had my 3:00 and then a group meeting at 6 and then that was over. (thankfully).
kristen, jeff, michael and i went out for indian food and met up with oliver and krisstopher there too. it was my first time having indian food abroad and boy, was it needed! although my tummy hurts a little bit today and i wonder if thats a result of the delicious meal.
we went to a club called volar that jake told us about and got free shots until midnight (which was about 20 minutes away from the time we arrived) and then just kind of hung around. there was a famous dj there from paris and im not really into that kind of music so i didn't think it was all that grand. but jake and rahul were loving it. and i mean lovin it! (i think it was because they went to vistory's pub night "drunk in four shots" before they met up with us) (and also sebastian was sick so he didn't join us) (and so was david leibman)after a stop at 7-11, we headed back to mine and kristens room and hung out and ate chips and drank water. it was a grand old time until i was ready to go to sleep. which i did at 3 and now at noon the next day im awake and my only obligation for the day is to go to the gym. and perhaps i could work on homework. but...yeah.
oh and on a purely separate note from anything i have written above: i think im starting to find religion or spirituality or something like that. i've been thinking about a lot of things since i've been in hong kong regarding myself and what i believe and now i think that i'm leaning towards buddhism. however, im going to refrain from categorizing myself because what does that matter? all that matters (to me) is what i believe and it's a personal thing so i don't need to declare it. but i do like to talk about it, for instance, right now.
i think the main goal in life should be to be happy. finding contentment, i have found (haha), is NOT an easy task and takes a lot of time & effort. i've been so used to feeling sad, dull, bored, depressed, anything negative for the longest time and then a transformation occurred and here i am, happy and healthy and wonderfully excited about everything in life. and now all i want to do is keep progressing toward that enlightenment, which i think is the point of life. you have to find out who you are and what makes you content.
all the rest is just fluff.
27 February 2008
i've divorced travelpod.
at first i got hooked on travelpod because ted, the yoga guy from mn used it for his travels in india and i thought it was so damn cool. but then i remembered that i love google and am a super huge nerd like that so then i got a divorce and here i am, in the stages of a new relationship.
this way, i can write more of a personal journal and not just about travels and all of that profound stuff that i happen to occasionally stumble upon. i hate not finishing things so i'm going to have to let the travelpodders know that i've moved on, tear. :( and i also maybe uprooted my old posts into this and now that's enough of that talk.
today i woke up and feeling a bit groggy, i showered, dried and curled my hair, got dressed, and quietly (or so i tried) slipped out the door and headed for central to get more passport pages at the us consulate. after a long ride on the crowded mtr (when is it NOT), i ended up in central and followed the 'peak tram' signs because that's how you get to the us consulate if you're wondering. after 20 short minutes at the consulate, my passport was looking all shiny and happy and new and then i went and wandered around central because really ive only been to lan kwai fong there to party and im sure there is much, much more!
i ended up at hong kong park where there is an avian section which OMG i love birds. i wish i was a bird and maybe in the next life (if i didn't get this one right) i'll come back as a pretty bali mynah which is the coolest bird. well for now anyway. i wrote down the name and sketched it on a receipt that i was using as my bookmark in eat, pray, love. i love that book by the way. at first i was wary of it because i thought it was about just religion and finding god and it's so much more than that. it also makes me crave going to these places (italy, india and indonesia). if im lucky ill make it to bali or at least jakarta this spring. so after chillin with the birds for a while and listening to their pretty calls, i parked myself on a bench and read my novel for a little longer.
after escaping my little sanctuary in the park, i headed back to the crowded mtr and back to class. i went to lab which was a joke (info systems 101) and then walked over to the cafe where i knew i'd find sebastian eating a sandwich and studying chinese. funny how people are creatures of routine and habit. we talked for a bit about everything i could expel in 10 minutes since i had so much energy, then i had lunch with kristen, frances, hannah, christine and some other people in lg1 which consisted of dim sum. then i headed to management which was terribly boring since it was about absolute & comparative advantage and other trade theories and HELLO have we not learned this? or have I not anyway?
so then i kept jeff company with my coffee as he munched on his panini and then i headed back to my room for some flight searches and a quick nap. then i did some exercises and yoga stretches and now ive just finished my dinner (indian food from a box that was interestingly tasty). after i got a quick divorce, here i am.
i think ill finish the night by calling my fam fam and possibly proposing the idea of staying in beijing this summer (maybe not because the timing is off, i can just feel it) and then stretch, shower, and sleep. but seb might call me so my plans might change, but probably not. ps he is indirectly teaching me how to speak british and i love, love it. it's my favorite accent by far, with aussies trailing close behind.
today was perfect. the weather felt first-day-of-school-autumn-esque and the only thing missing were the leaves crunching beneath my feet. (that andrea would have to go back and crunch if she missed)
love and misses
this way, i can write more of a personal journal and not just about travels and all of that profound stuff that i happen to occasionally stumble upon. i hate not finishing things so i'm going to have to let the travelpodders know that i've moved on, tear. :( and i also maybe uprooted my old posts into this and now that's enough of that talk.
today i woke up and feeling a bit groggy, i showered, dried and curled my hair, got dressed, and quietly (or so i tried) slipped out the door and headed for central to get more passport pages at the us consulate. after a long ride on the crowded mtr (when is it NOT), i ended up in central and followed the 'peak tram' signs because that's how you get to the us consulate if you're wondering. after 20 short minutes at the consulate, my passport was looking all shiny and happy and new and then i went and wandered around central because really ive only been to lan kwai fong there to party and im sure there is much, much more!
i ended up at hong kong park where there is an avian section which OMG i love birds. i wish i was a bird and maybe in the next life (if i didn't get this one right) i'll come back as a pretty bali mynah which is the coolest bird. well for now anyway. i wrote down the name and sketched it on a receipt that i was using as my bookmark in eat, pray, love. i love that book by the way. at first i was wary of it because i thought it was about just religion and finding god and it's so much more than that. it also makes me crave going to these places (italy, india and indonesia). if im lucky ill make it to bali or at least jakarta this spring. so after chillin with the birds for a while and listening to their pretty calls, i parked myself on a bench and read my novel for a little longer.
after escaping my little sanctuary in the park, i headed back to the crowded mtr and back to class. i went to lab which was a joke (info systems 101) and then walked over to the cafe where i knew i'd find sebastian eating a sandwich and studying chinese. funny how people are creatures of routine and habit. we talked for a bit about everything i could expel in 10 minutes since i had so much energy, then i had lunch with kristen, frances, hannah, christine and some other people in lg1 which consisted of dim sum. then i headed to management which was terribly boring since it was about absolute & comparative advantage and other trade theories and HELLO have we not learned this? or have I not anyway?
so then i kept jeff company with my coffee as he munched on his panini and then i headed back to my room for some flight searches and a quick nap. then i did some exercises and yoga stretches and now ive just finished my dinner (indian food from a box that was interestingly tasty). after i got a quick divorce, here i am.
i think ill finish the night by calling my fam fam and possibly proposing the idea of staying in beijing this summer (maybe not because the timing is off, i can just feel it) and then stretch, shower, and sleep. but seb might call me so my plans might change, but probably not. ps he is indirectly teaching me how to speak british and i love, love it. it's my favorite accent by far, with aussies trailing close behind.
today was perfect. the weather felt first-day-of-school-autumn-esque and the only thing missing were the leaves crunching beneath my feet. (that andrea would have to go back and crunch if she missed)
love and misses
24 February 2008
an extraordinary civilization
After traveling 6 hours on a bus out of Phnom Penh, we arrived in Siem Reap and were quickly escorted to Yellow Guesthouse, which is an extension of Okay Gueshouse. I just can't get over the awesome names of these places...so original!
My favorite part of the bus ride was when we stopped at a rest area with vendors selling fruits, whole chickens and best of all, spiders. Not just any spiders, but huge, black, thick, gynormous, disgusting spiders cooked with oil and eaten whole, with yellow goo to accompany the body. Seriously, I know if I had grown up on spiders, I would think nothing of it...but since I didn't, I found it truly sickening and had to back away when a spider-vendor got close. (Eew).
We made it to Angkor Wat in time for the sunset but the cloud coverage was anything but forgiving. After exploring for a good twenty minutes, we gave up and tried to go to the market. Well, we ended up at some tourist area that wasn't all that great, but we scored some t-shirts out of it, my main goal of course. We headed out for dinner and drinks and had a happy old time and then headed to bed in order to wake up for sunrise @ Angkor again.
So after waking up a little late (5am) we headed in our TukTuk to Angkor and faced East to watch the sunrise. Well, we saw the sky lighten but that was the extent of it because of the lovely clouds. So we explored Angkor Wat a little more, then headed to Angkor Thom and saw Bayon and Preah Khan and then finally made it to the beautiful Ta Prohm which was left to the jungle's mercy and cleared out later on. (Also where Tomb Raider was shot, you know, the big trees entwined in
the structure of the temple). What is amazing about all of these temples is how intricate the design and structures were, even when they were constructed so long ago! (The Angkorian Era began in 800 AD) It is sort of difficult to imagine what life was like back then, but when I was walking through the temples, I tried to picture people and how the structures used to look before they were subject to time and nature. Rahul said a movie should be made about ancient Cambodian civilization and we all eagerly agreed. We decided it was a good temple tour and headed back to have some breakfast and make it to the 12:30 Angkor Express back to Phnom Penh.Back in PP, we had dinner and drinks and celebrated our last night in Cambodia. We toasted every drink and then finally called it a night in anticipation of an early morning wake-up for our 8:50 flight.
Now I am back and it feels a little relieving to be on familiar territory, in my nice cold dorm room with my computer and bed.
And now that I've gained a little perspective, I can quietly return to my life in Hong Kong...
Until the next adventure.
21 February 2008
phnom-enal
Cambodia is a whole different world from anything than I have experienced. It reminds me a bit of Vietnam, but only in the small roadside shops, lack of serious development sort of way. Cambodia is by far (in my eyes) poorer than Vietnam and it breaks my heart to see all of the people who don't have anything, or very little anyway.
Children sleeping on the sidewalks and begging for money and selling fruit for so cheap to make a little bit of a living makes me question why there is such injustice in the world. Some can afford to spend money like it's nothing on yachts and houses and cars, while others can't even afford to live anywhere but on the public sidewalk. It also makes me feel very fortunate to be able to have the things I do and experience life in the way that I am...traveling and viewing these lifestyles with my very own eyes is something in itself.
After a grueling set of flights and waiting in the "aircock bangport," we finally reached Cambodia, but with much exhaustion. After settling in at the Okay Guesthouse, Seb, Rahul, Jake and I took a four-hour nap to recharge for some exploring. Our first destination was the Killing Fields of Cheoung Ek which I soon found to be a waring experience on the heart and mind...something I was not prepared for. As soon as we entered, I set eyes on a monument dedicated to the victims of the mass genocide in Cambodia in the 1970s. I prayed for them with incense and a small donation before stepping into the little sanctuary with a glass case filled with skulls and other bones. These were real people who died because of hate and ignorance. I couldn't bare to look at them for very long, as my stomach started to churn and my eyes began to well with tears. We were also able to see some of the mass graves with horrific descriptions and the walk around the field was eerie and chilling. How can people do this to each other? What drives someone to want to kill another person, much less an entire population of people? It baffles me and I'm sure others feel the same way. It's just so sad.
After that, we headed to the 'museum' which was code for the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum which was a former school turned prison during the same genocide period. Over 14,000 people were tortured at this prison named S-21 and we saw the prison cells, the torture instruments, beds they were chained to, and worst of all...the pictures of the victims. The childrens' pictures were the most heartwrenching part of the tour...little innocent lives being imprisoned and then burned to death, sometimes by other children who were bred to be evil by the Pol Pot Regime. These two site visits were a silencing way to begin our trip, but traveling isn't just about beaches and having fun.
To be exposed to the realities of the world, past and present, is surely a gift. So many people I know have no idea about the world outside of their own small sphere, and my naive eyes still aren't aware of much of what the world has to offer. I'm still learning, but it's a rewarding experience.
17 February 2008
shenzhenuinely awesome
Shenzhen is so underrated. For those of you who aren't sure, Shenzhen is a big city in Mainland China that is roughly an hour away from Hong Kong. In order to go, I had to get my Visa rush serviced, trek a little to get to the embassy and pay a hefty fee. But it was definitely worth it because this weekend was amazing!
Most people go to Shenzhen for cheap prices on clothes and electronics. What they don't know is that they can stay at awesome, relaxing spas for a cheap price too! I, along with Jake, Jeff, Dave, Seb, Rahul and Arne went to Shenzhen by train on Saturday morning/afternoon and when we arrived we immediately started
shopping. We were measured for suits and shirts from a tailor in this crazy, demanding, insane mall where all of the shopkeepers chase you to buy their products which are "copy" everything. Copy watch, copy ipod, copy Gucci...you name it. After I was measured I still had to wait for Jake and Jeff to get their measurements down so I ran off to a shoe store and in the span of about 15 minutes managed to buy 6 pairs of shoes after trying on about 20. (They weren't all for me and totalled about 40 USD so that's what, less than 8 a pair?!)Then we had a late lunch at a restaurant in the mall that turned out to be surprisingly one of my favorite meals since I have been here. After that we checked into the Queen Spa and Dining complex and the beginning was a little upsetting for me because since some of the areas are split up between men and women, I thought I would be doing everything alone (including sleeping with strangers) since I was travelling with 6 guys. Anyway, we got it worked out so that instead of sleeping in a common area, we got a private massage room for the seven of us. I also cried a little because I thought Jake was pissed at me when he said "It's either this or some shit hole hostel." So yeah. But Jeff was super caring toward me and that made me appreciate him a little more and pretty much everyone softened up once they saw that I was upset. :) I have good friends.
Well we finally checked in, headed to the massage pools that consist of many pools with different forms of water massage like jets shooting from shower heads, overhead jets that pour onto your back as you lay down, jet beds, whirpools, everything. So after being amazed at that, we showered and got dolled up for a night on the town! We went across the street to eat some Chinese food which wasn't all that great and then headed to a club called Chocolate. The bar was so fun and crazy and I got to practice my Chinese with some people there. There were definitely some creeps and I met the asian version of my guy roommate from last summer and that was sort of awkward.
After the club we went back to our massage room and while Jake and Jeff had massages, we all stayed up joking around. After falling asleep at the wee hours of the morning, we woke up and had breakfast at the "rest area" which consisted of two gynormous fruit bars with all the things you wanted to drink. The rest area was also comprised of a gazillion chairs with people getting massages, watching tv on their personal screens, eating, reading, whatever. Not to mention to pool tables, Wiis, and all that other entertainment stuff we didn't end up using.
After hitting the massage pools one more time, I finally had my full-body aromatherapeutic massage that lasted 100 minutes and included a facial. It was a lot different from the massages the boys had because I was alone in a dim, lush room with suede walls, a beaded curtain, soft music, yummy scents and plush bedding. After that, some of us had foot massages while we lounged in the m
ost comfy chairs in front of a big screen playing American Gangster, drinking tea and resting.Finally, I am back in my dorm room ready to return to "normal life" for about four days. It's so weird to me that Hong Kong feels like home and has this welcoming aura to it once I step back into the city after being away. Funny how that could happen so fast! I'm going to Cambodia on Thursday-Monday and it should be a very intense and interesting trip.
Can't wait to tell you about it!
14 February 2008
the unfamiliar is slowly become familiar
So there is no particular reason that I am writing this other than to write it and keep everyone up to date on the daily happenings of my life.
This week was quite uneventful! I came back from Macau on Sunday and slept all day because of our early morning travels and then joined the boys in the common room for lounging around. Then on Monday I was going to get my visa...but that didn't happen. Only class and grocery shopping and a futile attempt to find a heater happened. On the bright side of that, I know the mall and shops at Hang Hau like the back of my hand and have found some dry cleaning places to remove all the smoke and soot from my pretty dresses.
Tuesday I skipped two classes because I thought I was dropping one of them but it turns out I finally got into the class and well, oops. Seb and I watched Trainspotting in my room, which I have to say is a crazy movie, but good nonetheless. Ewan Mcgregor being the lead character doesn't hurt either. :)
Wednesday I went to lab on "advanced googling" which was quite the joke, then headed to international management, booked a cab to Wan Chai to apply for my Chinese Visa, met Terrence @ Hang Hau for sushi, then headed back to the dorms to hang out with the crew. I was going to go out but thankfully I didn't because I had a full day of class on Thursday.
Thursday. I didn't go to my first two classes. Hopefully my parents aren't reading this because I didn't go to class and that is what they are paying for. Frack. I did, however, make it to logistics management and to strategic management and this time I kept my mouth shut as a result of the other day's blunder in class where I answered the teacher like five times and he didn't get it and shut me down. Frack again. Anyway, I made Valentine's cards for my friends here and then met Terrence for coffee before his track practice. I finally got myself back to the gym and ran for half hour and then ate dinner (in my room and from the microwave and it was awesome) and then watched part of a movie, showered, and here I am....about to finish the movie and then start homework and then relax.
Anyway, I'm going to Shenzhen on Saturday while everyone is in either Bangkok or somewhere in the Philippines. But hey, it's a cheaper trip and it's sure to be a good time!
Love you all and hope your Valentine's Day is wonderful, even if you are single like me! :)
<3>
07 February 2008
take the good with the bad
Happy Chinese New Year everyone! Or in other words, Kung Hei Fat Choy!! That's a phrase I learned when I was young but I wasn't ever really sure how to say it exactly or what it meant. Now I get it. :)
In spirit of Chinese New Year, almost all of the exchange students went to a club called Skitz last night and it was open bar and ladies night which translates to free drinks are bad for you. I didn't have a whole lot but it turns out that the drinks are strong and I spent until 5pm today sleeping. Great, right? Then I talked to my dad today and his only piece of advice for me was "don't get drunk." Then he also told me which means when I drink, don't get to the drunken point. Which translates to my dad knows and is okay with me drinking a little bit. Well maybe not okay with it but not oblivious. Anyway, it's when things go shitty that you know who cares and who steps in. My friend Christine and some other girls were helping me out and apparently they weren't very convincing to me when trying to make me go home, but as soon as I heard my friend Jake's voice, I was ready to go. He was very sweet last night and pretty patient with me.
On a much worse note, my good friend Sebastian got sucker-punched by a guy trying to take his cab (big freakin' deal, right?) and then he got knocked unconscious and hit his head on the pavement which resulted in stitches and a sore jaw. Dumbass drunk people make me so mad. Today he wasn't feeling too hot and I left Central with him to go to back to campus and he was falling asleep on the train. Amid the drifting off and being tired, we managed to make some plans and brainstormed for our spring break trip in Tokyo. I can't wait!!
Oh and two days ago we went to the flower market for New Years and I bought a plant and a balloon for my friend Frances' birthday, but failed to get a plant for myself. I did try some crazy dessert thing and had some sugar cane juice which wasn't too bad but definitely sugary. Then tonight we went to TST to watch the CNY parade and it wasn't that great but we managed to get into this VIP section of a nice hotel where we definitely didn't belong. But it was fun anyway! Afterwards, Kristen and I and a few other people went to
an Italian restaurant which wasn't awesome but it was the best service I've had in Hong Kong and definitely a nice break from Chinese food. Asian food for that matter.Anyway, it's time for rest and recouperation and a good start to the new year! :)
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