I am as sentimental today as to reflect on this semester... but first of all, this week!
As most exams were doneY I had some time to do all the last stuff that I hadnt seen yet (obviously the HK-must-sees kinda). So after the exam of Airline Management on Monday Mandy, Fi and I went for a last Dim Sum. Damn am I gonna miss that, I should have had it more often! Tuesday, Mandy and I went to Lama Island in the morning - after Lanau and HK Island the third largest one in the region, and really beautiful. Instead of walking the family trail - as planned - we got stuck in the town of Yung Shue Wan, more explicitly its shops which all sold really nice stuff. However I managed to control my shopahilic nature as I have to remember the luggage restriction on the airplane... so I just got some presents for Xmas and family and friends back home... then we visited a Tin Hau temple. Tin Hau is the godess of heaven by the way, and thus also responsible for seafarers (Yung Shue Wan being a fishing village it makes sense to have such a temple there)... it was a really nice morning, despite the bumpy ferry ride... and most excitingly Mandy saw a Banana tree for the first time ever (believe me - people can get SO excited about that ;) ) and I found out what a plumagranate is (for tha Germanzzz: a Granatapfel!) and actually saw it on a tree... and well, we just had a good time walking around the areas where the average tourist doesnt go...
In the afternoon Lisa joined Fiona, Mandy and me to go to the Peninsula Hotel (THE hotel of HK.... a 5 Star luxury place for the rich and famous like us ;) ) so we went for a High Tea there! After spending some time waiting (while choosing our Xmas presents at Chanell, Cartier, Versace and the alike...) we were led to our old fashioned table... it was so posh, I loved it! just sitting there and watching the people and absorbing the atmosphere... with all those people running around with BAGS of Prada and Armani... the Titanic style children behaving like 19th century porcelain dolls... We enjoyed out Earl Grey with some scones and pastries... just the finest of course. I must say, the atmosphere in there was quite amazing, though rather surreal and more like 100 years back in time...
Wednesday I finally made it into one of HKs most popular museums, the History one. And - did I catch you thinking: BOOOOORING?? - no believe me its not! I learned loads bout HK, and expecially the past +-100 years were quite fascinating!
Wednesday night I went partying in HK island for a last time probably... as there is not much time left. We all had a real good time! Before the Skitz, Mandy, Kaley, Lina, Fi and I went to a Vietnamese dinner, afterwards enjoyed a Sesame Ice Cream and then - as if Ice cream was not cold enough yet, made it to a Russian Ice Bar (-20°C) for a Vodka warm up ;). Then we headed to the Skitz and danced the night away... til it closed at 3... so we went across the street to the 'Dusk-til-Dawn'... yesterday then, I did quite much nothing! oh yes, in the evening I went for a German dinner with Fiona, Mandy, Lisa and Martin to the Biergarten, but I had better memories of hte food from last time. weird... Kassler meat without sauce? I mean WITHOUT sauce? duhhhh...
Today I went to Shenzhen a last time, to pick up my clothes from the tailor... and do some shopping...(bought a box of DVDs of all 6 seasons of Gilmore Girls!!!)
and then tonight I had a really nice Xmas get-together party with Fiona and Mandy... we had British White Chocolate Cheesecake... yummmmmmy... Belgian Chocolates.... PG tea... and all kinda other yummy things! and we watched Home Alone! Haha how nice that was!
Ohhhh... I am so gonna miss it here! Well, I guess when it comes to the end everybody sais that but hey I am also looking forward to go back home!
so here are some HK curiosities:
HK itself: a city of signes... maybe a weird thing to say, but I have never seen so many signes for everything at one place!! No waiting, no spitting, no hawking, please keep quiet, Please stand behind the yellow line, no bikes (next to the one of no cycling).... unbelievable... there is everything! in our shower there is one: 'water temperature adjustment' that actually tells you how to turn the tap in order to get warm water, on the phone there is one 'place me back tenderly' above the phone one 'use of phone'.... on our Toilet door (one of my favourite ones) it says 'female toilet'! and of course the normal ones are there as well... (no smoking, no cooking, no pets...)...
besides signes, Hk is a city of cleanliness... they clean EVERYTHING here! I see them washing the floor (walkways outside i mean) every day...
Hong Kong is a city of everything. ask me anything you like that money can buy... you can get it here, and for everything else, there's mastercard... well, seriously, it is full of surprises and each time I go out I might turn around a different corner and see a face of the city that is so diverse from anything seen before... you could live here for years and not see it all I guess! One must love and hate this place at the same time!
Hong Kong has some quite great architecture. The most beautiful skyline I know is shining every night in a lazer light show... but other than the Central Skyskrapers, it has old time temples just around the corner, and in Hung Homs Whampoa area (around the corner from where I live) they've just build a mall in form or a boat!)
OH and of course a good way to describe a Hong Kong resident would be this:
People who wander around aimlessly and always seem to get in your way in stores and supermarkets, chatting on their cell phones and paying no attention to their surroundings. One who has difficulty determining their next course of action in traffic (sometimes going 10-20mph top speed), and, as a result, is not predictable . (Urban word of the day)
THIS is a serious problem here! if they werent walking everywhere in amazing huge crowds I would get everywhere at least at double speed, but well, I take it positive, I advanced my flexibility in terms of zig-zagging through people, anticipating their every move just a second before they get into my way...
food: they eat eggs of really dark colour, called preserved eggs... which is one of the most unugly things actually, besides that they eat dried fish (dried as in not-at-all-fresh-waterless-stinky-hard), they eat living crabs. McDonalds sells sweet corn. You can also buy Pinapple beer, a drink called 'Sweat' and Chese with either pineapple or chocolate flavour...
Weather: uhh... it was hot in the summer... now it is coooold, almost freeezing at about 20 degrees only!! Specialty about HK weather is, this unbelievably BLUE SKY!! it is so blue, you can never even see it. To secure the residents of its stunning sight they hide it behind a thick unbreakable layer of smog... which they basically never allow to lift, and if it does they make sure to stuff the hole with some new pollution. --> doing this they are quite successful! (for anyone who'd like to copy: try a combination of too much traffic of trains, subways, cars especially taxies, ferries and busses... without catalysts, and keep them running 24//7!)
allrighty, as I cant think of more right now, I will go to bed... anxiously looking forward to my exam tomorrow morning (or better said in a few hours time this morning)...
