TravelByrd
Photos of the Day 1/8/11
Saturday!
Mandy and I did end up going out Friday night. I ended up waking up around 11am. Chelsea and I went to the Sauna for the first time. It was pretty fantastic. I need to make a mental note to go at least once a week. It’s hard to believe I’m living in a resort while I’m going to school.
But around 3pm we all got our acts together and headed out into town. We needed to pick up some textbooks from the Swindon book store in TST, and I needed to check out the Temple Street Street night market for class.
This is the 52x. It’s basically our lifeline to school and the surrounding MTR stations. I’m pretty proud of how well I know my buses by now.
After the 52x we got off in Mei Foo and got on the MTR to Tsim Sha Tsui.
The night market has a huge entrance. There’s so much Red everywhere. I’m sensing a pattern.
This, however, caught our eyes before we even reached the market. Impressive.
After the initial distraction we ventured into the market. It has everything your standard HK marketplace has. Knock off brands, tourist gifts, and food.
Travelers note: Go to a restaurant that is packed. If no one is eating there why do you want to eat there? Why aren’t they?
We all met up later and got dinner together in the market. Chelsea got deep fried Cuttlefish. It tasted a lot like Calamari.
Steven got roasted Goose. It was tasty, but it was cold.
I got Black Pepper Beef. I won the best choice of the evening. It was delicious and a little spicy.
We went thirdsies on fried rice too. It was also delicious. Take out can’t compare. :p
Missy got some sunglasses in the market. She’s pretty pleased about it.
I also got a rare ham moment from Mandy.
I was boring again, and stayed in and worked. I think this is going to be a pattern. Such is life. I’m hoping to experience the night life sometime next weekend. By then I should be over my jetlag and not passing out once I get close to my bed.
Photos of the Day 1/7/11
Thursday started out exciting but ended on a pretty chill note. Mandy and I got up early to go to a meeting for one of our classes. Since the school was touring around guests and prospective students we decided to get a little dressier than usual. I am in love with Mandy’s Red jacket. It pretty much makes anything she wears look ten times more badass.
The class meeting was fantastic. Mandy, Chelsea, and I attended and we got really excited for the class and the project we’d be working on throughout the quarter. Afterwards, Mandy and I got to go to lunch with our professor and chat about school and Hong Kong some more. :)
Mandy had to scoot to class shortly after and I got to spend some more quality time with my professor and show her around Sham Shui Po. I’m hoping I was a good tour guide. Also hoping if I wasn’t it’s not part of my participation grade. :p
We walked around and witnessed the sea of red in every shop as everyone was shopping for Chinese New Year. I really need to get one of these lanterns.
After my tour ended, I mosied back up to school to find my friends. I know this isn’t exactly the most exciting thing to do in a foreign country but I really do enjoy just hanging out with friends/classmates and farting around. Especially with my Mandy and my Bru.
Aneeza slept through most of it though. :p
Kat Kat and her adorable hood/hat.
The hooded Pino.
Sadly I don’t have any pictures of nightlife Shenanigans as of yet. I’ve been going home and passing out due to jet lag/exhaustion. Hopefully next week I’ll be more exciting and wandering out past Gold Coast and Sham Shui Po. :p
Photos of the Day 1/6/11
Day 2 of school in HK!
Ran into some freshmen friends who completely unsupervised. :p
Saw Regine :)
And Jess & Julia. I kept calling Jess Jenn though.
I also found this really well lit room with an awesome table to work at, but then someone found me here and kicked me out.
Hung out with Mandy & Chelsea in the Computer Lab.
<3
We then went into Sham Shui Po in search of food.
This is Tory. She is fantastic.
This Guy was pretty Gangster.
I took the girls to this place close to school at primarily makes dumplings and soup.
Tamera. Sounds like “Camera.” I kept calling her Tamara ala Tia & Tamara.
Ariana. Tiny tiny Ariana.
Panfried Yellow Curry Dumplings :)
Noodle soup with pig intestines and oysters. Quote of the day: “I’m not sure if I can eat intestines.” ”Pretend it’s Mushrooms.”
Mango Green Tea.
Chelsea’s Pudding Tea.
Milk Tea. Classic.
Adorable Watch dog. He kept sniffing all the passing customers.
Cell Phone Store. Getting Tamera an HK phone.
My School is real. promise.
Daydreaming?
Photos of the Day 1/5/11
My first day of school started REALLY EARLY. Really, I woke up at 4am. Yay jetlag. But I got to watch the sun rise so it’s not all bad.
My hair was bad, though. It’s just a frizzy mess, and refuses to dry in time to go to class. As you can tell by my pout.
Mandy and I got on the bus, and I got to see my friend Namit. He’s from India, and didn’t have to deal with the snow I did.
The 15 minutes before my first class was a non-stop love fest. I saw a ton of kids I’d been missing and tackle hugged a few of them. Sorry, Alex.
After my first class we had a jam session in the student lounge. Josh was working on a guitar and teaching Andrew how to play. A school rep came in and started jamming and we played a game of guess that tune. Apprently I am really good at guessing old obscure rock ballads.
We all got hungry and decided to venture into Sham Shui Po for food. My friend Zach used his local knowledge and found us a place with great BBQ Pork. On the way we passed the Christmas decorations that have been up since Thanksgiving. We have aptly named it “Gay Santa.”
This is Chelsea! We haven’t see each other since May Of 2010. Needless to say there was a lot to catch up on over BBQ pork.
Steven was there too, as expert Chop Stick wielder.
After food we ventured onward stopping in a school supply store and a pet shop. We weren’t allowed to pet them so we just stood there and cooed at them and took pictures.
We only had a half our before class after that so we went back to the school building and Chelsea used her new HK planner to plan out her life in Asia.
We were not the only ones in the student lounge.
The one good thing about late night class is the view.
But otherwise it’s pretty quiet.
Photos of the Day 1/4/11
Tumblr is confusing me at the moment.
I can’t change my default blog from http://kbyrdhearts.tumblr.com/ to HKbyrd. So when insta.gram posts to my tumblr account it goes there instead of here, and all of those photos generally are from Hong Kong. Odd isn’t it?
But here are some of the snapshots I took while wandering around today. <3
The Bridge on the ride to Gold Coast that night. :)
Morning in Gold Coast
The Towers
Waiting for the 52X
The Ride to Sham Shui Po
Always trust Americans to find a Starbucks
MandyMandy
Bru
I have been adopted :D
This is Josh, also known as my Bru.
Josh and I are pals. He’s always there to keep me from getting lost or hit by a bus. We hung out today and his parents invited Mandy and I to dinner at their place. Josh’s mom cooked dinner Phillipino style, which meant there was a TON of food. It was all delicious, and they kept offering me more :p. Everyone was at the table, Mom, Dad, sister, Mandy&Me, Josh, Tito & Tita, and Grandmom. It was a fabulous time of eating, talking, telling stories, and laughing. Then to top it all off his parents sent us home with a space heater for our apartment and extra blankets since we were very unprepared for Hong Kong’s wet cold winter. We were incredibly grateful to just spend time with a fun, very giving family. They’ve basically given us their son too. All through dinner, they kept listing great, cheap places to get dinner, saying “Josh! Why haven’t you taken them there yet! Don’t worry, Josh will take you.” When we left they sent Josh with us on the MTR bus to Jordan so he could show us which Mini Bus would take us back to Gold Coast. I hugged the crap out of that kid before I got on the bus. I feel like I have a family in HK. :)
BACK!
Back in Hong Kong for another quarter! More shenanigans and culture clashes coming soon! ;)
10
10 days left. Not nearly enough time.
