Countdown

This semester has gone by unbelieveably fast... I can't even comprehend where my time has gone... I still have about a month and a week and tons to look forward to! Here is a look at the rest of my semester!

11 days til my end of the year International Party!!!

15 days til I am done with finals

17 days til i leave for Beijing!

34 days til my Aunt and Uncle come to Hong Kong

36 days til my Parents get here!

40 days til I turn 21!!! woo hoo

44 days til I arrive in LAX and get to see my sisters! 

I still have soo much time left but I know this time will fly by too cause I will be super busy and  I have tons to look forward to!

Hot Pot!

So last night me, bryan, lee, and pierre went out to dinner to a hot pot place where they put the boiling spicy broth in the middle of your table and you go grab food to cook in the pot! Bryan's local friends took him there so when we got there it was no surprise we were the only white people. It is under a huge tent so there are tons of big circle tables where you sit and talk and eat! There were easily 200+ people (chinese people haha) there... So you sit down and they bring you the broth being cooked over a little stove that is fueled by a tank of propane that was sitting by my feet... super safe I know! Then we go to the main "buffet" style table with all the vegetables, seafood, meat, and dumplings are and put what you want in a plastic bucket to bring back to your tables... At the buffet there were shrimp that were still moving so apparently you put them in the boiling water to kill them and then eat them (mean), there were chicken testicles (a chinese must have), and some other nasty stuff that i couldn't tell what it was..  I pretty much stuck to the vegetables and had a little bit of beef and beef dumplings... They had some squash, corn, mushrooms, tomatoes, etc and it was all really good cause the broth was spicy! They also had a little selection of noodles... Pierre took the square of ramen noodles and was eating it at the table without cooking it and the chinese people just thought it was the funniest thing ever... there were three different tables staring and laughing at him, knowing that we were watching them laugh.. It was pretty funny.. And at the end of our meal, a huge cockroach ran by... Which is the perfect ending to the unsanitary hot pot meal we had with a tent full of locals :)

more pics

 more old men with crazy hats for costumes... one let me borrow his for the picture :)
 trannies in HK??? They must have escaped from Thailand!
more pics/ a video from the LKF night during rob's visit

Rob's Visit to Asialand

old men in shower gear haha (costumes for the Rugby Sevens)
LKF absolutely packed!
up the stairs to the big buddha!
 I have turned asian. please call me Ping Ping like my teacher
Rob and I on the cable car
So for those of you who don't know about Rob, he was one of my best friends from freshman year who lived in the dorms on the same floor as me! We had a great floor with really fun people and lots of funny stories... Rob is one of the main people i keep in touch with from SDSU and he is on Semester at Sea... which is basically a "school" trip on a cruise boat where all they do is drink and travel haha... but they had a port stop in Hong Kong!!! My friend Bryan who goes to USC with me but also is studying here with me in HK had 2 friends on the same semester at sea boat and sure enough our friends were friends too! So we planned for Rob and Bryan's friends to meet up and Bryan and I went to pick them up from the boat on Sunday... Rob brought along his bff from the ship and Bryan's two girl friends brought along 2 more girls so we had quite a gang to entertain and show Hong Kong to in just one day! It was a non-stop day to say the least! We took them to Mong Kok first to walk through the famous Ladie's market and we also had Dim Sum there which is a traditional chinese breakfast! It was really really good (one of the few things i really like here), and i think they all were glad to have their "cultural" meal!... From there we went to see the Big Buddha on Lantau Island! We wanted to take them to Victoria Peak to look over hong kong but it was wayyy to foggy! It was hard for us to even see the big buddha from the bottom of the hill when we got there! We had to take the MTR pretty far to get there and  then an air cable car to the island... So we bought some beer to take with us (once again they all are on a ship where they drink and travel)... you are not allowed to drink or eat in the cable cars so we were sneak and mischievous (and i am a rule follower so that was big for me) haha... We walked through the little town to the buddha and then up the stairs we went to get to the top! It really is a BIG buddha haha... you arent supposed to touch it but of course rob did... we took some pictures and then were back on the cable cars to explore more of HK... We then took them to Soho to get some chips and salsa and Margaritas since they were all craving Mexican food (I'm not the only one)... We ate, drank, and were merry and then continued on our way walking through Soho and central... we then took them back to the boat so they could change for their first and only night out in LKF! We watched the Light show in TST and then took the Star Ferry back to LKF where we had some dinner and drinks haha... I tried octopus, and scallops for the first time (I had some liquid courage to help with that)... I didn't enjoy either but I didnt spit either out so it was successful food trying haha... Then we went to the main street in LKF and it was packed cause the Rugby Sevens had just ended and it was soo fun! All the bars were full and the streets were full of very happy and intoxicated people (mostly and older crowd) but the older men had the best costumes! We walked the streets and talked and had a really really really fun night! All of the people we took around that day seemed to have a great day in Hong Kong and got to see a lot more than everyone else who didnt have their own personal tour guides! (AKA bryan cause i still can't navigate my way around)! It was soo great seeing Rob and sharing Hong Kong with someone who has never been here! This made me really excited for my parents and aunt and uncle to come! But i also realize i need to start writing down directions so i dont fail as their tour guide haha! Miss you all! 

p.s. 46 days til I'm 21!!! woo hoo!

HK Rugby Sevens Tomorrow!!!

Tomorrow I am going to the Rugby Sevens tournament which is a hugeee tournament and always sold out! I got tickets through my school so tons of us exchange kids are going!!! I can't wait!!! Here is what Wikipedia, the most reliable source ever, says "The Hong Kong Rugby Sevens is traditionally one of if not the biggest event on the Hong Kong sporting calendar. As such, there is a tremendous party atmosphere, with particular emphasis on the South Stand, where hordes of rugby fans dress up and dance for most of the duration. Activities that typically ensue as the weekend progresses include the throwing of empty beer jugs around the South Stand, Mexican waves, and streakers running across the pitch. Since 2007 the South Stand has been made officially accessible to over-18s only, due to its hyper and somewhat provocative atmosphere, although this rule is not strictly policed.  The Hong Kong Sevens typically draws the biggest crowd and is the biggest party on the IRB Seven's Calendar."

I am soo excited!!! There will be a big group of us that will start sipping on some drinks (just juice of course) at about 1 before we leave at 330 to get into the stadium! I will write again after and will hopefully have tons of pictures!!!

my weekend in China

me in front of the Li river after our raft trip
the ladies from Longchang with the long hair like a hat on their head
the Li river in Yangshuo... it was foggy
West Street in Yangshuo
all my purchases... nunchucks for my dad, some rice alcohol (when in china right????)  some painted bottles, a spoon made from ox horns, jade chopsticks, little asian dolls, a jade stamp that a man made for me with my initials, a scroll paining of Yangshuo, and an embroidered tablecloth from Longchang... I am a bit of an impulse buyer... 
 
the rice terraces in Longchang
Ok so this past weekend I went into southern china with my friend Tiphaine who is from France so obviously neither of us speak any mandarin... thank goodness for our china guidebook with common travelor phrases in the back... So Tiphaine bought overnight bus tickets from a guy in Shenzen which is right aross the HK/China border like 2 weeks ago. He spoke very little english but enough to understand her and she thought she bought round trip tickets... when we got there... we asked a person in the little travel agency she booked at to ask the lady in chinese to make sure they were round trip... they were not... so it was liek 200 more HK dollars than they shoudl have cost.. we were ripped off... we were pissed so we demanded our money back and were having this girl translate for us and it was a huge ordeal for like a half hour... Finally we got most of our money back and went to try and find the actual station that sells tickets so that we couldn't get ripped off by travel agencies... Meanwhile we run into a guy from England who is travelling alone and to the same place we are going so he joins us on our mission since the train tickets are sold out so a bus is the only option... After asking several people who couldn't help becasue they didnt speak english we finally found the bus station ticket kisok... we buy tickets and then wait for the bus... The bus was actually really really clean and it was about an 11 or 12 hour ride overnight to Guilin in China... The bus had beds instead of seats and was really comforable given that it was still a bus... A guy from Holland a few years older than us was on the bus as well next to me so I felt pretty safe... My Chinese roommate had warned me right before i left that the buses were reallly really unsafe in terms of people stealing and the busses crashing... needless to say i was really freaked out and then planned to stay awake through the whole bus ride... But with our 2 new travelling friends i was able to sleep (with my passport and money in my money belt!) We arrive a little later than expected in the morning (which will be a common trend) and hopped on another bus that was supposed to take 1 hour (it took 2.5) to Longchang. we bought the ticket from a kid who had a badge saying he worked for the ticket office (which he didn't) because he ripped us off again... When we finally got there we started out climb up the hill to find a hostel... In Longchang there is a cetrain ethnicity of people there and the women grow their hair out down past thier knees... they then wrap it on their head in special designs... its kind like wearing a hat haha... They hand embroider fabrics and sell lots of little trinkets... they were lined up along our hike up to our hostel so we got to do some shopping!!! WE found a hostel after we were taken by a little old lady (she was literally like 4'6")... she took us up to a room and after much translation problems figured out how much she was asking for it and paid her... it was pretty clean and right on the side the the hill with a great little view... So Longchang is famous for its Rice Terraces which are absolutely stunning... There are hills and hills of terraces all handmade in straight lines into the hills to grow the rice... After putting our bags in the room, we set out on the trails to go to the viewpoints on the Terraces... we hiked around there for about 4 hours and it was so beautiful.. we had met a retired Canadian couple earlier on the bus who were staying in a hotel by our hostel who liked meeting people while they were travelling (they had already been travelling asia for 5 months) so we had dinner with them... THey invited a retired french couple and we invited a french guy who was a little older than us that we had met so it was quite a dinner group... I was the only one who didnt speak french so i didnt understand most of the table conversation :( It was ok though cause i talked with the Canadian man and the french guy our age cause he would speak english with tiphaine and me when i was listening in...It was a nice little dinner and we were so exhausted that after we went to bed cause we had to catch a bus the next day at 730am to Yangshuo which was our next destination... 

many hours later than the time quoted, we arrived in Yangshuo! It is a little tourist town south of Guilin and has 2 major streets that sell things and have hostels... The most famous street is called West Street...  We had soo much fun walking up and down this street several times buying lots of souvenirs! We must have walked the street at least 10 times while we were there for a day and half and found new things each time :)   We then took a bike ride through the countryside where people still farmed with ox to plow and did everything by hand... there were even old people and kids out in the farms! the people still carried the two baskets on each of the bamboo stick that sat on their shoulders... we saw women with their babies in the baskets! It the rural area it was like the world hadn't changed in the past 30 years... The next day we took another bus up to a part of the Li River so that we could take a bamboo raft down with huge and beautiful limestone hills all around! The minute we got on the bus this woman started bugging us about buying a ticket from her for the raft... this went on for at least 20 minutes and she didnt speak english so she just talked at us in chinese and pointed on a map... we kept saying no and finally had to ignore her... once we got there she shooed all the other women away that were going to sell us tickets so that we had to buy them from here... there were only two other tourists there and they were both chinese and spoke a little bit english so they helped to translate what we wanted to do to the lady... we went back and forth bargaining on price til we finally settled on $70 yuan... the man told her in chinese that price and she accepted and then got us onto her raft... after about 5 minutes on going down the river she asked us for the money... we gave her $70 and she said 90... again we were being ripped off... this time we wouldnt let her we were were basically talking sternly to her and telling her NO! this went on for another 5 minutes and then she said 10 more or i have no money... we said NO again... she kept telling us no money and we said NO to paying her more... This time we knew she understood how much we would pay her cause the man told her in Chinese and she knew she was trying to rip us off too cause she was laughing while we were screaming No at her... we then pulled off to the side of the river to get more gas and a guy got on the boat and the lady got off and he took us the rest of the way down... he didnt try and talk to us or get money from us so it was a relaxing rest of the trip like it should have been from the start! we went 20 kilometers down the river and ended in a little town... It was a really cute little town with more vendors... surprise surprise.. but it was nice to walk through... we hopped back on a bus to take us back to Yangshuo... We walked West street again, got some dinner, and then got back on a bus to take us back to Shenzen so we could cross the border back into Hong Kong... This bus ride was supposed to take 11 hours and its took 13.5! The lady selling us tickets promised it was a bus with lots of foreigners cause it was a travel agency on west street, and she promised it was clean... We figured it would be the same bus as the one that took us into china... Well it wasn't... we got on the bus and it was all old chinese people and it smelled like the worst smelling feet ever and i wanted to puke. The blankets hadnt been washed in years and the pillows had no pillowcases so we know those hadnt been washed either... We were absolutely disgusted... It was the worst bus ride ever... no one spoke english at all so we had no idea where we were ... when we finally got into Shenzen it was the wrong bus station... now we had to figure out how to get to a border crossing!!! This phrase was not in our china travel guide... luckily we saw two europeans walk out like 15  minutes later after we had been trying to describe border to a taxi driver and they were able to get a taxi who knew where to take us cause they were going the same place and knew the correct name.. we shared the taxi with them and made it back to Hong Kong...  I have never had such a frustrating but fun weekend! It was so nice to get home to my dorm with my hard bed... and i never thought i would say that haha

:)

on the terrace at the LKF hotel bar
view from the top!
i just got back from a fabulous night with Jackie and her mom and her mom's friend... It was so nice being with adults (I miss my parents friends) and we just had a great little ladies evening... We went to the LKF tower/hotel and had a drink on the 26th floor (or 29th???).... We all got mojitos and i had a peach one... it was soo good! we stood out on the balcony overlooking hong kong and the skyline drinking and chatting and it was really nice... the bar is ranked #7 out of 20 of the world's best sky bars... It was sooo so beautiful (and high up!)...We then walked to go have dinner, and we definitely took the long way (aka got lost) .. We ate at a veryy nice restaurant and I had the best Fajitas!!!  The manager of the restaurant was a little asian guy with a real and heavy aussie accent! so cool! We all sat and talked at dinner and it was really great... Dinner was really long cause we sat and talked and just had a really relaxing and nice time... we then took a taxi back to their hotel back in mongkok where we said goodbye and the taxi driver continued to take me home... I gave him a sheet of paper with my address in cantonese and we were off.. what should have been a very short ride took way too long.. i think he took me the longest way possible to rip me off... It should have only been about 40-50 Hong kong dollars but it was 110... I was just worried that he was taking me to the wrong university... so i called jackie and had her tell me the name of our school in cantonese so i could repeat it to the driver, and he proceeded to laugh.. Anyways, i eventually got there and he now has enough of my money to buy his wife a little something haha :)