Monday, March 31, 2008

This is what Asians do instead of studying....

http://www.xanga.com/kawai_junes

CCBA - Chung Chi Business Administration
NABA - New Asia Business Administration

It's that time of the year where students of CU and their respective colleges vote for their favorite guy or girl. It's similar to a pageant. But there are candidates for every college at CU (if you're confused...read about my previous post considering how CU is divided into colleges).

The link above is what a friend of mine sent me. I will try and find my college's candidates :-)
These Asians have way too much time on their hands ^^

Saturday, March 29, 2008

Easter Break

I actually don't have the time to be writing this...but I'm procrastinating as usual. I have a biology presentation, Cantonese presentation, two papers, and another biology presentation all due within the next week and half. They're big on presentations here....

April sucks!! The semester will be over in 3 weeks - so fast! Then it's party time in Southeast Asia :-)

Easter break was super fantastically fun! I had a great time in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. I tried some new food, and definitely saw a lot more of the culture of different areas. AND I learned how to travel on my own :-) With a Lonely Planet in hand, I can navigate anywhere! LoL ^^

KL is quite cheap. Even though it's only 1 USD for every 3 RM (ringgits), you can pretty much bargain for anything (except food that is). No one in KL uses the meter on the taxis. The average price for a taxi ride was 5 RM - and that was for a 20 minute ride. Food runs on average 7 RM if you get a drink too. I wish HK was that cheap in terms of food.

There are plenty of Hindu and Muslim mosques in the area to feast your eyes on. I went inside the oldest mosque in Malaysia (it recently had its 100 year anniversary). I really do feel for Muslim women who have to wear headdresses. It is extremely hot in KL and yet, they have to wear scarves to cover their hair. I definitely perspired ALOT in those 10 minutes.

I also went to the Hindu temple in Chinatown. I could have bought garlands for prayer for Vishnu, but I felt it was unnecessary since I am in no way a practitioner of Hinduism. But I did pay my respects inside. I felt it was disrespectful to take pictures since it was a holy place - even though some other tourists were taking them. The only place I did take pictures was the Batu Caves because it was quite a touristy area and very few worshipers were there...In my opinion, the tourism takes away from sacredness of the caves.

Singapore was fun. Reminds me of Canada in that no one really ever bothers with Singapore. LoL The Merlion was quite neat - kinda cute. There's really not much to say about Singapore, only that it is quite clean (cleaner than HK, that's for sure)....and it's sort of like suburbia. It was nice and relaxing. But the Singapore government spends so much money on the streets - there's even a road tax.

I suppose I should finish my Sacred Geography of India paper. Oh finals...fun times.

Sunday, March 23, 2008

Greetings from KL!

Hostel internet is quite slow...but I am attempting to update nonetheless. Greetings from Kuala Lumpur! In the short time that I have been here (I only arrived just this afternoon), I have noticed quite a lot of things about KL. Here are 10:

  1. KL is a Muslim population with 80% of Indian ancestry...but the ethnic Chinese hold control 80% of the economy!
  2. Toilets are quite filthy, with bidets on the side and no toilet paper or soap (just water)
  3. Malays do not use knives, only fork and spoon. But most eat with their hands
  4. KL is quite small - and their trains run very slow and come less frequently
  5. Malays treat tourists nicer than Hong Kongers
  6. Even though the population is supposed to know English, the ones I have spoken to speak very little English.
  7. Malay language is quite easy to pick up, or at least recognize the meaning of words
  8. Everything you eat is spicy
  9. The Chinatown in KL is very dirty - but big nonetheless
  10. It rains here...a lot. Tropical weather :-) And when it rains, it pours and streets flood (kinda like Richmond......) --> umbrellas are worthless
Ok..that's all for now. I am quite tired. me = bedtime

Monday, March 17, 2008

Is the government hiding something?

So...I'm not quite sure if there has been news in the United States about this, but there have been recent developments with the flu virus in Hong Kong. As of now, 5 school-aged children have died and the Teaching in Hong Kong program (with CU/IAS) has been suspended for now. Could it be the government is downplaying the health issue?

This past Sunday, China Daily has reported that the Guangdong province in Southern China (The Canton province in Mainland) has had an outbreak of the bird flu (29 cases in China, 19 fatal). Quite scary, huh?

Not to mention what's happening in Tibet right now. The U.S. Embassy has issued a travel alert. Good thing I'm not studying in Tibet...or planning to travel there any time soon.

Perhaps there will be a travel alert on Hong Kong....

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Shenzhen - Windows of the World

Shenzhen - a walk across the border from Hong Kong. It's actually quite a hassle to get to the other side since it's technically in Mainland China. I used my first mainland China visa visit to visit this city of fake goods. Apparently, you can even get fake eggs! Ann and I ventured to guess that maybe they replaced the real eggs with egg-shaped potatoes...Who knows.

Shenzhen is quite a sketch city. A friend of mine (whose actually in HK for more than a year!) got robbed - you'd think of all people, he would know not to put his wallet in his back pocket. Silly. I suppose it's a lesson learned.

Everybody you meet in Shenzhen speaks Putonghua...I found that out the hard way. And they hardly speak English...except when they want you to buy a DVD. They just say "DVD, DVD" repeatedly like a tape recorder. I was with my German and American friend looking for a nice tailor to get their suits made. It was like walking through actual mainland China where vendors bombard you with fliers and comments. But apparently, it wasn't as bad because they were with me (since I'm Asian?) than if they were by themselves.

It's worth a visit to Shenzhen. But just one. It's actually a boring city. But who would have known that 20 years ago, it was all rural? It's a different atmosphere from Hong Kong...and they drive on the right side of the road :-)

Here are some highlights from "Windows of the World," where they build miniature versions of popular/famous tourist attractions from all over the world.


I found Russia!

It's like a child's playground!

From the view of the Eiffel Tower
This is how they have fun in Shenzhen....
I hopped the fence and almost yelled at....but it was worth it :-)

Monday, March 10, 2008

Enjoy!



"McDull" - popular kids cartoon in Hong Kong; translated into French too ^^

Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Oh Brother! BSB and Macau X2!

I cannot believe it is already MARCH! What a fast 2 months...and I only have another 2 months before I have to back home :-( My brother came into town on Tuesday (feb 26) and he is leaving today (Tuesday 4 March). It's been great finally seeing some immediate family! I wish I didn't have midterms so I could have hung out with him more...but oh well. And yes, I still study! He did most of the sightseeing that I had already done - so he traveled with his friends to do that. In terms of going out...well, I took him to Macau and to see the nightlife in HK. I also took him to Honeymoon Desserts (a really good place for HK desserts and fusion desserts). I tried durian for the first time; it tastes like an onion...bad aftertaste...and the smell sticks to you (it smells like someone farted. ^^) I hope my brother had fun - I just wanted to show him a good time :-)

So...the Backstreet Boys came to Hong Kong! How weird is that? We went to the Asia-World Expo, a newly built arena (only a few years old). It's quite huge and it also is quite far away from CU! We took a bus that curves and winds and curves some more...we almost got sick just going around in circles and winding through HK's back-alley ways. But after an hour, we finally made it. The show started at 8pm....we got there at 5:00pm and there was still a line! It was standing only so we wanted to get a good spot. Can you guess how close we were able to get?

Here are some highlights from Friday/Saturday :-) Enjoy.
Asia-World Expo...only the East wing I believe.

We stole this poster on the way out...after the concert! The security guard caught us...but I just asked him to give it to us since they were going to throw it away anyway (in Cantonese of course). He said....hurry and get out of here before they see you. :-)
The line for BSB - Zone A!

The show :-) I couldn't get any clear pictures because Asians like to push. And fanatic Asians for BSB especially LOVE to push. I got jabbed in my back for most of the concert - which at one point I yelled at the girl to stop pushing me. BTW - i HATE standing only/General Admission. Oh...we were in the wayyyy front :-)

Post-concert. There were two others but they had to pee! So we just got a security guard to take it for us :-)
Macua: Round 2

Inside a church. It was quite beautiful.
Can you find Kenny? @ Ruins of St. Paul
Kenny and his friend Mike are exercising in a park. Macau is so health-conscious! They have this park with this exercise equipment - free to use!
Kenny resting after hiking up a hill - the tallest point in Macau? It was quite anti-climatic and it took us FOREVER to get to there (Guia Hill).