First Weekend

Saturday was the first full day that we spent in Hong Kong. Starting at 11 we had orientation and other meetings that we attended. Throughout the day I started meeting more people. Later in the afternoon we were all anxious to get phones so we could communicate with each other so we decided to go to the Sha Tin Mall. It was Francesca, Natalie, Charlie, Jennifer, and Chris. Carlos came too even though he already had a phone. This mall was ridiculous. It had 10 floors with three "phases" (I think they were phases of development?). It was packed with people and sprawled for ever. I had never felt claustrophobic before but the ceiling height in most places was probably close to 7 feet. Everywhere there were TV screens and projectors. Other then the mentioned above, it looked like a mall would back home. It had a modern sleek style and was very clean. In one of the many junctions there were even still Christmas activities. Due to the size, it took us a while to figure where a cell phone store was. At one point we went down escalators thinking we were going from the third floor to the second, when in fact it took us straight outside to the first. We eventually found the place we were looking for. The phones there were incredibly cheap. First we had to purchase a SIM card which was HK$100 and came with a ridiculous amount of minutes. Then we purchased a phone which was HK$390. That was it! No need for a plan or all the other crazy stuff that comes with purchasing a cell phone in the States. Texting was free to phones in the network (Vodafone) and HK$.7 outside. The phone just has an account balance that you can add to when ever you want. After everyone got a phone we decided to find food. The first few places we went to had very long waits. We decided to look at a restaurant that was very fancy and thus had no wait time. Once we looked at the prices we realized that even though it was rather upscale for the area, it was relatively cheap for us. We ended up getting a ton of food and a round of Chinese beer for HK$110 (less than US$15) each. The best way to describe how it worked was family style. We ordered several dishes and then took portions to our own plates. One of the appetizers we ordered was jelly fish. It had a light sesame seed sauce on it and that is all I tasted. I do not recommend it. Very chewy and very bland. After that we headed back to our rooms for the night.

Sunday was our first day of really exploring. I went to Hong Kong Island with the same people as I did to Sha Tin plus Jesse, Jacque, and Matt. We were going to meet Carlos in Hong Kong since he has an apartment in down town. Since CUHK is just outside of Sha Tin which is about an hour train ride from the island. We all wanted to take the Star Ferry across the bay so we got off of the train at Kowloon which is the peninsula side. Hong Kong itself is huge. There are a significant number of relatively new super high rises. There is also a significant number of Starbucks. On our way to the Star Ferry we walked on the Avenue of Stars and found Jackie Chan's hand prints. The ferry was cheap (maybe US$.25) and was really rocky. The turn around time on both sides was very fast but the ride was interesting. Once in Hong Kong we started to wonder around to find food. One of the first things we came across was a demonstration for lesbian rights. Several blocks where closed to traffic as people just sat around in the street and activities accrued on a stage (mostly singing and dancing). Unlike the shopping centers, everyone was spread out and the number of people was probably not that great (1000?). Jesse had a guide book that recommended a restaurant which we found. It was very good and again very cheap. I got lamb, rice, soup, and a coke for about HK$50. Once we found out that Carlos could not meet up with us that day we just started wondering around. We found an out door escalator that looked pretty long so we got on it. Once we started riding it we looked it up in Jesse's book and found out it was the world longest escalator. It went for ever through the city and had its own exits. The main part of Hong Kong is on the side of a mountain with Victoria's Peak being the top (not many buildings that far up). Part of the trip went through a district that was called Soho and seemed very western (pubs and burgers). At the top of the escalator we were in a very jungle like area. In fact it was right next to the botanical gardens. We walked through some of the gardens which were very well kept. In one portion it was like a zoo and had monkeys, lemurs, turtles, and other animals you might find around the area. On the walk back down to down town the side walk was more of a platform at some points being maybe five stories off the ground and twisted and turned in and over itself. On the way down we stopped at a bar in Soho to rest which was priced about the same as back home. Once we got back to the bottom it was starting to get dark so we decided to go back across to the Kowloon side so we could watch the Symphony of Lights. The Symphony of Lights is a light show with many of the buildings in Hong Kong. The skyscrapers had multicolored lights running up and down the sides and many had lasers and spot lights on the roofs. Once the show started all the lights were synchronized to music. On some days they even have fireworks. After the show was over we head back for the night.