Hong Kong: Street Markets (Lady's Street, Mongkong, Temple Street)

October 5, 2014
First thing we did in the morning was have dimsum. I wanted to go out into the city for it but we ended up going to 二宜楼 instead. I dunno, maybe it's just me not distinguishing my foods that much, but it tasted like any other dimsum place to me. 

 It was so cool how their 奶黄包 (yellow custard steamed bun) is actual egg yolk and it's melty O_O I'm used to that sweet yellow custard.

Nasty veggie dish that costs more than the other dishes too

Next we took the train to 太子 (Prince Edward) and walked around Lady’s Street and Mongkok. It’s like the street stalls where you had to bargain or stuffs. It’s been a while since I’ve done it and I didn’t know the price point of stuff in Hong Kong so I felt like I probs got ripped off for the bag I bought fml. I also bought a bracelet hehe. 

Street of the protestors? It was blocked off but it was also empty, so I was kind of confused as to whether the protestors actually come here and if not why is it blocked off.

We then walked to Temple Street for the street market there but it turns out that it wasn’t open til night time… >:(

So we went to Golden Computer Arcade. SO crowded inside O_O Like the place was packed with people + it was quite narrow in the first place. Things are kinda okay priced, but I feel like I can get stuff online for cheaper. They had keyboards, screen covers, computers, accessories, games, etc. I dunno how legitimate the things are, but probably enough if it’s such a popular place. 

Before going to the next place, we were standing outside of the station eating our food and just kinda chilling. My cousin told me that this woman was like glaring at us for trying to steal her business WTF. Apparently prostitution is quite common in Hong Kong..so after my cousin told us about that, I couldn't help but think this girl or that girl was a prostitute and every other man who stood on the streets scoping out girls were probably looking for prostitutes wtf. I don't mean this to be ignorant, but it's just one of those things that were pointed out and I started noticing. It doesn't mean I actually did think 

Next was Tsim Sha Tsui. We got there at like 6:30PM, so quite early for the night show at 8:00PM and we actually waited until then too. I was the only one who’s never seen it before so I felt bad for dragging Cory and my cousin along and wait for that time too because they both seemed bored out of their mind and they weren’t talking either. Awk. 

Avenue of the Stars. Sorry, Li Li Hua, I didn't know who you were...until I Googled just now...

It was less impressive than I had thought because I was expecting something super, super grand :X It was just music and lights flashing here and there. Dunno if it was worth the wait ><;;;;


We went to Temple Street afterwards since it shoulda been open by now. I told my cousin to go back first because she seemed super tired. On our walk to Temple Street, we stopped by at this seemingly famous 鸡蛋子 place but it was quite disappointing. The shell was crispy, but the inside was empty WTF >:( I dunno why they're famous for serving empty 鸡蛋子 and they're more expensive than other places too! Maybe that's what's make them good? But I like my inside to be nice and fluffy.

Ok ok so Temple Street wasn’t that interesting either. I bought a pack of film for my polaroid for Hk$60, which was the cheapest that I could find anywhere. Also saw prostitutes on the streets/corners eehh. Fml because the one I noticed was like wearing a black scoopneck and shorts (?) and it was similar to what I was wearing T_T I just remember that I was wearing a similar black scoopneck sobsss.

Super tiring day, not really the most interesting either even though it seemed like I did a lot. Next post is on Disneyland ^^ Until next time!

Beijing: Weird/Frustrating Train Ride

November 28-29, 2014

I went straight from work to the railway station to take an overnight (11 hrs 45 mins) train to Beijing. On the train, I encountered these Vietnamese students and their Chinese was so good :0 I thought they were locals x.x;;; And what sucks is that they've only been studying it for one year and it's way better than mine.

It was 553 yuan for a second class seat, which ended up just being a soft sleeper for three people to sit on. It was just my friend and I on it so we were able to sleep on it fortunately. 

Weird story to tell.... when we got into our compartment (compartments have two bunks, 4 beds in total) with the sleepers, there was a girl laying down on the top bunk. My friend and I each sat on the bottom bunks opposite of each other. Five minutes later, that girl comes down and decides to sit on the one corner of the bottom bunk I was sitting on (I was at the other corner). Which is so weird cuz she had the entire bed to herself up there, so why is she sitting on mine?!? Then a minute or two later, she decides to lay down while I was still sitting down WTF. With her feet/legs behind me cuz I was sitting near the edge. I don't understand why anyone would do such an awful thing. Being the baddie that I am, as soon as she sat up during the ticket check, I sat in so she wouldn't be able to lay back down. Hah, take that. But then a minute after, she went back up to her top bunk. Wtf woman.

Okay, so we switched compartments with those Vietnamese students because their friends were placed in ours. In the middle of the night at 5:30AM, the rando guys in the other seats started talking at normal volume and woke me up T__T They knew we were waking up too, but they kept talking anyways. I was debating hard whether to call them out for it or not cuz on one hand...if they're bored, then I can't do anything about it and it's technically still public space....they're just rude and inconsiderate. 

I eventually fell asleep, until they started talking loudly at 7:30AM. So I sat up for a bit and one of them was like, "Oh, we woke her up. -proceeds to talk loudly to his friends" wtf no shit you did. And he made another comment, but I wasn't really paying attention to it but then I heard his friend say, "She understands Chinese, you know." whaat. >:(

We finally got off around 8:40AM and it was so chilly in Beijing :(

Okay, I'll cut this post short because I feel like if I kept going, then the post will be too long. 

Taiwan to Hong Kong

October 4, 2014: Taipei, Taiwan >> Hong Kong

Last day in Taipei! We started off with a traditional Taiwanese breakfast in Guting at a small stall. It was pretty good, especially the pancake thing. It was still morning, so I wasn't that hungry. This was enough for three people + one more pancake dish.

Then we realized that we didn’t even get to try 牛肉面, so right after breakfast, we went to the shop next door for more early lunch wtf. It’s not traditional beef noodles, and it’s more like a fast-food chain sorta thing, so maybe next time I can have something more authentic. I don’t even remember how this tasted, I think it was just ok. The other thing is a tofu appetizer.

I thought that this part of the terminal was cool for some reason.

After getting lost in the area of the bus terminal (since there were different parts of it) we finally found it. It’s NT$125 for the bus to the airport, so much cheaper than cabbing it :X But we had no choice the first day because we got back late. We still had a lot of time to spare, so we walked around the station. 

Naturally, we gravitated towards food...

Mos Burger….yummmmmmm….. basically sticky rice patties with food filling. We also bought a seafood one to go incase we got hungry (aka when we wanted to be a fatass). 

Apparently Uncle Tetsu’s Cheese Cake is a famous chain and there were a lot of people in line so we decided to get that too (NT$199). It’s not like actual cheesecake, but more like a fragrant sponge cake. It was nice and fluffy but by the time we ate it, it cooled a bit even though it was straight from the oven or whatever. I bought one for my aunt too since I was staying at her place, but they don’t eat that kind of stuff T_T 

(I think) this time our flight didn’t get delayed, yay! 

Hong Kong

When we landed in Hong Kong, I realized that I had been a bit misinformed on which bus to take to get to my aunt’s place. Because there was some miscommunication and it was just frustrating talking to my mom because she doesn’t listen >:( All the while, Wi-Fi was a bit limited and I disconnected whenever I got to the bus terminal of the airport.

“Aunt told me to take this bus but the board said it doesn’t go there! Are you sure it’s XX bus?"

“WHO TOLD YOU TO TAKE THAT OTHER BUS? DID YOU GET ON THE WRONG BUS? I’LL TELL THEM TO GO TO THE OTHER BUS STOP TO PICK YOU UP.”

“No I didn’t get on any bus yet.”

“SO YOU TOOK THE WRONG BUS?”

“No, I’m going to take the bus that I was supposed to.”

“I’LL TELL THEM TO GO TO THE OTHER STOP TO PICK YOU UP.”

-Bye-

Luckily, this lady lent me her phone on the bus so I was able to call my cousin to tell her which bus stop I'll be getting off at. The bus ride took longer than I thought so she ended up having to wait for us :( 

Got some wonton noodles (HK$25) from a random stall. It tasted okay, but made me realize that things weren’t as cheap in Hong Kong as it is in Shanghai, such as for food… 

I also met one of my older guy cousins for the first time. Nothing significant about the meeting, but it was just unexpected because I forgot that I had one LOL -_- 

Still dreading the rest of Hong Kong posts because of all the photos >< I'm going to try to get all of my China posts done. 

I'm going to go to Tokyo right after the program ends ^__^ It's kind of funny because when I was 14-15, there was a point where I said I'd go to Japan when I'm 20 and it's really happening :O

Shanghai: Mercato by Jean-Georges

Mercato 

Address: 3 Zhong Shan Dong Yi Lu 6th Floor near Guang Dong Lu

中山东一路3号外滩3号6楼(近广东路)

Price: ¥238/person

Food: 4/5

Recommended?: I suppose so, but it's quite pricey and the portions are small.

Located right on the Bund, it was hard to find the entrance of this place so we walked around back and forth before realizing the entrance was a turn into the street and not on the main street. 

You have a nice view of the Pudong from the windows, and we weren’t right by the window, but that’s okay.

While waiting for our friend to get here, we munched and munched on the complimentary bread, at least I did anyways. 

We decided to do family style just because everything sounded so good.. 

Photos aren't so good because it was so dim at the restaurant! I hope I didn’t make a mistake with the dishes:

Fresh Spaghetti with Blue Mussels, White Wine, Fennel, Chili and Tomato

Porcini Crusted Salmon, Warm Leek Vinaigrette and Herbs

Can't really mess up salmon...it was nice and tender.

Wood Oven Roasted Asparagus, Fontina and Prosciutto 

Prosciutto San Daniele, Four Cheeses and Arugula Pizza

I think I remember not liking this one.

Lobster and Shrimp Ravioli, Olive Oil Lemon and Herbs 

Soooo good when it was still warm. You can actually taste the fillings and it's not just mush.

Tiramisu

Caramelized Lemon Tart, Pinoli, Mascarpone Cream, Basil Sorbet

The basil sorbet was quite interesting. It's kind of like when I tried the olive oil gelato. It's not something I can stand eating all the time though. This dessert dish was really refreshing. 

I can't do a thorough review because:

1) I'm a bad judge of food

2) It's been so long that I forgot how it actually tasted anyways

We also spent too much time taking pictures that the food was starting to get cold. Maybe that's why I wasn't entirely a fan of the food, or maybe it just didn't suit my taste buds. Definitely better than your average restaurant. The "large" isn't really that big tbh. It would be equivalent to maybe 60% of a dish from The Cheesecake Factory. 

I rarely eat out at nice places in Shanghai, so thought it would be nice to dedicate a post to this. 

Until next time :)

Nanjing Weekend

October 18, 2014

I had to wake up really early for the bus ride to Nanjing. This is a trip with students from other schools as well. I got back really late too because I had gone out and luckily my roommate came to wake me up... I packed in a rush and ended up forgetting to bring some things but it wasn't anything too bad, just my PJs, so I had to sleep wearing tights that night instead fml. I slept the whole bus ride and was quite refreshed when we got there like 4 or so hours later. We had a group lunch.

First stop after lunch was the Nanjing Massacre Museum (侵华日军南京大屠杀遇难同胞纪念馆).

Probably the most morbid photo I'll ever post on my blog ever. I don't know if they're real or not.

It was interesting to see it, but after 15 minutes, I just felt really depressed. Sat down for a while and tried to charge my phone. I squatted in a corner for a good 15 minutes to realize my phone probably wasn't charger >:( It showed the battery thing but it never got to the point where it let me turn it on. 

They had HUGE bookshelves of files...presumably one for each victim.

Okay, happier stuff now. Went to Xuanwu Lake (玄武湖) afterwards. It's very crowded, but I recommend it because it's a very relaxing place. Near the front gate are lots of stalls for food, mmm..

Pretty or not?!

Wishes on a tree

Had dinner, and it wasn't until then that I realized how much pork is used in all Chinese dishes... This guy from another program couldn't eat pork and basically 75% of the dishes had pork one way or another. 

I thought we'd go back to the hotel after dinner, but we still had one more stop: Confucius Temple (夫子庙). It was huge..you go in and there's a back section..which also has a back section. Multiple rooms in each section place too.

Wishing well type of game. Each bowl symbolizes a certain thing and you want to drop a coin on top of it, but it's hard because once the coin hits the water, it just floats somewhere... I tried it twice as a means of an "offering" just because it's kinda superstitious for me to go into temples, even though the tour guide said there's no religious affiliations whatsoever.

Got bored of the temple, so we walked outside for a bit to explore. There's this river and you can take a cruise on it for 60RMB(?). 

Our hotel looked so shady from the outside, but once you got into the doors, it was actually quite fancy. I shared my room with this exchange student from Hong Kong. I'm such a 坏人..I took our only key cuz I went out that night so she was left in a dark room fml. But turned out her ID worked in the electric slot thing, even though it didn't when I tried! 

We went out to 1912, where the nightlife stuff is kinda. Had some trouble meeting up with the second group, but finally did. It was just so humid bar, very down low. We somehow met this girl who's studying in Nanjing and she brought us to Mazzo, which is a popular club for foreigners. Also met a promotor randomly for another club, it was kinda shady so we didn't actually go with him to that club since it was kinda far. Supposedly it was pretty popular though because it just opened.

Anyways, it was an interesting experience.. super, super drunk guys at Mazzo. Like you never see guys dance with each other, but they did here. They kept trying to like dance with us too.. not like ON us, but just with it. At some point I kinda wasn't feeling it anymore so I went out for some fresh air and lost everyone in the process so I just went home. 

October 19, 2014

Apparently, the next morning, the girls from my program who stayed kept raving about how it was the best night of the trip, ever. Ehh, I don't know, to me it was just like any other night, but I guess things started picking up after I left or something. Fomo T_T

Ya, so the last thing on our agenda was the Sun Yat-sen's Mausoleum (中山陵). Very unappreciative for me to say this, but we basically just climbed up the stairs, sat down and relaxed for a bit. Went back down the endless stairs to sit down more. :X

View from the top of the stairs

That concludes the trip to Nanjing :O Took the bus back to Shanghai, hit some traffic on the way, and that's it.