Cut it Out!

When I woke up this morning to find my hair resembling something found in "The Lion King," I knew it was time for a cut.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Thanks Paul from "Mina Dev Wil" salon!  You've made my split ends disappear, my neck a little colder and my hair a little healthier!

Mina Dev Wil, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong

I Give Up

I completely have senioritis.  I wonder how it will feel like to fail a midterm.

Holiday!

Dang, Hong Kong sure has a lot of holidays.

I thought school had just begun, but already, we've had two national holidays.  Then, in a couple of days, we're leaving for Reading Week.  This is not school, this is vacation!

I'm so excited for my travel destination the first half of reading week that instead of studying for my first Econ midterm like a girl good, I'm googling up pictures of our vacation paradise.

Please excuse the poor picture quality.  I promise you better ones (taken by yours truly) will pop up in a couple of weeks!

Any guesses on where this sweet looking beach is?

It's not the Destination, It's the Journey

Jeff turned 21 recently. What did he want to do for his birthday?  No, not some dinner at some swanky restaurant or a trip to Disneyland Hong Kong. Jeff wanted to go here:

Just what does it take to get there?  Let's have a look, shall we?

Yea, it was a good thing we love the ocean or else we probably would have beaten the Birthday boy up.

Oh wait, we did.  But only out of love because we had a fun fun day!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JEFF!  Karaoke next?

What is a signal 8?

Last Tuesday, I awoke to the sound of a distant alarm.  It sounded like a cross between a fire alarm and a construction one.  I thought it weird but was distracted because of the gray skies staring out at me from my windows. (I <3>

Boarding the bus was a strange experience because there were no seats to fight for, no lines formed; there were just not that many people traveling.

Fortunately for me, right as I got under the shelter of my classroom, the rain began to pour, the wind began to blow.  Within minutes, there was a mini flood on the floor.

I was so confused as I have never been caught in the middle of a typhoon while going to school before. I asked my classmates, "what do you do?"

Here is further proof of HKU's poor administration system. No one knew. Some guessed that you would stay home if the typhoon is signal 8. When asked how I would get my hands on that information, they said to watch TV. What if I couldn't get to a TV? Online, but no one knew the website.

I go home early because I was afraid the buses would stop running later on in the day as it was rumored that we were going to hit a signal 8 typhoon.  

I get home and this was the destruction that greeted me.

Nonetheless, we at R.C. Lee Hall had a high table dinner to get to. So off we went to eat a better than usual dinner and mix and mingle with other fellow residents.  Outside, it may look like this...

But inside the safety of Bayview restaurant, we were having a grand ol' time checking each other out all dressed in black...

After a far too long speech by the warden and hall introductions (5 hours total!) We headed back to our beds, soaked and tired.

The next day, I still wasn't sure how to check whether I was going to class or not. Some lucky students had emails sent to them by their faculty telling them to stay home but I had not gotten anything from my faculty.  So I phone them.  Because no one picked up, I assumed that I would also have the morning off.  However, when I messaged a friend and found she was going to class, I got worried and called the specific department my class was under.  Turns out I did have class!  And only 10 minutes to get there!

Hong Kong University's lack of clear communication irks me to no end. It's hard enough being in a foreign country and not speaking the language but as a school, you should have some responsibility in informing us important, public messages. (Like...oh, say...a typhoon?)

Big Buddha

If you've ever been on the road to or from the Hong Kong International airport, you've probably passed by this Hong Kong landmark.  One Sunday a couple of weeks ago, (the weeks just fly by like flies here!) we climbed many a stairs to stare at this beauty.  It was swell.  I would have more to say but I'm kind of behind on posts.  So, greetings from Hong Kong from the Big Buddha and I!

Temple Street

Hong Kong has shopping EVERYWHERE. No matter which corner you turn, which sites you visit, which MTR stop you get off at, there are shops galore.  

Temple street is the most well-known night market in this shopper's paradise so of course it was time to pay a visit and see if the place lived up to its title.  

We started the night off with a delicious seafoody meal in an outdoor restaurant.  

It was there that we enjoyed receiving live (still squirming!) seafood...

...turn into dead seafood...

...turn into food in our mouths.  Yum yum!

After came time to browse and bargain.  

In our case, it was to get yelled at by vendors.  For bargaining, for touching the merchandise, for breathing, for stopping at their stalls. We got yelled at for everything.  It was not a very pleasant shopping experience, I must say. Instead, we walked away with only a poster each to decorate our rooms.  How's that Titanic one working out for ya, Jenn?

We also caught street karaoke players crooning their hearts out to canto songs and fortune tellers lining the streets, eager to tell you what your hearts desire.

Or in my case, rather something my heart didn't desire to hear.  Basically, the tarot card reader we went and told my friend and I that we were going to be "bored and unhappy and miserable"(her exact words!)  for the next six months of my life because no matter how many guy friends I have, they will all not be the one for me.  If I flinged, they'd be flung.  As if!  I don't need a guy to be happy.  (Whoa, that sounded so "independent woman" there)  In fact, for the past couple of weeks, I've been proving her predictions wrong.  Fun and happiness can be had with or without your soul mate.

So that was Temple Street.  Not really worth the hype. Though I did thoroughly enjoy the companionship of Jeffrey and Jennifer.  Us three J's had a blast during dinnertime.  It was one of those goofy, heartfelt, genuine dinners where all three parties just really got along.  I don't think I had laughed so hard in such a long time.  Everyone else must have been so envious of the fun we were having or assumed we were drunk.  Cheers to more great dinners!