Asian Madness

As promised I will continue to update my blog, now moving onto Hong Kong, it's just easier to start from here then recap more of Europe, or my long flight from London to Hong Kong.

Campus:
The CUHK campus is outside of Hong Kong and is on a mountain. Yes, a mountain, to get to class, food, the metro (MTR), I have to hike up and down a mountain, or take secret elevators or staircases in buildings up and down that take you to different parts of the mountain, or I can catch a bus that goes around campus. I have been running some around the campus and think I may die some days, but the view is absolutely amazing. I have a local roommate from Hong Kong, she's very nice and made me dinner one night, except I already had dinner plans, but she ate the food so it's all good.

Hong Kong Island:
Hong Kong is a bit crazy. Picture NYC, but with millions more people packed into a smaller space with one or two lane roadways and monstrous buildings, flashing lights, stores open all the time, and just general chaos (and weird asian food smells drifting through the streets). It's pretty ridiculous. It can be overwhelming. There are malls everywhere here and shopping is a sport. Malls are kind of expensive actually except everything is half price and always on super sale. There are 7-11s and Starbucks and McDonalds everywhere here (except you can get noodle soup with egg in McDonalds along with your big mac).

The Food:
American Chinese food is not chinese food. Chinese food can be good, but it can also be horrible...picture a whole chicken with beak still attached fried and put on your plate. Never eat chicken here, it always includes the skin, cartilage, and bone. Also stay away from whole fish or anything that says "fresh" if its meat, it means it may still be served alive. Western food is not good here, they don't know how to make it and is ridiculously expensive, imagine your outback steak costing 40 dollars. I paid 20 dollars for a chicken quesdilla at TGI Fridays with the worst tasting salsa in the world, never again. The school canteen has food really cheap, only 2 or 3 dollars for a massive plate, but then again you never know if what you get will be edible (stay away from chicken).

Nightlife:
The nightlife is amazing here, but drinks are not dirt cheap, think NYC prices for a cocktail, beer, or wine. They do have ladies nights and liquid bars which are the way to go, or standing in the street outside 7-11 drinking...that's a good way to go too. Wan Chai has ladies nights Wednesday nights, Carnegie's has a bar you can dance on but is very crowded and serves free "champagne" to all girls (really sparkling wine). Lan Kwai Fong (lfk) has ladies nights on Thursdays, one place had free cosmos for girls, and Fever had a liquid bar, 5 dollar entrance for girls, but 30 for guys, free drinks once inside though. Friday night is Club 9 night, 18 dollars for entrance and free drinks till 1:30am. Saturday night is lkf again, Oysters has LITs for 4 dollars. Volare is a really cool bar/club in lkf on the 29th floor of a building and has awesome night views of the city. Going out here is fun, but you have to take a taxi back to campus, takes about 30 min. (getting into town take the MTR takes an hour). The MTR shuts down at 12:30 am, so taxis are a must.

The Markets:
Today I went to the Ladies market in Mongkok. Markets are great as long as you aren't too shy at bargaining, you have to be firm, they are trying to rip you off. I ended up with 2 D&G purses, a Marc Jacobs clutch, new black ballet flats, and some awesome rhinestone hair clips. Yes I went a little crazy, but its fun. I just need to stop buying stuff now, or I won't be able to bring it home.

Hong Kong is a crazy place, there's always something to do. Tomorrow I'm going for a corporate visit at Ocean Park and next weekend I think I'm hitting up Macau for a weekend of gambling and partying!