maybe you're bummed about that. maybe you're not.
life within the university tends to be pretty quiet. we have a teaching related seminar in the morning, and cantonese class in the afternoon. i've really enjoyed cantonese, although two hours a day is really exhausting. interestingly, the pronunciation of words in cantonese is very similar to that of french, so i'm finding my accent to generally be pretty good (lots of euille, eu and ou endings).
because we only have four hours of class each day, i've had plenty of opportunities to get off campus and explore hong kong. last weekend, i visited hong kong island with a few others and checked out the hk nightlife. the island is unlike anywhere i've been before. covered walkways traverse the entire city, making it possible to shop for an entire day without ever having to touch the ground. the island itself is very hilly, which has resulted in the construction of an outdoor (and very long) escalator through the busy shopping/restaurant district of lan kwai fan. i'm just hoping that they set up stores along the escalator soon because having to get off it to shop really slows me down.
i've also spent a fair amount of time in tsim sha tsui, another fun area just across the bay from hong kong island. it's a little seedier and cheaper than hong kong island, but still has some great entertainment options. on friday, sarah (another ETA) and i went to a 30th floor bar with stunning views of the hong kong skyline.
more action, less words.
- it's hong konger, not hong kongian.
- i came back on thursday to find my locks had been changed. no explanation was given.
- MSG is in a lot of food, but is only listed as 'flavor enhancer.' it's frustratingly hard to avoid.
- dim sum isn't as good as i wanted it to be.
i spent saturday and sunday in macau, a group of two islands about 40 miles west of hong kong. it's one of two special administrative regions of china, the other being hong kong. macau is very different from hong kong as it was a portuguese colony until 1999, whereas hong kong was a british colony until 1997. macau has become very well known in the past five years for its gambling/casinos (the us consulate general told us that as of last year more gambling money goes through macau than las vegas).
me, sarah and emilio (sarah's friend from undergrad) on the ferry to macau.
having now been to macau (and having never visited las vegas), i find this [the previous statement about gambling money] very hard to believe. there were definitely enormous, overwhelming, pretty gross looking casinos:
emilio and i in front of the lisboa casino (still under construction at the top)
but there were only a few of this size - most of them were quite small and spread out. surprisingly, i actually found macau to be a much more historically and culturally rich experience than hong kong. a lot of the older buildings in hong kong have been bulldozed to allow for more shopping malls, whereas in macau, most of the old town has been left untouched - the casino strip is built on a reclaimed piece of land on the south part of the main island. what this means is that much of the old town still retains its portuguese feel. i've never been to portugal, but sarah said that the architecture and cobblestones reminded her a lot of lisbon.
approaching the ruins of the cathedral of st. paul
wandering through old macau.
- dim sum isn't as good as i wanted it to be.
i spent saturday and sunday in macau, a group of two islands about 40 miles west of hong kong. it's one of two special administrative regions of china, the other being hong kong. macau is very different from hong kong as it was a portuguese colony until 1999, whereas hong kong was a british colony until 1997. macau has become very well known in the past five years for its gambling/casinos (the us consulate general told us that as of last year more gambling money goes through macau than las vegas).
me, sarah and emilio (sarah's friend from undergrad) on the ferry to macau.sarah and emilio usually look more normal, but i didn't in the other photos (please refer to 'ben is beautiful'), so this one gets posted.
having now been to macau (and having never visited las vegas), i find this [the previous statement about gambling money] very hard to believe. there were definitely enormous, overwhelming, pretty gross looking casinos:
emilio and i in front of the lisboa casino (still under construction at the top)but there were only a few of this size - most of them were quite small and spread out. surprisingly, i actually found macau to be a much more historically and culturally rich experience than hong kong. a lot of the older buildings in hong kong have been bulldozed to allow for more shopping malls, whereas in macau, most of the old town has been left untouched - the casino strip is built on a reclaimed piece of land on the south part of the main island. what this means is that much of the old town still retains its portuguese feel. i've never been to portugal, but sarah said that the architecture and cobblestones reminded her a lot of lisbon.
approaching the ruins of the cathedral of st. paul
wandering through old macau.well, that's pretty much all for now. i'm hoping to have some photos of downtown hong kong to post soon. last time i went in, my camera was acting up. today i got a great hong kong hiking guide as well, so i'm hoping to check out some trails as soon as it cools off a little (there's a 60 mile trail that cuts all the way across hong kong that sounds great). hope everyone is doing well. until next time, i'll leave you with my new feature.
song of the week: apple orchard by beach house.
1 comment:
I've adopted your song of the week- thanks for reminding me of that one.
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