Mid-Terms

 

View at Sai Kung

 

 

Hello everyone, 

Sorry about my hiatus from the blog these last two weeks. Mid Terms are this month and my work has been catching up to me and as a result I’ve been in the library more than I would like to be. 

Many things have happened in these past weeks… 

First, last week we were hit with out first typhoon… and despite the heavy metal benches being thrown around by the wind, it was nice and cool around here for a change. Here is a shot from my room of the storm just as it was getting started. You can see the waves crashing against the rocks at the island close by.

 

storm brewing

Some of the staff from northeastern came to Hong Kong this past week and held a special alumni and exchange student reunion which included some very fine dining. Im not sure what it is that I ate, but I know it was expensive…

 

Australian Tenderloin with Mushroom Paper

Last night I attended a concert of Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf by the Hong Kong Symphony at Hong Kong City Hall. It was a really nice show and they even played an a award winning short film on screen along with the music. Very cool.

 

peter-and-the-wolf

Also , to compensate for my absence, I will try to blog more often the next couple of weeks. 

To conclude this post , I leave you with sail boats… 

 

Boats

Tian Tan Buddha and Mid Autumn Festival

So this week was composed of classes as usual, with the occasional going out for dinner in the city. 

Yesterday , my daily run hit a new record. 4 miles ! So lets hope I can keep that up and not slack. 

As the title to this post suggests, I planned a day to see the Tian Tan Buddha with a group this past friday. To get to the area where the buddha rests, my group and I rode gondola for 25 minutes, taking in some incredible views.

 

Going up

 

 

Once we arrived we stepped into an old fashion chinese village, only to find out that every building was a modern gift shop on the inside…. After looking at some silly tourist attractions we finally arrived at the Buddha.

 

Tian Tan Buddha

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Closer

After the buddha we checked out a nearby monastery which supposedly had some very good vegetarian food. (SideNote: Some random ox came running out of the forest onto the street, random… I’ll post the picture under more photos later) Last stop we walked the “wisdom path”. Which in fact was the least advertised but the best part for me. At first the path goes through a construction site which is very misleading because if you keep going you get quite the view once you get in the forest and get to the top. 

 

Wisdom Path

Also this weekend I have been celebrating the Mid Autumn Festival. I never want to look at a moon cake ever again. haha. I was kindly invited by one of the professors here to dinner at his apartment with some other professors and teaching assistants. It was a really great dinner with all home made dishes….very spicy!

 

the chefs - chow time!

 

 

 

dinna

Anyway thats all for this week. I should be adding more photos later this week from the celebrations and the Buddha as well under more photos.

Settled

 

Hong Kong

 

 

This past week has been orientation week or “o’week” here at the University. I couldn’t help but to join up with some of the organizations that were offered. 

Student Organization Stands

I’ve joined:

track and field team

kendo

linguistics club (for learning cantonese)

Danso (hip hop dance club)

and MSA (Management of organizations student association) 

So these should keep me busy… Also this week I was able to go see the University of London Symphony Orchestra, and the ticket was payed for by the school! It was a great show, I managed to snap a few shots and even a video before I was caught. 

 

LSO

Otherwise, this place is slowly starting to feel like home, although there are still things that need to be adapted to. My dorm room is now totally occupied, although its missing something on the wall. 

Last night we went out to Kowloon Tong and Mongkok, where I saw and interesting sight. This mountain looks like it has icing. 

 

Cake Mountain

Also last night I think I saw the scariest movie, I’ve ever seen in my life. It is called REC. I don’t know if they have it theaters in the states right now, but I haven’t jumped in my seat like that since I was a little kid. I highly recommend the movie for a wild ride. Here is the poster. Its the first Spanish scary movie I’ve seen and it’s scarier than any asian horror movie.

REC

Thats all for now, I will continue keeping you updated!

Hong Kong

 

First night

 

Victoria Peak

Alright. So I finally got my internet set up. It was not easy… 

The flight was quite the journey. One of the people seated next to me happened to be a part-time professor at the University I was going to in HK. So I was already able to get a few questions out of the way that I had about campus life and how to get settled in easier. I actually spent more of my time standing than sitting on the plane. I was able to sneak my way into the kitchen areas and converse with the flight attendants who were native to Hong Kong. Not a bad flight.  

Hong Kong… its like living in a dream. The people, the scenery,and it’s culture have already made this experience better than I imagined. Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) is an amazing university. It has the architecture of a resort, and also provides accommodations like nowhere else that I’ve seen. Since classes don’t start until tomorrow, it actually has been a resort up until now.  

my dorm building

 

My morning run...

Each day I have been able to take advantage of the fitness facilities and outdoor swimming pool. Also, I have been going on very interesting tours everyday which have taken me to temples, peaks, and the heart of the city as well. I have only been here about 5 days now and I have met so many people. As you can imagine, I’ve already had a handful of crazy or interesting experiences. Things have been hectic, and I haven’t gotten much sleep. Each day is full of surprises. Yesterday there was a ceremony held here in which 9 or 10 chinese gold medalists came to the university to celebrate this years victory. I just happened to be passing by and was able to get a pretty close look.

Olympic winners

I will have posted under the “more photos” link some of the pictures of taken here on campus and on the various tours. This camera was worth every penny…

Farewell Boston

Hello Everyone,

Im packed and ready to go.

Tomorrow morning I will take the 5 a.m bus to the airport, and around 8 begin my all day flight to China.

I took the opportunity this past week to say goodbye to many friends in both Boston and on Cape Cod.

 

One more stroll

 

 

I’d like to thank everyone at Putnam who was able to come see me at Nappers. 

Also I’d like to thank everyone that was able to make it to the BBQ on Saturday.  It was great to see you all.

So that I don’t cloud up this page with pictures, I’ve added a tab called photos where you can see albums.

Just click “more photos”.  

 

Street Drummer

 

- See you in Hong Kong