Australia Day in Hong Kong

We were off again first thing on Saturday morning to hike it to Ngong Ping, also known to many tourists as 'The Big Buddha'. It was my first time using the MTR (Mass Transit Railway) and it was incredible to see just how it worked and how many destinations it reaches just on one single railway network. This method of rapid transport is so efficient and easy to use, it makes our new light rail on the Gold Coast seem ten years outdated already.

After much trouble trying to find an entrance to the hike up the mountains to The Big Buddha we decided to catch the cable car instead and then hike the trail back. It was amazing to see the small villages that surround the lower skirting of the buddha. We stopped and lighted some incense to pay respect to the buddha. After much argument Jeremy, Sara, Felicia, Jack, John, Connor & myself finally decided to hike the trail back, our biggest concern was that we would be walking back along the trail at night time. A steep and strenuous hike it was involving many steep inclines and hundreds of even steeper steps. The exertion of the hike was somewhat reduced as we managed to entertain each other along the way.

I do not think I have laughed so much in such a small amount of time and by the end of the hike I was more concerned about the aching of my stomach and ribs from laughing as opposed to my quads and knees that were shaking uncontrollably. The funniest part of the hike was when we stopped by a cable car tower to rest and Jack smashed his head on a metal spear as he went to sit down. Luckily there was minimal bleeding and he was okay but his reaction and us bandaging his head (whilst not necessary) made it incredibly humorous and we sat there for a while before we could pull ourselves together and continue.

When hiking back we had the opportunity of seeing some amazing views as we were so high up in the mountains. The thing that really stuck out was the incredibly poor lack of urban planning. Here you have this great space of land and greenery with tall apartment buildings and infrastructure placed randomly all over the place as if there had been no thought at all given to the future development of the city.

                                              

Jeremy and I were up bright and early to prepare for our Australia Day celebrations which we were to host at the girls' apartment on Sassoon Road, quite frankly ours just wasn't big enough. Our alternative option was having the party on the rooftop of our apartment building but at this time of the year it is just too cold for that, but I may just make use of that as the weather becomes warmer. I bounced out of bed to slip on my shorts and a t-shirt, the first day wearing such little clothing as luckily it was quite warm, around twenty degrees celsius. The first thing I did as I got dressed was grabbed my fully charged iPhone (as prepared the night before) and listen to the start of the Triple J Hottest 100 with my headphones, streaming live from Australia.

We managed to buy as much Australian food as we could for the day, unfortunately the Australian sausages were quite expensive so we only bought enough to cook the girls and ourselves sausage sizzles for breakfast before the rest of the crew arrived. For the remainder of the day we had a few quite drinks, snacks and played some games whilst listening to the countdown before the night slowly wound down and everyone departed later towards the night.

Whilst it was a great day to celebrate the founding of our great country with the other exchange students in a completely foreign country it was still nothing like home. This was probably the first day I had really missed home as we typically celebrate Australia Day in style. The biggest thing I was missing was Dad's cooking; the slow roasted lamb racks on the BBQ, succulent garlic prawns and his famous deep fried camembert with cranberry sauce. If there is one thing my Dad can do it certainly is cooking good food.

My final classes finished up on Monday as holidays for Chinese New Year start on Thursday, meaning I now have almost three weeks worth of holidays until classes resume. Jeff took me to a local restaurant just across the street from Hong Kong University. We struggled trying to convey to the waiter exactly what we wanted to order from the menu. I ordered a lean stir-fried beef with rice noodles and vegetables as I have been craving vegetables for a good week now. Jeff ordered a serving of chicken and corn soup and a ham and egg sandwich but spent the next five minutes explaining to the waiter that he wanted to add cheese to the sandwich. Not knowing what the waiter thought we were asking for and half expecting to receive just a plate with a slice of cheese luckily for Jeff he got his ham, egg and cheese sandwich.

Jeff is from Toronto, Canada and studies at the same college/university as Sandra & Sara. I think he is a nice guy that always takes the time to listen to what people have to say without pre-judging them before hand. I can definitely see that he is determined to get the best experience he can from his stay in Hong Kong and do as much as he can during his stay here. I am looking forward to getting to know him more as our time here progresses and certainly getting to see the sights of Hong Kong with Jeff and the rest of the exchange students during our stay here.

I am definitely feeling the lack of good fresh food over here. I miss not having access to good fresh fruit and vegetables. Even when you to order a meal with vegetables over here you really only get bok choy. I am going to try and source some fresh fruit and vegetables  in the next few days but can not wait to get home and have a massive salad and hit of fruit!

We have been having more troubles booking our return flights home from Taiwan as many of the sights are declining our booking confirmations. So at this stage we do not have a return flight home but I am confident that we will work something out in the next few coming days.

I was quite excited to FaceTime with Barbara on Tuesday morning. Barbara is a lady back home on the Gold Coast that I do some consulting for (in terms of finances, accounts, managing personal affairs etc.). We managed to talk over the internet and I could do basically the same work as what I would be doing back home but from my laptop over here in my apartment. It truly is amazing how technology can be used to complete such tasks live from across two countries. Barbara was kind enough to pass on some of her wise advice on gambling, drinking and walking the streets over here. The generosity and kindness of this lady towards others is incredible and that is why I love working for her.

After a week or so I finally got to meet up with my Hong Kong buddy Katherine whom I met via the Buddy Programme managed by the university. Katherine and her friend (Kayin) took me down to Causeway Bay where we had dinner at a Japanese hot pot restaurant. Basically, you sit at a table with an electric stove in the middle and the waitresses bring out a large pot filled with a flavoured soup of your choice and a selection of cold meats. You then help yourself to the buffet where you have unlimited access to a variety of other meets and vegetables that you bring back to the table and cook in the hot pot. Included is self serve Häagen-Dazs ice cream which is a very popular american gourmet ice cream. Compared to the other restaurants I have been eating at this was relatively more expensive (approx. $25 AUD) but for what you receive and the experience of cooking it
yourself it was well worth it. For this in Australia you would expect to pay at least double this price.


After dinner Kayin went home whilst Katherine took me to see the famous Flower Market. It is a temporary setup in Causeway Bay where a variety of market stalls are setup to sell flowers, gifts, balloons, nik naks and other novelty items. I guess you could say it is similar to a smaller version of what we have in Australia as the Royal Easter Show or The Ekka but without the amusement rides. Jam packed with hundreds of people, we managed to make our way through the markets and back around before Katherine was nice enough to walk me to the bus stop to ensure I got on the right bus home. Katherine seems to have a wealth of knowledge of the local culture and traditions (particularly around the Chinese new year period) and was explaining to me some of her families customs and celebrations for the week ahead. I think Katherine is a lovely girl and is very compassionate and kind-hearted. Although she seems shy and not overly confident with speaking english she certainly does not have to be as she speaks and writes both very well in english, probably even better than me.