Day 8: Got My Chinese Visa!

I was supposed to pick it up yesterday, but I totally forgot haha...

HK$1100 for Chinese Visa, HK$800 for Student HK Visa. T_T Sooo expensive!

When I got my Visa, I saw that it was a Type L visa and I thought it was wrong because I read somewhere that I need a Z visa. When I came back and checked my e-mail, apparently I got the right one so okay!
After picking up my visa, auntie brought me to a little restaurant well known for their noodles and dumplings. We ate so much and it was only HK$60! O_O If that amount of food was in the US, it'd be about US$30 (HK$240)...
After eating, we went shopping for dinner haha. I swear I'm eating sooo much Wendy said I got fat comparing me to a photo that she took when I just came to HK.
cou gong has a bacterial infection in his lungs and has a 38.9 fever. :( He insist that he doesn't have to go to the hospital, like always. When he feels sick, he refuse to go to the doctors. Wendy called the ambulance and the paramedics convinced him to go. I'm gonna try to wake up early tomorrow to visit him with auntie... I hope he gets better.
Because of that, I made dinner for the first time in HK! Boiled veges and stir fried porkie~ Hehe. It came out pretty good to my surprise. Auntie and Wendy was so surprised cuz they thought I never cooked before... But then again, Edward and Wendy never enters the kitchen. Seems like they're really dependent on their parents. It's understandable for Edward because he stayed in HK for college, but Wendy went to Taiwan for college. I don't know... I feel a bit weird if my mom still have to cook for me everyday even when I'm doing nothing.
That's all for today. :) Good night!

Day 7: Grocery Shopping!

Well, at least I went out today! Hehe~ I went grocery shopping with auntie. It's really weird how I ended up going out. I woke up at 11:30 and ate brunch at 12. By 2pm, she wouldn't stop asking me if I was hungry... I just ate. @_@ At home, if I eat brunch at 12, my mom would just leave me alone until dinner at 7. So by 3:30, I told her lets go out for food because she insisted on going out for lunch. We went for pho. It was pretty expensive, especially how the egg roll was really small and they added HK$2 for putting a slice of lettuce under the egg roll... So stupid.
After eating, I mentioned that I wanted to get some postcards for friends. I swear my auntie is really compulsive at things like shopping. After going to a couple of stores and only finding crappy postcards, I said lets forget it; I'll print my own. She still insist of looking for more. We were in this one stationary store and I found these erasers that erases really well, but they're HK$4 for a really small piece. It was really expensive so I said lets go. She kept asking me if I need erasers. Every store after that, she looked for postcards and erasers x_x even when I told her I have a lot; I don't need it; I just looked because they erases well... We ended up going to HK's largest library. I found some English textbooks haha...
We just looked around until Wendy got off work so we went for grocery shopping. Auntie shops at a place that's kind of like Haymarket in Boston! People have these stalls out and everything is fresh. It was creepy though because they cut the fish alive. You'd see a fish sliced in half vertically and you can see their inside still having pulse. o_o;;; I think if I get exposed to these enough, I'd get immune to watching people slaughtering animal and be okay with it. My mom can cut up a chicken alive without feeling disgusted. :( But yeah, she gets fresh food there everyday since it's near home.
That's all really for today. :P I saw a 4 story high Forever 21 store and each for was already huge, so it's like heaven for girls...
Good night! ^_^

Day 6: Nothing Again =3=

Yeah... I stayed home again and did nothing but watched movies on the TV~ Movies from the 90s! Haha... Dicky Chung so funneh! x3
Auntie went to buy groceries. I wanted to go with her, but she didn't want me to go, so I ended up staying...
I think I'm getting fat!
In the showers, I was thinking... What if Lenovo offers me a job? Should I take it? Maybe I'll take it if they offer me 400,000+ yuan salary haha... I don't know~~ :)
Good night!

Haha, I saw this froyo place downstairs and I thought it had a funny name. :)
The store is called "YOMAMA" frozen yogurt

Day 5: Resting Day~

Just stayed home today ^^; Finished a few tasks that I had to do for a while, e-mailed people, and sorted out my study/intern stuff. Watched a lot of movies on the TV (<3 You Are the Apple of My Eye. Victoria has to watch it with me!)
Auntie had to bring cou gong to the doctors today. I wanted to go outside, but then I didn't felt like going outside. Too hot and didn't know what to do outside @_@
Good night! ^^

Sunset @ 白泥

Sunset @ 白泥

Day 4: Long, Long, Long Car Ride

I was still catching my snooze when Wendy burst into the room to wake Edward and I up! It was 10:15am and she was yelling, "WAKE UP! WE'RE GONNA BE LATE!"

We planned to have dim sum with yi poh and cou gong, but we didn't know what time were we going... Turns out we were suppose to be at the restaurant at 10:30. We all got ready quickly and headed out. yi poh was so excited to see me. ^_^ She's this awesome old lady that knows Cantonese, Mandarin, English and probably a few more languages, traveled almost all around the world, and held driver's license in multiple countries. Haha. She loves all of us and gets really excited when we go out with her for yum cha. She was asking me all these questions when she found out that I was dating. She was like, how is she like?! Do you guys love each other?! Do you treat her well?! She's so cute! =^_^= Lolol...

After that, we were going to visit family members of ours at the cemetery (yi pog and cou gong already went home cuz they're like in their 80s, so they don't like going out too much). What was supposedly a 30 minutes drive took 3 hours because Edward and Wendy kept getting lost while Edward was driving, even with GPS. =_= We finally got there around 4:30 and 30 minutes to give them prayers before the place closes.

I was really glad to see him. I told him that thank you for looking over us. Mommy is doing well, but she couldn't come back to HK this time. I graduated from college and came back to HK to study and visit you. Thank you for looking over me and I hope you're resting well. Even though I don't remember the time we were together, I know you love me and I love you too. I'll come back more often to see you. I felt a bit weird because the whole time that I was there, I was really quite and calm. I guess that means its a good place for them.

The people there started kicking us out because they were closing, so we headed out to 白泥. <-- Funny because the place is called white mud, but the mud there is moldy green/brown. :P Also, we took another 2 hours to get there because we got lost again. Unlike the US where you can just take the next exit and go back, it's like MassPike where each exit is like 5miles away and the local roads are mad confusing. We went there to watch the sunset, but it was cloudy. It's the border between Hong Kong and Shenzhen, China, so we can see the skyline of China! Also, you don't know good seafood until you come here! O_O There was a whole market of seafood stands because people there catches the seafood locally. We pick it fresh from their tank (still alive), they bring us to their restaurant, and cook them immediately. It was really expensive, but it was really good and fresh! I've never tasted such fresh seafood! Picture below! :D Sooo good, but we still need to go home~ T^T On our way back, they Wendy, Edward, and auntie were freaking out because the car was running out of gas and they thought we were gonna get stranded on the middle of the highway. Gas stations are hard to find in Hong Kong and both Edward and Wendy's phone died, so they couldn't call friends to see if they know the closest gas station to us. We eventually found one after taking the nearest exit that the toll guy told us to go and roaming around.

Not much today other than riding the car most of the day~ Edward and Wendy's going back to work tomorrow, so not much is going to happen. :( But here's some yummy seafood pictures! ^_^

Day 3: Drivers in Hong Kong @_@

Finally, Edward had time to hang out with me! :D Actually, the whole family hung out with me~ Hehe...
Edward rented a car to drive us around today. People drive crazy here. I got so scared even sitting in the back seat. If you don't maintain 1 inch away from the car in front of you, people will try to cut in... Felt like death is upon us every second! @_@ Both Edward and Wendy haven't drove for a while, so it was even scarier... Auntie was holding on to her life gripping the seat belt and not letting go. Haha. We made it back alive, so it's good. But the drivers here are crazy comparing to drivers in the US. If you think New York drivers are crazy, think of that x5 more dangerous. This is because that only rich people drive. And rich people like to show off, so they drive around like crazy taxis. There's no such thing as regular cars. Everyone drives BMW, Audi, Benz, and Lamborghini and Ferrari are so common it's like Toyota and Ford in America...
Anyways, Edward drove around University of Hong Kong to show me around but we were getting lost the whole time. University of Hong Kong is on high lands and that's where all the rich people live, so we got to see a lot of buildings that rich people live in (cost $100,000,000~$1,000,000,000, the higher elevated up it is).
While being lost, we ended up going to Cyberport. This is a city where all the techy companies are located. Even the buildings here look really modern. While there, we got to see someone filming a scene for a movie! More pictures below, but I'm guessing it's a car related movie. We stayed to watch them film a bit of it, but it was taking them forever to set up a retake, so we ended up leaving.
We went for another hour of getting lost around University of Hong Kong and eventually went to 泥田 for their famous chicken congee for dinner. I thought it was really good, but my cousins said it used to be better.
Before heading back home, we were going to another peak to watch the skyline of Hong Kong (that's what they're famous for), but it was really foggy and it started pouring so we just headed back home.
I had a lot of fun today and I'm starting to love Hong Kong. Job opportunities are insanely high, teaching English gets you $480,000/year (roughly US$61,000) starting pay, economy is booming, food is good and you can find any kind of food you want and it actually taste genuine unlike the US. The only bad thing about Hong Kong is that the population outweigh the available land mass in Hong Kong --> people expanding the land by "filling" the sea with boulders to the point where the government started restricting it because they are taking up too much water area (What used to take an hour ferry ride only takes 30 minutes to get across). Also, more people comes with more pollution. The air is gross here.... And I think they don't get as much benefit for low income families in the US. :P Other than that, Hong Kong is so great (some would argue that I'm giving it too much credit). Well, peace out until another day!

Haha, there's a hole in the middle of the  building. The government was complaining that all these tall buildings in Hong Kong are blocking out all the wind/breeze, so designers put holes in the middle to let breeze through. There's a little garden in the hole. This is a residential place where one room cost ~$300,000,000 for the size of a regular sized living room in the US.

Filming!

:|~~~~ *drooling*

Cyberport! B)

Everyday ordinary cars parked in front of a super market........  (censored the license plates for my safety)

Being silly with this cart that said don't get near this thing haha

We walked passed the sign anyways! Too cool.

More building with holes.

Used to be the 2nd longest bridge in the world, now the 7th; Tsing Ma Bridge

More skyling! ^_^

Day 2: Fun, Fun, Fun ^_^

=.=Zzz... Woke up at 11am and still dead tired! Haven't felt this jet lag since 2007... My eyes were blood shot in the morning and I could just keep sleeping if I can. Unfortunately, I have to apply for my visa to China today because my cousin thought it'd take a month to get. Also, I'm on vacation! I wouldn't want to sleep through it!
After I washed up, my auntie offered to have cereal and milk for brunch haha. The milk tasted different from the ones in America and her Special K cereal was all soft and chewy... I guess she had those for a while...
After I finished, I changed, she hung up the laundry and we headed out for lunch with cousin Wendy. She had work and her lunch break was between 12:30 to 1:30. We went to this restaurant called Nana B Nana. They had lunch special HK$86 (US$11.08) that comes with any drink you want on the menu, any entree, soup and dessert! Such a good deal comparing to America. Wendy's co-worker forcefully recommended me to get the Ice Lemon Tea haha. Turns out it was really good and really different from the ice tea in America. I got this chicken curry rice dish. Came with 冬瓜汤 and sweet potato in 糖水。It was sooo filling and Wendy gave me some of her pad thai too~~ The first thing auntie and Wendy said to me when they first saw me yesterday was that I got really skinny! Now their goal is to make me fat! Haha. I think if I keep up with the way I'm eating today, I'll be so fat when I get back to America.
After lunch, Wendy went back to work, auntie brought me to the immigration building so I can get my visa to China, and she went to her doctor's appointment. The office was having their lunch, so I couldn't get in until 2pm. What turns out to supposedly take hours to get visa turned out to take me 15 minutes. I just filled out two forms, have a picture of myself and my passport. It all cleared and I can pick up my visa on May 30. Wendy had work until 5, so she wanted me to wait for her at the entrance of the building where she worked at. I told her that I'll go wander for a bit and try not to get lost. I hung out at the Starbucks outside of her building for a bit trying to get on the internet. The Starbucks in HK doesn't have free WiFi! T^T I ordered a Green Tea Latte and after I tried for like an hour, I got bored and went outside to walk around. The street behind her work was filled with clubs. O_O;;; There were slutty girls hanging out outside of the club trying to get people to go in. I got scared and went back to Starbucks. I felt weird just sitting around because the workers there were staring at me (I already dumped out my drink). I sat for a good 20 minutes trying to find out what's my phone number before I left again (and I still don't know my phone number because Wendy got me a China Unicom SIM card and my phone couldn't find signal for China Unicom... Weird). I wandered farther off to the other side of where all the clubs were and found 湾仔电脑城. I was so excited I knew all of the words on the sign! Haha... I hung out there for a while before Wendy called me telling me that she had to stay a bit longer to finish some things before she can get off work. Ahhhh~! A lot of the employees were playing Diablo III on display!! Can't play mine. :(
After Wendy got off work, we walked to Wan Chai harbor and watch the pretty skyline while the sun was setting ^^ Hong Kong is so pretty during sunset and when all the lights turn on. We took a ferry to Kowloon and had sushi for dinner with Wendy's friend Cherry. $8 per dish of sushi (1~2 pieces)! Soo cheap and there were so much more variety of sashimi than in America! ^o^ They actually have BIG pieces of caviar where you can actually taste the juice inside! Tasted like fresh sea water. It was yummy. Four of us ended up eating 37 dishes (HK$328, US$42). Really cheap for the amount that we've eaten~
After dinner, we walked all around Kowloon. It's soo pretty there; mainly because it's a tourist area. There was an area that was built in 1881 and it's so European style architecture. A lot of people dress up to take pictures there; some people were taking marriage photos there too~ So nice. I hope when I get married, I can take pictures there too. :) Big buildings, high end stores, five star hotels, etc. Such a pretty place... There were even the Street of Stars where famous people have their hand print printed on cement on the floor. Also a really awesome place to view the skyline of Hong Kong Island.
We walked so much today and Wendy even bought me fresh fried squid! :D So yummy and so fat! I'm gonna be so fat after this vacation... Wendy kept saying she wants to go on a diet, but how do you go on a diet with so much yummy food where ever you go?! Haha.
Tonight was so pretty. I hope Victoria was here. I try to enjoy 2x more so I can enjoy it for her too. One day, we'll come to Hong Kong together. :) Sleepie time! Night night!

Sunset from Wan Chai

I saw 3 of the ONLY 8 ice cream truck in Hong Kong! ^_^ They were removed by the government because they're not sanitary (due to the weather). But after protesting, they were able to bring back 8 of the trucks.

Really big caviar!

Sushi belt!

Haha, biggest night club in HK

Skyline of Hong Kong Island ^_^

Biggest Starbucks I've seen! 2 floors!

Watah!

Party boat! Kinda like party trolley in Boston~

Clock tower of the oldest train station. The train station is removed already though...

The writing of a hobo that claimed himself as once the Emperor of Kowloon... Now, his writings are preserved, haha

Funny banner, if you know how to read it. :)

The pretty place that a lot of people with fancy clothing were taking pictures. ^_^

Day 1: The Dreadful Plane Ride

Haha, 20 hours of plane ride... 6 hours from Boston to San Francisco and 14 hours from San Francisco to Hong Kong. It wasn't that bad at all actually. I slept most of the time. Good life indeed. Sleep --> Eat --> Pee --> Sleep --> Eat --> Pee --> Sleep.

The night before my departure, I was up until 1am talking with my mom. It was all random stuff, but it was a fun talk. I think she misses me a lot because she's not going to see me for 3 months unlike going to school where I return at least once a month. My mom woke me up at 3:15 and I got all ready and left the house at 3:45am. I was so afraid that I'll be late for the plane because my dad was driving sooooo slowwwww! =3= I got to Logan Airport at 4:35am and my flight was at 6!!! The international line for United Airline was really long and I was like, omg! I'm not gonna make it! I paid $7.95 to get WiFi (I thought there were free WiFi, but I guess my mobile phone doesn't qualify) so I can attempt to check in online, but I still have to line up to send over my luggage. Thankfully, my flight was delayed and I made it in on time. My plane lifted off at 7:10am.

I don't really know what to feel. It felt kind of normal but it was my first time traveling on my own. I have never left the country on my own before. Whenever I travel, my mom was always with me. I was so worried that I cannot take care of myself when I go on a trip on my own. But turns out that it's not so bad.

The whole flight from Boston to San Francisco to Hong Kong was really smooth and I just slept most of the time. Time flied by and I find that 4 hours had already past every time I wake up. No food during the flight from Boston to San Francisco :( Which I think is really dumb how they don't feed you anymore for domestic flights anymore. I got 3 meals from SFO to HK, but they're meh... Lol, they're like a bit better than DC food and they're not really filling.

When I reached Hong Kong International Airport, I find that the SIM card that my friend lend me wasn't working in Hong Kong! I was like, Q.Q How am I suppose to contact my cousin/auntie?! Thankfully, there was free WiFi at the airport. I sent a message to my cousin over Facebook and they told me that auntie is waiting at Exit B. I did my immigration documents, picked up my luggage and found my auntie waiting for me at the exit.

I was really excited to find auntie and she was pretty excited too. I was going to give her a hug because I haven't seen her for a long time, but I guess they don't do that in Hong Kong haha... I just patted her on the back and played it off. It was kind of awkward because we haven't seen each other for a long time and I'm really bad being a topic starter. I just said random things just to try to keep it less awkward like oh the weather here is so much hotter than Boston! We've been getting a lot of rain all week! Lets sit on the 2nd deck of the bus so I can do some sight seeing!

The bus ride from the airport to their "house" is an hour away, so I tried to talk to her as much as possible. When I say house, it's not really how it is in America. When we think of house, it's like a single family house. In Hong Kong, everyone lives in HUGE buildings. My mom calls them match boxes because in every direction you look, it's just all really tall building. There's too many people in Hong Kong to have individual houses. They buy a place in these buildings and call it a house. A house can cost from $1,000,000 to $800,000,000 HKD for the size of our living room or smaller! O_O That's like crazy to us, but so normal to them. My auntie said it used to be cheaper, but people in China kept coming down and investing into all these properties that made everything really expensive.

When I got back to my family's house, cousin Wendy was waiting for me to return and watching TV. She's shy as usual and barely talked to me, but I know she's really excited that I'm visiting. :3 We had dinner together, watched TV for a little bit, I washed up and about to go to sleep. I need to adjust to my sleeping schedule so I don't die when I start going to school and internship hehe. The house just had enough room for cousin Edward, cousin Wendy and auntie so I slept with cousin Edward~ Weird, but okay haha. That's all for tonight! Good night and good morning to people in the US! ^^;

On the flight to Hong Kong! ^-^

Cute stain glass at San Francisco International Airport!

Meow

Hi.