Tuesday: Lots of Food

Yesterday was a great eating day. After OB, Lorenzo and I went to Choi Hung to pick up our student Octopus cards. Then we decided to go to Mong Kok (one of my favorite places in the entire world) to do a little shopping. I wanted to get a new flash drive, as some of the locals showed me very small ones with tremendous memory. So, we went in search of the Computer Center. We happened to stumble upon it, and it was a very unimpressive building. There was only one small storefront in sight, so I was a little disappointed. We went up a staircase, however, and we were confronted with every imaginable technology device needed. I purchased two things: an 8GB flash drive and a USB number pad. The flash drive is about the size of top half of my thumb; it is incredible the amount of memory they can put into something so small. I got the number pad because there is not one on my laptop, and I will be doing a lot of work with Excel next semester. I will be going back there, in order to get a 1 terabyte external hard drive. That amount of memory is so absurd that my spell check did not even recognize the word. I also might get the Windows 7 update, because I think the price will be better.

After leaving the computer center, we wanted to get some street food. So we found a little spot and I got pig intestines on a stick. I wanted to try it because I see it all over and it's pretty popular. And it was actually pretty good. It's not my favorite, but it wasn't terrible. We walked around some more, then decided to get some more street food. This time I got octopus balls, which were delicious. They might be my favorite street food yet.

Once we got off at Choi Hung, we went over to the little market over there and walked around. I ended up buying some pork neck meat, which is absolutely delicious. If anyone is getting Chinese food in the near future, I would highly recommend it.

We then went back to campus. Susanne had invited me during the day to go to hotpot with her and a couple friends (mutual friends - Heidi from Canada, and AJ, visiting from BC via studying abroad in Australia). So I ran, showered, and headed back out. The place was in TST.

The food was quite good. We had lamb, beef, dumplings, veggies, clams, etc. It was a lot of food. We ordered so much because it was all you can eat (and drink) for only about US$10. We also had a few beers, and ended the night playing some drinking games around the table. It was a lot of fun.

Today, I ate breakfast, went to class, worked out, and talked to Mom and Caitlyn. Now I need to shower before my next class. I am going to the horse track tonight, so it should be a fun time. I'll update how it is later.

And, if I do not do so before tomorrow, I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving.

P.S. - I just got a haircut. A nice buzz. I'll bring the camera to the horse races tonight and take some pictures and then everyone can see the new cut.

New Pictures

By the way, I put up some pictures from the Philippines. I also forgot to mention that I got roasted by the hot Filipino sun yesterday. It rained/ was overcast most of the time, so I wasn't expecting it when the sun came out. It was only out for a short while, but pale Irish skin and hot, tropical sun is not a good combination. Have a good Monday everyone.

The Philippines

So Thursday night began our journey. I met Dominic, Wolfgang, Francesca, Janina (all Germans), Yaser, David (both Americans), and Soren (Danish) in the atrium at 10pm. We took a cab to the airport, had some food beforehand, then got on the plane at 12:50am. We landed in Cebu, the second biggest city in the Philippines, around 4am. We then took a cab from the airport to the port, from where we took a boat to Bohol, another island in the Philippines. The ride over was quite uncomfortable, as someone decided it would be a good idea to create a seat with two uncomfortable mounds right where the butt cheeks would sit. We arrived in a couple hours, then took a cab from the port to the resort.

On the way, I was very surprised at the level of poverty in the Philippines. It was very disconcerting. The are only a few streets which are paved, most of the "houses" are little more than shacks, and there were all sorts of people walking around without shoes. I thought of the Philippines as a developing country, but they have a long way to go.

So, we arrive at the resort and they show us to our rooms. They were a little modest, but they were right on a beautiful beach. That more than made up for it. Everyone was quite tired from the long journey (we arrived at the resort around 9 or so), so everyone had a bit of a nap.

When I woke up, I had lunch and then I read my book for a while. Then we went to dinner. I just had a drink, since I hadn't eaten too long ago, as did some others. I eventually ate some pizza, which was actually a lot better than I expected. We had some more drinks as the nights progressed, and it was a nice night.

The next day I had a bit of a lie-in. When I woke up I ate something, then read my book on our deck. Then, we decided to take some motor bikes around. I was a little nervous, as I had never ridden one before and because the Philippines doesn't really have "rules of the road", but it ended up being pretty fun. Upon our return, we showered and then went down the beach for some dinner. Dominic, David and I shared a whole fish and a whole squid. They fried the squid (as in calamari) and they barbecued the fish. Both were very good, but the squid was a real standout. There was also a guitar trio which came over and played for us during dinner.

After dinner, our waitress asked for my autograph, as she thought I was Elijah Wood. Yaser also convinced her that I was, despite my protests. It was pretty funny. I signed E Wood, so as not to disappoint.

After that, we had a couple drinks at the bar next door, then went to bed early, as we were waking up at 5:30am on Sunday.

We had ordered breakfast the night before, so it was waiting for us when we woke up. We ate on the boat, as we were rushing to try to see some dolphins. And, we actually got to see some. It was very cool. We went to an island not too far from our beach and snorkeled, which was awesome. There were so many fish and other interesting sea creatures to see. We putzed around the island after snorkeling, then we took the boat back to our beach. We had some lunch down the beach, then it was time to leave. It was a quick weekend.

The return trip was also a journey - we left the resort at 3pm and didn't arrive back on campus until 1:15am. It was exhausting.

Now it is back to classes and whatnot. Thanksgiving is Thursday, although that means nothing here. I am going with a couple of friends to pick up dinner for Thursday and bringing it back. I think the final tally for the eating group will be around 25 or so. Hopefully the food won't be too bad, although it won't compare to a Filippello Thanksgiving. There won't be any fried turkeys for me this Thanksgiving.

Also, I have 27 days left in Hong Kong. Wow.

Rest of the Week, Philippines for the Weekend

So, this week was very studious. Today, I had a presentation for OB and a paper in Anthropology of Food due, so this week was a lot of preparing for these two items. Both turned out well, and I was pleased. I wore my grey suit with blue shirt and yellow tie for my presentation. I looked very professional.

I'm off to the Philippines for the weekend. I'm very excited. We're taking a midnight flight, then we get in around 4am or so I believe, then we take a ferry a couple of hours to another island. It should be quite the adventure.

I hope everyone has a nice weekend. Go Bears and Eagles.

By The Way It Got Really Cold

Today, it got quite cold. It was about 45-50 degrees, rainy, and quite windy. I wore a thermal shirt and some jeans. There were people wearing hats, scarfs, and full-on winter coats. Completely unnecessary, but it was very different from the usual weather. Just FYI. Apparently it will be warming up this weekend. The Philippines will be good weather, I am led to believe. I'm glad about that.

The Weekend, and Monday

Thursday night I stayed in. I ran after class, and I already was tired from my whole day of classes. Also, most people were staying in as well. I read my book, and got some good rest.

Friday, I worked out, did some homework, and then went out to dinner. I went in a group of nine to an all-you-can-eat hot-pot restaurant. Hot-pot is very popular here. You are given a pot full of boiling broth in which you can cook meat, vegetables, seafood, etc. It's pretty good, but not my favorite. After dinner, we went out and had a fun time.

Saturday, I had a group project meeting. I didn't plan on going out, but I was talked into it by Eric and Lorenzo. We went to a party down in the city, and it had a mafia theme. I wore dress pants, a white shirt, a vest, and I slicked back my hair. I was pleasantly surprised that everyone else also decided to dress up. It was a fun night.

Sunday, I woke up, took a shower, and had some breakfast. Then I trotted off to the library for the rest of the day. I met a couple others for dinner after my library day, and I got roasted pork neck with rice. It was delicious - probably my favorite meal I have had on campus thus far. After dinner, I watched Thank You for Smoking, as I thought I deserved a break after the full day in the library. It was very entertaining.

Today, I woke up, had breakfast, and went to Operations. After class, I searched far and wide on the internet for a stream of the big game between the Colts and the Patriots. I had to settle on watching the ESPN gamecast update every few seconds. I was disappointed. Also, I stopped watching the gamecast after the Patriots took a 31-14 lead. I really wish I had been able to find a stream, as the game turned out to be quite the classic. Too bad the Bears can't have wins like that. At least those Eagles are still in contention.

After the game ended and I had lunch, I went to my discussion for Food. After that, I worked out. Then I met with the group with which I am going to the Philippines on Thursday. We kinda firmed up our plans for the weekend and such. After that, I went to TST to pick up my third and final suit, this one a navy blue one. It looks very nice. On my way back to campus, my friend called me and asked if I was still serious about going to Taiwan next weekend (Nov 26-29). I said I was, so I think we are going. We want to book flights tomorrow.

Now, I'm just in my room, working on finishing up my paper for Food, and waiting for my OB group meeting to commence in an hour.

That's all for now. Hope the week begins well.

Why Did the Bears Trade for Jay Cutler?

Seriously, why? Unless they want to spend some money on some new offensive linemen (and 85 year-old Orlando Pace doesn't count) or some decent receivers (Devin Hester played cornerback and kick returner at Miami for a reason), then having a former Pro Bowl quarterback is pointless. But seriously, 5 interceptions? Five? Wow, that is awful.

So, back to Hong Kong. I have some work due next week, so this weekend will mostly be occupied doing that. I got some more music from the library, so now I'm over 9,400 songs (putting that in perspective, I could listen to music 24 hours a day for the entire month of February and never hear the same song twice). The new music is all classical music.

This week on campus, there were graduation ceremonies. Here, they apparently take after the British, as the students who graduated last May do not have a graduation ceremony until now. This is a little different, but no big deal. It became a big deal, however, when they decided to do this three-day ceremony in the middle of the atrium in the middle of the school. Mind you, you cannot get anywhere on campus (seriously, anywhere) without going through the atrium. This made it exceedingly complicated and frustrating to try and navigate to various classes. It was also extremely crowded. It was very annoying. It's fine if you want to have the ceremony in November. It's also fine that you want to do it in the Atrium. It's not fine, however, to do so during the week while classes are going on. It's ridiculous.

Another little quirk about Hong Kong: no one picks up their own garbage. Say, for instance, you are out at a fast food restaurant. You eat, then you bus your own table. That is not the case here. Everyone leaves their trash on the table, and then it is someone's job to come around and pick it up. Maybe it has some communist overtones, as a company needs to employ an extra person just to pick up trash. Everyone can have a job then, I guess.

That's all for now. Hope all is well. I'm gonna go for a run now. Go Eagles.