1st day of Classes.

Had my first set of classes today. Both profs were Mainlanders, but the first one was a lot more buff and cooler. Good # of exchange kids in both classes, so yay for not being the only foreign one. Yah, there's going to be quite a workload this term. I caaan feeeeel it. But whatevs. Just DOOO it loorr...

After the first class, had dimsum with Gu Ma. Mmmm...

Then finished the day by 3pm, and chilled with Gu Ma for a bit, then went to Mong Kok (not the mall though) with her and her roomie. Had dinner at Ramen, really good. I'll keep going back for spicy noodles. My favourite. I wish I wasn't sick though.

Then went to Grand Century, and bought Xiao Zhu's book!!!!!!!!!!! All the CNY decorations in the malls are very cool. Golden mice and cheese everywhere. Cute.

Then bought cake, came back to UST and stuffed ourselves. Sooo gooood. The mango one was the best.

So some incidents to remember:

"Aiyai yai yai yai!"

*DOUBLE TRIP on heater*

*Bang forehead on cake-seethrough-window*

Oh man good times. I haven't laughed like this in a while.

Now, I'm going to go sleep with my Xiao Zhu book. yeeeee.

And so the beginning comes to an end...gee that was quick.

Soo...
Well....
How do I put this......

My month-and-a-bit-long vacation has finally come to an...................end.

Ya. I ended exams on the 14th of December. And left Toronto on the 14th of Jan.
It's the 31st of Jan tomorrow, and thus, my biggest fear: School.

Great.

Yaya, regardless of whether it's Pass/Fail, it's still school.
And, my biggest hate, is school.
I hate it so much that I just said school about 4 times already.
I just can't get enough out of school ya know.

So anyway. Had orientation today at 9am. Thing finally ended after lunch, so around 2ish, went to a mall at Hang Hau with Crystal, her roomie, and Cathy.

Came back to UST around 5, bummed around by watching my lover on youtube with Crystal mui and then had dinner, and then looked for our classrooms, then came back to rez, then webcammed with Celine and Juff, then yah.

Seeeee...the entries are getting more and more mundaneeeeee everyday. boooooooooooooo.

byebye.

yah.

stayed in rez today.
did laundry.
slept at 10pm.

Mong Kok Day #4 (same mall)

Ahahahhaa i'm def a pro with this mall now.
So the day started late NOT because of me, ahem, i woke up at 12:30 thank you very much. Well, me and Ktran headed to Mong Kok to meet up with Crystal mui around 2:15ish. We decided to shop first, eat, and then cheung K. I got 3 more shirts, and a pair of jeans. Seriously, I'm telling you, ppl live to shop here. A Monday afternoon, and the mall was considerably packed. Geeze.

Then we went to eat.

Then we went back to Neway to singggg. My voice was already shot since I was sick. But I did my parts rather tastefully, right girls? Both Ktran and Crystal have very nice voices. Sighs.

Then, we split up where me and Ktran met up with Joce and had juk at "tsi gey" AGAIN. ahahahhaa. Then we finallllly bought our Converse shoes and Joce bought a green purse. Very green of her.

Man, I can't wait to sport out the skinnies and the new Converses. This look is like the epitome of HK fashion. Did I use the word right?

Then got back to UST before 11pm, where my rooooommie was back :) We chatted about her 11 day trip in Thailand, and then me and Ktran got help from Joce with laundry. We have this huge clothes rack in my room right now, takes up half of the room. But yayyyy...clean PJs. I'm not going out today, so I'm planning to wash my bedsheets and jeans and all my other clothes. Finally.

I didn't sleep well, I kept waking up wanting to cough, but it hurt so bad. The mother already called and warned me to not leave my room anymore. Geeze, she's halfway across the world, and I feel like she's watching me.......

"Okay, **********, so what's ONE FORTY NINE divided by 3???"
"-_-...ummmmmmmm.............omg, I REALLY DON'T KNOW!"

"My camera's tickling me! It's poking me in the ribs and it feels like an intense exercise"

"....In the USA the big CIA the Bloodz and the Crips and the KKK ..."
"Ku Kui-Kei!!!"

a better day.

woke up around 12. showered. met up with MinYoung for dimsum.

Crystal came, found out that her roomie was a girl that we met during the exchange dinner. very cool.

then Betty, Ktran, Ghoribet, Crystal, and I went to Tai Koo to pick up my glasses. very nice. i like. they're pleasant.

then went to Mong Kok for dinner where there were purple couches. wahoooo. i am seriously quite attracted to purple. then walked around Mong Kok looking for shoes. then went to $10 store and bought a basket finally!!!!! yayyyy. i can shower properly now.

roomie is coming back tomorrow. shall be interesting living with another person in the same room.

i am just popping oranges and vitamin Cs into my mouth...i hope my throat gets better tomorrow. everyone's getting sick :(

"the answer to everything: marry rich"
"ya i know, that's ideal, but howw??"
"lets go to Victoria Peak, and get run over by Ferraris and other nice cars"

AHAHAHHAHAHAHA

"so tips is 30 bucks. sooo hmmmm hmmmmmmm guys, HMMMM what's 30 divided by 6? HMMMMMM :S :S :S"

AHAHHAAHAHAAA

baagggghhh blech

"i bought 3 boxes of chocolate milk guys"
"how are you going to store it cold?"
"oh i'm not, i'm going to drink it all now"

"i'm scared, i think i got a virus"
"oh really? is it your throat? your head?"
"no, my laptop"

Soooo....sick in bed until 4pm. Caught up on 2 eps of OTH.
Then congee with Kin, Joce, and Ktran.

Then dead in bed by 10pm. not cool.

Tour #2

2nd tour today and I have no idea why I went. It was raining and uber cold. Geeze louise.
Went to some temple in Central and then SEAFOOD LUNCH at TST. Yeah, not so much seafood. Then went to the HK Museum of History? Pretty cool, lots of elementary kids, and they were taking class photos, and um, we took pictures with them. Yah. The teachers were pretty cool and encouraged everyone to get into the pic. Awwwwkward.

Then got back to UST and FINALLY GOT INTERNET IN MY ROOM!!!!!!!!! Yayyyy, only after about 10 days.

Then met up with the Schu crew for dinner. It was good, had Viet food, curry fried rice in a pineapple. Then walked around the mall for a bit and came back.

Met some more ppl today, really cool--everyone's all really smart. :S:S:S

Classes start on Thursday, and yeeeeaaah, must start mentally preparing myself. Been vacation-ing for way too long...it's been like...since....Dec 14th guy. My brain has gone through multiple meltdowns during this month and a bit...I haven't read a book or text for so long. Nor have I picked up a pen or pencil...shizzzzers.

But it was an ok day. As different as we all are, the 5-6 of us have become a little family.
Ktran, the Gu Jeh (aunt) ; Joce, the Ah Mah (mom); Wes, the Ah Bah & Ah Goh (dad & brother); Davina, the Exotic Aunt; and MinYoung, the Korean Mystery. Haha...I dunno?

We have so many funny quotes and conversations--I just wish I remembered them all.

Tour #1

So today we went on the tour that UST arranged for us...some islands: Po Toi and Lamma.
Yeah...not so naaice.

We took a boat to the first island, and ppl were getting seasick and barfing...and yeah. But I met ppl? So that was cool.

Got to Po Toi island, and took random pics. We had to hike a bit, and that was kinda gay, but the view was pretty nice. Random rocks, waters, cemeteries...yeah...I guess it was nice. Then we went back on the boat to go to Lamma Island for our SEAFOOD LUNCH! Yeah...not that great either. All of us Schu girls had a good nap going there...and coming back to HK...we all napped again too. So half the tour was us sleeping. Soooooo...............yeah, I don't even know what else to say. I didn't remember half the names of the ppl I met, but they're all very nice and it's so cool to meet ppl from all over the world. There are about 170ish exchange students at UST this term, and about 130 of them are business students. It's a big group.

Then we got back to UST later in the evening, and got ready for the Wendy Cheung dinner (the exchange coordinator here). Very nice lady. Perfect English. So that was a surprise. We went to a Thai restaurant and had a pretty good mix of ppl at our table. Ahhh I love meeting new ppl. It was good. Lots of French and Americans this term.

Then came back to UST, tried to get internet, then realized my cable wires snapped, and was very disappointed, and slept instead.

2nd tour tomorrow at 9am. geeze.

The Harbour!!!!!!!!

SHAAAAAAAAAAAAT
BAAAAAAAAH
I JUST WROTE A WHOLE POST
AND DELETED IT BY ACCIDENT. EFFFFFFFFFFFFF.
***
- dimsum with Joce, Ktran, Wes, and me
- Canadian Consolate at Central
- shopped at IFC--such a nice malllll, my first mall mall
- split, went to Tai Gu with Ktran and Wes
- bought glasses, dumbass @ bargaining, frig, actually quite POed
- had pho
- watched Rendition
- went to the Harbour, sat on the ferry
- so absolutely and fo sho-ly in love with HK

"......................yaaa I'm so scared that some creeper will just pop out of nowhere!"
"you just spit in my eye"
"oh i'm sorry, i keep doing that to you. but don't worry, my spit is clean because I brushed my teeth today"
"........................."
"whaaat, it's true. but with all the spit...it'll kinda be like i just made out with you"

AHAHAHHAHAHAA

***
I heard about Heath Ledger. I am in denial.

Mong Kok Day #3 (same mall)

Finally got to sleep in today...however, I woke up naturally at 9am, but forced myself back to sleep until 11ish. Then facebooked for a bit, and then met up with Ktran to go get student IDs. The ladies there were pretty funny, they kept saying how happy I looked (the irony). They were very curious about the stressfulness of Canadian schools, however, obviously, we gladly responded them with very biased answers (ew schulich). I was such a dumbass there, I kept filling out forms wrong, and the lady who was helping me definitely was not impressed.

After that, we finally left campus, and got our temporary student Octopus cards. Yay, half off on subway rides now. Then we met Nat at Mong Kok and went to sing K at Neway (yes, 2 days in a row now). We started around 3pm, and yah, this place had a lot more English songs than the one yesterday. Singing K is so fun here, but I must practice, hard, so that I can sing EVERY Xiao Zhu's songs. Bwahahahha.

We finished around 6pm and then walked around the mall (my 3rd day in a row), and I bought some hair clips and stuff. Then we went to eat dinner, and all I ordered was "choi" because I am so sick of eating MSG everyday. I'm pretty sure my choi was full of MSG, but hey, I'll just pretend that it was a healthy meal.

Then we continued walking around Mong Kok, wow, it doesn't matter what time of day or which day you're there...there's ALWAYS people...everywhere. This...I must get used to. Sometimes it's a bit overwhelming, because you start wondering whether HK-nians ever STOP shopping. I checked out some camera stores to get an idea of what brands and prices are here...I'm debating between a Sony or Pentax. I'm personally not keen on Pentax, just cause I've never heard of it...but it's better than the Sony, even though the Sony is a touch camera--the screen's sicccck.

Then finally, it was around 11pm, and we decided to call it a day. Ktran and I went back to Choi Hung and since I'm still in need of a basket to put all my shower stuff (shampoo, soap, face wash), we tried to find Park N Shop (supermarket)...but yah, it was closed. So sad. So then we just came back to campus, and saw Wes for a while, talked, then headed back to res.

I took a shower just now, so my hair is wet, and I finally decided to start the blog. I'm writing all my entries backwards. I have some jotted down in paper, and some are on Word. So I'm going to try to organize all these rando notes...and hopefully...this blog will be good to go.

yeyyyy *fob sign*

Mong Kok Day #2 (same mall)

So of all days, we decide to sing K (our 1st time) at 10:30 in the morning. Yah, quite the experience. I woke up around 9:20, with my whole body mad sore (I don't know what it is...maybe it's the paper thin mattress, over-exhaustion of walking, fob-signing at mad at Xiao Zhu's signing....??)...and then left around 10:15am with Ktran to meet Crystal at Yau Ma Tei. We were a bit late, but we went to Greenbox. We started at 11 am and finished at 3pm. Yah. Talk about fobbing it up. The karaoke places here are sooo cool. Flat screen TVs, cool remotes, cool song selections...ahhh very very good. And they come with lunch and drinks. So after 4 hours of karaoke, the total came to about 150 HKD (just over $20 CDN) for 3 ppl! Sicccccck. After today, I discovered a lot more HK singers, and will definitely educate myself ASAP. I really can't read Chinese at all, quite upsetting.

After K, we met up with Joce @ H&M--they're soooo cool here. The store is really high, and the way they display the clothes here are mad awesome, and so I took pictures, but then I was asked by the sales guy not to. lol. But too late, I already took about 5 pics...suckaaaa.

Then we decided to split up because Ktran and Joce wanted to shop at legit malls (Club Monaco, Coach etc etc). So me and Crystal just went back to the same mall at Mong Kok yesterday...and shopped for a bit. And coincidentally, we bumped into Deonry. But she had to leave around 6:30pm for her Grandma's birthday dinner.

In the mall, there was this stall where they sold noodles in plastic bag...and you get to choose the ingredients (squid, crab meat, corn etc etc) and sauce to put in the bag. It was really cool...and then you eat right out of the bag with chopsticks.

Then we went to eat dinner at this food court/restaurant-ish place. You basically look at this board where the whole menu is, then you order it, get a ticket, and go to the front, give it to the chef, and they make it right in front of you. We had a mini-hotpot...it's really a one person meal, but I wasn't that hungry, so we just decided to share it. Then to get the gas pump, you had to ask the cleaning ladies to set it up for you...really neat. But I got yelled for taking it myself...cause she was no where to be found when we needed help. But yah, it was pretty good, but I'm really sketched out on eating vegetables here...cause you never know if it's clean or not. But whatevs. It was hotpot, so hopefully, the boiling soup killed all the bacteria. Haaa.

Then we went back to the streets of Mong Kok and had...umm...egg waffles? something "gai dan"? lol. I forget. But it was pretty good.
Then we called it a day, and I bussed home myself for the 2nd time.Got back on campus around 8:30ish pm and chilled by myself in the common room for a while cause I still don't have the bloody internet in my room. Frig. And then traveled down to Ktran's room for LAN party #3...and Wes was also there, modelling with his new fob/preppy clothes. I watched a few Xiao Zhu videos and ya...continued mesmerizing over the fact of actually meeting him a couple days ago. love love love. absolute love.

The 5 of us were together again for a while, then Davina left cause she was really tired (she got her roomie today). Then Ktran's roomie came back, and yet again, I was on her table, and felt really bad, so I left around 12:30ish. Then I decided to call it a day, and went to bed. Slept like a baby.

Mong Kok Day #1 (same mall)

Today was the last day before Demps left, so we decided to have a goodbye lunch with him. We were supposed to meet him around 11ish, and so I woke up around 9:30 to get ready (only cause Joce said 9)...but then everyone slept in. And so I decided to walk around campus...omg...today was beautiful. The weather was amazing, sunny, and I found the best ocean view...right at the atrium. I just looked at the water for about a good 20-30 mins with the sun in my face, just absorbing everything in. There were sailboats in the water, and ahhh, love love love. Then, finally, found our mystery #6 Schulich-UST member, MinYoung and yayy...iBBAs reunited.

Then Joce, Ktran, MinYoung, and we headed off to Diamond Hill to eat with Demps. We ate at a food court and it was an experience because all the food menus were in CHinese...umm...yeaah...got Demps to order for me. Ayyy...must learn to read. Then we shopped around the mall for a while because I was to meet Crystal around 3:30pm at Mong Kok...she was going to bring me to a mall there (very much Pmall style...but the stores are about 10 times smaller, and there are a gajillion of them). But at Diamond Hill, I guess there was an autograph signing...cause there were these girls singing...and no one had any idea who they were...but then we heard screaming fans holding signs, and it was a band HotCha. They're pretty young I think...I saw one with braces. And then Elanne was also there (again, no idea who she is, but I saw her album in a CD store the next day). But yay, famous ppl, so we took a few snapshots of them :)

Then we split up, and I went to meet Crystal. This mall at Mong Kok is like an apartment, with many levels, but with so many little stores in them. I bought 2 shirts, a purse (finally...it's huge though, and I think I got ripped off, but whatevs...I needed one desperately), pair of flats. I am in desperate need of clothes because today I wore my last outfit...I brought 5 days worth of clothes. Ha. Yah. And 5 pairs of underwear.....Sooo.........................ya. Dumbass, anyone?

Then we were thinking of singing K (Neway)...but Crystal said the one at Yau Ma Tei (GreenBox) had more Taiwanese songs selection...but when we went there, there was a lineup and for some reason, they wanted you to get membership. So we decided not to, and went to eat dinner at a Shanghai restaurant. Food was good. Had "lai meen", dimsum (wonton in garlic and spices), and desert (everything was just under $10 CDN for each of us)...ahhhh.

Then another day had gone by, and I took the bus all the way back to school for the first time. It was my first time walking back to rez all by myself, and I'm not gonna lie, yeaaa I got a bit lost, but I figured it out.

Then LAN party #2 in Ktran's room.

Gaaah, neeeeed internet in my own room.

<3 LOVE OF MY LIFE <3

Today, I was supposed to wake up at 6:45am to dress up and get ready for Xiao Zhu. But I ended up getting wakened up by Joce around 8am. I got ready in 15 mins, and ran down to get Ktran and then headed off to Olympian mall. I think we got there around 9:45, where I met up with Deonry and her cousin and then Ktran and Joce left to go shopping.

So since we didn't get tickets (ppl with tickets get to stand closer to the stage and are entered into a draw where the first 50 ppl get to hug Xiao Zhu)...we were all the way at the back. But I guess luckily, we somewhat went early...even though we were still so bloody far from him :(

But oh man, longest wait of my life. We befriended 3 highschoolers beside us and they were so appalled by my English. lol. But I was very flattered. Haha.

Then FINALLY, at 1PM, he came out. It was so CRAZZZZZYY. Crystal was one of the 50 people drawn to get a hug, and since she was the first 8, she got to take group shots with him. Luckiest girl in the world. There were papparazzis everywhere, but the STRANGEST thing, everytime they filmed/photographed the crowd, all the kids would duck. I was explained that ppl just didn't like being on TV, or a lot of them were students and their parents didn't know that they were there...but then there I was, the only one on the gates standing high and proud with my 2 arms outstretched in fob signs. I was jumping up and down like mad, trying to get the pap's attention and they noticed me and took a pic of me. But I can't find the pic anywhere online...however, a lot of the crowd pictures...you can see my extended arm...lol. I was wearing purple that day, so yes, it is ME! But anyway, Crystal is all over the news and on youtube. GAAAH.

But oh man, Xiao Zhu is sooo hot. He performed 2 songs, and then did interviews, and signed autographs. We thought he was only going to give autographs to the people with tickets, but he ended up signing everyone’s album covers. So me and Deonry got in line again around 2pm, and finally got it signed around 4pm. He was so tired, and I was so out of it, so although he shook my hand and gave me an autograph, I didn’t take the advantage to look at him properly and meet him satisfyingly :(:(:( But I did say "Xiao Zhu, ni hao!!!" But...all I remember is his blingy earring and his dark skin. I don’t even think he looked at me in the face. Oh well, I touched him though!!! love love love :D:D:D:D

Then Deonry and Crystal and me bussed to some place...i think we got a bit lost....but we passed by um some goldfish street, where they were selling fish and turtles and basically--pets. Interesting. Then we met Ktran, Nat, and Joce. But we all split again.

Me, Deonry, and Crystal went to a mango desert place where I had a really good mango drink. It was really cool with real mangos and jello and mango juice...ahh. Then Deonry left to dinner with the rest of the Schulich kids in HK, and me and Crystal went to dinner with Ktran, Joce, and Nat. We went to Pizza Hut---yah....it's considered fine dining here. It was soooo nice....We had a pizza made with pita and rice, pasta, salad, and soup :)

At the end of the day, my feet were KILLING cause I was wearing my new boots and seriously, 8 hours of standing is mad torture. Although it was for Xiao Zhu, I'm not sure if everything was worth it. Yah, I got to see him, but I was still really far, and I got so tired near the end, that I didn't even really LOOK at him properly. But whatevs. I SAW HIM GUYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Then, me, Joce, and KTran went back to school for a bit, and then bussed down to LKF (equivalent to DT Toronto)...got there around 11:30 pm. Ya. Heh. Definitely an interesting experience. This is where all the tourists and foreign ppl are. It's basically one street, with a lot of stores and bars and clubs. The one street is just filled with loud music, ppl chilling and drinking, and partying. Ya, apparently it's like open 24 hours, and ppl don't even go home...they just party at night and into the early morning...until the busses and subway starts running again haha.

Night ended somewhat early I guess, and the 5 of us (we didn't even go down together, but somehow ended up together :D ) all taxied home cause the MTR stops running after 1am.

But in the end, good day good day. Happy :)

Oh wait, I also ended up locking myself out my room today. And had to pay $10 to get back in. dumb.

Offness...

I woke up at 7:00 am today because I’m still really jetlagged. Ktran came to my room around 9 because she had to meet Nat at Mong Kok to get her cell fixed. We went to Dav’s room to talk for a bit.

Then Joce met with us and we went to the library for internet. Wes also woke up. Then we decided to split up. Me, Ktran, and Joce went to a new canteen to get sandwiches (probably the healthiest meal you'll find on campus).

Then we went to Mong Kok where Ktran met with Nat, and me and Joce went to HSBC—which took forever to find, but a lot of Chinese was used to ask for directions. Opening up an account took forever and was a royal pain in the ass. After, me and Ktran ended up waiting for Joce for about an hour and a half. But me and Ktran tried to make guided tour videos...but I think we failed miserably. The air at Mong Kok is horrible...you can tell the difference between the air there and at school...soooo much cleaner and better.

When Joce was done with the bank, wehad to wait about an hour more for Ktran’s phone. So we went back to Liu Yan Gai—I was very flustered because the air was seriously so horrible there (I was hacking my brains out), and I couldn't stand the shop stands there :( But then I bought ice cream and was kinda happy again. haha.

Then we went to pick up Ktran’s phone, and met up with Dav & Wes at Tsim Sah Tsui for dinner—Thai food.

Then we split up again, Dav & Wes went back to UST, and me, Ktran, and Joce shopped for a bit at TST. I got a pair of boots and black pants and shampoo. Went to the Giordano there, and people watched for a while. SEriously, there are no good looking guys here. There is also a limited selection of pretty girls here, but there’s more double Ls (LANG LUIs) than LJs (LANG JAIs).

Then we finally bussed back to UST, I took a shower, and we had an internet party in Ktran’s room (LAN party #1). It was good to use the internet on my laptop again. Then went to sleep at 3:30 am.

Yaa...today was the first day where the 5 of us split, and I got really sad. But at least I’m glad that there’s a little Schu-crew at UST :)

"I hope we never break up :S ...... :D "

haha.

1st for everything...

I woke up at 6:30am today...ya, talk about being jetlagged. I slept in Joce’s room because Emily had her friend over and had to catch an early flight to Thailand (11 days).

But we finally got up around 11pm, where Dav and Ktran came to Joce’s room and we chilled and planned out the day.

"ya i saw the scariest girl on my floor. she looked at me and gave me the scariest 'cut eye'. it was so scary that i had to go back to my room and pray."

Then we went to have brunch.

"lets go for dimsum"
"what??? dimsum for breakfast?? uhhh..."
"um it's like almost 12pm...."
"but dimsum??"
"ya ppl do that, ppl can dimsum for breakfast"
"ya, but i wanted bacon, eggs.........an omelet......................"
"ya ok but, no, sorry, we're in China"

But anyway, we ended up going to the canteen, and Me, Wes, Dav decided to play it safe and had McDs. I had a peppered grilled chicken burger, and it was all shifted to the side—shafted--but it was pretty spicy. Yaaa...ordering in CHinese is hard, so I just ordered in English...and ya...HK ppl's English sucks........bah.

After that, we went to settle rez fees, and then me, Joce and Ktran went to meet up with Demps and Nat. But then we all met together (Dav & Wes) at Mong Kok where me and Ktran bought our cell phones. Haa...yes, I copied Ktran cause I know nothing about phones. But she got a white one, and I, a black. Nothing, new.

Then we went to Watsons to buy some soap and stuff. And then the HKU crew met up with us to have dinner. It was so nice seeing familiar faces. My food today was good :D No shaftedness.

Then we all went to Liu Yan Gai and shopped. It was nuts, so many people, I never shopped so dark at night. I find it so hard to shop there—the pushing, shoving, the bargaining, the aggressive, the desperation, the cheap “foh”. Yaaaa....so sad. But got a scarf and a pair of blue Yoshi slippers.

Then we all tried to bus back to UST, but didn’t know how to get on the “luk waan jai”, and so taxied back.

But today was our first day without our buddies. So quite an accomplishment getting around by ourselves.

Jan 14-16 2008: It Commences...

So for those who don't know, my name is, um, Alison Koh, and I am going to Hong Kong for one semester to study at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

I got to the airport around 8pm and met up with the others who were with their families just waiting around until we entered the gates. My parents left me right away, which was good because I got it over and done with, quick. No waterworks. Nada. I was clean.

The 5 of us Joce, Ktran, Dav, Wes, and me entered the gates before 9:30ish and just loitered around the airport. Our flight officially departed by 11pm and thus, began our HK journey =] Overall, the whole trip was 20 hours, with a one hour stopover in Alaska, however, we were not allowed to get off the plane.

We arrived in HK around 7:30am (HK time). Crystal (a girl I met over Facebook because she is a Xiao Zhu lover too) came to get us and we went to UST in the vans she booked. They’re very sketch…like the ones where ppl get kidnapped in dramas…but we got to school safely. However, we did not get dropped off in front of our residences, and so we had to lug all our luggages across campus for a good 15-20 mins to find our buildings. After that, we checked in and stuff, showered. Us 4 girls all got the same rez, except for Wes.

Then we met a French girl, Juliette, who lives on the same floor as me and Joce and she had to go to HSBC and I told her that our buddies were meeting us soon that day and that she could come with. And my roommate, who also checked in the same day as I did, her name is Emily and she goes to Queens, also came along with us. We met up with May and Chris, who did their exchange term in Schulich last term, and they brought us to lunch, and then IKEA to buy bedding and other necessities. Lunch was quite retarded, because I ordered cold noodles with ice cubes in them—it was absolutely unintentional—but yes, the shaftedness continues overseas as well as you shall see.

Buying bedsheets and comforters was fun, everyone bought the same comforter except for Joce. So all 4 of us have the same, bright yellow/black dot one. I was so going to buy this pure black one, but um, it was expensive and I didn’t want to buy something I was just going to chuck right after this trip. But the yellow is seriously so bright and happy. So not working for me. But whatevs.

And then we all came back to UST and made our rooms. Later in the night, Kin & Demps came over to see the campus and we all chilled for a bit. I was so exhausted that night. Seriously, it felt like we haven’t slept since Monday night, and due to the time change, we lost a Tuesday, and magically, it was Wed night already. I never felt so tired in my life. The plane ride was kinda :S and it was very uncomfortable to sleep. So I think I only slept well for a max of 5-6 hours. Oh well. I love HK :) UST is seriously a beautiful and gorgeous campus. Walking to class everyday will be such a pleasure, well hopefully. Our rez is friggin far, but hopefully all the walking will do some good in the end.

HK is a busy place, and the crowdedness is overwhelming, but I somehow almost feel at ease knowing that there’s just so much…life…at this whole other side of the world. So much I don’t know about, so much to see and explore. It’s a very unique feeling…and I can’t wait to experience it all.