Day 7: Orientation @HKU

Good Morning ~

Its Orientation Day!! 

Was really looking forward for orientation at HKU today. 

My dorm block gathered at the entrance of the gates and we walked together to meet up with hundreds of other students at the hall.

 Even tho it was raining hard, we managed to arrive in time.

yeeeeee.... thats my faculty!

During the opening ceremony we were told all electronic devices to be closed. 

So here's one last picture before I head off into HKU.

I was surprised to see so many international students attending the welcoming ceremony. I met so many new people around the globe, was able to have a great chat and connect (as we were kind of on the same boat). University will start next week, I'm guessing its gonna get a tad busy from now on, might end up posting on a weekly basis. But I'll see how it goes. Cheers ~

Night 6: Time to myself and dinner for 1.

This morning was very busy and hectic.

I met new people and also discovered a tad more at HKU.

I really do enjoy being at the university. Its very welcoming and cool (as in every building, including the lifts are air-conditioned to the max).

But today is the day I wanted to take in what HK has to offer and be more aware of my surroundings.

I took the last couple hours before dinner to take advantage of the bus system, so far I have managed to find a bus that takes me from HKU to a short walk to my dorm, but I am yet to find a bus that takes me from my dorm to HKU. This is probably a good sign tho, a sign that i need to at least find the time to exercise and get some kind of physical activity in my daily routine.  

Especially from all the great food I have been feasting on the past couple days :)

Once I had reached my dorm from my trip to HKU, I took the time to again familiarise myself around the streets...

...and importantly to find a place to eat.

I went to a place called "KAI KEE RESTAURANT" at the corner of Smithfield Rd.

This restaurant, surprisingly had an array of Asian and Western cuisines.

I ended up ordering one of their selected baked dishes.

Baked Bolognese and Tomato Sauce with Spaghetti.

It was delicious :)

... & only costed me HKD$52.00/AUD$8.00

Which is quite reasonable. 

In addition, there were quite a few people eating there too, as i was glancing to the side, the person next to me had like a 4 dish meal for only HKD$30.00/AUD$4.60 :) I will definitely come back again. Especially to check out their specials...haha!

As it got late I took the bus home, instead of walking because 1. it was a up hill walk which I am not prepared for after a full stomach, 2. it was simply late and it got dark. 

Till next time...

Good night! ~

Day 5: View from HKU + hair cut

Not much will be said in today's blog, the heat really gets to you. Being lazy today :)

But I visited HKU again to help out my roomy register. 

This is one of the views from one of the buildings, I have no clue what the names are yet, because the university is practically on a mountain side, so it gets confusing at times, getting to one building requires a million steps and 10 lifts...

Ok so I may have exaggerated a bit ...

Other from that...

I went to get my hair cut.

As some of you may not know, my hair was literally reaching my hips, I found it easy to manage back in AUS, but in HK I just couldn't, I'ld either sweat too much down the back side of my neck or didn't know how to style it up because I was so exhausted from the heat to do anything...

So I decided to get a hair cut, I did go to a recognized place but you needed a booking, as the saying goes...

Ain't nobody got time for dat!

I turned to one of the old school streets and saw an old Chinese man in a salon shop, and instantly though...

Hmm... It's a bit shifty, but it would do.

Yes. I was desperate for a hair cut, but I didn't trust myself enough with a pair of scissors. 

"Gotta support the small businesses you know."

As I entered his store, I spoke to him in Chinese, but I guess I still needed more practice as he didn't understand me too well :(  

To shorten my dialect as some weirdo fob, all I said was "cut"... "Bei yi chin?" (How much?) before i knew it he was whipping out a calculator with the digits. 

English was no help at all. So I didn't get the style I wanted.

My hair was in his hands...before I knew it about 30cm was gone. 

GONEEEE!!!! :(

It does feel weird with short hair, and i know what some of you might be thinking..

"DAFUQ thats not short!"

Well.. to me it's the shortest my hair has ever been since primary school. 

#nofilter

I'm having mixed feelings about it. As silly as it sounds I miss my long hair, and it hasn't been even 24hrs yet, my pillow hasn't even styled my hair yet. Only time will tell how I'ld adjust to everything.

That's all for now. 

Bed hair update: 

~Good morning!! 

(It's really sunny outside)

Day 4: Sushi Train + Visiting "Central"

Today my dad took me to visit my university, but because I was trying to focus and get my head straight with my surroundings I didn't take any photos. 

So I'm just gonna scab this off one of my friend :)

And it was totally awesome, very modern (and clean...) Unlike what I've seen on the streets so far, although this helps break up from what I actually wanted to experience: the busy chaotic lifestyle vs. a quiet-well functioning education room where students are able to focus. (Yet its too early to judge as the semester hasn't started yet.)

As I reached my faculty, I was told to do paper work as usual.

Sooo much paperwork...

But it's all part of the process.

Afterwards we went to eat at...

Genki Sushi @ Smithfield Court

(Only reason I took this photo was because I forgot to take photos of the sushi itself haha... I was extremely hungry and... Yea that's pretty much my excuse, I was hungry)

The food there was pretty good and prepared well. 

But...

I did manage to take a short video of the sushi express line passing by :)

We later took a bus to "Central", bus fare was about HKD6.00/AUD0.92

Soooo cheap!! 

I was surprised to find that it's similar to Chadstone & Crowns, stores back in Melbourne. Very classy and expensive, how ever when we had turned into an ally way there was a whole new world, full of cheap goods and kind of familiar brands. Only down fall was that it was overly crowded. 

Yess...

Down the center, far back... people walking everywhere

hmm... makes me think...

I do not want to be stuck here during a zombie apocalypse :/

To end my day I visited the pier. 

It was really sunny, so the lighting might not have turned out so well.

 

Cheers ~

Day 3: HK's humid weather + my troubles...

The warmth in HK is starting to get to me, most mornings I've been waking up with bad headaches..feeling dizzy, and tired. Tho I do drink plenty of liquids, I feel it's not enough. 

Just checked the weather forecast for this week, looks like it's gonna be another scorching day.. And throughout. 

I'm starting to miss Melbourne's unpredictable weather :(

In addition, there's no need to wear make up, the stuff just melts off your face, especially if you're outside most of the day. I've also noticed that my skin condition is not coping well to this weather... Hopefully, it's not an allergic reaction to something, and that I will adjust within the following weeks before uni starts, and get my daily routine back on track. 

I'll blog more later, off for some brekkie! :D

Day 2: Settling into HK

Arrived in HK, the ride was bumpy, and the weather was a scorcher. 

My flight QF029 arrived at 6:30pm, but by the time I figured out the whole immigration-passport-stamp-thingajig, bus service and octopus card, it was already 9:00pm.

(Octopus card is like the Aussie version of a Myki, except you don't touch off and you can use it as a credit card, as money is stored in the card the same way. Below is an example picture of what it looks like.)

Finding a bus ride to the hotel was a drainer, I was not expecting sooo many people. (Actually HK is a very busy place, overcrowded, and very noisy, so i should've expected it) Once we had reached our hotel, it was finally time to unwind and freshen up. 

Afterwards we (my father and his friend) took us to eat was supposedly "Cheap good food" for dinner, but let me tell you, it was nothing good about it. Basically it was just rice with duck fat-skin... i pretty much felt sick and though i could not survive another day. In addition, as we were paying for the food, we had to pay for additional tip fare for their "great service".. yea this was added automatically, this cheap food was not so cheap after all.

Luckily this was made up the following morning where I was taken to "Mu Dan Ting" Chinese restaurant. I was pretty happy with the food and was full afterwards. Mu Dan Ting is like a banquet or yumcha, but not the type of yumcha where the workers push around trolleys of steamed dimsum and hacao, each table was given a paper with a bunch of chinese writing on it, beside them were boxes in which we were to fill in how many orders to get, basically tick what you want or don't want to eat. I really liked the place and their services was really good, although it was a tad pricier, it was worth it!

(For lunch I was taken to another restaurant, just about a 10 minute walk from my dorm and the food... OMG it was bloody amazing and affordable, I ordered sizzling hokien stir-fry noodles w/ seafood = HKD57/AUS8.7, about what you would get in Melbourne)

 Then it was time to visit my dorm, I took the metro and bus to save myself from taxi fares (as they tend to rip you off as a tourist, plus it was quicker.) 

As I arrived at my destination, the dorm officers gave me my keys and I went to check out the place, to be honest it was not how i pictured it, it was far worst.

Its quite small, the AC is loud, and the kitchen is nothing like a kitchen, even tho theres a gas stove and sink, I rather make instant noodles or get take out every day, I don't know what to say about it, but I feel very out of my comfort zone, and don't get me started with the bathroom...

At the end of the day at least I have a place to stay. It may not be some kind of 5-star hotel, but it has a bed (which I have already shopped for covers and made it partly vibrant against my dull plain dorm) and basically the essentials that will allow me to get by my day.

There are so many things i wish to type here, but it will have to be another day. Its getting late and this humid-heat is making me sleepy. 

Good Night!

Day 1: Off to Hong Kong!

Yeeeeee...!! Today's finally the day I set off abroad, I feel soo pumped and ready for what HK & HKU (the University of Hong Kong) has installed for me :)

This has probably been by far the best decision I have made in a while.

I've got everything packed, and sorted, I've checked in and I'm ready to leave, blogging from the air port as we speak actually, testing this out so that I could possibly blog on the go in the near future. 

But for now... Wish me luck and I'll hopefully blog more regularly on my adventures in HK!! 

Todado~ 

(Apologies if font/size don't turn  out  well, not sure how'd it looks on web view)

UPDATE: Footage on the plane.