Wednesday-Saturday, August 5-8
We arrived in Beijing late in the afternoon on Wednesday after a delay in our flight schedule. We were still able to go to dinner that first night and then see the Olympic sites- the water cube, bird's nest, flame, and 7 star hotel! The rest of the Beijing tour would prove to be very well planned out and easy to go along with - have breakfast, get on a bus, see a site, have lunch, see a site, have dinner, go out, go to bed, repeat!
While in Beijing we were able to see the Summer Palace, Forbidden City, Tieneman square, the old water village and housing, and the Great Wall! The steps to the Great Wall were massive and surprisingly it was almost like hiking up a mountain to get to the top. I was only able to make it a part of the way up, but several trip members went to the 7th stopping point! We also really enjoyed the "snack market" in Beijing which was right near our hotel. We were able to try scorpions, starfish, and crickets - yum!
The Beijing trip quickly came to an end, and we headed back to Hong Kong for a night before flying back to the USA.
Farewell Weekend...
Friday-Monday, July 31-August 3
On Friday, we all went to the CUHK International Summer School Farewell Dinner held at a fabulous hotel in Kowloon. We had a great time, and really were sad to see the summer school program come to an end. After the dinner, all of our friends from the program continued the party at Azure in Central HK.
Saturday was spent sleeping in from the night before, and then some studying. We also went into HK to get Marc and Saj's suits, and do some other gift shopping. Sunday was our main studying day for the finals that we had on Monday. For once, Grace Tien was full of students studying and busy trying to wrap up the semester. I had never seen so many people sharing books, quizzing each other, and pulling all nighters, as we did that night. I was thrilled when I finally finished my Chinese Culture and Society paper just after midnight, and could focus solely on my HRM studying.
On Monday, I finished cleaning my room a bit to get ready to leave, and then spent the afternoon in the library studying for my HRM final. The final was at 6 pm, but it went quickly. After the final we all had dinner and got ready to say good bye to be off for Beijing the next day!
On Friday, we all went to the CUHK International Summer School Farewell Dinner held at a fabulous hotel in Kowloon. We had a great time, and really were sad to see the summer school program come to an end. After the dinner, all of our friends from the program continued the party at Azure in Central HK.
Saturday was spent sleeping in from the night before, and then some studying. We also went into HK to get Marc and Saj's suits, and do some other gift shopping. Sunday was our main studying day for the finals that we had on Monday. For once, Grace Tien was full of students studying and busy trying to wrap up the semester. I had never seen so many people sharing books, quizzing each other, and pulling all nighters, as we did that night. I was thrilled when I finally finished my Chinese Culture and Society paper just after midnight, and could focus solely on my HRM studying.
On Monday, I finished cleaning my room a bit to get ready to leave, and then spent the afternoon in the library studying for my HRM final. The final was at 6 pm, but it went quickly. After the final we all had dinner and got ready to say good bye to be off for Beijing the next day!
3 days of sickness...
Tuesday-Thursday, July 28-30
For the next few days after the Philippines, I was in bed with what I thought might be food poisoning. I was pretty certain it wasn't swine flu (H1N1), but whatever it was, it wiped me out and kept me in bed for a majority of the time. I didn't do much socializing, and went to as many classes as possible, but I quickly realized how difficult it is to be sick in a foreign country. It was difficult to get the medicines I would normally want, and there was no such thing as a convenience store just around the corner, so it was hard to pick up some snacks or drinks. Eating at the canteen was out of the question for the first few days since the food was really greasy, but by day 3, I was back to eating and drinking coffee normally.
For the next few days after the Philippines, I was in bed with what I thought might be food poisoning. I was pretty certain it wasn't swine flu (H1N1), but whatever it was, it wiped me out and kept me in bed for a majority of the time. I didn't do much socializing, and went to as many classes as possible, but I quickly realized how difficult it is to be sick in a foreign country. It was difficult to get the medicines I would normally want, and there was no such thing as a convenience store just around the corner, so it was hard to pick up some snacks or drinks. Eating at the canteen was out of the question for the first few days since the food was really greasy, but by day 3, I was back to eating and drinking coffee normally.
One L, Two Ps, One N....Philippines
Thursday-Monday, July 24-27
Do I need to know how to spell Philippines to visit??
Although I had the worst time trying to figure how to spell Philippines, and MULTIPLE problems trying to purchase tickets.. I was excited to be off on another excursion.
Thursday
We left HK airport around 9 pm on Thursday, after a full day of classes and a quick packing session. Our flight attendant, Michelangelo, was so nice and helpful and one of the other women was also helpful in giving us suggestions on what to do and see while in Manila. When we arrived we were surprised at how small the airport was and quickly tried to get through the temperature control and customs. We had been warned to only take yellow taxis, so we found a yellow taxi to take us to La Casa Nicorosa, our hotel. We had been on the plane with some other CUHK students, and they had suggested this hotel to us, so we figured we would stay there for at least the first night until we figured things out. We ended up lucking out by getting to the hotel before the big group, so we were able to get the best room and get situated.
Friday
We woke up early, started our day with coffee and bananas at the hotel, and then were off to see Manila. After getting a tip from the concierge, Laura, Kyle, and myself walked to the tourist bureau to get a map of the city and find the highlights. We walked around the battlefield and fort, enjoyed lunch at a Philippines cafe, saw the history of Manila at the National culture museum, walked through Rizal Park, around Chinatown, saw many historic churches, the GE building in Manila, and ended our tour at the Philippines Tech University which looked more like Hogwartz than a University. Each college had a different uniform that the students had to wear. The business school had the best uniforms, so I decided I would have been all set. We tried to take a "jeepeney" for about an hour, but they all seemed to be full, so we finally settled on taking a taxi back to our hotel. The traffic at 6 pm on a Friday was crazy, and we wondered if it was because of rush hour, but when we passed the RC Church, we realized that everyone was flooding to the 6 pm service. The city of Manila seems very religious, which was a change from our observations in HK and China. We spent $7 between 3 of us on dinner and buckets of beers - WOW!
Saturday
This morning we woke up and were ready to go to a volcano inside of another volcano with the other CUHK students. They had planned a day trip to this site, and needed three more people, so Laura, Kyle and I were in. It took about 2 hours to get to the "resort" where we had a delicious outdoor lunch/dinner, and then took boats across to the volcanic island. Once we got on the island, we rode horses to the top to see the other volcano inside of this volcano. It was a fabulous view and great day to do this. The weather was must more bearable away from the city and it gave us a good understanding of the Filipino village life. I especially enjoyed my horse-riding helper, Kevin. He spoke English very well and was willing to tell me about his life. The ride home ended up being about 4+ hours, but it gave us a chance to get to know Dave, Zuhair, and the others who had come from CUHK. We all went to dinner at a delicious kebab when we got back, and then tried to make plans for the next day. Everyone from CUHK was going on a trip to a water park, and as much as we wanted to join them, we just couldn't figure out the accommodations.
Sunday
Late on Saturday night we decided we would go to the waterfalls in Tanjansan. It was about an 1 1/2 drive, and we would go white water rafting to the falls. The river water was very dirty looking, and I later found out that it might have made me sick, but the white water rafting ride was so intriguing, as we traveled through cities and were able to go under the falls. I really enjoyed being in nature all weekend and trying some new things - although we did a lot, the weekend was rejuvenating!
Monday
We were out of the Philippines by 8 am, and were back in HK by noon. This allowed us to catch up on sleep, homework, and laundry. Unfortunately, I got sick somewhere in the Philipinnes and was in bed for most of the day (and next 4 days!)
Do I need to know how to spell Philippines to visit??
Although I had the worst time trying to figure how to spell Philippines, and MULTIPLE problems trying to purchase tickets.. I was excited to be off on another excursion.
Thursday
We left HK airport around 9 pm on Thursday, after a full day of classes and a quick packing session. Our flight attendant, Michelangelo, was so nice and helpful and one of the other women was also helpful in giving us suggestions on what to do and see while in Manila. When we arrived we were surprised at how small the airport was and quickly tried to get through the temperature control and customs. We had been warned to only take yellow taxis, so we found a yellow taxi to take us to La Casa Nicorosa, our hotel. We had been on the plane with some other CUHK students, and they had suggested this hotel to us, so we figured we would stay there for at least the first night until we figured things out. We ended up lucking out by getting to the hotel before the big group, so we were able to get the best room and get situated.
Friday
We woke up early, started our day with coffee and bananas at the hotel, and then were off to see Manila. After getting a tip from the concierge, Laura, Kyle, and myself walked to the tourist bureau to get a map of the city and find the highlights. We walked around the battlefield and fort, enjoyed lunch at a Philippines cafe, saw the history of Manila at the National culture museum, walked through Rizal Park, around Chinatown, saw many historic churches, the GE building in Manila, and ended our tour at the Philippines Tech University which looked more like Hogwartz than a University. Each college had a different uniform that the students had to wear. The business school had the best uniforms, so I decided I would have been all set. We tried to take a "jeepeney" for about an hour, but they all seemed to be full, so we finally settled on taking a taxi back to our hotel. The traffic at 6 pm on a Friday was crazy, and we wondered if it was because of rush hour, but when we passed the RC Church, we realized that everyone was flooding to the 6 pm service. The city of Manila seems very religious, which was a change from our observations in HK and China. We spent $7 between 3 of us on dinner and buckets of beers - WOW!
Saturday
This morning we woke up and were ready to go to a volcano inside of another volcano with the other CUHK students. They had planned a day trip to this site, and needed three more people, so Laura, Kyle and I were in. It took about 2 hours to get to the "resort" where we had a delicious outdoor lunch/dinner, and then took boats across to the volcanic island. Once we got on the island, we rode horses to the top to see the other volcano inside of this volcano. It was a fabulous view and great day to do this. The weather was must more bearable away from the city and it gave us a good understanding of the Filipino village life. I especially enjoyed my horse-riding helper, Kevin. He spoke English very well and was willing to tell me about his life. The ride home ended up being about 4+ hours, but it gave us a chance to get to know Dave, Zuhair, and the others who had come from CUHK. We all went to dinner at a delicious kebab when we got back, and then tried to make plans for the next day. Everyone from CUHK was going on a trip to a water park, and as much as we wanted to join them, we just couldn't figure out the accommodations.
Sunday
Late on Saturday night we decided we would go to the waterfalls in Tanjansan. It was about an 1 1/2 drive, and we would go white water rafting to the falls. The river water was very dirty looking, and I later found out that it might have made me sick, but the white water rafting ride was so intriguing, as we traveled through cities and were able to go under the falls. I really enjoyed being in nature all weekend and trying some new things - although we did a lot, the weekend was rejuvenating!
Monday
We were out of the Philippines by 8 am, and were back in HK by noon. This allowed us to catch up on sleep, homework, and laundry. Unfortunately, I got sick somewhere in the Philipinnes and was in bed for most of the day (and next 4 days!)
Midterms and Studying!
Tuesday-Thursday, July 21-23
After a long weekend in Shanghai, we were excited to be back at CUHK to finish out our second to last week of classes. I had two Midterms to study for in both of my classes and enjoyed starting to plan my next excursion to the Philippines.
Being in Shanghai made my appreciate Hong Kong so much more. The traffic was so much more managable in HK, and the people were much more "western", so I felt like I could live in HK longer without feeling like I didn't belong.
We went to our favorite bar, Cutty Sark, on Wednesday night, and had a great time with the other American, British, Aussie, and other "ex-pats" in SoHo.
This weekend away in Shanghai helped me to see things that I had been missing in my Asian Adventure - the language barrier and uncomfort of being lost in an unfamiliar city.
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