Greetings from the future, followers of this blog.
First off, my apologies for not update this for over 2 months, but I’ve been really busy, a brief rundown of the things that I’ve accomplished since my last post:
- Trip to Thailand
- Trip to Guilin
- 8 weeks of classes
- 9000 words worth of essays
- 13 credits of classes
While it sounds like a lot, keep in mind that I was doing this while not updating my blog, a task that takes several hours for each post. You know that these blog posts take so long that I don’t even have a chance to edit them before getting posted to the internets. Instead, you get raw, unfiltered Hong Kong experiences direct from the source—it couldn’t get any more real.
Many of you thought that the blog was dead after over eight weeks of inactivity, many of you were wrong. Based on the enormous amount of mail and gifts I’ve received, I’ve decided to make my way back to blogging. You may ask, “how do I know that you won’t just leave me hanging before the end of semester?” Well, I can’t guarantee that I’ll keep you updated about everything going on; I can tell you that my classes end on Thursday, and I will have too much time on my hands, so I may turn to blogging to spend my time.
Updates should come quickly. Feverishly perhaps.
Anyways, I’m off to finals. More on what I’m doing will come soon! I promise!
Thursday, April 15
Sunday, February 28
Philippines: The Place Manny Pacquiao Is From/ Thrilla Near Manilla
So while its been almost a month, there's still a lot to talk about.
This one is dedicated to the Philippines, in particular Cebu, the island that I visited. To be fair, however, I also visited the island that Manilla was on, but it sucked-- they charged me to use their terminal- approximately 700 PHP, which is equivalent to about $15.
Anyways, I feel surprisingly good at how much I am taking from this trip. To begin, we took a red eye from Hong Kong, which left at 1:30 and arrived in a tiny airport in Cebu just after four am.
We decided to take a taxi from the airport, because despite being overcharged, it wasn't expensive either way. This is key because we were all really tired and simply wanted to find a place to stay. The initial plan was Moalboal, as referenced in my last blog post. Instead, within five minutes, the driver convinced us to go to Malapascua island, 5 hours in the opposite direction of Moalboal.
Let it be known that my roomate, David Frick (there will be a post on our awesome adventures), had turned 21 four hours ago and that to my knowledge, there was no law in the Philippines about drinking while in a car. Picture a group of 5 college aged people, crammed into a car designed for four passengers, drinking beer, and listening to Bon Jovi, Queen, Bryan Adams, and more 80's style rock (no poison). Also consider that the sun rises very early in the Philippines because it is very far east in the time zone. So we were driving up the coast of Cebu watching the entire island wake up while the sun was rising. It may have been one of the best car rides I'd ever been on. This counts as the second time I've had a beer while the sun was rising this semester.
After paying to take two (yes 2) boats to get to the island, we all crashed until about six. Dinner shortly followed, then more sleep. Malapascua was a very nice island with almost nothing to do, except scuba dive. Naturally nobody had their license on them, so instead, we all went snorkeling. We also went to the beach a ton. The sand was white, the beaches were empty, the sun was hot, and the water was crystal clear. If it wasn't saltwater, it would have easily been the nicest beach I had ever been on (that title still goes to Grand Haven, MI).
These were two of the most relaxing days I ever had, minus the fact that our room wasn't air conditioned and the temperature was very high during the day. However, after two days of enjoying the island, we decided to head back to Cebu city, which has a population of about 2 million (I've been told).
While in Cebu city, we were told that we couldn't walk anywhere (because of safety), went to the "peak" which is their own mountain which looks over a city, and relaxed in a room with A/C and HBO. We also went to see Magellan's Cross, where Magellan was killed, and a taoist temple which was awesome. The last day in the trip was reserved to a spa day, where I was not as pampered as necessary.
There are a few glaring differences between the Philippines and anywhere else.
1) There was a large industry surrounding sex tourism. Seriously, I was solicited multiple times, and the hotel we stayed at had many gentlemen who came to Cebu for one reason- sex with a Philippine woman.
2) Everything was dirt cheap. For example, I was able to have a value meal at McDonalds for about $2, our hotel in Cebu City was about $8 a night per person, and a fifth of 'rhum' cost about $1.25.
3) My more astute readers may have inferred this from the first two differences, but for those who didn't: the city was not safe I felt much more comfortable staying in at night rather than going out to be solicited or robbed.
4) The people are very nice.
5) Airports in the Philippines charge a terminal fee. This is used in the U.S., but it is included in the ticket fare. Instead, I had to drop another $20 (USD) simply to leave the country.
6) English is widely spoken in the Philippines, in fact, it seemed as though Philippine people loved Americans- I also had money though
7) Cock fighting is legal here, and I wanted to go, but apparently all the fights had ended before we wanted to go.
When it is all done, I can say that the Philippines were very nice, but that I'm glad that I visited now, rather than when I have a family. As a dive destination, I haven't seen much better, then again, I've really only been to one country in SE Asia, but the water here is very nice. I don't see myself coming back to the Philippines unless business requires me to come back, but it was fun while it lasted.
More updates about Hong Kong are on their way!
-Nick
This one is dedicated to the Philippines, in particular Cebu, the island that I visited. To be fair, however, I also visited the island that Manilla was on, but it sucked-- they charged me to use their terminal- approximately 700 PHP, which is equivalent to about $15.
Anyways, I feel surprisingly good at how much I am taking from this trip. To begin, we took a red eye from Hong Kong, which left at 1:30 and arrived in a tiny airport in Cebu just after four am.
We decided to take a taxi from the airport, because despite being overcharged, it wasn't expensive either way. This is key because we were all really tired and simply wanted to find a place to stay. The initial plan was Moalboal, as referenced in my last blog post. Instead, within five minutes, the driver convinced us to go to Malapascua island, 5 hours in the opposite direction of Moalboal.
Let it be known that my roomate, David Frick (there will be a post on our awesome adventures), had turned 21 four hours ago and that to my knowledge, there was no law in the Philippines about drinking while in a car. Picture a group of 5 college aged people, crammed into a car designed for four passengers, drinking beer, and listening to Bon Jovi, Queen, Bryan Adams, and more 80's style rock (no poison). Also consider that the sun rises very early in the Philippines because it is very far east in the time zone. So we were driving up the coast of Cebu watching the entire island wake up while the sun was rising. It may have been one of the best car rides I'd ever been on. This counts as the second time I've had a beer while the sun was rising this semester.
After paying to take two (yes 2) boats to get to the island, we all crashed until about six. Dinner shortly followed, then more sleep. Malapascua was a very nice island with almost nothing to do, except scuba dive. Naturally nobody had their license on them, so instead, we all went snorkeling. We also went to the beach a ton. The sand was white, the beaches were empty, the sun was hot, and the water was crystal clear. If it wasn't saltwater, it would have easily been the nicest beach I had ever been on (that title still goes to Grand Haven, MI).
These were two of the most relaxing days I ever had, minus the fact that our room wasn't air conditioned and the temperature was very high during the day. However, after two days of enjoying the island, we decided to head back to Cebu city, which has a population of about 2 million (I've been told).
While in Cebu city, we were told that we couldn't walk anywhere (because of safety), went to the "peak" which is their own mountain which looks over a city, and relaxed in a room with A/C and HBO. We also went to see Magellan's Cross, where Magellan was killed, and a taoist temple which was awesome. The last day in the trip was reserved to a spa day, where I was not as pampered as necessary.
There are a few glaring differences between the Philippines and anywhere else.
1) There was a large industry surrounding sex tourism. Seriously, I was solicited multiple times, and the hotel we stayed at had many gentlemen who came to Cebu for one reason- sex with a Philippine woman.
2) Everything was dirt cheap. For example, I was able to have a value meal at McDonalds for about $2, our hotel in Cebu City was about $8 a night per person, and a fifth of 'rhum' cost about $1.25.
3) My more astute readers may have inferred this from the first two differences, but for those who didn't: the city was not safe I felt much more comfortable staying in at night rather than going out to be solicited or robbed.
4) The people are very nice.
5) Airports in the Philippines charge a terminal fee. This is used in the U.S., but it is included in the ticket fare. Instead, I had to drop another $20 (USD) simply to leave the country.
6) English is widely spoken in the Philippines, in fact, it seemed as though Philippine people loved Americans- I also had money though
7) Cock fighting is legal here, and I wanted to go, but apparently all the fights had ended before we wanted to go.
When it is all done, I can say that the Philippines were very nice, but that I'm glad that I visited now, rather than when I have a family. As a dive destination, I haven't seen much better, then again, I've really only been to one country in SE Asia, but the water here is very nice. I don't see myself coming back to the Philippines unless business requires me to come back, but it was fun while it lasted.
More updates about Hong Kong are on their way!
-Nick
Monday, February 15
Chinese New Year!
Hello all!
Today is the second day of the new Chinese year, year of the Tiger. I haven't updated you on my travels lately, so let me break some stuff down for you.
- I've been to the following islands: Lantau and Lamma (also Hong Kong island, but that shouldn't count)
- I purchased a new camera, the Canon SD780, an awesome camera, which shoots video in HD, so hopefully I can post some videos soon.
- Speaking of media, I've also created a picsa page, so you can see some of the photos I've taken so far, right now: just Xian but I plan on expanding that once I get back.
- I've been through 2 weeks of classes including Mandarin, Economic Development of China, SE Asia in the World Political Economy, and Money & Banking
- I am currently on a week long break, the Lunar New Year Break.
Now many of you are wondering how I'm spending such an awesome break in an awesome part of the world. Let me tell you how-- awesomely. I'm going to be spending a week in Cebu, Philippines (Moalboal). Know what it is? I really don't either. All I know is that I got a sweet deal to stay here (about $15 USD a night) and it looks like this.
In actuality, after booking, I immediately began my research and found out that it is a diving area, with lots of quiet bars and a beautiful beach. It also has highs in the mid 80's and could rain 2 nights, but will probably be clear.
I also won't have any internet while I'm here, so I won't be able to update my blog while there, not that I'll have any time anyways. This time, however, I will take lots of pictures for you to look at.
Well, Chinese New Year has a lot in common with Valentines day:
- It is on the same day (at least this year)
- It means a lot more to have your significant others with you. In China's case, that means your family- it's a family oriented holiday, like Thanksgiving is to the US.
- You give gifts in red packages
- That may be about it, but three things is more than others.
For China, and other countries in the region, it is a huge deal-- I was even invited back to someone's home for the New Year. I had to decline because of prior travel plans (see awesomeness in the Philippines). Everyone works towards bringing something back for the holidays, and I even think that factories shut down. That way the seasonal workers can go home to their families. I'm not making this up either.
Other traditions, particularly in Hong Kong, are a parade, which wasn't great, fireworks, which I'm going to see now, and horse races, football (soccer) matches and a couple of other events, which I'll miss because I'll be in the Philippines.
The parade did feature some really cool floats and the Denver Broncos cheerleaders, but I couldn't see over the massive crowd to see the awesomeness (at points). Did I mention that it was crowded? Well, like the rest of Hong Kong, it was.
Well, look forward to the next post being about sunny Philippines, where the temperature will be a warm 85 degrees Fahrenheit, instead of the current temperature of 53 degrees in Hong Kong, or even the 20 degrees back in St. Louis. Enjoy it guys!
Until next time,
-Nick
Update: The fireworks were pretty incredible. They took place between Kowloon and Hong Kong Island (the two biggest population centers) While the streets were packed and some buildings obstructed the view, I was able to get some impressive views of the fireworks. They went off in sync and looked great. Kinda reminded me of being back at home for 4th of July...
Today is the second day of the new Chinese year, year of the Tiger. I haven't updated you on my travels lately, so let me break some stuff down for you.
- I've been to the following islands: Lantau and Lamma (also Hong Kong island, but that shouldn't count)
- I purchased a new camera, the Canon SD780, an awesome camera, which shoots video in HD, so hopefully I can post some videos soon.
- Speaking of media, I've also created a picsa page, so you can see some of the photos I've taken so far, right now: just Xian but I plan on expanding that once I get back.
- I've been through 2 weeks of classes including Mandarin, Economic Development of China, SE Asia in the World Political Economy, and Money & Banking
- I am currently on a week long break, the Lunar New Year Break.
Now many of you are wondering how I'm spending such an awesome break in an awesome part of the world. Let me tell you how-- awesomely. I'm going to be spending a week in Cebu, Philippines (Moalboal). Know what it is? I really don't either. All I know is that I got a sweet deal to stay here (about $15 USD a night) and it looks like this.
In actuality, after booking, I immediately began my research and found out that it is a diving area, with lots of quiet bars and a beautiful beach. It also has highs in the mid 80's and could rain 2 nights, but will probably be clear.
I also won't have any internet while I'm here, so I won't be able to update my blog while there, not that I'll have any time anyways. This time, however, I will take lots of pictures for you to look at.
Well, Chinese New Year has a lot in common with Valentines day:
- It is on the same day (at least this year)
- It means a lot more to have your significant others with you. In China's case, that means your family- it's a family oriented holiday, like Thanksgiving is to the US.
- You give gifts in red packages
- That may be about it, but three things is more than others.
For China, and other countries in the region, it is a huge deal-- I was even invited back to someone's home for the New Year. I had to decline because of prior travel plans (see awesomeness in the Philippines). Everyone works towards bringing something back for the holidays, and I even think that factories shut down. That way the seasonal workers can go home to their families. I'm not making this up either.
Other traditions, particularly in Hong Kong, are a parade, which wasn't great, fireworks, which I'm going to see now, and horse races, football (soccer) matches and a couple of other events, which I'll miss because I'll be in the Philippines.
The parade did feature some really cool floats and the Denver Broncos cheerleaders, but I couldn't see over the massive crowd to see the awesomeness (at points). Did I mention that it was crowded? Well, like the rest of Hong Kong, it was.
Well, look forward to the next post being about sunny Philippines, where the temperature will be a warm 85 degrees Fahrenheit, instead of the current temperature of 53 degrees in Hong Kong, or even the 20 degrees back in St. Louis. Enjoy it guys!
Until next time,
-Nick
Update: The fireworks were pretty incredible. They took place between Kowloon and Hong Kong Island (the two biggest population centers) While the streets were packed and some buildings obstructed the view, I was able to get some impressive views of the fireworks. They went off in sync and looked great. Kinda reminded me of being back at home for 4th of July...
Sunday, February 7
Extensive Coverage of the Super Bowl (Commercials)
So being in Hong Kong and American I found myself in a predicament when I realized I had no Super Bowl party to attend this Sunday (Monday morning). Thinking fast, I began to look up bars in Hong Kong where the game could be on.
I settled on Bulldogs in Lan Kwai Fong. I had been there before and they offered a decent breakfast special to go with the game. In Hong Kong, there are a lot of x-pats, and Lan Kwai Fong (LKF) is where the bulk of them hang out. It turned out to be a pretty good experience, aside from what has now become "the usual oddities":
-Being 12 hours ahead of my hometown of St. Louis (11 ahead of my school-- Syracuse) I had to wake up at 6 am to make it to the bar in order to see kickoff.
-Instead of getting a bunch of wings/ pizza/ other "game food" I went with a hearty breakfast of eggs, toast, sausage, bacon, and hash browns
-Once the breakfast was over, I ordered beer, at 8:30 am. This almost sets the record for earliest I've drank
-The biggest difference was that the game wasn't televised on CBS like it was stateside. It was on a separate channel- ASN (All Sports Network) which isn't actually true, but it did offer coverage of NHL games (including two upcoming games featuring the St. Louis Blues) Two things made the experience entirely different with the game on a different channel.
1) The announcers were terrible, I don't know if CBS had the same announcers, but my people were crap. At least they spoke English- a problem oft encountered in an Asian country.
2) There were no commercials! The only ad's displayed during the game were promotions for other events that the ASN would cover. While nice at first, it made the game a dull without any lull in a sport setting.
I still was able to see the halftime show, just with delayed audio. The Who still rocked.
- And the Saints won.
Anyways, I went online to see the super bowl ads and I realized I missed out on a few interesting advertisements. And here are my thoughts on the best ads.
-Bud Light Voicebox
This ad only worked because T Pain made an appearance at the end, which made it Legen- wait for it- dairy
-Hundai: Brett Farve
See, its funny because Brett Farve is still playing football 10 years from now. Brilliant!
-Boost Mobile Super Bowl Shuffle:
This one is good, but not because of the 1980's Super Bowl Shuffle. I present to you, the Sex Offender Shuffle. It makes the ad so much funnier.
-Etrade- Jealous Girlfriend
Continuing on the ads from the past couple of years, Etrade has extended its lineup to a howling baby, nice.
- Other notable ads include the one with Lance Armstrong in it, the Kia Ad: Joyride, and the Parasian Love Ad by Google
I'll be back posting about actual things about Hong Kong soon, but spending a morning enjoying pure Americania was a nice break from the orient I've become accustomed to.
Until next time,
-Nick
I settled on Bulldogs in Lan Kwai Fong. I had been there before and they offered a decent breakfast special to go with the game. In Hong Kong, there are a lot of x-pats, and Lan Kwai Fong (LKF) is where the bulk of them hang out. It turned out to be a pretty good experience, aside from what has now become "the usual oddities":
-Being 12 hours ahead of my hometown of St. Louis (11 ahead of my school-- Syracuse) I had to wake up at 6 am to make it to the bar in order to see kickoff.
-Instead of getting a bunch of wings/ pizza/ other "game food" I went with a hearty breakfast of eggs, toast, sausage, bacon, and hash browns
-Once the breakfast was over, I ordered beer, at 8:30 am. This almost sets the record for earliest I've drank
-The biggest difference was that the game wasn't televised on CBS like it was stateside. It was on a separate channel- ASN (All Sports Network) which isn't actually true, but it did offer coverage of NHL games (including two upcoming games featuring the St. Louis Blues) Two things made the experience entirely different with the game on a different channel.
1) The announcers were terrible, I don't know if CBS had the same announcers, but my people were crap. At least they spoke English- a problem oft encountered in an Asian country.
2) There were no commercials! The only ad's displayed during the game were promotions for other events that the ASN would cover. While nice at first, it made the game a dull without any lull in a sport setting.
I still was able to see the halftime show, just with delayed audio. The Who still rocked.
- And the Saints won.
Anyways, I went online to see the super bowl ads and I realized I missed out on a few interesting advertisements. And here are my thoughts on the best ads.
-Bud Light Voicebox
This ad only worked because T Pain made an appearance at the end, which made it Legen- wait for it- dairy
-Hundai: Brett Farve
See, its funny because Brett Farve is still playing football 10 years from now. Brilliant!
-Boost Mobile Super Bowl Shuffle:
This one is good, but not because of the 1980's Super Bowl Shuffle. I present to you, the Sex Offender Shuffle. It makes the ad so much funnier.
-Etrade- Jealous Girlfriend
Continuing on the ads from the past couple of years, Etrade has extended its lineup to a howling baby, nice.
- Other notable ads include the one with Lance Armstrong in it, the Kia Ad: Joyride, and the Parasian Love Ad by Google
I'll be back posting about actual things about Hong Kong soon, but spending a morning enjoying pure Americania was a nice break from the orient I've become accustomed to.
Until next time,
-Nick
Saturday, February 6
Long Overdue: Back in HK and Some Stuff About China
Nine days ago, I got back from a two week trip to China- while overdue, I'm going to summarize what happened. I won't go into detail, I'm saving those for when I get my journal's back, I'll tell you some things that I didn't include in my journals.
First off, the basics of the trip.
We went to three cities in China-- Xian, Beijing, and Shangahi.
Xian- I thought this city was crap. Located in the west (where only 280 million people live) the city reminded me of an old steel town where there wasn't much to marvel at (All I want to do on trips is marvel at stuff-- that's it). While boasting a population of six million, it seemed like everything was spread out, with no downtown district and a scattering of buildings over 20 stories. This reminded me most of an old Soviet Union city that never modernized. This makes sense because we were visiting Xian (pronounced she-an) to look at the history of China. The Terra Cotta Soldiers were really cool. Other than that, however, I saw no redeeming characteristics of Xian, except the free internet in the room, where I couldn't access any social networking website or my blog. The first morning, I looked up the weather and saw that the forecast was "smoke." By the end of my stay in Xian, I was having trouble dealing with all of the pollution. As I mentioned before, Xian will be covered in disturbing detail once I get back my journals.
Beijing- This was an awesome city. We were here for twice the time as we were in Xian, we had HBO, and the city felt cleaner- supposedly that was because of the Olympics forcing Beijing to clean up its act. Nightlife here was great-- but it felt like I could do so much in this city. Tienanmen Square was eerie. The Olympic village was awesome, however we didn't see the water cube (it was closed) only the bird's next. Great Wall was, well great, and we went on part of the original wall (which didn't have vendors) and took a toboggan ride down to the village. Something about the Great Wall that I didn't know-- it was actually built on mountains. Also, our hotel was running a sex club (not exactly, I may devote an entire post to it later). Anyways, it was very awkward because people heard "noises" in the rooms next door and people were almost denied access to the workout facility because of this den of inequity.
Shanghai- Easily the most modern city on the trip, with a new subway line coming into being every year, Shanghai is a metropolis. It was built mostly around manufacturing, with some really interesting stores. I found my first Uniqulo (kind of like an H&M for Asian people) and a Niketown. There were two other places of note. First was the dumpling restaurant where Yao Ming gets his dumplings- they were super cheap (everything in China is super cheap, but you get what you pay for-- usually) and delicious. The other thing was that two students on the trip in a matter of three days were robbed (with knives) directly outside the hotel. While it didn't have anything to do with the tour we were on, it is a word of advice to those interested in Shangahi-- be safe!
Other than that- the trip to China was interesting (enough to post 3 more posts about it). I'll catch you up on my adventures in Hong Kong soon. Also, I've created a picsa account (it is partnered with blogger) so you can see all of my incredible photos. By incredible, I mainly mean non-existent, because my camera would die whenever something cool was about to happen. With that, I'm going to buy a new camera tomorrow.
Until next time,
-Nick
First off, the basics of the trip.
We went to three cities in China-- Xian, Beijing, and Shangahi.
Xian- I thought this city was crap. Located in the west (where only 280 million people live) the city reminded me of an old steel town where there wasn't much to marvel at (All I want to do on trips is marvel at stuff-- that's it). While boasting a population of six million, it seemed like everything was spread out, with no downtown district and a scattering of buildings over 20 stories. This reminded me most of an old Soviet Union city that never modernized. This makes sense because we were visiting Xian (pronounced she-an) to look at the history of China. The Terra Cotta Soldiers were really cool. Other than that, however, I saw no redeeming characteristics of Xian, except the free internet in the room, where I couldn't access any social networking website or my blog. The first morning, I looked up the weather and saw that the forecast was "smoke." By the end of my stay in Xian, I was having trouble dealing with all of the pollution. As I mentioned before, Xian will be covered in disturbing detail once I get back my journals.
Beijing- This was an awesome city. We were here for twice the time as we were in Xian, we had HBO, and the city felt cleaner- supposedly that was because of the Olympics forcing Beijing to clean up its act. Nightlife here was great-- but it felt like I could do so much in this city. Tienanmen Square was eerie. The Olympic village was awesome, however we didn't see the water cube (it was closed) only the bird's next. Great Wall was, well great, and we went on part of the original wall (which didn't have vendors) and took a toboggan ride down to the village. Something about the Great Wall that I didn't know-- it was actually built on mountains. Also, our hotel was running a sex club (not exactly, I may devote an entire post to it later). Anyways, it was very awkward because people heard "noises" in the rooms next door and people were almost denied access to the workout facility because of this den of inequity.
Shanghai- Easily the most modern city on the trip, with a new subway line coming into being every year, Shanghai is a metropolis. It was built mostly around manufacturing, with some really interesting stores. I found my first Uniqulo (kind of like an H&M for Asian people) and a Niketown. There were two other places of note. First was the dumpling restaurant where Yao Ming gets his dumplings- they were super cheap (everything in China is super cheap, but you get what you pay for-- usually) and delicious. The other thing was that two students on the trip in a matter of three days were robbed (with knives) directly outside the hotel. While it didn't have anything to do with the tour we were on, it is a word of advice to those interested in Shangahi-- be safe!
Other than that- the trip to China was interesting (enough to post 3 more posts about it). I'll catch you up on my adventures in Hong Kong soon. Also, I've created a picsa account (it is partnered with blogger) so you can see all of my incredible photos. By incredible, I mainly mean non-existent, because my camera would die whenever something cool was about to happen. With that, I'm going to buy a new camera tomorrow.
Until next time,
-Nick
Monday, January 11
Finally- Nick Writes About Hong Kong (instead of the US)
As promised, I will deliver on the post about Hong Kong- this time with photos
But first, I'm going to describe the amazing flight on Cathay Pacific:
- The food was pretty good, while not incredible, it was clearly the best airline food I had ever had
- The service was impeccable, I was never passed up and was treated very kindly the entire flight
- I was given travel socks(?) as well as toothbrush, along with the usual blanket and pillow
- Each seat was powered
- Alcohol was free
- The entertainment was top notch- I was expecting some new movies, but the system that Cathay Pacific used was like a Video On Demand, with movies like Inglorious Bastards, District 9, and Slumdog Millionaire. While it wasn't the fact that they had so many great movies, it was that you could pause the movies to relax/ sleep. They also had an extensive collection of CD's within the console including La Roux, The Killers, and the soundtrack to Spinal Tap.
Shortly after arriving, we were placed into a hotel (where we will stay for the next 3 or 4 nights) with a random person. I must have won the awesome lottery, because my roommate happens to have relatives here, I probably won't make anything of it, but if I need a good place to get a suit, I'll know where to go. Then, a few of us went out to take a walk around the neighborhood. The verdict on the neighborhood is yet to be decided, mainly because it is really busy (nice), but we were ripped off at the diner around the corner (not nice), but we have a lot of stores surrounding us (nice), but no bars (not nice). I'll figure out whether I like (or not) it in a couple of days. The key to the neighborhood is to watch your street- it feels like the Vegas Strip almost everywhere you look, mainly because EVERY STORE USES NEON SIGNS(I carefully picked this photo out to show that I'm halfway across the world).
Aside from the crazy partying (sleep) I have been partaking in, I have visited Victoria Peak, the highest point in Hong Kong with a gorgeous view of the Hong Kong skyline, City University of Hong Kong (all one complex- still a ton of students), and my neighborhood of Yao Ma Tei- and surrounding neighborhoods of Mong Kok, and Prince Edward. (Oh and a jumbo floating restaurant- kinda touristy but cool)
The cuisine here is pretty normal, kind of like any Chinese restaurant, just with a lot more choices, better food (usually), and the main utensil is chopsticks (I've gotten better with them). Oh yeah, there are also a lot of these restaurants. Its not all Chinese/Asian/Hong Kong food though, I've seen some fast food as well, Pizza Hut is really fancy here. I'll eventually get around to eating there, but for now, I'm trying to take everything in, including by tastes.
So tomorrow, I leave for China- I'll be going to Xian, Beijing, and Shanghai. I don't know whether or not I'll have internet service, or the ability to post, while over there. I'll be gone for two weeks, so any post that I make (there will be posts-- I'm required by my class to write at least 12 pages- at least four every 4-5 days) will be retroactive to the date that I wrote it in. Hopefully I can tag some photos with the posts, but no promises. If I'm too lazy, I might just create a flckr account and post them all there for you to gawk at.
Now, I'm off into the deep abyss of mainland China, hopefully I'll meet you on the other side singing its praises. Until then, enjoy The 25th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day Celebration as well as National Dress Your Pet Day. I'll let you decide which one is more important to celebrate.
Until next time,
-Nick
But first, I'm going to describe the amazing flight on Cathay Pacific:
- The food was pretty good, while not incredible, it was clearly the best airline food I had ever had
- The service was impeccable, I was never passed up and was treated very kindly the entire flight
- I was given travel socks(?) as well as toothbrush, along with the usual blanket and pillow
- Each seat was powered
- Alcohol was free
- The entertainment was top notch- I was expecting some new movies, but the system that Cathay Pacific used was like a Video On Demand, with movies like Inglorious Bastards, District 9, and Slumdog Millionaire. While it wasn't the fact that they had so many great movies, it was that you could pause the movies to relax/ sleep. They also had an extensive collection of CD's within the console including La Roux, The Killers, and the soundtrack to Spinal Tap.
Shortly after arriving, we were placed into a hotel (where we will stay for the next 3 or 4 nights) with a random person. I must have won the awesome lottery, because my roommate happens to have relatives here, I probably won't make anything of it, but if I need a good place to get a suit, I'll know where to go. Then, a few of us went out to take a walk around the neighborhood. The verdict on the neighborhood is yet to be decided, mainly because it is really busy (nice), but we were ripped off at the diner around the corner (not nice), but we have a lot of stores surrounding us (nice), but no bars (not nice). I'll figure out whether I like (or not) it in a couple of days. The key to the neighborhood is to watch your street- it feels like the Vegas Strip almost everywhere you look, mainly because EVERY STORE USES NEON SIGNS(I carefully picked this photo out to show that I'm halfway across the world).
Aside from the crazy partying (sleep) I have been partaking in, I have visited Victoria Peak, the highest point in Hong Kong with a gorgeous view of the Hong Kong skyline, City University of Hong Kong (all one complex- still a ton of students), and my neighborhood of Yao Ma Tei- and surrounding neighborhoods of Mong Kok, and Prince Edward. (Oh and a jumbo floating restaurant- kinda touristy but cool)
The cuisine here is pretty normal, kind of like any Chinese restaurant, just with a lot more choices, better food (usually), and the main utensil is chopsticks (I've gotten better with them). Oh yeah, there are also a lot of these restaurants. Its not all Chinese/Asian/Hong Kong food though, I've seen some fast food as well, Pizza Hut is really fancy here. I'll eventually get around to eating there, but for now, I'm trying to take everything in, including by tastes.
So tomorrow, I leave for China- I'll be going to Xian, Beijing, and Shanghai. I don't know whether or not I'll have internet service, or the ability to post, while over there. I'll be gone for two weeks, so any post that I make (there will be posts-- I'm required by my class to write at least 12 pages- at least four every 4-5 days) will be retroactive to the date that I wrote it in. Hopefully I can tag some photos with the posts, but no promises. If I'm too lazy, I might just create a flckr account and post them all there for you to gawk at.
Now, I'm off into the deep abyss of mainland China, hopefully I'll meet you on the other side singing its praises. Until then, enjoy The 25th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day Celebration as well as National Dress Your Pet Day. I'll let you decide which one is more important to celebrate.
Until next time,
-Nick
Sunday, January 10
New York- The Pit Stop on My Trip
Today (the first day away from St. Louis) I received a phone call at 7:30 am from the shuttle service I had reserved for Sunday. After calling super shuttle and setting the record straight, I got another phone call, this time from the driver. He informed me that I hadn't canceled and that "I better show up." I explained the situation to him, but he was really pissed, exclaiming that he had been waiting for "1 or 2 hours." This upsets me for 2 reasons:
1) I was woken from a beauty slumber a half hour too early, in the midst of a great REM cycle
2) The super (shuttle) driver was blatantly lying to me- nobody would ever wait 1-2 hours for anybody in New York- that may fly in St. Louis, but not here.
The main point I'm making is that I've found the first person who hates me on this trip, one who has my phone number. I just really hope that I don't have the same driver tomorrow, because I don't want to get crap from him about not showing up for a pick-up that I didn't schedule.
Then I finalized packing, which wasn't terrible, but my bags checked in at 44.5 lbs and 36 lbs, respectively. Leaving me only about 20 lbs to work with for the flight back to the states. (By the way, my airline, Cathay Pacific, only allows me to take 24 lbs of stuff because I'm flying with other peasants- keep that in mind when you all decide to visit me)
Upon arriving in New York City, I spent the afternoon watching TV (Blazing Saddles!) , Call of Duty, and going out to a couple of bars- not too exciting, but it works, especially because I have to get up for a flight in the morning. The most notable stories of the night include a pushy bartender who wanted us to drink more, for $7 beer. Of course neither of us accepted the offer- me because flying hungover isn't fun and my brother because he is lame/saving money. The big news of the night however came from the amazing ketchup I discovered at a bar called Pour House- sort of like a spicy tomato ketchup, which was delectable.
For all of you who were hoping to hear amazing stories of me eating Chinese with the ambassador or findingthis amazing building , understand that my flight doesn't arrive there until the 11th, so I will not be able to actually blog about Hong Kong until then. This time, I can actually guarantee that I will be writing about Hong Kong the next time I post. So instead of talking about ketchup and bartenders, you'll hear some amazing tales! (unless its areally good ketchup/bartender)
To those who are choosing to follow (and actually read this blog post)I appreciate your loyalty in seeing that I am putting up useful posts. Consider this the "bad" post until I deem otherwise. I appreciate your comments, and I'm glad to see some followers (thanks, mom!).
Anyways, tomorrow is a big day, so time to sleep again! This time I'm dreaming of a safe trip to JFK, with Queen Latifah as my driver, but not dreaming of chasing down Brazilian bank robbers (what?).
1) I was woken from a beauty slumber a half hour too early, in the midst of a great REM cycle
2) The super (shuttle) driver was blatantly lying to me- nobody would ever wait 1-2 hours for anybody in New York- that may fly in St. Louis, but not here.
The main point I'm making is that I've found the first person who hates me on this trip, one who has my phone number. I just really hope that I don't have the same driver tomorrow, because I don't want to get crap from him about not showing up for a pick-up that I didn't schedule.
Then I finalized packing, which wasn't terrible, but my bags checked in at 44.5 lbs and 36 lbs, respectively. Leaving me only about 20 lbs to work with for the flight back to the states. (By the way, my airline, Cathay Pacific, only allows me to take 24 lbs of stuff because I'm flying with other peasants- keep that in mind when you all decide to visit me)
Upon arriving in New York City, I spent the afternoon watching TV (Blazing Saddles!) , Call of Duty, and going out to a couple of bars- not too exciting, but it works, especially because I have to get up for a flight in the morning. The most notable stories of the night include a pushy bartender who wanted us to drink more, for $7 beer. Of course neither of us accepted the offer- me because flying hungover isn't fun and my brother because he is lame/saving money. The big news of the night however came from the amazing ketchup I discovered at a bar called Pour House- sort of like a spicy tomato ketchup, which was delectable.
For all of you who were hoping to hear amazing stories of me eating Chinese with the ambassador or finding
To those who are choosing to follow (and actually read this blog post)I appreciate your loyalty in seeing that I am putting up useful posts. Consider this the "bad" post until I deem otherwise. I appreciate your comments, and I'm glad to see some followers (thanks, mom!).
Anyways, tomorrow is a big day, so time to sleep again! This time I'm dreaming of a safe trip to JFK, with Queen Latifah as my driver, but not dreaming of chasing down Brazilian bank robbers (what?).
Thursday, January 7
The Inaugural entry
Hello everyone- friends, family, heart throbs.
Earlier this year, I was accepted into the Hong Kong program at Syracuse University. As I had always wanted to travel somewhere exotic, I chose to accept.
I've had several people ask for me to bring back souvenirs, postcards, and other stuff, but I dont think I'll be able to accommodate every request. That said, I've started this blog as a way to share my experience with anyone who wants to take part in this epic saga with me. I'm also doing this as a way to remember everything I've done.
I haven't really determined how this blog will be laid out, so bear with me through the first couple of posts (I know, they will probably suck) while I figure out the best way to put this together. Hopefully this will be some cross between entertaining and informative, but I'm not really sure.
The name of the blog, Saigon Headache, came from the idea that some people believed that I was going to Asia to find a women I'm not, by the way and that I was stricken with a case of Yellow Fever. While this is yet to be determined (I'm presuming I'll find out), that blog name was taken by this jerk who hasn't even written since October 28th. I must say though, he did beat me to the punch. Instead I turned to other names which gave the same effect. After a long time (10 minutes) on Urban Dictionary, my prime source for any slang, I discovered the term Saigon Headache. The first definition was spot on for me:
Anyways, time to start packing, the trip begins soon. Expect another post within the next few days about my night in NYC, the flight on a Boeing 777, and how rough security is because of this. Who knows, maybe I'll post something about how awesome my packing skills are.
Until next time,
-Nick-
Earlier this year, I was accepted into the Hong Kong program at Syracuse University. As I had always wanted to travel somewhere exotic, I chose to accept.
I've had several people ask for me to bring back souvenirs, postcards, and other stuff, but I dont think I'll be able to accommodate every request. That said, I've started this blog as a way to share my experience with anyone who wants to take part in this epic saga with me. I'm also doing this as a way to remember everything I've done.
I haven't really determined how this blog will be laid out, so bear with me through the first couple of posts (I know, they will probably suck) while I figure out the best way to put this together. Hopefully this will be some cross between entertaining and informative, but I'm not really sure.
The name of the blog, Saigon Headache, came from the idea that some people believed that I was going to Asia to find a women I'm not, by the way and that I was stricken with a case of Yellow Fever. While this is yet to be determined (I'm presuming I'll find out), that blog name was taken by this jerk who hasn't even written since October 28th. I must say though, he did beat me to the punch. Instead I turned to other names which gave the same effect. After a long time (10 minutes) on Urban Dictionary, my prime source for any slang, I discovered the term Saigon Headache. The first definition was spot on for me:
When a Caucasian person (usually male) likes a person of Asian descent (usually female); as used by MadTV alum Will Sasso.While I don't like MAD tv as much as SNL, I was willing to go with it, espicially because of the second definition:
White men afflicted with this ailment tend to objectify all females of Asian descent. A funnier and more clever version of yellow feverWhile this was a debatable definition (it only had 19 thumbs up vs. 13 thumbs down), I went with it.
Anyways, time to start packing, the trip begins soon. Expect another post within the next few days about my night in NYC, the flight on a Boeing 777, and how rough security is because of this. Who knows, maybe I'll post something about how awesome my packing skills are.
Until next time,-Nick-
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