Another week in photos

After the inevitable frustration that comes with cramming for exams, and then getting food poisoning, I gave up on school for the week. I skipped class to sleep in, and reasoned that I would be more productive studying on my own than attending lecture. Except that entails studying in the time that I would have gone to class, which I have yet to gather enough self-discipline to do.

I'm usually so much better at this. I don't know if it's just being in Hong Kong that is distracting me, or because I'm not a fan of the academics here. The lectures in all of my classes are really dry, largely because the professor's English is not very fluent and he relies on Powerpoint to teach the class. Nothing really sinks in in class, and I'm not really motivated to learn the material on my own either. Sigh.

Anyway, I'm trying to make up for the slack this week by working today. I've found my niche in the Pacific Coffee Company in Festival Walk, in Kowloon Tong. It's roomy and got decent coffee, but is way too crowded during the day. I'm currently sharing a tiny round table with two other people I don't know, and I'd much prefer to take over my own space. Shucks. But I'm really grateful for this place -- our school libraries close at 7PM on a Sunday night, which doesn't make sense to me. Plus, I've had a hard time finding real coffee, nevermind a coffee shop, around. I suppose Hong Kong folk aren't as driven by caffeine as New Yorkers. The stuff they serve in the canteens, and in food places in general, taste more like creamy coffee-flavored water. I hate that they use canned milk. It's between that or sweetened coffee in a can, for my daily dose of caffeine. :-(

Hong Kong is becoming a little less overwhelming, and I'm beginning to appreciate it more. Now that I'm a little more familiar with things here, it is starting to feel like being back in New York. Well, not quite, but I really love the anonymity of being in a busy city. It's kind of contradictory, but I feel less lonely when I'm in a busy place -- I feel like I'm allowed more personal space to introspect and explore on my own.

What have I been up to lately? I've been spending more time with my aunt, who has been really helpful so far during my stay in Hong Kong. She took me to daaih paaih dong last weekend, i.e. a cheap street "restaurant" with tables set up outside. The food is all cooked outside too. It's cheap, the food is great, and I think it keeps alive something genuine about Hong Kong. I've been complaining about how Hong Kong seems too outwardly flashy and superficial, but I think I just need to do a little digging in the right places. It's too bad I didn't bring my camera out that day, but I shall share the experience with you in another post!

I went to Ocean Park this past Friday, an amusement park in Hong Kong I've heard about in TVB dramas but never been to. They do a themed attraction at night for Halloween from September to November, separate from the daytime park. It was amusing and, thankfully, not scary. It was my first time in a haunted house that wasn't a ride, and it really caught me off guard when we first walked inside. I thought we were lining up to be seated, but soon realized (when things started jumping out at me) that I was wrong. But then I got the hang of it, and eventually my time inside trying to scare the people behind me.

And I celebrated my birthday yesterday. We watched High School Musical 3 at the IFC. The movie theater was really nice, and the movie was better than I expected. I'd really meant to watch it as a joke while drunk, but it was enjoyable, in the sense that it was mindless and amused the inner middle-school girl in me. I think they did a much better job this time around with the choreography though. The staging and choreography was a lot more elaborate and glamorous, and had a touch of fantasy, which made me happy because it resembled a musical so much more. And we all know how I feel about musicals :-) We went to Cafe Siam, a Thai restaurant in Soho, afterwards for dinner -- it was pricey, but the food was delicious. And then we walked to Lan Kwai Fong, and spent most of the night in Azure, the bar in Hotel LKF. I was very receptive to the DJ -- he was fantastic. It's the first time I've heard "Tub thumping" and Punjabi MC and the Macarena played on the dance floor, on the same night.

I suppose I should stop yakking now and capture my week in photos. Enjoy!