Food, mountians, monkeys, and racing

Posted At : March 6, 2009 1:36 AM | Posted By : McCracken, Melissa D.
Related Categories: Hong Kong

So it is March already and I have been getting into the swing of things with classes. A lot of group projects have been assigned which is different compared to BGSU but it has been fun. Because of having to spend so much time on school work the amount of site seeing has diminished a little bit and routines have been established. But we always have time for good food. Our dining hall in the dorms is called "the canteen" and while the food is good we are always looking for something more than just rice and something that looks good enough to try. My roommate, and local here, took a few of us to a Curry Restaurant last week and it was amazing. I guess there is really no name for it but because of its location the locals refer to it as E7. The food was really good, which is important, and our server was very helpful. She made many recommendations and I think our meal was twice as good because she was so great and helped us to order the right food. We have also been just down the street about a mile to Kowloon City where there are more restaurants than anyone could visit in the amount of time we are here but the locals speak very highly of all of it. Of course many of us have been growing tired of rice and noodles (that is the common diet here) so we have cheated and visited the McDonalds, Dan Ryan’s, and other "American" type restaurants. It would surprise you at how much you miss simple things like Reese's and Pop Tarts when you cannot have them...I've cheated and my fiancé was amazing and mailed me those things for Valentine's Day! However, we have had the opportunity to try many interesting foods, some I wasn’t going to consider trying, I’ve eaten sushi and calamari for the first time and there have been “fish wings” and rice roles.

Other than food, some of us hiked up one of the highest peaks in Hong Kong, Lion Rock. It was an amazing experience and I encourage anyone who comes to Hong Kong to do it. On the way up you encounter wild monkeys and a lot of photo opportunities, but the best is at the top. We could see the entire city including the old airport, the ocean, and some of us joked we could see China. It was absolutely spectacular! It really put into perspective how large this region is.

A few of us along with the other international students have also ventured out to the horse races. It was interesting but nothing too exciting. I had never been to a horse race like that so it was interesting to see once. The crowd there is also a fun one to encounter but as a whole it wasn’t anything extremely special.

A few other places we have been since I last blogged that don't need much explanation has been The Avenue of Stars and the Botanical Gardens which were both fun and the garden was beautiful.

Well BG once more exciting things occur I will be sure to let you know. School has been keeping many of us busy so there isn’t a whole lot to report. The rainy season is also beginning here as well so we will see how that goes!

The Group that climbed Lions Rock