A Ferry from Macau

I wrote this right after leaving Macau. I'll update soon about the past few days in HK, but for now, enjoy.

We are sailing away from the shores of Macau and Jatana is singing me a song using only my name for the lyrics. Somehow this seems fitting. We are both very sad to leave our friends, but we both agree that we don’t feel like we’re leaving for good. How could we?

My last exam went well. I beasted two essay questions and think I did alright on the short answer. It was my favorite subject: Development and Management of Attractions. Ended up writing one of my essay questions about Magic Kingdom and what design elements the park has that I think are very effective. Needless to say, I wrote a lot and had to tell myself to STOP writing!

Jatana was reading over my shoulder while I wrote this. She is envious and telling herself that she needs to update her blog. She says she will………soon. Yeah right.

After the exam we went and paid our unexpected water and electric bill. Any future exchange students should know that you will have to pay for the last couple weeks you’re in Macau, but you might not get the bill until the night before you leave. It was lovely. Then we went to lunch at a yummy sushi place. Mmmmmmmm so good.

]“See you later”s were said and hugs all around. Then back to the apartment to finish packing and do the dishes from breakfast. We gave away some of our food to our friends, and I gave away my hairdryer to a friend. My bags are still heavy! Oh well. I still have some stuff to pitch when I leave Hong Kong, and the rest I say is because of all of the presents I’m bringing back for people! Ok, maybe there are a few items for me in there too.

I’m super excited to hang out in Hong Kong for a few days. I think I’ve scared Jatana with the prep work I’ve done for our Hong Kong Disneyland day. There are some things I don’t want to miss. She has agreed to arrive with me no later than 11am. I’m hoping for 10:15 so we can see the opening ceremony…if there is one. Not sure, haven’t read anything about one.  I’m also curious to see how the crowds are. It was completely dead in March, so I’m wondering if the crowds will be higher but still nothing like Disney World at this time of year.

Ocean Park tomorrow. Can’t wait for it either! Still need to look up some more info about it, but there appears to be some awesome rides!!! I’ll definitely post pictures from our day there.

Still have about 45 minutes till we reach Hong Kong and Jatana has finally begun to make her epic blog update. You go girl!

This has been an amazing adventure and there’s more still to come!

Last Night in Macau

It's sad. It sucks. It's awesome. I can't wait to be home.

Had an AMAZING dinner tonight at a famous local restaurant. A bunch of exchange students and it was so much fun to see everyone. I hate saying Goodbye and find it very awkward, so yes I was awkward, but who cares! This people are awesome and I will miss them dearly. This is not goodbye though. It is only "See you later."

Two More Nights

I really truly can't blieve that I only have two more nights in 20K. Everything is finally setting in that I'm going home. Love you guys at home but right now I can't imagine leaving. I don't feel like I missed out on doing something I really wanted to do, BUT there is still so much I want to do!

The people I've met here are awesome, and I know that some I'll be friends with for life. Last night we all went out to D2 and danced till 6am. It was a blast and the perfect way to celebrate the end of the semester and how close we had all become. For Spring '11 Macau was my home and all of my IFT and Exchange friends made up my family, except for Jatana who doesn't love me anymore because I started packing today. (Just playing: She loves me. She just likes making a fuss.)

Tomorrow the plan is to maybe go to the Wine Museum, pool for studying if the weather is good, go to the 10MOP shop, dinner with Eve and Emily, study, study, study!

Oh! Almost forgot to mention that we had a Typhoon yesterday and today! I didn't even know it till I went running yesterday evening and my friend Yuki told me. Apparently it was/is a Typhoon 1, which means that it's nothing serious. Today it was overcast and high winds and a little rain, but that's all.

Here are a few photos I took around 1pm today.

Typhoon???

please excuse the undereye circles. didn't really feel like taking my mascara off before I went to bed at 6:30am.

Two Finals Down and Three To Go

So with Socio Cultural and Travel Agency out of the way, I'm left with Human Resources, Marketing, and Development & Management of Attractions. Really after tomorrow I feel pretty good. I enjoyed Marekting and DMA so the finals should be alright. Socio was fine, I think having an Anthropologist for a Mother helped out and Travel Agency was ehhhhhh. It's frustrating understanding something in class so well, but feeling very confused on exams. Ah well It's over now.

Tonight took a study break and went to see the new X-Men. It's still odd going to a movie theatre that to me, isn't really a movie theatre. No buttered popcorn. No giant sodas. No cup holders! But it's cheap compared to back home I thought the movie was good. The special effects were a little cheesy at some points, but overall I give it two thumbs up.

I can't believe that I only have 9 days till going home and only 5 more days in Macao. We took a bus tonight that took us to a part of Macao I realized I hadn't explored much. It's amazing how I've lived here for four months, and really Macao isn't that big, but there is still so much I haven't seen.

This weekend I plan on going to the pool/beach with friends to relax and study; Hopefully I'll make it to the Wine Museum which I'd really like to see before leaving, and eat lots of yummy food and drink lots of Milk Tea from Donago's. They are building what appears to be a Comebuy, a large chain milk tea stand, right next to Donago's and man I'll be mad if it hurts Donago's business.

It's weird because writing about Donago's and Comebuy makes me realize how many things have become second nature and so common to me, but when I go home all of them disappear. Where here I have to explain about things from home, soon I'll be explaining about things from Macao, my second home. Yes, I'll be happy to be home where I can see the stars every night and where there is still an ozone layer, but it really is bittersweet leaving this place and all the people I've met.

Goodnight to all. Enjoy your day while I sleep.

Finals????

Another great weekend, and I really don't feel like taking any finals!

Friday: BUNGY JUMPING OFF THE WORLD'S TALLEST BUNGY PLATFORM! It was amazing! It was awesome! I wasn't truly scared until I started to fall and could really see how high up I was. That was terrifying. I would do it again in a heartbeat though.

Saturday: Barbeque on the beach for Jatana's birthday. Went to Hac Sa beach out in Coloane, and grilled out from 4pm till 9pm. We had a lot of fun. For anyone who wants to do this here are some tips: You have to have a local to help you out with the ordering. Get a package and don't worry they definitely don't skimp on the portion size. Go early the day of the barbeque. Jatana and I got to the beach at 2:30pm to grab a good table and grill and to set up everything. You also have to bring your own drinks. This was kind of funny because since we had so many people we purchased two cases of beer the night before. It was pretty funny to see the security guards faces when we came back to our apartment building carrying the cases. haha Don't even know what they must have thought.

The party really was a great time. The weather was perfect and everyone just hung out, ate and played on the beach. One of my favorite days in Macao.

Sunday: Jatana's Actual Birthday- For the most part we were incredibly lazy. We did go out and go the gardens and have dinner at the oh so yummy sticky rice place. Then it was Donago's, facials & pedicures and a marathon of Bones. We ended up staying up till 5am finishing the 6th season, which is why I slept till noon today.

Since I woke up I've been studying for my finals which start Wednesday. I'm feeling pretty confident right now, but still trying to push myself to study just so I don't kick myself later for not studying. I will say having a full week off before finals was awesome and terrible at the same time. Awesome - well that's obvious. Terrible -because now all I want to do is hang around Macao, go to HK and go home. Finals really are cramping my style. What's a girl to do?

I've got 13 days before going home. I will very much miss Macao, but I'm so excited I can hardly stand it.

I Love Macao

School is out and lazy days have arrived. First though, a bit about my weekend.

Friday: Went to see House of Dancing Water at the City of Dreams. The show is one of the most amazing shows I've ever seen. Most of the action takes place in a 300gal tank of water with a stage that can be raised and lowered. Performers did high dives, danced, tumbled, swang from what looked like a chandelier and there was even a motocross part of the show.One of the best parts was that our seats were in the first row and the performers got so close to us that they actually splashed us! It was awesome even when they did it on purpose. Anyone who comes to Macao should go see this show!

Saturday: Woke up went to my final Travel Agency Operations review and then headed out to the IFT Karting Event. Jatana's sports and event class was in charge of the event so I wanted to support her. Had a pretty good time and even got to watch my friend race. That was really cool. There were a fair number of ppl there but the day was incredibly hot so not quite as many as they were hoping for.
After that event I went home. Then grabbed dinner with friends and went to see Momentum up at the Cultural Center. Momentum is a work done by a troupe from Israel. The whole idea behind the show is basically about time and rhythm and the goal is to spread love through the performance. They were truly amazing and it was so obvious how much each member loved what they were doing and truly was trying to give love to the audience. They used some of the best audience participation techniques I've ever seen. Before the show, I guess, someone had rigged up pulleys that would drop over an audience member. This audience member then became part of the show and was told where in the beat to pull their pulley. This went on till four audience members were helping one performer create a rhythm. It was AWESOME! Another way the audience was involved was in video that a performer took before the show and then projected on a large screen at the end of the shows. The technology they used was just amazing. Even after the show was over the performers danced through the audience and did two more pieces outside.

If all my Fridays and Saturdays were like this I'd be in heaven. : )

Sunday: Spent most of Sunday working on my Marketing project with my group. Then spent another couple of hours editing both my marketing project and my human resources project. I have a new found respect for editors, and now I know I never ever would want to be one.

Monday: Happy Memorial Day to the States! Woke up and headed over the Zhuhai with Sidsel. Bought a pair of flip flops because then we got manicures, pedicures and leg massages. How much? you ask. $15 oh yes. woot woot! Grabbed some lunch and then I got my hair trimmed and an awesome head and neck massage. Only $9. Ahhhhh. Living the good life. I will definitely be going back at least one more time before I leave.

Tuesday (Today!): Another wonderful day, but this time I spent it by the pool with my friend Johanna. She found out that there was a pool out in Coloane that is right on the beach and only costs 7MOP ($1) for students. We got off at the wrong bus stop, but once we found the pool, we were ridiculously excited. Very clean, great facility, very big and just the right temperature. For three hours we just lazed around in the pool and on our lounge chairs. She tanned A LOT. I...well I love my pale skin. : ) After we had had enough of the pool we decided that ice cream from DQ was needed. I got a mango almond blizzard with chocolate chips that was out of this world good! Then it was back to our apartments to shower and then some dinner.

Now I'm sitting in my apartment contemplating what I should do tomorrow. Right now studying, getting things in order for going home, a few necessary emails, followed by my last *sniff sniff* ladies' night.

School is great, but I love holiday.

On a Roll

With a little more time to spare here is Guilin Day 2:

We woke up at 11am, grabbed some breakfast. We both got the American breakfast (I think that was the name) which consisted of eggs, toast, tomatoes, sausage and a strip of bacon. I opted for some much needed coffee while Sidsel went with orange juice. After breakfast we grabbed our stuff and walked down to the busstop to try and grab a bus to Yangshuo. This was.....exciting. Since barely anything was in English we tried to go ask at the customer service counter. Haha joke on us thinking they would speak English. She did point in the direction of a set of busses though and we went over there and found that YES those busses were indeed going to Yangshuo. We hopped aboard and payed our fare of 18RMB a piece, about $3.

Now in retrospect we both agreed that we should have gone ahead and done  the cruise down the Li River to Yangshuo. What happened though is we weren't aware we could do the whole route and we had already planned on the bus and felt more comfortable sticking with that route. It would have been nice to go ahead and go the cruise the first day and have time to do other things our last day but c'est la vie. Anyways...

The bus was fine. It was a bus. Got into Yangshuo and our adventure really began. We took this "taxi" to our hostel, but it was the funniest/strangest ride ever. It's hard to explain in words so here is a video. Yes I know the video is sideways, but my stupid butt forgot you can't turn a camera sideways. ahhhhh well.

 

That's all for now! Off to my last presentation. Wish me luck!

Finally!

With only one presentation left I've finally found some time to start blogging about my trip to Guilin. So here you go:

Guilin Day 1:

We didn't leave Macao until 7:30pm as Sidsel and I both had classes in the afternoon. It was a mad dash to catch the ferry due to some bus issues, but we did make it and were cruising towards Shezhen at 7:30 sharp. Once in Shenzhen we took the free shuttle to the airport, checked-in, went through security and started what would be a three hour wait for our flight. Due to bad weather (where we really weren't sure since we saw no bad weather while we were on the shuttle) we boarded 40 minutes late and then sat on the ground for another 2 hours or so. Luckily our plane wasn't full so we each took a row to ourselves and grab some blankets from the nice stewardess. We flew with China Southern and I have to say that I would fly with them again in a heartbeat. Instead of making us sit in silence, they immediately switched on the TV and passed out water and peanuts. They played some Chinese news for a bit and then switched to Yogi Bear The Movie!!!!! ENGLISH! WooooooHooooo! I cuddled up with my blanket and drifted off to sleep listening to Yogi Bear and BooBoo being "smarter than the average bears." Once we took off the flight was fine and we landed in Guilin an hour later. It was around 2am at this point so we grabbed a taxi and took the 40min. ride into town to our hostel.

We stayed at HOW Hostel and I highly reccommend it to anybody going to Guilin. They were great and breakfast was especially yummy. That night we just crashed and decided it would be better to sleep till 11am instead of trying to kill our selves by getting up at 8am, which is what we were originally planning. We fell fast asleep dreaming of the adventures awaiting us in Yangshuo.

Up next: One of the most beautiful places I've ever seen....and A LOT OF RAIN.

Last Week of Classes - Yes Please!

No matter where I am in the world I believe I will always love and hate the last week of classes. It's probably obvious why since most college students can't wait for break and hate how everything somehow seems to be due at once. So with three days down (including 2 presentations and 1 project <--which all went extremely well) and two days to go (1 presentation and 2 projects) the end is almost here. Luckily the two projects left aren't actually due until next Monday so there is plenty of time to finish them.

I have had some down time and have made use of it by going to see a show for the Macao Arts Festival. The show was called "Diva" and was created and performed by a woman from Denmark. It is a one woman puppet show. Ok, so yes I know that puppet show doesn't sound exciting, but this was. The stage was round and the woman sat inside and spun it around to reveal different stages. The whole process was amazing and after the show she did a Q&A and showed us the inside of the whole contraption. Awesome!

Also have been watching Chuck, a lot actually because this past weekend we were stuck inside because of the crazy amount of rain! It really rained from Friday night until Sunday night only stopping for about 3 hours on Saturday. The only nice thing is the sound the rain makes on all the tin roofs. 

Soooooo, for now this post is done, but I promise an update about my trip to Guilin and Yangshuo is coming soon! For now here is a link to my pictures from the trip - https://picasaweb.google.com/117127870899841439519/AWeekendInTheCountryside?authkey=Gv1sRgCLvG5Jzs6Mr8Qw&feat=directlink

One Pot. One Pan. Surviving in China

The past week has been amazing at points, devestating at others, bittersweet and so much fun.

Spent the weekend in Guilin and Yangshuo. Yangshuo is one the the most beautiful places I've ever been. The people were so nice, our hostel was amazing, the landscape was incredible and just I LOVED IT! Pictures will be posted soon, but I need to go through them first.

On Monday I found out that my high school, Charter Conservatory for Liberal Arts & Technology, may be shut down due to a ruling by the Georgia Supreme Court. They decided that the legislation approved in 2008 allowing the state to approve charter schools was "unconstitutional" so unless Charter Conservatory can go back to the old charter they won't be able to open in the fall. This is the same for 15 other schools around Georgia. It makes me so angry to think that people thought we were taking money from them when really we were finally just getting the money that we were suppose to get all along. There are also some saying that the reason that some local school boards won't approve charter schools is because they see them as competition. Competition? Since when was education about one school beating another? Yes, students should be encouraged to push their minds and a little healthy competition between students is great, but between schools all it does is bring down the overall education quality. Other schools are simply focused on getting the highest scores on standardized tests. This is just stupid.

Anyways, I'm working to create a facebook page and will be continuing to post updates here on what is going on. Students should be able to have a say in their education. That is what we are trying to save.

Today we had the farewell lunch for all the exchange students. The student union sang some really sweet songs and gave us a souvenir photo of all of us at the Ruins of St. Paul. The whole lunch was so much fun, and tonight we will continue the fun at Ladie's Night! Oh how I'll miss Wednesday nights in Macao.

Jatana and I made dinner tonight and were discussing the fact that for almost four months we have survived with one pan and one pot. We cook together most of the time and have found that we don't need to have a microwave or "instant" meals. It's great.

Weekend Trip!

This weekend, actually 12 May -16 May, my friend Sidsel and I are going to Guilin and Yangshuo in Mainland. This area is out in the countryside and suppose to beautiful. We found some ok priced plane tickets and a really cheap hostel, and we both have the time and funds, sooooo we decided to go! Who knows it may be my only chance to see Yangshuo.

We leave tonight from Shenzhen at10:10pm. We'll take a ferry from Macao to Shezhen at 7:30pm. I'm not taking my computer with me so I will be flying fun and fancy free with no technology until Monday afternoon!

It's adventure time.

Why didn't we bring water???

Had tay off from school fo Buddah's birthday and decided to celebrate by going to a festival! Well Jatana had to for a project and I felt like tagging along.

We went to the Tam Kung Festival out in Coloane. The whole festival is celebrating god Tam Kung. He is known to help the sick and poor. We watched the parade as it made its wa through the city and to the temple. Loved it. Had a great time except for melting in the heat. To see some pictures check out my album on Picasa. https://picasaweb.google.com/117127870899841439519/TamKungFestival?authkey=Gv1sRgCOOG4LO8-rultAE&feat=directlink

Going to try using Picasa for photos and just posting links here to save some time.

This past Sunday we went an explored Guia Hill and vited the lighthouse. The views from th hilltop were gorgeous. We just sat and stared out over the ocean for a while watching the ferrys head to Hong Kong and all the construction going on (not sure for what though). It's kind of crazy to think that in 40 days I'll be on a ferry headed to Hong Kong and headed home.

"Hello World!"

Signing off. An episode of Chuck, some sleep and a crazy day tomorrow! 

Stupid Lock

Story: About a month ago an IFT student's apartment was broken into. So now IFT has gone into security overload. Two weeks ago they came by and checked every apartment's locks. This past Friday they came by and changed ours. Why? Well they said one was broke, but in mine and Jatana's opinion it wasn't.

Fast forward to today and Jatana and I are stuck LOCKED IN our apartment thanks to this new lock. I put the deadbolt on last night, and when we tried to leave to go grocery shopping this morning the lock wouldn't unlock.

<-- The stupid lock

EUREKA! Andrew the hostel trainee in our building just went and got the master key and unlocked our door for us!!! So only an hour of knowing we were locked in. Not too bad. This did make us wonder though what would happen if there was a fire? Guess we'll just keep our fingers crossed that doesn't happen.

Signing off and venutring out into the world now that I can.

Day 5: Beijing Zoo & Day 6: Going Home

So after trekking on the Great Wall, we decided to take it easy today and just head to the zoo. Our original plan was to go to the Summer Palace, but the weather wasn't all that great either so it got nixed.

We ended up having a lot of fun. We went to the aquarium and saw the dolphin show and then wandered around to see all the creatures. It was interesting seeing animals like deer and bears. Bears maybe, but deers I've never thought about them being in a zoo. The girls were all amazed when I told them we had deer in our backyard at home.

We also went to the Giant Panda exhibit. The panda were amazing as always, but I was a little dissapointed at the state of the facility. For a facility that was built for the Olympics it really didn't seem all that impressive. Another issue we had during the day was that a lot of construction was going on. They are preparing for the summer season, when the zoo is PACKED everyday. Atleast that's what my friends were telling me.

After the zoo we went and found dinner. The restaurant we chose had bone as their specialty. We order the bone and actually did the whole using a straw to suck out the bone marrow. I have to say that it was delicious.

Day 6:

Had to wake up very early, 5:30am, in order to leave by six and be at the airport at 6:30 for my 8am flight. I was soooo glad we did though because it was a challenge checking-in. First I followed the signs that said Hong Kong/ Macao flights. Stood in line and when I finally got to the desk learned that this area is only for direct flights and since I was transferring in Shanghai I had to go somewhere else. I walked over to domestic saw a great big sign for flights transferring at a Shanghai airport and tried there. No luck. Walked some more and finally saw the main China Eastern Check in desk. Woohoo! But again I couldn't check-in! Finally though the man directed me straight across the hall to the "TransChina Service" desk. For some reason if you are transferring from Beijing then to another city within China and then going outside of China you have to come to this special desk. I found it to be stupid.

I checked in, went and stood in the very long security lines, got wanded (everyone does) going through security and made it to my gate at 7:30am. Really glad I arrived so early.

The rest of the trip went smoothly. The Shanghai airport was boring, but fine other than that. The flights were awesome! They even served ice cream on my last flight. Yum Yum.

I've got to run and get to class now. They came and changed the locks are our apartment door this morning. Why, I don't know. I do know I'm officially an hour late for class because of them. Grrrrrrrrrr

Day 4 Photos

Here are some of my favorite photos from my adventure to the Great Wall. Enjoy!

To see in full screen you may need to go to click the link and go to Youtube.

Day 4: THE GREAT WALL

This was by far my favorite day. It felt like one of those moments where you're indisbelief about what's going on, stretched out into an entire day. Let's begin.

We got up at 6am and caught a taxi to the subway station at 6:30. Met the group, Rita, Shirley, Min and Young at 7:30am.

SIDENOTE: I just so happens that every person in our group completed the International College Program at Disney World, except for Shirley. We all worked in different locations, but it was really cool to have that one common thread connecting us.

Young was the leader for the day, so we followed him to the tour bus station and he handled all the dealings about which bus and how much.Thanks to a student discount we each ended up paying 75CNY. This included roundtrip transportation and entrance to the Great Wall.

SIDENOTE: Yes, you have to pay to climb the wall. Seems odd, but they got to make money for repairs somehow.

The bus ride was uneventful. It took about an hour and a half to get out to the Beijing countryside (who knew it existed?!) and just a little while longer to get to the bottom of the Great Wall. We visited the Mutianyu section which is a slightly less touristy section of the wall. The day was absolutely beautiful: sun shining and blue skies. The tour guide let us know we had three hours to explore, and then we were off!

The walk up to the wall took about 20 minutes and was pretty darn tiring. I kept asking, "Does this count? Am I a hero yet?" My friends of course said, "No."

SIDENOTE: According to my friends, Chinese tradition says that when you visit the Great Wall for the first time, you become a hero.

When we reached the bottom of the stairs going up to the actual wall my first thought was "Wow! This really is just a wall!" Then of course, once I went up the stairs that thought changed into, "Wow! People built this by hand?! Centuries ago!?" The whole experience of walking along the wall and knowing that so many people, tourists and soldiers alike, had walked there before me was just awesome. The landscape was absolutely breathtaking and being able to see the Great Wall snaking off into the distance made me feel like I had stepped into a postcard.

We climbed for the greater part of the three hours and it was exhausting. My legs even hurt a day later. Some of the stairs were so steep that they almost reachd my knees, and  I had to use my hands when climbing up and down. I can't even imagine having to walk them daily. We went into all of the watch towers we passed and you really could see forever at the top of them.

Sara and Rita chose to take a break and watched all of our stuff for us while the rest of us went and climbed to the END! (Well, the end of the Mutianyu section). It felt so cool to be standing at the end, seeing the sign the said, "No admittance. Non-tourist Section." I so wanted to go exploring beyond that sign. We could see another part of the wall that was all over grown, and it looked amazing. I'd definitely like to go back and go to an even less touristy part.

Our three hours seemed to fly by, but at the end of them we were back on the bus for a 2 1/2 hour ride home. The delay was due to Beijing traffic.  I slept most of the way.

SIDENOTE: There was only one embarrasing moment. Min asked, very loudly, "Why do White people where shorts in this weather?" right when three English guys were walking by. Of course they heard, and the first disgustdly said "White people?!" I tried to just calmly explain that they were probably from somewhere up north and thought the weather felt nice. The third guy walking by let us know that they were in fact English and that this was nice weather. Ahhhhh fun times.

The day was one big dream come true and now I can say,

"I AM A HERO."

Day 2 Photos

I've been trying to put my videos straight onto blogspot, but using a link seems to work better right now.

Hope you enjoy!  Day 2: To the Palace Museum We Go!

Day 1 Photos!

A short video montage. Enjoy!

Day 1: Off to Beijing

Day 3: Hutong and Silk Market

Lay ho!

We started today by.......SLEEPING IN! Ahhhhhhh so nice!

After dragging ourselves out of bed we went to a Hutong, forget the name (sorry!). Now basically a hutong simply refers to a lane or alley in the older district of Beijing with many being near the Forbidden City. The day was bright and sunny and I loved just strolling along looking into all the small shops. We went into many many stores and I even bought myself an adorable dress and some presents for folks back home. We stopped and ate lunch at a restaurant called Zomo's. Don't know where the name comes from, but the food was really good. We had ge da soup, fish head with noodles and lettuce with fish. The fish head was fairly spicy, but I did try gill and even ate the fish eye! Sara just put it on my plate and said, "Here! For you!" What did I think of it? Well, it wasn't bad. The texture was grainy and it didn't have much of a taste. Do I need to eat another? Nah. Now the ge da soup on the other hand, was AMAZING. Ge da is this powder thing they take and make into a little dumpling type thing. ard to explain but oh so good. I could eat this soup for days on end.

The hutong was so nice because it is made up of all these one story, gray stoned buildings. I loved the vibe the whole place had.

After lunch we shopped some more, and then headed over to the silk market. We made the mistake of getting off one subway stop to early, so had a bit of a walk, but we stopped at McDonalds for a snack. I know it sounds like we eat constantly but really it had been a good two hours between lunch and now. It was odd because none of the menu was in English. Sara admitted she had never even notices this fact.

We spent an hour and a half at the silk market. My biggest purchase was three silk scrolls. One had a drawing of the great wall on it. I knew that I'd want something with the Great Wall on it. One had golden fish on it. I got this one because Sara loves fish and we talked about fish a lot. The last one I bought was a very pretty one with Mu dan flowers on it. Not sure why I like these so much, but something about them just seem cool. They are traditional, and yes while mine aren't hand done I like them. I was very proud of myself. The seller wanted CNY600 and I paid CNY195.

After the hour and a half we both were sooooooo ready to get out of there. The silk market is very cool, and I reccomend it to anybody who wants to buy cheap anything, but there are so many people it's overwhelming.

We took a subway and then a taxi back and had Chinese snacks for dinner. They were really just like a fast meal. The portions were definitely not snack size.

It was off to Ariny's after that for some TV watching and showers. This night we watched a game show called Single Man. The show had 24 single girls and one single guy. The guy comes out and gets to show three videos introducing himself to the girls. If any of the girls aren't interested than she can switch her light off. The process goes on until after the third video. If some of the girls still have their lights on the guy gets to choose his three favorite. They talk some more and then he chooses his favorite. They when a trip to Hawaii and then skip off into the sunset. It was entertaining.

Back home and to bed! Next up: The Great Wall!!!!!!

Signing off! Promise pictures will come soon.

Day 2: Tiananmen Square and Palace Museum

Hello!
Woke up, ate some breakfast and out the door!

We went to Tiananmen Square today. Took a bus then a subway, and I realized I like traveling by bus better when in a new city because you get to see more of the city. The subway is nice just for speed though. Without Sara I wouldn't have been able to take the bus since the route is entirely in Manadarin. Yay for Sara!

Exiting the subway station and seeing Tiananmen Square was awesome! After seeing so many pictures of this giant structure it was crazy to see it in real life. Sara also informed me that the road we were looking at is the biggest road in Beijing. Once again reminded me of Miami a bit. lol

We made our way across the street and through the first gate. The amount of people standing in line for tickets into the Palace Museum(Forbidden City) was a little bit intimidating, but the lines moved pretty fast. They offer a student ticket price, so we only had to pay CNY20. woot woot!

Once inside the museum the amount of people just seemed to increase. It was fine when just standing around looking at the outside of the buildings, but when we tried toget a closer look at the inside of the different halls it wasn't a lot of fun. People push and shove and they don't see it as being rude. Something I don't think I'll ever get use to.

I picked up an audio guide for CNY40 + CNY100 deposit before entering the museum and when it wasn't cutting in and out, the information about each hall was pretty interesting. I definitely would recommend doing that unless you read up about the museum a lot before coming. There is a map on the auido guide which has lights on it showing each place to visit and when you visit one , that light will go out. We found this very helpful. So much looks the same it's easy to get lost.

My favorite parts were the side areas which were a lot less crowded and the gardens located at the back of the museum. That gardens had some beautiful flowers called Mu dan. This is the national flower of China. Sara loves flowers so we took a lot of photos. Also in the gardens was the awesome stone mountain. The story behind it is that during one festival each year the emperor and his concubines would scale the mountain to the platform on the top. I don't remember what this symbolized, but it definitely looked like it might be slightly difficult.

At this point it the sky was black and we were getting worried about rain. We ducked into a small cafe, I got a caramel latte and Sara got some spicy tofu on a stick (which was actually quite yummy), and by the time we had sat down at a table it was pouring outside. It poured for about 30 mins and then continued to rain for another 30min. We just sat and talked and had a great time.

After we went exploring more of the side paths. It was around 4:15 and many of the exhibits were beginning to close. Sara made the suggestion of heading to a tea house before going to dinner with her cousins.

One bus ride later we were in an awesome shopping center! We had tea at a little teahouse called Chamate. It's one of Sara's favorite and is a chain around Beijing. They had a really cool ordering system where you just pressed either order, waiter, bill or water on this device at your table and a little bell rang alerting the staff to your need. Loved it! We got some small snacks, black fungus and a pancake. The fungus was.........yeah

Stayed and chatted till round 6:30pm and then made our way to dinner. (I know a lot of food) We had barbecue, which was awesome. This is when I got to meet her cousin Ariny and her cousin's fiance Le. We sat outside at this very low table with very tiny stools. Now this is not like our barbecue back home. Instead it is different pieces of meat on wooden skewers done on a grill in different spices and sauces.

What we got:
Squid - way too spicy for me. made my lips burn
Chicken Heart - my favorite! They were really really good
Chicken Liver- I think it was liver, don't quite remember. lol They were pretty good but a little chewy
Chicken Wing - A classic in the States and in China


There were some others but I can't remember them all. Really the only thing I didn't like was the squid. We also had cucumbers in soy sauce and lettuce in sesame sauce and washed it all down with beer. Sara told me that apparently it is considered rude to not get the guest (me) tipsy. They definitely weren't rude and I'm really glad that Le gave back the unopened third bottle (they were large bottles).

We went back to Ariny and Le's place to take showers, since we had no hot water at Sara's place. Now I thought that most Chinese couple don't live together before getting married, and I asked Sara about this. She said that what I thought was correct, but due to how expensive the cost of living is in Beijing couples are moving in together sooner now. Though she still said that her cousin and fiance are the "odd ones out."

Home around midnight and crashed in bed by 1:30am.

Signing off! Back to schoolwork I go!

Beijing Day 1: Getting There

My alarm went off at 6:30am and I proceeded to hit the snooze button three times. After dragging myself out of bed I showered, got all my stuff together, ran and got some breakfast, sent a few last minute emails and made my way to the ferry terminal by 8:15am.

I brought my large purse with me and my new duffle so that I didn't have to worry about checking any luggage. I also brought a small purse for sightseeing, gifts for Sara and her family and clothers. The basics.

Caught the bus at 8:25am. I was suppose to arrive at the ferry terminal by 8:30am for my 9:30am ferry, and I got there at 8:32am. Now just knowing Macao I figured the whole hour early thing really wasn't necessary, but I tend to air on the side of caution so I got there early. Well, I was right about not needing to be there. I could have arrived at 9am and been fine, but I took the time to do some puzzles in my book. I'll always love puzzles.

The ferry to Hong Kong International Airport was basically empty and the ride was smooth so all in all a lovely start to my trip. Now since I took the ferry straight to HKIA I checked in right when I exited the ferry at special check-in counters for the ferry guests. I loved it! There was nobody and check-in was a breeze. Went through security, which was so easy, no need to take off my jacket or shoes! Also I forgot to put all of my liquids into a plastic bag but no one said anything to me. (This would continue the whole trip)

Went and found my departure gate, which had a view of the sea, and then went to find lunch. Ended up at Panopolis and had a TURKEY SANDWICH and banana! I miss sandwiches so much so I couldn't pass up the opporutnity to have one.

MUSINGS

I love airports because while each one has their own set up and personality, in any airport you can really be or go anywhere. They all have arrival and departure gates, air control towers and runways. If it wasn't for the landscape, interior and the faces of everyone milling about you might not even know where you are. Then there are so many places to go! Your ticket says one destination, but the gate next to you may say one that's halfway around the world from yours. The sense of adventure is undeniable.

There is a sense of home too. You can always fly sort of close to where you're from. I found two flights, one going to Boston and one to Denver. I immediately felt this connection with all the passengers on those flights. Their faces seemed familiar and their voices as I passed by were oddly soothing. A little bit of home, and it reminded me that if I need to or want to I can always get/go home.

I love airports.

Boarding was just general, which was awesome and I wish Delta did the same. The plane was nice and room and throughout the flight they played some odd chinese movies with english subtitles that didn't really help.

Lunch was: Chicken and Rice, roll, gross pasta salad and pineapple cake. I didn't eat a whole lot since I'd had the sandwich. There was a fair bit of turbulence but nothing too bad. Taking off from HK was awesome. The view was just beautiful! I spent most of the time reading my Kindle (thank you mom). Definitely one of my most favorite and useful items.

Landed in Beijing at 4:30 and it took about half an hour to go through the whole process of getting off the plane, going through customs and getting to the arrival hall so it was perfect timing to meet Sara at 5pm.

It was so nice to see her! Had one of those "hey its you!" moments. Got reintroduced to her friend Young who had worked at Disney at the same time as us and who I'd met briefly once and went to find her car. Took a bit to find the car, but once we had it was off into Beijing rush hour traffic! I apologized for flying in during rush hour. I'm such a nice friend. Spent most of the time taking pictures and "ooooing" and "ahhhing" at just how large Beijing is.

One moment flying in I looked out my window and was like "oh the city isn't that big" Then I looked up and out into the distance and thought "holy crap. nevermind" The city is SO MASSIVE! I couldn't get over that fact the entire trip.

We did pass an Ikea on the way in which was just odd. There everywhere! Driving to Sara's place I was reminded a little bit of Miami by the wide rodes, tons of traffic and huge buildings. I also found out that every person who has a car is not allowed to drive one day a week. This is to help with all the traffic. Luckily Sara's day is Wednesday so she could pick me up from the airport and take me when I left.

For dinner Sara and Young took me to have Beijing Duck. We went to a restaurant called Quanjude which is famous for their roast duck, and you actually get a litte commemoration card which tells you your ducks number. And it was delicious! They brought it out and showed it to us, then went and chopped it up out of view and brought it back to us. We had duck skin, duck meat and duck head. Yes, I did try the head. It didn't taste like much and was kind of just smooth in texture. We also had jellyfish, which was not my favorite. The texture was odd and chewy and cold.

After dinner we headed back to Sara's aunt's place, which is where we stayed the whole trip. The location of the apartment is better than Sara's house and her aunt doesn't live there full time so we had the place to ourselves! Unpacked, sat around and surfed the web and then hit the hay around 1am. Exhausted but a great first day!

Pictures will come soon. I've edited them, but there are so many I'm going to put them into mini slideshows!

Signing off! Time to go do some homework..

Only One More Day Till Easter Holiday!!!!!

Lay ho!

Just finished studying for my last midterm which is tomorrow afternoon. I think a little bit of studying tomorrow morning and I should be good to go. Cross Fingers. In total I've had three midterms. One was quite difficult but I knew it would be; it was in travel agency operations. Yesterday I took my marketing midterm and I think it went fine. The entire exam was multiple choice and there were only a few I wasn't sure about. Now one odd thing with taking exams here is that they schedule them out of regular class time and everyone who is taking the subject takes it at the same time. When I showed up to the Amphithetre yesterday there was a line of students waiting to get in because they don't let you in till like 5 min. before exam time. I took the time to go outside and sit and eat my snack of Octopus and Veggie balls instead of standing in line. Delicious! So tomorrow I have one class and then my Human Resources Midterm which the professor chose to put at 4:30pm the day before Easter holiday............why? Beats me, but I've come to terms with it.......sort of.

This Weekend!
IFT Singing Competition!!!!! - Three of my guys friends were in it and one even moved on to the second round. There were over 50 contestants and it was awesome how everyone just got up a sang. Sometimes the not-so-great singers got the loudest applause. I loved it!  If I can get a video of my friend singing I will upload it.

Now for the most exciting part...............................BEIJING!!!!!

I leave Thursday - Catch the Ferry at 9:30 to the Hong Kong International Airport. It cost a little more than the ferry to HK, but I don't have to take the MTR and it streamlines all the passengers through security and such! Woot! - My flight takes off at 1:20pm and lands at 5pm. - My most wonderful friend Sara, who I'm staying the whole week with, will meet me there and from there we will go to her parent's house to stay the night.

Friday: Move to her aunt's house, which apparently we have to ourselves for the whole week. Don't know where her aunt is, but I'm assuming Easter Holiday somewhere else.

Our schedule is fairly loose with no definite days, but our list of things we want to do in order of MUST DO is:

1. The Great Wall
2. Forbidden City
3. Chinese Hutong
4. Karaoke
5. Summer Palaca < really this one is higher, but apparently it is further out in the city, so we may or may not have time.

The list seems kind of short, but it leaves room for fun do whatever we please! I'm so excited about having a tour guide who has grown up in Beijing that I will follow her wherever she goes!

I'm staying until next Tuesday and sadly my flight leaves at 8am so I really only get four full days. I land in HK though at 3pm and plan on staying around to shop, sightsee, etc.

Now you may be wondering, "Catherine, how do you know Sara?" The answer is that during my first internship when I worked down at the Magic Kingdom I met Sara. She was on the International Program which only last a few months and we happen to work in the same area. She is totally awesome and we became friends then and have kept in contact ever since. One of my reasons for choosing China for study abroad was because I knew I would have the chance to see her and Cynthia (another girl I met at Disney). I never thought I'd see them again, but guess I was wrong! YAY!

Now, I'm off to watch an episode of Chuck, catch up on emails, maybe do a little research for my DMA project and hit the hay.

Till next time!

A Lesson In Networking

So today I met my friend Yuki for lunch and I knew that she had to attend career day, so yes I knew there was a career day going on. I didn't give the email I got about it much thought, and for the most part I really didn't need to. I took some time and looked around, and the companies that are here are great, but some I looked at didn't even have any info in English soooo....anways I did stop and speak with a representative from Four Seasons Macao, and I could kick myself for not bringing my business cards nor my resume with me. I told him that I wasn't interested in Macao currently since I still have one year left at school, but that I was interested in opportunities in the States. He, Patrick, was very nice and in the end asked if I had a CV (their term for resume) on me or a business card and he could pass my name onto someone maybe. While nothing may have come of it, it would still have been nice to just have pulled my resume or business card out and BOOM contact made. So lesson learned.

Just a little ramblig

Lay ho. Sik jaw fan mae?

Here are a couple more videos from Disney, courtesy of Jatana (my roomie). They are both of the parade.

Part 1: http://youtu.be/jUbEpyWMhG8

Part 2: http://youtu.be/BsVim71V084

Enjoy! I know I will definitely be going back at least one more time before going home!

This has been another busy week. I'm studying for two mid-terms, which are next week. One is on Monday and the other on Wednesday afternoon <---this one prevented me from leaving on Wed. from Beijing. grrrrrrrrr I also have a group video project I'm working on. That is going alright, but we still have a fair bit to do. This project will test my video editing skills.

Other than studying and that project, I'm working on two other group projects and getting ready to begin work on another. Can't believe we only have five more weeks of school left! Yesterday I also went and purchased my ticket to HK Airport next Thursday. When I flew into HK I just took the metro and then took the ferry from the city center, so I'm interested to see how ferrying straight into the airport works. I've also been going to the gym. I try to go three or four times a week. Now I know you may think "Really you need to go to the gym?" Yes, I do. There are so many yummy bakeries around and milk tea shops and new food I want to try that I eat a fair bit, and wallking doesn't cut it. Working out also just makes me feel better.

That's all for now. Signing off till next time!

Whirlwind Week

This week has been a week. Projects have definitely kicked into full gear. Currently I'm working on a video project about Islam, a project on how to market a Legoland in Macao and a project on marketing for Tui Cruises. The first is de before Easter Holiday which starts the 21st and the other two are due after break. My partner and I are attempting to finish the one about Legoland before break so that we can go to Guilin, China for a few days and not have to worry about anything. We'll see how that goes.

I also had my first midterm this week. It was in Travel Agency Operations which is said to be one of the most difficult course at IFT. The exam was hard, but part of it was because the problems are not written at all like the pracetice problems. The other reason was my own fault. We had to know all the countries and major cities locations. She told us she would give us a map of one continent on the exam. I figured maybe Africa or South America. I studied those two and of course the rest. I ran out of time though with Europe and just glanced over it once. Can you guess what continent was on the test? Oh yeah, it was Europe. I wanted to kick myself, but luckily I did know some and the rest I tried to make educated guesses.

Jatana and I also got a nice surprise this week in the form of some familiar and a few new faces from USC! Dr. Harrill along with Dr. Gillintine, Dean Mihalik and his wife Linda all came to visit IFT. We had a luncheon with them and a feww staff members from IFT. Then later it was a USC reunion dinner! We went out to Taipa and had dinner at a really good Portuguese restaurant. It was nice to talk to people from home and hear about what is going on in Columbia. The next day Linda and I met up so I could show her around Macao. Now, I found it kind of funny to be the tour guide in a city where I've only lived for two months and still haven't seen a fair bit myself! I think she had a good time though. We walked around and I took her to Lou Lik Lok garden, Ruins of St. Paul, the Monte Fortress, Kun Iam Temple and Senado Square.

Yesterday, I went with two of my friends, Lillian and Jackie, to Zhu Hai. Jackie is from Zhu Hai so we went to her house. SIDEBAR: Some of the best times I've had is visiting people's homes and meeting there families. They make me feel like I'm really not a tourist! SIDEBAR DONE After hanging out at Jackie's house we went to the marketplace. I wanted to buy some summer clothes, but really didn't have too much luck. One thing I learned...compared to Chinese girls I have hips. So funny to watch my friends try to politely explain that they didn't think the shorts would fit me because my hips were too big. In the end I bought one pair. You have to remember that very few places allow you to try things on. I tried them on when I got home, and they do fit, but they are a little snug. Oh well. Told Lillian if I didn't like them I'd give them to her.

That's all for now! Up this week: more projects! studying for more midterms! Getting ready for BEIJING!!!!!!!

Signing off until next time! Baii Baii!

Wanderings Around Coloane

So you know those weeks where you say you're going to get to something and somehow it never ever happens. Well for the lovely pictures below that's what happened. I had the best laid plans of writing some descriptions underneath, but between school work, a surprise visit from some USC faculty and staff and living in China (cause you know having experiences is why I'm here) it hasn't happened. So! Hopefully the pictures speak for themselves.

They were all taken in Coloane, which is the island that is next to Taipa. Coloane is nice to visit since there is so much green and no extremely tall buildings.  Enjoy! 

Wait? How many steps??

Here is a short video of climbing the stairs to see the Giant Buddha. Enjoy!

Hong Kong Day 2

Here's a Tip: Read this entry backwards!

Ladies Market: I didn't take any pictures at the Ladie's market due to crowds. It was insane! We all agreed to meet up at the beginning of the street in one hour. Then....madness! Well not really, but I only made it halfway down the street because there was so much stuff to look  at. In the end I only bought a duffle bag that I needed for Beijing and for flying home. The bag is awesome! It's Diesel (real...maybe) and what I really like is, the material is jean like so it's fairly durable and it has straps so I can carry it like a normal duffle or as a bookbag. Can't wait to use it!

 Bracelets! Word of warning: More than any other item, there are tons of bracelets. If you really want one look around first and see what kind of prices the sellers want. They can vary dramatically.

 Just one of many long rows of booths

Funny Story: We all split up when we were at the Jade market, and while I was walking down one of the rows one of the sellers, of course, started trying to sell me something, anything from her booth. She literally walked backwards so she could face me and open cases at the same time and say "Necklace? Bracelet? Earrings? Pendant?" I just about burst out laughing right there. Good times.

 Inside were rows and rows of stalls selling just about every type of jade jewelery imaginable. There were tons and tons and bracelets, necklaces, earrings and pendants. I would definitely do a little research before going so you know what you're looking at. My guidebook, Frommer's Hong Kong, talked about how to tell real vs fake and high quality vs low quality. It was extremely helpful, and made me feel not quite so overwhelmed. I did end up buying one thing, but it's a present for someone back home so I don't want to tell what it is.

Sanna, Stephanie and I had so much fun watching Jatana. She was definitely overwhelmed. There were so many things she wanted. In the end the three of us ended up waiting outside while Jatana bargained down the price of a black pearl ring.

Hopefully, I will make it back to the Jade market before returning home!

After returning from Lantau we made our way to the Jade Market. SIDEBAR: For those who don't know their way around HK (aka all of us) look for pink street signs and they will point you in the direction of the markets. This was very helpful once we figured it out. SIDEBAR DONE Jatana had been wanting to visit the Jade Market ever since she got to Macao. We weren't able to make it last trip, but this time would be different! The market is in two big warehouses located across the street from one another and is set up like a large antique store.

We went around 5pm on Sunday afternoon, and while some vendors were starting to shut down most weren't, and it wasn't swamped with tourists, so if you get the chance I'd say go on Sunday afternoon. Of course it does close at 6pm so try to go before then!

There are many shops near the bus and cable car terminals at Lantau, but for the most part everything seemed overpriced, and you're probably better off just window shopping. If need be, you can get your Starbucks fix.

We didn't have time to explore the rest of the island, but I would definitely do so if I went back again and it was a nice day.

 I'm not sure if you can see her, but Jatana is standing right by the circular structure wearing a black and white top. We of course had to wave like crazy to get her attention. She promptly waved back!

 This moment will definitely be on my top ten list of things I did in HK.

 One of the most spectacular things about Lantau Island was that we really were only 30 minutes away from the hustle and bustle of the city, but it felt like we were in a while other world. The South China Sea, the rolling hills of Lantau, the monastaries which dot the island. It was amazing.

 Peaceful but slightly intimidating.

 I'm not entirely sure what these statues represent, but there were six in total.

Sanna, Stephanie and I! Celebrating our walk up 260 steps to the aweinspiring Giant Buddha.

Now you may realize that one member of our group is missing. Jatana decided that the buddha would look no different up close than it did from afar, so she chose to skip climbing the steps. On our return to the bottom she informed us that she had been asked to be in some people's pictures. Ahhh I'm beginning to think we are all famous and just didn't know it.

 Stephanie made it! No I didn't take a picture of a stranger, she is my friend.

 This small tablet is located at the bottom of the stairs, and tells about how the buddha was completed on September 10, 1996.

Made it! There were a fair number of tourists, and surprisingly a fair number of Americans (i think). SIDEBAR: I know it sounds weird, but since in Macao there isn't a whole lot of westerners I'm always surprised when we visit HK and there are westerners everywhere. SIDEBAR DONE

 The first time I heard about the Giant Buddha on Lantau was while watching one of Samantha Brown's shows on the Travel Channel. On television it seemed so beautiful and amazing. When I decided to study in Macao I knew I must GO TO BIG BUDDHA!

We began our journey by bus, and after about 30 minutes we arrived at one of the most magnificent places I've ever been to in my life.

Info on Transportation: The day we visited Lantau Island was cold, overcast and misty. This along with the fact that the line for the cable car was about hour long made us decide to take the bus. Now on a beautiful day I'd definitely say take the cable car if you have the money. It costs around 170HKD round trip. A day pass for the bus, which will not only take you up to the buddha, but also down to Tai O Fishing Village only costs 55HKD. For us the bus was just fine, and you get some views that are pretty spectacular. A word of warning if you're afraid of roller coasters; Close your eyes on the trip back down. We had a great time, but it is definitely a wild ride.

The Morning: The group decided to split up on Sunday since we all wanted to go different places. There were suppose to be six of us going to Lantau, but due to some miscommunication that didn't happen.

What did happen, was that Saturday night we didn't eat dinner till about 1am, and after all I wanted to do was go back and sleep. Half the group went one place and the other half went somewhere else. Well, since I was kind of the leader of the group (not by choice) I was given the duty of deciding when we wanted to leave for Lantau. Luckily three other members of the Lantau group went to dinner with me.  During dinner my phone ran out of minutes, and long story short the other two members of the Lantau group never got told when to meet us on Sunday morning. I wasn't staying at the same hostel as them either, but Sanna was and I figured they would run into one another before the night was over, either accidentally or because the other two would think to ask her sine she had gone to dinner with me.

Hah. That didn't happen. So Sunday morning wasn't all that happy of a morning. In my opinion both parties were at fault. As the leader I should have made sure to get the message to them, but as adults they should have thought to ask someone else when they didn't hear back from me.

It all ended fine and we actually saw them for a few minutes while we were on Lantau Island.

Lesson Learned: Taking 13 people to HK for the weekend is possible. It can even be a lot of fun, but if you happen to be the leader go ahead and make a complete plan. I would highly suggest breaking up into smaller groups on Sunday. Oh and remeber that the hardest part will probably be food. No matter how nice people are, they get testy when hungry, myself included, and that's no fun.

We ate late at Disney, but I had already figured out where we could eat so that worked fine. Dinner Saturday night was bad just because we didn't want to go someplace like McDonald's but finding a decent, cheap restaurant isn't always easy.

Also remember that everyone is on a different budget. For the most part it doesn't matter, but when booking a hostel it can get tricky. Due to the size of the group we ended up splitting into two hostels and then splitting the cost equally. It came out to 145HKD per person.

ANOTHER NOT SO FUN STORY: The first hostel we checked into was Ashoka in Chunking Mansion. I highly recommend this hostel. The owners were extremely nice, they knew which group we were, and actually switched our rooms at no cost to ensure that our group was all together. The rooms were all new and much nicer than I was expecting. The beds of course were rock hard but we've come to find that that is just how beds in China are. One thing to know is that you will be asked to put a 100HKD deposti down for the room keys. This will be returned upon check out.

The second hostel was Vincent Guest Housin Mirador Mansion. DON'T STAY HERE. It worked for this time, but I will never stay  again. The woman forgot our reservation, and actually couldn't give us a room straight away because she had sold it to someone else. That meant we had to come back around 10pm that night to get it. The rooms we did end up getting were prethetic, and I actually ended up sleeping on a mattress on the floor. Yeah, not the best. Overall the woman was crazy. She did drop the price to 80HKD per person, but it still wasn't worth it.

There you go. One good example ad one bad expample. Live and learn.