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.

Hong Kong Disneyland

A litte background information:

 My first trip to a disney park was in 1994 to Walt Disney World with my parents. Since that trip I have been on more than 21 vacations to a disney resort including Disneyland California, WDW and Disneyland Paris. I completed my first internship as an Attractions Hostess at the Magic Kingdom at WDW in the summer and fall of 2009, and am still employed there seasonally. Without a doubt going to Hong Kong Disneyland was a dream of mine, and being so close there was no way I wasn't going to go. These pictures capture the events of the day, and I'll go ahead and let you know IT WAS AWESOME!

Waiting to board the MTR Disneyland Resort Line. Yes, Disney is so special it has it's own line and....

of course the train is decked out Disney style : )

All the way down to the rings. Hidden Mickey anyone???

The seats were plusher than any other train, and we loved it! Can you tell? I call this "Roomies make it to Disney"!

 Justin our resident photographer

Donald! He was my favorite statue at the entrance.

If you've been the WDW you might have seen custodial cast members doing this, and I thought it was awesome that they do it in HK Disney as well! My friend told me though that instead of using water they use tea. Not sure how accurate that statement is.

Bakery! Smelled so delicious. I resisted this time, but next time a hot chocolate and chocolate croissant might become mine. : )

The Castle!!! It is soooo tiny. All of HK Disneyland felt like it was mini sized.

According to the menu description online, Starliner diner serves American Style quick service. From what everyone ordered, I'd say it was American Style with a Chinese twist.

Lunch! We actually didn't arrive until 3:30pm, so we were starving by the time we got food. I had a cheeseburger with fries and a coke to drink. The cheeseburger was okay, but I think I'd get the chicken sandwich next time. The beef is just not the same here. What I did find deliciously awesome were the french fries. They taste almost exactly like the ones in WDW.  If you've ever had Disney fries you understand my excitement!

One thing I found very interestng was seeing everything in English and Chinese.  The wrapper my cheesburger was in had both English and Chinese, all signs were in both languages, and all of the preshow and postshow dialougue was in both.

Friends in Tomorrowland! Since we ate in Tomorrowland we headed straight for Space Mountain. You sit two per seat in this version and the track is incredibly smooth. Some of our group who are taller than most, definitely were afraid to put their hands up throughout the ride.

If I had to rate it against the one in Florida I would still give the edge to Florida. I really loved this version, but the queue is fairly boring. The only reason it didn't matter for us was because there was barely a line. Also this version isn't as dark as the one at WDW.

Home! This was on my must do list of attractions and I wasn't dissapointed!  In a way seeing this attraction did make me incredibly homesick. I've spent so many hours working is attraction in Florida, and have so many wonderful memories from it.

 The United States! I find in fascinating to see what other countries think of when they think of the US. You can't see it, but Pocahantas was also included.

TEACUPS!!! Now not everyone in our group chose to participate, only the most daring souls did. We split into two groups of three as instructed by the cast member named Fish. (Yes, that was the name on her nametag) We scoped out which teacup we wanted, deciding to pass on any pink one as we had just scene the custodial crew cleaning one out (ick). When the gate was opened we raced like little kids to our goal: THE PURPLE TEACUP! And we would not be denied! We spun round and round and round! We threw our hands up and screamed "WooHoo!" We worked so hard our arms felt like jelly! It was an awesome minute and 30 seconds.

Sadly one of our friend in the other teacup didn't fare to well. She felt sick afterwards, but was okay after taking a rest.

One thing I kept forgetting and the noticing again was the mountains in the background. Only China.

I'm a huge fan of the themeing for this Philhar.

 Again, I'm a fan : )

Rebels! Can't no one tell US when to put on our Opry glasses!

 Out of order, but back at the train stop after park closing. Got to love the detail.

Main St. USA.

Yes, I took a picture of the trashcan. lol

We made it! In roughly four hours our group of 11: watched the parade, rode Space Moutain 3 times, had lunch, rode It's a Small World, Teacups, Philharmagic and Jungle Cruise, shopped many times, saw the Castle Lighting show and watched the fireworks. The crazy thing? I wasn't even tired after having walked around the whole park. It really is mini-sized, but don't let anyone tell you it isn't worth a trip. As long as you have good friends with you who are willing to embrace their inner child and have some fun Hong Kong Disneyland is the place to be.

Hong Kong Disneyland Castle at night. All lit up thanks to Tinkerbell.

Credit to my friend Sanna for taking this photograph.

I plan on writing a more detailed recap of our day at Disney. For this blog I've kept it short, but if you want to read more keep an eye out. I'll post a link when I finish my trip report.

Oh and yes, I'm planning a second trip already!