This trip was made possible by the opportunity to attend the a summer workshop in the Chinese University of Hong Kong. I extended the trip myself so that I could explore Hong Kong 'semi-solo'. Being a developed city, Hong Kong is an excellent place to travel alone. Itinerary was planned by yours truly and modified for my new friends. It turned out to be a trip complete with academics, food, shopping, culture, sights and nature trails. Was also a trip where I took my new sony a5100 camera to see the world outside Singapore... literally.
13 July, Cloudy, Singapore > Hong Kong, Chinese University of Hong Kong
Went to Changi Airport and left without anyone sending me in. It indeed turned out to be a true solo trip. Flight was delayed by 40 minutes thanks to a miscommunication... Sometimes I wonder if I should continue to take budget airline. Spent the flight reading from my kindle. I am pretty thankful to have such a nice travel companion haha! After I landed in Hong Kong, the first thing that struck me was their customer service attitude. It was not impressive at all. It also didn't help that I do not understand Cantonese and hence could not interact with the locals with a more close manner. It just felt distant. Dinner was macs, since everything in the airport was expensive. After buying all necessary things, I took MTR to University Station. A senior student showed me to my room. The second thing that hit me was the punishing summer heat with high humidity. It IS worse compared to Singapore. I heard it is even worse elsewhere, so I guess I should be thankful. I have a roommate! The place that I stay in boasts a pretty view across the river. Pretty pleasant accommodation considering it's free.
14 July, Cloudy, Chinese University of Hong Kong
Today was the first day of the summer workshop. We had to find our own food for 3 meals, so we relied on local students to show us the way. The living expenses in Hong Kong is actually pretty high. Getting around to the place for breakfast is also horrible. The campus is pretty, but it is located on a mountain! We had to climb crazily high flights of stairs to reach places. To think Kent Ridge was bad... This is 5x worse, no exaggeration. The workshop started proper, it was the usual administrative stuff. For lunch, some of the faculty members ate together with us. It is very personal and we really have many chances to interact with them. I had the chance to talk to Prof. Amos Tai and found out more about his research focus areas. The afternoon was spent on research seminars, followed by tours to a Climate Change museum, and a tour around campus. It was a pity that I did not bring my camera for the tours. We then had an awesome welcome dinner. In all, within the first day, I realize that I do not want to stay here for a 4 year PhD.
15 July, Cloudy, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Sha Tin
For the poster presentation, I realized that most people are not going to dress formally. The poster presentation went well. In a short span of 2 hours, I began to talk to many people and made many friends, as well as make the Profs there like me. The night was spent at Sha Tin New Town Plaza, where we did some shopping.
16 July, Rain, Chinese University of Hong Kong, City University of Hong Kong, various
Today was marked with nervousness and excitement. After the interview which went pretty well. I think I would get the PhD position if I were to apply for CUHK again this year, but as I said, I have my doubts now. In the afternoon, I travelled to City U to talk to a researcher for a while. We then came back in time for a farewell party for the workshop. After that, some of our local friends bring us to Hong Kong's city centre for a fast night trip to various places. We went to Kowloon public pier and have a quick view of the Hong Kong light show at 8 PM. We then split group and we took a ferry to Wan Chai and explored Hong Kong island a little bit. I tried my hands on 'trailing car light' photography here. Many of my China friends really like this picture.
We then took the MTR back to Tsim Sha Tsui to do some cosmetic shopping (the girls). Apparently, Sasa is a popular brand in China and they really bought a lot. We reunited with a group that split up. We then took the MTR to Mongkok and the hunt for street food began. After walking for sooo long tonight, we decided we were tired and went back to the university, only reaching home at about 12 midnight. After a little washing up, our gang decided to all gather in my room and we played the chinese version of polarbear/mafia/killer. It is so interesting to find this game narrated in Chinese.
17 July, Sunny, Chinese University of Hong Kong > Tsim Sha Tsui, The Peak
We just kept on playing till 3:30 AM. After checking out, we begin to say goodbye. Friendships were forged in a short span of 4 days, and some people actually were moved to tears when saying goodbye...
After asking around for people to travel Hong Kong with, I managed to convince and brought 2 girls with me so that they could deposit their luggage in my room before we went out to explore urban Hong Kong together.
The urban landscape just reminds me of Singapore... somewhat. We took the tram up to The Peak to explore the Wax Museum and the Victoria Peak garden. The queue for the tram is just crazy. We first explored the Wax Museum, where we took a LOT of pictures. I must say, the figurines are really really life-like. Among many singers, movie stars, cartoons and political figures, I also found our founding father Lee Kuan Yew. After the museum, we decided to do a little hiking up to Victoria Peak garden.
The view wasn't extremely amazing, but it was still cool to get up there. Dinner was at a random noodle place near Tsim Sha Tsui. I then had to say goodbye to the 2 girls who were going to ShenZhen, and continue the rest of the journey alone. I decided to have an early night so that I can go to many places the next day.
18 July, Sunny, Tsim Sha Tsui > Shek O > Sheung Wan > Tsim Sha Tsui
I woke up early and went to visit the Avenue of Stars, where stars have made their hand imprints. Nothing much, except it is the day view of Hong Kong CBD. I then went to One Dim Sum to try the dim sum. I over-ordered because there was so many different types I want to try, but each comes in large servings. Boo-hoo to food wastage. Recommended to come as a group. Their milk custard bun was really unique and delicious! The har kow and siew mai has prawns that are a little tougher than the Singapore's version, but very yummy nonetheless. I had to stuff myself because the next up the itinerary was a hiking trip! Took public transport to Shek O, where I began the trek. I did a near full circle there by going down the hill to Tung Ah village and continued towards Ngan Hang village, where there's a little beach. Then, from ground zero, I began the ascend up to Shek O road again, and then further up on Dragon's Back trail. The ascend was crazy. Climbing in the summer heat made me sweat buckets and develop headaches. I brought a lot of water, which I thought was in excess, but in the end, it was just enough. The total ascend was actually only 284 m. The view was totally worth the effort.
The descend was a little hike through the growth. It was also beautiful. Imagine walking on a sand path with tree branches forming a tunnel over you. This extended for about 2 km or so. The next destination was po-lo buns. I made my way to Mongkok after a quick wash up, and to my dismay, the shop was out of the buns! In the end, I ate noodles and dumplings at a place known for their dumplings and found another restaurant that also sell po-lo buns. To be honest, these buns are just a hype. Other than having a crispy top layer, there's nothing that tastes pineapple-y. (I am stupid and should have known. Why do I stay at home so much!)
19th July, Sunny, Tsim Sha Tsui > Singapore
I still had to document this day because... 1) Hong Kong airport is so complicated. I have to take a train from the main airport area to the customs office, and then another bus to the gates to board the plane. I initially thought I was very early, but all the time was wasted taking these trains and buses. Not very good a design for an airport. I wonder why it was ranked among the nice airports, many other airports are pretty good as well. 2) I was so lucky and I was assigned seat 1F on an A320! This is my favourite seat in the entire plane (and 1A, since they're essentially the same)! Oh, I just have to mention this.
Hence, this marks the end of my 7 day trip in Hong Kong. A trip that helped me in the decision making process of choosing Hong Kong for PhD. Friendships were forged (including friends with Profs), sights were seen, food was ate :p. All in all, a trip really worth it in terms of time and money spent. On a final note, don't come to Hong Kong in summer if you don't like the heat.
