Thursday was my first time going to the outlying islands of Hong Kong, and it did not disappoint.  A local Hong Konger and I went to Cheung Chau Island, and there was so much to do, we only got to see about half of the island.  We first went to a beach, but we didn't swim because we didn't bring our suits.  Then there was a path called “Little Great Wall” that looked like the great wall...but it was little.  The path went all around the northern part of the island, and every so often there would be a side trail or rocks leading to the water, which led to some awesome views.  A lot of times we would hop the fence and go exploring on some rock formations just to see what we could find.  On one of our stops, we climbed on a rock and spit cherry seeds off a cliff, which was a blast. 

After our explorations, we went back through town to the east side of the island to watch the sunset, but before the sunset we found a cave that we walked through, which was a super neat experience.  The cave though was more like a hole in the ground, and I almost didn't fit in it, but once I did, it was pretty big, and really cool.  We then walked on different rock formations on the east coast, seeing different views of surrounding islands and the sunset.  We ended up climbing a very tall rock to see the sunset perfectly over the ocean. 

After dark, we went to a restaurant, and my friend showed me the local custom of cleaning utensils at the table.  They served us a bowl of water (or sometimes its a bowl of tea) for cleaning our utensils (I don’t know why they just couldn’t serve already clean utensils).  You just dip your mini bowl in the big bowl to fill it up with water, and then you dip your chopsticks (yes I use chopsticks at almost every meal!) and cup into the water to clean it.

            After supper, I wanted to try a local dessert, so I tried a durian mochi (durian is a fruit).  It was the weirdest but coolest thing ever.  It was a durian fruit covered by rice and some vegetables, and it looked kind of like an egg, but it felt like jello, and it tasted pretty good too.  Weirdly, the durian is supposed to smell weird but taste good, and that was true.  

           Yesterday me, and two guys went to two places in the south of Hong Kong called Stanley and Aberdeen.  They weren't to crazy, but each had something unique to them.  Stanley did not feel like Hong Kong, because there weren't any skyscrapers, and there was actually a little bit of space!  Aberdeen's claim to fame is that they have the worlds biggest floating restaurant, which really was big (it had 5 or 6 restaurants) and really fancy.  We didn't eat there, but we still got to see it.

           After that, we took the tram (kind of like a trolley) that took us through Hong Kong Island, and since one of the guys was a local Hong Konger, it was pretty much like a free tour!

              Today I got to finally try to hike the Dragon’s Back that I’ve wanted to try since I got here.  It was great because it was an easy hike, but world-class views.  It’s called Dragon’s Back because the path runs along the top of an arête (the peak of a mountain range), which the Chinese thought resembles a dragon (they love dragons here). From anywhere on the hike we could see the ocean on both sides of us, and at one point we got to a peak where we had almost a 360 degree view of the ocean, which was spectacular.  After about two and a half hours we reached a beach with huge waves and rainbow colored rocks.

            After eating at a local restaurant, we took the infamous minibus back into the city.  Its called a minibus, because that's exactly what it is, a mini...bus. And I say its infamous because it is known for crazy drivers (like Minnesota drivers but worse!).  I’m convinced that the seatbelts on the bus aren’t for in case of an accident, but so that you don’t go flying through the window when going 50 miles an hour through a sharp turn.  Luckily we made it back safe and sound.

            In the town we got dropped off in, there was a big market so we walked around it.  I didn’t eat this, but I saw every part of a skinned goat for sale.  I could have even bought the head for food if I wanted, although I don’t know if I’d find goat face very tasty.

                                      

                                                A view of central Cheung Chau Island

                                                We spent a lot of time climbing on rocks!

                                    This was the view from pretty much anywhere on the island

                                                   The northern tip of the island

                                                    Just having a blast hiking!

                                                    The cave that we found!

                                                   One of our views of the sunset

                                                 Which wasn't bad

                                                   More rocks and more of the sunset!

All of my tools to clean my chopsticks and cup!

                                                    Floating restaurant! It's huge!

                                               The view from the top of the Dragon's Back

                                        We found a surfing beach! (Sadly I didn't surf...yet)

The crazy minibus we were on (and I was sitting on a stool in the middle of the aisle because there was no more room)

Friday was great, considering that I don’t have class on Fridays.  We were able to go to Lantau Island for the day, and I took the cable car called Ngong Ping up to the top of a mountain.  The cable car took a half an hour, but it was worth every minute.  The cable car went through the mountains, giving us view after view of the mountains, water, and skyscrapers below.  Once on top, we walked around and there were some shops that were interesting, such as a chopstick gallery, and then we found some paths that led both Lantau Peak (which was awesome) and some small villages.  I tried to find some locals in the village to talk to, but sadly I couldn’t find any.

            After that, I went walking around town and went to what is known as the Chungking Mansions.  It was basically 3 floors of really nice stuff, but they were definitely not legit stores.  While walking around outside, a man asked if I wanted some watches.  Normally I would say no like I do to the other hundred that already asked me, but I wanted to know his prices, so I asked.  Just because I expressed interest, he asked if I could come to his shop, even though I said I had little to no money.  His “shop” ended up being an apartment on the 4^th floor of a building, but he did have extremely nice watches.  After trying to sell a $10,000 watch for $200, I got him to come down to $50 (0.5% of retail value).  Like I told him at the beginning, I didn’t have the money to buy a nice watch, and I walked out, but then he got really mad and gave me a lecture as I went down 4 flights of stairs how he might get shut down the next day so I should buy now, and I was stupid for not buying it, blah, blah, blah.

          Today was a great day, being my first time traveling outside of Hong Kong, going to Macau (which used to be controlled by Portugal).  Macau is such an interesting city, because it is a mixture of China, old Portuguese stuff, and Vegas-like casinos.  It is said that even though Macau has only 30 casinos, it makes more money than Vegas.  We took a boat ride from Hong Kong to Macau, costing about $20 each way.  Once there, we walked along the coast, looking at the old fisherman’s wharf, and then went to some casinos.  Although you have to be 21 to enter a casino, apparently I looked old enough to enter, as I was able to go in.  It was spectacular, with huge glass chandeliers, tables and people everywhere, and complimentary drinks everywhere.  I didn’t gamble, because I don’t think that would be smart, but I did eat at a restaurant that was very high quality, and very cheap (probably so people can spend more money on gambling).

            Then we walked to Largo do Senado, which is a square filled with Portuguese architecture and cool paths.  There were shops everywhere, and it was more dense in one place than I've ever seen before (Macau is the most densely populated region in the world).  From there we walked to the Ruins of St. Paul, but on the way we walked through the end of Largo do Senado, which was a very narrow street filled with even more people and stores.  What made this awesome is that every store handed out free samples of either jerky, cookies, or some sort of nut.  I probably wouldn’t have eaten dinner if I had known about that! 

            The Ruins of St. Paul were cool, because it was an old Portuguese church that was destroyed in a fire during a typhoon 200 years ago, but the face of the church was still standing somehow, and some tombs and crypts as well.  Speaking of churches, there were some fancy Portuguese churches that we went into, which was a great experience.  Around the ruins were some old houses that were awesome.  For instance, there was a bright yellow house (seen in a picture that I posted) that had a huge tree with leaves growing out of the bark, which I’ve never seen before.

            Over our 2 days in Macau, we walked over 30 miles, and the entire trip cost only $80, including getting there and back, the food, the attractions, and the hotel.

         Today was a shorter day, consisting of walking around a little more and going to the Macau cultural center, which was awesome because they had some ancient Chinese carvings that would be high quality by today’s standards.  Also, there were 16^th century European paintings that were from when the west started traveling to China.  The paintings depicted the European view of China, showing rice yielding and everyday Chinese life.  Then we came back to Hong Kong, super exhausted.

            When we got back, my roommate asked if we wanted to go eat at a local restaurant, so we went.  The only thing is that the restaurant served real Chinese food, which I am not a fan of. Since I wanted to try some local food to get the experience, I ended up ordering a meal that was noodles, vegetables, spring rolls, and cow intestines (I didn’t know that’s what it was until after I received my food).  The cow intestines were the worst thing I have ever eaten.  It smelled and tasted like actual vomit.  I tried to eat as much as I could, but the smell and taste was all over the noodles and vegetables, so I really didn’t eat any of it.  Never again do I want to eat that kind of food, it was so incredibly horrible.

          

                                                   Cable car ride

                                              More cable car views

                                                A bunch of roaming cows in Ngong Ping!

                                                 Hiking on Lantau Island!

                                                 Gigantic chandeliers in all of the casinos

                                           Got into a casino! (Don't worry, I didn't gamble)

                                                 Welcome to Macau!

                                                  Packed streets of Largo do Senado in Macau

                                       Ruins of St. Paul-What remains of the ancient church

                                                                Grass!!!!!!!!

                                                  Sunset in Macau

                              Cannon from a fortress (pointing at the biggest casino, the Grand Lisbon)

                                                Sunset in Macau from on top of the fortress

                                                        Inside the fortress in Macau

                                                  Old Macau fortress

                                                   Unique neighborhood in Macau

                                                  Stumbling upon cool things in Macau!

                                                Macau skyline

         The last few days have been a bit more quiet with school starting, but I have still been able to do a few things.  School is a lot different here.  First, each class is comprised of a lecture and a tutorial.  Lectures are 2 hours with about 300 people, and my tutorial is me and a group of about 20 students that have another class for 50 minutes with the professor. We only have one lecture and one tutorial per class per week, so I have an awesome schedule!  Second, there is no homework here, solely a midterm, a final exam, and a project (and maybe one more assignment), which will make the exams very stressful.  Lastly, and most obviously, the professors don't speak the best English, which can be annoying at times, but its something I've gotten used to with everybody here.
            The weather on Monday and Tuesday were rainy, which kind of ruined our plans, but we still found stuff to do.  My friend Eden and I went to “Freeing Hong Kong,” which is like breaking out of jail and you have 45 minutes to do so.  Inside a small room, we had to find clues to find the codes to open locks that led to more clues, and eventually we found the code that unlocked the door.  Definitely nothing like I've ever done in America!

            While we were in the area, we went to the Temple Street Night Markets, and it was so interesting to see.  There was everything you could think of there (including half of the people of Hong Kong), nothing like what you would expect from a stall on the road.  From phones to remote control cars to clothes to high powered binoculars, they had it all (but the quality of the products may not always be the best).  Just for fun because I didn't want to buy anything, I bartered with a watch seller and I got him to go from 380 dollars down to 250 dollars.  Not bad for my first barter! 

             Today we went to The Peak finally (which is the highest viewing point in Hong Kong, a building on top of the tallest mountain), and it did not disappoint.  Although the bus ride up was scary (going around big curves on the edge of cliffs without a guardrail), it was still fun.  Once on top, we could see both the northern and southern sides of the island, and it was one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen.  We didn't have time to look out the south side of the mountain, so we spent the whole time looking out the north side from the terrace, which overlooks the bazillion skyscrapers of Hong Kong. 

            We could see all of Hong Kong from the terrace (no really, I think we could. And even part of China), and it was awesome to see mountains in the background of the skyscrapers.  We stayed for sunset, and we got to see the sun set over the Sea-something I’ll never forget.  Then once it got dark, the city lit up and it was so cool to see all the buildings lit up from above.  It didn’t seem like we were in Hong Kong at all, but more like on the outside looking in.  Hopefully with the weekend coming and me adjusting to school I will be able to do a lot more things, I'm excited! 

   They wouldn't let us take a picture inside the jail cell so we "wouldn't give away the answers"

 Hong Kong towards sunset with the mountains (called the "9 dragons") in the background

The sun setting over the sea in the south of Hong Kong Island with mountains in the background

Hong Kong at night time