Cheung Chau

It may have been a month since I came back from Hong Kong, but I still have two more days worth to lay out before approaching the trip to Brazil (coincidentally, we met for our mini “reunion” this past). Sharing and synthesizing my traveling experiences has been quite the task because of how much I saw in such a short period of time, along with the fast-paced life that I have, meaning that I don’t have a lot of downtime to sit and actually reflect.

For my second last day, a friend of mine told me about a small island that had a cave that belonged to a pirate. Although the cave was a small aspect of Cheung Chau (長洲, lit. “Long Island”), it was enough for me to warrant a day’s visit.

Since the island is not accessible by the MTR, I had to take the ferry from Central. There are two options to get to the island – the Fast Ferry or the Regular. As the names suggest, one cuts the travel time in half from one hour to approximately thirty minutes. The price difference isn’t that much, so it boils down more so to the schedule. The Fast Ferry arrived first, so I hopped on board and took a nap for the duration of the ride.

Upon arriving on the island, the first thing that strikes you is the absence of motor vehicles. The only modes of transportation is either bicycle or foot. Walking through the narrow streets, it becomes clear as to why there are no cars or anything of the sort (apart from emergency vehicles).

Since Cheung Chau is known as a fishing village/island, my first mission was to get some curry fish balls. I stopped by a local food stand of sorts, and paid the equivalent of less than a dollar for two of the freshest curry fish balls I’ve ever tasted.

After gobbling my snack, I set out to look for Cheung Po Tsai’s cave. The entrance is a nondescript, as I came across with a rock wall and a narrow entrance by my feet. Sliding down, I entered a small cave that is a pretty short pathway and leads out to a fantastic view of the ocean. That said, it is a pretty fun experience, using my phone as a flashlight and feeling the rocks as a pathway.

Although the walk to the cave took a good hour, I decided to take advantage of the “ferry point,” which was just one of the small motor boats for hire (~10HKD) that traveled back and forth between the ends of the island. Not having to make the long trek, I stopped by a small café, with locals talking to the husband/wife owners and a sleepy cat, for a bowl of fishballs and noodles. The slow-paced afternoon came to an end when I took the ferry back to the main island so as to get ready for dinnr with relatives at 8 Happiness (for whom I brought fresh fish balls from Cheung Chau), where we dined on my favourite dishes (including sea cucumber, fish maw, and chicken feet).

8 Happiness
2/F, W Square,
314 Hennessy Rd,
Wan Chai, Hong Kong
http://www.maxims.com.hk
Phone: 2838-6998

Cheung Chau

Fishing on Cheung Chau

Fish drying outside

Fresh curry fish balls

Boats

Boats

Cheung Chau

Going up the hill

En route to Cheung Po Tsai cave

Cheung Po Tsai cave

Cheung Po Tsai cave

Cheung Chau

Cheung Chau

Fishing at Wan Chai ferry pier

At 8 Happiness with grandparents

It was the first time in a while where I recognized, I, too, could capture beauty in the world.

I’ve put off writing a reflection of the last year and writing of any goals that I might have or want to see accomplished for no particular reason. Instead, there are many reasons as to why I haven’t been able to sit down and hammer this out – away in Hong Kong, busy with presentation, away in Brazil, having school start, etc. But I suppose the reason that resonates most clearly is that I wasn’t sure about the scope of what I would be reflecting upon.

At first, I thought about discussing the past year in terms of recovery for my elongated depressive episode. When thinking about it, though, I realized that this recovery process that I was wanting touch upon, not only rooted itself in the initial signs of the major episode years ago (April 2009, to be most correct), but also in the poor management of my medication prescriptions that had incurred during sophomore year. And it was in realizing this added complication that, at this point, in particular, it was the repercussions that I was still working through – the general inefficacy of and mishandling of me as a patient and person. It goes to say that there was this topped-off layer to my bundle of issues that should never have been added in the first place. In layman’s terms: for someone who’s not too keen on desserts, an added layer of frosting can most certainly deter one from finishing the cake.

Granted, there were the “bad days” in the past year, but they were not the core of my problems. I didn’t see myself struggle out of bed or stare mundanely at the wall; instead, I saw myself questioning what had happened to me, and justifying why I didn’t deserve the circumstances that were imposed upon me. I recanted the stories from the vivid memories that would not leave me so as to re-assess and make sure that I wasn’t living in a world of my own creation. And I re-integrated myself into the university community that I had never truly known so as to find a baseline to all of this. “This” is vague, and I can’t find a particular noun to affix it to, and I suppose it is best left that way.

And as I say all of this, it begs the question about my academics. The story of my major episode began at the tail-end of freshman year and continued on through the summer with me struggling to leave my apartment. But somehow, I was still averaging an 3.7 GPA. And the decent grades continued on throughout my continued therapy sessions in New York, with A’s and A-’s for the most part. I say this with no mal-intent, but it was the ease in grading that had allowed me to skirt by in the second semester of sophomore year. As much as I would like to give myself credit for being a genius of sorts, I really can’t. Taking medication that I never adjusted to, I slept most of the day – nine to ten hours of sleep was topped off with naps and droopy eyelids in class and at my desk at both work and home. There was no real opportune time for me to churn out essays except for the few hours that I could be awake enough to read material and type. There was no working ahead because there is no concept of “future” when you’re in this haze of being medicated. In which case, it was easy to catch errors and flawed arguments in my summer courses when I had less time to “recuperate” between assignments.

When asked about Paris (which was where my average took a big hit), I often tell those that ask that I was enduring the rigour of a whole major in two semesters, when students would take at least three years. In which case, I was confronted with a large learning curve, and hence my grades and their dramatic improvement. And for the most part, that was true. But there was always this aspect that i never touched upon, and that was I was distracted. I wasn’t distracted in the average sense of being on Facebook too much, or anything of that sort. Rather, I was pre-occupied with what what I mentioned above, asking the questions of what had happened in the year before and why. Nothing in that first semester back in Paris had my full attention. So it was as I wrote the stories, I began to possess more clarity, though there were tendencies in which I would fall back into a past of sorts – lost in memories of who I was and what had happened in past years.

With all that said, I’ve come to these three realizations about the past year that I sum up here:

1. Grown-ups make mistakes too. Part of the reason as to why I clung on the mistreatment of my depression was that I had put my faith in what I believed to be an “authority.” It was the disappointment that the go-to figures can make mistakes and not realize it. And while I had attributed the calamity of it all to one central person, I realized that, in flipping through the pages of my records, it was a system, created to prevent all that had happened, that had failed me when no one had remarked upon the inaccurate remarks made about me. Nothing is perfect, even in the most minute of communities.
2. Forgiveness doesn’t come easily – for either party. The common saying that we learn as children is “forgive and forget,” but as we grow older, we realize that life isn’t as easy as wiping away a day’s worth of scribbles off a chalk board. To want to propose forgiveness is easy; the actual process of forgiving someone that has done wrong unto you is one that has no defined beginning or end. That said, forgiveness is also not simply a matter of it being “earned” by a person; the parameters for it are so many, yet so few. For the most part, I’ve moved on, but I cannot forgive the poor administration of medication that took myself away from me – at least not yet. The words are ready to leap out of my mouth but I want to be able to give the words actual meaning and weight.
3. I’ve put my life back together. I’ve spent the last decade watching myself fall apart countless times, only to find myself patching band-aids on the wounds and function again for some time before steering myself toward another meltdown. It was only in college that someone hit the stop button on this pattern and directed me towards a more constructive path. In between, there were ups and downs – some of my own doing and some not – but during all of it, I was never at my best. My accomplishments were still good on all accounts but they were not my representative of me at my best. I’ve caught glimpses in all of this time of what is the best of me, but it’s really only been in these past few months that I’ve been able to better recognize myself and see more than just a snapshot.
   

   If we look at grades, this is the most consistent I’ve been. If we look at community, I’ve found myself happily working with different departments at the university. If we look at me, professionally, I may not have a financial-sector job lined up after graduation, but I have plans and don’t mind the detours on the road map. And if we look at me as a whole, this is the most I’ve ever enjoyed anything. I’ve taken back my life.

Everyday won’t be peachy. Not everyone will be kind. Not every remark will be positive. That said, my one overarching goal for 2012 is to remember is that it does and will get better.

Riding the Peak tram

When I first went to Victoria Peak, I had the idea that I would take the bus up and take the tram down so as to experience the “best” of both. But my little detour and pressing need to head to lunch previously made it a little impossible for me to take the tram, as well as in take in the view that was offered. So the Monday morning after New Year’s Day, I left the hotel a tad earlier than usual so as to incur as minimal a wait (read: half an hour) as possible for the tram to take me up and down.

Even though you can purchase separate rides and opt out of Sky Terrace 428 (it’s just a deck where you can overlook the city), it only makes sense to get everything together, since it is, after all, the meager equivalent of $10 USD. The highlight of the tram ride isn’t necessarily the view, but rather, the intense feeling of defying gravity, being slowly pulled up the hill by the tram’s grip on the rails. The experience is all the more amplified if you have the fortunate or unfortunate – depending on how you see it – opportunity of standing for the duration of the ride (about 5 or so minutes).

The view from the terrace is an impressive one. But what makes it “impressive,” at least for me, isn’t the fact that I can see so far, but that I can look and begin to point out buildings that I have familiarized myself with in the past several days. It’s not that I’ve been into each of these buildings, but rather, it is my recognizing of certain constructions and noting them as more remarkable than others. The adjacent mall’s rooftop does not boast the same view, since it is blocked in part by the terrace, but it does have its green space and own air of escape in the modern cityscape.

From there, I embarked on a ridiculous three-transfer trip to the Hong Kong Heritage Museum with an interlude of what would be a time-saving shortcut, which ended up only leading me more astray. With a student ID, the fee was only 5HKD for entry, and it came with what seemed to be a laminated promotional “trading” card for one of the other exhibits, along with a magnet for another. The main intention in coming to the museum was to see the “Fashion Visionaries” exhibit, which I did, and I must say that while I was impressed with the amount of content, I wasn’t particularly enthralled by the talent (or not as much as I had expected to be). That said, that is most certainly a review for another day. Walking through the other exhibits, it becomes quite apparent that the Heritage Museum takes great pride in its strides to bring the cultural history – both recent and past – of Hong Kong to the public, what its diverse themes and well-curated displays.

Hong Kong Heritage Museum
1 Man Lam Road
Sha Tin, Hong Kong
http://www.heritagemuseum.gov.hk

On a side note, the museum finds itself in the much more residential side of Kowloon (in stark comparison to the bustling streets of Tsim Sha Tsui). And I suppose I say this because I noticed a quieter part to Hong Kong. There were no hordes crossing the street or crowded sidewalks. Instead, there was room to stroll and bicycles passing alongside me.

After spending some hours in the museum, I decided to head to the Wong Tai Sin Temple, since I was so close to it. The temple is regarded as one of the most famous in Hong Kong, and it seemed quite so with many at the Temple burning incense and praying at sunset. Not knowing the procedure for praying, I merely watched for some time, before leaving and heading to dinner in the Wanchai district.

Having had my fill of local fare, I opted for Thai cuisine at Chili Club Restaurant. I must say that it was most certainly different from what I’ve tasted before. The Tom Yum Po Tak – spicy and sour seafood soup – was hot on account of the chillies, but was at the same time refreshing with its heat. While sipping my soup, I also had my share of gPoo Phad Phong Ka-Ri – fried crab with curry. The crab was followed by another dish – Pla Ma-Now Pa Sa (steamed fish served on stove tray with lime juice, chili and garlic). In writing my account of what I ate, I’ve noticed that during my stay in Hong Kong is that the food isn’t necessarily always made with better technique, but the seafood’s freshness is the one line of consistency that each restaurant has brought thus far.

Chili Club Restaurant
88 Lockhart Rd., 1/F
Wanchai, Hong Kong
Tel: 2527 2872
Menu: http://www.fbw.hk/restaurant/order/1077/

Myself at Sky Terrace 428, overlooking the Peak

Hong Kong Heritage Museum

Hong Kong Heritage Museum; 'Fashion Visionaries' exhibit

Hong Kong Heritage Museum; 'Fashion Visionaries' exhibit

Hong Kong Heritage Museum; 'Fashion Visionaries' exhibit

Statue at Wong Tai Sin Temple

Wong Tai Sin Temple

Wong Tai Sin Temple

Wong Tai Sin Temple

Wong Tai Sin Temple

Golden Bauhinia Square

Much to my dismay, I woke up to cloudy and overcast skies, which meant that an afternoon expedition to the Peak (since I had accidentally walked down the trail instead of admired the view) or to Lantau Island to check out the Tai O fishing village wasn’t in my favour if I wanted blue skies in my photographs. I took to a more relaxed approach for the day, since I knew that I would have to be at 7PM to catch a ferry to Macau for the weekend.

With the whole day open, I decided that I would go for a much-needed back massage. According to several expat websites, such as GeoExpat and The Rub Down, it was suggested that if I didn’t want to travel too far, Sunny Paradise was the place to go. But first, I took a quick walk to take a look at what was the Golden Bauhinia Square, which turned out to be square surrounded by tour buses and a large flower statue – nothing exciting. Coming back to Sunny Paradise, the place is most certainly a spa (gender separated for those that wonder) where you can spend several hours just watching the television, eating snacks and sipping on tea, along with hanging out in the sauna/steam room; those amenities are all included for 98 HKD. After speaking in some broken Chinese (the staff, for the most part, don’t speak English) found me a masseuse (who dubs herself No. 43) that spoke pretty good English and worked out a lot of the kinks in my back and shoulders. Afterward, I stuck around for another hour or so, snacking on curry fish balls and drinking water, all the while having my ears cleaned. Quite the relaxing afternoon, I must say.

Sunny Paradise
341 Lockhart Road, Wanchai
Hong Kong
Phone: 2831-0123

With a little time to spare before having to head to the ferry station, I took a quick stroll through the Wanchai Computer Centre, which, supposedly, has some great deals. While there were some interesting things to buy, the savings varied depending on what you were looking to buy, and how good your haggling skills were. Since I didn’t have a lot of interest in revealing my lack of language skills, I merely window shopped at computer and cellphone gear.

Before boarding the ferry, I had to go through passport control so as to leave the special administrative region of Hong Kong and enter that of Macau. The ferry ride itself was nothing notable, apart from the facts that the boat rocked more heavily than any one that I’ve ever rode on, and that in first class, a meal (read: bowl of instant ramen) and drinks are served. Nice touch, eh?

Turns out that since there are so many casinos in Macau that there isn’t ever really a need to take public transportation – one could get around by transferring on the free hotel shuttles that run between town and various hotels. That said, I took the Galaxy shuttle bus, which took us to the Galaxy Macau Complex, which is comprised of three hotels – Galaxy, Hotel Okura, and Banyan Tree Resort. As one would presume, the Japanese theme prevailed at Hotel Okura (which was where I stayed) – everything from facilities (that includes the Japanese warm seat toilets) to kimono-dressed staff.

Since I arrived in the evening, there was nothing to do but to eat a rather late dinner at Lugang Café in the hotel complex. Much to my surprise, smoking hasn’t been banned indoors in Macau, which means that there are smoking and non-smoking sections in restaurants, which means a mere separation of ten feet. That said, smoking has been banned indoors as of January 1st, 2012.

The next day was spent walking around the main part of town. The Lisboa and the Grand Lisboa hotels were certainly quite intriguing on account of its artifacts. Numerous large valuables, such as ivory and jade carvings, adorn the lobbies of both these family-owned hotels, creating a museum of sorts.

Afterward, I had a short dessert stop, followed by aimless wandering in the streets of Macau. Finding myself wandering into the quieter streets, I noticed the old houses from when the region was under Portuguese rule. Continuing up the hill, en route to Fortaleza do Monte, I could not help but pause every couple of steps to look down at the cityscape. It’s funny – I’ve seen so many skylines that it almost seems like ritual of sorts. I see people take photos all the time of the cityscape, and cannot help but wonder if they will ever notice one particular monument in their framing that will reveal what city it is, even to the most removed of persons. In any case, it becomes part of my consciousness, and I always look for one particular giveaway so as to solidify some sort of memory in the photograph, more so for myself than anyone else.

Coming back down for the fortress, I stopped for one of my most favourite food categories – street food. Apparently, the line at this particular stall (photographed below) can easily wrap around the corner. With only a few people ahead of me in line, one can surmise that no one wanted to fill their stomachs in expectation of a heavy New Year’s Eve meal. For dinner, I took the shuttle bus to what was dubbed the “village,” steered away from the immediate shops, and ducked into a restaurant known for its steamed fish and crab dishes.

Even though there was a New Year’s celebration being put together downtown, I opted to stay at the hotel and watch the countdown live on television. I’m not one for ever joining the mass countdown on account of the fact that waiting in the large crowd for hours beforehand to “get a good spot” isn’t something that I’m particularly interested in. Instead, I rather celebrate during the day, which I most certainly did with a New Year’s dimsum lunch at Laurel the next day.

After tasting soy sauce braised pigeon at Tai Ping Koon several nights before, I was excited to try the crispy roasted pigeon that this particular restaurant had to offer. Also, add a tray of three different hot sauces and several other dimsum favourites, and it comes as no surprise that I was quite satiated.

Laurel
Macau Galaxy Branch
Tel: (853) 8883-2298
http://laurelgroup.com.cn

On that note, this is also how I probably gained at least 4lbs during this trip. Since I had some more vouchers to use before heading back to Hong Kong, I opted for a second lunch (albeit, lighter than this one) at Myung Ga.

Given that I didn’t have enough time to explore more of Macau (I was told that Coloane would be quite far from where we were), I opted to take an earlier ferry so that I could spend some time exploring IFC. Somehow, in a brief span of a few hours, I managed to work up a light appetite, which was perfect for a small dinner, consisting of Chiu Chow-style congee, cold steamed fish (烏頭 “wu tou”), and pork’s blood, in the west end of Hong Kong Island.

Tak Kee Chiu Chow Restaurant
Ground floor, 3G Belcher’s St, West Point (opposite to West Wood)
Kennedy Town, Hong Kong
Tel: 2819 5568

Ivory carving at the Grand Lisboa

Grand Lisboa Hotel

Artifact at Grand Lisboa

Fortaleza do Monte

Bollywood Dance Flashmob

The streets of Macau

Street food stall between Avenida de Almeida Ribeiro and Traversa do Mastro

Street food stall between Avenida de Almeida Ribeiro and Traversa do Mastro

Galaxy Hotel

Venetian Hotel

View of the casino floor at the Venetian

Hotel Okura's manmade beach

Making rice dumplings and serving sake for New Year's Day

Making rice flour for New Year's Day desserts

Dining room at Laurel Restaurant

The diamond at the Galaxy Hotel

Hong Kong's Central district at night from the night before

While I was preparing to wade through the rest of my photos and adventures in Hong Kong, I actually left to head to Salvador, Brazil for my travel colloquium with Steinhardt. Since the Courtyard Marriott was full for the evening, I had to switch on over to the Renaissance Hong Kong Harbour View Hotel, located in the Wan Chai district.

The new location was rather convenient since I had to drop off my papers for “verification of eligibility for permanent ID card (VEPIC)” at the immigration tower, which was located in the next building over, accessible by the foot path. From what I’ve read online, I thought that I would be waiting in line for my papers to be reviewed and collected; turns out, that it isn’t quite the case. One can have their papers reviewed at the inquiry desk, but after, they’re dropped off in an envelope.

So, what about the requirement that you must be physically present in Hong Kong when you submit your forms? The immigration department only needs a photocopy of the entry stamp that was inked into your passport upon arrival to Hong Kong. A little anti-climatic for an immigration process, no? I suppose that it helps to speed up the process of file collection.

After slipping my envelope in the collection box, I had to decide what to do with most of the afternoon gone. Since I was nearby the ferry, I figured that I would spent the late afternoon and evening in the much talked about Tsim Sha Tsui district. The ferry ride is like any other, nothing remarkable.

With tourist map in hand, I had no particular expectations of what I would see or run into. The first stop, due to proximity, was Heritage 1881, the former headquarters of the Hong Kong Marine Police now turned shopping center. Not attracted to the shopping, there wasn’t much to do after taking a short stroll – apart from the free wifi. Since I hadn’t eaten yet, I was looking for a light snack, and quickly hopped onto Foursquare to see what people were talking about. Of the restaurants and cafés listed in the nearby area, only one actually sounded appetizing and wasn’t too far a walk.

Unbeknownst to me, Din Tai Fung was where I was headed. Actually, let me correct myself – I knew I wanted to go to Din Tai Fung on account of what was said on FourSquare, but I had no idea that it was a decently famous chain until I looked it up on Google later on that evening. The xiao long bao (小籠包), for which they’re incredibly well known, were certainly delicious; I went for the pork and crab roe fillings. To make the meal complete, I ordered the cold jelly fish appetizer and a bowl of beef noodle soup. It was most certainly a treat for myself, and I left a little more stuffed than I had originally planned.

Din Tai Fung
Shop 130 & Restaurant C. 3rd Floor Silvercord
30 Canton Rd., Tsim Sha Tsui
Kowloon, Hong Kong
http://www.dintaifung.com.hk/

Since there was still sun out, it seemed like a great idea to explore the rest of Canton Road, which for the most part was comprised of high-end boutiques and a ferry leading back to mainland China. Amidst some of the stores was a not-so-crowded pathway that led to a remarkable view of the sunset and Hong Kong Island. Down below, was the famed Harbour City – the largest shopping mall in Hong Kong. And one of the observations that struck me was the fact that Hong Kong is much like Toronto in the sense that mall integration into the downtown core is an “all right” thing to do; whereas in some of the US cities that I’ve been to, no such thing exists, or perhaps only one. Blitzing through the many shoppers, I hopped into the first boutique that I saw that looked like they sold jeans, reason being that walking in a pair where the holes are growing larger with every step is rather uncomfortable. Lucky for me that the first pair I picked out fit like a glove and was on sale – good riddance to constant chafing.

I also encountered city’super – a supermarket that sells everything in one go, including kitchen supplies, actual food, liquor, and more – and found myself wandering and shopping for a good half hour. No worries, though, I only came out with a bottle of Hou Hou Shu sparkling sake (I never knew such things were made) and a Groundhog.

Given that I had no dinner plans, I decided that I would check off a couple more things to see in the Tsim Sha Tsui area, which for the most part included Temple Market, Jade Market, Kowloon Park, and Salisbury Road. Needless to say, that tourist maps always hype up things to be more than they actually are. Kowloon Park wasn’t closed when I finally got there, but it was most certainly dark outside, and after all that walking, I wasn’t too inclined to explore greenery without sunlight to better appreciate it. Salisbury Road was a glowing flurry of Christmas lights, overpriced stores, and hustling people. And while the allure of Temple Market echoes in countless guides, it is like any flea market, selling things that you would never use. That said, some of the “charm” of the market, you could say, is the outdoor dining, where you sit on stools and eat a quick meal and enjoy a beer, or two. The food is nothing remarkable, but the atmosphere is certainly what most people come and sit down for. Despite the fact that I was still full from my late lunch, that didn’t quite deter me from ordering a dinner (this might explain my slight weight gain over the holidays) – fried crab and congee. Cracking the crab legs was quite a workout, as the Southern French family commented during our impromptu meeting.

Though Jade Market was closed when I went in search of it, the barred gates revealed nothing warranting a second trip. What I did manage to find in the area (near Yau Ma Tei station, exit C), though, was a much needed foot massage for only 88 HKD – that and the other ladies shared an evening snack of tangerines with me.

Taking the ferry from Wan Chai to Kowloon side

Sight from the ferry, en route to Kowloon side

1881 Heritage

Near Canton Rd on Kowloon side

Looking back at Hong Kong Island

Temple Market

Temple Market

I opted for the PowerPoint instead of all the other mediums based on the fact that I am applying to a job, and not a contest. Presentations are pretty standard in corporate culture (and often boring); I wanted to showcase that I am capable of pulling off a PPT that people are willing to sit (or in this case click) through, while conveying my answer in clear and concise bits.

The colour scheme follows the This is Ogilvy webpage with some variation on the red and use of gray. I matched the red on my computer with RGB sliders, but it seems on SlideShare that it has been made to be a bit brighter. I swapped out the consistent use of gray with the pale and bright yellows with sparse use of the light gray. The choice to have similarity in colour palettes was a way of complementing the call (Ogilvy) and response (me) action that was solicited.

Think I deserve an interview? Then share my answer!

Riding the Ngong Ping 360 cable car

Since realizing that the Peak and the Big Buddha were on separate islands, it would only be appropriate if I also devoted some time to Lantau island and seek out the Big Buddha. Opting for the quicker route, I took the MTR from Hong Kong station to Tung Chung station, as opposed to taking the ferry over to the island. Upon arrival, the line for the cable car becomes rather apparent with wait times of approximately 1.5 hours. The line seemed to move rather quickly for the first half hour, but quickly slowed thereafter, thus rendering the wait time to be closer to two hours.

The ride in the cable car was a delight; traveling 5.4km overhead the island delivers quite an amazing view. Down below, one can see that there is indeed a walking path for the committed (it seem as though once you start walking, you’ll have to finish it since there didn’t seem to be any access to the main roads). Compared to other tram and cable car rides, this was most certainly worth the money (both for view and distance covered), what with it being ~$10 USD for a single trip.

Walking through Ngong Ping village isn’t anything remarkable; it has the air of one of the theme park “villages.” Albeit, the most fun was the snow machine that was spewing man-made snowflakes at passersby. On a limited time frame – I had to get back to Hong Kong island for dinner within the next two hours – I went straight to the Big Buddha. Prior to my visit, I was expecting the larger and fatter Buddha (Budai), but instead was greeted by the Gautama Buddha. In any case, the size of the Buddha is insurmountable, and it really becomes evident after hurrying up the steps.

After spending quite some time marveling at the Buddha, I was ready to head down until I noticed the pathway leading to the Po Lin Monastery. The monastery only reveals one hall open to the public, which already showcases the splendid decor and statues. Many that visit the area recommend having a bite at the vegetarian restaurant next door, but when I arrived at the monastery, kitchen was already closed. Needing a break from all the walking and exploring, I sat down and treated myself to a bowl of to fu fa from the deli café next door.

Not wanting to wait in line for the cable car again, I walked over to the bus terminal for a ride back to the MTR station. The bus driver, who evidently seemed to know the route inside out, barreled his way through the hills and curves with ease, almost as though he was playing his own mental version of Mario Kart time trial edition. The speedy ride dropped me off at the station and off I went to enjoy an evening of hot pot at a local restaurant in Central.

Ngong Ping vilage; fake snow

Ngong Ping village

Ngong Ping village

Leaving Ngong Ping village

En route to see Big Buddha

One of the goddesses

View from the top

Big Buddha

View from the top

Behind Big Buddha

Behind Big Buddha

Big Buddha

Big Buddha

Goddesses

Po Lin Monastery

Inside Po Lin Monastery

Po Lin Monastery

Outside Po Lin Monastery; burning incense

Outside Ngong Ping village is a random calf

Victoria Peak

This winter break, I’m spending approximately two weeks in Hong Kong for vacation. With a hectic schedule of deadlines and life prior to departure, I didn’t put a lot of thought into researching what to do in the city, and decided that I would create my itinerary by the day according to the weather and my mood. That and I never saw much a point to detailed day planning of a city that I’ve never been to.

Instead of opting for a direct flight – which I probably should have – I went for a flight from Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ) to Chicago O’Hare (ORD), followed by the fifteen hour haul to Hong Kong International (HKG). When I booked the flight, I was under the impression that it would be a Continental flight, but it turned out that both legs were serviced by United. Seats were three per side, as opposed to the usual three, and there were no individual TVs like Air France or Air Canada. Needless to say, I spent much of the flight with my eyes concentrating on a overhead television with no control over programming. I wish I could say that the price befit the flight, but it was only marginally less (about $200 to $400 since I booked rather late) than other airlines that I have flown on beforehand. Not to mention, both flights delayed themselves by over an hour each. Needless to say, the experience of flying with United hasn’t really warranted a second chance (apart from my return flight).

Arriving at the airport at 8PM meant that there was to be no exploring that day, especially since I only arrived at the hotel closer to 10 after the Airport Express and hotel shuttle bus.

Evidently not familiar with the area, I thought that Victoria Peak and the Big Buddha on Lantau island were the same thing; that is, until I looked at the tourist map that I picked up at the airport and realized how far apart they were. With an easy-to-use and incredibly cheap metro system, I hopped on the MTR to get to the bus that would take me to the Peak. The original plan was to take the bus up, and then take the famed tram down, but that didn’t quite happen. I thought it would be a great idea to explore the area and take what I thought to be a circular trail – it turned out that I took a 2.8km walk down the hill. Granted, it was a terrific walk with magnificent views and lots to see in terms of flora and history (there are markings and plaques that detail significant plants and monuments/objects), but it was most certainly tiring with the downhill portion; going downhill is never that easy, especially for extended periods of time since it is quite hard on the joints. Upon reaching the bottom of the hill, I decided that I would try what I believed to be a shortcut back up the hill only to find that it was another trail that led me farther away from the peak. With the post-signs telling me that it would be another 3km back up the hill, I decided that it would be best to call it a day after a couple hours of walking, I headed back down to the bottom of the hill and took one of the mini buses back to the MTR station.

This week (and in the new year), I’ll take the tram up to the Peak so as to visit it again and walk around the actual top, as opposed to meandering back to town.

View from one of Victoria Peak's trails

City boundary marker from when Hong Kong was known as Victoria City

Along Victoria Peak's 2.8km 'Morning Trail'

Along Victoria Peak's 2.8km 'Morning Trail'

Empty chair (image via sxc.hu)

A variation on the the talking to an empty chair technique, the unsent letter is a means of communicating what was never, but always desired to be, said. The two differ in terms of witness. In employing the empty strategy method, the message bears witness by the therapist’s presence, whereas the letter has no witness excepting its author. This difference can better be articulated as a message that either lives in the (intimate) public sphere (empty chair) or in the private/internal sphere (letter). I label this public sphere as an intimate one, since therapy is in a limbo of sorts – not necessarily private because of the presence of an external witness but also not necessarily public, either, because therapy teases out what is not meant for the general public. So it would be fitting to label it as the “intimate private.”

In the online sphere, the witness’ role and presence are further complicated. The empty chair technique finds itself lumped together with the unread letter. I make this statement on the premise that in order to work through the empty chair technique, there needs not only be a witness but also an empty space – owned by no one – for expression to be dumped upon. It is to say that the conversation, in some ways, is triangular, with the two base vertices focused on the apex. Verbal expression distinguishes the two in the offline sphere, whereas, this marker of voice is lost online. At best, we can determine the intention of which stream by tone of writing and stylistic/linguistic choices (i.e. “dear,” “sincerely,” etc.). In my following post, for instance, which technique is it that I am employing?

I will, after all, be writing a letter, but it is no longer private. The empty canvas on which I write could be said to be the empty space or “chair” and because of the fact that readers function like witnesses, it is therefore the “empty chair technique.” But is it classifiable so? After all, I will make linguistic choices characteristic of a letter and I am creating my message in private before I share it. There is no co-occurring existence as I create my message, as there would be in the traditional offline empty chair technique. Again, we question the online sphere, which facilitates a “stop-go” action. The dynamic space, such as chat rooms, do not have that third empty space, so is it by default that I label this as an unread letter with the added quality of witness?

There is no particular answer that I have in mind; what I have written is merely a thought. This questioning merely serves as my preface to an open letter that I wish to write.

Aberthol, like Twitter chats, is sometimes forgotten about

The chats function by means of having the common note of a hashtag, which permits other users to track what is being said in the “conversation.” There is often at least one moderator that throws out a question every now and then, in which users flock to answer and offer insights. The beauty of it is that there are numerous mavens and experts that do in fact participate, along with the occasional corporate host. Sometimes, the exchange of ideas isn’t anything revolutionary, but rather, a reinforcement that what you may be doing is right. Then there are other times in which you can find yourself seeing things in a different light based on someone’s short 140 character comment.

But most importantly, you can meet great people that you wouldn’t have otherwise had you stuck to your current circle of followers. Granted, I’m not saying that a Twitter chat will immediately create for you a connection, but it certainly does give some context to you as a person if that is where you “met.” Plus, if you become a regular of a chat, then people certainly become more familiar and are more apt to listen to you and follow you back.

Unfortunately, the whole concept of a Twitter chat can be a bit stressful what with the multitude of flowing comments in any given minute during that one hour. Coming to chat every week isn’t a must, and neither is the “obligation” to stay the full hour. You can jump in at any time, pitch advice at any time, or simply listen throughout. The way to use this particular resource is up to you and the beauty in it is the fact that not only a collaboration of thoughts, but also dynamic. It is to say that nothing in particular is static about the conversation, there is seldom a particular veering towards one narrow direction.

Below is a presentation that I co-presented on a couple of weeks ago discussing networking and features some great Twitter chats for students, along with a link to a grand schedule of chats for a variety of industries and age groups.

Image via Ugly Bird Icons for Twitter