Day 4: A moment of relaxation.

I went to brunch with Jason this morning. He is one of the Malaysian students studying here in Hong Kong. It was a nice change in pace. He and I ate at Ebeneezer's Kebab and Pizzeria in the Gold Coast part of Hong Kong. We ended up having to wait an hour and a half before the restaurant opened for lunch. The food was decent but at least it was halal! Portion sizes are about half the size of what they are in America. He showed me the Gold Coast area. It was very fancy and apparently where the rich people live. Hong Kong has a very high cost of living. I was left in awe at the site of the sea and Gold Coast beach. I love how accessible the beaches are. Dipping my feet in the ocean water with sand between my toes was a refreshing feeling in the heat. There was this sense of peace and relaxation at Gold Coast. Jason and I stood outside by the rocks and sea just looking out into the view. I could not believe how beautiful it is. It has been 4 days and I am still shocked to see mountains everywhere. I don't know if and when I will be able to become immune to the nature surrounding me.

Jason and I finished our trip by getting some fruits from the street markets. I am having a hard time adjusting to the smell of raw meat and sea food on the streets. The prices are very reasonable. I got about 2.5 pounds of lychee fruit and grapes. People in Hong Kong do things very fast. Time is very valuable to them. I asked Jason if there is any day of the week the shops close early. For Americans, it is Sunday. Jason says every day is money day; therefore, no, the shops remain open. This concept is very similar to the Indian culture. I really enjoyed talking to Jason about the similarities and differences between American culture, Indian culture, and Chinese culture.

I spent most of the day just blogging and relaxing. I am not sure what the rest of this night will bring. I am ready and excited for my summer class to start.

Day 3: So. Many. Observations.

Today, we went to Cheung Chau island in Hong Kong. It was absolutely beautiful. The ferry ride over to the island made me a little motion sick, but that seems to be the norm. I started the morning a little bummed that I couldn't see Lily Singh (aka iiSuperwomanii) at her world tour in Hong Kong that night. It worked out for the best though. I was able to peacefully enjoy my time in Cheung Chau and mesmerize it for it's beauty. The day was a lot slower than the day before. They say people who want to relax and escape the busy life of Hong Kong take a trip over to Cheung Chau. I mean who doesn't want to be on an island with the ocean at their feet!?

Cheung Chau Tung Wan Beach

Along with the beautiful nature, I observed a lot of cultural things today. For one, the Chinese are not a fan of eating vegetarian. There is a ton of seafood, which is great for me because I can eat sea food, but I did not feel comfortable eating a lot of it. I worried that there was meat related flavoring of some kind mixed within the food. It is hard to ask at the restaurants whether or not the food has anything meat related mixed within because of the language barrier. The popularity of meat makes the concept of halal food a litter harder to explain to the Chinese people. I chose not to eat food that has any trace of meat, including something like gelatin, which may not be viewed as a meat product to some because it does not have pieces of meat visible. Not eating very much for a couple days made me feel a little sick. There must be food that I can eat and it will take some exploring to find. I am very fortunate to have two Malaysian students studying here in Hong Kong who understand what my concerns are with food. They are helping me find some halal places and also some vegetarian options. I did try mango mochi. It had a dough-like outer layer with a slice of mango in the inside. It was delicious!

Mango Mochi

Smoking seems to be very popular in Hong Kong. In America, people tend to stand in corners and smoke in a more private manner. Here in China, people smoke while walking down the street. I can only imagine the amount of illnesses caused by second hand smoking. There are a good number of people who choose not to smoke, but with the country being so populated, the people who do smoke are very close by. 

The Chinese people are very smart in their multifunctional use of an umbrella. Not only is it useful in the rain, it is protective against the very hot sun. The sun is strong here and the weather is very humid making it very sticky. Any protection from the sun is necessary. A lot of us from America are not used to such hot weather. I have been asked numerous times about how hot I feel wearing the hijab and long sleeves and long pants. Although it is hot, I try my best not to complain about it. I look at the woman wearing a full burqa (long black dress and headscarf) and remind myself that she must feel even hotter than I do.

I also learned a little bit about the Buddhist religion and traditions. The bun festival took place in Cheung Chau. This is the festival celebrating the birth of Buddha. From what I was told, people climb a tall statue to reach the buns on the top.

The buns that people eat in celebration

Location of festival

This is a group of people who were spotted on the island. I was told the significance of their performance included releasing evil spirits



Along with walking, biking is a very popular method of transportation on this island. You have to be very alert not to get run over by a biker!

Day 2: Exhausted.

The craziness that appears in this video is basically a summary of what my day felt like. It started with a simple trip for lunch to get sushi (my picky eating habit got the best of me and I backed out) and turned into a day trip into the islands of Hong Kong. The city was breath taking. On one side, you see the skyline of the extremely urban and commercial part of Hong Kong and on the other side, you see the action. We took the ferry boat to the other side (it happened to be free today!). Walking into the ifc mall was like walking into a pile of gold. It felt like you had to be rich in order to even walk on that ground. Designer stores were EVERYWHERE. It was a gigantic and gorgeous mall.

Beautiful skyline in the city

We then decided to just walk and see where it took us. It was amazing to just roam so freely and just absorb everything in site. Definitely was hot, sticky, and sweaty though. We ended the day in Mong Kok where we walked through VERY busy streets filled with pedestrians, shoppers, and a lot of traffic. It reminded me a lot of Chicago except there were a lot more people and I did not see any homeless people on the streets. We ended the day at Women's Street, which is filled with street markets and a lot of cool knick knacks.

Women's Street in Mong Kok

A booth full of T-Shirts in Women's Street

It felt great to just go with the flow and let things happen. Today was definitely a day to just soak everything in and figure out where I want to go back. It feels like there is never enough time in one place here. I could spend hours and hours doing one thing. I would never be able to finish seeing everything Hong Kong has to offer. It is HUGE! I did not know how I would like the fast pace, crowded and busy environment but it turns out I love it here.

Wait.. I'm in China..?!

I Am Finally in Hong Kong!

It did not hit me that I was leaving the country until I landed in this new country for the first time. I have never traveled outside of North America before so this is a completely new experience for me. The flight was direct and a little long but overall it went well for the second time being in a plane. There was awful turbulence when flying over the mountains in Beijing and the landing also felt like a roller coaster ride (alert: motion sickness). We were exhausted after landing in the airport. At least I avoided jet lag!! 

Yesterday was my first day living in Hong Kong. It made me realize how much I really do love culture. Before coming here, I knew little to nothing about the Asian culture and I am still learning. Although I see a lot of Chinese people on the streets, I also see a great amount of diversity here. There are so many Muslims who wear traditional Islamic or Indian/Pakistani clothing, walking on the streets as well and there feels like a sense of belonging. I was nervous about being a hijabi in a country like China. I thought I was going to stick out and people would look at me funny. Ironically, I feel like I belong here more than I do back in Bloomington where I am one of the few people who identifies as Muslim and it is VERY rare to see people who wear the headscarf. I find it beautiful that there are Muslims from many different countries and cultures in a place I would not have thought there would be so much diversity. Not only is the diversity beautiful; the scenery is breath taking. I cannot get over how there is so much nature and big mountains integrated in-between this urban city. Tomorrow, I am going hiking. Let the adventures begin!