Just Duke it
Oh my.
Well, I have finally returned to Singapore, and I am so happy this is where I chose to go on exchange. After having spent almost a week in Hong Kong and China, I have learned many things about myself, the most important one being that I don't want to go back. There were some really good times the first few days - making a scene at the flower market in Victoria park, ladies night at venue, seeing Jani again and Kebabs, but seriously: there's no place like home (or, somewhere where the weather is warmer, people are friendlier and life is a lot simpler).
China was a meagre affair, really. As mentioned before, Josh from Kaiping never showed (for unknown reasons), which resulted in a depressing lack of flamingo-watching and being shown around. Instead, there were some rather significant struggles, communication was practically impossible, given that about 1 in 250 people spoke English (and by spoke I mean spoke terrible) and signs were only in Chinese characters. Furthermore, we had little idea what to do and so on, so we cut the visit short and came back to Hong Kong after only one night in Foshan and one in Shenzhen. The highlight, however, was definitely the one dinner we had in Foshan. The food was spectacular, even though no one braved the camel dish, and we had a great time with the people who worked there. Foshan being the bustling cosmopolitan place that it is, we were the only people in the restaurant, and while the staff found us rather entertaining (they even had their picture taken with us), we did overstay our welcome and left only after the lights had been turned off.
The only night out in China (excl. HK) was at "The Rave Club" in Foshan, and while it wasn't awful, I was disturbed by the sheer numbers of Communist guards that were in- and outside the club. Everywhere you looked your eyes were met by a khaki-clad dood, and it made the whole place seem so very strange.
But at least we've all been to China now - and while I'm sure there are others who have had better experiences, the Guangdong Province is not exactly the travel destination I would recommend to many. At least I scored some cheap dvds and - HURRAH, kitchy original Communist paraphernalia. I was so happy.
Last night in Hong Kong was pretty standard- after having spent far too much money at what must be the most exclusive Pizza Hut I have ever seen in my entire life, we just hung out in the hostel room and had some beer. The conversation drifted to politics and religion which not surprisingly resulted in a lot of noise, upon which we were "politely asked to leave". I went to bed after, while some of the others roamed the streets for a while, and then found it in their hearts to call my cellphone 7 times, then Dan's and then bang on the door for 5 minutes.
But now I'm back in Sweet Singapore - a place I have learned to appreciate more of due to the simple power of comparison.
Mind you, duking, flexing, being so sad/happy/angry, and David's mom, will never be the same.
Well, I have finally returned to Singapore, and I am so happy this is where I chose to go on exchange. After having spent almost a week in Hong Kong and China, I have learned many things about myself, the most important one being that I don't want to go back. There were some really good times the first few days - making a scene at the flower market in Victoria park, ladies night at venue, seeing Jani again and Kebabs, but seriously: there's no place like home (or, somewhere where the weather is warmer, people are friendlier and life is a lot simpler).
China was a meagre affair, really. As mentioned before, Josh from Kaiping never showed (for unknown reasons), which resulted in a depressing lack of flamingo-watching and being shown around. Instead, there were some rather significant struggles, communication was practically impossible, given that about 1 in 250 people spoke English (and by spoke I mean spoke terrible) and signs were only in Chinese characters. Furthermore, we had little idea what to do and so on, so we cut the visit short and came back to Hong Kong after only one night in Foshan and one in Shenzhen. The highlight, however, was definitely the one dinner we had in Foshan. The food was spectacular, even though no one braved the camel dish, and we had a great time with the people who worked there. Foshan being the bustling cosmopolitan place that it is, we were the only people in the restaurant, and while the staff found us rather entertaining (they even had their picture taken with us), we did overstay our welcome and left only after the lights had been turned off.
The only night out in China (excl. HK) was at "The Rave Club" in Foshan, and while it wasn't awful, I was disturbed by the sheer numbers of Communist guards that were in- and outside the club. Everywhere you looked your eyes were met by a khaki-clad dood, and it made the whole place seem so very strange.
But at least we've all been to China now - and while I'm sure there are others who have had better experiences, the Guangdong Province is not exactly the travel destination I would recommend to many. At least I scored some cheap dvds and - HURRAH, kitchy original Communist paraphernalia. I was so happy.
Last night in Hong Kong was pretty standard- after having spent far too much money at what must be the most exclusive Pizza Hut I have ever seen in my entire life, we just hung out in the hostel room and had some beer. The conversation drifted to politics and religion which not surprisingly resulted in a lot of noise, upon which we were "politely asked to leave". I went to bed after, while some of the others roamed the streets for a while, and then found it in their hearts to call my cellphone 7 times, then Dan's and then bang on the door for 5 minutes.
But now I'm back in Sweet Singapore - a place I have learned to appreciate more of due to the simple power of comparison.
Mind you, duking, flexing, being so sad/happy/angry, and David's mom, will never be the same.
posted by Marianne at
4:52 am
1 Comments:
Hong Kong is the place to be! Venue is a great club - took Varqa there on his first night which ended in the twins' puking outside res... And the kebab spot, I assume it was Beruit Cafe (right near Venue). You shoulda mentioned my name, Pierre, Chris, and the other boys there knew me pretty well (those leb bastards!). As for China, I understand your frustration, but I guarantee you woulda fell in love with the country had you gone to Shanghai. It's similar to HK but 10times cheaper!!!
Regards,
-Vafa
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