Trees that are not really trees

Finally got around to seeing the light show down at the Gardens by the bay. It was a nice break from studying for exams. I am still not really sure what the purpose of giant solar powered artificial trees are, but they look cool. Yes, that is a walkway between the giant trees. Sadly I did not get to go up there because it had supposedly closed 20 minutes earlier, yet there were obviously still people up there.The light show consisted of lighting the trees a bunch of different colours and playing some music, so pretty much a typical light show. The show was a little hard to watch since it was impossible to see all the trees at once. Walked through the helix bridge again, and finally realised that it’s supposed to be DNA when I saw that the red and green lights alternated between AT and GC pairs.The Singapore Skyline.People waiting for the other light show.

Chilli Crab

Finally tried Chilli Crab, another “must try” Singaporean dish. It’s pretty much just Crab in Chilli sauce, which you eat with little buns (the little things on the right beside the crab on top of the other crab) so that you can eat the sauce. My hands were covered in chili sauce for the entirety of the meal.  Creepy selfie with a crab.Also, Blueberry juice is a thing here.

The Bronze Buddha

The weather continued being atrocious for our last day in Hong Kong, but we still made it out to see the bronze buddha. We rode to the end of an MTR line, passing the Disney World train, and then discovered that the glass floored gondola that takes you up to the Buddha was not running since there was a chance of lightning. Thankfully, there were buses that ran up to the monastery by the Buddha, it even drove by a very large correctional facility. Of course, as soon as we approached the drop off point it started raining like there was no tomorrow and my umbrella did not want to open for some reason. All the tourists went and hid under a small ledge until the worst of it passed.We then proceeded to walk up a large staircase to the Buddha. The rain had stopped and the sky was clear, like it had not been raining buckets less than 10 minutes ago.After walking around the large bronze buddha for awhile, admiring the other bronze statues appearing to be giving offerings the fog started to roll in, and then we could barely see the buddha let alone 10 feet in front of us.It was hilarious to say the least. This happened a few more times while we were walking around.

FogNo Fog After awhile we headed back down the large staircase towards the monastery for lunch.It was delicious, but way too much food. Of course the rain started up again and so did the fog once it was time to leave.The sign was actually pointing the in the right direction.

We hopped back on the bus, and had to stand in between the seats (of a greyhound) down the winding road back to the end of the subway line.

Here is a lovely selfie to brighten up your day.

Gardens, Nuns and a temple

We spent a few hours exploring a cultural side to Hong Kong (in comparison to Victoria peak and temple street); we visited the Chi Lin Nunnery, Nan Lian Gardens, and the Sik Sik Yuen Wong Tai Sin Temple.We started off at the Gardens where we got to aimlessly wander around admiring the beautiful trees, crazy looking grass, and restaurant under a waterfall. Also, for some reason there were some very orange bridges .Next to the gardens, near the restaurants, there was an entire room devoted to rock gardens. Most of the rocks were pretty huge in comparison to the rock gardens I played with as a child, these ones seemed a bit more legitimate with the “No Sand Drawing” signs and intricately outlined rock formations.We then crossed a bridge over to the nunnery, which had mostly closed down about 15 minutes prior to our arrival. The large modern buildings in the background nicely contrasted the buddhist temple.After more wandering, we hopped back on the MTR for a stop towards the Sik Sik Yuen Wong Tai Sin Temple, which houses three different religions Taoism, Buddhism and Confucianism.The smell of incense was thick in the air as well as the sound of rattling sticks from people having their fortunes told.We got herded out by a security guard, because apparently it was closing time. They rushed us out of a back door of the temple and then we were back on the streets of Hong Kong.

This is just an indication of how hard it rained earlier in the day, miniature sand bags.

Dim Sum – Caramel Cake and Fish Heads

The Globe and Mail happened to write a piece on travelling around Hong Kong while I was in Hong Kong. Thanks to my mother, who emailed me the article, I discovered this dim sum restaurant that happened to be the same place my flat mate in Singapore (who is from Hong Kong) also suggested.We walked in and were greeted with communal tables, food on trolleys, and very few westerners. Our table had some bowls, spoons, chopsticks and a slightly larger bowl of water on it. Thankfully the people sitting across from us realized how baffled we were about the use of the water filled bowl and showed us that it was for washing our dish ware and chopsticks. We never would have figured that out, we almost used it to clean our hands.We ate some delicious food, although we didn’t know what half of it was; and purposefully avoided anything that looked like fish heads or feet from an animal. I kind of understand why some people just sit around in these places. It’s inexpensive and has good food, what more could you want? Also, the key to the trolley system is to watch the kitchen and be ready to run when a new cart comes out, or all the good stuff will be gone.

Here is a link to article in the Globe and Mail if anyone is interested: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/travel/destinations/true-dim-sum-and-mah-jong-mystery-where-to-find-the-old-hong-kong/article17745192/

Victoria Peak, Hong Kong

After a tram ride, at least 8 escalators, and a passing a Bubba Gump shrimp restaurant; I was treated to one of the most fantastic city views I’ve ever seen. I was really surprised, mostly because I had not been expecting much after the insane rain we had just experienced. Also, a friend of mine had been up to Victoria Peak a few days earlier as said that the fog was so thick you could barely see the person next to you, let alone the city skyline. For some reason we lucked out and got to admire the city sprawled out in front of us, and watch the fog would roll down an adjacent mountain almost completely obscuring our view and then have it disappear. It was incredible to say the least.

Big Bus Hong Kong

Bus tours can be very amusing when it’s raining out, especially when you are as challenged as me at putting on a poncho in a moving vehicle.

The day started off sunny so we figured we might as well go on the Big Bus Tour of Hong Kong even though the weather report said it was going to rain.Of course, as soon as we got off the ferry it started raining, so we had to ride on the bottom level of the bus where you couldn’t really see anything. Once the rain stopped we went up to the top level of the bus, which did not stop long enough for us to dry off our seats. It is a little precarious standing on a moving vehicle after some rain, but we survived to tell the tale.After drying our seats we got to enjoy the sights while winding through the city, out towards ocean park (one of the most visited amusement parks in the world) and towards some beach towns while avoiding all the low hanging branches that threatened to behead anyone sitting on the left hand side of the bus. We were also reminded not to stand while we were going through tunnels.As the bus wound its way past Repulse Bay and towards Stanley beach we were exposed to some beautiful views of the south china sea, although the bus was moving very quickly so picture taking was a hilarious endeavour. Once we started to loop back towards the city, the monsoon came. We quickly had to run down to the bottom level of the bus while it was driving up a hill so that we wouldn’t be soaked. It was raining so hard that there was a stream of water coming down the stairs and being shot off the side off the bus like a hose. All in all, a very memorable adventure.

Hong Kong at Night: Tailors, Russian food, and Margaritas

Walking down the streets of Kowloon at night means you will be asked (if you are male) if you need a tailor or (if you are female) a wedding dress.After a quick visit to the night market, we ended up at the waterfront where we admired the view for a bit and then headed down to the ferry to central, where we could look for some food. We ended up in the mid-levels area of Hong Kong, which I thought was very amusing with its incredibly long escalators and advertising moving up along side you.Somehow we discovered the existence of Russian food in Hong Kong, I was very tempted to try their varenyky and borscht, although it could never top my grandmothers. We decided to eat shawarma for dinner, which was delicious. I got a fallafel wrap (not technically shawarma, I know); the fact that I have not eaten hummus in a few months is getting to me. After dinner we headed out to find drinks and some dessert. My cousin suggested we go to Lan Kwai Fong where all the bars are. We walked by an obviously Canadian bar and got margaritas at a Mexican restaurant. I’m still not really sure how someone though the “when life gives you lemons, make margaritas” sign made enough sense to make a neon sign out of it and put it on a wall.My cousin and I decided to wander around a bit more before going back to the hotel, so we hung around at a different bar for about an hour, enjoying how there was a 711 next door to it.

I was really amused that there was a spaceship landing on this building. Fog is so entertaining when it hides parts of buildings.I know a few people who would live on golf island, which happens to be above a spaghetti restaurant.And another selfie,

 

Shenzhen, China

 

My first day in Hong Kong, was not really spent in Hong Kong. Most of the day was spent travelling to the end of the MTR line to go shopping in Shenzhen, China. It took us about an hour by MTR and somewhere around 2 hours to get across the border because we kept standing in the wrong line and a shift change at the visa office took absurdly longer than it should have. Once we finally got into mainland China we were ambushed by individuals trying to get us to come shop at their stores. Highlights of this shopping adventure include finding knockoff Canada goose jackets, getting told I look 15 (thanks?), and discovering that knockoff Kate Spade bags do not exist. For anyone who finds themselves in mainland China and wants people to stop trying to sell them a “Prada” or other designer purses, ask if they have any Kate Spade, they will stare blankly at you for awhile and then let you go on your way. We had a little too much fun with this discovery.

Where to get pancakes at 10:30pm on a weekday

At Raffles hall residence on the NUS kent ridge campus there is a food outlet that appears to only be open after 10:30pm on weekdays. The only reason I found out about this place was through an acquaintance of a friend of a friend, and yet the queue starts at about 10pm. It’s probably a good thing I didn’t learn about this place earlier, I might have considered switching residences just because I could get pancakes at odd hours of the night.The weirdest part about this place is that it isn’t open on the weekend and yet they serve a variety of food from vegetable rice, something that may or may not be pizza (I’ll get back to you guys on that) and pancakes dripping in chocolate sauce and honey.