The Marvel of Macau

After about a month or so in Hong Kong, we finally took our first step out of the territories, into the Last Vegas of the east! What we saw at Macau was intriguing and fascinating. It was a small city of its own, but we actually managed to spend about 14 hours on the island, just walking around marveling at the different aspects of splendor it brought.

After the hour long ferry ride, we took an old school public bus and landed at some touristy central area of Macau. It was streets of shops, just like any other streets you can find it Hong Kong. I wasn't really expecting this, as the myth in my head was that Macau was just malls and buildings of Casinos, but it kinda turned out otherwise. So we just walked and walked, and unknowingly landed up at some residential area of Macua. I always enjoy these kind of 'exploration' walks, as it kinda allows me to observe the different ways people actually lead their lives. From the conditions of their roads, their shops, the food they eat, and the condition of their houses.

We soon landed up at St. Paul's Ruins, and this monument was just a testament to the uniqueness and beauty of ancient Portugese structures. They can actually be found scattered all across Macau, and I believe that it is these structures which make Macau really nice.

Now what's going to Macau without visiting the Casinos, so we promptly did that straight after lunch. And boy was I truly amazed by how their Casinos were laid out. We first entered this hotel Grand Lisboa, and at first sight the hotel lobby really looks like any other hotel lobby, but once we stepped across the security screening area just behind the lobby, the whole of the other side of the hotel was a huge casino. Slot machines and playing tables filled the whole place, and that was just the first level. The second level was even larger. In Singapore, those spaces would be used for function and wedding ballrooms, but here in Macau, every single corner was for gambling purposes. We went on to a few other hotels, and this 'open concept' of gambling was similar everywhere else.

Oh, and I didn't really get to try my luck, as I didn't really find a table with minimum bet small enough for my preference. I wasn't exactly worried about losing money ... I was more worried that with bets too high, my 'experience' of sitting down to gamble at a Macau casino would be too short lived. Bummer!

What really stood out in Macau for us would have to be The Venetian though. The entire place was huge, beautiful and just spectacular. The interior seemed abit like those kinda grand palace interior, and even the mall inside was designed according to some Venice gondola style theme, real nice! The casino was the largest ever, as we couldn't see the end from where we entered, and it was really packed with people (and money too of course). Have some shots of this wonderful place, and have uploaded it in my Picasa Web album.

Speaking about shots, I kinda experienced some photography woes yesterday. You see I am someone who's not really into photography, nor am I in any sense photogenic. And the only reason why I bought my Ixus 50 some 4 years back was probably due to impulse-ness. But it's at times like yesterday at Macau when you really wish you had a good camera (plus good photography knowledge) to really capture all the wonderful things you experience. I felt we saw alot yesterday, and I was really keen to snap everything down for everyone to see, but apparently most of my shots did no justice to the marvel I experienced. There was always this conflict with brightness, blurness, and level of ISO, and shots being too grainy. So in the end, I couldn't really find that perfect balance, and quite a number of shots turned out disappointing. Dang! But as we like to say, I guess the best camera lenses would have to be our own eyes, and the best memory card, your brain!

During the bumpy ferry ride back (still feeling myself swaying as I type this), Elaine asked me how we were gonna pick ourselves back up to 'study mode'. And after a 4 month absence from books before arriving, together with the 1 month of total slackness here, I really didn't have an answer to her question.

First Month in Hong Kong

It's been a month since arriving in Hong Kong, and time seems to pass real fast. I am definitely feeling settled in already, although I am still getting this touristy feeling once a while.

This exchange experience has been a great one so far, and has definitely lived up to my expectations. A different place, different culture, new friends, new food, a not so hectic school life, an always carefree feeling, and many more sentiments beyond words. This one month here also signifies the one quarter mark of this SEP journey, and I think it will soon be over before I know it.

We're nearing the end of our 4th week of school, and it's only in this week that I had my first project meeting and had my first active participation in tutorials. However, I am still feeling rather laid back about school as a whole.

Oh, and smeagol's tortoise which was running loose under his bed, has vanished! So the situation in my room now is 3 grown guys searching for one lost tortoise. Now I'm feeling a little nervy that I may find a tortoise in my shoes, my bag, my cupboard, or worse, next to me when I wake up tomorrow morning!

Blow Wind Blow

The street lights came on at 5pm. The clouds moved across the darkening sky so quickly it seemed like I was watching a fast forwarded film. The drizzles got heavier and the winds got crazier. The bus stops were overcrowded, as the shuttle buses came in threes and fours ferrying people to the station and their hostels. Cars with headlights on were speeding down the school roads towards the exits, while people scurried on the streets, most with huge bags of groceries and instant noodles. I was one of them, and alike them I gave up on my umbrella as it would probably have overturned on me anyway.

Typhoon Hagupit has arrived!

Precautionary Warning Signal Number 1 came yesterday evening, and winds only started to come in around noon today. The Number 3 Signal (strong wind alert) was soon hoisted, as thunderstorms started to come in. Winds were going at about 40-60 km/h, and it brought a cool to the weather, as my short journey to the canteen for lunch was the coolest walk I had since arriving.

I had a tutorial at 4.30pm, and I was half hoping that it would be cancelled, but the Number 8 Signal (all classes cancelled upon this signal) never came. So I braved the strong winds to go to class, and as expected, it ended really early. So I decided to climb all the way up to the school supermarket to stock up on some food, but when I reached there, it was total chaos. Apparently the queue went one round around the whole supermarket, all the way to the exit. The different isles were all crowded, and when I finally managed to squeeze into the instant noodles section, guess what, the shelve was almost empty. So I gave up, braved the storm again, and went all the way back down to the 7-eleven at the MTR station, before making my way back to hall. Newspapers and boxes were flying across the streets, as my footsteps quickened. Apparently, Signal 8 had already been hoisted.

The winds outside are crazy now, as you can practically hear it whistling and pushing against my room window. The sky actually turned pitch black at around 6.30pm, and its pouring like mad. Now all of us are just wondering how long Hagupit would stay, and whether or not there'll be classes tomorrow.

Living in Singapore all my life, I have had the luxury of being protected from all forms of natural disasters. So when I heard that a typhoon was coming in HK's direction, I was kind of like waiting in anticipation to see what it would be like. And now that it's here, I would have to say it has been a really eye-opening experience, both the typhoon itself and the observation of reaction from the people here. As Bryan puts it, this brings new meaning to the term 'exchange experience'.

Long Overdue Photos Up

I've succumbed to my laziness, to the chore of using photoshop, and to the huge number of photographs piling up in my folder. My initial plans of using photoshop to do a weekly photo journal has failed miserably. Thankfully, there's still this wonderful invention called Picasa web which makes it a thousand times easier to upload my photos, so I shall rely on that :)

Click on the link near the top right corner of this page, or visit http://picasaweb.google.com/jeremyteocx. Oh and Bingde, I have to thank you for this. Because it was your msn nick which reminded me of picasaweb :) And also thanks Josh for some of your photos.

From the Streets to the Islands

I took a break from the HK streets and malls yesterday, as I went on a tour organized by the school to Po Toi and Lamma Islands. We were told that we would be having a short hike at Po Toi, before a seafood lunch and short tour of Lamma. But we were in for a surprise, as the short hike turned out to be 2 hours long!

The hike left us all sunburnt and exhausted, but it was a good workout. The beautiful scenery and occasional cool breezes kinda made up for the soreness in our feets, and I got quite a few nice shots of the scenery. We were told by the tour guide that not many people (even the locals) know about this island, so well I guess we are the lucky few who can claim to have gone to the southern most island of HK.

As for Lamma, seafood lunch was so-so, as I guess we couldn't really expect to get the best of seafood since we went as a large guided tour group. Could kind of tell that the restaurant was serving their simplest dishes and smallest sized seafood, but oh well, we didn't exactly play alot for the trip, so we probably got what we paid for.

As I said, this was a good break from the usual streets and malls. The guys have always said that we are 'done' with HK, as we are going back to the same places again and again. In some ways I agree with them, but not entirely though. Despite visiting most of the more popular places already, there are still many streets and other less-popular corners of the island we have yet to visit. There is also is still Macau, Lantau, The Peak (at night), Ocean Park and Disneyland. Furthermore, even if I return to a same area again and again, the people, things and atmosphere will somehow be a little different each time I go. So in other words, I don't think I will ever be completely 'done' with HK.

On a side note, my modules have finally been settled, and thank goodness all went well. I have also gotten the necessary mapping approvals from NUS, so mapping troubles aside till I get back! Rovers finally won yesterday, halting a horrible run. It was almost another disappointment, but a late late goal made the weekend a much happier one for me.

Three's a Breeze

Today marks the end of the third week of school, and with mid-autumn taking away at least 3 lectures and 2 tutorials, the week was pretty much like the previous two, relaxed. I must admit though that this leaves me a little worried as since the start of school, I have only read 2 pages of my international communication book, and the next most number of pages I've read is from the book called 'Essential Cantonese Phrase Book'.

Some assignments and mid terms will start springing up, but well, I'll live the days as they come by. Really grateful for what I'm having here, as chats with Chen Guo and Sancia yesterday, together with all the blog posts, msn nicks and facebook statuses, gives me a good gauge about the current stress level at workload back in Singapore.

Just saw some facebook pictures from AGM which happened last night, and it all seems so fast. Kudos to the 28th for a good term, and finally being able to step down. On a personal note, the odds were always stacked against them, and their greatest enemy were always 'critical views' from the outside (from the 27th and myself included). But they themselves will soon understand this aspect of 'can't help but be critical' when the 29th's term kicks in. Some things cannot be undone, and some impressions cannot be changed, but they came a long way, and have in my opinion as a whole MC achieved much more than was expected of them.

On a global level, there seems to huge turmoil around the world. Banks are failing, and babies are ailing. The banking and financial situation looks really bad, and although I have no knowledge about banks and the financial markets, I have read enough to know that it will take at least another 2-3 years for the situation to stabalise. All the news have been surrounding the concerns from traders and world banks, but if we scope it down a little, another main worry lies within the universities. My friends from finance and econs are starting to get a little worried, as most of them are looking to the banking and financial industry upon graduation in about a year's time. Then again, I'm sure the effects will also be echoed to the other industries.

Intercultural Understanding

I came into SEP with an open mind, hoping to learn more about cultures from abroad, and hoping to correct any misconceptions I had about certain cultures. It is however one thing to learn and experience, and another to fully understand and accept.

Why this entry? One word, Smeagol. Apparently Smeagol has tested and improved my level of tolerance, and in honest opinion, opened my eyes on how cultures (and way of life) are in fact really different. Apart from the usual zi yan zi yu-ness and singing aloud in the room, he took it a step further yesterday and today.

He was playing counterstrike last night on his laptop, and I wasn't sure if he was playing some grenade map or if he was using some shotgun or something, but he kept going "ka-pow!", "ka-boom!", "boom ... wah hao shuang ah!". No doubt, there's nothing wrong with being engrossed in your game, but something is definitely wrong if you repeat those few phrases at least a couple of hundred times within an hour, and shouting aloud while doing that. You know it reminded me of those times when I was a little kid, playing my small plastic toys, and going like "cheee-ba-bom!".

And this just in, guess what he is doing while I am typing this. He just washed his clothes, and is squeezing dry the water from his clothes into the dustbin! Hmm ...

Anyway, I will be going out to Po Toi and Lamma Islands this coming Saturday, and I am looking to go to Macau too! Some of the exchange students went to Macau over the long weekend, and there were saying it was really good. Hopefully we can get a hotel there, and at least spend a couple of days on the island. I had initially also signed up for some rural teaching trip at Zengcheng, and I was kinda looking forward to this experience. But apparently the quota was rather limited, and I didn't get it. Dang!

Josh has blogged about the rough process of module allocations here, and as much as how I have not really complained about it, things have been pretty rough for me too. I have failed to get my elective modules in the last 2 phases of module allocations, and the results for the final round will most probably be out by today or tomorrow. I am praying that all turns out well.

Bad Habit - Money Like Water

This is so wrong but for the last few days, I've been doing something I so rarely do in Singapore, or for that matter something I so rarely do all my life. Shopping. Many of my friends call it retail therapy, but the problem is that I do not really have any theraputical needs, so maybe it's just a bad habit.

Maybe it's because I'm getting this 'since you're abroad just spend' mentality, or because things are really much cheaper here, but this is unhealthy. For the past few days, the gang and I have gone shopping at many different areas (especially Mongkok), and we have never failed to come back with a new purchase every other day.

Since arriving, I have bought things from shoes and boots, tops and shorts, to misc stuff like water bottles and CDs. Just yesterday, I spent the most on one single item, my all new 08/09 blackburn rovers away jersey. I am feeling the pinch from all the money that I have spent, yet again it gives me a good sense of satisfaction. There is also still one more thing left on my 'shopping list', that being a nice bagpack. I see myself getting one real soon.

Now those I mentioned above were all so called 'luxury purchases'. There's still the living and traveling necessities, books, hostel fees, and not to mention, rather costly food here in HK. I so need to keep my finance in check.

Random stuff. Mid-autumn is a public holiday here, so there's no lessons on my most packed day of the week today! Apparently my triple room has become a 5-person ... err 5-living things room, because Smeagol brought back two tortoises and he's letting them run loose in the room! Smeagol still sings aloud and talks to himself, and it's still scary. School work and module allocations are much kinder to me, and hopefully all will settle in my favour when it's all confirmed next week. Rovers are on a bad run, and they'd better buck up if not I'm going to make a huge lost for the jersey just purchased.

That's The Life

There were occasional cool breezes, as the morning sun which shone above was partially shaded by the dispersing clouds. Just a few footsteps away on the opposite side of the fence, the usual morning crowd was rushing to and from class. On this side of the fence, I sat under a giant green umbrella, glancing left and right as Josh and Hansu exchanged strokes. In my left hand, I held a packet of chilled juice, and in another, I juggled a tennis ball. I leaned back into my seat, took a sip, turned to Josh and said, "That's The Life".

The above paragraph very much describes life here so far after two weeks of lessons, and it very much satisfies one of my main reasons for coming for SEP. I know as the weeks go by, work will start to come in, and things will change a little. But at least I'm sure that it will never reach the level of 'hectic-ness' I experienced for the past four semesters.

On a side note, Elaine said something which was rather thought provoking. I would sum it up using two scenarios of 'slacking'. One, to slack by skipping class, and then studying harder later to catch up when the assignments and exams come. Two, to attend all lessons, and then go into assignments and exams without doing much revision, banking simply on what you have absorbed in class. Question is of course, which is better (slacker)?

The Joy of Going Solo

It's only today that I realise how much I miss having a single room all to myself. This room mate of mine is getting scarier by the day. He talks alot, but the scary thing is that keeps talking to himself. This zi yan zi yu-ness of his is getting scary, so much so that when he really talks to me, I never respond because I don't know if he's doing another 'smeagol', you know ... like talking to his 'other half'.

Smeagol talks to the other room mate more often because the other guy is also from China, but I think smeagol just pissed him off today. The other guy was sound asleep, when smeagol started singing real loudly with his headphones on. And to be blatantly honest, it was screechingly horrible. The other guy woke up, gave a look of frustration, and went out of the room. Thank goodness I have a good pair of apple earphones.

Well that's for solo room. On to something else, solo outings! It's fun to go around the island with company, but sometimes it's really nice to just go around by myself, getting lost and finding my own way around. My first solo adventure a few days back was at Tsim Sha Tsui, walking around harbour city, the roadside streets, and watching the symphony of lights. It wasn't exactly very 'wow', but nonetheless still nice! I thought it was a really smart use of their financial district, and the coordination of the lights with the music at victoria harbour was really good. It made it seem like the buildings could really talk to each other, despite being hundreds of metres apart.

My second solo trip today was much more exciting. I finally found the famous 'heng xiang' lao po bing my mum and gf talked. It was at Causeway Bay Sogo, and of course, since I was all the way there already, I just had to eat krispy kremes again (yes putting on more and more weight!). I realised that the orginal glazed one was actually much nicer than the flavoured ones. The gang keeps saying that krispy kremes is a little over rated and a little below expectations, but I personally still think its quite good.

I then made my way around Causeway Bay, IFC mall, getting lost, before I finally found the mid-level escalators. Apparently it's this long stretch of escalators running through a few streets on this mountain, with each street higher than the previous. The shops were mostly cafes, bars and chill out places. So I just took the escalators all the way up, and when I reached the end, I kinda didn't know where I was. I could have gone down the stairs back to where I took the mid-level escalators, but I decided to take 'the path less travelled', and officially got lost! Haha I landed up in some rich apartments area, so I followed some ulu path next to the winding main road all the way down the moutain.

But guess what, it was a blessing in disguise, as I landed at the Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens. Apparently it was free, and eventhough it was just a small park-like zoo with one small reptile corner, one mammals section and one aviaries section, I kinda found it interesting. I stood there for almost half an hour (with wild squirrels jumping above me) watching the different kinds of monkeys swiniging around freely in their gigantic cages, before I made my way to the aviaries section. They had a whole range of bird species, and it was quite a sight. Eventually, I landed up at this big open space with a fountain at the centre of it, and it was only then that I started cursing myself for not charging my camera battery before I came out. I eventually only managed to squeeze in one shot of the pink flamengos, before my camera died on me.

After I came out of the Gardens, I actually realised that I was just a street away from the peak tram. So knowing where I was then, it marked the end of my 'hor-lan' adventures. Till my next solo adventure!

Glad to be a Singaporean

I had always wanted to go on SEP to experience a different culture, taking a break from a lifestyle which I have been so used to for the past two decades. And now having stepped out for week or so, the biggest takewaway I got is not from this new culture I experienced in HK, but more of the realization of how much I have taken what I have at home for granted. It's during these times that you really appreciate what you have at home, and feel glad to be a Singaporean!

We seem to have the luxury of almost everything in Singapore, and apparently many of us don't realise this. No doubt we do not have krispy kremes and H&M like what they have in HK and other countries, but we still have other 'substitutes' along those lines. In terms of food, we have almost everything back at home. When speaking to Hansu over the last few days, we realised that he has never tried Singaporean food, never tried dimsum, mooncakes and much more. No doubt some of these food I mentioned belong to the chinese tradition which is common in Singapore, but that aside, we actually have a fusion of food choices from all over the world, and not every country has that luxury.

Food and shops aside, I am so grateful for the languages that we have learnt since young in Singapore. Having English as a first language, and mandarin as a mother tongue has helped me so much here in HK. In terms of school, I sometimes wonder how the locals (those who are poorer in their command of English) and the other exchange students (from countries where English is not their first language) can cope with lectures. I can sometimes feel the anxiety and worry that they have just by looking at the frowns on their faces when the lecutrers and tutors speak.

Similarly, when out in the streets here in HK, despite my horrible attempts to converse in cantonese, I can always fall back on English or Mandarin. My proficiency is these two languages have never once failed to ensure my survivability here in HK. And even when someone speaks to me in cantonese, there is this chance that I may understand parts of the sentence, simply because cantonese has some relation to mandarin. Again when comparing to our counterparts who are not as fluent in English, and have no knowledge of mandarin at all, its so hard for them.

See, so to those who keep complaining about being Singaporeans, think twice. As josh, elaine and I always say in HK, you gain some, you lose some. For every 'not-so-good' we get as a Singaporean, theres always a 'good' like the many that I have mentioned.

The last few days have been sports, food, more food, more self-guided tours and books. Sports being one attemp at running around the school, a few rounds of tennis, a few games of 8-ball pool and quite abit of table tennis. Food being more dimsum, more local food, and more krispy kremes! Tours being exploring new places like Yau Ma Tei, Temple Street, Kowloon Tong, Kwun Tong, and City University (which really looks like a shopping mall with students who dress really well).

Books simply being the start of lectures and tutorials. And oh all the talk about SEP being slack and whatsoever, you know what .... it's so true (for this week at least). When people are going for lectures, we are playing tennis and going for dimsum. When my roommates are studying, I go to bed. When people are paying attention in class, I think of where to go after class. When people are spending their nights in the hostel rooms, I come back around 10pm every night after touring the HK streets. Well maybe all this 'slackness' is due to the fact that I haven't really gotten all the modules I wanted, so workload is still kinda light. We'll see as the weeks go by, as I certainly need to remind myself that I am afterall still an exchange STUDENT, and not a tourist.

Lectures Abroad

Lessons at CUHK started yesterday, and my very first lecture abroad actually ... didn't happen. Apparently the lecturer had some personal issues to settle, and didn't turn up. Great start huh. Second lecture was much better, although nothing really went in, and I'm starting to wonder if my brain has really rusted after 4 months.

Similarly, today's marketing lecture was kind of cancelled, although we did form our project groups. I do have to say that yes, the locals here are much more friendly and receptive than us back home in Singapore. This danish student and I were the only exchange students in the class, and guess what, a group actually initiated to have us join their group. I know I can't speak for all Singaporeans, but I think most of us back home would tend to shun away from the foreigners, worrying that they will be future phantom group members. And yes, I'm guilty of that too.

Modules are all a mess now. Apparently everything will only be settled and confirmed by the end of next week, and I am actually going for lessons which I may not be taking, and also missing classes which I want to take but haven't gotten. There goes my plans of settling my modules and timetable asap.

It has been scorching hot since the day we arrived, but it rained last night, and is raining again today. Weather starting to cool down, and season changing perhaps. Apparently my room view allows me to forcast the weather for the next hour or so. If the sea turns rough, and if I can't see the outlying islands anymore, means its raining heavily over there, and its coming here real soon.