I’ve spent the last two months in Hong Kong. Wow. That’s hard for me to say. Everything has gone by in such a blur, it seems like I’ve barely had any time to explore the city. My experiences playing pickup basketball with the mainland Chinese, having dinners at Mr. Wongs (international student hangout), and taking HKU classes (psssh, classes?) are all flying by.
However, I’ve been outside of the city so much, I guess it’s only right that I feel like I’ve barely spent any time here. In the past two months I’ve made weeklong trips to Taiwan and Malaysia in addition to a short weekend hop over to Singapore. These trips included hot springs, massive gorges, altitude sickness, snorkeling with turtles, the discovery of my new favorite food, dancing to Adventure Club, and meeting with a Malaysian baby jumbo!
To start off, the Tufts in HK group went to Taiwan. Now, I honestly didn’t think there would be that much to do in Taiwan. But then I found the food. We landed in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, and immediately went to a restaurant and had a 12 course meal for 20USD. Apparently Taiwan has some of the best food in the world, who knew?
The group spent some time in Kaohsiung (the 2nd largest city in the country) and afterwards we took a high speed rail (345km/hour!!) to some hot springs outside of Taipei. The Tufts program casually put us up in some 5 star villas for the night, which was unbelievable. The hotel manager was also one of the nicest people ever (actually everybody in Taiwan was incredibly friendly).
But the best part about the springs was definitely the tiny fish that nibbled/cleaned your feet. Nobody in the group could keep a straight face when they were tickling our toes. I was giggling hysterically.
Then we reached the most tiring day. Out of bed at 3:30AM, we took a 5AM train to Taroko Gorge. This Gorge is a fantastic national park on the east coast of the island. It consists of a huge riverbed bored deep into the rainforest-covered mountains. Absolutely beautiful, with waterfalls everywhere.
A couple of us broke off from the group and ended up almost missing the last bus out of the park. Here’s a taxi photo of us trying to escape before we get stuck in the park after dark.
Happily, we were back in the hotel by 1AM. Didn’t even scare Vera! (I think).
When we were back in Taipei, the group headed to the largest Night Market in the city. Oh, what exactly are night markets? A religious experience, that’s what. Booths and booths of some of the greasiest, most delicious, freshly steamed food ever. I downed chicken fried steak, grilled squid, and buckets of strawberries for each trip. But, nothing will compare to my new favorite food: deep fried soft shell mini crab. 20 for 3USD. Absolute. Heaven.
I also got to try stink tofu! Now let me tell you, this stuff SMELLS. It’s like someone left dog feces in a microwave oven. Not kidding. But, I have to admit, it tastes just like regular tofu. I’m actually enjoying this bite.
On the last day of the trip, I went walking around the city a bit by myself. A friend of mine in the Tufts in HK program recommended a hike called elephant hill. The cover picture for this blog is Jumbo and Taipei 101 at the end of the hike.
After we arrived back from Taiwan, I got to have a short week and a half break for classes. Then I was off to Singapore with a few friends!
Singapore, overall, is an interesting place. I’d call it a nicer, cleaner Orlando with better food. There are man-made attractions everywhere, and the entire city is clean to the bone. The government is extremely strict when it comes to things like hugging (possible jailtime), drugs (jailtime), littering (big fines/community service), and not flushing the toilet (apparently public caning?). But other than that, Singapore is fantastic place to live, and everybody we talked to loved their home.
While for most of the first day, my friends and I just walked around the city, we were able to make a stop by the Singapore Flyer. It’s the largest ferris wheel in the world, and provides fantastic views of the city, especially at sunset. You can see the Marina Bay Sands Hotel off to the right, which is famous for its infinity pool.
Afterwards we went for a stroll by the harbor during twilight.
Then a few people who still had energy (not me), trekked over to Zouk to see Kaskade. Apparently Zouk is ranked as a top 10 club worldwide, makes me wish I had coughed up the 30USD to get in the door.
The next day we traveled around the city for a bit in the day, then headed to the Night Safari around 8PM. My friend Jackie, who loves cats, dogs, and well, anything with fur that’s cute, absolutely loved it. I wanted to see the glow in the dark scorpions; she skipped right over them.
As for my last day in Singapore, we all went out to Sentosa Island, which is known for its theme parks, rides, and beaches. The water at the beach was brilliantly warm, and a fantastic cool down from the constant 95 degree temperature on the island.
That’s all I’ll write about for now, but my post on Malaysia should be up sometime next week! What does it involve? Here’s a hint: A brand new Tufts blogger! Check back soon!