Lamma Island

I named him Toby

My companions (me in the mirror)

Dogs over dogs on this island

The beach

Sahara


This again is about hiking and pleasure outside the dorm ;)

The day after our excursion to the new territories, I decided to go to Lamma Island, an island only 20 mins from HK Island, mainly populated by relaxed old people (a lot of hippies and 68ers amongst them) but "über"-crowded. It was probably not the smartest idea to go on that holiday after easter but still I wanted to and did not regret it. Hence, I had to find companions, who happened to be Lorna, Melissa and Maria, Helena and Alex, three of Lorna's friends from Berkeley. Arriving at Lamma we became aware of the amount of tourists that would be overpopulating the island at this time and chose to find a place to eat. We didn't manage to and thus made our way over to the other side of the island, the part where most restaurants are situated. The hike took us about 1 hour (maybe a bit more) and we discovered the beautiful island with its hidden beaches and red bean ice cream sellers. The whole island is paradoxically controlled by an alien with chimneys huge as skyscrapers - the so-called power plant. Such an inappropriate place to build one! We marched on and came to the restaurant area where we started opposing artificiality by eating vegan, organic food. Make a point and bust a move!!!
Tired but happy we made our way back to the beach where Lorna left us to pick up more friends from the airport. After chilling for an hour or so we made our way back to the ferry and to Hong Kong Island.

what a week.

New Territories



On the way to town
The poor crabs.

It's been a while and a lot has happened.

I will start telling you guys about our hike to the new territories, i.e. Sai Kung.
Emma and Adele being the initiators of this fun trip, planning to go hiking around the mountains and eventually finishing the night with some good seafood and a cold beer. The trip to the new territories took us about 1 1/2 hours by bus and MTR and we eventually arrived at Emma's families friend's place where we were provided with a map and nice company. Guy and his wife plus son guided us to a small temple in which we lit up joss sticks to pray to Buddha for more prosperity and luck in our lives. I considered this to be wrong (at least the wrong thing for me) since I do not believe in Buddha. One reason for this is the meat, onion and garlic free food.
We eventually reached the path and were left by the family and about to enter the "jungle". I kinda wished to be listening to Guns 'n' Roses at that time which I did not manage to due to a lack of appropriate technical equipment. We were hiking on and over the mountains that gave an excellent view over the bay and the extremely misty and thus mysteriously beautiful mountain site. The weather was rather warm and very humid which made my jeans stick to my legs and walking rather uncomfortable. After passing the "Hong Kong Adventure Squad" (which to me looked more like simple scouts...) we reached the end of the path and made our way back to town where we indeed did finish the day with some tasty food and a cold Tsing Tao.

swimming

Since we do have very good sports' facilities at our Uni, I went swimming with Jojo today. The pool itself was stunning. Eight 50 m lanes and only 4 people using it. Doesn't get much better than that. Considering the fact that I used to swim about 4000m in 1 1/2 hours in my competition days seems so far away. We made it up to 800m this time. I blame it a bit on the shoulder workout yesterday but even without it I would probably only be capable of doing 200 more meters. I will improve the distance though. Tomorrow I shall go to town and get proper Speedos and goggles for not having to borrow Jojo's water polo ones that make me look like a member of the NZ water polo association which I am clearly not. Bullocks, wherever my condition is, I hope it's having a good time chilling out.

Just wanted to share this experience. Nothing world moving but still an astonishing recognition from my part.

old women and economics

As promised.

The hook of this story is my presentation in "East Asian Societies and Economics". I started hating this class in the first lecture due to our professor. Well, this is going to be controversial, since she seemed to be a really nice, maybe 70-year old lady from mainland China with a strong accent, making it difficult to follow her lectures. She made the misunderstandings up to us with a smile that made her anyhow small eyes basically disappear. The girls loved her for it. "Isn't she just adorable?" Yes, in fact she was until last week. Wait, I messed it up already since I want you guys to understand why I dislike this class and not love the prof as well :D

The reason I started disliking this lecture was because she boldly changed the name from "Politics" to "Economics". Since I really am not interested in world economies at all (yes, I know that you need it to understand politics but I really only know the basics which in my opinion is by far enough) I started switching off during the lectures. Big mistake as I was about to find out. To be fair I must say that I did not prepare the presentation too well, since my topic was an extremely broad one: Japan - Case Studies. I thus started preparing a presentation through the macro filter on the Japanese economy since 1945. Reasonable, isn't it? Well, where to start...outline and research of course. The matter of research was that basically all books on the topic I needed them for were unavailable in the library. I hence started raiding the online e-sources. Since you do know that I am not a big fan of economy and by far more interested in history I started summing up political events and underlined them with a few (few) statistics. I thought "Ah well, I think everyone will understand, why Japan is the economic power it is today, why the economic bubble collapsed and how it will be in the future." After the presentation my fellow students agreed. But I will come to that later.

The presentation starts and I start talking. As soon as I mention the term "processing nation" she indignantly interrupts me. "Never in my whole career did I hear this term. I think what you really mean, if you did the readings (which I partly did but was disgusted by all the statistics and numbers) you should know that what you are trying to say is called "vertical integrated economic system"." OK, fair enough. This brought up the discussion in my head, which of the two would be easier to understand for my fellow students. (It's basically a country importing goods such a s steel, etc., processing them and re-selling them for more money -> btw the key to economic prosperity in Japan) What a start. From now on it only got worse. I stuttered, finished the presentation/ torture and was now ready for execution. Again I quote "Mortal Combat" : "FINISH HIM!" The Q&A session, only held by the professor this time. I held the fortress and some people tried to help me out by defending its ground columns. The axe stopped as it started splitting my beard hair. We had reached events that occurred after '95 and the apple market shares, a topic I indeed follow closely in recent weeks and its comparison with market shares of Japanese companies. She didn't know anything about recent events. After having proved herself being a bitch before, she now put up one of those smiles I mentioned earlier. Did not work on me. My picture of old ladies is now forever distorted. After the presentation I received a lot of claps that helped me to get on with my everyday life and thereby escaping the scaffold.

I really have to raise the question here whether academic education always has to be based on difficult facts and terms when it could be so much more trivial and easier. Well, I think it has to be a balance as in everything. Puh! and all that on my birthday... After that I just went home to enjoy a couple of well deserved beers. They just taste best after a survived battle.

"Madness? THIS-IS-HONG-KONG!"

Khawp khun khrap

Cd-shopping at Ko San road

Day of our departure (view from Lee Hysan)

exploring the Grand Palace in Bangkok with timeless stylish dresscode

Louise...Imagine the ROCKY theme whilst running up the stairs
Jojo....take Teletubbies theme


I figured, that 5 pictures are not sufficient to give you an idea of the experiences we had in the 10 days in Thailand. That's why I will upload more right now and distract myself from writing this bloody essay! If I am already bored by this topic, I really don't see how the other ones will work. Will I drop the grandma course? Oh yeah, I did not have time to tell you about this escapade...next thread will.

"SLAUNTJE!"

Jojo waiting
In front of Starbucks

Erin
Louise and Marc
Tired in the cab.


St. Patrick's Day in Hong Kong. Melissa initiated a gathering at Lan Kwai Fong to go to an Irish Pub to celebrate the Irish Patron Saint. Arriving at LKF, Jojo and I were sitting down on the stairs in front of Starbucks, when Jojo appreciated the Irish manner of cheering to random people, passing by the entrance. One of these was an obviously completely stoned junkie who had a lot of stories to tell. He was a good laugh until he mentioned having lost his heroine. This was the point I, in secret had been waiting for, so I told him to "go over to that lovely street sign who wants to listen to all of these stories." He then asked whether he should leave and I assured him he understood me and quietly he left. I felt pity for him.

Soon after, Erin arrived and sat down beside us, still waiting for Lorna and Melissa to show up. When they eventually arrived, all of us got stocked up with "Irish-saying-buttons" Melissa's Mom had sent over. We crossed the street and got ourselves some beer at club 7/11 (for all of you who might not know what it is: a supermarket...) and went straight to the amphitheater to await the arrival of the rest of the group. Jojo's friends Dave and his older brother Mike arrived and soon after we were also joined by Louise, Marc, Adele, Ted, Hana & Franky. As you can read, a nice bunch of people, willing to go full-on for St. Paddy. The expectations were high, the result rather poor. With all the ex-pats in this city you would expect more than this. Only at one point there were actually people in the street celebrating but the group did not want to stay here but move up to one of the Irish pubs. We went into "Dublin Jack" but since the music was very quiet and the atmosphere not really good either we left and from then on just strolled around , trying to find the ultimate...no, not beach...location. We eventually ended up in "Dublin Jack" again, where I drank my last drink for the night: ice cold Bulmer's. Next year there's a better party to come. No dislocated arms though.

Art anyone?

This was one of the weirdest and most random gatherings of exhibitions I've seen so far. I took Melissa out for the so-called "Refabricating city", an exhibition of different artists with a focus on architecture and other random stuff in the old HK police station. Entering through an iron gate, facing a small alley leading uphill plastered with bamboo constructions and green writings on the ground, we reached the vast yard from which we were led to different rooms within the acutal station. We went through them and I just let go the feeling of attempting a certain kind of understanding, since I really did not. We eventually came to a room where we started drawing down what Central district meant for us. Very different approaches indeed.

Funny afternoon...and artistic.

Thai Thread visualized

"What's going on?" the extremely large backpack is!

Louise and I

Sweaty like Patrick Swayzee after Thai curry.

My two companions, Jojo & Louise.

What's going on?

Alright, part 2, here we go:

We were on this trip on the longtailboat, remember? My sun lotion was the least efficient thing I might have probably purchased, regarding my optimism of taking sun protection factor 12. I know, it is stupid. Coming back from the trip Louise treated my back with Aloe Vera which actually felt like heaven. Combined with the fan causing evaporation freeze on my back...priceless. Even Louise who was sure of not getting burnt took some of the lotion to treat her wounds. As if that would not have been enough hotness for a whole week, we went to see a fire show in the evening, watching some Thai boys doing fire-pois (flaming balls at the end of 2 chains) at a hallucinating speed. not much more happened, I reckon...Oh yes, Louise and I got another, this time professional, Aloe Vera massage. Goooood.

The next day we went on our tremendous trip to the other side of the country to get to Ko Phangan (I still don't know how to spell it properly...any Thais?). The bus trip was really funny, even though incredibly hot. Of course, there was a German family on board, which I realised by only looking at them. You know that feeling that you can put certain people into certain categories and you just know that you are right? Anyway. I had that feeling and was right. They had two really cute kids that I immediately amused by looking cross-eyed. I had found my allies. People who had the opinion that this bus trip basically sucked. I thought it would be a little too infantile to join their crying and complaining in the typical way children always do..."Are we there yet?!?", "Can you see us holding? No? Obviously means we're not there yet!". Pretty rude thing to say to a 4 year old. I had my fun with the kids and soon we played hide and seek. Mighty pointless in a bus but the seats can cover you pretty well. The parents got a little more relaxed and as soon as the small boy (estimated 2 1/3 years old) started laughing about me making funny faces the mood in the bus got from annoyed to relaxed and seeing the world a little less cramped. Funny, what a children's laugh can provoke. After a couple of hours, I think it may have been about 7, we arrived at Surat Thani, from where we still had to take the ferry to Ko...Thing... On the boat we immediately went into the so-called V.I.P.-Lounge, a Grey room with airplane seats. In other perspective there was no difference to the rest of the seats. At 11 at night we arrived in our hotel that surprisingly was named "Delight Resort" which it really was. Luxurious and still quite affordable but not what we wanted. We wanted a bungalow on the beach. We met up with Hana and Ted in the evening and went to have a couple of drinks with them. It surely was a funny night of which I unfortunately don't remember too much. The fact that my camera lay safe on the bed of our bungalow did not allow me to recapitulate the evening afterwards :D The following days went by rainy. Hence, we sat in the lounge area of our resort reading books, sipping fresh fruit shakes. We eventually left for Surat Thani from where we took the bus to the train station in order to make our way up to Bangkok and eventually to Hong Kong.

That's the trip, my friends.

"When you look up 'hilarious' in the dictionary, there's a picture of you."

Here we go again! freshly relaxed and bronzed back from Thailand and about to tell you.

I don't know where to put the beginning, so I just make it the point I think it started for me which is the first laugh, seeing Jojo carrying an extremely large backpack with about 1t of luggage out of Wei Lun Hall. "Look at this, dude, it's such an epic backpack, you can fit sooo much shit in it!" I bet you can... We made our way to the cab and went off to Louise's hall and further to the airport. OK, now you might think that Louise comforts the stereotype of the "average" girl that takes 50 pairs of shoes and 20 dresses on a weekend-trip but indeed she was carrying only 8 kg on her, whereas Jojo and me were both carrying over 12kg. Thus, revise your stereotypes!

We went on the plane and after a 2 1/2 hrs flight arrived in Bangkok. Now, where to sleep? Louise took us to the backpacking-paradise Ko San Road. As it really is the backpacking-paradise, which I now know, it was difficult to get a room for three. Sweaty, dirty and thirsty for a cold beer we eventually found a decent place (the last free one on Ko San Road...believe me!) and took the long desired shower. What next? Yes, cold beverage. No alcohol on election day. Disappointment #1. We went further down on Ko San and immediately banged into Aurore, Simon & Julie, some fellow students from HK. The amazement got to its peak when I bought a bag of fried insects (of which I am sure none of the locals would even think about touching) and Julie had the time of her life devouring them. Simon on the other hand surprisingly gagged, trying a maggot. I think it's a redundant think to try but an experience of having done it. After some noodles we went back to the room and got to bed relatively early, since there was no party or anything going on. Sad actually...no alcohol, no party? You be the judge.

I will sum up the events of the follwing day a bit, hence to the length of what I am about to write.
The next day offered a visit to the grand palace, which is supposedly the most amazing temple/palace, or anything comparable, I've ever been to. After this stop we went back to Ko San by Tuk-Tuk which are the small three-wheeled cabs in Bangkok. No safety whatsoever but quick. We got our stuff and went to the airport in order to catch the plane to Krabi.

Arriving in Krabi (which is in the South West of the country) we took, how could it be different, a cab and then a longtail boat to go to Railay beach where we checked into a hotel close to the beach. Belive it or not, they were selling beer and not giving a wet shiitake about what was happening in Mainland. "No police here, my boss is in the Mafia!" No shit? I mean what an amazing thing to say. One day, when I will be grown up, I will become an employee of the mafia, just to say that "my boss" was "in the Mafia!". Anyway. Please keep me from striving away, will you?!? We had quite a wild night and finished up drunk but satisfied in our beds. One person ate the other way around. I will not mention who.

The next day we went on to our probably most sportive part of the trip: rock climbing. It was sapping all of our energy but was absolutely worth it. Completely wrecked, what better than to enjoy a nice oil-massage performed by the locals? Nothing. Rhetoric question and answer. This evening we went to a restaurant (which we actually did every night but from now on the big eating should begin) where I had two main meals. Thai Curry and an extremely big burger. Soaked in sweat after this hard bit of work we went back to the hotel room to relax and afterwards to go out. Louise got too tired what made her stay in. Jojo and me on the other hand met up with our rock climbing guide Jod who introduced us to his morning group, 5 American girls who were incredibly drunk/stoned. Besides stupid laughter and redundant facts about their apparently boring life nothing productive evolved from their mouths. We furthermore witnessed a set up Muay Thai (thai boxing) fight, followed by a snake show with obviously violated snakes. The first one was a Cobra, released from its teeth, the second one a Python, abused and exploited in the same way. Disappointment # 2. It made me sad, seeing these poor creatures completely exposed to the public without any protection. In my darkest dreams I wished for the Pythons revenge, by strangling one of the tourists, performing obscene poses with it. I think I will start investing in some animal protection fund to ease the pain of the little ones. Paradoxically, Jojo and I felt our stomaches after this everything else but tasty show and decided to get some Roti (Thai pancakes...correct me if I am wrong) at the Indian's car. Extremely tasty! Now there was the choice: Going back and having a stupid little chip chat with the wasted girls or going to bed. Yep, we made the right choice and went back to the room, or at least in its direction. Already from a safe distance we could hear Louise shouting "Hey guys I just couldn't sleep...and I got a little hungry!" This was the dear Lord hearing our prayers. Another reason to go back to that Roti guy, putting a smile upon his face due to the profit he was about to make.

The next morning we left for my favorite part of the trip, considering the landscape. Lonely Planet hadn't promised too much. White beaches, crystal blue sea, sunsets that could easily be considered as postcard motives. I wanted to wipe the postcards away from my eyes as I realized that this was extremely real. Approaching the island I had all my wishes fulfilled. Arriving on the island wasn't actually that difficult, finding accommodation was not either, finding the room was. The people working at this resort were basically useless and did not understand which room we wanted. Now you might think "arrogant tourist", which I am indeed not but at the same time I lost my patience as they made us walk the same path of about 300 m (30°C) 4 times. That did it for me. When we eventually settled down, nothing could hold me off the sea and a nice nap on the bed afterwards. Fantastic! The bungalow in which we stayed in was coincidentally the same bungalow Louise stayed in only two years before. In the evening relaxing was epic. The sunset from our little mansion was priceless and an amazing clishe found itself confirmed. The not so amazing mosquitoes made our night pretty much hell due to Jojo, who wrapped himself into our mosquito net, considering it hi blanket. No my friend, no. Needless to say that he thereby reduced the net's efficiency from very high to none existent and obviously without even noticing. You wouldn't want to mess around with him if he was awake...

Now, the moment all of you have been waiting for so long has come: My sunburn! It all began with the idea of taking a trip around the neighbor islands under other Ko Phi-Phi Ley, the island where Leonardo DiCaprio created his own computer game by taking drugs and eventually running through the rain forest. I was not to keen to reenact this game so I did not. We obviously took the cheaper version of the trip which was a longtailboat that took us to some snorkeling spots and finally to the beach. The whole day I was rubbing myself with sun lotion which appeared to be inefficient regarding the third degree burns on my back and my feet. The story of how it happened? Tomorrow...I am really tired. HAHA! I know, I hope that at least someone is reading all this and getting a little pissed off at me, not continuing now but there shall be more.

G'nite.