Lantau Island

This past Sunday I went to Lantau Island with some of my housemates. It went Julia, Heiko, Dra, and Varena, who are all my housemates from Germany. We started out the day by taking the MTR (subway system) to a cable car, called the Ngong Ping 360. This cable car took us from Tung Chung to North Lantau Island. The ride took about 25 min.

 Once we got off the cable car we began our journey to the Giant Buddha. The Tin Tan Buddha was built in the 1990's and symbolises the harmonious relationship between man and nature, people and religion. It is made of copper and stands 112ft tall. Once we reached the base of the Buddha we had to climb 268 steps of get to the statue.

Near the giant Buddha is the Po Lin Monastery, which we visited next. The main temple houses 3 bronze statues of the Buddha representing his past, present and future lives as well as many Buddhist scriptures. There is no meat or alcohol allowed anywhere on the monastery grounds, and there are signs posted everywhere saying 'No meat or alcohol,' which I thought was pretty funny. Needless to say there were not very many Americans spending a lot of time on the grounds :)
 Next we took a bus to TaiO, a historical fishing town. It has been dubbed 'the Venice of Asia' because many of the houses are on stilts along the waterways that run through the village. It is a very small fishing town. A lot less modernized than most of Hong Kong. It is one of the most 'rural' places I have been so far, without a McDonalds or Seven Eleven around every corner.  It is also known for its seafood, such as dried fish, which I saw (and smelled) a lot of.

We then took another bus across the island to Mui Wo for something to eat. We ate some Chinese food at a great place that had a deck on the water. We walked on the beach in Mui Wo for a bit before it got dark. We were all exhausted from site seeing the whole day so we took a back to Hong Kong Island around sunset.
It was great to do some more tourist stuff. As happy as I am to be adjusting to life here and start falling into a daily routine of work, I keep reminding myself not to get stuck in my comfort zone. I need to get out and see new things and experience the culture and take advantage of this once in a lifetime opportunity. 

Macau

So this Friday and Saturday I was at the MGM Grand, Wynn, Venetian, and Hard Rock. Vegas? Nope. I was in Macau. Like Hong Kong, Macau is a special administrative region (SAR) of China. It was settled by the Portuguese, so most signs are in Chinese and Portuguese. I found Portuguese to be very similar to Spanish, so I was able to read many signs! The whole reason for the trip was to get my visa activated. I entered Hong Kong on Sept 1st as a tourist. Once I picked up my visa, I had to leave Hong Kong and re-enter on my visa. Hence the Macau trip.
Mandy, Ken, and I left work early on Friday and took a ferry from Macau. We got to our hotel (Rio hotel) and showered (HUGE shower for me!!!) and changed. We had lo mein noodles for dinner. Being a vegetarian is still proving to be a challenge. Then went to a kind of 'milk' shop for dessert, famous for their dairy products. Ken had a 'egg' dessert, which was like pudding constancy but made of egg, while Mandy had the same thing but made of milk and ginger. I just had chocolate milk. We then headed to the MGM Grand to do some gambling. I guess that Macau has a greater net profit than Vegas each year from casinos! But not from me!!! I came out $40HK ahead, which is like $5US, but still :) I introduced Mandy to roulette, my game of choice, and I think I got her hooked!
The night life in Macau is nothing like Vegas. There are very few bars and literally no clubs. We found one of the few bars and had a couple drinks and listened to some live music. After that we walked around the Wynn for a bit, then headed back to the room to call it a night.

 

 The next morning I woke up early and had the hotel breakfast buffet while Ken and Mandy slept in. We had a lazy morning and checked out of the hotel around noon. We then headed to the town center where Mandy and Ken had a portgugese dish called Congee, a rice porridge. Next we walked to the ruins of St. Paul's Cathedral. The cathedral was built in the late 1500's as a dedication to St. Paul the Apostle. It was destroyed by a fire in 1835, and the facade is all that remains.

Next we went to get one of the most famous dishes in Macau, the Portuguese egg tart. It has a crispy crust like any tart, and is filled with egg and has a sweet, crispy, burned sugar top. We went to the shop most famous for selling them. However, since EVERYONE goes there to get the egg tarts we had to eat ours outside in the 90+ degree weather with about 100% humidity, so it was hard to enjoy, especially since the egg tarts are served hot. We passed many shops selling dried thin sheets of many kinds of meat as well as little nut treats like nut rolls, both very popular in Macau. After the egg tarts we went to a famous Macau temple called the A-Ma Temple, a temple built in 1448 dedicated to the goddess Matsu.

 We then headed over to the other part of the island to walk around The Venetian, The Hard Rock, and The City of Dreams shops and casinos. In the City of Dreams we watched a 3D Dragon light show in a theater called the bubble, so the show is taking place all around you. To end our day we went to a Portuguese restaurant for dinner, then headed back to Hong Kong on the ferry.
Over all it was a great trip! The weather was very hot and humid, but Hong Kong is like the right now too. I expected the city to be a bit more like Vegas with bars and clubs, but I guess people just come there to strictly gamble. It was a little less crowded in Macau than Hong Kong, so it was nice to get away from the crowds of people for awhile. Also, I could feel a European influence on the city, which I liked for a change. Although no matter where I go I still feel like a minority among a million Asians :)  

Am I in vet school yet?!?!

I can't believe I've been here almost two weeks now! Crazy! Well this weekend was pretty un-eventful. It poured both Saturday and Sunday, so I just stayed in a pretty much finished seasons 1 and 2 of The Big Bang Theory, my new favorite tv show! I also joined a gym on Sunday! It's called Physical Fitness. How original, I know. Now I'm not saying this is the main reason I joined, but they do have really nice, big showers, which means I won't have to be showing in my tiny bathroom every day :)
However, Monday was very exciting! Our research team is located in the vet building of Ocean Park. I have been talking to and getting to know some of the vets, nurses, and vet interns and letting them know I want to go to vet school. On Monday, one of the vets Nimal, invited me to go along on the daily rounds because they would be doing some interesting stuff that day. Mandy agreed to run the research sessions by herself so that I could spend the day on vet rounds (very nice of her since we are short staffed anyways!). In the morning we sedated a hammer head shark that may have had a bacterial infection to that we could draw blood, give an injection, and swap the infected area for a bacterial culture. I pretty much just observed but it was really fun to watch. And don't worry, it was only about 2.5 feet long, a small one. In the afternoon we anesthetized a seal that has sick in order to draw blood and preform an ultra-sound. When I say 'we' I mean I pretty much watched the whole time and helped out when I could.
Nimal promised to invite me along for more vet rounds in the future since I will be here for so long. I know I am going to love being a part of this and will learn a lot!
This weekend we are going to Macau, another territory of China. Right now I am in Hong Kong as a tourist. I need to leave the country, and re-enter on my work visa. So Mandy, Ken, and I are going to Macau for Friday and Saturday. I'm very excited because it is said to be the Vegas of Asia! They have a lot of similar hotels and casinos to Vegas like the Wynn, Venetian, Palms, and Rio (which is where we are staying). so you can imagine my excitment! I'll write a blog post after we get back!

First Day of Work!

Sunday was dedicated to site seeing and tourism :) I spent the morning walking around and trying to get myself with the area I live. I walked around a place near my building called Victoria Park. It is kind of like Central Park in that it is a park in the middle of a huge urban city.

In the afternoon I met up with Mandy to explore Hong Kong Island a bit further. We rode the trolley from causeway bay until the end. We rode on top so I could see each area of Hong Kong Island as we drove by. At the end we got off and took a bus around to some of the beaches on Hong Kong Island. We ended up staying at Stanley Beach for awhile. It is a very touristy place, but also very pretty and open. A nice break from the crowded, busy city.

Today (Monday) was my first official day at work at Ocean Park! It was busy but a lot of fun. Here is a link to a YouTube video of research similar to ours.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51G83jaeNC4&feature=related
Tonight I went out to dinner and a movie with Mandy and Ken (another employee at Ocean Park). I again had soup noodles, which I learned how to say in Cantonese. I have learned how to say several things in Cantonese, like 'excuse me/thank you' 'no meat' 'instant noodles' 'good morning' and 'bathroom'. Mandy says she is very impressed with my pronunciation :) She is also impressed with how well I use chop sticks! I also tried Dim Sum for the first time tonight and really liked it.
The longer I am here the more I like it. So I'm finally settling in. Although I still wouldn't mind a larger room . . .

Love, Kels

Getting Acquainted

I am finally feeling a bit better about being here. Yesterday I went to Ocean Park to meeting my supervisors and colleges. I took a bus to Ocean Park which was pretty easy. I think it is only going to take me 10-15min to get to work every day. However, the Park is huge with 2 different areas, so it will take me awhile to familiarize myself with the park. I watched a couple of research sessions with the dolphins so I could familiarize myself with what I would be doing for the next couple of months.
I will be working with two different dolphins on two different projects. The project with the first dolphin, Ginsan, is dealing with echolocation. First we present him with PVC pipe in a certain shape. He will 'see' this shape using either echolocation or visually, depending on the test we are running. Then we will present him with two objects made of PVC, one shaped the same as the first and other shaped differently. He must then identify which shape matches the first one, again either visually or with echolocation, depending on the test. The experiments may to visual to visual, visual to echolocation, echo to echo, or echo to visual. The other project is with Angel. She must correctly identify a certain same object every time using only echolocation because a kind of blinders are put over her eyes.

I am very excited about this research. The concepts are very interesting and the experiments are rewarding to part take in. I also feel very lucky to be paid for an internship with marine mammals. Also, as part of the internship with will get to learn how to train the dolphins. While the experiments are being conducted, the dolphins are signaled by the main trainers. But Mandy and I will get some time to learn how to train them in simple behaviors.

Entrance to Ocean Park

Today I went with Mandy and walked around Causeway Bay and Wan Chi. I had to open a Hong Kong Bank account for my pay from Ocean Park so that took most of the morning. Then we got some lunch at a small traditional Hong Kong shop. Mandy is being very helpful in explaining Hong Kong culture to me. It is also very helpful to have her around since she speaks Cantonese.  We got one of the most common dishes, soup with noodles. However most of these dishes have some kind of meat in it so Mandy ordered me a noodle soup and just said 'no meat'. I also learned my first Cantonese phrase 'mh goi', which means thank you, excuse me, and pardon me. It is pretty much a courtesy term. Mandy showed me the 4 main shopping malls in Causeway Bay, two of them are called Times Square and World Trade Center, which I found kind of funny.
Later on in the day I walked around a bit more with two of the other girls staying in my hostel. We went out to get some food and walked through a small side street market.
I think the time difference is slowly working for me. Although me hard-as-a-board mattress wasn't helping to I bought a thick foam mattress pad. Hopefully I will sleep better tonight!
I still miss home. I miss my family, friends, Cayenne, regular size rooms, real shower, soft mattress, real kitchen, wahser & dryer (still haven't figured out where to do laundry), and sunshine. I know it will just take time to adjust and get into a routine.
Tomorrow Mandy and I are going to do some site seeing!
Love, Kels

Hello Hong Kong

Made it safe and sound! I'm sitting in my hostel right now which is about the size of a walk in closet (bathroom included). The bathroom IS the shower, so that should be fun for the next couple of months.
I got in to Hong Kong about 6:30pm Hong Kong time, took the 'Airport Express' to the Hong Kong Central Metro Station. This is where I met Mandy, the other intern from Ocean Park. We then went to the main hostel so I could check in. From there a staff member took us in a taxi to the hostel I am staying in located in Causeway Bay. Of course he brought the wrong key, so he couldn't open my door. He said he would another staff member on the next shift over with the correct key. Well 2 hours later I finally got my key and into my room. So here I am at 1:50am Hong Kong time not able to sleep because it is 1:00 in the afternoon in Minnesota.
The city is really big and overwhelming. It is like New York but a hundred times more intense. There are so many shops and people crammed into such a small area. Lucky almost all the signs are in English as well as Chinese.One thing that I am going to have to get used to is that they drive on the other side of the street. Must be because it was a British Territory.
Tomorrow I will be making my way to Ocean Park to meet the staff I will be working with. Wish me luck!

I already miss my friends and family! Good thing my hostel has free WiFi :)

Love, Kels