If you’ve ever seen the movie Groundhog Day, you’ll know that its about a man who wakes up and experiences the same day over and over again. It’s actually ironic that we were in China on actual Groundhog Day, because just like the movie I heard the same thing over and over again. Fogel kept talking about Guilin- if anyone is ever interested in going to the mountains where Avatar was inspired, Fogel is your girl. Rachel kept talking about her true love. Emma was in Super Bowl mode 4 days before.
China was really different than I expected it to be. We got to the Shanghai port early in the morning and you barely see across the water because of all the smog. The streets seemed really quiet- I expected there to be people everywhere. Our first day in Shanghai we went to a huge market under the museum. We spent a while there and had a great first lunch. The best part of the market was following the ladies into their back rooms and watching them take out huge bins of bags and wallets. That night we went to an amazing dinner overlooking all of Shanghai. Even though it’s really hard to see during the day, once the lights come on at night there’s a beautiful sky line. We went to a bar on the top of a hotel after and got an even better view of the city. It was fun to see SASers out. As Rachel would say, it was an outter body experience.
We slept on the ship that night. Side note- I thought I would get off the ship and never turn back but trust me the feeling of showering and sleeping in my cabin is the best one ever. The next morning we got up and went to a very cool modern art museum. After a lot of deliberation and a solid 30 minutes of not being able to get a cab, we made it back to the ship with a 10 minute turn around time. We finally made it to the airport and got on a flight to Beijing. Emma and I got McFlurries and they were honestly amazing.
The next day, our Beijing tour guide Ray picked us up from the hotel. Ray was amazing. He kissed Alana (yes there is another Alana) on the cheek that night when we dropped us at the airport. Ray brought us to Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. Beijing is a huge city and I wish we had more time to explore, but it was really helpful that we were with a guide who had a ton of information to share with us. The Forbidden city spans miles long and was built for the emperor and his 1000 closest advisors only. The buildings were beautifully built and there is so much history involved with the Forbidden City. However, it was unbearably cold and we ran back to the bus. Our next stop was an great traditional lunch before scaling the Great Wall. Ray ordered for us and the favorite dish of the meal some fried shrimp with sauce.
I really didn’t know what to expect from the Great Wall, but seeing if from a distance as we were driving up gave me chills. We took a small chairlift up to the top. The view was incredible. The wall was built to keep watch over Mongolians and other invaders. Ray was the best tour guide and photographer and really answered all of our questions. He dropped us back at the airport that night and was sad to say bye.
After a long flight and really long day we landed in Hong Kong. Many of you might know that I have been obsessed with Hong Kong, so I was most excited to see everything. We started the next day walking from our hotel to “Times Square.” Hong Kong was incredible because one street felt like NYC, the next like the most quintessential Chinese city, with a little bit of San Fransisco. We went to an incredible dim sum lunch and then stumbled into a Chinese medicine shop. Fogel found a girl to translate her and Fogel talked to the woman who then prescribed her some tea to drink, but we never went back to pick it up. But yolo it was for the experience. I dragged everyone to this huge mall to track down incredible frozen yogurt. I’m obsessed with Hong Kong. From the island we went across to Kowloon and walked through more markets there. I got a sweet potato bun from a stand on the street and it was insane.
That night we went to Yardbird (amazing food- still thinking about the cauliflower and all the yakitori) and went out with a few girls studying abroad in Hong Kong. We went to LKF, a street literally lined with bars and people just standing outside on the street drinking and hanging out. We ended up meeting more SAS people in a club, that according to a local is where all the celebrities go. Still obsessed with Hong Kong.
The next morning Emma and I went to brunch and I shopped alone before meeting everyone for lunch. In the middle of lunch Fogel went to 711 and got sweet potato mochi. Incredible. We took a cab up to the top of Victoria’s Peak. It was a rough ride for everyone (videos to come on that one), once we made it though the view was pretty incredible. We took the tram down and it was like an optical illusion. The side of the hill is lined with trees and with all the vertical buildings and a steep slope it felt almost like we were falling. After that we took a cab to Soho and met Doug and Adam, two expats who live and work in Hong Kong. I’ve explained this encounter a lot, but Fogel, Rachel and I left making a promise we’re going to live together in Hong Kong one day. We ended the night with an amazing dinner at a place called Ho Lee Fuk.
The last day in Hong Kong I had a field class for my nutrition class. We went to a tea tasting house in the morning and brewed and tried a few different teas. We had an amazing dim sum lunch, walked through a market where I obviously found ice cream, and practiced tai chi in the middle of a plaza. All these people started talking pictures of us and two little kids stood next to me and tried to follow the tai chi master William while their mom was taking pictures. Its crazy that 20% of my grade was just showing up for the day.
See ya after Vietnam!
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