Spring Break!

Off to Mainland China for 10 days! Yahoo!!! Hopefully, have plenty of pictures and stories when I return. Happy Easter and April Fool's Day!

Random Quote: "NEVER PICK A FIGHT WITH AN UGLY PERSON, THEY'VE GOT NOTHING TO LOSE."

Time Spent

Probably spent an hour trying to order pizza to UST, but by the time we had everything figured out, they all closed at 23:00 (11 pm)
1 800 Lou to go... where art thou?

in the end I bought a mint chocolate mega bar from Seafront, always a good alternative

I don't think McDonald's has shamrock shakes... but they have smarty McFlurries

and guess what: you can eat fried cockroaches, rats or spiders in Cambodia so many choices yum.

Random Quote: "DON'T SWEAT PETTY THINGS OR PET SWEATY THINGS."

The Past Few Weeks at Lighting Speed

A post a day keeps the complainers at bay or is it brings the children to play for the way to obey is to reach open your arms and enjoy a great day. I write without reason, grammar, spelling, or rhyme.
1 week ago
Implemented Stage III of Personal Development Project [objective: improve Time Management, Procrastination (ok leave that one for next semester) and Study Strategies]
Heritage Museum in Sha Tin
Billy Boozer's Pub in Kowloon Tong learned Chinese drinking games, came back at 6am, had McDonald's at 7am, homework at 8am, sleep till 3pm
Past Weekend
Hurt Locker, saw it. I liked it.
Midterm on Saturday
Traditional Korean Food -
Victoria Peak on what went from a sunny day to the foggiest day
What's to Come
Midterm Wednesday
Going to Rugby 7s Tournament this Friday

I'm healthy, doing well in school, and enjoying my time in Hong Kong. Please do the same.

Missions:
Go to Mainland China for Spring Break, Get a costume for Friday, Stop my time waster in 2 minutes, Take a nap, study.

Random Quote:"IT'S HARD TO MAKE A COMEBACK WHEN YOU HAVEN'T BEEN ANYWHERE."

Things I left out since the post a long while back (just in case): [blank for now]

Mold strikes again

Open the closet and delve a little deeper to find what I feared mold:
Found a new friend: my dress shoes (I don't approve)
Latched onto my white dress shirt- thanks for that
Found the outside of my suit garment bag (sigh of relief as I examined my suit and found it mold free..knock on wood)
Jumped on board my suitcase (don't worry I think yours is safe Aunt Mary and Uncle Juppe)
But have no fear Duck Tape is here! I didn't bring my handy dandy duck tape for nothing. It's got the power rip that mold right off. Hurry for Duck Tape!

So much to talk about and yet I have not blogged in ages... time to catch up

Random quote: "ALWAYS DO RIGHT. THIS WILL GRATIFY SOME PEOPLE AND ASTONISH THE REST."

Shout Outs/ Clearing My Thoughts

So this post has been a work in progress for quite awhile and here it is:

Although I'm in Hong Kong I still think about everyone from back home and here are some comments I have:

Uncle Moo, I didn't believe you but there are living cows in Hong Kong and probably everywhere else for that matter including the Philippines!

Uncle Ted, you were right about the weather. Even though it's in the 50-60s, it's still (or was up until 2-3 weeks ago, but I think it's back as I'm wearing my winter coat as we speak) winter season and being by the ocean makes it cooler as well. I packed for spring and summer weather. I have met some Polish exchange students here as well, they love people from Chicago as a matter of fact everyone loves people from Chicago or maybe just the name "but I've got that going for me... which is nice."

Jan: I went to Stanley market and it was a cool place. Not easy to get to, but I plan on returning.

Forgot to mention: please don't send me any packages (way too expensive) I appreciate postcards and letters if it's affordable though. It's the thought that counts, so thank you Mrs. Ostling!

Hey America: wake up and realize that we are the only country that doesn't use the metric system... do us a favor and get rid of these so called feet and pounds, no one knows what I'm talking about here.

Dear local students who decide to attend the COMP101 lectures: 1. If you're going to come to class, come on TIME!!! otherwise don't bother coming thanks for being a huge distraction 2. Learn some respect, when the teacher is talking that's your cue to SHUT UP and LISTEN! 3. You provide so many distractions during class, walking around and leaving randomly that congrats I'm not sure why I still come to class any more. I can't take your shenanigans any more! [Deep breath... in through the nose, out through the mouth]

To room 910, please refrain from singing to your chinese music when I'm trying to go to sleep, I can hear you through the paper thin walls, thank you, perhaps if you could take some lessons it would be less of a hinderance to my ability to fall asleep.

Thank you to everyone on my floor who sings in the shower, always brings some humor to my life

Atrium promoters please go away, you know who you are.

To those of you curious about the drinking scene in Hong Kong: There are many bars/clubs that have "Ladies Night" on Tuesdays Wednesdays, Thursdays, and probably every night of the week for that matter = girls drink for free. The hot spots in Hong Kong: Lang Kwai Fong (LKF) and Wan Chai ohh and 7-11 of course, the cheapest place for a drink. Bar on campus- Uni-bar: the happy hour special from 5-8 buy one drink get the second free.

Taxi Denis, best taxi driver in Hong Kong!

Guidebook Ben- you truly do live up to your name... the next step: write your own

Dear mold, please stay out of my room please and thank you.

Shai- I now understand your addition/ love for tea, I have fallen victim to it.

The local students that talk to me: thanks, I enjoy our conversations (Francis, my buddy Carol, Ozone, and Ebe to name a few of many)

Sandwich makers at the Western Café and meal prepares at the Japanese stall, Please! I repeat PLEASE do not put any mayonnaise on my food, you know those bottles that you use profusely on almost anything edible! That would be great, thanks.

To all the people that read my blog: THANK YOU! I appreciate it.

I'm grateful for: family, friends, life, and everyone in between!

Note to self: I think I'll do this again. [breath of fresh air]

If you would like your name to be in the next shout out, just let me know, and I can make it happen. =) Best, Eric

Random Quote: "I DON'T SUFFER FROM INSANITY... I ENJOY EVERY MINUTE OF IT."

Taiwan

Before I left Taiwan I was excited, but I didn't really know what to expect except for Taipei 101 and hot springs. Thanks to "Guidebook" Ben's itinerary, we were able to see and do a whole lot more than that in the span of two full days. (Granted there were some minor "tweaks" to the schedule.)

Friday at 2 am, went to a 24 hour dim sum restaurant...two taxis, 2 different drop off locations, 2 different restaurants, both of us saw a car get pulled over by a cop, yet our dim sum was less than satisfactory and overpriced, while the our group had good dim sum (peculiar)

Da'an Park- saw a ton of Tai Chi advocates
Taipei 101- clear day actually saw the entire city from the observation deck, pretty cool
Longshan Temple? I think- they all look very similar to me, perhaps I knew more about their religion and why they leave all this great food on the tables I would have a better appreciation for the temples
Grand Hotel- really big, would like to take a tour of the inside
Martyer's Shrine- Changing of the guards- all businesses, no messing around except for the tourists (but don't touch them, they stomp their guns on the ground and have a real P.O.'d look on their faces)
Hot Springs in Beitou- atmosphere equivalent to health club sauna- lots of old people that I didn't need to see in swimsuit, felt like a hot tube, with 3 different levels (couldn't handle the hottest)... let's just say we didn't exactly fit in and innocently broke the rules (Jason what where you thinking when you decided to dive under that water?? nasty!)
Shilin Night Market- awesomeness, like Ladies Market but BIGGER and lots of food and carnival game stalls! I had corn with special spicy sauce on it, shrimp with an unexpected addition of sprinkles and frosting(not as good as straight up shrimp), 2 milk teas, and a thin bread with honey filling

Saturday
Pinglin: Bike ride along a river and through the tea fields, take a break and swim in the river (the guidebook said we could swim in it, so it must be ok)
Fisherman's Dwarf: Tip to any guy who want to take his girlfriend on a romantic date = go here, this was couples central, great place to watch the sun go down, we missed it unfortunately and have dinner with live music, ordering our food was interesting, they were serving SARS as a beverage and I believe one of the entrees was mainland girls (from China?) the translations didn't make it all the way through. Saw some fireworks up close and personal and people sending off lanterns for the Lantern Festival (which officially started on Sunday)
Party!: Go to Spark in the basement of Taipei 101, get in for free thanks to Bobby workin' his magic!, take a moment to enjoy being in one of the top clubs in Taiwan and then take a nap at the table before calling it a night

Sunday
Mister Donut and make it back to the Airport by means of train (saw the high speed rail in Taiwan) and taxi. *Thank you to our friendly local young man for aiding us to our destination

The experience had it's ups and downs, it's good and bad. Majority's consensus: Taiwan was incredible, more westernized than Hong Kong, and hope to return to Taiwan in the future. My personal opinion: glad I went, enjoyed it, won't be going back anytime soon.

We met a fair amount of people from North America that had come planning to stay for a few days and it turned into a few months or even years teaching English or working at a the club they partied at every night (surprising). Taipei must put a spell on people, but as for me, I could not overcome the sight of cockroaches on the streets and smells coming from the sewers. The goods: I was actually able to find a seat on the MRT subway system 9 times out of 10! The food was good and cheap, people LOVE Mr. Donut in Taiwan as well, and eight elephant's was an upscale and very friendly hostel. For those of you reading, I'm sorry I have been lazy, and therefore just now posting this. The weather in Hong Kong is nice and humid now. On the one hand, my Philippine souvenirs did fall victims to mold. Not too much else to say. I am grateful to be staying in Hong Kong this weekend.

Due to my failure to take photographs on this trip here are some great photographer's who successfully captured the dynamics of Taipei:

Ben Boerema's Pics
Bobby Tran's Pics I
Bobby Tran's Pics II
Jason Chan's Pics
Jon Shen's Pics

Random Quote- "WHY DO WE WASH BATH TOWELS? AREN'T WE CLEAN WHEN WE USE THEM?"