Living It Up HK Style

This past week, I was able to neglect just enough class to maintain a perfect relationship with Hong Kong. Among the highlights were Avatar, Happy Valley followed by a night out in Wan Chai, capped off by some delicious kebab, a lecture by Condoleezza Rice and a trip to Lantau.

So Tuesday night, Niclas, Winter and I went to see Avatar in IMAX 3D. There is only one IMAX in HK, which was built just last year, for the sole purpose of being able to show Avatar when it arrived. So goes Hong Kong. Anyway, I met up with Winter for dinner and we went up to the Peak, but it was super foggy, so those pictures will have to wait for another time. Then we arrived at the theater, which is a totally different experience from the US. Here, you have to not only buy your tickets in advance, but select your seats. This would be a perfect system for my father, but I think kills the ability to just pick up and go to a movie one night, because all the shows are sold out. In particular, Avatar has been basically full (except for the front rows) for about two weeks ahead, for the last 4 months. Having said that, it was kind of nice to walk into a movie at exactly the listed showtime and sit down in “my” seat.

The move was just as I had heard it would be – a mindblowing visual experience, coupled with a terrible movie. I mean really, the plot was so terrible. But, watching that movie made me excited by the new flourishing of 3D technology in our TVs, and even more so for the proposed World Cup and baseball games that ESPN has agreed to broadcast in 3D – good lord, watch out for those foul balls!

Space Museum

Wednesdays I don’t have class until 2:30, so I met up with Niclas again with two other girls Olga and Sonne in TST for lunch before hitting the Space Museum, admission is free on Wednesdays of course. I won’t bore you too much, but it was a museum with two exhibits – one about general astronomy around the world, the second about Chinese space ventures – and a large planetarium theater.  We went to all three, and while it was nice, it was definitely a museum that catered to children, and if I were 11 years old again, I would have loved it, but yeah, a little weaksauce there. After, we enjoyed some tea and snacks along the harbor before heading back to campus so that I could tutor, and then go back out again.

(What I would consider at this point to be a mini-mall - food court was delicious)

(Tribal concept of the world on the back of a turtle, encased by a snake - how far we've come!)

(Sonne having too much fun launching this rocket 2' up)

(I'm still not clear what a photobooth was doing in the Space Museum)

(This is the history of Chinese rockets. Howie, they're all named iterations of Long March I, II, etc - thought you'd like that)

(The Chinese understanding of the "big dipper" - straight from the description: "In China, the stars form the "Celestial Bureaucrat" who is seated on a cloud and accompanied by petitioners" - somehow, things haven't changed much)

(Us learning how to use the self-timer, all flying like Superman)

I ate dinner with Niclas plus my travel crew from the Philippines – Alex, Kent, Kaitlyn andJosh, and Toni – who joined us as he and Alex are planning a trip for the end of the semester, so he stopped by.  So good to see Toni again, and it turned into a fabulous night.

Happy Valley

I’ve been before to the horse races that occur each Wednesday, but I don’t think I’ve gone into much detail about them. Basically, it serves as a location for three types of people to congregate each week – expats and rich people, degenerate gamblers, and international students and travelers.

(All the good people)

(I told him he might get stuck like that, he promptly stopped)

(Only part of our masses transferring lines)

The stadium is absolutely huge, and I think seats some 50,000 people, even though it’s only on one side of the track. It is set in Causeway Bay, a pretty busy part of HK on the Island and start around 7, and run every half hour.  Each Wednesday, a cohort of about 30 CUHK students descend upon Happy Valley, San Miguel king cans in hand, ready to start another wonderful Wednesday night.

(That's how you know your almost at Happy Valley)

(Arrived! Note the white people and St. Patty's hats)

(It's an awesome place also because it's smack in the middle of HK)

(Almost missed the first race - this shot came out way too well considering how frantically I took it)

The white/rich people sit up top in the boxes and stands, betting and socializing, but mostly just drinking. The degenerate gamblers can be found inside where you can, of course, place your bets. It is kind of sad to think about how these poor people are spending most of their salaries betting on these animals. I make a couple bets, but only so that I can cheer on a horse. I was a little disappointed that they don’t show the names of the horses, which I always found the most fun part of horse racing. Either way, these races are huge, the one in the picture below brought in about $80M HK, or just over $10 million US. One race, on one night. I guess that’s why the HK Jockey Club is the biggest charitable organization in Hong Kong. Also of note was that it was St. Patrick’s Day on Wednesday, so everybody aws sporting their green and Guinness and enjoying the justification to get absolutely smashed.

(Inside where you go to place bets. L->R, Kelvin, Kaitlyn, Niclas, Olga, Kent)

(I had #6 as my long shot - he came in 4th! Also, look at how much is being bet on the bottom right)

(Back downstairs where the real action is)

(And they're off!!)

(You just can't tell how big it is until you're in it)

(You can feel the horses run by you this close)

Around 11, the races end and everyone clears out of the stadium, the young people making the weekly pilgrimage to Wan Chai. The first stop, as is customary, is to hit the nearest of the million 7-11’s that are within eyesight to start the night off. Of course, Wednesday is ladies night for the ladies, but for us gentlemen, paying upwards of $10 US for drinks is simply not worth it. So, we all congregate and enjoy ourselves on the outside, jumping in and out to get a dance in or a free drink. What I don’t understand is why the bars haven’t started lowering their prices. Clearly 7-11 is cannibalizing their business, it would make sense to get more people to actually drink in the bars, instead of giving away free drinks all night. But, I guess that’s why I don’t own a bar – too much logic.

(The mecca. It makes me want to open one up and start the same culture in the US)

(2 King cans for $1.80 US - why would I ever leave?)

(Swindler's - usual first bar stop)

(Where nights live on forever)

(Inside)

And now, for my funny drunken story of the night. Around 3am, after we all decided to stop drinking, we realized it was time to satisfy our cravings, and indulge in Ebeneezer’s, a solid kebab place that just so happens to be across the street from Carnegie’s, one of the most popular bars in Wan Chai. To get to the other side of the street, we walked up and used the crosswalk. After our delicious meal, however, I was emboldened, and decided I would try to hop the median in the middle of the road, which was probably about as high as my hip. Casually, I jogged up to it and tried to hurl my leg on top to hop over. Of course, at this point in the night, my brain imagines things that my body is not so inclined to do. Bam. Right into it, as if I wasn’t even trying to jump, and I fell back, laughing all the way down. Joining in on the laugh were Niclas and Toni, but also the other 20 or so people outside of Carnegie’s who were watching. It’s a good thing I got over on my second try. Except that I didn’t. At least I have a nice bruise to show for it right? No, weirdly enough, that area of my shin just hurts, but no bruising – just weird.

Around that time, we all shuttled back to campus and I got to bed around 4:30, setting my alarm to wake up at 9 for my 10:30 class. Another jokester move. I’m pretty sure I woke up and laughed when I realized I had actually set an alarm, and then groggily went back t osleep for another three hours.  This is why I normally don’t go out on Wednesdays, but was very happy that I did.

Seeing Condi

Friday afternoon I went to see Condoleezza Rice speak at one of the bigger lecture halls on the campus.  I was lucky enough to register early for the tickets, as most people I spoke to said they tried to get tickets but were shut out. Due to the overwhelming demand to see her, CUHK set up multiple remote viewing locations, which, as I’m told, were also packed.

(I got as close as you could get without a donation)

What’s different from WashU is that the student union doesn’t control programming, so this was purely an event that the administration had put on. I learned later in the speech that the Vice Chancellor of CUHK had taught at Stanford beforehand, and Condi was his boss. So, when a student handed me a sheet of paper before I entered, I assumed it was some description of the event, and thanking the people who helped put it on, as we do at home. But, I was shocked to start reading about the CUHK Student Union’s complete disapproval, with the tone of the way many disapproved of Karl Rove or Alberto Gonzalez at WashU, in a writing piece denouncing Condoleezza as a murderer of hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians, as well as having a part in sanctioning a war between Israel and Lebanon which also killed, supposedly, hundreds of thousands. I was interested by this mostly because the figures seemed very far-fetched and inflammatory, but also because they didn’t mention the one thing that I disliked most about her – her sanctioning of the use of torture on prisoners.  Maybe it’s because the Chinese are a bit sensitive or understanding of the way their government often makes dissenters “disappear”, but either way, I was intrigued. I wish I still had the letter condemning her appearance, but it got lost.

(The title of the speech "Future of Asia" was a huge misnomer. It should have been "America's Desire to be a Part of the Future of Asia, as told by George W. Bush)

More concretely, she basically ran the gamut of her (Bush’s) foreign policy ideals and used plenty of fear mongering regarding the Middle East, Iran and North Korea to scare the Chinese crowd even stiff than they already are. I almost got to ask a question about nuclear proliferation, but the Vice Chancellor chose the guy in front of me, who did not have as interesting of a question. Everything was very calm, a little too polite if you ask me, until at the very end some guy ran in front with a sign that said “Shame” and yelling some things in Chinese. Condoleezza subsequently made a comment about freedom – I could almost see American flags glazed over her eyes and she beamed with patriotism :). I recorded a mediocre version of the speech if you want to hear it I can try to send it to you.

The more I think about my time here, and the amount of time that has passed, the more I realize how amazing of a time I’m having. Literally, it seems as if each week has gotten better, and each week has gone faster – the ups and downs of having a great time. But, a little more than halfway through, I feel as though I’m living up to my goal of making March my Hong Kong Month.  Scarily, as I think about how in just over a week, April will be upon me, I like thinking about all that I’ve done this month, and then focus on my plans for the next two that I have here.

I’ve become close with a lot of people, and had some fascinating conversations with them, and the people I’ve met in my travels around and outside of Hong Kong. It’s been so wonderful, that I cannot even wait until the next couple months when I’ll be doing nearly 5 weeks of traveling. All I can say is – bring it on.