Well, tonight is my last night in Hong Kong. Today, I met up with a friend and we had lunch / dessert. I have to say that I'm a little scared by Chinese desserts. It's not the taste, which is usually quite good. It's the texture, which pretty much freaks me out. So many things have a jelly-ish consistency, kind of like jello but a bit more slimy (sorry, my Chinese friends). But I tried, and that's what counts!
Even though it's been brutally hot and humid over here, I'm pretty sad to be leaving (though excited to be going home). A month is just enough time to get one's bearings, and to develop friendships such that just going out to hang out in a coffee shop or restaurant is so much fun. This last week, I've been lucky enough to spend 3 or 4 nights just hanging out getting to know some great people. I'm going to miss everyone. Hopefully, they'll all be able to visit Boston sometime.
I hope to get back to Hong Kong sometime. But not in the summer. I think this city would kick ass during the fall / winter. And now that I've been here, I know where to stay, and where to hang out. A subsequent visit will definitely be pretty great.
Hong Kong, I'm gonna miss you. Thanks for all the good memories!
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Friday, July 3, 2009
Some New Tunes
Well, I bought a couple of CDs today, both of which are really good.
First up, I bought a Puffy AmuYumi Japanese import (to Hong Kong, obviously), "Hit & Fun". Like all Puffy albums, there's a lot of overlap with their older albums, but the new songs are all really good. I'm pretty sure it's a compilation, but there weren't a lot of Puffy albums at the store, and I took the chance that I'd get some new stuff (hey, it's in Japanese. How can I tell what's on there?) My general rule is that it's ok to take a chance on a Puffy album.
Next is the new Green Day album, "21st Century Breakdown". I'm listening to it right now and I'm gonna give it a big thumbs UP. I personally think "Dookie" is one of the best rock albums I've ever heard. While I don't like the new stuff as much as "Dookie", it's still pretty awesome. I actually never got "American Idiot" because I'm an uber-patriot, but I've heard a few really good songs off that album (I also think I saw them on that tour. Rezek/Joslin, is that right?) Anyway, the new stuff is really good. Compelling story, typically good production, and excellent songwriting. Good stuff.
Man, this last month, being guitarless, has sucked pretty hard (it's been good otherwise. I just really want a guitar to play.) I asked a friend if Hong Kong music stores (there's actually really only 1) let you return stuff within 30 days. He seemed surprised at the question and said he'd never heard of that. Too bad. I thought I should just buy something and return it before I leave. You know, like I do at home all the time. What? Don't look at me like that. Sadly, no guitar this whole month. And I'm miserable because of it!
UPDATE: I've listened to "21st Century Breakdown" a few times today and it just gets better and better. This is one of those albums that really touches me. I may like this album more than I like "Dookie".
First up, I bought a Puffy AmuYumi Japanese import (to Hong Kong, obviously), "Hit & Fun". Like all Puffy albums, there's a lot of overlap with their older albums, but the new songs are all really good. I'm pretty sure it's a compilation, but there weren't a lot of Puffy albums at the store, and I took the chance that I'd get some new stuff (hey, it's in Japanese. How can I tell what's on there?) My general rule is that it's ok to take a chance on a Puffy album.
Next is the new Green Day album, "21st Century Breakdown". I'm listening to it right now and I'm gonna give it a big thumbs UP. I personally think "Dookie" is one of the best rock albums I've ever heard. While I don't like the new stuff as much as "Dookie", it's still pretty awesome. I actually never got "American Idiot" because I'm an uber-patriot, but I've heard a few really good songs off that album (I also think I saw them on that tour. Rezek/Joslin, is that right?) Anyway, the new stuff is really good. Compelling story, typically good production, and excellent songwriting. Good stuff.
Man, this last month, being guitarless, has sucked pretty hard (it's been good otherwise. I just really want a guitar to play.) I asked a friend if Hong Kong music stores (there's actually really only 1) let you return stuff within 30 days. He seemed surprised at the question and said he'd never heard of that. Too bad. I thought I should just buy something and return it before I leave. You know, like I do at home all the time. What? Don't look at me like that. Sadly, no guitar this whole month. And I'm miserable because of it!
UPDATE: I've listened to "21st Century Breakdown" a few times today and it just gets better and better. This is one of those albums that really touches me. I may like this album more than I like "Dookie".
Thursday, July 2, 2009
She Yelled At Me. With a Megaphone.
On my way to meet some friends for dinner, I noticed an MTR (the Hong Kong metro) worker standing at the bottom of the escalator with a megaphone. Since it was the tail end of rush hour, I guessed it was for crowd control. Since there wasn't much of a crowd around, she evidently didn't see the need to use it. Not so, her friend upstairs.
As I neared the top of hte ride, I caught a glimpse of another MTR worker with a megaphone. As I came into view she raised it to her face and said "PLEASE HOLD THE HANDRAIL". Since I was the only one there (the people in front of me were 1 step from the platform) I'm pretty sure that was directed at me.
With nary a moment before the trip ended, I grabbed the handrail, thus avoiding the harsh justice of the MTR. She gave a little laugh when I did that. I think we had a connection there.
As I neared the top of hte ride, I caught a glimpse of another MTR worker with a megaphone. As I came into view she raised it to her face and said "PLEASE HOLD THE HANDRAIL". Since I was the only one there (the people in front of me were 1 step from the platform) I'm pretty sure that was directed at me.
With nary a moment before the trip ended, I grabbed the handrail, thus avoiding the harsh justice of the MTR. She gave a little laugh when I did that. I think we had a connection there.
Yup, It's Still Hot Over Here
I've been reading peoples' Facebook updates about the cool weather and rain back home (Boston). Each time I see them, I pull up www.weather.com and look up Hong Kong. The pattern is incredibly consistent. The temperature is between 84 and 90 (with the "feels like" temperature around 101 to 102), and the humidity is over 95%. Every day.
So, while I'm sorry that people back home aren't able to have their bright, sunny days, I'm really not feeling any sympathy. I would slaughter a basket of puppies to have that kind of weather here for just 1 day.
Ok, ok, maybe I wouldn't slaughter them, but I'd sternly rebuke them for pooping in the house. Happy?
So, while I'm sorry that people back home aren't able to have their bright, sunny days, I'm really not feeling any sympathy. I would slaughter a basket of puppies to have that kind of weather here for just 1 day.
Ok, ok, maybe I wouldn't slaughter them, but I'd sternly rebuke them for pooping in the house. Happy?
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
That Was Kind of a Terrifying Ride
Yesterday I went to "the Peak", at the center of Hong Kong island. As you can imagine, the Peak is the top of a mountain.
There are two options in getting there. First, there is the "tram", which we i n the states call a train. Or maybe we call it a tram, I'm not sure. But it surely looks like a train to me. When I think of a tram, I think of a little car dangling precariously from a thin wire, high above the ground. But evidently the Hong Kong people and I disagree about that, and that's ok. I'll let them have this one. The other option is to just take a bus up the hill. That's the option we chose. And it was quite a scary ride (up and down).
The bus drivers over here drive a little aggressively. Full acceleration and full breaks. There's not much in between. Add in a super hilly terrain and you get what feels like an amusement park ride. Which isn't as fun as it sounds when the seats are not designed to keep one's butt firmly in place. There's a lot of sliding around and bumping against walls. So no, not very fun.
Anyway, 20 or 30 minutes of this and you're at the top! They've built quite a nice mall / terminal up there, with plenty of space to wander. Actually, there isn't that much space, but I like to be generous. It was pretty cool. There are wonderful views of the city below, with an unobstructed view of Kowloon, across the bay. With the buildings all lit up it's quite nice.
Oh, I should probably mention that I bought a monopod! Very exciting. It's really light and easy to use (it's basically a collapsable stick. I think I can figure that out). But it should make my night shots less sucky. Though I'm pretty sure that's mostly due to my lack of skill. But the monopod can't hurt, right?
So let's get to those pics, shall we?
A view from the top. You'll notice the building center-left. That's the building from Batman again.
This one's tough to see. It's actually the tram (train) departing, heading down. I didn't have the camera set to action mode (or whatever). It was still in nighttime scenery mode so it took a while to snap the pic. But it has kind of a fun effect.
Some people in the plaza at the Peak.
This guy had some hardcore camera equipment. HIS stand had 3 legs, so it's 3 times as good as mine. I wanted to tell the guy "hey, look how small they're making cameras now buddy! Get out of the 90's and get one of these little things." I can't believe people don't adopt the latest technology. He wouldn't have to carry around so much weight. Sillly man.
Another ghosting effect. I actually do like this one a lot. Not sure why. Oh, that's a lady walking her dog past where I was sitting. I know it looks like she has only 1 leg, but I assure you she's bipedal. I mean, if she had one leg there wouldn't be the ghosting effect because she wouldn't be moving too fast.
I was too lazy to get off my butt and get this whole building in the frame, but you get the idea. Because it's symetrical, you can just extrapolate what the far left side would look like. It takes like 5 escalator rides to get up there. They actually charge to go out on the roofdeck, and I'm a cheap bastard, so I didn't go. But actually, the escalators are on the far side of the building, along a glass wall, so it's scary enough riding most of the way up (which I did do). To get an idea of the scale, you can see the little people on the lower right hand corner (they're waiting to get on the tram).
This is one of the scyscrapers back down in the city. It gave me vertigo when I tried to look straight up. Actually, that was probably because the bus ride of terror on the way down made me sick first. Seriously, a horrible ride. That's just a light pole on the left there. I was steadying my camera (on the monopod!) on the base of the light pole.
And the building with the white skeleton, from down low.
On the way back to my room, I saw this girl (woman?) taking pics and I thought "hey, I should take pics, too". I thought it was weird that she was taking closeups of the people in front of here, but it turns out that they were together.
This is a pretty typical view alongside the escalator ride up to mid-Central (where I'm staying). Everyone runs a/c at full bore, with the side effect of blowing hot air outside... Right towards the escalator. It's kind of a hellish ride because there's very little air moving because it's between buildings, and the air that IS moving is from the a/c units. Hot and sweaty!
In between a/c fans blowing hot air on us, there are some side roads. This is a pretty typical one.
Another typical scene on the way up the escalator.
I'm actually surprised those last few came out not too bad because it was on a moving escalator and I kind of just pointed and clicked. Hey, they should call these little cameras "point and click"!
There are two options in getting there. First, there is the "tram", which we i n the states call a train. Or maybe we call it a tram, I'm not sure. But it surely looks like a train to me. When I think of a tram, I think of a little car dangling precariously from a thin wire, high above the ground. But evidently the Hong Kong people and I disagree about that, and that's ok. I'll let them have this one. The other option is to just take a bus up the hill. That's the option we chose. And it was quite a scary ride (up and down).
The bus drivers over here drive a little aggressively. Full acceleration and full breaks. There's not much in between. Add in a super hilly terrain and you get what feels like an amusement park ride. Which isn't as fun as it sounds when the seats are not designed to keep one's butt firmly in place. There's a lot of sliding around and bumping against walls. So no, not very fun.
Anyway, 20 or 30 minutes of this and you're at the top! They've built quite a nice mall / terminal up there, with plenty of space to wander. Actually, there isn't that much space, but I like to be generous. It was pretty cool. There are wonderful views of the city below, with an unobstructed view of Kowloon, across the bay. With the buildings all lit up it's quite nice.
Oh, I should probably mention that I bought a monopod! Very exciting. It's really light and easy to use (it's basically a collapsable stick. I think I can figure that out). But it should make my night shots less sucky. Though I'm pretty sure that's mostly due to my lack of skill. But the monopod can't hurt, right?
So let's get to those pics, shall we?
A view from the top. You'll notice the building center-left. That's the building from Batman again.
 |
| From What I did on my summer vacation |
This one's tough to see. It's actually the tram (train) departing, heading down. I didn't have the camera set to action mode (or whatever). It was still in nighttime scenery mode so it took a while to snap the pic. But it has kind of a fun effect.
 |
| From What I did on my summer vacation |
Some people in the plaza at the Peak.
 |
| From What I did on my summer vacation |
This guy had some hardcore camera equipment. HIS stand had 3 legs, so it's 3 times as good as mine. I wanted to tell the guy "hey, look how small they're making cameras now buddy! Get out of the 90's and get one of these little things." I can't believe people don't adopt the latest technology. He wouldn't have to carry around so much weight. Sillly man.
 |
| From What I did on my summer vacation |
Another ghosting effect. I actually do like this one a lot. Not sure why. Oh, that's a lady walking her dog past where I was sitting. I know it looks like she has only 1 leg, but I assure you she's bipedal. I mean, if she had one leg there wouldn't be the ghosting effect because she wouldn't be moving too fast.
 |
| From What I did on my summer vacation |
I was too lazy to get off my butt and get this whole building in the frame, but you get the idea. Because it's symetrical, you can just extrapolate what the far left side would look like. It takes like 5 escalator rides to get up there. They actually charge to go out on the roofdeck, and I'm a cheap bastard, so I didn't go. But actually, the escalators are on the far side of the building, along a glass wall, so it's scary enough riding most of the way up (which I did do). To get an idea of the scale, you can see the little people on the lower right hand corner (they're waiting to get on the tram).
 |
| From What I did on my summer vacation |
This is one of the scyscrapers back down in the city. It gave me vertigo when I tried to look straight up. Actually, that was probably because the bus ride of terror on the way down made me sick first. Seriously, a horrible ride. That's just a light pole on the left there. I was steadying my camera (on the monopod!) on the base of the light pole.
 |
| From What I did on my summer vacation |
And the building with the white skeleton, from down low.
 |
| From What I did on my summer vacation |
On the way back to my room, I saw this girl (woman?) taking pics and I thought "hey, I should take pics, too". I thought it was weird that she was taking closeups of the people in front of here, but it turns out that they were together.
 |
| From What I did on my summer vacation |
This is a pretty typical view alongside the escalator ride up to mid-Central (where I'm staying). Everyone runs a/c at full bore, with the side effect of blowing hot air outside... Right towards the escalator. It's kind of a hellish ride because there's very little air moving because it's between buildings, and the air that IS moving is from the a/c units. Hot and sweaty!
 |
| From What I did on my summer vacation |
In between a/c fans blowing hot air on us, there are some side roads. This is a pretty typical one.
 |
| From What I did on my summer vacation |
Another typical scene on the way up the escalator.
 |
| From What I did on my summer vacation |
I'm actually surprised those last few came out not too bad because it was on a moving escalator and I kind of just pointed and clicked. Hey, they should call these little cameras "point and click"!
And I'm Now Retired From Law
The internship is now officially over. Actually, Tuesday was my last day. Yesterday was a holiday over here (Handover Day, or something. Celebrating the British relinquishing possession. See? Another country who managed to throw off the yoke of British oppression.)
The internship was up and down, but all in all I'd say it was worth it. There was certainly some boring work which I really was not happy about. I won't go into details, but let's just say that in my opinion, some of the assignments weren't exactly what I felt a law student intern should be given. We're paying a lot of money for law school, so we really shouldn't be focusing on general clerical work. I understand that it's part of running a law firm, but with limited time, let's focus on legal things, shall we?
I was given some interesting assignments so I won't really complain, though. I'm mature that way. One month is a pretty short time, really just enough time to start getting your bearings. I'll miss is a little.
But yeah, it feels good to finally be able to retire. All of my hard work has paid off.
The internship was up and down, but all in all I'd say it was worth it. There was certainly some boring work which I really was not happy about. I won't go into details, but let's just say that in my opinion, some of the assignments weren't exactly what I felt a law student intern should be given. We're paying a lot of money for law school, so we really shouldn't be focusing on general clerical work. I understand that it's part of running a law firm, but with limited time, let's focus on legal things, shall we?
I was given some interesting assignments so I won't really complain, though. I'm mature that way. One month is a pretty short time, really just enough time to start getting your bearings. I'll miss is a little.
But yeah, it feels good to finally be able to retire. All of my hard work has paid off.
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