Well the continent hopping continues... I am writing this from the breakfast room (aka bar) of a lovely hostel in Edinburgh's old town, enjoying majestic views of the castle and churches. Quite a world away from the skyscrapers and markets of Hong Kong.
My flight was good, or as good as an overnight, jam-packed, 13 hour flight can be. The nicest part was having someone waiting for me on the other end with a "Ms. Nishi Kumar" sign and friendly smile. I've gotten so used to the nomadic lifestyle, i forget sometimes how nice it is to have someone anticipating your arrival. I stayed for a day and night in Rachana Mainji's and Uday Mama's beautiful house in Surrey where I caught up on sleep, family gossip, and made up for a few months without a good cup of chai. Lucky for me, Triple Mama and Mainji were also in town so I got to enjoy their company, as well as that of Uday Mama's two sons who are quite well-behaved and polite! (Unlike my own badmash cousins!) They also took me around Hampton Court and to a lovely pub on the Thames for some British fare.
I met Jamie on Saturday in London and we wasted time in the rainy, cold city until our overnight bus to Edinburgh. Yesterday was a sunny day here and we enjoyed an outdoor jazz festival, a long self-guided walking tour of the "royal mile," and countless ice creams and coffees. Its good being with my friend again! I will do a complete update (with pictures) when i get to London on Wednesday!
Monday, August 3, 2009
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Last week in Hong Kong!
Its actually down to my last eight hours now...I'm flying off to London at midnight tonight for a two-week trip through Europe with my friend Jamie. We will be country hopping through Edinburgh, London, Paris, Brugge, and Amsterdam before returning to Atlanta on August 14th!
This past weekend was a whirlwind of excitement...I went to Macau on Saturday morning for a day-trip, and it was (sadly) the closest I got to mainland China this summer! Macau is grimy and crowded, but the East-meets-West architecture and lifestyle were very interesting. I felt like I could be walking through a little Italian or Spanish town. The Portegeuse influence (it was a colony until about ten years ago) is most vividly seen in the pretty churches and delicious food. I ate wayyy more in 10 hours than any rational human being is supposed to consume. We also stopped by the infamous casino strip for a touristy light-animal-craziness show at the Wynn where a friend managed to win 600 HKD playing blackjack, completely accidentally. I don't trust my luck enough to do that!
Sunday I made the trip to Lantau, one of the largest islands near Hong Kong and only about a 40 minute ferry ride away. We took a cable car trip through some pretty treacherous cliffs to reach the tallest seated outdoor Buddha made of bronze in the world. Apparantly there are others that are larger, but they are not seated, outdoors, or made of bronze. Anyways it was very pretty and i will put up pictures when i get the chance! We then took a bus to the south of the island and had a scrumptious meal on the beach at a south african restaurant and enjoyed a night stroll before heading back.
Work was a whirlwind of goodbyes and wrapping up projects this week. I also go to go out and interview some people on the street Monday because the broadcast journalism was out sick...I was on the 9 am news!
Its the last day so i need to go finish up everything! Next update from Europe!
This past weekend was a whirlwind of excitement...I went to Macau on Saturday morning for a day-trip, and it was (sadly) the closest I got to mainland China this summer! Macau is grimy and crowded, but the East-meets-West architecture and lifestyle were very interesting. I felt like I could be walking through a little Italian or Spanish town. The Portegeuse influence (it was a colony until about ten years ago) is most vividly seen in the pretty churches and delicious food. I ate wayyy more in 10 hours than any rational human being is supposed to consume. We also stopped by the infamous casino strip for a touristy light-animal-craziness show at the Wynn where a friend managed to win 600 HKD playing blackjack, completely accidentally. I don't trust my luck enough to do that!
Sunday I made the trip to Lantau, one of the largest islands near Hong Kong and only about a 40 minute ferry ride away. We took a cable car trip through some pretty treacherous cliffs to reach the tallest seated outdoor Buddha made of bronze in the world. Apparantly there are others that are larger, but they are not seated, outdoors, or made of bronze. Anyways it was very pretty and i will put up pictures when i get the chance! We then took a bus to the south of the island and had a scrumptious meal on the beach at a south african restaurant and enjoyed a night stroll before heading back.
Work was a whirlwind of goodbyes and wrapping up projects this week. I also go to go out and interview some people on the street Monday because the broadcast journalism was out sick...I was on the 9 am news!
Its the last day so i need to go finish up everything! Next update from Europe!
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
When the dog eats the sun...
SOLAR ECLIPSE!! It was so amazing to be in Asia for the longest solar eclipse of our lifetimes...and for probably the most watched eclipse in history. I went with the news crew to a mountain outside of Hong Kong earlyyy this morning to take pictures of over 1000 people who had gathered to observe the eclipse. I expected craziness and costumes...but the telescopes and astronomy were still pretty cool. Here it was only a partial eclipse, so i still got too much sun being outside for that long!
The weekend was good--Friday night I met up with cousins/uncles from Delhi and showed them around a bit. Saturday was another alumni brunch (I'm getting spoiled) Italian this time. Then wandered around the jade and goldfish markets in Mong Kok until it started raining. And it continued raining through the evening, dinner, and the Harry Potter 6 movie so when we got out of the theater it was officially a TYPHOON LEVEL 9! The highest level is 10 so this was pretty bad, they shut down all the public transportation and I almost got blown away trying to hail a cab.
The next day cleared up pretty early and it was nice to have a refreshing breeze for once. I enjoyed a trip to Kowloon Park, especially watching the Philippino domestic workers enjoy their day off with spontaneous Bollywood dance parties. Also went to the huge History of Hong Kong museum which had a great set up and really interesting cultural displays. Concluded the weekend with the twenty minute light-and-music show on the harbor (largest light show in the world) and delicious Indian food in the sketchy brown-town neighborhood. Perfect day :)
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
I still can't use chopsticks...
Which you think would keep me from consuming such large amounts of food, but I have managed to overcome my handicap with some creative maneuvering…usually I just spear my food toothpick style.
This weekend was another wonderful one. We were constantly on the lookout for the level 8 typhoon that was supposed to hit, but the most we experienced was a light drizzle. Saturday morning we were taken on a private tour of the Hong Kong container port run by Hutchison Whampoa Limited. The head legal counsel and the CFO of Hutchinson then took us out for a huge Cantonese country-style lunch and impressed us with their stories of body guards, attempted kidnappings, and secret meetings with foreign heads of state. Who knew Hong Kong’s port was so important and busy…it’s the 3rd largest in the world and over 7,000 trucks carrying cargo enter and exit the port every day. I then had a lazy Saturday afternoon, mainly spent digesting, and then were treated to a swanky night on the town by another Columbia alum…all I can say is I didn’t know they made bottles of Moet that big!
Sunday we took a 45 minutes ferry to the island of Lamma, on the southern side of Hong Kong Island. It is mainly populated by “fisherfolk” and famous for its clean(er) beachs, beautiful hikes, and delicious seafood. I really enjoyed the Buddhist temple, hiking through the brush to a rocky beach for the sunset, and picking out the live fish that were cooked for dinner. I did not enjoy the millions of mosquitoes, a re-outbreak of my heat rash, and huge spiders the size of my face. Nature and I have a love-hate relationship. It was really interesting how such a touristy island has maintained so much of its authentic charm—the only way to get between the two towns is walking or biking, the houses are the same run-down traditional Chinese huts, and we witnessed locals fishing, digging for clams, and tending their small farms.
Last night I also had a great dinner at a place that was featured on the Travel Channel show “Anthony Bourdain.” Highlights were the beer drunk out of bowls, the wasabi-covered cold octopus, and the spicy ox tail. Delicious.
Funny sight of the week: a room full of elderly Chinese ladies perfecting their hip thrusts in my “Bollywood fusion” Tuesday yoga/dance class. I would have taken pictures but I think that might have been rude.
Yum. They were alive.
The beach was a relief after our scary hike.
My friend Amy on the beach
I got a pedicure :)
This weekend was another wonderful one. We were constantly on the lookout for the level 8 typhoon that was supposed to hit, but the most we experienced was a light drizzle. Saturday morning we were taken on a private tour of the Hong Kong container port run by Hutchison Whampoa Limited. The head legal counsel and the CFO of Hutchinson then took us out for a huge Cantonese country-style lunch and impressed us with their stories of body guards, attempted kidnappings, and secret meetings with foreign heads of state. Who knew Hong Kong’s port was so important and busy…it’s the 3rd largest in the world and over 7,000 trucks carrying cargo enter and exit the port every day. I then had a lazy Saturday afternoon, mainly spent digesting, and then were treated to a swanky night on the town by another Columbia alum…all I can say is I didn’t know they made bottles of Moet that big!
Sunday we took a 45 minutes ferry to the island of Lamma, on the southern side of Hong Kong Island. It is mainly populated by “fisherfolk” and famous for its clean(er) beachs, beautiful hikes, and delicious seafood. I really enjoyed the Buddhist temple, hiking through the brush to a rocky beach for the sunset, and picking out the live fish that were cooked for dinner. I did not enjoy the millions of mosquitoes, a re-outbreak of my heat rash, and huge spiders the size of my face. Nature and I have a love-hate relationship. It was really interesting how such a touristy island has maintained so much of its authentic charm—the only way to get between the two towns is walking or biking, the houses are the same run-down traditional Chinese huts, and we witnessed locals fishing, digging for clams, and tending their small farms.
Last night I also had a great dinner at a place that was featured on the Travel Channel show “Anthony Bourdain.” Highlights were the beer drunk out of bowls, the wasabi-covered cold octopus, and the spicy ox tail. Delicious.
Funny sight of the week: a room full of elderly Chinese ladies perfecting their hip thrusts in my “Bollywood fusion” Tuesday yoga/dance class. I would have taken pictures but I think that might have been rude.
Yum. They were alive.
The beach was a relief after our scary hike.
My friend Amy on the beach
I got a pedicure :)
Fishing for dinner
Dinner was looking at me.
Friday, July 10, 2009
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Pollution, pollution, pollution
Well i'm an official hong kong-er now! I have a pollution-induced respiratory infection and sore throat and a humidity/hot yoga induced all-over itchy rash. just lovely.
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