Week Two: The Big Buddha, Legally Drinking, and Classes

"Your work is to discover your world and then with all your heart give yourself to it." 

-Buddha

This week has been a transitory one, to say the least.  While I'm still continually amazed at all there is to see here, I've had to work on shifting back into school mode.  My dorm room is starting to feel just like my old rooms at Stetson, the food at Fiesta is beginning to feel too familiar, and classes started on Wednesday.  I can't really just focus on being abroad in my Facebook and Twitter updates anymore; I have to include that pesky word 'studying' these days.

(Not that I've actually spent any time studying yet, but nonetheless, the vacation-y feel to the past two weeks is being forced away by classes and syllabi and required readings.)

Rest assured, though, I took advantage of those last few days of unscheduled bliss to do some exploring.  This week's big finds: Lan Kwai Fong and the Big Buddha on Lantau Island.

Last Thursday, the Stetson crew and I decided to explore Hong Kong's night life scene.  We ventured downtown to an area called Central (which, as the name would suggest, is located right in the heart of HK), home to a district called Lan Kwai Fong.  We picked up some new friends before leaving campus- Gabriela from Mexico, Tonny from Denmark, and Camila from Kazakhstan.  

Flor, Tonny, Josie, Me, Nico, Camila, and David

Photo Credit: Gabriela Gomezd

Our first stop was Bar George, which we thought to be a latin bar from the music emanating from it; unfortunately, we were wrong.  We made our way to the back of the club and found ourselves in a room that was playing what I can only describe as music that would make a great playlist for Adult Night on a Disney cruise line.  Case in point: no bar should ever play Summer Lovin' from Grease, much less a montage of all the songs from the movie.  Further, no bar should ever follow that up with Abba, Corey Hart, or Gloria Estefan.  We stayed for a few drinks, enjoyed the unintentional entertainment provided by the very drunk patrons, and left.

Sidenote: I ordered my first legal drink at Bar George- Black Thorn cider (they were out of Strongbow).  So far, legitimacy isn't as fun as sneaking drinks at Bill & Franks.  C'est la vie, I suppose.

Once we left Bar George, we discovered one of my personal favorite things about Hong Kong: 7-11 (I mentioned the overabundance of the convenience store chain in my last post).  Apparently, it's customary- and encouraged!- to buy alcohol from 7-11 and drink outside.  There aren't any laws that limit open containers in the streets, like there are in the U.S. (excluding alumni weekend, of course- anyone from Stetson knows that law gets overlooked when former Hatters come to party).  So, with that in mind, we purchased some Carlsbergs and set up shop in the street.

Here, the group decided to split- some people wanted to hang around LKF, but Tonny and I wanted to catch up with his roommate at another bar called No. 9.  After asking several people where to go, we eventually found our destination, paid our entry fee (not so bad for myself at $80 HKD and a free drink ticket, but poor Tonny had to pay $240), and boarded the swank glass elevator to the top floor of the club.  

For Stetsonites, I'll put it this way- No. 9 is everything the P Lounge wishes it was.  Like many places in Hong Kong, this place literally pulsated with Western music served up American style (that is, loud enough to drown out any chance of communication with your friends).  Despite my general disdain for overplayed R&B radio hits, I liked the atmosphere; for the price, though, it won't become a regular destination.  

The next morning dawned a little too early (11:00 am- apparently that 'beer before liquor' rule isn't always true...) with a phone call from Josie, asking if I wanted to go see the Big Buddha in half an hour. 

Um, duh.  Of course I was in.  I wondered if paying my respects to the largest Buddha statue in the world would earn enough karma for the universe to grant me relief from my headache.

Traveling to Lantau Island, where Buddha sits, proved to be a bit of an adventure.  We hopped on the MTR to Central, where we boarded a ferry.  Unbeknownst to us at the time, we had just committed to a slow, nausea-inducing commute that would take almost an hour.  Once we finally arrived at the island, we were tired, cranky, hot, sweaty, and hungry, so we did what most Americans would do in that situation: we found the closest McDonalds and feasted like there was no tomorrow.  Funny how that always seems to do the trick, no matter the situation.

Victoria Harbor as seen from the back of our ferry

Having satisfied our need for sustenance (and/or familiarity, and/or reasonably priced burgers and fries), we boarded a bus to the top of the mountain.   Once there, we spent a solid ten seconds trying to figure out how to find the steps to Buddha's throne before realizing that we should just start walking towards him; it's not like you could miss him or anything.

Our first glimpse of Buddha, as seen from the bus station

As with everything cool in Hong Kong so far, there was lots of elevation involved in getting to our final destination.  I'm telling you, between all the hills and stairs I've climbed in the past two weeks, I'm going to have the sexiest legs at Stetson by the time I come back.

So. Many. Steps. 

Unfortunately, I'm obligated to do more than legally drink and visit popular tourist sites while I'm here.  Part of that whole 'studying abroad' deal is having to actually sign up for classes.  So far, I'm taking Critical Research Methods (Journalism), Language and Education, Studies in Hollywood Cinema (!!!!), and Introduction to Painting.

I've been to all of the classes except Hollywood Cinema (which only meets on Monday mornings, so I'll let you know next week how that one goes- though something tells me that it's going to be a breeze).  I might drop the Painting course, considering that a) I have absolutely zero artistic talent beyond crudely drawn Trogdor the Burninator images and Garfield sketches I used to sell at recess in 4th grade; and b) It's located at the Academy of Visual Arts, which is on the other side of the town.  Forty-five minutes to an hour of traveling every Thursday to make it to a class I don't really need is beginning to seem like a bit much, and I've only been once (of course, my lack of knowledge on how to get to the AVA building and my subsequent $50HKD taxi ride might have something to do with my position on the matter).  

So, in summation, boys and girls: legal drinking isn't as fun as it's cracked up to be, but drinking in the street is every bit as glorious as it sounds; the Big Buddha is worth the journey, but skip the ferry and take the MTR fast track; and appreciate the many course options you have when you're not an exchange student, because we don't have that many offered to us here.

Check out more pictures from my adventures here.

Also! If you'd like a postcard, let me know your address.  I have plenty to send and postage is cheap here :)

All my best,

Natalie