Busy Bee

Hi y'all!  It's only been a few days since my last blog update, but nonetheless a lot has happened in a such a short space of time.  Well, to be more precise, I've gotten a lot done.  Before I get into all of that though, I nabbed some pictures from facebook that were taken at the party in Ma On Shan.  Some people who read this blog will undoubtedly recognize these next 3 photos, so this little gesture is mostly for those friends and family who can't be here with me.  Here's everybody doing a silly pose:

Hanging out with the birthday cake.  For some reason, tiramisu seems to be extremely popular in Hong Kong:

And here's the big (non-silly) group photo:

OK, so I hope y'all enjoyed that little group of photos.  Now I'll move on to the whole "me getting things done" business.  You see, Wednesday was my big errand-running day.  Not only that, but I had to run the errands all over Hong Kong!  First stop was picking up my Student Octopus Card--the permanent one.  On June 14th, I had applied for this version of the ever-useful Octopus Card because, if you are a student (and I are), you can get a 50% discount on the cost of all your MTR fare, the exception to that rule being the express train to the Airport.  Well, I happily turned in my application and was informed that I would be able to pick up my Student Octopus Card in one month at Tai Wai Station (I had selected this station on my application because it was by far the most convenient).  In the meantime, I was issued a temporary Student Octopus that gave me the same discount but was valid for only one month.

Well, I think we all know what yesterday was.  For the French, it may have been La Fete Nationale, but for moi, it was the day I had to pick up my personalized Student Octopus.  Unfortunately, when I checked my receipt from one month before, the station marked was not Tai Wai (as I had been told before), but Admiralty!  We're talking about a 45 minute difference one-way not during peak hours, and guess what?  It was rush hour.  Rush hour on the East Rail Line of the Hong Kong MTR is indeed a bloodbath.  I became closer to my fellow man than I ever have been or ever wish to be again.  Egads.

Since I've lived to tell the tale, I'm sure that you've ascertained that I made it to my destination in one piece.  It took quite a while to locate, but I did eventually find the correct kiosk at Admiralty Station.  Of course, along the way I saw many interesting advertisements and various signs in the terminal.  This is, for better or for worse, a routine matter, but I thought that some of you who I know have a slightly morbid bent might enjoy an example.  Below is a picture meant to discourage you from eating inside the terminal or on the buses.  Poor little hanbaobao!

Anyway, like I said before, I found the correct kiosk and was able to pick up my new Octopus Card.  The photo's a little fuzzy, but you get the idea.  Don't worry, there's no personal information (except for my name) that could be uncovered with a little photoshop wizardry.

New Octopus Card in hand, I began my fight to get back on a train.  I'm perfectly willing to wait my turn like anyone else, but I make note of who isn't.  Those impatient people may rudely plow through the crowds just to get wherever they're going 5 minutes earlier, but I don't.  And you know what?  I don't just let them through, either.  I may not be a big person by Hong Kong standards, but size is still much more to my advantage here than it is in America.  Not to mention, I'm stocky and rather solid.  If someone wants to push or pull me on or off of a train and I don't like it, they better be ready to duke it out.  The point is, if you want to travel on the MTR during rush hour in Hong Kong, you better be aggressive about it if you ever want to catch a train.  And once you're on the train, stand your ground.  Don't let yourself be shoved into a corner (especially one near a door) because at the next stop, whether you like it or not, you might get shoved off the train.  Thankfully, this has never happened to me, but I've seen it happen innumerable times and it's never a happy thing.

OK, enough ranting about the MTR.  I really do love how convenient it is most of the time, but I suppose it's more of a love-hate relationship.  Anyway, my errand-running still wasn't over.  I also had to go to Shatin to take care of a couple of things.  Thankfully, Shatin was on my way back to CUHK so it wasn't such a big deal.

My first stop when I got off at Shatin Station was China Travel Services, Hong Kong, Limited--the Travel Agency where I applied for my Mainland China visa last week.  Wednesday was the day they told me I could pick it up.  There were a lot of people in line, but they were all there for various reasons.  I'm glad that I stand out a bit here because the ladies who helped me before instantly recognized me and bumped me to the front of the line since I just needed to pick up a visa--not apply for one.  So I got my Mainland Visa without a hitch.  I can use it 2 times to enter China, after which I'll be able to apply for a Multi-Entry Visa (valid for 6 months) that will allow me to enter China as many times as I want, provided I don't stay longer than 30 days.  No problem there.

My last errand was at PCCW.  I didn't even get inside the store before the guy who forgot to copy my Hong Kong ID card ran up to me, apologized, bumped me to the front of the line, and quickly copied my card.  He kept apologizing (apparently he was a very new employee), but I told him it was no problem since I had to come to Shatin anyway.  I was in and out of PCCW within 2 minutes, and was finally able to grab a minimally-satisfactory dinner at Cafe du Coral.  It's OK, though, because I paid a highly-satisfactory price.

I got back to the dormitory around 9:00pm, and settled in to write my first Putonghua essay for Han Laoshi.  It was actually not so bad, though I think I'll be able to do better next week.  I got a good page and a half written before I got tired and decided to call it quits.  She had told me that there was no length requirement--just write however much I want--so I grabbed a shower and went to bed.  Let me just say, IBCE folks, that I don't really hate your giant-plastic-bugle-things you got at the Adidas Event.  I just hate it when, at half past midnight, you blow them so loud on the hallway that I swear you're summoning the Rohirrim.  I also don't appreciate you loudly banging on everyone's door and yelling "Let's go!" at the top of your lungs.  On weekends I don't care, but on Wednesday nights, do you not find this slightly inconsiderate?  Just something to think about.

Miraculously, after that godawful early-morning racket and a somewhat hard time sleeping, I wasn't nearly as tired this morning as I had anticipated.  Thank goodness.  I finished my latest book this morning before class.  I highly recommend H. Rider Haggard's "She:  A History of Adventure."  To my misfortune, however, the CUHK libraries do not have a copy of the sequel "Ayesha."  Instead, I made due with "Allan Quatermain," sequel to "King Solomon's Mines," which I checked out from the Chung Chi Library immediately after class.  I began my new book over lunch, of which I took a photo because some of you have been asking me about the food again.  This is nothing special, but I like a good bowl of sliced beef with veggies and noodles.  I should have been more confident about adding more chili-sauce, though.

So, with all that said and done, nothing much else is going on here.