Sik Sik Yuen Wong Tai Sin Temple

It's been a little over a week since I came back to Hong Kong, but really it feels like I never left.  As far as jet-lag goes, I had no problem.  I went to bed when I felt tired on Saturday--which, granted, was about 5:30pm--and I made myself sleep until 9:00am.  After that, my sleep cycle fell right back into sync.  Unfortunately, another frequent-traveler problem crept up on me while I wasn't looking...Economy Class Syndrome.  Basically, what happens is that you sit in a scrunched-up little seat at extremely high altitudes in a plane where the humidity is non-existent, and you stay there for 16 hours or so.  Being scrunched-up slows down blood flow to your lower body, the high altitude has something to do with your blood pressure, and the dry air in the cabin dehydrates you as you breathe it in.  All those factors combined for a long period of time means that your legs and feet become swollen and red, you can barely feel them and, when walking, you have all the grace of a double peg-legged pirate.  Not to mention this condition, when ignored, can lead to blood clots in your legs that need to be removed with surgery.  Eww!  Thankfully, I went straight to the Internet upon arrival and googled "airplane heavy legs."  I found a website that told me what the problem was and what to do about it.  In the "Travelers' Tips" section, it said to take a lukewarm shower as soon as possible and then sit with my legs propped up for several hours or until I found feel my toes again.  I followed all the recommendations and, sure enough, blood flow resumed as usual.  Of course, it still took 4 days for the drunken catwalk symptom to pass, but I'm just glad it wasn't any more serious.

Anyway, I came back on a Saturday, and went to church the next day.  I think everyone was happy to see me, although many of them were confused about where I had been.  Next time I go somewhere for so long, I should probably announce it better.  I was glad to see everyone again, and even felt up to attending Chinese Bible Study, although I started feeling a bit tired in the last hour.

Classes resumed on Monday, and I was still signed up for only 3 of the 5 I needed to take!  I needed to go to the Chinese Language Center to sign up for my Chinese class, which I did immediately, but my other class could only be added by department faculty.  That one didn't get sorted out until Thursday, but at least I am now in all of my classes...officially.

Speaking of classes, here's a brief overview of what I'm taking:
HTMG2010 (Business Writing)--learning to write memos, complaint letters, recommendations, and emails
ACCT2121 (Managerial Accounting)--accounting within a firm, such as tracking inventory, depreciation on equipment, etc.
DSME2050 (Information Systems & E-Commerce)--using databases in business situations
CPTH4443 (Business Chinese Level 4)--applying Chinese to interviews, client dinners, business trips, etc.
MKTG2010 (International Marketing)--developing, targeting, and marketing products in international markets

So far, Business Writing and E-Commerce are somewhat boring.  Managerial Accounting is surprisingly interesting (so far), and International Marketing is quite fun and interactive.  Business Chinese is by far my favorite, though.  Our teacher this time is Liu Laoshi, whose dry sense of humor is devilish fun.  There are also several other kids from IBCE in my class:  Charlie, Rachel, JJ, Chris, Lauren, and Javi.  Sorry if I missed anyone, but I'm going on memory.  There are 3 other people in there, but the vast majority are gamecocks.

To be honest, though, I think the best thing about my schedule this semester is that I have Fridays completely and totally free.  We did, however, have accounting homework due January 21st.  That seems like a long way off, but experience has taught me that I must start my homework early at CUHK if I have a hope of a prayer of getting it done.  I averaged 3 hours per statistics assignment and 30 hours per finance assignment (OK, this one is excessive even for CUHK so don't be scared if you're looking to come here!  There were only 2 of these all semester, and the subject matter was completely unlike anything we covered in class or the book.  Do NOT take FINA2010 if you can avoid it!).  Considering my past experience, I decided to attempt the homework the Friday before it was due, and give myself all afternoon to work on it.  Thankfully, the teacher had been nice enough to upload the homework questions to the Internet.  Well, I got through the first problem in 10 minutes.  It was just the same as the stuff we had recently covered in class.  I moved on to the next problem, and it didn't look so familiar.  Neither did the next one, or the next one...  I found myself looking up all kinds of new accounting vocabulary online, and suddenly I was worried that my previous accounting course had not prepared me at all for what I had just gotten into.  I spent a miserable 2 hours trudging through the quagmire of accounting jargon and unlearned calculations.  Already downhearted, I checked my syllabus to see when the next killer-assignment would be.  Even though I was looking for the date, that wasn't what jumped out at me the most.  Instead, my eyes immediately fell on "problems assigned," according to which only the FIRST problem was due on the 21st...the one that took me 10 minutes.  Admittedly, I goofed but, on the bright side of things, I've got most of my homework for the semester already done!

What's especially nice is that having my homework done meant that I was totally free on Saturday.  I decided to take a day-trip to Kowloon and visit a famous temple called Sik Sik Yuen Wong Tai Sin (Good Luck Temple at Wong Tai Sin).  It might have been chilly outside, but you would never know it from the pictures I took.  Case in point:  trees outside my dormitory with confused flowers in bloom:

I took the MTR to Diamond Hill Station and ate at Food Republic.  It's not the best restaurant I've eaten at, but the food is cheap, there's tons of variety, and it's not half-bad.  I got Half & Half Dumplings (5 leek, 5 pork) with vinegar and a side of Hot & Sour Soup.

After lunch, I took the MTR one more stop to Wong Tai Sin Station, and the temple was very close to one of the exits.  Everything was already decked-out for Chinese New Year.  It's on February 3rd this year, and will be changing over from the Year of the Tiger to the Year of the Rabbit.  Rabbit-themed items are selling like hot-cakes all over Asia.

Since it was a Saturday, many people were out and about and, being to close to Chinese New Year, they all wanted to make wishes at Sik Sik Yuen Temple.  Supposedly, if you offer incense and bring food for the deity there, your wishes will be granted, especially around the time of the new year.

Several vendors had set up shop to sell good luck charms.  Traditional Chinese society is extremely superstitious.

One of the entrance gates:

As soon as you enter the temple grounds, you walk through an underground passage full of nothing but fortune-telling stalls:

Superstitious, as I said:

When you emerge, though, the temple grounds are open for your meandering:

First stop: Nine Dragon Wall.

Very descriptive:

The pond in front of the Nine Dragons Wall had lots of little turtles but, for some reason or another, they all seemed to like this one fish statue:

Here's some photos from taking a walk around:

The garden area was relatively empty, but by the time I got to the actual temple courtyard, the crowds had formed.

Offering incense is common in Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism.  Sik Sik Yuen serves as a religious hub for all 3 sects, but is primarily a Confucian structure.  Here, people light incense sticks and make repeated short bows to local deities of good fortune.

So many people but, then again, this looks like typical Hong Kong:

Red Lanterns decorate the square to celebrate the coming Chinese New Year:

The inner courtyard and main structure of the temple:

People bring all sorts of food offerings, including fresh fruit, salted chicken, nuts, and sweet bean pastries:

I had a great time despite the crowds, and the whole place smelled wonderfully like incense.  Overall, I think it's worth a return visit (maybe on a weekday), but it was much smaller than I expected.  I spent only about 2 hours there when I expected to spend nearly all afternoon.