時間快到了 - Bidding HK Goodbye

I've been thinking about this entry for sometime now; in fact, I first started having thoughts about it in the second week after I arrived. Maybe I was just too happy to be soaking up all the novelty that Hong Kong's got to offer, or maybe I was just really glad to be away from all the hustle and bustle in Singapore; whatever the case was though, I guess I started missing Hong Kong way before it was time for me to leave.

When I first announced my decision to come to HK for exchange, many of you guys raised your brows and asked: Why Hong Kong instead of Europe/America/Japan/Australia/etc? I can't say the same for all but I daresay some of you were thinking that HK is not a location far-off or exotic enough for an exchange programme, or that it's going to be a boring destination because your friends and family going on holidays to HK usually only come here for a week; tops, and it's just like Singapore. To the people who felt that way (instead of being happy for me that I'm going to have such an awesome experience), sorry for my curt and adamant replies of "Why not?". I thought that the location didn't matter at all since all I want is to experience living somewhere else for an extended period of time; I really didn't think that I would have more fun just because I am in the US of A or UK/Europe where everyone else was. Now that the exchange programme's finally coming to a close (soon), I still stick by my initial thoughts and to supplement, it's really your attitude towards your destination that determines how amazingly good or how god-awful a place is; and of course, the people that you meet along the way and the types of memories you guys create.

I have way too many fond memories from the past few months and all of them bring a smile my face each time I try to recall how things happened; it's impossible to share them all so I'm just going to share a few here:

• The first night of our arrival, after 'getting lost on campusw' and lugging twenty-odd kilograms worth of baggage (each) down this crazy flight of stairs:

I'm quite sure this stairway looked much narrower and steeper on our first night here. 

... only to find out later that the taxi driver dropped us at the back of building where there was no lift-access nor entrance to the the building.

• My first New Year's Eve overseas - KH was kind enough to have brought me to his friend's NYE party so that I didn't have to squeeze my way through the throngs of people waiting for the twenty-freaking-five minutes long fireworks' display at Tsim Sha Tsui.

• Meeting Henna and Audrey to go for my first-ever swim in an indoor pool; I almost backed out the last minute when I realized it was winter here and the water could be too cold for (my) comfort. But I'm glad I took the plunge eventually, becuase I discovered the most shiok shower place on campus after.

• Trying to speak in Cantonese and ending up in all sorts of hilarious situations.

• Visiting Medan, Indonesia with Yvonne, Doris and Mr Musti and having an awesome, awesome time; swimming in the frigid waters of Lake Toba, cycling around the island of Samosir, trekking through the rainforests of Bukit Lawang to catch sight of Orang Utans in the wild, sighting of my first fireflies, camping in the wilderness for a night, just being thankful for hot tea served in little colourful plastic cups on a rainy afternoon in the rainforest, and not forgetting... listening to the improvised versions of many popular songs by the friendly folks from Nora's Homestay.

• Spending Chinese New Year overseas for the first time! I came back from Medan on chu xi; visited my first (and maybe last) Hong Kong night market with KH and called Ah Hong at 12 on the dot to wish her gong hei fatt choy and the best of health. *dear bruddy, don't think I've forgotten how you told my mum I'm a pig lor kns*

• Having the great fortune of being invited to a family feast (thinking of the glutinous balls in ginger soup now *slurps*) by Audrey, Uncle Wayne and his family on chor yat, and not having to bring two mandarin oranges to bai nian because that's not part of the tradition here. Oh, and the lao sai that lasted for quite a number of days after hurrr.

• Having my first taste of roast pigeon with Cherry, her roomie, Doris and Sharri at Fo Tan; and chuckling to myself while looking at Doris cringe when the pigeon's head was pointed towards her. Not forgetting, having a good laugh together when Doris and Sharri learnt to say lemon chicken in Cantonese for the very first time.

• The great cook-outs with Audrey, Henna, Stella, Doris, Yvonne where they totally rocked the electric stove and I, the kitchen sink. I had a taste of the most authentic Swiss and Liechtenstein rosti even though it didn't quite come out the way we had expected, and... I also had the great fortune of tasting a delicious home-cooked Hokkien dish coked by Stella.

• Sighting of white dolphins near Tai O (in the wilderness of HK, no less. Who would've thunk?!) and spending a wonderful afternoon at Tai O where Audrey's tutor was kind enough to extend an invitation for a few exchange students to come along for her module's excursion.

 

• Doing the trail at Victoria Peak (that few tourists venture) one windy midnight and learning much about some of Hong Kong's (to be more specific, Hong Kong Island) most famous landmarks, and looking at the gates of the homes belonging to the awfully rich folks in HK; after a night of great dancing at a salsa club.

• Attending tango lessons at The Pemberton with Audrey and Doris; it was supposed to be just me at first but I'm so glad they decided to sign up for the classes in the end because the sessions were so much more fun with them around. I still remember how one shit-head of a dance partner pissed me off so bad that I started scolding knnbccb, but after explaining to Doris what it means and seeing the look of disapproval on her face (I can't remember if I made her say it), I started to crack up instead.

• Receiving yet another invitation to a great feast cooked by Audrey's host-dad and spending a lovely evening at her host-family's place in Sai Kung where we drank whiskey and talked in a very manly fashion about many topics; amongst which included: differences between guys in Singapore and Hong Kong, the sky-high housing prices in Hong Kong, rising living costs, and how every opportunity presented to you to make a speech should be greatly valued.

• Watching movies alone for the first time just because I needed to take a break from working on my assignments. And while we're on the topic of movies, I also watched Category III films (i.e. adults only) for the first time in cinemas - and it was the world's first 3D pornographic film, no less. What a funny experience that was!

• Receiving the tremendous amount of support and incredible encouragement from some of our tutors here; I've heard from some of the other exchange students that they've gotten some really blah tutors so I'm really appreciative of all the tutors that I've had the chance be taught by.

• Learning to be even happier on my own; not bragging of course, but since I am already quite good (not yet an expert though) at being happy on my own, this exchange programme merely served to reinforce that idea. 

I can go on and on about all my experiences, but really, I'm sure you wouldn't be interested to read them all so I'll just stop here with my descriptions of the happy times. It may seem like all was fine and dandy, judging from what you've just read, but I can safely assure you otherwise. This exchange programme was not without its lows; but so not as to dampen anybody's spirits, it's better for me to just remember the good and forget the bad. At least for now anyway.

Looking at the desktop's calendar, it's close to 5 months since I left our sunny little island for a slightly bigger one last Christmas. It's a little hard to believe that the past few months have gone past in just a blink, and this blog entry is finally materializing. I can't remember if I've said this before (I probably did), but 5 months is really an awkward duration - I definitely can't say that I am an insider now or that I have been completely 'hongkongized', but surely, I know more (however slightly) about Hong Kong than the average tourist.

As we're coming to the end of my very long-winded (I know, I know) entry, I just want to express how grateful I am for the opportunity to be here. I am thankful to have met all the people whom I've met - for showing me how one event can be carried out in vastly different manners in two similar places; I am thankful for the local friends who've been offering me glimpses into the way of life of Hong Kongers and at the same time, I am also thankful for my new friends from everywhere else for telling me more about their home countries, sharing of their travelling experiences with the noob traveller that is me, and giving me so many new perspectives in life. All of you/them, I am thankful that you guys came into my life and left your footprints. I am (so) looking forward to meeting some of you guys again soon halfway round the globe in the near/far future.

Almost the end now!

I can't help but say this to people whose tails I've stepped (on way or other) on unknowingly along the way, I'm really sorry because I never had the intentions to; and I know it's usually the words that people are not serious about when they say them that sting the most.

 It has been nothing short of an incredible journey here in Hong Kong; I learnt a great deal about not just myself, but also about different people I am likely to meet in the future. Much time was spent on thinking and re-thinking about what I wanted for myself in the near future and although I've yet to arrive at a very definite conclusion, the lines are slightly less of a blur now. I am glad that I made the decision to come here and I'm sure that I will be happy to tell people that I've spent a little part of my life in Hong Kong once upon a time.

Thank you for all the wonderful memories, dear Hong Kong.

ps: I'm actually heading to Mainland in two days' time and will be coming back to HK for my flight back home but I guess it's a good time to post this up now. Oh, and look forward to a ginormous backlog of photos on either facebook or here!