Saturday, March 28, 2009
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Random thoughts and Observations
Here are just some thoughts I have had while I'm here.
- The students at UST are really really fashionable, especially the girls. No t-shirts and jeans here. Shoes are big here, no flip flops unless you are just lounging around! Girls are always wearing nice shoes, flats, cute sneakers, boots. But almost outrageously, girls wear high heels all the time to class! Not just little heals, but sometimes full on 3-4 inch high stilettos. All the clicking is sometimes distracting!
- Boys, on the other hand, are a little more relaxed. However, backpacks, like flip flops, aren't really popular here. So the boys have resorted to using over the shoulder bags, cloth briefcase like things, duffel bags, and man purses, as we would call them in the US.
- I keep on thinking everybody has so many designer bags. But then I remember they are all fake. You can get any sort of copied bag you want at the street markets. So if most people have fake bags, and people know they are fake, what is the value in having a real bag, only for people to assume it is fake?
- There are people hired to do everything. For example, in all the eating places (on campus, in a mall, McDonalds) you never bus your own trays or throw away your garbage. Somebody is hired to just go around and pick up the trays and such. Extremely inefficient, I'd say. Another example, on campus we have security guards. I could see having people at the gates to the campus, but down near the residence halls far away from everything doesn't make much sense. Maybe it is to say they have security guards. The campus is quite isolated (even more so than Cornell as it is not in a town and is not really close to any main public transportation) and I don't really expect random people just show up. One of my favorite randomly hired person is the guy who cleans the escalator handrails. While I am glad they do clean those handrails, that is all I ever see this guy do. I suppose there are a lot of escalator handrails to clean here.... Well, I guess it is good that the government here (I assume it is the government) creates jobs for so many people.
- Walking here is chaos! I don't know whether it is the mixture of cultures or there is really just no organization to walking here. I figure that the side of the sidewalk you walk on would follow the side of the road you drive on. Here, people drive on the left (like england, opposite of the US). So I would think that would walk on the left as well. But no! Complete madness on the sidewalks. This follows with escalators too. Sometimes up is on the left, sometimes it is on the right. There is really no pattern!
- Speaking of the side of the road you drive on, in China, people drive on the right side of the road. So I wonder what happens at the boarder. Does it magically just switch? Plus, cars here have the drivers side on the left too...so do you need a whole new car when you go to the Mainland? I read you need new license plates....
- And finally, I'm only here for about 2 more months! wow. Midterms are a'happenin, spring break is about 3 weeks, and before I know it it will be finals! I need to explore some more soon!
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Orchestra Concert Tonight
So I have an orchestra concert tonight. It is a joint concert with HK polytechnic university. The concert is over there tonight, and then on thursday we are performing the same concert here at HKUST.
Program:
1) Jupiter - 1st Movement
2) 老上海金曲組曲 (Old Shanghai Golden Melodies Suite)
3) Beethoven Symphony No.5 - 4th Movement
4) L'Arlesienne - All 4 Movements
5) Intermezzo
6) Carmen Suite - 1,1a,2,5,7,11 Movement
7) Encore: Beethoven Symphony No.5
8) Encore: Ponyo On The Cliff by the Sea (崖上的波妞)
My Comments:
Program:
1) Jupiter - 1st Movement
2) 老上海金曲組曲 (Old Shanghai Golden Melodies Suite)
3) Beethoven Symphony No.5 - 4th Movement
4) L'Arlesienne - All 4 Movements
5) Intermezzo
6) Carmen Suite - 1,1a,2,5,7,11 Movement
7) Encore: Beethoven Symphony No.5
8) Encore: Ponyo On The Cliff by the Sea (崖上的波妞)
My Comments:
- One of the first orchestral pieces I ever played, back in prep orchestra in 8th grade. The same arrangement too!
- Catchy songs. As for the composition as a whole? Interesting. Very strange transitions and orchestration. The keys change wildly with little or no musical warning.
- I am going to try to play the untransposed version for fun. (The original part is in C rather than Bb).
- Ok piece. I think we are playing the movements out of order...every time we've rehearsed its been the same order, but not the order of the movements. So a suprise tonight!
- We only got this piece last week and are playing it tonight.
- Again, I'm not sure what order we are playing the movements in. Plus, we haven't even looked at some of the movements recently....again, it will be interesting tonight.
- No idea what movement this is going to be....
- Soundtrack from a japanese video game. Pretty catchy and just kind of silly. Lots of people have it as their cell phone ringtone.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
My Rainy Weekend in Taipei or: How I went to the top of the tallest building in the world!
This weekend, I took a trip to Taipei, the capital of Taiwan. I went with a group of 4 people and we left early Thursday and got back late on Sunday. It rained almost the whole time we were there. I only saw blue sky the afternoon we arrived and the morning we left. Otherwise, rain or drizzle the whole time. Thankfully, I stayed dry with my raincoat, but my umbrella got lost somewhere in transit.
Anyway, I'm done with my complaints about the weather. It seemed all the exchange students at HKUST were going to Taiwan this weekend. We ran into 4 different groups at some point on the trip and we knew of others who were there too. We stayed in a hostel, which was actually quite nice. The 4 of us had our own private room and bathroom which was extremely convenient, secure and comfortable. The hostel had a
good location, too, close to the train and one of Taipei's many night markets.
The afternoon we got there, we explored some of the sights near the hostel. We saw the Taipei botanical gardens, the Chiang Kai Shek memorial and the presidential office. The memorial also included the buildings for the national theater and concert hall. The whole area of the memorial was quite grandiose with a large square in the middle. Unfortunately, we didn't get to see good ole Chiang, as the doors to the memorial hall closed soon after we got there.
The next day, it was raining (of course), but we still stuck it out and saw things...mostly temples. We saw the larger ones: Longshan, Confusian, and Paoan. The cool thing in Taipei is that you might be walking down a street that has different shops and all of a sudden, an ornate temple is right next to you, just as if it were another store front! Compared to temples I have seen in Hong Kong and other parts of China, Taipei temples seem to be the most elaborate, especially with intricate carvings of dragons on the roofs and other animals on the roofs. We also saw the Sun Yet Sen memorial hall. We arrived just in time to see the elaborate ceremony for the changing of the guards. Here's a video of part of it:
On saturday we made our way over to the weekend jade market, which was convieniently situated underneath an overpass, so it was nice and dry. There were jade vendors as far as you could see. Once you finished with the jade market, accross the street was the weekend flower market. So many different kinds of flowers, plants and trees. There were beautiful orchids and bonzai trees. I wish I could take some home with me!
Later on Saturday, we made our way up to Danshui, the city on the mouth of the river. The city had an old vibe to it, with lots of street vendors, old buildings and temples. There was a boardwalk right along the river front that had carnival games and food. There were squids on a stick that were probably only caught a few hours before. Had the weather been better, I'm sure it would have been bustling with people and fishermen selling their catch. On the way back we went to the Shilin Night market. This is the biggest and most vibrant of all the night markets in Taipei. There is a large section for food stands and winding streets full of of trendy clothing shops. I didn't buy much (except for food, which I will talk about at the end!)
On Sunday morning, it finally was clear. We took the train and then the bus to the Yongmingshan National Park, Taipei's "backyard" as its advertised. We did a short hike to a open area on mountain where we were in the clouds! We kept walking down trecherous stairs made even more dangerous by the mist toward a visitor center and hot spring. Taiwan has interesting geological characteristics where there are many mountains, gorges, hot springs and even volcanoes! Sadly, the hot spring was closed for cleaning from 1-2:30 and we arrived just after 1. So I brough my bathing suit for nothing...so sad. It was nice to get out of the city for a while, however.
Following lunch back in the downtown area, we went over to Taipei 101: the tallest completed building in the world! One other person and I went up to the top (the other two didn't go, since it was too expensive...400 TWD (a little more than $10 usd, which couldn't get you into the sears tower or most museums in the US). But it is basically the symbol of Taiwan...its picture is on all their advertisements. Anyway, in addition to being the tallest building right now, it also has the fastest elevators in the world. It only took about 35 seconds to go up to the 89th floor , traveling at about 40 mph! It is actually quite an architectural marvel given that Taipei must endure cyclones and earthquakes! It really stands out since there are only a total of 2 skyscrapers in all of Taipei. To read more about Taipei 101, its accolades and interesting symbolism, visit wikipedia.
After our trip to the top of the man made world, we headed back to the hostel and then on to the airport to head back to Hong Kong.
Now to the most important part of our trip: the food! Actually, the majority of the trip was built upon the restaurants and night markets we wanted to go to. The Shilin Night market had all sorts of local treats. I had fresh donuts, sweet sesame pancakes, barbecue, pork and veggie dumplings, fresh fruit (some of which I had never seen or tasted before), bubble tea (it was invented in Taipei and actually has real fruit in it), a scallion bun, and the local favorite, chicken pounded thin and tender, fried and sprinkled with spices. Soo good. There isn't such a street food culture here in Hong Kong, or at least I haven't found it yet.
We also ate at real restaurants, usually for lunch. We had great hot pot (kind of like fondue, but with broth instead of oil) at a restaurant where the stove top was built right into the table. We also went to an all you can eat buffet. The food was decent, but the main attraction were the desserts. I had a great cream puff pastry, some sort of Taiwanese fruit custard, and really good chocolate cake.
Taipei also had lots of bakeries too. There were usually a couple on every block. They had some traditional western baked goods, but also had traditional chinese pastries. My favorite was a rice ball filled with peanut butter (Nou Mi Zi...wikipedia it).
Overall, despite the weather, it was a good trip. I think if I were to go back to Taiwan, I definitely want to explore the southern region of the country, where there are really neat nature sites. But my traveling might be done until spring break in japan...school is getting in the way.
Keep an eye out for more pictures!
Anyway, I'm done with my complaints about the weather. It seemed all the exchange students at HKUST were going to Taiwan this weekend. We ran into 4 different groups at some point on the trip and we knew of others who were there too. We stayed in a hostel, which was actually quite nice. The 4 of us had our own private room and bathroom which was extremely convenient, secure and comfortable. The hostel had a
good location, too, close to the train and one of Taipei's many night markets.The afternoon we got there, we explored some of the sights near the hostel. We saw the Taipei botanical gardens, the Chiang Kai Shek memorial and the presidential office. The memorial also included the buildings for the national theater and concert hall. The whole area of the memorial was quite grandiose with a large square in the middle. Unfortunately, we didn't get to see good ole Chiang, as the doors to the memorial hall closed soon after we got there.
The next day, it was raining (of course), but we still stuck it out and saw things...mostly temples. We saw the larger ones: Longshan, Confusian, and Paoan. The cool thing in Taipei is that you might be walking down a street that has different shops and all of a sudden, an ornate temple is right next to you, just as if it were another store front! Compared to temples I have seen in Hong Kong and other parts of China, Taipei temples seem to be the most elaborate, especially with intricate carvings of dragons on the roofs and other animals on the roofs. We also saw the Sun Yet Sen memorial hall. We arrived just in time to see the elaborate ceremony for the changing of the guards. Here's a video of part of it:
Later on Saturday, we made our way up to Danshui, the city on the mouth of the river. The city had an old vibe to it, with lots of street vendors, old buildings and temples. There was a boardwalk right along the river front that had carnival games and food. There were squids on a stick that were probably only caught a few hours before. Had the weather been better, I'm sure it would have been bustling with people and fishermen selling their catch. On the way back we went to the Shilin Night market. This is the biggest and most vibrant of all the night markets in Taipei. There is a large section for food stands and winding streets full of of trendy clothing shops. I didn't buy much (except for food, which I will talk about at the end!)
On Sunday morning, it finally was clear. We took the train and then the bus to the Yongmingshan National Park, Taipei's "backyard" as its advertised. We did a short hike to a open area on mountain where we were in the clouds! We kept walking down trecherous stairs made even more dangerous by the mist toward a visitor center and hot spring. Taiwan has interesting geological characteristics where there are many mountains, gorges, hot springs and even volcanoes! Sadly, the hot spring was closed for cleaning from 1-2:30 and we arrived just after 1. So I brough my bathing suit for nothing...so sad. It was nice to get out of the city for a while, however.
Following lunch back in the downtown area, we went over to Taipei 101: the tallest completed building in the world! One other person and I went up to the top (the other two didn't go, since it was too expensive...400 TWD (a little more than $10 usd, which couldn't get you into the sears tower or most museums in the US). But it is basically the symbol of Taiwan...its picture is on all their advertisements. Anyway, in addition to being the tallest building right now, it also has the fastest elevators in the world. It only took about 35 seconds to go up to the 89th floor , traveling at about 40 mph! It is actually quite an architectural marvel given that Taipei must endure cyclones and earthquakes! It really stands out since there are only a total of 2 skyscrapers in all of Taipei. To read more about Taipei 101, its accolades and interesting symbolism, visit wikipedia.After our trip to the top of the man made world, we headed back to the hostel and then on to the airport to head back to Hong Kong.
Now to the most important part of our trip: the food! Actually, the majority of the trip was built upon the restaurants and night markets we wanted to go to. The Shilin Night market had all sorts of local treats. I had fresh donuts, sweet sesame pancakes, barbecue, pork and veggie dumplings, fresh fruit (some of which I had never seen or tasted before), bubble tea (it was invented in Taipei and actually has real fruit in it), a scallion bun, and the local favorite, chicken pounded thin and tender, fried and sprinkled with spices. Soo good. There isn't such a street food culture here in Hong Kong, or at least I haven't found it yet.
We also ate at real restaurants, usually for lunch. We had great hot pot (kind of like fondue, but with broth instead of oil) at a restaurant where the stove top was built right into the table. We also went to an all you can eat buffet. The food was decent, but the main attraction were the desserts. I had a great cream puff pastry, some sort of Taiwanese fruit custard, and really good chocolate cake.
Taipei also had lots of bakeries too. There were usually a couple on every block. They had some traditional western baked goods, but also had traditional chinese pastries. My favorite was a rice ball filled with peanut butter (Nou Mi Zi...wikipedia it).
Overall, despite the weather, it was a good trip. I think if I were to go back to Taiwan, I definitely want to explore the southern region of the country, where there are really neat nature sites. But my traveling might be done until spring break in japan...school is getting in the way.
Keep an eye out for more pictures!
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Nintendo, 10,000 Buddhas, Exchange fair
So its been a little while since I posted last. I finally have schoolwork and have been busy exploring places, and playing games on sporcle.com (so addicting!).
I finished up my cultural extravaganza this week with a concert at the Hong Kong Sinfonietta. Their pieces included a world premier of a work for Nintendo Gameboy, Electronics, and Orchestra, Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 1, Lutoslawski's Dance Pieces for Clarinet and Orchestra, and Bartok's Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta. Overall the concert was pretty good. The orchestra was small but powerful, but it was still different than the big sounds of the CSO I am used to. The Nintendo piece was tamer than I expected. There was some interesting moments of dialogue between the orcehstra and the electronics, but ultimately I kind of wanted something more...especially given the experience I have had playing world premiers in Wind Ensemble. The composer (a Hong Konger who is now a post-doc at princeton), came out in an orange prison suit and talked a little about the piece and then took his place in the back of the orchestra with all his "toys" (literally!). The rest of the concert was good, especially the Bartok. The soloist of the Chopin (Sergio Teimpo) was pretty virtuosic, and I even got his autograph! He's still young, but maybe it will be worth millions someday.
I also went on a walk in the Causeway Bay area. You can see some of the pictures in the last album I posted. I guess some of the coolest things on this walk were the temples. In Hong Kong, there seem to be random temples in the middle of the city. In the midst of all the high rises and modernity, you turn the corner and there is this tiny little temple. Because they are so small, it is kind of hard to breath because of all the incense. One of the temples had coils of incense hanging from the ceiling that burn for 2 weeks!
This past Saturday, I went up to Sha Tin in the New Territories to see the temple with 10,000 buddhas. Out of all the places I have been to so far, this one was the only one I struggled to find. Throughout Hong Kong, virtually every street corner and MTR exit are clearly labeled with the directions to attractions near bye. For this temple, I would have had no idea how to find it had I not been to Sha Tin before on an ikea run and saw a sign. Still, we got a little lost and ended up walking through a cemetery-ish complex that we thought was the temple before we got found the path to the actual temple. Walking through the cemetary, lots of people were giving us weird glances and when we got to the top of the cemetary and saw all these gold buddha figurines on another hill, we figured we were in the wrong place.
The actual temple was pretty cool. The steep and winding path leading up to it was lined on both sides with life size, gold buddhas, each one being different. That was cool, until we got to the temple itself. It was a large room where the walls were filled floor to ceiling with little buddhas, again every one of them being slightly different. I read that there are actually more like 13,000 buddhas in this room alone, plus all the life size ones....a whole lot of buddhas! There were even more buddhas around the temple, plus a cool red pagoda.
Also this week, HKUST hosted an exchange fair where exchange in students and former exchange out students for each school had a booth in the academic concourse. It was especially fun to talk to students who were at Cornell last semester and hearing about their experiences and reminiscing. They all agreed that Cornell was much harder than HKUST. So that makes me feel better about not doing so much work here (and about all the work I deal with at Cornell). I also met some of the students who will be going to Cornell next year.
So now I've officially been here a month. I can't believe it is March already. Before I know it, I will be on the plane back to Chicago! There is still so much I want to explore. I'm going on a trip to Taiwan this upcoming weekend. Hopefully some more traveling in SE asia will happen soon, but I really want to spend a lot of time getting to know Hong Kong.
View the pictures from this adventure on facebook!
I finished up my cultural extravaganza this week with a concert at the Hong Kong Sinfonietta. Their pieces included a world premier of a work for Nintendo Gameboy, Electronics, and Orchestra, Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 1, Lutoslawski's Dance Pieces for Clarinet and Orchestra, and Bartok's Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta. Overall the concert was pretty good. The orchestra was small but powerful, but it was still different than the big sounds of the CSO I am used to. The Nintendo piece was tamer than I expected. There was some interesting moments of dialogue between the orcehstra and the electronics, but ultimately I kind of wanted something more...especially given the experience I have had playing world premiers in Wind Ensemble. The composer (a Hong Konger who is now a post-doc at princeton), came out in an orange prison suit and talked a little about the piece and then took his place in the back of the orchestra with all his "toys" (literally!). The rest of the concert was good, especially the Bartok. The soloist of the Chopin (Sergio Teimpo) was pretty virtuosic, and I even got his autograph! He's still young, but maybe it will be worth millions someday.
I also went on a walk in the Causeway Bay area. You can see some of the pictures in the last album I posted. I guess some of the coolest things on this walk were the temples. In Hong Kong, there seem to be random temples in the middle of the city. In the midst of all the high rises and modernity, you turn the corner and there is this tiny little temple. Because they are so small, it is kind of hard to breath because of all the incense. One of the temples had coils of incense hanging from the ceiling that burn for 2 weeks!
This past Saturday, I went up to Sha Tin in the New Territories to see the temple with 10,000 buddhas. Out of all the places I have been to so far, this one was the only one I struggled to find. Throughout Hong Kong, virtually every street corner and MTR exit are clearly labeled with the directions to attractions near bye. For this temple, I would have had no idea how to find it had I not been to Sha Tin before on an ikea run and saw a sign. Still, we got a little lost and ended up walking through a cemetery-ish complex that we thought was the temple before we got found the path to the actual temple. Walking through the cemetary, lots of people were giving us weird glances and when we got to the top of the cemetary and saw all these gold buddha figurines on another hill, we figured we were in the wrong place.
The actual temple was pretty cool. The steep and winding path leading up to it was lined on both sides with life size, gold buddhas, each one being different. That was cool, until we got to the temple itself. It was a large room where the walls were filled floor to ceiling with little buddhas, again every one of them being slightly different. I read that there are actually more like 13,000 buddhas in this room alone, plus all the life size ones....a whole lot of buddhas! There were even more buddhas around the temple, plus a cool red pagoda.
Also this week, HKUST hosted an exchange fair where exchange in students and former exchange out students for each school had a booth in the academic concourse. It was especially fun to talk to students who were at Cornell last semester and hearing about their experiences and reminiscing. They all agreed that Cornell was much harder than HKUST. So that makes me feel better about not doing so much work here (and about all the work I deal with at Cornell). I also met some of the students who will be going to Cornell next year.
So now I've officially been here a month. I can't believe it is March already. Before I know it, I will be on the plane back to Chicago! There is still so much I want to explore. I'm going on a trip to Taiwan this upcoming weekend. Hopefully some more traveling in SE asia will happen soon, but I really want to spend a lot of time getting to know Hong Kong.
View the pictures from this adventure on facebook!
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