Never had my fortune told before so I thought I'd give a try while I was here. One of our local friends took us to Temple street where all the fortune tellers set up shop and brought us to a "legit" palm reader. I'm not one to believe in all of this palm reading stuff too much, but I do find it really interesting and I was pretty excited to find out what he had to say. There were actually some things he mentioned that were really on point. For starters, he said that I can be very ambitious but I have trouble staying motivated. Something that I've known for a while. Its horrible I know >.< but I feel like last semester really changed a lot of things for me. I worked my ass off the entire semester in order to get here - which I just realized was probably not necessary since they didn't even check my GPA like they said they would. That's probably not the way I should be looking at it anyways. Working hard in school is something that I should be doing regardless of the situation.

Back on topic, Master Joseph, lol, also said that I will have a stable career at 25, and be married by 28. He then squeezed my palms under my thumb area and said I will make a lot of money (which I'm sure he tells everyone; who wants to hear that they are gonna be poor for the rest of their life lol) Another thing that he mentioned was that I have to be careful of my finances, especially in the future. He said I never say no to lending friends money - which I think is pretty true - and that could get me in trouble. He then advised me to get a ring and put it on my middle finger in order to stop the money from leaving my hands. Not gonna lie, I'm kind of considering it. He also mentioned that I need to work on my philanthropy. Something that I will definitely work on regardless of how much thought I give into this fortune reading stuff.

Overall it was a really interesting night. Had some really good food. It was actually our first time having an authentic Hong Kong dinner; with the whole sitting down and eating outside in the street type atmosphere.

Sunday: One of the best days I've had since arriving. A group of us went to Cheung Chau Island. I cant even begin to describe how beautiful this place was. The weather has been pretty chilly these last couple weeks, but it was one of those rare days where the sun decided to come out from underneath all the pollution. Our dorms are about a 15 minute walk uphill from campus and lately I've realized how bad the pollution here really is. When I look up there is a thick layer of what appears to be fog, but its actually all the smog from all taxis/ferries/anything with a freaking motor. I'm not even sure if I remember what fresh air smells like anymore.
Anyways...no words to describe yesterday. Ill just post pics.

Crappy video of us biking around town.

View from the top of the mountain:

 Dinner:

Shrimp

Some variation of oysters...I think

Clams

Green Beans

Mantis Shrimp aka Pissing Shrimp lol

Something with vermicelli lol

Watching the sunset

Came to the realization yesterday night that I have to start watching how much I spend here. Its only been 3 weeks and I've spent way, way too much already. And I haven't even done any traveling yet >.<

Other than that...had an awesome day yesterday. Went to Cheung Chau and had a blast. It was my first real day of doing something super touristy and going sight seeing. It was like living in a tiny secluded village with some of the most beautiful views. Will update soon with pics when I get a chance.

First couple weeks of Hong Kong

Lets see...where do I start? It has been a crazy experience so far. I'm lovin every bit of it. I really dont know where to begin. I've met some great people already, goin out and having a good time. Study Abroad program coordinators are always setting up events for everyone to meet. Its only been a little less than two weeks and I feel like I've done so much already. The whole reason I wanted to come here was so I could step out of my shell and become a better person; and I feel like I'm really starting to do that. You only live once right?

School:
Well...its really only been a week so I'm still not sure how I feel about the whole thing yet. The one thing that I was really surprised to see was that rarely any of the students pay attention in class. Especially in the big lecture meetings where there are hundreds of students. The funny thing is is that the professors dont seem to care either. I was totally expecting the opposite where students will stfu once the professor walks in. Had me lookin around like..."wtf is wrong with you guys?!" Other than that, classes seem pretty boring. :/
Dorm life is actually pretty cool. Didn't get to live in the dorms back home which is something I regret not doing, so I couldn't make the same mistake twice. There's nine buildings for students and every building has their own events and dinners every once in a while. Every time I walk through the halls all I hear are people shuffling Mah Jong tiles. I'm gonna need to learn how to play one of these days.

View from the dorms

Cafeteria during lunch hour

Shopping:

Mong Kok:
I've been here like every single day. Tons of food and plenty of shopping to last you for days. By the way, the food here is fuckin amazing. I don't think I've walked into a place yet and walked out unsatisfied. This area is pretty big, I'm pretty sure there's plenty of streets that I have yet to discover.
Mong Kok is kind of known for ladies clothes. I don't know exactly how long it is, but I'm sure its at least five miles of nothing but ladies clothes and cheap souvenirs. Took me about 10 days to find a tiny little mall that sold guy clothes. This whole time, I've been walking around trying to figure out how all these college kids afford 200-300USD jeans and jackets, and I've finally figured it out. Wish I had my camera with me the day I went, but I'm sure I'll be back. This place is just filled with fake clothes. Got a Prada jacket for $30USD. Cant beat that.

 

Guys plaza

Causeway Bay/Tsim Sha Tsui:
More shopping...where most of the expensive, brand name shit is at. Haven't really gotten a chance to walk around here yet. Walking around at night in Hong Kong is almost surreal to me. So many bright lights, so many people. This place does not disappoint. I guess its like New York on steroids? lol.

MTR (Bart) station during rush hour

Nightlife:

Lan Kwai Fong:
This place is crazy. Its basically a tiny square of about four blocks that consists of nothing but bars/clubs. Never a dull night, except for maybe yesterday >.<  Great place to chill and have a drink with your buddies and then hit up the clubs upstairs. The greatest thing about drinking in Hong Kong is that they let you walk around with drinks in the streets! Fuck pre-gaming in the car, or at the house before you hit the clubs/bars. Just do it right outside the club! Walk over to 7-11 - which they have on every corner - and just grab a beer. And another thing, the nightlife here doesnt end until 5 in the morning. Oh wait..it's 12 and your still getting ready? Fuck it...take your time..we got another 5 hours! You wanna take a nap? Go ahead...its only 2.

Tsim Sha Tsui:
Hmm...don't have much to say here. I haven't really been to this area at night. I might have randomly one night, but I don't really remember. So I'm not sure if that means it was a really good night, or it just sucked. I've heard that TST is where the locals hang out at, so that's definitely on my to-do list. Yes..pun intended. lol jk.

Wan Chai:
Meh...reminds me of the red light district in SF. They have these old Chinese ladies promoting their "gentleman" clubs and they literally grab you by the arm and shove you in. Where 2-3 girls will immediately surround you and try to get you to sit down and have a drink. *Not my experience btw...just heard from a friend.
Anyways...there are a couple good places here. One place charges 160HKD for open bar the whole night, so its definitely not a bad place if all you wanna do is get shit faced. Friend got the DJ to play Teach Me How to Dougie at the club...hahaha Everyone stopped dancing except the group of people from SF. Pretty funny experience.

I think there are a couple other spots to drink/club but I really have no idea. These are the three main places that I've heard/been to. I really need to find me some locals to show me around lol. And another thing, I need to get a cheap point and shoot to take with me on these type of nights. It's too bad I cant post any pics up of any of these areas cuz it really is a good time. Music selection is a little sketchy here, but what do you expect lol. Miley Cyrus - Party in the USA and Justin Beibers - Baby stays on repeat here. Rave scene is nonexistent over here...which sucks cuz I had a really good time on New Years.

The weather is surprisingly cold here right now. I really was not expecting it to be this bad. I'm gonna try to enjoy it as much as possible though, cuz I know it isn't going to last much longer.
Overall, this has been one hell of a week... and I still have 51 more to go :)

Was craving it the entire day...almost forgot to take a picture...hahaha

This shit is like crack