August-December, 2017
I spent a surreal four months in Hong Kong on exchange at the University of Hong Kong (HKU). I lived on the island in Kennedy Town and took the MTR to campus every day where I was enrolled in a couple geography courses and a couple biology courses. I made wonderful friends from across the globe and ate copious amounts of dim sum. I explored as much of the city as possible, which for the sake of this blog I’ve broken down into four geographical categories: HK Island, Kowloon, Lantau Island, and Sai Kung.
HK Island: Sightseeing
Aberdeen In the whirlwind of the first couple weeks of exchange, I went to check out Aberdeen with a new group of friends. Aberdeen is a fishing village on the south side of the island. We wandered around and viewed the city from a small water taxi. From what we saw it was a beautiful […]
HK Island: Hikes and Beaches
Victoria Peak I made it to the top of Victoria Peak twice during my stay in Hong Kong, neither time on the tram. The view is pretty iconic of Hong Kong: from the top you can see all of Victoria Harbor, Central, and Kowloon. The spot is understandably very popular with a full mall at […]
HK Island: Nightlife
Lan Kwai Fung (LKF) You’d have to see it to believe it. Even if clubs aren’t your thing (hi, me too), LKF is a bit too much fun. There are dozens and dozens of clubs and bars all packed together within a single block. Wednesday and Thursday nights are “Ladies Night” so chicas drink for […]
Kowloon: Sightseeing
Star Ferry The Star Ferry was another activity I did within my first few days in Hong Kong. It was about $10 USD and the ferry went around the entirety of Victoria Harbor. It was a good way to orientate myself to the city and get a proper view of Hong Kong and Kowloon! There […]
Kowloon: Hikes
Lion Rock Lion Rock is a Hong Kong classic! The views from the rock (which actually looks like a lion when viewed from afar) span across Kowloon, the harbor, and Hong Kong island. The tricky part about hiking in Hong Kong is finding the perfect window to do it. The summer is excruciatingly hot and […]
Kowloon: Sacred Places
Chi Lin Nunnery The Chi Lin Nunnery was one of the first Buddhist temples I visited in Asia were I was incredibly humbled just being in the space. I came with a large group and we all settled down upon entering the Nan Lian Garden. It was so classical Hong Kong, a serene and spiritual […]
Lantau Island: Sightseeing
Tian Tan Buddha A large group of 11 of us decided to check out Lantau Island for the day. I loved wandering around Hong Kong in huge groups, we attracted a lot of attention haha. We took the MTR over and hopped on the gondola to go up to the Buddha. The town itself is […]
Lantau Island: Hikes
Lantau Peak Lantau Peak was high on my list of things to do in Hong Kong before I even arrived! We waited a bit too long in the semester to do it though, there was no visibility at the peak. But the hike was still beautiful!! We took a bus from the MTR that let […]
Sai Kung
Sai Wan The BEST day I had in Hong Kong and quite possibly my life was in Sai Wan. On one of our Monday expeditions, my roommate and I recruited another friend, Harry, and convinced a fourth friend, Elena, to skip class and join us. Sai Wan was one of the very popular spots to […]
Macau
After a whole semester of procrastination, a few friends and I finally made the quick day trip over to Macau from Hong Kong in December 2017. We booked ferry tickets through Cotai Water Jet which leaves from Sheung Wan and arrives at the Macau Taipa Ferry Terminal. The ferry itself is about an hour journey […]