[Adventure(s)] #16: Second Week in Hong Kong

Day 9 (Sunday, July 1): Chill Day

OOTD: leaf print flowy long dress, white fake Birks

• Woke up naturally at 1pm and got ready to go grab lunch with Richard, Stephanie, PJ, and Devin, We were originally just going to eat at the lunch buffet in the lobby of our hotel but decided to walk a bit to a Western food restaurant called Red Star per PJ’s suggestion. The homemade focaccia bread with olive oil was bommbbbbb and I ordered a black truffle scallops linguine that was fabuuuuuloussssss. It was nice to continue to get talk to one another over a meal. We started giving nicknames and noticed certain catchphrases one another uses and it was so funny/cute.
• We came back and Stephanie, Richard, and I ended up doing laundry. Devin joined Stephanie and I as we chilled in our room waiting for the washer to be done. Devin and I showed each other some music while Stephanie showered and then we headed down to put stuff in the dryer. I stupidly forgot to bring my coins down so I had to ask Devin to run and go get them for me as I moved clothes from the washer to the dryer.
• As we waited for the clothes to dry Stephanie, Devin, Richard, and I decided to headed over to North Point Road to exchange money/withdraw money from the bank. On the way there, the tram stopped midway so we had to do more walking than anticipated. On our way home, we ended up taking the MTR for one stop to avoid the heat. Hahahaha.
• I got back, grabbed my clothes, and folded them before napping for a bit. The group was thinking of karaoking tonight and I was so hyped that I helped with researching some places to go. Karaoking in HK is waaaaaaaay more expensive than Korea and we didn’t think it was worth it to go to today so we just headed over to Tsim Sha Tsui to a Japanese yakitori restaurant that was recommended by Jamie, one of our HK city managers.
• The food took forever to come out and for some, the portions are quite small so not everyone was satisfied. Luckily for me, my stuff came out pretty quick and I was full by the end of it all. I got a Iberico pork belly skewer (IT WAS SO FREAKING FIRE–PJ made this edit), honestly one of the best things I’ve eaten here in HK). I got a bacon wrapped soft centered egg which was also pretty good and I also got an eel yaki onigiri that was alright as well. As we waited forever for our meal, we talked to each other some more to get to know each other. Storytime was happening and I ended up asking some questions from the list of 36 questions to fall in love with someone. Jason brought up how I always talked about Dean and we laughed about that since it is so true. What can I say? He’s an artist I really respect and look up to, and I love to share his music with others.
• After dinner, I got iced matcha latte from a bubble tea place and then headed over to Cotton On to check out some stuff. I thought I saw some things that were interesting but I didn’t end up buying anything.
• After shopping, some of the boys headed over to the sports bar while Stephanie, Devin, and I headed home. We met up with Edward on our way back since he was out with his sister and he was going to pass by our station on the way home (we actually were on the same train but in different carts at one point). On the subway ride, we compared how we looked with our siblings and tried to see if there was any resemblance. They said I looked my sister LOL.
• After we got back, Ryan, Edward, and Devin headed up to our rooms and we hung out and talked and laughed as we recalled what we did the past few days since not seeing each other. PJ stopped by to have Devin unlock the room since he had to sleep and get ready for work tomorrow. The rest of us don’t have work tomorrow because it’s Handover Day but it was sucky that I had stuff to do for work over the weekend, so I was working on that.
• We decided that a few of us were going to Ocean Park tomorrow along with Edward’s sister and after I finished doing my work, we played 2 intense rounds of ERS which involved a lot of laughing, slapping, and screaming. I ended up winning (as usual, lololol). It was super fun how hyped everyone was at playing and I really do believe that this game brings people together. I’m glad I got to share it to a few people who didn’t know about it before (also I whooped them lololol).
• After playing, I went to go shower and organize some clothes I bought yesterday and noticed a weird sticky stain(?)on one of the floral cropped tank blouses I bought. NOOOOOOOO. Ughhhhh I wish I had noticed it at the sore and gotten a different one. Oh well. I don’t think I can return or exchange it now since I cut the tag so let’s hope it comes out in the washer (I tried hand washing it and it did nothing).
• Now I’m doing some blogging for today and yesterday and it’s already 4:38am. Ahhhhh. I need to be up and ready by 10:30am to go to Ocean Park. Most of the blog posts are still in bullet point form so I can’t post them yet. DARN.

Day 10 (Monday, July 2): Ocean Park~~~

OOTD: black and white print bathing suit, black shorts, white fake Birks

• Off to Ocean Park today with Edward, his sister Judy, his sister’s friend Clover, Stephanie, Jason, and Devin.
• We stopped by the bakery near the MTR station to grab some breakfast since we headed off a little early. I think I got a tuna sandwich (sorry but it’s actually Joanne from July 5th so memory is kind of hazy).
• We headed over to the Ocean Park MTR to meet up with Judy and Clover. It was quite crowded at the Ocean Park and it started raining once we arrived so we ended up heading over to the aquarium to hide from the rain.
• We wandered around and saw so many cute sea creatures. I took a good amount of time walking around so I ended up hanging out and talking more to Judy.  We then walked over to the panda area and went to see a giant panda and some red panda bears. They were mostly sleeping. Soooooo cuuuuuuute. And then I paid 20 HKD with my Octopus card for a panda charity. It was around this time that we realized that Judy thought my name was Stephanie so we tried to keep up the ruse and Stephanie and I switched names for the day.
• Next we went to see the goldfishies. I don’t remember much beyond the cool fish-shaped lanterns and the koi fish pond. We then went to the alligator area and I saw one alligator but it was standing so still that I wasn’t sure if it was real at first.
• I rode the cable car with Edward and Judy to the other side of Ocean Park where all the rollercoasters are. The view was really pretty as we looked out to the water and saw other islands as well as the skyscrapers and the dangling cable cars. I kind of freaked out a little bit, especially when we got temporarily stuck hahaha.
• After we arrived on the other side of Ocean Park, we headed downstairs to get some AC as well as check out the jellyfish exhibit where they do this cool thing with lights so the jellyfish are changing colors and I’m awestruck and amazed.
• Afterwards we headed over to the shark exhibit and saw some cool and sharks and tbh I was kind of scared. Crazy to think that the only thing standing in between me and these creatures is a thing of glass–granted the glass is real thicc.
• We then headed over to the Dolphin show and oh my goodness the dolphins and sea lions were so adorable and super smart. When the sea lions were moving left and right (essentially dancing) to the music by following the arm movements of the trainer, my heart melted. I also flipped out in awe when I saw the dolphins doing flips in the water and pushing the trainers by their feet to propel them in water. When the trainers held onto their respective dolphin comrade and each other’s hand and floating in a circle, that was an overload of wholesomeness.
• For lunch we decided to eat a fried chicken food kiosk and I got the wings combo that came with Sprite, fries, and mango pudding. The wings were sooooooo good and really hit the spot. The fries were pretty good and it was god thinking that I got a packet of salt. We were going to sit closer to where the kiosk was at but we had to move because there was a bee hovering at the initial table we wanted to sit at.
• After lunch we decided to head over to the rides. Finally! The first ride we went on was The Abyss which is essentially The Big Drop except for this ride, they dropped us almost immediately and we went up and down a few times before coming back all the way down. The next ride was Crazy Galleon which is essentially the Viking. The ride itself wasn’t that bad but the kids that were sitting around me were screaming pretty loudly so my ears were kind of in pain. I then rode the Flying Swing aka my faveeeeeee ride.
• On our way over to the other rides, I talked with Judy and Clover about Korean music which was super fun. We then rode The Rapids which is essentially everyone sitting on a huge water tube as we fend the water being sprayed at us in various directions. Good thing I wore my swimsuit and quick dry pants so I was all gucci. Right after I got pretty soaked from that ride we rode that Hair Raiser which is the super fast roller coaster with multiple loops. It was super fun and there were corkscrews during the loops that I didn’t expect. We then headed over to ride Arctic Blast which was a milder roller coaster that went around the track twice. Edward and Judy didn’t join us for much of the rides except for Arctic Blast since they are more sensitive to motion sickness so I was glad that we all go to go on together for this ride. After we were done with rides, we headed over to North Pole Encounter  and South Pole Spectacular where we say penguins, sea lions, and walruses. Oh em gee the walruses were so huge and there was this one area where you basically got an insider’s look at their crib. Pretty cool how we got to see them super up close. Their eyes bulge out and it’s so funny hahaha. The areas were pretty cold since we were all still a little wet from the water ride so we got out of the penguin exhibit pretty fast. We tried to do a voice recording activity where we would record a message and the playback would be the sound of dolphin, sea lion, or walrus. It didn’t work. SAD FACE.
• By this time it was getting quite late so we ended Ocean Express which is essentially a submarine themed bullet train back to the other side of Ocean Park. Before we left to find a place for dinner, Edward had Judy try to add me on Facebook so she realized that she had mixed up our names. We then made a quick stop by Circle K to get some water and then headed over to Hysan Place in Causeway Bay. We ended up eating at Kitchen Eleven and I got the Salmon Rice Plate from Pepper Place which is essentially rice with raw salmon cooking on the side, all served on a stone plate. It was yummy! We all talked about a bunch of random things and were so happy that we got to hang out with each other/meet each other.

Day 11 (Tuesday, July 3): Late Night Hangouts

OOTD: white button down, striped dark blue striped capris dress pants, white fake Birks

• Another long day at work so I’ll just skip to after work. Stephanie went out with a friend so I came back with the boys and then headed over to Tai Koo Plaza to have dinner with Devin and Jason at Wang Jia Sha which was a dim sum place. It was yummmmy and the portions were quite big. I got the pork belly, preserved vegetables with clay pot rice. We also all got xiao long bao. It was sucky that we were charged for peanuts and tea/water.
• We came back for dinner and hung out with PJ, Richard, Ryan, and Edward. We played a round of ERS which was super intense and long because everyone was so competitive and intense. We were so intense that my cards got so bent.
• We were originally planning to watch a movie but ended up just chilling and having DMC (deep meaningful conversations). Richard ended up checking out my portfolio and fashion lookbook and it was both embarrassing and also fun that they’re enjoying the content I create. My heart was so warm and fuzzy by the end of the night. I ended up sleeping pretty late which was kind of sucky because I also didn’t get much sleep the night before but honestly it was worth it. ❤

Day 12 (Wednesday, July 4): Fake It Until You Make It

OOTD: white flowy sleeveless top with dark navy detail, striped black capris dress pants (later that night changed into black shorts), white fake Birks

• Came to work with Jason and Edward since Stephanie and Devin had a photo shoot (got to sleep in a bit more since Stephanie was planning to wake up later).
• Got the salmon flakes samgak kimbap and nescafe latte (it was really good)
• Went to work and was told that I would be helping with demonstrating stuff for guests as well as when my boss goes to meet up with a possible client.
• During lunch I got 2 samgak kimbap–salmon belly and sukiyaki–they were alright but I think I may be getting sick of them, came back to work too early because I thought there was an all-team meetings but interns didn’t have to be there so I returned to food court area.
• I got to know the new intern a little better as we talked about his interest in photography
• We went to go sit with Jason and some of the engineers at our company and it was so awkward since I wasn’t eating anything because I had eaten earlier and I didn’t say much because I didn’t have anything to contribute to the conversation surrounding engineering and computer science. WELP.
• Jason and I then went on a walk with Prim and the other Jason and we went all around Science Park. Prim and I asked each other random questions that covered school, movies, music, hobbies, etc. and it was nice finally getting to talk to her and getting to know her better.
• Got back and did a bit of work before heading out with my boss at around 3pm to meet with clients. On the way there, my boss and I had some small talk about my family, school, etc. I freaking swear. My boss reminds me so much of my dad. From the way he looks to the way he talks. LOLOLOL.
• I was successful in helping with product demonstration but LOLOL my heart rate was over 100 bpm because I was so nervous. I then headed home with my boss from the client’s company at around 6ish so I got home earlier than usual. I just bummed around for a bit before heading to McDonald’s with Stephanie to eat some super yummy McWings and french fries while sipping on orange juice (I can’t ever get enough of it).
• They headed over to Happy Valley Racecourse with PJ, Edward, and Devin and took the green mini public bus but we got off way too late so we head to hail a taxi. I swear I got bitten by a mosquito at the bus stop. Honestly mosquitoes serve no benefits to this world so they should all die.
• We met up with Jamie, Aymeric, Richard, Sanfeng, Josh, Ryan, Jason, and Willy so that was nice to meet up with the whole crew. We sat up in the bleachers this time around and Stephanie and I got to talk to Jamie about horse racing and all of the stats and thoughts and whatnot that goes into betting in a horse race. I didn’t bet because I have a personal thing against any form of gambling but I was still able to enjoy the race and live vicariously through my friends who did bet.
• With the encouragement of mainly Richard with some support from PJ and Stephaine, I did a quick and quite awkward vlogging session on my camera. LOLOLOL.
• Stephanie and I ended up walking back first and oh my goodnessssssss it was hottttttttttt. I cryyyyyyy at the stickiness. Oh humidity.
• I went to the front desk to ask if anyone left any package for me since my boss said he would drop off a bag of business cards. It took some time and they had to make a call and then I finally headed over to concierge to pick it up. I noticed though that the sheet of paper where my boss wrote down my info, he has written Joanna Nguyen. ARGHHHHH. JOANNA. My name is Joanne. Not Joanna. One of my greatest pet peeves is when people keep calling me Joanna. It’s especially awkward when it comes to finding the right timing to correct people.
• My phone’s internet has been acting up since last night and I got a text the other night saying my account balance was under 10 HKD so I was trying to figure out what is wrong with my SIM card. Turns out I don’t think the SIM card I have has unlimited data so I got scammedddddd. I don’t even know if I should use the other SIM card I bought which is the same as the current one. refill my current SIM card, or just try to find the 80 HKD unlimited data SIM card that my friend got.
• I’m exhausted and still so behind on the daily entries so I wrote up the post for today and will probably stay in after dinner tomorrow  to work on reviewing, finalizing, and posting the week 1 post.

Day 13 (Thursday, July 5): Unlucky

OOTD: white floral sleeveless top, striped dark blue striped capris dress pants, black Boy London sneakers

• Omg I trippppeeeeddddd so maaaaaannnnyyy timessssss. (Jason wrote this) But for real I did ended up tripping a few times (once on the escalator and another time someone tripped me as I was running to the elevator) on my way back to my room since I forgot the bag of business cards I needed to bring into the office. It was because I was wearing my fake white Birks so I changed into my black Boy London sneakers. I somehow managed not to be too far behind the others who I told to leave first since I walked down the escalators and power walked while they went at their normal chill pace.
• I had yummy beef brisket curry for lunch and I got to talk to the other intern Josh. We talked about extracurriculars and interests and we talked about our love for 1Million Dance Studio. Jason didn’t know who they were so I showed him Junsun Yoo’s Choreography to the Chris Brown Song “X.” Dennis showed me some Instagram worthy places to check out like Monster Building (Yik Cheong Building), Sai Wan Swimming Shed, Instagram Pier, Lok Wah (South) Estate Car Park Rooftop, and Choi Hung Estate. It’s cool how many of these places have been featured in MVs and I’ve seen and I’ll probably get the chance to see them in real life!
• For work, I finally did some filming but we’ll probably have to retake the footage since the person I interviewed messed up too much. Another cool accomplishment was becoming more familiar with Adobe Premiere and After Effects to create some really cool b-roll footage complete with free stock footage and news headline graphic motions.
• Since Stephanie and Devin were going out with their fellow interns, I headed home with Jason and Edward and went over to mx to eat dinner. I ordered pork cutlet with rice and soup along with a side of hot lemon tea–it was yummy. PJ and Ryan had already eaten dinner at MX before we came but they ended up staying chilling with us as we ate there before us but they ended up chilling there with us as we ate.
• Afterwards we came to Edward and Ryan’s room with the intention of watching an anime/movie but then we ended up just chilling, having more DMC, reading/editing my blog (especially Jason–thanks for your help Jason). PJ called me Stephanie twice. -_- We talked about past relationships, spirit animals (apparently I’m a Koala according to PJ and a penguin according to Jason), and how pretty our hands were LOLOL. Again I’m super glad to do more group bonding and my heart is once again super warm and fuzzy when I went back to my room. I’m going to miss having late night chats with these people.

Day 14 (Friday, July 6): Movie Night

OOTD: white flowy floral blouse, white mesh with turtle neck, black striped capris dress pants, black Boy London sneakers

• I had to exercise at work to test the heart rate measurement accuracy of various earphones. I had to jog 6 km/hr for 3 min, walk 3 km/hr for 1 min, run 9 km/hr for 3 min, and then walk 3 km/hr for 1 min. I did this set about 4 times with kind of a long breaks in between because it took awhile for my heart rate to come back down to normal.
• Today was the last day for the 2 high school interns Jasper and Leo so they bought us all a chocolate cake with fruit and man was it yummy.
• Josh ended up taking taking the same route home with us so he got to meet the other Science Park buddies.
• We came back and chilled for a little bit before heading over to Formosa Autumn for some Taiwanese style food for dinner. PJ, Stephanie, and I split an oyster omelet and fried chicken with spiced salt with a side of white rice. It was yummy and with the help of Stephanie, I got a taro milk tea to go~
• After dinner, I hung out in my room for a bit to have some introvert recharging time and to blog without the distraction of my friends hahaha. I then headed over to Edward and Ryan’s room to watch the anime movie “A Silent Voice” along with Jason. Stephanie joined us for a bit. I won’t talk much about the movie because I don’t want to spoil it but they animation was amazing and there was definitely a lot of symbolism that was greatly appreciate even if I think I didn’t catch them all. Ryan cried and sniffled a few times which made Edward laugh which distracted me from the movie. Oh it was a fun time with me bursting out with frustration when the boys tried “spoiling” me

Day 15 (Saturday, July 7): Lowkey Kind-of Day

OOTD: black floral cropped top, black mesh top, above-the-knee denim skirt, Black Boy London shoes

• Woke up around 11am to got about 9 to 10 hours of sleep. Just lazed around in bed browsing the internet, blogging, and figuring out which pictures/videos to post onto Instagram for the Sage Corps photo contest. I also finally switched to the new SIM card since my old one was not working no matter how many times I restarted my phone. Let’s hope this SIM card doesn’t also get all screwed up too.
• Headed over to Edward and Ryan’s room to invite them to hang out with us for the day to go shopping, eating, and getting a haircut. We went over to Jason and Josh’s room because Jason knocked out and wasn’t responding to our messages. We finally left the hotel at around 4pm.
• We first headed over to Kam Wah Cafe and Bakery to try out their pineapple bun with butter (literally there was a slab of butter on the inside of the pineapple bun and yes, it was delicious). At first we headed inside to sit down but the server told us if we were just going to order pineapple buns then we should have just ordered outside and get it to-go. I understand where she’s coming from and that’s ultimately what we did, but tbh, it was pretty rude the way she treated us but oh well. No need to have my day get ruined by something like that.
• We walked around the Mongkok area to find a place for Stephanie and Jason to get a haircut. I was debating whether or not I should get a haircut as well and opted not to get it done since I’m not sure if I can part with my blonde tips yet hahaha.
• After their haircuts we headed over to Ladies Market to check out more stuff, although once I don’t get anything since I get so intimidated when it comes to bargaining and I don’t really see anything I like. We spend quite a long time in a thrift shop and Jason, Edward, and I somehow ended up talking about intimidation and who we thought was the most intimidating within our cohort.
• After we left the thrift shop, we headed over to Ah Chun Shandong Dumpling which was a one-star Michelin restaurant. I ordered the steamed Chinese cabbage and pork dumpling and oh em geeee it was sooooo gooooood. Handmade dumplings are indeed the best. I also got to try the steamed and fried leek and pork dumplings as well as the fried watercress and pork dumplings because I traded some of dumplings with Edward, Ryan, and Stephanie.
• After dinner we headed over to Ladies Market once again so Jason could get a mini fan that is powered by your smartphone. For some reason, his fan doesn’t work on his phone but does work for some of the others. Did he get scammed or is his phone just jank? Who knows?
• We came back to the hotel and originally a few of us were going to the gym downstairs but since there was only 5 minutes until the gym closed once I finished changing into workout clothes, I just chilled in my room. Stephanie, Devin, and I headed over to Edward and Ryan’s room to watch some Violet Evergarden (an apparently super sad anime that Ryan talks about all the time). Because the wifi was so slow, we weren’t able to watch an episode so we just spent time talking about random stuff like trying to convince Edward to join us on a hike tomorrow, what photos/videos to post on Instagram, and trendy YouTube videos. We watched the kwiyomi and PPAP videos. LOLOL the PPAP video is sooooo random and weird.

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