[Adventure(s)] #17: Third Week in Hong Kong

Day 16 (Sunday, July 8): Hidden Gem 

OOTD: white flowy off-the shoulder top, long flowy black skirt with yellow floral pattern, white fake Birks

• I woke up at around 11am to have lunch with a Stanford alumni along at The American Club in Central area with other Stanford students who are interning in Hong Kong this summer. I didn’t talk that much during the whole lunch but it was cool to hear about the life experiences and career path of an Asian American who is an expat in Asia, especially when he talks about raising his children both in the US and Hong Kong. For lunch, I had a ham and cheese sandwich along with some skinny fries. I thought everything tasted pretty good although I swear Hong Kong don’t salt their fries. Maybe it’s because I’ve been spoiled by America? On the way to this restaurant, I faced some troubles. When I got out of the Central MTR station it was pouring. I guess it was a good thing I wore my fake Birks since my black sneakers take FOREVER to dry once they get wet. I had some troubles navigating to the building of the restaurant since signage wasn’t quite clear and I’m not super familiar with the landmarks to be able to navigate Google Maps that well. When I finally found the building, the elevators were also quite confusing since I have to go all the way up to the 49th floor and so I had to go through different elevators which is dumb since I got so confused when the elevators had no buttons. Like where am I supposed to go?
• After lunch I headed back to the hotel because my phone was running out of battery and I didn’t bring my charger or portable battery. Oh Joanne. When I got back to the hotel, I hung out at the hotel with Richard to figure out cool cafes to check out while uploading a post to the Sage Corps Hong Kong Instagram on Edward’s behalf.
• Richard and I finally left the hotel around 3:30pm and headed over to NOC Cafe per Bradley’s suggestion (shoutout to my awesome RA from freshman year). NOC Cafe is located at Gough Street in Sheung Wan and let’s just say I’ve found my favorite place in Hong Kong. Filled with coffee shops, knick-knack novelty shops, and street art, this place felt like a hidden gem, hidden away from the mass amounts of people of noise. In this quieter and quaint artsy place, I felt so rejuvenated.
• Our first stop was of course NOC Cafe and it was amazzzzzing. The aesthetic. I felt like I was transported to a coffee shop in Korea. I got a iced peach tea and smoked salmon and guacamole on sourdough with onions. OH EM GEE. IT WAS WONDROUS. Richard and I spent a good hour or two telling our life stories and talking about life. Oh how much I love DMC/heart-to-hearts. They really do fill up my soul with warmth.
• We then went into a knick-knack novelty shop names Homeless. It was soooooo cute and filled with unique and interesting trinkets and whatnot. Cute plushies, cool home essentials/furniture, and antique items filled the store. I was so happy in that store. I was exploring to my heart’s content and I really did feel like a kid in a candy shop. One of my favorite items in the store was this game board of sorts that had aa maze where you places a metal ball and it would take random paths to reach an O, X or retry. It’s a decision board! How clever and super useful for someone indecisive like me. Richard ended up buying a polar bear plushie since polar bears are his spirit animal. I didn’t get anything but I will be sure to be back. So many cute stores and coffee shops to check out~
• Richard and I then headed over to the H&M in Causeway Bay since the group wanted to get all-you-can-eat hotpot. I ended up getting a black tote bag, black scalloped flats, a red off-the-shoulder floral print blouse, gray plaid halter top, and a white flowy purple floral print blouse with fancy collar. When I was paying I struggled to hold all of my stuff because the cashier didn’t put al of my stuff in the tote bag for me (which I thought would ave made the most sense but I understand it was because  didn’t explicitly told him to) so I’m pretty sure he was laughing because of me. He doubled charged me for the shoes so I had to go back and tell him. I bet he was amused and laughing at how flustered and rushed since I wanted to hurry and meet up with the rest of the group who’s waiting in line at the all-you-can-eat hotpot place.
• Clover joined us for dinner, had a food competition
• Stopped to listen to a busker at Times Square–his voice was so nice (helped Ryan post a video to the Hong Kong insta)
• Had issues with Instagram kept freezing or take forever to upload the video–super frustrating for someone who was trying to go to sleep

Day 17 (Monday, July 9): Professionalism is Pain

OOTD: white flowy purple floral print blouse with fancy collar, black striped capris dress pants, black scalloped flats

• Decided to ear my new scalloped flats and the big black tote bag to work today. Mistakes were made. These flats are so uncomfortable for my heels and I have to bring so much stuff to work that my shoulders are killing me. Thank goodness Jason had some bandaids in his backpack so I put them on my heels and man do they feel so much more comfortable.
• During work, I did some more video stuff so same old, same old. For lunch, I had Pepper Lunch with Jason and Josh in 8W and I got the salmon pepper rice plate which is what I got last time. I’m happy that Jason and I are getting to know Josh better. Getting to joke with each other (for example calling me Joanna/Jo/Joan instead of Joanne).
• We ended leaving work early at around 5pm to go to the cryptocurrrency/blockchain event organized by Sage Corps. We had to take the long route home before heading over to  Garage Society in Wan Chai where the event was taken space. Tbh I was so lost throughout the talk since I kind of know what’s going on with cryptocurrency at a SUPER basic level but not in-depth enough to understand what the speakers were talking about. The co-founder of Ethereum was there (tbh I don’t really know who he is but apparently he’s a big deal so that’s cool I guess). I ended up having to Google terms and and names left and right. I was also pretty sleep and hungry. At the very least I got to eat some of the bacon-wrapped sausages, meat skewers, mini fruit cakes, and other hors d’oeuvres.
• After the event, Stephanie, Richard, Jason, Edward, PJ, Devin, and I headed over to Tsui Wah to grab dinner. I ordered the triple chocolate drink (fluffy and yummy), a fishball noodle soup dish (a little bland for my taste but warmed up my tummy), and shared with Stephanie buttered bread with condensed milk (tasty). We talked about random stuff like how some of us saw each other during the video call (apparently I looked upset/dead/not having it–I had to wake up early for this call and it ended in like 10 minutes sooooo yeah).
• After dinner, we headed home and were all in Edward and Ryan’s room to watch Violet Evergarden. Clover also came over and we ended up watching 3 episodes
• Watched 3 episodes of Violet Evergarden

Day 18 (Tuesday, July 10): Missing Korea

OOTD: white button down, dark navy blue dress pants, black scalloped flats

• Messaged friends to like FB page–many people did, shoutouts from James and Supsup
• Ate with Steph, Devin, Josh, Jason, and other interns from Steph and Devin’s company–I got the boneless pork knuckle and so did Jason
• After work went to Mongkok to meet up with Clover for dinner and shopping
• Had to walk all the way to Moko Mall which is right outside of Mongkok East MTR station
• Got Schoolfood which is a Korean restaurant for dinner. I ordered bacon, cheese, and kimchi fried rice with a fried egg. The group ordered a lime lychee ade (juice/lemonade?) to share. The pitcher was tbh smaller than I had expected.
• PJ joined us later since he was at a work event earlier, but he ended up just going  home with the boys since they were too tired or not interested in shopping. Jason and Edward were racing to see who would get home if they took different MTR routes.
• Met up with Clover’s friend Dora again o go shopping in New Town Shopping Mal in Mongkok. Reminds of the sores in the Myeongdong subway station. I got a dark pink sleeveless blouse and black flowy pants for quite cheap. I enjoyed buying in places when prices were marked because I hate haggling although a good portion of them would require you to haggle which is too much work for me (emotionally, mentally, and physically).
• Came home and was originally planning to watch Violet Evergarden, but it got too late as we waited for the others so we just hung out and talked. Had drawing competitions on Clover’s iPad: Richard vs. Edward drawing me (Richard won), Me vs. Devin drawing Ryan (I won), and Clover vs. Ryan (Clover won). It was too funny. Also had a no laughing competition and I lost the first time but I won the second time. It was a good fight with Richard and I as the last ones. The others thought I wold crack pretty easily (especially Edward) since I always laugh at random stuff and whenever Edward says anything. Richard says he notices that I laugh at very weird and random thing so he was trying to channel that to make me laugh.
• Didn’t sleep until like 2am so I had like another 5-hour night of sleep. Yikes.

Day 19 (Wednesday, July 11): Being Brave

OOTD: black flowy dress with sunflower white floral print, black Boy London sneakers

• Made a phone call with a client–nerve-racking as f***
• Austrian startup networking event at Naked Hub in Sheung Wan area with Josh and Jason–I actually got to talk to people (proud of myself!)
• Dinner with Dennis and Jason in North Point Food Center
• Didn’t come back home until like 11:20pmish (so exhausted)

Day 20 (Thursday, July 12): Night In

OOTD: white with black stripes short sleeve shirt, black flowy pants, black Boy London sneakers

• Made more progress with video stuff–my boss apparently said he liked it so yay
• Did a lot of exercising today (running and biking–sweated so much)
• Finally filmed my coworker for a video–had troubles finding a location but we finally settled somewhere quite nice
• Met up with the group at Diamond Hill station–awwww for waiting for us
• Grabbed dinner with Edward, Ryan, Devin, and PJ. Originally was planning to go to a dumpling restaurant but the place had no seats for us so we went to a Japanese place where I got grilled Hokke fish with rice (tbh it was alright, I’ve definitely had better grilled fish in Korea and America). Shared pineapple bun with everyone since I got it from the bakery on the way home from work.
• Edward gave me his extra tube of toothpaste since I ran out and when I asked Stephanie to get one from Watson for me, Edward must have overheard and offered. Wowowow Mama Edward.
• I was debating watching an anime movie with Ryan, Edward, and Devin or going to a rooftop bar with Stephanie, Pj, and Richard but I opted to just shower and chill in my room since today has been a long ay, I haven’t had much sleep the past few days, and I just want to a night to myself. Before I went to shower, I played dress up with a few of the new clothes items I bought and man I’m so excited to wear them~~~
• Ahhh laying in bed after a shower is so nice. I feel so warm and cozy. It’s one of those days when I feel like being a homebody. Here’s me trying to sleep by midnight so I can get 7 hours of sleep on a weekday which is #rare. I saw on Dean’s story that he used the “ask me anything” sticker and now I’m debating what to ask if I should ask.

Day 21 (Friday, July 13): Catching Up on Dramas

OOTD: white with black stripes short sleeve shirt, black flowy pants, black Boy London sneakers

• Did more filming for work today. Had the char siu silky egg with rice for lunch per Stephanie’s recommendation.
• After work, Devin, Edward, and I headed over to MX to meet up with Ryan, Richard, and Stephanie for dinner. I ordered the Hainese chicken and rice combo with beef bone(?) soup.
• After showering, I just spent the rest of the night watching a few episodes of About Time since it’s been forever since I’ve watched it and my throat was feeling a little weird. I ended up sleeping around midnight which is pretty early.

Day 22 (Saturday, July 14): Lazy Day

OOTD: Sage Corps tshirt, denim shorts, white fake Birks (later that day), houndstooth/plaid halter top, black flowy pants, ripped oversized denim jacket

• Woke up at around 9ish and continued to watch more episodes of About Time until my video call with MLH peeps at 11am. It was nice catching up with everyone although I ended up typing everything since 1) Stephanie was still sleeping and I didn’t want to leave the room and 2) my throat was kind of hurting.
• Stephanie and I basically lazed in the room all day until lunchtime when we were out with Edward, Ryan, And Devin to the Congee and Noodle Shop where we go congee which is perf when you’re feeling under the weather.
• When we got back, we did laundry and did more lazing around until dinner where we headed over to Central for some pho but then ended up going to Tsui Wah since the pho place was too crowded. Not everyone in the group brought in an umbrella so we had to pair up. Edward and I ended up paring up and I felt so bad since my umbrella is pretty small so he got pretty soaked while holding the umbrella for us.
• I ordered the almond tea milk with egg along with a prawns and egg noodles dish. At lunch, we talked about various languages. Richard “showed off” his Chinese skills, people write down their Chinese names, Richard and I conversed in Korean and I corrected his spelling of 안녕하세요 (hahaha), and I also got to talk a bit about Vietnamese.
• After we came back, we watched some Violet Evergarden together and Steph and I were pretty red so we coming in and out of consciousness. Edward was showing us some of his saved Facebook videos in between Violet Evergarden episodes which was amusing. By the time people were watching episodes of Kitchen Nightmares, I was knocked out.