Bye, but hopefully not forever

Writing this blog has been both fun and rewarding, and it certainly added to my overall experience abroad. I would like to thank everyone who read it, enjoyed it and who gave me valuable feedback and support. It now seems like an appropriate time to close this blog, a bittersweet ending to a wonderful adventure.
Hopefully soon in the near future, I will find myself embarking on yet another blog-worthy journey. Until then, ta-ta.

Xanga Style!

I spent the last few weeks spending quality time with my family, my friends and the city, all of whom I probably won't see again for a long time.
For those interested, this entails the following:

• One weekend, we went to Sai Kung for a barbeque with Uncle Four's and Uncle Five's family and got to see Leo, Jeff, Heiley and Woon Yin.
• Also got my fill of kareoke, once with Louisa, Denise and ah Gei, and then again with Amy and Wing.
• Played plenty of Mahjong at Gramma's and Big Aunt's, pretty much breaking even.
• watching movies: MI 3 with Jeff and The Wild with Wing
• Celebrating mother's day multiple times over dim sum and various other chinese cuisines
• Spending time with my cousin Beata and Jakie
• Having dinner with my friend Carina and meeting her bf
• Meeting up with Stacie and Mukesh for Indian food at Chungking mansion and buying bollywood dvds, going to lantau island
• Having drinks at Lan Kwai Fong with Dennis, Stacie and her friend
• Falling asleep on buses and ferries
• Playing with babies, all the time
• Eating a ton of yummy food and putting on 10 pounds
• Buying a lot of random useless shit while roaming the city
• Catching up on everyone's Xanga and catching the Xanga bug resulting in the above list (surely everyone is fascinated by the minute details of my life?)

Right, on a sadder note, without any form of formal occupation, I'm slowly loosing the will to live as I find myself, just yesterday, devouring a Chicken McNuggets Combo while proceeding to watch 6 episodes of FRIENDS back to back. A clear indication that eating and shopping cannot constitute a meaningful life.

That said, I am sad to leave my life as an unemployed nomad, but totally looking forward to a new life in Toronto, which will hopefully include: a new job (for the summer), new apartment, new roommate(s), new friends and if none of the above at least a new semester in Law School with exciting new adventures!

Bangkok Weekend Getaway

Lady Boy Show

Spent the weekend in Bangkok with my sister, to be pampered and entertained. We spent the weekend going to spa's, shopping and laying by the pool. This is my second time in Bangkok, so I didn't mind missing out on the touristy things. We went to a ladyboy show, the aquarium and the night bazaar with the beer garden, which was awesome. After India, I imagined that I would find traveling in Thailand a breeze. In many aspects it was easier, except the fact that no one speaks ANY English. The cab drivers don't understand "turn right", the sales don't seem to know what I mean by "larger size", it was so frustrating! Anyway, the 4 days flew by and now I'm into my final stretch in Hong Kong before returning to reality in 2 weeks. I'm supposed to be meeting Shawn from G5 for lunch this week, its interesting the people you end up running into half way around the world. Also my friend Stacie from India is coming to HK on Sunday, I'm really looking forward to it!

London!

View from top of St. Paul's Cathedral

Aunt Carrie and I, her house

Oxford or Hogwarts?



Mohsin at British Museum (BFF!)

Millenium Bridge

As a side trip during my stay in Hong Kong, my aunt Carrie invited me to go to London with her, which I gladly accepted. It was amazing, couldn't have been better if i had planned it.
I spent most of the days exploring the city, sightseeing and going to museums. Saw a musical, shopped on Oxford street, walked throught the parks, went into the Tower of London etc. People there are nice, and soooo proper ( in their well mannered, cardigan wearing ways). I met up with Kasia, one of Mickey's friends who I met in India; Shubha, my friend from Toronto; and my friends from studying abroad 2 years ago. I stayed with Jen after my aunt left, and got to meet some of her crazy/lovely friends. I spent a day in Oxford with my friend Mohsin (who is now engaged), which was fabulous. On my last night, the whole crew came into London and it was just awesome to see everyone again and catch up.
So now I have a new plan to move to London in three years... I can't wait!

My babies

Hei Hei, crying but cute!

Hang Hang and Louisa, Namaste!

Me and Jake, my biu jeh's baby, Stanley

Hei Hei at the playground, Nam Fung

The Pearl of the Orient

Goodbye India and hellooooo Hong Kong, the fragrant harbour..

I had the best last days in Mumbai, thanks to my most lovely friends. I got to do some last minute shopping and got to see everyone one last time. It was amazing to spend the last day cruising on Marine Drive, one of my first memories of Bombay, and eating at the Salt Water Grill with the people I love... it was just a great way to say goodbye.

Yay, now I'm in HK again! Not much tourist activities going on, just meeting up with friends and family. (All the cute babies!) I helped my sister move into her new place and went to my interview. Also spent time nursing a bladder infection, a cold and some sort of heat rash on my face, which won't go away - hence the lack of photos.
I hooked up with some of my friends from when I studied at HKU, and got to eat loads of yummy yummy food: Dim sum, sushi, peking duck, dumplings, steaks mmmmm!! Ada is happy to be back in a multi-cuisine carnivorous world! (But no Chung King Mansion for me , i'm all curried out!)
I found a fantastic yoga place in Sheung Wan, its really intense and i've been sore for 4 days now.
hmmm what else. O yes. Being Ching Ming festival, we are going to pay respects to my Grandpa this Sunday.
In more exciting news, I'm going to London for a week with my aunt next week!! I'm looking forward to going there for the first time and to have a reunion with the brit crew from my HKU days. yay!!
Last but not least, now that the interview flopped and I got waitlisted by Columbia - looks like i'm heading back to Toronto to start law school this fall, which i guess is not too shabby. Regardless, i'm looking forward to being back and catching up with all my buddies.

I'll try to get some photos up soon!

Final Destination

Ganga Pooja

Animals eating garbage in the middle of the road

Morning Bath

Stupa in Sarnath

Varanasi, the ancient city on the Ganges River where Indians come to die. My final destination in India, but not quite in the same way. Hindu's from across the country come to be cremated on the ghats, the final remains disposed into the holy Ganga. As one of the holiest sites of Hinduism, the streets are naturally filled with holy cows and big piles of cow shit. Filthy cows and goats and dogs and feces from 10 different species (including human) line the winding lanes of this very distinctive Indian town. Every morning, the locals bath and wash their clothes in the same river where they dump corpses. The level of sanitation in this place is beyond belief. That said, I am fascinated by it. We stood over the burning ghats one afternoon and watched the body burners at work. The corpse is carried on a stretcher (fortunately covered by colored fabric), washed in the river, and then openly cremated on the river bank. The family members walk around the fire five times (for the five elements: air, fire, earth, water, sky). We saw one man do this while chatting on his mobile. The burning takes a few hours and produces a smell of burning flesh, kinda like a barbeque. Every evening at 6:30, a pooja to Ganga is held, with dancing and singing, a very elaborate ceremony. One morning, Sara and I took a boat ride to observe the activities of the ghats from a safe distance, a pleasant change from dodging the animals and their excrements.
Being in such a spiritual place, we thought it a good idea to do a yoga meditation course with a lonely planet recommended instructor, which was very relaxing.
We also visited Sarnath, a popular site for Buddhist pilgrims right outside of Varanasi, for it is said that the Buddha preached his first sermon here. Much of the site has been destroyed during later invasions but one of the stupas remain standing and many artifacts are preserved in the museum, which was surprisingly well kept and very informative.
From Varanasi, Sara and I said our goodbyes. She will be heading to Delhi to continue her travels up north to Punjab; while I head back to Bombay to prepare for my final departure from India.

PS. The ride was 26 hours and so I read the Memoires of a Geisha, so sad, i cried.

Brrrr... its cold up here! but at least its not Indian!

Prayer flags at a Buddhist Temple

Drinking Tumba

Tea Picker in Darjeeling

Khangchendzonga Peak at Sunrise, from Tiger Hill

My first time travelling on sleeper class (dirty and crowded) but I guess it wasn’t so bad. There is no direct train between Calcutta and Darjeeling, so we had to take a jeep from NJP station up the hills. Once we got there, we were all too overwhelmed by the cold to pay any attention to the beautiful landscapes surrounding us. We quickly equipped ourselves with wool socks, hats, long underwear and big blankets (all of which we wore the entire time we were there).
Darjeeling is different from the rest of India in everyway possible; the climate, the landscape, the people, the food, the clothing… such a wonderful feeling to be leave India behind for one week. The majority of the inhabitants come from either a Nepal or Tibet, bringing along their culture, including food, dress and religion. As a result, we spent the days exploring Buddhist monasteries (Ghompas) and visited the Tibetan Refugee Self Help Center, where Tibetans sustain a livelihood by producing traditional crafts. We ate delicious momo’s (very similar to the dumplings you get in Shanghai), bowls of Tenthuk soups and drinking lots of hot tea to keep us warm.
Being the troopers that we were, we managed to drag our asses out of bed at 4am one morning to see the sunrise from Tiger Hill. As the sun rose, we admired the beauty of the Himalayas as the sunlight reflected off the Khangchendzonga peak, while feeling a bit nauseous from sleep deprivation and the bumpy ride up.
Andrea and Naomi planned to do an 8 day snow trek up in Sikkim. Being relatively less diehard about the cold, Sara and I decided that this is where our paths split, so the two of us made arrangements to go to Varanasi instead. We spent our last night together at a small teahouse, drinking Tomba, a hot drink of fermented barley. The shopkeeper was the sweetest lady who told us a sad story of her childhood. It was a wonderful way to say goodbye to Darjeeling and to our friends. *single tear*