Adventures with Huong

So this is way past due, but school's been crazy and really I should be studying for my quiz on Wednesday but my brain is pretty fried.

This is Huong.

She is from Vietnam and basically, she's awesome.

I had the special pleasure of hosting her while she visited Hong Kong for a women's conference.

The cool thing is that we never met until she was in my dorm room and I had returned from Taiwan.

It was one of those Mormon network stories. Huong had served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Cambodia where she was mission companions with a girl who lives on my block at home. She was trying to help Huong find a place to stay. But one day, my mom talked to her mom about it, my mom talked to me, I talked to the girl in my neighborhood, and a few weeks later, I was playing tour guide. 

And it was really fun.

Together we did the sights of Hong Kong.

We took a bus up to Victoria's Peak (the cool way to do it, the tram is so overrated). We ate at a restaurant Anthony Bourdain went to. We had dim sum. We went to the Chi Lin Nunnery. We saw the Temple. We talked to missionaries. We hung out around Mong Kok. We did the Temple Night Market. We watched the sun set at TST.

But the best part about that whole week was Huong herself. I am so lucky to know her. She is such a humble, sweet, gracious person. Definitely a great example for me to follow.

2 Months

Yeah, I've been in Hong Kong for two months!!

Can you believe it?

Cause I can't.

These past two months have been wonderful. I have had so many new experiences, made so many new friends, and tried so many new foods. I have been to four new countries and I'm adding two more on Friday. I have learned so much about myself--what I can take, what I need to improve, and what I want for my future. It's exciting and oh so scary.

I've been introduced to a whole new world of options. And it's hard to make a decision of which path is the right one for me. It has been a trial of my faith and my patience. I am learning how to rely on my Heavenly Father because he is all I can rely on. The more I am here, the more I realize how inadequate my ways and my plans are. His plan for me is so much better and wonderful than any plan I could have for myself. I can only do so much, but with God I can do all things.

And I keep reminding myself that, even though I'm watching my friends leave on missions and get married while I have no mission, no boyfriend, no summer job prospects, and basically no idea on what to do in life at a time when I really need to figure that out (graduating in a year!!).

But then I remember that I live in Hong Kong and that my present is super amazing. I am such a lucky punk. I have so much to thank Heavenly Father for every day. So I would like to share what I am grateful for with you.

• I am grateful that everyday I open my dorm room door to see the ocean. (And if I wake up early enough I can see the sunrise, which is the best view ever)
• I am grateful for elevators, BYU needs to install one on South Campus.
• I am grateful for FaceTime because it allows me to talk to my family.
• I am grateful for technology in general.
• I am grateful (most of the time) that I don't have a smartphone. I like not always being connected to the internet and social media and distractions and whatnot.
• I am grateful for public transportation. I just can't get over how efficient it is here. 
• I am grateful for my friends here. I am so lucky that Heavenly Father guided me to them.
• I am grateful that I have met so many fabulous women here. Honestly, every week at church I meet another fantastic individual who I want to be like when I grow up. 
• I am grateful that it takes me an hour to get to church. It requires me to make a honest decision and effort to go to church.
• I am grateful for missionaries. Bothering them is one my new favorite hobbies. 
• And most of all, I am grateful for my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, for His love and patience with a soul so rebellious and proud as mine.

Sorry for the more serious, picture-lacking post. Don't worry, there will be plenty of pictures with tomorrow's post.

Big Buddha

Or big booty!!!

Hehe

I finally went to see the Tian Tian Buddha, one of the five giant Buddhas in China. And it is HUGE!!

But I'm getting ahead of myself.

To get to the Buddha, you have three choices:

1. Take a bus
2. Ngong Ping 360 cable car (the quick touristy option)
3. Hike 10km

We chose to do number 3. 

Which was quite the adventure.

Adventure #1: Finding the trail

The trailhead is nowhere near the beginning of the cable car service at Tung Chung. Rather, you have to first walk around Tung Chung to the mountain and then finally start the trail. Luckily we had found some directions on a hiking blog, but we still got lost.

But then we found a nice local student who walked us to most of the way to the trailhead, even though it meant walking the opposite direction from her home. We really appreciated her.

Finally, after 45 minutes, we got to the trailhead.

Adventure #2: The first tower

The Buddha hike is considered a pretty tough hike and they weren't kidding. The hike to the first tower  (there are 5 in all) was stair after stair after stair. Plus it was 89% humidity that day so basically I was dripping with sweat BIG time. It was disgusting and difficult and I wanted to cry. In fact, at one point it got super hard to breathe, like the beginning of a panic attack. That bad. I was pretty sure I had made the biggest mistake of my life. 10 km of this? I was going to die.

The view from the first tower.

But luckily for me, the hike to the first tower was the most difficult. The hike to the second tower was a little bit easier. I was regaining confidence. Then we stopped for lunch at the C15 marker (the halfway marker).

And lunch reenergized me (but notice how bloomin red my face is). And then before we knew it we were at the third tower and we got our first glimpse at Buddha!!!!

And within the hour we had finished the trail!!!!!!

Then we made our way to the Buddha.

And I felt like a boss because I survived the Big Buddha hike (possible t-shirt idea????)! Take that sissy cable car riders!!

A Slower Pace of Life

So my life has been pretty mundane recently. The first round of midterms are over; the second round starts next week. I'm saving up my funds for a week in Thailand.

And all this means is that I don't leave campus that often. Pretty much only on the weekends.

I do still have adventures, just a bit more nerdier ones. Like exploring the HKUST library and therefore finding better, quieter places to study than the Learning Commons (like the BYU Periodicals or the No Shhh Zone). Because I now have to study--the downside of a study abroad.

And I'm taking a Bollywood dance class--and performing next week. Don't know how I signed up for that one. But now the UST student body can watch my awesome white-girl moves. Yeahhhhhh.

My diet usually consists of a lot of peanut butter, saltine crackers, and instant noodles since I'm saving up to splurge on riding an elephant and petting a tiger in Thailand. And I found an actually good place to eat on campus-- the Turkish kebab stand. Yes, I'm pretty sure the tall skinny guy at the register hates my guts (for what reason I suspect I shall never know), but the food is oh so tasty and fills me up. Much better than both of the school's cafeterias.

But one of the best things about my more normal life is rediscovering the awesomeness of Whose Line is It Anyway. Watching a skit between taking Cornell notes for Consumer Behavior brings a smile to my face and the will to keep reading about low effort attitudes.

In fact, let me share one of their skits with you to brighten up your day!!

Love,

Sarah

Adventures in Sai Kung

Sai Kung, a beautiful beach town just down the coast from HKUST. And still, I had never gone. That is, until Saturday, when a group of us headed to Sai Kung to go kayaking...on the open ocean!!

Yeah, my life's pretty adventurous.

For 50 HKD (about 6.5 USD) you can rent a kayak for the whole day. Which is a pretty sweet deal, especially when your buddy loves to negotiate and you get the kayak for even cheaper. Thanks Ellery! And waterproof bags and life jackets were included!!

Honestly, I could do this every weekend!!

Guard in Asia?

One of the things I miss is my flag. It's is so beautiful here at HKUST and the weather has been amazing so I have had the urge a few times to go play flag. Except I don't have a flag. (Insert sad face) And I was sure there wasn't colorguard in Asia. I mean, colorguard and marching band are totally American things, right?

At least that's what I thought before my trip to Taipei earlier this month.

It was my first real day in Taipei, Taiwan and our first stop was the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial, which was right down the street from our hostel. It was sprinkling, so we took our obligatory pictures outside and then headed for the museum where we learned about the life of Chiang Kai-Shek and his pretty sweet cars.

When the rain finally subsided, we made our way to the National Theater and the National Concert Hall and their vibrant colors and oriental design. To our surprise, the area around both buildings were taken up by different groups. On one side, there was a traditional dance group practicing. On the other side, a posse of Asian kids doing hip hop.

Then, in my peripheral vision, I saw a rifle spinning in the air.

No, I thought, it can't be.

But as I got closer, I realized that there was a troupe of high school students tossing rifle on the deck of the National Theater. My curiosity was piqued. Was this some military-like performing group or did I actually stumble on a colorguard in Taiwan?

I climbed up the stairs to the deck to investigate and sure enough, there were flags too.

I about died of happiness. My travel buddy honestly must of thought I was crazy the way I was blabbering on and on about how cool it was to find a colorguard in ASIA of ALL places!!

Here's the evidence (which I secretly took with my Bond skills):

What I Ate...Taiwan Style

In summary, Taiwanese food is delicious and cheap. I pretty much spent the whole weekend gorging myself with tasty delights.

Fried milk, proving that anything is delicious if it is deep-fried.

Din Tai Fung! My first Michelin Star restaurant.

Taro buns

Green Onion pancake

Stinky Tofu

My dessert at the Modern Toilet Restaurant

Papaya milk is so blooming delicious!

GARLIC BREAD!!

PESTO!!

Rose Tea

Passionfruit Soda

Nothing like dumplings in the early morning

Asian churros

Hot cocoa--so rich