GBS 2017 – Day 1: We are Tourists

Hello everyone. Happy Mother’s Day. Today was our first full day in Hong Kong. We arrived here last night around 7:00pm local time. By the time we finished eating our first meal at the airport, the lights among the buildings were the only sources illuminating the city. It took until this morning for us to see Hong Kong in daylight, which I found to be more tropical than I expected. The weather is hot and humid, and rain can be unpredictable. The forecast this morning showed no rain, but there was a period of time where it poured, and we were all caught off guard.

Before we left for our day of sightseeing today, we enjoyed a relatively Western breakfast at the hotel paid for by Dr. Eke. Thanks, Dr. Eke. Don’t worry, we have to pay for every other meal…. more on that later. The group has definitely bonded well thus far, and sharing breakfast together helped facilitate our budding friendships 🙂

    

Next up today was a whole lot of traveling and sightseeing. This was our first opportunity to feel like real tourists! Hi Barrington’s mom! We explored the Subway and bus public transportation systems on our way to the Big Buddha statue on Lantau Island about 2 hours away from our hotel. We took plenty of pictures with the statue and felt enlightened. Continuing our ascent up the mountains, we reached the peak of one mountain and climbed a rock to take in the view. Following the trek, we saw a monastery, which was shrouded with incense. Though the smell was heavily fragrant, I preferred it to the next scent we experienced. We walked through Tai O Market. The majority of the market was fish, and naturally the scent of fish filled the air and now my clothes as well. I enjoyed taking pictures of everything very much, and it was a terrific introduction to Hong Kong.

   

Our final group activity today was the first round of What Am I Eating?, where Harvey orders a dozen entrees and we have to figure out what they are by eating them. Among tonight’s featured dishes were curried beef, eggplant with pork, and fried squid tentacles… I think. We left the restaurant confused and $77 Hong Kong Dollars poorer (which converts to about $10 US Dollars), and by the time we returned to the hotel, we all were tired. I am very tired right now, for one. The +12 hour time zone shift has not been a difficult adjustment for me at least, and tomorrow’s agenda begins bright and early at 7:45. Stay tuned for details about the rest of our trip!

-Evan Paregol ’20

that is me and abby and buddha
5/14/17