I'm a little past due on the blog posting here, but it's been a busy week & a half with classes & sightseeing! Last weekend, Sara, Anna G., Anna S., and I took a ferry to Park Island so we could visit the Noah's Ark exhibit in Ma Wan Park. It was really interesting to see the ark & the animals outside of it, plus there were a bunch of small exhibits & videos inside the actual ark. After leaving the ark, we noticed a bunch of tents & people down by the beach area, which ended up being a mass baptism for a baptist church in the area. We were a bit surprised to see this as we didn't think there was a large Christian population here, but apparently we were wrong.
*Anna S, Anna G, Me, & Sara before entering the ark!
After returning back from the island, we decied to take the Central Escalators to see Soho. We ended up eating dinner at this yummy Mexican restaurant :) All of the restaurants there looked super good & the area had a nice ambiance with lots of tourists walking around. I want to return soon because I spotted a cool looking vegetarian restaurant, yayyy! After dinner, we decided to go all the way to the top of the escalators (takes about 20 minutes), but it started to get a little seedy, so we ended up coming back down.
*Going up the Central Escalators
Yesterday (September 22nd), the locals celebrated the Mid-Autumn Fesitval (when the moon is at it's fullest). Traditionally, families get together at night to gaze at the moon while carrying paper lanterns, eating mooncakes (a cake with egg yolk in the middle), watching fire dragon dances, and burning incense. A few of us went to a lantern carnival in Victoria Park, which was definitely one of the coolest things I've ever seen. There were a bunch of huge lit up lanterns shaped as fish, peacocks, dragons, flowers, etc. & they were all so pretty! The study abroad office also had a party for the exchange students at the beginning of this week where we ate mooncake & star fruit (my new favorite fruit), played traditional Chinese games, made lanterns, and tried to solve riddles. It was fun to learn about a celebration that we obviously don't have in the US.
*My favorite lantern :)
Today, because we had the day off for the festival, Anna G. & I went for afternoon high-tea at the Peninsula Hotel (a very popular activity for tourists). We got there right when it started, and still had to wait in line for about 20 minutes. When we left, the line was getting longer & longer, so we were glad we got there when we did! We both ordered the jasmine tea & then they also serve you three trays filled with sandwiches (the cucumber ones were my favorite!), scones, and pastries. I really enjoyed the experience and the hotel is gorgeous! We both decided that we would like to do it again before we go home when it's decorated for Christmas time :) After we were finished, we walked around the hotel for a bit, and the hotel even has it's own shopping "arcade" (obviously all high-end, couture shops). We went into the Chanel, which was quite busy, and wished we could have bought everything, haha!
*Me with my yummy tea!
Until next time, love you all!! New pictures on Facebook as well:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2092750&id=1490346167&l=00fa56084c &
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2075815&id=1490346167&l=f6f64036b8
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