See You

The goodbyes, or “see yous” continued. Of course I would be the last one to leave this country – completely Real World style when they watch the others drive away in the taxis before them. We said goodbye to Central with one more last minute shopping trip across the harbor. We said goodbye to campus after our last exam and a few pictures around campus. Maria was the next to leave, which was not pretty. Her flight actually got delayed so we had an entire extra day to see her and she actually needed it for packing and mailing stuff so that worked out. Again, we all gathered on the ground floor and the boys carried her bags out to the taxi stand. It was obvious Maria did not want to leave, and we didn’t want her to either. I didn’t feel like I was saying goodbye though. I think we both knew that we really would see each other again which was comforting.

Maria leaving

The next day was when EVERYONE left (practically). A group of about 20 were all on the same flight to Thailand together. Debbie, Felix, Margaux, Yvie, Meli, Lorena, Christine, Jon, Rasmus, Tobias, Lauren, Daniel, Diogo, and Sam all left at once. Disaster. Margaux called me in a panic because she wasn’t packed and they were all about to leave her so I ran to her room and helped her pack up her stuff and lug it to her friend’s room for while she was gone. We got down to the ground floor just before everyone started walking out to call taxis. I went through the group hugging everyone and all of the girls crying. Sam tried to refuse saying goodbye to me because he knew I would be crying, obviously he didn’t get away with that. Andrew and I and a few of the British girls (the only people left) helped everyone with their stuff and sent them in their taxis to the airport. Poor Andrew was stuck with me being depressed until we left for the airport the next day. Thank goodness we were distracted by packing and a bit of sleeping so I did not have to think too hard about us actually leaving this amazing, life-changing place and all of the intriguing, beautiful, and talented people we had met here.

Our Lasts

Last Friday

Our last Friday in Hong Kong eventually came so we had to do something fun... after doing something horrible. The first group left for Thailand and in this group was Christian Besold, one of my favorites from my time in Hong Kong. He had quite the entourage to see him off and of course as soon as we said goodbye and walked around the corner, what did I do but start crying, which in turn caused Maria to start crying. This is how every day and every goodbye went. Hugs and crying. It was horrible to say goodbye for now, but there was yet another promise to see each other again.

Saying goodbye to Beso

To lighten the mood for the evening we decided to go to a bar in TST. For some reason this had never happened before which was a huge mistake because it was on our side of the harbor and they had such fun places. We started the night off at a bar that had snowmen and sake. Great combo. The night started with mainly Americans and Scandinavian people with more Scandinavians and some French joining later. Maria’s friend Kristin had come to visit and so that made the night even more fun! 

Bene and I

Photo #34 of us from the evening

The boys (Rasmus, Tobias, and Jacob) decided to get sake as their drink of choice. After the first containers ran out, I joined in the Asian drinking for the second round. Although the sake was not horrible, it was not the easiest thing to drink either. This began Rasmus and I’s entire evening long conversation. We moved on to the next place where Rasmus and I continued talking about his extremely interesting life, living in multiple countries with various jobs and he is my same age. Our final stop was hopefully going to be a karaoke bar, but after finding out the very steep price to enter we settled for a place with a jukebox instead. Rasmus took control and played Queen the rest of the evening with all of us screaming out the words. I’m pretty sure the other bar goers were not as enthusiastic about the song choices as we were. All in all the night was a great time and an excellent last Friday night.

Rasmus, Maria, and I at bar #2

Last Ned Kelly’s Night

The last week we were in Hong Kong, we all did a lot of last minute shopping for ourselves and for gifts. I ended up at the Ladies Market at least 5 times which was appalling. We found all kinds of good stuff and by the end of the week some of the ladies knew us and gave us better deals since we had already bought too much stuff. Also, Andrew’s “it’s Christmas, you make money, you make money” really helped with the bargaining too!

Ladies Market Run

The last Saturday in HK came too soon. As you can tell we used the excuse of it being the last day of the week in HK to insure that something great happened. Saturday meant that it was Michael’s last show at Ned Kelly’s. Everyone that was left came to the show. We completely took over the restaurant once again, with the whole front table and the center table overtaken by HKPU students. Michael sang and played piano, “rock and roll” danced with me (running into several waitresses), and had lots of drinks for his last night there. Everyone was singing along, standing on benches, and having a great time listening to wonderful jazz music. Half of the group called it a night after the show and the other half went out for karaoke until 6am. Only in Hong Kong.

Michael, Sam, Amaury

Everyone having a great time!

Michael with the Ned's crew

Exams

My brother does not think I did any work while in Hong Kong. Which is not true. Here is a picture as proof that I studied for my exams. I also was active in group projects and presentations throughout the semester :) 

Studying Disaster

Our Very Last Outings… seriously

We realized TST was a great place to go so after enjoying one last trip to the glorious bar at the Intercontinental Hotel with Andrew, we went to meet the crew in TST. Rasmus’ description of where they were was, “around the corner from the jukebox bar from the other night”. Very helpful but eventually we were in the right spot. They all wanted to go to karaoke so we only stayed for a bit before they departed to another all night singing show.

Before Karaoke

The very, and I really mean it, last outing we had in Hong Kong was to Wan Chai with the last remaining group. As our suite was getting ready for the evening, (Agnes, my roomie, decided she was coming since it was my last day) we convinced Camellia (Debbie’s roommate) to join us for the evening out. She is not much of a party-goer so our first stop was not the ideal bar to get her acquainted. At Carnegie’s people can dance on the bar and it just happened to be packed with people in Santa hats and I guy that continued to strip since we had entered the bar. We finished our free champagne quickly to get out of this shocking situation. 

A little packed

We went to Canny Man which is a staple in Wan Chai ritual and much calmer with a pool table and laid back atmosphere. The rest of the group was there so after realizing they would be there for a while, the suite girls decided to go next door to Mes Amis for some dancing! We all four had such a great time dancing together and jamming out to Justin Bieber. 

Me, Camellia, Agnes, Debs

After we were nice and sweaty we went back to find the rest of the group. Without our passports (who would bring those out) we were not allowed back into Carnegie’s so we just hung around outside chatting until everyone was ready to leave. We had our taxi crews ready, but had to say goodbye to Michael Srey first. Yet another terrible encounter. Sam and Michael had gotten really close during their time in HK and I had to witness this emotional goodbye on the street outside of the insane bar. I then got my turn hugging lovely Michael and then Sam and I escaped into the taxi before things got too depressing. We reflected the whole drive home about the relationships we made and how shocking it was that we had all grown so close in such a short time period. When we returned to the dorm, Sam came to keep Agnes and I company and continue our reflection and discussion of ridiculous HK memories. 

Leaving Michael

Dinners

After we returned from the Philippines it was time to “focus” and to have the best last two weeks possible – which was kind of difficult to do all at the same time.

Big Dinner

We wanted to plan a big “goodbye” dinner with everyone which ended up being relatively successful. We tried to go to a hot pot place, but it was too expensive so we ended up at an old favorite, Fat Angelo’s. They arranged for a huge table for us all in the back room and everyone enjoyed Italian food and wine together.

Silly girls - Maria and Benedicte

Beso and I

It was a Friday and so of course I had to end up at Ned Kelly’s to hear Michael Srey play piano. Andrew and I walked to Ned’s and made it in time for the second set. I stayed until the very end with Michael and Charlotte and a crazy guy. This random guy had been screaming obnoxiously the entire night and by the end came and sat beside me. At first he didn’t say anything and then he started talking to us. He was from Russia and was trying to have a conversation, but then could not understand what we were saying and he kept trying to touch people. Michael came to my rescue to protect me, but the guy just kept on. Finally Colin, the bandleader, stopped the band and called out to the guy to stop harassing people because he had been watching him bother people all night. The guy tried to talk back to Colin, bad idea, and Colin got so angry that he ended the set early and almost threw the guy out! Afterward Colin told us that when we saw the guy bothering Michael and I he had had enough! This was the craziest thing that we had experienced at Ned’s and after that episode I was ready to get home!

Michael, JB and I

Charlotte and I at Neds

First Goodbye

Michael Missale was the first of our group to leave. Everyone was hanging out in the common room before heading out to the bars for his last night in HK before his adventure into the rest of Asia. Although The Trio was working on a project, I made sure we took a break to go spend time with Michael before they went out and to say “see you” before he left. We were all enjoying ourselves and I looked over and saw Michael saying goodbye to the German speaking girls, hugs and maybe a few tears. Then everyone was ready to go out so that meant I was forced to say goodbye. Everyone knows I love hugs so Michael and I just stood hugging for a few minutes, repeating to each other that we were going to miss one another.

Micha

I HATE goodbyes (although people kept pointing out it was not goodbye, it was see you later). We collectively decided that we did not want to say goodbye yet and that we would wake up (at 7am) to see Michael off. I stole his scarf just as assurance that we would wake up and be there. So the morning came and we had not heard from Michael, supposedly he was still sleeping. So we kept waiting and eventually we had to get to class so we decided to walk up to his room. There was Michael, with about 3 hours of sleep, still packing, the check-out man knocking on his door and all three of us in his room, with Christian still trying to sleep in his bed. We said our official goodbye and Michael continued to scurry around and finish throwing stuff together. We later learned that Michael missed his flight to Thailand and his girlfriend that was meeting him there was not too happy! At least he had a great last night in Hong Kong!

My favorite picture of the boys

Goodbye Dinner

We started the day out with an exam, followed by… HARRY POTTER 7 MOVIE!!! Although we had lots to do, I convinced Debs and Andrew that it was a great idea to go see Harry Potter 7 with some of the French crew. We took up two whole rows in the theater and Andrew and I enjoyed glasses of wine during the film. The movie was wonderful, obviously, and we had a terrible time trying to find taxis so thank goodness we even got there in time!! Then we had to come back to the dorms and try and work some more on our project so we could go to the next event.

Michael trying to find us a taxi

One goodbye dinner was not enough for the HK crew so we decided to have another dinner in the common room at the dorm where everyone could bring their own Asian take out and sit around to eat together. This was a great plan except for the fact that The Trio had that assignment we had been working on that was due at NCSU that night and we had to finish before doing anything fun! After we submitted our enormous document on our findings of Asia, we headed to the 11^th floor to see how the dinner was going. 

The girls

Felizia and "mom"

Everyone had finished eating, but was sitting around discussing plans for the evening. I wasn’t planning on going out, neither was Andrew, Debbie, Sam, the German speaking girls, Margaux, or Felix, but we all ended up at the bar. Everyone had a great time dancing and trying to push our way through the crowds. The most fun was when Melissa and I had to wait for our jackets at the coat check for literally 2 hours. There was no system and they had just thrown the jackets in the back with no order, so the people would start calling our random numbers in no order. People were pushing to get to the front (even though that was not helpful with the lack of system) and many people were yelling. I made a friend and got his jacket for him and finally we got Melissa’s fur coat and my very cheap jacket. Although it was a fiasco, it was kind of fun in the coat mosh-pit. What really topped off the evening was when we found out that Andrew, Jon, and the boys had been at the upstairs bar getting free shots all evening. 

Samuel and I

Jon Cordiano

Philippines 2 - Paradise

Day 3

After such an eventful evening, part of the group woke up for a tour of the Chocolate Hills, waterfalls, monkeys, and ravines. Being in a van all day in the heat was not the best moment of our trip, but we had a fun time taking turns feeling like death throughout the day. We started the tour by zip lining over a HUGE ravine. It was the kind that you lay down (as you can see in the picture) and so you literally felt like you were flying over a jungle. Exhilarating and terrifying, but serene and beautiful too! The girls got shakes on the way out and then we headed to the bamboo rafts, which were a complete tourist trap, but still kind of neat to see AND we got roasted bananas out of the stop, so all in all, success.

Maria and Bene sailing over the ravine

More bumpy driving through the “man-made mahogany forest”. Our driver asked if we wanted to stop for pictures and everyone was confused because it was literally a forest that you would see anywhere. It was supposedly special for some reason. After continuing through the wooded area we finally arrived at the Chocolate Hills. They are literally huge hills that in the winter turn dark brown and look chocolate. Geologists still cannot decide on how they were formed, but it was neat to see. We asked the local waiter at lunch why they were called the Chocolate Hills and he said he had no idea. SO that wasn’t helpful. Some people say they are giant's tears after he fell in love with a mortal and after her death began crying and leaving the hills as a sign of his grief. The other legend is that two giants were throwing mud at each other and then left the land. You can decide which is a better story. This was about the point in the day when everyone was at their worst. We had to hike up some steps for the best view, chugging water, not showered, in the heat… but the view was breathtaking so it was worth it.

Amazing forest

Chocolate Hills

After lunch we headed to our last stop to the waterfalls. At the entrance they have little Tarsier monkeys which are known to the Philippines that you can look at and take pictures with. Kind of depressing, but they were so cool! Then we took another boat down Loboc river to two waterfalls. The ride was very peaceful and then the sound of the waterfalls came out of nowhere. We were able to jump in and swim under the waterfall to look out and we were all so excited just doggy-paddling around. On our way out of the waterfall I kicked and almost drowned Andrew accidentally, but that was the only mishap of the day thank goodness. By now everyone was worn out so we did not even stop to see the oldest church. Our driver slowed down and everyone agreed it was pretty and we kept moving.

The little Yoda looking Tarsier

Extreme waterfall - not the one we swam under

After cleaning up and finally returning to a sober and completely coherent state, we all went to one of the bbq beach restaurants, again right on the beach. You walk up and pick your fish, skewer, etc. and they cook it on a little grill right there in front of you. Soooooo delicious! (Shakes were again consumed at this meal) After dinner we walked down a ways to a different beach bar with the band from the Villa who played great cover songs in the reggae type genre. Maria and I stood literally in the surf the entire time with our drinks, chatting, and enjoying the music. Felix, Christian, and I got the Filipino drink with their signature baby limes called a Cuba Libre. Another relaxing evening with Team HK in the wonderful Philippines.

Beautiful Fish

Cuba Libres in hand

The set up

Day 4

This day was pretty normal with lounging on the beach. It rains randomly in the Philippines so several times during the day we would have to run our stuff under a hut and then return to sunbathing position after a 15-minute shower. We had coconut milk/flesh and I had my first motorbike riding experience. A few of the boys rented bikes so they could explore around and mainly just because they wanted to look cool. I rode with Rasmus to the beach and it was so much fun! He was careful of course, but we just chatted the whole way to and from the beach. From that point on I kept calling one of the boys’ motorbikes because I had so much fun.  We ate dinner at the Villa and had “sizzling sisig” which was pork and egg over rice. Now that I just looked it up on Wikipedia, it being a dish usually made from a pig’s head and liver, I am rethinking my choice and how good I thought the meal was. We had an intense game of cards with way too many people and ended up at the beach bar with music yet again.

Philippines!!!!

Favorite picture of Benedicte

On the way back from the beach

Game of Cards

Enter: Sam - at the beach bar (The black and white couple as announced by the band)

Day 5

Another day at the beach with even more rain, but another great lunch at our staple spot down the shore and of course a wonderful day with friends.

Not wanting to leave

Rented Motorbikes - rebels

Day 6

Another amazing day with my dear friend Jean-Ba. He decided to rent a motorbike from the Villa and was going to drive into Bohol Island and tour around. We were on Panglao Island which was even smaller and Bohol had larger waterfalls and more civilization.  Although I had ridden with the guys to the beach, that was only 10 minutes away and I was kind of nervous to drive (by that I mean ride) so far given the group’s track record. Jean-Ba assured me that they were just idiots and bad drivers and he was smart and would be careful. So we ventured off on our day with the mission of making it to the waterfalls. We had sunscreen, a map, and some water and were ready! The day ended up being so great. We went got into Bohol and out of nowhere there was a crazy traffic intersection with cars everywhere. JB maneuvered around the chaos and we cruised through the busy streets. I was appalled at their power lines everywhere. (Notice the photo).

Ouch!

Entering Bohol Island

We stopped at a neat little market and kept driving. It was almost instant that we were back out of the city and into the more rural area with sporadic houses, lots of self-run convenience stores, rice fields, and animals. It was so gorgeous driving through the open fields and seeing the true Filipino lifestyle.

Market - resourceful price signs

Gorgeous Rice Fields

We eventually made it to the waterfalls were a “lady-boy” took our money and showed us to the path. “Lady-boys” for some reason are extremely common in the Philippines and I think other various Asian countries like Thailand. The waterfalls were beautiful but we decided it was too cold to jump in so we chickened out and just enjoyed the view. On our ride back to Panglao we saw a sign for a beach so we took an enormously bumpy path to a beautiful little opening to the water. There were two guys fishing out on the water and it was yet another little peaceful hideaway we found in the Philippines. I had such a great day with JB and everyone relaxed with the smaller group that was still left for our last evening.

At the waterfall

Our mode of transportation

Jean-Ba and I

Day 7

Time to head back to HK to face exams, people leaving, and heading home

I should also mention that while in the Philippines three of the guys got their diving license, which they later used on another island in the Philippines and during their trip to Thailand. They had such an amazing experience and everyone started picking up on the diving signals and using them instead of thumbs up. Also, almost everyone got a massage at the Villa. It was amazing. 

The Scuba Diving Boys

Picture from a Dive