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Living in Hong Kong

I will first introduce you to Hong Kong with some general information which I think is worth noticing.

Hong Kong became a colony of the British Empire after the First Opium War (1839–1842). Later the Japanese took over the authority in the world war during their invasion. Since 1997 China resumed sovereignty over Hong Kong. As it was governed by rules both under British and Chinese administration. It influenced a lot of today’s Hong Kong. For example, the educational system is similar to England. Scholars and students wear uniforms. The right hand sided driving direction and the traffic signs, really noticeable for the traveler like me. When I just arrived in Hk, I often forgot which side the traffic is coming so have to double check 2 sides, a matter of getting use to it. The street names which are by the way in Chinese characters And English. The language, you can communicate in English in this beautiful city. So, the time period greatly influenced the current culture of Hong Kong, often described as “East meets West”

Hong Kong is one of the most densely populated areas in the world. and the world’s most vertical city. It also have a highly developed transportation network, which public transport coverage is the highest in the world.

Japan & Radiation

As for the horrible catastrophe in Japan,  radiation have been a hot topic over the world. It is not only effecting the Japanese cities, but it seems to have a huge impact as a wave of danger towards nearby countries. Well, here in Hong Kong, I have not yet seen any thing very remarkable or unusual as the news is still speaking about the situation in Japan and the affects of this dramatic catastrophe. But I have to say there are people standing in the row for salt. Most of them are senior citizens who are afraid of the salt stock running empty, and some believes that salt will strengthen you against radiation. It actually does, but it would not help in this small amount of radiation/salt. Plus, over eating salt is also not good for your health.

What really affected Hong Kong citizen’s everyday life is that the prices of vegetables and meat increased for about 10% – 20% caused by the reduced import quote. That is for so far I have noticed of the effects from this catastrophe in Hong Kong. Hope that the economy will recover soon. I wish the best for them.

Hong Kong apartment

The first things to do, packing out my luggage and cleaning up the room. The furniture was full of dust. I like everything to be clean. At least, I’m striving for a cleaned up room =P  So, got some work to do. I really like home furnishing and interior design. You know, when I was a scholar, interior architect was one of the possible professions I’d like to go for. I’d like to be creative.

As you can see I bought 2 Gatsby gels which are available in multi colors with different specs. I have not yet tried the orange and black one. But the pink one is just a bit too dry, but very strong.

These are perfumes to make your room smells really good. And it easily last for a month, or at least over 3 weeks. I think the smell in a room is also important because it gives you a special feel when entering a room. If the look is good, smells good then the taste would probably be no less than good.

My first Sushi lunch, here it comes, tadaa

This is the Durian fruit, it is also known as the King of Fruits. If you are in Asia, you should try this! For this fruit, there is a believe that you like it very much or you really dislike it! Cuz it has a very strong smell but tastes really good!

I’m thinking about taking a smartphone, but I still kinda like the flip phone I’m using now. You know, those tablets are getting more popular and people are communicating on road with these tablets like the Samsung Galaxy tablet which is smaller than the Ipad, but people do videocall eachother in shopping malls and on the street to interact with it. Sometimes it is really funny to talk with such a big device, because it made me think of the 大哥大’s in the old days, which are the first big cellphones with antenna’s.

This is a very traditional snack in Hong Kong. It is named ‘鸡蛋子‘ by the local people which means literally ‘little eggs‘. I only know that it is made out of eggs and butter, don’t know if there are any other ingredients as it is a ‘secret’ recipe. But what I know for sure is that it taste DELICIOUS!

Furthermore, I have been to the Hong Kong International Lighting & Electronics Fair with my internship company.

Lots of people, cool stuff, innovative designs and a lot of walking xD

I would definitely have more fun with you guys here to joke around, cuz the people here are so serious and mean. But it is really great to check this out!

I saw this beautiful watch and I just love it!

The pink one in the middle yeah, with the butterfly in the center, what a lovely design right? =)

Unfortunately I don’t have a girlfriend to buy her this and my sis have had her birthday present already, so I’ll leave it right there and took this picture. =)

I think this is really a beautiful picture, a construction worker sitting on bamboo constructed working area doing his everyday job. This picture has the Hong Kong traditional flavour. To me, it is more than a normal picture.

I thought I would have plenty of time. In the answer of this question I could both say yes and no. I’m using my time differently. I think it is another way of living, a good thing is that I have more a fixed routine now, I mean a better time scheduled and I can concentrate more in study/training/living than back in Holland with you guys to distract me!  ;P

36 mail to go, having more than 20 mails done last week.. Should go on.. talk to ya next time!

Ps. The next time I’ll be blogging or hopefully vlogging over my experiences with the local Hong Kong people and society. So stay tuned and we’ll keep in touch, bye!

Winner of NCRV TV show ‘I know where your house lives’

Yesh!!! We have won the game show!! Let’s get to party! hahaha

I am really happy because I was quite excited about it, the sphere was also quit competitive. Both parties had the will to win. But there is just one winner.. and we did it!

I was invited to participate with this new cultural TV show with my family, where two families from different culture plays against each other in an interactive quiz. We had to answer cultural questions to know each other better. And to see how people think about the other cultural group. It was fun to be on a television show along with my family and friends. It was meaningful, and happy to represent the Chinese party. If you didn’t made it, be sure to be there next time!

I had been there before, so it was not hard to find the AKN building in Hilversum. I had to pick up the VIP’s, my cousins Manuela and Edwin, it was really slippery on the road, because of the snow/ice here in Holland. We glided at a turn and almost hit the other vehicle! Luckily Dark Angel stopped right in time. When we finally arrived in Hilversum at the studio, we were taken care by the makeup artist and then we directly moved in a hurry to the recording room with a green screen to shoot an introduction video. Seriously the building was like a maze, so many doorways where you could easily get lost to. Then they told us that it could be the Suriname or the Moroccan family but still didn’t revealed the so-called ‘North Pole family’, which we’ve been told since the beginning. We’ve been asked to tell our thoughts and prejudices of other parties. Then we headed to the studio for the program recording. There we meet the other party. It is the Moroccan family. We had a small talk and let the technical staff do their work.

Then the Moroccan family starts to sang their national anthem, and we asked David to perform some Chinese Kungfu. He did a good job. It was a nice powerful performance on stage. I would like to perform together with him but I had all the microphone and wires on my clothes. So that was not handy. We enjoyed the performance and the stage was well decorated as our living room. They made a Moroccan and a Chinese living room where we were sitting with our supporters. On the side there was seats for audience. Mimoun Ouled Radi (actor) was the captain of the Moroccan family. I have to say, he really likes to joke around, he’s a fun guy. Our group were led by Lulu Wang (writer). I am not giving away the whole show. So I’ll try to keep it short, it was excited, the scores are tight, it was interesting to learn more about each others culture. This show will be broadcast in January 2011. So stay tuned, I’ll post it on my Facebook page and this website, it would be announced by aCreations when the date is confirmed.

I am very happy to see you guys ~

Thanks everyone for coming and your support! Cheers!