Need a cab?

Well, if anyone ever needs a ride back home with a cutie and a GREAT car, just ask my brother.....
My ladykiller.....

PARTYING IN HONG KONG!!

There's been a lot of people asking me if it was good going out in Hong Kong...
Here are a couple of pics... have a look....

H&M in Hong Kong!!

Saturday 10th of March saw the opening of the outlet stores of the swedish brand H&M, there were just too many people at the opening, hundreds of people waiting outside for the opening of the store which collection was created by Madonna!!!

Stanley

This saturday, we went to Stanley...



"Dear all participants,

Thank you for joining our event --- BBQ & Sightseeing at Stanley. We would
like to remind you of the following things...

Details of the trip:
Date: 10th March, 2007 (Saturday)
Time: 10:00am ¡V 6:00pm
Meeting Place & Time: Wing On Plaza at 9:45am (SHARP!!)"

Great place, great weather, great people.... nice saturday....



Stanley is a town and a tourist attraction in Hong Kong, China. It is a peninsula on the southeastern part of Hong Kong Island. It is east of Repulse Bay and west of Shek O, adjacent to Chung Hom Kok. Administratively, it is part of the Southern District.

The proper Chek Chue refers to the village town but Stanley generally refers to all the surrounding areas of the peninsula after the beginning of British rule and native Cantonese name Chek Chue became synonym to Stanley.




We stayed most of our time on the beach but this are the places to check out as visiting this tourist attraction:
-Stanley Market
-Stanley Main Street and the malls... ah, more shopping!
-Stanley prison
-Stanley beaches where there is a lot of windsurfing practised
-Murray House, ...




Hurry up!!

Lingnan's Architecture

It is funny how when getting to meet the exchange students, one of the first questions is, '' So where do you live, which hostel do you stay in ?''
Well, not funny ha-ha, more like ''ha....ummmm'' because us that live in the Northern hostels usually say it in a way that, you know, makes it all creepy: '' Yeah I live on the OTHER side''.

Besides that creepiness, we do like to make it sound special. And the Northern hostels are special. I like them, I like my hostel: it is actually quieter than the Southern hostels, I am appreciating it more and more. Sometimes, some of us want to move to the Southern hostels because there are more exchange students, it's more like everyon emeets up to watch a movie or do something. And you end up being the lonely and only one walking back ALL the way to the northern hostels.
When we use to be able to smoke on campus in the designated smoking areas - seems like it's been ages - hostels F and E were so proud: 2 smoking areas for 2 hostels : 1 big enough for 4 tables and the other one under trees. That VS 1 smoking area for 4 hostels in the Southern hostels. Ah well... *sigh*
The smoking areas is definitely not the advantage og the Northern hostels anymore, it's about the scary creepy but cool spirits stories.

But let me begin with the beginning... DOH! Let's talk about the university's architecture. Like most Chinese infrastructures, buildings are constructed and organized following the rules and values of FENG SHUI.

Therfore what is feng shui?
Stuck in your career? Trouble in your love life? The root of your problems may be in the design of your home, say practitioners of the ancient Chinese philosophy, feng shui. Basically, it rules your life, the way you live, the way you breathe it. Feng Shui teaches us how to create harmony and balance around us. The ideas date back at least 3,000 years, yet a growing number of architects and decorators are integrating feng shui ideas with contemporary building design. There is a relation to water to.
The more water points there are, the further bad spirits will be, and as the Northern Hostels do not have any water points, it is more likely for bad spirits to be around there.

This is what is said. Per consequent, we have our very our guardian: TIGER THE CAT. Apparently he's been here as long as the university.... I love Tiger, and you should too!!

No matter what... I love them, I love these 3...

Joon the crazy typer..

As I talkin to my friend back home at their places, I have to write this about my Jooney Boy....

Joon you have that great look on your face, it's like you'll be entering the computer soon, yeah '' What can you do when you're in a shoe?'' is all you can say when in front of ur webcam you can't talk and stare at your computer contemplating how lovely and square it can be as you can't chew your gum anymore and I almost can catch i through my computer....

ahhhhh....

That is niceeeee.....!!

Fencing

I havea great room mate, like I wouls have never thought leaving with someone could have been that nice. Having food together, having great talks together, watchng stuff together, laughing together... ahhh.... no iam not falling in love but it's just that my Winnie is the best Winnie ever... maybe after Winnie the Pooh, ah I don't know.

Anyway, she is the part of the fencing team in Lingnan and not long ago she had a competition with the other univerities here ( PolyU, HKU, ...) so yeah, big deal.

She's really good, and the way she's training shows a lot about people here joining clubs, they truly are commited, to spend until 11pm or more - depending on what group you join, if it is the DANSO, you can train until 2 in the morning - for something extrascolar, it is great.

Anyway, here is the team....

I just dont get this weather!!

Ok, so we're in Feb in Hong Kong and it's winter.

Except it is 23 degrees Celsius today and there is 71% humidity hahaha, and you know what, I love it! This month is abnormally warm and I am glad I am here to enjoy it.

The joys of Hong Kong and not having t worry about a thousand jumpers, that I like!!

And so I'm back....

Back at Lingnan on Sunday and it feels like I have never been away…

Though things have changed, I looked for my 1st semester friends and most of them are not here, oh well, it was really good meeting them: Note, Rune, Eric, Jessalyn, Karin… and of course JOON!!!!!!!

And it’s funny how Lingnan and its surroundings have become such an ‘’usual’’ environment, we know where to go, we do not really have to think twice where we want to go and have our meals with some of the 1st semester students that are still here. All the excitement from the 1st semester has grown into some kind of wise thinking now: do we really want to go and eat at Mei King now?!

One big thing, for me, has changed: I have a new roomie and she’s so cool!!!!!!!!!!!
I love her ! Seriously, I was a bit afraid of the new room mate I was going to have this semester but I met her on the evening I arrived in HK and she’s perfect. I mean, now I feel like living with someone in the same room, is not that big of a deal. It’s just as long as you have a compatible – if I may use – room mate. And Winnie’s cool.

Yeap, I have to get things going but will for sure write other posts. I just need more time to spend with my Dane Kristina, my SunQ and my roomie, and get to know the new exchange students!

Happy New Year

It's the last day of 2006 and this year has been full of surprises, mostly because of this exchange year - which is not over yet!

A lot of changes have been happening in my life, a lot of thinking this year, a lot of decisions to take, a lot of pain sometimes, but mostly a lot of excitement and a lot of happiness!!

Discovering another place, another culture, new people, unforgettable characters, missing people half way around the way the world...

Man, do I feel nostalgic right now... Also because I'm with my family and it's wonderful but it's funny how the persons I've considered my family while in Hong Kong are not gonna be with me this very special day... And we have had special times... very special times.... ahhh.....

2006, Year of the Dog has been a year I've grown up a lot, being more sure and more confident about things I have been doing...

Happy New Year everyone....

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to you all!!
From Hong Kong to all around the world to everybody, especially the ones I met this year and the ones I love...

I miss you so much!!

The girls on my floor

I think I am about to go through a breakdown... but soon, we are on holidays....



I've been wondering why most of the girls on my floor can't pick up their feet. Because man... this is annoying... In the corridor, day and night, all you hear is them sweeping the floor with their feet and whatever shoes they have on. Yeap, talk about vietnamese mud in their knees... ( Jon and Eric will get that one.... Laugh your head off )

I cannot stand it anymore... So yesterday, I left them a little note, to the girls I had seen walk like pinguins, if they could , PLEASE, pick up their feet...

They left the note back in my room, and they really do not care about what I think... I guess I'm just an exchange student hey... what have I gotta say?

That's when I decided I should really publish that note from weeks ago and this very special one. These guys .... geez.... thank God, I'm on holidays soon....

an article from last month...

I am SO sorry.... I should have posted that note earlier... but I am pissed off at this life here at uni... just because it's so close to be the Xmas break.... anyway....

The weather’s starting to cool down and exams are approaching, which makes you staying your room and study and work on projects a little bit, well, much more since, I won’t lie, being in an university is completely different from being at Toulouse Business School. You think it would give you more independence: it does for work life but having to stay on the campus changes your view about the whole university life here in Hong Kong. It made me think about it, I wrote about my life in Hong Kong, how I go out and party and how there are things to discover and do here, but what is life at this uni like?

It’s been 15 weeks since I’ve been here in Hong Kong, at Lingnan University.

And as far as it been, life in Hong Kong is really nice, wicked shops, good bargains, a real atmosphere that is overwhelming sometimes but definitely sticks to the image you have of China and even more of the Asian Continent. Mongkok for example is overcrowded, some streets smell really bad, like REALLY bad, you have this shops everywhere, Asian people everywhere and markets all the way.

Hong Kong Island is nice when you want a break from that kind of life, when you need to ‘westernize’ yourself a little bit, when you miss home a little bit. You go to CityU, which is a grocery store in Central at the IFC mall, and there what can you find? All you have ever wished for if you’re from Toulouse: magret de canard, confit de canard, foie gras… You go crazy and you don’t think life is as hard as it seems.

But as soon as you go back to the University, what do you find:

- noisy people that run in the corridors until 4 or 5 am

- dirty bathrooms, where can you have a shower since there’s not a girl that knows that you pick up the hair that’s fallen and you put it in the rubbish bin because if you leave there, it blocks everything …

- dirty toilets, because it seems like even if you’re girl and you don’t need to aim for the hole, the girls here just can’t get to aim properly and make everything dirty. They just won’t leave stuff clean.

So , once you have your ‘final destination’ for your exchange year: know that it really is your ‘Final Destination’, for the ones who saw the movie.

Bring along bleach, and invest in cleaning products because you might need to show these guys how to clean the toilets and the bathrooms.

Also, bring along good pillows and buy a good mattress, because these beds are as hard as hell, it feels like you’re sleeping on a wooden plank, you wake up and the next thing you know is that your back hurts and that you are 60 years older and you need a new hip since the one you used overnight is already damaged. The beds are bad. That’s all I can say about them.

Now living in the dorms are like, if you’ve already lived by yourself and you have never thought of living in a residence where your curfew is 11 pm or 12 am depending on the hostel, this might be a nice change. You have to be in YOUR hostel and not in another one passed a certain time, if not, you get warnings: something like points are going to be deducted from something something, I don’t even know… Promise, I’m getting more info about this.

Also, please do not have naked guys in your room, romance is not allowed in the uni, unless you’re a local. If you are, you may be allowed to have showers with your partner and have him or her in your room no matter hostels’ rules and regulations. Some might say it is unfair, I am talking about cultural differences... Welcome to Hong Kong, welcome to Lingnan University, welcome back to kindergarten…

Halloween

If the carnival was overcrowded, now, Halloween had Lan Kwai Fong over overcrowded!! The atmosphere was unbelievable: great costumes, authenticity was standing out of each one of them, people were so involved in being their character , it was scary sometimes! But that's the spirit of Halloween...

Generally, when we get to Central MTR station, there's 5 minutes walk to LKF. This time, we had to use streets I had never used before, and it took us about 30 minutes to get there. And then, that's when the party started, music everywhere, crazy people... and mostly, photographs everywhere!!!!! As far as I'm concerned, there must have been at leat 60 pics taken of me. And I was only a pirate... But anyway, it was just an amazing place!!
It was really excellent, I'm all smiles thinking how much fun I had on that night. I hope that the next students who come to Hong Kong will definitely attend this event... Like we say in France, " c'est un truc de malade"!!!

Matheo tu me manques petit frere a moi que j'aime!!!

Get Your Own! | View Slideshow

Karaoke...2 drink minimum culture!

Ringo is a friend of mine from Hong Kong who left last Monday to Vancouver, Canada, to see his family. He's also going to school over there.

So as he left, we decided to have a farewell party and we were taken to a place Ringo loves: a karaoke bar. I thought I did not know how to sing, now I am sure that I do not sing: I scream... I'm so sorry for myself!!






Anyway, we were told to dress formal and we did try to make ourselves up and look pretty for this embarassing night. Actually it was excellent, I usually dont hold onto the mic during karaoke nights but here it definitely is a culture. Everyone sings. Well, Francois is the King of Karaoke!! Put on the Bee Gees or Take my Breath Away by Berlin and he's gone for sure! He's excellent!!

The karaoke bar is a culture unto itself: participatory, eclectic, convivial, habitual, and liberating. There is singing, drinking, camaraderie, and wish-fulfillment. Karaoke gives everyone a chance to be the star, if only for a night, if only for one song.
Did you actually know that Karaoke is a Japanese term meaning "empty orchestra, and is an import from Japan. In that country, karaoke bars are for both pleasure and business. Taking a client to a bar and singing for them can mean the difference between getting a contract or not; through karaoke you sing for your supper, literally. This particular nuance did not accompany karaoke from Japan.

Why has karaoke become so popular? The literature offers several reasons. One is that it fulfills a person's fantasy of being a rock star. One karaoke disc jockey has said that everyone sings in their car, in the shower, or maybe "The National Anthem" at a ball game, but karaoke gives them the chance to sing in front of an audience. For others, karaoke has corporeal benefits. Apparently some people have physical welfare after having sung here and there. So here I go, trying to make myself feel better at the Karaoke.

I had never noticed it but really, each song is accompanied by a video, which rarely has any direct relevance to the music's lyrics. The music videos are relatively cheap in quality, and appear to be turned out quickly. It is just THAT ridiculous. You see the videos and you start thinking to yourself that you can't be more ridiculous.



As the evening progresses, the atmosphere becomes less structured due in part, no doubt, to the cumulative effects of several drinks but also to the fact that patrons have grown more comfortable and inhibitions have been shed. Non-regulars sing more often, the songs become less predictable, and the singers hit their notes less often. The culture, likewise, becomes more participatory. Strangers will ask other strangers to join them for a song, much as a stranger will ask another to dance at a nightclub. You share a lot without sharing, you know what I mean: you meet people and have no inhibitions, sing together one hand holding the mic , the other one either holding onto your partner or your drink...


Karaoke is fun! Even more in Hong Kong!!

Lam Kwai Fong Carnival

Wicked experience... it was like 2 weeks before Halloween, Lam Kwai Fong has its own carnival with capoeira performers, salseros, bands and brazilian chicks everywhere... Gentlemen, you will love it!

I guess I have been pretty busy lately doing some stuff here and there but I have not forgotten about my blog. Actually I like the fact that updates have been requested, it means people are actually reading my articles hehe.

Anyway, visitors may discover why little pockets of Hong Kong like Lan Kwai Fong have become famous for their fun dining by checking out the annual Lan Kwai Fong Street Carnival. Leading outlets in the other major food districts of Hillwood SoHo, Knutsford Terrace and Knutsford Steps and Stanley will provide special offers on seasonal food and beverages for visitors to enjoy during that time. All I know is that it was the first time I had a doner kebab here in Hong Kong... and it felt good!

Having fun in HK

Hong Kong Island - Causeway Bay and Victoria's Peak

When I was trying to decide whether I was going to Hong Kong or not for my exchange year, my International Contracts professor told me " You'll see, New York is just a farm compared to Hong Kong". And THAT just completely thrilled me. I have never been to New York or the USA actually but, I was going to see something even more big and crowded and alive than what I'd knew from New York that I'd seen on TV.

On Hong Kong Island, you'll see the major buildings in Central, Admiralty, Wanchai, Causeway Bay. It's always overcrowded and Hong Kong sure is a busy place. Buildings are amazing, And even though this place is amazingly urban, it is always very cleaned - also there is a lot of pollution, I breathe and I've smoked a pack of cigarettes already - they also construct new buildings, new roads, new whatever, as long as it keeps people busy.

Here is what you can almost see everywhere in HK:

Victoria's Peak is a place to go. That's where you can see Kowloon from a hilltop across the harbor. The view, at the right spot, is breathtaking and looks just like what you see on postcards. It's right in the middle of Central but it is just so quiet.... so enjoyable... Go there by tram, it's great...

My boyfriend and I went there and we walked down and were amazed by the calm and so many people walking there with their dogs... Peaceful place in stressful Hong Kong City...