Monday, 1.09.2012

Monday was our first day of work on our project. Hong Kong Institute of Education (HKIEd) does not have space to accommodate us everyday, so on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays we are working at the Towne Centre (basically a satellite area of HKIEd) and we get to book discussion rooms (WPIers, basically their version of a tech suite, but with not computer) to work in for the full day. The library at the Towne Centre is really small and nice. It is about a 15 minute walk from our apartment (much nicer then the hour plus long commute to main campus. It also overlooks the harbor which makes it nice and scenic and relaxing.

For lunch, we went to Olympic (the GINOURMOUS mall) and went to a "fast food" Japanese place. Its not like Sarku Japan in the mall though. I got the Yoshi Bowl, which was rice and beef (cut really thin so it curled, similar to bacon, when it was cooked) and a small bowl of miso soup. So yummy! Then we stopped at a bakery for a dessert and coffee and headed back to the library. After finishing up the work day, we hopped on the MTR and headed to Hong Kong Island for our Cantonese lessons. Since we arrived early, we first went to a grocery store a few blocks down and picked up some sushi and beverages for our dinner. Then we went to Cantonese lessons for an hour and a half.

Later that night, a group of us went to the gym in Olympic and signed up for a 3 month membership for $500 HKD (or just about $60 USD). They gave us the 3 month promotion and a group rate because that was cheaper then paying for two months individually (at a cost of $445 per month). Its right on the way home from work 3 days a week and only about 10 minutes from the apartment so its pretty convenient.

I got home around 10:00 pm and headed straight to bed!

This one is pretty washed out, but its the view out our window at the library and overlooks the harbor. You can see the giant barges that have those tripod things on them. Not sure what they are, but tugboats are constantly moving them all around and back and forth across the harbor.

This is the view backed up from the window and with a different shutter speed so you can see without the washout-ness. Quite beautiful :)