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Tag: Asia

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By Maya Haziza

Classified – located in Sheung Wan, Hong Kong Island is the perfect place for a Saturday brunch with friends and family. There are tons of healthy options especially if you are vegetarian. I came here a lot when I wanted some good western style food or a quiet place to work with Wifi.

The Cupping Room Roastery – located in Sheung Wan, Hong Kong Island is an amazing coffee shop with the best food. Similar to Classified but much quieter and less frequented. Great place to work on essays or come for an avocado toast.

Why 50 – located in Sheung Wan, Hong Kong Island is a smaller coffee shop with amazing coffee. Similar style food to Classified and the Cupping Room, but a smaller space and dimly lit. Excellent Wifi.

Sweet pea – located in Central, Hong Kong Island this was my mom’s favorite café I took her to when she visted me and is also the best cakes in Hong Kong. This café is all gluten free and vegan. No wifi. Cash Only.

Pici – located in Central, Hong Kong great Italian style food when you are simply missing home and want some good pasta!

The Optimist – very hip and cool restaurant in Wan Chai. Try the tunatarte and enjoy the good vibes! Vegetarian friendly restaurant

The Pawn – best macaroni and cheese in Hong Kong! This restaurant is kind of hidden in the upper levels of the building, but is great service and very good food.

Winstons Coffee Bar – I stumbled upon this coffee bar one night after dinner and it is simply some of the best coffee I have had in Hong Kong and the people that work there are ridiculously nice. Located on Queens Road West.

Chom Chom – probably one of my favorite restaurants in Hong Kong. It is a very small place that does not take any reservations so you have to get there right when it opens around 5-6 PM to get a table. I would best describe it as gourmet Vietnamese food – so so good.

Ho Lee Fook – the best Asian fusion style food I have had in Hong Kong. A bit pricey, but well worth it. There were also plenty of vegetarian options here.

Mrs. Pounds – here is a restaurant that is a bit of a secret! From the outside it looks like a locksmith shop, but it is actually the best Asian fusion restaurant with plenty of vegetarian options. Located in Sheung Wan, good luck finding the way inside!

Man Mo Café – a French style restaurant that has brie and spinach dim sum, ratatouie dim sum, and a lot more. Great options for vegetarians or people who are interested in trying dim sum, but French style!

Seoul Bros – located in Central Hong Kong Island, this is the best Korean fast food I’ve had. Definitely worth the try.

Caliente – for when you are craving Mexican Food! This restaurant is located in Tsim Sha Tsui (TST) and has the best nachos ever.

Wooloomooloo – Go to this restaurant rooftop if you want to see the best view of Hong Kong and for the light show, every night at 9 PM! 

Browhaus –  for the ladies: go here to get your eyebrows down or for any other spa services you might need. It’s definitely hard to find a reliable place but I’ve done it for you!

Victoria Peak – it is as touristy as they say, but the view is remarkable. If it is your first time in Hong Kong – you must come here and eat at the café near by as well!

Dragon’s Back Hiking Trail – an intermediate style hiking trail with an incredible view of the ocean and of Hong Kong Island. There are many entrances and start points to this hiking trail so google the ones that are closest to you.

Happy Valley Racecourse – the legendary horse races that happen every Wednesday in Hong Kong. This is an event that is very unique to Hong Kong and is fun because you can go every week!

PMQ – a huge, semi-open building filled with artisan boutiques and cafes. I went here for a Coco Chanel exhibit at the beginning of the semester and it was absolutely amazing. They hold a lot of cool events worth checking out.

Repulse Bay – My favorite beach in Hong Kong, there are many events that go on here throughout the year and during April and May it is the perfect place to go for a quick sun tan.

Enjoy!

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By sheldonwongg

“Oh, you’re going to Nepal? That’s … different.”

That most common response I receive when I tell people that I’ll be spending four months in Nepal (Other than where it’s located on the globe) is what I would even gain from going halfway around the world to study a subject that doesn’t even directly relate to my major. I’ve always found this question to be a little preemptive and perhaps a little ignorant. Travelling has always been a source of knowledge and inspiration for me. Whether it was a day trip to a neighboring state, or a month long trek across the world, being somewhere new was always welcomed. In fact, it become somewhat of an addiction. I craved the long bus rides and getting lost in a new city, connecting with new people. It was clear to me that anytime we set forth on a journey that is out of our comfort zones and beyond the realm of our perspectives, we give ourselves room to grow as a human being. Experiencing the world through my own eyes, ears, and touch is one of life’s greatest teachers.
Many of my more practical relatives and friends often ask me about why I spend money to travel instead of saving it for long term investments like a house, a car, or retirement. I can barely decide what I want to eat for lunch tomorrow, let alone a mortgage. And saving money for a retirement that I’m not certain to achieve seems like overkill to me. In John Avedon’s, “In Exile From the Land of Snows”, he simply states that, “If in this present atmosphere, in which everything depends on money and power, and there is not much concern about the real value of love, if we human beings now lose the values of justice, of compassion, of honestly, then in the future we will face more difficulty; more suffering will come (411).” The pressures of achieving a conventionally successfully life often arises in my thoughts, yet when I am travelling, I am brought back to compassion and love for the world. Material objects become unimportant as I am reminded of the greater forces in life driving me.
Living in an entirely new country for four months is completely different from any type of travel I’ve ever done. In many ways, I am forced to look at how I currently live my life and reexamine how it will operate in the context of living in Nepal for an extended period of time. Already, I am discovering what it means to take from the Earth and (literally) carry it on my back. In many ways, I have quickly learned the lesson of less is more. Most importantly, this trip is different because it feels like a pause on life. A break from the stresses of everyday life, thoughts about the future, and intrusive internal thoughts. It feels like a lesson in happiness and I’m so excited to learn.

“Even if we do not succeed in this life, that is all right; but at least we have tried to build a better human society on the basis of love.”

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By maxleo43

You will oftentimes hear people talk about the difference between a house and a home. From my experience living in cities, I have found that the turning point occurs once there is a community surrounding your house. It becomes a home when you have people you care about around you, and a physical environment that you appreciate. At GW, I found this very quickly. I made fast friends with my neighbors in my dorm and fell into a rhythm within a few weeks of arriving on campus. Despite living in three different buildings during my year and a half on campus, I found continuity throughout and always felt a sense of attachment to my house. At GW, my house was almost instantly my home. While it took a little longer, I had developed a similar feeling here in Shanghai, until last week when my community changed.

I live in an apartment complex that is slightly down the street from Fudan University’s campus. My building has 12 stories, with no one living on the first floor. The backside of my building faces a two-lane street called Wudong Road. On the backside of the building, there were several businesses including two convenience stores, a western food stall, a cell phone stand, a Korean restaurant with a to-go window, a wonton soup stall, a fried rice stall, another Korean food stall, and a sit-down restaurant. These are the only businesses within a quarter mile of our building, and so they were always popular with all of the international students who lived in the apartment complex. Essentially it would be like living in Potomac Hall and having four or five additional restaurants next to Carvings. It created a community and was just a part of everyone’s lives.

Then it all came to an end this week when the police shut all of the food stalls and restaurants down, with the exception of the final sit-down restaurant listed above. It first started with the police showing up on Sunday night and telling all of the businesses to close up and hanging tarps over their entrances. Then on Monday, the police came and destroyed all of their equipment. Then on Tuesday, several men showed up and piled cinder blocks in front of the stands and completed closed off the restaurants with blocks and mortar. I have heard several rumors as to why the food stalls got shut down but have yet to actually find any solid evidence.

...continue reading "Sense of Community"

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By shellytakessingapore

"Singapore's greatest export is its brain!" joked my '80 year old' professor in my Global Economic Dimensions of Singapore (basically the economic history of Singapore) class. Only 278 square miles in size, Singapore lacks natural resources to fuel its economy. Its main economic asset are its people. The government invests heavily in its people, especially in the education sector in order to produce future leaders in all fields. Upon a simple Google search of countries with the highest academically ranking students, you will find Singapore consistently popping up towards the top of the list. Moreover, Singapore is home to the top universities in Asia and the world including the National University of Singapore. However, the education system itself is not the sole reason for the success of Singapore in ranking highly on international scholastic performance exams such as the PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment). If you walk through almost any spot on the NUS campus with tables, you will find students with their nose stuck in a book. Singaporean culture gravitates strongly towards academia; this is not to say that every Singaporean values academic success above all else. Below, I will describe the wide variety of students that can be found at NUS. Many of these characteristics overlap between students and this is certainly not an exhaustive list of the types of students at NUS.

1. Muggers
No, when I say mugger I don't mean in the literal sense of the word. While having a discussion with a local friend, I learned that a mugger in the Singaporean context is a student who you barely see outside of the library. This student is constantly reviewing notes from lectures, doing practice problems, and preparing for exams. A mugger is the stereotypical image that comes to mind when one thinks of a nerdy Singaporean student. It might seem that being called a mugger is offensive, but many Singaporeans find being called a mugger a compliment.

2. International Student
In my residence hall, UTown Residence (UTR), a majority of the residents are international students. These students are not usually undergraduate students but rather master's and Ph.D students. The first few floors of UTR are actually married flats which means that instead of the typical four single bedrooms with a common space format like the other rooms, the room has one single large bedroom separated by a door to a tiny living room with a full kitchen. Not a lot of the masters and Ph.D students occupy the married flats though and they are often assigned to exchange students who wish to transfer out of other residence halls to UTR. Despite being stressed out about their constant projects and presentations, the international students often attend the activities held by the RAs and are friendly and pleasant to talk to.  ...continue reading "Types of Students at NUS"

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By tanvibanerjee

The Quaint Yet Lively Telok Ayer Street

From serving as a landing spot for immigrants to housing modern restaurants, Telok Ayer has come a long way. The Telok Ayer street once faced the sea and served as Singapore’s original waterfront. Initially, the neighborhood housed several Chinese Hokkien and South Indians. However, many immigrant communities built altars of worship on the street to thank their deities for granting them a safe passage to Singapore. The area’s diverse places of worship include a Chinese Methodist Church, Thian Hock Keng (A Chinese temple), Al Abrar Mosque and Nagore Dargah. Even though these places represented different religions and sects, I was really struck by their close proximity to each other. Today, this area houses several chic eating joints. Many of them serve Korean and Japanese food. So, if you are in the mood for some Korean BBQ or want to explore Singaporean diversity, Telok Ayer is the place to be!

Cho Chu Kang Chinese cemetery and Farms in Lim Chu Kang

Cho Chu Kang and Lim Chu Kang initially housed traditional villages called Kampongs, various farms and Chinese cemeteries. The new land development plans in Singapore have only allocated around 1% of Singaporean land to agriculture, which is why the farms of Lim Chu Kang are so unique. Additionally, space constraints have caused the Singaporean government to exhume old graveyards in order to make way for new buildings, housing complexes etc. So, when I first saw the open space around the Chinese cemetery of Cho Chu Kang and its old graves, I felt I had been transported to another era altogether. The farms and the cemetery gave me a great insight into how Singapore has changed in the last 6 decades. Update: The expansion of an airbase close by is forcing the Singaporean government to exhume several graves of the Cho Chu Kang cemetery and cut down its size by one-third.

Lorong Halus Wetlands

If you happen to find yourself on the eastern side of Singapore, try to take a stroll through the Lorong Halus Wetlands. This area is located close to many residential blocks and is easily accessible by MRT (Although the journey from NUS itself will take you a long time). I loved watching the sunset on the Halus Bridge, and would recommend it any day! The wetlands are close to the Punggol container market, which has some really nice restaurants. P.S. it is also pretty close to Coney Island.

...continue reading "5 “Offbeat” Places I Loved Visiting In Singapore"

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By shellytakessingapore

In last week's post, I mentioned I attended a public speaking seminar where I had the opportunity to hone my oratory skills as well as meet local students. One of the local students I met is a bubbly and friendly girl who is in her freshman year at NUS. This week, she took me on a journey through Singapore's food at one of the largest Hawker centers near one of the metro stations stops called Lavender. This Hawker center is three stories tall with food stalls located in every direction. The diversity of the food makes it almost impossible to decide what to eat. With the help of my local friend, I tasted new dishes and experienced new flavors from combinations of foods that I have never previously thought could go together.

1. Milo Dinosaur
This is an iced drink that is made from a powder called Milo. Milo is a combination of sugar, chocolate, and malt powders and is usually mixed with milk or water. I would describe the taste of a hot milo drink similar to that of hot chocolate. What makes Milo Dinosaur different from regular iced Milo is the addition of Milo powder added to the top of the cup. If you have a sweet tooth, this will be the perfect drink for you.

2. Goreng Pisang
While Americans might be used to the U.S. being the capital of deep fried dishes, Singapore also has its own twist on deep fried food. One of them is called Goreng Pisang which means "fried banana" in Indonesian. While consumed as a snack, this sweet dish is made from slathering batter on bananas and deep frying it. ...continue reading "Food 102: Another Introduction to Local Singaporean Food"

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By tanvibanerjee

In my previous blog, I wrote about my experiences in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh. However, the next leg of my Cambodian journey took me to the town of Siem Reap.

At first glance, Siem Reap looks like a sleepy provincial town. Yet, on every corner, there is a sign of a magnificent building — The Angkor Wat. Due to its close proximity to the Angkor Wat complex and other ancient temples, Siem Reap has rapidly developed into a well-known tourist destination with resorts, hipster restaurants, and pubs abound. However, with its booming tourist industry and a rich history, Siem Reap is also a hotbed of wonderful people and their stories.

Angkor Wat

“What if the handrails fall off? Or you slip on the next step, Tanvi!” My friend teased me as I clutched at the wobbly hand railings, eyes carefully glued to the steep staircase that I was trying to climb down.

When I was a kid, my life’s ambition was to go to two places on earth: First, the Great Pyramids of Giza, and second, Angkor Wat. So, when I first laid my eyes on the wide gates of Angkor Wat, I felt a giddy sense of excitement. The massive temple complex was originally built by the Khmer emperors for the Hindu god, Vishnu. However, as the Khmer empire adopted Buddhism, several statues of Buddha were placed in the temple as well.

...continue reading "Short Stories from Siem Reap"

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By maxleo43

This weekend, my program took me and my 26 fellow classmates to Beijing to explore China’s capital. People will often times compare Shanghai to New York City and Washington, DC to Beijing. The comparison is mostly made because Shanghai and NYC are flashy, financial hubs and DC and Beijing are more calm capital cities. However, despite these basic similarities, there are drastic differences between Beijing and DC. For example, Beijing is about 40 times the size of DC, in regard to population, and over 10 times the size in terms of area. Beijing has its flashy moments but is still much quieter and newer than Shanghai. There is no glamorous skyline in Beijing. However, what Beijing lacks in modernization, it makes up for in history. We were lucky enough to be able to experience this over the course of three days.

This past week was the Qingming (Grave Sweeping) festival, and so we did not have classes on Thursday or Friday. Because of this, we left for Beijing on Wednesday night. We took a bus from our apartment complex to the train station and then took a high-speed train from Shanghai to Beijing that left at 7 PM and arrived at 11:30 PM. We then went to the hotel, got checked in, and passed out.

On Thursday, we were introduced to Jasmine, our tour guide who would show us around for the next two days. She spoke good English and was full of knowledge, some pertinent and some not (she spent twenty-five minutes talking about wedding dresses). Along with Jasmine, our group drove for an hour and a half to the Great Wall. We got to see it in a very unique state. It had snowed all of the previous day, and so the wall was covered in two to three inches of snow. While this made for a very pretty backdrop, it also made the walking surface very slippery and, at times, dangerous. Despite having to walk with caution, it was very cool to see the wall in this state, and it made for less tourists, which was great. We were able to explore for about two hours, taking pictures and reflecting on the historical significance of the wall. After this, we returned to Shanghai and had the evening free. Twelve of us headed out to a Southern Chinese restaurant for dinner. We got very lucky and they had a private loft to accommodate us which ended up being the perfect setting. We shared dishes like truffle mushroom’s in egg, fried goat cheese and spicy pork. Post-dinner, we walked around and explored the part of the city that we were in. We then returned to the hotel.

...continue reading "The Great Wall is Pretty Great"

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By Maya Haziza

I wish that I had done a solo travel trip sooner. Traveling alone is one of the most liberating and incredible experiences I have done while studying abroad. For one weekend I explored Taiwan and got to see the city life of Taipei and also the coastal town of Jioufen, Taiwan. The first day I visited Longshon Temple which is a famous temple that serves as a shelter for residents in Taipei to pray to over 100 gods on a daily basis. One thing I didn’t know about Taiwan before travelling there is that there are a lot of earthquakes and therefore many of the architectural plans of buildings and temples are created to support these structures in the case of an earthquake or natural disaster. In this temple people gathered around to burn incense, give fruit and flower offerings, and drop half-blocks that are supposed to signal a “yes” “maybe” or “no” from the gods in response to questions they come to ask. One funny thing I learned here was that Dutch people colonized Taiwan in the 17th & 18th century so then incense burners are pictures of them, and are meant to burn their butts for their occupation. The next place I visited was the Presidential Office which the Japanese built for their president at the time when Japan controlled Taiwan. The architecture of the building is not actually Japanese, but is western because the Japanese are highly influenced by western culture and preferred to build it in a Victorian style. I also visited the thermal valley of Taipei and Yangminshan national park in the northern part of Taiwan. It was a really interesting experiencing seeing the natural hot springs and steam in the middle of a city, while also smelling the heavy stench of sulfur. There was one hot spring where a bunch of elder people gathered around and sat to soak their feet – so I did too, but little did I realize how hot this water actually was. My feet and calves were bright red by the end of the soak, but surely felt so much better afterwards. This was a very busy day running between locations and museums, including Taipei 101 (the tallest building in Taiwan) and historical artifacts museum, but it really was the perfect way to see the city of Taipei in the most encompassing way. The following day was my favorite in Taiwan as I explored the coastal town and area of Jioufen, which was originally a place where gold miners were located to labor. The small town in the middle of the mountains of Taiwan is filled with huge natural waterfalls and orange colored rocks that you simply wouldn’t believe are real. When you go farther up into the small town, there are tiny streets selling street food and souvenirs and other kinds of local goods. I purchased some golden colored oolong tea that I am so excited to share with my friends and family back home. I met two girls who met each other in Bali on a yoga retreat and sat down with them for lunch (one was from the Philippines and the other from Vancouver in Canada). They said that even though they’ve known each other for such little time, they are best friends and feel so close to each other. The one from the Phillipines just recently got married and the woman she met was one of her maids of honor. The woman told me about her experience recently marrying a Chinese man whose family did not approve of his marrying a Philippine and did not attend the wedding because of this. This example truly highlights the traditional culture of marriages in Asia which I found really interesting to hear about directly from this woman. I finished the day at a really cool and trendy area in Taipei eating at a local restaurant and wandering the streets that were filled with Korean designers and Japanese vintage shops. Taiwan was an incredible place to travel to – from the city life to the coastal nature, the city is calm and people are very calm. I can’t wait to come back here at some point to explore more than just a weekend!

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By mahaliasmith

In Shanghai, if I am with a group of other international students—especially American ones—, I am typically the individual who appears the most ethnically Chinese or Asian; therefore, whenever a local attempts to speak to the group, he or she generally singles me out and begins speaking (or shouting) energetically in Mandarin, all the while I stand there, hands up in the air, shrugging with confused facial expressions for as long as necessary until a friend steps in who knows slightly more Chinese.
The most enthralling thing to me is how (9.999 times out of 10), even after locals discover I cannot speak almost any Mandarin, they continue to talk (or shout) at me in Chinese. I am not the lone soul this has happened to/continues to happen to, which is even more fascinating in my opinion. I wonder: how many times can you yell at me in Chinese, after which I reply loudly in English, and you yell in Chinese, and I in English, before anything of substance is accomplished? Honestly, probably a lot—I haven't tried that exact method out yet; Google Translate can be one handy tool.
——
Since I am constantly surrounded by millions of Asian people who relay a vague sensation of biological familiarity, yet am also a complete foreigner, I am persistently bound to this intricate feeling of belonging, synchronic to a slight feeling of alienation—unlike anything I have felt in my life—and, I believe it surprisingly makes me feel more human and especially more "American" than ever before.
——

...continue reading "Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards."

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