Getting that Shot

12 months ago, to start senior year in style, my dad gave me a Samsung NV10. It's a pretty amazing camera - it has fifty million megapixels, so my images are always pretty clear. It's relatively small and compact, though of course it doesn't compare to a Casio Exilim, and has really great manual features. The colors are easily adjustable for different environments, and they have great settings (macro, backlight, sunset, nighttime, to name a few). And I love the interface in the back - it takes a little while to get used to, but it's surprisingly intuitive.
Of course, it has its imperfections. The NV10 is pretty slow in terms of taking multiple pictures, which can be a little bit of a problem if you want to take action shots in succession. And it can get a little blurry if you're zooming in on something and don't have the steadiest hand. But ultimately, I've loved using this camera. I was thinking about getting a digital SLR a month or two ago, when my camera was accidentally dropped and broken. dSLRs start at about $700-800 (on the very low end) but are amazing in terms of options. But for the price and convenience - I think my little NV10 does the job almost as well :)

Hong Kong! (II)

Food
I think my favourite part of Hong Kong was all the food - the dim sum, the roast meat stores. All so good! But there were a couple of dishes that stood out.

Teochew soya sauce goose
We accidentally wandered into a dimsum-by-day/restaurant-by-night place in kowloon one day, and I am so glad we did. My dad was instantly captivated by the sight of the geese hanging in the store window, and insisted on ordering a plate for dinner. Though I'm not usually a big goose eater, I really enjoyed these; the slices were just the right size, and the seasoning was absolutely perfect. These are served on top of soft tofu, which is the perfect complement to the dish. Yum.

Rice Noodle Rolls with Shrimp
This was another fabulous dish. It usually comes with dim sum, and I've had it many times before - its a frequent order whenever I go out for dim sum. But these rolls were really different - the rice noodles were so incredibly thin and delicious, and the sauce was just the perfect amount of sweet and salty.

Congee with Salted Pork and Century Egg
So my mom told me that something I had to eat while in HK was congee. I'm usually not the hugest fan - the last few times I've had it, the congee has been too thick or too bland, with thick and unappetizing pieces of century egg. It doesn't look like much in the picture, but this bowl of congee was really delicious - the egg was sliced into bite size chunks, the porridge was not too thick or too thin, and best of all, was tasty! I think I ended up eating it every single day that I was in HK.

Shopping
Also fantastic in HK, though I didn't end up buying too much. It was really fun just to walk around and see all the different types of shopping available, from designer malls, to road side stores.

Mong Kok Ladies Market
This place really reminds me of those outdoor markets in Thailand. I really enjoyed walking through the stores and seeing all the different things they had for sale - from current fashions to bags of all kinds, to toys for toddlers and dvds. My parents actually went a little DVD crazy when we were there...
...though to be fair, they did buy that "kiss" series for my viewing pleasure. I should start that sometime. I also saw the cutest pillows for sale there:
KOALA PILLOWS! They look just like the koalas on those chinese snack food things :) haha, adorable!

H&M
Okay, I had to have a shout-out to H&M, which is probably the store that I'll miss the most in Singapore...though I have heard that they're going to open a branch there soon. YAY! Anyway, all the other stores in this area were really nice too, with names ranging from Gucci to Marks & Spencer.

Dried Seafood Store
These were everywhere in HK - dried scallops, mussles, anchovies. They also sell "delicacies" like bird's next (which is really just swallow spit. GROSS) and abalones - not my kind of thing, but popular in HK anyway :)

I definitely enjoyed my trip there, and I would love to go back again sometime - but this time I'm bringing a bigger suitcase!

Hong Kong! (I)

My dad had a business trip in Hong Kong this week, and since my mom and I haven't been to HK since I was five, we decided to tag along and see the sights. I was really excited - HK is supposed to be a fantastic city for shopping and eating, which, needless to say, are two of my favourite things. The trip was actually really enjoyable - we visited some of the popular tourist spots, did some shopping, ate...a lot. One highlight was our trip to Lantau Island...

Visit to the Tian Tan Buddha in Lantau Island
The Tian Tan Buddha is this amazing giant bronze statue that sits on top of a mountain. I've seen a lot of large Buddha statues, and this is by far and away the most gorgeous of them all.To get to the Buddha, we had to climb 268 steps. Luckily they were just going straight up, instead of winding all over the mountain :) Apparently, the entire statue was planned out very carefully. The statue was based off of two famous Buddha statues (unfortunately I don't remember them right now) - and a plaster cast was designed and built to a smaller scale beforehand. Originally, the statue was to be set in steel, but after some trial runs, they decided to go with bronze and ended up casting 23 pieces, which were later transported up the mountain and assembled.

the trek up.
resting...
at the base of the lotus.
on the way up.
view from the top!

Right next door to the Tian Tan Buddha is the Po Lin Monastery, where we got a hearty vegetarian lunch. We had worked up quite an appetite from the climb up and our tour inside the exhibition halls.

at the visitor's canteen.
for just the two of us we had all this, plus a huge tureen of soup, and a pot of rice. gluttony.
after we were satiated, we walked around Po Lin Monastery.
you can see the statue wherever you go pretty much.

I have to admit though, the way to the statue and the monastery was kind of torturous. First, we took the MTR (HK subway) 40 minutes out to Tung Chung Station on Lantau Island. Then we waited over 20 minutes for a bus, which took around an hour and a half to traverse some really windy and narrow mountain roads to get to our stop. Half the bus looked ready to be sick at the end of the journey (myself included...yikes!) despite all the gorgeous scenery we got to admire on the way up. To avoid a second wave of nausea, my mom and I decided to take the much shorter, and much more scenic, cable car route.

the village from which the cable car leaves from.

floating above the mountains :)

in the car!
view of the city as we come in - and i didn't edit the colors or anything!

second last leg back to the subway station - which is closer to the airport than i thought!!

My Top TV Shows

There are lots of things that I'm going to miss about the US, but getting to watch the latest episodes of my favourite TV shows definitely ranks up there somewhere. I am an unabashed TV addict - reality TV, prime time dramas, disney shows - I love them all! I'm especially fond of:

Top 5 Current Prime Time TV:
1. How I Met Your Mother (I can't wait to see how the Barney/Robin plot line develops!)
2. Greek (a college love triangle? count me in)
3. Grey's Anatomy (what recent undergraduate girl isn't in love with this show?)
4. My Boys (a little known show on the WB that's actually surprisingly witty and lovable)
5. Gossip Girl (Blair and Chuck! Blair and Chuck!)
I also love CSI: New York.

Top 5 Current Reality TV Shows:
1. Dancing with the Stars (the hough siblings are amazing choreographers, as is mark ballast)
2. So You Think You Can Dance (a recent addiction - check out mark's and chelsie's hiphop)
3. Project Runway (tim-isms: make it work!)
4. Survivor (the favourites vs fans season was unbelievable)
5. America's Next Top Model/Top Chef (it's a tie!)

The Return of the Stormtroopers

This has rapidly become one of my favourite photos on the web: a face off between stormtroopers and some london policemen1. I actually miss Star Wars - I used to love the films (the original 4, 5, and 6)...but ever since the new three have come out, I find myself dreading re-watching the originals...I think its because I loved the romance and tension between Luke, Leia, and Hans Solo (though it gets a little weird when it is revealed that Luke and Leia are twins) and am slightly disappointed that, with the additions of the new trilogy, the originals become the chronicles of Darth Vader. I enjoyed the films a lot more when I thought the subject matter was a touching love story between two unlikely lovers and the coolness of Luke. Oh well. At the same time, I applaud Lucas' inventiveness with the new script, and loved that Natalie Portman was catapulted to fame with the trilogy. She can be counted on to deliver a gripping performance.

I'd rather get skin cancer than be pale.

From postsecret's facebook page. The sad thing is that I've actually heard this from a couple of people before. The lengths people go for beauty is kind of ridiculous. In a little bit of a segue, I wonder when and why being tan became beautiful. Wasn't white skin a pre-requisite for beauty once a long time ago? I remember my mom being really proud of my fair skin when I was little - my skin was extremely pale. She was pretty upset when I came home from summer camp one year, unintentionally tanned from hours outdoors playing frisbee and watching the clouds go by during "mandatory fun" activities. To this day, my mom prizes her fair skin, and rues it when my sister and I tan.

Okay, on another sidenote - my flatmates are watching fight club right now, and I'm sitting in the living room with them. I have decided - this is not my kind of movie. though I do understand how it became a cult flick.

Flower Meanings

Today I went walking in Central Park, something that I've done pretty much every day since graduation. It's been sunny recently, so almost the entire city has flocked to the park to enjoy the sunshine and the warmth. The lawns were dotted with families and friends tanning or playing frisbee - it's almost like Seurat's Grand Jatte. Fun!

However, while the scene was filled with greenery, there was a lack of pretty flowers, which made me kind of sad. I love flowers - they are so colorful and so cheerful, and just make almost anything beautiful. I flashed back to the last day of Chinese class, when we read a text about the meaning of certain flowers.

One popular Chinese flower is the chrysanthemum, symbolic of a strong life. It makes a great gift - as long as the blossoms are not white or light yellow in color - those are reserved for funerals.

Lotus flowers, on the other hand, represent people who have succeeded despite being from an underprivileged background. Lotus flowers grow and blossom from the murkiest parts of ponds - from such humble beginnings arise one of the most useful plants in nature: its roots are edible, its flowers bring beauty, its seeds have medicinal properties.

Beautiful girls are often compared to peach flowers, which flower in the spring, usually in time for Chinese New Year. It is thought that buying a whole pot of peach flowers during CNY will bring luck in finding love in the upcoming year. Hmmm. Remind me to get one of those next February.

But my favourite plant meaning is that of the humble bamboo plant. Bamboo is extremely resilient and full of life and is alive during all four seasons, even in the harsh winter. It is flexible when hammered by winds, bending and swaying gracefully, but refuses to break. I think it's going to be my new icon.