One reason I’ve been more busy with work than I really should be is taking a week out of studying to go to Taipei.

In my opinion, Taipei is a lot like a green tea flavoured KitKat – they are both delightful and if more people knew about it, they would definitely check it out. For example, one of my travel companions wasn’t sure if Taipei was a city, country or region until a few days before we left.

The main selling point about Taipei would have to be the food –  the good, the bad and the ugly.

The best part would have to be “bubble tea” – which come in a wide variety of flavours, with tapioca pearls, red beans or jelly serving as “the bubbles”. Having been to the shop in Newcastle’s Chinatown fairly frequently, this was one of the things I was most excited about when I came to do my year abroad. Taipei is the Mecca of bubble tea. There is one on every street corner.

Taipei is also home to a delicacy called “stinky tofu”. It does, indeed, stink and doesn’t taste better than it smells.

We spent a day trip to Jiufen, an old gold-mining town from when Japan ruled Taiwan, was the inspiration for the hit Japanese animated film Spirited Away. This included a trip to a Goldmine museum.

We took another trip to some hot springs in a suburb called Beitou. The public hot spring pools are outside, still open air, and there are a series of about 4 different pools, each a different temperature, and hotter as you go further up the steps. The bottom one is the coolest and the very top pool is the hottest – and scorching hot! I wasn’t allowed to take photos but it was spectacular! It was hidden in a valley in Taiwan and was one of the best days I’ve had since going on exchange.

The most impressive part of Taipei, I thought, was Shilin Night Market. It is HUGE. For perspective, many many sizes bigger than Camden market in London. They also sold an enormous range of stuff in everything from goth clothing, to a weird, wonderful and a little disgusting selection of food, including pig’s feet and snake.

Hello everyone,

The last two to three weeks haven’t been the best in Hong Kong, to be honest. Exam season is upon us, and I have spent a large amount of time in the library (by my standards). I am convinced that having an exam and essay due on 22nd December should be made illegal, and every day the library gets quieter as more people finish for the holidays.

That being said, studying in another country and my grades not counting has meant that being able to explore different aspects of my course I definitely would not have done back in Durham. To give a flavour, my essay titles have included, “an exploration of game theory in the novels of Jane Austen”, “identity and psychoanalysis in apartheid South African literature” and “the success of Zhuangzi (Pronounced Chuang-zu) in Chinese Ethics”.

Before the exam period started, I was really quite enjoying life in Hong Kong. Here a few highlights

50-kilometre Hike

As I mentioned in my last blog, one of the hidden highlights of Hong Kong is the sheer level of the countryside. Over 80% of Hong Kong is a national park. (Sidenote, given the INSANE level of rents and population density in the urban areas, I wonder if there is a case for building on some of this parkland)

With this in mind, I decided to hike the famous 50-kilometre “Hong Kong” trail in an event run by the university. Over 400 students (with a 25% drop out rate) took part in the event. Having signed up very late, I was placed with 3 very nice Chinese postgraduates. It took us 12 and half hours, we finished in pitch black, and there were some spectacular views.

Clockenflap Festival.

The next day, with some fairly sore legs, I went to the final day of Hong Kong’s marquee music festival, Clockenflap (I wonder who came up with this name). The festival included acts such as Stormzy, Massive Attack and Prodigy.

Sincere apologies to Massive Attack, but the best part of the festival wasn’t the music but the setting. It was right in the heart of Hong Kong with massive skyscrapers all around and it was a lovely evening with friends.

Dragon Boating

You may have seen the title of this blog and wondered what it had to do with Hong Kong. Let me regale you, dear reader, with the greatest underdog story since Leicester City won the premier league. 

The dragon boat season finishes in November. However, the beginner group were invited to compete in the final competition of the season and get a taste of a competitive atmosphere (cue drumroll)

Representing the Under 23 Men’s team we did well enough in both our heats and made it through to the grand final. (Sidenote, despite being only 20, they didn’t initially believe that I was under the age of 23, I think I should start moisturising). We found that competitive racing is very different to the traditional training, using carbon fibre paddles instead of wooden ones and going at a much faster stroke rate than we were used to

We made it to the grand final. The crowd was hushed. Hearts pounded. Arms tensed.

The claxon sounded. The drums pounded. Shouts rose from the sideline.

THIRD PLACE!

We finished neck and neck with the second place team in quite possibly the most controversial and closest photo finish (this may be an exaggeration) since Michael Phelps and Milorad Cavic tied for gold in the 2008 Summer Olympics (first place went to the U23 national team).

In the famous words of DJ Khaled, We “celebrated our successes” with a barbecue in the rain afterwards and returned home.

In all seriousness, it wasn’t an especially impressive achievement (I think now is probably a good time to mention they were only four teams in our category and the heats were basically warm-ups). Despite this, we were given a ridiculously ostentatious trophy. We got very excited until we were told that massive trophies are commonplace at most competitions and the club have so many they don’t know what to do with them. As my exchange buddy and I are only here for the semester/year respectively, we were allowed to take it home with us and it currently resides on top of my fridge.  

However, I’m very very excited to compete for HKU when the season starts in April again. There are competitions all over Asia and the highlight will be the University Championship, where HKU are defending champions. The only sad part is that I had to say goodbye to my two my fellow exchange students who are here only for the semester. The “dragon boat boys” are sadly no more. 

Hey everyone,

A combination of a broken laptop and forgetting to bring my charger on holiday to Japan have meant that this blog has been a lot later than intended. I have so much to say and I’ll try not to ramble as I write this.

Like most young men heading to live abroad for the first time, I was given advice by friends and relatives about what to do. “Eat healthily, don’t get a tattoo, don’t go out alone late at night, don’t get into any trouble with the law (whilst it’s true that my only experience of confinement is voluntary house arrest during my early teens when my acne was at its worst, it’s more than enough to put me off the prospect of spending time in a Chinese prison)”.

I guess there are two obvious questions I should probably answer. Why do a year abroad? I hope it to be a “gap year” without it being a “gap yah”; I hoped to meet people from around the world, explore different cultures whilst having some structure to my year and hopefully learn some stuff in the process. Why Hong Kong University? Firstly, as a self-confessed philosophy nerd, I was really hoping to study Asian philosophy. For all of Durham’s strengths, the philosophy department focuses mostly on the Anglo-American tradition. Secondly, I’ve never been to Asia and I thought that living in Hong Kong would be as far about as far out of my comfort zone as possible.

Whilst I don’t want to be as quick to rush to judgement as those blokes off Arsenal fan TV about the new season, Hong Kong has been fabulous so far and much better than what I imagined. My expectations have absolutely been surpassed.

I would assume that most people reading this are considering doing a Year Abroad, or visiting Hong Kong. With this in mind, I thought I would leave some top dos and don’ts

Do

Use the app Revolut. This has been really really helpful since arriving as setting up a bank account without being a Hong Kong citizen is very difficult. The app will let you transfer money into a large number of currencies without any additional costs at the going exchange rate. You can withdraw money and pay for stuff like any ordinary debit card. It will also track your spending and will tell you how much you are spending on food, books, transport etc.

Learn with to eat with chopsticks. I would recommend starting with wooden ones over plastic or metal ones where possible. Although this is a fairly basic skill, I unfortunately have the dexterity of an octogenarian with arthritis. I have had a good few food-related faux pas – the worst moment was trying to eat some spicy noodle soup, dropping the noodles in the soup and causing the spicy sauce to splash into my eye. I then spent the next 15 minutes in considerable pain. With hindsight, I would have saved myself much embarrassment if I’d taken the time to learn this summer.

Explore some of the UK/Europe back home. I’ve been fortunate to do quite a lot of travelling in Asia so far (more on that below). However, it’s made me realise that I am very lucky to live in Western Europe. There is no excuse for me never going to Edinburgh, even though it is less than 2 hours away from Durham on the train. Thanks to Airbnb and low-cost airlines, popping abroad to visit European cities has never been so easy and it’s a shame that it has taken a trip to Hong Kong for me to realise this.

Like techno music/ learn to like/ pretend to like techno music. This may be a strange point and this may have something to do with hanging out with several techno-mad Germans since I’ve arrived, but techno is huge in Hong Kong. There is an enormous techno festival next month and I was lucky enough to go to a fantastic techno beach party a couple of weeks ago. I will admit my first experience of techno music sounded very similar to a washing machine and I questioned how anyone could possibly enjoy it. However, it has grown on me a large amount since I’ve arrived. To quote a friend, “techno is like a language, the first time you listen to it you won’t make sense of it but as you listen more your understanding will improve”

Explore Hong Kong!! Hong Kong is honestly incredible. I’ve never been anywhere like it. There is so much to do and see. The biggest misconception I had before going is that it would be a dense city without any countryside. I couldn’t have been more wrong. There are so many beaches, hiking routes, lagoons, caves and waterfalls; not to mention having all the amenities of a global city. Every weekend is a new adventure.

Don’t

Be afraid to talk to strangers. This may be contrary to the advice we received as little children and I would still advocate caution in some situations (see below). However, I think being “Western” in an Asian city I think causes a sense of kinship which definitely does not exist back in the UK, (whether this segregation between locals and foreigners is a good or bad thing is another matter entirely). As a result, it is really easy to strike up and have enlightening conversations with complete strangers. One highlight was meeting a hilarious South African guy who repeatedly claimed to be the most confident person we’d ever meet. To prove his point he went up to a complete stranger and proceeded to critique and analyse the guy’s dress sense.

Be prepared to live in luxury. As my housemates last year would happily testify, I’m not the tidiest person you’ll ever meet and will happily rough it up. As space is at a premium, rents in Hong Kong are extortionate. I am fortunately living in University owned accommodation and I am very grateful that it is considerably lower than the market price (in fact, it’s much cheaper than my rent last year in Durham). That being said, a large number of appliances including the microwave, air conditioning and shower do not work or partially work and we are on the 7th floor of the building (there is no lift). This is by no means a criticism of the university, and several people who are not students have similar experiences . The point I am making is that accommodation in the UK is held to a much higher standard than in Hong Kong, a large part due to Hong Kong rents being some of the most expensive in the world.

My Travels

I am aware that this is a Year Abroad blog and not a travel one and I could go on for a very long time about my various shenanigans. Nonetheless, I feel like travelling is part of the Year Abroad experience and I have had the chance to go to Singapore, Seoul and Japan and I think it would be remiss if I didn’t mention anything about it.

The first place I went to was Seoul, and I actually travelled with complete strangers (though I’m now very good friends with them). Someone posted on the exchange Facebook group saying that they were going there in a couple of days and asked if anyone could recommend things to do and that they would welcome anyone who wanted to tag along. I didn’t have anything planned that weekend so I sent her a message and booked my flight. Unfortunately, there wasn’t space at the hostel and I slept on the floor/roof but it was a really fun trip.

My housemate last year is from Singapore and I went to visit him before he flew back to Durham to finish his final year. Singapore is a gorgeous country with fantastic weather, views and food. My friend took me to this place known for serving this wrap called popiah, the filling including tofu, chilli and bean sprouts. This is quite possibly the most delicious thing I have ever eaten. I think of the individuals, past and present, who are most revered across the world – Nelson Mandela, Malala Yousafzai, Mother Theresa and (if my friends are to believed) Harry Kane. Only these few individuals are worthy of eating this delight. For the rest of us mere mortals, this truly is the forbidden fruit, the food we need and don’t deserve.

Hong Kong University has a “reading week”, where we are meant to write essays and revise for exams the week after. The majority of exchange students take this as an opportunity to go on holiday and I arrived back from Japan yesterday. I will have to admit, Japan was the weirdest experience of my life. There is far too much for me to go into detail, but one anecdote I think worth sharing was bumping into a very well dressed Japanese lady whose English mainly consisted of the words “I like your jumper”. She then proceeded to follow us around for the next 6 hours including going to a techno club with us. We tried both running and hiding to escape her but we she followed us at every turn. We have no idea where she was from and there is a healthy amount of debate about what her name actually was.

I’ve probably gone on for long enough now. I’m now very busy doing all the work I should have done in reading week and I’ll check back in a month or so.