Feb I, Weeks 27 + 28: Ms. Worldwide

During the middle and end of winter break, I went city hopping with my friends and partner. We toured Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Taipei, and Bangkok in a whirlwind of food, flights, and sightseeing, and it was amazing!

On Monday, January 29th, I woke up early with another ETF to head to a visa office on Hong Kong Island. Our goal: to get Chinese tourist visas. We slogged through the foggy, chilly Hong Kong morning onto a double decker bus and to the office by 8:30am, but we made it out in three hours.

For lunch, we had shrimp wontons and noodles at a cha chaan teng (Hong Kong-style restaurant/diner) with another friend, then walked through some local markets. We also tried some egg tarts and Hong Kong milk tea from a nearby bakery, and they weren't bad. Hong Kong milk tea was definitely more bitter than I expected, though.

We then headed to Hong Kong Park, where we visited the Edward Youde Aviary (which houses endangered Southeast Asian birds). I loved them! They were beautiful and colorful, and I liked hearing them chirp as they flitted from branch to branch to eat mango. Most of them were resplendent scarlet, gold, and teal songbirds, but there were also larger birds like pheasants hiding in the understory.

We went to the famed Victoria's Peak after we finished seeing the aviary. We took the Peak Tram, which is a glass-covered tram that goes up the side of the mountain, but the views were pretty misty. They weren't any better from the top of the mountain either, sadly.

For dinner, we celebrated one of our birthdays. We went to a delicious all-you-can-eat Sichuanese hotpot and bbq place called Uncle's Grilled Fish, and it was amazing. We were given a whole grilled fish, buttered garlic scallops, crispy skewers of beef, pork, chicken, crayfish, and mushrooms, then rich mala and mushroom broths for hotpot. I hadn't had mala hotpot that good in ages! All the of the hotpot and bbq ingredients, which included lotus root, tofu puff balls, leafy greens, octopus, and more, were also excellent. It was no birthday boat, but it was certainly an incredible meal, and we had fun chatting with each other and the restaurant owner.

On Tuesday, we had brunch at a famous cha chaan teng called Australian Dairy Company. The service was quick but not particularly friendly, as it's known for, but the food was great. Its famed steamed milk and almond egg puddings were incredible, and the French toast, fried egg over toast, and scrambled eggs were pretty good, too. Unfortunately, the Hong Kong milk tea was even more bitter than the one I had the day before.

Our next stop was Lantau Island, known for the Tiantan Buddha (a giant buddha statue), fishing villages, and Hong Kong Disneyland. The buddha was huge! After climbing stairs on stairs on stairs, we made it to the top. The rest of the island was covered in a sea of fog, but we could still see parts of the nearby temples and surrounding area. We explored the inside of the buddha, then went to the nearby Po Lin Monastery.

The different artistic aspects of the temple definitely felt more Chinese than the ones in Taiwan, and I liked the different halls of buddha statues. I especially liked the Grand Hall of Ten Thousand Buddhas, which had five massive golden buddhas seated in a row, plus hundreds of tiny golden buddhas lining the walls.

One of the former Kinmen ETAs and I also decided to go to Tai O Village, which is a fishing village on stilts. We had a mildly worrying taxi ride through fog so thick we couldn't see a foot in front of us, but nobody careened off the road, so I think it was fine.

The village was cool! As the other ETF put it, it felt like a sleepy little New England fishing town. We wandered the different alleyways and bridges, and I liked seeing stilt houses and local cats. Most importantly, I just liked being able to hang out with a friend and explore somewhere new together.

Back in Kowloon, the two of us met up with our friends for a delicious dimsum dinner. Everything was amazing. We had pork and sticky rice wrapped in lotus leaf, radish and water chestnut cakes, cheung fun, black sesame balls, meatballs, char siu buns, and siu mai, of course. I'd had good dimsum before, but obviously nothing that good.

The best part of the meal was the restaurant's mango pudding with sweetened milk. It was rich, creamy, light, fluffy, and perfect—I would absolutely order it again. I suppose I already did, because we actually ordered a second one once we'd demolished the first one, but I'd go back to Hong Kong for a third.

Wednesday was my friend and I's visa pickup day. In the morning, our group got brunch at a Nepalese restaurant, which was pretty good. Then, the other Chiayi ETF and I went to a café until we could pick up our visas. I liked the café—I got a matcha latte with a winged horse drawn in the foam—but I liked the waiting for a visa part way less. The only part I did like was the visa office's postcard stamping station, which felt a bit like if the DMV offered arts and crafts. It was cute, at least.

After two and a half hours of waiting in lines and running around panicking, we got our visas!! To celebrate, we all got delicious roast goose for dinner. We also ordered cold chicken in chili oil and green vegetables in goose oil, but the goose was definitely the star. The skin was perfectly crispy, and the goose was wonderfully greasy and rich.

On the walk back to the hotel, I found the other most amazing thing I'd tried in Hong Kong: Kowloon milk! Specifically chocolate milk. It was much sweeter and richer than other milk I've had before. I'd also say the texture was different; it was smooth, but it wasn't flavored as uniformly I expected, which I think made it more enjoyable. I usually don't like milk at all, but I think I've fallen in love with Kowloon milk. Ah, yet another reason to come back to Hong Kong.

The next day was the only sunny day of our group's trip, so we took advantage of the sunshine to go to Lamma Island, which is another island south of Hong Kong Island. After a little MTR ride (and a pit stop at the Yau Ma Tei Jade Hawker Bazaar), we took a twenty-ish minute ferry from Hong Kong Island to Lamma Island. The views were beautiful, and everything was so blue! I especially liked watching the nearby clouds and mist billow up amongst the skyscrapers and drift across the different islands as the ferry passed.

Lamma Island was warmer than I'd expected. Once we'd had lunch, we decided to rent bikes from a nearby shop. It was the only bike shop on the island, and unfortunately, we found out why very quickly. We were going to bike the Family Walk, which according to the internet was the easiest biking trail on the island. It was still... very difficult. Actually, it only went uphill, and we probably spent a solid 70% of our bike rental time walking our bikes uphill. Luckily, a family of hikers walking the other way warned us about the rest of the trail, and we turned back.

At the very least, I did like the little bit of biking we were able to do. I also loved being able to see Hung Shing Yeh Beach! The water was brilliant turquoise, refreshingly cool, and people were even swimming. Regrettably, none of us had prepared for swimming, but we did have a lovely time walking around. We saw some different souvenir stores, temples, and got to overlook part of the island from a hill.

The ferry ride back to Hong Kong Island was just as stunning as the ride over. The mist from earlier had begun to creep back down the mountains and swirl around the boats, and the setting sun struck the mist different shades of white and gold. I also saw a couple of junk boats sailing in the harbor.

For our last evening together in Hong Kong, my friends and I visited Stone Slab Street, then had dimsum for dinner. The dimsum we had wasn't as good as the dimsum we'd had a couple nights ago, but it was still pretty good. I also bought one of the wonderful, wonderful Kowloon milks, then hung out in a hotel room with everyone else. It was fun to sit and chat for a while, but it was bittersweet knowing how quickly we'd have to say goodbye the next morning.

The next day, I went for one last pineapple bun with butter with my friends, then we had to part ways. I spent my afternoon at Kowloon Walled City Park, which was stunning. There was a museum area about the former Kowloon Walled City (which was an ungoverned and extremely high density walled city that existed until the 1990s), and the rest was a Chinese-style garden. It had winding, scenic paths; beautiful pagodas and walkways; and glistening ponds and waterfalls, and it looked especially lovely in the afternoon sun.

After an hour at the park, I headed to a modern art museum called M+. The other Chiayi ETF and I met up our friend and her parents there, then we wandered the museum together. It was huge! There were exhibits on modern pop culture, artistic reactions to different historical events, and also one on the life and career of a Chinese artist and fashion icon.

After the museum, the other Chiayi ETF and I headed to the airport to catch our flight to Guangzhou. My partner met us, then we flew together. We got in pretty late, so we didn't see much of the city when we landed, but it was definitely a bit jarring to see signs in Simplified Chinese and hear Mainland Chinese accents after spending so long in Taiwan.

Saturday, February 3rd, was our one and only day in Guangzhou. Myself, my partner, and the other ETF woke up early, then walked to Shangxiajiu Plaza and got breakfast. It felt surreal to walk around in China, especially since I hadn't been back since 2014. There were lots of Chinese flags lining the street to the plaza, and everything was much bigger and more spaced out than I'd expected.

We had beef cheung fun for breakfast, then we walked around and tried some Moutai ice cream, which is basically Chinese Kaoliang ice cream. It was much better than I expected; not only was it sweet and sorghum-y, but also incredibly creamy and rich. The store owner also gave us a free Moutai chocolate popsicle.

The three of us visited a Cantonese opera museum with a lovely waterfall and pavilion, then went to a cute bookstore/hostel called 1200bookshop. My favorite area that we visited was Liwan Park, which was a beautiful, vibrant park with a meandering river and lots of swaying red lanterns. The park was also full of older people playing jianzi (毽子, shuttlecock), families taking paddleboats, and kids playing volleyball.

We then went to a little café called Origin Coffee, which had a lovely view of the river. The three of us sat next to some open windows upstairs, then had little drinks and desserts (including a yummy crème brûlée). It was nice. We also went to Shamian Island, which is a small island full of European architecture. There were lots of pastel-colored buildings and tree-lined boulevards, but the part I liked the most was the White Swan Hotel. Lots of families, including my own, stayed there while adopting children from China—I even received the picture book (and the adoption Barbie) associated with the hotel when I was adopted.

After wandering Beijing Pedestrian Street, the three of us went to Dafo Temple. The temple was huge and breathtaking, and I loved the artwork and architecture. There were porcelain buddhas and giant wooden statues of deities and immortals, but I was most impressed by the three massive golden buddhas seated near the middle of the temple. The scale and detail of them was stunning.

For dinner, we went to Haidilao, which is a famous Chinese hotpot chain. I've never been before, not even in the US, so I was excited to try it. In addition to excellent hotpot and wonderful service, Haidilao is also known for its waiters, who perform a Tiktok dance called 科目三 (Subject Three). Sadly, the franchise we went to didn't teach Subject Three to its waiters, but our waitress recognized my partner (who visited Guangzhou over the summer). She was very sweet! I had a hard time understanding her Mainland accent, but she seemed more than happy to chat with us.

The hotpot was amazing. We ordered a mala broth and a mushroom broth, and we had lots of beef, pork, lamb, leafy greens, enoki mushrooms, tofu skin, vermicelli noodles, and quail eggs. We also got some fruit and sunflower seeds, then enjoyed some massage chairs. Although we weren't in Guangzhou very long, I liked it, and I hope I can visit again soon.

The next day was spent either in airports or in transit. My partner, the other ETF, and I woke up at 5:30am, then went to an airport lounge for breakfast. I hadn't been in an airport lounge before, but it was pretty nice. We then flew back to Hong Kong, then my friend and I had a seven hour layover before we flew back to Taipei. It was miserable. But we made it.

I spent the next two and a half days running errands in Taipei. Laundry, homegoods, groceries, etc. I liked hanging out with my partner, his roommates, and his friends, but I didn't do much else. I did make some M&M cookies, though, and they were delicious. Then, my partner and I went back to Taoyuan Airport and flew to Macau for a layover.

We landed around 10pm, then headed to our hotel so we could wake up at 4:30am the next morning. I didn't see much of Macau from the taxi window, but I did get to see some of the casinos shining different shades of indigo, gold, and magenta. I was surprised by how much Mandarin was being spoken in Macau. The signs in the airport were in Portuguese and Mandarin, but I didn't hear much Portuguese, English, or even Cantonese.

It almost hurt to wake up on Thursday, but somehow, my partner and I woke up at 4:30am, then made it to the airport for our flight (which I spent sleeping). Bangkok was beautiful but sweltering. We wandered around Chinatown, then had a delicious steamed seabass with chili and lime for lunch followed by some wonderful mango sticky rice. The mango was light and refreshing, and the sticky rice was delicious thanks to the condensed milk and fried mung beans on top.

After a couple of naps my partner and I explored Chinatown some more. We went to the Yaowarat Night Market and tried some youtiao and pandan custard, then had some wonderful crab curry for dinner. Even though we didn't see much of Bangkok, I had a nice (but exhausting) time.

The next day was jam-packed with sightseeing. My partner and I started off our morning by taking a ferry up the Chao Phraya River, then headed to the Grand Palace and the Temple of the Emerald Buddha (Wat Phra Kaew). I loved the architecture! The palace and temple were absolutely magnificent; the spires glittered gold, and the edges of each roof were adorned with smaller spires and curling dragon ornaments. Everything was covered in richly-colored reflective mosaic tiles, gold leaf/paint, or ceramic pieces, and the ceramic pieces reminded me of the ceramics at Taiwanese temples.

We first went into the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, which was amazing. The inside of the temple was covered in intricately-painted religious scenes, but the most beautiful part was the altar in the middle. At the very top was a seated emerald statue of the buddha decorated in glimmering golden clothes.

The two of us also saw other parts of the temple and Grand Palace complex, which included a giant golden stupa, an ornately-decorated library, and multiple galleries of painted murals. We also went to the Queen Sikrit Museum of Textiles, which housed a collection of royal outfits worn by the former Queen of Thailand as well as a collection of the patterns and styles of textiles from various parts of Thailand.

After my partner and I stopped at a riverside shopping area for a belated lunch, we went to another famous temple nearby: Wat Phra Chetupon. The temple, also called Wat Pho, is known for its enormous reclining buddha. My partner and I marveled at the scale and beauty of the statue, whose body spanned the length of the entire temple and whose feet were inlaid with ornate mother-of-pearl Buddhist symbols, then wandered the rest of the temple complex. Although it was much smaller than the Grand Palace and the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, I liked it.

Following dinner, my partner and I got dessert in Chinatown. Dessert was excellent, and we had ice cream with canteloupe balls, strips of mango, green sago pearls, and red tapioca-covered water chestnut (red rubies). I liked the texture of the rubies—the tapioca on the outside was sweet and chewy, but the water chestnut inside was satisfyingly crisp.

Since it was Lunar New Year's Eve, Chinatown was alive with a multitude of tourists and Thai Chinese people eating, drinking, performing, and celebrating together. I celebrated in my own way, and bought a dragon decoration on a stick. Was it a necessary purchase? Perhaps not. But it did bring me joy.

Saturday, February 10th (Lunar New Year itself) was damp and muggy, so my partner and I spent the day in a variety of malls. The first mall we went to was the coolest mall I've ever been to! We took a ferry across the river to ICONSIAM, which another former Kinmen ETA recommended, and it was enormous.

The main building that we were in had eight floors, and on the ground level there was a huge replica of a floating market. There were stalls selling different snacks, fruit, desserts, souvenirs, and more, so my partner and I tried crispy fried pork belly and some pad kra pao (pork and basil stir fried with an egg). I also had fresh durian for the first time! The outside was a little dry and fibrous, but the inside was light and creamy. Overall, perhaps a 7/10.

My partner and I walked around and enjoyed some lion and dragon dance performances, but I think my favorite part of the mall (besides the ground floor) was the fifth floor. It was lush with tropical foliage, water features, and natural art installations. I especially liked the illuminated waterfall set in the ceiling and the outside terrace over looking the Chao Phraya River.

The second mall that we went to was centralwOrld, which is the ninth largest mall in the world. As huge as it was, it was just a pretty standard mall. No waterfalls, floating markets, or riverside terraces to be seen. At the very least, we got to visit Erawan Shrine nearby. The altar was glittering silver and gold, and in the middle was a gold statue of the Thai deity Phra Phrom. There were also garlands of marigolds heaped all over the altar and the nearby fences as well as Thai traditional dancers performing.

My partner and I went to another mall afterwards called Terminal 21. It was kind of mid, but I thought it was cool that each floor was themed after a different global city. One was Tokyo, another was London, and there were two more floors themed after Istanbul and San Francisco. I especially liked the scale model of the Golden Gate Bridge.

For dinner, we went to an Ethiopian restaurant. I've never had Ethiopian food before, but it was pretty good! We had several vegetarian and meat stews, all served on injera (fermented bread), which was pleasantly tangy.

The next morning, the two of us said hello to our favorite local celebrity: the Asian monitor lizard that lived in the canal next to our hotel. For the past several days, one of the many highlights of my partner and I's day was waking up and seeing the lizard, who was always either swimming leisurely or sunbathing on a log. Truly the king of the canal.

After briefly touring a local temple called Wat Hua Lamphong, we went to a famous weekend market called Chatuchak Market. It was a sweltering maze of little stores and shops, but it was full of snacks, souvenirs, and clothes. I had a tasty coconut smoothie and Thai milk tea ice cream, then got some souvenirs for my family.

We spent the rest of the afternoon walking around some nearby parks, then we went to a famous restaurant called Somboon Seafood for dinner. We tried their famous fried crab curry, and it was incredible! The curry was rich, creamy, and savory (if a bit oily), and the crabmeat was wonderfully fresh. I couldn't eat too much of it, but it was delicious.

As you can probably tell from this post, I was having the time of my life during these two weeks. Sure, I spent too long in airports and had to wake up too early, but it was worth it to visit new countries and hang out with friends. I liked being able to get a sense of the distinct vibes of each city I visited, especially in comparison with Taipei: Hong Kong was bustling and commercial, Guangzhou was sprawling and lively, and Bangkok was flashy and vibrant.

I especially loved being able to travel with old friends, whom I've missed dearly. As much as I've appreciated being an ETF and spending another year in Taiwan, I've also missed being able to see friends from last year. Hopefully, I can see them more before the grant period ends.

As of writing this post, winter break's been long over, but I'm still missing it. During my final days of winter break, I dreaded the return to reality. I'd had an amazing time eating wonderful food, exploring new countries, and spending time with friends, and wasn't ready for it to end.

In some ways, I feel the same way about my Fulbright experience. Despite the ups and downs this year, I've loved seeing more of Taiwan, but time's running out. I suppose the end of my last winter break's been a reminder of that. Here's to making the most of the time left in the grant period.

Writer's Note: This blog post was originally written on Wednesday, March 6th.