Macau

This weekend I went to Macau with some of my guy friends. They went to go see a tennis match, but I went off on my own to explore the city. I went to the ruins of St. Paul's Cathedral and the Old Portuguese Fort, the town square and park and the Old Protestant Cemetary. Then I met up with my friends at the casinos for a night of gambling - I ended up winning $75 playing Texas Hold'em :) Pictures are here:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2023536&id=1325940161&l=70b72154ed
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2023560&id=1325940161&l=fb6448702c

Thailand!

Hi everyone,

So this weekend I went to Bangkok, Thailand. It was my first trip ever to Southeast Asia, the region that I have been obsessed with since I starting caring about politics. It was also the first independent, international trip I have ever planned by myself. It was AMAZING.

I flew Emirates Air with my friend Spencer, who was traveling with me - I highly recommend this airline to anyone who has the option of flying it. The flight attendants were really friendly and I think they enjoyed our company - we were sitting in the very back row of the plane, so we could hear them talking about the stupid passengers who wouldn't sit down and stuff. We started talking to two of them and they were really nice - one was from Ireland, the other from Jordan. They gave us tips about where to go for food and bars and stuff. The flight was only about two and a half hours, so we landed in Bangkok around midnight on Friday.

On Friday we got up early, ate breakfast at the hotel, and took a tuk-tuk to some of the sights (Big Buddha and Gold Buddha) before we went to the Grand Palace. That place is incredible. I have never seen such beautiful, diverse architecture in one place. We spent about two hours there (despite some heavy showers) and got a lot of gorgeous pictures. After that we went to the hotel, showered, and took another tuk-tuk to a street with a bunch of restaurants. We found a streetside restaurant and got delicious curry seafood with rice - dinner and drinks for the two of us was $10 USD total :) Then we went out on the town.

The next day we got a little bit lost in Bangkok. Wandering around, we found some random temples that were definitely NOT tourist traps - one had a pen full of alligators (random), the other had a gorgeous temple with a huge golden Buddha inside. We sat there for a few minutes and then monks and nuns started coming in, and before we knew it they were all praying. It was one of the coolest experiences of my life. After staying there for about an hour, we walked around some more and found a night market, where we bought lucky amulets. I also stopped at a street hawker and bought a bag of snacks - giant grilled insects. Yum! After that we went to Khao San Road, the expat bar area, and bar-hopped a little before calling it a night.

On Sunday we got up and got Thai massages (soooo nice - half hour massage for $5 USD!) before hopping on our plane. When we got to the airport, the nice lady at Emirates Air informed us that we had been bumped up to business class. We got invitations to the lounge, where we waited for our plane in style while enjoying free snacks and drinks, and then got onto the plane where we had amazing, huge, reclining, massaging seats. I will never fly economy again!

Sooo Thailand is my favorite country that I've ever been to. Everyone should go. Pics are here!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2022993&id=1325940161&l=1c53ed93ee
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2023064&id=1325940161&l=1ec960ffbb
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2023126&id=1325940161&l=76e268bef7
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2023128&id=1325940161&l=f1d612e08e
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2023132&id=1325940161&l=bcd2524c98

I'm on a boat!

Yesterday about 30 of us rented a boat for eight hours and went around Hong Kong harbor and the outlying islands. We anchored close to a couple islands and jumped off the top of the boat, swimming in the ocean next to the boat and in to the beaches on the islands nearby. It was wicked fun!

Link to the pictures here:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2022396&id=1325940161&l=464f2dd53b

Why Hong Kong is the best city in the world

http://www.cnngo.com/hong-kong/none/worlds-greatest-city-hong-kong-576599

Mid-Autumn Festival, Fire Dragon Dance, and Festival of the Monkey God

This weekend was huge for festivals! Last night I went to the Mid-Autumn Festival and the Fire Dragon Dance - they were amazing. For Mid-Autumn Festival we went to Victoria Park, and there were thousands of families picnicking with their lanterns, burning candles and eating mooncakes to celebrate the biggest harvest moon of the year. It was really cool to see all the people celebrating - the little kids had cute lanterns, like airplanes or hello kitty. After that was the Fire Dragon Dance, which is a tradition in the Tai Hang district of Hong Kong. One hundred years ago, the legend says, there was a typhoon and a plague in the fishing and farming village of Tai Hang and all the crops were destroyed. After that a python, the son of the dragon king, came and ate all the village livestock. To fight the plague, the village youth made a huge dragon out of straw and covered it with burning incense, dancing it through the streets for three days and three nights during the Mid-Autumn Festival. The plague disappeared, so the town reenacts the dance every year during the Mid-Autumn Festival. It was so cool last night I'm going back again for the final night - supposedly the third night of the Dance is pretty crazy! Pictures of the Mid-Autumn Festival and Fire Dragon Dance here:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2021900&id=1325940161&l=016d2cc353

I also tried to go to the Festival of the Monkey God this morning, but it's really obscure, and I couldn't find it. Ended up wandering around Hong Kong for a few hours - here are my pics from that adventure:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2021958&id=1325940161&l=7d9af2ab76

Also, here are pics of my new haircut!

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30409522&l=9f1d8177bf&id=1325940161
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30409523&l=c3f676ec1e&id=1325940161

National Day and haircut

Hi everyone!

Yesterday was Chinese National Day, the 60th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party. We had the day off from school and went to a carnival and then to see the fireworks over the Hong Kong skyline - check out my pictures here:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2021816&id=1325940161&l=4216a89e62

Afterward we went out to Wan Chai District and found a really fun bar - there was a Philipino band playing ALL my favorite bands - Red Hot Chili Peppers, Green Day, Bob Marley, Radiohead, Kings of Leon, etc. I was the girl standing at the front of the stage singing along to the songs as if they were the real bands - definitely the life of the bar. I chatted with the guitarist and keyboardist between sets, and they actually dedicated a song to me by name ("This song is for our new friend Nicole") during the next set (It was Three Little Birds by Bob Marley). I was pretty excited, because I've never had a song dedicated to me by a band before. Then the keyboardist asked for my number "so we could share musicians we like." Yeah, ok. Guess I'm becoming a Hong Kong cover band groupie? The bar was so great, I ended up staying out until 5 am :-X Definitely going back next weekend!

In other news, I got my hair cut this week! I cut off about four inches, so for those of you who knew how long my hair was, it's a LOT shorter (a little past shoulder length). I also got bangs. I really like it! I love long hair, but it's hard to take care of (mine especially, it could be pretty wild). It's a relief to have hair short enough that it styles itself in the morning (not like I ever took the time to style my long hair). I'll put pictures up once I get some cute ones :) The haircuts here are great though - I paid $12 American for them to cut and style my hair to look just like the picture I brought in (a Victorias Secret model of course - my stylist laughed out loud) and they gave me a head massage too. Not to bad. I recommend getting your hair cut in Hong Kong if you are out here and are willing to take a risk with a stylist who doesnt speak English - luckily mine spoke a good amount, and understood some of the Mandarin I said to him as well. Definitely glad I brought a picture in though.

Tomorrow is the mid-autumn festival, which is a celebration of the full harvest moon. Everyone brings their lanterns to the park or the beach and eats mooncakes. Then Saturday and Sunday nights are the Fire Dragon Festival, which I'm going to, and Sunday is the Festival of the Monkey God. Pictures forthcoming!