Letter 23 - Piffle

Dear Friends and Family,

Time for another quick update! Weather has ben good lately. Warm but not warm enough to make you sweat and lots of sunshine. And I had my last class of this semester yesterday. Now its just a couple of assignments and exams and then i'm done with this semester.


LKF Carnival. Just a crowded street with lots of stalls and lots of people with beer in their hands and in their bellies.


Oh the irony. Toys"r"us kid's street at LKF festival.


Dress up week at Church. Hip-hop.


Lan Party @ Men's Monday! Had fun shooting and blowing up the men from church.


Hostel Performance again!


Supper @ Fo Tan.


Had Steamboat/Hotpot/Da Pin Lou with the guys at my hostel!


Went to the rooftop for an impromptu MV sing-along session! =)


Ever had bees to go with your beer? Definitely one of the worst things I have put in my mouth. And you can actually feel the "juice" from its insides. The beer somehow felt very sweet after that.


Photo session at Ming Hua Tang.


Right after I got back to my room, I got pulled out by the other guys and got a tattoo. Supposed to be Edward Elric from Full Metal Alchemist.


Michael casting his vote at the ISA Election and Movie Night


ISA Movie Night.

Time for exams. That means no update till...next year perhaps. Also, I'm finding something to do for christmas and the first week of next year. Anyone got any plans?

From,
Ivan

Letter 22 - Zoom!

Dear Friends and Family,

Yes. It has been a month and a half since my last post. And yes, I am still alive here. I just never found the time to update my blog and I decided it was about time to pull a quickie (I mean quick update of course). At first there was midterms examinations but right when I thought it was over, the assignments and projects rolled in. Also, the International Students Association (ISA) of CUHK has finally been formed and I will be moving from preparatory committee member to a proposed committee member and then a full one. That means more work but at the same time. I just hope that the other international students here decide to come out of their shell (and holes if they are hiding somewhere) and join in our events. That will mean a big change in environment for international students. Currently, I think the large campus and collegiate system segregate us too much and creates an atmosphere not so suitable to that of a new and foreign student. And hopefully, I'll be able to find time to do my applications to summer interns. So basically that's what has been happening lately. Trying to juggle all those Uni related work with my other activities such as church groups and sports. Although I always observe the sabbath day, I kinda envy the people with one extra day to work. But I am sure god has his reasons and ways. And so, just as the title of this post, life is going by. Albeit a little too fast. I'll leave the rest to the pictures.


Church Camp. I was helping out with the kids and I have to say that I don't plan on working with kids again for a while.


View of my campus from across the river.


The boys playing mahjong in my room.






View of Chung Chi Campus (Lake Ad Excellentiam). Taken while I was roaming around on a beautiful day as I was waiting for a friend.





The Chung Chi Thousand People Feast. Just like last year, part of the founder's day festival.




Haloween @ LKF

Btw, the weather has finally gotten colder! Time for winter experience number 2! I am enjoying the cold weather.

Yours truly,
The Tired Ivan.

Letter 21 - Unexamination

Dear Friends and Family,

It's been a month since I posted something and what has been happening? Basically the events around campus are the same from year to year. And so suddenly I find myself back in the same position in last year but with the knowledge of whats happening instead of being lost between language and uni culture like last year. This also made me choose what to attend and participate and what not to. Somehow, I am able to avoid doing things i don't want but in a way, I think i also lose more oppurtunities to meet more people and see more things.

Anyways, I am going to be busy busy busy from now on. Assignments, projects and a few events as well as my new commitment to Monday Men's Meeting (Church Based) and of course my usual Sunday Church followed by hanging out with the Lunch Bunch. I know I am slowly being swallowed by the current which is going to take me far away and further on in life but at the same time I will have to struggle not to drown in it. I really also have lost much of my passion for blogging (if i did have any at all). I wonder who reads my blog? Somehow, the traffic feed shows most people come to my blog through google and not through blogsphere and bookmarks. So perhaps my posts shouldnt start with "Dear friends anf family". I think "Dear strangers who accidently got directed to this blog through google's web page ranking search system" would seem more appropriate.

As usual, I'll keep the words minimum. If any of you readers are actually a friend or a family member of mine, do message me personally for a talk if you want to know what else is going on.


Ever wanted to know what true manhood is? "We men are in a confused state". Really interesting series done in the Men's Monday!


Farewell for no.19 - Merlin. Hostel mate who used to live 2 doors away from my room and is now studying in UK.


Term Opening Supper! I downed a large bottle of Tsingtao beer in less den 10 seconds that night. I recommend all of you to try that. Disclaimer: Extreme amount of gas will cause you to feel like your stomach is exploding. Try at your own risk.


The "Big Boy" Hummer that I stumbled upon randomly one night when we were.......


Hostel Welcoming Dinner. A real mess especially with the food. It was like being in a war zone.


Balling in Hong Kong at night. One of my favourite activities.


My poor laptop has now morphed itself into a desktop. No..actually, the battery just reached its "end of usable life" and now only lasts for 5 minutes or less. That makes it a portable computer and not an operable laptop.


Oh..Did I mention that I have three roommates in a twin sharing room now?
After a day of rearranging, here are pics of my new room.


Sleeping area


Door Area: Now my table is beside the cupboard instead of beside the window


Windowside: What was previously my working table area is now my bed and drawer area.


My side of the room.


Back to studying.

Yours humbly,
Mr Ko

Letter 20 - Year 2 in Asia's World City

Dear Friends and Family,

I have safely arrived back in Hong Kong. After few days of unpacking and reorganising everything again, I think i have settled back to life here. Right now its really hot and humid here in Hong Kong. I just keep sweating the whole day and change probably 2 shirts a day. Other than that, alot of people have left the hostel and around campus and so I will have to get used to that and try to meet other new people. And I have to get back to routine. Having been on holiday for over 2 months, it is a little tough to drag myself out of bed and to do work.

I also would like to say that i enjoyed my holidays back at home and in Hong Kong. I will post some pics from my holiday but just a few. And let's hope that my fondness for blogging has not deteriorated over the holidays. (I was never big with blogging in the first place)


At Macau with my MHT buddies!


Went to Penang with my dad. This was taken at Fort Cornwallis.




Chan and Amanda's B'day Party!


Haha. Sorry for posting this but i like the pic. Taken on Merdeka Eve.


Beautiful waters of Phuket.


Literally swimming with the fishes at Phuket.





From,
Ivan @ HK

Letter 19 - I'm Coming Back!

Dear Friends and Family,

I have just finished my spanish course this morning. It was fun learning another language and i'm sure it will be useful. But for now, i think i need to sharpen up my chinese and malay when i go back home to Malaysia...which is..this friday! I will be taking a short trip to Macau with my mates and then to Malaysia from there. I am excited but at the same time a little sad that i will miss out on stuff happening here. Nevertheless, I am sure I will enjoy my summer back home. It would be near perfect if only everyones new best friend, Mr Swine Flu (or H1N1) hadn't appeared.

So, lately I have been going out alot for basketball and for dinner and supper. Had a friendly yesterday with another church and some international school teams. And I also went to Po Toi Island last saturday with my hallmates. It was a nice place with a good hiking trail. But you need to have alot of imagination and a nature loving heart to be able to appreciate the abundance of oddly shaped rocks, marvelous ocean view and greenery. I'll keep it short this time as I have other things running through my mind right now. Have a look at the pics. And I am guessing my next post will be in around 2 months time as I shouldn't publish letters from Malaysia on my blog which is aptly named: Letters From Hong Kong. =)


Randomness - Created a colour coded pillow pyramid at Solid Rock (youth group of Shatin Church) with David DF!


Went around with my cousins; Emily, Stephanie and Hermann Kam. Pic from The Peak. Best city view in my opinion.


For Sam Lai's b'day, we ended up having his cake in the middle of the streets of Mong Kok.


Went to another Japanese buffet. It is quite cheap and good but I am quite sick of buffets. I stick to my opinion that paying less and eating less is better if the quality is good and t he ultimate satisfaction is there(by not stuffing yourself). Quality over Quantity!


Out to Victoria Harbour to chill.


To Po Toi Island: Nice Wooden Boat


To Po Toi Island


To Po Toi Island


The boat we took to the island.


The Deserted Mansion of Family Mo, (巫氏廢宅)


View of the harbour


Me. Need I say more?


Rock trail.


Monk stone.


Tortoise Climbing up the Mountain (靈龜上山)


Buddha Hand Rock (佛手巖)


The crew at the jetty.


Pondering upon the future!

From,
Ivan Kow

Letter 18 - Wet Wet Wet

Dear Friends and Family,

It is almost one month since the end of my finals and today was the day of my summer course mid term test. What has been happening lately? Mostly end of term events, saying goodbye to hostel mates and so on. I have been moving around alot also, to temporary rooms and then I will move to my summer hostel this sunday. Spanish classes have been quite fun. It is a little complicating having to coordinate each sentence with gender, plural and singularity and between 1st 2nd and 3rd person. Nevertheless, I am coping quite well. Yo estoy bien!

Also lately it has been very very wet. It has been raining almost everyday and bringing an umbrella everywhere you go is a necessity. A part of me can't wait to go back home; for the comfort, the people and for an end to this packing and moving around. But, this would also mean that i will miss out on things and people here. Some of my friends have graduated and are moving on and others just will be busy somewhere else. As they say, "Out of sight, out of mind". I think that is quite true because no matter how you try to hold on, you have to move on and with the fast paced lives we lived, it is so easy to get too engrossed in your everyday tasks no matter how menial.


Bought a new bicycle with my other hostel mates. My 2nd hand bike cost me 450HKD(RM210)


Went to celebrate Irene's birthday in Neway. This is a shot of Irene doing what she enjoys.


Went for supper with my hostel mates. Sushi is cheap late a night in some restaurants in HK, half off in this particular one.


Went to the racecourse in Happy Valley to have a look at horse racing and to feel the atmosphere. There were many people and the amount of money they put on horse racing is really high. Each race could have a couple of million HKD in the pool.




Checking the board for the horse's informations. Horses here have names such as Kung Fu and Value Choice.


Making a wager. We pooled our money to make a bet for the fun of it. We were so close as the horse we bet came in 2nd. Then again, you are always "just so close" but never there. That is the stigma of this addiction.




The race.


Parading the horses before the race.


Standing at the ledge.


Me and Michael at the racecourse.


The whole group just outside the racecourse.


Everyone else moved out of hostel last Sunday. And when I came back that day, I found an extra fridge in my room. Guess what was inside.


The crowd during the Tuen Ng Festival or Dragon Boat Festival at the Shing Mun River, Shatin.


The winning team for one of the races. Although it was a "festival", there weren't many people cheering so I didn't really feel like it was a "festival". Most people just stood around and took pictures.




The crowd.

One month to go and I will be heading back home to Malaysia. Looking forward to meet the people back home. And if any of you who will be there when I am back, make room in your schedule for me!

From,
El hombre llamado Ivan.

Letter 17 - Un Año

Dear Friends and Family,

Been busy lately thus the lack of updates. Right after the last post, there were pre-finals events and then final examinations. And so right after i finished my exam, I came back to the hostel to find almost everyone asleep including my roommate. That was because almost everyone is done with finals and some people have a few papers left. I ended up doing lots of cleaning and packing. My room is now spanking clean and I really felt the need for that as I started to neglect my weekly cleanings in favour of studying (and the other occasional in betweens). Packed all my winter clothings as it has started to get warm. Right now I am able to sweat just walking outside, something that didn't happen for a while. I am trying to get myself to face the horror of sweating all the time when I am back home in Malaysia.

And so, my last paper ended just 3 hours ago and it hasn't really hit me yet that one year is over. I have been in Hong Kong for a year already(9 months exactly, but one yearly term). What have I achieved? How have i changed? Have I matured? Has my University education changed the way I think? Has being in Hong Kong made me a different person than i previously was? These and many more questions now lie in my thoughts but I know that they will not be answered so soon. These are questions that you usually answer "on the hind sight".

I will be taking a language, Spanish for my summer course. I only get half a week of break because summer session starts mid next week. Ouch! I will be looking to have more fun and doing more exploring during summer too because summer course is less time intensive. And then its back to home!


Me being photographer for Arief, an indonesian final year student friend of mine. Here is a shot of Arief, May, Irene and me.


Having dinner with all the Engineering Guys from MHT. (and one from social sciences)


Went for a japanese buffet with people from Ming Hua Tang. I still think that buffets arent good. They usually get away with borderline if not disappointing food (and usually not fresh). And to get your money's worth, you stuff yourself.


Graduation night at MHT. I didn't take many pictures but here is one where they were playing a game.

Link to a video of my Hostel Committee President and his infamous shower issues.(from the grad night year 1 videos)


1 HKD per chicken. Went there one day with the guys from "3 East" (3rd floor east wing). Thats like Rm0.50 for a chicken. Crazy.


A new campaign at MHT. It roughly translate to "No lovey-dovey actions permitted in hostel". We just went crazy one night amidst studying and this was the product.


My room door.


3rd floor pantry.


Announcement Board.


PS2 and TV.

Btw, I(or we) aren't particularly against couples or anything, it was just fun to do something like this. You only get to live through university and do these kinda things once.

Ah. One thing that is worrying me is my excessive palm sweating. It is getting really bad, sometimes sweat can drop from my palm. And a lot of my exam papers got partially wet (and crumpled) because of it. Ouch.

Here I come Summer!

From,
Ivan Kow from the Justice League