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Two things about HK

Feb 10

Posted by Louise in Hong Kong, Life | No Comments

APM Mall, all prettied up for New Years. This mall is open until 2am.

One. It’s so fast-paced that you don’t even have time to think. People are always rushing everywhere, and it makes you want to rush too. I feel like I have a million things to do at any given time, and I need to beat everyone to it. Nobody dawdles around, so when I do, I become anxious and speed things up again.

Visitors' viewing platform in Lantau

Two. Hong Kong does not occupy a particularly large plot of land, but there is just so much to do and see. Get off at any MTR station and you will find shops, restaurants, scenery, or some sort of activity. Seriously I have no idea how anyone can save up for their retirement here. There are too many consumer temptations.

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Holidays 2009

Jan 4

Posted by Louise in Life | 3 Comments

I hope everyone had an enjoyable holiday season. It felt rather short for me, but mainly because I spent most of the first week just sitting at home. Many people have already gone back to school or back to work, and I’m pretty much all packed and ready for departure. I’ll be going to bed soon for 3-4 hours then heading to the airport.

Starting on the Sunday right after Boxing Day, I accomplished a feat that is not easily attained – I met up with Charmaine 6 days in a row. That is my achievement for the holidays. And maybe reading & watching Twilight. In any case, here is a recap of my comings and goings over the last week or so, in bullet format, because you know you love bullet points (with horrific grammar) just as much as I do.

  • Dec 27th: Pacific Mall for lunch, walked around P-Mall, got bored of P-Mall, went to Vaughan Mills, bought shoes, broke.
  • Dec 28th: Downtown for dinner, watched Avatar in 3D, mind got blown.
  • Dec 29th: Brunch at Cora with friends, dinner party hosted by co-worker who served us a delicious full-course meal.
  • Dec 30th: P-Mall area again to take care of banking-related issues and chill over bubble tea.
  • Dec 31th – Jan 1st: NYE party at Lily’s house, made dumplings, rang in the New Year playing the most intense 3-hour game of Monopoly ever.
  • Jan 2nd: One last dinner and karaoke with some of my favourite people before the term begins.

Finally I’d like to wish everyone the best of luck in 2010, and definitely help me stay updated via blogging/Twittering/MSNing/Facebooking/Google Waving/morse coding madder than ever before.

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Where are you going, little mouse?

Dec 14

Posted by Louise in Hong Kong, Life, School | 8 Comments

As some of you are aware of, I will be participating in an exchange program next term at the University of Hong Kong. I’ve been asked many times why I wanted to go on exchange, and why I picked Hong Kong. Choosing HK was more for practicality than anything. I wanted to be in an exciting global city with a significantly different culture than here in Toronto, yet I needed to be able to get by without having to learn a new language. (Getting away from the notorious Canadian winter was a bonus.) As for ‘why exchange?’, that is a little harder to answer.

I gave people some pretty random explanations, like how I was bored last term, because I wanted cultural exposure, experience a new school, or “cuz it sounds fun”. Those are not untrue, but probably not the real reasons.

Around springtime, I might have been going through some kind of mid-mid-life crisis with mixed thoughts about what I’ve done and achieved so far in my twenty-ish years. I found the answer to be ‘not freaking much’ and labeled my life as rather unremarkable. Also it seems that this entire year has been a test of my breaking point, with its many joys and disappointments, successes and failures, which shook me up a little.

I’ve always been content with a ‘make do with what life hands you’ kind of adage. Then I realized I wasn’t satisfied. There was so much out there that I needed to experience, so it felt suffocating to stay in the same town, with the same people, living the same life. I felt like those around me were sprinting past, making their own routes through the landscapes, while I was just plodding along the beaten path. Being younger than most of my friends only added to my innate fear of being left behind, which I suppose finally got the better of me. I couldn’t sit around passively hoping for anything to pop up – I’d have to reach out to opportunities myself.

Excusing the sheer cheesiness, I guess the bottom line for why I wanted to go on exchange is some soul-searching. I want to discover, meet new people, do random things, make mistakes, learn from them, become a more worldly person. It’s partially a challenge to myself, to be thrown into a brand new fast-paced environment without any crutches, and keep my head above water. Five months is not nearly long enough, but I’m hoping for the dizziness of the experience to set me straight. I can barely take the monotony anymore, and I want a complete 180, but still be able to find my way back. Although this is my home and I’m surrounded by family and friends here, it somehow still feels empty, so I just need to leave for a little while.

And wouldn’t you agree that it’s the picture books you read as a child that leave the most lasting impressions?

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The wheels are turning

Nov 13

Posted by Louise in Life | 3 Comments

I seriously can’t believe we’re already so far into November. It didn’t even creep up… just kind of went BAM! and I’m seeing Christmas decorations everywhere. The best part of the build-up to the holidays is always the commercialism. Some people hate it but damn those jingle bells and aggressive retailers make me warm and fuzzy inside. And who doesn’t love the Christmas specials from Starbucks? PEPPERMINT MOCHA!

I made a pilgrimage to Waterloo last last weekend to celebrate Halloween with friends and sort of take a break from work, study, work, study. I will point out that I still got some studying done there. In any case, it was quite the weekend. Never experienced so much drama in my life. As for the rest of the week, it wasn’t that exciting, though I did get to have some one-on-one dinner/drinks with a few peeps. Everyone’s schedules are ridiculously packed these days, so I’m grateful for those pockets of time.

Saturday I sat my lazy ass home all day and mainly just procrastinated. I’d read one paragraph and decide that I deserved a break. So now I am caught up on all my TV shows. Sunday, in an effort to semi-redeem myself, I headed to UTSC and met up with some fellow nerds to study. We grabbed dinner at Sapporo, a Japanese restaurant in the plaza beside my house. In all my 10 or so years of living in this neighbourhood, I had never eaten at that particular place. It’s one of those things that are always there but you never notice it until you’re looking for it, or someone else points it out. We split two platters, and the food wasn’t bad, but after about three hours, I was hungry already. This week hasn’t been too eventful but we have made some strides with regards to vacation planning.

So what else is up? I guess in addition to the main things I’ve been whining to people about (work, job search, CFA), there are some other interesting/fun developments/projects I’ve taken up, just to keep myself from falling into a pit of despair. So far they have been doing a good job of preserving my ever-fleeting sanity. Guess you could say I’m stirring up a little something-something for myself. I probably have too much on my plate, but I LOVE the hecticness of keeping busy. After all, what else is there to do with life but live it?

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Girlish indulgence

Oct 10

Posted by Louise in Girly, Life | 5 Comments

I recently made a quick trip back to Waterloo for an on-campus interview and got to see some of my beloved Loo homies. After the morning interview, I rushed back to Toronto on greyhound, slipped into the office for a couple hours of work, went back downtown for a CFA study session, and then finally home. It was a tiring day but I realized how much I love the rush and pressure of keeping busy. I get a lot more done in a day, and there is really nothing better than the feeling of accomplishment. It sounds unorthodox, but I need the hustle-bustle of a big city and busy life, at least for now. Preferences are liable to change with age…

While in Loo with Jin and Lily, it occurred to all of us that we are sort of going through a very girly phase. Or maybe it’s not just a phase… I still don’t know. Apparel shopping hasn’t appealed to me in a long time. I find it tediously dull to comb through racks upon racks of clothing to maybe find that one holy grail of an item. Bargain-hunting and claustrophobic changerooms make me feel like I’m just wasting my time. In fact I now shop like a guy – on a needs basis, and no meaningless browsing.

Galleries Lafayette in Paris. Be still, my beating heart.

Galeries Lafayette in Paris. Be still, my beating heart.

Once upon a time I was a hater. I thought painted faces and fragrances were for either super-glam people/events or fakes/uglies. Hell, I had no idea what pressed powder was. BUT. Throw me in Sephora right now and my eyes will sparkle more than an otaku in Akihabara. It may have been imminent, but I developed a deep attraction to cosmetics and skincare products. The colours, the shimmer, the gloss, the scents, the snazzy packaging – draw me in like bugs to a bulb. Unfortunately, this obsession does not ring cheap. (Once you shell out $40 for a lip gloss, there’s no turning back.) I’m happy to have oozed some of this infection to Lily, getting her hooked on beauty-related blogs. I am still blown away by the devotion some of these bloggerettes have towards cosmetics. The vast array of products they try, the depth into which they conduct their reviews, the breadth of comparisons and “looks” they are inspired to create, the amount of judgment they cast upon the difference between a coral pink and a nude pink… Let’s just say that I have vastly expanded my colour and texture vocabulary to a degree I never knew existed. I still don’t really wear much make-up, and I’m nowhere close to matching the level of passion these people pour out for the beauty industry, but love the aspects of it. For now, I will just lust over pretty Dior compacts, swap product recommendations, and worship skincare regimes with mah girliez.

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