26 Jun Champagne & Suckling Pig
So I’ve now been here for 2 weeks. On the one hand, it feels like it’s gone by so fast, but on the other, I feel so familiar with all the other interns and the people, it feels like I’ve been here forever. Here’s a sum-up of my last week for those who are curious…
Monday: Work was a little slow this week; I have to admit. But it’s fine.
I finished the tasks they told me to pretty quickly, so I had some time for “personal research”. Since Monday was the official day of the company launch, the Director bought a suckling pig in, which I guess is tradition for the launching of a new company. I mashed some mystery meat for rice cracker dip, which I’m guessing is the kind of substitute for chips and guacamole Hong Kong-style. They poured some champagne, and we had a little party, but I left before it got too crazy and met up with my co-interns at the Tsim Sha Tsui station to go to this all-you-can-eat Mongolian BBQ restaurant. When we got there, we realized it was slightly over our budget, so then we just went to a nearby Chinese restaurant where I had fried rice with literally everything in it. Super good.
Tuesday: I was pretty tired from work, so we decided to take an easy day. I met up with my roommate Priyal, and we were planning to walk around the hotel and try out some dinner places, but then we ran into Jakub and Henry and decided to eat with them. We ordered BBQ pork, which I think became the start of Jakub’s obsession with BBQ pork. Not that there’s a problem with it, but it’s going to become a recurring theme in terms of culinary choices.
Wednesday: We met up at Causeway Bay for some dinner at a little Café before heading to a Karaoke bar. I’d never done Karaoke before, and I’m a really terrible singer, so I had mixed feelings about it. Considering I can’t even listen to my own voice, I sort of just sat there and listened to all the other singers. We had a lot of good singers including Jasmine, Alex, and Junhee, who busted out Celine Dion and Whitney Houston. The best was when Alex and Junhee sang Pink’s So What, which is meant to be a feminist anthem I think. But hey, why not? The only note is that we were sort of ripped off at karaoke, so when in Hong Kong, be cautious of whether they make you order drinks and the restrictions they have.
Thursday: We decided to check out the pool at the hotel, which turned out to be super nice. I wanted a sort of low-key day after writing press releases and blogs and company descriptions for our new website, which is under construction. I got home, swam, and tried out the McDonalds by our hotel, which by the way, is 24 hours with delivery services. I ordered a beef rice fun wrap, which sounds sketchy, I know, but it was a pretty decent meal, and I have to say, McDonalds glocalized pretty well. Since I didn’t want to live up to the American stereotype though, I ordered some steamed broccoli on the side, which I think might be an exclusive Chinese thing to have steamed broccoli at McDonalds.
Friday: Work was smooth, and she was pretty happy with the work I did throughout the week. The CEO handed out Korean popsicles for everyone to enjoy at work, which was something new, but in general, I have to say, I really got lucky with the internship and work culture. After work, we met at the Kowloon station, where we went up to the Sky100 tower of the ICC building. It was basically a building stacked with luxury watch-makers, huge financial institutions, and the Ritz Carlton, which is the highest hotel in the world with the highest bar in the world. We weren’t allowed access because there was a private party, but the view from Sky100 was pretty amazing.
Saturday: We went to Mong Kok to see the local life in Hong Kong. It was pretty hectic, and the people are quite rude, no offense. I did some retail therapy, which sort of had a reverse effect because I left with a headache from the amount of people running around . We went to the “Ladies market”, which wasn’t really anything special, except for fake “Beats” headphones, which I bought, and some knock-off bags. Jasmine and Alex tried stinky tofu, but I chickened-out. I had some fish balls and other street food, which was nice. We grabbed a quick dinner at the food court and went home to play some Jenga and enjoy some plum wine, which was a pretty nice bonding moment.
Sunday: We went to Tsim Sha Tsui (TST) to take a look at the Dragon Boat Festival and San Miguel Beerfest, which is supposed to be a big summer event in Hong Kong. There were loads of people, and it was a fun environment. We took a walk along the harbor and had some coffee while listening to the live performances in Mody Square before heading home for our sponsored dinner.
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