PARTY IN THE USA

Continuing on with my crazy globetrotting adventures, I took a 26 hour trip across the Pacific, from China to the east coast of the United States.

From there begins 19 days of crazy adventure in 7 different cities.

Stop 1: Washington, DC

I was still super jetlagged when I arrived in DC so a lot of it happened in a blur. Everything was super walkable, even if it didn’t seem that way, because we walked everywhere anyway.

Architecture and fancy buildings
The city is very well planned and filled with amazing buildings and architectural structures, such as the Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, the White House and the Capitol Building.

Yummy foods and drinks
Cupcakes is apparently all the craze here. We had to line up for an hour to get into Georgetown Cupcakes and that’s apparently supposed to be normal! That is insane…. Though they did taste amazing…..

Other fun tidbits
We managed to meet up with Tina and Darren here! The beginning of many reunions. It was great to be able to see them again. It’s hard to believe that the last time we saw each other we were still in Hong Kong. It’s crazy!

Stop 2: Philadelphia, PA

After 3 days in DC, it was time to move onto a new city. We only had about a day to spend in Philly so it was a rush to see as much as we can in a short amount of time.

Architecture and fancy buildings
There were a lot of amazing buildings in Philly, even from our hotel room there was an amazing view of City Hall. Other places worth seeing/licking, the Liberty Bell! (Hey yo, HIMYM reference!) Also, since it is the city of brotherly love, I couldn’t leave Philly without seeing the first LOVE sculpture! Bucket list. Check.

Yummy foods and drinks
Apparently, no trip to Philly is complete without having a Philly Cheesesteak. So we trekked it out to south Philly to try it at where it all began. Though, to be honest, it was kinda disappointing. Maybe cause it was a far trip to get there and also it was extremely cold that night. But at least I can say I tried it!

Other fun tidbits
It snowed for all of about 20 seconds. I guess that’s as close to snow as I’m going to get for a while =(

Stop 3: New York, NY

The craziest stop of all! Everyone was flying in from everywhere to see each other. I can’t believe we managed to pull this off, especially in New York of all places!

Architecture and fancy buildings
I love tall buildings and huge cities, which is why I fell in love with Hong Kong so quickly. New York was exactly the same with tall buildings and lights everywhere. I probably spent the entire time looking up rather than where I was going because I was so taken by how crazy this city was. Definitely ticked a whole bunch of places off my bucket list: Times Square, Grand Central Station, Rockefeller Center, the Met, Broadway and so much more! But the most amazing thing is right in the middle of all this craziest is Central Park and how it’s just chilling between all these giant buildings.

Yummy foods and drinks
I love street food, which was perfect since street carts were everywhere. I wanted to go all communitychannel with the hot dogs but clearly I’m not that tank. But chicken over rice was definitely one of the best meals I had on this trip. Another worthy mention is Dim Sum Friday, one of our favourite UST traditions. Not that the dim sum was amazing or anything, it was just the fact that we were continuing on with this tradition from before.

Other fun tidbits
5 days was definitely not enough to explore this huge city. Just as I was getting the hang of the subway system, it was time to leave. I will definitely return someday! I understand why it is the city that never sleeps. I certainly didn’t get much sleep while I was there. But it was well worth it. The cold was no fun though, next reunion somewhere sunny and warm, perhaps?

Stop 4: Savannah, GA

After spending so many days in huge cities, it was time to head south and experience a different part of the US. Southern hospitality and fried foods flying in left and right, it was definitely different.

Architecture and fancy buildings
After all those tall buildings in New York, it was refreshing to not have to crane my neck looking up at stuff. There were also a lot of squares just chilling in the middle of the road, one of them being the setting for the cover of Forrest Gump.

Yummy foods and drinks
Oh gosh, the fried and bbq glory! We had multiple lunches and desserts on both days we were there. Everything was delicious and extremely large in portion. At one point, I’m pretty sure they served me a full sized fried chicken. It was crazy!!

Other fun tidbits
After spending 5 days in New York, where the people are notoriously unfriendly, it was nice to be in a place where people were super friendly! Oh gosh and the accent was lovely too! =D It was definitely a nice change of pace from the craziness that was New York.

Stop 5: Charleston, SC

By that this point I was already pretty tired and lazy with photo taking. Luckily, the city itself was pretty chill so we got to chill and shop a lot.

Architecture and fancy buildings
Charleston is right by the water, so there was a nice view along Battery Park. King st is also amazing for shopping… hmm….. I think I went a little crazy there …

Yummy foods and drinks
More fried stuff… I think I’ve about hit my quota for fried foods for a while… Drinks wise, I tried Firefly Sweet Tea Vodka, which was interesting. Once diluted, I couldn’t taste the vodka at all, it just tasted like regular tea… oh gosh that’s dangerous!

Other fun tidbits
Must. Resist. Buying. Stuff. At. Low. Tax. Rate.

Stop 6: Charlottesville, VA

Just a short stop featuring some of the best meals I had on this trip!

Architecture and fancy buildings
Definitely jealous of the UVA campus. Even though all the buildings were probably built and fixed up at different points in time, they all maintained a uniform exterior and it looked amazing. UNSW doesn’t have much of a campus feel since all the buildings were designed and built at different times by random people.

Yummy foods and drinks
Not something distinctly from here or anything, but 2 out of my top 5 favourite meals were eaten here. Chipotle and chinese takeout. Hehehe I’m easily amused =)

Other fun tidbits
It was insanely cold and super windy while I was there. Seriously, I don’t know how I would survive in weather like this on a regular basis. That’s just crazy.

Stop 7: Richmond, VA

Last stop for this trip! Had to last minute rush a lot of shopping for other people and myself. It was also a last minute rush to eat at all those places I wanted to eat at. It’s insane how much I’ve eaten out and how unhealthy I’ve been eating.. =( Getting so darn fat now. SIGH!

Architecture and fancy buildings
No sightseeing. We just went into a bunch of malls and stuff…. Does Walmart count?

Yummy foods and drinks
CHIPOTLE! <3 Chick-fil-A! <3 IHOP! <3 Okay I need to calm down.

Other fun tidbits
The real test of a relationship… building IKEA furniture. Luckily, we built the stupid chair, despite unhelpful instructions from IKEA and did not argue a single time. SUCCESS!  =D

Well this is a long ass entry. It’s not so much recapping what I did, but more like random stuff I found amusing and interesting. Overall, I had a great time on this trip and I definitely would love to go back soon to explore the rest of the country. It was amazing that we were able to make this happen. It was a funny coincidence that the day I got back to Sydney was exactly a year after I checked into UST. A year ago, I would not have imagined that the whole journey would lead to me travelling to so many different places. It’s definitely been a crazy 365 days of travelling around. I still can’t believe that I’ve managed to go to 21 different cities and spend more time abroad than at home. It’s been such an insane year and I can’t wait to add to this with more adventures and photos!

xx. anita

FIRST POST OF 2012!

It’s so weird to think that this time last year I was just about to start my insane adventures in Hong Kong. It doesn’t feel like that long ago, but at the same time a lot of the memories feel quite distant now. Though that is nothing to be too sad about since we are a crazy bunch and do insane things like all fly in to New York to continue our ridic adventures together. It was great to be able to see everyone again and I can’t believe we managed to pull this off!

On a broader note, this has been quite an eventful and globetrotting summer! I managed to tick off quite a few cities off my travel list =)

Anyway, on to the recaps and photo spam!

ASIA. ROUND 2.

6 months after leaving Hong Kong, I returned with my family. Guangzhou was exactly how I remembered it, right down to the pile of junk I left in the guest room when I left earlier that year. But there was one exception. The newest member of our extended family! My cousin’s new daughter! The cute little thing was the centre of attention as we all fawned over her and she loved the attention.

But aside from that, Guangzhou was just like how it was when I left. It’s only been 6 months, how much could have actually changed?

Funny I should say that, because in terms of Hong Kong, quite a bit.

Back in the 852

It was so weird being back in Hong Kong without everyone else. I predicted this before and I tried to mentally prepare myself before actually getting there. Like I said before, the buildings, the stores, the city itself isn’t that much different than I remember it. The company was what made all the difference. Regardless, it was still good to be back, even for a short week. I got to go back to all the places I missed terribly, like cold noodles, Langham Place, Telford Plaza, Ladies Market and of course, HKUST. It was interesting getting off the MTR at Choi Hung and getting on the mini bus and all that just like before, but this time knowing that I’m not actually living at UST anymore.

It was also great to catch up with Jason and Miguel! Knowing that they got to spend an extra semester at UST made me feel extremely jealous. But at the same time they would now have to adjust to going back home after a YEAR in HK. I can’t imagine how hard that’s going to be.

All nostalgia aside, Hong Kong was also a crazy shopping adventure. Good thing I still had a bit of money left in my HK bank account and I could afford to shop a little.. or a lot… D=

Overall, it was great to be able to go back to Hong Kong (to satisfy my shopping addiction, if anything). I don’t know if  I’m going to be back any time in the near future, especially if I’m going to be travelling alone. Hopefully, if we ever have another reunion, we could all go back and relive some of our craziest traditions and create some new adventures.

Beijing: history, culture and really bad Peking Duck

My dad said that, as Chinese people, it is important to understand the history and culture of the country’s capital. This is why this trip happened. 8 days of insane tour guides and cold weather, we were able to see a lot of what Beijing had to offer.

There were a lot of very impressive structures, Forbidden Palace, Tiananmen Square, the Summer Palace and of course the Great Wall. I really wanted to go to Beijing while I was on exchange and I was a little disappointed that I didn’t end up going that time. But I’m glad I was still able to make this trip and all the more glad that I was able to go with my family. Beijing is a such a huge city with so much to see, had I gone with a group of friends instead of a tour group, we might have had a whole lot of trouble navigating the place.

On a different note, it is always eye opening to see the stark difference between Chinese society and what I’m used to here at home. Not just in Beijing but China in general, the population is so large that survival becomes competitive. Even though their motivations are understandable, it’s still a little disheartening to see how far people would go to make a quick buck. I can’t imagine what it would be like to live in a society like that. So, even though I loved the historical aspect of Beijing, with all its majestic architectural wonders, I don’t know if I would be returning in the near future.

So that was my travels in Asia this time. Not much of a recap I know….. I mean I already did that here! Next up… another continent, another country and another type of crazy.

xx. anita

A LOOK BACK ON TWENTY ELEVEN

I think I’ve done quite a lot of self reflection this year. Quite a lot has happened this year and I tried really hard to pen as much down as I could. But then it makes this end of year reflection entry kind of redundant since I’ll most likely recycle most of the same stuff anyway. But anyway….

2011 was a year of change for me. I tried really hard to make it different to 2010. At the end of 2010, I looked back on it with slight resentment. It was not a good year for me.
But 2011 was the exact opposite. From being confined within the four walls of home, uni, work and obligatory social interactions, I broke out to see the world. This year I spent more time abroad than I did in Sydney. I explored Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Tokyo, Taipei, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Macau, Shenzhen, Melbourne, Beijing, Tianjin and with more adventures lined up to start the year. I met new people, learnt new things and took on new challenges.

Last NYE, I wrote up a list of thank yous. I think it’s important to be grateful for everything in life and acknowledge how much everything affects you, especially those family and friends. These people are important to me and I constantly take them for granted. But it’s definitely important for them to know how much they mean to me.

Thank you to my parents for being the two most selfless people I know. Thank you to Wyntane for being such a hilarious mofo and constantly sharing the lols. Thank you to Johnson for letting me be there for you as you have always been there for me. Thank you to Alice for being the other half of our Dynamic Duo. Thank you to Jenni for 10 years of friendship, tolerance and memories. Thank you to Joanne D for being the brah that gave baby swag. Thank you to Jeff for being like a breath of fresh air in China. Thank you to Jenny He for being a constant distraction. Thank you to ETM for all the Clueless Journeys we’ve had together. Thank you to Michael Zhang for your never changing goodlookz. Thank you to Oliver for helping me reprioritise before I began my year. Thank you to Viv for always forcefully coercing me to have coffee with her. Thank you to Michelle for being my ridic other half. Thank you to Brian for being dad. Thank you to Jonathan for all the shopping adventures, hiking adventures and food adventures. Thank you to Jason for your constant obliviousness. Thank you to Mike for your endless supply of fascinating stories. Thank you to Joanne K for being the best roomie in the world. Thank you to Lina for reminding me that some things are worth waiting for. Thank you to Henry for being one of the few people that can always put a smile on my face no matter what. Thank you to Joann for always being a child at heart. Thank you to Derek for always being there for me, whether it be at the bottom of Hall VI or 15,000km away.

Last year, I made some NY resolutions (conveniently recycled from 2007). I don’t think I stuck to them too well. So I guess I’ll just keep making the same resolutions until I stick to them through the whole year. (Lazyyyyyy)

The adventures of 2011 make it a tough year to follow. Of course 2012 will bring new experiences and excitement, especially since it’s my final year of uni. By this time next year, I would have technically finished all 4 years of my degree (provided that I don’t fail. Fingers crossed.) This brings whole new expectations to the coming year, making it a lot different to 2011. But hopefully, with the same crazy adventures which characterised 2011.

Towards an even crazier 2012! CHEERS!!

xx. anita

RANDOM SNAPSHOT TIME

25/05/2011

Two ‘cans’ with two different back stories xD

On a random day, Jonathan called me out to explore Po Lam at 8pm. So I took the shifty Po Lam bus and it took ages to get there. By that time the mall was closing so all we could explore was the supermarket. We compared different food products from our respective countries and discovered that I’ve never had Dr Pepper. So he got me a can to try the wonders of this soft drink I’ve never tried. Before putting it in the fridge, I had to add some safety mechanism on the can to avoid it being stolen by the locals. The obvious choice was just to write “請勿靠近Dr Pepper” on it.
The other can was a surprise gift from Mike, which I found on my desk one afternoon. It was one of those Maccas products which you had to eat a super large McValue meal to get… I’m fat .. but not THAT fat.. So I could never get this stupid glass.  But Mike, being a frequent customer of Maccas, was able to get it for me =D
Just another one of those little things which I remembered randomly and felt the need to blog about.
Can’t wait to reunite with y’all in a few weeks! It’s going to be wild!!

Last Friday night
Yeah we danced on table tops
And we took too many shots
Think we kissed but I forgot
Last Friday night
Yeah we maxed our credit cards
And got kicked out of the bars
So we hit the  boulevard

xx. anita

I don’t think I’ll ever stop missing Hong Kong and the crazy adventures we all had during our semester abroad.

It feels a bit weird to suddenly bring this up again after being back for 6 months, but it has been something that’s always been on the back of my mind. It was such a unique experience shared between such an awesome group of people; it’s hard not to let my mind wander back to those memories.

This time next week I’m going to be back in Hong Kong.

I’m not sure how to feel about that yet.

On one hand, I’m super excited. I’m in love with this city. It’s amazing city lights, it’s awesome food, and how it never fails to surprise. I wanted to be back as soon as I left.

But on the other hand, being back in the city alone, without the group, would be a different experience. Not travelling back to UST in a pack after a night of crazy adventures is too weird to think about. When I left UST and Hong Kong, I left in a group. It’s weird to think now, I’m coming back alone and leaving alone.

Cliche, I know.

I think a large part of me doesn’t want to shatter this perfect image I’ve built in my mind from missing it too much. I don’t want to go back and be disappointed by what I see or what I don’t see.

I don’t think I’ve quite grasped the fact that what happened in Hong Kong will never happen again.

Right now, I’ve put a lot of energy and hype into our reunion in New York, building it up in my mind to be the sequel to our ridic adventures in HK. But really, everyone knows, the sequel is never as good as the original and never lives up to the hype. It’s sad to think that after this time, I don’t know when I’ll see everyone again. It’s weird to think that the strong friendships and bonds we forged while on exchange doesn’t hold the same weight it did before. It’s scary to think that all of this is just becoming more and more distant.

Would you give it one more chance?
Please, don’t let me leave this place
I really, really don’t want to wake up
‘Cause then I’ll have to face,
all the thoughts that race
How it all ended up the same

xx. anita

如果你有機會將不開心的回憶散掉，你會把握這個機會嗎？你會散掉什麽？一件事？一個經歷？

甚至，一個人？

在人生的路上你會遇到很多人。有些會陪你走的很遠，有些只是路過而已。有些只是路人甲，有些會成為你生命中的主角。無論這些人是誰，他們對你的影響多多少少都會有一點。少了一個，你人生都會有所改變。當然，散掉一些路人甲，你一定不會感覺到有什麽不同。但是如果要散掉曾經在你生命中當過主角的人呢？這不是等於割除你自己的一部份嗎？

人的情緒起伏很大，有大笑的時候，也有大哭的時候。 很多時，人只是把重點放在不開心的回憶上。當然人不想長期都覺得不開心，所以如果有機會將這些不開心的回憶散掉，把握都是人之常情。但是，散掉一個人，真正可以散掉不開心的回憶嗎？

爲什麽我突然會想到這個話題呢? 我最近看了一部電影被它啓發了一些東西。 男女主角爲了麻醉痛苦就將對方從自己的記憶中散掉。雖然不可以改變過去，但是在記憶中散掉不是一樣嗎？不記得可以當沒有發生過。

當然，在真實生活中，這些科幻的概念不可以實施。但是，我依然觀察到有些人極盡所能試圖散掉別人。

現今，科技發達，社交統統上傳到網絡上。看一個人的Facebook，就好像看到他們收集的回憶一樣。可以看到一個人的人際網絡，朋友之間的對話片段，活動中停留拍照的一刹那。這些跟我們腦袋里存儲記憶的方式很像吧。

唯一不同的是，Facebook是受到我們的控制。

我們可以選擇性地上傳開心的東西和保留不開心的東西。而且當開心的回憶變成不開心的負擔時，按幾個鍵就可以把它們統統散掉。照片，對話，統統都可以擦得乾乾淨淨。對外界，兩個人曾經相識過的證據變得一絲不留。曾經是多好的朋友，多甜蜜的情侶，都沒有人會看的出。

但是，假裝沒有相識不代表可以真正當他們的存在不重要。硬要逼自己忘記一個人，他們的影響就偏偏對你更大。

最可惜的是，當你洗掉不開心的回憶時，你同時也將開心的東西抹掉。

值得嗎？

無論多麼不開心，他們曾經都是你生命中的主角之一。從經歷之中提出經驗，才學會不要重複犯錯。情緒康復是需要時間的。時間可以把回憶漸漸掩蓋，漸漸變得不重要。這就是把他完全散掉的最好方式。

xx. anita

RANDOM SNAPSHOT TIME

18/03/2011

This was taken at the LG5 Maccas with Brian. It was a Friday and we just went for a round of our favourite Dim Sum Friday. Of course Brian and I being fattys were still hungry and everyone trooped down to Maccas with us to eat some more. The Happy Meal toy that month featured Spongebob and Dad being dad BOUGHT ME A HAPPY MEAL! Happyy dayyyys XD This started a future trend of me owing him everything in terms of Maccas but never actually getting the chance to shout him.
Also that lovely cute cup went on to hold some not so G-rated drinks… Sigh… I feel like I let Spongebob down =(

Ahhh…. How I miss the Maccas on LG5, which Brian single-handedly funded their expansion of an extra wing, a McCafe and possibly even the whole of LG5 =D

It’s a Monday and there’s so much to do
You gotta wake up soon cuz it’s already noon
Oooooo Oooooo
Ya know it’s something special when you roll out of bed
And then you realize life is not over yet
Oooooo Oooooo

xx. anita

I don’t know if I can adequately express my gratitude to the wonderful friends that I’ve been blessed with.

Firstly, thanks to Alice for being an amazing person who planned the whole event. You are awesome and I’m so glad that we have been combining birthdays for so many years and hopefully for many more years to come.

Also, thank you to my other half Wynty and Jhe. You guys will always be my favourite distraction and ETM buddies. Thank you for dressing up and rapping! You guys are amazing and never cease to amaze me with your level of craziness and distractedness! Love you long time babeh!

Johnson Bravobee Chu, you took the cake for going all out and dressing up. Thank you for your lovely speech, which put my pathetic attempt to shame. You broke character and said many nice things. Thank you for being such an awesome bro all these years and I feel very fortunate that the unfortunate event happened so many years ago.

Lastly, huge shout outs to Jenni, who has been my partner in crime for 10 years and Joanne, who puts the WL in WLWL. You guys have no idea how much it means to me to see these faces and it means a great deal to me that you guys were able to bring them all together from every corner of the world. (Well every corner of the North American continent anyway)

To my UST exclusive gang, you guys never cease to put a smile on my face and in this case, tears in my eyes. Only you guys have the power to make me cry uncontrollably in front of  a crowd who, for most part, have never seen me cry.

This will be a video which would receive many future plays for whenever I’m feeling sad or missing Hong Kong and you guys.

Thank you so much for making my birthday so special and memorable. You guys are some of the most awesome people in the world (and I know cause I’ve been out there…. well out there in Asia anyway.)

Love you all so much!!

Here we go, come with me,
There’s a world out there that we should see,
Take my hand, close your eyes
With you right here, I’m a rocketeer

xx. anita

When I procrastinate, I tend to browse through old photos. I take a lot of photos of random things as my daily photo but most of the time, they don’t make it in and then I’m left with all these random photos. So then I sit there and stare at these random photos for a while and let the thought train just choo choo along it’s way. So here is a random post I shall name:

RANDOM SNAPSHOT TIME

12/02/2011

Taken at the Peak, in Hong Kong, on a particularly windy day. They had these cards where you could write a wish on the back and hang it on their display as part of their Valentines Day marketing gimmick. Many unfortunate people have heard my rants about Valentines day being a product of marketing and all that. But hey… I still wrote one and hung it there. Not going to say what I wrote on it, but I will say that it did come true ;D Perhaps.. OR NOT!

This post isn’t making much sense. Would totes have posted this on tumblr, but too many trolls, who will screencap and blackmail me with it. Also, shout out to my buddy whose life is an inescapable dramaaaaaa. Love you like you are the wun luff of my wun lyf ;)

Anyway, time to go back to work!!

I want a library full of our stories
A ship to keep our memories afloat
I wanna hit rewind
Playback a hundred times
The moment when our hearts aligned

7M gone by, 92d to go.

xx. anita

Another year and another 365 days later, and once again I’ve taken another year’s worth of photos. When I started this, there was no way I even imagined myself getting through the first month, let alone 2 years. This is the one project which I’ve dedicated the longest time on. I’ve never done anything else which I’ve committed myself to for so long. But now it has even become somewhat of a habit to find something interesting to take a photo of everyday.

When I started I aimed to,

appreciate the little things more. Sometimes the little things in life are worth remembering. These things shape our lives more than we even realise. (#twentyseven)

I feel like I’ve definitely achieved this in some way or another. I look back on these photos quite often and remember a lot of things which I would have otherwise forgotten. I feel it is important to constantly remind myself about these little things and this project does exactly that.

I’m not going to reflect too much on the project itself as I’ve done that last year and you can read that here.

Though I will say, I am extremely glad I chose to continue doing this project while I was in Hong Kong. Those were adventures of a lifetime and ones I definitely do not want to forget. Looking at those photos, I can recall what happened each day and the crazy adventures that played out. It really helps to fit the whole experience together and it really helped me with the reverse culture shock and when I was readjusting to life back in Sydney. At some point, I was honestly feeling like the whole thing didn’t happen. But those photos reminded me that all those crazy adventures did happen and I’m very glad I have them.

Lastly, I can no long refer to this as project365 since it obviously exceeded that ages ago. For a while now I’ve been referring to my ShutterCal album as my Daily Adventures. That is essentially what these photos document, finding the adventure that goes on during everyday life.

Now for the long list of thank yous: (in order of appearance from 26^th September 2010 to 26^th September 2011)

Alice L, Jenny L, Lucy Z, Jennifer G, Wynty W, Jenny H, Juliet C, Cynthia H, Joann H, Joanne D, Jeff S, Michael G. Z, Oliver X, Henry F, Viv W, Ron P, Jon V, Michelle J, Jonathan L, Jason T, Joanne K, Mike M, Brian L, Lina S, Jens N, Kuljit M, Caroline T, Miguel T, Honza P, Maggie T, Liz O, Derek C, Andy L, HKUST Exchange Spring 2011, Aaron S, Mike C and Johnson C

Thank you so much for being a guest star in my daily adventures!!

xx. anita