Change of Plans

Well, I found a better accommodation!! Haha. I realize I can be a bit impulsive in making big decisions sometimes. So don't be surprised when I say that I have found a NEW accommodation!

The reason why I changed cribs is because a better offer was presented to me, basically. The offer was especially a lot cheaper (600 AUD/month (= 520 EURO) compared with 880 AUD/month (= 765 EURO), which is really a catch in Sydney! Not only can I LIVE in Sydney, but now I can also EAT in Sydney. The location is very central, walkable to City Center and the Garvan Institute. Two girls will become my house mates. And I will be receiving the keys tomorrow. Yee! Accommodation, check. Next: Social Life.

Here are also some nice pictures of my first impressions in Sydney:

Reading a book while watching the Harbour Bridge and Opera House in between pages....

Accommodation!!

Second day in Sydney and I have found myself a room!! I love the location! It is 15 minutes by bus to Garvan Institute of Medical Research, and 20 minutes to city center. It is at a walk-able distance to Bondi Beach! (I am gonna be a Bondi Beach Bitch after all, Sofie ;) ) Also, there is a huge park at my front door (definitely gonna buy running shoes; no worries Onno, I won't get fat here)!

I also have an Australian phone number nowadays: +61 (0)435 648 790

And you can e-mail me if you want to receive my address (I do like post :D )

Now I can finally ease my mind and start being the tourist for my remaining 8 days till the start of my internship!!

P.s. Jet lag is quite a burden for me to be honest. I made the terrible mistake to sleep from 10:00 to 15:00 on my arrival day, because I could not sleep in my overnight flight from Hong Kong. I was wide-awake at 4 A.M and started writing my lab report of previous course till 7 A.M, that was when breakfast was being served.

Hong Kong: Lantau Island

Today was a really fun day. I must admit that on my first day of arrival here in Hong Kong I was rather skeptical about this stop-over. I was tired, jet-lagged, inexperienced in backpacking and feeling a bit alone. However, after a good night of sleep I became a changed person and felt like doing some fun! So I started my day by eating breakfast in a typically Chinese restaurant and ordered Dim Sum.

Luckily I practiced earlier with using chop sticks, because Western cutlery was absent. After this experience, I went to Kowloon Park where I was witnessing Chinese people searching for inner peace by making movements as if they were being possessed, very interesting. I think that if they were to perform those same moves in Vondelpark at Amsterdam they would be arrested for drugs abuse. Then I made my way to Mong Kok, the so-called Time Square of Hong Kong. I thought it was a bit over-rated and decided to take the metro back to the south to get on a ferry. God, at first I did not understand a thing about the metro in Hong Kong. But after a good body language session with the Chinese

locals I managed to work it. I’ve been told that I should take a

ferry to Lantau Island to observe the largest Buddha in the world: Giant Buddha. So I did. The ferry trip was very nice and it took around 45 minutes t get there. The Chinese sea had something

peculiar to me. It had a scent typically of what I expected China to smell like. Also the colour had something different to it: more light blue, whitish, with a green touch, and the waves were rather thick.

Is this my bus stop?

Finally, I arrived at Lantau Island and there I took the bus to Ngong Ping Village. The bus ride was rather wild and it took me high up in the mountains, as I could feel by the nausea in my stomach and by the pressure in my ears. Upon arrival, I could see where Giant Buddha got its name from. It was enormous! Besides this huge statue, Ngong Ping Village had more to offer. I followed a route called Wisdom Path which guided you through the mountains and took you to herbal tea plants. The entire route had a smell of Chinese tea and that was magical and relaxing. I wanted to get back to Hong Kong City Centre and therefore I had to take the cable car ride, as that was the only way of traveling to reach the metro. That was not a punishment at all! It gave me a gorgeous view of the Chinese mountains and nature.

The terminal of the cable car happened to be a large clothing outlet store! I had some pleasant window shopping, but suddenly I had a reality-check, as I realized the weight of my backpack. I did what no other self-respecting gay guy could do: I left the outlet shopping mall without a clothing bag.

It was starting to get dawn and I hustled to reach

Victoria Bay to see the Symphony of Lights.

No, it’s not a concert. Every night at 8 P.M, Hong Kong Island produces a show of lights projected from skyscrapers on the rhythm of music. That was awesome!

I am now at Hong Kong Airport waiting for my plane to Sydney! xxx

Hong Kong: Lost in Translation

Overwhelmed by nerves I caught myself sitting at gate G7 asking myself why on earth I wanted to DO this. As I

am writing this blog my plane quietly (read: earplugs) finds its way through the clouds up in the
air away from the Netherlands. The flight went really smoothly, mainly due to the fact that I had a private screen filled with hundreds of movies and series. Hong Kong is my first destination and I will be wandering down the Chinese streets for three days. Luckily, my housemate Danielle taught me some essential Chinese lines to enlighten my stay there by anticipating appropriately on the Chinese culture. Armed with the sentences: ''Give me beer, quickly!'' and ''No picture, please!'' made me confident that I came well prepared for this trip. I arrived in Hong Kong at 07:20 local time (01:20

Netherlands) and was

feeling quite energetic. I took the train and airshuttle bus to my hostel. It was only a 50 meter walk from the bus stop to my hostel and yet many newly made Indian friends offered me special offers. After I checked-in I had to keep myself busy for 1.5 hours in order for my room to be cleaned. So I went for a walk downtown in Hong Kong. It is a very chaotic city with many, many, MANY Chinese people. Let's say I did not blend in AT ALL with the crowd. When I just sat on a bench to rest, random Chinese people set next to me to take my picture. Usually I am rather fond of the spotlights; but not when I'm freshly air-plane-traveled messed up! I had a lovely siesta for three hours and then I went out to go and visit the Peak in H.K. The Peak tram brings you steep over a hill to the highest point of Hong Kong, and then you are majorly rewarded with a KILLER VIEW. The huge, trendy, flashy sky scrapers made Hong Kong a dynamic and a very hip city to me. It's time for me to rest. Next update: Sydney!