Karaoke, Shenzhen, and Hong Kong Jockey Club

Sorry I haven't updated in a few days! This week has just flown by. I've been trying to squeeze in as many activities as possible the last few days I'm here. I fly back to America in 9 days now!

I finally got some money from my mom! I found my way to the Western Union near campus. The process was relatively pain-free except for having to call my mom to add my middle name to the form. Chinese people put a lot of emphasis on the middle name and refused to give me my money because the money transfer order didn't say "Nicole". Anyways, I'm so glad that I don't have to borrow money from people anymore!

CUHK campus

On Tuesday night Krizto, one of the Chinese students in my class reserved us a room at one of the nicest karaoke bars in Hong Kong. This karaoke bar included a buffet-style dinner and karaoke all night long. I was shocked when we got to our private karaoke room. It was in the "CEO suite", complete with a perfect view of the harbor and Hong Kong skyline, chandeliers, leather couches, and flat-screen TVs. Almost everyone in my group joined in for karaoke night. Many of the songs were in English but the Chinese students in my class got together every now and then for a Chinese pop song. The music videos for these songs were really different from traditional American videos. We didn't stay all night because we had class early the next morning. I feel like we all got closer as a group after singing Spice Girls and Queen at the top of our lungs for several hours.

Me, Ashley, and Erin with the view

Carrie, Erin, and Faith with Krizto, our hostess 

our AWESOME karaoke room

waiting in line for the famous hot chocolate pudding

preparation

so worth the 30 minute wait!

On Wednesday, a few of us headed to Shenzhen in mainland China to go to the market. Because I knew we would be doing a lot of shopping, I didn't take my camera. Faith was a little hesitant about going because of of the Chinese students in our class convinced her she would lose a kidney or be sold into slavery if she went. That statement was a little overdramatic, but Faith was scared to go into China for a purse market. This market is famous for its high quality designer knock-offs, everything from shoes and purses to clothes and electronics. It was not nearly as sketchy as the fake purse shopping in New York City. There were no hidden rooms or dark alleys to walk into. We sat in well lit stores and pointed to pictures in a catalog. Erin and I did some damage shopping...again. I got exactly what I wanted and some more goodies for my all my blog followers! I ran out of money or I definitely would have bought more, probably a good thing that I didn't.

Wednesday evening we met up with the rest of our group after dinner at the horse races. This racetrack was so nice! All of the men were wearing suits and all of the women had on dresses and heels. The arena was huge and the track had pretty green grass instead of dirt like other racecourses I've seen. We stood in the free public area. The rest of the concourse was for the "Hong Kong Jockey Club" or "Member Only". There were so many tourists! I saw people from Ireland, Australia, England, etc. It was nice to be with others speaking fluent English. We got a little lost on the way so we only made it for the last two races of the evening. Carrie and I did a little bit of gambling, neither of our horses won.

Me and Erin waiting for the train to take us to the racecourse

I'm so much taller than EVERYONE in my group!

"Hogwarts Express" train outside of the MTR station advertising the HP7 movie (coming to Hong Kong on July 14th) 

the suites at Happy Valley Racecourse

workers pruning the grass in between races

Today it is POURING RAIN! We all got soaked walking to class this morning, even with umbrellas and rain jackets. I think I may stay home and work on my project until it lets up. We have been lucky to not have to deal with much rain in Hong Kong because it is the rainy season. I had prepared to deal with downpour the whole trip and have been pleasantly surprised with all of the sunshine.

not sure if you can tell, but IT'S POURING!