Hong Kong...final thoughts

So I finished my internship 2 days ago. It probably deserved a blog entry but...well....I was drunk. Despite the fact I did mainly general stuff on my office that wasn't very research intensive or that I don't really want to pursue a career in high finance anymore I have to say it was good experience. I really enjoyed working with the people in my office and I got to see some cool shit through my job (i.e. Morgan Stanley board room). Most importantly, I learned what it's like to be a professional working the grind in a big city. Waking up, grabbing breakfast, jumping on the MTR and getting to work then doing it in reverse everyday is a routine I have come to enjoy. That is exactly the type of life I want after school and now look forward to it even more. If you're from ISDA and happen to be reading this I would like to thank you for an awesome summer and great internship experience.

Most notably, today is my last day in Hong Kong. I'm sitting in my room right now not wanting to pack when I really should because I don't want to come to the realization that my trip is actually over. I cannot express in words how fucking awesome of a time I've had here and I will remember this summer (the parts I DO actually remember) for the rest of my life. The people I've met here have truly changed the way I see things in life and I thank them for that. I won't go into naming specific names but fellow "dreamers" know that it was a real pleasure getting to kick it with you all for the past few weeks and I look forward to seeing you all again sometime soon.

The things I will miss (to name just the ones that come to mind)
- Getting weird in LKF, Wan Cheesy, TST, and yes... 9th floor common room
- Lunch with Chris, Jason, Andres, and Rob and Lu when they make it over
- Threading at work....shit was TOO much hahaha
- Legit Chinese food
- Wilding out to "I Gotta Feeling"...that will be the song of the summer
- Andres wilding out to house music doing that hand in the air dance move
- GL talking (Woot woot, what's really good, cuckoo)
- Walking around in Central
- Tearing up the MTR en route to work and partying
- Hanging out in my room with everyone
- Joking and fucking around in completely inappropriate ways
- Breakfast at Homie's
- The bathroom and balcony view at Azure
- Happy hour at Beirut. Kalaish and Marvin...you my boys.
- The MTR voice (Ching mut cow gun che mon, or however you spell it)
- The happy security guard
- Beer from Taste
- The view from TST pier
- Drunk cab rides home
- Getting lost in weird ass places
- Lazy Sundays waking up at 2 and going exploring

It's an odd feeling wanting to stay somewhere but wanting to leave at the same time. Rob mentioned today that he wishes we all went to the same school and I truly second that. I have had an amazing summer here and I will miss this city and everyone in it dearly. No homo, this summer was really a dream for me.

Weekend in Macau

I spent this last weekend in Macau, basically the Las Vegas of Southeast Asia. I have to say that after frequenting Vegas for most of my younger life I would say that Macau is an ok city. Not fantastic and definitely nowhere near what Vegas is, but it's alright. Drew, Brian, Rob, and I got there a day before the rest of the program and stayed at the Waldo Hotel. We reserved a themed room cause they looked sick but unfortunately the theme of ours was "comfort" so it basically looked like a regular hotel room...huge ripoff. We made our way down to the casino at the MGM and started gambling. I threw $500HK on black in roulette as my first bet and hit it. The start of a good gambling streak, or so I thought. I then proceeded to go up $700HK in blackjack before hitting a cold streak that lasted the entire weekend.

The next day I had a bungee jump scheduled but realized that morning that my debit card was frozen as an anti-fraud measure since my bank didn't know I was going to be in Macau. Needless to say the bungee jump didn't happen. I did get to hear how great of a time EVERYONE else had and what an amazing experience it was which was just as good...

Anyways, we spent the day mulling around casinos and had a pretty good dinner at this place in the MGM. My favorite part was definitely the all-you-can-eat oyster bar since I haven't had oysters in forever. I finally got my card unfrozen around 1am and then began to gamble. I was up and down at various times the whole night and mainly stayed between blackjack and roulette. After seeing some of the money my friends were making in poker though I definitely want to learn how to play it better. I have also noticed how different gambling is between Vegas and Macau. People in Macau take it so seriously and do not get really excited about a win (outside of high stakes baccarat). For example, at roulette people were taking notes on what numbers were coming out and tryign to bet accordingly. Shit like that makes for some very boring gambling, especially when you're used to the excitement and fun with gambling that people in Vegas have.

Sunday we just kind of hung out while Robert did some gambling. Seriously Rob if you're reading this....get some help. We made it back to HK via a Turbojet boat that sounds faster than it actually is. Nothing else to really note of that day.

High(and low)lights of the weekend:
Rob getting up thousands of dollars despite being blacked out at the table

Not having a cell phone. Kinda liberating but hard to manage a group of people casino hopping without one

Not bungee jumping...DAMNIT

Will writing yes for Crew in his health declaration form cause "Yo, I'm with my crew aren't I?"
The weirdest strip show I've ever been to and will probably ever go to in my life
Throwing $500HK on black and winning....then doing it again and losing twice. fml.
Aron getting fucked at the blackjack table

Ok...back to work now. 1 week left in HK, my thoughts on that are forthcoming.

Peace.

Weekend in Koh Samui

I spent this last Thursday through Sunday in Koh Samui, Thailand which is probably one of the most awesome places I've ever been to. The weather is perfect (warm but not humid), the people are way friendlier than people in HK, everything is cheap as hell, and the island itself is just beautiful with all the beaches and jungle scenery.

We got there on Thursday and checked into our hotel. Unfortunately I didn't realize I left my debit card in an ATM at the airport but luckily I pulled out enough money to tide me over at least for a little bit. Anyways, we made it the hotel where we met Mhee; bellboy, room service attendee, and our all-around go to guy. We ordered some drinks to our room and got ready to go out for the night. The hotel got us some cabs and this is where things got interesting cause a lot of people in Thailand use personal cars as cabs. That being said one of the cars was a basic Toyota while the other was a Lancer with an underglo kit and rims. Likely one of the most badass taxis I've ever seen. Using our street race convoy we got to Chaweng Beach which is the big party/shopping area of the island. We hit a couple bars before getting to The Green Mango Club which is the most popular club on the island. Andres was in Heaven as they had a dance floor dedicated solely to house music. I was in Heaven cause beers were only 100 baht (roughly $3), I did end up feeling the back end of such a bargain later that night though...we'll leave it at that.

Friday we hung out at the beach at Chaweng again where I got to lay out, swim, and snorkel. The water itself was the perfect temperature and there were so many hot women there. Yes, I'll admit that sounds juvenile but unless you've been to Chaweng in the summer your opinion does not count in this matter. Anyways, after grabbing a bite to eat at a beachside restaurant we made it back to the hotel where we relaxed a little bit before heading to the Muay Thai fights. Note, these fights are advertised EVERYWHERE from flyers and posters to a truck that drives around blaring a recorded message about the fight. The fights themselves were awesome. It's been a longtime dream of mine to watch a live Muay Thai fight in Thailand so I understandably had a great time. Out of 7 fights there were like 3 or 4 knockouts so needless to say there was a good amount of action. After the fights we walked around the bar area outside which, incidentally, also happened to be like ho-central. Being that I looked like a local I didn't get hassled much but Rob and Andres got basically assaulted. I'm not getting into specific maneuvers but I will say that Thai hos are not shy at all when it comes to their hustle. We ended up back in Green Mango again that night and eventually called it a night relatively early since we had a tour scheduled the next day. Highlights of the night: Andres yelling at Thai cashier for screaming at him to shut up and Rob throwing his trash on the Buddha offering table...fucking Gwai Lo.

Saturday was our last full day there. We booked a "7 in 1 Tour" for ourselves that consisted of: an elephant show, a monkey show, a Thai boxing exhibition (which was lame considering we went to actual fights the night before), elephant trekking, a "Jeep Safari" (which actually only meant we drove in a jeep), a waterfall trip which was pretty fun, and a short kayaking trip. Afterward we had them drop us at (take a guess) Chaweng cause there was supposed to be a big beach party going down. We got a bite to eat first and unfortunately it started raining right after that so the beach party was a dud. We did some shopping around, practicing our haggling skills the whole time, and got a nice dinner at a restaurant. We hit up this beach bar later that night but the shitty thing was that no one was serving alcohol because of some elections the next day. How drinking and elections are mutually exclusive is beyond me and everyone else I have asked about it. We did manage to get some mixed drinks going from the bartender, however, and ended the night with some hookah and beachside drinking. Andres almost got himself a less-than-attractive local girlfriend who was not averse to expressing her interest in the little Latino stud.

The flight on Sunday was a rough one to wake up for but luckily we made it the airport with time to spare. Nothing really eventful to note on that day.

I know I've said this a lot but Thailand really did impress me. Not only for its scenery but also for the people there. Most of the houses we saw were run down sheds that most people would never imagine living in and the locals got around mostly on cheaply made mopeds. Despite all that they were some of the most upbeat, polite, and happy people I've met in my life. Call it homo but the trip really gave me an appreciation for the fact that the simple things in life are really what counts. This is not to say that I have given up on my life goal of being driven around in a Rolls Royce Phantom to my private Boeing. I just mean that once in awhile, if not as much as possible, one should slow down, breathe, and take in life. I for one was a broke-ass college student without a debit card but I think I could honestly say I would have had as much fun there if I was Bill Gates or Warren Buffett. All I needed was a beach, a beer, and good company and I was absolutely loving life. Of course a little Bob Marley couldn't hurt either but as I am iPod-less for the time being I would just have to settle for that.

If you have not ever made it to Thailand (and specifically Koh Samui) or do not plan on ever going there I highly recommend you put it on your to do list. And if you do ever make it there ask for Mhee.

Last full weekend in Hong Kong

So I realized I have been slacking on this whole blogging thing but I've been trying to spend as little time as possible in my room as of recently since I have roughly three more weeks in Hong Kong and want to be out and about as much as possible. I hope you all understand.

This weekend was my last full weekend in HK since next weekend I'll be in Thailand and the weekend after that I'll be in Macau. Rough life, I know. On Friday we went to this place called Red in IFC2 where you can bring your own bottles and still enjoy a nice view of the city. After that we went around to a couple bars but didn't really do anything special to note. I will say that I had a great time though.

Saturday was a much more eventful day. I went on this walking trail that led to this place called Big Wave Bay that was absolutely amazing. The trail itself was a little long but there some beautiful views and even crazy looking spiders along the way. The beach itself was really nice. It's a surf spot but there were a lot of people just swimming around in the waves and enjoying themselves. There was also a typhoon nearby this weekend so we got a couple heavy blasts of wind that caused some chaos with flying umbrellas and shit like that but made for good waves. It was funny that our first thought when the winds came was "Typhoon! Let's get in the water!". All in all a good time though. After that we went home cause we were supposed to have a really nice dinner that ended up being cancelled due to the weather. A bunch of us ended up going out though for dinner on our own at this really good local place that specializes in crab.

Even though we were all in the mood to go out partying that night we ended up going back to the dorms cause it was supposed to get real shitty out and we didn't want to have to sleep in a club waiting for the weather to pass. Not to fear though; we all bought a bunch of beer and ended up playing beer pong in the dorms. We used a piece of plywood I got for my bed and some tables from our common room. A tad bit ghetto I know but it worked out perfectly for our purposes. A lot of people ended up staying in too so we got a pretty solid group of people together. Highlights of the night were Andres and an apple (two unrelated incidents, mind you).

Speaking of ghetto thanks to the heavy rains my laptop got completely screwed up cause water leaked in through my AC. The keyboard is shot to shit but the screen works fine. I think I have to wait til I get back to the U.S. to get a new one though so this is going to be a HUGE inconvenience.

Yesterday (Sunday) we woke up and made our way (with some difficulty) to a place called Monkey Mountain. Contrary to what Will thinks this is not a bar but rather exactly what it sounds like: a mountain with a shitload of wild monkeys all over the place. I thought we were going to have to do some hiking to see them but they were literally right alongside the road. It was so crazy seeing all of them as there were literally hundreds walking around. We tried to walk some of the trails cause we thought we'd see more but all we saw was a nice lake/reservoir and some random utilities outposts. After monkey mountain we ate at some local food stand in Tai Wai. I ordered some octopus and the lady looked at me and laughed thinking that I didn't know what I was getting into. The octopus was a little tough but damn cheap and pretty good for its price. We got some other random things there also that all ended up being good despite the fact we had no idea what we were eating. We made our way home after that and decided to play a little pong. We got a good group of people going again and were even treated to some chips/dip and quesadillas by one of the girls who works for the program.

All in all, I'd say I had a great weekend.

The little things....

For the first time in nearly 3 weeks I watched Sportscenter last night; it was amazing. It made me realize that as much as I love Hong Kong there are the little things about home that I miss. I feel like a list is definitely in order.

• My family, especially my sisters
• My friends, you all know who you are. And if you're not sure but you miss me, chances are I miss you as well.
• Eugene food: Burrito Boy, Dough Co., Uly's, Chao Pra Ya, Maple Garden, and the recently opened Chipotle
• Drinking Natty or Busch Light and going swimming
• Busch Light and Barb...yes, I miss Barb.
• Call of Duty 4
• My car
• My bed

Like I said don't get me wrong...I absolutely love Hong Kong and am not looking forward to leaving, but there are things that I do want to get back to when I get home. To everyone who is reading this, I prpbably miss you too and I hope you are doing fantastic.

J

P.S. Having Top 10 back in my life is fantastic.

Fantastic Day

Yesterday, July 1, marked the 12th Handover Day, the anniversary of Hong Kong's independence from Britain. Some other people from the program and I decided to celebrate it by renting out a boat for the day. There were like 30 of us and for HK$600 a piece (roughly $80 American) we got to go out from 11am to 6pm with an all-you-can-eat and drink setup. Yes, I just said that, all-you-can-drink.

Many of us were worried that they would not be properly supplied for the onslaught that is 30 American college students who love drinking bargains; how terribly, terribly wrong we were. We got to the boat roughly on time, I stepped on and was immediately greeted with a friendly hello and a cold beer: I knew it was going to be a good time. The boat itself was a pretty good size, not a megayacht by any standards, but perfectly suitable for it's purpose. Should anyone ever come to Hong Kong I HIGHLY recommend you try it. It's called the Jaspas Party Junk, ask for a crew that at LEAST includes Joey and Toby.

Anyways, we casted off and immediately set out for a beach called "Millionaires Bay". The scenery on the way was simply perfect, we passed a bunch of islands with cool rock formations and some nice plantlife. The food itself was also amazing: quesadillas, chicken satay, Doritos (they know Americans SO well), and meatballs to start out with. Not to mention the fact that the crew was always on patrol with fresh beers or vodka mixed drinks. At one point I told the guy to give me a five-minute break from drinking. He came up to me four minutes later and told me "one minute left, be ready". I almost hugged him.

We finally anchored near the beach and began swimming. The water was a little salty but temperature-wise it was just right. We jumped off the boat a couple times and swam out to shore. It was seriously beautiful there. I thought getting away from the boat would give me the chance to take a break from the booze: wrong again. The crew brought a speedboat to shore with a cooler packed with water, booze in water bottles, and more beer. At one point I was walking down the beach minding my own business when a crewmember ran at me, switched the beers in my hand, said "I'm sorry to keep you waiting", and left. My heart melted. I started working on that beer and waded out to the water about chest high. The same crew member followed me out there when I was almost done with that beer and gave me another one. I told him he was my favorite person that I've met in Hong Kong so far.

After awhile on the beach we went back to the boat for lunch. It was, suprisingly, delicious. Beef tenderloin, potato salad, salmon, chicken, bread, salad, and all-can-drink wine. After lunch we got back in the water and hung out before going back home. The ride back was just as beautiful as the ride there, especially with the sunset over the islands. We got back to the dock and made our way home by cab. The group I was with decided to stop in Tsim Sha Tsui for the famous light show. We thought it was going to be amazing given the holiday but alas, we were somewhat disappointed. No matter though, still an awesome day. Pictures to come soon.

Hope you are all doing fantastic. Love and miss you all.

J

A couple reasons why like I Hong Kong

Throughout my time here I have begun to think of reasons why I like this city. Obviously, it's one of the biggest cities in the world and just a total melting pot of different cultures (see last post for brief list of drinking buddies). But other than that there are just little things that I have come to observe and like.

I love that everything is so efficient. From public transit, to the grocery stores, to McDonald's putting your order up right when you're at the corner, to even the way people walk to work, everything is done in the most efficient way possible. Oh and yes, the Octopus card, this is where I think America is really lagging. I can use this thing to ride the train, buy groceries and things at vending machines, and even get into the horse track. And all you have to do is swipe it over a reader....sooo legit.

Free newspapers are also high up there. If it wasn't for the free paper (and a lot of free time at work) I would be completely lost on world events. What a better idea to keep all your citizens informed than to offer them free newspapers. Brilliant.

I think what I love the most is the hustle though. Everyone here, and I do mean EVERYONE, is on the grind constantly. Seriously...C.R.E.A.M. by Wu-Tang Clan should be the national anthem of this city. Everywhere you go there are places to shop or people trying to make money in some way. It's fucking beautiful to watch and I have a deep respect for it. If you think you have a hustle and a drive to make money, I challenge you to come here.

In other news, work is going alright. There isn't much for me to do right now so I just kind of hang out. I did make it to the horse races at Happy Valley last night. It was the last race until September so I'm glad I got to go. It was awesome, except for the losing money part. I did get free laundry out of it though so that was nice.

Well I'm getting tired. Another big day of hanging out at the office tomorrow. GL asked me to write something nice about him....G, you give great haircuts. Seriously, for a brokeass pair of clippers and doing it in a dormroom in China you go good work my friend. And the lineup was legit too.

Love and miss you all. Peace.

J

First weekend as a resident of Hong Kong.

My first weekend as a temporary resident of this city and I have to say I love it. On Friday I went out with some buddies to a couple bars and met some people from Germany and New Zealand. For those of you who doubted at all that Germans can drink you are horribly, horribly mistaken. The guys from New Zealand were tight too; I will admit though seeing an Asian with an Australian-like accent ranks among the wildest things I've seen. haha

On Saturday the people from my program went to Victoria Peak and Stanley Market. Victoria Peak is the highest point in the city and seriously one of the most amazing places I've ever been too. It has views of both the city on one side and the other islands near Hong Kong on the other. It was just...surreal. And I don't think I've ever used that word before. After that we went to Stanley Market where you could supposedly get knockoff anything. I gotta say I did see some cool stuff but for the most part I was disappointed.

Some good did come out of it tho; some guys from my program, Robert and J, asked if I wanted to kick back with them and roll to the beach. This other guy Lamm and I decided to roll with them so we bought a pair of knockoff boardshorts (SO convenient) for like $10 and grabbed some beers. The beach was awesome. I have to decided to judge the legitimacy of a place from now on by how many locals are there; if there's a lot then you know it's a good spot and there were hella locals at the beach. We met these two girls from our program, Julianna and Eugenia, there and kicked it for like 4 hours just swimming, bullshitting, and hanging out. It was a really good time because they're not people I talk to in the program a lot but After that we caught a bus back to the train station (still bullshitting around the whole way), got back to Kowloon Tong, grabbed some food, and came home.

That night we didn't get out til late but we went to this crazy nightclub called Azure. For those of you that don't know me too well I'm not big on the whole nightclub scene but this place was pretty tight. It was on the 30th floor of a hotel in downtown and had sick views of the city. Even the toilet in the bathroom had an amazing view, definitely one of the coolest pisses I've taken in my life.

Today, as could be expected, was laid back. Woke up at like noon and lounged around until I decided to go explore a little bit with some friends. We ended up going to this place and getting massages cause the beds at the dorms are total garbage. Before any speculation is made, NO I did not get a "happy ending"; it was a legit massage place. After coming home I played some basketball and kicked back. Now...bedtime. I hope you are all well.

J

P.S. Evidently tomorrow there may be a storm which may mean no work, keep your fingers crossed for me.

First Day of Work

Hello all,
Had my first day of work today. My coworkers are really nice but idk how I feel about the work. I just feel like it's...irrelevant to what I wanted to do. Don't get me wrong, I'm greatful for the chance to be able to work for a great firm in an amazing city, but my work is just going to be rough. Over the next two months my main responsibilities will be (a list here cannot be avoided):

1. Designing and creating an updated customer database
2. Redesigning the website
3. Taking minutes at group meetings with committee members and publishing them
4. Compiling daily news clippings relevant to our business
5. Assisting with forming the weekly/monthly newsletter
6. Designing a new scheme to take attendance at meetings

I mean I do have two months to do it but it's going to be overwhelming. Nevermind the fact I do not know how to do half this shit. Oh well, I can't do much about it now though, just buckle down and get through it. I really do like my coworkers though, I'm the youngest person in the office for sure but they are really nice. My boss organized an office lunch at this dim sum place which was cool. I ate some chicken feet and cow stomach...so dank I might add. He is an expat from Boston so we bullshitted a little about the Celtics too. I doubt he talks about them much to anyone else here.

In other news I got Internet today, I never realized how dependent I was on it until it was taken from me for 4 days. I'm not really in the contemplative mood today cause I have a big day ahead of me tomorrow. I will talk to you all then. GL if you're reading this I hope you're date Friday goes well.

Peace.

I apologize to everyone for the lack of posting as of lately. I don't have Internet in my room yet so that's kinda preventing it from happening. I am using a friend's computer right now so I'll keep it brief. I am having a BLAST!

My first full day here my roommate and I decided to jump on the subway and hit up some random places so I have gotten some sightseeing in. We went to downtown and walked around for a bit which was awesome cause it was a mix of modern skyscrapers with old-school street markets in between them. I also went to Tsim Sha Tsui where you can see the entire skyline on Hong Kong island and it is truly, truly amazing. I'd have to say equal to, if not better than, NY's. I also got measured up for a suit yesterday which I'm pretty stoked about. I gotta look good when I get to Macau. :)

I went out a couple times with people from my program and had a great time. A little fyi for those who didn't know. In Hong Kong it is perfectly legal to walk down the street with an open beer/drink in your hand. No one seems to find this as cool as I do. Drinks here are way expensive though so I'm going to have to start ballin' on a budget.

First day of work tomorrow. I'm pretty stoked for it even though I'm feeling a little under the weather (please, hold the swine flu jokes as I've already heard them all). Some people started today and I have heard a couple horror stories. I'm not too worried about it though...not like I can do anything now about it anyways haha.

Well, I'm going to leave it at that. I hope you are all doing well and having a good summer. :)

J

T-minus 1 hour

I'm sitting in PDX waiting for my plane to board. Luckily for me Portland is such a progressive city that WiFi is free in the airport. Walking around I have noticed a couple things that I'd like to make a note of, if not for your personal enjoyment then for my own memory. I know I made a list in my last blog but if you know me then you know I'm big on them.

1. If you use a Bluetooth at any other time than when driving or occupying BOTH hands with something else you are very likely an asshole.
2. Asian languages can be harsh on ears to people that are not familiar with them. This is magnified exponentially when it is used by two kids to argue over the most appropriate way to play WoW.
3. Airports are one of the happiest and saddest places to be in. For happy go to arrivals, for sad go to departures.
4. Good-byes are especially awkward at the security line when you say bye to someone then they just watch you go through security...saying good-bye again, and again, and again. Mom if you're reading this no offense, I will love and miss you guys dearly.
5. A Starbucks that closes at 1pm is not really a Starbucks.
6. An airport that provides free WiFi is the greatest concept since agriculture.
7. The hottest person you see at the gate will never be in the seat next to you on the flight. Ever.

Alright time to board. To everyone who still has finals to take: I'm sorry and good luck. To everyone who is done: have a good summer :) I'll see you all when I see you. Peace.

First Entry

So it's like 12:30 am of the first night of my summer break and here I am...blogging. I'm not really even sure I understand entirely what a blog is but a solid amount of people told me it would be a good idea for my trip to Hong Kong...so, again, here I am. I'm mainly starting this as a sort of public journal of my trip; whether or not I'll continue it past that I'll leave to fate.

My flight leaves in 13 hours 20 minutes and I have not yet come to terms with how exactly I feel about it. Of course I know that the trip will be an amazing life changing experience but at the same time I'm kind of nervous to be jumping head first into something so foreign (in the metaphorical sense of the word). It's just weird to be removing the safety net of living in a place I know surrounded by people I know and moving to one of the biggest and most dynamic cities in the world. I mean let's be real here; Eugene and Hong Kong are hardly comparable. But as sickeningly cliche as it sounds it will definitely be an experience I will never forget.

Things to do while in Hong Kong in addition to what's already planned for me:

1. Ride on a junk boat. This will also allow me to cross something off on my bucket list
2. Go to the horse races
3. Eat authentic Chinese food, especially some duck. I doubt this will be hard though
4. Get a suit tailored for me
5. Get drunk with some locals
6. Get drunk with ex-pats
7. Go to Victoria Peak
8. Visit a Buddhist temple
9. Watch Transformers 2. Yes, I know this is not unique to Hong Kong but I want to see that damn movie.
10. And, if at all possible, watch a Dragon Boat race.