#ipehkustwinter

[umichenginabroad]

miscellaneous ends🪡

(4/26 - 5/2)

Hi! For this post I want to mostly follow one of the days from this week, because it was one of my favorites in the semester so far!

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I finally(finally!!!) forced myself out of bed to have a solo outing day >.< It’s one of those things that I kept reserving for a day I would have lots of time to spare, but whenever those days actually came by, I would end up sleeping all the time away…So finally, during my 14th week in Hong Kong, I was able to overcome the sleepiness!

I took the MTR to Tsim Shau Tsui, one of the more tourist-y districts located right above Victoria Harbour (~1-1.5 hour transportation = the standard for getting anywhere from UST), and started by getting lunch at Shek Kee Wonton Noodles.

They only take cash but it was otherwise a very tourist-friendly restaurant, and the noodles I got were super filling and delicious for the relatively low price of $80HKD (~ $10.21USD)!

(Honestly, I’m starting to think Hong Kong prices are actually pretty high for Asia, but maybe I’m just spoiled because of Vietnam…)

and the owner gave me candy on my way out!

Because TST is super tourist-y, it’s a great place to buy souvenirs! I dropped by a store and got a couple of key chains and magnets because I realized I currently only had souvenirs from Thailand and Vietnam and not the actual place I was studying abroad in LOL

Then I finally (finally!22) went to the Hong Kong Museum of Art, which was honestly AMAZING… Like I said before, I think it had just been bugging me that it was something I had wanted to do for so long haha but even aside from that factor, I think it’s one of the best art museums I’ve been to (I haven’t been to many)! There was a lot of traditional(?) Chinese art, and also a lot of cool modern and abstract pieces too ❤️My favorite exhibit was one that started with a little personality test where you can get one of four ‘types’ (Adventurer/Elegant/Perfectionist/Fashionista) and had many different traditional and modern pieces that were grouped into each of the four personality types

Overall it felt like a lot of effort had been made to make art a more accessible and interesting topic for the general public! and the view from the huge ceiling-to-floor windows on each floor was a nice touch, since the museum’s located right on the harbour >.<

oh and it’s free entry by the way!

Afterwards, I met some friends at Papillon Cafe, which had been all over my Instagram explore page 

Review: 4/5 The cafe had a super cute aesthetic and the owners’ cats were sweet and a lot friendlier than the ones at the cat cafe last week! The food and drinks in all honesty were mediocre, but I think it’s still worth going at least once for the nice atmosphere 

We finished off the day by getting dinner at Hama Sushi in the East Point Mall on the way back to campus (I’ve eaten here so many times it’s embarrassing) and browsing a makeup store in the same mall (i got colored contacts for the first time!)

I realized that this was the first week that I hadn’t gone out…! I didn’t realize I was being such a partier LOL especially because back at home I’m seriously a homebody… I guess that’s just what exchange life’s like

But I think I’m at the point that I want to start spending my time here more purposefully, since there’s not much left (and not to say that I won’t be going out from now!)

It’s just that you can feel it in the air, the feeling of the semester coming to a close. My final project group for one of my classes has met for probably over 12 hours this week, and all the exchange students are starting to ask each other when their last exam is, when they’re flying out.

I don’t want it to end…!

Jana Ka Computer Science and Engineering IPE: Hong Kong University of Science & Technology (HKUST) in Kowloon

[umichenginabroad]

oh yeah, i’m abroad😶‍🌫️

(4/19 - 4/25)

Helloooo! i did a lot of reflecting this week

It might be because I just submitted my last assignment for a class (literally have nothing to do for it anymore except study for the final, which is in over a month), or because I was reevaluating my friendships here, but I felt reminded that I need to make the most of my time here

I still haven’t gone to the art museum, which is something I told myself I would do since week 1, and I think that’s been bugging me…

actually idk if theres much else to it haha

I got to have a deeper conversation with a friend that I met in the first week and hadn’t gotten the chance to talk to much since then, and it felt super refreshing actually! I know I’ve been saying the key to not feeling down is to not let yourself marinate in your thoughts, but getting to talk about more genuine topics for the first time in a while felt fresh.

^the friend and her fused fry (side note: do NOT eat at the American Diner on campus unless you enjoy mediocre spaghetti and consider salad to be a few sad strands of leafy greens ^_^)

And I called my roommate from home! Again, I really enjoyed having the more serious/genuine kind of conversation :) One of my biggest regrets(?) coming to Hong Kong was that I wouldn’t get to see her again because she’s graduating this semester, but thankfully it turns out she’ll stay in AA for the summer so I can see her when I come back!!

tldr I’ve allowed myself to have *some* thoughts and it feels nice

Other than that, I went to a cat cafe this week! I didn’t like it that much because all of the cats clearly didn’t favor being touched (I assume it’s like work fatigue for them), but it’s probably still worth it if you like cats enough to enjoy just being in their presence  /ᐠ｡ꞈ｡ᐟ\

And I watched a production of the opera (for my Enjoyment of Western Opera class project) ‘Madama Butterfly’, which was alright. I got rained on on my way to the theatre, but during the time I was waiting for the first act to finish (bc got there late😔) I got dry anyways haha

Also in Vietnam I went to a market to get these wooden clog shoes that were super cheap and literally made on the spot (you can choose your base and strap and they’ll literally staple + nail it together right there) and I really love wearing them with jeans, but they lowkey hurt my feet… I’ve been getting some crazy blisters… but the concept of casual heels has such a grip on my heart that I’m probably just gonna cope❤️

My mind has been all over the place this week and it probably shows in this post haha I’ll see you all in the next one!

Jana Ka Computer Science and Engineering IPE: Hong Kong University of Science & Technology (HKUST) in Kowloon

[umichenginabroad]

oh yeah, i’m a student 😋

(4/14- 4/18)

Fact 1: Hong Kong is hot Fact 2: My roommate and I turn on the fan when we are in the room Fact 3: My roommate and I were both traveling (not in the room) for, presumably, several days Fact 4: Thermodynamics

I came back from Vietnam, opened the door, and I kid you not a WAVE of hot heavy humid air came billowing out of that cursed sauna of a dorm room…

⭐Fact!!! – You have to pay for A/C ^^ My roommate and I had been trying to make it work with just the little ceiling fan, but in the end, we couldn’t outlast the HK humidity :( But as it turns out, the A/C is actually pretty cheap (~ .17 USD per hour)! Honestly the rate is so low, I wish I had started using it earlier… and for anyone curious, you both buy hours and turn the AC on/off through this one website (https://w5.ab.ust.hk/njggt/app/home)

Also I went to Fusion (campus supermarket) and bought 6 instant ramens for sale, which I have been eating in place of going to the canteens just call me a master budgeter 😁

So in short, the past few days have been a hard swerve to normal(?) life – blasting the A/C, eating cup ramens, and doing homework/studying/rotting at home. 

This week’s outings:

1. classic Happy Valley + all you can eat(?) gyoza Someone in our groupchat saw a restaurant’s Instagram post promoting an all-you-can-eat gyoza deal for $13HKD (~$1.66USD). Upon arrival, we found that the promotion is real but only if you first buy a bowl of ramen (~$80HKD). The ramen was good but because of the betrayal of the gyoza deal we probably won’t go back LOLL and then we went to Happy Valley for the nth time to see the horse races

2. Ocean Park! Hong Kong has a Disneyland and something called Ocean Park, which is like an amusement park, zoo, aquarium in one (kind of like Everland in Korea?)! I heard the Disneyland was pretty small, but I did want to go to Ocean Park at least once during the semester - and this weekend I got the chance! Overall, I think it was a solid 7/10 – I think it’s technically still off season so there were a lot of sections and rides that were closed (‘being optimized’?) We did get to ride most of the rides available though, and the park was so empty the lines were really short! (However I do think the emptiness + the foggy weather gave the park a bit of a depressing atmosphere) There was also a pretty nice aquarium and various exhibits to see pandas, sharks, sea lions, monkeys etc! The monkey exhibit had a family of three, and the little one was clearly trying to show off – it was doing all of these unnecessary flips and running jumps while the parents just sat and watched LOL it also failed a couple of times LOL x2 I think the most unique part of Ocean Park was the cable car, which connects the two different sections of the park. I don’t really know if the two sections have different themes or anything, but they’re actually separated by a LOT of distance – we literally went across a mountain to get to the other side! In the picture above you can see it in the distance, and we had already come a decent way along then too..!

Also it rained SO HARD – I took this photo of the pond behind my dorm because it looked crazy (maybe a little flooding?), so yes, my duck umbrella is being put to good use yay

That’s all from this week! See you all next time o(^▽^)o

Jana Ka Computer Science and Engineering IPE: Hong Kong University of Science & Technology (HKUST) in Kowloon

[umichenginabroad]

spring break in vietnam! ⭐

(4/5-4/13) Long time no see!

We got about a week off for midterm break, so I took the creative liberty(?) to skip a few extra days for an extended trip to Vietnam 😆

For the first five-ish days we were in Hanoi –

I was a little nervous because it was my first time staying in a hostel, but the room was actually super nice! The bunk beds were super luxury(?), with wooden walls, individual outlet and storage, and a curtain for privacy (and the bed itself was much nicer than the ones in the dorms)

^^low quality pic of high quality hostel (also super cheap btw)

We spent most of our time in Hanoi exploring Old Quarter, a super tourist-y and fun district where our hostel is located. It’s all narrow paved roads surrounded by little stores and SWARMING with people!

Notes: It was insanely hot, like consistently above 90°F, but because it was so sunny and dry it didn’t feel as oppressive as Hong Kong heat (similar to Thailand) SO MANY MOTORBIKES – seems like it’s the primary method of transportation! You can hitch a ride on Grab (Uber, but for SEA), which is often cheaper and faster than getting a car (and also way more fun ❤️)

My favorite part of Old Quarter was definitely watching a water puppet show, which is exactly what it sounds like. It was one of the only things I did on my own in Hanoi, and I was so glad I went through with it! The accompanying narration is in Vietnamese but my ticket included a little handheld translator, and anyways the show was just a series of little slapstick stories, so it was easy to understand :) Absolutely recommend this!

Another highlight is this day tour we went on - I think it was to Ninh Binh? There were several activities, but honestly I only remember the part where we got to ride these little boats that the workers rowed with their feet(!). I also bought a bunch of souvenirs and a cone hat :)

Other than that, we also visited Bat Trang Pottery Village, where there are tons of shops with so many ceramic products that it feels mass-produced, as well as Train Street, which is just a nice street of cafes/restaurants that a train passes through.

And of course I had to try egg coffee, which turned out to be coffee with a very sweet and rich custard(?) on top - it was a little too heavy for me, but that didn’t stop me from trying it several more times from different cafes LOL

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For the second half of the trip we flew to Saigon/Ho Chi Minh! >.<

(btw our flight was 7am so we had this bright idea to spend the night in the airport – do NOT do this! there were literally no overnight flights so the entire airport shut down until 5 💀they closed off almost all of the areas as well so we and the handful of other people were using up every bench possible to sleep on… it was so scuffed and NOT in a silly cute way…)

Compared to Hanoi (or at least, specifically Old Quarter), Saigon gave off more of a typical ‘city’ vibe, so the activity here was mainly shopping and related things <3

For one thing, I got my nails done again! They were pretty grown out from the last time I got them painted gold in HK but I was holding off because I heard it’s insanely cheap in Vietnam. I took advantage of the low prices by going in with a pretty intricate reference design and ended up getting exactly what I wanted for LESS THAN $20USD… (i physically can not stop myself from telling people this (it’s like when someone compliments your dress and you just have to tell them it has pockets too)) I also got some kind of keratin(???) treatment(?) done because the several days of not using conditioner -really- was not helping my already fried hair — so I guess it actually just put me back to baseline level haha

Oh! One thing unique to Saigon that I really liked was the War Remnants Museum, which has a lot of information on the impact of the Vietnam War (‘American War’ here).

It was a very eye-opening experience to see a different perspective from the rather quick coverage given in high school history classes. Most of the museum focuses on the atrocities committed by the US and GIs, especially against Vietnamese citizens. The museum has a good strategy in focusing on presenting loads of individual photos and anecdotes; I think this approach helps put in perspective the sheer magnitude of horror caused in each victim and the overwhelming number of such victims, all while preventing the instinct to think about it in terms of numbers. The exhibits are seriously horrifying, not just because of how graphic they are, but also because of how powerfully the photographed subjects’ emotions can be felt. I was especially affected by the section about Agent Orange, which was a chemical the US sprayed in Vietnam to prevent crops from growing and had the additional effect of causing serious health problems and birth defects in millions of Vietnamese people. One of the displayed photos was of a new mother in a hospital bed, crying as she looked at her conjoined twins she had just birthed. The photo was from 2006. If they had lived, her children and I would have been the same age. And there were loads of other similar cases. I highly recommend visiting this museum. As a citizen of this world and especially of the US, remembering the tragic and ugly parts of history, especially(!) the parts that are not necessarily emphasized in our own history books, is key to recognizing and preventing similar things that are happening now. 

But I digress..!

Some assorted notes because I have too much to say, none of which is related or necessary (❤️):

^^ pink church - apparently a big tourist thing (because it’s a pink church, duh(?)) that i did not make plans for but literally happened to walk by on the street

^^ grab motorbikes again

^^ We went to a matcha pop-up (EXTREMELY indulgent matcha lattes with large, dense toppings of ice cream and/or banana pudding etc) and a dog and a cat came up to me and my friend respectively! thought it was super cute because it reflected our personalities so well 🥺

Bui Vien Walking Street - lots of clubs and bars! Kind of interesting to see the difference in nightlife culture – compared to HK or US, clubs here are more about having tables and bottles and less on dancing. Instead, there are hired girls and guys (mostly girls) who dance on an elevated stage (they also dance on outdoor stages to attract people) → not really my cup of tea :(

And of course, I ate SO much food, both in Hanoi and Saigon :) I really love how vegetables are used so much!!! I especially had pho as many times as I possibly could – pho is such a top tier dish it’s still good in the sweltering heat! 

On our last night, I found this random place near our airbnb and ended up eating two bowls of this noodle soup dish! (so good….) The lady laughed when I ordered the second one and also when she handed me the receipt LOLL

Closing thoughts: What a week!!! I really enjoyed this trip a lot — the approach my friends and I ended up adopting of moving around mostly individually, but with meet-ups back at the hostel/airbnb and for certain activities, worked so well for me ❤️I feel like I got to thoroughly enjoy Vietnam by getting a good mix of relaxing, wandering, and doing activities! I’m so happy I got to come (´▽`ʃ♡ƪ) P.S. I will miss the food…

Thanks for reading all this! I’ll be back ASAP with the next post…

Jana Ka Computer Science and Engineering IPE: Hong Kong University of Science & Technology (HKUST) in Kowloon

[umichenginabroad]

familiarity🧭

Welcome back! This week had a bit of an odd feel to it because it was right after midterms and right before the midterm/spring break :0

Midterm results came out frighteningly quickly, and they were NOT pretty – I aced IEDA and opera wasn’t bad, but I got around 50% on both ML and Math 💀💀💀I heard lots of conflicting things about whether they curve grades here or not, so I guess I’m doomed to a constant (but low) level of fear…

^^random: char siu bao from 7/11 -- i'm really warming up (lol) to the hot food items there!

On a different note, now that the semester is officially halfway through, I feel a new surge of motivation to make the most out of my time here! I realized I still haven’t had the chance to explore Hong Kong by myself (aside from that one time over a month ago when I had to downsize my helixes), which is something I definitely want to do (and do often!). And at the same time, I do also think I should put a little more effort into my studies, especially after what I just said about the curve that may or may not exist. Work harder + play harder, huh…?

This week I worked on my group project for opera! I think the last time I did a group project in general was freshman year, so I was honestly pretty excited coming into it ( •̀ .̫ •́ )✧ Um. But turns out that the rest of my group didn’t feel the same (which I guess is understandable, especially for an elective class) so it ended up being me having to nag everyone into meeting and doing their part, which is arguably also a classic group project experience LOL

Also I finished my project team stuff! (or at least the most crucial things) I’m really glad because it’s been consistently giving me some stress 🥲At my last meeting I had said I would get it done by this upcoming Wednesday only to realize by then I would already be in Vietnam (have I mentioned that I’m going to Vietnam for the break…?), so I just sucked it up and grinded it out ( •̀ ω •́ )✧ congrats to myself!

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The highlight of this week was definitely Friday, when a few friends and I went to a jazz pub!! I honestly have such limited experience with live music, even though I love it, so I was really happy to get this chance :)

It did seem to be more of a touristy/expat thing (I mean, I’m actually completely assuming based on people’s appearances) but there’s nothing wrong with that – after all, it’s not like we’re locals either LOL but if there are any opportunities to hear local bands of any genre play, I would love to check those out too !

Ohh and also checked out a beach nearby campus! Allegedly a 40 minute bus ride, but the driver was speeding so much we made it in 15 LMAO It was definitely a lot better than the one on campus – still small but not nearly as much litter, and there was a decent setup of a store, bathrooms/showers, etc too! I bet it would have been a lot nicer if the sun was out

Generally, I finally feel like I somewhat know the people I’ve met here. I guess it might be a characteristic of study abroad programs, but the majority of the time I spent with friends has been doing an activity of some sort together, which I believe is an equally valuable but different nature of friend I had back home. But lately I think I’ve slowed down enough to have actual conversations with a few people, and it feels so good haha

Human connection is nice, who knew? I think I’ve started to miss my friends and family, but again I’m very set on not giving myself time to contemplate… 

Well - here’s to another half-semester with Hong Kong! See you all next time in Vietnam >.<

Jana Ka Computer Science and Engineering IPE: Hong Kong University of Science & Technology (HKUST) in Kowloon

[umichenginabroad]

midterm hell week☠️

oh yeah my life's a movie🤩🤩🤩

i’ve been eating mainly instant ramens lately so i allowed myself the luxury of buying a small carton of eggs to supplement my withering diet – my first purchase that requires use of the mini fridge in the dorm room only to discover that my roommate had been using it already! and for a nearly identical carton of eggs LOL 

my roommate and i’s relationship has settled to be something very business-like(?), where we rarely speak or interact with each other, and tbh i think i prefer it this way! but little things like this egg situation make me smile bc it reminds me that we really are in the same boat

^ solidarity: me and my roommate, studying in respective plaid pajama pants

vv This was my exam schedule (yes, one of them was on a SATURDAY…) my strategy was basically to put minimal effort into preparing for the Monday and Thursday exams in favor of the Wednesday and Saturday ones – also (a quick vent) the comp professor assigned TWO assignments to be due this week which, in my humble opinion, was extremely evil of him, also considering that both assignments were several PAGE reports while usually there’s one assignment weekly that's either just a coding problem or conceptual questions (i did in fact decide these will be the two homeworks i’m dropping ^^ hopefully i won’t regret it)

but I digress.. 

before I continue, I think it might be helpful/fun(for me) to talk a little(?) about classes and my overall academic experience so far! 

Like I said before, I’m taking the minimum of 12 credits right now, which for me (and typically) means four classes:

HUMA 2101 Enjoyment of Western Opera – my only non-technical course this semester, and surprisingly the most important one for me to pass! This class transfers back to UMich as departmental MUSICOL 3xx credit, which means I can use it to fulfill my HUMA and 300+ lvl IB course requirements in one go! Super helpful, since this is basically the last general requirement I need for graduation >.<

In terms of how the class has been so far – I actually quite like it! The professor’s an American guy that really loves music and opera, so it’s fun to just sit and listen to him talk :) There’s also barely any work – the main obstacle is to stay caught up on watching the operas covered in class (through Met Opera On Demand, which UMich students also have free access to!) (admittedly i have not in fact been caught up, but you can def get away with it) (but i really do wish i could watch all of the operas! )

IEDA 4200 Design of Logistics and Manufacturing Systems – a course that doesn’t translate to any credits yet… (reminder to self to fill out the Transfer Credit Approval Form…) I chose to take it because IEDA is the HKUST equivalent of IOE, a department I’m interested in! This course specifically is related to facility planning and supply chain :)

But honestly I like this class considerably less than I expected to… Lectures mostly consist of going through a whole bunch of algorithms, most of which are easy but a pain to do by hand (and it is by hand), and overall I get the impression that the course is mostly in a theoretical/research point of view rather than an industry one. The professor is very good at English and explains things well, but she also talks super fast! Also a light workload – each homework is 2-3 problems that are very close to examples covered in class

MATH 2511 Fundamentals of Actuarial Mathematics – I was hoping it would transfer directly as a course at UMich to count towards my math minor, but at least it counts for departmental MATH 4xx credit…! T_T  

Basically exactly what I expected - we learn some concepts and equations, and then the majority of class is drilling through example cases. I’d say the homework is reasonable, 5-ish problems every 1-2 weeks, and they’re usually similar to the hardest examples covered in class (there’s also extra credit questions on each assignment!) Only complaint is that there’s no cheat sheet for the exam….

COMP 4211 Machine Learning – EECS 3xx credit at UMich, + I think it’ll make taking EECS 445 next semester less painful + ML is good to know anyways

This class is the bane of my existence. Or at least it would be if I cared more. I can tell the professor is very smart and knows the concepts super thoroughly, but he is IMPOSSIBLE to understand (i think he holds his breath when he talks so he rushes and tumbles over the words + completely illegible handwriting + quiet + strong accent), and the lecture notes provided are written in such dense language…. The workload itself is reasonable (except for the evil midterm-week reports mentioned above), but considering that the course is effectively self-taught… (^^)

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Generally, it seems like most classes here follow the pattern of having one midterm and one final, which together make up a large percentage of the course grade. Which is scary but also kind of convenient!

Luckily for me(??), CoE study abroad only accepts pass/fail grades, which at HKUST means I need a grade of C or above – but honestly I’m scared I might not even get that…! 

Apart from studying, there was an event on campus called the International Cultural Fair, so I checked it out with my local friend! HKUST generally holds tons of little events and fairs, and while I don’t think any of them are worth going out of your way to attend, it’s fun to stop by if you happen to walk past >.<

Also finally went to the campus bible study, which a friend and I had been planning to try for ages – but honestly it was just mediocre :( In the first place I’m not very active in practicing Christianity, and the format of this study was that they made us read a bible passage aloud for several repetitions and afterwards had some time for questions. I don’t know how I feel about it all…

anyways.

Studying for exams is always a certain vibe (locked in, apocalypse/airport energy, scuffed, etc) for me, and it seems like that holds true whether it’s in the LC at HKUST or the Dude at UM. Wonderful ^^

^ fully leaned into my caffeine addiction (white, peach, and strawberry monster are superior)

On Friday night I pulled an all nighter with two friends (well… I pulled the all nighter, can’t say the same for them LOL) preparing for our ML exam the next day…yeah I highly do NOT recommend pulling all nighters under any circumstance :)

also kind of a side note but we all got mcdonalds in the morning and security stopped only me from bringing it into the library? (technically you’re not supposed to bring food in, but sometimes they let it go if they judge it to be like, ‘not too distracting’ for others) apparently they tend to be stricter with girls bringing food🤨

It was such a long week…..but at least it’s over now, and I’m hoping future me will lock in enough that finals week isn’t such a pain haha

Thanks for listening to me complain so far ❤️❤️I’ll see you all next time and let you know how my results are!

Jana Ka Computer Science and Engineering IPE: Hong Kong University of Science & Technology (HKUST) in Kowloon

[umichenginabroad]

oh it’s serious…

Did you know? I have midterms next week!

I also did not know ^_^ (if you’re reading this mom, that was a joke)

So naturally this week has been VERY studying-heavy☹️

The LC (learning commons) (only section of the library that always stays open past 10 pm)(which is crazy btw) has been especially packed, but luckily my friends and I put our heads together to take advantage of the room booking system! You can only book the rooms for up to two hours a day and twice a week, but when a large group coordinates we’re able to guarantee we have somewhere to study for decent blocks of time each night  :) (I’m usually not a room reserving type at UMich but I think you don’t really have a choice here…)

Otherwise we cram into a table with 2-3 empty spots and wait for the people already there to leave It’s brutal out here!

^ pictured: 7 students at a table for 4

All four of my midterms are in a span of six days, so that’s…fun… I was most stressed about my Actuarial Mathematics class, because it turns out that we aren’t allowed any formulas or cheat sheets :( I thought maybe UMich spoiled me, but the two other technical courses I’m taking do allow some form of notes so I think it’s really just this class

#killmenow

I had to pull out the active recall method for studying…. This is also my second of the four exams so it’s preventing(?) me from wholeheartedly studying for other subjects 😬 I’ll let you all know how it goes…….

I also finally went to taekwondo club again! I actually really enjoyed it – it was mostly drills-based meaning it was perfect for forcing myself to do cardio and I also tried reserving the dance room! I got lucky once last week and just walked in while it was empty, but since that doesn’t happen a lot… but honestly it was a mid experience; I don’t know if I’m doing something wrong but I can only reserve one hour a day and only on the day of :( Also I was assuming I could just go use it since I was the one who reserved, but the staff pulled me out saying I have to check in, and then even before my time was over (admittedly the last block of the day) they came back in reminding me to leave TLDR: it’s just such a pain (but tbh i’ll prob do it again)

Other miscellaneous things from this week:

apparently it’s a better deal to withdraw Hong Kong currency from an ATM and then use the cash to manually top up Octopus card (typically at a 7/11) – my friends after thorough investigation claim that the Octopus tourist app will charge an additional 5% to top up, which in most cases is higher than the foreign withdrawal fees a bank charges. Unfortunately I haven’t been able to get the ATMs on campus to work for me though so I’ve been topping up with as small amounts as possible until I get the chance

we went to Carnegie’s again – mentioned last week but it’s a bar that is basically a club, usually extremely crowded and playing mostly American pop songs

i’ve been reading the manga 'Bleach’ in my free time (‘what free time, i thought you were busy grinding’ you say? amateurs. i create free time out of thin air.) (actually i am just sacrificing my sleep and it is not a good idea)

for some reason my appetite has been so strong lately– my stomach suddenly is demanding three square meals a day when this has never been a routine

(sort of spontaneously) bought tickets to vietnam! after that last thailand trip, it seemed like everyone wanted to avoid moving as a big group again but turns out we all had the same idea of going to vietnam over the upcoming break anyways LOL

tried romanticizing studying by going to Passione, one of the on-campus cafes – only to realize that if i kept it up i’d have to start romanticizing being broke as well (~$50 HKD for just a coffee?????? literally the equivalent of one or more meals….)

That’s it for this week❤️Wish me luck on these exams! (i will need it T_T )

Jana Ka Computer Science and Engineering IPE: Hong Kong University of Science & Technology (HKUST) in Kowloon

[umichenginabroad]

slow🎂

It was my birthday (3/12)(;;;lol) this week! ☆

To be honest, I felt a little down even though looking back, there were a lot of small fun things that happened

First of all (and most importantly, of course), I’ve discovered the bakery section in Canteen II! I stopped by in between morning classes and found that they sell some nice buns for the lowest prices I’ve seen so far ($6-8 HKD) – so far I’ve tried the red bean bun, a sausage bun, and a sesame bread, and they’re all quite dense and large! So worth it :)

❗They do sell out/close pretty early though, so I would recommend coming in before 2pm latest to make sure you get what you want! also they switch out some of the types of bread

One of the clubs here was apparently hosting a dodgeball tournament so some of my friends registered as a team LOL (I honestly suspect it was open to the public only theoretically) It was Asian style (? or at least the style I’ve only seen played in Korea before) so they had to learn the rules on the spot, but we won anyways🥳🥳A bunch of us came to yell at them to make our country proud support so maybe that helped ^^

Apart from these, I also got my hair dyed, went to hot pot for my birthday, and went to Carnegie’s (#3 on (allegedly) must-go places as an exchange student in HK)

But these kind of got overshadowed by my inexplicable tiredness…

I think it’s actually not inexplicable and it’s just that schoolwork is now somewhat real and I’m still on the search for internships and I’ve also been stressing out about my project team back at UMich :( I feel like my desire to stay in my room and watch TV all day has suddenly resurged…

At least the weather has been decent!

Jana Ka Computer Science and Engineering IPE: Hong Kong University of Science & Technology (HKUST) in Kowloon