Third Week in Asia!

Sunday (5.13) rolls around, and it’s the same breakfast-gym-pool routine in the morning, but then in the afternoon the rest of our party joins us in Phuket! We make quite a ruckus at the pool bar before we hang out in the pool for a few hours. The early afternoons are brutally hot, so we hunker down in our hotel rooms again for a few hours while we wait for the temperatures to drop a bit. At night, it’s time to have a group dinner – we head to a popular restaurant in Phuket called Sea Hag! The dinner is delicious, and it’s so much fun hanging out with the whole gang.

Beautiful drink decorations!

Red curry with prawns at Sea Hag!

Part of the group at dinner!

Monday (5.14) is my last full day in Phuket before I head back to Bangkok for a little while, so I try and make the most of it. We spend the morning on the beach before I realize I need to buy some souvenirs from Thailand! There’s a big souvenir store located around the corner from our hotel. I choose to do my souvenir shopping here to get everything done at once. These big stores generally have fixed prices, which is good if you don’t want to bargain for a fair price at a street stall! I find gifts for my mom and a few of my close friends, and I buy a fun elephant buddy for me!

My new elephant buddy!

In the evening, we have dinner at the beach and watch the sunset. It’s a great way to spend my last night in Phuket! Once the sun’s down and everyone’s rested up, we finally decide to check out the infamous bar street in Phuket – Bangla Road – and head to Tiger Bar. Tiger Bar actually houses many, many mini-bars, all with different names and different staff. It’s a little confusing at first, especially when the staff at the different bars try to grab you and have you sit down at their bar! Otherwise, it’s like you might expect of Thailand, with scantily clad “go-go” dancers everywhere. It’s a little overwhelming for me – I also have an early flight – so I head back to the hotel after a few hours.

Beautiful sunset in Phuket

I fly back to Bangkok early on Tuesday (5.15) morning. My hotel room at the Grand Milllennium Sukhumvit isn’t ready until noon, so I decide to go and visit the Grand Palace while I wait for the room to be cleaned. I make the mistake of walking the entire way back and forth from the National Stadium train station. A 5-mile hike in 90-plus degree weather is not something I anticipated! I manage to make it back to my hotel, but I start feeling feverish and chilly at the same time, so I consult the on-site doctor, who tells me I have… heatstroke. Yikes. I go back to my room, drink enough water for a week, draw a bath and then finally crawl into bed for several hours. When I wake up, I’m starving, so I cave into ordering room service. I go back to bed for the rest of the night.

Interesting detail at the Grand Palace!

Grand Palace

On Wednesday (5.16) morning I am feeling much better. I have to make an emergency phone call to my parents to let them know I’m doing okay, and that I’m heading to Hong Kong soon. It’s expensive to make an international call from the hotel, but this is my first time calling them since I left Korea! Later on, I have some paperwork I need to send for my corporate residency. Luckily they have a fax machine at the hotel, so I take care of that pretty quickly! Then it’s time to organize my stuff – funny how things ended up all over the floor yesterday. I spend some time relaxing after that; I’m still feeling a little woozy. In the afternoon, it’s finally time to head to Hong Kong! I arrive around 6pm. Two of my classmates were on the same flight, so we grab a cab to our hotel. We have dinner at a ramen place around the corner from our hotel, and happen to see two other classmates walking by outside!

Thursday (5.17) is a free day in Hong Kong! The IFS trip doesn’t formally start until tomorrow, and so people continue to arrive throughout the day. The folks who are already here decide to get dim sum at Tin Ho Wan, the only Michelin-starred dim sum restaurant in the world. One of my classmates has a culinary background, so he’s been researching good places to eat in Hong Kong. There are a few dim sum places in Boston’s Chinatown, but they all pale in comparison to the real thing! The BBQ pork buns at Tin Ho Wan are fantastic, by the way.

Tin Ho Wan Restaurant!

The rest of the afternoon is spent exploring the city. This is my first time in Hong Kong; I’m really excited about seeing the sights. Our hotel – Cityview Hotel – is located right next to Nathan Road, which is a huge shopping area in Hong Kong. There are stores and restaurants all over the place, and it’s fun to walk around and people-watch. We have dinner at a small sushi place. At night, we check out a street market. I buy myself a small magnet as a souvenir and try some street snacks!

Trinkets at the street market!

Nathan Road

The “study” portion of the IFS trip starts on Friday (5.18). It’s a little weird getting back into the school groove. The entire class meets at 7:30am to officially start the day. I’m not jetlagged anymore, so this is an early start time for me! After introductions, we have some time to eat breakfast. Our schedule is pretty packed, with two business visits – Manulife (an insurance company) and Jardines (a strategic planning group). In between the sites, we have lunch at a nice restaurant called The Press Room. Once the visits are over, the rest of the evening is free. A few of us venture out to Lan Kwai Fong on Hong Kong Island to indulge in cocktails. Lan Kwai Fong is the main nightlife street in HK, and there are a LOT of fun places to go there!

Saturday (5.19) is a city tour day. The whole group is taken on a guided tour of the major sites in Hong Kong. First we visit Victoria Peak to get a fantastic view of the city. Then we’re off to Repulse Bay to take a look at a local beach and a small temple. Finally, we take a boat tour of the Aberdeen fishing village before we make a final stop at Stanley Market for a bit of souvenir shopping!

View from Victoria Peak

Aberdeen Fishing Village

More dim sum - this time at Stanley Market!

After the first part of our day is over, we have some free time before a fantastic cruise around the harbor. The staff on the junk is all dressed up in Chinese pirate garb to add an element of fun to the cruise. Once the cruise is over, the whole group gets a chance to watch the light show on the big skyscrapers in Hong Kong. It’s fun watching the lights change to music. Then finally it’s time for dinner at a Chinese-style restaurant with Peking duck! We have an early flight to Shanghai the next morning, so I check in for the night shortly after dinner. 

A gorgeous sunset in Hong Kong!