Mid-Autumn Festival (中秋節) 2010

Mid-Autumn Festival (or Moon Festival) is the 15th day of the 8th month on the Chinese calendar. Families usually come together to celebrate; eat mooncake, and light lanterns, and spend the holiday with loved ones. This Mid-Autumn Festival was the liveliest I've ever experienced. There are tons of people everywhere rushing home, buying mooncake, and of course, joining in on the festivities in Hong Kong. A group of friends and I went to the Victoria Park in Causeway Bay for the Lantern Festival. It's really like how in group gatherings such as these, I always meet new friends! Our group grew from 9, to 13, and then the word on the street was that another 15 were at McDonald's and coming to meet us up after eating. Anywho, here are some snapshots from the night!

Top: Elise, Melissa, Connie, Me, Ki Gin
Bottom: Harumi, Lu

The trains were pretty empty because everyone was at home celebrating - perfect for group pictures, hooray! They are all so cute, dontcha think?

There was a huge swarm of people at the Causeway Bay Station, all heading to the Lantern Festival!

Paparazzi! Lu is incredibly hilarious. And Nana is awesome! Her job right now is to play with the professor's adorable kid who calls her 'Nana-sensei"! 

Many pretty lights and lanterns at the festival. There were booths that taught how to make origami, lantern displays, traditional lion dancing, and performances on the big stage. 

Our group before we split up into smaller groups! It was so funny because they were all smiling for these pictures but were whispering "are those our cameras? why are those people taking pictures of us? do we know them?" 

Me and Nana!

Melissa and I ran into fellow UCSD Tritons! PICTURE TIME!

Nana, Honour, Lisa, Me, and Melissa

Melissa's trying to take a picture of the lion-dancer, but it was super crowed, and we're too short (even in HK) >.<

OooOo pretty lights!

Haibao, the Shanghai Expo mascot, can be found anywhere where there are tourists! Look at me, I'm cute too! xD

Heading out with Nana, Lisa, Melissa, and Alice (ran into her and her family, thus, group pic!)

As we were leaving, more people were just coming! The streets were so packed!  We made a detour and got some street snacks :d
Egglettes, shiumai, fish balls, and mango juice, yummy!!!

And since Mid-Autumn festival is also my Chinese birthday, my friend Eric gave me my first mooncake in Hong Kong! It was specially home-made by his friend, and it was sooo good - thanks! 

FOOD TOUR #1: Hong Kong Central (9.18.10)

One day last week, a brilliant idea came to me!......

I will admit that among my many reasons for choosing Hong Kong, rumors of the amazing food was among the top. After gathering information from many valuable sources (Em, Winnie, Jack, Sue, international friends, Openrice.com...), I decided that I must find a group of adventurous and passionate food-lovers, who will join me on this series of adventures: the ultimate Food Tour of Hong Kong! So last weekend, Melissa, Hyeong Jeong, Lesie, Penny, and I headed to HK Central to explore the food there. It was perfect that we were a group of 5 girls, because we were able to sample and share a bit of everything we found!

Heading out to Central on the MTR with Penny's treasure-filled Korean guide book and empty stomachs!  Melissa, Hyeong Jeong, Leslie, Penny and I dedicated a full day to eating - you see where our priorities lie, haha.

Of course, our first destination was the infamous Egg Tart shop near the Central Station. I would've been satisfied if I went home with a box of that and nothing else! 

It was SO PERFECT. But we had to contain ourselves and only eat one! There's much more food to enjoy...yee!

Look at how happy we all are! 

Re-energized after the Dan Tahts!

We found cool murals on our way to our next destination

lol, another Crystal Jade! How can I say no? The wait was sooooo loooong, but I had the company of good friends :)

<3 yummyyummyyummy <3 

Leslie, the photographer!

Group picture in the IFC Mall

A Hong Kong snack, I forgot what it's called. It's basically French toast with egg yolk custard filling. It's SO good, but so bad for you!

What a cutie!!!! I want one!

hahaha, Leslie was so happy to find her Totoro's.  Definitely brought out the kid spirit in her ;)

Taiwanese restaurant. Sharing was definitely a good idea!

Exhausted, but still smiling and still eating! What great sports. 

Exhausted, but having a great time anyway! 

Even after so much food, they simply could not say no to Gong Cha! Oh, it would be so nice to have some right now...

Hong Kong street snacks are everywhere! I wish Oakland Chinatown were like this! 

We were about ready to head home, but we saw an ad for Purikura pictures! It led us to some alley off the main street and up some iffy-looking stairs... but it turned out to be really hectic and fun just like it should be, haha!

I would call the day a great success! Great food, great friends, great city. We are already brainstorming places to eat for our next tour destination: Tsim Sha Tsui! 

Oh my, I think I'm in love with Hong Kong. 

What I Miss Most About "Home"