6.1.2018

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Waking up this morning around 8:30 am was still too easy – evidence that I am still a bit jetlagged. After breakfast, the Williams students and Harry met up to make our way to our first destination: the Hong Kong Monetary Authority.
We were given a tour that explained the history of currency in Hong Kong and the HKMA, then the went over the different security features of the Hong Kong Dollar and the $10 polymer bill. I got a little confused as she told us there are three different banks that print money and that the HKMA acts as a central bank, but Hong Kong isn’t a country – hopefully in our classes next week, the reasoning might become clearer.
We had lunch nearby where I tried ginger and scallion noodles and some congee, while others had fried fish balls, dumplings, and wantons. We walked around Central, meandering through stores while sipping on some Taro Milk Tea with Pearls – even losing RB briefly when we hopped on a tram.
We finally made our way to our next destination: Yan Oi Tong. Yan Oi Tong is one of six major NGOs in Hong Kong, working to promote inclusion through helping the elderly, educating kids, protecting the environment, providing medical support and exercise facilities.
After seeing Yan Oi Tong, we worked our way to a hot pot restaurant (that Harry says all the students at Lingnan go to) through a HUGE mall that spanned multiple blocks, connected by enclosed bridges so we didn’t even have to walk outside in the rain until we were right by the restaurant.
When we got to the restaurant, there were no seats left. However, they told us that at their other location, they had space and they had a van to take us there. We were a little wary, but Harry reassured us that Hong Kong is a safe city and after about a 20-minute ride in this van, we made it to hot pot. It was definitely worth the trip –  for about $17, we had an unlimited supply of meats and vegetables to dip into the two pots. We also got to try some sweet mantou for dessert – delicious!
Stuffed, Harry led us to a 16-person public bus that you can only take if you speak Cantonese because you have to tell the driver where you want to go and then they will drop you off there. I can’t believe that we have been able to do all of this and it is only our second day in Hong Kong!