Dear all,
Here I am, honouring my promise to NUS - A blog about my study exchange experiences in Hong Kong.
This is The University of Hong Kong's (HKU) Main Building. Does the design of this building not remind you of some ancient building? Well, let me give you some history of HKU.
The University is founded in 1910 - the birth of Hong Kong's first tertiary institution. In December 1916, the University held its first congregation, with just 23 graduates.
It was ten years after the founding of HKU that women students were admitted for the first time. In 1937, Queen Mary Hospital opened and has served as the University's teaching hospital since that time.
Up to today, it is now Hong Kong's largest tertiary-level institution for continuing education with cumulative enrolment totalling more than one million students.
Therefore, I am pretty sure I will be able to gain some quality education over here, together with some cultural exchange and interaction with the local students. I will definitely enjoy my semester here! So dear friends, enjoy along with me! =)
Thursday, November 10, 2005
9th Nov - Dinner with Director of the International Relations Office (NUS)Met up with the president of NUS and the director of the IRO of NUS on Monday. A global lounge is opened in HKU, and the presidents of 21 universities are all invited to the grand opening ceremony of the Global Lounge. The school band was even there to play! They had made the whole event so grand. And I thought it was just a simple opening ceremony of a lounge.
Chatted with the president and the director, and took pictures with them. They are really very nice. Kept telling us not to study too much, not to stay in the library all the time. They told us that we must travel around, and experience the different environments and people. That's what we are in HK for. Not for studies, but for the wide experience. How true. =)
The director of the IRO arranged a dinner with us on Wednesday. The president couldn't make it as he needs to fly off on Tuesday night. We thought it was just a simple dinner, not until we received a formal invitation from the Assistant Manager of IRO in NUS! We were quite taken by surprise that the people in NUS knew about the dinner too! An email invitation! Talk about formality...
Anyway, we went to the Maxims Restaurant for a good dinner. It was probably the best meal we had and will have in HK. There were 10 of us. 7 Singaporean students, the director and his wife, and the manager of Global Lounge. It was a great dinner as we had the opportunity for interaction, and to get to know them personally. It was nice hearing their experiences, as they definitely had more than us. I remembered that the director told us that building connections are very important. That was probably why he invited the manager of global lounge there as well.
2nd from right is the Director. Beside him (right) is his wife. Behind him is the Global Lounge Manager. The rest are we NUS students!
Oh yes, the food was superb. The best food I had in HK so far. The suckling pig, the Beijing duck. Delicious. There's red wine, and beer as well. The bill actually amounted to HKD2300! Well, considering the type and amount of food we ate, I guess that's reasonable. =) It's the director's treat by the way. However, I think he is gonna claim from the university. Well, I think it's quite definite that he is going to claim from the university. Haha.. Nevertheless, a really fruitful night.
Bidded farewell with them. The director gave me a pat on the shoulder. I felt so sweet. I suddenly miss Daddy. I had alot to chat with the director. He reminds me of Dad. I told him about my life, and even told him about my sister. Haha. He looks like Daddy too. =)
I will definitely pay him a visit when I return to Singapore. He's really nice.
And I must remember that connections are important. I will improve on my PR skills. I have to, and I will.
Still remembered that the Director told us to go back school to study. That was around 10pm after we left the restaurant. However, guess what we did? We went for KTV! And guess how long we stayed in there? 7 hours! Meaning we sang KTV from 10+ pm all the way till 5am! It is madness ain't it? But there is no time limit. So the more we sang, the more we make our money worth. Titbits, drinks and KTV in total cost each person HKD115. Around SGD20+. I think it is cheaper than that of Singapore. It's great, and it's fun! But we shall not do that again, cos it's a Wednesday! All of us had school the next day! What's worse? A few of us had presentation the next day, and it's totally unprepared. Haha. We are too wild I guess.. But it was really fun. We will not it again. Unless... on a weekend? =X
Had good dinner, had a nice KTV session. Satisfied. =)
11:46 PM , Reminisced
