Beach Livin'

Less than half an hour outside campus took us to a whole new world.

"Forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair."

Yesterday started out with a nice yoga session and a quick run (finally making it up that crazy hill), then a grocery trip. I feel like I've been eating soooo much bread since I've been here so I decided to catch up on my veggies! I meal prepped veggie pasta, and then I made a chickpea vegetable salad with a lemon, basil, and olive oil dressing.

After that, I showered and did some homework. In the afternoon, Anna's family friend came to pick me, Anna, and Emily up to take us to Sai Kung, his favorite place to show people who are new to Hong Kong. It's so nice riding in a car after relying on taxis, the MTR, buses, etc. We arrived at this gorgeous beach town, where the breeze cooled the weather down and I was immediately hit with memories of walking on the beach. He bought us ice cream (mine was green melon flavor) as we walked through the area and looked at the boats and all the sea creatures and fish they caught.

It was such a good feeling, and we saw several runners and families exploring the area. We got on a boat and took it to a nearby island to walk on the beach.

It was so so nice having the cool wind whip through our hair and the sweet ice cream in my hand. Felt as though I was in another world! Who would've thought that this is Hong Kong👀 We walked on the beach and saw these volcanic rocks that look like the tops of pineapple buns!

After we walked around we passed by a temple and also took in so many murals and Chinese New Year decorations!

Mr. Zang took us to Honeymoon Dessert for "afternoon tea" (aka dessert before dinner hahaha). It turns out this is the OG Honeymoon Dessert---I ordered food from one of these shops during quarantine a few times!! Emily ordered a mango sweet soup and I ordered a coconut pudding with chia seeds, green tea ice cream, and glass jelly. Both were absolutely amazing.

Surprisingly light, this might be my new go-to dessert when I'm out.

After the afternoon tea, we got to dine in for dinner since it was before 6pm. We sat in a seafood place and we tried soooooo many things I 've never had before! The fish were chilling in tanks and you literally just point or tell them which ones you want and they'll cook you something great.

They served us Jasmine tea (the usual custom), aka my new FAVE! The first course arrived, it had a texture like noodles. It's the long things in the above picture (bottom right). The sauce was delicious!

Next we tried a clam-like thing (called Geoduck), which looks huge and kinda weird before it's cooked. It's the middle-right thing in the top picture. It was actually super good and refreshing!! Served over ice and with cucumbers, the sauce that we dipped it in made it even better.

After that we had cooked vegetables, which is actually just kale stems and seasoning. Super good:)

Last, we had a crustacean with amazing cajun-like seasoning on it. yummy!

All in all, it was a delicious meal! I don't consider myself a picky eater, and I feel that these pictures prove it 😂 I'm so grateful for Mr. Zang and his hospitality and generosity!! He's picking us up on Thursday for Chinese New Year and we're going to make dumplings and share a traditional meal. I'm suuuuper hype!!!

Until next time:)

xoxo