Feastin'

I thought the State Fair was something, but Cheung Chau is next level!!

"There is no love sincerer than the love of food."

I'm so happy I texted the CUHK girls if they were free over the weekend!! A bunch of them planned out a day in Cheung Chau for us, which is an island famous for its street food.

The day started out with me taking a solo run across campus before everyone was awake, which was perfect before an afternoon of trying foods:) Here's a view of the infinity pool on campus:

We took a 40 minute ferry to get there, which led to amazing conversations with everyone.

Once we arrived, we immediately started taking in the sights and sounds of the island. No cars are allowed, so there are bikes parked everywherrrre.

I felt like this was a good replication of what an episode of The Amazing Race would feel like, with crowded alleys and shops all around!

One thing about Hong Kong is that they have tons of fresh juice for sale. Emily got a fresh-squeezed orange juice from a vending machine where you can watch the oranges being squeezed into the cup. Super tasty too!

First up on the foods-to-try agenda was some fish balls! I know I've had them before but these ones were even bigger, more flavorful, and better.

Next was fried green tea flavor mochi ice cream. Definitely my favorite!!

With the hot sun shining down on us and the slight island breeze blowing through my hair, the warm outer fried part reminded me of home (the fried-state-fair-food-vibe) and the cold, melty inside was refreshing. I loooove that green tea desserts are a thing!

Isa and I had a great time trying everything together. Next we got a "potato tornado!"

It's like potato chips on a stick!! So good! You already know that Americans would love these just by the name and the fact that it's fried potatoes 😂 Next I ordered a mango smoothie, which is exactly what the name implies. Don't let the pic fool you, this was the biggest smoothie I ever had lollll.

Super refreshing, it had me on a little bit of a sugar high as we walked around some more.

All the food was making me thirsty so I had to pee, and when we came out of the bathroom we stopped for a while to watch a vendor make famous candy art. He shaped the loli-pop-like candy into unicorns, dragons, and other creatures with such detail and speed that we were in awe! Millicent told us that these candies are very popular and after she said this I noticed a lot of little kids walking around holding them.

Next up was Millicent and Ariel's number one recommendation: MANGO MOCHI! They hyped this up for a solid ten minutes on the ferry ride over. They take a whole fresh mango and wrap it up with fresh mochi dough.

As you can see, it's super powdery on the outside and very doughy. Here's an instagram influencer shot of the mochi after I bit into it! The boats are in the background and the mango is super juicy.

The dessert overall was a little overhyped in my opinion, and I think I would've preferred some type of chocolate inside the dough instead of fruit, but it was really fun to try! Picture yourself eating a piece of fruit with warm, semi-raw dough wrapped around it.

Okay omg it seems like all we did was eat but I promise we were there all day so we walked it off😂😂 Andreas bought some pastries so I tried an egg tart and a "cow ear." Here is a picture of the cow ear:

👀Don't worry, it's actually just a really yummy cookie, not an ear from a cow!😂😂 I might have to buy these for myself sometime because I loved it.

For my actual lunch/meal I ordered a sushi bowl. I'm more of a California roll gal so I haven't tried too much raw fish in my lifetime, but I went all out with this one!

As you can see, I tried everything from seaweed salad to yellowtail to octopus. The octopus was the worst thing, and the eggs and seaweed were amazing.

I'm drawn to all the colors and textures of the bowl! Seems to be a metaphor for everything we tried that day! It was so fun walking around and just looking at everything too! Here's Victoria with her drink.

And here's Akul popping off with his new outfit and drink outside a shop!

Andreas ordered jellyfish, which I just had to try a bit. He grabbed his chopsticks and fed me a little bit and it was surprisingly delicious!!

Sauce game was 10/10!! The flavor was incredible. The texture was oddly super super crunchy, which I wasn't expecting. Like it was actually really weird that I enjoyed it. After all that eating we went for a long walk through the town to explore. I loved seeing this little shop where you could decorate a lock and hang it here. I wanna go back sometime and make one!

Even though beaches are "closed," we were still able to go to the one here and relax. Most of the group thought it was a little chilly but I absolutely loved it!! We almost decided to rent a kayak and take it out on the waves but no one brought a towel or wanted to be soaking wet after (we def would've fell in thanks to the crazy waves).

The island was cooler than CUHK's campus, which felt amazing.

Ariel loved it just as much as I did! It's so cool seeing the beach but also simultaneously being able to see the city in the distance and mountains framing the water. We continued our walk and passed by a temple. We felt a little nervous to go inside since some other people were in there, but we went in anyway and I was taken away by how powerful it felt to walk inside. Very reverent-like, as if you could feel a spirit of something greater than you inside.

The smell of incense wafted to our noses and enhanced the vibe.

The brilliant reds and golds adorned the inside and the tables were covered with fruit and flowers. We continued our walk and ended up walking the "Little Great Wall of China."

Saw some cool rock formations and found a clearing to watch the sun go down.

Instead of immediately walking back, we sat and reflected quietly for a few minutes.

It's in moments like this where I am struck with the realization that, holy crap, I'm IN Hong Kong right now!! Not just for a little bit, like a vacation or school field trip, but I'm LIVING here for HALF A YEAR! I'm so grateful. So many people told me that we wouldn't get to go--so many obstacles and circumstances came our way (even you know the drama at the airport getting here!)

We chatted some more and then (TMI warning) I had to pee more than I ever have so Emily helped me find a remote spot and covered me up with her shirt while I peed in the woods. Emily is a real one, and we laughed so hard at how we never would've thought our friendship would've led to this moment. The group also climbed on the surrounding rocks and had a mini photoshoot which was great.

My eyes are closed in that picture but who cares haha. That's real life action for ya.

Millicent told me that when she was younger her friends would always buy friendship bracelets each time they came to Cheung Chau, and I love a souvenir that you can bring with you everyday after so I picked one up as well.

I say the three blue beads are to remember this moment, this day: 1 for the food, 1 for the friendship, and 1 for the amazing nature scenes.

One last snack to top of the day, we all ordered these fried banana on a stick thingies, which were tasty. But I think they mixed up the mayo and the sweet sauce because those flavors did not mix too well😂😂

Until next time:)

xoxo