Turning 21 in Hong Kong!!

Time to chat about my amazing birthday weekend from last month!

"I want it all" --Sharpay Evans, High School Musical

I ended my 20th year and started by 21st year of life with a bang: camping! To make up for a much-delayed birthday beach camping trip for George, we all pitched our tents at a beach in Sai Kung (one of my top three fave places in Hong Kong!). It was super hot outside but the sunshine was the perfect compliment to the cool ocean waves. We played soccer, football, went swimming, and had to hike a bit to get to the beach. I didn't take any pictures at the beach but I hope my description has enough imagery so you get the vision. The vibe during the day was great, and we ate at this little beach restaurant. I ordered some yummy noodles while the sun went down, and we met this really nice woman after dinner. She and her family were from the US and now live in Hong Kong, so it was really cool hearing her story and how she ended up on the same beach at the same moment! In Hong Kong overall we've met a bunch of people who are so kind:)

Most of the CBS people had to leave at night, so it was mostly UNC people who ended up camping. We sat around the fire and chatted with everyone for hours!

I convinced Emily to go skinny dipping with me at midnight to start 21 off in a fun way hahaha. Felt so free lolll. When we got back to the others and our campsite, they all sang happy birthday to me!

Sadly I got like no sleep that night but it was great overall. Correction: everything was great minus the wild boar... The boar literally broke into someone's tent to steal a bag of chips from one of the guys🙈😂

At one point I couldn't sleep so badly that I laid in my sleeping bag outside the tent to look up at the stars. Finally, the sun rose, and we all appreciated the beautiful view. Again, I didn't take any pictures, but here's something Anna sent me afterwards:

Everyone wished me a groggy "happy birthday" as we packed up our tents and taxid back to campus. I took a FAT nap when we got back, cooked some food, then got ready for my birthday main event: going out for dinner and drinks! It's funny because the legal drinking age is actually 18 for Hong Kongers, but since it's still 21 in the US and we're from the US, well you get the idea haha. Had to go all out!

Emily made reservations for this super cute restaurant called Foxglove. She nailed the vibe that I wanted! A romantic, candle-lit, dimly-lit, old-school vibe. Gave me Great Gatsby vibes with the gold and black! It's kind of hidden too! We had to use an umbrella as a key to get to our seats once we entered the restaurant. From their website:

Even the bathroom hallway was on-theme (aviation themed). Felt like I was on the Titanic tho haha.

The food was amazing: DIM SUM!!! My favorite:)) I ordered a tropical themed cocktail that was absolutely delicious!

In addition to dinner, the girls (Anna, Emily, and Allison) also took some pictures together in the city. The pictures were super cute but here's a selfie after walking around and sweating from the humidity haha:

The guys (George, Josh, and Udhay) met up with us for dinner and drinks!

After dinner we went to a "hidden bar" called Please Don't Tell. To be honest, it actually took a good bit to find😂 It's a bar inside a bar inside a hotel in Central. We got some of their famous teriyaki tots in addition to drinks.

Since it was my birthday, George said he'd buy my drink which was so nice! Allison said I probably wouldn't like anything with brown alcohol but of course I ended up failing and choosing a bourbon thanks to my limited knowledge of liquor. 👀😂 In my defense, they got me with the "maple and bacon" flavor (okay I legit thought it was gonna be some maple-bacon-Duck-Donuts-kind-of-taste😂😂) Udhay and I basically switched drinks since his was definitely more my kind of style. Oh yeah, also, Emily's drink had a flower on top!

Udhay bought everyone tequila shots when we got to the bar--it was kinda fun taking the salt, the shot, and then munching on an orange slice. Wouldn't say tequila is my favorite tho😂 When we were about to leave the bar, the bar tender gave us all a second round of shots for free. I realized I'm not a lightweight so I was doing just fine, especially after that McFlurry we picked up on the way to meet some of the others outside.

Overall, it was a great birthday!! My kind of day: outdoorsy/camping plus getting dressed up and sharing great food with great friends! :)

The week after, Emily and Anna took me to a birthday part two surprise: we went out to a super nice dinner, then they said "we're going to get dessert" and surprised me by taking me to a massage place! IT WAS SO NICE omg. When we left the place I felt like I could fly.

Here's to 21🤩🤩

^^the teriyaki tots

xoxo