A nice long break.

As the title implies, I've been lucky enough not to be stuck with a very burdensome exam schedule this semester (doubtlessly it'll catch up with me next semester!), and so I'm taking the opportunity to see more Hong Kong and spend more time with friends, especially the ones who are only here as exchange students for one semester.

There have been a few beach trips, involving picnics, and building sandcastles with people who've never built them before, and having random tourists in suits take photos of us from a distance, and enjoying the fact that it's still beach weather here whilst Canada is under a blanket of snow!

I bought a new camera, to replace the one that I broke during the superpass dinner. I've made the leap from 8.1 to 12 megapixels, so hopefully it will be noticeable in the quality of the photos I'm taking now.

I've made a few fantastic cultural trips. Last weekend, after Dim Sum with my roommate Joseph, I went to Kowloon Walled City Park. Kowloon Walled city was one of those strange political anomalies that nerds such as myself love: an area of Kowloon which belonged to China during British rule, it was effectively lawless, which lead the establishment of plenty of industry, housing, and illicit activity. Owing to this, the governments agreed to demolish it, and a beautiful park was created in it's place. It's fascinating how a place that was so lively and chaotic can be transformed, by a matter of civil planning, into a peaceful reprieve from the city. For those interested, pictures are up on my Facebook!

Tuesday night I went to go take a look at the Christmas tree in Statue Square-anyone who follows the American reality TV series "The Amazing Race," may have seen this spot on a recent episode as a "pit stop." The Christmas tree which has been placed there was made out of Crystal and donated by Swarovsky!

Finally, yesterday (Wednesday), I went with my friend Alicia to two temples. First, we went to Wong Tai Sin, a huge Daoist temple complex which was full of visitors lighting incense, drawing lots (a type of fortune telling where one thinks of a question, shakes a tin of sticks until one falls out, then reads the fortune corresponding to the number on that stick), and praying at the various temples in the large complex. Second, we visited a Buddhist temple and garden in the area of Diamond Hill. This temple/park was designed to reflect the Tang Dynasty's style, which we in the west commonly associate with Japan. In keeping with tradition, all buildings were built of inter-locking planks, and thus no nails were used. Alicia gave me fantastic explanations of everything in both temples, explaining the significance, the styles, and translating (and helping me to read, since I'm starting to be able to). 谢谢你Alicia！