McCombs BBA Study Abroad Students

Posted by: Ni Hao, Erica! v. Hong Kong | November 25, 2009

Adventure in my Mouth: Case of the Globalizing Tummy

I am a self-proclaimed foodie. In Austin, I unofficially started a dinner club to try different restaurants in Austin. Why would that change in Asia? Everyone, I share with you – all my favorite delicious, mouthwatering, food from HK and my trips in Asia. I hope you’re not on an empty stomach, we are gonna take a journey into the adventures of my mouth.

Hong Kong:
I’ve read somewhere that Hong Kong is actually the #7 place in the world to find good eats. This is so true, there is so much good stuff to find in Hong Kong that I actually gained 5 lbs my first month abroad – eek! Freshman 15 all over again. They have a diverse range of foods and you can get anything from Italian to Korean to Russian. I chose to focus on Cantonese dishes and HK specific foods or this post will be super super super long opposed to super long. Dim Sum is a Cantonese delicacy, street food (pig intestine, stinky tofu), Fried noodles, and won ton soup. When the weather is cold, roasted chestnuts and yams pop up all over the streets.

Dim Sum

Street Food in Mong Kok

Chicken and Mushroom Hot Pot on Temple Street

Wonton Soup, Fried Noodles, and Milk Tea

Roasted Chestnuts and Yams

HK Dessert: Mango in Sticky Rice Coconut Soup and Sago with Green Tea Ice Cream

Taiwan:
Taiwan is known for their obsession with cuteness and Hello Kitty – Food is made in her honor!! The entire shop was everything Hello Kitty that you could imagine. They are also big on night markets which we prowled in the evening in their two largest ones – Shi Lin and Shi Da.

Xiao Long Bao at Ding Tai Feng (top rated restaurant in the world)

Hello Kitty Cafe

Shi Lin Night Market

Tapioca Milk Tea originated from Taiwan

Singapore:
I got to meet up with Nancy (also from UT on exchange in Singapore) when I went to Singapore. We went to 328, which on food network was proclaimed the best “Laksa” in all of Singpore. It did not disappoint, but I especially loved the street food on a stick (Carrot Cake was my favorite) and Ice Cream wafers.

Laksa - Coconut Curry noodle Soup

Snack Foods!

Caught in action with an Ice Cream Wafer

China:
Snack foods are a common thing along the streets of Asia so I wouldn’t expect anything less from Mainland China. It started getting cold but I surely warmed up with all the delicious yet spicy snack foods of the Sichuan province. You get to pick what you want and they cook it right in front of you. I still feel the tingle of the spices in my nose.

Street Food - Sichuan Spice

Hot and Spicy Noodles

: Mapo Tofu

Dan Dan Mien - Dan Dan Noodles

Rou Jia Mo - Chinese Pork Pizza?

Philippines:
I was lucky to have met up with a friend in the Philippines that I new from high school. He brought us to a local restaurant and ordered authentic Filipino food for us! Overall, the food was incredibly delicious. I infered that Filipinos like their food salty! My favorite dish was the Panang Chicken and Leche Flan, of course

Bamboo Plate

Filipinos like to dip their food into this sauce: Vinegar, Soysauce, peppers, and Calamansi (super lime)

Panang Chicken - savory flavor

Saucy Tangkon

Bangus or "Milk Fish"

Leche Flan

Travel Buddies - 4 UT students representing!

The Balcony: A first step in any healthy roommate relationship.

1 French guy
1 Finnish guy
1 Belgian guy
1 American guy

Mix them together and you have Room 347 in Jarov Building G Dormitory.

Room 347 is the hub of my living situation. It has a cheap laminate floor that feels and looks like it was made out of skinned, yellow plastic ducks. In one corner, a sink that may or may not completely drain on any given night shares surface space with a hot plate that doesn’t turn off unless you unplug it from the wall socket. The hot plate is our kitchen and the sole means of all Room 347 cuisine, which usually consists of noodles or eggs depending on whether the pot or pan waiting in the sink takes less effort to clean. Above the sink are two cupboards with doors that don’t stay closed. Beneath the sink is a minifridge divided by four males. A toilet sits in a cramped room in the other corner of the room; if you’re taller than six feet, you have to do something creative with your knees for the door to close. Beside it is the entrance to the shower room which is disproportionately larger than every other aspect of Room 347. It includes two lavatories and is built with enough shower room as though it was made to accomodate all of Room 347’s four occupants at once. We each get our own closet. Two bedrooms split off of the living room. I share mine with the Belgian, which is about the size of a room in UT’s Moorehill or Jester.

Both bedrooms share a balcony. It’s not just any ordinary balcony, though. It’s “The Balcony”. It’s the beginning and the end of every Room 347 nightly activity. We all met each other on the first night of the semester on the balcony and every cold morning we gather on the balcony, cups of coffee in hand, to discuss the daily itenerary and the previous night’s events. If it weren’t for the balcony, I can honestly say the four of us, as roommates, would only fractionally know each other. A fractional friendship forged by the fusing powers of The Balcony.

The infamous roommate situation, no matter where you live, has always been a historical central component to any college semester experience. But how about three roommates from three different parts of the world? I don’t mean to kick the proverbial bucket here, but for me, meeting new people is one of the most purest of pleasures. While scenery and cultural surprises lose their novelty and meld in to one another, meeting new people and developing new friendships and relationships are always fresh and different. I lucked out and made three new best friends from three different nations that I’ll continue to speak with long after we part ways. The charming day-to-day qualities of Room 347, like the morning queue for the hot plate, may sound like inconveniences, but these are among the things I will miss the most in a few months.

Oh yeah, I’m only paying $500 for the entire semester of housing. Eat that, ridiculously expensive former apartment on 24th and Leon St.

As Carmen San Diego, I Pride Myself on Being a Global Gumshoe

Thursday, November 05, 2009 at 1:27am

As a French visa holder, Bonjour!!

As an American, I pride myself on celebrating holidays that truly serve no purpose, including Halloween. From prior blogs, you may know that I had intended to be a gypsy for said holiday…and I didn’t disappoint! I sported the ugly baggy skirt, the tie-dye hippy shirt, the required hijab, and a fabricated sign which gypsies use to distract their prey. The sign read verbatim as follows: “Allah blesses U 4 taking the time 2 reed this. Little do U know, U’RE currently being gyped. By the time U reech the end, I will have scammed UR wallet and UR first-born. Merci 4 your patience. ¡Viva Allah!” Now, before you deem the contents of the aforementioned sign inappropriate, I will have you know that I put much thought and did substantial research as to what the contents should entail. For the reason that gypsies predominantly emigrate from Islamic countries and originate from Egypt, I am actually being politically correct by referencing their selected higher being (Allah). Therefore, don’t be hatin’! Walking around Paris in such a costume was quite inspiring; I felt a strong connection to the gypsies and how they must feel…everyone thought I was about to “gyp” them. Although I don’t sympathize with them, I can now certainly empathize.

As a Texan, I pride myself on being an aficionado of what is claimed to have the thickest athletes – football. Specifically, college football. I daily check ESPN to see if any new articles have been released. And, what I mean by that…I watch the videos on ESPN, not really read. Regardless, I am an avid watcher and supporter of the Texas Longhorns. Now, imagine my excitement when we found a bar in Paris that was going to play the Texas-Oklahoma game (for those unfamiliar with the Big 12 football, this is THE game of the season!). Team America came to the bar…prepared. It was quite clear that football was our religion – I had my jersey that I brought from the States and painted my eyes with daunting eye black. We arrived at the bar right in time for kick off at 6:00pm, and began to “tailgate” at the bar. Every time Texas scored a touchdown, we would run through the entire bar with our huge Texas flag and would commence the “Texas…Fight” chant. Normally, people would think we’re crazy, but nearly everyone there hailed from Texas (except for the diminutive group of bandwagons-riders/incestuous folks from Oklahoma in the corner; they were saddened for they were losing!). One of the bartenders, Charlie, became enamored of me (I mean, who wouldn’t, right?!), and incessantly brought us free drinks. Once Texas won, we all were heading out when Charlie proposed that we stay to get the party started. We ended up staying through the next football game (Florida vs. blah) until their closing hour at 3:00am; we stayed for a total of 9 hours. And, thanks to my good looks, I mean charming personality, I mean luck, our average bill was only 30€. Thanks Charlie!

As a previous Mexican resident, I pride myself on being sketchy as hell. If you’ve read my previous blogs, you know about our weekly visit to the club ‘Le Mix.’ Well, for one night, and one night only, Team America decided to transform into Team Mexico. Clearly, this meant that our proper Mexican attire was in order, and for me, this meant sporting the infamous ‘Dirty Sanchez’ mustache (see past Facebook profile pictures for the stache!). Of course our attire and gregarious personalities brought onto us much attention, which was the perfect catalyst to us becoming loco. Well, about a week after this particular visit to Le Mix, I received a Facebook notification informing me that I had been tagged in a photo. Always being cautious of horrid photos of myself (and potentially subsequently untagging myself), I quickly checked it. Apparently, we were loco enough that my friends and I tried to get in the background of random people’s pictures, and were successful. The most comical part – someone from the school randomly noticed me while sifting through arbitrary friends’ albums and died of laughter when she found me; consequently, she tagged me. I have absolutely NO idea who these people are (and still don’t). I suppose doing this action is not uncommon, but having it be traced back to you…that’s hilarious! For your comic relief, I’ve provided the aforementioned photo below.

À plus tard,

–sk.ii