Just Another Reason Why I Chose Ivey

And I am so glad I did.

The Richard Ivey School of Business is the school I belonged to during my third and fourth years at Western. It was a great experience, even though it was a lot of work. At Ivey, they use the case study method. That means that all day, every day, we use real world business cases to learn about business. Every night, we would have to prepare three cases for the next day, and they take a few hours each. Then, when you arrived in class (at 8 am EVERYDAY, might I add), it was ON. Since 30-50% of your final grade depends on your in-class participation (or "contribution", as Ivey calls it)...everyone is always fighting to get a word in. It is definitely not for everyone...but I loved every minute of it.

Another reason I chose Ivey, though, is for its Alumni Network.

Remember a few weeks ago, when I went to see Ivey's Hong Kong campus? Well, the Dean sent me (and all of Ivey's exchange students) an invitation a few weeks later, to come to her apartment for "Cocktails" (how grown up am I???) with Ivey Alumni located in the Hong Kong area. Of course, all of us were super excited!

So, on Wednesday, Lisa, Chelsie, Georginanna and I grab the subway and head to Admiralty, a very cool area in downtown Hong Kong.

By the way, I don't think you have met Georginanna yet. She goes to Ivey as well (obviously), but she is originally from Hong Kong. She speaks English, Cantonese and Mandarin fluently, plus some Korean. And in true Asian style, she can eat anything she likes and still looks like a twig. She is a great source of information about the best places to eat in Hong Kong, and she is super fun to go out with.

Anyways, we get off the subway and find the address, and what do we find? The Dean (her name is Kathleen) and her husband actually live in a serviced apartment in the Conrad Hotel.

What is a serviced hotel, you ask? Well, I wanted to know as well, so I looked it up.

Basically, it is like living in a hotel, but are usually 30-35% less expensive than doing so. The places are fully furnished. Cleaning service is provided for no extra charge daily, and the units are usually much more spacious. They also include kitchen and dining facilities. All kitchen accessories and even linens are provided. Sounds pretty great to me!

Anyways, their apartment is fabulous. They have a view of the skyline of Tsim Sha Tsui across the water, and two bedrooms (one of them has two single beds). There was delicious appetizers - shrimp, kabobs, little cracker-things. Also, there were two men in butler uniforms serving us the entire night (mostly refilling our wine glasses!). The atmosphere was amazing.

It was great talking to the Dean, her husband (a retired school teacer) and other Ivey Alumni. It was really interesting hearing everyone's stories. A lot of the people there were investment bankers. One man worked for a year in banking in Toronto, a year in New York, and then was supposed to spend only a year doing the same in Hong Kong - but he ending up loving it so much that he stayed! He now has two children, and just bought a house here. Crazy!

Here is a photo of all of Ivey's Hong Kong exchange students that we took near the end of the evening, in the hotel lobby:

I really appreciate Kathleen and her husband hosting this event for us, and I appreciate all of he Alumni who came. It really meant so much to me that Ivey Alumni were willing to take time out of their lives to come and spend a night with a bunch of 21 year-olds. When I am older, I will definitely do the same.

And that is the beauty of the Ivey Alumni Network.

The Food in Hong Kong

I recently received an email from a friend back home, asking me what the food in Hong Kong is like. I should have posted something about this earlier, because I had no idea what to expect, and I am sure many of you are wondering what I eat over here!

Well, first let me tell you about the food on campus. There are 7 restaurants on campus. One of them is McDonald's. I hardly ever eat there (although, it is really cheap...about $3 CAD including taxes for a Big Mac Meal or something like that). Ray Kroc would be happy to hear that it looks and tastes exactly the same as it does at home.

There are three cafeteria-style restaurants, that serve a bunch of different types of foods, and the offerings change daily. You can get Western food, Chinese food, Thai food, Japanese food...and so much more. The menu is posted on a wall, and there are no pictures...so it was a bit of an adventure in the beginning. Sometimes, I would order something and receive something completely different and unexpected. There is one item that they serve there that I am happy I never ordered by mistake: Chicken Feet.

A typical meal at these restaurants is Tomato Minced Beef with Egg and Rice. It is basically a big bowl of rice with minced beef in tomato sauce, with a fried egg on top. WHY is that egg there? I don't know. It is weird. But pretty good.

Meals in these restaurants usually cost about HK$20, or $3.22 CAD. This includes tax.

There is also the Western Cafe. This restaurant serves totally Western meals - sandwiches, pizza, baked potatoes, paninis...it is pretty good, and definitely your best bet if you want to order something that you will recognize. Sandwiches here cost HK$12, or $1.93, including tax.

Finally, there are two "nicer" restaurants on campus. The first is Western-style, called The Bistro. It serves meals that you will find at a typical restaurant in Canada - toasted BLT sandwiches, potato skins, pasta, etc. It is more expensive, though...maybe $8-$12 CAD per meal. It is connected to the Uni-Bar, our on-campus bar. I have only been there once, though, for the first exchange student event of the year.

The last "nice" restaurant is the Dim Sum restaurant. I only go there on weekdays after 2:30, because it is half-price. Dim Sum is a Hong Kong specialty, and it is basically a bunch of steamed snacks (dumplings, buns, etc.) that are served in bamboo containers. Four dumplings costs HK$9, or $1.45 CAD, and two or three orders would easily be enough to fill you up.

Off campus, there are a LOT more options. No matter what kind of food you are looking for in Hong Kong, you can find it. And for the most part, it is pretty inexpensive.

Sure, there are scary-looking places that have raw chunks of mean and skinned ducks prominently displayed in the window...but there are also regular restaurants, just like you would find in any city back home. One of the most popular places to eat is SoHo. SoHo is accessed via the Mid-Level Escalators, which take you up a hill in the middle of the Central district of Hong Kong. As you climb, you can look on both sides for a restaurant that looks good. I have had some great meals there.

I also enjoyed heading to the harbour a few weeks ago, where there are tons of restaurants serving the freshest seafood I have ever had. So fresh, in fact, that you can choose your fist RIGHT THEN AND THERE, and the restaurant will cook it up for you. It was great.

Another cool food experience I had was to a "Korean Barbecue" restaurant. This is a buffet, but other than salads and sushi and things like that, the only thing served is raw meat. You fill your plate with raw meat, and bring it back to your table, where you have your own personal grill. You grill your food, and eat it! The place we went was all-you-can-eat for about $20 CAD.

Here's a photo of my Korean Barbecue experience:

Finally, there is my favourite Hong Kong restaurant - Sushi One. I only go after 10 pm, when sushi is half-price. In fact, Chelsie and I have made friends with the staff at Sushi One in TST. They get very excited every time we come in! The minimum order is $10 CAD, but this gets you lots of food. The best part? Beer is half-price, too.

The moral of the story is that there are tons of food options in Hong Kong. I have definitely had some surprises, though, both good and bad. But in general...the food here is delicious!

I am SO Excited for June 3rd!

What is so special about June 3rd, you ask?

It's because it is the day that my parents will be arriving in Hong Kong to visit me for a week! And I could not be more excited about it!

So far, the plan is for me to meet them at the airport on June 3rd, and we will go to their hotel together. June 4th is "moving day" - I have to be out of my dorm room by noon. So, I will be able to take my parents to see the HKUST campus in the morning (it is SO beautiful! - I know I have mentioned this a million times) and then they can help me to move out of my dorm room, and "into" their hotel room.

I am going to plan the BEST 7 DAYS ever. We are going to see all of Hong Kong's best sites, and even go to Macau for a day together. I just can't wait.

We both have to leave Hong Kong on June 10th, except that they will be bound for Toronto, and I will be bound for London! I will have three days in London before joining my tour group and spending 47 amazing days exploring Europe. It is going to be great, I think.

I love you, Mom and Dad! And I can't wait to see you!

Twitter: It's the Latest

Want to know what I am up to in Hong Kong between blog posts?

Well, let me introduce you to my Twitter profile. You can find it at www.twitter.com/heatherpayne.

Twitter is a new-ish Web 2.0 application that is really starting to gain popularity. A friend introduced it to me a few weeks ago, and I think it is pretty cool! Be an early adopter with me and create a profile at www.twitter.com. When you do, choose to "follow" me and you will see my updates on your own profile page!

Basically, by looking at my Twitter page, you can see my (regular) answers to the question: "What are you doing right now?" For example, a few hours ago, I posted a "tweet" that said that I am in a Starbucks in Admiralty, drinking tea and doing homework. Or something like that.

Yes, Dad...I know that writing on my blog isn't homework! I am getting to it!

Taiwan Post - Finally Done!

Well, that took a while.

But I am finally done my Taiwan post! You can read (the rest of) it here.

Oh, You Want to Know My Weekend Plans?

Oh, it's no big deal, really. I'm just going...ON A CRUISE!

Yes. It is true. I am going with three girlfriends (Lisa, Chelsie and Shannon) on a cruise down the Yangtze River - the longest river in China, and the third longest river in the world (after the Nile in Africa and the Amazon in South America).

The ship sounds pretty cool. Here is what it says on the website:

"Victoria Katarina set a new standard in cruise ship design for Yangtze River cruising when it was inaugurated in 2004. The premier ship is constructed with Victoria Cruises personal touches blending both modern and elegant architecture. The Victoria Katarina takes luxury cruising on the Yangtze to a whole new level with its generous cabin space, floor-to-ceiling windows, and private balconies opening up to breathtaking views.

The Katarina is equipped with the latest technologies, including internet access, fax machines, and international phone systems, enabling you to contact family and friends during your Yangtze journey.

In addition to the finest hardware and shipboard technologies, the Victoria Katarina boasts the same outstanding service offered on all Victoria ships--the best on the Yangtze."

The ship accommodates a little less than 300 people, and we are going to some pretty cool places - Fengdu Ghost City, Lesser Three Gorges, the Three Gorges Dam...it's going to be great, I think.

We are leaving on Wednesday as soon as I finish writing a mid-term (Introduction to E-Commerce), which will be around 9 pm. Since we are flying out of Shenzhen on Thursday morning (it was a LOT cheaper to do this), we are going to stay at Queen Spa overnight...yay!

On Sunday, the cruise ends at Yichang, which isn't too far from a cool city called Wuhan. So, we are going to bus to Wuhan, spend a night and a few hours on Monday there, and then head back to Shenzhen, and then to Hong Kong, on Monday afternoon.

What a life!

Check Out My Spring Break Plans!

Tickets are booked! On April 8th, I will be heading to Thailand for a week (along with more than 50 other students from HKUST!). Want to know one of the most important stops on our journey?

Koh Phangan's world famous Full Moon Party, which is held every month on the night of the full moon.

Want to see what it is like? If you are sure you can handle it...



Don't worry, Mom and Dad...I will be one of the quiet, well-behaved young people, sitting in the corner, reading a book.

Hahaha...