At CityU, everything gets busier toward the end of November when students are preparing for group projects for many of their classes, and I am no exception. I have three projects for my Personal Finance, International Business, and Globalization and Environment classes. For my Personal Finance class, the project gives a scenario of a person who freshly graduates from college and has x, y, and z financial conditions and goals. Based on the description, my group needs to develop a solution that logically addresses the person's goals while not putting too much strain on his current financial conditions. Next, for my International Business class, the professor needed each project group to select a news article about an undetermined company's negative news or scandal. From there, the group members research the possible underlying factors or business risks and propose an actionable solution to address these risks for an imaginary start-up company that is in the same industry as the company mentioned in the news article. Last, for my Globalization and the Environment class, the project groups must search for a public issue and expand on it by incorporating the in-class concepts. For many days, I was hopping from project to project to finish the PowerPoint slides and rehearse for the in-class presentation. To my surprise, for two of my projects, I had to take the initiative to lead the groups and motivate my groupmates to keep pushing and finish their assigned parts. Thankfully, after days of concentrating on my work and not going out except for group project meetings, we completed all three projects and presented in front of all three classes at a high quality.
After the completion of our project, there was still some time until we will take the final exam. Thus, after some schedule planning, I figured I could still do a few more solo sightseeing. The places I will introduce here are the Hong Kong Observation Wheel and Ocean Park.
Hong Kong Observation Wheel: On Saturday, November 25th, after having lunch with my friend at a restaurant in Mong Kok, I took the subway to Central in the late afternoon. Exiting the station, I walked towards the Central Ferry Piers and crossed several long pedestrian bridges to get to the famous Hong Kong Observation Wheel. Fun fact: A two-story Apple store is near the Hong Kong Observation Wheel. When I entered the entrance, a gigantic group of tourists was already on the site, queuing in line. To prevent me from falling behind, I immediately took out my phone and presented my digital admission ticket (HKD$20) to security for him to scan the ticket. Then, I had to wait in line for another forty to forty-five minutes before my turn to step into and sit in the sightseeing cabin. Each sightseeing cable can fit seven to eight people comfortably, and each passenger can ride the cable three times for a fifteen-minute session. The door immediately slammed shut as soon as I boarded the sightseeing cable. As the cable elevated, I could see the bird's view of the vast area of Victoria Harbor and its surrounding areas, all lit by bright neon lights at night. I also saw the flow of people walking underneath us and the number of boats crossing from one part of Victoria Harbor to another. Everything in sight progressed orderly and peacefully while showcasing the iconic live and vibrant side of Hong Kong that people have known for decades. I am glad to have witnessed the scene in person.
Ocean Park: The last time I visited Ocean Park was years ago, in my elementary school time. I decided to revisit the place because I wanted to re-experience the rides that I once experienced youthfully as a child. The park is also in a perfect location in Aberdeen, providing a breathtaking 180-degree view of Hong Kong's southern area filled with the blue sea, coastal shores, nature, and residential buildings. I bought the admission ticket online for about HKD$388 and took the same route as I did to get to Ap-Lei Chau since Ocean Park and Ap-Lei Chau are not far from each other. The weather was looking phenomenal, as indicated by the weather forecast. After I arrived at the park, I first visited the aquarium near the entrance. The aquarium has a two-story, spacious, tall water tank that hosts a variety of tropical sea animals, with a diver who wore his swimming suit, swimming goggles, and an oxygen tank to feed these animals for about forty minutes in front of the tourists. Afterward, I took a gondola lift to the park's summit. Sitting in a gondola by myself at such a high altitude was a thrilling first-time experience, and what made it more exciting was the astonishing views along the way. The sky was sapphire and crystal clear, and I could see the horizon in the far distance where the sky and the glistening sea met. Once the gondola brought me to the summit, a couple was generous enough to help me take pictures of myself doing different poses to record myself in the perfect-looking background. Of course, like the others, I took a few fun rides to experience an adrenaline rush, but, most importantly, the entire trip was about taking a step back, exploring the world around me, and finding my true self, which I, unfortunately, could not do in the past due to intense work and study.
