Amazing weekend in Taipei!!

It was great!!Our trip in Taipei last weekend was full of drinks, clubs, sightseeing, adventure and quality time with friends.

We arrived in Taipei last Friday night after a very bizarre and dodgy flight with China Airlines. Only 3 of us 6 travelled in the scheduled flight and the rest 3 took the next one. That was because according to China Airlines the flght was overbooked!

After our arrival we went to leave our stuff at the Taipei Hostel where we stayed in a dorm of 10 (that means us 6 plus 4 strangers--->this is definitely a progress for me)!

First night in Taipei and we could do nothing else but go out and explore the nightlife there. Carnegies and Roxy Vibe were the places that we got trashed! Dancing and drinking all night long. We got back to the hostel around 7:30 in the morning.....

Saturday, and our day begun at around 13:00. Saturday was dedicated to sightseeing;First stop: the Presidential Office Building. The Presidential Office has been the seat of Taiwan's executive branch of government since 1950. The current President is Mr. Chen-Shui Bian from the DPP Party but in March 2008 Mr. Ma Ying-jeou from the KMT Party got elected. The latter will assume office on May 20, 2008.

After that we visited the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall. Chiang Kai-shek was the first President of the ROC and Sun Yat-sen one of the founding fathers of the ROC.

Our last stop was at the National Palace Museum where we were supposed to meet Murriel (a friend from HK) but unfortunately we didn't...

Saturday evening and for dinner we chose to go to a bizarre restaurant called Modern Toilet! We ate out of toilets and we drunk from a piss pot! Here are some pics...



Second night out and i promised myself not to drink! Thats what i did...i had only 2 vodkas! On Saturday night we went to a posh club called "babe 18" and surprisingly there i had the opportunity to listen to some greek music since the DJ played the greek song for the Eurovision 2008 (if u want to listen to what remix we listened to pls follow the link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qg9tm1kwWIs&feature=related )!!! Great night...

On Sunday we went to the Fisherman's Wharf where we relaxed and enjoyed every single moment of the so called "je m'en fous" mood!

After a long walk around Taipei we found ourselves at the World's Tallest Skyscraper: "Taipei 101". Taipei 101 claims the official records for: Ground to highest architectural structure (509.2 m) and Fastest ascending elevator speed (16.83 m/s)! We enjoyed the view and we sent some postcards back home to our mothers because on Sunday was the Mother's Day!

Some Sushi for dinner and we all got back to the hostel in order to catch up on some lost sleep! On Monday we packed our and took our flight back to HK at around 14:30!

Overall, i had an amazing weekend in Taipei!

Greeko!

Long weekend in Taiwan!

So as i mentioned in my previous post, tonight i am flying to Taiwan and more specifically to the capital Taipei!
I will spend 3 days there with some of my friends. I will be back on Monday and i really hope to enjoy my time there. Unfortunately , i wont be able to update my blog due to the lack of laptop and internet. Yet, on Monday i will publish a new post and i promise i will post some pics as well.
I am very excited la!!!

Have a great weekend folks!

Greeko!

Ben's Birthday!

Yesterday- May 8,2008-one of my best friends in Hong Kong, Ben, had his birthday! He turned 24. So, the "family" went out to the Peak to celebrate it. We had made a reservation at Bubba Gumps for six people (the "family": Ben, Nikki, Laura, Rosie and me, plus Nikki's sister Natalie). Bubba Gumps is a very cool restaurant at the Peak Tower with an amazing view to HK and excellent food as well as cocktails! Also, the restaurant's theme is based on the film Forest Gump and everything there reminds you of it.
As I said the food was excellent but the most impressive part of the menu was the cocktails. We ordered the large "Tropical Breezer" which is a mix of malibu, lime, pineapple and something else that i can't recall now. It was perfect and that's why we all had a second round!
After our dinner and Bubba Gumps' special Birthday song (This is your Birthday song, this is your birthday song, it is not very long, happy birthday!) we went to the last level of the Peak Tower to check the view to HK from up there. The weather though up there was a bit misty so we were not be able to enjoy the view that much but still it was cool.
That's it...We left the Peak at around 11:15pm in order to go back home and start packing our stuff for tonight's trip to Taiwan!

to be continued....

PS: Happy Birthday Benjo!

Greeko!

Moments with friends in pictures (HK friends not included yet)

Dedicated to my friends:):):)

The Hague+Amsterdam Summer 2006

The Hague Summer 2007

London Xmas 2007

Thessaloniki, Greece

Beijing+Shanghai March 2006

Vienna October-November 2005

Vienna+Zurich Summer 2005

Thanx Guys for these unforgettable moments....

Greeko!

IPE Exams

Yey! I am done with the taught courses of my master!! Yesterday i sat my exams for the International Political Economy course and i feel relieved now. I think the exam went good! I am not sure about my final grade though but really i don't care for my grade in that specific course. Political economy or in general economics is not my forte!

Yesterday, it was a very good chance to catch up with my uni-friends as well since i hadn't seen them in 2 weeks. After the exam we all decided to go out for drinks in LKF (Lan Kwai Fong). We ended up drinking at Scirocco at Staunton's Rd. Few vodkas and some chat with the guys was the perfect ending for a stressful day like this.

Now the whole class is looking forward to our trip to Beijing next week! C ya there guys!!

Greeko!

Great Weekend!

So, as the title of that post reveals, I had a great weekend! It was great cause it was different from the past few ones.

To begin with, i spent the Friday night at a friend's place in Causeway Bay watching films, playing boardgames and discussing about what we will do next year! I had fun that night cause the time i spent with my friend was really constructive and cause it is not very common in HK to be invited into other people's places; the apts are soooo tiny...Yet, my friend is a Honker and fortunately has a huge place by HK standards!

On Saturday morning i decided to claim myself healthy and fit; so i went running to the Hong Kong park (and not to pizza express as my friend Laura teased me)! I woke up at 7:30 am- totally not the time i wake up every morning-i took a quick shower and left home. After half an hour walk and some window-shopping at Pacific Place, i arrived at the HK Park. I love this place!!One of my favourites in HK! Also dogs are not allowed there, which is one more reason to like the park. I started running and i got surprised by how busy a park could be at 8 am on Saturday morning... Dozens of people (especially foreigners) go there jogging, relaxing and taking photos! That was the time when i promised to myself to go running 3-4 days per week. I just hope i'll keep that promise..hehe!

Then i had lunch with my friends and Nathalie(Nikki's lovely sister) at Delaney's as usual! The turkey without the gravy of course was more than delicious..

On Saturday was Gianni's Birthday as well! We went to celebrate it in Stanley, a beautiful place in the south of the HK Island. It actually reminded me of my hometown in Greece, Kavala!The spanish restaurant that we went to was excellent. We all had a great time. I drunk a lot of sangrias though, which i think it was the reason i got a terrible headache afterwards. A pill plus a special/unexpected phonecall a bit later and everything was perfect...

Sunday was rough for the whole gang. I woke up at 12:30, when the others arrived at home around that time from the previous night......omg!The Pizza express lunch, the wicked weather and the Iron Man film made Sunday special as well.

As you've probably noticed, i didnt study at all...but its alright!!!Studying is for the weekdays..so, Monday will be tough! I hope to be at the lib by 9 in order to catch up with my IPE exam on Tuesday!!We'll see though...

Greeko!

Torch Relay in Hong Kong-Red Everywhere...

Special day for Hong Kong yesterday as well as for China. Thousands of Honkers and "gwai lows" went out to watch the Olympic Torch parade which had its first stop in Chinese territory so far!

I have never seen Hong Kong so crowded...parents with their children, elders, students,bussinessmen...everyone was out!Additionally, 3000 police were on duty during the 8h parade and 120 runners carried the torch!

Locals and foreigners were cheering the torch relay! yes...cheering! HK torch relay was almost trouble free (with the exception of few incidents that did not cause any major problems due to the fast police intervention). That of course, dissappointed a lot of foreign journalists who desperately wanted to have their story afterwards. That is also a sign of the mentality of the HK people nowadays and how close they feel to the motherland! Everyone could feel the positive public sentiment about the Olympics in China yesterday because everything was covered in red! Red flags of China, Red HK flags, Red Coca Cola flags!hehe..yes...THE major sponsor la!

Personally, I believe that Tibet should be free, human rights in China should be respected and I totally understand that the fact that China hosts the Olympics gives to many people the opportunity to demonstrate and protest against the Central Government on such important issues.Yet, I am of the opinion that the Olympics is a major sports event and that it sould be seen as such! I strongly believe that it is not only the protestors' fault but the Chinese governement's as well. All I have to say is:

"The Olympics should not be politicized in any way!"

Greeko!