San San's diary (Sept, 2003)

Just click on any of the following underlined dates and you can get to know what's going on with me that day.

Sept 1, 2003 (Mon)

Thesis reading

I went to a local university - the University of Hong Kong - this afternoon. Some of the theses there might be relevant to my PhD research but they were not loanable. So I went there and hoped to get access to the library. I didn't know I had to pay the administration fee for the production of a reader's library card as the university homepage said it was free of charge. I had worked in the HKU before and so a photo record was stored in the computer database but I chose to take a new photo instead coz I thought I looked too 'fat' in my face (coz it was early in the morning when I took the pic last time...). I read around three theses within two hours and decided it was time to go home.

Sept 2, 2003 (Tue)

Typhoon Dujuan

The typhoon Dujuan came very much more quickly than first thought. At first the weather forecast said it'd be closest to HK in the early evening. So I went back to the office as usual since I had booked a computer course in my workplace and I had promised to attend with my colleague. But soon after I came back to the office, it was said the typhoon signal no.8 would be hoisted in a few hours. And at noon, it was announced that typhoon signal no.8 would be hoisted in two hours, meaning people could go home from work, if their employers allowed them to. So, there'd be no computer class in the afternoon. My MPhil friend and I were the last ones to leave the office and before I got back home, the typhoon signal no.8 had been hoisted.  My parents had already been back home as well after watching a local comedy, thanks to my two tickets. :) (But I hadn't expected the typhoon to come so quickly and bought the film tickets for the morning show)

This typhoon was considered the strongest for more than 20 years as it had two typhoon eyes. I felt excited about it as it had been long since a strong typhoon came to HK. When I was small, I always hoped for a typhoon as that means we didn't need to go to school. At that time, we didn't have much to protect ourselves from the typhoon in our flat. Just put some plastic boards on in the balcony. For our meals, because all the shops were closed, we used to have canned food like luncheon meat. But I enjoyed it coz we got an extra holiday and the whole family were together.

Because of the fact that there had been more buildings surrounding us, the strong wind didn't affect our life as much as before. And my mom had already bought a lot of food from the supermarket and we didn't need to eat any canned food.

Sept 4, 2003 (Thur)

My iced mooncakes

I went to the HKU again today. I read around five to six theses from the morning till the afternoon when I felt it was enough. To be honest, it was really exhausting to read so many theses in a day.  Many different ideas and theses came into my mind and I had no time to reflect on what I had read.  It was like one ate a lot of mooncakes or pies at one time. Anyway, it was good to read the others' theses as I could have an idea of how other people wrote their theses and learn something from them.

As the Mid-Autumn Festival was coming, I went to a local bakery to collect the mooncakes for my mom, who must have fed up with me asking her a thousand times when I could taste my favourite iced mooncakes, hehe...

Sept 5, 2003 (Fri)

Some sadness in the office

It has been almost two months since I registered for my study. But there seemed to be not much progress as the more I read, the more I felt confused, and I've also been worried about my data collection: where can I get the subjects? But I felt better after talking with a friend of mine who's studying for her PhD in my office. One of the good things about working in my office was a chance to talk to some research students who can share their experience with me, which definitely would help me in my study. I think it's really important to have someone to talk to as a postgraduate study is no longer just about memorizing some facts or/and theories and then write them out in the exams. The pressure from the studies is also much greater as people's expectation becomes greater. How to release our pressure and anxiety is really important.

Today was the last working day for two of our colleagues. People coming in and out of this office is nothing strange as research positions are always temporary and not stable - if your supervisor gets funding for his project, then you can stay or you have to find another job or find another research position for another project. Anyway, it was still sad to see them leave because they had brought us a lot of fun and their presence injected some liveliness into our working environment. Would the office become much quieter?

Sept 8, 2003 (Mon)

To be flying again

I collected my air ticket from an agent referred to by my uncle. Looking at the air ticket, I was excited while a bit sad. "Oh, gotta leave again!" I was excited because I'd start a new life and I found it hard to concentrate on my study in HK because there were too many distractions by different sorts of things - TV, my family, my friends, shopping and many other things. 24 hours would never be enough for a person in HK because there were so many choices and so many things one could do here. So, going back to Manchester does me good rather than harm.

I felt a bit sad because I didn't want to leave my family and friends, who had been so good to me. In Manchester, I didn't have lots of friends and I couldn't find someone to talk to whenever I needed to. And life might be quite boring - it's not hard to understand why HK people would find the life in the UK boring if they compare how exciting their life could be in HK.

But no matter what, it's time for me to leave my home country...

Sept 9, 2003 (Tue)

Inflexibility

Different universities have different ways to deal with the application for access to the library from people outside of the university. I had been to two universities before for reading some theses in their university libraries and hadn't encountered any problem with the access. But this time when I went to another university, I got a problem. The librarian told me at the entrance that a reader's library card for overseas students was not available because they only offered access to overseas students from mid-June to mid-August. I was really disappointed and didn't agree with their policy and found it inflexible. How could they expect an overseas research student to come to HK from mid-June till mid-August? I understand a lot of students use the library during term time but I don't think a small number of overseas students would put a big burden on their library service.

Okay, forget it. There was something that I felt happy with. I enjoyed my lunch with a colleague of mine. We went to a restaurant in a nearby shopping mall - the Metroplis opposite Hung Hom KCR station. We ordered a lunch set which included a bowl of noodles and fish soup. I was also glad to know that my luggage allowance for my flight increased from 20kg to 30kg. So I could put more things in my luggage. Hehe...

Sept 10, 2003 (Wed)

A new hair cut

I used to have my hair cut free of charge by my cousin who was an apprentice in a local salon. But today I paid to have my hair cut in a salon recommended by my colleagues. The stylist was very professional and had years of experience. You can tell from his skills when he cut my hair and he could pinpoint the problems with my hair once he had a look at it. 'It was too thick'. So, in an hour I had a new hair style and I looked and felt totally different (I thought).

My new hair cut received lots of good comments from my colleagues when I got back to the office. They thought I looked much better than before. My old hair cut was really old-fashioned and my new hair cut injected a sense of liveliness and youth into my look. The money was well spent. :)

Sept 11, 2003 (Thur)

The Mid-Autumn Festival

Today was the mid-Autumn Festival in the Chinese tradition. I chose to stay at home watching the VCD of 'The Pianist' instead of rubbing my shoulders with others in the crowds watching the full moon and Chinese lanterns. 'The Pianist' got a lot of awards in different ceremonies and I agreed it was a good film. I found the life of the main character was really miserable and thought how lucky he was to be alive. I don't know whether I could hold on if I were him.

Sept 13, 2003 (Sat)

An unforgettable evening

I watched 'Turn Left Turn Right' with my friend today. I thought it was a love comedy. The message conveyed by the film is good - maybe we also meet the same people every day but are not aware of their presence in our daily life and we just get used to our life, doing the same things time and again until death. Maybe one day we meet someone or we don't. Maybe it's fate that determines our life?

In the evening, I went to a radio show with two of my friends who are fans of Chris Wong (Millions of 'thanks' to my friend who got me a ticket!!). I was happy and excited because I could see my two favourite singers - Chris and Hins Cheung - in the same show and also it had been a loong while since I last attended a function like this. We were seated not far away from the stage, which was actually quite small.  I don't think my camera could take a good picture of those on the stage.

Chris Wong was the first one to come out singing. I think he was one of the few who received a lot of applause this evening. As we found some empty seats in the nearby, we moved quietly but quickly to those empty seats to try to get the best position for taking photos of him. The most exciting part came when Chris and Hins sang Elton John's 'Sorry seems to be the hardest words' together. Hins came out of a small stage in the middle of the venue.  I think he really looked cool this evening.

Overall, the show was great as other singers also did a great performance. Each singer sang one English song besides their own Cantonese/Mandarin songs. While enjoying the show, I was wondering why only English songs could have that sort of 'power' that touches one's heart, that helps one to release emotions. Has it got anything to do with the language itself?

I think it may be the last show that I attended before I'm leaving for the UK.

Photos of the show of that evening.

Sept 15, 2003 (Mon)

A pig

Did nothing but sleeping like a pig all day long. It was raining throughout the day.

Sept 16, 2003 (Tue)

Not motivated to do anything

I don't know why. I seemed to lack motivation to do anything, including my study and part-time work. I found the IT course on Power Point boring; I was only interested in doing shopping for my study; I found mom's murmur a bit annoying. What's going on with me??

Sept 17, 2003 (Wed)

Farewell meals

There were only a few days left before my trip and dining out with friends was becoming more frequent, although not many people, besides my colleagues, knew of my short stay in HK. I had dinner with my friend in a Japanese restaurant. It was interesting because instead of having something ready to eat, we had to put the ingredients onto a heating pan and cooked the food by ourselves.  The seafood pizza in Japanese style took quite a long time to cook and we always wondered when it was done; without the help of a waitress I was afraid our cooking would be unsuccessful. Beef was much easier for cooking as it took only ten seconds to turn brown. The Udon was ready for eating; we only needed to reheat it. If I had to give the mark for this dinner, it'd be 7 out of 10.  The remaining 3 marks had to do with its price (a bit expensive for me) and the fact that I left a CF card for my camera behind in the restaurant and had to get it back the next day!

Sept 18, 2003 (Thur)

Data collection

Today was a data collection day as I tried to record the conversations among my colleagues for my own research. It was a bit of a mess.  A lot of questions arose in my mind: Were they 'ideal' subjects? How 'natural' was the data? When I talked, was I conscious of my speech? It was a good experience as I got to know what kind of problems may arise in the process and I was inspired to think further about my research methodology.

By the way, my apologies to Ken Yip for missing our meeting.

Sept 19, 2003 (Fri)

Take care, my dear colleagues

As the day of my departure was approaching, the sadness in my heart increased...

This was the last day I came back to my office before my trip. I thought I was lucky to have worked there because everyone was nice to me and there wasn't much gossiping like in many other offices, which is unavoidable, as whenever there're two people or more than two, conflicts arise. So, to express my gratitude, I bought my colleagues some cakes. Don't know why. Felt like crying. But in the end I didn't.

In the evening I had a pleasant dinner with the friends that I made in the UK. One of the reasons why I miss my MA study so much is because I made good friends from that trip and so I treasure every opportunity to meet them. The gathering was full of laughter without any sadness since we know we'll meet some day in the near future... :)

Sept 20, 2003 (Sat)

The most stupid girl

Hiking had become one of my favourite activities in the past year. It was not just about walking. In every trip, we chatted, we laughed, we saw people and trees and buildings (wow, those luxury houses!!), we breathed in fresh air, we ate... This was the last time that I went hiking in HK before I went to the UK for my study. We chose the lowest level of difficulty - the Peak, which was also where our first hiking took place.  It was no different from our previous hiking trips and we had another nice day.

Sept 21, 2003 (Sun)

Bad luck

It was sunny in the early morning but as time went by, things started going wrong...

First, after having lunch with my family, I went back home first and it started raining heavily. I waited and waited in the shopping mall close to the bus stop but the rain didn't stop. So I decided to get onto the bus after some other people but the bus driver wasn't aware that I was planning to get aboard and I had my left hand stuck at the sliding door.

When I arrived home, I tried to switched on the light but there was a flash and I almost got the electric shock.

After we had arrived at the airport, things seemed to be going smooth except that I had to carry lots of luggage with me as seen in the following photo... But, I missed out on a chance to meet Chris Wong who was flying back to Hong Kong from Shanghai for a radio show there.  I met a group of Chris' fans, some of whom I had known before and they were so nice to give me a card. I was very happy but who knows, when I planned to join them again later on, Chris and the fans had already gone!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So, maybe that's the fate...

The flight from HK to Singapore and from Singapore to Manchester were both full. The services provided by Singapore Airline were as good as usual and I enjoyed watching and listening to different channels while having my meals. At the Singapore Airport, I spent a bit of time trying to send email to some of my friends at a small computer cluster with free Internet access. I was nervous when finding that there was a final call for my flight. 'My watch showed it was only 11p.m. Why would there be a final call for a flight to be setting off at 12a.m.?' I found out the reason when I got to the gate. Every one had to have their hand luggage and themselves checked before getting onto the plane. It was a thorough security check as the custom offices did open our luggage and asked what the stuff inside was.

It was a 14-hour flight afterwards... when would I arrive at Manchester? 

'So bored while waiting to get on board...'

Sept 22, 2003 (Mon)

Homeless girl

My bad luck seemed not to fade away.

It didn't take long for me to get past the customs, although there were lots of students queuing up. I was given a free lift by the International Society and was taken together with several other international students to the university campus. I made my first new friend on our way to the university. A good start?! Some of the other students on our van were Chinese and could speak Cantonese (perhaps because we took the same flight from Singapore and so...). One of them had her parents accompanying her. This reminded me of my parents.

I was the last one to get off the van because I still had no idea where I'd be living. I was taken to the Accommodation Office, in the hope that I'd get to know which university hall I'd be assigned to. But that's where my bad luck continued. I was told that I hadn't been offered any accommodation on the ground that I had previously been in the UK (and so priority would be given to those who went to the UK for the first time)!! My mind was blank at that moment. 'What can I do?  Where can I go with so much luggage with me?' I was really disappointed, angry, anxious, despaired and found their explanation ridiculous...  I was given several suggestions by the staff: 1) Move into a student hall of another university which is far away from my university; 2) Stay in a friend's place for the time being first 3) Find private accommodation; and I could wait until later to see if any vacant room was available.

At that moment, all I could think of was to find a place to stay first. I went to seek help from a classmate of mine who lived in the campus and it wouldn't take me too long to get from the accommodation office to her place. I moved all my stuff to her place from the Accommodation Office in a dizzy rain. I couldn't help dropping my tears when I told her what had happened to me...   When I wrote messages to my friends via the Internet in the library, my eyes were wet again but I tried to prevent the tears coming out.

I didn't know I could be so weak until this moment... and at this moment I was so unhappy that I even thought of quitting my course and going back to HK...

Sept 23, 2003 (Tue)

New friends

As my classmate who was so kind to let me stay in her place said, this was another day and we should welcome the day with hope. I first went to the International Office to see if they could offer me any help with accommodation. But there was nothing they could do for me and they only suggested me making a complaint to the people concerned...

I went to the accommodation office after lunchtime and got the same answer from the staff again, 'No vacancy yet'. It was full of people and the queue was long. I was wondering if I should take up a place which was very far away from the university. I filled in the form and got prepared to hand it in. At that time, a guy who could speak Cantonese (oh, finally I got to know a Cantonese-speaking person!) initiated a conversation with me and told me he got no accommodation either and was staying in a temporary accommodation arranged by the Accommodation Office. Another girl facing a similar situation joined our conversation.  I heard from some other people that the place which I was going to apply to moved into was good in terms of facilities and environment; it's just the distance that made it less preferred. I hesitated and decided to wait for another day.

I joined the two new friends that I had just made to visit one of their friend's flat. It was a nice flat indeed. I was invited to a dinner with them and two other people who lived in the flat. The whole chat was basically in Putonghua as all the others except me could speak the language. At first they spoke English to me since I didn't speak Putonghua. But when they were told that I could understand (some) Putonghua, the conversation was turned into Putonghua, occasionally with some English. I felt a bit warmth in this meeting, although I still didn't know where I'd be living tomorrow...

Sept 24, 2003 (Wed)

I got a room!

It was another sunny day. It was also a day of the week when my supervisor was in his office. I went to his office and said 'hi' to him since I last met him in July. I told him what had happened to me in regard to my accommodation problem. I had never thought of asking for his help but he picked up the phone and gave a call to the Accommodation Office to tell them about my situation.  Then I was arranged to see the Manager there and I was offered a room immediately!  Is this all about power?  Anyway, I owe my supervisor a big gratitude.

Once I collected the keys to my room, I couldn't wait to move my luggage from my friend's place to my new accommodation. My room was in a 8-person shared flat with two showers and two toilets. It was a very nice room. There were eight people, including me, in this flat. Five of them were from China and only one could speak some Cantonese. I didn't have a chance to talk with each of them for long and hurried to my friend's place to get my stuff. That evening I sorted out all my stuff immediately and put everything in place to make it a nice home. Hope I can settle down quickly...

Sept 25, 2003 (Thur)

A welcome 'gift'

I had been told that the fire alarm in my residence went off frequently. This evening the fire alarm went off as if it were a welcome gift for me since I had moved in yesterday.  At first I didn't take the fire alarm seriously but when I found all my flatmates had gone downstairs, I knew I could no longer ignore the alarm. I didn't see my flatmates when I went downstairs. I met them when we were allowed to go back to our room but since they thought I was still in the flat some staff from the residence office went up to our flat to find me. We were told every fire alarm had to be taken seriously and everyone had to go downstairs. 

And I started getting to know more about my flatmates when I had a chance to talk to one of them this evening.

Sept 26, 2003 (Fri)

Queues everywhere

Manchester was a student city. At the start of the new academic year, everywhere was full of people and queues were found. I wanted to ask about my bank accounts in the bank but there was a long queue in the bank; I wanted to ask about student handbooks but again there was a long queue in the departmental office; I wanted to get some application forms in the student union building and did get them but I could see a long queue for something. So, as there were long queues everywhere, I better go home and take a nap. :P

Sept 28, 2003 (Sun)

My first weekend

Checked email at the computer centre; got downstairs because the fire alarm went off for the second time; no long distance phone call from HK; talked to my flatmate and shared our experience. That's it. Went to bed!

Sept 30, 2003 (Tue)

Things to be learnt: what to do with a fire alarm and Putonghua

The residence office must have been planning to train us up as we got a fire alarm at 8'o clock in the morning. Luckily I wasn't in a shower (as I'm used to having a shower in the morning) and I had already got up then. I thought, maybe next time we'd have to get up in the middle of the night for a fire alarm. This evening our hall tutor came to our flat to tell us the rules and the things that we have to take notice of, including what to do when the fire alarm went off in the middle of our shower.

As my Chinese flatmates speak Putonghua, it'd be more convenient if I could speak the same language as them. So, with the encouragement from a flatmate of mine, who promised not to laugh at me if I didn't have a correct pronunciation, I decided to start learning Putonghua bit by bit.

This page was last updated on Sunday, 19 October 2003.

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