A Meeting with Ex-lecturer in Hong Kong

Met up with our Actuarial Expository Project lecturer, Simon in Hong Kong. I really got to pen down this meeting as we were actually looking for each other in ifc tower for nearly an hour!

We emailed him the day before to meet at the Starbucks in ifc (mind me, I use the article the).

(just to show ifc in lower case)

We reached ifc tower (it is in lower case, a special naming way) Starbucks at 7pm. But as minutes crept away, we started to feel something amiss. It was already 730pm and he still hadn't shown up. At first, we thought he was busy with his work (he is a chief actuary). But it was already 30 minutes past 7pm, we asked the Starbucks staff if there is another Starbucks in the tower. She said yes, and then we quickly headed there. But Simon was not there! We then approached the concierge for assistance (we don't have blackberry, iphone, any smartphone to actually email or call). The concierge was very helpful (again, we are lame enough not knowing how to use Hong Kong phone) to help us call Simon. We told Simon where were we and he asked us not to walk away, he would come to us. 10 minutes had passed but he still hadn't shown up. I asked Alvin if Simon was impatient (letting a chief actuary to look for us, the two trivial people for almost 40 minutes!), Alvin said he was seemingly still relaxed, perhaps it was Friday. Not long after, the concierge approached us (we were waiting not far from the concierge) telling us Simon called back. Simon still couldn't find us; the concierge saw us having difficulty explaining where were we, then offered to explain to Simon.

And.. and.. finally Simon reached!

He told us there are FIVE Starbucks in ifc tower! @@ I guess Starbucks cannot be a meet up place especially when we are not familiar with the place! *grin*

After greeting, Simon brought us to Tsim Sa Tsui to sample chinese cuisine, to be exact, Beijing, Sichuan, Hong Kong and Hangzhou cuisine.

(the ever luxurious meal we had in our Hong Kong trip)

Simon had been 2 years in Malaysia, and he said the chinese cuisine here is not that decent. Practically there is no difference between any specific cuisine. *shame*

(while waiting for our turn)

(the restaurant was crowded)

(Don't ask me the name of the dish, their description is beyond my apprehension)

the noodle tastes special, but a bit like jawa mee

mini shark fin

chicken stewed in traditional chinese wine but it is served chilly

crispy chicken but quite different taste from ours

Golden prawn (I like this very much).
Simon said Hongkongers like to eat prawns during autumn.

Bun. Alvin said it tastes like doughnuts. (@@)

Simon shared a lot of his valuable experience with us. (when actuarial people are together, we always have too many things to share and update, simply too resonant). Giving may surprisingly result in a lot gaining. Taking risk to some extent might not be a very bad thing. Impossible mission might not be that impossible, just that we perceive it is impossible. Failures always contribute a lot of hindsight to the next success.

After the 2-hour dinner, we went to Avenue of Stars to continue chatting until the staff approached us to ask us leave as it is closed at 11pm. Being amazed at the spectacular buildings across Victoria Harbour, Simon shared with us which building was the ever first tallest building in Hong Kong then which then which then now ICC (International Commerce Center).


After that, we made our way to the 1881 Mall (which is a former navy headquarter) next to Avenue of Stars to take some pictures.

Around 12pm, we bid farewell with Simon!