Sha Tin Racecourse

I went to Hong Kong on Saturday 10/1/11 during China’s National Day, which basically means everyone gets a week off and many Chinese go home to see their families if their families live elsewhere. The National Day of the PRC is celebrated every year on October 1^st. It is a public holiday in the PRC to celebrate their National Day. The PRC was founded on October 1, 1949 with a ceremony at Tiananmen Square. National Day is celebrated throughout mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau.

This was my first trip to Hong Kong. I would be staying one night with my main goal of going to the Sha Tin Racecourse which is located in the town of Sha Tin. I left Saturday morning and would come back to my apartment Sunday evening. The races started around 1pm and end around 6pm. After the races, I would head to the Central area of Hong Kong which is pretty much the downtown district.

The town of Sha Tin is an area around the Shing Mun River in the New Territories of HK. 

 

Sha Tin Racecourse is located directly on the rail line and the station is called ‘Racecourse’ and is only open on race days. Sha Tin is one of two racecourses for horse racing in HK. Happy Valley is the other which I’ll discuss in another post. Sha Tin is usually the day-time track and Happy Valley the night-time track. Sha Tin Racecourse is fairly young being built in 1978 and is the larger of the two. Sha Tin has the world’s first retractable paddock roof over the parade ring (pretty cool) and the world’s longest Diamond Vision television screen.

I was really looking forward to going to Sha Tin Racecourse as from what I could gather from the web, it looked great. Boy, the place didn’t disappoint. There are so many different areas at the track, whether it be member or non-member areas. And there are so many different areas within the members’ area that it becomes very confusing of where you can and can’t go. I decided to buy a $100 HKD tourist badge day pass which let me go to some of the member areas. When I was buying the pass, I noticed a worker looking me over. After probably seeing me puzzled, she mentioned to me that she was looking at the length of my shorts. I guess the length matters regarding the members’ area, but she said I was fine. Good thing, it didn’t dawn on me to where pants for this trip. $100 was a bit steep, but I thought what the hell? Though I wouldn’t buy it again. I don’t think it was worth that much money. I think regular admission was like $10 HKD. 

 

Sha Tin is huge and I hope the pics show this. Again, multiple areas as well as multiple levels/floors. The place was packed. I’m not sure if it’s always packed (as I came during National Week when most people had off) but I bet that it is. I love horse racing and so do the people of Hong Kong. I felt like it was stepping back in time. Like going back to the ‘30s in the U.S. when horse racing and boxing were huge and American football was in its infancy. Horse racing is their National sport, so I felt right at home here and I loved it. It was so crowded, especially as the day wore on. But that was fine with me. I like all the excitement. 

 

As you can see from one of the pics, I ate a simple lunch here consisting of just rice and tofu. When you ordered a meal, you got like $5 off a beer so I had one of those too. The meal was nothing special. Actually, I was disappointed in the food selection here. I just didn’t find much that interested my vegetarian palate. Now there were other restaurants in places where I had no admittance that may have been better but I’m not sure. Also disappointing were the gift shops. They really didn’t have anything that interested me and the selections were small.

The paddock area was so cool. It has the retractable roof with permanent seating. Very nice. Great views. Nice high-def video boards. 

They run clock-wise in Hong Kong.  I've never been to a track that runs that way.  That took me a little bit to get used to.

 

The views of the track from the grandstand are gorgeous. The whole place is very modern and very clean. The workers are all very much gussied up and couldn’t be nicer. Even the betting window clerks are dressed really nice and are extremely courteous, calling me sir, etc. This was so different from U.S. tracks where most workers give you the impression you’re bothering them. Also, most tracks in the States are dumps, especially Albuquerque’s, where I had been living for the past 5 plus years. Talk about a dump. You can’t even compare the two. Betting was hard as their terminology, bet types, and slips are different from what I’m used to back in the States. Also, the minimum dollar amounts for certain types of bets were different which complicated matters so I just stayed with basic bets and really didn’t try exotics. I couldn’t obtain an English race form which certainly hindered my handicapping ability and enjoyment. But I broke even I believe, which was good, considering the circumstances. But I didn’t go to try to make money. I went to have fun and have a few beers, which I certainly did.

I left the racecourse around 6:30 I think and took the train a stop to my hotel and checked in. I stayed at the Regal Riverside Hotel in Sha Tin. The hotel was very nice as was the area. The hotel is located right across the river. I checked in and then went to the downtown area that night by taking the subway again. Hong Kong is very expensive. People do not come here to save money. I ate dinner at the Hard Rock Café which was incredibly expensive and certainly not worth the price but I had fun. I talked with a kid who spoke good English, he was from Singapore. After being a little tipsy, I went back to the hotel for the night.

Luohu Port

The pics below are of Luohu port (and it's 3-story immigration center) which is in the Luohu district of Shenzhen (I live in Nanshan district - west of Luohu) which takes you to Hong Kong. From the outside, this building tends to look huge I think, but from the inside – especially when you're surrounded by a sea of humanity – it makes one feel like you're in a cork bottle. It takes me about an hour to get to this port as I have to take a bus and then the subway. There are a few checkpoints to get to Hong Kong from China's mainland and this is the Luoho checkpoint. The checkpoints get very crowded, especially during weekends and holidays. I went to Hong Kong during China's National Week and the border crossing was very crowded and busy with people shoving each other. According to the Luohu District People's Government, Luohu Port is the busiest land border crossing in the world. Shenzhen's subway as well as China's inter-city/province trains go to this port.

It's pretty frustrating to go to Hong Kong as you have to go through two sets of border control points / lines. You have to go through the PRC checkpoint and fill out a departure card and then go through the Hong Kong checkpoint and fill out an arrival card. It takes at least an hour to get through both. In between the two, you walk over the Shenzhen river (in an air-conditioned walkway) separating the mainland from the island. I'm fortunate to have an unlimited exit/entry Chinese visa so I can go to Hong Kong as many times as I wish. But I wish they would do away with the dual crossings since Hong Kong is a special administrative region of the PRC and Hong Kong's population is 95% ethnic Chinese. Though I understand the principle of “one country, two systems” in which Hong Kong has a different political system from mainland China, it would be nice to have a single border control station and eradicate the exit and arrival immigration cards.

Once you clear both immigration centers, you then take Hong Kong's subway to downtown if you wish. It takes me about a good three full hours to go from my apartment doorstep to downtown Hong Kong; one hour to get to the Luohu border crossing, one hour to get through both immigration control points, and another to get to downtown Hong Kong. So it's not ideal to do this trip in a day. It can be done but you're looking at six hours just for travel/transportation.

 

Some of the other pics are of the railway terminal as well as the Luoho downtown district.

 

The other pics below are of 'Commercial City' located at the Luohu port. It's an enclosed market/shopping mall located right outside the immigration control point. It's five stories and you can buy all type of stuff like DVDs, watches, handbags, clothes, shoes, audio-visual products, souvenirs, etc. There are also restaurants and massage parlors. Many Hong Kong 'one-day' visitors cross the border and venture no further into Shenzhen than this mall as Hong Kong is not cheap. Most of the items are either counterfeit or cheap Chinese replicas of designer brands. Most of the stalls try to use strong-arm bargaining tactics (not on me). Located around and outside the immediate immigration and railway are some hotels and restaurants. You can eat Chinese, Indian, Italian, American, Mexican, etc. There are also DQs, Starbucks, and KFCs. One can also get some great street food too (that's what I prefer).

New Friend(s)

I bought a little fish bowl and 2 fish to keep me company about two weeks ago.  The two fish, bowl, rocks, food, & net cost me around 9 kuai (~$1.40).  Sadly, one of them already died a few days ago.  I was changing some of the water (you have too as there is no filtration) and adding new bottled water but I guess he didn't adjust/adopt well.  I noticed he was swimming strange one night and I knew he wouldn't make it till morning.  I was right.  But if something happens to this one, a betta will be next...

Book City

The pictures below are of an area called Shenzhen Book City.  There is a huge, 3 story book store here.  I went inside and it was packed.  I have never seen that many people in a store in my life.  A lot of Chinese just read here but do not buy the books.  The bookstore neighbors the Shenzhen library, Music Hall, and Children’s Palace.  But Book City also has restaurants, shops, & convenience stores.

Most of these pics are of the surrounding area.  But the last one is of a street musician playing an erhu, which is a Chinese violin or fiddle.  I read that it has 2 strings and dates back to the Tang dynasty (618-907).  He had a little amplifier too, was pretty neat.

Street Food

There’s a place I go with a few friends to buy really cheap vegetarian street food from a little street vendor in an area called Baishizhou. 

Baishizhou is a nice little area near my apartment where you can buy cheap things and eat at cheap little restaurants.

 

But we like to go to this little food cart. The vendor also sells meat but on the left side of the cart is vegetables/vegetarian food and the right side contains meat (notice the chicken's feet in yellow to the bottom right? Gross!!!). Don't ask me what some of the meat is, I have no clue. Could be intestines, tongues, who knows? I'm not kidding. The lady will give you tongs and a plastic bowl and you just fill up the bowl with what you want. The vendor has like 4 different varieties of tofu that I usually stock up on. I usually add a few vegetables as well like sliced potatoes and green beans. I top it off with a couple different types of noodles. She then weighs it and then the vendor will mix up the ingredients with a small bit of spicy sauce. She places it in a little baggie and there you have it. Yes, no plates or anything. You just eat it out of your bag with disposable chopsticks while sitting on a corner. Very delicious. Usually comes to around 7 kuai (~ $1). Can't beat it. Would you eat here?

 

Below is a picture of a wok I bought this past Friday in Baishizhou at a small little store. The store had many woks but I bought this 14” brand new one for 20 kuai (~ $3).  Can't beat that price either.  Can now do some serious cooking with this thing going forward...

Dongmen

Below are some pictures of Dongmen shopping area here in Shenzhen.  I’ll show you different areas of town in future posts and this is one.  It’s in the East part (I’m west) of the city in the Luohu district.  Dongmen consists of several pedestrian shopping streets with small shops and restaurants as well as large malls.  Good area to find clothes, shoes, toys, tea, household items, DVDs, fabrics,  jewelry, jade, food, etc.  One can find pretty much everything.  Most of it is Chinese-made and counterfeit but you know that beforehand.  This place gets very busy.  This is where you come to find bargains and where bargaining/negotiating is expected.  You can spend a lot of time here.  I went with a few friends and we were there for around 4 hours I would say.  Shenzhen is a fairly new city but this area is older.

Vegetarian Soup

Below is a picture of a soup dish I ordered recently from a vegetarian restaurant here in Shenzhen.  Everything in the restaurant is vegetarian.  First vegetarian restaurant I have been too since I have been in China.  I haven't been back yet.  This is simply a mock dish.  I believe it was mock chicken but I do not remember.  I actually ordered it with someone else and we shared it but I do not remember exactly what it was.  But it was very tasty and the soup base was great.  I think the mock meat was just wheat gluten.  Looks good...

Another Homemade Dish

Below is a single picture of a dish I made recently.  Not the best pic as I forgot to take pics as I was making it so this pic is just a shot of the leftovers that I scooped onto the plate.  A little more sauce than I wanted but very good nonetheless.  I used Thai Glutinous rice (sticky rice).  It's hard to see the rice as it's mixed with the spicy bean curd seasoning/sauce I used.  This is a really spicy dish.  My lips were very hot after eating this.  I simmered the rice on the stove stop first and then stir-fried the rice with the seasoning, broccoli, tofu (the squares in the dish), and rice cakes (the white rectangles in the dish).  I also added garlic, sugar, soy oil, water, & black pepper.  Very good.

My School

I teach oral English (English speaking, English conversation, etc.) for primary students in Shenzhen, China. I work for the Shenzhen Education Bureau. The students are grades 1-6 which is quite a fluctuation and a challenge for me in terms of their English comprehension; especially their fluency, accuracy, & complexity. Most of my fellow English teachers do not have such a wide range of grades they have to teach but I was not so fortunate. But that’s the luck of the draw and this school is where I just happened to be placed.

I teach 30 classes every two weeks. One week I teach 15 classes to grades 1-3 and the next week its 15 classes for grades 4-6. Then it’s back to grades 1-3 again. There are around 45-50 students per class. Every class has different students. So I teach around 1,350-1,500 students (30 classes x 45 students = 1,350). It’s insane when you really think about it. Thus I do not try to remember their names or anything. That’s impossible. Also, as you can see from the pics, they all look pretty identical as in the same uniforms for the most part, same hair color, etc. The classes last around 40 minutes each. I teach mostly in the mornings and have the afternoons off. The afternoons are when I usually do lesson planning or go to my Chinese classes or just goof off on the internet. I have a little cubicle in my office with a computer but fortunately I do not have to hold any office hours so I usually leave and go back to my apartment after lunch. I also have to do an extracurricular class that I teach once a week in the late afternoon for the “better” English students. I do a separate lesson for them.

The students conversational English is not good and they cannot understand sentences or sentence structure for the most part. Reading and writing is much easier for them as that is what most of their English textbooks as well as exams focus on. Not speaking. That’s where I come in. They can say cat, yellow, hot dog etc. But I can’t ask them do they own a cat? Is yellow your favorite color? Do you eat hot dogs at home? They will not understand those questions or are too shy and afraid to answer if they think they might know. They really have a hard time with I, me, you, we, they, etc. If I ask what’s my name? They’ll say their name. I say no, my name? Most have a hard time with that. They also have a hard time with when, where, what, how, why, etc. There are a few sentences that all Chinese students know because it’s ingrained in them by their Chinese teachers and textbooks. If I ask, “Hi, how are you?” Every one, and I mean every student in unison, will say “I’m fine, thanks. And you?” Then I’ll say all 45 of you are fine? That can’t be. So I have told them I do not want them to say fine in my class. I tell them they can say they’re OK, so-so, good, great, hungry, tired, angry, hot, cold, etc. But I want no ‘I’m fines.’ I usually find that I have to make my lessons always easier than I think and more fun for them.

Well what are the students like? They love you, meaning me. They see my class as the fun class and go wild when I walk in the door. They love coming up to you and jumping right in front of you while I’m walking on the school grounds to say hello. But they’ll run away if I try to speak to them as they cannot answer. They love grabbing your arms. They’re just not use to foreigners. They’re fun for the most part but I can certainly get headaches some days.

Well what are my fellow Chinese teachers like? Not sure, 90% of them can’t speak English nor me Chinese so not sure. But most of them always smile and say hello and will try to help me when needed. Even the ones who can speak English, it’s so broken that it’s hard for me to understand them most of the time.

One of the pics is of a small cafeteria where I eat lunch. Breakfast and lunch are served every day for free to the teachers. I usually skip the breakfast but usually go to lunch every day. You go up to the counter and the cooks will scoop the food onto your tray behind bars/glass (as you see in the pic, they’re curiously watching me take the pic). The vice-principal told the cooks I’m a vegetarian so they always have a separate tray already prepared for me when I walk up there which is really nice. They even have a cover on it to keep it warm which is thoughtful. Now my tray isn’t anything different or special than the rest of the teachers, it just doesn’t have any meat on it. Just vegetables but I’m more than happy with that. They also have soup you can scoop out of the largest bucket or tin made by mankind for soup but I stay away from that as I know it’ll have either chicken, beef or a pork base.

Other thoughts? Well, all students leave/go home for rest from around 11:45 and come back around 2 pm. So different than America where they get a 2 hour plus break for rest and lunch. Teachers also use this time to rest and sleep. There are cots in teacher’s offices should the need arise. So students’ school days last from around 8-5. Long day. I would have hated that if I was a student. What also is different compared to the States is they have to do exercise every morning. They also have to stand and walk in formations. Listen to music/anthem, salute the flag, etc.

Well that’s about it for now regarding my school. I’m sure I’ll have future posts since I’m a teacher here. By the way, I took the pics of the students while in class.