June 17^th – Arrival to Hong Kong

We were excited that we were going to go to Hong Kong after the hard final exam. We were very curious what Hong Kong would look like with British influence. With that excitement, we boarded the plane on June 17^th. When we arrived at the Hong Kong airport after about four hours of flight, we realized that we arrived in Hong Kong in a very different weather than Korea. June in Korea is not so humid, on the other hand Hong Kong is very humid probably because it consists of peninsulas and islands.

We purchased the Octopus Card, a rechargeable transportation card, and we took a bus to the hotel and settled for dinner there. It's an ordinary restaurant near the stay, but we think the food we ate was delicious enough. During travel, we were always told that eating local food was the right thing to do, and we could feel it right. After eating our first meal in Hong Kong, since we had no any other events, we slept in the hotel in anticipation of the schedule ahead of us.

June 18^th – Disneyland, Soho Street Tour

We departed early in the morning to visit Disneyland on Lantau Island, Hong Kong. Tsim Sha Tsui, where the hotel was located, was about 2 hours by public transport. There are only three Disneyland locations in Asia, and one of them is here in Hong Kong so we headed all with anticipation.

Hong Kong's Disneyland has six themes: Grizzly Gulch, Mystic Point, Adventure Land, Toy Story Land, Tomorrow Land, and Fantasy Land. The tour began at Tomorrow Land, close to the main entrance. Tomorrowland was crowded with tourists because it featured still popular recently ended Marvel series. There were attractions that are still popular in hot and humid weather such as 4D Iron Man experiences to hitting Antman and Wasp targets. After that, we had new experience because we took rides that’s not in Korea like ride featuring Mickey/Mini Mous in Fantasy Land, ride in Grizzly Gulch featuring Tarzan. In particular, the attractions aimed at experiencing fairy tales during the rides boasted exotic and colorful graphics and motions, making it an enjoyable time for the eyes and ears.

After the Disneyland itinerary, we took a taxi to Soho Street. Soho Street is an exotic street with Hong Kong's unique ambience with colorful murals. We could explore the longest escalator in the world, mid level escalator. The best part was that each street had a different atmosphere, so we could see various landscapes at once, and it was time to experience Hong Kong's culture while watching the night streets of Soho.

June 19^th – Tsim Sha Tsui Tour

Tsim Sha Tsui is a hub located in the center of Hong Kong, connected to the continent above and close to Hong Kong Island. Therefore, because there are so many floating populations, the streets are crowded and restaurants are very abundant. Many accommodations are also located here. So we chose Kimberley mansion, Popway hotel and Lising court in Tsim Sha Tsui. Since there were accommodations in Tsim Sha Tsui, we were able to freely roam around Tsim Sha Tsui and see and feel a lot during our spare time.

The best thing about Tsim Sha Tsui is that there are many restaurants. In Yunnam Rice Noodles, we could taste the taste of local rice noodles, and in YUMCHA we could enjoy delicious dim sum. We could also enjoy Peking Duck, so we could enjoy a variety of Hong Kong flavors. Also, we ate Jenny cookie deliciously which many tourists buy it as a souvenir. In Tsim Sha Tsui, K11, a shopping complex, is located, and we could enjoy not only milk tea but also coffee, and we could experience the culture of Hong Kong while wearing various clothes that are not in Korea. When we were exhausted and go back to the hotel, we could stop by the local mart to see the foods that can only be seen locally, and tried some of them.

In Hong Kong, night views are indispensable, and we were able to immerse ourselves in the charm of Hong Kong by watching Hong Kong's iconic Symphony of Lights with friends. Tsim Sha Tsui was a great place for us to eat, relax, and enjoy the wonderful night view.

June 20^th – Visiting the HKUST Conference and the Festival walk Shopping Mall

Day 4 was to visit HKUST and visit the conference at HKUST. We wondered what HKUST would look like, with a name similar to KAIST. HKUST was similar to KAIST, but with some differences. The density and overall impression of the buildings seemed to be similar to KAIST, but the school was a little more empty due to the small number of people during vacations. HKUST was beautiful with sea nearby. After seeing HKUST roughly, we headed for the conference building. While looking at the posters in front of the conference, we thought it was difficult to understand, but nowadays we could guess what research is being done in material science and we thought it was an opportunity to get a good motivation for our future career.

After the conference, we ate lunch in HKUST cafeteria. As we visit Kaimaru, probably it was a restaurant that faculty members and student frequently visit to eat, but everything was new for us as visitors. The meal was satisfactory, especially the dim sum.

After the official HKUST schedule, we moved to visit a shopping mall, Festival Walk. Personally, I don't buy a lot in a shopping center, but I think it's a unique and interesting experience to visit shopping centers in countries other than Korea. After this planned schedule, we took a break. Because of the long journey, we were a bit tired but we thought it was a rewarding day. We fell asleep thinking that we would spend the 5^th day good as well.

June 21^st – Visit Hong Kong City University and Victoria Peak Observation Deck

We visited the Hong Kong City University and heard about its founding purpose with head of the department of physics and material science and professors from each department. Hong Kong City University, founded in 1984, has a shorter history than KAIST, especially the Department of Materials Science and Engineering which was founded only 1 year ago. However, we could see that it was emerging as the one of the world's best material engineering department by investing in outstanding faculty members and many research facilities.

After a brief meeting, we visited a lab on electron microscopes and alloy materials, and we were able to see the research facilities and development direction of the Hong Kong City University. Their research focused on biomaterials, computational materials science, functional materials, and structural materials.

In addition to material engineering, we visited graduation exhibit of school of creative media which does not exist in KAIST and see their products. We were able to experience various graduation game works that actively introduced science and technology into the game industry and the media, and we could see new and different attempts because it is a new department that KAIST does not have. In addition, there were many outstanding departments such as law and engineering colleges in the Hong Kong City university which non extinct department of KAIST are included. And because the exchange student experience is essential, there were people with different cultures in the school, and we could feel that they are trying fusion in a new way with policies encouraging diversity. Afterwards, we attended a history exhibition in Hong Kong City University, enjoyed lunch with professors, talking about Hong Kong and Korean culture.

Afterwards, we moved to Hong Kong Island and reached Victoria Peak Observation Deck. Taking the Peak Tram to the top we could see the Hong Kong Island and the Kowloon Peninsula at a glance, with skyscrapers and stunning night views of Hong Kong where diverse people in the world are moving dynamically.

June 22^nd – Returning to Korea

On the last day, we returned home without any other schedule. we cleaned up our accommodation and took the A21 bus to the airport. Our overseas trip was completed by flying safely back to Korea.

We were worried about if we could spend a week well but we spent time wisely during all the itinerary. We could experience new study/research environment by visiting City University of Hong Kong and conference at HKUST. On top of that, in order to compete and cooperate with other universities worldwide, we decided to study harder to have proper knowledge and skills. We learned about Hong Kong culture by having local food like Peking duck and dim sum, stored lots of good memories by wandering many touristic spots. In particular, beautiful night view of Hong Kong that we saw on Victoria Peak Observation deck will remain as a memory for a long time. Finally, we would like to appreciate the people who have offered this great opportunity.