(16) Not all fun and games...

When we last left off, I ended my Chinese New Year break early to come back to school. I had a presentation (for my Chinese foreign policy class) due the following Monday (the 22nd) which I needed to work on. I proceeded to have a few rough days leading up to the presentation. I've had a great time in Hong Kong so far, so this is the first time you'll hear me complaining.

Insomnia: So I've only told my parents and a couple people until now, but I haven't been sleeping well since I moved on-campus - it's really been bothering me. It would take me 2, 3 hours a night to fall asleep. I've tried not napping during the day and sleeping later. Lack of sleep absolutely killed my focus too when I tried working on my presentation.

Computer trouble: My computer decided to take a "sick day" by crashing the night before my presentation, and I found out my external hard drive had a virus on it (which could have contributed?) I'll get on fixing all that soon.

The presentation itself: I finished it 20 minutes before my class and didn't get to make notes for it. I read off the slide and said "um" way too many times, and I didn't really answer the question. A disappointing effort even thought the professor told me not to worry about my grade. I just needed to rant a little on here, it's past me now.

Again, I'm so glad that's all in the past now! Still having some trouble sleeping, but things have picked back up in general :) Studying abroad should be an amazing experience where you grow up, try new things, and make memories and friends for life, and it has been all of that. I just learned that it is still NOT a vacation; that it is NOT all fun and games...

Next Episode: "The Two Jasons"

(15) Year of the Tiger

Family, it's what Chinese New's Year's all about.

A very happy (and very belated) Chinese New Year to all! It actually coincided with Valentine's Day this year, just an interesting fact. I took a train to Guangzhou on the 12th and spent a short three days with my family before coming back to campus. It was great to see my grandparents and one of my younger cousins, who must have grown a foot since I last saw her. I had a great homecooked meal the first night and experienced some southern Chinese culture the other two days. Burning incense, lighting firecrackers, and praying to maritime gods/goddesses are popular around this time of year.

Album Links:
http://picasaweb.google.com/jasonylu89/YearOfTheTiger1?feat=directlink
http://picasaweb.google.com/jasonylu89/YearOfTheTiger2?feat=directlink

Next Episode: "Not all fun and games..."

(14) Waterfront Promenade

The Ma On Shan Central Park Waterfront Promenade, to be exact.

I had been living in Hong Kong for about 5 weeks when I realized I hadn't been to the ocean yet. It was 80 degrees out on this particular Thursday and I didn't have class, so another walk was called for. This waterfront is not the "big one" in Hong Kong (Victoria Harbor is, including its own "Avenue of Stars" - save it for another time), but it provided a pleasant sea breeze and a view of and across the Sha Tin Sea. There were multiple children's playgrounds and a jogging trail along the waterfront, and some cool wind turbines [for which I could totally try to calculate the lift and drag coefficients, and the Advance Ratio because it's a propeller system... sorry :P].

Dorky Aerospace Engineering anecdotes aside, I could definitely see myself living and working here in the very near future. I'm 20 now, who knows where I'll be when I'm 30? But Hong Kong's growing on me pretty quickly...

Album Link: http://picasaweb.google.com/jasonylu89/WaterfrontPromenade?feat=directlink

Next Episode: "Year of the Tiger"

(13) My Inner Buddhist

Trivia: I actually consider myself "unaffiliated" when it comes to religion.

I am a "routine" kind of guy, and my routine was to take another Saturday morning hike - until a friend informed me that the Big Buddha on Lantau Island was the place to be. After an hour-long metro ride, I was rewarded with a breathtaking view on the cable car (see album). Then I went to greet the Big Buddha and uttered a prayer in the nearby temple, wishing for him to keep me safe and out of trouble during my study abroad.

Behind the park's main area was a hiking trail to Lantau Peak, which piqued my interest immediately. My bonus hike started off in the hot sun, so I sat down for a break and had a snack. As I made my way up, the sun disappeared and I was suddenly engulfed by same fog I saw from the cable car (again, see album). It was getting cold too so I took out and put on a hoodie. Then I realized... my glasses were not on my face, they were not in my backpack, and they were not on the ground immediately next to me. It was now late in the day and I had good reasons to head back. I mulled over losing my glasses the entire way back down, while my knees registered their complaints of soreness. It was back at the beginning of the trail when I saw... on the ground, my glasses just laying there. My spirits picked back up as I picked my glasses up and headed home.

The overthinking little man working the controls in my brain says: that prayer must have worked because I don't think I was meant to make it to the peak that day. I'll come back another time though, and maybe I'll keep better watch of my stuff haha...

Album Link: http://picasaweb.google.com/jasonylu89/MyInnerBuddhist?feat=directlink

Next Episode: "Waterfront Promenade"

(12) Names

This is a very short post before a rather long one coming up next. I've found that most native Hong Kong students at City-U have American names. While some are common ones such as "Jeff", "Tony", "Bruce", "Frances", "Renee", "Tracy" etc. There are other ones that surely will not make the Top Baby Names List for 2010 in the U.S. For those guys and gals I say: "Rock On!"; being unique and expressive is one of the best ways to define ourselves in this crazy world. Awesome names are, well, awesome.

Consider these names below - I'm sure more will be added to this list.

Male: Gio, Handsome, Heaven, Lucifer, Manson

Female: Davis, Funny, Mango, Willow, Yandy

Next Episode: "My Inner Buddhist"

(11) Super Sub

Ahh, the spirit of college basketball: students jumping up and down, thundersticks (...I think they are called?), flag bearers running around, and unique cheers for your team.

I got a slight taste of all of that this past Sunday. Hall 4 (my hall) took on Hall 6 in the first game of the Inter-hall Basketball Competition. Spectators gathered around the residence hall basketball court and on a bridge above. I came on during the second quarter and helped Jockey Club Academy Hall (the name of my hall) to a 13-point victory by scoring 11 points myself off the bench. My hall team's color is RED as an added bonus, go Maryland! Feeding off the crowd and having a few fans is truly an awesome feeling.

Album Link: http://picasaweb.google.com/jasonylu89/SuperSub?feat=directlink

Next Episode: "Names"

(10) Lion Rock

Kowloon literally translates to "Nine Dragons" in English, the Nine Dragons of Hong Kong consist of eight mountain peaks and a Song Dynasty Emperor (whose burial place is on the Mainland-HK border). I decided to explore Kowloon's namesake myself by taking a Saturday morning hike on Lion Rock, the closest peak to campus.

I was blessed with a beautiful morning for a hike. So I decided to take a 20-minute walk to Lion Rock Country Park but got lost along the way (the walk became an hour long). But it was all worth it when I reached the 495m altitude summit and looked down at my kingdom below. For the next 7 Saturday mornings (excluding Chinese New Year), I'm making a personal mission to scale the other Kowloon peaks. I'm further inspired as I'm listening to O.A.R's "This Town" as I write this post: it describes very well what I want to do here, taking on Hong Kong armed with my confidence and energy.

Album Link: http://picasaweb.google.com/jasonylu89/LionRock?feat=directlink

Next Episode: "Super Sub"