(23) Band of Brothers

The basketball competition finished on Thursday night with our team being handed a resounding 50-30 loss by Hall 2 (called HSBC Prosperity Hall, in case you wanted to know haha). In our defense, they had 2 players on the varsity team at the university; the game boiled down to a match of talent, and... well... the game was already out of hand by the end of the 1st quarter. The bench was cleared during the fourth quarter as the game proved to be out of reach. I delivered an 8-point performance highlighted by the other team's center blocking me multiple times on drives and jumpshots (did manage to make 2 3-pointers). He was 7 feet tall, I swear! (Well, more like 6-9 but still)

Nonetheless, the boys' team finished in 3rd place among 9 residence halls - more than a respectable result. The girls' team got 3rd as well, capping a well-rounded performance by Jockey Club Academy Hall. For me, I finished the season averaging 9 points per game at the shooting guard spot. Members of both boys' and girls' teams - whoever could make it that night - and friends went out to dinner; at this point I'd like to give a shout-out to the people that contributed to a solid season:

Team managers: Gabriel (to my left, front), Kitty (front, pink jacket), and Jeff (not pictured)

Shout-out to the girls' team, I should have learned their names...

People whose names I know:
Wai (far right w/ glasses, #15-PF), Gio (black hat, #12-PG), Jacky (gray hoodie, #5-SF), Michael (to the immediate left of Jacky, #6-backup SF), and me (#11-SG).

I didn't know the names of the guy standing up (#13-backup PG), and the guy in the green jacket (#18-backup PF); they joined the team late. Really sorry guys, but I still have the most sincere shout-out to you! The guy in the collared shirt and the guy smiling broadly in the back middle are their friends, I believe.

My teammates that didn't make it to the dinner:
Xavier (#7-backup SG), Jeffrey (#8-backup SF), James (#9-backup SF), Ming (#10-PG), Matthew (#14-backup SG), and Tim (#17-backup SF)

This experience meant a lot to me, gelling as a team during practices and games. My teammates communicated plays and defenses in English, which I much appreciated. Our hall's fans deserve a shout-out too, they cheered as loudly whether we were up 10 points or down 20 points. Yeah, this is just another great memory I'll have of studying abroad in Hong Kong.

P.S. This picture showed up on the Residence Hall website, so I nabbed it :P


Next Episode: "April"

(22) Midterm Report

First of all, wow! Did brackets get torn up the first weekend! As I say that, Butler just beat Syracuse to add to the madness. A sincere "thank you" as well to Greivis Vasquez, Landon Milbourne, and Eric Hayes for some great memories - especially beating UNC and Duke at home.

My student visa is halfway to its expiration date now, so I'm checking up on the goals I set earlier this semester:

(All the way back from my first post)
1. Have a great time and soak everything in this semester.
2. Be more open-minded.
3. Don't be so serious all the time, I have the rest of my life to be serious.
4. Come back to UMD better than ever.

I can check off #1 and 2 for sure, as Hong Kong is surely growing on me. I know a lot of other exchange students have toured all over Asia during long weekends and breaks, but I am perfectly happy looking around right here. As far as I can tell, my time here is way too short to fully explore HK - I'm already considering coming back here after I'm done with undergrad. "Open-minded" for me has been making an effort to get to know the native students and sharing my own story with them, and I've been rewarded greatly for it. This has meant I've spent less time with other exchange students, but hey, I can talk to American kids when I get home. I haven't accomplished #3, guess I really can't change myself that way. And #4 is a work in progress, but things are looking good :)

I'm passing all of my classes: 86 on math midterm and 80 on programming, with the second midterms in each coming up. I've already taken 2 midterms in material science, but students don't get their midterms back in Engineering courses (which I don't agree with at all). Chinese foreign policy looks to be the toughest, with a debate, paper, and final all coming up shortly after Easter break.

Either way, life is good... a satisfactory Midterm Report!

Next Episode: "Band of Brothers"

(21) Bracketology

I have not watched much college basketball this year, but I hear this guy (and his school!) is real good, photo courtesy of ESPN. In case you're wondering, I also just watched the "Barack-etology" video. Mr. President does not believe Maryland will go far...

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=5002940

It's too bad UMD had to be in the Midwest bracket, if they drew any other No. 1 Seed (but it just had to be Kansas...) they'd be going to the Final Four in a heartbeat. It will also break my heart to see another #21 jersey, Mr. Evan Turner of Ohio State (my 2nd favorite team and in the same region) not make it to the Final Four either. I'm being realistic after all, Kansas has Sherron Collins, as their senior floor general, and his freshman lieutenant Xavier Henry.

The NCAA is getting better at seeding too, which makes me think not too many upsets will happen: but I did take Murray St., San Diego St., and Utah St. Also **** Duke, Siena makes the Elite 8. Otherwise my bracket's pretty conservative.

My Bracket:
http://games.espn.go.com/tcmen/en/entry?entryID=2291521

Next Episode: "Midterm Report"

(20) The Best Deals in Hong Kong

The malls in Hong Kong are great, but quite expensive. If you're looking for mass gift items for your co-workers or (more personal) gag gifts, the Yau Ma Tei area has it all. Get off the metro at the station of the same name and walk down Portland Street to shop the outdoor market.

Sit down first to enjoy the sea breeze from the coast a few blocks east of here. You can sample some rock-pot rice dishes, deep-fried oyster cake (I had this for the first time), and mantis shrimp (popular in Cantonese cooking and very tasty too); bottled beer is cheap at less than $2 American.

Walking through the market, I saw a keychain that doubles as a calendar for the next 35 years, magnets of HK street signs, dice for drinking games, books of proverbs, clothes, nail clippers, jewelry (from plastic to jade), bread that felt like bread but really wasn't, etc. There was even a shop where pretty much every item was a cigarette lighter disguised as other everyday objects like cookies and salt chakers; I forget the rest, but... pure craziness. The title pic is not one of the market, sadly, because I forgot to take ANY pictures until I was on my way home...

P.S. This post totally sounded like an ad - but I had a great time out last night.

Next Episode: "Bracketology"

(19) Among the Stars

Jackie Chan! Both the Avenue of Stars and the Hong Kong Space Museum are on the southern tip of Kowloon (Tsim Sha Tsui).

It was a short Saturday morning excursion, and a funny thing happened as I made my way to the HK Space Museum. Roads and directions in Hong Kong, especially in dense urban areas, can become very confusing. So I was backtracking when an interesting thing happened: a man stopped me and told me some things that were supposedly "about me" (and "blessed" me for good fortunes), handed me a slip of paper, and asked me about my favorite color and lucky number. Of course, he got them correct when he told me to unfold the slip of paper... I ended up give him a nice amount of money for all that. This isn't the first time it's happened, I've been approached several times on the streets now and I've given some money to strangers every time - I guess I shouldn't be so trusting, but I'd like to believe the money's going somewhere good (even just for bread).

As for the museum, it wasn't as big (when it comes to rockets and airplanes, bigger = better) as other Aerospace-related ones I've been to: the Smithsonian in D.C., the Kennedy Space Center, and the Dayton Museum of Flight in Ohio - but the Hong Kongers did a good job with the limited space. There's a planetarium and some educational exhibits about Engineering and Astronomy, it's a good start for younger kids.

I've never been to the Avenue of Stars in Hollywood, so I'm not sure how the Hong Kong counterpart stacks up. But I've posted some recognizable stars on my album, including Bruce Lee, Jet Li, and film director John Woo.

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

Next Episode: "The Best Deals in Hong Kong"

(18) History Lesson

A Chinese warship from the Ming Dynasty, though China has never been a historical naval power...

Hong Kong, however, has a rich maritime history spanning over 2000 years. I visited the Hong Kong Museum of Coastal Defense (eastern edge of Hong Kong Island) over the weekend for a quick history lesson - $5 HKD (70 cents American) well spent.

Tanks and cannons on the museum ground immediately captured my interest: I'm an engineer, so machines in general are awesome :) The museum had a great view of the HK Island strait: you could see the transform from a fishing village to a high-rise metro center in a matter of a few miles (or should I use kilometers haha), small tugboats pulling freighters, people enjoying life on cruise ships and speedboats, and sea birds flying around in groups. Now for some history: I've bolded some terms you can look up if you're really interested any of the topics.

Europe had always been interested in China for its jewelry, silk, and various bobbles - but China had remained a well-defended and well-isolated empire throughout the dynastic period. The British Empire found the way to infiltrate China through trading opium, however. The opium trade was devastating to both the Qing Dynasty high office and economy - opium addiction among ranking officials was widespread and led to corruption down to county levels; and China's valuable silk, artifacts, as well as gold and silver stores were extracted from the country as payment for opium.

One Chinese official, Lin Zexu, showed his integrity and loyalty to China by seizing 20,000 crates of opium and burning it at Humen (lit. "Tiger Gate") Port Town in 1839. This would become the trigger for the Opium Wars between the British and Chinese. The Opium Wars is arguably the start of the Qing Dynasty's decline.

Today, Chinese authorities still practice the burning of illegal drugs at Humen Port Town to commemorate the first Opium Burning.

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

Next Episode: "Among the Stars"

(17) The Two Jasons

The statue of Sun Yat-Sen on the HKU campus. Sun Yat-Sen (1866-1925) was renowned for his revolutionary Western thinking during a time of transition in China.

I went on this excursion with an exchange student I met recently, who is a also hiking enthusiast. Pan Zhijian (Pan is the family name) is from Shandong province of mainland China and studies Electrical Engineering (called "Electronical Engineering" here). The title gives it away: his English name is Jason as well - a very cool guy from whom I'm learning much about college life in China.

Our excursion covered the west of Hong Kong Island. Starting off downhill after a cab ride to the Peak Gallery (a shopping center on top of a mountain), we walked the trail through Lung Fu Shan Country Park to the Pinewood Battery. Pinewood Battery is the ruins of a British outpost (with anti-aircraft guns) that defended Hong Kong from 1905-1913. This area of the country park was also the battleground for British and Japanese troops during the 1941 Battle of Hong Kong, which Japan won. The Pok Fu Lam Reservoir was further down the trail. We met a group of ornithologists with big cameras here and one agreed to show us a few pictures of local birds in stunning detail.

The University of Hong Kong campus was at the end of the trail coming out of the mountains. We conducted the usual college campus tour (see album) and rode a DOUBLE-DECKER BUS (haha I thought it was so awesome) back to the metro station, concluding a long productive day.

Album Links:
http://picasaweb.google.com/jasonylu89/TheTwoJasons?feat=directlink
http://picasaweb.google.com/jasonylu89/HKU?feat=directlink

Next Episode: "History Lesson"

- Earthquakes

Dealing with the usual insomnia, I couldn't sleep that morning so I went to the floor lounge to watch the news. The first time I found out that the international news comes on early every morning here, the headline was this:

A magnitude 8.8 earthquake struck offshore central Chile at 3:34 AM local time.

Six weeks ago, I was very late in hearing about the Haiti earthquake - which was a much greater tragedy measured in loss of human life. Though the Chile quake was hundreds of times stronger, sounder structural designs for residential buildings (compared to that in Haiti) in the country's more developed areas, especially the capital Santiago, saved thousands more lives.

What can anyone say to these people? My prayers go out to them... and I'll donate money, it's the only thing I can do right now. The university ran a donation campaign for Haiti and should run another one in the next few days.

Article Link:
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/03/01/chile.earthquake/index.html