timxu

Today, I felt like a real adult for the first time in my life. After brunch, we went grocery shopping. We bought almost $100 USD worth of food and ingredients, including rice, scallions, fruit, oil, pepper, ham, milk – the things you need for everyday life. The apartment came stocked with silverware and cooking utensils, so we’re prepared fix ourselves some meals. The problem: we can’t really…cook. So it looks like a steady diet of scrambled eggs, cereal, instant noodle, and fried rice, mixed with a copious serving of eating out. One thing I did notice was the pricing of groceries and even restaurants in the immediate area around our apartment. It was definitely abnormally high for China standards, and were quite comparable to American prices. While they are cheaper, it’s not as cheap as I expected. The grocery prices were certainly on par with those of cheaper American groceries (ie: Chinatown). I’m not sure if that’s the case for all of Hong Kong or just our immediate vicinity.

I also spent a good amount of the day just chatting with some of the other kids in the Bulldogs program here, and just getting to know them. I can already tell that we’re going to have a good summer together. Everyone is chill, fun, and easy to get along with. I’m pretty excited for the shenanigans that await us as soon as we get over our jet lag.

Starting work on Tuesday! I’m surprisingly fairly excited/anxious for it. I guess the unknown is alluring.

The remains of our first dinner out as a group. Definitely better than Chinese food in America. Makes sense.

I left my house at around 7am on Friday, May 28. I arrived in my apartment in Hong Kong at around 4pm on Saturday, May 29. In total, I spent 21 hours in various modes of transportation, from cars to planes to trains to walking. It was a relatively smooth, albeit long, journey.

There was no traffic on the way to JFK International, so I got there with plenty of time and boarded Cathay Pacific flight CX841 fairly early. I got a window seat, which was great, but a few minutes after I sat down, a six-year-old kid plopped down next to me. I figured his (very) Asian mom would hold him in check, so he wouldn’t be a nuisance. I was wrong. He made high-pitched whee!s non-stop while playing asteroids. When he went to sleep, his feet found their way onto my lap and laptop. Even when he was awake, he still ended up kicking me. Fortunately, it wasn’t so frequent as to make the sixteen-hour flight a nightmare, but it was annoying.

The little kid aside, the flight wasn’t bad. Cathay had a HUGE selection of movies/TV shows, so I watched bits of Avatar, Hitch, Dodgeball, and all of Couples Retreat. Then, about 4 hours into the flight, I realized that the green glowing light behind my tray was, in fact, an AC port. The laptop got pulled out, and I rewatched (500) Days of Summer along with about 13 episodes of Two and a Half Men. That, along with about 2-3 hours of sleep, 4-5 Sudoku puzzles, and 2 halfway decent meals, took me to Hong Kong. The Cathay seats were comfortable, but I didn’t really like the recline. Instead of actually reclining the back of your chair, it shifts the padding on the chair downward to create the reclined position with some cushion. It was comfortable, but did limit legspace, which was already being invaded by a certain six-year-old. Altogether, though, the flight was better than most trans-Pacific flights. Cathay is definitely a fantastic airline.

Customs and baggage claim was surprisingly swift. The baggage barely went around once before I got both of my bags. Then I took the (super cool!) Airport Express to Hong Kong Island, and then the regular metro rail to my apartment. The metro stations were clean, unlike New York City’s, and the subway cars themselves were breezy and somewhat odorless, again unlike New York City’s. It was just one ride, but so far I’m impressed.

My apartment is pretty sweet. It’s a pseudo-hotel, so we get our sheets/towels/carpets/whatnot cleaned twice a week. Two bedrooms, a full bath, a full kitchen, and a rather large living room–I’m satisfied. Frank and David (my roommates for the summer) aren’t here yet, so it’s kind of cold and lonely here. I’m going to go explore the shopping mall and see if I can get a phone.

I saw this on reddit, and I wanted to share! Some of these are actually pretty nifty.

* Stop: Stop: Play. Skip advertisements in movies and go strait to the movie.

• Peel a banana from the bottom (I KNEW IT!). See this video for a visual guide.

• If your credit card magnetic stripe starts to get worn from use and being in your wallet, and doesn’t always read in the card reader, you can use the plastic bag trick. Put the card in a plastic grocery bag and then swipe it. Not sure why it works, but it does.Taking it further though, you can simply apply a piece of quality cellophane tape over the mag stripe for a “permanent” plastic bag trick.

• At the end of your shower turn the water really (or all the way) cold. This will wake you up and get blood flowing. It also closes your pores to allow for less dirt and bacteria to get in to help reduce acne problems.

• When you have forgotten someones name, simply say : “I’m sorry, but what was your name one more time.” They may act offended, but when they give you there first name you simply reply “No, I meant your last name.” (more socially acceptable to forget). Bingo. First and last names.

• Gently work an orange in your hands to loosen the peel from the fruit. This makes it easy enough to get the whole peel in one shot.

• Can’t find your car in a parking lot? hitting the lock button trying to get it to beep? Extend the distance of key-less entry by putting the key under your chin. The signal will resonate in your skull increasing the range dramatically. I swear to god this works, and I’m told it’s safe because the radiation is non-ionizing.

• Most tinfoil and saran wrap boxes have little push-in tabs on the sides. If you push them in, the roll won’t fall out when you try to rip out a sheet of it.

• Whenever you spill any liquid that will stain on your carpet (red wine, juice, etc), pour some salt on it. Work it into the carpet – just rub it in with your hands. Leave it there for a few hours (for serious stains, up to a day) and vacuum it out. Voila, stain gone.

• 4,2,3,1 — Vending machine cheat code (as in, the vertical buttons machines, like this http://www.enterprisevending.com/Images/vending.jpg) that will grant access to vending machine’s diagnostic menu. Most times the fun features are disabled, but i’ve gotten a free powerade and a couple cokes in the past.

A few days ago, Bill Clinton addressed the Class of 2010, sending them off into the world with a few observations, a few opinions, and a common message. He observed that our world was too unequal, too unstable, and too unsustainable, and urged the graduating seniors to work together and do public good as private citizens for the good of the world overall. He decried cynicism, calling it a self-fulfilling prophecy, and touched on the state of the world while emphasizing his theme of this world’s inequality, instability, and insustainability. I did feel that his address, meant to be a message to the graduates, at times felt more like politics: the whole “do good” bit felt a little tacked on at the end. But nevertheless, he made a few observations that are worth thinking about.

His first and most striking observation was that, genetically, we are at least 99.5% identical. Metaphorically, he’s right: we often forget that we are all human, that we’re all bound by a common destiny of humanity. Recent technology has only pulled us closer together, entwined our fates even tighter with others’. We are, however, still constantly at odds with one another. Especially in this country, we remain divided economically, ethnically, religiously, ideologically. Millions of people wake up every morning wondering why we all can’t just get along, from the refugees in Sudan to the civilians in Palestine. Clinton wasn’t the first to make this message: one of Barack Obama’s favorite lines during his campaign in 2008 was “what unites us is greater than what divides us.” Yet all around the world, there are people who wake up every morning thinking about how to best attack others. Clinton urged the Class of 2010 to overcome these divisions, realize our common humanity, and work positively in the face of today’s challenges.

That was his second point: positive work. To me, this was his most powerful, yet subtle point. He first referred to the primordial ooze, and how life was able to develop from nothing because there were more positive charges than negative charges. He adapted this into a personal aphorism: whenever he makes a decision or chooses a stance, he chooses the side in which the positive overweighs the negative for all. He chooses the side in which there exists a non-zero sum, game theory code for a win-win scenario.

His other points were quite generic, as far as commencement speeches go: you’re the future, do good, etc. What really struck me, though, was how much science he referenced. Obviously, he’s a smart man – he went to Yale Law after all – but his awareness of current science and research really speaks to his curiosity and the breadth of knowledge that brought him to the White House. That, along with Al Gore’s work in climate change, shows that there are politicians out there who aren’t completely ignorant. Unfortunately, the ignorant ones often shout the loudest, to the detriment of the others.

What an adventurous day, from the start. I woke up before noon for the first time all summer! Drove around New Jersey, picking up Bing, Michelle, and Eric, before meeting up with Jasmine and heading to Six Flags Great Adventure. We got there around 1pm, due to unforeseen delays, so we only had five hours in the park. But boy were those five hours efficient!

Between 1pm and 6pm, we went on (in order): Nitro, El Toro, Bizarro, Kingda Ka, El Toro, El Toro, Kingda Ka, Nitro, Nitro. Yes, I got blasted from 1-128mph in 3.5 seconds to 456 feet twice in one day. Amazing. My favorite is still El Toro, though. You really can’t beat the beginning-to-end intensity, the nearly vertical drop, the head choppers, the weaving track whipping you around at high speed; this is THE roller coaster. Experiencing it once every time I go to Six Flags is awesome. Three times is… indescribable. The best part of the trip, though, was the empty lines. Note to self: go to Six Flags more often in May.

Afterwards, we headed back home and onward to Yale. After a string of bad luck involving traffic, missed trains, and wrong tracks, we go to Davenport gate a lot later than anticipated. My poor father had to drive back home (through traffic!) at midnight on a work night. But now here I am, back at Yale, sleeping on a plain, extra-long, twin-sized mattress with a sleeping bag over it. It kinda feels like band camp (the sleeping bag part and the dirty-clothes-in-a-garbage-bag part), but in a single with empty Yale furniture everywhere. I’m not quite sure what I’m going to do until Sunday (Clinton!), but I’m sure I’ll manage.

One more week until Hong Kong!

After six months of procrastination, I’ve finally redesigned this website. I told myself that I’d start blogging again after the redesign (which may have contributed to its delay…), so here I am. I’m not entirely sure why I haven’t written anything here since September 2009, but it wasn’t due to a lack of content. A lot happened during my sophomore year of college, and I’m a little bummed I didn’t record it. I guess that’s why I’m writing again: to record my most interesting experiences, big or small, so I can look back and remember. I find that when I read my own writing, I get a better sense of where I was emotionally at that time. These posts not only give me a chance to reflect, but also a chance to relive. It’s the reason I created this blog two years ago, and I can only hope I don’t lose motivation (again) in the near future.

In a nutshell, I partied less and studied more sophomore year, though you wouldn’t see it in my GPA. I met new friends and grew closer to old ones. I moved into Branford, only to learn at the end of the year that I was moving back out. I met Phil, Ted, and Wes from Wong Fu Productions, Prohgress from Fareast Movement, Tim Be Told, and Whoopi Goldberg. I had my first relationship at Yale. I became President of CASA and got to know a wonderful group of peers. I got an iPhone. I went to New York City five times. I took Chinese. I got an internship in Hong Kong. I made good decisions and bad decisions, but I don’t regret any of them. Ultimately, I finished half of Yale.

Time really does fly.