timxu

Blog postcrastination (n.) – The counterproductive deferment of writing a blog post to a later time due to laziness. Compounds particularly harshly with passing time, as each significant event in the life of the blog post writer adds to the impending task of writing the blog post, thus increasing the likelihood of blog postcrastination.

I have suffered greatly from this psychological anxiety for the last month, hence the emptiness of this space for that time. But I will attempt to recap the highlights from the past month (mostly in pictures because of blog postcrastination).

The Peak

Hong Kong island is essentially a mountain island with a bunch of buildings built at the shore, so the peak of that mountain offers a beautiful view of those buildings and the surrounding areas. It’s not terribly high up, only about 500 meters, but the view of central, the harbor, and Kowloon is spectacular. It’s obviously geared for tourists, with a legitimate mall built up there, but it was quite classy and didn’t distract from the beauty.

I went with David, David’s friend Paulina, and a few of her co-workers, and we walked around a trail that led us all the way around the mountain peak and offered views of every side of Hong Kong island.

The view of Hong Kong from the peak during the day and at night

The Movie

I meant to talk about Toy Story 3 here, but I really don’t know how without saying what’s been said before. It was a fantastic movie: funny, sad, heart-wartming, silly, exhilarating…very Pixar. It was an intimate reminder of the nostalgia all of us harbor for childhood and a wonderfully silly story of a group of toys all at once. Far from just a kids’ movie, I think it’s poignant for anyone who’s ever grown up.

Pixar is known for the quality of their films, but Toy Story 3 really upped the ante in that regard. The fine detail in their presentation, the quality of the voice acting, the narrative, the high unique and compelling characters, the score – all top notch. Some highlights: Spanish Buzz and his scenes with Jessie (especially the credits!), the Return of the Jedi homage with Lotso and the Baby, the A New Hope homage in the trash compactor, Night & Day, the Return of the King homage in the fire and the claw saving the day, Ken and Barbie, and the ending with Betty and Andy.

The Boat

The Yale Club of Hong Kong was kind enough to plan a junk boat trip for the interns and some alumni. We sailed around Hong Kong island in rough waters – or at least what seemed like rough waters due to the small boat and heavy rocking – to a beautiful bay in the south. It was a great day in the sun (well, before the sunburn…) and highly relaxing. After spending 10 hours in a office 5.5 days a week, it was a nice change to be out in the sun with no stress or worries for an entire day.

Views from (and on) the boat

Hong Kong has an exhibition called “Dialogues in the Dark,” and it’s a 75 minute journey in the pitch dark led by an actual blind person. They gave us sticks to make sure we didn’t trip, and took us through several simulated parts of Hong Kong, including a park (Kowloon Park), a ferry crossing, a market, crossing the street, and ordering a drink/drinking it at a café, all in absolute darkness.

When we first went into the dark, it was actually pretty frightening. I don’t think I’ve ever experience such absolute darkness before. Normally, at night, you can at least see faint outlines of objects; here, we couldn’t see anything. We had to rely on voices, sounds, touching the person in front of us to keep from getting lost. Especially in the beginning, we shuffled around slowly with lots of *tap tap* “Who’s this?” “It’s David.” “Oh who’s behind me?” “Frank.” *tap tap* “Ow that’s my leg.” “Stop hitting me with your stick!” “THAT’S WHAT SHE SAID!” *tap tap* “Where’s Frank? I haven’t felt him all day?” (That last one was David…).

We felt trees, leaves, and the changing texture of the ground from rocks to grass to wood chips, the rocking of a small bridge, heard the chirps of birds, the distant roar of a waterfall…all this in just the first part! Having to rely on touch, sound, and each other really made me realize how much I had taken my sight for granted. When we got to the ferry part and we walked up the ramp and felt the life jackets on the wall, and when we “crossed” the harbor and felt the wind and the rocking of the boat, I could almost see the boat, the harbor, the fading Kowloon skyline and the growing Hong Kong skyline. I realized very quickly how much my sense of hearing and touch contribute and enrich what I see.

There’s so much more to experience based on all our senses beyond basic vision. We were born with five senses, and those of us fortunate enough to retain our use of all five ought to appreciate and fully utilize each one. What’s life, after all, if we don’t notice it in all dimensions?

Also, FIFA needs new referees. It’s getting kind of silly.

I’ve noticed that a lot of our social activities here in Hong Kong have been quite classy, especially this weekend’s events. High-end bars, Australian restaurants, the Hong Kong Jockey Club… this isn’t quite Hong Kong to most of her citizens. Most of these major events were organized by Yale alumni, who are, no doubt, upper class members of Hong Kong society. That said, these experiences are indeed fantastic and I’m enjoying myself a great deal, but it did get me thinking about our expectations and how they play into our quality of life. It occurred to me that this summer, and, to a degree, the entire Yale experience is rapidly preparing me for just that kind of life: cocktail parties, fancy dinners, and watching horses run around in circles.

However, having just finished my second year at Yale, my future as a member of that society is far from guaranteed. Every year, hundreds of Yale graduates leave to pursue work in inner cities, developing countries, and other environments where wants give way to needs. Yet this summer is building a set of expectations and behavioral assumptions in which image rises above wants and needs, and that image is one of class and status. And I suspect that even those Yalies working in inner cities and developing countries still expect a level of high class in their own projection of themselves.

To be sure, there isn’t anything measurably wrong with the upper class and their social mode. Yale, like it’s ivied cousins, has a level of prestige to uphold, a level of grace and history that its name demands. These most recent experiences, however, have made me far more aware that very recently, Yale’s student body was almost entirely children of wealth and status. While this is fortunately no longer true, it is still very much the image of Yale, and the Ivy League, that prevails. With names like Yale and Harvard and Princeton come a sense of privilege that is often begrudged by the rest of the world.

Maybe this is why I hesitate to tell newly-acquainted strangers where I go to school: not because I’m ashamed of my school – quite the contrary – but because I fear that their image of me will be incorrigibly colored by prestige and status, that they will immediately regard me as inaccessible and elite. Perhaps I hesitate because I want and need to prove to them (and myself?) that I am no different, that just because I go to Yale does not mean that I live a life of entitlement and prestige, that just because I was given these expectations by a singing bulldog does not take away my upbringing in a family built by hard work and sacrifice.

And yet, here I am in Hong Kong, where alumni after alumni shows me what the world looks like on the other side, and all I can see are high heels and twenty dollar cocktails.

This past weekend was quite eventful. On Friday after work, all the Bulldogs in Hong Kong met with the alumni at a super fancy (and super expensive!) restaurant for drinks. We met a few recent and not-so-recent graduates doing a variety of interesting work in Hong Kong. Afterwards, we went to check out Lan Kwai Fong, the local partying district. It was very crowded and full of foreigners, but still lively. We didn’t stay long, since we were tired, but we definitely plan on making a return trip!

Saturday was spent balling with some locals with David, Hanqing, Kevin (from Boston College) and Liang (YC ’08). They were good and we lost pretty much every game, but it felt good to exercise after sitting on my butt for a whole week. In the evening, we had a bro session and watched “I Love You, Man” and also discovered a sad dog made of shadows and silhouettes in a window across the street. It was freaky. I’m surprised I didn’t have nightmares about it afterwards.

Sunday was spent hiking in the hills above Hong Kong Island with Nelson, one of the older alums. We spent around 4 hours in the mountain, but the roads were paved and the weather was absolutely beautiful. I love that Hong Kong has such an abundance of natural habitats and greenery. There were butterflies, caterpillars, birds, plants…it reminded me of hiking in the Smoky Mountains and Hawaii. It was too easy to forget that just a mile to the north lay a scattered grid of towering high-rises and one of the densest cities in the world. There was such a feeling of peace and quiet that stood at stark contrast to the noise and bustle of the busy city. Hong Kong is often criticized for being a cold, serious metropolis, but the fact that you can walk 10 minutes and be lost in a sea of green adds an unique dimension to the experience. For a city hailed as one of the financial centers of Asia, it really is amazing.

The reservoir within the park. It’s literally right in the middle of Hong Kong Island.

Monday, a few of us went to the piers on Kowloon side to see the daily light show. The relatively short show is synchronized with music and played on the buildings of the Hong Kong skyline, along with lasers and spotlights arranged along the shore. The skyline itself is beautiful, especially when seen from the docks across the harbor. The skyline seems to grow out of the water itself, and the distant shade of mountains creates a majestic backdrop. Click on for a few more pictures from the weekend! (more…)

I have a cubicle. It’s a little bit fantastic. It’s like The Office, except with a competent boss and less jokes and scripted sequences. It’s also longer than 23 minutes a week and involves a commute that’s 45 minutes each way. I’m doing marketing for a real estate conglomerate here in Hong Kong, working with their Hotels group and the various promotions and events they’re putting on in the coming weeks. I’ve also got a few other responsibilities, so I should be pretty busy.

The last few days have been quite eventful. I’ll let the pictures/captions do the talking, because jet lag is trying to kill me.

On Monday night, the girls made dinner for themselves. Not to be outdone, the boys decided to do the same. Two hours and some Yelin-magic later, here we are, about to enjoy a fine dinner. Scrumptious stuff, really. We’ve also been preparing our own breakfast these days, making toast (if it can be called that…) without a toaster and scrambled eggs. Add that to some “milk beverage – made from fresh milk” and it’s breakfast.

Earlier Monday afternoon, Yelin and Frank and I went to Causeway Bay, a famous shopping area, for lunch and then wandered afterwards. There was literally a mall at every street corner, and often more on the streets themselves. One particular one had one of Yelin’s favorite clothing stores, UNI QLO, so we checked it out. This is us trying on some vests from the store. Hot, right?

And finally, from that same trip: the World Trade Centre. With our famous mango drinks. And the fob signs. Sorry, we had to do it…

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!