Daily Updates...

I fail. I know. Bet lost. :(

Having said that... I'll be doing a batch update this Sunday (likely) and "magically" go back in time and update things from the past 2 weeks.

Suffice to say with school/research tasks, exploration of HK and "other" events, I haven't had time to unload the billion pictures/videos on the phone and make a proper update about it. But soooon!

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air

- Blast from the past! And videos like these make me realize I'm no longer young

Yesterday, I crossed the Victoria Harbor from Kowloon to Hong Kong Island. The destination of choice was none other than the Bel-Air residential developments. (I guess if you wanted an easy way to associate yourself with wealth and pedigree, just name your apartment complex after some other rich neighborhood).

- I snapped a photo before I arrived at the entrance

- These two... I don't even know what to call them, greeted the people that entered through the front gate of the complex. There were a ton of other unique architectural designs (I was surprised to see such a heavy infusion of Greco-Roman and pre-Victorian statues and design templates) but, I was told that I should not be taking photos as it would make the residents uncomfortable. I complied... I did not want to get kicked out. Not yet, at least.

The primary purpose of the trip that day was to grab a bite with some people I know who happen to live here. They had just recently moved into the Bel-Air complex and since I happen to be visiting Hong Kong... the rest just fell in place. Breakfast, to put it simply, was breath-taking. I made sure a photo was taken along with a short video clip.

- I could have sat here for hours...

- Time to nom nom nom! Fruity breakfast get in my belly!

After breakfast, a little chit-chatting, some back and forth banter and the usual catching up topic of "what have you been up to in life," we headed out for another meal. The destination of choice was the Pacific Club, one of those exclusive country clubs you take your guests to when you want to impress them and show off. I guess I should feel flattered I was worthy of being a target of impression.

- The view from the Pacific Club balcony right outside their dining hall. The view was suppose to be gorgeous but the presence of fog and lack of complete nightfall limited what I'm sure would have been a spectacular viewpoint. The building to the left is also the 4th tallest building in the world (why you can't even see its top). I was told, over and over and over about this fact as if they personally built the tower.

- I managed to take one picture before people devoured the food. The seafood buffet had items imported from New Zealand, Australia, the Philippines and some other island states. Yummy in my tummy!

- We also had a private chef come into the dining hall to put on a cooking display. The most unique item he cooked was some kind of tiny, live fish. [Disclaimer: the method they cooked them, soon to be described, is not for the animal lovers out there]. What they did was they initially put around 5-6 "fishes" into a large glass container. They were extremely fresh, and you could tell because they were still jumping inside the container (flip-flopping around) as if they were just pulled out of the ocean. A few seconds later, someone comes in with a jug of liquid. (I presume its oil, but I have no idea) The assistant slowly funnels the liquid/oil into the glass container and the lively/fresh fish slowly flop around less and less (as if they were getting suffocated). Once the movement slowed down dramatically in the glass container, the liquid was funneled out and the fish quickly put into a brazen clay pot. The chef proceeded to spike up the fire (see picture above) and cook it before our very eyes. The meal was delicious!

A couple hours with the wealthy and the exquisite dining experiences makes for a fulfilling and unique day!

Welcome to the Tour!

Inquiring minds have wanted to know where I could have lived, where I am living now and why the switch? Visual answers will be presented!

Where I could have lived:

- Trader's Hotel (formerly Jen Hotel), really close to HKU campus

Where I am living now: (Presented in video format! as if you were being taken on a tour). Please note the absolutely-awesome opening musical score, composed by none other than myself.



- I know, I know, I will move quicker next time so the video isn't so long

- You might not be able to see the inside, but you can at least see the view I have! Which isn't very viewable since there's a ton of trees in the way.

And finally, why the switch: Let us just say that the savings will be in the ballpark figure of allowing me to buy a brand new "item" if I wanted to...

- Hello mysterious "item"

Meet My New Friend, Mr. MoneyBag

- Hello new friend!

One of the other students, also in my Santa Clara - Hong Kong program, flew in yesterday. After some emails and phone calls, we had decided to meet up. The plan was to grab a bite and some drinks.

He had checked out a room from the hotel "Butterfly on the Prat" in the Tsim Sha Tsui district (尖沙咀), and because his area was more "touristy," we decided it would be a safer bet to meet at his location over mine. (No, I do not live in the ghetto...well, not completely ghetto).

Getting down there was the first tricky part. Not only is HK's public transportation vast and complicated, limited ability to read the language also makes it difficult to navigate the streets. Yes, I could have taken a taxi, but learning the public transportation was a necessity and worthwhile experience. (Hello Mr. Budget!) After typing in Google "hong kong public transportation routes" some very complex internet research, I managed to figure out the bus route to take and where to get off.

- I can't tell if I like this better or San Francisco's 511.org

I was suppose to get off at stop #17, Mody Road Tsim Sha Tsui. Perhaps not all too surprisingly, I got off at New World Centre by mistake. This was not a complete mistake, since it gave me the chance to catch the harbor view of Hong Kong at night.

- Damn you crappy Blackberry camera

When we finally met up, finding a place to eat was more troublesome than we expected. Somehow, in our ill-fated excursion, we had wandered into the thick of the shopping district instead of the eating area. There were occasional restaurants, but they were definitely catered towards the more affluent crowd. (I'm not paying $30 for a sandwich!) I also saw more electronic stores in the span of 3 minutes than I could have seen at an electronics conference and symposium.

After eating, our attempt to find a local bar commenced. We somehow ended up in the wedding district instead though. (What is a wedding district? Imagine a bajillion wedding dress shops, tailors, cakes, etc. lined up along one street). As of that moment, I have officially walked more than the past 2 days than I have ever done so before in my life. We finally managed to find a pretty relaxing corner bar, along with American music blaring over crowded tables, and decided to go go in.

- I refused to get a beer like Tsingtao while in HK!

We bar hopped around for a little bit, went into some of the establishments nearby, grabbed a little more food and just let the time fly by. The sordid details of the night need not be fully chronicled, they would obviously be way too boring!

This brings us to the title of this post and why I have implicitly referred to my new friend as Mr. MoneyBag. (No, he was not super rich and he did not pay for everything). While wandering the streets of Tsim Sha Tsui, every merchant you could possibly imagine flocked towards him, and only him, to hawk their goods at him. (I was a little jealous! No one flocking to me the night before was understandable, but that night I had on more than a tank top and basketball shorts! I did not look like a hobo!) Watches, clothes, food, beverages and even foot massages (with the illicit connotation thrown in), were tossed at him as if he was a walking bag of money. After some discussion about this, he revealed that he had expected as much. He was a tall, Caucasian male dressed in decent attire and, as such, he had expected to receive a type of treatment which was similar to how he had been treated in other Asian countries. The idea that foreigners tip extremely well and splurge with their money was culturally infused into the commercial mind-set of many residents of Hong Kong. However, given the rate of rejection he doled out, instead of a money bag, this might have been a more appropriate caricature of who he was:

- A more appropriate analogy right?

First Impressions & A New Personal-Best Record

This initial post from Hong Kong would have, in any other situation, been posted much sooner normally. However, exigent circumstances intervened and not only removed the option of a quick posting but also forced me to set a new-personal best record.

Normally, whenever I find myself in a new environment, it takes me at least a day before I find myself doing something absurdly stupid and beyond reproach. In Hong Kong, it took me 1 hour to lock myself out of the apartment I was staying in... 1 hour!!

To paint the backdrop; I had opted out of the HK program's housing plan and found a room to rent from a relative at an extremely affordable rate. (It might put Bayview to shame, and Bayview feels like I'm getting paid to live there). After leaving the airport, I made my way to Kowloon (where the apartment was). Upon arrival, the apartment owner gave me a set of keys and explained that she was late to work, as a result of waiting for me to arrive, and had to rush out. I had a lot of stuff to unpack and prepare anyways, so I wished her well and saw her off.

After about an hour of unpacking, organizing and getting myself situated, I found myself in a huge sweat. Hong Kong's humidity is nothing to scoff at. The combination of a heat wave coupled with the saturated and wet humidity that pervades everything, made the feeling... icky? I took off almost every layer of clothing I had, picked up my Blackberry (I've realized having the BB next to me is more instinctual than actual necessity; the phone was not yet operable in HK and having it with me served absolutely no major purpose) and took a stroll outside in the community balcony.

After a few minutes and a lap around the floor, I made my way back to the apartment. I realized almost immediately the door was locked and I had no way in. (Ok, I confess, it was not an immediate realization. I did try like an idiot to somehow open the door for a good 5-10 minutes - sticking my hand into the mail delivery slot to somehow, maybe, reach the lock inside was definitely a low point).

And so, the (self imposed, because of my own stupidity) adventure began here:

I had exactly 6 items in my possession when I was locked out. (And when I say 6, I'm really, really stretching it) - a pair of sandals, basketball shorts, boxers, a tank top, glasses, and my Blackberry [which had not been setup to work in HK just yet]. I had no money on me at all.

9:38 pm Hong Kong local time

Once the dim prospect of getting inside had finally dawned on me, I tried to remain optimistic of the situation, something a friend had taught me to do. (Hello Le!). While I had no money or means of communicating with the apartment owner, I did have a functional Blackberry (minus the whole, slightly overrated phone call ability... just slightly). Even if the phone was working, I had left the owner's number on a piece of paper inside the apartment. When you couple this with the fact that I felt like it was inappropriate to call her since I had made her late for work already, contact with the owner did not seem like an acceptable solution.

Without a penny to my name and armed with nothing but a semi-functioning Blackberry, I decided to conquer the night. Thankfully, the area I was living in had a very robust nightlife, plus I had always wanted to see the city so I might as well make the most of the situation and check out the neighborhood...

- Right outside the front door of the apartment complex I was staying in... and yes, that bus was probably speeding.

- A billiard hall to the left and a outside dining cafe to the right... must drop by at another time, when I have more money than a hobo and look less like a hobo.

I also wanted to point out, I quickly noticed people starting to give me weird looks when I was holding up my phone and snapping pictures of a neighborhood that does not warrant much picture taking. I suppose it could have been worse. I could have had on less clothing at the time than the tank top and basketball shorts.

- This picture of a lone skyscraper seemed very symbolic of my destitution.

- At one point, I was trying to time it just right so that there would be a stream of lights on the freeway like you would normally see in professional photos. I failed.

- How do you know you are having a bad day? When a stray dog jogs past you, suddenly stops about 4 feet in front of you, lifts one leg and proceeds to take a piss practically on your shoes. I kid you not, and if I had not quickly taken a photo on the spot, I don't think I would have believed myself.

10:44 pm Hong Kong local time

- A park?! Have I found salvation?!

- Two simultaneous soccer games going on with subs and spectators watching... more and more promising as a potential savior...

- Hallelujah!! Basketball courts! With dozens of players playing/watching!

After more than an hour of drifting through the streets and market stalls of Kowloon, I happened upon a park with people playing basketball. Two things immediately cropped up in my mind. One, sandals be damned, I planned on playing. Two, the fact that the average height in the ballpark was significantly lower than the average height at an American park should negate any limited mobility issues as a result of having sandals and not basketball shoes.

I will be honest, it was pretty hard to get into a game cause I did not look like a serious baller wearing flip-flops. However, after some well-timed jokes and slight trash talking (de-emphasis on the word slight), I manage to get a spot in one of the games. In retrospect, it was probably not a good idea to talk trash at all since I had no idea where I was, who these people were and what was going on with the basketball game... but hey, desperate times call for desperate (and stupid) measures!

Proud to say, I proved a better player than they expected (although their expectations were pretty low), and I found myself enjoying a solid hour of basketball. I have to say, this was one of the most unique and random pick-up basketball games I have ever found myself in. I did not know what they were saying at times, I found myself instinctively yelling English comments, which no one really understood, and I am pretty sure they thought I was kind of crazy...

- All good things must come to an end. Once the park lights dimmed, people started to head out and I was once again cast into the ocean of desolation.

12:06 am Hong Kong local time (the next day, Friday the 13th... coincidence?!?!)

Once the basketball game ended, things started to go downhill fast. The streets were starting to thin out and any hopes of finding amusing and diverting activities faded with the passing minutes. I even had to take a $hit at this point.

- I happen to find, perhaps the only one in existence, a restroom without toilet paper in the stalls.

- The lone toilet paper dispensary stood at the end of all the stalls... Who the F*** designed this place?! Don't even ask how I have comments on all of this.

1:35 am Hong Kong local time

After these basketball and bodily function excursions, I returned to the apartment complex. I was slightly disappointed, although not too surprised, to learn that no one had returned home yet. I left a note on the door and indicated I would once again return in 3-4 hours. Round 2 of the Hong Kong walk-about started. With the dead of night squarely upon the city, the streets were near-empty and the lights of the metropolis got darker and darker. It got noticeably more difficult to find the impulse to take pictures.

- If I was less tired, I would have come up with a witty metaphor/proverb about crossing two separate bridges to arrive at nothing...

- This was a beautiful temple-like structure I found in a park that stood right in front of several towering skyscrapers... Hey, I've used that line somewhere before...

- This picture does not do this building justice. It seriously looked like it had two light-sabers flanking the front of the building. (Ahhh, delete Star Wars nerd moment!)

- I was somewhat amused by this sign on the road in front of a side-walk. In the States, you naturally learn to look left and right before you cross the streets, but I suppose they have the advice, literally, spelled out on the sidewalk just in case you never learned that lesson here. I wonder if they did it cause of past liability issues? Or simply because of altruistic reasons? If so, why not in the States? Do we not care or presume that people that fail to look left and right should get run over? (Ahhh, delete inappropriate comment moment!)

4:14 am Hong Kong local time

I returned to the apartment complex, yet again, after several hours of walking about the neighborhood. This time, I was surprised to not see anyone home. I had done the math in my head. Since the owner was late for work, she should have been back by now, but she wasn't. I started running through the possible scenarios in my head of why she was not back: maybe the commute was longer than I had guessed, or, worst case scenario, she was working overtime.

Having grown somewhat tired of the walking, I checked in with the apartment front office to see if there was some way I can get into the apartment despite not having my name associated with the formal lease. (Yes, I probably should have done this 6 hours ago... but hindsight is always 20/20). They flat out told me they do not keep spare keys and that there was nothing they could do. I have to say, I found that response suspicious but, I accepted it as a cultural idiosyncrasy, updated my note on the door, and went about Round 3 of neighborhood exploration bonanza... (even my sarcasm sounds labored!)

- I walked pretty far and came across this strange "Whampoa" place... It looked like it was an amusement park... in the middle of the streets?

- It even had a map of the place posted on a pole by the entrance...The place just looked weird.

6:10 am Hong Kong local time

I returned back to the apartment to (surprisingly and not surprisingly) find no one home. At this point, I was immensely tired, slightly hungry, extremely thirsty and even a little grumpy. To kind of put the cherry on top of all of this...

- the sun had begun to rise... I have walked until dawn apparently.

Too tired to continue with the street by street exploration, I found myself in a stairwell resting... A little bit later, I took the following video, aptly named "Prelude to Insanity" with the video-camera on my Blackberry (boy has it been useful for the night! Yet also useless in the most important regard...)

- Prelude or actual arrival?

8:00 am Hong Kong local time

One picture speaks a thousand words:

- I will see those 1,000 words and raise you a "F*** Me"

I did not get back into the apartment until about 9 or 10 am local time. (13 hours about... coincidentally?!) I stopped checking and caring. I would post more about the aftermath of my first night in Hong Kong, but, I am haggard to put it simply. (This post took more time to write than I anticipated...)

My final concluding remark: My first night in Hong Kong was unforgettable and forgettable at the same time. Oxymoron alert.

Oodles of Noodles

Imagine the most typical, or better yet, the most stereotypical, "small meal" or "snack food" that you can think of for Asian cultures. (No, you can't say rice.) Even if you can't think of it, deep down, you know the correct response would be noodles. In a contemporary setting, the more fitting response might be a cup of noodles.

I was surprised, maybe a little too pleasantly so, that they served it as a snack on the flight to Hong Kong. Normally you would expect mini-pretzels or mixed nuts but as homage to the destination of the journey, I found myself looking at a miniature cup of noodles the size of my fist (along with mini-chopsticks!)

- It's smaller than it looks!

Now imagine yourself as the CEO of a large airline company. You have just had the type of brilliant, light-bulb over head, eureka-esque moment that justify your unjustifiable salary: You decided to serve regional snacks to your passengers. (I wonder if they provide complimentary mini-vodka bottles on flights to Russia...) You want to mass-produce these items to cut costs, yet, still have it appeal to the myriad of localized ethnic-identities in the East. What do you do?

The obvious answer apparently was to make instant cup-noodles called, in English, "Chinese Noodles," with the description in Japanese and instructions in Korean. The noodles themselves tasted like Vietnamese phở. Hey, you just created a product that is patently safe from any accusations of discrimination. What more can you hope for?

Launching Pad

- And off we go!

Edit: Houston, we have a problem. Flight delay :(

Priceless

120 hours - the time span since finals ended and the cramming studying came to a stop

81 days - the length of time that will be spent away from law school and the law library
7000 miles - the distance traveled to evade the library basement

Priceless - no matter how much time has passed, how long I will be away, and how far I will travel, I can not escape your Mr. Cubicle...

- If only I was buying something with my MasterCard at this moment...

Hello, Hong Kong Judiciary

- I love the juxtaposition between the modern, towering skyscrapers and the traditional, modest government buildings.

I am thrilled to note, aside from classes and an opportunity to work in the Liberty Chambers, I just received confirmation I will also intern (Hong Kong uses the term marshall) in the Hong Kong High Court under a judge.

I am ecstatic at the unique opportunity and challenge this presents and I also realize I am fortunate to be in this position. (Much of this would not have been possible without the unwavering assistance of Professor Carter). As a 1L, judicial internships are difficult to procure given their scarcity and competition they find themselves buried under. As a matter of fact, I am not even technically allowed to have one at Golden Gate - the school requires students to have more than a year of law school under their belt before they can acquire one as an externship.

The Hong Kong judicial internship promises to not only be a fortuitous event to circumvent this rule but also a unique experience. The foreign environment coupled with the early exposure to how a common-law court system works should prove invaluable to a young legal career. As an avid believer that much of the legal skills you have to acquire are learned outside of the confines of the classroom, I earnestly believe it will be a rewarding educational experience.

Of course nothing great comes without costs. The challenges are nothing to scoff at. Not only have I not taken marital property or communal property classes, even if I had, the application of the knowledge gained in those classes would have been limited. Given the unique circumstance that the judge would be applying Hong Kong law and not American law, a lot has to be learned in a short time. I have already been tasked with gaining some basic knowledge of matrimonial law in Hong Kong and the judge has also indicated that her docket would have issues dealing with custody, maintenance and ancillary relief. (Several terms I actually do not know what they mean upon first glance).

The limited time frame along with the varied and copious material that has to be learned presents a challenge - however, it is one I relish. I only hope I can go into the High Court prepared and armed with sufficient competency that the duties entrusted upon me would be carried out in a proper manner.

Now, if only the civil procedure final I have tomorrow can quickly get here, I can start my research on matrimonial law in Hong Kong. And yes, I fully realize the previous sentence will inevitably become the affirmation of the dork status that I will inherit.

- See you soon!

Parting Gift from the City of San Francisco

- The white envelope should have been red

The city of San Francisco was kind enough to ensure, prior to my departure, an adequate gift would be bestowed upon me. My only complaint would be that the gift envelope should have been red to comport with Chinese cultural norms. (One of my professors had always emphasized the importance of being culturally aware!)

It is also a Chinese cultural norm to express gratitude with monetary gifts. I can say with absolute certainty that in exchange for this benevolent gesture by the city, I will be quickly delivering a monetary present to the city. Enjoy!

Final Countdownnnn - and Magic Shows

Keeping in line with the previous theme of having potentially inappropriate explosives as a symbol of my flight departure, I present a catchy song from the 80s (which ironically has a very appropriate title).

- Yes, I just analogized the beginning of my Hong Kong trip with the Viking concept of Armageddon. Woops?

I guess the only way to remedy this would be to have the same music, but this time shown through the images of a... magician?

- Arrested Development was a great comedy that had its life end too early!

Lesson of this post: I really have no idea. But you have to admit, I somehow made this post seem relevant to the blog!

Lesson in life: You can never listen to too much 80s music and you can never have too many magicians. 

T-9 and Counting...

- 9 seconds until boom?

It is official - we are down to single digit amount of days until I fly out. Finals are halfway over and I can not describe how excited I am. I also can not tell whether this excitement stems from the imminent presence of Hong Kong or the impending end to finals?

I just realized I am depicting the countdown of my flight departure with a dynamite stick... Hmmm, this somehow seems potentially inappropriate.

Edit: Osama bin Laden was purportedly killed today. Ironic coincidences abound.

I wonder what the legal ramifications of taking him alive would have been. Guantanamo Bay? Would there have been a trial? Would the American public put up with a trial? Who would have dared to defend him? Inquisitive mind is at work, which must be stopped. Few hours left until property final... must focus!

Then again... what would happen to the property that was seized from Osama's compound...

Ahhhhh, Property Law!!

Ugh, Busy!

It is 6:00 pm. The sun has set and the streets are ablaze with the lights of a metropolitan city. It is the night before the first final exam of the semester. In 20 hours you will be asked to analyze and spot issues involving bargaining misconduct in contract formation, non-performance of contractual duty, breach of contracts, the Uniformed Commercial Code, and a host of other issues. It is all closed book, no notes will be provided. You have a mountainous amount of material to memorize and regurgitate on demand. You have to learn and comprehend nuances within contract law. You now have less than 20 hours...

*cue scenario*


A student is hunkered down in the basement of a library. Copious amounts of notes and electronic devices are spread across the table of his cubicle. His mouth is rapidly moving as he mouths the the rules of the 2nd Restatement of Contracts to himself. "The elements of unilateral mistake are..." Every passing minute amplifies the growing anxiety. Will he be able to comprehend all of the material? Will he have it memorized well enough to walk into the exam room with confidence?

*cue reality*


A round of applause is heard. The room falls to a deadening silence as the speaker at the podium prepares to speak. Waiters and waitresses buzz around delivering succulent entrée dishes of salmon to the 70 different tables that dot the ball room. Lawyers and members of the legal community, ranging from law firms like Bingham McCutchen and Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe to the Human Rights Commission of San Francisco, wait with palpable anticipation for the speaker. Steve Li begins to speak...

April 29th was a very busy night for me. Faced with the daunting prospect of taking a Contracts exam on the 30th, I had the choice to either stay in the library and try to prepare as much as humanly possible, or, I could fulfill a months-long obligation and attend the Asian Law Caucus' 39th Annual Event dinner.

I decided to do both.

- Hey! That name and face looks eerily familiar...

During the beginning of my 1L spring semester, I had managed to get onto the 2011 Annual Event Committee that was planning and organizing the Asian Law Caucus' 39th Annual Event dinner. (Thank you, yet again, Mr. Vu!) At the time I did not know that the dinner would fall on the day before my contracts final. Had I known, I might have opted out?

Having experienced the committee process as well as having attended and assisted at the dinner, I ultimately believe I made the right decision despite the perilous nature of an exam the next day. [Insert contractual disclaimer to this statement if the exam results do not turn out as I hope -- ahhhh! Contracts, I can not escape you]. Sometimes you just have to have faith and confidence that the copious preparation beforehand was adequate. And if you are not 100% sure... you can always bring your contracts outline to the dinner. :)

Despite trying to salvage every possible second to study during the course of the event, I still had ample opportunity to meet and engage with several of the lawyers there. Many of the individuals I spoke with I had met on a previous occasion - some I had met before at APILO or Hastings legal clinics and others I had known from being on the committee or recent law clerk interviews. (Hello PG&E legal department!) Of note were two individuals that related to my upcoming experience in Hong Kong this summer.

One person I met noted that she would be in Hong Kong this summer as well and had generously offered to take me on a "food adventure." Anytime you combine the words "food" and "adventure" into a sentence, I am unequivocally enticed. Where do I sign my soul away?

Another individual I met, an alumni of Golden Gate University's LLM program, got his J.D. degree from my hometown and had also gone through Santa Clara University's Hong Kong program. A fellow GGU student, roots in Sacramento, and went through the exact same program I did... Hard to imagine a more closely matched meeting. Oh, he's also an immigration lawyer of many years, an area of law I have been exposed to recently due to my presence at low-income, legal clinics in the Bay. Hello Bruce, a.k.a. mirror.

Occasions like these reinforce my belief that the Latin phrase carpe diem should be employed whenever and wherever possible. The dinner was a huge success and raised over $100,000 for the Asian Law Caucus. I was proud and happy for the organization despite my minuscule part in the grand scheme of things. In hindsight, even if I could have done marginally better on the exam at the expense of contributing to the dinner planning, I don't think I would have. Even if I had not possessed a prior commitment to the Caucus, even if the cause championed by the Caucus was not great and noble, and even if I was not guaranteed to meet so many fantastic individuals at the dinner event, it was not in my personality to not challenge myself and forgo studying or the dinner.

Carpe diem meet Hong Kong. Hong Kong, be wary of carpe diem.

[carpe diem: seize the day]

Hello, Liberty Chambers

- Hi!

When classes at Hong Kong University ends, I will be here for a couple weeks. Just confirmed it. I am excited and hoping it will be an engaging and fulfilling experience!

A Girl, A Book, A Quote, A Question and Misery?

I enjoy leisure reading and, in my opinion, this is regrettably a dying passion in a world filled with the ease of electronic media. Nowadays, reading subtitles is enough for you to stake claim to the title "reader." Good literature is often relegated to collecting dust on shelves, or, if we are lucky, made into a blockbuster movie that ultimately fails to deliver the poetry of the written word.

Therefore, I would like to introduce one of my all time favorite "classics," which is represented by this girl:

- bonus points if you can figure out what book she is from!

So what prompted the appearance of this cover girl? It started off with a personal Contracts-final-exam review session that lasted a good 12 hours (Professor Chuang, I hope you are reading this!!), with about a 3 hour break in between that consisted of back-to-back Civil Procedure classes (Professor Kibel I hope you are reading this as well!!). Needless to say, by the time 10 pm rolled around, my brain started to wander, as it often does when over-caffeinated, sleep deprived, and just overall numb I was so energized by 15 hours of contracts review and civil procedure discussion, that I thought about re-reading Victor Hugo's 1200+ pages masterpiece!

After staring at my contracts book for a good half-a-day, somewhere, somehow, in the darkest recesses of my mind, my thoughts turned to a quote that seemed apt for the moment at hand:

- Gchat status > Facebook Status updates

Which in turn prompted this conversation:

- No, it is not a song

To summarize the conversation, the quote is from the novel Les Miserables and, translated, it means "books are cold but safe friends." The author, Victor Hugo, had an immense appreciation for the written word and this idea, embodied by the quote, stated that books might be indifferent and cold objects, but they serve as safe friends that will protect you from despair. Maybe thinking of this quote was my brain's subconscious way of telling me that I too can develop an appreciation for the written word found in a Contracts textbook... maybe.

I then realized that the quixotic quote was extracted from a novel titled Les Miserables, which translates to The Miserables, or The Wretched Ones. So basically, my brain was not really subconsciously encouraging me to keep at it, but really consciously mocking the miserable and wretched state I found myself in after an entire day of reviewing Contracts. (Professor Chuang, I hope you are not reading this!!).

So how in the world does this relate to Hong Kong or the preparation for Hong Kong? I don't know, but somehow omitting the fact that I have to prepare for finals before I leave seemed woefully unfair. <insert gratuitous self-pat on the back>

A Visa for... North Korea?

As many travelers are aware, one of the first "checklist" tasks to take care of when visiting a foreign country is to ensure your visa status is all sorted out. Forgetting to do so would be akin to forgetting your keys: you don't have your car key so you can't go where you need to go [rejection of entry into foreign country] and you don't have your house key so you can't go home [arrest in foreign country].

Heeding this well-traveled advice (lame pun intended), I looked at the US State Department's website to find out what, if anything, must be done prior to my travels.

Luckily for me, Hong Kong has a very liberal tourism policy. If you are from the USA and you are staying in Hong Kong for less than 90 days, which I am, no visa is required.

I had to admit, I was a little disappointed. I wanted to get a visa of some sort! Usually I loathe bureaucratic red-tape, loopholes and [pointless] forms that must be filled out in order to get a government to act (i.e. the Treasury Department form: Authorization Agreement for Preauthorized Payments. Apparently you have to agree to authorize preauthorized payments -- ha! Think about that one for a second).

Having just completely destroyed your train of thought, allow me to elaborate why I was disappointed and wanted a visa stamp. A visa stamp on your passport is in many instances a badge of honor. It is the middle ground between the permanent nature of a tattoo on your body and the fleeting nature of a gold star sticker from a kindergarten teacher (which, in the past, I would re-use by sticking them onto my parents' clothing). If I am going to spend nearly 3 months in a foreign country, I wanted either a visa stamp, a tattoo or a gold star sticker! The latter two were not feasible because it would unleash a hell-storm of parental fury and because Mrs. Vandervert, my elementary school teacher, is not a tattoo artist...

This brings us to the point of this post. Having assuaged myself about any potential visa issues in Hong Kong, I next looked to mainland China. Hong Kong is literally a few hours, if not minutes, away from the mainland. (HK is a special administrative region [SAR] so they have different border policies, despite being a part of the country of China). Naturally it made sense to see how I could procure a visa, if one was needed, in order to visit the mainland.

The gargantuan leap in restrictions was mind boggling. The details of which would be preserved for a future post, where I can adequately set aside time to mock, rant and poke fun at the policy in place.

I decided to do a little comparative analysis of the restrictions in place for China and other regions in the area. Since North Korea has long-held the perception of being one of the, if not the most, inclusive regime in the world, it made for a fitting comparison. The liberal border policies of Hong Kong and the extreme nature of North Korea, allows for a comprehensive spectrum to be developed. Where exactly would China fall within this spectrum?

I am going to preface this short analysis with what I consider to be an entertaining, yet thought-provoking video that was featured in magazines like TIME. (TIME Magazine article link: http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/03/17/watch-how-one-man-caught-secret-video-inside-north-korea-and-lived/)

Steve Gong is a photojournalist that had risked his personal safety to create, in my humble opinion, a revelatory and startling media piece about North Korea. It was clearly done through the visionary lens of an artist, but you could not help but be constantly reminded of the real and subtle danger that lurked around every single frame shot. Check it out!

- that use to be my old haircut!

Notable quotes from the US State Department's travel advisory for North Korea:

- [You] may be arrested, detained, or expelled for ... interaction with the local population.

- Are we suppose to interact with the foreign population that is almost non-existent in the country? Ahh, perhaps North Korea promotes an introspective line of thinking by asking you to talk with yourself?

- Security personnel may also view any unauthorized attempt you make to talk to a North Korean citizen as espionage.

- Check. Theory confirmed.

Maybe China's policy isn't so bad afterall... maybe. You can decide when that topic is brought up in a later post.

Captain Kirk ... sigh

You have let me down :(

- despite your rhyming pizazz, your negotiation skills can kiss my ***

Priceline.com is one of the most used internet travel agency sites (Google told me so!) and like its competitors, Travelocity, Orbitz, etc., they offer a somewhat comprehensive listing of airline tickets, hotel options, car rentals and other travel-related goodies.

Anyways, point being, they have this really enticing-sounding service called "Name Your Own Price," which apparently will save you up to 40% on your travel bills. I mean, how could I resist?! I'm Chinese, haggling is in my blood. :) When you combine that with the embarrassment-avoiding anonymity of the internet, hook-line-and-sinker.

What is deceptive about this practice, however, is that you don't really "name your own price." It is more like, "name your own price, and if it matches or exceeds how much priceline paid for the tickets, they will take your price, thereby guaranteeing a profit for them -- oh and there are no refunds, you are given flight times no one wants to have, and you won't get any information about the actual flight until your credit card has been charged. AND they deny you airline mileages you would otherwise normally get!!!"

(I can hear my contract professor's voice in my head right now, "Where are the promissory conditions in this agreement? Where is the procedural and substantive unconscionability?!?) Naturally, you can imagine what I did after I learned how dubious this entire "Name Your Own Price" process was -- I named my own price!

The following resulted:

Times like these, you dig deep and find the gallows humor in the situation.

After being thoroughly rejected by the "Naming my Own Price" service (as seen above!), I decided to find the cheapest listing that was given to me by Priceline and go straight to the airline to buy the ticket. This would in essence deny Priceline the middleman fees it would normally collect from the airlines. (I swear, there was no vindictive motivation behind this move. I just wanted to save an additional $20... I swear!)

As fate would have it, the airline price listing was a good 20% higher than the lowest Priceline listing. (Collusion alert!) I tucked tail and went back to Priceline for the ticket in the end. (as seen above!)

My one claim at a Pyhrric victory stems from Priceline's inability to gouge me into paying more for a ticket than it was worth... (despite my many attempts to let them).

Moral of the Story: The Pacific Ocean needs a bridge so I can drive across.

The Beginning

No matter how hard I tried, I could not think of a more intelligent, yet simple, opening post for this blog.

"A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step." - Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching

See you in a couple months Hong Kong! :)