Loving you like a mouse loves rice

A dose of local culture: Apparently this was the most popular song in China a couple years back, here is the English version! This one. 

Buses & Maps

You might find the following links useful:

• For directions or a map of any place in Hong Kong, complete with English and Cantonese:
• http://www.centamap.com/gc/home.aspx
• For a list of all the bus routes in Hong Kong:
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_bus_routes_in_Hong_Kong
• For bus fares, interactive routes, contact info, etc:
• https://www.nwstbus.com.hk/home/default.aspx?intLangID=1

I hope you find this info helpful!

Strange Propositions

When I agreed to participate in this REU, I certainly expected I would encounter situations not necessarily of the most ordinary composition. Nonetheless, Sarah and I were a bit shocked when we were repeatedly solicited by photographers in the City University Library! I must admit I didn't expect modeling would be one of the propositions I would be confronted with. And imagine that TWO different photographers asked us to model in the library on distinct days! I suppose Sarah and I were the picture of diversity. My mind almost immediately jogged to the flyers adorning the HKBU buildings alongside the NTT House. You know the ones I'm talking about with the Chinese basketball player and the eager blond girl. I suppose the administration is not aware of the absence of western students here. Or perhaps they are simply hiding during our stay? Everyone needs some flagrant misrepresentation in their surroundings I always say.

So, if you are near a university institution like a library beware rogue natives with cameras. They may just ask you to join in the awkwardness of posing for the website of a Chinese University. Who knows, the next REU might get to enjoy the smiling faces of all of us on the next generation of HKBU flyers. We're almost students here though, so I guess they are entitled.

Hong Kong Classics: Shopping & Hiking!

Back home in Mid-Missouri, we had only one mall in my town. Here in Hong Kong, I enter a mall at least twice a day: on my way to school and back, in order to get to the university, I must pass through a mall. In fact, in order to get anywhere, one generally must pass through a mall. And it is not uncommon for one mall to connect to another mall that connects to another that leads one home, or to the way home--a train station. So in Hong Kong, following malls seems to be the thing to do if you're lost or unsure of how to get back. Shops are also open day and night and on every corner there is a type for everyone: the ladies market, the night market, the jade market, the fish market, the wet market, etc. The endless shops are unavoidable, and even natural. While this strong presence of commercialization has shaped my experience here, mostly favorably (as you can see a group of us having a good time at the Ladies Market), I am troubled by the fact that sometimes shops seem more natural than nature itself.



However, the other day as Samantha casually noted, mountains form the background. Towering above all the shops, markets, and malls, stand massive mountains. Over the weekend, we ventured out away from the buildings, to explore this beautiful backdrop: mountains. On Friday, Anna, Tim, Cici (a friend from my school), and I left the NTT House at 6:30am to hike up Victoria's Peak. The scenic route began at Pok Fu Lam Reservoir Road and encircled the mountain, taking us through waterfalls, forests, and breathtaking views of more mountains. The next day, hungry for more, we (Tim plus ALL the ladies--Anna, Kirstin, Claire, Samantha, and I) again left at 6:30am to hike Lion Rock, the mountain that we can see from our windows at the NTT House. This hike included getting a bit lost, trusting local Chinese hikers, climbing endless stairs, ducking through trees, watching out for monkeys, and ultimately landing on a peak!

I have never before in my life been in such a place with the most intense and beautiful combination of both cityscape and landscape; a place where one may sometimes confuse one for the other. Nevertheless, after experiencing both, it is certainly clear, that there is nothing with more grandeur or nature than nature itself.

Math Graduate Schools

For anyone who is considering math grad school and hasn't figured out which schools interest you, the US News & World Report ranks schools. The website that shows the list is:
http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/grad/mat/search/
There are other rankings on this website too, for different programs if you're interested in studying some other topic.

The reason we are here

Complements of xkcd.com

God in Hong Kong

Actually, the title of this post is misleading: God cannot be confined to place, as He created place. Perhaps, a better title would have been "Seeking God in Hong Kong."

And certainly, that is what I, along with Anna, Sam, Kirstin, and Jason, witnessed on Sunday in Hong Kong: hundreds of servants seeking God. Tucked amidst the hustle and bustle of a city with the vibrancy of ten American cities cramped in one, masses of Hong Kong-ers entered their Holy places to join one another in remembrance of God.

We went to a mosque and church, separated only by a few streets, in Wan Chai. Unlike the classic postcard images of mosques and churches that stand out with domes of gold or statues of stone, these places were marked by plain signs. “Church of Christ” posted across a billboard distinguished this sacred building from its neighboring shops and restaurants. Upon entering the church, however, we found a little hallway that led us up a staircase, and ultimately into a room much larger than I could have imagined from the outside. Similarly, the mosque was one simple white building on the outside, but on the inside, an eight-floor community center, complete with two prayer halls, ablution stations, bathrooms, a library, classrooms, offices, and even a restaurant! But like in the Church, what I found most striking of all in the mosque was the strong sense of community built out of a love for God. On the outside, each building looked like a part of the hustle and bustle of Hong Kong, fitting neatly in between the crowded buildings that characterize this cityscape. But on the inside, each building opened up, physically and spiritually, literally, amidst the craziness of city life, into a realm more peaceful and loving than any rural place.

I felt this sense of peace at the church as I listened to verses from the Old and New Testament, and quite personally, when my presence was welcomed publicly (my name was called, I was asked to stand up, and everyone clapped—it was totally embarrassing, but also such a family sort of thing that warmed my heart). I also felt this sense of peace at the mosque when I prayed shoulder to shoulder, foot to foot, alongside believers of all backgrounds, including servants ranging from native Chinese Muslims to Filipino domestic helpers. You can visually get a glimpse of this cross cultural peace that transcends boundaries by checking out the following banners, displayed in the Mosque and Church, respectively—words from Holy books translated to fit every community:

Sunday Adventures

Today several of us attended religious services at the Islamic Center in Wanchai and the church of Christ in Wanchai. We ate beforehand at a dim sum restaurant at the Mosque. It was spectacular and turned out to cost only $28 HK a person!

After the services, Sarah, Samantha, and I (Anna) headed to the Peninsula Hotel in Tsim Sha Tsui for afternoon tea. Samantha's friend Katie from Columbia University also joined us. We had a wonderful assortment of sandwiches, scones, quiches, chocolates, cakes, and green tea tiramisu! The tea and coffee were also delightful. It was quite a treat!

Heavenly Fruits

Last night we had a "fruit party." At about 10pm, we gathered in the hallway and passed around fruits... not your typical apples, oranges, pears, bananas, or anything else you have probably ever imagined. We ate fruits with the name "mango" that taste nothing like mangoes, melons the size of oranges, fruits the size of lambs, and much much more. A party is perhaps the best word to describe our gathering, as amidst our curious efforts to figure out how each fruit ought to be properly eaten (i.e. --"can I bite right into it?" "is the seed inside edible?" etc), we shared lots of laughs and good times.

MANGOSTEEN. Inside this thick skin of over an inch deep, naturally dyed by a rich red, lies a juicy fruit colored with a lustrous nearly transparent white. The taste cannot be described with the likeness of any fruits I have ever before known... for a similitude of familiarity, imagine all your favorite fruits combined to form something solely unique and better than anything else.


CHINESE BERRIES. There is nothing to peel. Just bite right into the textured surface, of a red deeper and more delicious than raspberries. The taste is strong, unlike anything I can describe, but almost unanimously pleasant. The seed inside is not edible.


JACKFRUIT. This delight originates from a fruit that weighs 75 pounds and comes in sizes averaging that of a lamb. The chewy texture and sweet taste makes this experience similar to eating candy, but without the guilt.





CHINESE PLUMS. The size of perhaps a quarter of an American plum, these miniature gems contain the taste of familiarity, intensified to a point beyond familiarity, resulting in a consensus that maybe, this time, we prefer the familiar.

RED ROSE THAILAND APPLES. Shaped like prolongated hearts, these apples may contain the essence of an "apple," but the light and airy texture, rose-fragmented taste, and unique shape classify these apples as something beyond that which we know.

ASIAN MELON. Maybe we got a bad one... it tasted like a melon void of taste, injected with potato. I am fascinated by its tiny size and I want to give it another chance.

LYCHEE. Upon gently peeling the skin, manually, the juicy pulp bursts forth, apparently very high in Vitamin C, but more importantly, extremely high on the scale of deliciousness of a world that I cannot describe. White on the inside with the lustrousness of an uncultured pearl, these super-sweet fruits also contain a hint of tangy-ness, forming a perfect balance.

POMELO. The size of a small cantaloupe, the texture of a regular grapefruit, and the taste of a perfectly grown orange. After completing the challenge of peeling this giant, the process of eating felt like delighting in a well-earned prize.

Dragon Boat Festival

Sunday, June 8 was the Hong Kong holiday known as the Dragon Boat festival, which is celebrated in Stanley. The weather was gorgeous and the shopping was really great. This is definitely a place to go to find inexpensive souvenirs for family and friends. Pictured above (l-r) Samantha, Kirsten, Claire

Farewell to Tian

e

We unfortunately had to say goodbye to our wonderful friend/tourguide Tian. To celebrate, we went out to a hotpot restaurant, which was quite the adventure! What we all thought was delightfully spicy soup was actually a sauce. As embarrassed as we were, we still all enjoyed the evening. We hope Tian the best!

Discovery Bay and Soho

The beach at Discover Bay
Looking down from one of the escalators at Soho
Nice view of this building that kept changing colors

Anna at the Discovery Bay plaza- out of order obviously
The outdoor moving walkways up to the mid-levels 

Yesterday Sarah and Anna and I took the Ferry to Discovery Bay on Lantau Island (there are no motor vehicles allowed there so the Ferry is really the only option, must be a pain for residents). They had a wonderful beach right next to their town square, definitely worth a return visit if anyone is interested. I am always interested in the beach, just to put that out there if anyone is looking for a beach buddy :) 

After Discovery Bay (and before showering) we returned to Central and walked to Soho for dinner. It's a pretty fantastic neighborhood with TONS of restaurants and quite a few cool-looking galleries. The downside is that everything is on a slant. You can take the escalators up but you have to walk over to individual streets and unless you know the area extremely well (or someone gives you amazing directions and you somehow manage to follow them) you are in for quite a bit of climbing. 

We ate dinner at an excellent Italian restaurant called Al Dente. It was a little on the expensive side (tip: don't order the bottled water- drink tap or bring your own) but the food was delicious and very authentic, or at least authentically western with no unexpected Chinese flavors. We split 2 main courses + 1 appetizer among the three of us and it turned out to be plenty of food. After dinner we rode up some of the escalators to the Mosque so that Sarah could do her prayer, luckily Anna had good eyes because we almost missed it and Sarah had to run down the up-escalator to get back! The mosque was really old and beautiful and we heard the Iman (I think that's who it was) give the call to prayer, I love learning about people's different cultures and religions so it was cool to experience it (almost) first-hand. 

After the Mosque came the grand finale of our night, the reason we had come to Soho in the first place, the highlight of my guidebook.... Chocolate!! After several failed attempts the faithful WOM guidebook led us to La Terrasse, a french restaurant noted for their "warm chocolate cake" which in American (or at least my American) translates to: Molten Lava Cake, possibly the most wonderful dessert known to mankind. All I have to say is that it was amazing. The other thing I have to say is that the people at the table next to us were eating raw hamburgers, we couldn't stop staring. Apparently it's quite gourmet.

Victoria's Peak

A spectacular scene. Although the tram was fun, I can't wait to hike it at dawn! ....we just might actually SEE the sun!!!!


And below we see the view from the other side, as Anna also catches the scene on camera :o)



















Tian--our amazing tour guide and friend who showed us around and taught us important stuff--like the fact that the spicy sauce at the Chinese restaurant was actually sauce, not soup! ...here he peaks below at the view.

City University Conference June 1- June 5th

As you know, the Applied Math Conference about "Analysis, Modeling, and Computation" is happening this week at City University. Here's the conference schedule:

http://www6.cityu.edu.hk/ma/events/conference/icam2008/prog.html

You'll notice the special talk on Wednesday at 4pm called "Alternating Direction Implicit Orthogonal Spline Collocation Methods for Time Dependent Problems."

2 Food Reviews!

RICE PAPER in Festival Walk: This Vietnamese restaurant served delicious artistically presented food of all types with an especially plentiful arena of vegetarian and seafood delicacies. The price for a full feast was under $20 US. It was kind of annoying that we had to pay extra for a pot of tea, but besides that... Cole summed up the experience "The best food I've had since I've been here," (although he had only been there for less than 24 hours, I think we could all agree that the place is definitely at least worth another visit).


ISLAM FOOD in Kowloon City (Lung Kong Rd): This place served Halal Shanghai food! The line was out the door the whole time (while the many surrounding restaurants were practically empty) and we sat on small stools in a cramped corner; but the food was sooo good!!! And served with a constantly re-filled cup of classic Chinese tea. It's only a $13 HK taxi ride away from NTT House, and the prices are really affordable. I hope to make this a regular--I can't wait to go back.

These came out in the opposite order I meant them too, read from the bottom up for chronological accuracy :) 

success! 

climbing to the top of the giant Buddha

Bank of China tower- yay tourists!