Hong Kong Holiday Entry 1

One reason I majorly looked forward to my Hong Kong holiday was the chance to reunite with my LSE flatmate Phoebe. It was September 06 when we first met, and we instantly clicked because of our shared love for all kinds of food. And also because we discovered that we look good together in photos... might as well hang out together right?

First Gimmick with Flatmates: Borough Market, September 06 (NOTE: I was so thin then!)

A Hong Kong national who took her undergrad and postgrad studies in the UK, Phoebe gladly took us around her hometown. She brought us to Lantau Island for outlet shopping (they even had my fave Canadian store Roots, which apparently has factories in Taiwan).

Then we went to Discovery Bay for dinner. Discovery Bay has a Serendra-ish feel to it. It didn't feel like Hong Kong at all as it was so chill and peaceful, with a gentle seabreeze and, curiously, no neon lights lighting up the streets. Over Italian dinner, we got to see fireworks from nearby Disneyland as an added bonus.

On our last evening, Phoebe satisfied my craving for something exotic by bringing us to this traditional Chinese place (you know, the kind where people sitting in huge round tables talk loudly). We had mushrooms, prawns, scallops, pork knuckles, and some seaweed-looking dish. But the highlight has got to be the roast goose, which tastes almost exactly like duck, if a bit more tender.

Over dinner, real-Chinese Phoebe schooled fake-Chinese me to "proper" Chinese eating. As I got impatient that the fried rice hadn't arrived when all the meals had already been served, Phoebe explained that fried rice traditionally does come last: she explained that you typically only order fried rice if you're still not full from what you had intially ordered. What should come together with all the viands is plain rice, not fried rice. Another curious practice: I noticed that her left hand holds on to her soup spoon as her right hand holds her chopsticks: she positions the soup spoon to "catch" whatever might fall from her chopsticks or her mouth as she chews her goose, veggies, etc.

She then took me to her friend's birthday party in this (straight) bar at Causeway Bay. I don't know if it's a function of its straight-ness or its Hong Kong-ness or its Chinese-ness, but I found it super-cutesy rather than pa-cool compared to the bars that I know here in Manila: there's karaoke screens all around and cool neon lighting. And the crowd has a kawaii feel to them too.

Birthday Boy Kevin (middle) is my crushie

Drinking Game Action

Blending in with the Locals, though with On not Speaking Chinese drama

Each table has a few sets of dice and shakers for brainy drinking games, like "Lucky" or "Liar".

In the latter, you try to call your opponents' bluff as you try to top each other's bets as to the number of same-digit dice everyone has on the table. It's incredibly geeky and complicated that I ended up drinking more than anyone else. But curiously, the alcohol mix was prolly 80% juice and 20% vodka so I was able to navigate back to the hotel without making a single wrong turn.

Thanks for the hospitality, Phoebe! Next time, it's my turn to take you around!

The Geek Oscars: Top Universities 2008

Life stops thrice a year for me: the Oscars in February, gymnastics world championships in the fall, and the yearly Times Top Universities unveiling. The Oscars is usually a high holiday of exuberant emotion, what with the weepy speeches and heavy-handed "in memoriam" fluff pieces (save for the occasional WTF moments, e.g., the Brokeback Mountain loss and the Halle "Storm" Berry Best Actress travesty). Gymnastics Worlds is more breathless, edge-of-your-seat action. I'd usually watch this online via live video streaming, with several other fans on YM--proving fans are indeed "the most active of audiences" with our creative commentary and our own keeping-it-honest judging.

And the Times Top Universities list unveiling is typically the most anticlimactic, unspectacular, and downright depressing of all these events. In past years, I've seen Ateneo get passed by La Salle, saw us fall from 200+ to 400+, thinking we might not even make the list AT ALL this year. But lo and behold, ye men of little faith, we've rebounded from 400+ to No. 254. This makes us the top school in the Philippines, ahead of the University of the Philippines for the first time. Bravo! Or, Bravaaah!

I say this merits a bonfire, don't you think? But instead of burning wood with rival basketball players' names, I'd say it's better to sit and talk about burning some of our High Inquisitor Educational Decrees that are just not working. Instead of patting ourselves on our backs and releasing variously worded press releases about this good news, we should reflect about what else we could improve on. Like, encouraging faculty to get published in international journals (DLSU pays 50K for each and every journal article released while our own Dr V admits to getting zilch for a recent work), sending faculty and students to international academic conferences to present their work (ADMU's subsidy barely covers airfare, what more accommodation and living allowance), encouraging better research for our undergrads and grads (why not have full-year theses for Comm students instead of half-assed one-sem theses on an 18-unit load?) and encouraging inter-and intra-department exchange of ideas as well as greater academic/corporate/government tie-ups (to provoke debate and, simply, to matter in real world issues). We have much more to do, people!

Unlike my original alma mater, my other unis face bad news with the new rankings. Cambridge Uni dropped from number 2 to number 3 this year, getting edged out by Yale. And LSE, from its top 20 position three years ago, dropped all the way to number 66 this year. (Jason half-jokingly attributes this to Roger Silverstone's untimely death) Whatever the case, Lilie Chouliaraki (the new chair) better pick up the pieces and recruit more big names (and promising scholars) for media@lse! Hint, hint! :)

Anyway, here's a toast to the top universities. Hurray for academia!

Student Review of My ComTheory Class

This is hilarious! I got this from the ComTech blog Comtech-niques, which provides teacher reviews and exam reviewers for ComTech students. I'm generally okay with the review, though iffy with its overemphasis on grades, bonus points and level of difficulty.

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Subject: Com 11: Introduction to Communication and Communication Theory

General Advice: Be responsible with your readings and simply take down important notes during class. The quizzes are basically the handouts. Papers, on the other hand, would require a bit more effort to ensure a high mark. Projects are, well, projects that need to be capitalized on. Though in short, the challenge is indeed manageable.

Teaching Style: Sir Jon’s discussion involves a lot of intellectual conversations that sometimes has its “own language.” But that should not discourage the student to participate because one will definitely pick up a thing or two within class time. He’s just a great example of academic diplomacy and that’s what he encourages his students to do. The lessons won’t buzzkill thy brain if one reads ahead of time.

Don’t worry about hell weeks and Accounting exams. Sir’s very understanding and usually he’ll give the day off so you guys can prepare for those other requirements.

Technologically well-informed so Powerpoints (Keynote) are his status-quo with a dash of videos here and there. Media & Morality talks can also be expected during the course of the sem (that have the possibility of bonus points).

Requirements Level: Steady (or simply ‘just right’)

Study Habits: Do exert extra effort in projects and papers mainly because they do take huge chunks of your grade. As I said earlier, responsible reading is the way to go. Readings are part of oral exams, papers, etc. so use it to your advantage.

A-able Factor (1-Easiest, 5- Hardest): 1 if you follow the guidelines, 2 if you don’t