China, Series of Unfortunate Events

The Journey Begins


On Saturday, I began what I knew would be a long journey from Qingdao to Zhuhai. Just how long it would be I had not yet realized. I had awaken at the usual time and had gone down to eat breakfast. I had spent the last two weeks studying Chinese at a hotel in Qingdao but this would be my last day there, as I had a flight departing at 330 for Shanghai. I was set to catch a flight from Shanghai to Hong Kong later on that day. My morning passed quickly as I completed my final preparations. I left the hotel at 10 having decided to take the bus to the airport instead of a taxi. I still hoped that I might be able to arrive in Hong Kong early enough to catch a ferry to Zhuhai but this would only be possible if I was able to change to an earlier flight. Although I was unfamiliar with the Qingdao bus system I was able to
arrive at the airport without too much difficulty. I didn't even need to ask for an earlier flight for the man at the desk told me that, as my flight had been delayed, he would put me on the next available flight set to depart at 130. I was quite happy about this as this meant I only needed to catch an earlier flight in Hong Kong and I should be fine. The flight was nice enough, though it was the hottest flight I have ever been on. Aparently the airline was under a tight budget that prohibited the use of air conditioning. This being what it was I arrived in one piece back in Shanghai, the city I had left just two weeks before. My stay in Shanghai would include a rather lengthy subway ride that took me from Shanghai's domestic terminal to the international one. The trip though long was relatively stress free as I had no need to transfer.

The first setback would be experienced in Shanghai though at first it seemed my good luck was to continue. I once again was able to have my flight time bumped up, and I was set to depart Shanghai at 600. The woman who checked my bags advised me to hurry as I rushed off to security. Her words would prove to be meaningless as I was greeted not by a plane about to depart but rather a crowd of restless travelers who had already seen their own flight delayed by 6 hours. It seemed too that my own flight was destined to be delayed as 600 passed without any indication as to when they would begin boarding. Restless travelers began to shout for a refund while others murmured in frustration. I meanwhile could only sit back and watch as I had not really expected to leave Shanghai before 9pm anyway. As the hours passed I began to wonder if I would arrive in Hong Kong even later than expected it turned out that this was indeed the case though not by much. The flight did eventually depart a little before 10pm and I arrived in Hong Kong just past midnight. No ferry for me at least for a few more hours. I and many of my fellow travelers wandered through the nearly empty airport before I stopped and decided to catch a few hours sleep on an inviting out of the way bench. i did not sleep long or overly comfortably however as at 4 am I decided to grab the night train to the subway station near the ferry.

The ferry was not set to depart until 740 but I arrived at the subway station before the sun had risen and caught the morning's first sunlight standing near Hong Kong's Boulevard of Stars. It seemed quite
nice, and I attempted to take a picture though it did not turn out as well as I had hoped. WIth the sun up I began a more earnest search for the ferry station and after inquiring of a few locals I found it. I waited for the ticket stand to open and once it had I purchased my tickets. After a quick journey through customs I sat awaiting to board the ferry. It was a nice moment. In a few hours I would be in Zhuhai where a car would be waiting to take me to my new apartment. My wait was not too long as the small group of people who were to come with me quickly boarded the ferry with little difficulty. The journey went well enough and I slept through most of it, as I was still weary from the night before. I awoke a few minutes before we landed however and stepped off the ferry feeling a little weary but refreshed nonetheless. I was not prepared for what greeted me. For the first time in my life, my identification was not enough to grant me access inside a country. The woman behind the counter looked at passport with a look of confusion. "Where is your visa?" she asked. I pointed to the single entry visa that had gotten me into Shanghai two months earlier, but she shook her head and called her supervisor. From that moment I knew that things were not going to go as simply as I had planned. Still tired and hungry though I was I began to try and think of a way to convince the official to let me into their country even if just for a few days, but there was nothing to be done. I was placed on the very next ferry leaving Zhuhai which ended up being the ferry just about to leave. My time on Zhuhai soil could not have been more than 10 minutes. I was back on a ferry, going back to Hong Kong, and even my request to be sent to Macau instead fell on deaf ears. The boat to Hong Kong was packed and I was sent to the "VIP" area, which unfortunately meant I had to pay more money for a trip I did not want to be on. I felt on the verge of tears as I dreaded the trip back, but though the future was not as bleak as I then feared it was also not as bright as I might have hoped.

A Bite to Eat

I arrived at a different terminal in Hong Kong and had to wander around the place for a few minutes before I got my bearings. I stopped at a McDonald's and used what little battery I had left to email Vanessa about the unfortunate series of events. I also looked into what might be done to get a new visa that might allow me to return back to Zhuhai this time for a little bit longer than ten minutes. Interestingly the wifi I was able to access through some quirk in technology only allowed me to send and receive emails and I was otherwise unable to access the world wide web. For this reason the
information I was able to gather on my own was limited. However over the next few hours through emails I received from Vanessa and from some information I attained from a travel agency I was able to gather that I would need to wait until Monday to submit a request for a visa in either Hong Kong or Macau. As online information seemed to point to Hong Kong being the quicker and more lenient of the two I opted to stay in Hong Kong. I headed to a Starbucks where I was able to get 20 minutes of
internet. As I gathered information on my options I was disappointed to see there were no hostels in the immediate area. I had staid at a hostel several months earlier in a place only a few stops away but I
didnt want to have to go back and forth between Wan Chai and the hostile. At this point the effects of sleep deprivation, dehydration, and general confusion had begun to take their tole on my abilities to
think clearly. As my 20 minutes expired I still had not found a reasonable place to stay and had not located the exact location of where the hostile I had once staid at even was though I did have a
general idea.

By this time I was getting rather tired of wandering around the mall that connected to the ferries, and I decided I should probably try and find the office where I would need to get my Visa at. So with some information I had gathered and a general knowledge of Hong Kong I headed towards Wan Chai subway station. It was a long walk and a hot day. The wheel to my luggage broke as it tried to traverse the rough terrain of Hong Kong's sidewalk. The heat began to take a toll on me as well, as I was already tired from having had only had a few hours sleep the night before. I wandered around the surrounding Wan Chai station for at least an hour probably a good deal longer than that. The exact location of the office was hard to find, as there were two streets with similar names and the numbering system seemed to defy any sense of logic. I finally found it however hid nicely behind one of the on ramps. I felt encouraged with my discovery, but now new questions faced me. I realized that luggage was not allowed into the building, and I tried to think of what I would do with my luggage. I had planned originally to stay at a hostile for the night and then bring my luggage tot the visa office where I would apply for a same day visa and then wait till the afternoon to pick it up. As I realized that this might not be possible to do with my luggage I began to reconsider my plans. I wandered back to the subway station and saw a friendly Mcdonald's and camped out there sending emails out to vanessa and eating.

As the battery on my tablet slowly faded out, I was still left no closer towards any resolution as to what to do. I had however realized I would need a photo for my visa, and that then became the next mission. I searched for a photo shop but when i was unable to find one, I began to ask locals for help. One shop assistant was kind enough to inform me there was a photo booth in the subway station. I went there and after some looking discovered it hidden away in plain site. With pictures in hand I was still left with the larger question of what to do with the night. It was already 8pm, and my options seemed bleak. I went to the subway station map and stared at it for a few minutes. I knew the last shuttle departed Hong Kong for Zhuhai at 830 and I erroneously assumed the schedule was the same for Macau, so I felt that at this point I was stuck in Hong Kong for the time being. I stared at the other stops trying to remember which one might be the one to the hostile I had stayed at, but by this time I couldn't even be certain they would even have a room available.

It was then that i made a very stupid decision. i decided i would just sit tight and wait out the night and get to the office very early making sure i was first in line to secure a same day visa. I still wasn't sure what to do with my luggage however as I wouldn't be allowed to bring it in. i considered consolidating my most valuable items into my smaller backpack and seeing if i could at least carry that in, but I figured i could wait to do that till the morning. Having walked around most of the surrounding area and already having a fair grasp of it I decided to go to a park I had seen earlier and sit around for a while. Time passed very slowly for the next few hours. I occasionally nodded off for a few minutes to wake up with a start. I didn't want to stay in one place too long as I thought that would look suspicious (not that a random white buy with a huge backpack and a piece of luggage didn't already).I eventually left the park altogether and sat in front of a hotel where there were a few benches. A major road was quite close so the occasional car or truck racing by kept me from nodding off for too long.

By now I had been joined by a city worker who apparently was supposed to clean the streets at night. He had decided to take a break by lying down on one of the benches and I assumed he was asleep. He would stay there for a while, but eventually he left. Concluding that his now vacant bench was ideally located to avoid detection I took his place and slept rather restlessly for an hour or so. I awoke and sat back up in time to see a security guard from the hotel checking the public bathrooms and looking around for anything unusual. Apparently I didn't quite that profile, or else he just hadn't seen me, as he didn't ask me anything as he walked by. By this point I had I assumed that I had survived the worst of it. It was 4 in the morning and I felt that it was early enough to validate a trip to McDonald's. I arrived and ordered something from their breakfast menu which I scarfed down before heading to their bathroom. As I searched for the men's room by eyes gazed over what must have been 10 people all sleeping. I was sure nothing like this happened in America. It seemed really quite bizzare, and I felt sure that some of them had spent the whole night there. It was hard to fit all of my belongings into the small bathroom but I managed. I then went about trying to make myself appear presentable. I didn't want to look like I had spent the night out on the streets when I applied for my 6 month visa. I shaved and washed my face and even changed my shirt. I looked a new man, but felt about the same. I returned to my seat with my belongings and rearranged my belongings. I placed my computer, tablet, cell phone, official passport and journal in a smaller blue bag that I would surely be able to carry into the visa office. The rest of my belongings were split between my large black backpack and my blue piece of luggage. It was 5 am and I assumed I had at least an hour maybe 2 before I should depart to the visa office. I looked around and still saw the same ten people sleeping. Only two people seemed actively awake, and they were sitting in a corner talking amongst themselves.

I laid my head down figuring I would try and rest for a few moments. The position was uncomfortable and I was unable to fall asleep. I lifted my head and saw what appeared to be a more convenient location on a nearby bench. I moved myself there and soon fell asleep. I was out for about 30 minutes and woke up feeling a bit refreshed but a bit confused as the blue bag was not beside me as I remembered it to have been. I got up and looked frantically wondering if I had perhaps left it somewhere else. But no, it was no where to be seen. I asked a man who seemed to be somewhat awake if he had seen anyone take it. He replied he had not, but informed me there should be cameras in the place that could be reviewed. I agreed and asked the manager if he could check the video for me. He did so, and then called me back after a few minutes. I watched as he rewinded to a time shortly after I had fallen asleep. One of the two men who I had noticed earlier had snuck up to where I had relocated myself and had looked at my bag before returning awkwardly to his friend. They had spoken briefly and then the man had crept towards me yet again, and this time he snatched my bag and then headed out the door, followed soon after by his friend. I watched in horror, wishing that I could have awoken just a few moments earlier. The manager told me he would call the police so that I could file a report. I had little hope that this would do much good, but there was little else for me to do. The police arrived not too long after and they reviewed the video and spoke with me as best they could before they took me down to the station. I gave a statement to a detective there and then walked to the visa office. It was still another hour before they opened and I was the second in line.

Alls Well That Ends Well

Time passed slowly but eventually I was in front of a window behind which a young receptionist took my application and passport. I was handed my receipt which I noticed with disappointment showed I could return tomorrow morning. "Can I get it done today?" I asked hopefully. The receptionist replied I could not and signaled for the next person in line. I walked away and having grabbed my luggage downstairs where I had left it headed towards the subway. I looked at the map once again trying to remember where the hostile I had stayed at might be. I couldn't be certain but I went with a hunch and purchased my subway ticket. I arrived at the hostile less than an hour later and was told they still had a room available. I reserved it and having paid went over to use their computer. I informed my employer that I would be in Zhuhai on Tuesday probably in the afternoon. The rest of that day is rather insignificant. I took a shower and a nap, and bought a 4 Liter bottle of water, much of which I drank. I was just killing time now, and luckily it did not put up much of a fight. I awoke early the next morning and returned to the visa office. I was the first one in line this time, but was soon joined by a Philipino who was hoping to get a work visa. We chatted for a few minutes, he was single but had been working in China for nearly a decade. He told me he was almost done though, and that soon he would be able to return to the Philippines. I did not ask him what he did in China, but I assumed it was hard work for which he was surely underpaid. "Have you been to the Great Wall?" he asked. "Yes, I have," I admitted. "It was really amazing. Have you ever been?" "No," he said sadly. "It is the goal of every Philipino to see the Great Wall." I was silent. I thought a moment about what he had said and what I had experienced over the last 48 hours. Surely the last 48 hours though quite horrible for me were quite pale in comparison to the hardships this poor man had lived through. Indeed his greatest goal was one I
had already achieved a year earlier. A goal which I had moved beyond since.

I suddenly felt very thankful for the things I had that couldn't be carried in backpacks or stolen whilst I slept. It was true that I would miss the things that were no longer mine, but they could be replaced if I so decided that is what I really wanted to do. I arrived in Zhuhai later that day and would teach there for 6 weeks as I had planned. I had been able to see Vanessa several times a week during this period. There is however something that can and possibly should be learned from this experience. All of this could have been avoided if I had planned ahead. I had of course not gotten onto the ferry in Zhuhai completely ignorant. I had done some research online and had talked with some of my fellow students before I departed Qingdao. I had known that my visa may not be expected in Zhuhai and I should have prepared accordingly. I was in many ways fortunate that things did not go worse. I was able to get a 6 month multi entrance visa in Hong Kong, but what if I had not?

The Next American Dream

Earlier in April 2012 a traditionally strong home-buying month, we saw a positive turning point in the US house prices as mortgage rates were record low. This led us to believe that the housing market was on its path to recovery since the bubble bursted more than five years ago. Not only was this news a short-term glory that lasted only until June before consumer confidence was announced to have remained low, success in the real estates industry was not mirrored in the wider US economy.

Why the lack of confidence in real estates? 
With about two-thirds of the trillion dollars student debt belonging to those under 40 year-old, young people are graduating from college this summer deep in debt. The current employment growth does not help them to much extent. In April and May, employers have added a little over 70,000 jobs on average, which is a significant slowdown from the 200,000 job additions from January through March. Like many of my graduating friends from Berkeley, many of these kids will move home to live with their grandma, teach English abroad in Asia, or go to grad school and continue renting shared apartments. They are not looking to start a home.

Is renting the next American dream? 
Housing isn't as simple as renting textbooks for the semester - many still believe that buying is hands-down the better deal. Rents are high, mortgage rates are low, foreclosures are everywhere. Forbes has listed ten best cities where buying beats renting right now. Below are the top 5:

1. Detroit, MI
2. Oklahoma City, OK
3. Dayton, OH
4. Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, MI
5. Toedo, OH

Would you buy or rent?

Quantitative Easing

Remember those long games of Monopoly with the family? Remember how much richer you thought you were when you hit the "GO" square that lets you "collect $100 salary as you pass"? Remember how this square kept the game going another couple of hours? QE, short for quantitative easing, is perhaps doing what this square is doing for our economy.

What is quantitative easing?
When the economy isn't on the bright side, central banks try to encourage the public to borrow money from banks or spend from their existing savings. To achieve the former, interest rates are to be decreased. But what interest rates can't drop any lower? Then banks have to directly inject money into the economy. This, in simplified terms, is quantitative easing. The central banks do so by purchasing assets, for example government bonds, with virtual money, new electronically created money. So what good does it do? This means that those businesses which sold those assets can use that sum of virtual money, setting off a positive domino effect.

What are the effects?
The government sells the bonds in the form of reverse auctions - auctioning prices are driven down instead of up. With the extra money in the banks' bank accounts, they are more willing to lend. The second effect is that the supply of bonds on the market since much is bought by the banks already. What do we know about supply and demand? Now that there are less bonds available for purchase on the market, desire for these bonds increases.


The reason I brought this up is because the US is currently talking about QE3, the third installment as suggested by the number of quantitative easing. The US will be ever more eager to push through this plan should unemployment rate not decrease. Keep your ears open for more about this proposal later this year.

Aung San Suu Kyi

Aung San Suu Kyi

I've seen her face on TV numerous times and know that she has won a nobel peace prize. But what is her significance? Her political foundation came from her father. Her father founded the modern Burmese army and, in the process of negotiating Burma's independence from the British empire, he was assassinated in 1947.

Having worked in the UN for three years, she later formed the National League for Democracy in 1988, a Burmese political party that stress 'freedom from fear'. During this time, the popularity of pro-democracy demonstrations spread quickly and coined the term 8888 Uprising. This pressure on the military dominated government, killing thousands of protesters.

She accepted in June 2012 her Nobel Peace Prize that was awarded to her in 1991, more than a decade ago. Her effort in encouraging democracy despite house arrest for 15 years was commemorated. Today, Aung San Suu Kyi is a member of parliament, a former political prisoner, and a free woman.

Leaving Facebook

In my three years of my undergraduate degree, I've closed my facebook account twice in the attempt to leave it for good, though later with great remorse I reactivated them. I found SelfControl which does exactly what I need - disable access to whatever websites I choose to for however long I want. But the question is, how did Bret Taylor, the chief technology officer (CTO) of facebook, have the self-control to leave this multi-billion company?

Bret Taylor

Bret Taylor has announced to step down from his CTO position in the next couple of weeks to start his new company. Mark Zuckerberg made many of his employees millionaires overnight when he launched facebook's initial public offering (IPO). Bret Taylor will be collaborating with Google's senior engineer Kevin Gibbs in his venture. Will facebook face trouble in retaining talents?

A Post Better Than My Sister's (By: vvjnr)

Since I grew up in Hong Kong the majority of my life- TV has been a part of our family ever since I learnt how to listen and retain an attention span of more than 10 seconds. In contrary to the recent dispute on media- Hong Kong citizens might have a different point of view. In thinking that, you all might be envisioning an American teen drama showing on TV every Tuesday nights or whatnot. How we describe TV would be family bonding. Odd you might think? Well this is Hong Kong tradition. A tradition that can never be replaced no matter how ridiculous the media gets.

 I decided to write a post on this because a good deal of my friends seldom spend time with their family. This sounds slightly peculiar to a young Hong Kong girl. TVB was the enterainment of all homes therefore I adapted that tradition instantly. I can remember distincly that my sister and I would be in our rooms slowly being absorbed in to the world of internet.With the innocence and ability I had, the only thing I could do was play Pacman on a Windows 500BC. As soon as we heard our mum’s voice yelling the unmistakable “吃饭了“ we would drop our mouses and head out, intaking the smell of whatever was in store for us. And no, we don't only eat Tofu. Our dad would come home right on time, ready for dinner. The competition against the noise of our stories and the smell of our well-steamed fish would be close enough to fill our whole apartment with warmth. Soon, mum would shoo us to the living room so she can clean up. My sister and I would obediently follow her orders and instantly turn the TV on. Dad would come join us not long afterwards and mum woud try to finish all the dishes before her favorite drama airs. The hours between 8PM and 10:30PM would be what we call "the golden hours". The ending theme song for the 9:30PM drama also served as an alarm for us to go to bed.

 Envious of our parents, we would reluctantly climb in to bed; most likely to be dreaming of those cliffhangers or the on screen couples I ship.

 Even though this is not statistically proven, but to my knowledge, I dare say that Hong Kong wedded couples tend to stay together for longer. Sure, the media may get absurd at times but in the view of this young 14 year old girl who grew up in the bustling city of Hong Kong- the media is a crucial part of her life.

Pagoda Chronicles

My search for pagodas has taken me to many places from the secluded mountains of Korea to the bustling centers of China's busiest cities. I was ready then for another chapter in my search for these buildings which had begun as ancient Buddhist towers in India. My tour guide for this trip was a Shanghai native whose English name was Gastone. I had meet him a month earlier. He was an older gentlemen 73 years of age to be exact. Though our previous adventures are of some interest I will not digress into bearing further mention of them now. Suffice it to say that we had developed what may be best described as a close friendship.

Our journey would be begin with the first step that would take me away from my comfortable room and lead me to the subway. We would pass 10 stops in all as we distanced ourselves from the high rise buildings at the heart of shanghai. However we could not escape them entirely as fifteen story apartments still under construction greeted us as we exited. A group of men standing at the entrance asked Gastone if we would like a ride in their taxi but he just shook his head no. The private cars just outside the door confirmed what he had thought. They were just locals who happened to own cars, and they hoped to make some extra money driving people new to the area to the destination. They often charged more than the corporate taxis, and had developed a reputation of ripping people off.

Two police officers were also conveniently located just outside the subway and the old man went up to them and asked for directions to the QingLong pagoda. As the old man spoke with them I quickly gave up trying to understand what they were saying, and began to analyze their uniform. I always felt police officers in the US had a certain authority and strength, but that seemed to be lacking with these two officers, whose uniform did not include a weapon of any kind, nor a radio for that matter. As I considered how well I would do in a fist fight with both of them, the officers pointed towards a bus stop across the street. We turned around and began crossing the street to where they directed us.

In all my journeying I have never seen a less convincing bus stop. There was in fact no evidence that it was a bus stop at all, except for the fact there were a few people already standing there. It was a rather busy intersection with trucks, cars, motorcycles and occasionally even bicycles passing by. The mopeds were the most amusing to watch as they frequently showed no regard for traffic signs or personal safety as they buzzed through the intersection at times illegally. Some of them were overloaded with random things from bags to water jugs.

Our short wait for the bus seemed to be at an end as two buses came within site. The old man moved a bit onto the road as they approached. The first came to a stop right in front while the second one which we had intended to ride simply changed lanes and accelerated forward. Several of the passengers waiting signaled for it to stop but to no avail. One elderly lady seemed quite upset about the whole thing and she grumbled about it with Gastone for some time. I couldn't understand much but didn't need to as her frequent use of the phrase 不停 (to not stop) left little doubt in my mind as to what she was saying.

Her grumbling did not speed up us having to wait for another bus which would arrive 10 minutes later. The frustration however would only increase as yet another bus passed us by. By this time we both were feeling a little agitated and I suggested we continue on to the next bus stop which might actually look like a proper bus stop should. He agreed and we walked along heading in the general direction of where we had seen the other buses go. Our walk led us to cross a bridge which workers were working to repaint. It was indeed of need of it, but I thoght their efforts might have been better spent cleaning the filthy water below. The old man seemed to realize what I had been thinking as he mentioned that the river was actually much cleaner than it had once been.

Our attempt to find another station would also meet with failure however as a local man walking in the opposite direction informed us that we were in for quite a walk as the next bus was quite some distance away. He reassured us that buses did stop at the station we were at and that we should just backtrack. The old man meanwhile was getting more concerned it was not 4:30 pm, and he hoped to be on a bus before 5 pm, as from 5 to 7 pm he was unable to ride public transit for free. Undaunted however we returned to the bus station and continued our wait.

New faces now greeted us as apparently everyone else had been able to board a bus while we were gone giving some credence to the man's words. As we waited I noticed a man who was well dressed and seemed to know what was going on. I asked him if he knew where the Qing Long tower might be. He admitted he was not sure, but the old man went on to explain the general location of the pagoda, and the man seemed to know the area being referenced. I found it hard to understand him, but gathered some solace from Gastone's telling me that he had a thick local accent. The man informed us we could just follow him as we would need to transfer to a different bus.

A few minutes later we were finally able to board a bus. It was a short trip as within a few stops we were able to get off at a station that looked more like what a bus station should look like. There was actually an overhang with advertisements and a few maps outlining the major stops of the buses that came by. After a short wait we boarded another bus. The next fifteen minutes were quite an experience as nothing had prepared me for the country road we were soon traveling down. The street was scarcely wide enough for two lanes of traffic but aggressive farmers often placed carts filled with food onto the road leaving even less space for drivers who already shared the road with a number of mopeds whose slow pace often forced the driver to time deliberate acceleration to pass them before oncoming traffic became too close. This process of swerving in and out of lanes and speeding up and slowing down required a liberal use of both the brakes and the gas, but fortunately the driver seemed to have no problem doing either. My grip on the hand bar remained tight throughout and I was thankful to be able to change hands when a seat became available for the old man to sit on.

The trip ended without a mishap and we stepped off following the local who was getting off there as well. He pointed to a pagoda in the distance and then walked off. I looked at the pagoda with some disappointment as it did not match the one I had seen in the photograph. It turned out to be the WanShou Pagoda, which had recently been renovated. The old man and I both discussed the pity of renovating it, as an older pagoda would have been of more interest to both of us. However I had not come this far to see nothing, so we headed in the general direction of where the pagoda would be. We soon discovered that it was surrounded by a number of poorer houses, which seemed quite interesting to me. I shall not try to explain their appearance as I have pictures that you can see yourself. We soon found that the awkward maze of a road we were on did not seem to lead immediately to the pagoda. After several attempts to find a pathway we came to the simple conclusion that the pagoda could not be reached. I got as close as I could though and took the picture of the pagoda you see.

With our mission accomplished we began our trip home which would have to be delayed as the old man refused to ride a bus until 7 pm even though I had offered to pay for his and my ticket. So we walked to another bus stop and began waiting yet again. After 10 minutes I began to wonder how often the bus came and looked to see if I could gather anything from the route map. My Chinese is far from impressive but it didn't take as much Chinese as it did common sense for me to realize we had already missed the last bus which was to have stopped there 15 minutes earlier at 6:55 pm. I pointed this out to the old man, who was rather concerned by this development. He came to the conclusion that we would simply need to take a bus to the center bus station in the area and see if we could find a bus that would take us to the subway from there.

Fortunately it did not take long to execute the plan and we walked into the ill lit central bus station at 7:25 pm. The old man pointed to some benches inside and mentioned that we could sleep there if there were no buses and just catch something in the morning. I looked over to see if he was joking, but the realization that he wasn't caused a slightly increased degree of concern that was quickly dissipated as I noticed a bus schedule showing that there was an outgoing bus at 7:30 pm that would be going to the South Railway Station. As we got on board the old man told me that sleeping in the station wouldn't have been bad, and he told me of his 2 night stay at a McDonald's in Beijing just prior to the Olympics there. I nodded my head and spoke with him in a while in Chinese before we both fell asleep. I would arrive home at 10 pm thus concluding another chapter in my pagoda adventures.

Greece Debt Crisis

I'm not going to lie - the election is this weekend and it's only till today that I took the initiative to try and understand what is going on with the Greece Debt Crisis.

What went wrong?
When Greece joined the European Union in 1981, it benefited from an economic boom when wealthy European and North Americans considered it as a popular tourist destination. Unfortunately, this turned sour when tourists began to feel that the Greeks were overcharging them. While the tourist industry is going downhill, switching to the euro currency did not help in 2001. After the switch, the government sector could not sustain the rapid increase in wages, let alone dish out generous benefits to those retiring. Official retirement age in Greece is 58. Despite all these, the big blow to the Greek economy is mass tax evasion. When the government doesn't get its money from taxation, who does it turn to? European banks. In estimation, Athens is 54 billion euros ($74 billion) in debt  and much of this debt is due in fast approaching months.

What is the world's eyes on right now? Deal or no deal?

Greece takes the deal
Up until the current crisis, the EU and IMF have already provided 110 billion euros of bailout loans in 2010 and another 130 billion euros earlier this year. Private creditors have written off more than half of Athens' debt and decreased the rate of the rest of the loans. Another offer is in place should Greece decides to accept it. European banks are willing to take on about half of whatever is owed. The potential deal-breaker is that Greece must agree to austerity. This includes cut-backs on government spending, which of course decreases pay for public employees, and agreement to stagger repayment of debt. This means that the country will fall into a spiraling debt. It is believed that unemployment will be driven up while shrinking the economy and lowering living standard.

Greece defaults 
To default and drop the euro to return to the drachma (ancient Greek currency), Greek export will benefit from becoming cheap. I could not, however, think of any other reasons to default. Greek banks, which are creditors to the government, will go bankrupt in no time. It takes at least four months to introduce a new currency. While the drachma is trying to settle, inflation will reach sky high.

To conclude, it appears that the outcome of the election on June 17 will hit the rest of the world at a steeper angle than it would at Greece itself. If the election favors the pro-austerity parties, the EU and IMF will put the international economy back in spin for yet another day. If the anti-austerity parties win, Greece will freeze all loan payments. All faith is then lost on the European market. As for Greece, it has already hit rock bottom, unless there is another layer of calamity to it.

Samsung Galaxy 3

Father's day is just around the corner. Have you been scratching your head like I had in trying to get your dad something? My dad's been using this keypad Nokia phone since the beginning of time and could probably take it to an antique shop. Time to upgrade, dad!

I'm currently spending the summer in Hong Kong. Not only am I swamped with the sea of people I see in every shopping mall, but also somewhat brainwashed by the numerous adverts and commercials from the Korean company, Samsung, trying to tell me that we all need a Galaxy 3 if we don't already own a Galaxy Note. Does my dad need a Galaxy 3?

Operating on Android 4.0.4, it gives hands down a top speed internet browsing experience. My dad is a private speculator in the stock exchange and, hence, is immobile from his desk-top computer from when he gets up at 9.30am till four in the afternoon. With the best of luck, I hope Android's stock apps, which are free of charge, will help him battle the current crisis. Here are some apps that may be of use to traders:

• Stock watcher
• Stocks
• Stock alert

How will Galaxy 3 feel in my dad's fat hand? Admittedly, the 133g feels light weight. And the paper thin polycarbonate battery cover makes it seem less robust than what I'm used to: an iPhone. Galaxy 3 has its redeeming qualities though. Its Gorilla Glass front shows off its slick 4.8 inch display and its stubby-finger-friendly interface.

Samsung's pride in the new Galaxy rests primarily upon its ability to react to human gestures. Remember how annoying it gets when your laptop or phone switches to screensaver mode in the middle of you watching a movie? Galaxy fixes this with 'Smart Stay' - the screen remains on as long as you are eye-balling the screen. Another feature is 'Direct Call'. If dad is texting me but decides that he isn't text-messaging-proficient enough, he simply needs to bring the Galaxy 3 up to his ear - it'll dial my number automatically.

Did I pay HK$5580 (US$719, £463) to get the Galaxy 3? I did.

ObamaCare (Part II)

Continuing from "ObamaCare (Part I)": http://student-eyes.blogspot.com/2012/06/obamacare-part-i.html

The first case of mumps in Berkeley's academic year broke out from the house I was living in. This was inevitable for a house, called Cloyne Court Casino Hotel, roofed over 200 hippies. But I'll save the discussion of Cloyne's hygiene, or the lack of it, in another post. Waking up one morning with a sore throat and runny nose, I immediately checked myself in with the health center. I left the center with a dozen paracetamol in a white paper box and with $10 less in my wallet. Five dollars for the consultant and another five for the prescription. 

One would have hoped that the $1626 insurance could tide me over a common cold. What is the cause to such an advance country's bank-breaker healthcare? Later on, I downloaded onto my Kindle "Believe in America: Mitt Romney's Plan for Jobs and Economic Growth" for the price of $0.00. This generosity is currently still available here: http://www.amazon.com/Believe-America-Romneys-Economic-ebook/dp/B005LEY5Q0/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1339491089&sr=1-1

The book says that the Obama administration aimed to 'radically change health insurance and healthcare'. How? Below are the two main objectives of ObamaCare:

1. Insure everyone (legal American citizens, that is). 
2. Impose greater government regulation over insurance policies and medicare. 

So why don't Americans buy into the change? 

To ensure that all Americans are insured, employers are now required to either provide their employees with insurance or pay out to the ObamaCare. Is this mandatory fringe benefit going to encourage employment? The simple answer is no. This increases unemployment rate and  Besides, if the unemployed are also given health insurance, someone must be paying for them. Tax payers are paying for them. The reform is projected to cost about $1000 billion in the next decade. The middle class and small businesses are hurting most when tax in US is higher than majority if not all of Europe. 

What about giving the federal government the power to decide that you take the blue pill instead of the red pill because it's half the price of the red pill and works just as fine? Would you be willing to let the government be the judge of you taking painkiller instead of having surgery? Those rooting for ObamaCare say that a tougher regulation raises competition amongst insurance providers. The only problem is that the White House is the big player and the big ref - another piece of evidence of Barack Obama's skepticism for the private sector. 

So unless you're like the Chinese guy I sat next to in class, you might just have to swallow the ObamaCare pill. 

ObamaCare (Part I)

As a penny-pinching student from the University of Manchester living on the UK government's student loan, expenses at the University of California, Berkeley was breaking my bank. In the third year of my degree, Manchester sent me abroad to America for a year to participant in an exchange program. Berkeley policy states that each student must be covered by health insurance provided by companies with headquarters in the states or, in other words, American companies. I purchased the default UC SHIP (student health insurance plan), drawing US$1626.00 from my account. 

It was the first day of school. Having found my way to all my morning classes, there was only one left to sit through in the afternoon. Sat in a small classroom of twenty or so seats, I engaged in a small talk with a Chinese guy next to me. My small talk was more like a rant of the steep SHIP payment. The Chinese guy agreed and revealed that he didn't purchase SHIP. 

"How much is your insurance plan?" I curiously asked, assuming he's found value with another insurance company.

To my surprise, he didn't. He isn't insured. I pressed on to see if he could enlighten me.

"It can work. But it takes some intuition," he replied without making eye contact with me. 

It seemed all too awkward for me to ask anything else, though I had a great urge to. At that, the lecturer came in and asked if everyone was ready for Algebra One. Damn, I was in the wrong class! Embarrassingly, I stood up to make my way towards the door, which seemed like miles away when the whole class' attention was enough to burn a hole in the back of my head. Neither did what the lecturer said help: "Looks like she's not ready for some algebra." The whole class laughed and the door now seemed light-years away. 

Nonetheless, I made it to my last class of the day, Quantum Mechanics.