in memory of 911

go Gators

As a new comer, you'd be very lucky to be in the Ben Hill Griffin Stadium to watch the Gators to rip off any opponent who dares to challenge the gators in the swamp. I'd say I'm the lucky one. Some of UF students have been here for years and haven't got a ticket to the game, yet I managed to have one after only one month of my arrival. A ticket to the first game of this football season.

University of Floria vs. Charleston Southern

The stadium is full of orange and blue, the symbolic colors of UF. One can be so easily touched by the enthusiasm of gator fans, who are not only audience, but also part of the game already. Once you are in there, you can't help but growl with them, cheer with them, clap with them and roar with them. It was a great game, big opening victory for the Florida Gators.

It's the Gator Nation

go Gators!

Crabbing at Cedar Key

Crabbing at Cedar Key, which is 2 hours' drive to the west from Gainesville. It's a great place for boating, and crabbing. Basically, we use chicken legs to lure Blue Crab, it didn't take too long before one is "hooked". For each crab caught, we placed it in a little iced cubic, not before long, they stopped struggling because of the coldness. After three hours crabbing in the sun, we ended up with close to 30 crabs and 4 tickets! Apparently, you need a fishing license to go crabbing. We were caught right on site by a patrol when we were about to leave. Lucky enough, the officer only gave us ticketed warnings rather than fines.

International Hostels

If you are on a budget trip in China, international hostels may be a good choice to stay. It's Chinese decoration, western life style, and most of all, it's cheap, few dollars per night if you choose to share the room with several other travelers just like you.

We stayed in three international hostels during that trip. Shown in the above picture, from left to right, hostels in Suzhou, Suzhou, Hangzhou, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Shanghai respectively. Quite coincidentally, all of them theme in red, not surprisingly, because red represents energy and vitality in China, travelers, mostly the youngs, are that group of people.

Hangzhou

When people talk about Hangzhou, there's a good chance that they will talk about the West Lake. It is most famous for the TV series New Legend of Madame White Snake, based on a legendary story there. We used to watch that series over and over and over again each summer break and winter break, just as the way how Star Trek works here.

Probably I had too much expectations for it before I was there. It's quite disappointing when I was there only to see towns of tourists heading for the same spot. And every spot you want to visit, you will have to pay for admission fee, which is not cheap. Besides, things are quite different from what I saw in the TV series. Nevertheless, it's quite a beautiful lake, a good place to relax.

Suzhou

This was taken in the ancient city of Suzhou, apparently, it's modernized with all the neon lights and lanterns. But still, it's amazing view from the river. It has been there for like several hundred years now, probably with modern reconstructions on some of the buildings. Now it's a hot spot for tourists, consequently, commercial area.

Tian Zi Fang

farewell

farewell, HKUST and HK

New York

had some good and bad experiences in this city, I can't say "I Love NY" as I can say it with HK. Just spent half a day in this city, everything I saw was a mere glance, but finally a countryside boy's dream has come true. The moment I got onto the observatory of the Empire State Building, I had this unspeakable impulse, "FINALLY!"

Emory University

Dooley, the skeleton figure on the right, is the unofficial mascot of Emory University. Lucky that I had the chance to visit Emory University earlier this March. The campus is small but awesomely beautiful. It's virtually founded in nature. Squirrels with little pinecones hopping right in the middle of campus avenue; unnamed birds flying over your head, chirping nicely. Just gives you the feel that you're so far away from the city, inhaling so fresh air, appreciating such fascinating scenes and enjoying the untainted atmosphere, that you'll have a longer life here!

Emory University traces back to 1836, a very old and prestigious institution in the states. To me, the fraternity and sorority houses are especially alluring, partly because of American Pie. It's been great experience traveling at Emory, met many great people, hope to be there again.

Tony Chan - New President of HKUST

Prof. Tony Chan, the newly appointed president of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology made his debut with students, faculty and staff today. His predecessor, Prof. Paul Chu, who has made tremendous contribution to the development of this university and bringing the reputation to the international level during his terms, will leave office in August and continue to research in USA. To live up to what Paul has founded and take it to another new level, Tony, the third president will face incessant challenges.

Shanghai

have always wanted to take a tour in Shanghai given all the domestic and international exposure of this "international city". But when I actually was in Shanghai, nothing is like what I have expected. It's like everywhere you go is under construction, totally a huge construction site. yeah, I know it's part of Expo 2010, probably not the best time to tour there. Hope to be in Shanghai again during the Expo.

Super Band Live in Hong Kong

Hong Kong is not only a financial center, but also an entertainment center, at least in the 90th. Though the entertainment industry is now on the down hill, artists still are fighting their way to Hong Kong and a lot of fine artists make their debut here. Hong Kong Hung Hom Coliseum has always been a shrine for singers. They see it as a great honor to have their own concert in the coliseum, because to do so, one needs popularity, popularity and popularity!

Super Band(縱貫線), which gathers four Chinese top artists (周華健、羅大佑、李宗盛、張震岳), totally meets this criterion. It's been a great night, a great appreciation of many old songs and the stage effect is awesome!

The Peak

probably started from Garfield's hilarious photo-taking scene(click this) with the Big Ben in A Tail of Two Kitties, this photo taking skill has been the hottie in town.

on the run

life's been on the run this month. Spent the first two weeks in Atlanta, New York, Shanghai and Jiangsu. Now I'm back in Hong Kong, it's a whole mess 'coz two assignments are due and two exams are approaching the following week and I need to make up all the courses missed through reading, reading, and reading! Hope to get it over with soon, comes April, life's full of sunshine again.