Cornerstone San Francisco – Hong Kong Scholarship Exchange ProgramAthena Lee’s SF Report

When the East meets the West......

Cornerstone San Francisco – Hong Kong Scholarship Exchange Program

typical hilly San Francisco

Special events of 1st week @ SFJune 1 (Tue) -- arrival + brief orientation @ office + settle down @ apartment complex + Italian dinner with Mr. Perry

June 2 (Wed) -- meet David Perry + brief tour around SFMOMA area

June 3 (Thur) -- meet Matarozzi Pelsinger Builders, Inc. + visit Asian Art Museum

June 4 (Fri) -- visit SFMOMA

June 5 (Sat) -- lunch @ Costco + attend wedding ceremony @ South Bay Church + visit Cross Point Church @ Milpitas

Athena’s 1st Weekly Report

June 1 (Tue)1st day of arrival + brief orien-tation @ office + settle down @ apartment complex + Italian dinner with Mr. PerryUpon arrival, I felt excited landing on US for the 1st time, and relieved after long hours of flight. Finally in San Francisco! I was impressed by the California sun and cloudless sky on the way to the office. Unlike Hong Kong with the sub-tropical cli-mate and spiking skyline due to the towers, San Francisco is so different with the relatively low blocks and pretty sunshine that the sky here looks much wider than that in HK!

Another deep impression of the day is the hill-side structures here. Mr. Perry kindly took us to an Italian din-ner in his own neighbourhood by the hill. Hillside structures are also present in Hong Kong given its hilly

ing statistic: 42% of SF population is Asian, most of whom are Chinese. He then explained about the nature of the delegation. As a delegation for independent persons in lieu of a trip held by officials, the Expo tour would offer a window to him and other SF businessmen, for their own curiosity and economic-driven rea-sons, to the mainland China.

Being also interested in his experi-ence in marketing and public rela-tions, we asked Mr. Perry about the key to effective story-telling. His an-swer was simple yet powerful: per-sonal touch. It would be best to bring the story to the human. He gave us an interesting metaphor—talk about a penguin, instead of giving out a list of data, when you are convincing people about the harm of oil leakage at Mexican Bay.

geography. But in contrast to the way the buildings are conforming to the slanting slope in San Francisco, the soil in hilly Hong Kong is often removed to give way to buildings. In other words, the built landscape in HK hills appears to be occasionally flat while in San Francisco, the built-ups synchronize with the original slope despite its deep gradient

June 2 (Wed)meet Mr. David Perry + tour around SFMOMA areaWe met David Perry of DP&A, an experienced figure in strategic com-munications and marketing in SF, at his office in the morning. Being cu-rious about his enthusiasm of San Francisco-Shanghai ties, we asked him about the reasons as well as his connection with the San Francisco delegation for the Shanghai Expo 2010. Mr. Perry first gave us a tell-

junction of Market Street & Montgomery StreetPalace Hotel: the magnificant glass ceiling was added to

transform the original barn into nowaday’s high-end dining hall

The meeting was rounded up with a brief background of SF diversity by Mr. Perry and a pleasant con-versation about our feelings for the US, the mainland China and Hong Kong. In all, we found David Perry very sharing and open to new chal-lenges.

Back on the street, Mr. Perry gave us more information about the back-ground of San Francisco. I was mes-merized by the fact that SF is one of the politically progressive cities in US while it is devoted to preser-vation and conservation, apparent, for instance, in its policy to pre-serve historical buildings. It seems paradoxical to me at first, but it gets more understandable when I realize the more liberal a city is, the more accepting it is to differences.

The day was ended by another

of many more other energy efficient innovations. For instance, the floor of the restaurant/bar was made of industrial bamboo, an efficient and more sustainable alternative mate-rial to wood. 51% of the construction material in the block was recycled. One-forth electric supply is self-gen-erated by a system of electric con-verter. Perforated zinc plates were employed to furnish the east and west to limit the sunlight penetration while windows are kept for the south and north. It is genuinely an enrich-ment to learn about the integrative project and to see it in person.

Afterwards, we spent our time in the Asian Art Museum. I was the most interested in the South Asia Gallery. The Buddha statues in ancient Pa-kistan and Iran look very European, instead of Asian. It is revealed that some of the statues were influenced

advice of Mr. Perry—post-meeting protocol. Whenever you meet an im-portant person, send them a thank-you note with hand-writing (instead of an email), preferably with an ac-tion item, so as to build a network for future connection. A very useful advice, indeed.

June 3 (Thur)meet Matarozzi Pelsinger Build-ers + visit Asian Art MuseumIn the morning, we visited and in-terviewed Matarozzi and Pelsing-er Builders, Inc in their office, an awarded green project with high media coverage. We were offered a guided tour around the building, and learnt extensively about the sustain-able design and construction. Apart from the more usual green roof garden for air cooling and installa-tion of solar panels, the warehouse-renovated office building consists

Awarded green building by famous green builder Matarozzi PelsingerAsian Art Museum interior (top right) & Buddha exhibit (bottom)

by the Greek and Roman cultures, and that’s why they look so mascu-line (like Greek gods) and sometime have wings!

June 4 (Fri)visit SFMOMADuring the visit at the San Fran-cisco Museum of Modern Art, I en-joyed an informative tour around the education centre where I got more acquainted with some of the pres-tigious collection through an anima-tion. Besides the exhibits, SFMOMA is itself an exhibit as well. It rooftop garden plus art café is visually and physically connected to the gallery. It was a disappointment that the café was already closed by the time we got there, or we could take a leisure-ly sip of coffee in such environment.

June 5 (Sat)lunch @ Costco + attend wed-

Gentleness and Generosity -- for a marriage. And unlike most wed-dings with classic wedding march end tone, this one ended with a Ko-rean pop song which made every-body want to dance! Later on, Ming showed us around the new building, and shared with us the challenges they encountered during the plan-ning and construction process.

Afterwards, we visited the Cross Point Church at Milpitas, which was renovated from a warehouse. The Church kindly offered us a guided tour, explaining about the chal-lenges and solutions they had. I am surprised to learn that this Church is planning a stadium, in order to at-tract more people, adjacent the main block in the near future. In fact, I am absorbed in the Church emphasis on the assimilation of human needs and the way how people behave into

ding ceremony @ South Bay Church + visit Cross Point Church @ MilpitasThis day was basically a Church Day. Ming took the kind initiative to take us to his Church at South Bay to at-tend a wedding, and another one to look at the renovation process. But before the wedding, Ming drove us to a local warehouse marketplace. I was taken aback by the market vol-ume and the variety of goods it has. In contrast to the shopping malls in HK with different stores/depart-ments, this warehouse proves to be an economic one-stop purchase spot. Goods here are sold at bulk, and variety of different goods exists but not for the same kind of goods. A really nice touch of local livelihood!

During the wedding, I like the pas-tor’s teaching about the need of 4G network a lot – God, Grace,

interior of SFMOMA (San Francisco Museum of Modern Art), designed by architect Mario Botta

Left: exhibit in SFMOMA Top right: prize-winning roof cafe & gallery of SFMOMA

artpiece of Michael Jackson & his monkey pet, SFMOMA

wedding & party photo-taking of couple Michael & You @ South Bay Church

design for a good project.

In all, my impression of the Church Day is that the local Church is much more than a religious core. It also serves as a significant communal gathering space. While the South Bay Church appears to be a close-ly-knit family commune, the Cross Point Church serves as a functional and pleasant social centre.

General observationOne general impression of the week would be the accepting nature of San Francisco. Although I have been told before that SF consists of a diverse ethnicity, the number of Asians, blacks, Mexicans and other coloured races visible on the streets is still beyond my expectation. I believe this is only possible in a re-ally liberal society and the process would take years. In fact, the liberty here stuns me. I was astonished to learn from Ming that they have to consult the neighbourhood as part of the planning process of their new Church, simply one building with moderate volume. Rights come with expenses, but it seems that San Francisco has managed to strike a balance of it.

Left: shockingly large-scale warehouse & supermarket Costco Right: me & Sissi @ Costco

Left: Main Hall of Cross Point Church Right: entrance lobby of Cross Point Church

Cornerstone San Francisco – Hong Kong Scholarship Exchange Program

view of downtown San Francisco, photo taken at office

Special events of 2nd week @ SFJune 7 (Mon)– Staff Meeting in the afternoon

June 8 (Tue) – CBS outdoor meeting + visit Richmond Housing @ Berkeley

June 9 (Wed)– visit and observe CFEA program @ Camp Sweeney

June 10 (Thur)– meet Ed Lee @ City Hall + visit Chinese Hospital @ ChinaTown+ visit n Wax Museum & Fisherman’s Wharf

June 11 (Fri) – visit & observe UPS facility @ Oakland Airport + dinner @ Oakland ChinaTown + visit Twin Peak June 7 (Mon)Staff Meeting in the afternoonWhat is VALUE? That is, PRICE x TIME (quoted from Mr Perry). Whenever circumstances or requirements change, one would need to re-adjust the priorities to gain the optimum value. This is lesson # 1 I got back from Mr Perry’s seminar in the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Athena’s 2nd Weekly Report

Top left: photo @ CBS Sean Robertson’s office (Ming, me, Sissi & Sean) Top right: Sissi, Alex Mamak & me

During the Staff Meeting this after-noon, I observe how the staff im-plement this. Wayne would have regular meetings with the seniors, namely the three Vice Presidents, to get updates of their schedule and work status. This is routine for most companies. What is inspiring, though, is their emphasis on shar-ing and mutual support to one an-other. In the meantime, John, one of the VPs, has a very important busi-ness that needs urgent help. The other seniors are very ready to as-sist him, even though they may not work in the same department. This is consistent with the philosophy of VALUE because you need to look at the bigger picture to have a better understanding of the time constraint and re-adjust the priorities.

Lesson # 2 is Cornerstone’s busi-ness strategy. They happened to

need to be optimistic, and more im-portantly find out the reasons why we fail and succeed to stay competi-tive.

June 8 (Tue)CBS Outdoor meeting + visit Richmond Housing Beyond our expectation, we were driven in the morning to observe the installation of big CSB Outdoor advertisement billboards. Alex Ma-mak and another staff introduced different kinds of outdoor billboards on the way, of which LED billboards were said to be a future trend. It was unfortunate that we failed to catch up with the crew who started very early due to the wind. Yet, we could observe how the smaller one by the street side was installed, which was much easier than our imagination. We joked that we could easily pull down these street billboards, and

meet a very helpful financial agent and hence intended to maintain a connection with her. This is valuable since once you take the initiative to ‘open a door’, it is necessary to ensure regular contact to keep the door open. They have suggested ways to build connections, ranging from sending a thank-you note to seeking opportunities in other deals for further cooperation. I used to fo-cus primarily on the tasks in hand in my past working experience, so this is a fresh lesson of business strat-egy. Further to that, personal touch is key to such connection, the same remark repeated by David Perry last week.

Another lesson of the day is to learn from failure and success. Not being able to get a contract is not equiva-lent to losing a contract because you’ve never owned one! So we

from left to right: sequence of removal of old billboard, installation of new one

Alex said there were actually people who would remove the advertise-ments with idols or any handsome celebrity! In all, we are very grateful for their kind effort to have us in-volved.

In the CBS Outdoor headquarters, we were introduced to Sean Rob-ertson, the creative director. I was stunned when I entered his office. There was a full drum set and 5 computers. But I was even more as-tonished to learn that Sean went to drink in a bar to think and get inspi-ration. ‘Think beyond the frame,’ he said. Perhaps the regular office was too much of a frame. Sean flipped through the book of OBIE Award, an award for excellent advertisement, and explained most of the work to us. I used to like graphic design for its eye-catching and appealing na-ture. But beyond the more superfi-

On the other hand, we visited Rich-mond Housing in Berkeley in the af-ternoon. I find this project enlighten-ing in two ways. Firstly, the idea of how the government helps the low income by public and private part-nership is foreign to me. The pub-lic housing in Hong Kong is built and supervised by the government, namely the Housing Authority. Here in Berkeley, the Richmond Hous-ing was built and developed by a private developer. The houses are either sold in market price or low price funded by the Federal Gov-ernment. The Federal Government would subsidize 40% of the market price for the low-income. The rules to apply for the fund and live there are simple: proof of income level and no criminal record. As a native Hong Konger who is used to dense and limited living space, I envy the cozy living environment and relative-

cial side, he offered us an insightful understanding about successful ad-vertisement. Be strong, clever and most of all NEAT. Sometimes, be playful. Use the environment and available resources as much as pos-sible.

‘Good works talk to us,’ he said. Sean Robertson is by no doubt a kind of the person.

Alex Mamak is another great guy that we are thankful for. He gave us a seminar back in the Chinese Uni-versity of Hong Kong, sharing some of his experience and personal ideas about life and work. ‘Be pas-sionate about your job or study,’ he said. Having heard similar remarks by many other successful people, this is definitely one of the lines I’ll bear in mind.

Left: in front of Richmond Housing community centre with the general manager, McClinton Nunn Right: Richmond housing

at the end of the class at Camp Sweeney, showing 2 of the instructors (Raj in pink and Robert in white stripes, left)

ly large space of Richmond.

My second enlightenment from the project is the humane attitude of the public towards the underclass. The major difference between Rich-mond Housing and other housing is the smaller room size. The quality of Richmond houses is nothing but more than satisfactory. There are front lawns and backyards as usual. In fact, we heard an interesting inside story about the project that the public insisted on spending extra money to re-design a drainage that was origi-nally designed for the front façade, simply for a better look. There was a community centre in Richmond with a swimming pool, gymnasium, social gathering lobby and a recrea-tional space for kids. All the services are free for the residents, funded by the Federal Government. The development contract also states

15 to 18 years old in the class. They were divided into groups of 3 to 4 to produce a set of architectural draw-ings, presentation panel and model. They’ll be having their graduation and final presentation in 2 weeks’ time.

Within the class, I observed differ-ential attitude from the students. As typical kids, part of the class are se-rious while another part would get distracted easily. As revealed later in a sharing among the three existing instructors and observed in our brief visit, some of the students would re-peat the same mistake for multiple times, even if they acknowledge it. It is a conflicting decision between correcting them and spending time for the correction within the limited time frame. In the end, nonetheless, we decided to make things right for the sake of proper presentation

that local residents are required to be employed in some positions in the community. There are dozens of cameras on the roof overlooking the security of the neighborhood. Solar panels are installed with subsidiary to generate partial electric supply. In general, I am amazed by how the SF public treats almost everybody just as equal.

June 9 (Wed) Visit and observe CFEA Pro-gram @ Camp SweeneyThe Cornerstone Foundation For Educational Advancement has been set up for over 20 years and aims to illuminate youth with skills and talents in construction-related career fields. We are invited to ob-serve their class at Camp Sweeney, in preparation for our participation as instructor in the following week. There are 13 students ranging from

Left: photo taken at the Chamber of City Hall Right: in front of Chinese Hospital, with Julia Ling

for the sake of proper presentation in the graduation. Hopefully, eve-rything will run smoothly. A good news, though, is that the instructor observed the contact between the students, who have committed very slight crimes and sent to the deten-tion centre here, improved during our presence. They even showed curiosity and interest for our follow-ing visits, so we look forward to en-gaging with the Sweeney kids again, and adding value to the CFEA Pro-gram.

June 10 (Thur) Meet Mr. Edwin Lee @ City Hall + visit Chinese Hospital + visit Wax Museum & Fisherman’s WharfWe are very fortunate that we can meet Mr. Edwin Lee, City Adminis-trator, at his office in City Hall. The City Administrator, as head of 60 departments, is responsible for the

created for the public to report any nuance for the government to han-dle. As a result, extensive alleyways are transformed from toilet place to attractive food and beverage space. More importantly, once the neigh-borhood is activated, cleanliness can be sustained as they would also love it. It is, indeed, a very brilliant idea worth learning and transcend-ing in Hong Kong.

Mr. Lee also mentioned the exist-ence of ethnic problem in San Fran-cisco, provided with its diversity. He referenced a conflict between Black Africans and Chinese in Bay View. With the original dominant occupan-cy of Africans who stereotype Chi-nese as people with handy cash and cannot speak the proper language to report to the police, the foreigners become frequent victims of robbery. Acknowledging the importance of

management and implementation of policies and regulations promul-gated by the city, a position almost equivalent to the vice mayor.

Mr. Lee kindly gave us an introduc-tory background of San Francisco and his Office. Curious about his experience and prestige in engag-ing public and private partnership for neighborhood beautification, I asked him about the related work and challenges. Cleanliness is es-sential for the high level of tourism in the city. Hence, private firms are en-couraged to take part in a “Commu-nity Challenge Grant” in which they can direct part of the tax to the fund. The Grant will then go directly to the neighourhood associations who take initiative and make proposals to beautify and monitor their communi-ty. Moreover, an easy phone number 311, with 85 languages available, is

Exterior of CIty Hall (photo taken from the rear)

magnificant interior of the Victorian-style City Hall

Top left: plane loaded with parcelsDown: the only plane on Friday taking flight

mutual communication and com-mon ground of layout for different ethnicity, Mr. Lee proposed multi-language conversations to minimize mistrust and information lag. Over-all, I am impressed by the sharing attitude and well-organized delivery of the prestigious officer.

After the meeting, how can we have missed the City Hall? Alex Randolph, legislative aide of one of the district supervisors, kindly showed us into the Chamber where the City Coun-cil usually takes place. The City Hall is such a magnificent building that I wish I could come back and take the wedding photos here (well, if I ever get married, hmm)!

In the afternoon, we visited the Chi-nese Hospital at ChinaTown. We were introduced to Ms. Julia Ling, Funding Manager of the Hospital,

demands, the old block is intended to be pushed down and replaced by a new and better-equipped one. Fund raising therefore is initiated. All these efforts would be the proof of the strong and intensive tie of Chi-nese community.

By the end of the day, Wayne thoughtfully took us to Wax Mu-seum at Fisherman’s Wharf. I like the Wharf in particular for its atmos-phere. Despite its touristy nature, the bay area is comfortable to walk by and, thanks to the nice weather, the scenery is memorable as well.

June 11 (Fri) Visit & observe UPS loading services @ Oakland Airport + dinner @ Oakland ChinaTown + visit Twin PeakWe visited the UPS facility at Oak-land Airport, and observed the plane

and learned several interesting facts about it. The Chinese Hospital is the only Chinese hospital in the nation, and the last independent hospital in San Francisco. And legendary Bruce Lee was born there! Although with very limited space, e.g. no proper work station or table for nurses to write on or have lunch, the hospital is well-equipped and consists of all the hospitality services any good hospital should have. What impress-es, though, is the mutual connectiv-ity within the Chinese community.

Due to racial discrimination in early 1900 that barred Chinese from proper medication, the Chinese immigrants put together their resources to build their own hospital at their neighbor-hood. The ChinaTown community associations are still in charge of the hospital nowadays, and facing the growing population and medical

Right: photo taken in front of UPS big trunks, with Mark Weber and Susan Hill in the middle

Mesmerizing night view from Twin Peak

loading services. We were offered informative explanation about the company’s development, marketing and delivery strategies. It is a bit dis-appointing, though, we cannot see how the container chain operates in the facility on Friday evening. I im-agine that the scene must be very dramatic, given the loud noise and huge containers circulating around.

After the visit, Ming was so kind that he took us to Oakland ChinaTown for dinner. We were very moved when he offered to take us to Twin Peak where we enjoyed the fantastic night view of San Francisco. In con-trast to the highscraper night view in Hong Kong, the view here is flat and so surprisingly wide. San Francisco is, indeed, a lovely city.

General observationA general observation of the week is

Another short round-up of the past 2 weeks here is how the experi-ence here reminds me of the days when I took part in a Young Lead-ers Development Program held by the AIA Foundation back in Hong Kong. Both programs are alike that we need to train up on our critical thinking; both consist of numerous meetings of successful figures or of-ficials and mutual exchange among participants. The major difference would be the number. YLDP has a group of 25 while there are only 2 in this program. YLDP has been very memorable, provided with the friend-ship, enrichment of the seminars, site visits and traveling abroad. It is, in fact, one of the wisest decisions I ever made during my undergradu-ate study. I believe this Cornerstone Exchange Program would be noth-ing less, but definitely more.

the high rate of homeless people on the street. I once asked Ming about it, and the answer is the humane at-titude of the overall San Francisco. A lot of homeless people actually travel here from other states, know-ing the moderate and accepting SF manner. Economy may be another factor. In the meantime, I am puzzled by the fact that homeless, no mat-ter if they are harmful or not, pose certain extent of social problem, e.g. their psychological condition and street hygiene that may be im-posed, whereas the SF people are so accepting that they don’t seem ready to contain the issue. I am star-tled when I walk by the green open space in front of City Hall and learn that there were trees and tables be-fore, but they were removed to give room for the homeless to lie on. To be, or not to be?

Cornerstone San Francisco – Hong Kong Scholarship Exchange Program

signature green roof of the Academy of Science

Special events of 3rd week @ SFJune 12 (Sat)– visit Abundant Life Christian Fellowship

June 13 (Sun) – picnic & tour @ Golden Gate Park and Academy of Science

June 14 & 15 (Mon & Tue) – office days (Clipper proposal)

June 16 (Wed)– office day + visit City Lights Bookstore @ Columbus Avenue June 17 (Thur)– MUNI tour + work as instructor for CFEA Program @ Camp Sweeney

June 18 (Fri) – visit Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption & Grace Cathedral

Athena’s 3rd Weekly Report

Left: photo @ ALCF with Pastor Rocky, the project manager

June 12 (Sat)Visit Abundant Life Christian FellowshipMing invited us to the Abundant Life Christian Fellowship (ALCF) in that evening, a church project Cor-nerstone was once involved. This Church was renovated from an ex-isting warehouse, so the change of use requires seismic and structural improvement. Another major con-cern of the project was parking. Tak-ing a rather unusual way to tackle this problem, the Church asked neighboring companies to let their fellowship park in their areas dur-ing the weekends. Honestly speak-ing, the Church looks quite ordinary, but it is large and consists of a wide variety of function rooms for differ-ent ages ranging from kindergarten kids to adolescents (General X). The facilities were upgraded from the old building to suit present uses,

music, what more can you ask for?

Afterwards, we went in the Academy of Science, one of the must-sees in SF, and it is indeed a very worthy visit. One reason is that there are not many places that combine an aquarium, a planetarium, extreme animal exhibits and a ‘rain forest’ in the same spot. I’ve always loved ani-mals, so it was great fun to touch the star-fish, watch a big eel swim above my head, play ‘hide-and-seek’ with the rare tree frogs (they are so small and hard to find!) and see some of the extra-ordinary ancient animal remains. Another reason that one shouldn’t miss the Academy is its green roof. This building, designed by the famous architect Renzo Pi-ano, was awarded for its green tech-nology and design. The wavy roof, with circular openable windows and plantations all over, is one of the

e.g. security needs. After all, what makes a building habitable is how it fits the users. Sometimes, good ap-pearance is only a bonus.

June 13 (Sun)Picnic & tour @ Golden Gate Park and Academy of ScienceThe weather is pretty tricky in San Francisco. It is summer now, but it can become so chilly that one would think it is the winter. So we were re-ally lucky that this Sunday was all sunny and warm.

Jen Louie, who helped organize our itinerary in SF with tremendous consideration, was the host of the day. We, along with Jen’s little son BJ and husband, first enjoyed a lei-surely lunch, listening to a live sym-phony under the tree shades. It was simply so relaxing and enjoyable. With the nice weather and free live

Top right: lunch @ Golden Gate Park

Bottom: touching star fish

Top: rare tiny tree frog

building’s signature green features. Light enters through the circular win-dows to the ‘Rain Forest’ that leads us to watch plants, birds and numer-ous animals/insects in a spiral way upwards. The overall visual effect is spectacular. I was also impressed by how they integrate the ‘Rain Forest’ with the aquarium that is located ex-actly underneath. The only sad thing about the visit is that we didn’t have time to go into the planetarium. So let’s hope we’ll make it in the near future.

BJ, Jen’s little boy, was very shy when we greeted him. He wouldn’t talk to us, but he said a lot after we arrived in the Academy of Science. He kept saying ‘water, water’ during the visit. He’s simply an adorable baby. On the other hand, this is our first meeting with Jen, so we were excited, and we got the chance to

office. Therefore, when there come an opportunity we can help make a proposal for a Clipper Consultant Assistance Program, we gladly ac-cepted the challenge.

There was very limited time, only two days, to finish and submit the pro-posal. The Request for Qualifications (ROQ) requests for detailed and spe-cific items, so making the task more challenging. Within the two days, we tried to stretch our potentials by reaching out beyond our comfort zone. There are a dozen areas of ex-pertise listed in the ROQ. Amongst them, seven areas were identified as Cornerstone’s strengths, includ-ing project management, network development, schedule analysis and development, training program coordination and facilitation, public outreach, customer service opera-tions and construction management.

know more about her background, job and family. I was intrigued by how she played the roles of a pro-fessional woman and a loving mom. Most people I am acquainted with, perhaps including myself, prefer sta-bility for our life. But Jen is an out-reaching person. As a caring wife and mom, she also worked long hours and often flew away to other cities. I believe she cannot accom-plish it without a true passion to her job. So considering it in another per-spective, Jen is a fortunate lady who has found her interest that she can work on while owning a loving fam-ily.

June 14 & 15 (Mon & Tue)Office days (Clipper proposal)Although internship is supposed to be part of our ‘activities’ in San Francisco, we seem to be too inex-perienced to be of much use in the

Right: interior of ‘Rain Forest’ of the Academy of Science

Bottom: alligator crocodile & reflection

Left: photo @ Academy of Science, with Jen Louie and her family

I and Sissi were thereafter asked to draft summaries describing each of the area of expertise and Corner-stone’s related work experience. Having little if not none of the rela-tive knowledge, I started working on 3 summaries about project manage-ment, public outreach and customer service operations. Digesting as much as possible from past project descriptions and probably thanks to my previous work experience in a small HK architecture firm, the three summaries were finally done. Not only that I learn to be positive and try ‘stretching’ within the limited time frame, I was impressed by Ming’s (the Vice President who is in charge of this proposal/ROQ) gentle man-ner. I always find myself to be quick-tempered, so I would panic and/or stress out under pressure. On the contrary, Ming was calm and pa-tient. He would explain to us what-

sharing session, the atmosphere of which was refreshing to us. People enjoyed liquors while listening to the poem reading. Some were so touched by the poem that they even sobbed. It is really great to be able to experience the leisurely academ-ic atmosphere that’s so rare in Hong Kong.

June 17 (Thur)MUNI tour + work as instruc-tor for CFEA Program @ Camp SweeneyWe met Deanna DeSadas, Marketing Manager of San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (MUNI), at her office in MUNI headquarters that morning. Deanna is, similar to Jen Louie our itinerary organizer, a very outreaching lady who’s passionate about her job. She offered us a lot of information about recent marketing and communication plans of MUNI,

ever questions we had, and tried to keep us informed despite our junior positions and tight schedule. Ming is so considerate that sometimes I find him pretty fatherly. Thanks, Un-cle Ming!

June 16 (Wed)Office day + visit City Lights Bookstore @ Columbus Av-enueAfter helping with the submission of the Clipper proposal in the late afternoon, I and Sissi went to the City Lights Bookstore, a landmark independent bookstore in San Fran-cisco that specializes in world litera-ture, arts and progressive politics, in the evening. Despite its small lot area, City Lights’ book collection is amazingly huge. Additionally, there are frequent free book/ poem shar-ing sessions on the 2nd floor. We happened to encounter one poem

Top right: City Lights Bookstore

Bottom right: beautiful copper-exterior building, near TransAmerican Building, found on the way to dinner

Left: photo with Ms. Deanna DeSedas at her office

including transition from coin/ paper card payment to Clipper automatic fare-collection system, campaigns encouraging the use of bicycle and pedestrian-friendly streets. She also introduced some sustainability ap-proaches adopted by the transpor-tation agency, such as the use of electricity/ hybrid fuel/ bio diesel in most buses and encouragement of cycling. Deanna shared with us her challenges and joyful moments dur-ing her 3 years in the company. In spite of the hardship of public con-sultation and negotiation whilst im-plementation of company plans with the limited marketing budget, she found it rewarding to successfully promote a positive image for her firm and, by partnering with the commu-nity and government, minimize the impact of transport to the public.

What interests me most about the

the students have arleady started on their models. In the meantime, I would gladly take the challenge to assist the students with my architec-tural studies training. In fact, I’d love to help them establish their assert-iveness and let them make their own decisions, rather than giving them direct instructions. There are still a lot to complete before their gradua-tion ceremony, so we’ll try our best to offer as much help as possible, and we anticipate being part of them.

June 18 (Fri)Visit Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption & Grace Ca-thedralThanks to the top 20 Buildings Guide printed by San Francisco American Institute of Architects (SFAIA), we managed to visit two magnificent cathedrals in the city by ourselves. St. Mary of the Assumption & Grace

meeting was their proactive and creative initiative of public outreach. I am intrigued by how they facilitate to contribute to the society, instead of directly advertising their agency. For example, they are holding an event called “Public Streets” in East and North Bay Area the coming Sun-day (20 June). Miles of streets will be closed to cars, including MUNI vehicles, and open to the pedestri-ans only. Due to the limited budget, many staff would volunteer that day. In fact, I’m planning to experience this local pedestrian-friendly event this Sunday that cannot be done without the private and public en-gagement.

On the other hand, we spent the afternoon and evening at Camp Sweeney. It was our second visit there, but our first time to work as in-structor. I was surprised to find that

Top right: Camp Sweeney students

Bottom: 2 group models in progress

Cathedral are both magnificent but with different styles. St. Mary Cathe-dral, completed in 1932, is a mod-ern church while Grace Cathedral is Gothic. The latter, in addition to its vaults, rose and stained win-dows, has an interesting labyrinth at its entrance and outdoor garden. Labyrinth, always mistaken as in-terchangeable with maze, has no closed end. It is said to allow peo-ple who walk in to purify their mind. Even though I’m not a Christian, I’m impressed by the church’s delicate layout configuration.

On the other hand, St. Mary Ca-thedral has a mesmerizing modern interior with a sophisticated roof that emits light in a cross, despite its simple exterior outlook. Though completely clad in cool, bare con-crete, the cathedral offers a strong sense of enclosure, provided with its

out doubt, there would be dozens of difficulties to solve this problem, but a fundamental question is whether the government and people have the dedication to make the change, on behalf of themselves, their next generation and the environment.

Another afterthought of the past 2 weeks is the US value of freedom. Frankly speaking, I was taken aback to witness the freedom of the young boys in Camp Sweeney. They could choose to play balls during lesson time, and listen to the music in class. Despite the fact that they were kept in a detention center, punishment is never the purpose of keeping them there, but education is. Perhaps in addition to the difference between American and Chinese cultures, I need some time to digest the big contrast between reasoning/individ-uality and the value of conformity.

wrapping-form roof, lights emitted from the top and the four corners. The altar, with a multi-storey-high hanging silver ornament, appears to be nothing but stunning. It is un-doubtedly one of the most magnifi-cent churches I’ve seen so far.

General observationUnlike Hong Kong, car in the US is not simply a property but a daily necessity. I am puzzled about such phenomenon. Understandably, America has an urban planning his-tory of urban sprawl and low-density housing. The attribute of such is better living quality, but at the ex-pense of travelling distance and implications of both environmental and human resources. As one of the most technologically advanced countries, US have maintained this environmental-unfriendly living habit for years, which puzzles me. With-

Top left: labyrinth at the entrance of Grace Cathedral Right: interior of Gothic-style Grace Cathedral

Grace Cathedral interior

Top: magnificant ceiling of St. Mary of the Assumption

exterior of St. Mary interior of St. Mary

Cornerstone San Francisco – Hong Kong Scholarship Exchange Program

Memorable moments together @ Send-off Party at Half Moon Bay Mullin Restaurant (photo courtesy of Sissi Yang)

Athena’s 4th Weekly Report

Special events of 4th & 5th weeks @ SF

June 19 (Sat) – Father’s Day Party @ Mr. Perry’s house at Half Moon Bay

June 20 (Sun) – visit Ferry Building @ Embarcadero + visit de Young Museum @ Golden Gate Park + sight-seeing @ the Palace of Fine Arts & Marina Green

June 21 (Mon) – class @ Pacific Energy Center of PG&E + work as instructor @ Camp Sweeney

June 22 (Tue) – meet George Salah (Director of Real Estate & Workplace Strategies) @ Google Inc. Headquarters + Stanford tour + work as instructor @ Camp Sweeney

June 23 (Wed) – visit Circle Gallery + work as instructor @ Camp Sweeney + dinner @ Raj’s house

June 24 (Thurs) – final work day @ Camp Sweeney + CFEA student presentation & judge scoring

June 25 (Fri) – CFEA Graduation Ceremony @ Alameda County Office of Education

June 26 (Sat) – attend ribbon-cutting ceremony of Laguna Honda Hospital & Rehab Center + tour Muir Woods & Mount. Tamalpais

June 27 (Sun) – watch Gay Parade @ Market Street + visit & attend services @ The Voice of Pentecost + visit The Cathedral of Christ the Light @ Oakland

June 28 (Mon) – dinner with Robert Greene, another CFEA instructor

June 29 (Tue) – tour UC Berkeley + tour The Alcatraz + send-off party @ Half Moon Bay The Mullin Restaurant

June 30 (Wed) – Departure for Hong Kong

June 19 (Sat)Father’s Day Party @ Mr. Per-ry’s house at Half Moon Bay We were invited to spend the after-noon and evening with Mr. Perry’s family at his luxurious house at Half Moon Bay. There, we met Mr. Perry’s father, son, wife and cousins, and even greeted Adam’s (his son) rab-bit Chocolate! While Mr. Perry was preparing the grilled food for us, we took the leisure to tour around his home. I was impressed by Mr. Per-ry’s moderate manner despite his wealth. As I later found out from his staff, he has never raised his voice however disapproved he felt for their work. It is even rarer for a man with such status to invite two students/interns to his own residence for a private party and share with us a lot of his personal stories. I am truly thankful for such an unusual oppor-tunity.

seum @ Golden Gate Park + sight-seeing @ the Palace of Fine Arts & Marina GreenThis Sunday was a busy sight-see-ing day for me. I visited Ferry Build-ing, a well-known local market trans-formed from an original warehouse, at Embarcadero in the morning. I fell in love with the relaxing atmosphere of the alfresco by the coast where one can enjoy the warm sun and watch the Bay Bridge. There are lots of fresh food stores inside, many of those are famous among the local community. Though, I am a bit disap-pointed by the limited stores for each food variety available – there is gen-erally only one store for each type of food, e.g. mushroom, cheese, ham, seafood. Yet, I enjoyed the fresh food provided by the local farmers and the leisurely atmosphere both inside and outside.

After enjoying a great feast togeth-er, we had more cheerful chit-chat with the family. It was interesting to watch the harmony of the Perry fam-ily. For instance, I had to keep my laughter when I saw Mr. Perry ‘quar-rel’ with his wife and son on whether he could show his guests (i.e. us) into their rooms. He even showed us a helpless shrug when he disa-greed with his wife’s self-comment as being a minimalist. The last but not least activity for the evening was playing music. I, with long-forgotten skills after years of no practice, ‘pre-tended’ to be the pianist and played with Mr. Perry as the cellist. In all, the Father’s Day party was a casual yet enjoyable moment that enlightened our journey.

June 20 (Sun)visit Ferry Building @ Embar-cadero + visit de Young Mu-

Ready for a grilled meal for a Father’s Day Party @ Mr. Perry’s house (photos on this page courtesy of Sissi Yang)

Me pretending to be the musician after dinner photo with Mr. Perry at his house

interior of Ferry Buildingrelaxing atmosphere of alfresco @ Ferry Building

The Palace of Fine Arts

de Young Museum corridor, visual connection with courtyard me with Golden Gate Bridge

Afterwards, I turned from the North to the West to head for de Young Museum at Golden Gate Park. It was a pity that I was too late to get into the season’s special – The Birth of the Impression (Impressionist mas-terpiece exhibits) – when I reached the museum. Still, it was still an en-joyable museum visit.

Later in the evening, I and Sissi headed for the Palace of Fine Arts. Both of us fell in love with the sce-nic view and we joked about com-ing back to take wedding shoots there in the future! The Golden Gate Bridge was close by, but there was too much fog over the sea, so it was too bad that our plan to take pho-tos with the landmark could not be fulfilled. However, the beach and Marina Green were fantastic, so we were contented with our visit. Anoth-er remark about the day’s weather,

to deliver to them and let them learn the most – encourage the students to make their own decision, or sim-ply give them instructions? This was one of the frequent questions I had during the time at Camp Sweeney.

June 22 (Tue)meet George Salah @ Goog-le Inc. HQs + Stanford tour + work as instructor @ Camp Sweeney We were very grateful that we could meet Mr. George Salah, Director of Real Estate & Workplace Strategies of Google, at Google Inc. Head-quarters in Mountain View (Silicon Valley). During his guided tour, I was taken aback by Google’s flex-ible office culture: co-workers were allowed to watch World Cup in a 42-inch LCD monitor at their office, and there is a big recreation area in each block with free food and beverage

though, was that the breeze at the coast was super chilly!

June 21 (Mon)class @ Pacific Energy Center of PG&E + work as instructor @ Camp SweeneyPG&E (Pacific Gas and Electric Company) provides natural gas and electricity to most of northern Cali-fornia. They had several information centers in San Francisco, and Pacif-ic Energy Center was one of them. We registered for a course about so-lar panel installation there, and had deeper understanding of the related practical issues.

In the afternoon, we went to Camp Sweeney to work as instructor for-mally for the first time. Knowing the students somehow reluctant to make their own decisions, I always question myself what would be best

Information center @ PG&E

CFEA students carefully making model for Thursday and Friday final presenation

plus entertainment facilities for fa-cilitating co-worker interaction, and the working hour was unbelievably flexible (a lot of the engineers could sleep in the daytime and come back to work in the late afternoon, al-though they don’t need to work in shifts). I therefore have questions regarding the implication of such business operation: is it intended to raise the productivity of staff by adopting a life-work model, and is it rooted by the true humanity towards the staff? Nonetheless, what matters for Google now is that this model works.

On the other hand, I was also sur-prised by the frankness of Mr. Salah. We asked him about Google’s strat-egies towards sustainability, and he mentioned a recent project called Pharos Project that aims at increas-ing the transparency of construction

they love their job. Later on, Mr. Per-ry also shared with us his insights towards the sustainable model of business model, by comparing Sili-con Graphic, Microsoft and Google. It is an old golden rule to follow the business trend, if not be ahead of it. But one primary question is, how to be ahead?

After lunch, I and Sissi went to Camp Sweeney again. Honestly speaking, I constantly had the frustration, real-izing several students prefer lying back despite their tight schedule and coming deadline of presenta-tion. I also feel sad for those who do not value the CFEA program as they should be. However, I admire Tyree, the leader of the group I was helping with intensely, for his dedication to carry on with his work even though he was sometimes left to work alone by his fellow group-mates. I simply

material supply chain. He specifical-ly brought up China, where the con-struction material ‘can kill people’, although he’s fully aware of us be-ing Chinese. Of course I didn’t take it as any offence, but I was still taken aback. Perhaps in addition to flex-ibility, exchange of ideas in a frank manner may be another underlying culture of Google.

After the guided tour, we passed the Google parking and Mr. Perry mentioned to us a fascinating ob-servation: in contrast to the wealth the staff may have accumulated (all the original Google employees have stock shares of the company before its spike to nowadays’ success), there were only compact cars and not even one big, luxury car (except Mr. Perry’s) in the parking. It implies the down-to-earth character of the staff who come to work only because

Left: doors no longer suitable for use are adopted as office decorations Right: Google Inc. Headquarters

Photo taken with George Salah (right 1) @ Google Inc Headquarters at Mountain View

wish the students could grab as much as they can and should from the resources and opportunities the program offered to them.

June 23 (Wed)visit Circle Gallery by Frank Lloyd Wright + work as instruc-tor @ Camp Sweeney + dinner @ Raj’s house We took a quick tour to Circle Gal-lery designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in the morning. It was said to be a prototype of New York’s Guggen-heim Museum, but the fact is Circle Gallery was finished later than the Guggenheim. It is a small gallery with a central spiral staircase that led people upstairs. All the fixtures are also said to be designed by the famous architect. Intriguing place, but not a particularly impressive de-sign.

hand, it was a delight to meet her son and daughter who was really friendly and shared with us her fun school documentation and draw-ings.

June 24 (Thurs)final work day @ Camp Sweeney + CFEA student pres-entation & judge scoringToday was the last working day of the Camp Sweeney students. After 12 weeks of hard work and learn-ing, they had to present in front of three external juries in the evening. Considering they were only given 3 months of training, I was amazed at the students’ performance in presen-tation. Most of them took our advice seriously during the rehearsal, and gave very steady and convincing presentation. Some of them even took the initiative to introduce them-selves to the juries before the pres-

In the following afternoon, we car-ried on with our instructor work in Camp Sweeney. We were stunned by the students’ creativity and artistic sense once we stepped in and saw their models. They were simply so innovative in material mix & match (one of them took a string from the bloom and made a model swing out of it, while another hand drew dis-able parking lots in their model that made it look so realistic!)

We dropped into Raj’s, one of the in-structors, house in the evening, and had a cheerful Indian dinner with her. I expressed my curiosity about Raj’s patience and enthusiasm towards teaching, provided with her busy teaching schedule and the need to attend the family. When we learned about how she met her husband, we simply couldn’t contain our envy. Serendipity, indeed… On the other

Right: 3 judges looking carefully at one of the group models during the students’

presentation

Bottom: nnovative model with interesting details (note the swing and slide at the corner on right photo)

entation began. They also observed quietly while others were present-ing. As part of the instructor team, I was astonished and felt proud of these students.

June 25 (Fri)CFEA Graduation Ceremony @ Alameda County Office of Edu-cationIt was a big day for the CFEA stu-dents because they had to present in front of their families and were about to graduate from the program. Dressed in proper suits, they all looked smart and professional. On one hand, I was happy and moved at the joy of the students’ family who would rejoice at their boys’ achieve-ment. On the other hand, I felt sad for the students whose parents or family did not show up for the grad-uation ceremony. I sincerely wish that all of the students, making use

Later on, I asked some Americans concerning this medical system. Some of them actually agreed that the existing system was problem-atic, partly because it is not very economically effective, and partly because most medical services are privately operated (so they charge more expensive than necessary for profits). I also learnt later in another research that US spend 16% of GDP on medical care, but is regarded one of the most ineffective systems, whereas Japan and Switzerland only spend 8% and 10.8% of their GDP respectively, and are regarded as worthy lessons for the US. Anyway, speaking of the ceremony, we were fortunate enough to en-counter the San Francisco Mayor Newsom, City Administrator Mr. Ed Lee and some other senior govern-ment officials. It was enlightening to

of their talents, would find the right path in the future. Provided with the limited 12-week learning process, I cannot be more proud of the stu-dents for their excellent output.

June 26 (Sat)attend ribbon-cutting ceremo-ny of Laguna Honda Hospital & Rehab Center + tour Muir Woods & Mount. TamalpaisWe attended the ribbon-cutting cer-emony of Laguna Honda Hospital, a public hospital and rehabilitation center. I was amazed at the excel-lent welfare and resources invested in the public hospital. In Hong Kong, similar facilities and atmosphere can only be found in private hospital. In fact, I cannot help wondering how the welfare system could sustain its operation, in which the poorest can get the treatment for free while those with income have to pay immensely.

Family being proud and joyful at the witness of the CFEA students presentation, award-winning and graduation.

Final presentation panels and model, after the students’ 12-week design training

Left: with Mayor Newsom Righ: with City Administrator Mr. Edwin Lee

Left: Cornerstone being a major sponsor of the event Right: photo with City Treasurer José Cisneros

Left: photo @ Muir Woods Right: with Golden Gate Bridge, taken on the way to Muir Woods

watch the charismatic politicians de-liver their speech on the stage.

Afterwards, Ming kindly drove us to Muir Woods and Mount Tamalpais to watch the famous red woods and sunset. Again, we appreciate Ming very much for his patience and ef-forts to offer us the best hospitality.

June 27 (Sun)Gay Parade @ Market Street + services @ The Voice of Pen-tecost + visit The Cathedral of Christ the Light @ OaklandAfter watching briefly the once-in-a-year Gay Parade at Market Street, we met up with Mr. Perry and at-tended a service in his church – The Voice of Pentecost. The cooperative relationship between the film pro-duction agency and the church in-trigues me a lot.After the church service, I and Sissi

June 29 (Tue)tour UC Berkeley + tour The Al-catraz + send-off party @ Half Moon Bay Mullin RestaurantKnowing it’d be my last day in San Francisco, I packed the day with lots of activities. I first visited UC Berkeley, a top university in US, in the morning. In contrast to the ge-neric building cluster in most Hong Kong universities, the UC Berkeley campus consists of a large variety of interesting buildings with different styles and ages. The range of eth-nicity of students was intriguing to me as well, although I’ve been told ahead of time UC Berkeley schooled a lot of Asians, if not mainly Chinese. In addition, I found it interesting that some departments/faculties of UC Berkeley are located in the periph-eral residential area, i.e. it is hard to tell the difference between an aca-demic department and a residence

visited The Cathedral of Christ the Light, adjacent to Lake Merritt in Oakland. I marvelled immensely at the architecture of the Cathedral: the sculptural manipulation of concrete, harmonious mixture of bare concrete and wood, clever means of sunlight penetration and the thoughtful at-tendance to details, e.g. sound-ab-sorbing panels behind the altar have the same color as the concrete. No wonder the Cathedral is awarded by the SFAIA as 2010 Honor Award en-try.

June 28 (Mon)dinner with Robert Greene, an-other CFEA instructorWe had a delightful meal with Rob-ert Greene, one of the CFEA instruc-tors, in the evening. We are glad to be able to make a friend in San Francisco, and I hope to keep in touch with him.

Left top & bottom: Gay Parade The Voice of Pentecost

film production studio

main hall transformed from an opera house

interior of The Cathedral of Christ the Light @ Oakland outlook of the Catheral

interior of The Cathedral of Christ the Light @ Oakland

Beautiful campus of UC Berkeley

You can tell the major ethnicity of UC Berkeley students by simply looking at the restaurants available

The variety of buildings with different styles & ages make the campus very interesting

UC Berkeley main library landmark tower of Berkeley nature in the campus

Western gulls are frequently spotted on The Alcatraz

The Alcatraz prison main building, with excellent audio tour service provided

me with San Francisco as background

beautiful landscape of The Alcatraz

from the block appearance.

Then in the afternoon, I rushed to Embarcadero to take the cruise to The Alcatraz, a renowned jail island. Every minute spent on The Alcat-raz was nothing but enjoyable. The informative audio tour of the main prison building included illustrations of real prisoners and prison war-dens, and allowed tourist interaction with the prison context. No wonder it is an award-winning audio tour in San Francisco. Moreover, it hap-pened to be the breeding season for the wild birds, such as sea gulls, so I could observe a lot of furry chicks al-most everywhere on the island. The natural landscape has been spe-cially designed and maintained, so, provided with the lovely sunshine, it was nothing but a fantastic place to take photos.

Time to say goodbye. But I believe that an end to one jour-ney will be a new start of another.

Thank God and everybody we’ve met in San Francisco~

In the following evening, we had a memorable send-off dinner with the Cornerstone family at a restaurant named The Mullin at Mr. Perry’s neighbourhood, Half Moon Bay. It was not without sadness to hug farewell to everybody whom we’ve formed a bond here. It feels sad to be leaving so soon, but I was also excited to be heading home. There were indeed many thoughts after the month, sometimes even with desensitization due to the intensity and compactness. Nonetheless, I must repeat this again and again: I am truly thankful for the opportunity to meet different people and experi-ence the foreign in San Francisco, plus the hospitality we were offered in the month.

June 30 (Wed)Departure for Hong Kong

Right photo with the Cornerstone family -- 2nd row right to left: Mr. Perry, Martin & Bill; 1st row right to left: Ming, Sissi, me, Beth & Derek

Cheerful dining: (from right to left) Bill, Beth, Ming & Derek

Cheerful dining: (from right to left) Mr. Perry, Martin & Bill

~The End, Thank You~