By Julia Wong

The air was filled with camaraderie and competition as teams battled for the title of Trivia Bowl champion and the coveted Rice Cup.

On October 9, 2009, Los Angeles area journalists, lawyers and corporate sponsors gathered at the Japanese American National Museum for the 15th annual Asian American Journalists Association Los Angeles Chapter Trivia Bowl.

The event pits teams against one another as they answer 100 questions in four rounds. ABC 7 Anchor David Ono served as masters of cermonies for evening.

After the trivia questions are read each round and teams get two minutes afterward to deliberate the answer before handing in their answer sheet. The team with the most correct answers wins the competition.

After each round of competition, attendees had the opportunity to bid for live/silent auction items and win prizes from raffle drawings.

With all the proceeds going towards scholarships, stipends, and fellowships for students as well as professional journalists, many guests were more than willing to support the cause.

For first time,  the chapter awarded the Sam Chu Lin Memorial Scholarship, funded by Southern California Edison.

Dinner for the night was provided by Wahoo’s Fish Tacos and dessert was sponsored by Blackmarket Bakery.

For a complete list of sponsors visit: http://aaja-la.org/trivia-bowl/sponsors-of-trivia-bowl/

After some fierce competition, the Japanese American Bar Association emerged as the winner. Second place went to the Asian Pacific American Legal Center, and third place was the Los Angeles Times.

For more photos, see the Trivia Bowl set by Derek Lieu.