Hong Kong 2009

Mini Movie Reviews

CX provides quite a lot of choices for us captive audience above the sky as far as on board entertainment is concerned. This time around the seat is not exactly wider or provides more leg room for us Economy flyers but it has better designs; it has wide screen, power outlet, and above anything, a non moving recline design that only moves the seat forward without tilting the back to inconvenience the passenger sitting behind you. A design that prevents Economy travelers pretending to be in Business class at other's expense. So that's some great new designs there. I believe there might even be free wi-fi actually on board. I was able to pick up some signal from some seemingly onboard ESSIDs called "US Airways Free WiFi" and "Free Internet Access." Both are peer-to-peer with weak signals and no DNS. I was able to connect intermittently but no browsing. I wonder if I know the exact IP would I be able to browse. Anyway, here are the mini onboard entertainment reviews.

Onboard Movie Mini Reviews
Gran Torino (2008)
It shows Eastwood still got it both as a director and an actor. Eastwood plays a newly widowed bigot who are greatly disillusioned with lives and finally comes to accept his Hmong neighbor after some pulled pork and whatever Asian cuisine his neighbor offered. It comes to a sad but not totally unexpected ending as old Eastwood goes one on many with the neighboring thugs in the final show down. In one movie, Eastwood takes on race, bigotry, religion, immigration, aging, and hence dying with great fair and success.

親密 (2008) or Claustrophobia
I thought it was a horror movie just looking at the English title, Claustrohpobia. The Chinese title is vastly different though they are related in the sense that one can certainly lead to another. Apparently, due to their long hours at work in a cramped remote office and the long car ride together after work (work is practically slavery in corporate HK I suppose), the characters kind of fall for each other even the guy is married with a young daughter and the wife is expecting. Cheng Ekin provides his ever reliable wooden performance as Tom the office manager whom Lam Kar Yan as office lady Pearl somehow falls in love with, rather involuntarily, naturally and somewhat inexplicably. This is writer director Ivy Ho's ambitious directorial debut, a non-drama drama that trys to elevate the everyday mundane into something arty farty. This feature shows flashes of brilliance in story telling and directorial talents which are a breath of fresh air to and a great departure from your usual Hong Kong movie-scape. A promising debut indeed.

賭神 (1989) or God of Gamblers
Director Wong Jin shall make no apology in making this movie totally silly and thoroughly entertaining without any self-effacing irony. An earnest attempt to just being funny. The actings and actions are grossly and excessively over done. Just the costume of the 80s is entertaining enough, both Andy Lau and Joey Wang have jeans that practically go up to their chests. Chow Yun Fat was more enjoyable before he became all that serious and internationally acclaimed.

The Reader (2008)
How do you humanize a Nazi SS prison guard and make her sympathetic? You cast Kate Winslet to play the leading role of this female cougar Hanna Schmitz who preys on a teenage boy for sex and for reading her books. Schmitz didn't learn to read or write until when she was in prison for the war crime that she did off camera before the beginning of the movie. Winslet gives a solid performance and so is David Kross who plays the young Michael Berg, Hanna's love or sex interest. Ralph Fiennes plays the middle aged Berg and looks kind of constipated throughout the movie, perhaps that's what's required of the role. As an aside, I am pleasantly surprised numerous nude scenes are preserved, I mean CX is a British company so I guess they are not afraid of nudity like we Americans do.

Watchmen (2009)
One word. Unwatchable.

如果。愛 (2005) Perhaps Love
This is not part of the onboard movie I saw. Rather a DVD I saw at home.
This movie is about a tragic love triangle among a director, an actor and an actress. It's a musical and yet a movie. Never mind, it's all about showcasing how good looking 金城武 Takeshi Kaneshiro is, his eyes, nose and above anything else his hair. And his penchant for swimming with his pajama and night gown on in the middle of the night in slow motion. That's pretty much about it. The movie is a high value production with a very contrived love story that really amounts to nothing much. (update: the sheer mention of the name Takeshi Kaneshiro has drawn search traffic no wonder people hire him to appear in movies, though my visitors have to be disappointed as there aren't much information and hardly any pictures of Takeshi Kaneshiro here at all.)

7/29 UPDATED FROM COMMENT RESPONSE TO EXILE
Duplicity (2009)
I forgot to mention Duplicity. I had high hope for the movie because of Bourne Identity and Michael Clayton. But this one is just bad or I was too tired. I don't know if I bother to watch it again just so I am sure it's not all that bad. It got some serious coverage from The New Yorker. But it is bad. It's like what was going on, the plot line is unnecessarily convoluted and uninteresting and in the end I just couldn't care less about what's going on.

The International (2009)
Also, International. Another feature starring Clive Owen. The guy looks good in trench, well he has to be. This one, at least you got more actions as the story progresses. The gun battle in New York Guggenheim is just as ridiculous as anything you find in a Hong Kong action movie a la John Woo. But at least it's pretty entertaining.

Hong Kong Random Eats

Thank you guys

Only one girl showed up from the old days. The rest were too heart broken and stricken to come. I can understand.

I naturally protect myself whenever I sit next to Denise Dennis. Even when he is with a beautiful woman now, I don't feel all that safe.[editor's note: thanks Sid for pointing out the Denise thing, slip of the finger]

This was certainly not random. Thank you for making the arrangement, ghorse and all for making it a pleasant evening, dear friends. We have known each other for so long, hopefully there are more to come every so often. Take care friends.

A Room With A View

Hong Kong Random Eats

We decided to chill out in this European sounding American ice-cream parlor, Haagan-Dazs, in TST near the Star Ferry. I carried my MSI Wind with me just in case I can get some free wi-fi. Mostly I used it to suck out the jpegs from the camera's HCSD card. Yes, I got nothing better to do.

Hong Kong Random Eats

This is a chain store located in the sub terrain area of a TST shopping mall. The food, decor and service are all decent. It's not one of those top notched places or one of those small gems with plenty of characters. But it's good enough and decent enough for general consumption. If you need to impress and wow somebody this is not the place.

The State of The Internet In Some HK Hotel

With that many words, I don't think it's that easy ...

I need reading glasses to read the fine prints. The whole thing is written in fine prints.

Honestly I am pretty happy with the hotel. But honestly there are always something I don't like, like how come I am not a millionaire or a billionaire so I can stay in the Peninsula.

My only gripe is there is no wi-fi in the room, but that's really irrelevant as I can live with a RJ-45 connection. It's just that they need to charge you for the connection. I feel like I am Royally screwed (Stay in Royal, and be Royally Screwed, that's the slogan?) wherever and whenever a hotel charges for Internet connection. It's almost as bad as getting charged $25 for a bottle of Watson's water in the fridge. I think I really need to learn how to hack any wi-fi network.

Laundry Price List

This hotel only provides self-laundry service for their long term staying guests. Looking at the price list I figure I better off buying new underwear than letting them clean mine. Or better still, handwash them in the tub, go commando or simply just sun dry clean them in the balcony.

What to pack when traveling in HK in the summer ...
If you are a minimalist, all you need is really your passport and a stack of bank and credit cards, you can buy practically anything in Hong Kong, usually at a good price (except used camera equipments).
If you don't plan to buy any T-shirts or intimate wears when in HK, then I think you really should pack accordingly because there is no getting around changing your clothes as you will be soaked and drowned in your own sweats. So pack for daily changes at a minimum.

Hong Kong is a more powerful city, it uses some 240V and the power outlet has a different configuration from here in the US. Normally your portable electronics device can take 110 to 240V, so you don't really need a transformer except an adapter to allow you to plug it into the socket. But do check the input voltage. Case in point, someone plugged in a device that only takes 110V into the 240V outlet and the device went up in smoke and the suite fire alarm went off and the hotel burned to the ground .... Personally I can't wear jeans and long pants when I am in Hong Kong. I was able to do so once upon a time but not anymore.

Hong Kong

I thought they only made this in the ad. So I was surprised they actually made this M art drawing in production. I am a bit embarrassed as I don't think cappuccino is really a drink that associates with me, it's like the Pina Colada of coffee. Normally I just order coffee or espresso. Cappuccino with latte art seems too childish. Anyway, I was there for the Internet connection. Now I forgot if it's really 30 minutes or 20 minutes or 22.35 minutes of free connection.

Hong Kong

My old friends are treating me for dinner. One of them has the Nikkor 50mm f1.2 and a FM2/T. It just reflects how old he is. The guy is retired, living off his meager retirement fund and needs opening doors at shopping malls and carrying ball bags and racquets for others, an overaged ball boys if you will, to make ends meet. I warn my kids to study hard not to be like him. He is holding on his Nikons though as David Chan had told him film gears' values are holding up and appreciating nicely. What baloney.

Thank you guys for a nice dinner.

A Room With A View

Alex: This is what my Dad gives me for breakfast. A slice of nutritious white bread. why does he have to be so cheap?

Hong Kong

Harry: I wish I was anywhere but here. Why Daddy has to be so cheap?
Photo taken in a Hong Kong styled tea restaurant in Tsuen Wan.

Hong Kong

This shot was taken in a Hong Kong Japanese tea/drink/noodle house kind of outfit near Champagne Court. My brother was the one behind the camera. My head is so heavy it needs all the support from my hand.

Random Musings

People love lists or simply I can't write in complete sentences and paragraphs ...

• I was going to scam one of my old friends to sell his good old Nikkor 50mm f1.2 lens. He may be old and senile but he smelled something rotten. So there was no deal.
• I was hoping I could snatch some nice used camera equipments in Hong Kong. Alas, Hong Kong got expensive and there was no way I would shop for used equipments in Hong Kong. The price is just insane. The desire to own yet another film camera seems to be fading.
• Some friends I missed. But that's OKAY we'll meet some day.
• I was hoping to visit maybe at least one fancy restaurant like I did two years ago but it didn't work out. I was just busy plus the weather was simply demoralizing.
• I brought a pair of Weejun slip-ons but never got the chance to wear them.
• I brought two pairs of jeans but never got the chance to wear them. Only on the occasion that I flew to Taiwan did I wear my jeans. It was just too darned hot. I remember I used to wear jeans in Hong Kong in the summer, now it's like How the hell did I do that? It's like impossible. I wore cargo shorts and a jacket onboard for their unlimited supples of pockets.
• When aircraft touches down and taxiing in the tarmac, people or some people invariably remove their seat-belts and busy opening the overhead cabins for their oversized carryons while the seat-belt sign is still on, purposely causing a commotion when none is warranted. Usually my fervent wish at that moment is the aircraft would make some sudden sharp jerks to throw them off their feet and the carryons fall on those people not on innocent passengers whose biggest crime is to be with those asshole passengers. I think that will teach them a lesson. Too bad that never happens. Plus, they also like to whip out their cellphones and yelp right away. Now I do wish the the air staff would confiscate every single one of those cell phones like they are authorized and supposed to do. Just throw those passengers together with their cellphones off the plane.

Olympus

This is the Olympus EP-1 a la Tokyo Camera Style shot. I bumped into this guy (this guy is also known as my brother) in Champagne court and he had this latest toy with him. I was able to scam him to take a few shots of the camera and even funner shot the EP-1 myself. The camera does indeed feel substantial and heavy when compared to the SD880 IS I was carrying at the moment. My first impression was the auto focus doesn't seem to be swift or decisive when shooting in available light indoors in the seedy shopping arcade.

Gate 8

Gate 8 kind of sucks compared to other gates. It's dark and is tucked away in a subterrain area from all the main gates. Though it doesn't seem to make sense it's subterrain but it certainly feels that way. A very different area from the otherwise airy and spacious airport.

I have really no complaint to the Hong Kong Airport. It has plenty of bathrooms, not that I really need to use all of them. They are clean and all. The wi-fi is strong and coverage is good. The only minus is given that's it's an international airport, it doesn't support the kind of plug that US uses. So the charging station wouldn't work if you don't have an adapter. But I guess if you are a professional traveler you are better prepared and equipped than me.

Bye Bye Hong Kong and Taiwan

Here is me waiting for my flight back to the Big Apple. Just came back from the smoking room fetching a can of Coca-Cola. I entered the smoking room twice, once thinking that it would take paper money, wrong, the next time with two $5 coins. A can of Coca-Cola costs $10 here. I don't know why the vending machine is hiding inside a hideous smoking room near gate 43. Now I guess I smell like a Marlboro man. The scary picture was taken with the MSI netbook webcam. For a while I thought I was out of camera as my SD880 is still in Taiwan in the capable hands of my wife.

I would like to thank everybody who have made this trip a great success. You know who you are.

No Bargains Here

Guys there are no bargains here. Look elsewhere.

If you insist or like window shopping like I do, you can check out the half dozen shops specialized in old used film cameras, antique or junk you decide, there on the ground floor of Champagne Court, 16 Kimberley Road, Tsimshatsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong.

Pilgrimage

Old cameras don't die they just sit on David Chan's selves and waiting to be picked up by yet another gullible amateur who somehow is obsessed with everything that's old and chrome. My pilgrimage had been pretty disappointing largely due to my own ignorance. I thought they would be of superb quality yet priced even lower than similar items found in eBay because they are in Hong Kong or simply I thought so. Superb quality is probably a yes but cheap is definitely not true. The items are priced like at least twice as much as what you would ordinarily find on eBay, and usually much much more. Granted you have the chance and joy to actually pick up the item and examine it yourself and that's something you can't do via eBay. This experience somehow totally ruined my obsession with old cameras. I lost at least temporarily all my desires to pick up any old used film camera. Thank you David Chan.

Star Ferry

It took forever to get the picture uploaded. Yet another minor masterpiece (yes, it sounds oxymoron but that's OKAY) from yours truly. The two things I don't like about the SD880 IS is that you can't set the aperture or the shutter speed, and there is no aperture priority auto. It would be nice to provide a square format as well. Other than those I think the SD880 is pretty solid.