randamu with ah-kam

HK milk tea workshop

You can't say you have been to Hong Kong if you haven't tried our "pantyhose" milk tea.  If you feel nauseated by the vision of someone filtering tea over a pair of pantyhose, take a look of the following video -- a news coverage of the very first HK milk tea workshop co-organized by secrettourhk and the Association of Coffee and Tea of Hong Kong.  (The coverage is in Cantonese but I think you'll get the idea through footages of the workshop and the interviews with some foreign participants.)

http://youtu.be/BveBhF9MCuY

I'm in for the next workshop!

A government ad that is fun to watch (that's rare...)

Public service commercials in Hong Kong aren't usually good to look at, some of which are actually awful (if you recall the "sweeping + dancing" ad or the anti-smoking ad). 

Recently, however, I've actually seen a rather nice ad from the Department of Health - targeting kids (and parents) on hygiene preparation for the new school year.  

It's not something you will say "wow" over.  But what I'll give it a merit for is that it is actually an on-target piece of communication, featuring McDull and friends (a famous local comic series well received by kids and "c-lai" (which means housewives locally). The idea is simple.  The rather mundane message delivered in a light-hearted way.  Job done.

香港人嘅悲哀 anti-stigma pls...

Have been following this case over the last couple of days. Zheng sheng College (正生), a school devoted for kids who went astray when they were young (drug abuse and etc.). Recently to cope with more kids, the school wanted to move into Mui Wo in Lantau Island, to allow kids to get back on track in a more peaceful environment. But residents there strongly rejected that, protesting that "local school for local people". All these times, residents had been sending their children to the city instead of attending "local schools". The worst thing is these adults also brought their children to the protest. It's really sad that these kids will probably inherit this kind of "labeling" and think that's ok. What's wrong with HK people? Is that the kind of thinking you want to pass on to our next generation, that it's ok to stigmatize and isolate others. These students are only kids, and they well deserve a second chance. Open up HK people...for a better world and a better next generation...PLEASE!

Easter break...HKIFF Finale...4 films in 2 days

Had a fulfilling Easter weekend - 4 films in 2 days - a record for me in recent years of HKIFF.

1) Revanche (Austria) - One of the nominated foreign language films of Oscar 2008.  An Ex-con, Alex, plans out what seems to be the "perfect" bank robbery (hmmm with an unloaded gun) in a small village.  It's his chance to a new life with his girlfriend, Tamara, a Ukrainian prostitute. Unfortunately Tamara is unintentionally shot and killed on the escape by the policeman, Robert. Alex flees to the farm of his father and learns that Robert lives close by and so thoughts of revenge start to arise.  The scene I like most is when Alex confronts Robert about the killing without revealing his identity.  He asks Robert whether he's scared that the boyfriend of the girl will avenge him.  Robert who's plagued with guilt about the girl's death replies, "Let him.  But I'd like to ask him one question. Why he brought his girl, who couldn't drive and couldn't help him escape, along in the first place." That answer is the "knock-out shot" that shatters Alex and eventually saves Robert's life.  Guess a cruel truth in life - often we only have ourselves to blame for the failures in life.  

2) Chandni Chowk to China (Hindi) - Didn't plan to see this.  

I slot that in since I had nothing to do between Revanche 

(10:30am) and A French Gigolo (6:00pm).  

If you have seen the comedies of Stephen Chow Sing Tse 

(周星馳), this film is the Hindi version of a montage of 

Stephen Chow's films (Kung Fu Hustle + 國產007 + 

大內密探零零發). So it's definitely nothing serious. 

As I don't have any expectation for the film in the 

first place, I don't have much to complain. Just for a laugh.

3) A French Gigolo (France) - "Cliente" in French. Judith, a 51 

year-old divorced woman has started hiring gigolos after her 

divorce. Ever since then, she has kept them as "trades" and 

is totally detached. But she finally falls in love with Patrick 

(real name Marco), a 30 year-old gigolo, married but secretly 

picks up this part time job to get the much needed money 

to support his family. Judith soon becomes Patrick's regular 

client and a bittersweet relationship starts between 

the two. Being single and over 30, I can sympathize with 

Judith. So to me, it's a nice sentimental film with good pace, good humor, 

and great acting.

4) 24 City (China) - The finale film of HKIFF. Directed by 

Jia Zhangke, a leading figure in the underground film 

movement in China. The film, a blend of documentary and 

fiction, follows 3 generations of characters in Chengdu, as 

a state-owned weapons factory (420) gives way to a modern 

apartment complex (24 City). Through one-on-one interviews 

of real and fictional characters,the film brings us one after 

one human stories behind the evolution of Zhengdu. 

Love the director's shooting style and the music scores. 

Love the interviews - The anecdotes are moving and charmingly authentic 

as even the fictional scenes are delivered in a documentary style, they still 

give you an authentic feeling. Another thing is I love Joan Chen, 

who plays one of the fictional characters (Little Flower - a nickname her 

character gets from the factory coworkers as she looks alike the main character 

in "Little Flower", a famous film played by Joan Chen herself in 1979 - witty).  

She charms me as always. What a great wrap for my HKIFF this year!

I'm not a submarine clock nor a butterfly...

I got to know a documentary photographer, Ducky, through a job last year. Every 

photo project of his carries a wonderful story behind. And he always tells amateurs 

like us that it's not about the skills or equipment that we use, creativity comes from 

the heart.

His recent project working with kids diagnosed with mucopolysaccharidosis, aka MPS, 

and their parents, shows us exactly that.  MPS is a metabolic disorder caused by the 

absence of lysosomal enzymes needed to break down the sugar carbohydrates in our 

cells to help build bone, cartilage, tendons, corneas, skin and connective tissue. 

People with MPS, over time, suffer from permanent cellular damages that affects 

their appearance, physical abilities, eye sight, organ and system functioning, and in 

some cases, mental development.

Ducky's project introduces kids with MPS and their parents to photography, letting 

them show us their world and loved ones through photography. As Ducky puts it, 

their innocent heart and imagination conquer their physical or mental challenges. 

Their photos are now on exhibition till next Sunday (Mar 15) at the Hong Kong 

Jockey Club Creative Arts Centre (JCCAC) in Shek Kip Mei. 

Free admission.  The centre opens Mon - Sun 10am-10pm.

(I'm not a submarine clock nor a butterfly, I'm your world.)

If you have a yahoo account and read Chinese, check out more from Ducky Tse's blog

Ah Kam's Top 10 kids songs

 Songs that I grew up with and still bring back fond memories of some sort.  

The sun is like a big pumpkin

  When we are small

Banana boat  

The legendary couple  

The TV game kid  

Golden Warrior - opening and end songs

Little Football Star  

Little Chloe  

Draw Doraemon  

Dr. IQ

Somewhere in Hong Kong...

So Uk Estate is one of the early housing estates in Hong Kong.  Built in 1960, the estate has a total of 16 blocks and 5316 flats.  The blocks are called "Houses" and they are named after varieties of flowers, such as Azalea House, Begonia House, Cedar House, and Cherry House, etc.

Due to its high maintenance cost, the local government decided to demolish the estate by 2011 in 2 phases. Yesterday, I had a couple of hours before dinner to pay there a visit. Two hours are definitely not enough to explore this place - the unique architectural design, and the Hong Kong grass root flavour.

As a lot of the residents had already moved out, most being relocated to other public estates, the place is already half empty.

    

The bits of life left in this abandoned estate.  

The words on this stone table on the left read:

Look back no more.

Need to forget.

Nothing is ever lasting.

Adding more sadness to this already half empty place.

I shall return for more exploration before everything's torn down.

An art gallery in the neighborhood

Shek Kip Mei, if you are not a Hong Konger, you may have never heard of this place.  It's within this grass root area of Hong Kong, you can find an art gallery out of a former factory building.

Tonight, it's my first visit.  Very luckily, I came upon the opening of a creative exhibition.  And even more lucky that I had my camera with me. 

Some of the shots I took during my brief 10-min walk-through before close time.

 Artsy egg tarts

 Next to this art piece, placed a speaker playing the gurgling sound of babies...a sensuous experience.

Interesting experiment

I did the second class at the Chinese University of Hong Kong last Thursday.  A little experiment I prepared, a mash-up of some personal loan ads of different banks/financial institutions to show the class just how cluttered the market is. The majority of the ads is about how they can rescue people from the burden of credit card bills.  Just a phone call away from a brand new life.  Yeah, right...

   

It took me about 30 min to put together so it's far from a master piece but it makes my point.

29+1

29+1, a sum that adds up to 30.  To many, especially women, it's a crossroad in life when you suddenly realise dinner conversations among your girl friends are all around men and skin care brands.  Some may suddenly question what they have achieved so far, reassess their values and goals, or decide to venture out exploring life. 

It's a life stage of women that transcends race and geographical differences. And it's the platform that Kearen Pang, a talented writer, producer, and actress from Hong Kong, took to produce a mind-boggling script and outstanding theatrical performance - 29+1.

 

(photo by Catherine Chan - 29+1)

One of the hottest sell-outs in town, it's already the fourth comeback of the show.  I've seen it the second time this year, the script and performance still impressive and indeed remind me of my 29+1.