randamu with ah-kam

After his "spaghetti sauce" talk 7 years ago...

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!

The 3A's of Awesome -- an inspiring speech by Neil Pasricha

A really inspiring speech by Neil Pasricha at TED - the 3 A's of Awesome. Attitude Awareness Authenticity. Stay positive, stay curious and appreciative to little things in life, and stay true to who you are. And you'll find life ain't all so bad...or you'll even find it AWESOME! 

Life knows how to surprise you ALWAYS

6.23 0715 The phone rang in my hotel room.  DING DING DING DING!!!! ah-kam hit the jackpot!!!!

I was informed that I was seated right next to a lady who's diagnosed with "the flu".  And that kicked off my quarantine days in Beijing.

0930 - The ride to another hotel away from the city centre...in an ambulance.

 

1030 - Arrived at Yan Xiang Hotel where I'll stay...

and work for the next 6 days

 

1300 - Lunch buffet~~~ haha (sorry for this shit photo)

1310 - lunch packed in a box and brought back to my hut (well I did savour my Coke Light)

1320 - lunch done.  Boxes out the room for collection.

That should pretty much be the routine in this "facility".

Well think it's time for a nap~~~

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!

20 years ago

6.4.1989. A traumatic day in China history.  Chinese all over the world were devastated watching the massacre footage from the news.

Last night I watched a local documentary about the June 4th movement.  It covers the view of today's young generation (HK high school and university students) on the massacre.  It's sad to learn how ignorant they are about this important piece of China history.  But it's even sadder for me to realize their twisted values.  

"There wasn't a drop of blood shed on June 4, 1989."

"Maybe the students could have had made smarter decision and retreated on May 30.  Then maybe the massacre could have had been avoided."

"If the democracy movement have had been successful, maybe China won't be that prosperous today."

Ignorance I can tolerate because it's the responsibility of our school system and the parents to educate these kids about this unerasable history, which only deserves a 1-page mentioning in their history textbooks.  Distorted values I can't tolerate.  Because it's not about whether the students had done everything right; and it's certainly not about how prosperous China is today.  Unarmed students were mown down by gunshots and tanks!! That's an undeniable crime!!!

June of 1989. The first year I immigrated to Vancouver, I was 13.  That year, my uncle, who's a top executive from TVB, was visiting us and staying at our place.  My uncle would receive fax updates of the Tiananmen Square protest from the news team.  During the critical hours of June 4, our fax machine didn't stop ringing.  Breaking news were sent to our home by minutes.  I was stunned by fear every time I heard the fax machine rang even though I was several thousand miles away from Beijing. That fear I can never and will never forget.

To my friends and cousins who had turned parents recently, and those who have young kids, hope you can pass on the truth of 6.4.1989 to the little ones.  They need to know.  They need to care.

Wuhan's delight

Dinner with colleagues@Wuhan.  Wanted to try out some Wuhan's special dessert dish.

Server's recommendation: Hot glutinous rice balls with sweet bean paste.   Truth: Cold whipped cream in a thin coat made of glutinous rice flour. It's a bit like  雪糕糯米滋 but with a mouthful of whipped cream inside.  None of us wanted to take another bite so we decided to delight ourselves with this at least...

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!

Meet them in Wanchai

Last Sunday, it was supposed to be a shoot at the famous haunted house "Nam Uk"（南屋) in Wanchai (HK).  That had actually made the local headline because a girl was once knocked out by a weird encounter of some sort.  Maybe because of that, the road to the house was blocked.  So didn't manage to shoot much there...

         




 

Luckily we got them, 6-7 of them I believe...a pleasant surprise.

 

  

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