Hong Kong - Post #2: Day 2 and 3 - 27th 28th of April, 2010

Please click the images to view the full size versions.

So, this blog thing can really take a lot of time to produce, so I am going to be a few days behind on the posts I am doing, but here is another one for ya... and there will be more to come ;)

So far so good, Hong Kong is a pretty amazing place. Just outside my door, 20 metres down the road, among the thousands out there, I have the pleasure of being able to shop on this side street. Here I can always find a wide selection of market goods for sale. Here are a few pictures to help give you an idea.

Here they sell fruit, veggies, meat, and a wide range of weird and bizarre items I would have no use for. The vendors are mainly old folks that work day in and day out to keep these booths open. Haggling for your items is a common thing here, and if you can convince the sellers that you know of a better deal, you can usually get a better price... I have yet to get much practice in this ancient and fine art of negotiating but it seems if you get mad enough/and sometimes just nice enough, they will give in and sell you what you want for the price you're demanding. ;)
And sometimes you might meet a new friend ..



On my journey that day I was heading to get passport photos, as well as going to a casting around the corner from this market/my agency building. I ran into this amazingly hungry/skin ridden dog who had nothing but a box to play with/or eat. Video below. Such a cool dog.



After getting my passport photo done and doing my casting, I decided to take a walk around.

The first thing I saw that I had to check out (being a gamer), was the arcade ..otherwise known in this case as, Game.



Apparently these kinds of places, full of arcade games, and gambling machines, are not for kids, but rather for the elderly and middle aged, as well as the casually dressed.

Compare to Tokyo, these arcades are fairly low quality, and old. They are very dirty, and generally not as uplifting and fun as the arcades in Tokyo, though maybe I am just in the wrong arcade.

After heading into the "Game" center, I decided to look around the area for some computer shops to see if I could find a deal on a portable hard drive. Since I'm taking so many photos, I need the space to backup my massive amount of shots from Tokyo and clear some space for Hong Kong.

I walked around the corner and was met by a host of mobile phone centers, but alas, no computer stores. I asked a couple vendors where I can find a computer store, they all pointed me in the direction I had just walked from saying, "Computer Center". This sounded promising, as it seemed to be the only place around here, so it must be big and easy to find. ...and it was.


Wan Chai Computer Center:
A vast maze of corridors laid out over multiple floors, full of any and all computer related electronics known to man. After entering, I walked up to the first outlet I could see and was greeted by a friendly sales man. I asked if he had the hard drive type I was looking for, he said yes and pointed me to a close by shelf. Knowing that this place was massive and there must be a hundred or more outlets like this I knew I should look around and see if I could find a better deal. I told him I'd be back and I walked off into the maze. I immediately got lost in the mess of glowing lights and walls crammed to the brim with every gadgets and gizmos. I headed up one more escalator and was met by another floor, exactly the same, and found another store that had the same hard drive for about 20 dollars less. Knowing I could be in this place forever, looking and getting lost, I decided to purchase my new 500gigabyte Western Digital hard disk, which is apparently the best brand to buy for stability and performance (as they all told me). Walking another few feet I was also able to find another battery for my new camera (Canon S90) at a very reasonable 9$ Canadian.



I had now completed my electronics shopping mission, in only in a half hour of walking around. When trying to leave the computer center, I looked around for an exit sign and saw on the distant ceilings, many a green exit sign. Walking up to the first one I found myself face to face with an emergency exit (complete with alarm) and turned around feeling even more lost and confused about how I could backtrack. After doing that a few more times, and walking around for another 15 minutes I found the descending escalator that would bring me down to the main floor. Then after another 10 minutes I was back at the entrance, also the only way out of this mass electronics maze.

Having found my way out, I decided to walk back to the apt. A couple blocks from the Apt I saw this... and naturally I had to stop for a picture.

Apparently these eggs are good, but I don't think I will ever truly know, because I wont be trying them. But to tell you the truth, they smelled just as good as any hard boiled egg I have smelt before, except they're black and they're just sitting there boiling all day.

A couple Panorma's. - This is the local public sports field, supporting basketball, tennis and just about any other ball oriented ball sport. Its located only a couple blocks from my apt.

TOP

BOTTOM

After a relaxing day at the Apt, playing with my hard drive and backing up images and files, I was off to my first job; a shoot for +ouch (touch) weekly magazine. The shoot was located 8 subway stops away plus a 2 minute walk to a high rise commercial building (25minutes travel time). After walking through the heavy rain in my gortex jacket and cap/no umbrella, I arrived somewhat drenched and headed up to the 17t floor where the studio was located. Walking in I ran into the editor/semi-stylist who was on his way into the studio. He greeted me and showed me to the studio couch and told me to have a seat and wait.

After about a half an hour of waiting while they did some shots of fashion accessories, I got into hair/makeup and was ready to shoot. The team spoke in chinese mainly and were quiet with me . But after a few shots and a couple laughs, they started to warm up to me and began speaking mainly english. The shoot lasted from 5:30pm-8:30pm and they were fast and efficient. The clothing ranged from Polo style preppy to highly colourful funky and crazy looking fashions. The photographer was fast/efficient and the chemistry on set was relaxed so things moved along quickly and smoothly. After finishing I said goodbye but not without taking a picture of the editors hair, which I thought was funky and kinda cool (img below).

I headed home, and since dinner was at 9 I had little time but to change my shirt and head out to Dragon-I. I stayed for dinner and after we headed across the street for some pool and drinks, then around the corner to a club called Play where I met a few new friends. We staying there for a bit and then went up the road a couple meters to a disco called Volar. There I met some chinese locals who were very friendly and we had some drinks,..and then I was witness to some of the craziness that can come up in Hong Kong night life.

A few minutes into Volar, I went outside and was greeted by a scene. A guy who was trying to get into the club was apparently dragged out of the club somewhat violently. The story goes that this guy was once a boyfriend to a very big(possibly top) chinese model a few years back and the owner of the club didn't like him. The bouncers (also Triad mafia) were not going to let him in, and as they pulled him out they proceeded to give him a few punches to the face. I arrived outside and saw him with red marks under his eye and across his face, just as he was trying to call on the manager/owner of the club(also Triad), putting up quite a scene in front of cops and triad member's. I proceeded back in the club to have a few drinks with my new chinese friends and after about and hour or so I decided to head home.

I had been told that the walk from this area to the Apt was something around 20 minutes so I decided to walk. The streets were lit, but instead of the usual heavy traffic and massive amounts of people walking around, it was empty and quiet. The walk was sobering and calm, a nice change from the crazy clubs. In a daze of excitement and alcohol I arrived at my apt somehow not getting lost along the way. All in all, a good day. :)

Next Post - Hong Kong Beach Adventures

Hong Kong , Post #1

Soooooooooo....., after seeing many of my friends start up blogs, I have finally caught the bug and am now inspired enough to start my own. Here I will try and write a bit about what I am doing, post pictures, and maybe videos when I can. It will act as a place for me to document and cover some of my stories and at the same time allow me to share my experiences with those who are interested. Thanks for reading and please feel free to comment. NOTE: - Please click images to see full size.

First Post: Day 1 - Tuesday April 27th, 2010
So....after 3 months in Tokyo, Im have now made the step into the Hong Kong market. My flight had a 3 hour layover in Seoul, and took about 6hours flying time in total. Arriving at night in HK I didnt get much of a view on the city except the front door of my Apt building and the apt itself.







Here, (or in this apt building at least), people live in behind their own prison style doors..complete with decorated flower pattern, or whatever you might fancy.




Day one, and already the differences between Tokyo and Hong Kong are vast. Even as I write this there is a car horn blasting on the street below (something rarely heard in Tokyo), which I can hear 16 floors up. The feeling in Tokyo is clean, organized, even synchronised. Here in Hong Kong its much more of the feeling found in China town NYC times 1000000.

Its busy, hectic, constantly moving, and the sounds of non stop construction in the distance are ringing through the streets. My area is surrounded by apt buildings that scrape the sky, 1000's of tiny shops and restaurants, and the roads are filled with cars/taxi's, street cars(double deckers), bus's(also double deckers) and everything in between. There are constantly people crossing the street when they want, where they want, even during the heaviest of traffic (something non existent in Tokyo, but again, much like NYC). The air is warm, and the mix of busy life and tropical surroundings is exhilarating and new.

Today my agency told me I would need to buy a new phone so they can keep in contact with me,...at first I thought.....o shit, a phone?! ..this is going to be expensive. ... however, seeing as a $50 note here is only worth around $5 back home, I thought, maybe I can get something cheap. After talking to my room mate a bit, I was told that I could get one for around $400 HKD (Hong Kong Dollars), as long as it wasn't fancy. So I went walking around the area where my apt is located (Wan Chai), and found a tiny tiny little bookshelf sized shop with the word 'Mobile' on the sign above. For 40 Dollars Canadian, I was able to buy not only a new phone, but also a weeks worth of minutes/txt msging (something ridiculously expensive in Canada). Now I am the proud owner of the tiny KP105 LG phone.

So I finally got my phone setup and connected. I called the agency, they told me to come in and bring my passport and any images I had with me to get my portfolio/book together. I walked over (5mins to the agency), sat down with my booker Yuki, and we discussed what images to use. In the middle of this I mentioned that I hadn't cut my hair in a few months and that I might need a trim. She agreed and immediately setup a visit to the agency's confided hair salon.

I jumped on a bus, and 8 stops later I was standing out front a salon called Osmosis. I stepped in the front door, looked around to see stairs going up to a 2nd floor on my left and a tiny front desk on my right, in what seemed like a 10x10 foot room. I was then lead up the stairs by the lady at the front desk and introduced to my hair stylist. He asked me what I wanted for a cut and I told him I just need a trim of about 3-4 inches and that I would like to get it washed. I was then wrapped in a plastic robe and sent to the back room (dimly lit) where they proceeded to shampoo and condition my hair with the extra bonus of a much needed scalp massage (note: the sinks came complete with a head rest block that supports your head when laying down, so as not to put all the pressure on your neck, ..a very nice touch and something I hadnt seen before). After that I was lead back to my chair, next to a window overlooking the street below and was asked if I would like a drink. Moments later, a stack of magazines and a coffee was handed to me and they began to cover me in yet another layer of plastic protection. The stylist then asked me what length I would like and I motioned to about four fingers thick of hair length. He looked at my hair and told me that he thought chin lenght was the best suitable look for me and after a minute of thinking I said ok, as it was close enough to the length I had originally asked for.

...........

2 Hours later.... having flipped through the latest spring issue of V magazine (in which I saw Marcel's Gucci eyewear campaign on page 1..nice job by the way Marcel) and finishing my coffee, I was starting to think he would never stop cutting. Alas, moments later, he stopped. Pulled out the rear view mirror and showed me the final product. I was happy, but a bit shocked to see so much hair gone. It has been years (3+) since I have had my hair cut this short, but it felt good. After paying the man, I headed home.

Back at the Apt, I recieved a call from my friend who was inviting me out to dinner at the club called Dragon-I. After a few chats online I headed out to meet him around his apt located in the area known as Causeway Bay, only one stop on the subway from my location, Wan Chai.

After arriving, I hung around and took some pics while waiting for him to arrive.

After a few minutes we were united and off to the area called Central, where you can find a lot of high end designer stores/shopping, a lot of tourists, and a bustling night life (clubs, bars, etc). We jumped on the closest tram/street car and were off.

About 20mins later we arrived in Central, we walked a few blocks into the dense maze of streets filled with partys, clubs, bars, and lots and lots of people. After ascending a few flights of stairs we had jumped from the lower street to an upper street above. A small escalator ride up again and we were on the patio of Dragon-I.

(This is the patio and its filled with small bird cages hanging above. On the far right behind the black monolith looking shape in the distance you can see a massive bird cage filled with birds; see images below).

After a lovely dinner featuring platters of chicken, tampura, veggies and rice, sushi, dim sum, an amazing platter of dessert, and a couple glasses of single malt Macallen, along side seeing a friend do her first flaming lambourgini, (see video for example http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBCPQ0iaVVo&feature=related) we all headed across the street to another club which had a couple ping pong tables and a pool table setup to play. (img below: Notice the 2 golden pool tables in the ceiling ready to lower when ping pong is put away.)

After another few drinks and by the time 1am rolled around I was off in a taxi, on my way to sleep and a new day.

Random Video: - Me stumbling up to the apt at 1am.