June 26, 2005 Archives
Sunday is the day where you have to realize that there are 5% or so (improvised statistic - I think that's what I read somewhere) of non-ethnic-Chinese living in HK. At least, some proportion of it is made up by Filipino, Indonesian and other Southeast Asian domestic helpers who get a day off and gather altogether in outdoor public places. Most notably, you will see them in Central, in the area around Exchange Square. Most middle to upper-class families employ domestic helpers, and they are surely one of the reasons why many many Hongkongers afford to work overboard overtime (so if I were ever ask to work overtime in the future, I'll shut my mouth and think of the folks down here).
On Sundays that I spent in Hong Kong (provided I go out that day...), I always noticed something new about those sit-ins. Last time in Wan Chai, it was those seemingly-maids, perhaps a hundred of them, gathered at the base of an emptied commercial building (when the yuppies take their weekly break on Sunday, the maids-on-break-too take over). By groups of a dozen each, they wore coloured team t-shirts, as if participating in some sort of rally.
This week, it was the helpers gathered in the lobby of the HSBC building in Central (that mass of people does *not* occur everyday!):
As I was taking the bus near my aunt's flat this early afternoon, I noticed those university-age kids in suit, on the side of the road, waving what seemed to be promotional fliers of some sort. Students on a end-of-term project? (Gosh, they were just in suits, with a purple-ish file in hand waving at passing cars...) Actually on my way back home, I had my answer from fellow bus passengers (they were still around, after a few hours in suit at 30 degrees centigrade, taking turns at waving and PSP-ing). Those kids were actually of the same race than those I encountered in that shopping mall three years ago (my cousin Sophie, surrounded with them, about to surrender): they are selling flats!
The housing market is teh competitive in HK, so what do they do to sell newly built flats? They send university-age kids in suits to older upscale neighborhoods like Tai Hang and have them wave promotional fliers at passerbys from bus stops on the side of the road...
Dropping by Kubrick, the small cafe/bookstore/musicstore nextdoor from Broadway Cinematheque, I noticed the HK indies music stand. So, after reading about it in the newspaper, the rumours of an underground scene in HK weren't so exaggerated after all. ^^; I purchased two albums, almost randomly, trying not to pick something electronic without vocals, or a Canto-rap album. So here's what I got:
The one on the left is my little airport. Chose it because the title rings like "my little lover" in my head. It ended up being a boy/girl (not as advertised on the cover) indie/electronica duo (the boy, who goes by "P", does most the composing, and the girl, Nicole, does the vocals). I also bought it because of the title, mind you, which I semi-understood in my semi-novice Chinese (it said, in my head, "the normal thing to do on a Sunday afternoon is to whatever-whatever" (to toddle, says translation on the back)). In fact I like the songs, if only the arrangements could be a bit better, but then what's to expect from indie... Anyways, try the title song, track number 2 (their website has samples, and so do I), which made the Top 10 of the pop charts (which I gather from an interview in the Young Post in the Sunday SCMP). A mix of English and Cantonese tracks, according to the song titles.
The other album I took home was Tai Tau Fat. Which is "big boss Buddha" in my equally semi-novice Cantonese? This is a foursome, like Judy And Mary and No Doubt were: three boys, one girl, and in my limited musical scope, has a sound remindful of those two bands? Whatever. Good music (they call their style "cutie rock", so that's typical Judy And Mary to me: more reasons to like them), and lyrics are all in Cantonese; it's pleasant to hear music in that language which sounds original... Why did I select the album? Well... the cover was that intense red, and the band's logo imitates that of HK fast-food chain Cafe de Coral (大家樂) ... ^^;
As soon as I found out about this movie Tony Takitani based on a short story by Haruki Murakami, I decided I was going to find some time and money to return to the movie theatre. It's not affordable to go to the cinema, when the cost of the reproduction is typically so cheap. 正版VCD are in average 20HKD, and 40 for current releases. Regular DVDs are twice that price.
The movie soundtrack is a succession of soft piano solos, remindful of that played (only) during the sad moments of Amelie. The Murakami-esque elements? Tony Takitani's father is a jazz musician. The female protagonist has a strange obsession with buying clothes (but then is it really that strange, asks the author tongue-in-cheek).
The cinema room was almost full (in HK, you select the seat when you buy the tickets, like when you attend a play), and it felt kind of cool to be in a room full of potential Murakami fans, or just of strange Japanese cinema...
Unrelated. Later that night, after taking the MTR, I walked near the Sogo intersection in Causeway Bay to get to the McDonald's (Double Cheeseburgers are on special at 8HKD since the beginning of this month). Also, to be noted, a poster is on the exterior of Sogo since the beginning of June where Faye Wong promotes a skincare product (the month before, right across, Nicholas Tse Ting-Fung was also promoting a skincare product ^^;).
I gave myself a kick in the arse, and went. I walked around, stopped in a Starbucks looking at people coming in and out, waiting for the party to start, and went back for another walk around. Lan Kwai Fong is a dead-end street (I thought it was a whole neighborhood), and is packed in one single block, one of the hottest party areas for Hong Kong yuppies. Actually, it's an outdoor party on a pedestrian street, like we have on Saint-Laurent in Montreal in the summer, with more bars and less improvisation.
I put on the clothes my youngest uncle gave to me: a pair of Armani jeans I was surprised I could fit in, and a John Henry "European Fit" checkered shirt. I was slighly over-dressed, so I untucked and rolled up.
After walking a few rounds, I stopped at a calmest of all bars, and ordered a full pint of Hoeggarden that looked more like a bucket to me.
(All pictures, while I select a few of them for the blog)
(For the record, my brother's new Canon IXY55 was used and it is indeed party-environment-proven ^^;)