Hands In The Air
May 19, 2010 § 1 Comment
Because of finals week, my sleeping schedule has been completely out of whack. Yesterday I slept from 7AM-430PM, which is what my whole week has basically been. It sucks because the sun seems to rise and set earlier here than at home, which means less sunshine when I want it.
I also woke up yesterday with one double eyelid instead of zero. No amount of rubbing would make it go away, which put me at a loss for how to do my makeup.
Anyway, last night was my first time going clubbing on a Tuesday night — ladies’ night in Tsim Sha Tsui. We left an hour later than planned, which is not uncommon but especially inconvenient this time because this certain club [Zaza] is only free until 2AM. The line stretched down the block by the time we finally arrived, and we hung out for a while at the back before getting the courage to join the rest of our friends in the very front of the line.
It was hot & sweaty with people mashed up against each other and women lighting up right next to me. Tempers ran high when the bouncer finally let us all in after making us wait for 45 minutes AND having us all pay the $100HK entrance fee even though it wasn’t even 1AM.
Five minutes after we stepped into the club, the lights turned on. Word reached us that the police were coming. Seriously? We JUST paid to get in. Were they coming to check ID? I had stupidly forgotten mine. Everybody stood around chattering amongst themselves until the cops arrived and we were told to be quiet.
A table and chairs were set up in the middle of the dance floor for the officers, and one of them sat and looked through documents as the others walked around and inspected people. It felt like the longest 25 minutes ever. We had no idea what was happening, but nobody was detained. The whole thing was really weird, but after they left, the party started right up again.
To me, the clubbing experience seems to consist of dancing, drinking, looking for stray members of one’s party and waiting in line for the restroom [whether one needs to go or not], with lots of picture-taking in between. It’s a fun time, but I don’t see how people can do it day after day or even week after week. The routine gets monotonous.
I danced with one guy whom I deemed acceptable: good hair, good skin, good teeth, good body, good clothing, taller than me & seemed my age. Total stranger. And he didn’t really speak English. His name was Bert? Curt? Couldn’t hear. Toward the end of the song he tried to stick his tongue in my mouth — I don’t know if he was drunk or inexperienced, but I just wanted to dance and maybe feel him up. Two hours later we found each other again and had a round two, heh, but had to stop because my thighs & feet were screaming in agony. I kissed him on the cheek to let him know I was leaving, but he tried to slobber all over me again so I escaped to the bathroom with some other girls.
Other than that, I went crazy when the DJ [finally] played “Sorry Sorry,” my feet are still in pain as I write this at 7AM, I feel greasy but satisfied after another round of 3AM dim sum, and I’m going to miss the club scene here when I go home. Down at school, everyone drinks but no one dances. Lame! Anyway…time for bed.
Recounted To Me By A Friend:
May 11, 2010 § 1 Comment
HA HA wait you did what?
We [3 girls] were standing at the checkout at Wellcome [a Hong Kong supermarket] near the condoms, and someone commented that they cost more in HK than in Canada.
“No, I think they’re about the same, aren’t they?” said Person 1.
“How much are the ones you use?” Person 2 asked.
“Actually, I don’t really know; my boyfriend’s the one who buys them,” Person 1 replied.
General laughter ensued.
[I laughed too.]
Even the girl telling me this story didn’t seem to think much of the incident, but I never expected to witness such openness about sexual relations from people with whom I had gone to church that very morning. It’s not that I’m judging her; I’m simply amazed because I would die of shock if I heard that among my friends at my home church. Nobody would openly admit to having had sex with a significant other [especially a current one], and if so, it would most certainly be done with an attitude of shame and remorse.
What’s the difference?
Is it because we’re all temporary-ish friends? Is it because every single one of the girls from that night is in a stable dating relationship, while most of my friends have never dated? Or does it have more to do with the church culture in which we were raised? Anyway…things to ponder.
The Man In The Shiny Red Suit
May 7, 2010 § Leave a comment
You know procrastination is at an all-time high when you decide to go watch Iron Man 2 in the middle of finals week when you have overdue work that hasn’t even been brought into existence yet. Yet! That’s what I did. The two people that I talked to about it beforehand that had seen it already both told me it was bad, so my expectations were pretty low. I think that’s why I enjoyed it so much. That and the fact that I was so glad to be able to see a movie normally, without those wretched 3D glasses sliding off my face.
1. Iron Man is dying. This situation reminds me of Mad Eye Moody’s impostor, always drinking some mysterious liquid in an attempt to stay alive. What exactly was Tony Stark drinking anyway?
2. I hate the evil geek caricature. Justin Hammer got way too much screen time. And why was his speech pattern so stilted? Who actually talks like that?
3. Okay seriously how much Botox has that senator guy had??? LOL. His face was so unnatural: 
4. It was really weird to see DJ AM posthumously :( moment of silence please.
5. I still don’t understand why Rhodes took the suit. Was he trying to punish Stark? … ??
6. I had totally forgotten that Samuel L Jackson is in this movie! But of course he would play the magical black man with the cure for Iron Man’s problems. Of course.
7. This sequel reminds me of the most recent 007, in which the plot is not as riveting as the first, but we do manage to dig deeper into the psyche of the main character. Perhaps part of the reason why my friends did not enjoy it?
8. DANG IT I ALWAYS get so worked up over those touching father-to-son speeches. Why am I like this??
9. Is any of this science-speak real? I’m glad I don’t know anything about chemistry/physics, otherwise this whole “I discovered a new element!” thing would probably bother me to no end.
10. At the end of the day, Tony Stark is just a boy with big toys trying to be a man.
11. As always, Iron Man 2 is a visual orgy of futuristic technology and metal-on-metal clanging. And I love it.
12. Scarlet Johansson is pretty good as an action heroine, though her skin-tight suit was really reminiscent of Fantastic 4.
13. The end came a little too quick, a little too easy. But the film is not about the villain; this one’s about the man. And his lady.
14. The Avengers??? This is going to get bigger??? …!!! Very excellent.
15. The very end is very anticlimactic. Make sure you stay until the verrrrry end, AKA after the credits, for a sneak peek into what will probably be the next film.
Love.
May 5, 2010 § Leave a comment
♥
When I heard that Jaeson Ma was going to premiere his documentary 1040 in Hong Kong [sponsored by The Vine church], I jumped at the chance despite the event being two days away, one day before my final essay was due, and almost $40US to attend [funds for the new church building]. I’ve heard bits & pieces about him from friends and have watched clips from the film online, and I just knew I had to go. Unfortunately, because it was on a Tuesday night of finals week, none of my friends were willing to go with me.
The 1040 showing took place on Ma Wan island, an obscure little place that is half residential and half home to Noah’s Ark theme park, which is apparently the only to-scale replica of the Biblical vessel in the world. I took the ferry there without a problem and planned to follow the crowd to the auditorium, but once we arrived at the island, they all dispersed in different directions, leaving me in the middle of a plaza surrounded by apartment buildings. The people at 7-11 couldn’t tell me where Noah’s Ark Hall was located, and neither could the workers inside the bus terminal. After hearing about how strangers in Taiwan & Japan go out of their ways to help lost travelers, I’d have to rate the helpfulness of HK people as 3/10.
Anyway, it was dark by the time I finally found the minuscule signs pointing to Noah’s Ark. I was relieved to reach the mysterious location with five minutes to spare, but because people are SLOW, we started 35 minutes later than scheduled. It’s not like I’m bitter or anything about having even less time to work on that essay I haven’t started yet.
The medium-sized auditorium was full of English-speaking yuppies, mostly Cantonese but also with a smattering of white people, since The Vine has a healthy number of ex-pats. My $300HK ticket afforded me a seat in the middle section, and I duly noted that quite a few members of The Vine worship team could be found in the $500HK section closer to the front.
Pastor John started off the night with an introduction to the mission of the church, after which we got right into the movie. I kind of expected 1040 to be one of those tear-jerking pieces full of sacrifice and hardship [after all, it’s a documentary about Christianity. In Asia.], but it was more on the informative side. Of course, this doesn’t mean that it was a cut-and-dry infomercial — it’s an excellently edited film that showcases the movement for Christ in a few specific countries. Vanness Wu makes a briefer-than-I-expected appearance to talk mainly about devoting his time to promoting abstinence, which was REALLY unexpected. “God is better than sex”? Definitely. But would I wear that on a t-shirt? Um…
The documentary alone was not worth the entrance fee: I came to see the man himself. But first, MC Jin took to the stage and gave a short testimony about how he didn’t really learn to live out his faith until moving to Hong Kong — I’ve never listened to his music, but apparently he’s actually an active member of The Vine church! My easily starstruck ears perked up a bit after discovering that.
MC Jin...spits rhymes...all the time...
Finally, Jaeson Ma made his appearance and talked about the purpose of 1040. The man is riotously funny and does a hilarious Asian accent. At one point he asked, “How many of you out there are Asian-American?” I waved my hand proudly, forgetting that I was in Hong Kong, and was surprised for a moment when I only saw a couple of other hands raised. “Growing up Asian-American,” Jaeson continued, “you either want to be a Twinkie…or a chocolate-covered banana.” LOL. [“What is a Twinkie?” the Cantonese translator next to him asked.]
I got chills hearing him talk about God’s mission for him to raise an army of young Asian people. The churches in China believe it’s their mission to bring the Gospel to the remaining non-Christian strongholds all the way to Jerusalem, and Jaeson is working tirelessly to advance that movement. At the end of the night, he performed his amazing song “Love,” the recording of which I’ve been trying to upload on Facebook to no avail BECAUSE FACEBOOK UPLOADER SUCKS. [Okay it’s finally up.]
The one & only...Jaeson Ma
The event, which was supposed to begin at 7:30, ended at around 10:48, and I rushed out to catch the 11PM ferry back to Hong Kong Island. Despite being able to navigate around HK relatively well by now, I still don’t know my way around Central. I made my way to IFC mall, which has a bus depot on the ground floor, but I didn’t know how to get there. The [rather useless] concierge directed me across the street to the minibuses, which STOP RUNNING at 11:35 [let’s not go into how I would’ve made it if the 1040 event started ON TIME]. It was 11:45 by the time I reached the bus stop, so I walked down to where the big buses pick up passengers and hoped that the two buses still running to HKU would pass by soon.
I stood at the bus stop for 25 MINUTES like a fool, FMLing so hard while gathering more mosquito bites for my pre-summer collection. I had seen the 43X pass by on my way home from all-you-can-eat sushi on Sunday at midnight, but after almost half an hour, I was ready to give up. I told myself I’d wait until 12:10, and if the proper bus hadn’t turned up by then, I’d just take a taxi home. The bus supposedly only runs until 12:05, so I was losing hope rapidly.
At exactly 12:10, the 43X rolled into view. OH MY GAH FINALLY!!! PTL!!!!
Then I went home. The end.
auradis 