Musical Weekend

So, my weekend started on Thursday Night. It was a weekend full of fun, love, food, and music. Thursday night, Untitled (my cousin's entertainment company) helped bring Norwegian band THE KINGS OF CONVENIENCE to HITEC in Kowloon Bay. Let's start the blog with some pictures of that event, shall we?

This is Maggie and Yvonne, waiting to get into the venue. I really like Maggie's "jeans purse" They are always very fashion-savvy.

Untitled!

Opening was done by Jing Wong, a Hong Kong local street performer/song-writer/singer. Very talented guy with a great voice.

The Kings of Convenience!! They asked everyone to not take pictures and turn off cell phones for the first 30 minutes. Doing this caused everyone to really shut up and tune into their performance; it was a nice change not having people talk and move around during a concert. Everyone was really concentrating on the performance, so it was a good tactic on KOC's part. Check out their music, it's quite nice! Very mellow, soothing, caused everyone in the audience to sit down and chill. Their music isn't for everyone though, Yvonne was bored out of her mind. hahaha

A picture of the Kings of Convenience in action. HE HAS TELEKINESIS! hahaha No, I'm just a really good photographer. Giedrius said it looked like he has "C*ck Power* hahah so inappropriate!

After the KOC concert, Giedrius had a DJ gig at Lan Kwai Fong's club The Ashtray/PUSH. Lan Kwai Fong is "the spot" for young people and foreigners to go clubbing and get drunk. It was especially busy because of the Rugby tournament going on.

I just HAD to post this lovely picture of Yvonne and I.

DJ G in action

Rina and Genevieve. Two lovely ladies I've been lucky enough to meet in Hong Kong. Genevieve is a singer in Hong Kong (originally from Canada) who has THE best voice in the world. *I've asked her how I can sing as well as her, and she said "after a few heart breaks, you will." -___-

Maybe that's my missing element... Rina is Genevieve's manager. They make a great team
After leaving the ashtray, a few of us went to Tsui Wah (a popular tea house in Hong Kong) to eat their famous Milk-butter buns. They are buns with melted butter and topped with condensed milke = heaven. So good, but of course...so fattening....

The next night, I went to see Genevieve perform at The Drop. She sings here on a regular basis, but this was a special performance where they sang and danced to songs from the musical "9"


Genevieve, as usual, performed her song with power and ease. I am truly mesmerized by her voice every time. She played the part of Guido's wife. I haven't seen the musical/movie yet, so I'm not too familiar with the storyline.

This is just a cool picture I took of the performers. This has a girl moving really fast that it became a blur, can you spot her in the picture?

Friendly little service announcement about mosquitoes... They do love me, so I have to watch out for DENGUE FEVER and JAPANESE ENCEPHALITIS! dun dun dun

After Genevieve's performance, we met up with her boyfriend's dad, Ross, and his boss, Patrick who are both architects. They had a few friends who called them up and asked them to come over to their apartment. They were supposed to have a business deal, but by the time we got there, they were all drunk.... PERFECT time for business dealing!

On the way to their friend's apartment, we bumped into an English woman who had a garlic bulb necklace. We asked her if she was expecting vampires.

We hung out at the apartment for awhile where instead of socializing with the house guest and his friends, I pigged out on their grapes and cashew nuts (i love cashews). Then we left and headed to The PEEL, appropriately on Peel Street. This is a great little bar where they always have live music playing. People just go up and play the drum, guitar, keyboard, or sing whatever comes to mind, and the musicians amazingly just work together really well.

For the most part of the night, I hung out with Patrick Daly, a famous architect. We chatted about many things, but it really struck me that he was such a talented person, but so down-to-earth at the same time. The picture beneath is Patrick's design. It's the Light Cathedral in San Francisco (where he works). Isn't it amazing?

Genevieve, doing what she does best.

On Saturday, I met up with my friend, Yandy Yot. She is a pro-photographer and a good friend. I wanted to work on my modeling skills and she never really gets to use lighting equipment, so it turned out to be a fun and great learning experience for the both of us. We shot some pictures outside my Dance Studio in Tsim Sha Tsui and finished up with shots in the studio. Once the pictures are done, I will post them on the blog!

Yandy: fixing and adjusting the lighting

I don't really know how to pose....but Yandy really helped me out

After 4.5 hours of shooting, Yandy was passing out. Poor girl. Thanks a lot for your help though! I hope the pictures turned out well. Check out Yandy's blog if you got the time: http://www.alivenotdead.co

m/yandytsue

After my photoshoot, I headed to ECOLS, my cousin's eco-friendly merchandise store in Central (6-8 Gough Street) It was Earth Hour and so the store was celebrating with candles, organic snacks, and wine. The Cookies were amazinggggg. I didn't really realize that organic cookies didn't mean they were "healthy" for you...so I had a bit too many :(

Shots of the store in candle-light

A plaque I saw in a clothing store.....Veryyy interesting

In Central, there is a trail known as "the Path of Sun Yat-Sen" where you follow a historical path that Sun Yat-Sen used to take when he studied and resided in Hong Kong. It's really quite interesting to see where he used to study, and walk to school. If you don't know who Sun Yat-Sen is, just look him up on Wikipedia. He really helped find the Nationalist Party that escaped Communist China and landed in Taiwan.

Ate at a Chinese restaurant in Central. Soooo good. I was a bit late so they left food for me and 3 minutes later, they all gasped when they saw that I had finished all the food. Yum yum yum

This is a popular Hong Kong dessert called "Gui Hua Gao" [Osmanthus Flower Jello]

It's actually very sweet and delicious, and the red chunks are Goji berries, which are very healthy.

This is work from an artist I have admired since I came to Hong Kong. I've seen his graffiti in various parts of the city, and everytime I see one, I take a picture and add to my collection. So far I've found 5 (I can't find the picture to the 5th one) The first one near ECOLS in Central, the second is on a door next to the California Fitness in Causeway Bay, the third is in an alley way in CWB near Times Square, and the fourth is one near the fresh food market in Central. If you know of any other sites, let me know!

Alright, that's it for now.

Air Pollution Level Death

So APPARENTLY, Monday and Tuesday, Hong Kong had an air pollution level of 500+. That's just gross! The 100-200 range is already considered severe, so you can see why everyone was feeling nauseous and sick those two days. I had a splitting headache on my right temple. With pollution at that level, I'm glad I didn't grow an extra arm or something. hahaha. Well, this is a blog post about my weekend. Not terribly exciting, but here GOES:

I use to go to Baron's School of Music and they were nice enough to invite me to their Music Composition interest session. Although it was all in Cantonese and I only understood about 60% of what was being said, it was still inspiring. Victor Tse was my Music Composition last year, and is willing to help me develop the songs I have started writing. I'm extremely grateful of his help! Nice guy and great teacher. If you're in Hong Kong and want to learn to write music, Victor is your guy!
For those of you that don't know, the Filipino population is quite large in Hong Kong because a lot of them work as house-keepers for Hong Kong residents. On weekends, these workers usually have their off days and they gather in parks with friends and eat, drink, laugh, sing, dance, playing cards, and just have a good time. It's really fun walking through these parks to see all of them enjoying their days off and being able to be themselves!
I went for Baron School's A capella group auditions, and look who's on TV! hahaha. I was invited to sing at an expo last month, so they had taken footage.
After the auditions, I met up with my friend, Uncle Jeff (the Taiwan Director General: Bureau of Hong Kong Affairs) and went to his house in Mid-Levels. His home is gorgeous and has a great view and his wife, Aunt Joanny, made a nice lobster dinner. I picked a good night to go! haha
View of Hong Kong island from the top of their apartment. A bit foggy, but still a great view
On Monday, I was supposed to meet up with Toby at 4:00, but she ended up having to go to the doctors because she had an eye infection (with puss and everything!) and so I went to the gym to workout some more after personal training and while going to the gym on the subway, I saw a lady's necklace. It gave me inspiration to make a necklace for myself in the same format as her's so with the extra time after working out and before meeting up with Toby, I decided to go to Sham Shui Po. This place is a mecca for hand-crafts and anything that you need to do-it-yourselfness. It's a bit disorganized, but that's the fun part about making your own shit. You gotta explore and come across the treasures that will help you make your creations!
The busy streets of Sham Shui Po. Aside from the typical stores, there are street vendors, each selling their specialties from shoe laces to batteries to custom-LED signs for concerts.
Beads, beads, and more beads. Any color and style you need for a very cheap price.
Honestly, everything you need and don't even realize you need is available in Sham Shui Po
Meeting up with Toby and her friend Cheese (yes, like the food and yes, she likes to eat Cheese), we went to eat Japanese food. This is what I got, and it was delicious! Pork Ramen, miso Soup, Rice, Teriyaki Beef and Seaweed Salad. mmm Mmm and not a bad price of 48HKD! ~$7USD
Toby and Cheese shopping in Temple Street. I came here only once before. That time, after looking at a vendor selling fake bread (honestly) I walked away laughing about it and my friend behind me overheard the owner saying, while pointing at me "That guy must be a "duck" [in Cantonese, that stands for "Male Hooker"] -____- Do I honestly give off that vibe?!?!

Well, Temple Street is very lively at night. Great place to buy touristy goods, accessories, Hong Kong snacks, underwear, clothes, and sex toys.....
Man selling belts of all sizes and styles. Every vendor sells a specific item. If you come to Hong Kong, you have to come take a look here! Get off the Yau Ma Tei MTR exit towards Temple Street and be ready to bargain!
Cheese checking out the rings. Picking out one you like out of 81571 rings gave me a headache, I didn't even try.
Corner of Temple Street. Shows you how random it is. Some vendors are just people laying items on towels.
After some shopping, I accompanied Cheese and Toby to a Thai psychic. It takes 3 weeks to get on this psychic's list because he's really popular and is very accurate (according to many). I even bumped into my landlord there! He asks for your birthdate and with numbers, he tells you your fortune with a weird number system. He even asks for your telephone number and supposedly that tells you your fortune too..... I didn't get that part, but hey, it's always worth a listen, right? Whether you believe it, it's up to you, but it doesn't hurt to hear your "future." I didn't get my future read because I didn't book an appointment, but the guy looked at me and said "you should take that mole off" pointing to the one between my eyes. He said it was bad for my relationship and love life. Nice..... I always liked that mole! I looked it up before and it's supposed to signify talent and leadership. I would rather have these aspects than love.... for now that is.

If you're interested in looking this psychic up, this is the contact (free advertisement haha):

B and C Company

2332 4612

Big: 9232 9943

Candy: 6092 2876

I might go sometime, but I need someone to listen for me because even though he's Thai, he speaks only in Cantonese.

Cheese found out she was going to be married into wealth and would not have to work. She obviously was ecstatic and was smiling from ear to ear the whole time. She will have a son too.

The psychic told her she had to dress more like "Barbie" (pink and cute) to get the guys. Cheese will find love in April-June this year. Let's see if that happens...

Toby found out she was going to have to work, and that her current boyfriend was good enough and she shouldn't look for "something better" Obviously, she wasn't as happy about her future as Cheese. Also, the psychic told her to watch for her health, because some complications might come up soon.... creepy...

I don't know if I want to hear things like that....should I go do it? The price is 380HKD for him and his colleague to read your fortune. They give a good quality read, about 30-40 minutes. Remember, book 3-4 weeks in advance!
Ridiculous dog on the side of the road. So fat and stubby! look at those legs. After I took a picture, the owner looked at me all offended as I was laughing and told her dog to get up and they walked away. ahahah
Delicious Hong Kong-style BBQ meal. Kathy loved it when she visited Hong Kong. I really love food here!
Andora invited me to her house for dinner. She thought I would like to have a Family style dinner since I've been away from home. Very thoughtful of her and her family. They certainly cooked up an amazing meal. The dog of the house, Cody (who Andora's husband calls "the true owner of the house" since he's so bossy) was very cute, although a bit aggressive. If you shake your finger at him and he doesn't know you, he WILL bite you. Almost like he's saying "Who the fuck do you think YOU are?" hahaha. Here Andora is telling him to sit so she will give him a treat. He def. is obedient when a treat is involved. Whenever I ate something, he would growl at me because they said he thinks I'm stealing his food. Cody is like me, in dog form.
Andora's lovely cooked dinner!! simply amazing!
Mr. Lam, Andora, and I. She gave me a few pointers on my performance and singing, and I was grateful for her advice. She is really straight-forward about it, which is really refreshing. She said, "I would always rather people tell me the truth of what they thought than hear people say "oh, good job, good job". This is more real, and it will help you more."

She is certainly right about that.