Sleek Hong Kong: The Departed

© Joselito Briones

Just so you won't get the impression that Hong Kong is all old and monotonous, here's a photo of one of the best buildings there, in Admiralty. It's already an icon in Hong Kong, of course, the Bank of China, by I. M. Pei. The best time to look at it is the early evening in Autumn, when the sky is clear and deep blue, there's no fog, and you can see the lines clear and sharp all the way to the top.

As this is the last Hong Kong image I'll be showing you for a while, I'll just write here something else that Hong Kong is famous for. Movies! Action movies to be exact. Okay, fine, it's not about a Hong Kong movie, but something based on one.

The movie, of course, is "The Departed", based in Hong Kong's 2002 critically acclaimed thriller "Infernal Affairs".



And what a movie! The cast was excellent, especially Mark Wahlberg and his filthy-mouthed character. Jack Nicholson just cruised through it, like it's all fun and play for him. Matt Damon adopted his inscrutable poker-faced persona in the "Bourne Identity" franchise, and even Leonardo di Caprio, who showed teen-level angst in what is meant to be a grown-up role, managed to project a bit of grit in his eternally pre-pubescent voice. The star of the movie though, no question asked, is director Martin Scorsese. The way he constructed the twists and plots was the work of a true master. It was also great that, in what I assume other people would see as plot holes, instead of spoon-feeding us, the audience, with every details, he let us figure things out for ourselves. Ok fine, there are still holes in the plot, but who cares! The tension was unrelenting in the whole movie, there was no chance to think of inconsistencies - until the next day when you've had about 24 hours to mull things over.

I'm not even putting a synopsis here. Go watch it, it's great!


XXX

Color overload

© Joselito Briones

Photo taken in Cat Street, Hong Kong.

And another recipe for Wil:

Baked Ribs

Marinate ribs in:
1 Lemon Juice
1 Onion (or 3 shallots)
3 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp brown sugar
1 tsp A1 sauce (optional)

In a baking tray, put marinated ribs in preheated oven (220 C), bone curve up, for 20 minutes. Take out the tray, cover with aluminum foil, put back in, for at least an hour. Remove cover, and flip ribs. Broil for 10 minutes.


XXX

Staying Low

© Joselito Briones

This photo was also taken in Hong Kong, in Midlevels, and interesting in that these are among the very few low buildings remaining in (Midlevels). Most of the buildings in this area (mostly residential) are like the ones I posted a few days ago. This one was also taken from Josen's apartment window, looking down.


XXX

Midlevels

© Joselito Briones

I know, by now you're probably tired of photos I took in Hong Kong. But I want to post them anyway, and it's not like I've got a lot of things to tell you presently, so this'll have to do. This one's also taken from Josen's apartment in Midlevels, in the south side.


XXX

Windows 07.01 HongKong Edition

© Joselito Briones

This is what one can photograph from Josen's apartment window, and I guess from just about anybody's apartment window in Midlevels. Taken new year's day in Hong Kong.


XXX

Images of Hong Kong II

© Joselito Briones

This is from the same series as yesterday's photo, same technique. This is the street where I lived for a year or two, in an apartment that used to be occupied by Hon and Dwayne.


XXX

Images of Hong Kong

© Joselito Briones

First scan of film photos from hong kong. This was taken in Peel Street, which runs perpendicular to Hollywood Road. With such a high tonal differences between the highlights (in this case, the sun in direct view) and the shadows, I used the old reliable -3 technique with kodak tmax100 film and rodinal.


XXX

Nathan Road

© Joselito Briones

More leftover photo from Hong Kong. I picked up the film versions from Frankenlabor today, so by tomorrow I could probably show you the proper photos. Not that Nathan Road is all like this. It's a mixture of high-end shops, old dirty-looking buildings, and lots and lots of tourists.


XXX

Overspill

© Joselito Briones

As I said yesterday, next few days will probably be overspill of holiday pics, both from Hong Kong and Philippines, while I try to catch up with everyday humdrum here in Erlangen. This one's in Hong Kong, perpendicular to Hollywood Road, next to Man Mo Temple.


XXX

This bird has flown

© Joselito Briones

Just as Eric's representation of a perfect world can be found in a Mall, an SM Mall to be specific (he observed that it's the one chain-mall consistently well-maintained), I suspect partly because his current buying power in these places sufficiently compensates for all the times he felt underprevileged in the past, Itay’s is his caged birds.

What Itay (literally, Filipino for "father") is trying to compensate with, I can only guess. Let's see, he's the head of a big family with a lot of male members, and he's aging. He's even made a request (albeit jokingly) on how he wants his funeral to be when he dies. It's getting more and more difficult for him to show power and insist his will on others. Gone is the time when his word meant the law to everybody else. I think it started with Norie, in California. She's the eldest among my siblings, and most willful too. He must've felt rather powerless when it came to dealing with her, and as a result they were always at odds with each other. Now that he's gone back to the Philippines, it's the same show-of-will game, only now it's with his grandchildren. Hit hardest are Joie, who's gone so far as to now avoid going to the family house altogether, and Jaycee, who recently snobbed the family Christmas party. If only my dad would realize that he's respected no matter what, and that he doesn't need to show his power anymore, the atmosphere within the family would be a lot more peaceful. But maybe boring, too. I say let the man be who he is.

Oh yeah, the birds... they're always happy and singing as long as you feed them, and they don't care that they're kept in a cage.


XXX

P.S.



Today is Jose Rizal day - the day of his execution by the Spanish who occupied Philippines during that time, and against whom the revolution started 110 years ago today. Dr. Jose Rizal is the national hero of the Philippines.

© Joselito Briones

I flew to Hong Kong today. The photo above shows the view from the window of the plane. The body of water shown is the Pasig river, one that prominently featured in Jose Rizal's novel, "Noli Me Tangere".

XXX