Who are my heroes? (2)

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Time flies. Two years ago I wrote the first instalment of a piece of article named “Who are my heroes?”, and I thought I’d complete the other parts soon. That never happened — I completely forgot about that article, until when I’ve found a more meaningful subject I want to talk about lately — “my little airport”, a local indie band whose songs are filled with bold, often controversial, lyrics constrasted to some relaxing melodies. They’ve become my true hero lately.

“We have to be very strong / if we want to do something wrong / 我們終於去到了九龍塘 / 在城大旁的酒店爆房”
— 浪漫九龍塘

“我就這樣痛哭一場 / 在陌生女子懷內失常 / 你說我長得跟你舊愛很像 / 才令你突然這樣憂傷”
“由不相識再到交心一場 / 然後又回復正常 / 四十分鐘的關係似夢一樣 / 人生經歷總無常”
— 憂傷的嫖客

Thinking those lyrics are rather scandalous? I may have some OCD-trait for cleanliness or tidiness, but for music and the art, I think what’s bold and crazy yet resonating are the good ones.

Their music are not always about explicitness. Sometimes they talk about some trivial yet personal events in life, sometimes the sickening politics in Hong Kong, and sometimes, of course, about love and romance. Listening to their music offers an escape from the boring reality, where we’re often bound by taboos. Life sucks lately, and their presence makes my world, and hopefully yours, suck less.

“離婚的主因是結婚這不是亂講 / 一百年前已流傳西方”
— 你是浪子，別泊岸

“這一個下雨的夜晚 / 我躺在沙發矇曨間 / 收音機說北韓已射出導彈 / 地球另一邊被炸爛”
— 土瓜灣情歌

“一早都告訴你女人就是女人 / 你說不同地方的女人都是不同類人 / 直到你的外遇開始要求你離婚 / 你是否了解女人最終只想關係安穩？”
— 已婚男人

Tiniest things that upset me

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It is often said that we should let go of the trivial matters that cause sorrow and focus on the delightful moments in life. I’ve tried and gained some degree of success, but there are at least a few seemingly trivial things that upset me at this moment.

1. Apple products innovate less these days.
This wasn’t so obvious at first, but reading about Microsoft’s latest hardware event made me realize, reluctantly, that the tech company that innovates nowadays is Microsoft, not Apple.

For the past few years iPhone has been upgraded with boring new features: fingerprint sensors, better and better camera, 3D touch, fitness tracking, etc.. (Who fuxking care about their health?) They’re handy, but they’re not innovative. As for iPad, since its debut in 2010 it has dominated tablet sales, remaining to be the only real tablet that matters. But given the release of Windows 10 (which fixes the mess Microsoft created in the past few years, under Steve Ballmer), I can see that the future of computing is not towards the post-PC concept introduced by SJ, but the modern hybrid PC best demonstrated by Surface Pro.

This worries me: Apple is no longer the driving force of computing innovation. True I’m very impressed by the latest super thin MacBook — elimination of all but one port and fanless design, but that innovation is too little, too late.

2. Kai leaving DRTV
What is DRTV? It’s my fav YouTube channel on photography. It’s not known for being informative or accurate in its product reviews, nor the photography knowledges it introduces. It’s really just Kai’s showmanship that entertains. He has now left HK for England, doing some occasional reviews there. But given that Digitalrev is posting online recruitment for a new presenter, Kai’s leaving is all but confirmed. This again upsets me. It’s like ER/Desperate Housewives’ ending all over again.

3. Work sucks. No this isn’t tiny.

Coffee, food, photography, and a bit of dentistry

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I’ve come across a piece of news that could be bad for some: Facebook is going to revamp its layout again. What interests me though is that it’ll ask people to write a short statement about themselves in a prominent position, right below their profile pics. This has been done in Instagram for quite some time already.

What will be my statement? That’s the question that triggered my thoughts.

Actually I have had a statement on Instagram. The old one used to be “If you’re going through hell, keep going.” It’s apparently not an original quote from me, but it fits my style. At first glance it seems pessimistic, but if you think deep, it’s more like a cautiously optimistic statement. Though I’m facing adversities, I’ll keep going and hoping one day I’ll overcome the difficulties. Yes, I may be a negative person who always sees the half empty glass, but I’m also a studious person who will keep trying no matter what.

But that’s the old statement. I changed it to a new one a few months ago, which says “Coffee, food, photography, and a bit of dentistry”. To me it really represents who I am. I’m never a workaholic, so dentistry comes last. Coffee, food and photography, they’re perhaps equally important, but if they have to be prioritized that’s how they go.

The sum of this statement is positive. Most pressure and sorrow are healed, or at least temporarily forgotten, when I do coffee, food and photography. As for dentistry itself, some days are better than others. I’m sure it gets better when I incorporate the first three into dentistry.

In retrospect (again)

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Salad, penis and the world

[This article originally appeared in Anzyme.com on March 10, 2011.]

“Free for dinner?” Texted Martin. “Sure,” I replied. “Thomas wants to have salad, any idea?” “Well, I still have a penis, so let’s pick a place where not all of us need to have salad.”

So on Wednesday night, three of us had 橋底辣蟹 for dinner. The crab wasn’t as spicy as expected, which made it marginally less than perfect. But the dinner itself was pleasant. During the dinner, I couldn’t help but talked something about social issues, which I usually prefer not to talk about with friends or on this blog. It’s just pointless to debate social issues with someone who holds different views than you. Nonetheless, the discussion I had with my friends was productive.

. . .

My emotional crisis strikes me again. I’ve tried to be optimistic, and it really worked for a couple of weeks. But now, my unrealistic fantasies come up to my mind again. Why is life filled with imperfections, unfulfilled dreams and endless turmoil? I really wish some of my fantasies can come true, so that I won’t have regrets when I look back.

Salad (tranquillity), penis (love) and the world (power), which is the most important to men? Power and love are more often talked about. But when one doesn’t get both power and love, it seems that a tranquil life can also be a good option. But please, if I were to live a tranquil life, salad would be fine for me. Just don’t give me congee.

Trip to Tokyo (2015)

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So, I travelled alone again, to Tokyo. This trip almost got cancelled as I recovered from hand-food-mouth disease and considered focusing on work. I stayed rational at the end: resorted to playing hard. I’m glad I chose to do that.

Instead of sharing what I did in this trip, I’m going to share some insights from this trip. A lot of them are photography-related because I just love photography. But they somehow apply even if you’re not a photographer.

1) Try to blend into the locals. This doesn’t work when you’re travelling in Europe or in South America for obvious reasons, but in Japan, it works. Don’t wear a backpack, and don’t use a camera neck-strap. I even bought a long transparent umbrella as most Japaneses carry with them in the rain. This way, people always thought I’m a local and spoke Japanese to me before I spoke in English. This is advantageous when you take stealthy street photos.

2) Slow down. Don’t rush in one location and go to another due to time constraints. It’d be even more stupid if you rush even when you have no time constraints. That’s exactly what I did in Singapore and Taipei. Having learnt from that, or perhaps because Japan was a much more interesting place to visit, I succeeded slowing down myself. Do things slowly and I’m sure you’ll experience something unexpected.

3) Do research. Some places just close at the most unexpected times. Most restaurants in Taipei close on Mondays, for instance. And most importantly, Tsukiji Market closes on a certain days. I’m sure most of you know this better than I do as you travel so often.

4) Speaking of Tsukiji market, I have to make one thing very clear. The most famous ones, or the “Big Two” as I call: Sushi Big (壽司大) and Big Equal (大和), are good enough. But is it worth it waiting for four hours for Sushi Big? Think about your experience at Tokichi (中村籐吉) and you’ll know. Besides, from my experience the best one In Tsukiji is not Big Equal (I’ve never been to Sushi Big so I have no idea about that); it’s a less famous one called Chi Man (鮨文). I visited there once two years ago. When I came back this year, I decided to try Big Equal. But I was so regretted about my decision I went to Tsukiji again the next day and had Chi Man. Oh btw, have I mentioned I arrived at Tsukiji at 6-7 am for two consecutive days? This was kinda crazy considering my age, but I loved it.

5) Try those fancy sushi places in Ginza. I’m not talking about 梅登利… From the very early stage planing this trip I decided to spend a fortune at those Michelin-starred sushi bars in Ginza. This was in fact inspired by Shinzo Abe taking Barack Obama to Ginza’s Sukiyabashi Jiro. Of course I couldn’t afford that, and it required booking months in advance. At the end I shortlisted some: Sushi Kanesaka (2-star), Sushi Iwa (1-star), and Kyubey (久兵衛, 1-star), and visited Kyubey. It was good enough, and lunch there was quite a bargain. I spent only ¥8400 for an omakase set. You only eat moderately good sushi for this price in HK; but in Japan, this was already top quality by HK’s standard. Of course in Japan, they could reach even higher standards as prices go up.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

On killing time

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It’s day off again. I’m confident by this time most of you know I hate day off on weekends. A day off is meant to be for relaxation, a completely alien concept in this city, especially on weekends. I mean, the malls are packed with people, the countryside and the beach are packed with people, the trains and buses and even the highways are packed with cars. No, I don’t think one can relax on weekends.

But it’s different on weekdays.

I went to Yuen Long today to visit some hidden nice places in this city. I’m never a nature lover. On the contrary, the concept of being an “urban explorer” fascinates me. There are as many interesting places in the city as in the countryside: cafe, sushi bars, ramen places, nicely crafted parks, you name it. And I had a chance to visit a nice sushi bar followed by a cafe today.

The 30-minute drive from Tai Po to Yuen Long itself was a thrill. Driving at 100 kph for 20+ km doesn’t require a Ferrari. My humble old Audi provided sufficient comfort and a small hint of ferocity on demand. Parking (on the street side) in YL sucked however, just as expected in other parts of HK.

The Jap restaurant rested in a small street in Yuen Long, remote from the usual hustle and bustle of the city. If you are lucky enough to be the first 12 guests, you can sit at the sushi bar, served directly by the master chefs. Sitting at the side tables like I did was equally enjoyable, especially when you preferred not to social, or didn’t want the chef to know you feed your camera before you feed your stomach.

Lunch at these pretentious Japanese sushi places are much more affordable than dinner. During lunch time there are lunch sets at around $200-300, while for dinner it’s common to spend more than $1000 per guest. I ordered a $250 “omakase” sushi and sashimi set. Omakase means the chef would choose what’s in the meal for you. This is a bit risky in many restaurants for a carnivore like me, who doesn’t eat lots of veggies. But in a sushi bar, I didn’t think this would be a problem. I mean, I’m a sushi whore.

The omakase set proved fulfilling. In addition to the sushi and sashimi, the appetiser and dessert were equally enjoyable. In short, “the chicken had chicken taste, the fish had fish taste, and the rice had rice taste”. Good chicken, fish and rice tastes, that is.

In order not to end my special day so soon, I continued to explore YL. How can a day be called relaxing without spending a few hours doing nothing in a pretentious cafe? I know a number of good cafes serving specialty coffee in Sheung Wan/Central. And there’s even one among Tsuen Wan’s industrial buildings. But hey, I’m not playing “Hong Kong O”. Going from Tai Po to Yuen Long to Sheung Wan isn’t fun, not even if I drive a brand new Tesla Model S. I decided to look for this imagined pretentious cafe in YL, making it a reality.

And I did it. It was just a 10-minute drive away from the sushi bar. The coffee was nice. They serve single-origin coffee only, and you can choose from hand drip and siphon. So, I read some novel, and wrote this piece. Considering I haven’t written an article for months, this cafe, and on the whole this afternoon’s experience is quite a stimulation to me. It stimulated my creative mind, which is a good thing.

Today’s experience also reminded me of what’s truly important. It’s not shopping for fancy fashion items; it’s my life experience. The insistence on eating quality food, drinking quality coffee, travelling decently (independent of the boundaries of the subway line), and living a quality life on the whole. Money: food, travelling, photography, no more.

Sushi in Yuen Long

In retrospect (again)

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愛情小說

(Originally published on March 24, 2006. Just wondering how could something I wrote 9 years ago remains so relevant today.)

還記得自己人生接觸的第一部愛情小說，是多年前受姐姐所託，在香港書展中買回來的《雪地裏的蝸牛奄列》，作者張小嫻。當時充滿好奇心的我，在姐姐看完那本書後亦借來看看，嗯，不錯。自此之後，自己也經常嘗試寫散文，寫小說。當中有關於愛情的，亦有不是關於愛情的。現在回想，當時年幼的我還未了解愛情，何來寫小說？不過，正如飲醉了的人在街上醉昏昏，行路東歪西倒仍說自己「我無醉！」一樣，當時不懂愛情的黃毛小子，滿以為自己瞭解愛情的。日積月累，寫的東西越來越多，而不時我都會在自己的網頁張貼文章，希望大家一起欣賞。

把話題拉遠一點，也許你們會問：《雪地裏的蝸牛奄列》是關於甚麼？故事內容很難在這裡描述，因為刻骨銘心的故事通常都要自己意會的。而且這本書亦不是我這篇文章的重點。我只想說，自己之後也會不時翻看該書，每次都有不同的體會。

而另外一本自己早期接觸的愛情小說，是《流波上的舞》，作者亦是張小嫻。小時候每當我比較這兩本書，我總覺得前者較好看；後者，稍為悶了一點兒。

最近我又把兩本書翻看。首先看的是《流波上的舞》，之後才吃「蝸牛奄列」。奇怪地，這次的感覺轉了。我被《流波上的舞》深深感動。

「既然沒有辦法，我們用接吻來分離。」書中的事是由這首法語歌開始的。女主角在法語班認識的女同學將到倫敦結婚，想托女主角交還一本與前度男友合寫的日記給前度男友。

女同學的前度男友就是故事的男主角。

日記上了鎖，但女主角交還日記前，意外地看到日記掉下來的一頁，是由男主角寫的。內容是關於男主角如何為另一個朋友隱瞞感情上的缺陷。女主角深深被男主角的智慧吸引。

交還日記後，他們因機緣巧合再次遇上，保持聯絡，最後，他愛上了她，她又愛上了他。但隔在兩人之間，是女主角和在地球另一端的男朋友七年的感情。

「人生總會有很多可能，但我們最終只會與其中一人長相廝守。」男主角這樣說。

女主角很愛男主角，他們的相遇，是人生最好的相逢。

但到最後，女主角選擇到波士頓與男朋友結婚。她認為他才是她的故土。

臨走的一晚，女主角和男主角跳舞，把所有的無奈與失望都化成一支永恆的舞，把所有的思念和嫉妒都消逝成一吻。「既然沒有辦法，我們用接吻來分離。」

這段人生最好的相逢深深感動我，至少，它是刻骨銘心的。無錯，我們人生中的相逢有幾多是完美的？我們人生中能說幾多次「我愛你」？

有一段日子，我曾經嘗試把張貼文章在自己的網頁成為習慣，但最後因太忙而放棄了；況且，壓力下趕出來的文章是不會動人的。

如今，我從新體會到人生中最好的相逢是多麼漂亮，激發起我對重新寫愛情故事的興趣。我也要自己寫一段人生中最好的相逢，而且是要長篇的。

也許，這段相逢只是人生中的第一次，可能只是平凡生活中的小插曲；但亦有可能是大樂章前的小調，隨著時間慢慢地高潮迭起，變成燦爛的，令人嚮往的交響樂。

希望在不久的將來，我可以親手創作一段人生中最美好的相逢，到時可再與大家分享一下。

12 Years

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Today is a special day which, unfortunately, is easily forgotten: it’s the anniversary of this site, Anzyme.com. It’s so easily forgotton that I didn’t remember it until this morning. Yes, this site was deliberately chosen to be opened one day before V Day, so that for the lonely few, myself included, there’s something to celebrate.

12 years shouldn’t be a special occasion for great celebration, but since we’re Chinese (genetically), 12 is a magic number: a complete cycle of the Chinese zodiac. When Anzyme.com was first created in 2003 it was the Year of the Sheep, and we’ve come to another Year of the Sheep this year. What does that mean? Well on one hand, it could mark my perseverance. Anzyme.com is probably the most persistant thing I’ve done. If you know a little about human physiology, the huamn skeleton is replaced every 10 years (under normal bone turnover rate), so this site is comfortably older than my skeleton. On the other hand though, it could just mean I’ve done something recurrently without any meaningful achievement, just like most other events in my life.

OK, enough of crap. We all understand that the finest hours of my site is gone. To those who read this, meaning you still read this site, thank you. I may be living an average simple life, but I’ll try to be an average hero and add some spice to my life.

Poetic touch

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Well, I’m quite into adding a poetic touch to my Instagram posts lately. More strangely, it’s done in Chinese. Let’s share some:

Gaming

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Once again I’m addicted to games. It’s not those sophisticated games (in terms of graphic intensity) that I fell victim to; it’s the simple games on iPhone/iPad that I’ve always enjoyed. In particular, SimCity BuildIt succeeded the series’ long tradition of effectively killing time. Simply staring at the screen blankly, watching the buildings being built and you’ll find an hour has passed without the slightest sign. This is really useful in filling the gap between two appointments, or when I get home but is too early to go to bed. “What’s the fun when you just look at the screen and press buttons occasionally?” One might ask. Well, the most important use of games is to kill time. Sure, those intense RPG/racing games are also fun, but when you just want to sit back and relax, the last thing you want is adrenaline.

For certain people, though, life itself is a game. When one is young and time is abundant, one may choose to explore life through untraditional means. They also got the freedom to choose jobs of interest. One day, they can work in a bike gear shop in Tai Mei Tuk, assembling mountain bikes and flying a kite when they’re free; another day they can work in a cafe crafting specialty coffee. While those jobs are totally unrelated to one another, ultimately they constitute life experience.

Whether you enjoy gaming on iOS or gaming in life, ultimetely it’s fun we’re looking for. If there isn’t fun, there is a problem. Right now, I have a problem. I wish my life was just like SimCity — entering cheat codes and problems got solved.

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