The Road Less Traveled (Leads To Elements Mall On New Year's Eve)

I just got back from an early showing of Derek Chiu's The Road Less Traveled (2010). This Derek Yee-produced drama screened for one showing at The Grand Cinema in Elements mall. I've been told this sort of thing happens to make sure the film qualifies for film awards covering the calendar year.

I'm lucky I noticed this screening as most of the Chinese films I wanted to see on this trip are not out here until January.

The Road Less Traveled is the story of Louis Koo's HK truck driver who drives goods across the border to Mainland China. As the trailer reveals, he runs over the husband of a restaurant owner (Huang Yi) while having to contend with his own materialistic HK girlfriend (Karen Mok).

I'm not going to write a Kozo or Golden Rock-worthy review but I did like the film and I think that in many ways it succeeded.

That said, the early scenes bordered on the mawkish and the unnecessary soundtrack in some key dramatic moments almost made the thing turn into a total parody.

And I couldn't quite believe that Louis Koo and Karen Mok's characters were ever together -- much less for 8 years! -- but those are minor points.

When the film finally gets the plot device out of the way, it proceeds at a very nice, languid pace. Frankly, I was surprised at how things just seemed to happen without any rush or elaborate fanfare.

It's not an Ann Hui flick but it's pretty good in moments. I commend Louis Koo for at least trying this sort of role even if he's much better in some moments here than in others where he does seem miscast.

Huang Yi was quite good and natural and Karen Mok was a bit understated in what was, essentially, the thankless money-grubber role.

The morning started yet again with breakfast/brunch/lunch at Mang Ambo in Wan Chai. I had my fave beef steak with onions and corned beef with pork today. Check out those Egg Nog cookies I got from the restaurant's nearby store!


People here are too nice. In America, Nic Cage's big goofy mug would have been defaced a long, long time ago in a wildly offensive fashion...

Is this totally unnecessary remake of A Better Tomorrow a Korean flick? Why?

I had a quick sushi dinner at Wild Ginger in the mall, near the theatre. This meal would have cost at least twice the price in America...

By HK standards, these were pricey treats. But $4US for that big scallop with black truffles on top was a bargain. As was the $3US for those two pieces of octopus with wasabi sauce. The scallop and truffles were fantastic. The taste of the octopus was totally destroyed by the wasabi. (I sound like a food nerd now!)...

I found this Tsui Hark-directed flick, Working Class, for only $7US in the HMV in Elements. The flick stars Joey Wong, Tsui Hark, and Teddy Robin and looks like it will be cool. I'm holding it as I wait for the train back to the Hong Kong station from Kowloon beneath the mall. How fitting!

Macau's Lovely...Except For The Line At Customs

Another visit to Macau. I'm too tired to write funny captions for a lot of these so it's auto-pilot for my wise-crackery at the moment...


A hearty Filipino breakfast including my first taste of sisig, which I was told was the pig's face...

McDonald's at the ferry terminal...




This is customs getting into Macau. Folks, take a tip from American theme parks and organize lines for the people! A mass of people will not just find their way into orderly lines to get to the immigration desks. But we did. Eventually...


These would have been faster than a taxi on these streets...

Ruins of St. Paul's again...



Me holding up a Macau-style egg tart in front of the ruins...




Dairy Queen!?! How can DQ compete with the egg tart?

What does this mean?

Irony or fodder for Fox News?

Good Morning Hong Kong

Let's see how it feels to go somewhere today. My Oasis DVD is making me feel better already. That's the video for "Who Feels Love", in case you were wondering.

That's sunlight, not haze. Hard to tell in this picture. My room faces roughly northeast, I guess.

Fried Oysters and Robitussin

I'm better but not 100 percent better. So, rather than risk being sick on Thursday, when I'm planning to go to Macau, or be sick on New Year's Eve, I'm laying low today.

I tried this Japanese place near my hotel again. The place is always crowded. The service is not great but the menu has a few good things on it. I got the seafood combo. Those are 3 huge fried oysters and 1 huge fried shrimp.

I thought I was going to have a "Mr. Bean" moment as I attempted to eat that shrimp. Clearly it was not peelable and it was not the kind where you are meant to eat the head.

Luckily, I poked it with my chopsticks and the thing split open. I picked up the tail with my chopsticks and dove into the meat. Very tasty.

Then I came back to my room and took a Benadryl and a swig of Robitussin.

Getting Healthy in Hong Kong

I do feel better than I did yesterday.

Yesterday, I didn't have a fever but I got one last night. Woke up shaking like Katherine Hepburn so I stumbled to the bathroom and turned the shower on full blast and let the heat and steam fill the room.

Then I put the space heater that the hotel provided -- they ran out of extra blankets (!) -- on the ironing board and aimed it at me on the bed.

I woke up about 5 hours later drenched in sweat. I think I broke my fever, or it broke me.

No fever now, my sore throat a tiny bit better than yesterday, and just some sniffles at the moment. I am friggin' tired which is a shame because I didn't do anything yesterday -- I stayed in from after breakfast until breakfast now.

I have plans for tomorrow (Thursday) so I need to get well and then Friday is New Year's Eve.

I got breakfast at Fairwood and you can see the "chicken" there in the shot.

During my meal I was fascinated by those guys in the back, near the chicken rotisserie.

I couldn't tell if they were from the head office or the health department.

My whole meal cost less than $3US. And for that kind of price, I shouldn't complain about the chicken, should I?

The Definition of Polypharmacy in Hong Kong

I used the term polypharmacy which is a word I usually see at work in connection with the idea of old people mixing up their "meds" in some dangerous fashion.

So, while I do not have a fever yet, nor do I feel nearly as awful as I did last Christmas -- that "cold" lasted until the end of January -- I felt bad enough this morning that I decided it was time for the black market Zithromax.

Okay, in this picture, on the left you can see Mannings which is a health and beauty chain here in Hong Kong, and on the right you see Watsons which is a real pharmacy chain here in Hong Kong. The staff at Watsons are usually friendly and helpful. And the stores are super clean too.

But, like a pharmacy in America, they won't dole out a prescription drug without a prescription.



A place like the one you see below will indeed hook you up. Six Zithromax cost me about $10US. Thank you, Pfizer Australia!



This big breakfast may also help heal me. We'll see. The French toast may aggravate my asthma but not yet...


Bring it. Need to get well before the big New Year's Eve weekend...

Boxing Day Mahjong Throwdown in Fo Tan

In a quiet industrial centre out in Fo Tan, a Boxing Day mahjong throwdown occurred with rivals unleashing their gaming skills.

No, not really.

It was just a friendly get-together with lots of pizza.

Check out how deserted the MTR train was this Sunday morning...


Somewhere in the New Territories...


The path to the gaming tournament...


Alan Wai coached me during the one hand I sat in on. But I was no match for these players....



Besides host Sean Tierney, the gaming drew in actor Jason Tobin -- on the left -- from American indie classic, Better Luck Tomorrow (2002)...



Video of the high-tech mahjong table in action!

McDonalds Monopoly Game in Hong Kong

I'm not much for going to McDonalds while I'm here in Hong Kong. Don't get me wrong; I love junk food. It's just that Mickey D's isn't high on my list while I'm here.

I just noticed yesterday that the chain has the Monopoly game going here. Check out the locations on the board.

I also found the cafe from Crossing Hennessy (2010).

The place was so crowded that I couldn't even find a seat so this picture from the outside is all I've got to share.