HK Halloween & Sulu is Gay?!?

It's my first Halloween in HK! I went to two Halloween parties this weekend with the same costume. I rented a hat, bought a mask and wore black; tada! Instant Kato, butt-kicking partner of the Green Hornet! Interestingly enough, most people had no idea who I was. I'd say everyone knows who Bruce Lee was, but only a very small group knew I was Bruce Lee as Kato. Oh well, at least one really cool woman knew who I was. Her name was Alethia (very cool name for a very cool local journalist) and she practically screamed "Kato!" when she saw me in my costume. That's good in enough for me. :D

The first party was an industry networking event, to which my guest and I arrived late to. We still met some interesting folk from Eurosports, Celestial Pictures, InvestHK and a mobile video startup. The next night the party was at a place called Red at IFC1. That's where I bumped into "roller girl" (see pic on left) who also happened to be at the industry party the previous night. We didn't bump into each other until the second party, but it kind of illustrates how small HK can be.

Roller Girl's actual name is Kelly and she grew up in Vancouver. She does marketing for CNN World here in HK. We're planning to do a power lunch this week to discuss the media, marketing and who knows what else. So I'm still quite happy meeting cool media and marketing people here in HK!

Just before I went to that first party on Friday, I found out that George "Mr. Sulu" Takei came out! No freakin' way! Not that there's anything wrong with being gay, but he was one of the few positive Asian American male media figures I had growing up. Now it turns out the Asian male stereotype that we're effeminate is only reinforced by the swashbuckling helmsman and later starship Captain Sulu. I know it's wrong, but that kinda peeved me off! Maybe I should just accept that Asian men *are* effeminate. I don't see many manly men here in HK. They're mostly very thin and don't look very masculine at all. Maybe I should just accept my lot in life... But no. I decided to take a picture of how I felt and here it is: I am a heterosexual, masculine Asian male! Here me roar!!!!

Well at least Bruce Lee is still a manly, man and ass kicker!

Cyberport!

Today a bunch of my coworkers and I took a trip to Cyberport. This is where MERECL, the digital entertainment lab I am a part of is going to be headquartered. I took this picture today in the courtyard that also serves as the entrance to our office. The dude in the center of the pic is Nury Vitachi. In addition to being one of the people in charge of MERECL's creative IP development, he also has the distinction of being Hong Kong's best selling English language author. I will be working alongside him on creative IP. Luckily, he and I get along famously so far and I look very much forward to working with him!

While the photo of our courtyard entrance may not look it, it is on the 7th floor of the Cyberport. This next pic is the view that Nury is looking at. If you've ever been to Hong Kong, then you know it is jam packed with buildings and people everywhere. It is surreal to see this much open space and greenery in Hong Kong. The circus tents in the distance are for Cirque de Soleil's Quidam which debuts next month. Tickets start at $1,000 HKD which is $125 USD. That's almost twice as much as they start at in the US! The only other place that could be comparable to this area may be the newly opened Disneyland on Lantau island.

This third pic was taken within the office space which is still under construction. That's me walking through the piles of debris on the floor. The most striking thing about this picture to me is all the green out the window. It may be common in US industrial parks, but it's a rarity for office space in HK. Many HK people don't like Cyberport because it is so far from everything. But it's actually about a 25 to 35 minute bus ride from where I live. People in HK are a little spoiled by how convenient and efficient the public transportation is. Anyway, while I will continue to have an office at the university, I will spend a majority of my time here at the Cyberport. Personally, I love that I'll be working here away from the hustle and bustle of the highly condensed, people-heavy part of Hong Kong. I look forward to creating and producing many creative projects here!

Small but Efficient

There have been some requests for a recent pic with my new haircut. So here's a self portrait I took last night in my new apartment.

I can see how blogging can become an obsession. As I was making my way to the immigration office today, I kept thinking about what I would write about in my next blog entry. After some thought, I came up with the theme of this blog: Small But Efficient.

That phrase sums up a great deal about HK. The geography and government of HK is small relative to many major cities in the world. Yet they are really efficient here. Case in point, for various reasons my working visa wasn't started on until 3 days after my arrival. A day after submitting my paperwork, Immigration called me to clarify a few pieces of info. A week later (Wednesday of last week) I was told that it was ready. I can only imagine how long it takes to process a work visa in the US! Today I went to pickup my work visa and it took less than 10 minutes to submit my letter, pay for my visa and be on my merry way.

I’m pretty sure there are many other nations that are small and efficient too. Japan and some European ones come to mind. But last week I met a German MBA student who said he’s been to many nations in Europe and Asia, but he believes the Hong Kong government is the most efficient one he’s seen.

The government isn’t the only thing that’s smaller here. Another example are the food portions. Between the warmer weather, smaller food portions and enormous amount of walking my shrinking waistline and weight are definitely benefiting. I'm back to my weight from before my knee injury this year. HK itself takes up a fair amount of geography, but most people prefer to live and work in a small area on Hong Kong island and Kowloon. As a result the apartments are small and e$pen$ive.

This is a picture of my small but efficient service apartment. Service apartments are designed specifically for people in town temporarily. It's basically a fully furnished apartment with water, cable, phone and maid service included. My apartment is tiny, but it's pretty neat. I've never had a glass door that leads to my bathroom! The LCD tv, desk, fridge, microwave and stove altogether take up less space then my home office in SF did. I could see how life can get a little claustrophobic, but for now I'm cool.

HK Arrival & Marketing in Macau

This is my first post in Hong Kong. I wanted to make chronological posts starting with my Thailand vacation which occurred before arriving in HK. But too much is happening so I'll have to save Thailand (which rocked) for future posts. Anyway...

I arrived in Hong Kong on 9-10-05 (they do their dates day-month-year here) and the next night, I had dinner with my two bosses; Dr. Justice (sounds like a comic book character, huh?) the School of Design (SD) head and Dr. Yu, the SD Multimedia Innovation Centre (MIC) head. Also present were designers from the US and HK. I was digging the international creative vibe I felt and the view was spectacular. I took this picture (which really doesn't do the view any justice) from the Vietnamese restaurant we ate at. I believe the restaurant was called Rice Paper and it was located at Harbour City on the Kowloon side of Hong Kong. I had been to Harbour City earlier that day when I had lunch with Dr. Yu and the president of a US toy company. I was already in love with HK that night!

So fast forward to nearly two weeks later and it feels like a lifetime ago. I'm still loving it here, but I've been battling a sore throat all week. I think it's a combination of the air quality, many late night parties, long hours at the office and the stress of dealing with moving and immigration. They sure work and play hard here! These last two weeks have been the fullest 2 weeks I've lived in a long time!

I'll probably write in greater detail about the last two weeks in another post. But I want to write about tonight while it's fresh in my mind. Tonight I met a women in a book store at Times Square called Page*One. She had the coolest looking glasses! It turns out she got them in Macau 'cause that's where she lives. She does marketing for The Venetian in Macau. She told me that Macau has a population of 500,000 and has a huge lack of media and design talent. To discuss the opportunities in Macau, we had drinks and dinner at a place called "People's Coffee & Books." This is a really cool bookstore/cafe with a tongue and cheek, nostalgic design motif based on old Maoist China. She logged on at the cafe and showed me the Vegas-sized plans for expansion in Macau. Looks like Macau, like the rest of China, has huge growth plans!

Sonia is Portuguese/Chinese and speaks 4 languages; Portuguese, French, Cantonese and English. But we spoke mostly in English 'cause that's what I speak best. She lived in Europe for 7 years before moving back to Macau. She comes to HK once a month, so I just happened to catch her at the right time. She asked me to send samples of my work and she would forward it to the right people at The Venetian. Sonia is just the latest example of the many interesting people I'm meeting out here. I'd say there are two major types of people here; Very international and very local. She obviously falls in the former category.

The only other thing worth noting today is that I went to a local salon and asked the very local hairdresser to give me a new local hairstyle. I figure since I'm in a new place with a new job and making new friends, I might as well get a new hairstyle. Not sure what I think of it yet, but it's shorter and it looks like something local 20-something year olds might have. They were trying to get me to dye it brown. Looks like a lot of the young kids do that here. I'm not in my 20's anymore. But many people here seem to think I am. I'll have to think about it...

Basically, despite the stress and challenges of moving and setting up out here I'm having a blast meeting new people and seeing new things everyday. Everyday is a new adventure and I'm learning so much!