Thursday, January 30, 2014
Saturday, January 25, 2014
Three Auditions part 4
I have been on what is probably the weirdest audition of my life. It was for one of the movies – the one where the character speaks English. Since it was an English speaking part, there were a lot of foreigners trying out. There were so many white faces in the room, I almost forgot I was in Hong Kong for a minute. In Hong Kong, foreigner means white, so it was all white girls. That is discrimination where I come from, but perfectly acceptable in Hong Kong.
It's not just in acting. A black American can lose out on corporate and teaching jobs for not being white. Teachers are especially hired on how they look more than how well they can teach.
That is all very normal in Hong Kong. The weird part was that they wanted all of us to read tongue twisters instead of lines. I guess they want an English speaker who sounds like Henry Higgins. That was good news for me since I can do most of them, except “the sixth sick sheik's sixth sheep's sick”. I practiced “she sells sea shells by the sea shore” a lot when I was a child. Peter Piper and the imaginary menagerie are just naturally easy.
It was still pretty weird to see all of these actors reciting tongue twisters instead of reading lines. I don't know how that tells anyone about whether or not we can act. It was like they were only testing us to see if we could speak English, according to their definition. A bunch of white Australians, Canadians and Americans probably know their native language.
Lavender leather, yellow leather.
It's not just in acting. A black American can lose out on corporate and teaching jobs for not being white. Teachers are especially hired on how they look more than how well they can teach.
That is all very normal in Hong Kong. The weird part was that they wanted all of us to read tongue twisters instead of lines. I guess they want an English speaker who sounds like Henry Higgins. That was good news for me since I can do most of them, except “the sixth sick sheik's sixth sheep's sick”. I practiced “she sells sea shells by the sea shore” a lot when I was a child. Peter Piper and the imaginary menagerie are just naturally easy.
It was still pretty weird to see all of these actors reciting tongue twisters instead of reading lines. I don't know how that tells anyone about whether or not we can act. It was like they were only testing us to see if we could speak English, according to their definition. A bunch of white Australians, Canadians and Americans probably know their native language.
Lavender leather, yellow leather.
Monday, January 20, 2014
Weekend in Fuzhou
I just got back from Fuzhou. Ryan came to Hong Kong for my birthday and Christmas, so it was definitely my turn to go to him. I prefer it when he comes to me. Not just because it is easier for me, but also because I would rather be in Hong Kong than Fuzhou. There is nothing particularly wrong with Fuzhou. It is simply not my kind of town. Hong Kong has more to offer.
As usual, we stayed in a hotel. We picked the Ramada Plaza because it is near the lake. Ramada hotels are never the best in the world, but this one was clean enough and did not look too old. A lot of hotels in China look like they were decorated by Chairman Mao. I don't stay at a hotel based on its furniture, and I really don't care what is trendy and what is not, but if a hotel can't bother to redecorate after twenty years then you know they are not that interested in details. You definitely have to change the carpet every once in a while. Not because styles change, but because they wear out fast.
Our room was clean and not too small. The hotel had an indoor swimming pool, but we never used it. I rarely eat at hotel restaurants and this time was no exception. There is food all over the place in Fuzhou, and most of it is cheaper and better than whatever the hotel has.
My only real complaint was the cigarette smoke. I have stayed in enough Chinese hotels to know there is no such thing as a non-smoking room. At most, they will spray the room with disinfectant after a smoker checks out. Often, they will not even do that. Some rooms claim to be non-smoking and some hotels say they have non-smoking floors, but that is either to stop people from complaining or is a rule never enforced. You can smoke in any room you want. That's great for smokers. Not so great for those of us who like to breathe and think cigarettes smell like shit.
I'm all for freedom, and people have rights, of course, but where is my right to not have to breathe in poison? It's not like the lingering stink of some food I don't like. This is smoke. Smoke is not unhealthy the way cookies are unhealthy. Smoke is toxic. It will kill you. Why does someone's right to kill themselves outweigh my right to live?
We complained about the smell of the room and they sprayed the hell out of it. That does nothing to take the poison out of the room. It merely covers up one stink with another. Luckily, we could open the windows. You can't in some smoke hotels. By the end of the day, the stench was not as bad.
The room was cold with the windows open, but not really cold at all with the windows shut. Fuzhou gets cold in January, but it was ok inside the hotel.
As usual, we stayed in a hotel. We picked the Ramada Plaza because it is near the lake. Ramada hotels are never the best in the world, but this one was clean enough and did not look too old. A lot of hotels in China look like they were decorated by Chairman Mao. I don't stay at a hotel based on its furniture, and I really don't care what is trendy and what is not, but if a hotel can't bother to redecorate after twenty years then you know they are not that interested in details. You definitely have to change the carpet every once in a while. Not because styles change, but because they wear out fast.
Our room was clean and not too small. The hotel had an indoor swimming pool, but we never used it. I rarely eat at hotel restaurants and this time was no exception. There is food all over the place in Fuzhou, and most of it is cheaper and better than whatever the hotel has.
My only real complaint was the cigarette smoke. I have stayed in enough Chinese hotels to know there is no such thing as a non-smoking room. At most, they will spray the room with disinfectant after a smoker checks out. Often, they will not even do that. Some rooms claim to be non-smoking and some hotels say they have non-smoking floors, but that is either to stop people from complaining or is a rule never enforced. You can smoke in any room you want. That's great for smokers. Not so great for those of us who like to breathe and think cigarettes smell like shit.
I'm all for freedom, and people have rights, of course, but where is my right to not have to breathe in poison? It's not like the lingering stink of some food I don't like. This is smoke. Smoke is not unhealthy the way cookies are unhealthy. Smoke is toxic. It will kill you. Why does someone's right to kill themselves outweigh my right to live?
We complained about the smell of the room and they sprayed the hell out of it. That does nothing to take the poison out of the room. It merely covers up one stink with another. Luckily, we could open the windows. You can't in some smoke hotels. By the end of the day, the stench was not as bad.
The room was cold with the windows open, but not really cold at all with the windows shut. Fuzhou gets cold in January, but it was ok inside the hotel.
Sunday, January 12, 2014
Three Auditions part 3
My agent set up three auditions for me in November. The first one was for a TV series. I still have not heard back about that one. The other two are for movies.
I just did one of the two movie auditions I will be on this month. I think it went pretty well, but I'm up against a lot of other foreigners. Some of them looked like movie stars. Most of them did not. In Hong Kong, you never know if that is good or bad. Sometimes they want us to look however they think westerners look. That is based on whatever ideas are in their heads. One casting director once told me I did not look American enough. I don't even know what that means.
This audition was for an American who can't speak Chinese, but the movie is in Chinese, so the character speaks Chinese. They gave me lines written in Pinyin, which made it really easy to mispronounce the words. There are plenty of Chinese words that I can't read, but I know even less Pinyin. None of that was a problem since they did that on purpose. They did not give it to us in Chinese because they were worried that if any of us could read Chinese, we would say all the lines properly. With Pinyin, you are pretty much guaranteed to get mistakes. Even if you do know Pinyin, whoever typed up the lines probably does not, so it might not match whatever it is supposed to mean anyway.
I just did one of the two movie auditions I will be on this month. I think it went pretty well, but I'm up against a lot of other foreigners. Some of them looked like movie stars. Most of them did not. In Hong Kong, you never know if that is good or bad. Sometimes they want us to look however they think westerners look. That is based on whatever ideas are in their heads. One casting director once told me I did not look American enough. I don't even know what that means.
This audition was for an American who can't speak Chinese, but the movie is in Chinese, so the character speaks Chinese. They gave me lines written in Pinyin, which made it really easy to mispronounce the words. There are plenty of Chinese words that I can't read, but I know even less Pinyin. None of that was a problem since they did that on purpose. They did not give it to us in Chinese because they were worried that if any of us could read Chinese, we would say all the lines properly. With Pinyin, you are pretty much guaranteed to get mistakes. Even if you do know Pinyin, whoever typed up the lines probably does not, so it might not match whatever it is supposed to mean anyway.
Sunday, January 5, 2014
New Year, New Home
We have decided to move to a bigger apartment. When Kevin & Lily first moved into my tiny apartment, it was supposed to be temporary. I did not want to live alone while Ryan was in China, so Lily came to live with me. Lily & Kevin did not want to be apart, so Kevin sometimes stayed at my apartment and sometimes stayed at their apartment. In the beginning, it was just me in my apartment full time with Kevin & Lily living there part time. That gradually changed as Lily stayed at my apartment more and more. Then Kevin started staying more often. Now we are all at my apartment full time. It just makes sense to get a bigger apartment.
So now we are looking at apartments. There are about a million options in Hong Kong. There are apartments everywhere. We just have to pick one. We obviously want two bedrooms and preferably two bathrooms. The problem is finding the right location. Lily & I work on Lantau. Kevin works in Wan Chai.
Kevin wants to get a place on Hong Kong Island. That is not only closer to his work, but also where most of the other foreigners are. Lily & I don't want to be farther away from our work. We got a taste of what it would be like to go to work in five minutes while we were at that hotel in Discovery Bay. We don't want an hour commute after that. Kowloon seems like the best compromise. As long as we are near the MTR, it should be relatively close to either of our jobs. I like our current neighborhood, but maybe it's time to move on. There are a million different neighborhoods in Hong Kong and I have yet to experienced most of them.
So now we are looking at apartments. There are about a million options in Hong Kong. There are apartments everywhere. We just have to pick one. We obviously want two bedrooms and preferably two bathrooms. The problem is finding the right location. Lily & I work on Lantau. Kevin works in Wan Chai.
Kevin wants to get a place on Hong Kong Island. That is not only closer to his work, but also where most of the other foreigners are. Lily & I don't want to be farther away from our work. We got a taste of what it would be like to go to work in five minutes while we were at that hotel in Discovery Bay. We don't want an hour commute after that. Kowloon seems like the best compromise. As long as we are near the MTR, it should be relatively close to either of our jobs. I like our current neighborhood, but maybe it's time to move on. There are a million different neighborhoods in Hong Kong and I have yet to experienced most of them.
Thursday, January 2, 2014
New Year’s Eve 2014
There were a few choices of New Year's Eve parties this year. Everybody had a party, but I could not go to most of them. I had to work on the actual New Year's Eve, so all the parties on that day were out. Kevin's office had their party on Monday. Both Lily & I were available that night, so we went to that one.
Office New Year's Eve parties are rarely that good. They are mostly a bunch of people who work together all getting a little drunk and trying not to embarrass themselves. Plus, an office is never the best place to have a party.
This party was at the Langham Hotel. I guess Kevin's company had a good year.
The Langham Hotel is a real luxury 5 star hotel. A lot of hotels claim to be 5 star, especially in places like China. I saw a hotel in China that could not possibly be more than 2 stars calling itself 5 star. The Langham really is 5 star. It looks like a luxury hotel inside and out. The same company owns the Langham Place in Mong Kok, which I could walk to from my tiny apartment, but the Langham Hotel is the original, and easy to get to by MTR.
Kevin's company also booked some rooms at the hotel. Not for an office orgy, but so people could stay the night if they got too tipsy and keep networking long after the party ended.
After the main party started to die down, some of us went up to one of the luxury suites. This was a very nice hotel room. I will never be able to afford a room like this. Even if I could, I would not want to. Even if I were a billionaire, I would have a hard time justifying a room like this when I can easily stay in a normal room.
This hotel room was bigger than my apartment. It had all the stylish decorations you would expect in a 5 star suite. Everything was in all the fashionable colors, whatever they are this week. This was the kind of room where presidents and rock stars stay. It was not the presidential suite, but in a lesser hotel, it easily could have been. We stayed in a nice hotel for Christmas, but this suite was fancier. The bathtub could easily fit four or five people, but this was not that kind of party.
We stayed up all night talking and drinking champagne. I'm not much of a champagne fan, but it was New Year's Eve, or actually New Year's Day by this point. The business people talked about business while the plus ones, or in my case, plus two, talked about everything else.
After the party, Kevin, Lily & I went back to our tiny box apartment. It was a far cry from that luxury suite.
Office New Year's Eve parties are rarely that good. They are mostly a bunch of people who work together all getting a little drunk and trying not to embarrass themselves. Plus, an office is never the best place to have a party.
This party was at the Langham Hotel. I guess Kevin's company had a good year.
The Langham Hotel is a real luxury 5 star hotel. A lot of hotels claim to be 5 star, especially in places like China. I saw a hotel in China that could not possibly be more than 2 stars calling itself 5 star. The Langham really is 5 star. It looks like a luxury hotel inside and out. The same company owns the Langham Place in Mong Kok, which I could walk to from my tiny apartment, but the Langham Hotel is the original, and easy to get to by MTR.
Kevin's company also booked some rooms at the hotel. Not for an office orgy, but so people could stay the night if they got too tipsy and keep networking long after the party ended.
After the main party started to die down, some of us went up to one of the luxury suites. This was a very nice hotel room. I will never be able to afford a room like this. Even if I could, I would not want to. Even if I were a billionaire, I would have a hard time justifying a room like this when I can easily stay in a normal room.
This hotel room was bigger than my apartment. It had all the stylish decorations you would expect in a 5 star suite. Everything was in all the fashionable colors, whatever they are this week. This was the kind of room where presidents and rock stars stay. It was not the presidential suite, but in a lesser hotel, it easily could have been. We stayed in a nice hotel for Christmas, but this suite was fancier. The bathtub could easily fit four or five people, but this was not that kind of party.
We stayed up all night talking and drinking champagne. I'm not much of a champagne fan, but it was New Year's Eve, or actually New Year's Day by this point. The business people talked about business while the plus ones, or in my case, plus two, talked about everything else.
After the party, Kevin, Lily & I went back to our tiny box apartment. It was a far cry from that luxury suite.
Wednesday, January 1, 2014
Sunday, December 29, 2013
Christmas with the Family
Ryan came to Hong Kong for Christmas. It was my turn to go see him, but we decided he should come here. Mainland China might not be the best place for Christmas. It's just not an important holiday there. Hong Kong is nothing like home either, but it is better than China.
Lily & Kevin were also feeling a little homesick during the holiday, so we decided to all spend the day together. All of our families are in the United States and Canada, and going home to see them was not going to happen this year. We are all the closest thing to family we have in Hong Kong, so it makes sense that we spend holidays together.
Since a one bedroom apartment is a little too small for four people, and since it was Christmas, we decided to splurge and go to a nice hotel. I don't know whose idea it was originally. I think it was Kevin's. Lily & Kevin talked about it and then brought it up to me. I told Ryan.
We went to the Auberge Discovery Bay on Siena Avenue. It is nowhere close to any MTR stops, but the hotel has shuttles to the airport, Disneyland and area attractions. This was more like a resort than a hotel. It looks a lot nicer than most Hong Kong hotels and has a full service spa, is on the beach and has several dining options besides the usual restaurant.
Lily & I had to work a lot around Christmas, so I suggested we go to a hotel close to Disneyland. That way we could all spend time together at a nice hotel and Lily & I could easily go to work when we had to. This one was very close. I have never gotten to work so quickly. Since it was at Discovery Bay, there was plenty for Ryan and Kevin to do. Discovery Bay is full of expats and vacationing foreigners, so they could hang out with other foreigners and talk about football and hot dogs, or whatever they talk about in bars. They probably talk about girls and their balls, but I prefer to think about it my way.
The hotel had plenty to eat and drink, a nice swimming pool and the rooms had new TVs with more than enough channels and free internet. I don't know why all hotels don't have free internet. This was a great place for Ryan and Kevin to be lazy for a couple of days.
The Auberge Discovery Bay is an expensive hotel, but we got a Disneyland discount. That made it a lot cheaper, but that also meant we could not book the best rooms. The more expensive rooms face the ocean and have great views of the bay. The discount rooms are in the back and face the mountain. They were still very nice rooms and the view was not bad at all. The mountains on Lantau Island are pretty green. Our rooms were large by Hong Kong standards and looked a lot nicer than most hotels around here. They did not look anything like discount rooms. That's the way any good hotel should be.
Since we were not in the city, we tried the hotel breakfast. If we were in Kowloon or Hong Kong Island we would have never eaten a hotel breakfast. There is too much food that's a lot better in every direction. Here, we were away from the city, and going out to get food took longer than just walking outdoors. The hotel is not in the middle of nowhere, but it is in an overpriced neighborhood where people who don't like living in Hong Kong live. The breakfast was pretty good. It was still a hotel breakfast, but it was not all microwaved food sitting under a heat lamp. It actually looked appetizing and some of it was made by chefs rather than short order cooks.
I don't know if we will ever go to this hotel again, but I'm up for it.
Lily & Kevin were also feeling a little homesick during the holiday, so we decided to all spend the day together. All of our families are in the United States and Canada, and going home to see them was not going to happen this year. We are all the closest thing to family we have in Hong Kong, so it makes sense that we spend holidays together.
Since a one bedroom apartment is a little too small for four people, and since it was Christmas, we decided to splurge and go to a nice hotel. I don't know whose idea it was originally. I think it was Kevin's. Lily & Kevin talked about it and then brought it up to me. I told Ryan.
We went to the Auberge Discovery Bay on Siena Avenue. It is nowhere close to any MTR stops, but the hotel has shuttles to the airport, Disneyland and area attractions. This was more like a resort than a hotel. It looks a lot nicer than most Hong Kong hotels and has a full service spa, is on the beach and has several dining options besides the usual restaurant.
Lily & I had to work a lot around Christmas, so I suggested we go to a hotel close to Disneyland. That way we could all spend time together at a nice hotel and Lily & I could easily go to work when we had to. This one was very close. I have never gotten to work so quickly. Since it was at Discovery Bay, there was plenty for Ryan and Kevin to do. Discovery Bay is full of expats and vacationing foreigners, so they could hang out with other foreigners and talk about football and hot dogs, or whatever they talk about in bars. They probably talk about girls and their balls, but I prefer to think about it my way.
The hotel had plenty to eat and drink, a nice swimming pool and the rooms had new TVs with more than enough channels and free internet. I don't know why all hotels don't have free internet. This was a great place for Ryan and Kevin to be lazy for a couple of days.
The Auberge Discovery Bay is an expensive hotel, but we got a Disneyland discount. That made it a lot cheaper, but that also meant we could not book the best rooms. The more expensive rooms face the ocean and have great views of the bay. The discount rooms are in the back and face the mountain. They were still very nice rooms and the view was not bad at all. The mountains on Lantau Island are pretty green. Our rooms were large by Hong Kong standards and looked a lot nicer than most hotels around here. They did not look anything like discount rooms. That's the way any good hotel should be.
Since we were not in the city, we tried the hotel breakfast. If we were in Kowloon or Hong Kong Island we would have never eaten a hotel breakfast. There is too much food that's a lot better in every direction. Here, we were away from the city, and going out to get food took longer than just walking outdoors. The hotel is not in the middle of nowhere, but it is in an overpriced neighborhood where people who don't like living in Hong Kong live. The breakfast was pretty good. It was still a hotel breakfast, but it was not all microwaved food sitting under a heat lamp. It actually looked appetizing and some of it was made by chefs rather than short order cooks.
I don't know if we will ever go to this hotel again, but I'm up for it.
Tuesday, December 24, 2013
Sunday, December 22, 2013
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