Big day today
It was my first social outing today.
Other outings have been family or family-friend-oriented. This one was voluntary. :)
On a semi-whim, I was out with Apple today. We went to eat, we went to see a movie ("House of Flying Daggers"), we went around the shopping district (Hong Kong's other sport), wer acquired some illegal DVDs, ate dinner, we played badminton and we went for a drink.
One of our goals was to cover every mode of transportation. We rode a Bus, a Taxi Bus, the MTR (Metro/Subway), a double-decker bus, and we walked. Unfortunately we did not use a Taxi, but it was awfully tempting.
So...
Badminton
We tried to book the badminton court early in the day. Damn the Chinese like their badminton. It wasn't available until 9pm. Figure that. So our day had begun with other pursuits until we played badminton.
Movies in Hong Kong
The movie theatres of Hong Kong are different from those experienced in the archaic times of my parents - or so my father would have you believe. Perhaps he can post his impression of movie theatres from what he can recollect. I would have him know that the Hong Kong theatres, like the cars, ants and "cinemas" in North America and the rest of the world, have evolved and adapted as well to a changing society, albeit (while also) keeping with some aspects of the old(en times).
So...You buy your tickets for about the same price as in Montreal - $60HKD (~$11.50 CDN), BUT you also get to choose your seat! You see on a computer screen which seats are booked and which seats are available. You give the corresponding code and bingo - no need to exchange elbow jabs in the line-up (as you wait to get into the theatre).
However, before the movie starts, just like in the high-class theaters in Montreal, an usher gives a little 'mention' to movie-goers, you know, to turn off your cellphone and enjoy the movie - however it's all in Chinese (of course). I couldn't keep my laughter as my conversation with Apple was interrupted by angry Chinese being announced through a megaphone - was this a protest? Was this a lock-down? An usher had a megaphone to deliver his message - about cellphones and other notices to this small close-knit group of concertgoers. It was hilarious.
So...everybody in the theatre was all grouped together. Considering these people chose the seats, why would they choose seats so closely grouped together?. It's not enough that people are crowded outside in the streets, they are relatively crowded together in the theater. I thought it was hilarious. Apple opted to change seats when the movie began and I followed with opening the beer I got at the store next door to sneak into the theater.
The movie...
The movie was "House of Flying Daggers", in Mandarin with Chinese and English (phewf!) subtitles. Directed by big-time Chinese director "Zhang Yimou". The movie was entertaining, however it drags on a bit too long with the hokey betrayal/double-betrayal/double-side-order-of-betrayal + love fest. It did have an excellent fusion a love story with action/martial arts, but a sucky side-order of coherent storyline.
The other movies showing at the Hong Kong movie theater, in case you were curious, were typical Hollywood movies; Spidey 2, Harry Potter, Chronicles of Riddick, bla bla.
Illegal DVDs...
Buying them aren't illegal - selling them is.
I told Apple I wanted some illegal DVDs. Not regular DVDs, I wanted to play a life of danger. I wanted to let loose, go crazy, wild. I was going to get some Illegal DVDs.
So what you do is you go to a shop where movies are on display. You write the associated number on a paper. You hand it off - pay for it. Half an hour later - they are ready. You pick up, you leave. Damn easy.
Mind you it wasn't ready in half-an-hour. Took an hour. So we went to the arcade. Came back.
Eating...
If you thought you had experienced all you could from the Chinese food out there - you haven't. I haven't tasted Shanghainese-style Chinese food before until I came here to HK - and it's great. It is quite similar to the common Guangdong-style (Cantonese) and Mandarin-style Chinese food, but possesses (has) some very interesting accoutrements (accents/stylings/aspects) to the food. There are different chopsticks, bigger cups for tea, different tea, and a tiny tiny tiny bowl of nuts before you start to look at the menu (whaaa?).
Back to badminton...
Badminton is fun. But like the Chinese, everything is smaller - the net, the court, the rackets and you can't make sense of what's going on around you. Just joking.
Conclude this already
I am off to sleep. I have a friend from Montreal coming in on Thursday - planning to go to the drinking district on Friday night, maybe Macau on Saturday, and going to see my buddy (the huge Buddha - the biggest in the world) on Sunday. Until then I am busy arranging some stuff that has been keeping me very busy. More to tell later. Hopefully sooner than later, of course. Have to wake up early - I leave now!
Other outings have been family or family-friend-oriented. This one was voluntary. :)
On a semi-whim, I was out with Apple today. We went to eat, we went to see a movie ("House of Flying Daggers"), we went around the shopping district (Hong Kong's other sport), wer acquired some illegal DVDs, ate dinner, we played badminton and we went for a drink.
One of our goals was to cover every mode of transportation. We rode a Bus, a Taxi Bus, the MTR (Metro/Subway), a double-decker bus, and we walked. Unfortunately we did not use a Taxi, but it was awfully tempting.
So...
Badminton
We tried to book the badminton court early in the day. Damn the Chinese like their badminton. It wasn't available until 9pm. Figure that. So our day had begun with other pursuits until we played badminton.
Movies in Hong Kong
The movie theatres of Hong Kong are different from those experienced in the archaic times of my parents - or so my father would have you believe. Perhaps he can post his impression of movie theatres from what he can recollect. I would have him know that the Hong Kong theatres, like the cars, ants and "cinemas" in North America and the rest of the world, have evolved and adapted as well to a changing society, albeit (while also) keeping with some aspects of the old(en times).
So...You buy your tickets for about the same price as in Montreal - $60HKD (~$11.50 CDN), BUT you also get to choose your seat! You see on a computer screen which seats are booked and which seats are available. You give the corresponding code and bingo - no need to exchange elbow jabs in the line-up (as you wait to get into the theatre).
However, before the movie starts, just like in the high-class theaters in Montreal, an usher gives a little 'mention' to movie-goers, you know, to turn off your cellphone and enjoy the movie - however it's all in Chinese (of course). I couldn't keep my laughter as my conversation with Apple was interrupted by angry Chinese being announced through a megaphone - was this a protest? Was this a lock-down? An usher had a megaphone to deliver his message - about cellphones and other notices to this small close-knit group of concertgoers. It was hilarious.
So...everybody in the theatre was all grouped together. Considering these people chose the seats, why would they choose seats so closely grouped together?. It's not enough that people are crowded outside in the streets, they are relatively crowded together in the theater. I thought it was hilarious. Apple opted to change seats when the movie began and I followed with opening the beer I got at the store next door to sneak into the theater.
The movie...
The movie was "House of Flying Daggers", in Mandarin with Chinese and English (phewf!) subtitles. Directed by big-time Chinese director "Zhang Yimou". The movie was entertaining, however it drags on a bit too long with the hokey betrayal/double-betrayal/double-side-order-of-betrayal + love fest. It did have an excellent fusion a love story with action/martial arts, but a sucky side-order of coherent storyline.
The other movies showing at the Hong Kong movie theater, in case you were curious, were typical Hollywood movies; Spidey 2, Harry Potter, Chronicles of Riddick, bla bla.
Illegal DVDs...
Buying them aren't illegal - selling them is.
I told Apple I wanted some illegal DVDs. Not regular DVDs, I wanted to play a life of danger. I wanted to let loose, go crazy, wild. I was going to get some Illegal DVDs.
So what you do is you go to a shop where movies are on display. You write the associated number on a paper. You hand it off - pay for it. Half an hour later - they are ready. You pick up, you leave. Damn easy.
Mind you it wasn't ready in half-an-hour. Took an hour. So we went to the arcade. Came back.
Eating...
If you thought you had experienced all you could from the Chinese food out there - you haven't. I haven't tasted Shanghainese-style Chinese food before until I came here to HK - and it's great. It is quite similar to the common Guangdong-style (Cantonese) and Mandarin-style Chinese food, but possesses (has) some very interesting accoutrements (accents/stylings/aspects) to the food. There are different chopsticks, bigger cups for tea, different tea, and a tiny tiny tiny bowl of nuts before you start to look at the menu (whaaa?).
Back to badminton...
Badminton is fun. But like the Chinese, everything is smaller - the net, the court, the rackets and you can't make sense of what's going on around you. Just joking.
Conclude this already
I am off to sleep. I have a friend from Montreal coming in on Thursday - planning to go to the drinking district on Friday night, maybe Macau on Saturday, and going to see my buddy (the huge Buddha - the biggest in the world) on Sunday. Until then I am busy arranging some stuff that has been keeping me very busy. More to tell later. Hopefully sooner than later, of course. Have to wake up early - I leave now!
posted by Canadian "Civil" Servant at 01:26
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1 Comments:
It sounds like the only change movie theater-wise is in the number of screens. In our day, movie theatres were large auditoriums, and typically, there'd be only one screen per theatre. (But then up until the '70s, that's pretty much the way it was here in Canada too.)
Then as now, you got to choose your seat when you bought your ticket. The cashier had a seating plan, and crossed off your seat choice with a grease pencil when you bought your ticket.
Theatres were often crowded. The price of admission was much more reasonable then, and movie theatres had the extra advantage of being almost the only place where the average person could relax in AIR CONDITIONING!
You mention that you smuggled a beer into the theatre. It was a common practice in the '70s to buy refreshments from street vendors just outside the theatre itself. I don't recall any theatres trying to stop or discourage it. Your mother's favourite movie snack was dried squid or cuttlefish that the vendor would grill on his hibachi. I never tried it myself. I used to say that it smelled like he was barbecuing old shoes. You could always tell where the cinema was by the fragrant aroma of roasting footwear.
Thanks for the trip down memory lane.
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