Ten Years On...

1 World Trade Center rising from the WTC Site

I was last in NYC in the spring of 2001, and was due back to watch the US Open at the beginning of September; but plans had to be changed as I had to stay in Hong Kong to tend to some unfinished business.

I still remember the moment when the 2nd plane crashed into the North Tower, I was sitting at home alone in Hong Kong, speechless, motionless, in disbelief. It was a news bulletin that came on TV, when Hong Kong’s version of “The Weakest Link” was on. The news initially focused on the South Tower, which was already in flames from the first hit; then the 2nd plane came from the left of the TV screen and crashed into the North Tower. The image is still fresh in my mind… Immediately afterwards I placed a call to California, to someone who had no idea what had just happened 3,000 miles away on the East Coast. Our lives, his and mine… and yours, are forever changed.

Ten years on, NYC is still as beautiful, lively and energetic as when Carrie Bradshaw roamed the Madison Avenue and the tree-lined streets of the West Village pre-9/11. On the eve of the 10th Anniversary of 9/11, I was back in NYC at long last.

New skyscrapers are everywhere, and they are building bigger and taller ones. New hotspots like the Meatpacking District and The High Line have redefined how older neighborhoods could be revitalized. Washington Square Park is still IMO the best park I have ever visited… all the people-watching, children’s laughter, sun light reflected by buildings surrounding the park, the fountain where kids and adults soak and enjoy a little bit of folly… it’s so quintessential New York… so…. SNL, so 30Rock, so Woody Allen, and so David Letterman. But of course Central Park cannot be outdone. The lawn, the lake, the reservoir, the rocks… bikers, joggers, strollers… hot dog stands, hansom cabs, and of course the Met.

Sometimes when they do re-runs of SATC on TV, NYC always seemed to sparkle… It is comforting, that I could still see it and feel it when I was back after so many years.

Ten years on, one thing is for sure, for better or for worse, we all need to move on and reinvent ourselves.

The High Line

Lincoln Center and Juilliard School

Lincoln Center - Metropolitan Opera House

"Carrie Bradshaw"'s apartment

Midtown from Central Park's Lake


Washington Sqaure Park

The Met looking out to the Upper East Side

做什麼都可以

愛很簡單
作詞：娃娃　
作曲：陶吉吉

忘了是怎麼開始　也許就是對你　
有一種感覺

忽然間發現自己　已深深愛上你　
真的很簡單

愛的地暗天黑都已無所謂　
是是非非無法抉擇　喔~~
沒有後悔為愛日夜去跟隨　
那個瘋狂的人是我　喔~~

I LOVE U
無法不愛你 BABY
說你也愛我　嗚

I LOVE U
永遠不願意 BABY 失去你

不可能更快樂　只要能在一起　
做什麼都可以

雖然世界變個不停　
用最真誠的心　
讓愛變的簡單(口白:讓愛變的簡單)

愛的地暗天黑都已無所謂　
是是非非無法抉擇　喔~~

沒有後悔為愛日夜去跟隨　
那個瘋狂的人是我　喔~~

I LOVE U 一直在這裡　BABY　
一直在愛你　嗚 ya~I LOVE U　(yes I do)　
永遠都不放棄　這愛你的權利

如果你還有一些困惑 Oh No
貼著我的心傾聽
聽我說著　愛你 (yes I do)

I LOVE U 喔(YES I DO)
一直在這裡　BABY OH YA-
一直在愛你　喔I LOVE U
永遠都不放棄　這愛你的權力

--------------------

世事無常
愛很簡單

人就是那麼「化學」

而我們大家都是路過的

就在萍水相逢的生命路上
為大家的生活喝彩

多謝每一位點綴過我路途上的有緣人

In a blogging rut...

Looking at the visit statistics, it's not hard to understand why I average 12 visits a day as of late... While I averaged 7 posts a month in 2008, so far in 2009, only less than 3 a month! And usually they are these useless posts about typhoon hits and misses...

Fun always remind me to update my Blog, but I told him it's pretty much RIP.

I don't think my life got... uneventful, or boring.
In fact, alot has happened in 2009.

Went to the Philippines twice, went to Singapore with pals, almost went to London but had to cancel due to work, and then had a short but eventful trip to France last month. This past weekend I was in Guangzhou for a whirlwind tour... was there for about 28 hours but seemed like we did alot: first time on KTT to GZ (tried the older Chinese trains before), stayed at a pretty nice hotel, walked around a thousand-year-old street, saw old authentic Guangzhou-style tenement buildings, saw Sandy in Concert, hit a hip local music club, had dim sum at GZ Lin Heung, strolled through the former foreign concession area of Sha Mian Island, had FIRE THERAPY that sounds as scary as it looks, and finally, missing the KTT back and had to route through SZ by taking the CRH for the first time and was quite impressed with the service.

So that was GZ.

In a couple of weeks I will make another short trip to Macau to see a shorter version of Sandy's concert, but apparently would be attended by mostly HK fans.

......................................

Something else also happened in the last few weeks. A good classmate of mine passed away while I was in France. She had battled cancer for a few years already, during which her diagnosis got better for a couple of years, but the cancer eventually came back and spread to other part of her body.

I'm certainly not a religious person, but I do believe she's at a better place now (she was a Christian and was often surrounded by her church friends), after all that suffering and pain she had gone through over these years. Is it a sign of maturity, or have I been desensitized? Or are they one and the same? But death, I feel now, does not represent the End and it is not necessary a sad thing for all. On the day before my departure to France I did visit her at the hospital. Thinking about it when I learned the news, I remembered that even though she was mostly unconscious, as she was the previous time I visited her, she did give me a rare smile and she almost looked awake at a moment. That's the memory I will keep as the last image of her, along with those times we had during our workshops, classes, dinners, dim sums, etc.

About a month ago, another friend of mine lost his mother, to complications associated with cancer. While reading the eulogy written by her family and printed for guests at the funeral hall, I was touched by their simple words, they simple way of telling us about a husband's wife, a daughter's mother, the son's best friend...

Death gives us an opportunity to remember the ones that have gone before us. Some of us choose to do it in a more visible way, but I always believe these things are more personal and should be done so quietly.

RIP, Mrs. Yan and Winnie.

////////////////////////////

Then there's the picture above. When I saw it I thought to myself... how come we always feel lighter and happier when we see sunflowers, especially loads of it?

遺忘的時光(1)

不久前才跟一位網友談過以前的戲院。 由於小時住九龍，所以只對旺角、太子、紅墈等地區的戲院比較熟。 凱聲、麗聲、普慶、海運、宇宙、環球、旺角百老匯、倫敦、嘉禾等都是我記得去過的戲院。 近日有點悶，在FB掃了三千多幅舊香港相，其中包括一些已經消失的戲院。很多其實時常經過，只是沒有想起來。而且亦發覺香港直至90年代中期仍然有很多戲院。畢竟我們曾經是全世界的電影夢工廠，每年製片的數目僅次美國。。。而近年的發片數量則慘無人道。。。

就等大家懷念一下這些鬧市中的舊戲院吧。。。

娛樂戲院 - 沒去過。
現址：娛樂行

普慶 - 當年九龍區的一間龍頭戲院。只記得去過，不記得看什麼。
現址：逸東酒店

碧麗宮 - 被譽為全香港最豪華的戲院。記得去看過《甘地傳》，分上下場，睡著了。
現址：世貿中心

民樂戲院 - 沒聽過，應該在佐敦寶齡街。 現址：官涌街德興大廈

大華戲院 - 去過但不記得看過什麼。 現址：大華酒店

倫敦戲院 - 一間頗為受歡迎的戲院。記得去看過Michael J. Fox 的《Teen Wolf》。

現址：莊士倫敦廣場

麗聲戲院 - 與凱聲戲院坐落同一個street block。記得去看過不少戲，但不記得是那一套。

現址：始創中心

凱聲戲院 - 與麗聲戲院坐落同一個street block。記得兩間戲院都很滿。每當時間到5:30/7:30左近，就滿街是人，小販。很熱鬧。

現址：始創中心

嘉禾戲院 - 很受歡迎的戲院。記得年輕人比較多。

現址：新寶廣場

快樂戲院 - 不記得有否去看過。在佐敦道嘉禾斜對面。

現址：寶輝閣

根據網上資料，原來當年佐敦一帶有戲院大小至少7間，包括大華、新大華，倫敦、嘉禾、快樂、官涌、民樂等戲院。而附近油麻地亦有其他如油麻地、普慶、華盛頓、平安、光明、第一、廣智等戲院。現在我們的戲院都坐落在商場之內，獨立建築的戲院真的少之又少（其實還有嗎？）。現在每次經過炮臺山的皇都戲院、觀塘的銀都戲院、或重建後的利舞臺，都懷念那些大戲院、那些分等級的票價（“成日劏死牛”的超等）、向下“sir” 的座椅、畫得好好笑的電影海報、手劃的戲票。當然，不會懷念的是要排長龍購票的日子。:))

Season's Greetings

~~Wishing you and your loved ones a happy & safe holiday season~~

Have you cast your vote today?

本來都沒有特別留意、亦沒有心去投票。
但始終：投票權是作爲公民的權利，我們應好好運用。
在現有的機制下，這是我們唯一可以參與的民主選舉。所以投那個候選人都好，最緊要是你沒有白費這個不是世上人人都可以擁有的基本權利。

我今早已經投票啦！