Hong Kong I
Nov. 10th, 2011 05:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
helblingSo, I promise to do a run down of my Hong Kong trip as soon as I manage to get the photos off my memory card and onto something one of the computers in my house can read. There will probably be two different posts - one with general 'look, this is cool' stuff on it, and another food one, because as Hong Kong is such a mish mash of different food types, I decided to keep a photo diary of anything I or Doug (or Clare when she was with us) ate, and was for the most part successful.
However, I'm not at that point yet, but there is something I can post about before the photos are available. Mainly, language.
One of the things that struck me about HK was how perfect a place it is to learn Cantonese in a hurry. HK's first langauge is Cantonese...and it's second is English. Resultantly, it gives you the experience of being immersed in a language with just enough English on the side to provide a safety net if you get hopelessly lost. I went with no Cantonese at all, and by the end of the first day, had enough to be giving a cab driver rough directions. (I didn't know enough of Hong Kong not to end up on the opposite side of Hollywood road that I needed to, but damnit, the effort was made befroe I resorted to bleating in English and pointing at a map.) I'd love to go back having gotten a decent ear for the language and a few key phrases along with a well thumbed dictionary and watch how fast my language skills grew.
As an additional, nearly everyone out there speaks at least one or two words of English, and most of them speak it passably to admirably well. With some notable exceptions - films. There is a particular branch of society out there tat likes remaking western hits (mainly rom-coms) with their own actors and language and, unsurprisingly, their english isn't so great. Check out the blurb on the back of a DVD for their equivalent of 'The Wedding Planner', called 'Perfect Wedding':
"One Night, wedding planner - Yan (Miriam Yeung) meet a young attorney, Fung (Raymond Lam) and had a one-night stand. Later, Fung did accidentally join to Yan's wedding planning company.
In a special wedding, regardless of Yan against Fung, the rigid procedures of the wedding ceremony turned into a warm, touching the carnival. Customers in more than touched, the two are deeply moved a step closer as emotional. However, the emotional harm suffered psychological Yan still cannot break the shackles of courage in the face of her girlfriends (Teresa Mo, Bernice Liu, Kate Tsui, and Oceane Zhu) Fung's hand holding a bold recognition of this relationship. At this time, her fiance - Kelvin (Eric Kot) was again disrupted Yan's emotional world. Who is her true love ... ... ... ?"
The above was all printed in comic sans, and yes, as soon as I can get the photos onto here, you will have photographic proof.
In a city where every taxi driver I met could hold a decent conversation in English, not sure why they pressed forward with such an awful translation.
And then, there are their films where the English is fine (or at least understandable), the storyline is just plain odd. While browsing their kids section, I found a porno that some gittish previous customer had obviously dumped there, and moved back to it's correct shelf...but when I glanced at the back, couldn't help but take a snap of the blurb for posterities sake because...this is weird. It's really really weird:
"As a conceited scholar of the Ming dynasty, Wei Yangsheung believes one should pursue the ultimate sexual pleasure in life. Wei falls in love with the Taoist priest's daughter and get married. However, their sexual life is not satisfactory. One day, Wei becomes a guest of honour of Prince Ning and is escorted to the Pavilion of Ultimate Bliss, where men and women have a life of wild orgies. The Prince of Ning has two stunners, coitus expetrt Reizhu and withdrawn sadist Dongmei. With Ning's permission, Wei Yangsheung enjoys promiscuous sex with them day and night. Yet his micro-penis soon makes him feel inferior. He later encounters The Elder of Ultimate Bliss, a greybeard with the appearence of a beautiful woman who keeps his youth look by axccumulating the Zen of yin-yang. Under his guidance, Wei not only undergoes a dick-swap operation for a donkey's penis, but also acquires he ultimate sexual skills. Since then he arbitrarily pursues physical pleasure. His loving wife Yuxiang waits tranquily at home for his return. Under the pressure of her father, the heartbroken Yuxiang adamanetly divorces Wei. Having been abandoned by Yuxiang, Wei aggravates his licentious lifestyle. What seems to be adventitous is actually a deadly snare...."
I don't know about anyone else, but I'm loving the out-of-left-field micropenis. And again, yes there will be photographic proof as soon as I can get my photos on here.
However, I'm not at that point yet, but there is something I can post about before the photos are available. Mainly, language.
One of the things that struck me about HK was how perfect a place it is to learn Cantonese in a hurry. HK's first langauge is Cantonese...and it's second is English. Resultantly, it gives you the experience of being immersed in a language with just enough English on the side to provide a safety net if you get hopelessly lost. I went with no Cantonese at all, and by the end of the first day, had enough to be giving a cab driver rough directions. (I didn't know enough of Hong Kong not to end up on the opposite side of Hollywood road that I needed to, but damnit, the effort was made befroe I resorted to bleating in English and pointing at a map.) I'd love to go back having gotten a decent ear for the language and a few key phrases along with a well thumbed dictionary and watch how fast my language skills grew.
As an additional, nearly everyone out there speaks at least one or two words of English, and most of them speak it passably to admirably well. With some notable exceptions - films. There is a particular branch of society out there tat likes remaking western hits (mainly rom-coms) with their own actors and language and, unsurprisingly, their english isn't so great. Check out the blurb on the back of a DVD for their equivalent of 'The Wedding Planner', called 'Perfect Wedding':
"One Night, wedding planner - Yan (Miriam Yeung) meet a young attorney, Fung (Raymond Lam) and had a one-night stand. Later, Fung did accidentally join to Yan's wedding planning company.
In a special wedding, regardless of Yan against Fung, the rigid procedures of the wedding ceremony turned into a warm, touching the carnival. Customers in more than touched, the two are deeply moved a step closer as emotional. However, the emotional harm suffered psychological Yan still cannot break the shackles of courage in the face of her girlfriends (Teresa Mo, Bernice Liu, Kate Tsui, and Oceane Zhu) Fung's hand holding a bold recognition of this relationship. At this time, her fiance - Kelvin (Eric Kot) was again disrupted Yan's emotional world. Who is her true love ... ... ... ?"
The above was all printed in comic sans, and yes, as soon as I can get the photos onto here, you will have photographic proof.
In a city where every taxi driver I met could hold a decent conversation in English, not sure why they pressed forward with such an awful translation.
And then, there are their films where the English is fine (or at least understandable), the storyline is just plain odd. While browsing their kids section, I found a porno that some gittish previous customer had obviously dumped there, and moved back to it's correct shelf...but when I glanced at the back, couldn't help but take a snap of the blurb for posterities sake because...this is weird. It's really really weird:
"As a conceited scholar of the Ming dynasty, Wei Yangsheung believes one should pursue the ultimate sexual pleasure in life. Wei falls in love with the Taoist priest's daughter and get married. However, their sexual life is not satisfactory. One day, Wei becomes a guest of honour of Prince Ning and is escorted to the Pavilion of Ultimate Bliss, where men and women have a life of wild orgies. The Prince of Ning has two stunners, coitus expetrt Reizhu and withdrawn sadist Dongmei. With Ning's permission, Wei Yangsheung enjoys promiscuous sex with them day and night. Yet his micro-penis soon makes him feel inferior. He later encounters The Elder of Ultimate Bliss, a greybeard with the appearence of a beautiful woman who keeps his youth look by axccumulating the Zen of yin-yang. Under his guidance, Wei not only undergoes a dick-swap operation for a donkey's penis, but also acquires he ultimate sexual skills. Since then he arbitrarily pursues physical pleasure. His loving wife Yuxiang waits tranquily at home for his return. Under the pressure of her father, the heartbroken Yuxiang adamanetly divorces Wei. Having been abandoned by Yuxiang, Wei aggravates his licentious lifestyle. What seems to be adventitous is actually a deadly snare...."
I don't know about anyone else, but I'm loving the out-of-left-field micropenis. And again, yes there will be photographic proof as soon as I can get my photos on here.
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no subject
Date: 2011-11-10 06:32 pm (UTC)I boggled at the micropenis coming out of left field :)
Glad you had a good time sweetie.
no subject
Date: 2011-11-11 12:21 am (UTC)I'm breathlessly awaiting pictures (not sure what that says about me)!
no subject
Date: 2011-11-13 12:15 pm (UTC)I admit I had to re-read that bit, lol.
I'm looking forward to the pictures; sounds like it was a nice trip ^_^.