788 replies to this topic

[Macman]

Two things I forgot to say -

First, regarding "Real Steel", I don't want to raise anyone's expectations if he is a real movie aficionado. I'm sure many will see it and say that it just follows an old, hackneyed formula. Actually, that's true, but it was very well done, well acted, with great graphics. At this stage in my life, I'm not looking for any deep meaningful messages in my movies; I just want to be entertained, and I was.

The second thing concerns something that happened while in Hong Kong. Angel wanted to see Macau, and I agreed to go even though I had no real interest. We took the ferry from HK at 11:00 AM, and arrived in Macau at noon. There really isn't much to see, the weather sucked, and neither of us is a gambler. For those reasons, we had lunch, and took the 4:00 PM ferry back to Hong Kong. At immigration, Angel was detained, and taken into a room. I tried to follow, but was told that I couldn't. I was told to just wait. About 20 minutes passed, and I really started getting nervous. Finally, an official who spoke English very well came over to me. He said, "Your friend, did you meet him, er, her in Hong Kong?" I told him that we had come from The Philippines together for an anniversary vacation, and planned to leave the next day. When I said that, his whole demeanor changed. He told me to wait there while he checked. He was back in a couple of a minutes, and said that Angel would be right out. From the questions that were asked of Angel, it seems that the fact that we went there and came back in such a short time raised a flag. Of course, that was coupled with her nationality and ladyboy status. I think they thought that she was a hooker who met me in HK, and persuaded me to take her to Macau for some nefarious purpose, most likely smuggling. Once they found out that we were a couple, everything changed. One happy note: while Angel was being detained, a female official lowered her voice, pointed to the M gender designation on her passport, and said, "Are you really ...?" (meaning "masculine gender"). The fact that she had to ask really cheered Angel.

[jayarr]

Hong Kong was nice? I always heard it's real smog-y

[Macman]

It's a great city, jayarr. Yes, it is a bit smoggy, but that's offset by everything else. It's a must-see as far as I'm concerned. I went to Dan Ryan's Chicago Grill twice and had their 16-ounce, 3-inch sirloin steak, baked potato and apple pie a la mode. OMG. My mouth is watering thinking of it. It made it a little tough to be back here where I can't get anything like that.

[Macman]

Well, we got back from Hong Kong. We landed in Cebu shortly after 4:00 AM Wednesday morning, got our luggage, and took a taxi to the pier to catch the SuperCat. Unfortunately for us, because of typhoon Ramon, all trips by water had been cancelled. We were forced to grab a hotel in Cebu and stay overnight. We weren't able to get out until late Thursday afternoon.
Hong Kong is just so damn fascinating. So clean, so modern, and so safe. I must admit that it was a little difficult returning to my town after that. Oh, well. What we do for love.
BTW, while stranded in Cebu, I went to see "Real Steel". Great flick.

[thailover57]

The trailers didn't interest me about Real Steel. It was good Mac? And by the way, great to have you back.

[Macman]

TL57, I never watch trailers because i feel that they give away too much. When I saw the mock-up of the robot in the theater, I thought, "Oh, shit, another 'Transformers'." I went because we had to kill time, there wasn't much else playing that fit our time frame (we had a ferry to catch), and I like Hugh Jackman. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Not at all what I expected. I'm not saying that it's Academy Award material, but an enjoyable experience.
Oh, and thanks for the "welcome back". I didn't think anyone would find me back here. Kliome did the right thing though; this is where my thread belongs because I don't write about the LB scene, as you know. It feels funny to be called an "expat", but I guess that's what I am. The reason it sounds strange to me is that I didn't think or plan to leave the U.S. and live elsewhere. It's just that this is where Angel lives, and unfortunately we probably can't go anywhere else.

[Macman]

Two things I forgot to say -

First, regarding "Real Steel", I don't want to raise anyone's expectations if he is a real movie aficionado. I'm sure many will see it and say that it just follows an old, hackneyed formula. Actually, that's true, but it was very well done, well acted, with great graphics. At this stage in my life, I'm not looking for any deep meaningful messages in my movies; I just want to be entertained, and I was.

The second thing concerns something that happened while in Hong Kong. Angel wanted to see Macau, and I agreed to go even though I had no real interest. We took the ferry from HK at 11:00 AM, and arrived in Macau at noon. There really isn't much to see, the weather sucked, and neither of us is a gambler. For those reasons, we had lunch, and took the 4:00 PM ferry back to Hong Kong. At immigration, Angel was detained, and taken into a room. I tried to follow, but was told that I couldn't. I was told to just wait. About 20 minutes passed, and I really started getting nervous. Finally, an official who spoke English very well came over to me. He said, "Your friend, did you meet him, er, her in Hong Kong?" I told him that we had come from The Philippines together for an anniversary vacation, and planned to leave the next day. When I said that, his whole demeanor changed. He told me to wait there while he checked. He was back in a couple of a minutes, and said that Angel would be right out. From the questions that were asked of Angel, it seems that the fact that we went there and came back in such a short time raised a flag. Of course, that was coupled with her nationality and ladyboy status. I think they thought that she was a hooker who met me in HK, and persuaded me to take her to Macau for some nefarious purpose, most likely smuggling. Once they found out that we were a couple, everything changed. One happy note: while Angel was being detained, a female official lowered her voice, pointed to the M gender designation on her passport, and said, "Are you really ...?" (meaning "masculine gender"). The fact that she had to ask really cheered Angel.

[jayarr]

Hong Kong was nice? I always heard it's real smog-y

[Macman]

It's a great city, jayarr. Yes, it is a bit smoggy, but that's offset by everything else. It's a must-see as far as I'm concerned. I went to Dan Ryan's Chicago Grill twice and had their 16-ounce, 3-inch sirloin steak, baked potato and apple pie a la mode. OMG. My mouth is watering thinking of it. It made it a little tough to be back here where I can't get anything like that.

[Macman]

Well, we got back from Hong Kong. We landed in Cebu shortly after 4:00 AM Wednesday morning, got our luggage, and took a taxi to the pier to catch the SuperCat. Unfortunately for us, because of typhoon Ramon, all trips by water had been cancelled. We were forced to grab a hotel in Cebu and stay overnight. We weren't able to get out until late Thursday afternoon.
Hong Kong is just so damn fascinating. So clean, so modern, and so safe. I must admit that it was a little difficult returning to my town after that. Oh, well. What we do for love.
BTW, while stranded in Cebu, I went to see "Real Steel". Great flick.

[thailover57]

The trailers didn't interest me about Real Steel. It was good Mac? And by the way, great to have you back.

[Macman]

TL57, I never watch trailers because i feel that they give away too much. When I saw the mock-up of the robot in the theater, I thought, "Oh, shit, another 'Transformers'." I went because we had to kill time, there wasn't much else playing that fit our time frame (we had a ferry to catch), and I like Hugh Jackman. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Not at all what I expected. I'm not saying that it's Academy Award material, but an enjoyable experience.
Oh, and thanks for the "welcome back". I didn't think anyone would find me back here. Kliome did the right thing though; this is where my thread belongs because I don't write about the LB scene, as you know. It feels funny to be called an "expat", but I guess that's what I am. The reason it sounds strange to me is that I didn't think or plan to leave the U.S. and live elsewhere. It's just that this is where Angel lives, and unfortunately we probably can't go anywhere else.