No, I will not be watching the Sochi Winter Olympics.

At the same time, I am in support of the Canadian team, the Men’s Hockey Team in general, because of national pride. In addition, Roberto Luongo is the reason why I got into ice hockey, thanks to the Vancouver Winter Olympics that happened four years ago. Luongo is the reason why I started becoming an ardent supporter of the Vancouver Canucks, despite how badly they screwed themselves over during that final match with the Boston Bruins (I’m shaking my fist at you Stanley Cup rioters).

However, given Russia’s medieval crackdown on LGBT pride, a backwards step in the light of human rights today, a giant slap in the face and transgression of the Olympic Charter, where, as I shall quote:

“The practice of sport is a human right. Every individual must have the possibility of practicing sport, without discrimination of any kind and in the Olympic spirit, which requires mutual understanding with a spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play.”

This inequality really has to stop. Nobody have to live in fear of persecution, expulsion, and being beaten up in broad daylight due to their sexual orientation. Furthermore, I applaud Google’s means of protest by showing its prideful colours of the Olympics as an “Olympic Charter” Google doodle on its front page. Check in a day or two, and the doodle would probably be uploaded here.

I will not be watching the Sochi Winter Olympics.

An Accidental Time Capsule

It has been four to five years since I came across the stuff that has been packed up. From what I’ve heard, several rooms in my Hong Kong home underwent a restructuring of purposes and propriety. The piano room has become a bedroom for a cousin, and my room became that of my older sister. It is understandable a re-appropriating of space is inevitable with regards to living in one of the densest priciest real estate lands in the world, courtesy of Hong Kong. My temporary leave of Hong Kong to study in Vancouver serves as further reason for the transformation. With the transformation of space, items and trinkets that belonged to me had been packed up in a small box during my stated absence, relegated to a store room. I did come back to Hong Kong during a summer and two, and a winter, but I had forgotten about them already. It was not until the store room underwent a process of stated re-appropriation as my bedroom that my box of stuff was brought to me. The nostalgia of stuff from my childhood, the things that I owned, brought a slight tear to my eyes.

Wikitionary quotes a time capsule as “A sealed container, buried at some location, that contains records of contemporary life – to be rediscovered in the distant future.” I think the box served as a mini time capsule in terms of duration with respect to the definition of “distant future”. It was buried amongst the countless boxes and carton containers within the store room. I wouldn’t say that my goods are of some grandiose scheme, of some gigantic influence in terms of “records of contemporary life”, but the box contains significant interests of mine 5 years ago and more.

I have unfortunately thrown away many of the Pokemon cards that I owned, realizing that my interest in the cards was short-lived, and that I did not have the satisfaction that I once thought I would have owned. On the other hand, I kept my GBA and Gameboy game paks and unofficial multicarts containing my Pokemon games, though I doubt the save files would still exist after all these years. There were some old exercise books from my high school years that got mixed into the bunch, and an old Ricoh and Polaroid iZone camera, hopefully containing more images of bygone years. Oh, and sketchbooks containing pretty horribly drawn anthropomorphic characters, their postures haphazard. Eh….some things are best kept closed into the box until I forget about them. I know it is quite the chronological cycle, but sometimes, some sleeping dogs should lie.

Re: The Urban Transformation of Kwun Tong

-Hey Vincent, why have you gone on a hiatus from writing in this blog? Oh, due to work? Well, that’s understandable, but-

Hey wait, I haven’t explained myself yet. Sure, I’m busy-

-See what I mean?

Let me explain myself. I’m busy with work, that is true. However, I’ve also been seized by sights and sounds of the my neighbourhood’s workplace. The industrial district of Kwun Tong was transformed over the past decades, the once bustling factories now abandoned and neglected as workers moved on up to the mainland. Low land values and rents attracted independent artists, green organic merchants, and even rock climbing enthusiasts to name a few to set up space in the vacuous rooms, the term itself ironic in describing Hong Kong. The sliding doors are pushed aside to reveal potential for re-appropriation of space. Need a place to set up a war game? Need a place to learn how to set up a modern art gallery? Look no further than Kwun Tong, as quality doesn’t always have to be on the same increasing relationship as price. Heck, enjoy a decent meal for around $35 HKD (~$5 CDN) while you are at it, as the same meal would probably set you back a $100 HKD in say, Central.

I picked up a brochure the other day, titled “RAD- Leftover City”. RAD stood for Research Architecture Design, its team consisting of, as quoted, “architects, urban planners, interior designers, and media researchers of multinational origin”. The brochure describes Hong Kong as “resilient” and “flexible” in its “urban DNA”, using up all of the available physical left-over space, or “edges”, debunking the stagnant implication of the “Ideal City”. The illustration highlights opportunities for the wide empty lot amongst towering factory buildings. The stagnant city shows a trash heap, the image of waste that the “Ideal City” tries to cover up. Solutions to deal with this “wasted” space includes an area for a party venue rivaling that of Lan Kwai Fong, a water park, or even an artificial nature reserve complete with a man-made waterfall.

Working in Kwun Tong has its merits. I am essentially working in a living museum, a place where every nook and cranny, behind every steel sliding door, reveals “galleries” of independent artists using the potential of relatively inexpensive rents to express their potential and artistic sides, to embrace the progressive aspects of society which has otherwise been defined as compulsive monetary consumption, swanky shopping malls, and glass towers a stone throw away from the factory districts…

A Greener Mid-Autumn Festival

Bringing the Symphony of the Lights from Victoria Harbour to Victoria Park, the “Rising Moon” highlights a sustainable way to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival.

The Mid-Autumn Festival isn’t until the 19th of September, but Victoria Park is already rife with colours. Walking along the sports ground, red, white, and pink lights arranged themselves in a ceiling as people mingle about, taking out their phones and snapping photos up and about. Lanterns in the shapes of classic Hong Kong culture – hawker stands selling food and yum cha delicacies. Thankfully, the hot summer air forgo’d its possession of the night, letting the tourists, local and foreign alike, to mingle and make memories together amongst the mid-autumn festival of lights…

Of all the lanterns being displayed, there is no denying that one2free, a mobile phone company’s “Rising Moon” takes the show. Its hemispherical shape, reminiscent of the Hong Kong Space Museum in Kowloon, is made of reused plastic bottles, its size being of litres and gallons. Best seen at night (obviously), it provides a colourful light show. Doors open at 8pm for visitors to walk in and take pictures of themselves from its interior. I have managed to take a photo of it from afar.

The Rising Moon is a sustainable addition to the Mid-Autumn Festival.

If you are in the Hong Kong area, you should definitely visit Victoria Park and take a walk around within the “Rising Moon” before September 19. Come September 19 is the Mid-Autumn Festival proper, and it will definitely be packed to the brim. Make the most of the nights between now and then and visit Victoria Park now, and celebrate the festival proper at home with mooncakes and finding the lunar rabbit on the moon.

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“A Greener Mid-Autumn Festival” is published on September 16, 2013, which is part of my muses. Read more about Vincent Wong’s work at https://vincentwongwanders.wordpress.com.

Growing up across Kai Tak

Growing up across Kai Tak has harboured many memories from my childhood in Hong Kong.

During my many, many years spent in Hong Kong, I grew up across Kai Tak Airport. The Victoria Bay is what seperates North Point of Hong Kong island, where I stayed, and the airport in Kowloon.

As I am typing this right now, I am back in Hong Kong after my long and enjoyable stay in Vancouver, job hunting away. I take a break to stare across the Bay. The airport has long been gone, and in its replacement, a terminal nearing its final stages of completion, ready to welcome luxuriant cruise ships from around the world. The terminus occupies the at least half of the runway, the very runway that I would stare out of the window of my bedroom as a kid to spectate on the airlines that takes off many years ago.

I remembered taking a bus a year or two ago on the highway overlooking the old airport grounds from the Kowloon side. Hazard lines were still prevalent on the very grounds that they used to serve a purpose. Left weathered by the countless rainstorms and typhoons, they serve as but a distant memory of the good old days.

Soon I will be seeing the joys of passengers embarking and disembarking from their journeys. It may no longer be by air, but the journeys that they modern day Kai Tak will host on the sea will still bring a smile to my face.

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“Growing up across Kai Tak” is published on September 7, 2013, which is part of my muses. Read more about Vincent Wong’s work at https://vincentwongwanders.wordpress.com .

Article Response – Re: Metro Vancouver’s “Al Jazeera aims to shake up U.S. broadcast news”

More journalism – less yelling. The lead of this article provides a spot-on definition of what news is about

According to Joie Chen, U.S. news is driven…to reach the widest audience with the shallowest coverage. Chen once worked as a CNN and CBS news anchor. I personally do not really check out American news – one of the reason being I’m Canadian, I live in Vancouver, and I get Canadian news. Though having said that, I remember the channels that my university dorm offered during my university years had American news channels from Seattle.

But I digress.

When I think of American news, I think of FOX news and CNN. FOX news is simply au contraire to “less opinion, less yelling, and fewer celebrity sightings”. I don’t need to know about Kim Kardashian or Snooki getting in the limelights of the paparazzi. For this point, I’m not singling out American paparazzi news as bull – all paparazzi news are of bull. And I have not forgiven CNN for their racial bashings. By correlative logic if you are going to call Chinese people the same bunch of goons and thugs they were 50 years ago, doesn’t that make the CNN news network’s view on social justice 50 years out of date?

Enough of my rant on the sorry state of American news media today. If I want to watch a sitcom or emotional drama, I’d watch a sitcom or an emotional drama. I prefer learning and being aware to stories that may be ignored and washed under by the irresponsible tides of media power. Al Jazeera’s opening of a branch in America is an overarching saviour reaching to a sinking ship. Less on advertising the latest 99c burger and more on telling news that matter.

Good move, Al Jazeera.

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“Article Response – Re: Metro Vancouver’s “Article Response – Re: Metro Vancouver’s “Al Jazeera aims to shake up U.S. broadcast news”” is published on August 21, 2013, which is part of my muses. Read more about Vincent Wong’s work at https://vincentwongwanders.wordpress.com .

The said news article was posted in the Metro Vancouver Paper on page 7, on August 20, 2013.

Musing: EXP Restaurant + Bar Deserves Replay Value

EXP Restaurant and Bar is a video game culture themed restaurant. From the Triforce Burger to the Red Dead Lemonade, this establishment along West Pender Street is one not to miss.

I’ve just been to EXP Restaurant and Bar earlier this evening with friends. I didn’t want to wait in a long line for the tables, so I decided to come along for an early dinner at 6pm. The first thing that caught my eye was a Street Fighter III arcade machine.

The restaurant was dark, partly because I was wearing my transition lenses glasses. When we were sat down, I started looking around the place. There were TVs everywhere, broadcasting gameplays of Legend of Zelda and Marvel vs Capcom. The waitress dropped by a couple of times to check on us, asking us whether we were ready to order. I had to ask for a bit more time because I was just fascinated with the amount of effort the copywriting team had used to make video game references.

I ordered the Triforce Burger.

According to the menu, the Triforce Burger consists of a burger patty with the triforce seared into it, a fried chicken breast, two slices of bacon, and lettuce on a buttered bun with fries. It filled me right up to the brim. THe fries were amazing. Even though they had cooled when I finished my burger, they retained their crispy crunchy texture instead of going soggy on me.

I would definitely recommend EXP Restaurant and Bar to my friends and future colleagues. If I have any gaming friends coming in from the States, this will be the first location for dinner for them. Great food, great ambience, great theme, and great service. My receipt concludes by proudly exclaiming “Please play again!”

You know what? This restaurant earns a replay value of A+. Although I don’t drink alcohol, go ahead, order some beer, and enjoy eating in video game heaven.

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“Musing: EXP Restaurant + Bar Deserves Replay Value” is published on July 27, 2013, which is part of my muses. Read more about Vincent Wong’s work at https://vincentwongwanders.wordpress.com .

EXP Restaurant and Bar is located at 309 W. Pender Street in Downtown, Vancouver, BC. You can find their official website here.

Responses to Articles – Re: Metro Vancouver’s “This rainbow is here to stay” and “Pope Francis reaches out to gays”

Pride week, rainbow road crossings, the upcoming pride parade, and the Pope’s message of compassion to the gay community. It is a turn for the better in our society.

I have yet to visit the rainbow crosswalks at Davie and Bute in the west end, but as a queer advocate, it is a good spending of the city’s money in where it is geographically known as the heart of the gay village. However, we must remember that the gay village in question is considerably upscale, socially and economically. Even putting the gay village in consideration, I am hesitant to view it as the only gay community in Vancouver. I believe that the rainbow is not just here to stay, but it is also here to be propagated across Vancouver. I believe the advocacy of pride should be spread beyond just the Vancouver area into Burnaby in Richmond, touching and connecting with immigrant LGBT communities, so as to not create a prideful and fabulous community that is hiding the illusion of an elite and exclusive class of gaygeoisie.

I do not identify myself with the (a)theistic terms per se, but having said that, I am in favour of Pope Francis’ recent reaching out to gays, stating “Who am I to judge?”. Although his comments did not signal a change in particular church policies, as the Metro Vancouver article states, it is definitely a step in the right direction. His comment shall gain the support of both Christian LGBTQs and non-Christian, non-atheistic, and non-identified queers such as me.

With all these positive sentiments, it is unfortunate that I shall conclude on a “regrettable” note. It is next to impossible to basically come out as queer, especially to immigrant parents (don’t even get me started on Asian parents and homophobia, it’s an “improper”-in-scare-quotes discussion that will be a separate article of discussion in itself”. I was basically told that it was “improper” of me to attend a pride parade of scantily clad people. I definitely know that if I raise my own kids in the future, I will not allow such discriminatory remarks and family values to hurt my kids in an increasingly accepting society.

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“Responses to Articles – Re: Metro Vancouver’s “This rainbow is here to stay” and “Pope Francis reaches out to gays” was published on July 31, 2013, which is part of my muses. Read more about Vincent Wong’s work at https://vincentwongwanders.wordpress.com .
The said news article was posted in the Metro Vancouver Paper on pages 1 and 5, on July 30, 2013.

Musing: On drawing canine/feline noses

One little thing that has been starting to bother me in terms of anthropomorphic drawings is that nostrils are often missing from canine and feline noses.

I do understand it is for simplicity’s sake, but perhaps I am thinking a bit too much about it. To keep it short, I think it is just unrealistic. It may be somewhat difficult to draw the two indents but that’s what guides are for. Even a pixel or two would make all the difference. Just because the nose is black or of a dark enough colour doesn’t mean you can shirk work from it. Just merely drawing a shiny triangle doesn’t seem right to me.

Am I a professional artist? I hardly think so. Am I an amateur artist? Yes, but not quite. I think I am more of a pro-am artist, leaning a tad bit to the amateur side. There are tutorials out there for one to draw realistically – whether they are for or nonprofit is not a defining variable.

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“Musing: On drawing canine/feline noses” is published on July 27, 2013, which is part of my muses. Read more about Vincent Wong’s work at https://vincentwongwanders.wordpress.com .

Musing: “Room Party: The GAME!”

At first glance, “Room Party: The GAME!” is one of the most wittiest card games ever.

This card game caters best to convention goers. It doesn’t matter if you are a Trekkie or a Furry, so long as you are or have been a con-goer, you’d get the gist of the cards quite easily.

I have attended a couple of conventions in the past, and amidst the basketful of good experiences, there’s bound to be some bad apples of the bunch that elicits awkward scenarios. When you put a whole bunch of eccentric nerdy and geeky folks in a concentrated space, be it the local convention centre or the confines of the hotel room hosting the said convention, positive and negatively embarrassing things are bound to happen.

And this is where the “story” background of “Room Party: The GAME!” comes in. To be short, it’s a card game where 2+ players take turns drawing cards, playing cards that fall into one of four categories: people, item, event, and interrupt. Each card has a + or a – effect. You use the + to make your “party” the best, while using the – cards to sabotage other players’ parties.

Shame I didn’t get to attend Comic-Con, I’m still looking for a job and I’m not going to burn the least of my budget on a flight, hotel, and convention package. I might not be able to contribute monetarily to this project, but hey, if you are interested, help these guys out. Remember my mention of Furries above? That’s going to be their next stretch goal at $15k! The current donation pool stands at $11,430.

You can find more information about this card game at their official website

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“Musing: “Room Party: The GAME!”” is published on July 21, 2013, which is part of my muses. Read more about Vincent Wong’s work at https://vincentwongwanders.wordpress.com .