ZHONG GUO REN

I know it’s just a rip-off of jackass, but seeing this at 2 in the morning makes me homesick. The escalators are in the same neighborhood as where I live in Hong Kong.

I went to Chinatown and picked up some DVDs for cheap. The images in Hero still look stunning on my dinky little TV.

The storyline of Infernal Affairs 3 made more sense this 2nd time watching it, but compared to the original, it’s just not as good. Maybe it’s because they didn’t get Christopher Doyle again as their visual consultant.

I also picked up Leaving me loving you on VCD (it’s cheap). I got it because it’s supposed to be really beautifully shot, it’s a movie that will make you fall in love with Shanghai. I’ve never been to Shanghai, so I bought it to see how it looks like.

Verdict: The cinematography is only so-so, and it didn’t change my perception of Shanghai at all. I’m a fan of Wong Faye, but just like Okinawa Rendez-vous (oh, seeing that movie was a horrible date experience!), it’s just fluff. She was excellent in Chungking Express and she’s also in 2046, which Wong Kar Wai has been making for years. Hopefully it’ll be good.

Picked up another Chinese movie: Spring Subway. I’m not done with it yet, but this movie makes Beijing look good

. In reality, it’s all smoggy and nasty, with all the pollution from the factories and the sandstorms from the Gobi desert, but so far, the movie feels very modern and polished. They call this the “sixth generation” of Chinese cinema. Zhang Yimou (from Hero) is the “fifth generation”. I don’t know of any other directors from the previous generations.

I went to the Asian Supermarket with my Korean friend Jinn this afternoon. I learned that the word for flower in Korean is goht

— what a harsh sounding language!

I bought tons of ramen — I grew up with Damae Itcho and that’s why I go all the way to the Chinese store to get them. They’re nothing special, but I just like them.

Jinn, like Deanna before him, wouldn’t believe me that adding cheese to your ramen is not gross

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