Nothing Taboo About (PG Rating -Not For Kids)

October 7, 2013 Leave a comment

With all the publicity and talks claiming this to be one of the world’s most sensational and most provocative shows, “Taboo” didn’t lived up to my expectation. In fact, I thought Taboo was mild, unimaginative and poorly-choreographed. It promised to bring the audience to a different level of secret fantasies, it didn’t even stir my heart by a beat. Despite the close proximity between me and the performers (I bought the VIP seating and sat right beside the stage), there was simply no connection to my senses.

Visually, Taboo got everything right – women in body-hugging leather suits, G-strings and see-through wet coats, men on heels and tight under wears. These performers were good looking and had good athletic bodies. What let me down was the the content. I felt Taboo was a little too savage, rough, unrealistic and acrobatic. I thought I was watching a mild version of Lady Gaga concert and Cirque du Soleil.

Most acts didn’t appeal to me. There was a topless female dancer soaked in thick chocolate fluid, an acrobatic couple performing steamy wet stunts in a transparent bathtub, and an SM Nazi-looking routine. Out of the entire show, I only enjoyed 2 acts – the very booblicious and sexy sword-swallowing girl (she was one of the key highlights of the show) and the amazing pole dancing queen.

My verdict: there was nothing Taboo, sensual or even arty that can trigger any fantasy inside me. Nor the any of the acts were stunningly memorable. I guess director Franco Dragone lost his art here. There wasn’t even one climax moment, the acts were poorly paced, too hyper, upbeat and disconnected. The performers were smiling too much. There were too much singing (song choice was wrong too) and synchronized pop dance routines. At one point, I thought I was watching the return of the Backstreet Boys and Spice Girls.

Throughout the show, the performers tired their best to integrate their acts with the VIP audience. In the dark, the performers sneaked up behind the clueless audience and made small contact. They walked from table-top to table-top and danced around the VIP tables. I don’t think the tease went well. It was more comical than seductive. A couple of times, the female performer ran her fingers into my hair, tried removing my tee-shirt while 2 other guy performers lap-danced another female audience, planted a hard kiss on her cheek and thrusted his crotch right at her face in a very suggestive manner.

Please note that my review here may be very subjective. These performers are very talented and beautiful. For a cabaret, it scored high for entertainment and visual treatment. But i won’t sell this as “Taboo”. It is too misleading. Not worth for MOP1,000/ticket. Perhaps it will be good if they spilt the show into 2 groups: Taboo for Men and Taboo for Women. At least, they can customize the right content to appeal the specific gender. This show is too unisex and general for now.

I guess I see eroticism and sensuality very differently. I don’t mean the crude way. Or maybe I just could not connect with the Caucasian performers. Maybe I am more attracted to the Asian faces. It could be a personal taste and preference. If this is positioned as THE “Show of Secret Fantasies”, I personally expect and prefer the slow, dark, luring, dangerous, sensual, dim, smooth seduction. While the hot steamy bathroom scene does set the right mood but not the SM savage quickies and those 50 shades of grey.

Yes, spanking is not sexy for me. It reminds me of the corporal punishment in Singapore.

Filed under Cool Stuffs, Jo's Thoughts, Life in Hong Kong

Teleported to Magical Dragon’s Treasure (Macau City of Dreams)

October 7, 2013 2 Comments

With more than 6 hours to spare before our show, Taboo, I decided to visit the Panda Park in Macau. Tracy and I decided to take the local bus as it was difficult to get a cab during the Chinese Golden Week. Unfortunately, that was the wrongest decision we made that day. We missed our bus stop and alighted at some remote location of Macau. Unable to get a cab, we ended up walking 2km back to City of Dreams.

Since we had no fate with the pandas, we decided to catch the award-winning 360° “Dragon’s Treasure” show at City of Dreams Bubble Theatre. We paid MOP$50 each (Free ticket for every MOP$200 spent at City of Dreams). We entered one of the world’s largest projection dome theatres (measuring 27m tall, 40m wide) and it was free standing format so audience can walk freely to watch the 360° projection show.


It was a very entertaining and unexceptional 3D projection show! Fantastic audio and visual effects! Throughout the 18-min show, the audience were teleported to different magical worlds of dragons. Worth every cent and expect 100% multi-sensory experience! A must visit for all new visitors to Macau.

Filed under Cool Stuffs, Life in Hong Kong, Travel

Spirited Away at the City of Sadness – Jiufen, Taipei

October 2, 2013 4 Comments

I cannot remember when was the last time I visited Taipei. Or what brought me there. It is good that I keep a blog. Within seconds, I got my answer. My last Taipei trip was almost 3 years ago – with Hovman! (It was the day Mrs Lee Kuan Yew passed away). Instead of switching screen to continue writing this new post, I spent 1 hour browsing the old blogs of 2010. Time flew so quickly and it was only when I read the old blogs, I realised so many major life episodes happened since my last Taipei visit.

There have been many small changes around in Taipei. The airport had completed its new facelift less than 2 years ago. I thought I arrived at a different new terminal. New Taipei taxis are equipped with multiple innovative external cameras that alert drivers of potential “blind spots dangers”. Newer and bigger condominiums sprouted along the streets. The city seems greener and cleaner without the massive road construction blockage of 2010.

3 years seem like a long time. I couldn’t remember some of my favorite dining haunts. By sheer luck, I managed to find my way back to one of the first fancy restaurants I visited back in 2007 – The Herbs Villa. The night markets (通化街夜市 & 士林夜市) and Ximending (西門町) remain the same. Most of the major malls (Sogo, Eslite, Bookstore, Taipei 101) stay unchanged too. With only 2 short days, I decided to visit a couple of places that I have never visited.

First stop, I made my way to the top of Taipei 101. I wanted to experience the “Ferrari” of all elevators (world’s fastest elevator at Taipei 101) and to capture the sunset view of Taipei city. I arrived at the tower 30 minutes before dusk. Unfortunately, my journey up to the top deck was delayed by a long queue of Chinese tourists! It only took the world’s fastest elevator 37 seconds 382m up to the 89th storey but it took me 45 minutes to clear the 50m queue. In the end, I didn’t get my sunset and the rain clouds blocked most of the good views. What a pity.

The next day, I booked a “Spirited Away” tour to visit a northern coastal town of Taiwan – Jiufen (九份). I have no luck with the weather. Despite sunny blue sky weather in Taipei, it was stormy wet at Jiufen. I had lots of expectation of this place. It was an old gold town littered with rich Japanese and Taiwanese history. It was said that the enchanted town in animation “Spirited Away” was inspired by the meandering Japanese and Chinese-styled buildings of Jiufen.  It did strike a close resemblance of the animation except the lanes were cluttered with bargain-hunting tourists. I wished I have more time to explore this place at dusk when there will be much lesser crowd. This place was full of characters with lots interesting shops and different local delicacies to try. Jiufen was the venue where the award-winning (Venice Golden Lion Winner) film “A City of Sadness” (悲情城市) was shot. Given the history and setting of this place, on second thought, the rain and mist set a very nice ambience for my first visit to this “city of sadness”. (Thanks Brandon for reminding me that!)

Strange but true – this was my 8th trip to Taipei but the first time I explored the “rustic sites” outside city (excluding my past trips to Taichung, Kaohsiung and Kenting). I will be making more frequent trips back to Taipei in 2014 (since it is only an hour away from Hong Kong) to explore the northern and western towns of Taiwan. Accommodation and food are fantastic and value-for-money. Best of all, Taiwanese are extremely friendly, chatty, honest and warm.

Filed under Life in Hong Kong, Travel

Gareth’s Farewell Dinner at Hong Kong’s Shun Kee Floating Restaurant

September 24, 2013 Leave a comment

CNN headlined this place as Hong Kong’s most buoyant dinner and The Guardian Post rated it as one of the top 10 seafood restaurants in Hong Kong. Thanks to Chowpo’s recommendation, we celebrated Gareth’s farewell dinner at one of the most unusual dining spots in Hong Kong! Extinct for more than a decade and returned in 2011, Shun Kee Floating Restaurant offers an authentic and rustic dining experience! Best of all, it serves great tasty sumptuous seafood! Even the most picky and harshest food critic like Gareth, enjoyed the dishes.

Hidden at the Causeway Bay Typhoon Shelter, we took an underground tunnel below Excelsior hotel to the pier. A cluster of tiny floating dining boats were docked less than 20m away from the pier. Each boat can carry up to 12 diners. There is no need to share boat with different people so you get complete privacy with your guests. There is a minimum spending of HKD1080/boat for a set dinner for 2 and it can easily triple up to a few couple thousands for a bigger group. Diners must make reservation before coming as there are limited boats.

While at the pier, we waited for our own exclusive dining boat. 2 boat-women rowed the boat by the pier and we were seated on the dinning table. The boat-women rowed our boat to the floating kitchen where all the other dining boats were tied to. There, we met the chefs and watched them in action! Surprisingly, the boat wasn’t rocking or swaying too badly. The only time when the boat swayed violently was when I walked around to take photos of the surrounding. The dining boat offered a great view of Victoria Harbour. Breezy, dim and quiet, we had a great time on the boat. I had a great time watching the chefs in action on the floating kitchen and saw how the waitresses served the dishes crossing from boat to boat.

The verdict? If you do not suffer from any sea-sickness and a seafood lover, I would strongly recommend you to try out at this unique rustic floating restaurant! Forget about the touristic, not-so-authentic and pricy Jumbo Floating Palace at Aberdeen, Shun Kee’s seafoods are just so irresistible fresh and tasty. You must certainly try its iconic dish, the 避风塘 crabs! I bet this blog is going to generate lots of dinner requests from my friends and families! Yes, as long as you treat me, I am always happy to bring you there and be your best dining photographer!

Phone reservation: +852 8112 0075 (Cash only). Website: http://www.shunkeeseafood.com/

Filed under Cool Stuffs, Life in Hong Kong, Travel, Wahbiang

Brother 风 is here again!

September 22, 2013 Leave a comment

3 times cannot be simply mere coincidence. For that, I must say my Brother 风 (Gareth) is jinxed. The first time he arrived in August 2008, he brought his typhoon (No.9) girlfriend “Nuri” with him. The second time he returned in April 2010, he brought thick fog that blanketed the whole of Hong Kong. This Mid Autumn weekend, he returned with a big bad bunny – Typhoon Usagi (means Rabbit in Japanese).

Thanks to my jinxed brother who thwarted my perfect plan, we have to cut short our weekend holidays to returned to Hong Kong. My last flood crisis in Guangdong cities was terrifying and I do not wish to repeat the same terrible experience. We managed to catch the early train back to Hong Kong this morning to avoid the flood. Thankfully, we made the wisest choice. Super Typhoon Usagi is the largest storm in 34 years.

The Typhoon 8 signal was hoisted at 7pm. Since we were all being house-arrest, I dragged Brother 风 out to get a feel of this “money-cannot-buy” experience. Armed with 2 weak umbrellas, we braved the streets and piers to “catch the wind”. Honestly, the typhoon wasn’t so strong. At 8pm, the streets and IFC Airport Express were eerily empty, it was like walking in Zombie Land. We weren’t the only crazy ones on the streets. We saw many photographers and tourists at the edge of Victoria Harbour, enjoying this unique experience.

Filed under Life in Hong Kong

Under the full moon with Jay Chou

September 20, 2013 Leave a comment

Last evening, I spent Mid Autumn Festival with a couple special people – Tracy, Kelly, Chowpo and a very special idol, Jay Chou. It is Jay’s 6th show (Opus Jay World Tour) at Hong Kong’s Hung Hom Coliseum.

Compared with his last tour in 2011, Jay was a lot chattier last night. He wooed and flirted with the crowd in mostly Cantonese last night. It was a rewarding night for all his old fans. Jay delivered many old hits from his earlier albums. It was like one big karaoke night with Jay.

Despite the raving reviews from Beijing, Singapore and Taiwan, Jay’s vocal performance last night wasn’t his best. I hate to compare his voice with those contenders of China’s singing talent shows but he was not in his usual form. There were a couple of songs when Jay’s couldn’t even delivered smoothly. I believe he was exhausted after performing 5 straight shows. At some point, his voice was squeaking so softly that I couldn’t even hear him. The sound system was bad too. Also, Jay was trying too many roles – he wanted to be seen as a multi-talented artiste but I felt he should focus more on his voice rather than pulling up with new theatrical acts that dilute his talent as a musician. You simply cannot sing, rap, play instruments, act, beat-box and dance well at the same time.

On the positive side, the overall stage design, pyrotechnics and visual effects were good. This is one area where Jay beat the other artistes. The highlight of the night was when Jay sang a duet with the late legendary songstress, Teresa Teng. It was supposed to be an awesome union of 2 legendary singers. Unfortunately, Jay’s vocal let the show down. It was less of a harmonious duet; Jay just couldn’t keep up to the high notes with Teresa. What a pity.

Overall, I had a good time last night. It could have been better. Song after song, Jay triggered back many fond memories. This was certainly not his best performance. Despite this bad review, Jay is doubtlessly a very talented, original and explorative artiste. Afterall, his songs have accompanied me since 2000 and Jay will always be my all-time favourite idol.

Well, no encore for Jay’s concert last night. Nonetheless, this is one very special and memorable Mid Autumn Festival for me.

Filed under Life in Hong Kong, Music

Happy Time, Happy Meals

August 23, 2013 2 Comments

(Photo Taken: Another sinful seduction by McDonalds – Mini Food Magnets, Hong Kong)

Filed under Cool Stuffs, Life in Hong Kong

Aftermath of Typhoon Utor

August 18, 2013 Leave a comment

The delta cities were still blanketed by thick thunderstorm clouds 2 days after Typhoon Utor hit Hong Kong. The heavy downpour flooded many small towns in Guangdong and crippled the railway network. I was on my way to meet my friends in Dongguan when I found myself stranded at the Shenzhen Railway Station. It was chaotic and my train was delayed by 1.5 hours. To make things worst, passengers who were delayed hijacked the coaches. Patience ran thin and I witnessed ugly squabbles inside the cabin.  A group of angry Chinese travelers took their frustrations on a helpless waitress, demanding her to start the train. How absurd I thought, but this is China – when big bullies abuse the weaker ones. Just when I was about to play “hero” to defend the poor waitress, the train started.

When I arrived in Dongguan, I got a shock of my life. The main road outside the railway station was flooded. I couldn’t believe my eyes. Lionnel, Joey and I were just here last week! One car was half-submerged in the murky water. The water was at least a meter deep. The tunnel was completely shut down. There were a couple of damaged cars and tow-truck by the side of the road. I saw the frustrations of the drivers. I guess their cars were completely damaged.

The return trip to Hong Kong was just as bad. Trains were delayed by up to 2 hours. It was chaotic at the train station. People were yelling and pushing around. In the end, I booked a private car to Shenzhen instead. (A normal trip takes about 90 minutes. Yesterday, it took me 4 hours!) This was just a small flood and it crippled the network. The infrastructures and local authorities aren’t prepared at all. Worst of all, the local people – some are just selfish, vicious and ungraceful. I can imagine how chaotic it can be when a big crisis hit town the next time.

Filed under Jo's Thoughts, Life in Hong Kong

Over the Rainbow (Hong Kong)

August 11, 2013 Leave a comment

(Photo taken: IFC, Hong Kong – The biggest and best rainbow I have seen in my life. Simply breath-taking!)

Filed under Cool Stuffs, Life in Hong Kong

Wahbiang is here!

August 11, 2013 Leave a comment

My best friends from Singapore flew in last week! 6 days, 4 adults and 3.3 kids (plus 6 heavy packs of grass jelly from home), we had so much fun together! It was food, food and more food! These Singaporean visitors can really eat, walk and shop! My happiness index went up and so was my weight.

Arrived 3 days earlier before Juliana and family,  Tracy and I greeted Joey and Lionnel (with a little baby inside) at Zhuhai last Saturday. I gave them a “brother-forbidding”, intimate, fulfilling, mind-blowing and stimulating delta-cities tour (Shopping in Zhuhai, circus-watching in Guangzhou and clubbing in Dongguan). 3 days, 3 cities, 3 hotels – it was indeed a crash-course tour for the couple.

On Tuesday, Juliana and Duuk arrived with their princes. The young boys were so captivating and disrupting! It was fun seeing how Juliana and Duuk parenting their 2 active boys. The young kids brought so much joy, noise and mess to the gathering! They are so much fun to be with and I started to miss my boy Elkan at this tender age. It was so comical to see Duuk walking the little boy on a leash along Causeway Bay (the Hongkies gave Duuk that disgusted stare). And not to mention how grumbly and demanding shopper-Juliana can be. Enjoy the instagram moments.

Filed under Life in Hong Kong, Wahbiang

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