Falling in love with Paris (and Rio)

Official Paris Je T’aime Trailer

One of several DVDs I picked up on the street in Bangkok was this one, “Paris Je’taime” – a collection of 18 short, quirky love stories set in different locations around the French capital.

Now that I’m back home, and back at work, I was in the mood to relive my trip and put it on. (The fact that the first several minutes were in Thai -until I figured out the audio – just made it even better…)

But the film itself, rather unexpectdly, turned out to be really great; and a perfect souvenir of Paris. I was amazed how many of the places in it I had visited. One of its themes is how people all over the world react to Paris; Latin American domestic workers, African refugees, American tourists, artists and dreamers. There are stories by directors from Mexico (Alfonso Cuaron), Japan (Suwa Nobuhiro – don’t know him), Brazil (Walter Salles), Germany, Italy and Australia (Christopher Doyle).

My favorite stories were Gus Van Sant’s cute gay encounter in Le Marais, Maggie Gyllenhaal as a stoned American actress in a segment by Olivier Assayas, and Natalie Portman in a sweet, little montaged love story directed by Tom Twykner (who did “Run Lola Run”).  But the best piece – both funny and sad – was the last one, from the director of the Reese Witherspoon flick “Election”. It is about a middleaged tourist from Denver, and it is pitch perfect. I’ve watched it three times.

Indeed the film was so successful that it spawned a series – a sequel “New York, I Love You” has already been released, as well as a suspiciously similar (but markedly less successful) knockoff, “Tokyo”.

And next up? The 2011 release of something that could prove really special; a loveletter to the first city I ever fell in love with, “Rio, Eu Te Amo”.

The city lends itself perfectly to the project and two topflight directors have already signed on, Fernando Meirelles of “City of God”, “The Constant Gardener” and “Blindness” and Jose Padilha of the hardhitting social-realist crime dramas “Bus 174″ and “Tropa Elite”.

A website is already up featuring vox pops  (in Portuguese) with people on the streets of Rio talking about what they love about their hometown.

Seoul floats towards the future

Seoul has started its reign as 2010’s new “World Capital of Design” – a title bestowed by an international union of industrial design associations.  The city will be celebrating with a “design Olympiad”, design festivals, an ice sculpture exhibition and a pop-up Prada store in the grounds of the Gyeongbokggung Palace, among other things.

It is fitting recognition for a city that has been quietly evolving from an Asian also-ran into a centre for urban style; since I lived there (a million years ago) the city has already plated its Galleria Department Store with luminous, ever-changing LED screens;

Built the world’s fifth largest museum (the new national Museum of Korea, and a new Leeum contemporary art centre with each wing by a star architect, like Jean Nouvel and Rem Koolhaas;

Buildings like the concrete and moss boutique for Belgian designer Ann Demeulemeester:

With the Samsung “Wave” building now under construction.

And most spectacularly, the city has resurrected a stream long buried under a freeway as a wildly popular symbol for everything from environmentalism to anti-Japanese national pride. The 900 million dollar Cheonggyecheon Stream restoration project has proved so wildly popular that ideas were even floated by the mayor Seoul and national presidential hopeful to replicate it on a national scale by constructing a new canal the length of the whole country (an idea that makes little economic sense and has dire environmental implications, if you ask me).

And having now renovated the stream, the city is turning its attention to its most magnificent waterway, the Hanggang river which snakes majestically through the city. This week a buoyant concrete shell was towed into place, soon to be transformed into one of  three floating islands  moored in the river, housing parks, theatres and leisure facilities, and manga-tastically named “Viva”, “Vista” and  ”Terra”.

But even this will be topped by the kooky green spires of the Seoul Commune 2026 project where 50-storey plant covered gourd-shaped towers will sprout over the city’s Southern bank.

Another similarly designed complex will also be built 35 km to the South at Gwanggyo.

Its quite an impressive performance by anyone’s standards, and even more so when you consider that the city has eschewed the “biggest, tallest” developments of Shanghai or Dubai ( plans for the long-promised world’s tallest skyscraper in my old neighborhood, Jamsil, have been scrapped). Instead the city is focusing on projects to boost the city’s liveability and green credentials; firmly rooted though still with undeniable flair. Seoul should be a  - judging from these pictures -a pretty green, curvy and interesting place – in 20 years!

Astute investment!

I was stunned, but happy, to see the painting I bought last year (and which now sits in my little apartment) featured in the current issue of DNA magazine, on an article on new Japanese gay art. Awesome

Its called “Pink Weekend” by Masahiro Yamanaka.

Weekend report

After the first week of school, I was ready for my first weekend of the year; Malaysian curry and an “ice kacang” dessert of crushed ice, sweet beans, syrup and err, corn at a Malaysian restaurant in Chinatown while Hare Krishnas twirled outside with Alex, Hitomi and Rita; then on to the suspended tropical oasis on the roof of the Carlton Hotel, a lush courtyard of palm trees and bouganvilleas on the roof of a Victorian pub (shame the weather didn’t live up to the tropical theme). Maria came along, and another, hilarious Japanese girl. I was supposed to be going to an S&M “pansexual club” where a friend was DJing, but ended up heading home.

The next day  (now sunny and hot) I had a long lazy lunch in the ‘burbs with mum, Alex, Hitomi and family friends, then a Thai dinner and an argument over the meaning of art and the “oversexualization” of the gay community with Eric (and Dave and Brendan) on Victoria Street. And I finished up the night at the Peel where I met another Japanese guy called Taka as well as a guy from Mexico, and Keita and Einar dropped by.

And now, Sunday, back in Kton, cleaning up the house and doing some corrections in the sunshine before the week starts again. A nice weekend.

I’ve spent more than I wanted to though, mostly on things I didn’t really need:

a jacket for the rooftop courtyard at the Carlton (it was cold on Friday night!) $45

a photobook of my favorite Korean idol band, Big Bang $35

a crappy Israeli movie which got strangely enthusiastic reviews $30

a book (because I couldn’t be bothered for the library’s copy to get returned) $30

Next weekend, just the bare essentials!

New, random, fun: Chinza Dopeness

Chinza Dopeness is a Japanese underground rapper who(m) I happened upon while boredly surfing the net (I followed a link on Japanese iTunes and then checked him out on Youtube). He has a great ear for melody if this odd, synthetic reggae Summer-tastic song is anything to go by:

鎮座DOPENESSの｢MOGU MOGU｣ by EVISBEATS

And even more than that, he has a charmingly off-the-wall sense of humour that shines through in in his video clips, his album art and his wonderful website here. He is like a Japanese Dave Chapelle (he even looks like him) but to me at least, funnier. Its a very “Japanese” sense of humour;and Japanese humour hasn’t always appealed to me I must say (it can easily seem childish to Western sensibilities) but here, it just seems nicely surreal, eg the office lady dancing girls who instantaneously morph into bump n grind video hos in the video below. And I laughed out loud at the very end.

Here is his album:

I love it.

and …

乾杯-鎮座DOPENESS

Lady Gaga eat your heart out

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Hong Kong pop stars are the best dressed people on this planet.

Local scandal

Glenferrie Road, the shopping strip near my mum’s Melbourne home, has been steadily going up in the world. In addition to the usual supermarkets, bakeries and McDonalds that I remember as a child, and the bourgeois-bohemian Melbourne stronghold that is “Readings” bookstore, it now boasts a Thai DVD store and several bustling Asian grocers, a string of pricey boutiques, a nightclub where people like Felix da Housecat sometimes play and some top of the line $7 for a cup-of-siphoned-coffee cafes. One of which was Cafe Vamp, a place I only stumbled into once; drawn by the arty ambience and exceedingly attractive tattooed waiters in black T-shirts. But it seems this funkified face of the “new Glenferrie Road” had a dark side. I noticed in the paper this week that four of its waiters, and its owner have been charged with bullying and harrassment after a 19 year old waiter there committed suicide, jumping off the fourth floor of a carpark. She had been the victim of a concerted campaign of harrassment and the cafe owner and some employees were found to be partly culpable. I wonder if she was the one who served me coffee that day? I won’t be going back there again.

There’s no place like home

So, I’m back. It might be reasonable to assume that after a 6 week honeymoon oddyssey through Europe and Asia it would be depressing to be stuck back in my little Outback town alone, but actually I’m quite enjoying it. I had  a great time; and I was ready to come back. I miss Daisuke of course, but then, he was super-busy when I was with him. And true – I’m a bit worried about the start of work tomorrow, I didn’t do nearly enough preparation. But still, its summer; the skies have been hot and blue, I caught up with some friends – Hitomi is here from Tokyo!- , the trees on the streets are covered in pink flowers, and hopefully I’ll be seeing Daisuke in Hong Kong for Easter (well maybe, gotta check airfares), only eight weeks away. Time to settle in, back to the old slow-paced life after airports, and snowstorms and buzzing cities. Time to focus on work, and chill out in my little small town apartment. Its kinda nice to be home.

World music: musical memories from the trip

Teutonic soul:

Joy Denalane – Höchste Zeit (Live)

I spent New Years Eve chatting with the bassist (?) from this band at a dinner party with Antje’s friends in Prenzlauer Berg:

Brockdorff Klang Labor – Breakfast for Cyborgs

But this is still my favorite German clip of all:

Deichkind – Luftbahn

Paris

France’s ultimate sexually-ambiguous geek-chic superstar, Christophe Willem, winner of TV show “Star Academy”. He duets with Kylie on his new album, but this is the single:

Christophe Willem – Heartbox – CLIP OFFICIEL

Brigitte bardot tribute

And from one-time Melbourne girl, Ladyhawke:

Ladyhawke – Paris Is Burning

London Calling

“The Very Best” are a perfect example of London’s ability to mix and match, or rather to watch helplessly as its disparate elements collide; its made up of a couple of electronic music producers who hooked up with Malawian singer Esau Mwamwaya when they tried to sell him a used bike, and ended up with a hot, contemporary African-dance record instead. I bought it at the famous”Rough Trade Records” off Portobello Rd.

The Very Best – Julia

Thai style

I already had this song on my iPod after a bit of preliminary Youtube surfing, and it became my private Bangkok anthem (although the malls and taxis blaring out snatches of all favorite Korean songs was fun too, K-Pop is HUGE there). But one of my favorite moments was the shock of recognition at a discount shopping mall in a working-class outer suburb, when I heard this blasted from the local pirated CD stall:

“แค่บอกว่ารักเธอ” – Mee Pooh

And this was my new discovery. I love the liberal appearances of the Thai flag at his low-budget gay glam rave:

Never gonna leave u behind – Gene Kasidit

Hello …

Getting to know Kuala Lumpur

Kuala Lumpur is a bit of an underrated city. Its airport is the hub to SouthEast Asia’s own Easyjet-style budget carrier, Air Asia, making it an increasingly important transport hub. Yet for many travellers, myself included, it has been easy to treat the city as an airport lounge, a stepping stone to the allure of Bangkok to the North, or Singapore just a few hours South.

Which is unfair because KL is itself a complex and colourful city. It is the centre of all economic and political power in Malaysia, peopled sometimes uneasily by its three races; the Malay Muslims who dominate politics and enjoy special, apartheid-like priveleges, the wealthier ethnic Chinese who make up a full forty percent of the population, and a ten percent minority of Indians, mostly dark-skinned Tamils from the South. All of these groups have left their mark on the city; from the vibrant, flower-garlanded streets of Brickfields (an Indian area) with its screaming Bollywood posters (like the one above) and  brilliant saris, to the pastel-colored headscarves favored by Malay women that dot the city crowds, to the blaring of Cantopop hits and the aroma of egg noodles cooking in Chinatown.

It is an increasingly prosperous, forward looking place; a city of mosques and freeways; skyscrapers; extravagant new suburban developments; monorails – but it is still gritty inplaces, a bit rough around the edges. And all this wrapped up in a mostly English-speaking package.

In fact of the three major South East Asian capitals (I’ve not been to Jakarta) I would place Bangkok first for travellers, then KL and then Singapore (which is not to dismiss Singapore, I think that can be a fun city too). But Kuala Lumpur still has a bit more character, its not quite as polished as Singapore – nor as chaotic as Bangkok.

Old and new

For most budget travellers the main target in KL is the city’s Chinatown, a still grungy and vibrant quarter of old colonial shophouses, sooty 1970s blocks, markets, laneways and hostels. The main street, Jalan Petaling, has been tarted up for tourists to the point of being inauthentic, but just around the corner there are warren-like little alleyways and the kind of no-frills, plastic and concrete outdoor foodcourts seemingly favoured by Chinese everywhere. Although it is (surprise, surprise) predominately Chinese, the area is also home to several riotous Indian temples and even more interesting a small Chitty community; a group of people born of intermarriage between Malays and Indians with a Creole culture mixing elements of the two, much as the better known Peranakan, or Nonya people, have done with Chinese and Malay cultures.

But as is so characteristic (and thrilling) of Southeast Asia, a short walk will take you out of the heart of the old Chinatown to a monorail station by a gaudy temple, and you can be whisked away straight into the heart of modern KL – Bukit Bintang, Malaysia’s pocket Shibuya (and Roppongi,combined) or a tamer, toned down version of Bangkok’s Silom. Here there are traffic jams all night, brightly lit bars (and shady sidestreets), luxury hotels and illuminated signs in Arabic for the Persian Gulf tourists the city attracts, and leafy green streets where the international expat community dwells in expensive condos and dines in cute little cafes.

Malaysian street art

Modern minarets

One of the most interesting facets of KL was in its role as a dynamic centre for modern Islamic architecture. It started with the British who built bizarre, Moghul inspired turreted train stations and post offices.

And then when Malaysia became independent in the 1960s it asserted its identity with a new national mosque; a still-beautiful oasis of airy colonades, and modern lines.

Then in the 1980s and 90s, when Malaysia flourished as the super-capitalist, pro-Western, pluralistic face of Islamic modernism, KL blossomed with towers like the minaret-inspired Petronas twins and my favourite buildings, the stunning Dayabhumi Centre, like an Arabic folded screen in concrete.

Its just beautiful.