Impulse

The air is fresher, the sun gives you tan, the wind gently brushes through your skin, the feeling of alive, the guaranteed front row seat of every spectacular views, the boosted energy and metabolism for the rest of the week. I remember how good it was when I spent most of my life in an office during the week and was only to able see the nature in my day offs. Maybe I just wanted to find peace, I wanted to escape, I wanted that serendipity. Now when I’m as free as I want to be, I found myself not as mentally motivated as I used to be. I have not seen this coming.

My reaction to the early wake-up alarm, the actual morning breakfast (hardly any now) are among those sideline routines I miss the most. Do I still long for these outdoor journeys?

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It’s the coolest thing to buy what’s hip, what’s stylish. Headphones, clothes, cellphones, watches, shoes, bags, jewelries, travel package, I’m guilty as charge on a few items just listed. My longtime chat friend told me recently, he said ‘do not live beyond your means’. It was a bit of a wake up call to myself after shopping here and there for the past 2 months.

It’s such an irony when I look at some of my self-portrait, I discovered I’d been wearing the same hike ‘uniform’ for more than a year now. Even my shoes have shown serious wear on the sole. This is what needed to be replaced soon rather than a couple other new shirts which they would likely be hung than worn (mostly because of the warm weather here). A very typical of me.

Care and Respect

Just before the Chinese New Year, I was able to have exclusive look of a volunteer haircut service. I was invited by the initiator of a volunteer haircut team – Martin Lam. He was featured on The Loop HK and i was honored to meet this gentleman again few months after the interview. His appearance clearly tells part of his story and maybe just a visual aid to his profession, his action is what forges him.

I met up with Martin and his team at 8:30am. Shortly after a quick morning bite, we headed to a community center for elderly in Chuk Yuen, Kowloon. It’s an public estate that has been around for a very long time. It’s no surprise to see the aged population here.

Everyone gets their hair cut just before the Chinese New Year. To the elders, it might not be an easy task for them. The purpose of this volunteer haircuts was clear. So the elders could celebrate the Year of the Monkey and re-uniting with families and friends. I later learned that I was the first photographer to document their volunteer work.

The entire service had undergone for 90 minutes with no overrun. With 16 hairdressers, they had to complete 118 haircuts. It sounded like a Guinness achievement to me. Not only that was the first time i see the leader Martin with a pair of scissors, i was even more surprised that he’s doing the human resources and administrative work for the team. That had finally shown me the keen side of his volunteer work.

All of the hairdressers are Martin’s trainees. So not only he’s a full-time hairstylist, organize volunteer haircuts, but also teaches haircutting.

‘It feels good when we’re able to help people. We’re giving back to the society with our hands. It’s a contribution.’ – I think just like what Martin had told me before: Our little self, can make a difference already when we’re taking action.

While I was photographing at the facility, I was also questioning myself if I was doing any good for the elders too. I was not directly helping, except a few ‘watch out, slowly, careful, you look great, goodbye’ I called out.

They’d shown us the utmost satisfaction and happiness like nothing I’ve experience in this world. A smile on their face meant so much. I just couldn’t help but to brush the hair off their coats, and give them New Year blessings as well. I believe that’s the essential part of our life. To help each other out.

There was one elder that was born in 1917 and still in very good spirit. She must have seen how this world has changed. I cannot imagine if there would be anyone care about me when i’m her age.

Care about the person, respect their lives,. I concur that money does very little or no good when it’s their age without the proper care and respect.

Morph With Me

I was recently helping out GuavaPass to get down some photos for their Green Morph Campaign. They give out 1-week free access pass to fitness studios in town. It was one of the craziest ideas to perform, promote or just even walk around anywhere with that green suit. They’ve chosen the busiest lunch hours for the entire act. I must give them thumbs up. These two ladies dressed up in green had made it so easy and yet entertaining. It’s not something we local Hong Kongese would dare trying. It’s why Hong Kong is still great, full of diversity.

It was quite a social experiment for me to see how the pedestrians react. I saw smiling faces, shocking faces, lots of cellphone photo taking. We’ve got everyone’s attention.

Besides the yoga poses at the traffic crossings, how about posing by the British artist Antony Gormley’s naked man statues in town. We’ve also bumped into two food delivery company muscats – a kangaroo and a panda. We were everywhere from the ground level down to subway station, come back up to shopping malls.

This was my first time doing a shoot side by side with a videographer. I had no idea who he was until we spoke at the last stretch of the shoot. I learned that he shoots videos/stills for living, he’s also a short film maker/director and one of the team members of a rooftopping group – Exthetics. Their extreme rooftop footprints can be found on their instagrams too. So breathtaking!