June 13 In the midst of the worldwide pandemic of the A (H1N1) Disease, off we go to Hongkong braving life and limb (of course I'm exaggerating)...
Richard Poon was invited to sing for the Independence day Celebration of the Philippine Association of Hongkong. And I- as his booking and road manager was given the pleasure of joining him for the event.
Of course, we don't want to left behind with the current fashion trend so we arrived at the Hongkong International Airport in style... Or so we thought.
Here's our pic...
We were escorted at the airport by a young Hongkong airport officer. He told us its not necessary to use the mask cause most people in HK are not into it. So our N95 masks (which were only available in 1 out of 5 Mercury Drugs I went to) officially ended up just for props.
We immediately went to the Mariott Hotel. I would have to admit that was one of the best hotels we ever stayed not only because of the comforts and the service but more so because of the view in the room.
Richard then told me to take pictures of him with the window view as backdrop. So I tried my best to capture the grandeur of the backdrop. Well Richard, being the artist that he is (and as he keeps on reminding me as well... haha) was very meticulous with the pictures that I took... always instructing this angle and that angle etcetera...
Here are some of the shots:
SIDENOTE: I tried my best to rotate the last two pics but unfortunately my knowledge in Macbook did not suffice so please kindly bend your head to the left to enjoy a better view. It should serve as good exercise as well ;)
Now when it was his turn to take my picture, I was actually expecting a lot from his royal "artistness" since he apparently knows a lot in the world of photography... And here's how his shot looked like:
Hmm.. Well look at the headroom... I asked... "Are you taking a picture of the ceiling or what?"
Hehehe time for sweet revenge...
Being a sport that he was he proceeded to take this next picture (in his mind saying "ganun ha"")
The picture was such a travesty. Full of malice and petty revenge... hehehe. And we just laughed it all out.
*************
On the night of the event. The crowd at the Grand Ballroom, Conrad Hotel was full upper class Filipinos ad Foreign businessmen and dignitaries. They seemed to be a very difficult crowd to please because earlier in the program they kept on instructing the tech guy to lower the volume when the other artists were performing. But when Richard started his set, I conspired with the tech guy to increase the volume and to only adjust it until someone complains. Good thing, when the guests heard Richard singing the standards, not only did they started to listen intently, some of them even started to dance with it. Be it slow music or fast music, the people steadily flowed to the front of the stage. Couples and friends dancing the night away as if there's no tomorrow. It was a beautiful sight.
Since we were bound to leave Hong Kong early morning the next day- giving us no time to go around... We made the most of our trip by going around the Conrad Hotel and the Pacific Place Mall.. As they say, when there's a will there's a way.
To all the Filipinos we've met in Hong Kong its amazing- in spite of the fact that even if most of them lived there for almost a decade (in fact even more for some)- how they managed to stay as warm, friendly and caring as they are as if we just saw each other yesterday in Manila. They left their homes to provide a better life for their families and their struggle goes on.
On my end, I'm fortunate to belong in such an industry where an artist that we handle like Richard can make them happy and in such a small way make them connected- even for a brief moment- with the country they left behind.
As trivial as "Showbiz" may sound... yet singers... actors... entertainers have the power to vicariously transport our people overseas to that place where they yearn to be... Back at Home.
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