EMMARUTH G ESTEBAN EMMARUTH G ESTEBAN MEETS SOME OF MEETS SOME OF HONG KONG’S MORE HONG KONG’S MORE INTERESTING INTERESTING CHARACTERS PHOTOGRAPHY BY PHOTOGRAPHY BY RODRIGO B FERMIN RODRIGO B FERMIN
Those who come to Hong Kong soon realize that it pulsates with an energy that makes one feel anything is possible. Part of the city’s magic comes from the fact that here, a vibrant, cosmopolitan lifestyle coexists with ancient traditions, so it’s the perfect environment for attracting the most fascinating people. The next time you’re in Hong Kong, count yourself lucky if your paths cross with these quirky personalities. In fact, we suggest you go looking for them, just the way we did.
Melvis, the Chinese Elvis impersonator
People come to Lan Kwai Fong practically every night of the week to drink, enjoy live music, or dance at the clubs into the wee hours.
But a night out wouldn’t be complete without a sighting of Melvis Kwok Lam-sang, better known as Melvis the Chinese Elvis. You’ll usually find him busking the streets of Lang Kwai Fong and SoHo early in the evening on Friday and Saturday nights. You can’t miss him garbed in Elvis’s flamboyant 1970s style: a white V-necked jumpsuit and shiny jewelry, his face framed by fake sideburns and an Elvis wig on his head, lugging his acoustic guitar.
Melvis used to work as an electrician, earning his keep repairing radios and computers. But his destiny shifted one night, when the owner of a bar in Lang Kwai Fong let him sing on stage. The song Heartbreak Hotel was what started it all for him.
Since then, the experience got him hooked on performing before a crowd. It has been 10 years since that fateful night, and Melvis has been doing his repertoire for locals and tourists who seek out his often impromptu mini concerts.
Age isn’t a deterrent for this Chinese Elvis, who at 51 always gives 100% energy and enthusiasm when doing his street performances.
“I just love Elvis,” he declares. And in true rock-star fashion, blue suede shoes and all, Melvis makes his exit with a strum on his guitar, heading back to the absinthe- and beer-stained streets where his audience awaits.
Catch Melvis in Lang Kwai Fong and SoHo from 6pm, Saturdays and Sundays
Paul Gerrard, the hair meister
At the age of 21 — armed with a serious case of wanderlust and a degree in hair styling — Paul Gerrard left the United Kingdom for Bermuda, where he worked as a stylist for three years. “When I got back to the UK, I felt as though the sky was low and everything was depressing,” recalls Gerrard. “I wanted to go see the world, so I saved up to go backpacking.” Two years into his travels, he landed in Hong Kong, a place he described as “the farthest away from the United Kingdom.”
“When I first arrived, I didn’t intend to stay,” says Gerrard, whose first job in the former British colony was waiting on tables by day. At night, he fixed people’s hair to earn extra cash. His Mohawk, rare to find on someone walking the streets of Hong Kong at the time, as well as his talent for styling coiffures eventually garnered him a lot of loyal clients. As he puts it, “Things kind of just happened to me.” Gerrard was 25 when he eventually got the hang of life in Hong Kong, and years later, it’s the place he still calls home.
It has been quite a ride since those early days. Today, Paul Gerrard is one of Hong Kong’s most respected hair stylists. His salon sits atop Pottinger Street in Central. His clients happily negotiate the slope between Queen’s Road Central and Hollywood Road to avail of his services. Locals fondly refer to the granite steps dotting the way to Pottinger as Rocky Road. In a way, it seems reflective of his transition from a wandering soul to someone who has successfully rooted himself in Hong Kong. He still gives in to his wanderlust, and jets off on little trips, picking up souvenirs and gifts for his cat and his home, only to return to his chosen spot in the world.
Visit Paul Gerrard’s salon at 1st and 2nd floor, Wah Hing House, 35 Pottinger Street, Central, Hong Kong, tel: +852 2869 4408, www.paulgerrard.com
Hiro Hayama, action star-turned-restaurateur
Walk along the strip of Causeway Bay and you’ll find Chisaii Heya (which means “small room”), a little Japanese restaurant owned by Hiro Hayama. More than whipping up bowls of succulent beef on beds of fluffy rice, the tall and handsome restaurateur is also one of Hong Kong’s fine young actors.
Seven years ago, Hayama — then a model based in Taiwan — received a call from an agent to do a screen test in Hong Kong for the movie New Police Story, with superstar Jackie Chan. “They were looking for a Japanese guy who could speak Mandarin,” recalls Hayama. All he could remember was how fast he signed on the dotted line to become part of the project. He played the role of a bank robber against Jackie Chan’s ageing cop, a part that involved giving the legendary action star a couple of good punches. Since then, Hayama has stayed on in Hong Kong to pursue his acting career. He came out in more feature films, like It Had to be You, the dark comedy Moonlight in Tokyo, and Rob-B-Hood, the 2006 flick in which he worked alongside the famous Jackie Chan yet again.
“I have forgotten how to speak Japanese already,” says Hayama with a boyish grin. Now that he has an acting career, a new business and even a family in Hong Kong, he feels he is definitely home.
Drop by Chisaii Heya and meet him at the ground floor, Jardine Center, 50 Jardine’s Bazaar, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong, tel: +822 2577 3456
Nadia Ying, queen of kitsch
Along SoHo, Select 18 lights up the street with its 1970s-style facade. The shop is a treasure trove of all things vintage: an old Remington typewriter, vinyl records, Lomo cameras, clothes, shoes and accessories from a different era. Amid this delightful clutter, you are bound to meet Nadia Ying, the Hong Kong native who owns the shop. Apart from her love for vintage, Ying is highly intuitive.
In her shop, she shows me her Cards of Destiny, a deck of 100 black cards with drawings and phrases scribbled on them. She designed these to help “answer the questions within a person’s heart” and are a natural extension to her giftedness. “Everything in Hong Kong changes so fast.” This is why she is the keeper of all things old. When asked about her future, she says, “I do not feel the need to know where I will be, and it should all progress very naturally.”
Catch her at Select 18, 57-59 Hollywood Rd, Central, Hong Kong, tel: +822 545 9932
Jay Forster, the multimedia maverick
Jay Forster does the oddest things. On the day of our intervew, he decides to walk around the city holding a deer head under one arm. This streak of eccentricity is perhaps what fuels his creativity as well as Hong Kong’s new media scene.
Forster is the mastermind of Salon de Pigeon, a creative studio that provides cutting-edge design across different media for a host of clients. A journalist once described him as the “granddaddy of cool” referring to his penchant for designing arresting graphics that appeal to the younger set.
Since 1997, Forster and partner Mike Hill also set up the Robot Collective, which is an amalgamation of artists and creative people who have a mission: to host as many events to keep the Hong Kong music and arts scene vibrant and on the global radar.
They initiated Clockenflap, an annual music and arts festival that is unique to Hong Kong. The event debuted in January this year, gathering people of all ages to the Pok Fu Lam Market. Through the event, Forster and his crew support local musicians, independent filmmakers, graphic designers, and installation artists by providing a large-scale venue to showcase their talent alongside international artists. Think Woodstock or Glastonbury but with multimedia disciplines of film, installation art, digital film, and animation added into the live music mix. Their next festival, Clockenflap 2, is scheduled to take place in Hong Kong in November 2009.
For all his high-tech savvy, Forster also just happens to be an environmentalist and a big fan of Hong Kong’s old buildings. If he had his way, he would rally to help preserve these quaint structures rather than let a razor-sharp skyline dominate the city.
For more information on Clockenflap and Forster’s other involvements, visit his websites: www.clockenflap.com, www.robotunderground.net and www.salondepigeon.com
HOW TO GET THERE
Cebu Pacific flies to Hong Kong daily from Manila, Cebu, Davao and Clark. Visit www.cebupacificair.com
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