| Take ur time MR, 22/10/2002 Yeah doing well, had job today modelling for fashion mag. The Mag is really popular, those glossary shoots. It will be out in about weeks time. We were photgraphed at Grand Hyatt hotel, executive suite. it was so swish. My colleague was infact from Bolivia, she travels the world modellling. Got she looked great done up. We chatted away and hopefully might catch up again, she is with the same agency . talk later and remember to email |
| Hey Ben, 21/10/2002 Yeah the job was pretty good fun- very busy doing castings most of the day even had one on saturday afternoon for beer commercial. Finally starting to head out on the party scene. Went out both friday and saturday night and mixing with the right people such as movie stars,singers etc (all chinese, but the people who i am with know them all). On fridaynight we were leaving a club at 5am, and after we walk out the front door, the pararizzi where out the front with camera's loaded taking photos.And i top it off, i was hugging/joking with a famous hong kong film director(was very funny). On sat night- i went to dinner party with the daughter of the people i am staying with. She is very nice (32yrs old), and fairly well known in hong kong. The party was a bday was a Hong Kong singer called Louie Castro,it was good fun. But anyway she also has semi-promised me a job promoting there soon to be realesed new perfume in Novemeber. Im off to some more castings today- Enjoy yourself. Also tell James, Pete that they have to right. Especially if james wants some playstation games. Tell him that he is in trouble. |
| 29/10/2002 Hong Kong- A mix of old and new ways and the place where people do not sleep. LAst night while walking the streets around 11pm i was amazed at how many shops are still open (no this is not uncommon in Hong Kong). I'm not just talking about restaurants and bars here. But for those times when you must get that new set of car tyres you have been dreaming about, it is so reassuring too know that at 11pm on any night that dream can become a reality. And not only can you get those new tyres, but after that you can get a haircut, restock the picnic basket at the local supermarket , buy some flowers and then head down to the local pet-store and get that new cat you have always wanted. Speaking of pets- today while wandering the local streets i came across a store that really caught my eye. Here in Kowloon there is a street that is jammed full of aquarium stores and i mean jammed full, there would have to be 50 shops or more selling fish, fish tanks, food , weeds and all the rest ( i never had a goldfish so i can only imagine what else aquarium stores sell). Anyway there was this one shop (later found a few similar) , that has taken the word pet-store a little too far. Okay so i know that space is of a premium in Hong Kong , and it is not the best place for a German Shepard. But who really wants to own Mouse Spider ($60 ), shit they were big and creepy, i think one even winked at me. Or if a mouse spider is not creepy enough, how about owning a black scorpion ($40), or a water snake, or freaky lizards and some creatures i could not even bring myself to look at. And to top it all off, they keep all these pets in flimsy tupperware containers stacked on top of each other. One clumsy move and you will have half of the poisonous reptile population eating you for breakfast. I hope that gives you all more of an idea about the delights that Hong Kong has to offer. I'm off now to the Terrace Street Night Markets , where im sure to find some more bizarre eventds. I am armed with my wits and a full stomach, as for many street vendors the word hygiene is yet to be learned. |
| 2/11/2002 It has only taken me three weeks of being away from home, but im afraid i have succumbed to another evil. Before you all reach for the phone and call my mum, its not drugs,its not the drink (still a light weight even here), or cigarettes (yuk), i have rather succumbed to the evil forces of mango pudding and custard tarts. These two rather harmless looking deserts have taken ahold of me with their magical powers. FOr those who have been to Hong Kong , they will know that nearly every second shop is a cake store (well now everyone knows). Anyway they are just so delicious and yes they are also so cheap, and through my six sense of cheapness i have been able to track down the cheapest store of them all. However things are looking up and i have been able to cut down on my custard tart consumption, after being told by my agency that i needed to trim down. But i will continue with the mango pudding , im guessing that they are fairly healthy, and hopefully they have no msg. Work- Well my first Hong Kong magazine spread hit the shops yesterday and the notoriety is already causing my problems. I can't walk down the streets, go shopping or eat without being surrounded by hordes of people. Okay so perhaps i am stretching the truth here, but the amount of people in this place is just amazing. Everywhere you look, there are crowds of people and when you think you are finally in the clear one more look under my shoulder saids otherwise (they are all so small). Okay bye for now- im off to do some more shopping. I need to get some shirts and i have just discovered this cool/trendy/funky clothing arcade jammed packed full of shops. I will write again after i have managed to get a shirt long enough to cover my arms- talk to you all in a week. Jordan |
| 5/11/2002 Now i know that you are all probably sick to death of me writing these blastard emails ???????? But after more adventuring yesterday - i felt that a home day was called for (also need to stop shopping)- so here is another email, as i fill my day. Yesterday i headed to Lantau island, the third largest island in Hong Kong. Situated to the South of Kowloon (and right near the new Airport), Lantau still operates mainly as a fishing village, with Tourism the other major industry. Lantau has one major tourist site Ngong Ping (Po Lin Monastery) or more commonly referred to as the Big Buddha. And take it from me this buddha is bloody huge. Situated at the top of a mountain, this gold covered buddha spans 5 stories high. I would have to say it was well worth the 1 hour boat ride . Which will also be remembered for the lesbian couple who were sitting in front me and took it upon themselves to provide the tourist (= Me), with in-flight entertainment. I would have asked them to stop kissing , had i not enjoyed watching it so much. This boat ride was then followed by another 1 hour bus ride- where i think my nail imprints would still be visible in the seat in front of me . This bus trip takes me onto my next topic- Hong Kong drivers. Now in Australia, Chinese drivers rightly have a reputation for 2 things . 1) being the worlds worst drivers 2) driving Volvo's So what do you do when you are living in a country surrounded by all these bad drivers ????? I suggest that u never ride in the 2nd floor of the double decker bus and that u pray a lot. The traffic is amazing here , and even more amazing is that i am yet to see any accidents. Not only do you have to worry about pot holes, but throw into that old dudes on bikes (who carry gas bottles in their shopping baskets to get refilled), shopping carts, old ladies on bikes, five million buses, trams, trucks and food carts. But it all seems to work just fine and surprisingly such a large number of people get around reasonably well. Staying with drivers , i saw a funny sight the other day. Guess what the name of one of the driving schools here in Hong Kong is ???? eg: L Trent etc..... Okay so who guessed " Good Luck Driving School", i couldn't stop laughing when i saw that sign. I even approached them about using the name " Fingers Crossed Driving School ", but apparently that name is already taken. Okay bye for now- Hope you are all well and i promise to stop writing so much. p.s My next email might have voting buttons for those who wish to be taken off the list, please be kind. |
| 10/11/2002 Another day , another island. After exploring the streets of Kowloon and Mong Kok to death, i decided to again jump on a ferry and head to another outer island. My destination was Cheung Chau " Long Island", although unlike to Big Buddha's which was Big, this island is not really that Long. Perhaps the guy who named felt a little inadequate in some area, and he thought by naming it Long Island, he too could be a man again. And as there are no cars on this island, he could not just drive around in a souped up Japanese sports cars to solve the problem. After my 20 min ferry ride , which unfortunately was quite lame eg: no lesbians or passengers getting re-aquainted with their previously digested food. I set about to organise my ride, it felt so good to again be behind the wheel of my own transport. Okay so it was an 18 speed mountain bike, about 20 sizes to small but baby did it move. After paying my $A7 bike hiring fee for the day , and leaving a deposit of $20, i was off ( The funny thing about leaving a deposit is that they do not even write your name down - details etc, just pay the money and your off ). Anyway this island is pretty cool, its an old fishing village surrounded by fishing junks , with seafood everywhere you look. Now no offense , but god the Chinese eat some freaky food, someone should tell them that just because it moves in the ocean it doesn't mean it edible. The island is also famous for dried seafood, so all along the streets there is seafood on racks, which rather adds to a very pleasant smelling environment- i don't think i will wear those clothes again. besides checking out the seafood, there are temples, pretty cool beach and this cave called Cheung Po Tsai Cave. In the olden times, pirates used to hide in the cave and then attack !!!! These school kids who were on a day excursion from mainland, took me through it. They were trying to hid from their teacher and i think they also liked saying " Watch Your Head " , about the only english they knew, very funny. The cave is completely dark and very tiny . The rest of the day i just spend riding my sick wheels, now everyone rides around on crappy bikes just like mine. The streets are also so narrow, so common pratice is too ring your bell to show your presence. Now back home , i am well known amongst my friends as Mr Road Rage. I even have the unique ability to be able to lock up the brakes, avoid the crash, stick up my finger, press the horn, and scream obscenities at the offending driver all in one motion. God i loved that bike horn. Anyway i would definitely recommend this place to all your travelers. It really is like going back in time and seeing what a working fishing village is like. A good change from the hustle of city life |
| Guys, Im missing all of your stories, give me some goss. If not i will be forced to come up with my own for each of you. Here is a sample of what i have come up with, an di expect a detailed email of everyones adventuries by the end of the week. James- Still with Sam. Pasha- His biceps have become so big that he can not find any tops to cover his arms. As such he cannot enter any clubs , unless they permit the wearing of singlets. Jules- In Love Mark- Still can't bring himself to delete Dianas number . And might be in love with Georgia Kurath Ben- Being very secretive i suspect, their is a rumour however that he had to get new exhaust after having sex with his car. Peter- Not sure what he is doing ( never had an email from Pete ). Guessing that he is fighting the urge to have sex with the girls from Gillians, and that Gillians is really a brothel. With Pete being the head Pimp. Murray- Still trying to drag commodores in his hotted up Nissan Exam. As for me i had a tough decision to make last night. Went out by myself to city area, just like heading to George st only smaller (aka James Okeefe Style). Anyway this area is so cool, full of bars and full of chicks, one thing though is that the cheapest drinks are about $8 A for beer, but if you head anywhere cool eg: Establishment, Cargo type u pay $15 for a beer fucking rip off. I drank some beers on the train before i got there, like the old times (you can buy beer from any 7-eleven and they are only $A2 for a Heikenin ) Thankfully i got talking to some local girls, also heaps of other foreigners there. Well anway we did some bar hopping, i even managed to get us into the coolest bar in town, i just told them i was from Australia (seriuolsy) and they let us through while everyone else had to queue for about 30 mins. It was in this bar that i had to make the tough call, i had started kissing one of the girls i was with. She is babe (chinese girl), but in this club i also ran into some girls from Australia. After hanging with these Australian girls for a drink, one of them asked me back to her place . It was here i declined ( did i mention she was a blond/beautiful and model), i decided to go instead for the local girl. I thought that while i am overseas i should learn to experience all of the local customs. In the end i didn't get to lose my virginity that night, we got close but no cigar. I must be loosing my touch. (dam i knew i should have got that other girls number). But im seeing her again this week, so hopefully i will not be too far from raising my overseas tally to 2. Talk to you guys later. It would be so cool if your guys were here. We could cause such i riot, I am probably going to come back next year, start saving guys. |
| Mon, 18 Nov 2002 05:24:18 +0000 Instead of composing tales of my holiday in this email, i have decided to aka David Letterman style compile a list of the top ten reasons you know that you are living in Hong Kong. 10. Concrete painted green is classified as grass 9. Apparently it is not rude to chat with your mouth full of food 8. Smoking is a sport 7. As is having yum cha and shopping 6. People walk birds rather than dogs 5. There is not an orthdonist in sight 4. Meat is best keep fresh lying on the sidewalk 3. Tall is anything over 5 feet 2. BAd drivers 1. A toothpick is the best way to end a meal Talk to you all again soon. |
| Thu, 21 Nov 2002 12:47:07 +0000 Now my last email was composed of the top ten ways to confirm that you are in Hong Kong. Well i might have another one to add to the list, well at least an observation. I have found that the people here have an extreme love of the shopping centre demonstration, and for this i mean those guys/ girls who give demonstration of new products. U know those guys , who are of the Tim Shaw mode and start screaming away on their microphones. So what's so special about that, well its the products that they are selling. For instance the one i saw yesterday , who i might add had a crowd so large i thought there was a concert on. Was selling those roller rulers, you know the rulers with the cylinder attached that allow u to roll the ruler down the page. Now correct me if im wrong ??? but didn't';t they come out about 10 years ago, and it took people 5 mins to work out that you can draw lines just as well with a normal ruler. While i saw another guy selling those Magi Canopener, those ones that don't cut the skin and another trying to sell non-stick fry pans and claiming that Teflon was just invented. As for everything else here , things are good. Work is quietening down for xmas period, but i have another 2 jobs confirmed for 2-4 dec which i a very happy about. And after learning what the average monthly salary in Hong Kong is, i'm even more excited. After this im leaving Hong Kong on 5th of December approx, only about 25 days late but i will make it to Canada eventually. And i also forgot to tell you all that i have moved. Im now staying at my uncles place in Tsuen Wan , which is further out from the city. Very funny today when i went to play basketball at the local courts. Being away from the city the number of tourists(gwelio- westerners) is very limited, so when i turned up at the courts today and being a giant in Hong Kong the school kids got so excited. After asking if i could use the court, they all proceeded to sit down and spent the next 5 mins just watching me play, thankfully i have been shooting around a bit lately so they were going in. They then all started saying Slam Dunk in cantonese repeatly, so i answered there calls and put on a display. But you know kids one is never enough and for the next 2 hours i was taking requests. My new nickname is Michael Jordan here now, i have even been invited back tomorrow. Anyway i must go dinner is ready. One last thing, these kids were asking about Australian girls. So if any of you girls are stuck for a date i know some guys here who will be more than happy to take you out (with their mum of course). Keep your reply's coming. Jordan |
| Thu, 28 Nov 2002 08:39:31 +0000 Hello, This may be my last email for a while as once again im moving. Not leaving Hong Kong yet i might add but rather going to be bumming it for about 2 weeks, okay so i classify bumming it as having to cook and clean myself (and no tv or internet). Im heading to an area called Mid Levels , actually it is a really expensive area of town in the heart of the city and just near an area called Soho (South of Hollywood).This area is very similar to Paddington , with lots of old buildings, funky restaurants, shops and people. I am moving into a 4 bedroom apartment with a fellow supermodel and one of his friends . The place is pretty cool and its a penthouse suite, well its on the top floor. Its an old 6th floor building with no lift but lots of charm and as the real estate agent would say its all about Location. My room has a bed, a bed , did i mention that there is bed in my room ?? But the best thing is that i have scored the room for free (i told you cheapness was one of my skills) Im planning on staying another 2 weeks so leaving Hong Kong on about 11th Dec, making my stay 2 months to the day. As for my adventures, this week has been very quiet. I did last friday however officially become a Hong Kong citizen , yes that right i went to Karaoke. Unfortunately however my bad voice traveled from Sydney with my , but i managed to put in a few dances moves to give my act more credibility. Its so funny watching the locals sing, they take it so seriously sitting quietly awaiting their words. The girls i went with weren't bad singers though. I also did the tourist thing and visited the peak and Repulse Bay ( one of those times when the english translation gets dis-jointed ), which is one of the beach areas in Hong Kong and very beautiful. While this week i also saw some more finely tuned athletes . They were in the strangest place , all these old guys playing drafts in the park. I'm assuming that they were finally tuned athletes as they was so many people watching them play. Either that or as i suspect they were just all so bored. As for work things are going well. I have 2 jobs next week as i may have mentioned before and i am also on hold awaiting confirmation for a 3rd job which is a fashion show for Alfred Dunhill. Fingers crossed on that one. Okay bye for now. Hope all are well and make sure that u keep replying. Oh and i forgot to mention. In february i am getting flown to Singapore to model, the agency there is paying for my accommodation, airfares and giving me an allowance . Good deal i reckon. I will be staying for about 5 weeks before heading back to Sydney in March. ( Time to buy a lottery ticket ) |
| Mon, 02 Dec 2002 12:16:58 +0000 You should have seen the job i did today. I was doing a film shot for XMAS promotion for one of the best-biggest shopping centres in Hong Kong. There was me another guy and 6 female models, including in which were the two most well known female models in Hong Kong . I was dressed in a tux and paired up with one of the above mentioned girls ( she had a evening dress ), the rest were in more causal clothes. You should have seen the shock on my face when we walked out into the shopping centre to where they had set up the xmas promotion (they even had a santa brought in from Canada ) . So what was i so suprised about well there would have been 50 photographers (not lying here), plus a filmcrew all taking shots of us for over 2 hours. The amount of flashes were just amazing, plus as you can imagine their was also the lunch time crowd of about 1oo people watching this. After moving from this central location we then headed for a walk around the shopping centre followed by these photographers, it was just like being tracked by the paparizzi. They were all shouting look here, clapping their hands, yelling your names. And thankfully being in the tux and with Eunese (who is the first girl from Hong Kong to work in Paris fashion week ), they all wanted to take pics of the two of us together . If that is as close as i get to being a star, thats fine by me. Anyway i am now just waiting for tomorrows paper. The lady in charge of the shot mentioned that these photos will be showing up in every paper, magazine for the next two weeks at least. If i had a tv i would check on that also. And then to top it off we were thrown a 6 course luncheon. What a day !!!!!!!!! Time to milk this for all its worth. P.s Plus the 6 girls were all so hot |