Just got back from the
Porsche Design party. It was nice. The atmosphere, the food was nice. I enjoyed myself even though the show really seemed substandard or plain I guess I could say. But if you know me what is most important for me when I go out is
the company. It was just a little promotion, not really a fashion show.
Dreamodels sent out 3 of the 4 models there.
Amanda Strang also made a guess appearance. There were other important people out, apparently the drummer for
Beyond and a number of other people that I recognize but I don't know their names. I got to spend some time chatting with one of the Brazilian models, Henry. His English is pretty good and we got along together well so I'll probably end up calling him out to hang. The highlight of the night was the food. Little mini burgers and these tasty mini tarts.
Labels: Fashion, Fashion Show, Model
I'm feeling so tired today. Work is killing me, just taking a too on my energy level. I've been a bit sick this week as well. Last night after my dinner with the girls, to plan for our Taiwan Trip, I headed out to
Club No. 9 to help celebrate Germaine's birthday (again) but this time on her actual birthday. Lucky for us Cen actually had to help out in some sort of fashion show, for
Cecilia Lau, that day. The fashion show was ... something that I have never seen before. It was much different then DKNY. I don't usually drink but I was kind of trapped when the DJs at
Hei Hei bought Germaine several rounds of drinks.
Feeling pretty tired right now but looking forward to going out to the
Porsche Design party tonight.
Labels: Birthdays, Clubbing, Fashion, Fashion Show, Hong Kong
Was at "Image" again
last night. Just a casual Monday night clubbing with friends. Actually since I really haven't been clubbing recently I felt pretty energetic going down. I took advantage of the guestlist though, I tried to put in about 12 people. My friend Midco is leaving
Hong Kong to live in
Austrailia. So she'll be back in a few years time calling everyone her "mate". She's gone early November so this was a last minute chance to get into
Volar to party, but they left early because her friends were bored.
I had fun though. One of the twins, Janice, wanted to leave early and I asked her what it would take to make her stay. She asked me to bring her the two twin models and lucky for me I managed to deliever. What a good friend eh?
Labels: Fashion, Model
Even though I felt so tired, and I had my horrible extra long Saturday lessons at Readership, I still enjoyed myself at Mooch. Happy pre-birthday to you Germaine. I haven't been clubbing for about 2 weeks now it seems like so it was nice to have a reason to come back to it. On a side note I was pretty amazed that Cen got picked up within 15 minutes of standing around. You go tiger.
Labels: Birthdays, Clubbing, Friends, Hong Kong
This is just an update on my previous post. My Thursday schedules aren't really tight, so I decided to try to get some of my personal stuff done today. I wanted to get my hair cut but I didn't have enough time when I dropped by the Salon. I gave
Starz People a call and filled in my information again for them and updated my photos. I went to have lunch with the girls at
Dreamodel and was hoping to get pictures done with them but I didn't have enough time for that. Lunch was crazy, we waited so long for a table for four and I had to get back to work by 2:15 because I was on standby to teach. Luckily I didn't have to take that class.
I received a call in the afternoon on my way back to Tin Hau from "Ah Dee" from New Face Group (NF Group). He wanted to call me up to take my measurements so that they can go get clothes for me. Now there are several key points I'm going to point out that I notice happens in companies like this. I can not say for certain that they are out to scam people for their money, but I have a strong feeling that they're not a very legit modelling company.
1) The first time I was picked off the street, near Lee Gardens in Causeway Bay, they provided very little information about their company. They gave me a card for a Dee Siu, the Asst. Production Manager, but the email address is just some yahoo.com.hk mail address.
2) When I pressed them further for information one of the ladies in charge intentionally changed the subject on me. She wanted to talk about me, get friendly with me, get to know me. I played along a bit, but I was always wondering when she would get back to giving me more information.
3) They showed me material that they produced or had models work at, and they pretty much were the same as Dragon Eight's (D8). Just looking around I never got the feeling they were a real modelling company. I had just come from the offices of two modelling agencies that day as well.
4) Today I decided to call them to arrange my meeting earlier. If they really wanted my measurements it should be quick. I was finished at Starz People in less than 30 minutes. I was rushed to meet up with Janice and her brother for dinner. They kept me waiting around in the reception area for a while. While I was waiting I noticed several people walking in and out, picked up off the street by Mr. "Ah Dee".
5) Into the office I went finally. The usual pitch is to tell you they have work for you already. They may not say it out right but they'll try to lead you to think that picking up a job is a sure thing. They started to compliment me, and generally tried to make me feel as if I was the perfect person for this job. The lady, I never really got her name she wouldn't even give me a business card, was trying to pressure me into signing up for things like a photo shoot with her own people. She said her people were cheaper than a 3rd party and she believes in the quality of their work. I asked if I could do my pictures outside, she replied that she doesn't feel comfortable with work from the outside. She quickly adds in that she doesn't want to waste time, she hates when people waste time, and that if I'm serious about this line of work, then I should just sign up for the $900 some odd HKD photo shoot. I told her I wasn't comfortable with it, she kept pressing for when I would get the photos done just so I can get the pictures to her. When I insisted that I would have to think about it she hinted that I was wasting her time and let me leave.
I've never had these experiences except at Dragon Eight Limtied (D8). New Face Group (NF Group) really stinks of being a scam. I managed to grab a few photos of the environment plus a
link to their "actual" management company,
Chile Management.
In a sense I wasted a lot of time with these people. But I'm hoping I can get this information out on the internet so that other people are aware of a potential scam that's going on.
Labels: Scams
Recently I've been trying to get back into the "fit" routine. I've been trying to hit up the gym at least 3 times a week. Last weekend I took a break from the regular clubbing routine and just relaxed. Sunday was pretty good I was out with Clare, Iris, and Diana playing tennis. I finally got to use that racket I purchased so long ago. My performance leaves much to be desired, but I was able to return some balls. Thanks go out to my friend Wins, she hooked me up at Waterfall to get the court booked and other perks she managed to swing for us.
One of the reasons for focusing on my fitness lately is recently the whole modelling thing has swung around again. A Carmen Leung left me a message from
Starz People to update my photos. They have never contacted me in the past but it is nice to know that I'm still in there someplace. I wanted to drop by
Dreamodels as well to get a couple of snapshots done so that I'm on file with them as well. I really want to try modelling, I think the stories would be so interesting.
Which brings me to the point of this post. Afterwork today I walked towards one of my favourite sandwich shops (Thanks Karen),
Pret A Manger. Located just beside Lee Garden's LV shop in Causeway Bay I was hoping to get a sandwich before going to get my hair trimmed at my regular salon Sharon Island (샤론허어사롱). What bad luck Pret closes at 7:30, right when I got there. I figured I would at least try for the hair salon since that closes at 8pm. I was talking on the phone to Diana while walking towards
Times Square when someone stopped me on the street talking to me in Cantonese. I started talking to him in English hoping that would scare him off but it didn't he stayed persistent talking to me in Chinese. I thought maybe he heard me talking on the phone in Cantonese so I actually switched back to Cantonese just so I wouldn't seem rude. He was looking for a clothing model from what I gathered and wanted to know if I was interested. Obviously I'm very careful about these things especially after the scam
Dragon Eight Limited (D8)
tried to pull on me. The business card he handed introduces him as Dee Siu, the Assistant Production Manager at New Face Group (NF Group). They're located at:
2/F, Capital Building, 6-10 Sun Wui Road, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong.
Basically right near Lee Gardens. I asked if they had a website, which they couldn't give me. When I walked into the office they looked like they just moved in and were just finishing up their renovations. I asked some very specific questions about contracts and payments but did live my basic contact information with them. I'll give them a chance but I'll obviously be very careful. They talked about money and payment right away which I found was a little strange. Quoting figures around $320 HKD/hour for shots. It isn't a lot of money, which just might mean their target market is that range. I'll keep my readers posted if this ends up to be another
fake modelling company.
Labels: Scams
The girls brought me out again this time to
Marie Claire's 16th Anniversary party. It really wasn't anything special, but it was nice to spend the evening with the girls, looking at some of Hong Kong's top asian models. Pictures are up on my shutterfly. I'm still trying to learn who everyone is. I have to say their boss
Ana Rivera is very attractive.
On a side note, Hong Kong is really small, right after we left I ran into Cen on the elevator with his ex-gf. A fun night with some hot girls (company included :] )
Labels: Fashion, Fashion Show, Model
Bon Voyage Rui
Today one of my best friends left Hong Kong. He's had a fairly busy time here but hopefully it has been a productive one. We didn't really have much of an opportunity to catch up until last night. He kept me awake past 4 and I ended up late for work again. Because of Rui we're well known at a Cafe called "Upstairs" located in Mong Kok. We've been back there quite possibly four times in the span of a week and a half.
Special thanks to everyone who helped make his visit amazing. The sisters and the girls at
Dreamodels for hooking us up with the DKNY fashion show. Jamie, Hiroko, Iris, Clare, Diana, Fred, and Fiona for the endless hours of entertainment in the cafe with our special edition "Truth or Dare"
Uno game.
Having him around really brought back memories of us chilling in TO all the time. I've had two of my best friends visit me in Hong Kong. I'm just missing one more. I've a couple of really good friends visiting as well soon, and there's a possible trip to Taiwan that has come up recently. I'll keep you readers posted.
In other news, some of my old students organized a BBQ for us down in Shek O. It was an interesting event, a little different then the first time I BBQ in Hong Kong. Fred and Jamie came out with us and we brainstormed some ideas to turn it into a more Western style BBQ.
Labels: Friends
