Soup, Andy, and What's Really Under a Kilt

When it comes to grand openings, Japan can't be beat. The promotions are so crazy that you find yourself turning into a glutton even though you don't need any more of the stuff. First it was ten yen a beer at the new izakaya, and now ten yen per video rental at the new video store.

GEO, you are a god. Tsutaya, you can go to hell.

Needless to say, I stocked up on whatever was left on the already ransacked shelves, the boxes slightly askew from the feverish hands of the cinema hungry crowds--I included. I picked up a film called Jiang Hu (2004), otherwise known as Velvet Rain in Japan. Made in Hong Kong, it is yet another one of those triad/mafia themed films, where loyalty and family come into question. Who's behind the hit? Who do you trust? It is pure formula, fill of cliches, but beautifully slick at the same time--a highly stylized film full of Hong Kong mega stars, all of which were featured in the far more superior triad film, Infernal Affairs.

I was struck with two things while watching this film: 1) forgetting who Andy Lau really is, and 2) homesickness.

I don't know why I do this to myself.

Watching a Cantonese film always makes me yearn for my family. I miss the culture and all those things that are inherently Chinese. Our way of doing things, our way of thinking.

"I'm making fish soup tonight. You must come home to drink it."

As soon as I heard that line being uttered in the film, I could feel tears welling in my eyes. It's true when they say that a Chinese mother only shows her love through her cooking, and my mother is no exception. I could hug her to bits, shower her with kisses, and only get a grunt in return. But at meal times, that is when my siblings and I know just how much she truly loves us.

When a Chinese mother announces that she's making a special soup that night for dinner, you know that you must be home to have it. To refuse would be to rebuff her love. So when I heard that line in the film, I suddenly realized just how long it has been since I last heard my mother say that. I've become so accustomed to coming home to my empty apartment and making my own meals that I suddenly realized just how much I took my mother for granted. There were times in the past when I couldn't make it home to have her special soup, but it didn't matter to me at the time.

Little did I know how much I would miss that.

Mom, I'm sorry. And when I see you next at Christmas time, I'll make sure that I will be home for your soup.

There's more I want to say, but in order not to make you throw up from the impending sugary sentiments I'm dying to tell my mother, I'll move onto Andy Lau.


Oh Andy. Even at 45 years old you still thrill me.

A bonafide mega star, Andy has legions of screaming, wailing fans--some of which are crazy enough about him to carve the letters of his name onto their arm so that it will scar over, leaving a self-made tattoo of ANDY on their arm. Girls have jumped off balconies for him. Andy, the super idol.

Now don't mistake me and count me in as a fan of that caliber. I'm not that crazy about him! I grew up watching his films and listening to his music. He has done everything; his roles encompassing everything from boxer, martial artist, dancer, gambler, romantic hero, triad boss, comedian, etc. But in growing up with his films, I have come to believe that Andy Lau really is all of those things, so much so that while watching him fight weaponless in Jiang Hu, I was certain and confident that he could kick his opponent's ass with his super martial arts skills.

I'd forgotten that 1) the character he plays in the film isn't a super martial artist, and 2) neither is the real Andy.

I'd confused the character he plays in Jiang Hu with all of the other characters I'd seen him play in all of his other movies, PLUS I'd superimposed all of those skills onto the real Andy Lau. I was thinking throughout the scene: C'mon, he's Andy Lau. You don't stand a chance. He'll kick your ass!

Wow, am I messed up.

I guess I should carve the letters of his name into my arm now, eh?

Anyways, I've got another slew of photos for your browsing pleasure.

In the short little while, Burns' Night happened and Nana-chan turned the ripe old age of 1.

(My 3 nenseis also graduated and are on their way to the glory of high school life, but that's another post for another day...)