I Am Who I Am

When it comes to cities in East Asia, the ones that come to my mind are Hong Kong, Kaohsiung, and Busan. The reason they rank higher than Shanghai, Taipei, and Seoul is probably because they are port cities. Among these, Hong Kong stands out above the rest because of Star Ferry.

I do not consider myself so naive as to think Hong Kong has not fundamentally changed over the past few years. Still, the places I visit via the unchanging Star Ferry have not changed much either.

Those places are two dim sum restaurants and a bar at Mandarin Oriental Hotel. Strictly speaking, one of the dim sum restaurants had closed once but ex-staffs reopened at a different location; the other one is apparently deserted due to price hikes. Besides, the Mandarin Oriental has been renovated and made more stylish. Even so, both the dim sum restaurants and the bar still retain the charm of old-fashioned Hong Kong.

I think it is wonderful to keep going to places that have not changed much for about 15 years in the city where is changing so rapidly. Since all the places are in Central, I suppose I could just stay on Hong Kong Island, but I am deliberately staying at a hotel in Kowloon so I can ride the Star Ferry.

Since I am planning my trip focusing on the Star Ferry to ride it, the mistaken hotel booking that I discovered upon arrival really backfired. It was farther from the ferry terminal than I expected, and walking endlessly along the crowded seaside promenade was a hassle. Since I go out at dusk to photograph the Star Ferry, I rarely get a chance to see the ocean from the hotel anyway.

While I was taking photos of the Star Ferry against the Hong Kong’s evening skyline, a beautiful woman from mainland China struck up a conversation with me. I thought she was hitting on me, but that did not seem to be the case.

I used a translation app to figure out what she was saying, and it turned out that she was asking me how much I would charge to take her photo. There were many photographers targeting tourists in the area. Since their prices were probably exorbitant, she likely chose someone who might be willing to undercut them.

I remembered that I was also asked by a beautiful woman to take photo for a fee in Guanajuato, Mexico. It was an early morning on a hilltop and there were no other photographers around, so it was highly likely I was able to set my own price.

There is a Japanese saying, “there is nothing more expensive than free (that means nothing costs so much as what is given us),” but it is also true that “there is nothing cheaper than free.” If it is free, I do not have to haggle over the price, I do not have to put up with complaints if the quality is poor, and I do not have to pull out my wallet in front of strangers. She may be a beauty, but it was Mexico. It is best to avoid exchanging cash carelessly. I took a few shots with her iPhone and she seemed satisfied.

I had gotten up early in Guanajuato to photograph the sunrise, and during the magic hour, the color of the light changes rapidly. Besides, I am not good at taking portraits. Even a middle-aged guy like me has moments when I would rather be ignored by a beautiful woman.

The same situation arose during this sunset shoot. I did not feel the need to turn her down, but I wanted her to leave as soon as possible. When I tried to take her iPhone, she asked me to take the photo with my camera instead. On top of that, she started taking off her coat and handed me her handbag. For someone like me who did have a flash, this was too much to handle. After the shoot, we exchanged contact info on WeChat and she left.

I did not understand it since I am not comfortable having my own photo taken. Even if she is a beauty, why she would go that far. Maybe it was a massive honey trap. However, when I sent the photos late at night, I receive a thank-you reply but I was not “coincidentally” summoned to the bar where she was staying.

Come to think of it, I undercut the airfare to Hong Kong by choosing the Shenzhen route and I was undercut in Hong Kong. In other words, a middle-aged guy who flies to Hong Kong via Shenzhen just to save on airfare is not the kind of big guy who would lure into a honey trap. Rather, I am a kind of the person who would be trapped by “there is nothing cheaper than free,” so no need to worry about “there is nothing more expensive than free.”

Right at the start of the New Year, I was forced to realize that I am nothing more than a cheap, harmless middle-aged guy.