The thoughts and activities of an Australian, working as an actor and performer in Hong Kong. tag:www.hokwokwing.hk,2011://1 Gregory 河國榮 gregory@hokwokwing.hk www.hokwokwing.hk © 2011 Gregory Charles Rivers 河國榮. All rights reserved. 2011-03-22T23:45:26Z Movable Type 3.35 tag:www.hokwokwing.hk,2011://1.262 2011-03-22T23:35:00Z 2011-03-22T23:45:26Z

Didn't see that coming, but should have! Foxconn is apparently planning to build a new factory in Brazil to build Apple products. The Chinese source article sites transportation costs as the reason for the move, but one can not discount the possibility that labour costs in China have now escalated too much to be competitive with other developing nations. In Hong Kong, we've been hearing about the increasing costs of labour and the associated labour-protective contracts that must be signed. Now, we're beginning to see real effects of this.

tag:www.hokwokwing.hk,2011://1.261 2011-02-10T04:00:00Z 2011-02-10T03:57:57Z

I've been home for a week since 「中國皇后號」 finished, and I've been able to spend more time with my wife and the kids. The Chinese New Year holiday was pleasant. We don't 拜年 as much as many other people in Hong Kong, but we did manage to happily 拜年 with a few family members and friends. Work on my web site redesign continues in the background. The specs have been finished and we're now working on the graphic design. It won't be flashy. I prefer simple and elegant. And there won't be any Flash content in the site because I've determined that the site must be iOS compatible.

tag:www.hokwokwing.hk,2011://1.260 2011-02-04T13:00:00Z 2011-02-05T02:46:53Z

Just over one year ago, I was approached by a very nice gentleman at the HKREP to meet for a cup of coffee. They were planning a new stage play which involved Caucasian actors, one of which would need to speak significant amounts of Cantonese dialog. With 20 years of Cantonese television and five Cantonese stage productions behind me, I was perhaps their best hope. It was in the coffee shop at the Sheraton Hotel that I met with this gentleman and the script writer/director Sister Joanna. Very little happened in that short meeting. It was a quick conversation and I was treated to a great plate of Fish & Chips. There were implied promises but nothing more. A short while later, I helped the HKREP to take publicity photos for "The Empress of China" and then heard nothing from them until October of 2010 when my part in the play was finally confirmed.

tag:www.hokwokwing.hk,2011://1.259 2011-01-19T08:00:00Z 2011-01-19T08:12:21Z

The HKREP was kind enough to give me permission to post this photo from our final dress rehearsal. I hope you like it. The handsome man on the right is one of our guest actors from New York, Andrei Drooz.

tag:www.hokwokwing.hk,2011://1.258 2011-01-10T15:00:00Z 2011-02-04T13:13:15Z

We spent our last day rehearsing for The Empress of China in Sheung Wan today. After a break, we'll begin technical rehearsals in City Hall on Wednesday. After two full run-throughs today while still recovering from the flu, I'm feeling extremely tired, but nothing can prevent me from checking the flood status in my home town of Gympie in Queensland where my parents still live. Gympie is rather unique. The Mary River is the source of flooding there, and the river bank separating the larger Eastern side of Gympie is quite high, so the Mary River needs to rise significantly to flood to the East. Unfortunately, once it gets that high, it's like watching water run out of a full bathtub with the taps turned on, and the flooding can be severe. Main Street is definitely in trouble, again! With rain predicted to continue for several days yet, and the ground already completely soaked, deeper flooding is almost guaranteed. Fortunately, my parents live in a very high area of Gympie, and they're still reachable by phone and internet.

tag:www.hokwokwing.hk,2011://1.257 2011-01-08T06:00:00Z 2011-01-08T06:24:26Z

The weather is cooler now. I don't know if it's the sudden weather change or if it's the air conditioning on the MTR (which for anyone over 6' tall can be a big problem) but I picked up a serious flu bug several days ago. By Tuesday afternoon, I could feel the flu hallmarks of nasal swelling, exhaustion and muscle pain all over. With so little time left until we perform for the public, I didn't want to risk not recovering quickly and dashed off to see my favourite doctor. I was a little surprised to discover that I was feverish! I shouldn't have been surprised because I had been experiencing hot and cold all day long; i.e., my body's thermostat was out of wack. My doctor prescribed the best medicine he could (not all medicines are created equal) and suggested that I take one or two days off rehearsals to recover. I shook my head in response to indicate that taking time off would not be an option. There was still so much to work on in the play and so little time left to do it in.

tag:www.hokwokwing.hk,2011://1.256 2011-01-03T15:00:00Z 2011-01-03T15:09:37Z

Less than two weeks to go. We, the family at the Hong Kong Repertory Theatre, have been working hard on the new bilingual play 中國皇后號 for almost five weeks. During this time, my wife and I personally suffered a loss in the family with the passing of Beethoven; another actress in the group spent several days visiting her grandfather in the hospital; and yet another actress sadly lost her father just this morning. Despite the losses and emotional hits, we have all continued to work hard on the play, which has presented us with multiple challenges due to its unique structure, something I think audiences will find very interesting. Friendly reminder. Tickets are available now from all Urbtix outlets.

tag:www.hokwokwing.hk,2010://1.255 2010-12-26T16:48:00Z 2010-12-26T17:23:20Z

Merry Christmas everyone. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, spending time with family and friends. For us, it wasn't a merry Christmas, having lost Beethoven only less than three weeks ago. Having just lost someone special, the joyfulness of the season only accentuates the sorrow. Between Beethoven and a busy rehearsal schedule for the new The Empress of China play, there were no decorations at home, no Christmas tree, and strangely no gifts either. (Sadly, my sister in Australia is mourning the recent loss of two of their 'kids'; one to kidney failure, the other to insect sting complications. I feel for her.) </p