An Easy Morning with some more planning

I started the morning doing some planning for my time here. I think I’ve finally got a good structure for the next few days by moving some things around.

I had originally found a place to get some breakfast, but it was closed by the time I finished planning. So I walked around until I found a restaurant. I got seated, but none of the staff spoke English. They pointed me to their website to order food, but when I pressed the 'English' button, all the text disappeared. Translating the menu to English wasn't very descriptive, so instead I just ordered a dish with a green thumb next to it.

When they brought it out, it was filled with coriander, something I can't really eat. So I had to move that all aside and eat the dish without it.

Hong Kong Museum of History

The Hong Kong Museum of History was intense. They had an exhibit on 'National Security,' but it turned out to be a pro-China propaganda piece on the 2019 protests. It started with a video in which they meticulously documented everything the protesters did during the protests. The framing was insane.

They only showed the violent images and none of the peaceful protesters.
They compared the Umbrella protesters to the January 6th rioters.
- And claimed the US was hypocritical for supporting the protesters while condemning the rioters.
They called the protesters anti-patriotic, and claimed China was doing nothing wrong.
It all ended with peaceful, happy images of how great things are now.

I was sitting there mouth agape, watching all this. At one point, a group of older locals came in but left not a minute later—not fooled by this propaganda. The students on a field trip weren’t given that privilege, unfortunately.

When the video ended, I went to the next hall, only to be greeted by a giant red Chinese flag and imagery of how great China is, and how good 'unity' is.

Actually History

After that exhibit, there were more exhibitions on actual history. Those were quite interesting, telling the history of Hong Kong, the immigration of Hong Kong residents to the US and Europe, and how their traditions were founded.

Hong Kong Museum of Art

Next, I visited the Hong Kong Museum of Art. It had many different floors, each with a different exhibit. The first one involved taking a, pretty confrontational, personality test and gave you a recommendation for what you would like the most.

Out of spite, I looked at the other pieces more and ended up preferring the collection for 'adventurers.' There were also exhibits on history, local artists, and a large collection of snuff bottles. It was a fine museum, but there were so many kids running around and making noise that it was hard to enjoy everything to the fullest.

Avenue of the Stars

I was done sooner than expected, so I walked past the 'Avenue of the Stars.' It is a walkway next to the harbor, modeled after the Hollywood Walk of Fame. It is loaded with hand imprints of famous Hong Kong celebrities, and today, a lot of K-pop fans.

I walked past memorials to famous celebrities like Wong Kar Wai, Michelle Yeoh, Jackie Chan, and Bruce Lee. It is a nice place with a great view of the harbor, so I took some pictures.

After that, it was time to get some food. MAMA would start at 18:30 sharp and last at least three hours, so I had to eat beforehand. I walked into the city center and soon found what I was looking for: 'Roast Goose.' I sat down, ordered the largest portion they would sell to a single person, and did my civic duty of ridding the planet of those pests.

MAMA - Day 1

The main event of the day was the MNET Asian Music Awards (MAMA) — Day 1. I joined the massive crowd of K-pop stans at Kai Tak Stadium. Together with more than 50,000 other fans, we were in for a treat! It took quite a while to get through the crowd, security, and actually into the giant stadium. A few seconds before I sat down, the show started—just in time.

It started with a short speech by the host, addressing the idiosyncrasy of hosting this event at this time, but the production must go on! That whole solemn act was soon forgotten when the first performance kicked off.

The Performers

The line-up was filled with big names, but I was mostly interested in the following:

HEARTS2HEARTS
MEOVV
BABYMONSTER
(G)I-dle
IVE
SUPER JUNIOR

Most of these are girl groups, and I am not totally familiar with the boy groups. While watching them perform, I understood how it must feel when I talk about TWICE—just a bunch of chisel-jawed, svelte, airbrushed young adults dancing and singing while people go crazy.

The Structure

The structure was quite straightforward: one performance, one award, one performance, one award, etc. The later in the show, the more prestigious the awards and the more famous the acts became. At one point, the music just stopped, and the lights went out. It was time for the commercial break (this was simultaneously being broadcasted live, of course). The audience got some time to take a biological break and enjoy some of the sponsored content.

The Awards

The awards started off pretty weird, handing out multiple 'Fan Choice' awards. Another thing I noticed was that all the artists reacted quite shocked when their name was called, as if they didn't expect to win the award. But the stage was so small that at most two artists could sit on it, and the artists sitting on the stage always won the award. That’s lucky stage management right there.

They also handed out prestigious awards like:

Best Male Group
Favorite Male Group
Global Trend Song
Impact of the Year
Favorite Global Performer
Favorite Asian Artists
Inspiring Achievement
and more.

Every acceptance speech included a message to the victims of the tragedy. It was quite a mood killer every time, but it is a PR disaster if they don’t mention it.

My favorite performances

All the performances are posted on their YouTube playlist. You can watch them here: All Performances. The awards are edited out, sadly.

But my favorite performances were these:

MEOVV - TURN IT UP

They had to change up the original lyrics from 'Burning Up' to 'Turn It Up,' but they still put on a hell of a performance. For a group that debuted less than two years ago, they are a force to be reckoned with.

ALPHA DRIVE ONE - FORMULA

This one is mostly for the stage. They built this TRON-Racer prop set, which they incorporated into the performance.

SUPER JUNIOR - The Hits

This was played right after the last ad break and got everyone out of their seats. These veterans with more than 20 years of experience put on a real show! The girl next to me was a major ELF and totally got me into it. I was happy I brought my ear protection that evening.

Closing the Show

The final award was Fans' Choice of the Year, given to ENHYPEN. I wasn't really phased by it, but a lot of the audience members were. Some people around were shedding tears. The show was interesting and the performances were cool, but I wasn't familiar with all the acts and felt the livestream would do the performances more justice.

As soon as the lights went out, I hurried to the exit to get back to the hotel. I 'Froggered' through the crowd trying to get to the train before the bulk of the attendees arrived. I used the tactic of taking the metro stop that is further away, giving me more room before the next stop, which worked great. I was so hungry when I got back to my hotel that I went in for some fast food. Drained and dehydrated, I fell asleep after a long day.

I am not sure what I expected from MAMA, but it was a bit underwhelming for my taste. Knowing how much I paid for these tickets, I'm not really sure if it was worth it. But hey, I can't miss out on these shows too!