Words: Joe Lam

The first Bear Carnival is happening soon. DIMSUM talks to Rick Wong, the Bear Carnival founder about this special event. The event will be held June 21 – 23.

DS: Why did you decide to set up the Hong Kong Bear Carnival?
Rick: Hong Kong really lacks large-scale LGBT festivals. Looking around, other countries are very successful at setting up international festivals, and they are very well attended. Given how international Hong Kong is as a city, it really needs this kind of festival, whether local or international.

DS: What special events are on during the 3 day Hong Kong Bear Carnival?
Rick:There’s the Wine Festival, when our friends both from Hong Kong and abroad will be able to enjoy a few performances as well as the Mr Bear competition. The Boat Festival, where we’ll get to see a different side to Hong Kong. We’ve found a beautiful beach where we can play games on the beach and in the water, people can go water-skiing, banana boats etc. The Dance Party, where we’ve invited a famous bear DJ as well as two explosive bear go-go dancers, whom I know will really get the crowd excited on the night. Finally, we have the Food Festival. Hong Kong is a gourmet’s paradise and our overseas friends are certain to enjoy all that we have to offer here. We’ll be bringing our friends to have one of Hong Kong’s most famous meals – dim sum – which we hope they’ll really enjoy.

DS: How do you get tickets?
Rick: Either online at www.gayfun.hk.com/bear or at Boo Bar.

DS: I’ve heard that there will be a Mr Bear contest at the Dance Party. How do I enter?
Rick: We’ll be using bracelets on the night. Every person at the Dance Party will get one vote. If you see someone you think should be Mr Bear, give him your bracelet and we’ll determine the three bears with the highest number of bracelets at the end of the night.

DS: The Dance Party will also have go-go bears – can you tell us a bit more about them and what to expect from their performance?
Rick: They are Nao-San and Donburi-San and will be performing at 1am and at 3am. Their performances will be very sexy and tickets to see them are included in the Dance Festival tickets.

DS: We see that you have Chinese, English, Japanese and Korean on your website. Tell us what the response from overseas has been.
Rick: We used four languages on the website so that we could explain the details of the events clearly to our international friends. The reaction has been excellent and many have commented on how attentive and friendly this has been for them.

DS: Some of our non-bear friends have asked if they’ll be welcome at the events and many girls have also expressed an interest in the Dance Festival. Can you let us know who will be able to join in the fun?
Rick: We welcome all gay men to come and join us although as the go-go bears will be performing in the nude at some points, we cannot allow women to the Dance Festival so as not to embarrass the performers.

DS: What should we expect from the Carnival?
Rick:We hope that our guests will be able to appreciate the warmth of Hong Kong’s charm and hospitality, as well as a different side to the city.

DS: Will this become an annual event?
Rick: If we get a good response this year, we will of course look to organize another festival next year.

DS: How do bears get to know other bears in Hong Kong?
Rick: In bars, online or through friends. There’s no particular way for them to meet up in Hong Kong.

DS: As the Asian bear society expands, do you think there will be any impact on gay culture here in general?

Rick: It’s still developing, but I think that bears can help change people’s attitudes towards gay culture. Many people still think that being gay is about being effeminate, but bear culture can bring out a different side to gay culture. Many of our straight friends really enjoy the company of bear society.

DS: Do you have any final words for our readers?
Rick: My personal hope is that Hong Kong gay society can become a little bit more unified and more friendly. Our society is already so small, let’s not divide it further and let’s project a positive image of our society to the rest of the world.

Website: www.gayfunhk.com/bear

Words: Russell Boaz

If there is one thing I have learned from talking to people about Terrence Malick’s films (TREE OF LIFE, THE THIN RED LINE), it is that you either really love them or that you dislike them.  TO THE WONDER is a beautiful film but once the movie ends, one is left feeling that the film was loosely plotted and proves to be his weakest film.

The story, mainly told in voice-overs, starts off in France where we meet Neil (Ben Affleck), who never seems to talk in the film, and Mariana  (Olga Kurylenko), two people obviously infatuated with each other.  After visiting Mont Saint-Michel, Mariana decides to move to Oklahoma with Neil along with her ten-year-old daughter.  Once they arrive, problems begin to arise between Neil and Mariana and soon Mariana has to go back to France because of her expired Visa.  While Mariana is back in France, Neil reconnects with an old flame, Jane (Rachel McAdams).  Mariana, in France, soon falls on hard times when she cannot find a job and her daughter goes to live with her father so Neil arranges for her to move back to the United States to be with him.

The movie is beautiful to look at, Malick works with cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki (TREE OF LIFE) to film these gorgeous shots of nature and Oklahoma but that is about the only aspect of the film that is really worth seeing.  Every shot is like a work of poetry.  The part where the film fails is that it is way too Terrence Malick, it is all style, no substance.  The story could be great but it is lost in the voice-over narration and the loose telling of stories make it hard to connect with.  If you are fan of Malick, watch this, but if not, you will probably find yourself looking at your watch wondering when it will end.

(Released on 20 June)

Words: James Gannaban

What else can you do about sex when, like me, you’re alone-but-not-single?

“I like having sex with someone I love,” Ron, one of my former theatre mentors once said. “Me.”

Masturbation is a fine substitute for sex. Sometimes, it can even be better because you know best how to push your own buttons. But Chris and I have had an awesome sex life through the six years we’ve been together. I’d usually demand (sometime twice, thrice a day…) and he’d usually give in. Payback is when he wants it (very early) in the morning and I’m still half-asleep. I’d then tell myself that it’s show time and I gotta perform. Great fun, daily. We got to know each other’s nooks and crannies really well. So these days, I am a bit unsettled ‘coz… what am I to do about physical intimacy, now??

I decided to sort some toys out a few days ago. I went to Showtime Lingerie because I knew the owner, Stephanie. I was certain Steph would hook me up without unnecessary teasing.

She led me through prostate massagers, butt plugs, balls, the ‘Monkey Spanker’ and other contraptions / gadgets / contraptions that’d look at home in a Chemistry lab. Steph explained toy – lubricant compatibility, toy care, how to gently ‘introduce’ new things into the self-pleasure experience. At the end of it, I felt properly inducted. A world of difference than if I were simply let loose on my own to ‘discover’ what might be interesting, only to decide after half a bottle of silicone lube that the Jeff Stryker dildo is never gonna fit. For that, I’ll need a new asshole. But by then, it’ll have been too late.

“Show me what you got,” my friend Pete politely asked.

“No,” I replied. “I’m not showing you things that go into my body.”

“But you always share your food photos!”

“…you do have a point… But I’m still not sharing!”

Sometimes, I wonder why I haven’t got Grindr, Jack’d, Scruff, or any other sex app. At the very least, I can entertain myself by browsing profiles of guys within proximity. But can I really just go “window shopping” without taking anything – anyone – home?

A friend (“Rob”) who has just recently broken up with his partner of six years told me about a guy (“Bert”) who chatted him up at a kebab shop. Rob was having a bite  whilst passing time ‘til the 5am ferry back to his place in Discovery Bay.

Bert: Excuse me – do you live in Discovery Bay?

Rob: I do…

Bert: I’ve seen you on the ferry…

Rob: The Ferry of Shame, yes.

Bert: Ha. I’m taking that ferry, too. Mind if I hang with you?

Rob: Not at all. Nice to have some company other than drunk people who think they still look hot at stupid o’clock.

(Beat.)

Bert: You wrestle by any chance?

Rob: I’ve wrestled before, yes.

Bert: Wanna come by my place to do a few rounds on the mat?

Rob: Sure.

“What I didn’t tell Bert,” Rob shared, “is I have a black belt in karate. I don’t think he expected me to be as competitive as I was.”

“Did you get turned on?”

“F’course! So after a few rounds, I suggested having a shower together. He said, No, he really just likes to wrestle. He wasn’t interested in doing anything more.”

“Cocktease,” I cried. “That’s valid grounds for a complaint!”

“I know,” Rob nodded. “But I’m hoping we get to do it again soon.”

I once hooked up with a guy who wanted to do nothing except get into all sorts of costumes. He enjoyed the sensation of different fabrics against his body and on mine, but that’s as far as he went. He didn’t want sex. We wrapped things up when it was finally time for him to leave for dinner with friends. It was the most bizarre “date” I’ve ever been on.

I’m reminded yet again why being coupled has worked so well for me. As weird as I am, other people are weirder. I may be alone-but-not-single, but I’m self-sufficient enough… Just makes me more excited for when I finally get to jump into The Cockpit to visit Chris in Canberra.

- James Gannaban is Asia’s Most Hyperactive Gay Boy™. Find him on http://jamesgannaban.blogspot.com

Daft Punk – Random Access Memories

Words: Arno G.

RATE: 100/100

Two helmets on a two second TV spot and the world went wild. It says a lot about the torture of those seven years since Daft Punk’s last studio album. Left with the taste of unachieved work with the TRON Legacy soundtrack, the Parisian duo comes back stronger than ever. Working on this last experience with a full orchestra enabled them to waive all inhibitions as true musicians, taking electro music against the current: when every kid can produce some tracks in his bedroom with a laptop, Daft Punk uses full orchestration and something magical happens: with its numerous winks to synth pioneers, Random Access Memories is nevertheless an ode to the future. 70’s disco guru Giorgio Moroder helped produce and gets even a track named after him, a pure odyssey into time we’d love to last hours. First-class featurings like Nile Rodgers (Chic) or Panda Bear from Animal Collective shows the band’s broadest scope of musical vision. The melancholic voice of Julian Casablancas on “Instant Crush” enchants us as the best song the Strokes could ever write. While everybody is still dancing on this summer sexy hymn that is “Get Lucky”, the other contribution of Pharell Williams is a steamy invitation to “Lose Yourself To Dance” and we will. Last track “Contact” is an explosive physical experience and the perfect conclusion of 2013’s most awaited marvel, desperately making us wanna start again right from the beginning.

“Limited edition” almost always equals media hype these days. Car Shoe is launching a special edition of its signature moccasin for Lamborghini’s 50th anniversary.

These loafers are all made by hand with smooth and light calf leather with contrasting laces and leather soles. They are symbols of comfort and practicality, but the rubber studs on the back just don’t do anything for me, I guess I’ll just give these a miss.

Available at: Shop 251-254, 2/F, Shun Tak Centre, 200 Connaught Road Central, Sheung Wan
Tel : 3188 0841

Words: Purple One

The Spanish craze is everywhere and Elite-Concepts certainly jumped on the bang wagon with a new addition to their list of fine restaurants, this time bringing us Quemo. With only about 60 seats indoors (they also have beautiful outdoor seating of around 30 seats), the restaurant is certainly intimate and buzzing with a huge amount of energy from the bar to the kitchen to the staff and also from all the guests who certainly has an agenda coming in – to be fully entertained. With the perfection of the ambience, I certainly hoped that the food could match perfectly with everything, and it certainly did – to a whole new level of experience.

While the restaurant was generous enough to almost let us try everything on the menu, I will pick three must try dishes. The Mediterrean Paella is certainly one of the main attractions.   Visually, it was not anything I’ve seen and you know it’s true when literally everyone takes out their phone to snap pictures of the socarrat (a hot plate) the paella is served on and taste-wise, it was excellent as it was prepared in barbacoa style with the very fresh clams served separately.  Like the Chinese claypot rice, you have a part of the rice crunchy and toasted.

What I thought was a large piece of medium rare steak with a crispy burnt outer layer turned out to be the Presca, a barbecued iberico pork shoulder.  It was certainly not something I’ve tried before but the tenderness and rich favour with the right amount of juiciness will certainly be something I will come back and try a million times.  My advice is not to order any mustard or any other condiments or else you’ll waste this dish.

The liquid bombons, a soft chocolate dumplings served with hazelnut ice cream would be my third recommendation.  Don’t bite until you put the whole thing in your mouth and make sure you wait a bit as it is quite hot on the inside with chocolate sauce that isn’t too sweet.  Definitely an excellent choice to end such an entertaining experience.

Address: 5/F, QRE Plaza, 202 Queen’s Road East, Wan Chai
Tel: 2836 0699

GLOO are offering 20 pairs of free entrance tickets of GLOO Party on in Hong Kong on 19 June 2013. Email your name and mailing address to giveaway@dimsum-hk.com with GLOO in the subject line for a change to win.

Words: Russell Boaz

Two brothers try to travel from Iraq to America on a donkey named Michael Jackson in a tale about the bond of brothers, innocence and determination in BEKAS, a wonderful, sweet, simple and beautiful semi-autobiographical film from writer and director Karzan Kader.  The film is a prolonged version of his 2010 short film of the same name.

Two brothers, Zana and Dana (played by newcomers Zamand Taha and Sarwar Fazil), live in Kurdistan, Iraq in 1990.  They are orphans (the word ‘bekas’, which loosely translated to English would be ‘alone’ or ‘orphans’) who work as shoeshine boys on the streets of Kurdistan.  One afternoon, there is a local cinema showing a Superman film and they get the idea that they want to go to America to see Superman to get him to raise their parents from the dead and topple Saddam Hussein.  The problem is they need money to get passports and leave the country.  Their idea of shinning 30,000 shoes falls through, so they get a donkey, name it Michael Jackson and set on their journey to America.

There are so many elements of this film to love but the main element is the two lead actors.  Taha and Farzil do such a fantastic job playing the parts of Zana and Dana, it is hard to believe that this is their first film.  I was drawn into these characters within the first few minutes they were on screen and their performances were never dull for the 97-minute film, they have such great chemistry together.  It is Taha though that steals the movie playing the younger brother.  Not only does the acting draw the audience in but the story as well.  It is such a simple story (that Kader could have made into a very political film) with so much heart and comedy.  This is one film I cannot recommend enough, GO SEE IT!!!

(Released on 13 June)