I stared into the darkness of the tunnel as we zipped between stations. I looked up at the map to see where we were. The little light flashed over Causeway Bay station and the arrow indicated we had just left Wan Chai. As the announcements for the next station started in Cantonese, something flicked past my peripheral vision. A light in the tunnel. A series of lit screens flashed past the door windows. I smiled as a beer advert unfolded.

Venue: Hong Kong

I haven't read the Asimov story. Actually, I've never read Asimov. Minority Report didn't inspire me to start, but this film may.

1. Robots are everywhere - walking dogs, collecting garbage, etc. They obey the 3 laws:

1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
2. A robot must obey orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

Of course, the fun comes when it looks like these laws aren't being obeyed. Will Smith played Spooner, a homicide detective who happens to have a distrust of robots. The character was quite serious, but Smith managed to inject some his humour. I felt that Bridget Moynahan delivered a somewhat predictable doctor type.

When I saw the garbage collectors, my mind immediately leapt to the X-Men story about mutants on Genosha being assigned such roles: slavery. However, I didn't feel this aspect was explored in the movie. Instead, the question asked was "what happens when AI goes wrong?" I would guess, from certain out-of-place phrases, that Asimov's story actually addresses this issue.

An enjoyable film, weakened slightly by opting for the simpler plot.

• 3 Laws Unsafe - for more discussion about AI

Pentrix - Pen Spinning Revolution

I caught a feature about pen spinning and was quite impressed. I only knew how to do the thumb spinner before, but imagine my delight to find lots more tricks.

Jugglers should feel at home with pen spinning. Both can be performed with household objects (eg. pens, bananas, ferrets). Both require some dexterity and skill. Both give you that thrill when you pull off that cool trick.

Right, now I'm off to find a long pen, or a ferret...

This is just a virtual postcard to anyone who may still be frequenting the site. A quick grab shot of Hong Kong from where I'm staying at the moment - lazy eh? Hope you're having a great summer wherever you are!

Venue: Hong Kong

The House of Flying Daggers is a rebel organisation against a corrupt goverment. Zhang Ziyi plays a blind member of the organisation well skilled in marital arts. Andy Lau and Takeshi Kaneshiro play captains of the local guards who hatch a plan to find the House of the Flying Daggers. The inevitable love triangle follows some twists and turns.

Zhang Ziyi apparently lived with a blind person for 2 months to better understand how to play the part, and I think she studied well. I remember Andy Lau as the cheeky gangster in God of Gamblers. He doesn't have quite such an amusing character in this film, but we certainly get to see his range.

Maybe I was in a cinema full of cynics, or maybe these days we are expecting swifter death scenes. However, the number of times a certain character seemed to die was comical.

The fight sequences were very good, employing special effects to enhance the scenes. I personally enjoyed the obligatory fight in a bamboo forest, where projectile and melee weapons are readily constructed! The style is more reminiscent of Once Upon a Time in China than Crouching Tiger.

Even if the tree reaches the height of ten thousand feet,
Falling leaves return to their roots.

I always end up accumulating books when I travel. The latest acquisition is A Thousand Pieces of Gold, which attempts to explain the origins of Chinese proverbs. One proverb introduced at the beginning of the book struck a chord with me. In fact Adeline Yen Mah uses it as the title for another one of her books: Falling Leaves.

... this proverb is a reminder that as a person gets older, he tends to go back to his beginnings.

As I read this, I felt it ring very true. My desire to learn more about what it means to be Chinese has been steadily increasing the past few years. Especially the history and language. Although I can speak Teochew, I cannot read Chinese characters. To this end I am planning to study in Beijing, which is where the next part of this trip will eventually lead me.

How do you refer to your cousins?

I've started refering to them as cousin-sisters or cousin-brothers. It's the norm here and fits with the Chinese way of calling people. It also helps to determine the gender of the cousin for the rest of the conversation.

Since English has lost gender endings, I feel this is a helpful alternative.

I have just returned from a talk given by Venerable Sangye Khardo at the Amitabha Buddhist Centre (just a short walk through the red light district from the MRT).

Meditating is harder than it sounds. All I had to do was concentrate on my breathing in and out. Just focusing solely on that for the count of 10. It sounds easy until you try to do it. I found myself nodding off frequently. Time passes differently when you are meditating. What felt like half an hour was in fact 15 minutes.

I am going to try meditating in the morning to see if my day is actually calmer and more peaceful.