#I don’t remember exactly who it was but I found a ‘hall of fame/heritage post’ blog that was started in 2018! | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

keanuital · 5 years

Photo

Keanu Reeves Walks Into the Chateau Marmont: An Always Be My Maybe Casting Story

The following post contains spoilers for Always Be My Maybe.

Keanu Reeves walked into his favorite haunt, the Chateau Marmont, wearing a black leather jacket and a motorcycle helmet. He was there for a meeting with Ali Wong and Nahnatchka Khan to discuss a potential role in Always Be My Maybe, the Netflix rom-com starring Wong and Randall Park that the internet practically willed into existence in 2016. Maybe time stopped, or just slowed down to the speed where you could take in every millisecond, but Keanu Reeves’s entrance played out exactly like his eventual introduction in Always Be My Maybe: He floated in like a goddamned movie star. “I think the entire Chateau just went silent for a moment,” says Khan, the director of the film. “That could have just been in my head, but there’s a different aura about him. It was wild.”

Wong and Khan were looking to cast Reeves as a version of himself in extreme quotation marks. The “Keanu Reeves” in Always Be My Maybewould be a hyped-up, slightly aggro horndog whose stratospheric level of celebrity is exactly the point. “Like a tourist would expect to encounter in L.A. after stepping off a TMZ tour bus,” explains Mike Golamco, one of the co-writers. Reeves would be Sasha (Ali Wong)’s new love interest and foil to the sweet, but much more human-size Marcus (Randall Park) — the childhood best friend who has always, maybe, been the one.

Keanu Reeves was the first choice in the script, written by Golamco, Ali Wong, and Randall Park. “He’s the dream guy,” said Khan. “Like, we don’t know what his schedule is, but this would be amazing.” “We all thought it was going to be impossible to get him,” said Park. “What was the likelihood of him being available, and then also him being willing to play himself? So let’s try to think of other people that we could get.”

So they brainstormed backup ideas, including Tony Leung of Wong Kar-wai fame; Mark Dacascos, the chairman of Iron Chef America who also happens to square off against Reeves in John Wick 3; M. Night Shyamalan; and, well, Paul Giamatti — an idea that particularly tickled Park. “I thought that would be really funny,” says Park. “But Ali was like, ‘No, that’s not the direction I want to go in.’”

“It was very important to me that it be someone who was Asian-American who would also be Marcus’s worst nightmare,” explains Wong. “Because if Daniel Dae Kim” — Sasha’s fiancé in the beginning of the film — “showed up, you’d be like, Ahh! if you were Marcus. It’s got to be even worse than that. So it’s got to be someone who’s internationally iconic, and someone who fits those two Venn diagrams is basically Keanu Reeves.”

And yes, the point was to reclaim Keanu Reeves, who often speaks about his Chinese-Hawaiian heritage, as Asian-American. “It’s always been important to me, to express my desire and attraction toward Asian American men,” Wong later wrote me in an email. “Since I first watched Speed, I was very aware that Keanu was Asian American because my family and community wouldn’t shut up about it. Maybe other people didn’t know but I never forgot that.”

Back to the Chateau: Khan remembers Reeves as humble, funny, well-prepared, and a big fan of Wong’s stand-up. “He loved that she was just so ballsy. He was like, ‘You take no prisoners, and I love it,’” said Khan. “He was like, ‘I would be honored to be part of this love story.’”

“[Reeves] had read the whole script and was referencing very specific parts like, ‘Well, I have a question about page 80,’” said Wong. “We’re like, page 80? I had looked at this draft so many times, I don’t even remember what happens on page 80.”

“And then he was getting into the character already. He took my hand in his hand and just stared at me like, Hi. Kind of like he does in the movie and held my hand for an awkwardly long comedic time. It was unbelievable how much he committed to it already in that moment.”

After the meeting, Keanu Reeves’s people called Wong and Khan’s people and let them know: He was in. The question from there would be one of scheduling because Reeves would also be shooting John Wick: Chapter 3 — Parabellum at the same time. Fortunately, the two teams found a window that worked and brought Reeves to San Francisco for their last four days of production, which happened to fall in the brief time period between Reeves’s shoots in New York and the Moroccan desert with Halle Berry. “It was really just serendipitous,” said Khan.

And they would always have the Chateau.

“God knows what I had, but we all remembered what Keanu ordered,” says Khan. “He ordered a Corona and the mixed nuts. I think I’ll always remember that, until my dying day.”

55 notes · View notes

wanderharryings · 4 years

Text

Hong Kong from the eyes of an Instagrammer

Hong Kong’s places to visit was never of interest to me. It was all about their FOOD - I love warm meaty dim sums and sweet juicy roasts. It was a no-brainer that I will make it to Hong Kong some day for a dim sum pilgrimage.

Can’t recall exactly when but it was a day I flipped through the calendar and realised there wasn’t any holidays planned till 2020. So got onto skyscanner and booked 2 tix to Hong Kong! Boom!

BEST. DECISION. MADE. IN. 2019.

We had a very very comfortable flight to Hong Kong via Cathay Pacific. We regularly fly via budget airlines to other parts of Asia so it was nice to fly via full-service airline on this trip. Food wasn’t fantastic but Haagen Daz on-board was a nice touch!

Landed shortly past midnight. Didn’t feel like figuring out the train services at that ungodly hours so we booked an airport transfer via Rideways by Booking.com. Wasn’t exactly cheap however service by our driver Ken Wan was top notch so I ain’t complaining. I highly recommend Ken if you are looking for an airport transfer in HK. He is so good with his instructions that it made navigating out of the airport so easy for us. 5 STARS!

Ken drove us right up to Hong Kong Island where we booked a 3-night stay at Hotel Jen via Booking.com . I have left my reviews on Booking.com so feel free to scroll through and read before deciding if you should go with our choice. It was a no-frills stay so we found it hard to justify the price we paid. However, you’ll appreciate the convenience of the location. The hood is very different in the wee hours and when the sun comes up! Love it!

Husband did the planning for most parts of this trip. He said he knew he had to pick the most instagrammable places to entice his wife to remain excited throughout the trip ;)

For the rest of this post, you’ll view snippets of my instastory to stay true to the IG-worthy theme.

Started the first day with a day trip to Tai O fishing village on Lantau Island. Wasn’t hard to get there via MTR and their bus service. You can google to find the varied ways to get to Tai O. A Singaporean we met on this trip advised to avoid Tai O during the weekends. Good for us we went on a Friday morning. There was barely any crowd. We took a leisurely stroll and munched on food we found along our path.

These spicy jumbo fishballs were the first thing we ate on this trip. It was the perfect pairing for the cold weather. My lips were on fire, in a good way.

Told ya - there was sooo much to eat as you walk around exploring the village on your own but eat sparingly because you shouldn’t miss out on this tiny dim sum stall. Their plump Har Gows simply glide down your throat one after another. Never ever had one that is this good! Do not worry about having more than 1 platter because there is soooo much walking to do (so you need to fuel up!) and of course a lot more to see besides food.

Tai O is an Instagram haven. There are so many activities and spots to photograph but I wasn’t sure how I would feel if I were to live there... at times I felt like I was intruding the locals’ personal space. Maybe no, there were plenty who greeted us with warm smiles and just went about doing their own things.

Amidst the busy daily morning activities and the buzz in the marketplace, we stumbled upon a white building with massive Christmas decorations. Later realised it was a Church. We stood there thinking if we should go in to pay respects when a local greeted us with a big “Hello” and signalled us to go in. We entered but couldn’t find a prayer hall so exited almost immediately. Happy to have visited during the Christmas season to see the Church in it’s full glory.

We left Tai O to to check out the bargains at the Citygate Outlets located right smack at the MTR station where we have to transit. Very strategic I must say!

If you’ve been to the outlet malls in the US, then this wouldn’t excite you. Bagged a couple of items from Adidas and was mighty pleased with the discount. Left as soon as we gobbled down some roast meat on steamed rice for late lunch.

MTR’s well connected lines and undisrupted service ensured we arrived at the hotel on time to freshen up and head out for our night exploration. The moment we arrived back to HK Island, I missed the charm of Tai O. It was a great escapade from the concrete jungle. The city girl in me truly appreciated that side of HK!

For the night we decided on something a little more touristy - we cruised along Victoria Harbour on-board AquaLuna, a traditional Chinese junk boat. Hubs researched on the various cruise offerings and we unanimously agreed on AquaLuna. He got us tix on Klook . Each tix covered a complimentary drink for the 45-min sail. We ordered taro chips to go with our glass of red. It was indeed a beautiful start to our holiday!

We disembarked at the Victoria Harbour waterfront in Tsim Sha Tsui and walked along the Avenue of Stars, an avenue to honour HK film celebrities. It was just about time for the famous light show ‘Symphony of Lights’ to begin so we promptly grabbed a cup of hot chocolate each to catch the show in the cold winter night. Hong Kong is a true stunner at night!

It was hard to end the night early when there was still so much going on around that area. We pressed on and moved on to explore Nathan Street. Nightlife in HK didn’t seem any different from SG - it was all about brightly lit streets, bustling crowd and many more food options.

After clocking 25, 663 steps, we stopped for a quick wonton mee dinner and retired for the night. Thank God for our Timberland boots investment else we couldn’t have managed all that non-stop walking!

Day 2 was a lot more slower... we had to as our energy was depleting after a full on day 1!

We took the MTR once again (we did all day err day alright) and headed towards Quarry Bay to take photographs of the famed monster building. While searching for directions on how to get there, Hubs chanced upon the news that a photo taking ban has been put in place since Sep 2019. Apparently the residents complained about all the mayhem created by instagrammers so they fenced up the area! Oh, well; we didn’t give up ;)

Saw the banner and the fence? Occasionally you’ll have people coming out of their shops to monitor your movements. We were constantly whispering to each other while we were there as we were afraid of being chased out before we were done.

If you got sick of HK food and looking for some Indian/Indo fare, this is also the place to visit. We caught sight of non-locals patronising the grocery stores around this area. There were plenty of hair salons in a single stretch too!

Quarry Bay is an unconventional mix of modern buildings, old school housing charm, marketplaces, traditional bakeries, modern cafes and way more.

Then it was back on the MTR to head towards the Central for some touristy shopping and gourmet indulgence before the next item on our itinerary - Victoria Peak!

Victoria Peak via the tram ride was totally Hubs’ idea. He didn’t manage to go up the Peak during his first visit to HK so this was a first time experience for us both. Once again, we got our tix from Klook. It was basically a combo ticket so we opted for the tram ride to Sky Terrace and a pass to Madame Tussauds.

We met our Klook guide at an MTR exit closes to the tram station. He chaperoned us to the station and briefed us on what needs to be done once we hit the peak. Clear instructions that didn’t require us to ponder much about what to do next. We followed his instructions to a T and ended up on the highest hill on Hong Kong island known as Mount Austin, and locally as The Peak. Windy and cold yet breathtaking view of the city and sunset shortly after we arrived.

It was a certainly a night to remember. In fact, it was 2 consecutive memorable nights! This called for a celebratory dinner. Hence, we trekked down to Yung Kee which wasn’t very far off the tram station. Our hearts and stomachs were so full.

Roasts and rice game strong! Hard to beat the HK folks in their fried rice renditions. Every grain is coated in grease and flavoured so well. Every mouthful leaves you wanting more. Perfection!

Causeway Bay, HK’s most up-scale shopping district was next on our agenda. We were all geared up for more walking and sightseeing. It was the perfect place to head to on our last night in HK as there’s the Wellcome supermarket that is open 24hrs which is the most perfect place to pick up edible gifts for family and friends back home. We researched quite a fair bit on the supermarkets to go to and the items to buy as gifts. A couple of supermarkets we walked into before Wellcome, were very much for expats so you don’t get local produce. I got carried away with the cool Tesco/Waitrose products manufactured just for the HK market!

As for the specifics of the edible gifts, we got bottles of XO sauce and dried scallops from Yick Cheong Ho at Tai O. I felt it was more appropriate to get 'em sauces from Tai O than from supermarkets. The XO sauces sold in the supermarkets are brands that are available back home too. At Wellcome we picked up the remaining items on our shopping list like Greatwall luncheon meat, Nissin XO instant noodles, Holland “Black and White” evaporated milk cans and mango-pomelo sago bottled drink.

We were extremely exhausted after clocking a total of 21, 519 steps for the day. Besides, all the edible gifts were weighing a tonne so it was only wise we headed back to the hotel.

We’ve experienced enough of the efficient MTR system. So, it was time to experience HK’s heritage tram system, Ding Ding. It was a nice and slow ride “home”.

Hong Kong Tramways has done a brilliant job in preserving the charm and maintaining a traditional transportation system to be functional since 1904.

On the next morning, one last hurrah before we board the airport express and fly back home...

I heart you with all of my heart, HK! Till we meet again, XO XO (pun fully intended).

0 notes