Red Bull Flutag in Hong Kong

I haven't really see much of a creative culture/sub-culture or a whole lot of individuality/unique self-expression here in Hong Kong. Maybe I am not sure where to look, but it's not as apparent here as it was in Tokyo.

That being said, I was happy to hear that the Red Bull Flutag was debuting for the first time in Asia in Hong Kong. It was at the Kowloon Heliport. Glory, an old high-school friend of mine, currently living in Hong Kong, told me about the event. I had seen it when it rolled through Portland, OR a couple years ago, so I thought it would be interesting to see what people would come up with here.




Turns out that inspiration here included a lot more cultural influences (very neat to see, but I couldn't get any good photos). Back in the States, I think it was more about pop culture-influence, instead of US culture/traditions. There was one based on a Chinese-style wedding, one on Mah Jong, and another on dim sum. There were pop culture ones to, like a Bruce Lee, Ding Dong (aka Doremon), and Lost. (Funny, because I had a Lost-related dream the night before. It was about how Jack's house was a time machine. WEIRD.)






I really thought the way the Lost plane and the Ding Dong plane were constructed were shoe-ins, but...they nose-dived right into the water! The wind was so strong that it knocked the Ding Dong plane before it even had a chance to launch. They ended up dismantling a few parts to get it going on the ramp, but it still fell short.

We ended up taking off before the last two or so since it started to rain. I didn't check to see who was the winner, but it was probably the ones we didn't watch.

Another thing I noticed: the crowd was SO tame. Glory blames it on the lack of beer (no one was selling it at the event, only Red Bulls, which were not free), but I think it is also because people here are so much more reserved and polite (? or passive? I'm not quite sure what it is). At the Portland one, people where squished side by side and tippy toe-ing, trying to get a glimpse of the flights, but here, we had a good amount of room, and the energy was completely mild. It's a little strange.



Still trying to understand what Hong Kong and the people here are about, but I'm not getting a whole lot yet...

PS. Excuse the crappy photos. Bad lighting, overcast, drizzly rain, bad angles.