Gather and Drinks (This week's Photo Hunt themes)

For those participants in Sandi's and Gattina's Photo Hunts (as well as general visitors to this blog) who have yet to do so, meet Ponyo -- specifically, my Stress Ponyo and Puppet Ponyo! :)

Unlike the somewhat shy third Ponyo plush I have (who is known as either Pirate Ponyo (because she's actually a not officially authorized plushie bought for just HK$20 here in Hong Kong) or Muse Ponyo (because she helps me to write long articles)), Stress Ponyo and Puppet Ponyo are social personalities who enjoy going out and doing such as making appearances at gatherings, including those where people have their share of drinks.

Since Stress Ponyo usually attends these gatherings after a day at the office, she tends to favor Vodka Martinis (although she has checked out her share of beers in her time too). Puppet Ponyo, on the other hand, usually sticks to beer as she appears more in vacation situations. (For example, the hair-raising middle photo of her -- maybe she was shocked by how big were the size of the mugs of beer we were served... -- was taken on our Japanese vacation this year. Also check out Puppet Ponyo sampling some kolsch when she, a German friend and I visited Cologne last year!)

And while I usually avoid showing close-up photos of my friends, the two in the third photo with Puppet Ponyo are well known in Asian film circles, so don't think they'll mind having their faces shown on this blog. For the record: the photo of Puppet Ponyo with Fredric Ambroisine and King Wei Chu was taken at a fun evening out during this year's Hong Kong International Film Festival -- and helps provide evidence of what I often tell disbelieving people: that the fest -- at least for the likes of me -- doesn't just involve sitting in the dark viewing films but, also, meeting up with fellow film fan(atic)s, including quite a few who have flown into Hong Kong from other continents as well as other parts of Asia. :)