Amaya - Kaori Momoi (2010) - Tai O, Lantau

Tai O is used a few times in the movie. Initially to portray the rural village (in Mainland China?) where Amaya's son rents a house and works as a fisherman, but later it's also used as the departure point for Paul as he heads away for further travels.

Amaya - Kaori Momoi (2010) - Java Road Municipal Services Building, North Point

I'm not sure why, but there's a brief, random glimpse of some footage of the interior of the Java Road Municpal Services Building and its famous Tung Po (東寶小館) eatery. This place became quite famous for serving beer in small rice bowls and garnered quite the reputation for an entertaining night out until the local Govt departments decided they were having too much fun and terminated their lease here. It's a very good illustration of current Govt bureacracy in operation. Yes, you are allowed to have fun but only on our terms, sort of thing. Anyway, for those who still wish to visit, Tung Po has moved to a new venue on Jaffe Road.

Amaya - Kaori Momoi (2010) - Ngong Ping 360, Tung Chung

Paul heads to the cable car with his not-so-newfound friend.

Amaya - Kaori Momoi (2010) - Kau U Fong, Central

I was just about to post a link back to an old post featuring Kau U Fong and have realised that I never posted it in the first place, so I've added it to my to-do list. In the meantime, this is the small street where Amaya rides her squeaky bicycle to pick up food on her way home from work.

Amaya - Kaori Momoi (2010) - Stewart Road, Wanchai

Paul meets up with a couple of fellow tourists at the Pacific Coffee on Stewart Road. I used to frequent this very same coffee shop around the same time this was being filmed, but sadly never saw it happen. The old art deco shophouse on the opposite side of the road also makes a brief appearance. It's had a bit of a face lift since this movie though.

Amaya - Kaori Momoi (2010) - Various views around Central

Quite a few of the opening scenes were shot in and around Statue Square in Central. But there are also afew shots along Des Vouex Road Central, such as the reflection of Alexandra House in the windows of Chater House (image 3) and a view looking west towards the Yat Fat Stationers sign (image 5). The latter is still there as far as I know, despite all the recent sign removals carried out by the Govt.

Amaya - Kaori Momoi (2010) - View from Ocean Terminal

The opening scenes show a variety of shots in and around the harbour, including this view of Paul looking towards Hong Kong Island from Kowloon side. You can see by the location of the Star Ferry terminal that it was shot from the car park on top of Ocean Terminal.

Amaya - Kaori Momoi (2010) - Harbour Grand Hotel, North Point

Just when I thought I was running out of titles again, another 10-15 or so get picked up by my radar and I have recentlymanaged to track down a couple of them. So next up is Amaya which was released worldwide under the title Hong Kong Confidential. However, I have alread covered an old movie with Gene Barry of that same name, so will stick with Amaya. The story follows several characters whose lives cross at a massage centre in Hong Kong. The film starts with Paul (Andrius Mamontovas), a Lithuanian traveller, arriving in Hong Kong to study a massage course. He's a bit of a scruffy backpacker but has money to throw around and stay at the Harbour Grand Hotel in North Point (not the Kowloon-side one).