Hong Kong

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  News.gov.HK: Top Stories

• CS pleased with games ticket sales

  22 Nov 2009 | 3:14 am

• Prison fair set for Nov 28

  22 Nov 2009 | 3:14 am

  Arts and handicrafts, toys, and rattan and wooden furniture made by prisoners will be on sale in the 57th Autumn Fair held by the Correctional Services Department Sports Association in Stanley November 28.

• Lawmakers urged to handle reform package

  22 Nov 2009 | 3:13 am

  Lawmakers have a constitutional responsibility to deal with the political reform package for 2012, Secretary for Constitutional & Mainland Affairs Stephen Lam says, adding Hong Kong should take a step forward at that time to pave the way for universal suffrage in subsequent years.

• Gov't urges open attitude on political reform

  22 Nov 2009 | 3:13 am

  The Constitutional & Mainland Affairs Bureau has called on the community to adopt an open and accommodating attitude to roll forward democracy in Hong Kong.

• Expo showcases conservation success

  22 Nov 2009 | 2:11 am

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  News.gov.HK: Top Stories: Law and Order

• Police seek fatal crash witnesses

  22 Nov 2009 | 3:14 am

  Police are appealing to witnesses of a November 6 fatal traffic accident in Tseung Kwan O to come forward with information.

• 29 arrested in anti-illegal worker raids

  22 Nov 2009 | 3:14 am

  The Immigration Department, Police and the Labour Department arrested 22 illegal workers and seven employers today as the Immigration (Amendment) Ordinance 2009 took effect.

• Warning issued to drug traffickers

  22 Nov 2009 | 3:14 am

  Secretary for Security Ambrose Lee has reiterated the Government's zero-tolerance attitude towards drug traffickers, assuring it will exert every effort to combat drug crime.

• Reward posted for acid attack info

  22 Nov 2009 | 3:14 am

  A $300,000 reward has been offered for information on the three cases in which bottles containing hydrochloric acid were thrown from Sham Shui Po buildings in June and October.

• Man fined for illegal BBQ eatery

  22 Nov 2009 | 3:14 am

  A man has been fined $8,000 by Kowloon City Magistracy for running an unlicensed rooftop barbecue site in Mongkok.

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  News.gov.HK: Health and Community

• Prison fair set for Nov 28

  22 Nov 2009 | 3:14 am

  Arts and handicrafts, toys, and rattan and wooden furniture made by prisoners will be on sale in the 57th Autumn Fair held by the Correctional Services Department Sports Association in Stanley November 28.

• HA volunteers to aid East Asian Games

  22 Nov 2009 | 3:14 am

  More than 100 Hospital Authority staff have pledged to provide medical services to participants in, and guests of, next month's East Asian Games.

• Warning issued on joint-pain drug

  22 Nov 2009 | 2:12 am

  The Department of Health urges the public not to buy or use a product for joint pain that contains undeclared western medicine dexamethasone, which can cause serious side effects.

• Toy packing found to be unsafe

  22 Nov 2009 | 2:12 am

  The Customs & Excise Department reminds parents to beware of potential suffocation hazards posed to children by the plastic packing on puzzle toys which recently failed safety tests.

• Health alert issued for the Ukraine

  22 Nov 2009 | 2:11 am

  The Centre for Health Protection is monitoring an acute respiratory illness outbreak in the Ukraine, advising travellers to the country to observe personal protective measures. Those who fall ill after returning from there should seek medical care.

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  News.gov.HK: Admin and Civic Affairs

• Views sought on privacy law review

  22 Nov 2009 | 3:14 am

  The Constitutional & Mainland Affairs Bureau has launched a three-month public consultation on the review of the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance to gauge views on proposals to amend the law.

• RTHK consultation kicks off

  22 Nov 2009 | 3:14 am

  The Commerce & Economic Development Bureau launched a public consultation today on how Radio Television Hong Kong should operate to fulfil its mission as a public service broadcaster.

• Prisoners free to vote

  22 Nov 2009 | 3:14 am

  The Voting by Imprisoned Persons Ordinance provisions removing restrictions on a prisoner's right to vote and the disqualification of people who have been convicted of certain election-related or bribery offences from voting in elections, took effect today.

• Ombudsman to scrutinise 4 more bodies

  22 Nov 2009 | 3:14 am

  An order seeking to include four public bodies - the Auxiliary Medical Service, the Civil Aid Service, the Consumer Council and the Estate Agents Authority - to schedule one of the Ombudsman Ordinance has been gazetted. It will be tabled at the Legislative Council November 11.

• Gov't to work for more democratic system

  22 Nov 2009 | 3:14 am

  It should be a common goal for Hong Kong people to have a more democratic political system in 2012 and the Government will work towards it, Chief Executive Donald Tsang says.

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  News.gov.HK: On The Record

• Central's upgrade to respect district's history

  22 Nov 2009 | 3:14 am

  As you will have read in the papers, this year's Policy Address is very much focused on the economy, and ways to take our economic development to a new level.

• Express rail link has strategic value

  22 Nov 2009 | 3:14 am

  It seems everyone is talking about high-speed rail travel nowadays."Everyone" includes US President Barack Obama described it as "a smart transportation system equal to the needs of the 21st century".

• Donald Tsang writes to students, parents

  22 Nov 2009 | 3:14 am

  Chief Executive Donald Tsang writes to all secondary school students and their parents appealing to their support for the campaign against youth drug abuse and the trial scheme on school drug testing in Tai Po District. Following is the text of the letters:

• HK keen to develop Islamic finance

  22 Nov 2009 | 3:14 am

  The Declaration on Mutual Co-operation on Development of Islamic Capital Market and Islamic Collective Investment Schemes represents an important step for furthering the co-operation between Malaysia and Hong Kong in Islamic finance development.

• Gov'ts must co-operate to restore stability

  21 Nov 2009 | 8:17 pm

  It has been a little over one year since the financial crisis began to unfold in front of our eyes. Governments around the world have had no choice but to focus all their energy on kick-starting their economies and refining and strengthening their own financial regulatory regime. US and European regulators have been faced with the additional task of stabilising their own markets and systemically important institutions.

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  Hong Kong News.Net

• Chinese soldiers accused of unfair tactics in Hong Kong race

  21 Nov 2009 | 7:59 pm

  Hong Kong - Chinese army soldiers were accused Sunday of gamesmanship and muscling their way to victory in a Hong Kong charity 100-kilometre race. Two People's Liberation Army teams Friday took part i...

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  SCMP.com

• PLA didn't play fair, runners claim

  22 Nov 2009 | 12:00 am

  Fellow runners have accused the PLA's teams in the Oxfam Trailwalker charity race of violating the spirit of the event by adopting a "win at all costs" mentality.

• Forced by-elections likely to cost HK$150 million

  22 Nov 2009 | 12:00 am

  With pan-democrats still divided over whether to resign Legco seats to force by-elections they see as a "referendum" on constitutional reform, the government yesterday warned the exercise would cost taxpayers HK$150 million.

• Banker, surgeon, lawyer ... con man

  22 Nov 2009 | 12:00 am

  If a person calling himself Kevin Ong Siu-sin wants to be your friend, you may want to think twice. According to people who have encountered him - with personas as varied as a former Goldman Sachs banker "branching off on his own", a top Hong Kong barrister named Alexander Wang complete with court gown and wig, and an eminent New York plastic surgeon called Damien Wong - Ong will go to great lengths to befriend strangers and convince them to hand over their cash.

• Who says HK and Singapore can't co-operate?

  22 Nov 2009 | 12:00 am

  Can rivals Hong Kong and Singapore work together rather than just face off over who deserves the title of Asia's top financial centre?

• In Brief

  22 Nov 2009 | 12:00 am

  Live lobsters worth HK$900,000 were seized on a speedboat in waters off Lantau on Friday night in an anti-smuggling operation and seven people were arrested. The speedboat, which was heading for the mainland, was intercepted by marine police west of Lantau. Officers found 83 boxes of lobsters weighing 1.5 tonnes on the boat. Customs officers arrested the seven people, aged between 15 and 48, at Tung Chung pier. Duty of about HK$420,000 was payable on the smugglers' haul, the government said. The lobsters are believed to have been imported from Australia and New Zealand.

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  Google News: Hong Kong

• Sands to build Macau resort - Straits Times

  22 Nov 2009 | 4:37 am

  New Online Casinos (blog)Sands to build Macau resortStraits TimesHONG KONG - LAS Vegas Sands will restart a stalled resort in Macau even though its US$2.5 billion (S$3.5 billion) initial public offering raised less than Sands China, parent raise $2.5 billion in Hong Kong saleLas Vegas Review - JournalUPDATE 1-Sands China raises $2.5 bln, low end of rangeReutersSands China IPO Seeks $3.4 Billion at Highest Price for CasinoBloombergSydney Morning Herald -Daily News & Analysis -TheStreet.comall 49 news articles »

• More holiday movies - CharlotteObserver.com

  22 Nov 2009 | 4:21 am

  guardian.co.ukMore holiday moviesCharlotteObserver.comDirected by Hong Kong action auteur John Woo, this epic tale of civil war and intrigue during the Han dynasty features the proverbial cast of thousands (as John Woo directs action film 'Red Cliff'San Francisco ChronicleThe view: John Woo's departure from Hollywood is a loss to us allguardian.co.uk'Red Cliff' movie review: John Woo gets his groove back with Chinese war epicThe Star-Ledger - NJ.comAFP -New York Daily News -Moviefoneall 112 news articles »

• Chinese soldiers accused of unfair tactics in Hong Kong race - Monsters and Critics.com

  21 Nov 2009 | 7:04 pm

  Chinese soldiers accused of unfair tactics in Hong Kong raceMonsters and Critics.comHong Kong - Chinese army soldiers were accused Sunday of gamesmanship and muscling their way to victory in a Hong Kong charity 100-kilometre race. and more »

• At Least 87 Die in Chinese Mine Explosion - New York Times

  21 Nov 2009 | 6:40 pm

  At Least 87 Die in Chinese Mine ExplosionNew York TimesHONG KONG — A gas explosion at a coal mine in northeastern China early Saturday morning killed at least 87 people and left 21 more trapped and more »

• Hong Kong hotel exec buys Michael Jackson's sparkly glove for shocking $350G ... - New York Daily News

  21 Nov 2009 | 4:53 pm

  Globe and MailHong Kong hotel exec buys Michael Jackson's sparkly glove for shocking $350G New York Daily News"It was a bargain - we were expecting to pay more," said Hoffman Ma, a Hong Kong hotel executive. "We're going to put it on display in our hotel. Jackson's glove sells for $350000 at auctionReutersMacau hotel to display Jacko 'moonwalk' gloveAFPJackson moonwalk glove sells for $350K in NYCThe Associated PressAustin American-Statesman -Sky Newsall 824 news articles »

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  Topix: Hong Kong

• Environment biodiesel law updated in Hong Kong

  20 Nov 2009 | 9:46 pm

  An amendment regulation was gazetted in Hong Kong on Friday to ensure that motor vehicle biodiesel will meet the necessary standards.

• HK unveils measures to increase property sales transparency

  20 Nov 2009 | 10:13 am

  HONG KONG: The Hong Kong government on Friday unveiled a list of measures to increase the transparency of property sales, in a bid to cool public anger over a developer's selective floor-numbering tactic.

• Hong Kong unveils 'crucial step' towards electoral democracy

  19 Nov 2009 | 4:41 am

  Pro-democracy candidate wins legislative seat in Hong Kong Hong Kong democrats routed by pro-China rivals at polls Democrats routed by pro-Beijing party in Hong Kong elections Pro-democracy candidates lose power in Hong Kong local elections Latest Headlines in Asia-Pacific The Fine Print © 2003 - 2009 by Monsters and Critics.com, WotR Ltd.

• Hong Kong govt unveils democratic reform proposals

  18 Nov 2009 | 4:28 am

  HONG KONG: Hong Kong on Wednesday paved the way for a move towards universal suffrage with a proposal to increase the number of people who elect the city's leader.

• Hong Kong's unemployment rate fell slightly to 5.2%

  17 Nov 2009 | 4:25 pm

  HONG KONG: Hong Kong's unemployment rate for the three months ended October fell slightly to 5.2 percent, the Census and Statistics Department of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government said Tuesday.

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  CNN: Hong Kong News

• Chinese cash inflates Hong Kong property prices

  10 Nov 2009 | 5:36 pm

  The most coveted property on Hong Kong island is called "The Peak," overlooking the city's stunning Victoria Harbor.

• Hong Kong: Welcome to wine country?

  3 Nov 2009 | 5:24 am

  When you think of a winery, you probably imagine the bucolic Napa Valley or the dangling vineyard grapes in French wine country.

• When fact meets fiction, the cases are harder to solve

  29 Oct 2009 | 11:24 am

  The saying goes that life imitates art. But that's the last thing you want when you write crime fiction. You never want to see the things you write about mirrored back to you in real life.

• Hong Kong apartment sets new record price

  15 Oct 2009 | 9:01 am

  A Hong Kong property developer has sold a duplex apartment for a world record price, less than three months after the territory technically emerged from recession.

• Girls sell sex in Hong Kong to earn shopping money

  13 Oct 2009 | 5:08 am

  She doesn't want to be identified, except by her nickname "Sze," and she has a secret past. Her father doesn't know what she did as a 16-year-old, and she hopes he never finds out. But Sze, now 19, wants young girls to hear her story so they never make the same mistake.

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  BBC News: Hong Kong

• Jackson glove sells for $350,000

  21 Nov 2009 | 8:56 pm

  The glove worn by Michael Jackson for his first Moonwalk dance in 1983 sells at auction for $350,000 (£212,000).

• Student leader on trial in China

  20 Nov 2009 | 2:03 am

  A former leader of the Tiananmen democracy protests, handed over by Hong Kong to China, goes on trial in what his supporters call political persecution.

• Borderlescott bound for Hong Kong

  20 Nov 2009 | 12:50 am

  Yorkshire trainer Robin Bastiman's dual Group One winner Borderlescott heads for a £1m sprint in Hong Kong next month.

• Westwood leads McIlroy in Dubai

  19 Nov 2009 | 7:46 am

  Lee Westwood fires a 66 to hold a two-shot lead over Race to Dubai rival Rory McIlroy in the opening round of the Dubai World Championship.

• Star trio set for Dubai shoot-out

  18 Nov 2009 | 8:59 am

  Rory McIlroy, Lee Westwood and Ross Fisher all go into the Dubai World Championship on Thursday bidding to become the new European number one.

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  News.gov.HK: City life

• Cultural shows to celebrate East Asian Games

  22 Nov 2009 | 3:14 am

  Renowned performing groups have been invited to present diverse cultural programmes in celebration of the 5th East Asian Games in December.

• Discover the Canton of old

  22 Nov 2009 | 3:14 am

  Fifty paintings and artefacts depicting the daily life and landscape of Canton in the 18th and 19th Centuries are on display at the Museum of Art until March 28.

• Korean dance show set for November

  22 Nov 2009 | 3:14 am

  The National Dance Company of Korea will return to Hong Kong to perform drum and dance show Korean Fantasy - Scent of Spring in November.

• Drum group to play ocean sounds

  22 Nov 2009 | 3:14 am

  Taiwanese drum group U Theatre will perform Sound of the Ocean , a show aptly highlighting their extraordinary technical and athletic prowess during the 5th East Asian Games in Hong Kong in December.

• Fei-Fei tribute opens at the Heritage Museum

  21 Nov 2009 | 11:39 pm

  Photos, personal belongings and stage costumes of the late actress Lydia "Fei-Fei" Sum, as well as footage from her films, television shows and interviews, will be shown at the Heritage Museum until February 22.

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  News.gov.HK: Business and Finance

• Flower show stalls to be auctioned

  22 Nov 2009 | 3:14 am

  Forty-nine Hong Kong Flower Show stalls will be auctioned December 2 at Lockhart Road Sports Centre, Wan Chai.

• Coming rise in Shenzhen visitors welcome

  22 Nov 2009 | 2:10 am

  The Mainland's imminent implementation of the arrangements for Shenzhen's non-Guangdong residents to apply for individual visits to Hong Kong in Shenzhen will be a boost to the local tourist industry, Chief Executive Donald Tsang says.

• HK's Shanghai Expo site handed over

  22 Nov 2009 | 1:08 am

  Hong Kong's Urban Best Practices Area Exhibition site at the World Exposition Shanghai China 2010 has been handed to the Government.

• Copyright protection upgrades broached

  21 Nov 2009 | 11:39 pm

  Refined proposals for more effective copyright protection in the digital environment have struck a reasonable balance among the interests of copyright owners, users and online service providers, Permanent Secretary for Commerce & Economic Development (Commerce, Industry & Tourism) Yvonne Choi says.

• Q3 credit-card receivables down 0.2%

  21 Nov 2009 | 11:39 pm

  Total card receivables fell 0.2% or $100 million in the third quarter, after falling 0.3% in the previous quarter, the Monetary Authority says. The total number of credit-card accounts was little changed at 12.2 million.

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  Cha Xiu Bao

• On Understanding Wine Labels, Really

  LEE Mut-lee

  22 Nov 2009 | 3:40 am

  Well, the confess is short and simple. As hard as I live everyday of my life trying to be taken as a savvy wine snob the truth is, I don't understand the slippery business that is wine label at all. I know the grapes and I know mostly what it does but there's always something about the wine I'm drinking that I can't explain. I mean, ALWAYS.  The thing is, I find that nonsense whenever winemakers wrap up a wine talk by saying "I'd like to say more, but I'd better let the wine speaks for itself." I know it's suppose to be rhetoric but still, it makes no sense even if it's just a manner of…

• Chinatown Bangkok

  LEE Mut-lee

  15 Nov 2009 | 7:36 am

• The ever-flamboyant Damnoen Saduak Floating Market

  LEE Mut-lee

  4 Nov 2009 | 6:17 am

  Sharing with you an HDR photostream of the pictures that I took at the aureate Damnoen Saduak Floating Market. Hope you guys like it as much as I do.

• Obama Wins Peace Prize While I Win the Geese Prize Makes Us All Winners

  LEE Mut-lee

  14 Oct 2009 | 8:17 am

  Something neither surprising and premature, this goose-all-the-way dinner menu at Yung Kee can single-handedly bring peace to China. Bring all ethnic group leaders together, order this bespoke menu and show them a galore of goose dishes, and everyone will be so dumbstruck and stupefied by the glossy geese that they'll sign whatever you put in front of them.  See this Nobel Committee? My bid for next year's Peace Prize, one goose at a time.

• National Dish for National Day: Scramble eggs with Tomatoes -- Part II

  LEE Mut-lee

  4 Oct 2009 | 8:43 am

  In the last post I left with the announcement that scrambled eggs with tomatoes is our national dish. In the second part, I'll show you the reasons why such announcement was made one by one, like the way Premiere Hu was inspecting the marching troops at the Tiananman Square on October 1st. There's so many ways for me to begin the inquisition but first off, I must highlight our penchant for the color red and yellow as a nation -- just in case you've no clue of how our flag is like. Red is, to a large extent, in every Chinese's blood. Historically, red is the color we used to get rid of evil…

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  News.gov.HK: Environment

• Record attempt kicks off Wetlands Day

  22 Nov 2009 | 3:14 am

  More than 2,000 students and members of the public gathered at Hong Kong Wetland Park today to create a 1km long painting with the theme of birds and wetlands in a bid to break a Guinness World Record.

• Edward Yau to attend Israeli conference

  22 Nov 2009 | 2:10 am

  Secretary for the Environment Edward Yau will leave for Tel Aviv this afternoon to attend WATEC 2009, an international exhibition and conference on water and environmental technologies.

• Clean energy to bring endless opportunities

  21 Nov 2009 | 11:38 pm

  The development of renewable energy technology encompasses challenges as well as boundless opportunities, Deputy Commissioner for Innovation & Technology Andrew Lai says.

• Energy efficiency labelling scheme to launch

  21 Nov 2009 | 9:11 am

  The initial phase of the Mandatory Energy Efficiency Labelling Scheme will be fully launched from November 9. Room air-conditioners, refrigerating appliances and compact fluorescent lamps must carry energy labels before they are supplied to the local market.

• October warmer, drier than usual

  21 Nov 2009 | 9:11 am

  October was warmer and drier than usual with a mean temperature of 26.2 degrees Celsius, which was 0.9 degrees above normal, the Hong Kong Observatory says. The total rainfall of 44.4mm was 71% below normal.

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  About.com: Hong Kong Macau Travel

• Lamma Island Ferry Service

  22 Nov 2009 | 3:46 am

  Lamma Island Hong Kong – How to take a ferry to Lamma Island Hong Kong, including timetables, fares and advice on which ferry to take.

• Macau Tower Review

  22 Nov 2009 | 3:46 am

  Macau Tower – Find out about the view, the skywalk and the bungee jumping at Macau Tower.

• Hong Kong Shopping Malls

  22 Nov 2009 | 3:46 am

  Hong Kong shopping malls are some of the biggest and most impressive in the world. In a city that is shopping mad, Hong Kong's shopping malls feed the populations insatiable desire for shopping. Our guide to Hong Kong's shopping malls, has all the essential information and a review of each Hong Kong mall.

• Rocking Rollercoaster on Space Mountain

  22 Nov 2009 | 3:46 am

  Hong Kong Disneyland Space Mountain

• Hong Kong Country

  22 Nov 2009 | 3:46 am

  What country is Hong Kong in, you’ll hear the city is its own city country, that its part of China and, for those who’ve been sleeping for the past ten years, a colony of Britain. From laws and politics to borders and visas, we tell you exactly what country Hong Kong is in.

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  Misohoni Diary

• Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf

  So what sort of toys do kids in China buy? Most of the toys in the world come from China, so is interesting to know what the kids here like. Well, it mainly centers around Japanese animation and movies like Doramon or Ultraman, but there’s another programme which ...

• Michael Jackson Death

  Thought I’d do a short piece on Michael Jackson death, not just report this sensationalist story which everyone else is doing, but to look at another angle. I think I was more shocked about Heath Ledger’s death, but this story will go on and on and will be compared ...

• Swine Flu in Hong Kong

  Just watching on the news that Swine Flu on May 1 has arrived in Hong Kong. This will dominate the news for weeks to come, so expect sales in Masks and other flu related products to go on the increase. I'm dissappointed with Hong Kong really, they let in a ...

• Asian and Westerner Differences

  This was taken from a Chinese guy who lived in Germany, he compared the differences between Asian and Westerners (Westerner on the left, Asian on the right) - check it out... Punctuality Queue when Waiting In the restaurant Traveling Transportation Shower timing What's Trendy

• Valentines Day Gift Ideas

  Valentines day is celebrated by giving your loved one a kiss, perhaps some beautiful flowers or giving a gift. However, with the credit crunch it doesn't have to be expensive or just the usual bunch of flowers, here's some romantic gift ideas. Gift Ideas for Men Street Fighter IV (PS3) Promises to ...

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  Hongkie Town

• My new home

  Spike

  18 Nov 2009 | 12:38 am

  This is probably my last post here on Blogger. Blogger's been good to me, a nice home for the past 5 (or 6?) years. But it's time to move on.The all new Hongkie Town can be found hereStill lots of work to be done. Have imported all the old content but not the comments yet. The theme is just a temporary one, no blogroll or widgets, etc. Please be patient, I'm slowly coming up to speed on WordPress. Hongkie Town

• My Brilliant Career

  Spike

  17 Nov 2009 | 8:50 pm

  Most of you already know this? I graduated college at the age of 21 with a degree in mass communications, majoring in film production, minoring in art, music and literature. I wanted to direct movies. It took a few years but eventually it became evident that I was not going to get there. I then drifted for a number of years, taking whatever work I could get, until at the age of 35 I went back to school and studied computer technology for a year. Since completing a certificate program in Computer Technology & Applications at Columbia University in 1990, I've worked steadily in information…

• A Bunch of Teenage Twits

  Spike

  17 Nov 2009 | 3:45 pm

  Celebitchy notes that Clint Eastwood has been chosen as one of GQ's Men of the Year.(That's a pretty freaking amazing photo, innit? Took a look at the GQ website but couldn't find a photo credit.)They've got some excerpts from his interview in the magazine, including this:We’re “becoming more juvenile as a nation,” he said. “The guys who won World War II and that whole generation have disappeared, and now we have a bunch of teenage twits.”So is he just being as grumpy in real life as his character from Gran Torino or does he have a point?Well, a few moments later, I ran into this…

• I'm Losing Count of How Many Ways #PCCW Sucks

  Spike

  17 Nov 2009 | 3:56 am

  When this whole roaming nonsense started a week ago, I was told that unless I paid them something like $2,500 in advance, I wouldn't be able to use the Pocket WiFi. And then I got back to HK, many emails and phone calls, a complaint to OFTA and finally PCCW dropping all of the ridiculousness. Problems over, right?Not so much. All day long, I couldn't connect to the internet via the Pocket WiFi. Went to the PCCW shop at Wanchai Computer Centre where they dicked around with it for 15 minutes without being able to figure out the problem. And told me to call the service hotline. Got home. Spent…

• Things He Learned

  Spike

  16 Nov 2009 | 2:02 pm

  Journalist Ken Auletta recently published a new book that's getting attention in certain circles, Googled: The End of the World As We Know It. He pulled one chapter from the book, saying it was "not organic to the book's purpose." But he liked it enough to publish that "missing" chapter online and it's a good read. Found via All Things Digital, it features 25 things he's learned from covering Google and media in general. While they may seem somewhat obvious, I note that most of these things were completely fucking missing at my former place of employment. Things like:Passion WinsVision is…

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  Beneath the Peak

• CNBC blooper reel

  Innettebenningsquirrel

  4 Nov 2009 | 8:07 pm

  Business Insider has assembled a collection of CNBC’s on-air gaffes (some of which are NSFW). With live TV, digital video recorders and You Tube, your mistakes never really go away. The post, which also includes Rick Santelli’s rant and Obama’s fly-killer routine, is worth a look despite the annoying multi-page format. Share/Save

• Medical tourism

  Innettebenningsquirrel

  25 Oct 2009 | 6:38 am

  In a couple of weeks, I’ll be heading down to Bangkok for a physical, something I’ve been doing off and on for about a decade. The Thai hospitals that offer this service are ISO- or JCI-accredited. My strategy is to take advantage of the price difference to get the lab work done in Bangkok and have it interpreted by my GP here in Hong Kong. I started out at one of the better-known hospitals (you can probably guess which one). I used them for several years until I got the impression their quality control was slipping. Long waits for answers to emailed questions was one problem.

• Smaller luxury mortgages

  Innettebenningsquirrel

  21 Oct 2009 | 6:46 pm

  In a move to cool down Hong Kong’s property market, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority is planning to increase the minimum down payment for apartments costing more than HK$20 million (~US$2.5 million) from 30% to 40%. Ordinarily, I’d opposed this sort of meddling. But the top end of the market is frothy and thanks to the US Federal Reserve, mortgage rates remain dirt cheap. And with the no money down deals that are still available in the States, this seems prudent. Share/Save

• Remote broadcasts

  Innettebenningsquirrel

  20 Oct 2009 | 5:35 pm

  Doing an TV interview can be stressful. It’s even stranger if you’re doing a “remote” (ie not in the main studio), because you’re listening through an earpiece, watching a TV monitor and a clock, and staring into a camera. AOL co-founder Steve Case snapped this shot of CNBC’s remote set up: So much for the glamor of TV! H/T: The Business Insider Share/Save

• Missed opportunity

  Innettebenningsquirrel

  15 Oct 2009 | 6:45 am

  Yesterday’s policy address by Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang was a missed opportunity, particularly with respect to the revitalization of the territory’s stock of old industrial buildings. The new measures will make it easier and less expensive for building owners (and large and medium-sized developers) to covert and redevelop old industrial properties. But these are all en bloc (ie whole building) deals that will do little  to encourage the organic, bottom up development that creates vibrant communities. As a result, we’ll end up with more shopping malls and ugly…

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  OrdinaryGweilo.com

• EPL returns to Cable

  Chris

  21 Nov 2009 | 5:35 pm

  Three years ago, PCCW’s Now TV put in a knockout bid and won the Hong Kong rights to the English Premier League without Cable TV being able to make a counter-bid.  This time round, Cable TV were more prepared, and PCCW dropped out of the auction, saying that they declined to pay over the odds - because they would have to pass on the costs to their customers. This is, of course, true, as I pointed out some time back, but PCCW didn’t seem so concerned three years ago when they they paid close to US$200m, and then charged customers an extra HK$150 per month for their EPL coverage.  Without…

• Waggling wings, floating turbines, and dead dogs

  Chris

  18 Nov 2009 | 3:52 pm

  I take the optimistic view on climate change – that mankind is sufficiently inventive and resourceful to overcome the problem.  A recent article in New Scientist magazine (Better world: Top tech for a cleaner planet)highlighted a few interesting ideas that are under development: Waggling wings Modern passenger planes are masterfully streamlined but the aircraft are still burdened by turbulence that forms as a result of friction between the plane's skin and the air that passes over it. Wind tunnel tests now show that if only a small part of an aircraft's wings were made to…

• Idiots

  Chris

  16 Nov 2009 | 4:08 pm

  I love personalized number plates.  If you really want to tell the world that you are stupid and vain, what could possibly be a better investment? They’re also splendidly banal - I’ve seen "Auto", "King Kong" (the driver of this vehicle appears to have spent all his money on his stupid number plate, and so has none left over for indicators), and “Dinosaur”.  What’s that all about, then?

• Room for two more on top

  Chris

  14 Nov 2009 | 11:54 pm

  This week there was an accident involving a double-decker bus that toppled over, resulting in two deaths. On Wednesday there was a letter in the SCMP complaining that double-decker buses are an unwelcome colonial legacy. Double-decker buses are yet another of the mindless colonial imitations of London (the others include wearing black business clothes suitable for cold and damp climates). No safety engineer could possibly argue that the buses are as safe in Hong Kong, where there are more sharply curved roads, more steep grades and higher winds than there are in London. The double-deckers are…

• Deceptively spacious

  Chris

  7 Nov 2009 | 4:36 am

  Hong Kong's a strange place, and never more so than in the weird world of apartments. Developers are allowed to advertise the gross floorspace of an apartment, which includes balconies, bay windows, and (most outrageously) your share of the the common areas, such as the clubhouse, gardens, lift lobbies, etc. As far as I know, you can't sleep in the lift lobby, so what really matters is how much usable space you have inside your apartment. You might think that a 1200 square foot apartment is big enough, but how will you feel when you discover that it's really only 840 sq ft?

• 
  BONKERS IN HONKERS!

• Happy Halloween!

  colingally

  31 Oct 2009 | 11:16 pm

  Since when do we have to start wishing everybody Happy Halloween?! Happy Christmas and Happy New Year I can just about manage but I really don’t see the point of wishing somebody well for a day of dressing up in crappy costumes and performing pagan rituals. Every year on October 31st one of us in Chez Bonkers celebrates their birthday, you may think it’s me due to sentiments spewed out in the first paragraph but alas it’s not. You will know when it’s my turn. So we decided to wine and dine and treat ourselves at Habitu Ristorante in Lee Gardens Two just beside us here…

• Taste Sensation

  colingally

  19 Oct 2009 | 6:35 am

  We have a regular shoppers card at Park N Shop and all it’s good to use in all its relatives. We shop at PNS because it’s near our apartment. But they give us coupons for the TASTE supermarket in Wan Chai which is annoying to say the least. Anyway last Saturday we tried to get to Taste from CBay. The number 56 mini bus goes from Leighton Road every 6 or so minutes. So after 20 or so minutes one had gone by and it was full. Plan W and we walk to Happy Valley and grab a trolley to Johnston road in Wan Chai to walk the rest of the way to Taste. I forgot how much I like riding the old…

• Want wine?

  colingally

  17 Oct 2009 | 7:41 am

  Bloody hell, I look at my blog and two weeks have passed by since the last post. I hate myself sometimes. Anyway I sometimes feel sorry for stores and businesses hidden up in nondescript looking buildings so I’m happy to give a shout out to a relatively new wine emporium which won’t render you penniless in the process. Pity their website as advertised on their card doesn’t work though.. Premier Fine Wines, as you can see from the map, is a mere few steps away from the main artery of soul-destroying pedestrian-ism between Times Square and Sogo on Jardine’s Bazaar. It…

• Fireworks: The Aftermath

  colingally

  1 Oct 2009 | 8:13 am

  The celebratory fireworks extravaganza were but a not too distant rumble from our lofty perch in Causeway Bay. Dim flashes of light in the night sky were the only evidence for us of the 20 minute spectacle….apart from the shroud of smoke which enveloped us for a good 40 minutes afterwards. Supposedly the show cost 400,000 USD…

• Here’s to the next 60

  colingally

  1 Oct 2009 | 12:54 am

  It’s a national holiday today all over the People’s Republic. So that includes us here in Hong Kong. There’s a lot of plastic flag waving of the nice red flags of Hong Kong and China. We stumbled upon a parade of said flag waving in Causeway Bay on Tuesday. Our own glorious chairman of Honkers, Donald Tsang, has organised a calendar of celebratory events so we can raise a glass to China and the “remarkable success in its development” The closest one to us is the carnival in Victoria Park. We won’t be going. We went to a similar one last year and it turned…

• 
  sketches from the other side

• my life is like a movie

  20 Nov 2009 | 8:35 am

  ...only a bad one. I am going to rant about work. Just warning you.I had another long work week this week, made even longer by getting sick late in the week. I worked during the weekend and left the office well after midnight on Monday trying to finish two proposals that were due on Wednesday. This was made even more difficult by the fact that my direct supervisor informed me that he could not be in the office on Tuesday so I would have to finish without him. He and I do not have an easy relationship. He relies on me far more than I think is appropriate and I feel that I spend a lot of excess…

• He did not go gentle into that good night

  16 Nov 2009 | 5:34 am

  SB informed me that he was going to a trade show in Paris for a little over a week. This was not a great shock, as I had been hearing bits and pieces of his plans as he was making them, even if he never quite got around to telling me when he was going. Well, he left on Friday and boy does he know how to make one heck of an exit...once he got around to informing me of said exit.So on Thursday he said that he was leaving on Friday. It was late Thursday, around 11pm to be precise. This was promptly followed by a poorly disguised attempt to convince me to pack for him while acting like he was…

• Ahem...onto my soapbox

  10 Nov 2009 | 4:29 am

  According to a recent report by the World Health Organization, AIDS is the leading cause of death and disease in women aged 15 - 44 worldwide although maternal mortality is a close runner up, accounting for 15% of adult female deaths.And yet the Catholic church still won't let you use birth control...because they believe in life.

• well, at least I have boobs

  4 Nov 2009 | 5:42 am

  One year and three brand changes later, I am still dissatisfied with my birth control options. I miss my old tricylen. I went from one brand causing me to put on almost 15 lbs in six months to another that reduced my sex drive to that of a giant panda. I couldn't believe that SB even wanted to instigate sexy time considering that I looked a bit like a giant panda as well. I finally settled into Yaz, which has the lowest hormones of all the birth control I investigated. Who's paying attention to all those news stories about women dying of blood clots, anyway, when I'm finally feeling good…

• Rio

  30 Oct 2009 | 8:07 am

  I found out some very sad news tonight. An architecture student has died "unexpectedly." He took a leave of absence two years ago, right before I finished my thesis. I was so busy at the time that I never spoke to him. Before Rio there was another student, from Hong Kong, who took his life after failing his thesis. I wish that I could go back in time and tell these young men that nothing is ever so big. What seemed unbearable to me when I was in my teens and twenties is a forgotten memory. Don't ever think that it is too late because it doesn't have to be. We should all allow ourselves room…

• 
  ulaca

• Scholesy Shows Frogs How to Do It

  20 Nov 2009 | 6:57 pm

  No faffing about from the little ginger fellow:

• Green Mist Descends

  19 Nov 2009 | 5:24 pm

  Sent out of de World Cup by a handball – and to tink Oi'd never don anyting loike dat in me whole loif.

• Defying Mao

  18 Nov 2009 | 5:41 pm

  Just as Sebastian Heffner once wrote a book called Defying Hitler, Nien Cheng's memoir could be called Defying Mao. Dipping into my yellowing edition last night, I re-read the two bits I'd marked up when I first read the book."The guard would unlock the door of the cell and lead me into a room in a remote corner of the prison compound where we could continue to shout at each other without being heard by the other prisoners. I would give in and stop talking when I became utterly exhausted. Sometimes my endurance outlasted the guards' patience. When that happened, they resorted to physical…

• Life and Death in Shanghai

  17 Nov 2009 | 5:38 pm

  In the Authorised Version of the Bible, the letter to the Hebrews has the simple yet evocative phrase "of whom the world was not worthy" to describe those men and women who had shown outstanding courage in defence of the faith they upheld.When I first read Nien Cheng's account of her experiences in Shanghai during the Cultural Revolution (has any act of lunacy ever been so badly misnamed?), these words came to mind. Twenty years on and no other book on the twentieth century turmoil in China comes close to Life and Death in Shanghai, whose author died in Washington DC earlier this month at the…

• SCMP Slumps to All-time Low as Director Misspells Own Name

  16 Nov 2009 | 4:59 pm

  I open my Inbox this morning and what do I find? A missive from Hong Kong's world newspaper inviting me to attend a PostGrad Expo next month. I don't want to appear too mean, but it would appear that the person who really needs to go back to school is the South China Morning Post's Marketing & Communications Director, Michael McComb, who signs off as follows:Your sincerely,Micheal McCombBunyan had his Slough of Despond. The SCMP prefers to wallow in its Vale of Diction.

• 
  My Imaginary Journey

• Les Shakers, un autre mini-extrait

  Fred Boot

  22 Nov 2009 | 7:45 am

  Le héros masculin et son légendaire swing !

• Cette fois, on y est

  Fred Boot

  14 Nov 2009 | 1:47 am

  Enfin. Après 4 ans de brouillons, de pistes, de vrais faux génériques, de strips, de scénarios avortés, de projet d'animation sans suite, ça y est c'est bon les Shakers arrivent. En janvier ou février. Préparez les verres à cocktails !!!

• Le blog de Random

  Fred Boot

  9 Nov 2009 | 10:17 am

  Viendez, viendez faire un tour sur le blog de Random, tout nouveau, tout chaud. Le garçon a bon goût puisqu'il encense Gordo ! C'est ici : Phylacteres

• Dans BD numérique, il y a "numérique"...

  Fred Boot

  31 Oct 2009 | 11:10 am

  En matière de numérique, j'ai vu beaucoup de réflexions dans de nombreux domaines créatifs. Des gens qui repensaient le rapport à l'objet, la place de l'innovation dans notre société, les nouvelles cartes de la cité liées aux rapports sociaux plutôt qu'à la géographie physique, la création d'émotion et de poésie, la transmission de savoir, et j'en passe. J'ai eu la chance, ou peut-être la malchance, de travailler d'abord dans le domaine du design numérique avant d'entrer par la petite porte dans celui de la bande dessinée. Chance ou malchance de vivre comme un généraliste…

• Rainbow Mist : les 90 planches !

  Fred Boot

  25 Oct 2009 | 3:07 pm

  Il ne reste plus qu'à relire tout ce bazar, faire la couverture, et boire BEAUCOUP pour fêter ça ! Sortie : dans plusieurs mois, je ne sais pas encore quand, je vous préviendrai z'en faîtes pas, chez l'Atalante.

• 
  Fragments

• Fake bake

  6 Nov 2009 | 10:21 pm

  There's something a bit unsettling about the recent resurgence of cupcakes. I declare an interest, or rather the lack of it: the cupcake promises much but doesn't deliver, and I don't really like them anyway. But I instinctively distrust the way we're all supposed to be cupcake eaters now: sold the ersatz promise of reliving some halcyon time which never actually existed, in the drawing rooms of 1950s America, where the only thing close to a job description any woman was permitted to have was "cook". Commercially produced cupcakes always taste slightly oily, the "frosting" is too sweet, and…

• They do things differently there

  30 Oct 2009 | 9:33 pm

  Mark T was slightly younger than me and attended posh boys' school the Edinburgh Academy (the uniform, tweedy green, often with brown leather elbow patches, epitomised the school). I met him at a party in the year when the record du jour was Sade, Diamond Life (1985). I was 16 and had already had my heart broken twice. Mark affected the shabby chic of rich kids in the 1980s: his jumpers were cashmere but they had holes in them and he wore battered, pointy suede boots which excited the rude attention of the neds in my village when he arrived on the bus to see me, getting off two stops early by…

• Charmless garments: 1

  20 Oct 2009 | 7:26 am

  This is the first of an occasional series on charmless garments. Toweringly high on the list? The spandex poloneck. A garment that suits no one and besmirches everyone. Why would any woman with more than a completely flat chest ever squeeze herself into such a mockery? The neck segment clings to the neck, the rest cleaves unflatteringly to the body (if you have breasts, a huge expanse opens up, as per this picture, making you look like some sort of monster), and the spandex... glistens.I once knew a man (let's call him "Reptile", for so he was dubbed by me and my friend Fiona) who was fond of…

• Signs and wonders

  20 Oct 2009 | 7:00 am

  Yesterday morning I jumped into a cab outside my flat, having missed the bus. It was only as we arrived at my office that I realised I didn't have my wallet with me. Chastened, I told the taxi driver I had no money (to be precise, HK$102 was the amount owing), whereupon he immediately suggested that I could transfer it to his bank account and wrote down the number for me, from memory. This morning I got an email from him: "Thanks for your payment. Jimmy Yip (Taxi Driver)".I quake at the thought of trying the same stunt with a spectacularly bad-tempered, know-it-all London cabbie - or indeed…

• Put a sock in it

  19 Oct 2009 | 7:18 am

  There seems to be a fairly uncritical acceptance of the assertions in the (astonishingly long) Wikipedia article about Beyoncé's single "Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It)", which are epitomised by the statement that the song is "empowering". Aside from the fact that history will not judge the use of that word kindly, if someone could outline just one example of how that song could be regarded as "empowering" I'd be happy to hear it. Don't get me wrong, I think it's a catchy song and Beyoncé and her sexy acolytes look great in the video; but how is stamping around in a leotard insisting that…

• 
  The Valley

• SALUBRIOUS SAPORITO

  21 Nov 2009 | 7:21 pm

  Dropped into the new Saporito Italian Deli (G/F, Sports Mansion, 161 Wong Ngai Chung Road, Happy Valley, 2895 4133, just around the corner from the new Crowne Plaza hotel) on my walk home from work a few months ago. I was just looking for a snack but found something much better - a real life food hero. On that fateful first visit I ended up sampling different types of Parma ham and a range of Italian cheeses. I left with much more food than I expected but there were no complaints back at The Valley residence.On my second visit I could smell the lovely aroma of fresh roasted chicken. Steffeno…

• CROWNE PLAZA CAUSEWAY BAY

  16 Nov 2009 | 2:39 am

  Finally nothing going on today - a great chance to pop into the new Crowne Plaza Causeway Bay to check out the lobby lounge and bar. Very funky modern decoration and a nice chilled out vibe - feels more like a club than a lobby lounge - that's a good thing. Must be the done thing to give lobby lounges a name nowadays - this one getting called "Connections". San Miguel beer on tap - can't complain about that. Wine list has all the basics covered - three whites and three reds by the glass and a good range of wines by the bottle. Not cheap but not overpriced for a hotel. Big spenders are well…

• DE BORTOLI SERO - MARGARET RIVER?

  15 Nov 2009 | 9:30 pm

  Scanning the ParkNshop wine catalog, I was impressed to see De Bortoli have expanded into the Margaret River wine region of Western Australia. I thought they were exclusively an Australian east coast producer. A closer look at the label (click to enlarge) reveals that this wine is from the King Valley in Victoria. Only a few thousand kilometers away. Perhaps ParkNshop could employ The Valley to proof read their catalogs?

• ALL CHANGE IN THE VALLEY

  13 Nov 2009 | 2:08 am

  Arrived back in The Valley early this morning after an 11 hour direct flight from Rome. The flight wasn't as bad as anticipated mostly because of the great range of movies and tv shows provided. It's a pretty smart move by Cathay to get all the latest release movies on board. Not sure how they do it but they seem to have the movies even before the pirates get hold of them in Shenzhen - impressive! The new economy seat is growing on me and the flight is always easier when it's only half full.Two weeks can be a long time in The Valley and it's always interesting to note the changes. Looks like…

• WIND IN ITALY : PREPAID MOBILE BROADBAND

  12 Nov 2009 | 1:45 am

  Read about Italian and Greek prepaid mobile broadband services on the web before we came over. Stopped in at a phone shop at Rome airport (Fiumicino / Leonard Di Vinci) on arrival and showed the guy my unlocked USB modem. He sold me a Wind SIM card for Euro 5 and told me to bring the SIM card to a Tabbachi shop and add Euro 25. He also gave me a sheet of paper with some SMS codes and an APN code. You have to SMS a code for the plan you want after you add the Euro 20. Did what he said and it worked perfectly. One month / 2GB of mobile broadband for Euro 25 is an awfully good deal, in my…

• 
  hkob: hong kong or bust!

• this star of hong kong

  12 Nov 2009 | 7:24 pm

  Gary Chan - despite his breast effort - is in need of help. Indeed, of Legco's 60 members, who would have expected that it would be its youngest that neglected the power of teh internets?Some nefarious character, you see, has manipulated poor Gazza's wikipedia page. Rather than pointing to his laudable engagement of Hong Kong's apathetic youth, wiki’s subheadings highlight the "urine inspection" scandal, libel accusations, his "inadequate English" – and nothing more.Not to point an accusatory finger, but it is rather curious to see Ulie's blog quoted as a source on said wikipedia page.

• reasons to like thailand

  10 Nov 2009 | 10:37 pm

  Abhisit Vejjajiva - Newcastle supporter!

• the plot against hong kong

  5 Nov 2009 | 6:37 pm

  Yesterday I finished reading The Plot Against America, Philip Roth's sinister and imaginative novel – an alternative history in which Charles Lindberg beats FDR in the crucial 1940 Presidential election.Lindbergh - who along with magnates Henry Ford, the Chairman of IBM, and the overseas CEO of General Motors (as well as legendary Great Gamer and Xinjiang explorer Sven Hedin) – was a winner of the Order of the German Eagle, and (in Roth's version of events) through close ties to Adolf Hitler proceeds to plunge Jewish America into state of "Perpetual Fear".During a discussion over coffee,…

• now for something completely different

  2 Nov 2009 | 5:03 pm

  Tired of work, bad weather, routine – especially company expense forms and the like - along with the emotional strain of a "significant" birthday, I have been out of the office for several weeks. This explains the recent lack of blogging. Indeed, opting for a slightly different holiday, Mrs H and I have just returned from Uganda.East Africa really is the polar opposite of Hong Kong. Instead of the neurotic service culture with which we are so accustomed, we were met with lackadaisical attitudes and enormous inefficiencies (when you fly to Kampala for instance, the plane lands in an entirely…

• patriotic pie

  1 Oct 2009 | 3:59 am

  A raspberry and lemon tart spotted this public holiday.

• 
  Hongkie Town

• My new home

  18 Nov 2009 | 12:38 am

  This is probably my last post here on Blogger. Blogger's been good to me, a nice home for the past 5 (or 6?) years. But it's time to move on.The all new Hongkie Town can be found hereStill lots of work to be done. Have imported all the old content but not the comments yet. The theme is just a temporary one, no blogroll or widgets, etc. Please be patient, I'm slowly coming up to speed on WordPress. Hongkie Town

• My Brilliant Career

  17 Nov 2009 | 8:50 pm

  Most of you already know this? I graduated college at the age of 21 with a degree in mass communications, majoring in film production, minoring in art, music and literature. I wanted to direct movies. It took a few years but eventually it became evident that I was not going to get there. I then drifted for a number of years, taking whatever work I could get, until at the age of 35 I went back to school and studied computer technology for a year. Since completing a certificate program in Computer Technology & Applications at Columbia University in 1990, I've worked steadily in information…

• A Bunch of Teenage Twits

  17 Nov 2009 | 3:45 pm

  Celebitchy notes that Clint Eastwood has been chosen as one of GQ's Men of the Year.(That's a pretty freaking amazing photo, innit? Took a look at the GQ website but couldn't find a photo credit.)They've got some excerpts from his interview in the magazine, including this:We’re “becoming more juvenile as a nation,” he said. “The guys who won World War II and that whole generation have disappeared, and now we have a bunch of teenage twits.”So is he just being as grumpy in real life as his character from Gran Torino or does he have a point?Well, a few moments later, I ran into this…

• I'm Losing Count of How Many Ways #PCCW Sucks

  17 Nov 2009 | 3:56 am

  When this whole roaming nonsense started a week ago, I was told that unless I paid them something like $2,500 in advance, I wouldn't be able to use the Pocket WiFi. And then I got back to HK, many emails and phone calls, a complaint to OFTA and finally PCCW dropping all of the ridiculousness. Problems over, right?Not so much. All day long, I couldn't connect to the internet via the Pocket WiFi. Went to the PCCW shop at Wanchai Computer Centre where they dicked around with it for 15 minutes without being able to figure out the problem. And told me to call the service hotline. Got home. Spent…

• Things He Learned

  16 Nov 2009 | 2:02 pm

  Journalist Ken Auletta recently published a new book that's getting attention in certain circles, Googled: The End of the World As We Know It. He pulled one chapter from the book, saying it was "not organic to the book's purpose." But he liked it enough to publish that "missing" chapter online and it's a good read. Found via All Things Digital, it features 25 things he's learned from covering Google and media in general. While they may seem somewhat obvious, I note that most of these things were completely fucking missing at my former place of employment. Things like:Passion WinsVision is…

• 
  Mhgoi

• Closure in Hong Kong

  mao365

  2 Nov 2009 | 9:28 am

  It's been more than six months since my last post. My wife and I have left Hong Kong and have settled back in NY. There's definitely less sunshine and no trips to exotic destinations in our new life. But we've been blessed with a new addition, our newborn son ISAIAH PARK.Moreover, thanks to all who followed through and made requests, the Hong Kong Public Library has recently added my first novel BOY GENIUS to its holdings. If you're curious about this novel, you can now get it for free from the public library.Click to view HKPL catalog listingMy life is vastly different now from what it was…

• Day 30, Film 30. My Magnum Opus

  mao365

  4 Mar 2009 | 12:13 am

  I somehow kept this going for 30 days. Whether good or bad, that's a full month of short films... which is just enough to provide me timely closure.SPECIAL REQUESTPlease, please, please help bring my novels BOY GENIUS and LAS CUCARACHAS to the Hong Kong Public Library by clicking on this link and filling out the web form. BOY GENIUS by Yongsoo Park (Akashic Books, NYC, 2002) ISBN No.: 978-1888451245 LAS CUCARACHAS by Yongsoo Park (Akashic Books, NYC, 2004) ISBN No.: 978-1888451566 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------NOW, having…

• Marathon in Hong Kong MTR (a film haiku)

  mao365

  3 Mar 2009 | 4:06 am

  Day 29, Film 29.This film haiku was shot all over Hong Kong during a marathon ride on the MTR. Enjoy!!!

• What China Fears Most

  mao365

  2 Mar 2009 | 5:07 am

  Day 28, Film 28.This is a film koan about what the leaders of China's government fear most. It was shot at Wah Fu Estate in southwest Hong Kong, above the Wah Fu Estate bus terminal and across the street from the Wah Fu Shopping Center.I think I may have startled a handful of people while shooting this. Whatever the case, enjoy!!!

• My Favorite Hong Kong Corporate Shill

  mao365

  1 Mar 2009 | 2:39 am

  Day 27, Film 27.Here's a very short film haiku about the smog and corporate presence in Hong Kong. Some will no doubt put one and one together and conclude that one is connected with the other, but I will not make such pro-pinko proclamations here.Enjoy!!!

• 
  Hong Kong Tech Phooey

• Underground 89 @ Rock School – 28 November 2009

  hongkongphooey

  18 Nov 2009 | 8:01 am

  Image from Underground Underground is on 28 November 2009 at Rock School, doors open at 9:30pm.  Head on down and catch some vibes.  For more info on the artists, head over to http://www.undergroundhk.com. Source – Underground Posted in Bars & Clubs, Event, Hong Kong, Music, Underground Tagged: Event, Hong Kong, Music, Underground

• CNET Asia Community Blog Entry – The Hit-and-Misses of Oxford’s Word of the Year 2009

  hongkongphooey

  18 Nov 2009 | 12:05 am

  My new entry over at CNET Asia Community Blog is up. This week’s entry, “The Hit-and-Misses of Oxford’s Word of the Year 2009″. Click here for the full read. Posted in Beyond Geekiness, Blogroll, CNET Tagged: Blogroll, CNET, Tech

• First Look Video – Palm PIXI

  hongkongphooey

  17 Nov 2009 | 11:59 pm

  Now this reminds me how a Palm phone should have worked. Cheap, doable and…… Source – Mobility Today Posted in Gadgets n Gizmos, Mobile Phone, Palm Tagged: Android, Mobile Phone, Palm, PALM+PIXI

• Should Bloggers Have to Reveal Ties With Brands

  hongkongphooey

  10 Nov 2009 | 6:44 am

  Click image for full size In this issue of Media, I have a chance to share views together with three others on whether bloggers have to reveal their ties with brands, click here for full read. Source – Media Posted in Blogroll, General, Hong Kong

• Web Wednesday v.30 @ Roxie – 6 November 2009 – “Ma Yin Jeo 2.0 – Secrets of Running a Successful Online Presidential Campaign” with Charles Chuang

  hongkongphooey

  4 Nov 2009 | 5:31 pm

  FRIDAY 6th November at a NEW VENUE, Roxie (formerly, the saucy strip club “Goodfellas”), Ground Floor, No 24-30 Ice House Street, Central (just down the street from The Fringe Club and the F.C.C.). The topic is “Ma Yin Jeo 2.0 – Secrets of Running a Successful Online Presidential Campaign” with Charles Chuang, Taiwanese Internet entrepreneur and open source social enterprise activist. The night kicks off at 6:30pm and ends around 9:30pm, there will be an entrance fee of HK$100, unless you’re a bona-fide student, in which case it’s HK$50. This includes…

• 
  Asia Sentinel: Alice Poon Blog

• Obama's Dilemma

  16 Nov 2009 | 11:06 pm

  Translation of a blog post by Lipuman (李普曼) entitled “Obama’s Q A Session - A Mythical Tale”.

• Culture and System

  9 Nov 2009 | 10:01 pm

  Translation of a blog post by Yang Hengjun (楊恒均) entitled “A Look at the Relationship between Culture and System from the Rise of Asia”.

• My First Encounter with Death

  3 Nov 2009 | 12:12 am

  To a five-year old, what does death mean? Some images that gave me a first taste of it just got forever stuck in my mind since that day when my adult relatives gathered in my (maternal) uncle’s home to mourn the death of my (maternal) grandmother.

• Stories of the Poor Lack Market

  26 Oct 2009 | 12:57 am

  I’ve stumbled upon an RTHK interview with Hong Kong social worker and grass roots activist, Ho Hei Wah (何喜華) on The Duke of Aberdeen blog and would like to share it here.

• Fret of the 4th Generation HKers

  18 Oct 2009 | 11:55 pm

  The story of the doctor/lawyer couple who phoned in a complaint to Donald Tsang at a radio talk show has stirred up a storm among young Hong Kongers.

• 
  Hong Kong Ham

• Why I’ll be taking it easy this weekend

  hkham

  12 Nov 2009 | 8:10 pm

  Clockenflap, Hong Kong’s boutique music and multimedia festival, was great last weekend, but it was two long days outside. Congratulations Mr Justin Sweeting, Jay Forster, and Mike Hill. I was exhausted by the end of it. After and during that, my good friends Patrick and Tash were here, and, being a good host who always eats in his best interest, I accompanied them on a Monday night trip to Lamma for seafood (where Patrick ludicrously claims to have stepped on a tarantula). The next night saw a trip to the trusty Khyber Pass in Chungking Mansions for cheap and scrumptious curry.

• Surely we can reconcile this

  hkham

  21 Oct 2009 | 8:36 pm

  I don’t have time to go into depth about this, but two stories caught my eye today. From the New York Times, ‘Experts Worry as Population and Hunger Grow‘: Scientists and development experts across the globe are racing to increase food production by 50 percent over the next two decades to feed the world’s growing population, yet many doubt their chances despite a broad consensus that enough land, water and expertise exist. Meanwhile, in today’s South China Morning Post, ‘Waste Food Issue Could be a Real Pig to Solve‘ (content behind a pay-wall): One…

• Steps in the right direction

  hkham

  19 Oct 2009 | 7:48 pm

  Gallup’s October Crime poll finds 44% of Americans in favor of making marijuana legal and 54% opposed. U.S. public support for legalizing marijuana was fixed in the 25% range from the late 1970s to the mid-1990s, but acceptance jumped to 31% in 2000 and has continued to grow throughout this decade. Link

• Two nifty vids: Street View and Shanghai

  hkham

  7 Oct 2009 | 9:25 am

  Cool and cute videos time! In case you ever wondered how Google does Street View… the mystery is no more! See this video from Google Japan. Hat tip: Sleepy Animal And now, I present to you, Shanghai in miniature time-lapse. Hat tip: Shanghaiist via Made in China Damn, I can’t figure out how to embed Vimeo videos on WordPress. Can anyone let me know how?

• Pay-as-you-go columnists

  hkham

  3 Oct 2009 | 9:38 pm

  This blog post seems to argue for an era of hyper-measurement-dictated capitalism in journalism. The Washington Post recently laid off a columnist because his blog posts didn’t get enough web traffic. Of course, in the old days, the newspaper had no real way to tell which columns got read and which ones didn’t. So journalists were lulled into the sense that it didn’t really matter… In fact, in a digital world where everything can be measured, we all work on commission. And why not? If you do great work and it works, you should get rewarded. And if you don’t,…

• 
  Hong Kong Food Blog

• Chinese Wedding Cakes 中式嫁女餅

  15 Nov 2009 | 6:11 am

  In Chinese tradition, male has to give cakes to female has part of their engagement gifts. Female in turn distribute the cakes to her friends and relatives together with an invitation card to the wedding banquet. Hence treating friends and relatives with cakes is an official announcement of a female's wedding. So if someone ask a female 'when are you treating me cakes' implies 'when are you getting married?'Chinese Wedding Cakes Recently I received a dozen of Chinese Wedding Cakes. Actually the product range is quite limited. Below are some of them: top to bottom:Millenium Egg PuffRed Puff…

• Sushi Dinner

  7 Nov 2009 | 5:09 am

  We went to Tsimshatsui for Sushi dinner last night. There were several other sushi restaurants nearby at Granville Road with immediate seating. But the one we went Itamae-Sushi had a big crowd waiting. I was a little puzzled why my friend picked this particular restaurant. Until I started to eat, I knew why.Scallops - our number One choice of the night. We can really taste the freshness and sweetness of fresh seafood - Ichiban !Salmon - on special offer, I thought we ordered at least 10 for each of us.Tuna - also our favouritePeony Prawns - also Ichiban ! But slightly pricy.Please focus on…

• Hong Kong Wine & Dine Festival

  1 Nov 2009 | 3:01 am

  Hong Kong Wine & Dine FestivalWest Kowloon Waterfront PromenadeOct 30 - Nov 1, 2009I am a voluntary worker today (Nov 1) at the Wine & Dine Festival and had a chance to take these photos and present to you a slideshow as well.There are 150 local and international wine dealers showcasing their products here. Together with the international foods, I get so excited. Guests can buy a through ticket to taste various wines and pay individually to taste all the yummy local and international food. Wine school and cooking classes available.Hairy CrabsAutumn is the best season for eating hairy…

• Hong Kong Chinese Food Close Up

  13 Oct 2009 | 6:45 pm

  Dear Readers,I have recently written a e-book about Hong Kong Chinese Food. I can’t wait to introduce this to you.8 Major Hong Kong Chinese Food Categories· Dim sum· Rice & Noodle· Seafood· Main Courses· Hot Pot· Spicy· Vegetarian· Desserts150 Full Colour Photos of the Most Classic Chinese Dishes· Price indication· Restaurant suggestions· Chinese food culture Only US$19.95for immediate download For further preview and testimonials, visit my other website China Travel Golden Route. For immediate download, click the BUY NOW button on the left hand column of this blog.NOTE: Once…

• Unconventional Hong Kong Dessert - Crystal Jelly

  8 Oct 2009 | 8:24 pm

  I come across this new dessert recently and found it worth recommending. First I had it at Ashima Yunan Restaurant, and next at Tanyoto SiChuan Restaurant. But I never had such dessert when I was in Yunan or Sichuan. Thought it must be an invention of Hong Kong chefs. Anyway it is silky smooth and crystal clear. Its appearance and taste are really lovely. Secret is the soup base. Both restaurants used Cassia flower syrup which made it extremely fragrant. Try it out next time you find it on a menu.Crystal Jelly - Cassia Flower Flavour 桂花水晶粉Special price at Tanyoto: HK$9 (US$1.15)…

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  Gruvr.com: Hong Kong Concerts

• Map of Hong Kong concerts

  22 Nov 2009 | 4:44 am

  Click for map of all Hong Kong shows or on individual concert maps to set email reminders.

• Thursday December 3rd: DIGITALISM CN / Hong Kong at DJ SET @ VOLAR

  22 Nov 2009 | 4:41 am

  DJ SET @ VOLAR CN / Hong Kong

• Saturday December 26th: Telepathe Hong Kong at Grappas Cellar

  22 Nov 2009 | 4:37 am

  Grappas Cellar Hong Kong

• Friday December 4th: Immaculate Machine Hong Kong at Fringe Club

  22 Nov 2009 | 4:34 am

  Fringe Club Hong Kong

• Friday December 11th: CRAZE HONG KONG at ROXIE

  22 Nov 2009 | 4:31 am

  ROXIE HONG KONG

• 
  ButterBoom Hong Kong's Daily Blog

• Zac Posen Launches Sportswear Line

  Sidney

  19 Nov 2009 | 6:05 pm

  Zac Posen Z Spoke line out next spring at Saks Fifth Avenue. Photo source: WWD Its exciting times for fashionistas when a designer like Zac Posen designs everyday clothes a a price point of US88 or HK$686 range. Scheduled to launch exclusively at Saks Fifth Avenue for spring and saks.com, this is going to cause a bit of frenzy when it hits store.  Zac Posen is known for designing gorgeous dresses you wear to cocktails at price points of US$900 and up. Describing the collection as chic sportswear, the 60-piece collection will consist of cotton shirts, blazers, knits and day dresses. The…

• Scarlett Johansson is The One for D&G

  Jetson

  18 Nov 2009 | 11:07 pm

  Scarlett shows off a trio of looks for D&G’s newest fragrance line. From sexy to sexier to sexiest, Scarlett Johansson shows it all off in this trio of TV commercials for The One fragrance from Dolce & Gabbana – which one is your favorite? Related posts:Scarlett Johansson is the Fall Face of Mango 2009 ScarJo seems to model more than act these days. Mango’s...M.A.C. Launches New Store in Admiralty with 3 Beauties New Queensway Plaza shop is now open. Long established in...Dolce & Gabbana’s Dresses Dolce & Gabbana the label of choice for young…

• Dooney & Bourke Bags for the Holidays

  Sam

  18 Nov 2009 | 7:13 pm

  Make a statement this festive season with these Dooney & Bourke bags. Peter Dooney and Frederic Bourke founded Dooney & Bourke 35 years ago and distinguished itself early by employing old world, traditional craftsmanship methods on modern fabrics, resulting in an Old-Meets-New hybrid bag. Dooney & Bourke really hit the mark with their creation of “all-weather leather” and, since then, has been an unmistakable household name, duck patch and all. In 2006, Dooney & Bourke was one of the CFDA Design Awardees Dooney & Bourke. For this season, we love the Juliette…

• Celebrity Style: Michelle Reis

  Sidney

  18 Nov 2009 | 5:09 pm

  A modern day Hong Kong Princess. Photo source: Chinadaily.com.cn Michelle Reis won the Miss Hong Kong Pageant at the tender age of 18 in 1988. Married to billionaire business tycoon, Julian Hui in November of last year, Michelle can often be seen caught on camera with her very own Prince Charming. Rumour has it that Michelle is showing signs of a pregnancy and, if so, the Hui family can soon expect their very first grandchild next year. Always stunning, Michelle prefers fitted gowns when she graces the red carpet and the pictures featured here are from a Marie Claire photo-shoot taken…

• Loewe Private Sale

  Sidney

  16 Nov 2009 | 11:09 pm

  Up to 90% off. Loewe is having a private sale and you’re invited! With up to 90% off ready-to-wear, bags, shoes and accessories, this is one of those sales you simply have to check out. Details: Date: November 19, 2009 Time: 9.30-7pm Venue: Butterfield’s, 4/F Dorset House,  Taikoo Place, Quarry Bay. Hong Kong Cash only for purchases under HK$1000 Visa, Mastercard, CUP & JCB Credit card payment accepted for purchases over hK$1000 No exchange, returns No related posts.

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  NeonPunch

• Microsoft Office 2010 Public Beta Now Available Online

  Jetson

  19 Nov 2009 | 8:37 pm

  Be the first in Hong Kong to play with the newest Office 2010 features. Microsoft Hong Kong announced today the release of Office 2010 Public Beta for free download right here. So, now you have yourself the new Windows 7, and you’re going to want to make your Office suite of software look just as good. This preview will run on your PC until October 31, 2010 when Microsoft will ask you to fork over real money for the final release. While Google Docs has a huge headstart, cloud computing hasn’t really taken Hong Kong by storm (yet), and so Microsoft still has good marketshare. If…

• Limited-Edition Leica Camera Gets a Makeover from Hermès

  James

  18 Nov 2009 | 6:29 pm

  German and French design collide in a camera collector’s masterpiece. German camera maker Leica and French upscale fashion house Hermès have teamed up to make 200 limited edition cameras that only the world’s richest 200 people could afford. Whoever coined the phrase “if you have to ask how much it costs, you can’t afford it” was definitely referring to the new Limited Edition Hermès Leica M7 that costs a whopping £8,550 (approx HK$120,000). The classic 35mm rangefinder camera system gets dolled up by Hermès with a little leather outfit that comes in two colours, orange…

• Xbox Ups Its Online Social Status in Hong Kong with Facebook and Twitter on the 360

  James

  18 Nov 2009 | 12:08 am

  Microsoft Hong Kong brings your social network to your Xbox 360. Hong Kong Xbox360 owners can now keep up with their Facebook posts and tweets from Twitter without having to put down their controllers. You can share real-time status updates and photos with your friends, as well as your favorite gaming moments from television to Facebook. Gamers can also show off their gaming prowess by posting updates to Facebook about the latest achievements they’ve earned! Gamers can also stay connected to their friends and family by posting and reading Tweets from the comfort of their living room via…

• Surround Sound Comes to your iPhone Thanks to JVC’s New XS-SR3 Speaker System

  James

  16 Nov 2009 | 6:31 pm

  Get ready to get some unbelievable sound from your iPhone, Hong Kong. JVC Hong Kong has introduced a new desktop iPhone/iTouch speaker system that promises to rock your world with their new XS-SR3 Portable Audio System. Although a speaker docking system for the iPhone isn’t anything new, this quaint device is the first to offer a DSP Front Surround Speaker system. The XS-SR3 also includes a rotating docking cradle that allows you to browse your iPhone/iTouch vertically, and can also be rotated 90 degrees to let you watch your stored movies and video clips at your leisure.   The…

• Tekken 6 to Unleash Iron Fist Combo on Playstation Portable in Hong Kong

  Jetson

  15 Nov 2009 | 10:08 pm

  November 27, 2009Tekken 6 now comes to smash your PSP in time for Christmas! Namco Bandai and Sony Hong Kong join forces to unleash their iron fist combo on the Sony Playstation Portable with a special Tekken 6 PSP bundle that will knock you out. If you are a fan of the long-running 3D fighting series, then you won’t want to miss out on taking the fight on the road with you. Starting 27th November 2009 in Hong Kong, Sony Computer Entertainment Hong Kong is offering a special package deal that includes a PSP-3006 and the new Tekken 6 video game for the Sony portable system for the suggested…

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  Hong Kong Travel Blog

• Hong Kong Museums

  20 Nov 2009 | 12:49 am

  Dear museum fansHere is an important link which contains valuable information about four museums around Tsimshatsui area in Kowloon.Location wise, they are two by two, quite nearby to each other.Group OneHong Kong Space Museum‎10 Salisbury Rd, Kowloon‎ +852 2721 0226‎Hong Kong Museum of Art‎10 Salisbury Rd, Kowloon‎ +852 2721 0116‎These two museums are just next to each other and at the harbourfront of Kowloon overseeing the Victoria Harbour and Hong Kong Island. Visit the Museum Café at the podium of the Hong Kong Museum of Art and enjoy a scenic and leisure afternoon high tea…

• Tea Museum of Hong Kong

  4 Nov 2009 | 2:04 am

  I would like to propose a three-in-one museum tour - Hong Kong Park, Flagstaff House Museum of Tea Ware, Lock Cha Tea Shop.At the main entrance of the Hong Kong Park, there is the Lock Cha Tea Shop, a vegetarian restaurant where you can enjoy a peaceful meal while doing the Chinese Art of Tea on yourself. Right next to it is the Flagstaff House Museum of Tea Ware. Don't forget to explore the beautiful Hong Kong Park before you go.Utensil for the Chinese Art of Tea. You can DIY at the Lock Cha Tea House You can see everything about Chinese tea - tea, tea pots, tea sets, tea history and so…

• University Museum & Art Gallery

  23 Oct 2009 | 8:14 pm

  I am going to kick off the Hong Kong Museum series. If you are a museum fan, please come back to my blog regularly.Last weekend, I went to The University of Hong Kong and visited their Museum and Art Gallery. The shows are on rotation.The one which is most impressive currently is The Fame of Flame - Imperial Ware of the Jiajing and Wanli Periods. See right-hand column for the slideshow. This exhibition will last Oct 14, 2009 through February 28, 2010.94 Bonham Road, Hong KongOpen Mon-Sat, 9.30am - 6pmAdmission Freehttp://www.hku.hk/hkumagTransporation: Bus 23, get off at University of Hong…

• Hong Kong Shopping Malls - IFC

  17 Oct 2009 | 9:06 pm

  IFC MallAmong all Hong Kong shopping malls, the IFC Mall is the newest and most deluxe. It connects the IFC I and II and the newly opened Four Seasons Hotel. Even if you don’t plan to buy, you do worth making a trip here. You’ll find this mall extremely impressive. It is highly competitive to any other first class mall you could find in London, Paris or New York.You can find the world’s finest everything here, a. testoni, Burberry, Cerruti 1881, Escada, Prada and so on. You must love this mall though things are expensive. Direction: MTR Central station, Airport Express Hong Kong…

• Hong Kong Shopping Malls - Lankmark

  8 Oct 2009 | 8:40 pm

  The LandmarkThe Landmark used to be the most prestigious among all Hong Kong shopping malls before the opening of the IFC mall. At the heart of Central, it connects two blocks of A-grade office buildings and the Landmark Oriental. The mall itself has five levels and an in-door fountain in the middle. All kinds of world famous designers’ fashion, jewellery and leather goods are available here. At some stage, it was on local news headline that tourists line up at the Louis Vuitton shop at The Landmark as they were unable to buy original LV products at such attractive price elsewhere in the…

• 
  Hong Kong Digital Vision

• Road Rage

  admin

  4 Nov 2009 | 6:59 am

  Hong Kong : 31 Oct., 2009 – A fast food delivery people who riding bicycle cut off the private car during rush hour. It cause the traffic congestion for a while. Place: Yee Wo Street, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong Equipment : Canon 40D Stock Photo ID: hkdigit-20091031-132927, hkdigit-20091031-132936 Related posts:Water Main Burst on Gloucester Road

• Traffic Warden Hand Signals – Stop

  admin

  2 Nov 2009 | 3:24 pm

  To stop vehicles coming from front, I think the Traffic Warden only need to rise his right arm raised with the plam of their hand in a flat shape with the fingers pointing to the sky. Do you agree? Leave comments to tell me. quipment: Canon 40, Canon EF 70-300/4-5.6IS USM Stock Photo ID: hkdigit-20091101-124637, hkdigit-20091101-124635-01 Related posts:Traffic WardenFatal Traffic Accident

• Traffic Warden

  admin

  2 Nov 2009 | 3:13 pm

  Hong Kong Traffic Warden (交通督導員, aka 黃腳立) aid Hong Kong Police Force for the following functions: (a) the enforcement of the Fixed Penalty (Traffic Contraventions) Ordinance; (b) the control and regulation of vehicular traffic and pedestrians, whether on a road or not, and any functions incidental to, or connected with, the control and regulation of such traffic or pedestrians, which are normally undertaken by the Police Force; and (c) any other functions which may be conferred on them by or under this or any other Ordinance. Equipment: Canon 40, Canon EF 70-300/4-5.6IS USM…

• Project Dance

  admin

  30 Oct 2009 | 4:44 pm

  Hong Kong : 24 Oct, 2009 – Project Dance is coming from New York to Hong Kong. Since 2002, Project Dance has been presenting open air dance concerts in world’s major cities including New York City, Los Angeles, Sydney, Atlanta, Hong Kong, and Toronto. Singapore, London, South Africa and Houston are in future plans. Dancers, teachers, choreographers, students and over 300 volunteers make these annual events possible. Event : Project Dance Outdoor Dance Concert Date: 24 Oct., 2009 Place : Avenue of Stars, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon Equipment: Canon 40D, 24-105 4.0L, 580EX Flash Related…

• Google Wave Invitation

  admin

  24 Oct 2009 | 5:12 pm

  I am one of the Lucky guy who was invited to try Google Wave. Google Wave is a web-based service, computing platform, and communications protocol designed to merge e-mail, instant messaging, wikis, and social networking. It Initially released only to developers, a “preview release” of Google Wave was extended to nearly 1 million users between 30 September, 2009 and 15 October, 2009, with the initial 100,000 users each allowed to invite up to eight additional users. Email me if you want get  invites (20 Invitations Left) All my quota was used up. For those who got my invitation,…

• 
  The Dark Side

• Domestic violence prevention: smack up a virtual bitch

  Pushcart Prince

  21 Nov 2009 | 8:34 am

  A great way to prevent domestic violence is by giving men the virtual experience of beating up a woman. Hey, we’re not making this up. The Danish organization The NGO for Children exposed to Violence at Home has developed an online game titled  ‘Hit the Bitch’, in which you can smack a female who is giving you shit. With each hit, realistic bruises show on her face until eventually she falls to the ground, covered in blood and crying. In the meantime, a meter at the top of the screen slowly creeps from “100% pussy” to “100% gangsta.” Due to heavy…

• Deep fried fish info not very fresh

  Johnny Mountain

  21 Nov 2009 | 1:50 am

  China is still a weird mystical country to a large part of the world population. Last week, we brought to your attention a rather cruel way of preparing a fish, namely by deep frying its body while wrapping a wet cloth around its head to keep it alive. The info was taken from the website of Apple Daily and we figured it would be a rather ‘lighthearted’ topic to start Monday the 16th of November with. What happened after was a nice example of the power of social media (paying attention Doug?) and something that made our cheap, third hand server emit smoke due to the extra traffic…

• Weekly Willy No.10

  Johnny Mountain

  20 Nov 2009 | 1:58 am

• Marketing magazine talks shit

  Milfo

  20 Nov 2009 | 12:23 am

  Some of you may be familiar with a monthly publication simply called Marketing. This free magazine claims to be Asia’s leading source of advertising, marketing and media intelligence with editions in Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia. So far the good news. One of the magazine’s features is called ‘Media Relations’, which essentially involves interviews with founders/editors of Hong Kong based websites within a particular category. Questions are answered regarding target audience, relationships with PR firms and page views/unique visitors. Now of course this section is…

• Who cares about the East Asian Games?

  Henry C. from the Libertines Pub

  18 Nov 2009 | 6:22 pm

  Nobody it seems. As long as the events won’t congest our traffic even more, we’ll just accept it and get on with our lives. As usual, things go wrong though. Take for example the Tourism Board chair and the Games planning committee chair accusing each other for screwing up the ticket sales and overseas promotion of the event. Mismanagement and failure in communication are no news for local officials; in fact, you would suspect something’s wrong if any public project runs smoothly in Hong Kong. One thing does deserve attention though. There are 170 Victory Ceremony Assistants,…

• 
  The Toilet Bar

• The Day the Village Didn't Burn

  26 Oct 2009 | 8:11 am

  I'm delighted--surprised, even--to report that Wang Tong Valley did not burn to the ground today as expected.Today is the Chung Yeung Festival, one of two annual holidays to honor departed ancestors, sweep their graves and leave offerings. Unfortunately the preferred method of delivering those offerings is by setting them on fire, then turning around and leaving them to burn, while sparks disperse in the dry wind--it's always dry season around Chung Yeung--and standing back to watch entire hillsides burst into bush fires or, if the worshippers are lucky, a full raging forest fire.Okay, I'm…

• Temporary Absence of Concrete

  24 Oct 2009 | 5:50 am

  One of Hong Kong's basic laws of nature is: Any open green space is just a temporary absence of concrete.You see this law in action where they're reinforcing (meaning: pouring a concrete shell over) the hillside around #1 Wang Tong. They're doing a neat and careful job for their client. Meanwhile, all construction debris, broken parts and leftover concrete are deposited on the undeveloped lot just across the footpath. The area in the photo was overgrown with prickly bushes, small trees and broadleaf plants just two months ago. Its current condition will likely remain until the sun implodes…

• Wang Tong is for Dreamers

  23 Oct 2009 | 7:42 am

  I think autumn, October in particular, is the favorite time of year for people who are dreamers, whereas pragmatists prefer spring. If so, then Wang Tong is for the dreamy type.Spring is always metaphorically associated with fertility, lushness, perfume and lasciviousness. But you would change your mind about that if you visited Wang Tong in October, on any dry day just before sunset. The ginger blanketing the valley has been in bloom continuously for weeks, but as the weather has cooled, the ginger plants have turned their blossoming up several notches, as if squeezing out one last big push,…

• Lunch with an Egret

  14 Oct 2009 | 6:18 am

  Feeling cooped up and agitated, I went out for a recuperative walk. Watching this Snowy Egret taking lunch in the stream, and playing tag with it to get a photo, took my mind off malfunctioning drawing pens and unwelcome correspondence. This angelic looking bird, standing three feet tall, was feeding itself in the part of the Wang Tong Stream which had been turned into a concrete ditch, and that cheered me up.This section of the stream was once a creek meandering past banks of tall grasses, swarming with dragonflies, fish, crabs, frogs--and of course snakes--and was therefore a bountiful…

• The Rarest Time of Year

  7 Oct 2009 | 9:46 pm

  I couldn't tell you when Autumn arrived. Traditionally summer ends on the night of the Moon Festival, the weather changing almost abruptly, as if a glassy carpet of cool air unrolls across the heavens. That prediction has come true, I think, eighteen out of the twenty-one years I've spent in this corner of the world, the weather changing noticeably within 48 hours either side of mid-autumn night.This year the change hasn't been so abrupt. More like a car descending a mountain on a series of hairpin turns. First, a day or two before the scheduled time, there was a faint hint of coolness in the…

• 
  Swexy

• Teamwork

  swexy

  20 Nov 2009 | 8:07 pm

  Ahh. Two heads is better than one. A great motto to live and work by.

• Hong Kong Flashback

  swexy

  16 Nov 2009 | 1:00 am

  In an attempt to see what hong kong could look like in the past, and if I could settle for at least an amateur photographer, the setting was ‘hong kong unique settings.’ the result? Your mind decides.

• Cabo in Hong Kong-O

  swexy

  11 Nov 2009 | 10:47 pm

  I will be the first to admit that leaving HK Island for Kowloon is very low on my list of priorities.  However, when I heard there was a legit and dirty TexMex restaurant initialed TJ (Tijuana) I was the first to hop on the Star Ferry.  The experience was inspiring; older American gentlemen asking young HK girls to take photos of them, and then over-thanking them, cheap beer, dirty wooden tables and stools.  The real selling point- their chips and salsa are actually REAL homemade chips and salsa.  Some may not think that is a huge deal, but to those of us who love us some chips n dip, I…

• Not Hungry Anymore

  swexy

  10 Nov 2009 | 2:17 am

  “Succulent Treats”, “Choco-Heaven” and even “Best Tasty Curry” would be a great name for a restaurant.  The image that one conjures based on your establishment’s name is of the highest importance.  Would ‘Burger King’ instill an image of a sub-standard burger, or the best burger fit for Kings?  When I think of feet, and that would include giant feet (for arguments sake), I usually think something along the lines of “my feet need washing” or “my feet hurt”.  Never restaurant, never food. Giant Foot…

• A Donkey a Dozen

  swexy

  8 Nov 2009 | 8:41 pm

  You think you’re a horse don’t you? “Sure I’m a horse” No, you’re just a donkey… Hm… Thats an interesting dialogue between the donkey (pictured) and someone in this store’s marketing department.  Either way- it belongs in a children’s cartoon.  I wonder what they do with the donkey after the store closes at night?  Gotta be expensive to feed him. (or her).

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  人在中環

• 埋黎賭

  17 Nov 2009 | 11:52 pm

  …

• 賭運

  16 Nov 2009 | 5:53 am

  …

• 賭徒

  10 Nov 2009 | 12:19 am

  …

• 好命

  9 Nov 2009 | 1:01 am

  …

• 肚裡面

  3 Nov 2009 | 9:39 pm

  …

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  案內人隨筆

• 陳志雲比梅鐸更聰明

  尹思哲

  19 Nov 2009 | 5:42 am

  早陣子，Rupert Murdock高調咁話，要收起集團旗下所有網站，一於唔比Google再index，勢要趕絕互聯網免費資訊咁話。 強如梅鐸，面對互聯網新媒體既挑戰，先收購MySpace，嘗試融合新舊媒體業務。不得要領，退後一萬步，倒過來杯葛Google。其中的過程，不管攻或守，也是親自出手，親身試驗，未見成果，必先大掟銀彈。…

• Motorola Droid – 差不多有iPhone咁好

  尹思哲

  16 Nov 2009 | 9:17 am

  打開google reader，見不少外國科技博客都在談論Motoroal Droid這款手機，這麼有buzz，想必是好貨色吧。 顧名思義，這款型號定必android以作為賣點。想想近期身邊愈來愈多人開始用htc hero，或許，android有能力挑戰iPhone的說法已經成立了，如果不計銷量的話。 甫推出第1周，Droid已經賣出了25萬部，比htc touch首周成績6萬部多，卻依然遠遜於3GS的160萬部。 話雖如此，但不要忘記iPhone通常一開售就是全球許多國家在賣，Droid今次只賣美國一個地區。…

• 浪淘阿童木

  尹思哲

  14 Nov 2009 | 10:33 am

  朋友P：意馬為整阿童木，蝕到PK。 P：我記得係咪你訪問過佢…？ 我：唔係我，係A君。 P：買豬肉搭豬骨啦…冇野十全十美 P：獨自莫憑闌。 P：別時容易見時難。 Tagged: 阿童木, 意馬

• [Job] Web 2.0 Programmer

  尹思哲

  10 Nov 2009 | 8:26 pm

  The employer is a hk-based web 2.0 company. Basic requirements: - Quick-learner + problem-solver - Passionate about web app developments - PHP (experience with frameworks such as Zend, CakePHP, etc) - Javascript (experience with JQuery / Mootools) Bonus points: - Facebook app development experience - iPhone app development experience Interested? Shoot your resume & quote this post’s permalink to resume@wanszezit.com Tagged: job, WEB 2.0

• 58歲的Yahoo人氣榜

  尹思哲

  8 Nov 2009 | 9:58 am

  今夜，上Yahoo人氣榜一看，驚見TVB、馬會、老麥及KFC在Yahoo人氣綜合榜的「上榜日次」竟然已達21474日。屈指一算，原來Yahoo人氣榜已經服務大家超過58個寒暑，這種敬業樂業的精神，實在令人佩服得五體投地。 我有理由懷疑，Yahoo為對抗日益強大的Google和Bing，她們已經靜俏俏研發出「搜尋過去」的搜尋引擎！