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August 25, 2005
Hello Kitty Princess
dave
04:45 PM
Comments (3)
Yet another letter from the unlinkable SCMP
Issue a rainstorm warning that we can understand
I write regarding the disastrous rainstorm last weekend resulting in mudslides, floods, more than 100 people made homeless and at least one casualty. I am perplexed as to why this was classified as an amber rainstorm, with no emergency warnings. There were also strong monsoon and thunderstorm warnings. Most of us do not have a degree in meteorology, to figure out when it is safe to venture outside, so we rely on our Observatory to give us guidance.
On Saturday morning, I was completely soaked in five seconds. I stood in disbelief as my umbrella collapsed. I mustered enough courage to begin the treacherous two-minute walk to work. As I went along, the whole 55kg of me almost got blown off the street three times by squalls much worse than in any No 8 typhoon I have encountered in this city.
I then called the Observatory for an explanation. All I got was a standard technical answer as to what constituted an amber rainstorm warning and why they could not lift it any higher. At no point did they actually attempt to find out what the conditions outside were really like and what extra emergency measures ought to be taken immediately.
I really do not care what constitutes a yellow or red rainstorm. All I care about is safety for myself, my family and fellow citizens. What good are warnings if they do not reflect reality? The Observatory ought to be much more vigilant about our safety. This type of bureaucratic complacency just breeds incompetence.
L. LI, Mid-Levels
So, let's just get this straight:
- There were three warnings hoisted:
- the Amber Rainstorm warning;
- the Thunderstorn warning; and
- the Strong Monsoon warning.
- It was the height of summertime in Hong Kong, (also known as the rainy season.);
- You presumably have windows in your flat, to use to look outside and see if the weather is good or bad;
And you still think you should blame the Observatory for the fact that you got wet when going out in the rain?
You know, most people don't need a degree in Meteorology to figure out when it's safe to go outside. My own children appear to be capable of looking out the window and deciding if it's worth going out, despite not even going to primary school yet.
And as for your mustering enough courage to make the two-minute walk to work, that is one of the most pathetic things I have ever read. You had to spend two whole minutes in the rain? What are you, some kind of spoiled Hello-Kitty Princess?
I mean, I currently have a ten-minute walk to work with the constant threat of poisonous spiders, venomous snakes, man-eating sharks, ockers, bludgers, and drop-bears. (And my landlady looks like Pauline Hanson.) Do you hear me whinging about it?
July 13, 2005
More Astroturfing
dave
11:42 AM
Comments (1)
There's an interesting letter in this morning's unlinkable South China Morning Post. The link is, as ever, behind the subscription only firewall.
(You know, I'm sure that the scmp would make as much money from extra views on their advertising as they would lose by dropping the subscription.)
I applaud the belated step taken by Hong Kong in discontinuing the live airing of horse racing. It is high time also that Hong Kong took a hard look at RTHK's malpractice in airing a self-made weekly programme criticising, if not humiliating, the Hong Kong government and its staff.
This programme is outrageous by any standard. No other place would have a radio and television outlet using every opportunity to humiliate the very master that funds its operations like RTHK. We Hong Kong taxpayers will no longer tolerate the poor behaviour of RTHK.
NAME AND ADDRESS SUPPLIED
So what's this? No government broadcaster should ever be critical of the government? Possibly in the kind of authoritarian society the letter-writer dreams of while he sleeps in his jackboots, this is indeed the case.
In this world though, there's a long history of shows on the BBC and RTÉ (both state broadcasters) which comment on, and are critical of, the government of the day. It's not seen as subversive, just as part of the way things are. After all, if we change our government every few years, they must be doing something worthy of criticism, right?
While Hong Kong doesn't change the government as such, (we elect some members of the Legislative Council, but not the Chief Executive), why should we not at least be able to discuss the government?
The writer of the letter is probably one of those pro-CCP people who believe that you must never criticise the central government; that the CCP can do no wrong. That criticism is treasonous.
Sort of like those right-wing Americans who believe everything wrong with America is the fault of 'liberals' despite the right-wing party controlling all three branches of government (and controlling the press as well).
June 24, 2005
The Miracle of Colour
dave
01:06 AM
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Is it just me, or does this ad seem a little ironic, given how faded it is and how vibrant the other colours around it are?
May 30, 2005
Lok Ma Chau Demolition
dave
10:47 PM
Comments (1)
The recent demolition of buildings at the Lok Ma Chau border crossing point was not all that successful...
Note how the buildings are not completely destroyed, but have mainly just fallen over. A competent demolition team will make the building fall vertically so that there is very little effect outside the footprint of the structure. As an example, may I direct you to the World Trade Centre, which fell as precisely as if it had been previously mined with directed charges designed to work along the lines of most stress, rather than being randomly struck by an airplane. Man, that Osama Bin Laden is a really good structural engineer!
May 18, 2005
Changes to the MTR Map
dave
06:36 PM
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The other day I noticed that changes had been made to the MTR Map displayed in the train carriage. If you look closely, you'll see that there are two new lines added on Lantau:
- The Tung Chung Cable Car; and
- The Disneyland Railway.
Normally, the MTR don't put a line on the Map until it's already open. It seems a little curious that they'd add these two lines well before they open.
UPDATE: Just noticed this morning, that the Asia World Expo is on there as well. Boondoggle.
May 04, 2005
Filipina Mormons
dave
02:13 PM
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I just saw the strangest thing: Filipina Mormons. How bizarre.
May 01, 2005
Hoison.com.hk
dave
12:07 AM
Comments (2)
We went to Luk's Woodware, Queen's Road East, to get some furniture for my folks. As soon as they heard that some gweilos were involved in the transaction, the price shot up. This is the kind of nonsense I'd expect from a Tsim Sha Tsui Camera thief, but this is from a shop in Queen's Road East, Wanchai.
Friends of my parents have been dealing with Luk's Woodware for a number of years. They regularly have containers of furniture shipped over to Ireland. We reckon that they've been getting ripped off quite substantially on every container.
March 27, 2005
More Nonsense from TVB
dave
07:43 PM
Comments (8)
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I was just watching the evening news on TVB, one of Hong Kong's two non-cable TV channels. In a summary of Easter events the world over, the news reader mentioned the church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem where:
"...Christ was believed to have been crucified and buried hundreds of years ago."
*rolls eyes*
They also stated that most Catholics are from war-torn and third world countries. Whaaaaa?
As an aside, I've also noticed that, since they started putting English subtitles on the news, the quality of the English in those subtitles is appaling. Many of the native English Speaking news readers seem to correct the grammar as they go, but some feel quite happy to read out glaring and basic grammatical mistakes.
The new newsreader, David Nye, while reading out the sports, announced that some soccer player:
"scored from a frederick..."
when the subtitles clearly said he scored "from a free kick". What a maroon.
March 20, 2005
Hong Kong Rugby Sevens
dave
11:22 PM
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We went out for a quiet drink last night. Lockhart Road, in the heart of Wanchai District, was quiet. It seemed like a ghost town, with only the occasional cheer from those watching the Sevens on the big screen in another pub. (Devil's Advocate - they seem to have a funny cable TV subscription that gets them different channels from the other pubs.)
At about 8pm, the Sevens must have finished for the day, as the street was suddenly awash with people. I do believe that there's a member of the MLCCC in there somewhere.
December 12, 2004
Buying Cameras in Tsim Sha Tsui
dave
07:36 PM
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There's another story in the South China Unlinkable Morning Post about people who've been ripped off buying a camera along Nathan Road.
Tourists tell court they were duped over camera
ELAINE WU
Two British tourists flew from London to testify yesterday about how they were duped into buying a camera for twice its normal price.
Advertising managers Nigel Down and his partner Nicola Katav appeared in Kowloon City Court as witnesses in the trial of salesman Yu Wai-tung, of Union Digital World, Tsim Sha Tsui.
Yu, 41, had pleaded not guilty before magistrate Bruce McNair to a charge of attempted fraud for inducing Mr Down to buying a camera for $11,500 on May 1.
Mr Down, a regular business traveller to Hong Kong since 1992, told the court he was duped into buying the 6.3-megapixel Fuji FinePix S7000 camera after Yu told him it had a resolution of 16 megapixels.
Mr Down first bought a Nikon D70 digital camera for $7,000 on Ms Katav's credit card. But he was convinced by Yu that the Fuji model was better, so the salesman ripped up the credit card docket to void the transaction, the court heard. Mr Down was then told he had to pay an extra $960 to buy a Memory Stick device for the camera.
"I thought we were being naive at this point because the credit card was being swiped so many times," Ms Katav said.
It was only after police in the course of an investigation entered the shop and talked to Yu that the couple found out what was going on, the court heard. Yu told one Fuji camera only cost $5,000 and the $11,500 Mr Down paid included a printer and camera lens. But the couple told the court they had not been told about the accessories.
The trial continues on Monday.
The guy's been coming to Hong Kong since 1992 and still hasn't figured out that camera shops along Nathan Road are criminals? Is he thick? Has he never read a single guidebook? Every guidebook that I've read stresses taking great care when buying cameras and electronics in Tsim Sha Tsui. If you ask anyone who actually lives here where to buy a camera, only a complete dribbling idiot would suggest Nathan Road. (Most locals would head for Mong Kok, or Stanley Street in Central.)
Please note that I'm not attempting to justify the actions of the camera shop scum. These guys are thieves and the cumulative damage they have done to Hong Kong's reputation is probably in the millions of dollars worth of people who will never come back or who spread negative word of mouth after being ripped off here.
However, where they are and what they do is pretty much common knowledge. Everyone knows that you have to be careful buying a camera in Tsim Sha Tsui. Everyone knows that they rip off tourists.
The bait and switch tactic used in this case is the classic tactic used by the unscrupulous operators: the victim is quoted a pretty good price for something, but is then told that that price is for an older model, or that there's a far better model for just a few dollars more.
Another point here is that you have to know what you're buying. The D70 is a DSLR, i.e. it's a camera which allows you to use all compatible Nikon lenses. The Fuji is a good camera, but it has a built-in lens. The markets for these two cameras are very different, and it's hard to see someone who wanted a DSLR changing his mind at the last minute and going for the Fuji.
(Note that the pictures are from the Sing Pao, not the SCMP, as the SCMP didn't have any pictures accompanying the article.)
October 30, 2004
Hong Kong Rail Fares
dave
11:40 AM
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The letters page in the South China Morning Post is usually good for cranks and general weirdness. Unfortunately, the newpaper refuses to keep its letters online more than one day, so they are completely unlinkable, even if you are a subscriber.
On Thursday, there was this classic letter from a lady (I think, based on the name) from Tsim Sha Tsui:
In Hong Kong, railway fares are based on the property values of the station that you patronise. So you have to be ready to pay a premium to use the new KCRC facilities in Tsim Sha Tsui.
An MTR ride from Tsim Sha Tsui to Causeway Bay is shorter than one to Sheung Wan. But you pay $2 more, or 22.22 per cent extra, for the privilege to exit from Causeway Bay, where property prices are higher than in Sheung Wan. If everyone has accepted this for many years, why are they discontented now with the KCRC fares to the new East Tsim Sha Tsui station? It is highly unlikely that KCRC will be able to recoup the construction cost, anyway.
NALINI DASWANI, Tsim Sha Tsui
It is, of course, in reference to the recent opening of the East Tsim Sha Tsui (ETS) station. The fare from ETS to Hung Hom is HK$ 3.9 and for such a short journey, some people have complained. If you look at East Rail Fare Table, you can see that this is HK$ 0.70 more than the journey from hung Hom to MongKok. Truly a princely premium.
However, going back to Ms. Daswani's letter, fares on Hong Kong's heavy rail systems (MTR and KCR) are generally distance based with some premiums based on crossing certain barriers. The trams, with their HK$2.00 flat fare are an exception, and not really applicable.
There are premiums based on crossing the boundary (i.e. going to Lo Wu and soon to be Lok Ma Chau), and crossing the harbour. The boundary crossing premium is about HK$15.00 and the harbour crossing premium is about HK$6.00.
When looking at the cost of a particular fare, you also have to bear in mind any alternative routes. For the new ETS station, it now offers a route from Kowloon Tong to Tsim Sha Tsui in direct competition with the MTR route. The KCR route costs HK$5.60 for that journey, while the MTR costs HK$5.60 as well. It seems obvious, therefore, that the KCRC fare is correct, allowing users to determine if the time savings from the shorter route will affect their route choice.
To suggest that the fares are based on the property values of the destination station is completely ludicrous. If that were true, you'd pay twice as much to go to Central and Causeway bay, and the MTR would probably have to give you money to go to Kowloon Bay and Kwun Tong!
October 25, 2004
Creationists in TVB?
dave
10:26 PM
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I've just noticed the following description for a documentary on TVB Pearl:
I can't read the Chinese, but the English reads like some Creationist in TVB has a problem with science programs.
October 05, 2004
TVB Oddities
dave
09:29 PM
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I'm sure I just saw a trailer on TVB, one of the four terrestrial TV channels available in Hong Kong, for the upcoming Vice-Presidential debate between Dick Cheney and Lieberman. Um, that was like, four years ago. Try and keep up with current events guys!
UPDATE: Picture added! This was taken with my el-cheapo digital camera from the TV screen, so the quality is terrible, but you should be able to see what's going on.
September 13, 2004
Election Day 2004
dave
01:45 AM
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An image of election day on Hong Kong Island.
UPDATE: Hmmm, just looking at this again, it isn't obvious what's happening here, unless you're familiar with local politics. The poster on top, which is defaced, is for "Bull" Tsang, an anti-Tung Chee Hwah candidate. The poster on the bottom, also defaced, is for Cyd Ho, a local democracy candidate.
The middle poster, which is not defaced, is for the pro-Beijing DAB party, widely regarded as anti-democratic. There are rumours that they encourage this sort of partisan behaviour.
One Country, Two systems
dave
01:24 AM
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In Saturday's South China Morning Post, the unlinkable news source for all manner of crackpot letter writers, there was a letter from noted Hong Kong personality Margaret Chu of the One Country, Two Systems Research Institute. In this letter, she made the following statement:
Hong Kong permanent residents above a fixed age, other than expatriates and criminals, enjoy this right. We already enjoy universal suffrage.
Factually incorrect, insulting and denigrating a popular cause, all in two short sentences! Truly, we get value for money from our letter writers these days.
It's Factually Incorrect. She states baldly that expatriates do not get a vote even if they are permanent residents. Well, I have a vote, and I'm an expat. I spotted at least one other expat coming out of the voting hall, as well, so there's at least two of us. Anecdotal evidence suggests that there are a few more than that.
It's Insulting. Notice how she cunningly groups expats with criminals. Does she think that all foreigners are criminals? Sounds pretty racist to me. As far as I know, in Hong Kong, those serving time in prison don't get to vote. I'm unsure about whether their right to vote is returned once they have left prison. It should be, after all, you are deemed to be rehabilitated once you've done your time.
It Denigrates a Popular Cause. There is a call for Universal Sufferage in Hong Kong. This is a plea to allow the people of Hong Kong to elect the Chief Executive by a popular vote. Currently he is 'elected' by a small group of 'electors' chosen to reflect interests friendly to Beijing. Given that we have free, and what certainly seem to be, fair elections to elect some of our legislative councillors, it only seems fair to extend that right to the office of what is effectively our Mayor.
Is this the quality of the research which we should expect from the One Country, Two Systems Institute? Insulting opinions which are factually incorrect?
July 05, 2004
Walking in Kowloon
dave
12:24 AM
Comments (2)
Today I was out for a walk. I started by taking the MTR to Central. I contemplated taking the MTR across the harbour, but decided that I wanted to take the Star Ferry instead. Luckily for me, the same ticket card — the Octopus — can be used on most Hong Kong Transport Modes.
So I strolled from Central MTR station, via a few branches of Dymocks, to the Star Ferry. I always prefer to travel on the Lower Deck on the Star Ferry. As well as being 50 cents cheaper, it means that you can move around a bit more and enjoy the view.
The new reclamation occuring on the Hong Kong side of the harbour looks incredibly intrusive. It really feels like the new shoreline will be half way across the current harbour.
Once in Kowloon, I started to walk towards Lock Road in Tsim Sha Tsui. along the way I had to run the usual gauntlet of earnest Indian gentlemen trying to sell me tailor shops or copy watches. These guys must have a severely negative impact on the entire Hong Kong economy. I find it hard to imagine any tourist being happy to be regaled with "Suit sir? Suit sir? We do jolly good suit for you sir!" every ten paces.
I've often contemplated writing a Quake level where you get to walk around Nathan Road with a shotgun...
I always start to retort that I'm not a tourist, but, when I'm wandering about Hong Kong like that, I'm usually wearing a floral shirt, shorts and sandals. Now, while these are nice floral shirts — usually Armani or Abercrombie and Fitch, obtained for peanuts from the Sample shops in Wanchai — but, I sure as heck still look like a tourist.
I do notice that the MTR stations on the Tsuen Wan Line now have a cardboard cutout over Tsim Sha Tsui station, presumably so they can cope with the pending opening of East Tsim Sha Tsui KCR station later on this year.
I made my way to Tung Choi street in Prince Edward to get a few more tropical fish for the fish tank in the living room. The kids love having colourful fish around and it's also considered lucky to have fish in the house. The Cantonese believe that fish bring good fortune to a household.
June 04, 2004
Tianenmen Square
dave
11:56 PM
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It's the 15th anniversary of Tianenmen Square today. Richard, the Peking Duck has some excellent articles about the whole thing.
May 27, 2004
googlebombing
dave
05:24 PM
Comments (3)
When googlebombing, I do believe that the text in the link has to be the desired search term.
Shaky's having trouble with asiaxpat.com,
That should do the trick. I loath referrer spam.
Update: following comments from Shri below, all general terms removed, but the obvious one left in.
May 15, 2004
Get Out The Vote!
dave
12:52 AM
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Now that I'm a registered voter, you can rest assured that i'll be voting for Hemlock when the election comes around.
May 01, 2004
Harbour Fest
dave
09:13 PM
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I'm watching the Harbour Fest video right now: Hong Kong Rocks. The music's good, but the commentary is awful. It's completely banal, frequently innacurate (The Jumbo floating restaurant is 'a must-see'?), and pitched at about the level of the frequent HKTA adverts which show, that we (people watching local TV in Hong Kong) should really come to Hong Kong.
My taxes paid for this? Give me $100 million Hong Kong dollars and I'll personally go and make tourists come here.
April 24, 2004
Basic Law
dave
12:09 PM
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spotted in this mornings SCMP:
Almost everyone in the legal profession has interpreted what is, and what is not, in the Basic Law.
Academics and self-styled experts have done so, the Americans have frequently given their interpretation, and the British often disclose theirs. Even the president of Taiwan has given his comments. Who knows where a further interpretation will come from Africa, the Caribbean or Southeast Asia?
Yet we do not see any protest or objection in Hong Kong about those interpretations. But when the sovereign state makes an interpretation of the Basic Law, there is so much fuss and protest.
I am very confused. Why is it acceptable for every Tom, Dick and Harry to interpret the Basic Law, but it is not all right for our own country to do so? Now I feel fed up.
CHANG CHHANG-SAN, Causeway Bay
Because, you dribbling idiot, when other countries 'interperet' the Basic Law, they're just stating an opinion, when China 'interperets' the Basic Law, they are changing it to suit themselves.
April 04, 2004
Racism
dave
07:58 PM
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We headed over Kowloon-side by MTR today and something happened which I haven't seen in quite a while.
I went over to an empty seat to sit down and the old lady on the same side got up and moved away. It used to be common that no one would sit next to the Gweilo, but it's not something I've experienced recently.
Normally, when old ladies see me coming with the kids, they go into universal granny mode. This involves making clucking noises, exclaiming "how cute!" in whatever language they speak and possibly offering small treats. Grannies everywhere are like this with small kids, regardless of whether the kids are likely to understand.
January 22, 2004
Kung Hei Fat Choi!
dave
12:18 AM
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It's the year of the monkey!
(King) Kong
(Fay) Wray
Fat
Choi!
January 19, 2004
It's Coooold!
dave
01:14 PM
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It's cold here on Hong Kong Island. 10°C (50°) says the thermometer hanging out the living room window. This may not seem cold to any Northern Europoeans or North Americans reading, but it's damn cold when you're supposed to be in the Tropics! We're south of the Persian Gulf here! It should be hot!
For someone like me, who spend the first 29 years of life living mostly in dark, damp, north-western Europe, 10°C should be warm and positively balmy. So why am I so cold?
One of the reasons has to acclimatisation. Hong Kong's normally quite a warm and humid place, with the temperature over 25°C and the Relative Humidity around 70% or more, as you can see from the graph. There's also very little variation between day and night. Come 'wintertime' (or more accurately, Chinese New Year), the monsoon winds come down from Northern China and the temperature plummets, but the humidity stays high.
Hong Kong flats are built with a single thickness of outer wall. There is no insulation there, windows are always single glazed. Older flats are not well sealed and there are always draughts. Indeed, many flats are located to get cooling breezes during the long hot summer months to keep the Air Conditioner bills down. This is fine for the summertime, but for those few weeks of cold weather, all the heat leaches out through the concrete walls, and the flat stays, at best, a few degrees warmer than outside. Even our flat, which is relatively new, and has well-sealed doors and windows is only 5°C warmer than outside, according to my thermometer.
November 30, 2003
Noise
dave
11:11 PM
Comments (1)
My office overlooks a small street in Wanchai. Currently, there are roadworks in this street. Actually, there have been roadworks on this street for as long as I can remember. Anyway, for the last few weeks, there have been men digging up the road with pneumatic drills (jackhammers). They're hacking and they're hammering, hammering and hacking. They stopped for a day or so last week, and the silence was intense. It was difficult to concentrate with the sudden change. Now, of course, they've started up again, and it's almost impossible to concentrate because of the noise.
But, lucky me, they do stop work at about five o'clock. Which is when the traffic starts to get heavy and the beeping starts. Then it gets dark and the flashing starts. The beeping and the flashing, the flashing and the beeping. The hammering and the hacking, beeping and flashing. But you've gotta keep working; keep your nose to the grindstone, your shoulder to the wheel, and your eyes on the prize. Now try working in that position!
November 26, 2003
Hong Kong Bloggers Meet
dave
11:56 PM
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Well, it finally happened. A small (but perfectly formed) group of Hong Kong bloggers got together to, well, just get together, really. In attendance were:
- Phil
- Simon
- Ron
- UKJoe
- Ben
- Eyal
- and a visiting blogger from the US, Terry, who has some really nice photographs on his blog.
- Also non-bloggers, but commentators, including Jacksback.
- Oh, and me, of course, although I left early.
At least that was the state of play when I left at about 9pm or so.
Beer was drunk, talk was talked, and if you want a blow by blow account, well, you should have come along, really. Living vicariously through blogs only goes so far. No pictures were taken, but if you're comatose on the steps of Fenwick's tomorrow when I'm going to work, consider yourself immortalised.
November 24, 2003
Smart ID Card
dave
09:59 PM
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I went down to get my SmartID card after work today - only to be told that I had to produce my passport as well. Rushed off home, and was back in under an hour. I went through the very streamlined procedure in under ten minutes and was back home before eight o'clock. It's really very smooth and organised.
Apparently my thumbprints are very difficult to read, though.
The immigration officer was so nice, she even wished me a happy birthday! It's tomorrow.
November 17, 2003
Smart ID Cards and a bit of a rant
dave
10:36 PM
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Like many other Hong Kongers, it's time for me to exchange my Hong Kong ID card for the new Smart ID card, with built in chip containing some biometric information.
Like many others in Hong Kong, I went to the Official Smart ID Site to book an appointment. Unlike the BWG, however, I had no problems with the website, even though I used Mozilla on Linux.
Many HK websites are designed by dribbling idiots who have no experience with anything outside their cozy little Windows world. They design websites for the latest version of IE on the latest version of Windows and they never, ever check their site on anything else. They deliberately code using completely proprietary extensions which only work on Windows, or code effects which rely on IE's quirks to render properly. What's worse is, if you dare challenge their design work, they immediately go into a very defensive rant: "how dare you criticise me! I code for Windows and IE because only homosexual, communist freaks use anything else!" Etc, etc. You get the idea. Classic examples are the standardchartered.com, jobsdb.com, or one2free.com websites which only work on IE.
A counter example is the hsbc.com.hk online banking site which works very well under Mozilla on Linux, Solaris, whatever. And why shouldn't it? It's a website. There are standard protocols for designing them. There is no need whatsoever to code for one browser over another. It's arrogance, plain and simple.
My approach is to get it right with Mozilla (which is more standards compliant) and then make sure it looks about right in IE, which most people still use. Occasionally, I'll fire up Opera just to see what the heck it looks like, or I use Konqueror, but if it looks right in Mozilla and IE, the chances are pretty good it's fine in everything.
Except, of course for Netscape 4.7. That doesn't handle stylesheets correctly and is generally pretty broken. If you're using it right now and these pages look bad, it's your browser.
September 11, 2003
A Chinese Wedding
dave
02:25 AM
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We went to a Chinese Wedding tonight. My wife does wedding make-up for these, so she goes all the time. Tonight, however, the bride asked for me to take some photos and for the kids to go along. As my brother was in town, he came along as well.
Sanley's day started at about 6AM, when she had to go along and sort out the bride's makeup for the 'refusing the groom entrance' games. (A traditional Chinese Bride has to refuse the groom entrance for a little bit, even if they're actually living together.) Then she had to make sure that the make up (and it's a lot of makeup - the bride has to be flawless) was ok at the registry.
After all the legal stuff, a Chinese couple has to throw a banquet for all their friends (and colleagues, and acquaintances...), so at about 5pm, we all turned up in the Star Seafood Floating Restaurant in Sha Tin. Let me tell you right away, that this is not a real floating restaurant, unless Science has found a way to make vast quantities of concrete float. It's more like a building with a moat. Or maybe one which happens to have a two foot puddle around it.
So, first things first, I'm the photographer, so I lurk there with my Z1-p and FTZ-500. and take a few snaps. Only there are now three photographers (or maybe more) and all the others have Nikon D100s. (This is a state of the art digital SLR.) These other guys are flailing through shots, stopping only to change battery packs and the occasional CF card. I, meanwhile, am working on the zen of removing a roll of film with one hand while inserting one with the other. This is hard work.
Note to self: Never wear shiny shoes at wedding ever again. If you're going to be standing and taking photos, comfortable shoes are the order of the day. Also, you'd pretty much have to turn up naked to be the worst dressed guy at a Chinese wedding, so wear comfortable clothes. One of the witnesses from the registry ceremony came straight to the banquet in the jeans and polo shirt that he was wearing then. And there were people there (including one of the photographers) who looked like they made some time from their busy schedule of cleaning sewage pipes to pop along to the banquet.
Every combination of friends, relatives and colleagues of the bride and the groom was paraded in front of the photographers and we dutifully snapped frame after frame of people staring expressionlessly at the cameras. (Meanwhile the kids (including mine, sad to say) were running riot around, so we'd have to choose a moment when no sproglets were in shot. Pentax's autofocus is very bad at that, so I'd normally focus on the bride, then turn AF off and wait for the right moment.)
Meanwhile, Alan (my brother) took over the second hat I was expected to wear - that of Candid black and white photographer. Apparently the bride and groom had read some arty publication which glorified the candid black and white shot and wanted that. That stuff is very difficult to do. And you certainly can't do it while also trying to get formal colour shots. So Alan has my MZ-5, stuffed full of T400CN and Portra 400BW. (My Z1-p is stocked with Kodak Portra 160NC, a lovely film with gorgeous skin tones. This is ok for a Chinese wedding, were makeup makes people look like they don't spend too much time in the sun. At an Irish wedding, where half the girls have slathered on the orange foundation which makes them look like Oompa-Loompas, I'd want either 160VC or Fuji Velvia, to really make that orange sear your eyeballs and make you want to sing the Oompa-Loompa song.)
Luckily, after only four hours of group shots, the food started. (The last twenty minutes of shots were carefully chosen to avoid the tables being shuttled in by the staff.)
As is traditional at a Chinese wedding, Roast Suckling Pig was the first dish. Just think crackling, if you've never been to a Chinese wedding. Me, I like this. My brother, like many unsuspecting victims of real Chinese food, was a bit stunned. He didn't partake of much of the delicacies. A shame really, I thought the Snake Soup and the Abalone were rather good. As were the Scallops and the steamed Garoupa. I was put off by the Chicken, which always appears to have been starved to death because it's so scrawny, but which does taste quite nice, if you can eat around the bony bits. I donated all the fleshy bits to my little brother, as he'd avoided the earlier dishes, and was looking rather hungry. They didn't even have cider for him, just Carlsberg or 7up.
So, finally the wedding banquet is finished, it's time to go home. I have ten rolls of film to get processed. The guys with the Nikon D100s are smirking. "We save megabucks per year because we don't have to pay for processing and printing.", they say. And they're right. If you take a lot of photos, digital is yer only man. I am just waiting for the Pentax *istD to come here. Also waiting to win the Mark6 (Lottery) so I can afford one, of course. When you have no job, and the money is running out, thoughts of buying $20,000 DSLRs are a bit pie in the sky.
September 08, 2003
Hong Kong Nonsense
dave
01:44 AM
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I was passing through the Wanchai Market today, and I thought of something: I should really build that little quiz site I've been thinking of for a while. "Pet Shop or Restaurant?" - I show a picture of the outside of a Hong Kong establishment, and the readers have to guess whether it's a Pet Shop or a Restaurant. This is a very Letterman thing. I should stop watching that show. Maybe I should expand the choices: "Pet Shop, Zoo, or Restaurant". Mind you, in China, there are places which combine the last two choices.
September 07, 2003
Summertime
dave
03:19 AM
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Well, it's the end of summertime here in Hong Kong. This means the the rainfall is heavy enough to stun a mule and there is imminent danger of drowning while walking down the street.
September 02, 2003
Typhoon!
dave
03:59 PM
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Barely one day after landing here, my brother is about to see his first Typhoon! Typhoon Dujuan is heading straight for us at a blistering pace. (You can see the current track here. Note that this will only show the current typhoon track. I must do something about showing the typhoon tracks I have records for at some stage.)
This one is really heading *straight* for us, which is quite unusual. Normally, they come up from the South, having trashed the Phillipines first.
Right now, the T8 is up (See here), and Hong Kong is starting to shut down. The ferries are locked down, the schools are shut, the busses will run until about 1630 and the MTR may shut down later. Shops and offices will close and everyone will go home and Play MahJong.
I was just reading the Big White Guy's site, and his Tale of Typhoon York reminded me of my experiences from that Typhoon. We were living in Wanchai at the time, in a slim building which was quite tall. We weren't that high up (only 16 floors, or about half way up the building, but we could feel the building swaying in the wind.
There hasn't been a big typhoon like York in the last four years, so I guess we're about due a biggie. Right now, we're on the 1st floor of a 6 storey building (That's one floor up, for those used to American floor numbering), and in quite a sheltered little valley. We shouldn't experience the swaying this time.
Update: 8:30pm: it's been upgraded to a T9!
Update: 10:00pm: It's been downgraded from a T9 to a T8.
As of 1:30am, it's been downgraded to a T3.
It never looked like much from here. We had to close the windows, but we have to do that anyway when it's raining. The winds never got up to the howl I've heard before, and the rain never got to the stage where visibility is under five metres, which happens when the black rainstorm goes up. Perhaps it's because this flat is low down, in a little valley and sheltered by taller buildings. Perhaps it's that the typhoon went to the north, and hit the New Territories hard, which it certainly did.
Update: 03:30am: All signals are down. I kind of feel for the bloke seen getting bladdered on the local News: "Well, there'll be no work tomorrow, so why not go out and drink. Er, and meet people." Yep, you wouldn't want people to think that Essex lads just want to drink all night.
August 22, 2003
Ladies Night
dave
02:38 AM
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Last night was entertaining. The missus was working late (until about 8pm), I'd been busy doing some consulting work, and then she decided that, as it was ladies night, we'd go out, and only one of us would have to pay for drinks. (Guess which one.)
So, we met one of her friends in Joe Bananas, where the average population of desparate men was scary. Funnily enough, I was one of the youngest guys there, and I'm 36!
Really strangely, there were SLG (Shore Leave Group) guys all over the place. Now, SLG are what the US navy calls MPs now, or "people who try and stop our 18 year olds getting pissed in every port". Normally, there's about two or three of them to every pub full of drunken US marines. And they generally do a good job. It's one thing to go picking fights when you're drunk, it's another thing to do it in front of your commanding officers. Or where reports will go back to your commanding officers.
But, there were no sailors, soldiers or marines. I couldn't spot a single drunk 18 year old with a military haircut anywhere. So why were the SLG around? Was there a squad of Special Forces around? Skilled at blending into pubs full of drunken Brits? If so, why did they need SLG? Maybe some blokes bought some SLG t-shirts off ebay.com.
March 14, 2003
More Tourists Ripped Off
dave
12:00 AM
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In the last few days, more tourists have been ripped of when buying cameras from the camera and electronics shops along Nathan Road in Tsim Sha Tsui, the main tourist area of Hong Kong. They go in to a shop, often they're invited in, and very aggressively sold electronics goods at two, three or more times the prices charged in reputable shops. Often, bait and switch tactics are used. If they try and complain, even with the aid of the police and the consumer council, they get nowhere, because of Hong Kong's loose consumer protection laws.
The thieves who run these shops are unapologetic about their dishonest way of life, and get very aggressive when questioned by reporters. They're lying, thieving scum.
If you're coming to Hong Kong, and think you might want to buy a camera, stay away from any of shops on Nathan Road between Austin Road and Salisbury Road. (This is the part where you come out of the Tsim Sha Tsui MTR station.) The Danger signs to look for are:
- No prices on anything in the window
- Signs advertising 70% off, or some such huge discount
- No Chinese customers in the shop
- The only customers in the shop all look like tourists
- The sales tactics are very aggressive
One shop which was mentioned by name in the South China Morning Post for ripping off an Irish couple on holidays, was "Elegance Camera and Video Supplier" on the ground floor of Alpha House, Nathan Road. He sold them a camera for HK$15,000, when it was being sold nearby for about $HK3,300 elsewhere in Hong Kong.
Many of these 'shopkeepers' will have Triad links. The best bet is to just ignore them.
There are plenty of places where you can get cameras and electronics for reasonable prices in Hong Kong - don't let a few (OK, a lot) bad apples spoil the barrel. Fortress are a Hong Kong chain of electronics stores. They're not the cheapest, but if you go in and look around, you'll get an idea of what you should be paying for something.
I'm going to go out there in the next few days and take pictures of the sort of shops you should avoid, and the few camera shops in Tsim Sha Tsui which are ok to buy camera stuff in. Taking pictures of criminals in action is always risky, but I'm good at the stealth photography lark. I'll have my PZ-1p with a 20mm lens set at hyperfocal distance and the exposure pre-set. I won't need to raise the camera to my eye, just point it in the general direction of the shop. And I'll also have a mobile phone with 999 on speed dial.