Showing posts with label Hong Kong. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hong Kong. Show all posts
02 September 2012
28 February 2012
Cathay Pacific introduces Premium Economy
Note: If you are new here, read this then this, first.
If you're planning on flying to China anytime soon, you might want to check out Cathay Pacific's new Premium Economy class. From first looks it seems well worth the money for a 11+ hour plane ride.
The addition of a Premium Economy class was way overdue IMO. The price gap between Economy and Business class is extensive. From New York to Hong Kong, an Economy class seat will run you about $1000 (which is very cheap for such a long flight). Want a little extra comfort for the 15 hour journey? Be prepared to pay over $7000 for an upgrade to Business class for which you get this:
Premium Economy will cost you about $2500 for the same route. Is it worth it over economy? You decide. Heres the standard Economy:
If you're planning on flying to China anytime soon, you might want to check out Cathay Pacific's new Premium Economy class. From first looks it seems well worth the money for a 11+ hour plane ride.
The addition of a Premium Economy class was way overdue IMO. The price gap between Economy and Business class is extensive. From New York to Hong Kong, an Economy class seat will run you about $1000 (which is very cheap for such a long flight). Want a little extra comfort for the 15 hour journey? Be prepared to pay over $7000 for an upgrade to Business class for which you get this:
Premium Economy will cost you about $2500 for the same route. Is it worth it over economy? You decide. Heres the standard Economy:
The Premium Economy also comes with an amenity kit with a dental kit, socks and eyeshade. All in a dedicated cabin with noise-canceling headphones and improved meal service. It will be phased into the fleet starting with the 777's and the A330's (which fly to Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, Vancouver, Toronto, Milan and Australia) followed by the 747's and A340's later.
Of course if money is no object, you could splurge on the First Class mini-suite.
17 January 2012
Cathay Pacific CNY E-cards!
The good folks at Cathay Pacific Airways have created some very well done E-cards for welcoming the year of the Dragon! Send one to your Chinese friends today and wish them a Happy New Year! (For reference, CNY is on January 23 this year)
20 February 2011
Mad Engineering: Chek Lap Kok
After seeing TCG's post on Kai Tak Airport, I thought Id combine my interest in aviation with a China related post.
Chek Lap Kok Hong Kong International Airport was built in 1998 to replace the overcrowded Kai Tak airfield. At the time, it was one of the worlds largest construction projects. There were plans for the airport since 1974, but construction did not begin until 1991. Hong Kong's lack of flat land made it difficult to find a location for a larger airport. So they decided to dredge the seafloor to expand the small island of Chek Lap Kok west of the city to accomidate a new airport. The entire project was expected to take 10-20 years to complete, but the construction was rushed due to the uncertain future of the project after the transfer of soviergnty to China.
 |
| The old Kai Tek Airport, partially demolished, in 2000. The oldest satellite photo I could find. |
The terminal would be one of the worlds largest, 570,000 sq meters. It is built to withstand typhoons and its sides are made of glass that break in high winds to allow air to flow through and not rip the building apart.
The entire airport cost US$2.5 billion dollars, one of the worlds most expensive construction projects.
Adjacent to the terminal is SkyCity, a huge complex composing of various shopping, dining, and entertainment venues. It has a 658 room hotel and a nine hole golf course. These amenities make Chek Lap Kok consistantly ranked as one of the worlds best airports.
For more extreme airports, check out my post here
16 February 2011
Kai Tak
No I've not gone to Hong Kong, it's much too far away for a week off work since it takes a whole day just to get there when you consider the time differences as well. Plus a lot of airlines are flying much slower to save gas.
I remember Kai Tak with great amounts of glee as you could watch airplanes land from where I used to stay in Kowloon as a young child. Granted it is no St Marteen.
But you could reach up from a tall Kowloon building and nearly touch the aircraft.
Of course it was scarier when you were actually inside one of those 747s as you swear with night landings you could see televisions and people eating noodles inside their flats from the air plane windows.
On a related note:
I remember Kai Tak with great amounts of glee as you could watch airplanes land from where I used to stay in Kowloon as a young child. Granted it is no St Marteen.
But you could reach up from a tall Kowloon building and nearly touch the aircraft.
Of course it was scarier when you were actually inside one of those 747s as you swear with night landings you could see televisions and people eating noodles inside their flats from the air plane windows.
On a related note:
Why was Hong Kong Kai Tak Airport closed? (asked elsewhere)
- It was full. ALL of the landing and take off slots were full up, so it was filled to capacity this strangled trade and tourism.
- It was dangerous, the Kai Tak landing required special training to land due to the mountains around HK look at videos on youtube. Even taking off was iffy as the end of the runway was sinking, you would hear the engines splutter on take off due to water splashing into the engines it was that bad.
- As part of #2 with Kai Tak gone Kowloon land was freed up. With Kai Tak nothing on the approach to Kai Tak could be built more than 14 stories high. Once the landing flight path was gone buildings could pop up at any number of floors.
- Kaitak's land itself was also freed up for residential buildings to ease the uber overcrowding of HK.
- Pork barrelling. The HK economy was great in the 1980s and 1990s, they simply could not take the money away as the PRC and HK people would hate them for this. So the colonial government built a massive airport bring in expensive British contractors to do much of the work. Therefore funnelling much of the surpluses of HK into British pockets.
07 February 2011
Monday Comedy: Moar Fried Chicken
Even Lao Tzu can't resist the taste of 11 herbs and spices!
Chhhhiiiiicccckkkkkeeeennnnn!
Chhhhiiiiicccckkkkkeeeennnnn!
Chhhhiiiiicccckkkkkeeeennnnn!
Chhhhiiiiicccckkkkkeeeennnnn!
Chhhhiiiiicccckkkkkeeeennnnn!
Chhhhiiiiicccckkkkkeeeennnnn!
Chhhhiiiiicccckkkkkeeeennnnn!
Chhhhiiiiicccckkkkkeeeennnnn!
Chhhhiiiiicccckkkkkeeeennnnn!
Chhhhiiiiicccckkkkkeeeennnnn!
Chhhhiiiiicccckkkkkeeeennnnn!
Chhhhiiiiicccckkkkkeeeennnnn!
Chhhhiiiiicccckkkkkeeeennnnn!
Chhhhiiiiicccckkkkkeeeennnnn!
12 January 2011
Should I stay or should I go? 2
Hi,
I read your blog http://ask-a-chinese-guy.blogspot.com/ and saw your email under
Go on don't be afraid ask away
Well, I am a Hong Kong born and bred but have lived away for a long time. I miss the night life and the lifestyle and I'm considering returning. The last time I check (around 2 years ago) I was being offered jobs at around 13K pm. I'm 28/m. I wanted to know if this is enough to have a comfortable life?
Thanks & Regards,
Roshan
Hi there Roshan.
This is a highly subjective area, namely because it depends on your tastes wants and desires in life tbh. But any which way you look at it 13,000HK$ is not very much at all.
The average wage in Hong Kong is $19,000. Though I believe that this is skewed upwards because of the huge number of high earners who live in Hong Kong due to the low tax regime. Still $13,000 isn't exactly a huge amount of money to play around with either.
But you'll probably pay no income tax. I'd also look at your citizenship situation as well. 3* citizens have subsidised health care and can go on waiting lists. People without the three stars can't.
Quite simply accommodation will be THE biggest cost that will hit you. $3000-$6000 is typical with lower rents in not so good areas. And when I say that I mean a box room which can fit little more than a bed in it. A common trap is to live in the New Territories the problem is the savings in rent are sucked up by the time and commuting costs. Although HK's MTR and bus networks are extremely effective and cheap probably better than when you left it all adds up.
I can live on $13000 because $10000 of that is disposable income.
Some other costs you can't avoid.
A decent meal can be had for $30-40.
Beer is about $9-15 in convenience stores while anywhere from $10-$1000 for a beer (in LKF HK where all the bankers go it is v expensive.)
Thus your life will be no fun at all and you'll be scrimping and saving constantly meaning your life won't exactly be great. Also I'd add that Hong Kong people by and large are very face conscious. They will look down on you and some people will even go as far to ridicule you to a great extent. Much like how people put down others to make themselves feel better. If it was just to get your foot into the door to lead to a better job then MAYBE it is worth it. But as said I'd look for at least $16000+ which will get you an ok place to stay, decent food to eat and some fun money.
Regards
28 November 2010
HK language skills
Hong Kong has two languages right? Can you get along with just one or do you need both to work and live
there?
-Tiff
Dear Tiff
In HK you can live there speaking English or Cantonese only, or only Hakka which is mostly in the NT areas, though those damned punti laos have occupied most of the traditional Hakka lands too. It is perfectly possible to live in HK speaking and reading English only. Road signs, maps announcements on PA systems are in Mandarin, Chinese and English. There are English news papers and even TVB pearl an English TV channel. Whenever I traverse the mid levels you seldom hear any Chinese spoken at all since it is stuffed full of expats and their irritating useless trophy wifes and or husbands. It's called a white ghetto for a reason.
However in speaking only English (I presume) you will severely limit yourself on the jobs front as the younger locals universally will speak English. It is heavily accented though but perfectly understandable.
For example here
Fluff
Its kinda funny because my time spent overseas means I wonder if I sound like that to Chinese people (I don't people think I am native, something to do with being raised on TVB I suppose) Though this plays haywire with my UK accent as simply it is a mishmash or different UK accents languages and tones. Thus everybody recognises me instantly on the phone.
It is highly useful to pretend NOT to be able to speak Chinese though as people will say nasty things behind your back thinking you won't understand. Heh an anecdote is my aunt runs a shop I had to help out once and she said something nasty about a black man who came in. You know Si huuk Gwai, unfortunately for her this man had lived in HK for many years and understood her and was somewhat offended.
/ Fluff
Anyway..
If the company you work for deals with China (most of them do) you'll need a good grasp of Mandarin too. And thus without sufficient language skills you may well suffer on the jobs front since the locals will work harder (due to being indoctrinated), faster, and are highly educated and motivated due to face and shame issues. Probably why my lazy ass is in the UK where I can work 30-40 hours a week, while a similar job in Asia would pay about the same (but pay less tax) working 70-110 hours a week. Companies will want value from their employees and thus will want more skills. So they see a CV with English only then you will be placed lower than somebody with multiple language skills.
Except for English teachers of course.... it is actually preferred that you are ONLY an English speaker so as to be more authentic. Or just to look the part (TCG has seen Russians teaching English in HK due to appearance sake. I had to speak Russian to the poor girl to communicate!)
Though this is dying out a bit. My friend J in HK and has been there for a decade has started to see the trend reverse. Perhaps it is because there are far too many short term travelling teachers who teach badly.
Which can sometimes result in some uber hilarity as displayed here
there?
-Tiff
Dear Tiff
In HK you can live there speaking English or Cantonese only, or only Hakka which is mostly in the NT areas, though those damned punti laos have occupied most of the traditional Hakka lands too. It is perfectly possible to live in HK speaking and reading English only. Road signs, maps announcements on PA systems are in Mandarin, Chinese and English. There are English news papers and even TVB pearl an English TV channel. Whenever I traverse the mid levels you seldom hear any Chinese spoken at all since it is stuffed full of expats and their irritating useless trophy wifes and or husbands. It's called a white ghetto for a reason.
However in speaking only English (I presume) you will severely limit yourself on the jobs front as the younger locals universally will speak English. It is heavily accented though but perfectly understandable.
For example here
Fluff
Its kinda funny because my time spent overseas means I wonder if I sound like that to Chinese people (I don't people think I am native, something to do with being raised on TVB I suppose) Though this plays haywire with my UK accent as simply it is a mishmash or different UK accents languages and tones. Thus everybody recognises me instantly on the phone.
It is highly useful to pretend NOT to be able to speak Chinese though as people will say nasty things behind your back thinking you won't understand. Heh an anecdote is my aunt runs a shop I had to help out once and she said something nasty about a black man who came in. You know Si huuk Gwai, unfortunately for her this man had lived in HK for many years and understood her and was somewhat offended.
/ Fluff
Anyway..
If the company you work for deals with China (most of them do) you'll need a good grasp of Mandarin too. And thus without sufficient language skills you may well suffer on the jobs front since the locals will work harder (due to being indoctrinated), faster, and are highly educated and motivated due to face and shame issues. Probably why my lazy ass is in the UK where I can work 30-40 hours a week, while a similar job in Asia would pay about the same (but pay less tax) working 70-110 hours a week. Companies will want value from their employees and thus will want more skills. So they see a CV with English only then you will be placed lower than somebody with multiple language skills.
Except for English teachers of course.... it is actually preferred that you are ONLY an English speaker so as to be more authentic. Or just to look the part (TCG has seen Russians teaching English in HK due to appearance sake. I had to speak Russian to the poor girl to communicate!)
Though this is dying out a bit. My friend J in HK and has been there for a decade has started to see the trend reverse. Perhaps it is because there are far too many short term travelling teachers who teach badly.
Which can sometimes result in some uber hilarity as displayed here
27 September 2010
Kowloon Walled city
Demolished in 93-94 It was a functioning anarchic state, with only two laws, nothing higher than 14 stories and electricity only to prevent fires. Its a fine example of how when people say society has to be like this and that they are wrong. Some of my family actually lay claim to living in the Walled city in the 1960s and 1970s.
Today the ghosts of walled city are in Sham Shui Po district and also the big Mansions on Nathan Road Chungking and Mirador mansions. With an incredible population density of 1,255,000/km2
You can read more about it at the following links
Wikpedia
109 we come from the future
Archdose
No subs.
Oddly I feel since society is quickly becoming M shaped where there is an increasing divide between those who have and those who do not that this sort of thing in China at least (where the land is hoovered up by the parasite middle class rentiers). The Hong Kong, Zuhai and Guangzhou sprawl is starting to look and feel an awful lot like the sprawl depicted in William Gibson's Sprawl trilogy
Today the ghosts of walled city are in Sham Shui Po district and also the big Mansions on Nathan Road Chungking and Mirador mansions. With an incredible population density of 1,255,000/km2
You can read more about it at the following links
Wikpedia
109 we come from the future
Archdose
No subs.
Oddly I feel since society is quickly becoming M shaped where there is an increasing divide between those who have and those who do not that this sort of thing in China at least (where the land is hoovered up by the parasite middle class rentiers). The Hong Kong, Zuhai and Guangzhou sprawl is starting to look and feel an awful lot like the sprawl depicted in William Gibson's Sprawl trilogy
21 August 2010
Miss HK2010.
And TVB wonders why the hell people are pirating their TV channels overseas instead of paying £40 a month for it. As per usual money and influence are the biggest factors in HK society whatever the hell happened to meritocracy or sheer shallowness? Remember Miss HK is a beauty pagent therefore the stuff you see on Miss World where they have to care about the environment and stuff does NOT apply!.
I sometimes watch it (TVB) on my laptop to one side. Not that I watch TVB too often since the news is 24 hours out of date and they only care about share prices and nowt else. I mean the other day a guy was stabbed in TST. The news gave it about 20 seconds.... heh those expats are all flocking over to Kowloon side these days since the shit hole LKF is closed for a month. (TCG famously hates LKF in HK)
Quite normally TCG would bang every miss HK all the way back to
Because as my old buddy once said.
"When you're poking the fire place, you ain't looking at the mantel piece"
What TCG is a shallower than a puddle? Yeah and so if Cecilia Cheung presented herself on a plate... no wait this doesn't work, as Cecilia Cheung has a massive bush which would make it look like Osama Bin Laden was going down on you. (actually Cecilia doesn't appear to be as nice as she used to be) or if you went down on her you wouldn't need to floss your teeth.
I couldn't put my finger on it.
Then I figured it out, a plastic Cherrie Blair smile. Look at the picture.
Her smile is terrifically forced and un-natural. Much like (sober) men can spot cross dressers instantly with uber height, shoulder to hip ratio and big hands. (Though Thailand can be tricky TCG's accountant went to Thailand once.... hold on an accountant has an accountant? Yeah.....) People can spot fake smiles pretty easily.
In the UK we absolutely hate Tony Blair,( ex UK Prime minister) he is a murdering lying cunt... the thing is we always go easy on him because he is in purgatory. I mean FFS he is slipping Cherrie Blair one every now and again.
DANGER! TCG IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR SCREEN OR KEYBOARD DAMAGE DUE TO YOU BEING SICK Cherie Blair picture here and here DANGER! TCG IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR SCREEN OR KEYBOARD DAMAGE DUE TO YOU BEING SICK
Cherrie Blair is probably in room101 of most sane men. The CIA should use her as an interrogator..... because I don't want my readers to be permanently scarred I shall omit what she could do to get you to confess.
For those of you who don't know who Cherrie Blair happens to be, Cherrie Blair is or was the 2nd
most hated person in the UK. A newspaper (I forget which) commissioned a study about most hated people in the UK who would you deport.
#1 was Abu Hamza, The sun calls him captain hook, he is currently in Belmarsh Prison and the UK government hopes we'll forget who he is.
#2 was Cherrie Blair, because she is a money grabbing witch
Share the hate
邵逸夫! What look at what has happened to TVB!
Where the hell was I oh yeah, people have complained it was a fix! all over the interwebs.
I mean look at Miss Korea 2010 or miss Japan 2010...... they aren't fantastic but at least they don't have the Cherie Blair smile...
11 August 2010
Hong Kong cops OTOH (Belated comedy slot)
While mainland cops mean business as demonstrated here
Hong Kong cops on the other hand are wussies.
34 seconds is where it is at.
It's worse that one of these football dives (Song by Weird Al Yankovic)
Rugby however, they don't stop unless somebody's brains are spilt on the ground
Compared to say Romanian cops who don't take shit.
Just for some balance.
Hold on what was I trying to say here..... Oh yeah HK is just a corrupt as it's always been. If you are family of a judge, you can get away with...beating.... no wait that wasn't a beating, it was a bitch slap. Then NOTHING happens to you ever! As here
Hong Kong cops on the other hand are wussies.
34 seconds is where it is at.
It's worse that one of these football dives (Song by Weird Al Yankovic)
Rugby however, they don't stop unless somebody's brains are spilt on the ground
Compared to say Romanian cops who don't take shit.
Just for some balance.
Hold on what was I trying to say here..... Oh yeah HK is just a corrupt as it's always been. If you are family of a judge, you can get away with...beating.... no wait that wasn't a beating, it was a bitch slap. Then NOTHING happens to you ever! As here
04 August 2010
Feng Shui
Dear TCG,
What is Feng Shui and how does it work?
Kevin B
Dear Kevin
Feng Shui
Is a form of mysticism which some people believe in and some people don't.
Essentially the gib is supposed to be that you can improve energy flow of Chi by moving things around, the critical thing is have no sharp objects or edges pointing at you like ceiling lights and stuff like that. I mean it is just common sense right? In your car you have a steering wheel which does not have a sharp spike sticking out of it right?
Though you know this would increase road safety so much, and it'd stop all my friends being killed while biking.
A really bad Feng Shui type of bed to have. Even if it is on sale.However TCG's dad puts it much better, if it looks neat and tidy to the eye then it has good Fung Shui. I.e. if your home doesn't look like level 7 out of contra (in the UK we call this probotechor)
My personal belief is that it is semi psychosomatic. The mind being the most powerful organ in the body can change things psychologically.
It is one of those things people consult JUST in case. You know the kind, in the UK we've had loads of fuel shortages due to protesters blockading the refineries. You always get some smart arse who says we are all suckers for panic buying petrol.. When he himself gets home he goes and buys some petrol JUST in case he needs it. Or the people who don't believe in bad luck yet refuse to walk under ladders or take a baseball bat to a mirror.
Which is why it still has a place in modern day Chinese life. People consult such things just in case, as doing it and practicing it costs relatively little compared to the negative outcomes which can occur. In ALL Chinese villages you'll have a second hand tale about somebody not consulting a local shyster the feng Shui man and falling on hard luck.
Though Chinese people can be somewhat gullible, for instance there was a Taoist master who performed a complex ritual for a HK model to change her luck. Which involved sex some people have called fuckshui quite recently a few people in HK being tricked into buying perpetual motion machines. However considering 419 scams are still landing in my email boxes everyday there is a sucker born everyday.
Big buildings and such like also have such a master come take a look and give advice. I mean you're going to give him $2000HK or so, when your building is going to cost $100 million HK the $2000 is insignificant.
Hey man this building's gonna cost us $1billion US$, think we should pay off this bloke claiming to be a Feng Shui master his $10000 fee?Ordinary people see this happening and copy them. As they must have done something right to become wealthy.
Follow the more successful thief and steal his ideas. - "The Book of Cataclysm"
On the other hand people can use it to extort the government too! In Hong Kong villages on Feng Shui grounds denied the HK government permission to build a radar system for HKG airport. What they really meant is we want bigger compensation packages for having a big radar system in our village. The HK government told them to get lost and decided to cancel it till 2015.
Though this is somewhat at odds with the generally held idea that in some areas of China that fortune and luck are what matter above hard work, qualifications and talent (TCG is writing a book in collaboration with others about this keep your eyes peeled).
What some clever so and so in the 1990s thought of was applying this to western cultures. In that hey look those Chinese folks tend to live longer than us. It must be something they do (forgetting stuff like diet, work and psychological support though in truth I think this generation of Chinese ants are going to die much younger than their parents and grandparents). And they built a whole industry around it selling books, advice etc.
In the UK such people are considered to be entertainers the UK government recognises them as entertainers because they need to buy entertainment permits before being allowed to 'practice'.
All of this changed a small superstition in Chinese society into a whole industry which gives out inconsistent advice and has no industry standards. Penn and Teller exposed this when they asked several people who were said to be masters and all of them gave inconsistent advice.
Therefore to me it is a mere curiosity and I take it like my dad says, as long as it looks neat to the eye it is good. Which works for me just find since I live like a bum and live under a big stack of papers everywhere for the work I do. But because there are no sharp edges it's A-OK!
Bonza!
24 July 2010
Is HK safe 2
E gads...
You know as time goes on by it feels more and more like HK is becoming like England.... this is bad...
In the UK when you say did you hear about that murder? People will ask which one? Change murder with rape/stabbing/mugging and you get the picture. (TCG has been mugged several times on public transport and therefore never uses it anymore)
You know as time goes on by it feels more and more like HK is becoming like England.... this is bad...
In the UK when you say did you hear about that murder? People will ask which one? Change murder with rape/stabbing/mugging and you get the picture. (TCG has been mugged several times on public transport and therefore never uses it anymore)
The standard says:
A middle-aged mainland woman has been arrested after allegedly stabbing a young MTR woman passenger in the abdomen with a 15-centimeter knife.The suspect, in her forties, was traveling in the same car as the 23-year-old woman on a train heading towards Lai King on the Tung Chung line at 3.30pm yesterday.
Witnesses said the young woman boarded the train at Nam Cheong, one stop before Lai King.
According to the witnesses, the suspect approached the woman, took out a knife and stabbed her in the stomach without any warning.
The victim screamed and tried to run away from the suspect, who chased her.
More than 10 other passengers managed to subdue the suspect while another passenger took the knife from her.
Passengers then used the train's emergency intercom to notify the driver, who called the MTR control center.
Station staff were on hand when the train arrived at the Lai King station platform.
Many passengers left the train in panic while an off-duty police officer boarded and took the suspect into custody.
MTR station staff called an ambulance, which took the victim, who remained conscious, to Princess Margaret Hospital. Her condition was unknown at press time.
The suspect, a two-way permit holder, sustained minor injuries to her left hand. She was treated by ambulance officers and taken to Princess Margaret Hospital for observation.
Officers said the suspect was arrested for being in possession of an offensive weapon.
MTR public relations manager Jason Chan Lap-yan said the police had sent officers to help with security at the station.
Investigators are still trying to establish a motive for the attack and said they have not been able to confirm any relationship between the women.
Ok so it's going to be easy to blame it on mainlanders etc, but I won't as I have maintained it before Hong Kong is a hot, humid stressful as fuck place to live and work, and people by and large come here to make some money and leave. But seriously if you can't take the heat then get out of the kitchen!
03 July 2010
Racist Chinese?
Dear TCG
I'm a British Born Chinese my parents are originally from Kowloon. I get the impression that my parents give to me that they are racists, not just against clearly different people but against other Chinese people too especially mainland Chinese people, Taiwanese and other Southern Asians whats the deal?
Is what I am experiencing normal?
Chan
Dear Chan
Chinese are prone to racism as much as any other ethnic group. I found that Chinese like to differentiate themselves as Hongkies vs Mainlanders growing up. And this view remains to this day as HK people consider themselves to be a tier above the mainland Chinese. And consider the mainlanders to be bumpkins or terrifically backwards. This infects the expats too as BWG makes un-flattering remarks about mainlanders sometimes. Those that venture out of the Gweilo ghetto of the mid-levels that is.
Though some of them are completely deserved of course, as stereotypes are often grounded in some form of reality. The way Mainland Chinese are incredibly wasteful. You hang around Beijing and you see cars with their air conditioners on yet the windows open. Or way back in Hangzhao when I managed to stay there for a week. The guy I lived next door to was nuts.
In winter he would turn the heating on, nothing abnormal about this right? But he'd just twist the thermostat to maximum. Still nothing wrong with that either. Yet when it got too hot he turned on the air conditioner again to maximum and again when the air conditioner lost the battle opened the windows. Some very strange behaviour is reported by others too when they open windows and turn on the air con unlike us westerners with high electricity bills that shut the windows and keep the cold air in. And yes this is Representative of what I've seen in China
Anyway as an anedote from one of my friends "As I began working overseas, I saw segregation between Malay, Singaporeans and Hongkies, while South and North China are prejudiced towards each other, and don't get me started vs Taiwanese!"
But all of Chinese (esp gals) tend to extend otherwise unjustified high-regard for Gwailo. White supremacy. Likewise, anybody darker-skinned (Indian, SE Asian, black) are lower-class. It's like their world is monochrome.
Answer then is: Yes they are racist, but this is simply human nature tbh.
However I don't think it's limited to a Chinese phenomenon. People of the same race but from different geographical locations always have hatred and rivalries.
In the UK for example:
Even in Hong Kong itself. The Cantonese hate the Hakka but hate the Mainland Chinese more.
The Mainland Chinese hate us S.A.R types as we come over as snooty cunts to them.
The Hakka pretend to be Cantonese but bitch about the Cantonese in private and hate some of the Mainland Chinese.
Curiously there are even more subdivisions.
The Hakka are split between the fishermen and the farmers, they used to hate each other and celebrate completely different festivals. While my dad's village the village next door hated them and vice versa.
But that's just human nature.
I'm a British Born Chinese my parents are originally from Kowloon. I get the impression that my parents give to me that they are racists, not just against clearly different people but against other Chinese people too especially mainland Chinese people, Taiwanese and other Southern Asians whats the deal?
Is what I am experiencing normal?
Chan
Dear Chan
Chinese are prone to racism as much as any other ethnic group. I found that Chinese like to differentiate themselves as Hongkies vs Mainlanders growing up. And this view remains to this day as HK people consider themselves to be a tier above the mainland Chinese. And consider the mainlanders to be bumpkins or terrifically backwards. This infects the expats too as BWG makes un-flattering remarks about mainlanders sometimes. Those that venture out of the Gweilo ghetto of the mid-levels that is.
Though some of them are completely deserved of course, as stereotypes are often grounded in some form of reality. The way Mainland Chinese are incredibly wasteful. You hang around Beijing and you see cars with their air conditioners on yet the windows open. Or way back in Hangzhao when I managed to stay there for a week. The guy I lived next door to was nuts.
In winter he would turn the heating on, nothing abnormal about this right? But he'd just twist the thermostat to maximum. Still nothing wrong with that either. Yet when it got too hot he turned on the air conditioner again to maximum and again when the air conditioner lost the battle opened the windows. Some very strange behaviour is reported by others too when they open windows and turn on the air con unlike us westerners with high electricity bills that shut the windows and keep the cold air in. And yes this is Representative of what I've seen in China
Anyway as an anedote from one of my friends "As I began working overseas, I saw segregation between Malay, Singaporeans and Hongkies, while South and North China are prejudiced towards each other, and don't get me started vs Taiwanese!"
But all of Chinese (esp gals) tend to extend otherwise unjustified high-regard for Gwailo. White supremacy. Likewise, anybody darker-skinned (Indian, SE Asian, black) are lower-class. It's like their world is monochrome.
Answer then is: Yes they are racist, but this is simply human nature tbh.
However I don't think it's limited to a Chinese phenomenon. People of the same race but from different geographical locations always have hatred and rivalries.
In the UK for example:
- Mancunians (Manchester) and scousers (Liverpool) hate each other.
- Geordies (Tyne Side) and Scots hate each other.
- People from London seem to hate everyone north of the Watford gap, etc.
- Aussies always rip the British. British hate Americans etc.
- Sunni Muslims hate Shiite Muslims
- North Koreans and South Koreans hate each other even though they are the same people.
Even in Hong Kong itself. The Cantonese hate the Hakka but hate the Mainland Chinese more.
The Mainland Chinese hate us S.A.R types as we come over as snooty cunts to them.
The Hakka pretend to be Cantonese but bitch about the Cantonese in private and hate some of the Mainland Chinese.
Curiously there are even more subdivisions.
The Hakka are split between the fishermen and the farmers, they used to hate each other and celebrate completely different festivals. While my dad's village the village next door hated them and vice versa.
But that's just human nature.
27 June 2010
bicycle!
Dear TCG
I am about to relocate to Hong Kong from the UK for a year or two and I am an enthusiastic cyclist. I own a very expensive bike in the UK and I am thinking of shipping them over for my stay there. I have a place to store them so that's no problem. However loads of people say to me that I won't have a chance to use them what are the cycling opportunities in HK? I would be grateful for advice.
Tolsky
Dear Tolsky
You're kidding right? You want to ride a bicycle in Hong Kong? There are two maybe three things against this:
#1 It's frigging hot in Hong Kong, even in Winter it doesn't drop below 14C and it is humid. I'm supposed to be from round there but merely WALKING makes people ask me if I've been swimming. The need to shower at both ends will probably destroy your skin.
#2 The pollution seriously, when I ride a tough section on my bicycle I take in huge deep gulping breaths though granted my speed up hill and on the flat is barely any different much to the annoyance of other cyclists as I use the cogs pretty effectively. The pollution in HK is horrible some of the scenic routes are hilly and you will be gulping in incredible amounts of crap into your lungs. Granted you can of course use one of those anti pollution masks but you can never get enough air into your lungs. In Beijing which is pancake flat I rented a bicycle and returned it about 5 minutes later due to the incredible pollution there.
#3 Cars, ok so in HK there are many separated cycle lanes which are built into the pavement, but these do not go everywhere. In HK the driving is aggressive not quite as bad as driving in Seoul but when you see minibuses go down roads which are 30mph going down them at 75mph you think hmm. Or the way people do not pay attention to the road is worrying. A taxi driver I always have the misfortune to encounter uses not one but 5 mobile phones and 2 net books in his taxi while driving. No doubt he'll be using an Ipad too.
As a side 4th the public transport in HK is cheap anyway so this is hardly a need to cycle to cheap out on transport is there? I mean a fare in the UK which'd cost you £4 costs £1.20.
As a 5th you don't tell me where exactly you live, as it is troublesome to get a bicycle across the Harbor and or Lion Rock. Yes I know there is a guy who cycles from Fanling to Mongkok daily (he spends 4 hours a day doing it). But better him than me.
Crap forgot to answer the question at hand. Yes in the New Territories and Lantau Bicycles will be useful due to the cycle lanes everywhere. But the closer you get to Kowloon and HK Island the less useful they will become as there is nowhere to store them. Parking on the street bicycles have a tendancy to be removed especially during festivals etc. Not to mention the above hazards.
16 June 2010
You want a light sabre?
No not like this you perv!
Like this:
(good bit starts from 41 seconds, note this clip was banned in the UK and took over 50 takes)
Sky News here has been telling people these made in China 'light sabres' are dangerous, no shit Sherlock, most things from China are pretty freaking dangerous anyway like the burning sofas.* Ironically, in sky telling people these things are freaking dangerous they have probably increased the market share of http://www.wickedlasers.com/ a huge deal. What was it Harriet Harman when she told people to ban a working girl website? She gave them more publicity than they could have dreamt of.
*note if you choose the uber cheapest item from a made in China manufacturer there has got to be something wrong with it, it is like curry fish balls you can get 10 of them for $8 you seriously think curry fishballs have any nutritional value?
Sky news says
Like this:
(good bit starts from 41 seconds, note this clip was banned in the UK and took over 50 takes)
Sky News here has been telling people these made in China 'light sabres' are dangerous, no shit Sherlock, most things from China are pretty freaking dangerous anyway like the burning sofas.* Ironically, in sky telling people these things are freaking dangerous they have probably increased the market share of http://www.wickedlasers.com/ a huge deal. What was it Harriet Harman when she told people to ban a working girl website? She gave them more publicity than they could have dreamt of.
*note if you choose the uber cheapest item from a made in China manufacturer there has got to be something wrong with it, it is like curry fish balls you can get 10 of them for $8 you seriously think curry fishballs have any nutritional value?
Sky news says
The device - with a beam 1,000 times stronger than sunlight on the skin - is touted by makers as "the most dangerous laser ever created".
Trading standards chiefs said they were "seriously concerned" about the sale of the Spyder III Pro Arctic model and have warned against its use.
As well as blinding, burning and causing cancer, its Hong Kong-based maker, Wicked Lasers, admits that "a split-second laser light in a plane cockpit (...) can be disastrous".
Star Wars fans are among hundreds of people who have already shown an interest in buying the laser, for sale to the general public for £135.
TCG doesn't see a problem, if you burn yourself and or give yourself cancer you only have yourself to blame take some responsibility. Children in generally do not have credit cards and thus are not capable of buying this themselves, ergo parents will probably buy it for their children who then hurt themselves and then attempt to absolve themselves of all blame. Which is bollocks!
It's like those parents who pretend to be responsible but then allow their children to use the Internet unsupervised. The events are unfortunate but it goes to show nothing happens until there are bodies.
If I was to give a loaded Uzi to my hypothetical son who's fault would it be if the theoretical CG's son went on a shooting rampage or shot himself? Would it be Uzi gaz for inventing the Uzi or mine?
Of course this does not apply if you use it against somebody else, then you are an absolute cunt of mammoth proportions, much like you are a fucking coward if you use a stun gun to attack somebody.
14 June 2010
China scams 10
Ok ok so we've covered the first scam from the construction company. But they are all in it and pay bribes to the HKG therefore there is nothing people can really do about it. (For you Americans Estate agents are realtors just in case you didn't know).
Anyway the even worse insidious people are the estate agencies. They double count like politicians.
As I said before using say a 600sq ft flat, you'd expect there to be 600sqft of floor space right? Like if you buy a car you would expect it to have wheels right?
In HK estate agents are scummers, as said often the livable space in a flat/apartment is as low as 50% of the advertised floor space. Estate agents also count the walls as living space for starters. But they count things you don't even think of!
Hey wait, I think I just thought of a way to pick up the hot babe who works as an estate agent in Tai Po. When I can claim to have a Lexington Steele or even a Jonah Falcon freakshow and when I finally whip it out claim exactly the same arguements as she claims.
Anyway the even worse insidious people are the estate agencies. They double count like politicians.
As I said before using say a 600sq ft flat, you'd expect there to be 600sqft of floor space right? Like if you buy a car you would expect it to have wheels right?
In HK estate agents are scummers, as said often the livable space in a flat/apartment is as low as 50% of the advertised floor space. Estate agents also count the walls as living space for starters. But they count things you don't even think of!
- The landing outside your flat ~ this is counted as usable floor space
- The freaking LIFT ~ this is counted as usable floor space
- The lobby downstairs is often counted too but divided between the flats ~ this is counted as usable floor space.
- The stairs! ~ this is counted as usable floor space
- A shelf no really you have an 8x8 room, minus the wall space lets say it is really 7x7 (it often is) so you get 49sq ft, not too bad, livable not great but this is Hong Kong remember. An estate agent will come along advertising place including the wall space as 64sqft. The scummer agent then sticks a 4x1 shelf up or even four of the damned things ~ this is counted as usable floor space this then becomes 68sqft. He adds 4 more shelves and suddenly your 49sqft room has become 80sqft.
- The above can be repeated in all sorts of ways, so a shelf above a shower thats space.
- Window sills are counted.
- The narrow shelf which sits OUTSIDE your flat hanging 200ft above the ground is counted as space.
- The freaking window sill on the outside is again counted as usable livable space.
- The washing line! is counted as space.
- A fan vent which is a hole in the wall is double counted too
Hey wait, I think I just thought of a way to pick up the hot babe who works as an estate agent in Tai Po. When I can claim to have a Lexington Steele or even a Jonah Falcon freakshow and when I finally whip it out claim exactly the same arguements as she claims.
13 June 2010
This weekend I have mostly been
Watching a few old films
If you like saving private Ryan you may like this, it is surprisingly apolitical and focuses mostly on the infantry on the ground. I finally got my DVD back bar stewards who borrow them pass it around 100 friends and I finally got this back yesterday.
Also
Hard Boiled
Note HARD BOILED IS FICTION, I've had more than a few questions asking me if Hong Kong is normally like what is depicted in Chow Yun Fat Movies, i.e. regular gunfu shoot outs all over the place. And no it is NOT like that in HK even Manchester isn't like that and you get murders all the time here.
But then again these are the same people who thought Braveheart was set in modern day Scotland
If you like saving private Ryan you may like this, it is surprisingly apolitical and focuses mostly on the infantry on the ground. I finally got my DVD back bar stewards who borrow them pass it around 100 friends and I finally got this back yesterday.
Also
Hard Boiled
Note HARD BOILED IS FICTION, I've had more than a few questions asking me if Hong Kong is normally like what is depicted in Chow Yun Fat Movies, i.e. regular gunfu shoot outs all over the place. And no it is NOT like that in HK even Manchester isn't like that and you get murders all the time here.
But then again these are the same people who thought Braveheart was set in modern day Scotland
13 May 2010
Material girl cover.
Dear TCG
I remember an old Song from TVB tapes I heard quite often as a child I can't remember who the writer or who did the vocals however it was a cover of Material girl or sounded like it. Ive checked wikipedia and asked on lots of forums but nobody seems to have heard of it
Vanessa Y
Dear Vanessa
Today is your lucky day. I know the song because erm I know the song. The song is by Sally Yeh/Yip. It is called 200 degrees, it is uncredited on wiki probably because they are so incredibly embarrassed just to watch the video, back in 1985 this was probably cool but today is rather embarrassing.
I remember an old Song from TVB tapes I heard quite often as a child I can't remember who the writer or who did the vocals however it was a cover of Material girl or sounded like it. Ive checked wikipedia and asked on lots of forums but nobody seems to have heard of it
Vanessa Y
Dear Vanessa
Today is your lucky day. I know the song because erm I know the song. The song is by Sally Yeh/Yip. It is called 200 degrees, it is uncredited on wiki probably because they are so incredibly embarrassed just to watch the video, back in 1985 this was probably cool but today is rather embarrassing.
葉蒨文 200度
And you can watch the video here:
Try watch the video and not smirk at the two guys.
You may remember Sally from such films as the killer
Sally plays the poor girl who sings at the start and is involved in a massive shootout and is blinded by Chow Yun Fat
TCG reactivating repressed childhood memories since 2009!
08 May 2010
Racist tooth paste?
Dear TCG
I heard that in China there is a racist tooth paste brand, can you confirm. [heavily edited due to excessive ranting, run on sentences and a hundred other things too]
Regards
Ricardo
Dear Ricardo
You are semi right there is or was a tooth paste which might have triggered racist connotations, it was the darlie toothpaste brand. A Taiwanese companie made a toothpaste called Darkie. Notice the change over time eh?
They marketed it as such in that due to the contrast of the dark skin of black people when they smiled their teeth looked whiter than white this was in the days of old school advertising before photoshop a insidious tool allowing people to manipulate images to the way they wanted them to look (i.e. unreal). Hell even website designers use such colour contrast techniques.
Anyway the company was bought out by Colgate in 1985 and only bothered to change this in 1990 as per this video:
This looks bad right? Well it isn't in that Darkie in Chinese is
Therefore there is no racism behind this, unlike say
The qualifier in this is the absence of 死 'si' literally death. Which you put in front of words such as Laowai, Gweilo etc and it becomes somewhat insulting.
Ahem this isn't to say China isn't racist far from it, but this is a post for another time.
TCG
I heard that in China there is a racist tooth paste brand, can you confirm. [heavily edited due to excessive ranting, run on sentences and a hundred other things too]
Regards
Ricardo
Dear Ricardo
You are semi right there is or was a tooth paste which might have triggered racist connotations, it was the darlie toothpaste brand. A Taiwanese companie made a toothpaste called Darkie. Notice the change over time eh?
They marketed it as such in that due to the contrast of the dark skin of black people when they smiled their teeth looked whiter than white this was in the days of old school advertising before photoshop a insidious tool allowing people to manipulate images to the way they wanted them to look (i.e. unreal). Hell even website designers use such colour contrast techniques.
Anyway the company was bought out by Colgate in 1985 and only bothered to change this in 1990 as per this video:
This looks bad right? Well it isn't in that Darkie in Chinese is
黑人牙膏
黑=Black
人=person/human
牙=Tooth/teeth
膏=paste/gel
Therefore there is no racism behind this, unlike say
The qualifier in this is the absence of 死 'si' literally death. Which you put in front of words such as Laowai, Gweilo etc and it becomes somewhat insulting.
Ahem this isn't to say China isn't racist far from it, but this is a post for another time.
TCG
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