Ordinary Gweilo

It's not big and it's not clever, it's just a Brit in Hong Kong writing (mainly) about Hong Kong

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Month: Jan 2004

  • Loft conversion anyone?

    There’s an interesting article by Cathy Holcombe in this week’s Spike, discussing the reasons why Hong Kong doesn’t have the loft-type apartments in disused industrial and commercial buildings that are commonly found in New York, London and many other large cities. It’s not lack of supply, nor lack of demand, but a perverse consequence of…

  • Now we can’t eat salmon

    According to a story in yesterday’s Guardian, scientists say that farmed Scottish salmon has dangerously high levels of toxins, and the advice is that most people should only it once every two months, and the more vulnerable should avoid it altogether. Wild salmon is OK, and fish from other parts of the world is much…

  • What will happen in 2047?

    A question from a reader of this blog: What will happen to Hong Kong after 2047? Do you think it will still retain its capitalist system and unique way of life? What about the common law legal system which is arguably much more sound than the legal system in the mainland? I am hoping that…

  • In hot water

    I came across this story about the British government’s response to the pressing problem of hot water coming out of baths taps. Apparently it affects about 600 people a year, and so the government are going to introduce legislation to make it mandatory to install “anti-scald” devices on all taps. A spokesman for the Royal…

  • Shopping for DVDs

    DVD prices in Hong Kong keep falling, and if you buy in local stores you will pay even less.

  • Round-up

    Been a bit busy these last couple of days, so I'm afraid this is all I can manage for now. I didn't watch that old geezer on the TV yesterday and I haven't read a newspaper today, so I can't offer any words of wisdom on the Policy Address or pontificate on the SARS thing.…

  • The ‘weak’ dollar

    What do we mean by a “weak” dollar? It sounds like a bad thing, but actually the effects are more complex – good for some, and bad for others.

  • More weird things about Hong Kong TV

    Still no sign of Now Broadband TV where I live, but what I read today makes me less keen on having this service. Apparently it is not possible to record any of the programs, which means that you have to watch them live or not at all (this is from Dan Gillmor‘s column in the…

  • What price perfection?

    Interesting piece in the Gweilo Diaries, referring to an article in the FT. Hemlock says that he “hates excellence” and that “good enough is perfect”. I’m afraid that the phrase “good enough” is one that I tend to use about a piece of work (done by someone else) when I have given up hope of…

  • Everyday frustrations

    Living in Hong Kong and dealing with organizations based overseas can be very frustrating. For example, try filling in registration forms on the Internet. For one thing, they usually insist on a Zip or Post Code even though not every country has them. What’s worse is that they sometimes use this information later to find…