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 2007

  • Sling your hook

    A few weeks ago, I was browsing in a computer shop and was intrigued to see a Slingbox on sale.  As I understand it, the idea is that you hook it up to your TV antenna and cable box, and can then you can use a PC anywhere in the world (or your mobile phone)…

  • Caveat Emptor

    Some good advice from Spike – Research before you shop for high tech items: Basically, if you go shopping for this kind of stuff in HK and you haven’t done your research first, most shops will fuck you up, down and sideways – sometimes on purpose and sometimes because the people working in this shop…

  • Catching up?

    I have a theory that supermarkets in Hong Kong are about 10-15 years behind the UK.  About 10 years ago, Tesco in the UK introduced their Clubcard scheme, and it has been a huge success.  It’s basically a marketing thing – Tesco collects information about what you buy, and in return offers you coupons to…

  • Storms, teacups

    I don’t know all the background to this strange story: ASIAN AUTHOR Nury Vittachi, co-founder of the Hong Kong Literary Festival, is to be sacked by the organization’s board in a row about racial insensitivity and improper business links. The novelist, probably Hong Kong’s biggest literary export, alleges that the board fired him after he…

  • iPhone

    The reaction to the iPhone anouncement has been predictable, I suppose.  It must have been the most widely-reported "technology" story of the last several months, and generally the coverage has been very positive, though some have been more sceptical – The Guardian suggested that it’s not as clever as Steve thinks:  Imagine you are on…

  • The long way round

    I was reading this report about Air New Zealand, which says that they are struggling to fill their new Hong Kong – London service, in part because of the impact of Oasis.  Maybe, but Air NZ are new to what has become a very competitive route, and they have a daytime flight to London, which…

  • What was the question again?

    The SCMP seem to have wasted some money on a survey about what ‘opinion leaders’ think about tax reform. And the answer is, er, well, actually they aren’t quite sure.  However, having paid for the survey, the SCMP were determined to publish it (though maybe it wasn’t wise to make the actual Powerpoint presentation available…

  • Roaming free?

    I regard the charges for using a mobile phone overseas (international roaming) as a big rip-off, as I’ve mentioned before, so I was interested by this report in The Guardian on Tuesday: The mobile phone company 3 will attempt today to head off a possible clampdown by the European commission on the prices that operators charge to call…

  • With all due respect, you’re a danger to other road users

    For once, I have to agree with Fumier: I’m getting really, really tired of drivers who put on their hazard lights every time they slow down or stop. Ooh! Traffic lights. Better put on the hazards. Ooh! A roundabout. Better put on the hazards. Ooh! I’m going to turn right. Better put on the hazards.…

  • PVR? Lovely!

    Doug Crets passes on the rumour that PCCW are going to enhance the Now Broadband TV service… …with the installation of personal video recorders, or the software for personal video recording, as an added value offer to its now TV subscribers. I think that "added value" means that we’ll have to pay for it, but…