Category: Life in Hong Kong
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Most people in Hong Kong don’t drink tap water (or at least not without filtering and/or boiling it first). Offices very often don’t have their own water supply (hence the slightly bizarre sight of people washing cups in the washroom), so the only option is distilled water, distributed around Hong Kong in large lorries. Although…
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You may have read in Tuesday’s SCMP (or here) that Spike magazine is having some financial problems. They are looking for additional financing, and may suspend publication if none is forthcoming. Based upon the very limited amount of display advertising they currently have, and the apparent failure of their attempt to attract classified ads, it’s…
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Land auctions seem to be very dull these days. I think it’s time for that mad old woman to make a return to liven things up. “Oh, I’m sorry, I don’t seem to have HK$1bn on me right now – can I use my Hang Seng Bank Credit Card and pay it off over the…
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There was a story in the paper on Sunday about the Filipino domestic helper who is trying to apply for right of abode in Hong Kong. I would have thought that she is unlikely to succeed (but then I know even less about the law than Conrad), because although she has been here for more…
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A very puzzling letter arrives from HSBC. They want me to pick up my new credit card “four working from the date of this advice”. I’m not sure why their computer can’t add 4 working days to the date on the advice and calculate the date when the card should be available, but that’s not…
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Here’s a piece of brilliant timing. On Thursday I got a shiny new 3 year visa to stay in Hong Kong, and then the following day they granted me right of abode, and stuck another label in my passport (right next to the first one). My fault really – I should have applied a bit…
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This afternoon the Hong Kong Observatory issued a typhoon warning (standby signal #1). From their website: This is a stand-by signal, indicating that a tropical cyclone is centred within 800 km of Hong Kong and may later affect the territory. Action – If you are planning an outing, remember that there is a tropical cyclone…
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Last Friday there was another demonstration by transport operators who want to protect their own interests and prevent new railway lines being built. The Standard reports that taxi and minibus drivers and owners are against the proposed South Island and West Island MTR lines. Noting the HK$5 million daily loss incurred by the Kowloon-Canton Railway…
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Has Hemlock had been drafted in by Selina Chow to write her speeches? The legislator and chairwoman of the Hong Kong Tourism Board complained that a proposed new bus terminal “looks like a wet market”. Would that be like the wet market in Wan Chai that some people want to preserve? Presumably not… It does…
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The MTRC is pressing the government to support the planned West and South Island lines. They are asking the government to grant them property development rights at one of the planned stations, which will provide some of the cash they need, but they also want HK$6bn from the government. The MTRC is a strange organization…
Ordinary Gweilo 