Category: Life in Hong Kong
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Good stuff from Fumier on the vexed problem of the way people walk in Hong Kong. We all know that we have some of the crowded places on the planet in this city, and at times it seems like everyone else is conspiring to make life even more uncomfortable by getting in the way wherever…
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Conrad reacts with disbelief to a survey in the Reader’s Digest that says 4 out of 5 Hong Kong people would return a wallet to its owner if they found it, and goes on to say that: No one in the entire recorded history of Hong Kong has ever returned any found item, as anyone…
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I jumped in the cab, told the driver (in Cantonese) where I wanted to go, he repeated it and I responded with “Ho Ho” to confirm. So far, so good. Then he asked me a question! Help!! I grunted something to indicate I didn’t have any idea what he was talking about, he repeated what he had just…
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Many years ago, when I first went on holiday to France, I was told by friends that the tap water wasn’t safe to drink. When a Frenchman of my acquaintance heard that this was a common view amongst Brits, he was most upset and insisted that French tap water was just as safe as English tap water. Which it…
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Hong Kong has a number of tunnels (and one bridge) that you have to pay to use. If you want to drive from Kowloon to Hong Kong (or vice versa) or from the New Territories to the Airport (or Tung Chung) you have no choice but to pay for the privilege. The other tunnels offer…
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I have had a very frustrating day. We ordered some tailor-made furniture a long time ago, and it finally arrived yesterday, followed today by the people who install it. We imagined that this would take a couple of hours, but in fact they spent all day here and it still isn’t finished.Prior to coming to Hong Kong I…
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HSBC ran into some flak in the UK over its record profits, and apparently their online banking service was down earlier this week, but I have to give them some credit for improving the banking experience. At lunchtime today I went to a new branch of HSBC, and found that they have managed to eliminate…
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It’s always interesting to get a different perspective on life in Hong Kong, and I found one this week in Simon World. Simon is recently arrived in Hong Kong from Australia, and his blog is mainly intended for family and friends back in Australia, to let them know about life in the modern city of Hong…
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The English Schools Foundation is still making headlines, this time over the election of a new Chairman and Vice-Chairman. The new chairman is, gasp, a woman, an outsider (having had no previous connection with the ESF), and Chinese, but has considerable experience in the education sector. Professor Felice Lieh-Mak was apparently approached after ESF parents concluded that they needed to find…
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Every now and then when I am going about my normal business in Hong Kong, I am approached by students armed with notebooks and voice recorders.They politely and hesitantly enquire whether they can ask me a few questions in English, to assist them with their studies. No, they don’t want to know my opinion on the importance of…
Ordinary Gweilo 