The Observatory are listing typhoon Muifa on their website.  I had a quick look, and it seems that a Hong Kong minibus driver is in charge of this one.  It’s path is erratic (to say the least).  It was heading in the general direction of Hong Kong and then turned right round and is apparently…

The Guardian reports that well-educated Japanese women are desperate to meet and marry British men.  Admittedly this intelligence comes from an agency which has a financial interest in arranging such matches, but even so I feel sure that it must be true. According to Destina Japan, professional women in Japan are increasingly looking overseas for…

You’ve probably noticed this advert in the newspaper: 40% per annum guaranteed At first sight the headline suggests it’s for an investment plan, but if you read the text you discover that it’s about avoiding paying tax. Their point is that if you are a British national you may be liable to inheritance tax, unless…

There is a Hong Kong urban legend that some people with the family name of Tsim have this mis-transcribed as Jim in official records maintained by the British adminstration. Hence their ID cards show what looks like an English name. I am not sure how much truth there is in this story. I know there…

As a rule, I try to avoid mentioning so-called news stories that are actually just press releases, but this one struck a bit of a chord with me. I suppose it’s fairly obvious that names go in and out of fashion, but when a friend of mine pointed out several years ago that you could…

The list is stolen from The Sun, itemising the so-called “50 worst decisions ever” dreamed up for a Sky TV show on this subject presented by, er, Angus Deayton. The comments are mine. As you might expect, it’s an odd list with some eccentric choices. 1. Jeweller Gerald Ratner committing commercial suicide by saying a…

This is a rather strange story from France that doesn’t seem to have been mentioned in the SCMP. Police in Paris have discovered a fully equipped cinema-cum-restaurant in a large and previously uncharted cavern underneath the capital’s chic 16th arrondissement. Officers admit they are at a loss to know who built or used one of…

Henry from Waah is feeling unloved right now because no-one is posting any comments to his blog. So I’ll link to his post about credit card signatures, referring to this prank. I can confirm that no-one seem to care about the signature on the credit card slip. A former boss of mine, a gweilo with…

Fat people stuffing their faces in an all-you-can-eat buffet. Score bonus points for groups of fat people eating together.

Another strange tale from the socialist republic of Singapore, where chewing gum is now available but thinking for yourself is still considered a bit risky. Eyal applied for a temporary visa to allow him to stay in Singapore whilst he looks for a job, and was told that they couldn’t accept his application because he…