I have been posting food issues at tellmewhere.com

i have been away in asia and have been commenting on those food and other issues under comrade cholly chee .... (and moodie foodie goodie ) ... but not much .... lol... as it is too much fun in asia..... and eating out?, ...  well, ... it is a whole new experience! 

eg, eating in china (read not SAR HK n Macau) ... Eat local chinese veg dishes....  vegans delight! ... but meat is shit... they don't have any ... too many people not enough... 'food' ..... if u go don't eat western food... deep fried everything, and stay away from meat... u may get frog if lucky..... lol....

Cholly Wood ....

You heard it here first ..., gents and ladies ...,

.... ChollyWood ... aka the chinese movie industry of Hong Kong, China, Taiwan and elsewhere, in asia or otherwise ....

Like Holly wood and Bolly wood... it is coming into its own... and time to be recognized as a force in the industry.... Besides the ku fu movies ... and the copies by Martin Scorsese ..... or even Vincent Van Gogh ....

Well.... you know where i am coming from ... let's call it something interesting... like chollywood, or chin ish wood or .....

i plan to copyright this stuff ..... lol......

Letter home re 2017...

further to my other notes on this ernie ... and in case u plan to move ur family one way or the other...lol... the prognosis of the millionaires in Hong Kong ... and everyone is a millionaire here (unlike the multi millionaires and billionaires like paulus and norman....lol) is that universal suffrage will come, 2017, one way or the other ....

maybe you can build the voting systems for them? as i said, i know a few canadians that can make this vote 'fair'..... but most people with any money here, who care, has said that it will happen.... whether there will be complete chaos is debatable, but in all likelihood, given the chinese mentality of HK, of leaving everything till the last minute, it will probably be chaos....

your comments re the lower half of society will probably be the ones who will suffer is probably true. so if one is in the category, it is time to get the hell out. But by the same token, i probably don't know anyone in that category, and as such how they would get out (exporting kids for education is mainland's strategy these days as well....). Given property prices and income levels in hong kong and the complete lack of any real taxation, i don't think the top half care. they have already found safe havens. the bottom half really have no choice, but to weather it out... which is what i said before. (Mainlander multimillionaires with money are also looking for safe havens, especially in canada, as you must be aware...).

in the context of democracy or not, this is just a Deng thing. trying to keep the golden goose alive as long as possible. And depending on the views of the rest of the world... will china's policies be solidified. My comments rather than be passe, seem more prescient now. esp after the 'rhetoric of the moment' of quasi democratic elections....

the other interesting thing of these millionaire middle classes of HK, is the view that china will indeed becoming the center (zhong) of the east.., as the USA will continue to be and is the center of the west... and the rest of the countries will just be satellites, eg, canada, mexico, caribbeans to the US; and japan, vietnam, korea. philippines, etc will be to china. HK will be insignificant in the greater scheme of things, one way or the other, as economically, china socialism comes into its world of commerce.... ie, Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou become the 'centers of commerce' for the NEW CHINA. ... hey i should copyright this stuff... lol ... before the economist gets a hold of it....

I'd write more, but those are the two latest discoveries from taking to the masses .... lol....

rather... I'd rather be working at Zhong Nan Hai ... lol....

the recent 2012 03 25 Hong Kong elections of the chief executive

i will give you my 3 minute summary, but thru discussions with the other illustrious pundits, maybe one'll get a better feel...

fact: i am not HK but canada, and based on the ties (neckties that is), people at the electorial meeting, and support received, and what they denied in their speeches, i would say that henry tang, front runner wearing blue tie is conservative and big business.... he had all the tycoons supporting him...; CY the winner, wearing red tie, denies support from china, but i think he is diverting the truth, and not 'crossing the rubicon' ... lol..... he is the china-man; and albert ho? the number three, was supposed to be the most honest, capable, good speaker, etc, etc... and was supposed to be the kingmaker and split the vote....

fact: the results, show that of the 1200 votes, 1130 were counted i think and CY had 689? a landslide...; and Henry Tang has 280 or so.... lost miserably for the front runner...; and albert had some 70 votes.. no kingmaker, but loser he was ... he was wearing the pink tie....

based on the voting and the turnout, i would say that china had a lot to say and the days of HK as an independent financial enclave are numbered....

as for the 2017 'universal suffrage vote', 'it all depends', .... right? like miklas said in his stats class...; on the wind blowing at the time... if the world is accepting of an end to HK as an independent quasi democracy... and as Deng put it... a special admin zone..., then it will return to china ... so who cares if there is universal suffer whatever....; if world sentiments are that china is not great or powerful enough, and pressure is placed at that time.... maybe 2017 will happen and then .... it'll be changed, law wise, when the wind changes after or nearer 2047? (50 yrs after handover)....

so.... who really cares.... i don't ... ; maybe you can tell us why you care? and the others (our china hands) might give you a better prognoses of the policies in place now and the parties involved in HK and china... the cross impacts... etc, and how this will affect 2017? those i think would be the tactical issues...; whereas i think i have at least one tranche of what the strategic issues are at this point... given my vast knowledge of canadiana and the political systems there.... lol.... vs HK.... of which i am a mere neophyte ......

caveat.... HK is vastly different to canada and north america, and diametrically opposite to the ottawa canadian political system... and the voting , well..... that was a joke ....

anyway, i am happy to discuss and hear what the others pundits have to say.... not that i am interested in 2017 or thereafter........lol.....

the way i look at it, Hong Kong had a british governor before 1997 and now we have a chinese governor till 2047....... and that is not taiwanese..... lol.....

The mighty HSBC (Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation) ....

The mighty HSBC

What a joke... in brief... I went to get my bank card renewed because of a fault in the card... Feb 20th.... they say, we will mail u new card in 3-4 wds... great... Mar. 1st still no card... go into bank again Mar 3rd and they say...oops no new card requested on system (cannot see application, same girl did the first transaction telling me this... kwan, I think or kwok …), but dear, they already sent me an sms cancelling old card Feb. 22nd!?!... ok let's reapply for new card again... I can do this for you, sir.... wow, what elegant service... and this time we will call you when card comes in...? To pick up and we can change your pin at the same time... so you don't have to come in twice... oh yes, they said initially I could use same pin? … ahhh...??? ok... just call me... in 2/3 wds? ..... when card comes in ...

Mar 8th..? still no call or card?... ok... I call in this time, rather than trek down to the bank…, and after many attempts finally get thru.... oh... we'll call you back.... after much explanation.... they don't really speak English in HK nowadays... even though it is a British bloody bank! And they don’t really connect with the retail side….! (Think they lost the application again!?!)

In the middle of my afternoon nap... yes, I was napping, at my age, and try to do my business in the morning, I get a call.... sorry but we will apply for your card... (no explanation this time about having nothing on the system.... a failure or what?) ... shall we send it in the mail...? FUCK!... ok... send it in the fucking mail... and we'll get your pin to you as well in the mail at the same time ... woow ........ ok.... click....

True story... zero out of ten for customer service, so far, right now for the mighty HSBC... and I still have not got my card yet... I am waiting to give them negative points...! ... this is going into my blog!..... Frigging joke!... the fucking banking system in Hong Kong.... and this is not the first screw up by HSBC ......

Efficient but not very effective!

And to think I used to complain about the Canadian system!

More later.... lol ....

How's it in HKG?

How's it in HK?.... ok.... not great.

HK is not exactly a nice place to retire to... it is expensive for quality like US or Can. The pollution is endemic, the politics is abysmal.. it is really an enclave of China and Deng just prolonged the agony, because he did not want to kill the goose that laid the golden egg...

And retirement type jobs are impossible to get. One reason is 55 is the year of forced retirement. The ones with networks simply get contracts. u can only play so much golf at US$100 a pop.

So.... medicare is expensive, food is expensive, housing is expensive, the air sucks, water is not great... buyers paradise, but how much can one old man consume... lol....

But spouse's career is here, so i will ride it for a bit...... but think North America is still the place to be in the latter years of life...

So when are u coming into town?

Season of Mists

To Autumn, per Keats, is the season of mists...

But October is Springtime in Australia! Oh, cruel month!

Ablutions: economics vs governance

Does economics drive the world, or does the world drive economics?

Or is it just HK?

Or is it a chicken or egg argument?

Ablutions: HK investments

Hong Kong people don't make investments, they make gambles.

Caprice at the 4 seasons HKG

Caprice at the Four Seasons, Hong Kong, is a three star michelin restaurant! You have to be kidding! It is not even close to Senderens Paris, or La Grand'Vigne at Les Sources de Caudalie, bordeaux. And these are only two stars, granted the story behind senderens is that he renounced his 3 stars, but still was given two..... and Les Sources restaurant have their own bakery, winery and charcuterie.....

And everyone knows where i stand on Macau's only 3 star Robuchon a Galera. It's a joke! .... really. They don't know the difference between raw and processed cheeses........lol....

Spoon by Alain Ducasse HKG

If Spoon by Alain Ducasse in Hong Kong's Intercontinental is one michelin star, then this is clearly an indication of my premise that the eastern and western stars are different! I would definitely not give this restaurant a one star.....; a mention maybe, by at C$250 pp for dinner, it is definitely not even good value either... the food is at best mediocre and the opened wines ok. The breads were quite interesting and i am not a dessert fan, so.....

the problem with this world.......

India/Pakistan is the failure of the british raj.... and colonialism...; as is the precedent, the Israel/Palestinian geo politic .....; it is the same as the crusades... and the muslim christian conflict....

china is the future.....lol.....

Ablutions: St. Julian

Traditional, very tired, and just not worth it...... excited about the lobster thermador, but disappointed... and the rest... was history.....

The head chef is from the Peninsula, Hong Kong, sometime in its inglorious past, so that may explain the comments in the previous para.

Like things past its time or prime, big shame ..... esp after Andres Chiang's place.....

Ablutions: Chinese Food

Chinese food in Singapore is stuck at a point in time...... maybe it's the control in the economy? I have not been to Taiwan, but suspect that real chinese food, evolved as it should, can only be found there.

I avoid chinese food in s'pore, having had my share.

Needless to say what i think of chinese food in china....... shit.....; compared to chinese food in HK which has had its own evolution.......

boy, am i looking forward to Taiwan....lol..... if i ever get there.......

btw, i have had peranakan chinese and hainan, indonesian and singaporean versions of chinese food in the malay pen...... as well as all the other variants in the Australasian group of islands....

Japs n S'pore

Why are there so many jap sommeliers in S'pore.... I have a count of at least 5, the oldest, only here for 5 years... Les amis, salt, andres, ... etc.....

Ablutions: Andres Singapore

Fine place nice motives, black sheep, young version of susur lee, taiwan, japan, southern france, noveaux cuisine (called modular in s'pore, fusion in HKG).... but definitely worth a try. Pricey and difficult to get in, but well worth the effort. Not extravagant as are all things s'pore. Fine french fare not fully adulterated yet by chinese and s'pore influences, like Les Amis (not that Les Amis is bad.... just established.....).

Probably the most fun i have had in s'pore in terms of food.......

I may put pictures.......lol......

after the fact comment: an after wash if u wish..... is that this is bar none the best restaurant i have been to in Singapore and i would give it two asian michelin stars... and one french michelin star... as we all know the standards are different in the east....lol.....

it had certainly made my day, after much reflection, and is a definitely destination, of the sort to make a trip for, if in s'pore, however, .... you have to flex the Singaporean mentality of strict adherence to structure..... (even senderens...)

Andre Chiang is Taiwanese trained in France at the best and also lived in japan a few years, so.....that reflects on the creativity of the food....; ingredients, it's s'pore; matching wines and sommeliers.... it's s'pore...lol....and service.... excellent, flexible and accommodating; atmosphere, extremely creative.... ! you

could say that he is the black sheep of the creative s'pore culinary family.....lol.....

he wishes......lol...!

Ablutions: Le amis

very good traditional french restaurant catering to Singaporean tastes..... ie, good french food in s'pore and well worth the effort to go..... been around a long time.....

not cheap, but not outrageous for value......

Ablutions: Absinthe

ok frenchy food in a chinatown neighbourhood.... difficult to find, but not bad for s'pore....

Ablutions: oso ristaronte

so so (read good) chef who is willing to make an effort with good value food...... in chinatown singapore.