Observations about HKG

These are of course generalizations, however, they are certainly topical!

1) The working class here (and there are very few... about 200k out of 8m people) add very little value, if any, to a process or piece of work. They are great at taking something from A to B and do it very efficiently. But they do not add value in the process resulting in not quite very effective end results..... Have always thought that people are very efficient here but not very effective in HK. This is the element that is very obvious and stands out.....

2) The 10% service charge in restaurants goes to the restaurant, not the service staff. This is almost a travesty and is very common when wait staff are asked..... Generally i add another 10% on the bill for 'tips', (to ensure prompt service...lol), but with so many restaurants in HK and abundance of labour, it is most unlikely that one will go to the same restaurant twice...

And with prices as high as they are in HKG to eat out, unless one has a discount card of some sort, HK is not the foodie's heaven as it would like to be characterized as such ..... A good steak by canadian standards is $700 plus the 10% and this is before anything on it... like Mortons, etc.... so that's C$100... (I can get the same thing in Toronto for c$40!).

I will add more of these brief observations... and expand if I have more time....

Work and Play in Hong Kong

HK is ok. It is expensive. Up to 3 - 6 times more than Ottawa/Toronto. Rents are the high end, but food is the low end (ie, 3x). U can get anything u want in HK, but it costs. Sure there are the lower classes and they live cheaply, but very poorly. And, then health care, insurance.... generally it is impossible to get by without a job (read middle class right away....). And that is difficult, if not impossible here because of the chinese language barrier (like french); and the type of work available. No bus driver, waiter, bartender type jobs as they have no real minimal wage and lots of cheap labour, including 'illegal', but tolerated by govt., immigrants.

Middle class really, other than 'professional' jobs, are mainly sales, bankers and expat imports...; govt requires fluent chinese.... universities n colleges teaching, (there are 6 now vs 2.5 in the 60's) requires PhDs; and HK has money, so only the best survive.....; then there are the wealthy, who support the economy, (with the middle class minimally), of the guest workers and lower classes.... (eg, a cab or bus driver is lower class here.... as are clerks, secretaries and restaurant workers.... and just about everyone else who cannot 'flaunt' their wealth and existence.... )

so if one has no 'income tax paying job', then one is not middle class and if one has no money, then one is not upper class. And the lower classes live in bunks beds, in dormitories, without toilets.. etc... Doctors are consider middle class, as are other professionals.... Lots of money is old wealth, there is very little noveau riche or the north american success stories.....

(the only hope was to 'become a mandarin' .... as they used to say in the olden days... about how to get out of the hole of the lower class.... brilliance.... and luck.)

The population is officially 7 mil, unofficially 15 mil; salaried professionals and bankers are only 100 to 200k (taxpayers), so... u go figure the numbers....; of the official 7m, approx half are lower class!... so u know how many rich guys in the upper class there are....

that's why things are expensive and food and living expenses are very high.....

and oh yes, transport costs are also high... nobody walks here because of the pollution... so cabs and minivans are popular... and then there is the subway, 'which, is efficient.. but not effective' ...

which just about describes HKG......

besides this... people use cell phones differently, live in high rises, which is so extreme, from a lake cottage with outdoor toilets...; their idea of vacation, is... around every holiday, to extend it by a day or two.. and fly away to some resort..... it's like a drive out to cottage, only the cottage is called 'Banyan Tree Resorts' and costs US$300 a night, where you sit by your own personal pool, have a personal chef and maid and do nothing but sulk about lost luggage... about half way to the Saudis during heir prime oil money days....lol....

Dubai has a 7 out of 5 star hotel... so u figure....lol...

hedonistic? to the extreme!!! and the psychological makeup of its inhabitants..... the same....

life is too short to knowingly eat at mediocre restaurants... esp in HKG.....

..... HK is truly a market economy, where something desirable is pounced upon..... as a result, it is really quite expensive to eat out, for example.... say compared to s'pore..... but the flip side is that minions eat at places that are bad for their health, food that is tasty but grease laden, poor content, etc ... result, they die younger.....

and anything really healthy and tasty is sky high price wise.... (and here we are not even taking about the ambiance of the restaurant...., which generally end up being at a hotel, because they have the space, or real estate.....)

for a place, like HK, that has a restaurant for every 100 persons ...., or officially 80,000 restaurants..... it is a sad commentary on the 'entrepreneurial spirit'.

In canada, we would say 'if u can make it at home, then eat at home' ... here it's like if ur servants can make it at home, then u r damn lucky.....lol....

the search for decent restaurants is almost like the search for the 'holy grail'.

btw, i have been looking for shatin style paper wrapped chicken (1950's).... with the wax paper,..... for eons.....; and definitely,,,,lol, since i have been back......lol...

i don't believe the europeans......lol......

European paradise:

You are invited to an official lunch. You are welcomed by an Englishman. Food is prepared by a Frenchman and an Italian puts you in the mood and everything is organised by a German.

European hell:

You are invited to an official lunch. You are welcomed by a Frenchman. Food is prepared by an Englishman, German puts you in the mood but, don't worry, everything is organised by an Italian.

That joke was proposed by a Belgian as the Official European Joke, the joke that every single European pupil should learn at school. The Joke will improve the relationship between the nations as well as promote our self humour and our culture.

The European Council met in order to make a decision. Should the joke be the Official European Joke or not?

The British representative announced, with a very serious face and without moving his jaw, that the joke was absolutely hilarious.

The French one protested because France was depicted in a bad way in the joke. He explained that a joke cannot be funny if it is against France.

Poland also protested because they were not depicted in the joke.

Luxembourg asked who would hold the copyright on the joke. The Swedish representative didn't say a word, but looked at everyone with a twisted smile.

Denmark asked where the explicit sexual reference was. If it is a joke, there should be one, shouldn't there?

Holland didn't get the joke, while Portugal didn't understand what a "joke" was. Was it a new concept?

Spain explained that the joke is funny only if you know that the lunch was at 13h, which is normally breakfast time.

Greece complained that they were not aware of that lunch, that they missed an occasion to have some free food, that they were always forgotten.

Romania then asked what a "lunch" was.

Lithuania et Latvia complained that their translations were inverted, which is unacceptable even if it happens all the time.

Slovenia told them that its own translation was completely forgotten and that they do not make a fuss.

Slovakia announced that, unless the joke was about a little duck and a plumber, there was a mistake in their translation.

The British representative said that the duck and plumber story seemed very funny too.

Hungary had not finished reading the 120 pages of its own translation yet.

Then, the Belgian representative asked if the Belgian who proposed the joke was a Dutch speaking or a French speaking Belgian. Because, in one case, he would of course support a compatriot but, in the other case, he would have to refuse it, regardless of the quality of the joke.

To close the meeting, the German representative announced that it was nice to have the debate here in Brussels but that, now, they all had to make the train to Strasbourg in order to take a decision. He asked that someone to wake up the Italian, so as not to miss the train, so they can come back to Brussels and announce the decision to the press before the end of the day.

"What decision?" asked the Irish representative.

And they all agreed it was time for some coffee.

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and that's the way it was......

so are u also working for the govt part time? .... i contracted at DoJ and there are lots of jobs like that.... and the PhD? Still think u should finish that off if u can...... I hope that i have taught u guys to 'always only pick up something that u can put down'...lol..... and i still think a PhD is more useful than law school if u are going to teach or work for the govt......

also are u getting any exercises? play some pick up hockey at OU...? and use their gym.... u should do it when ur young....lol..... 'a sound mind in a sound body'....... the spartans said that?.... lol... and they all died out....lol......

i got u some jap tea again, but this time from Japan... and they have a tradition of categorizing teas, like the chinese,... and french wines .... This one is the bottom of the top level out of five...; like the french wines... grand crux..... there are five levels... and five in each level ..... so would be equivalent to a Lafitte or Rothschild.....; it's a little bitter, but what can i say... it's an acquired taste... like caviar.... lol.....

the chinese have six...... and of the green teas (the top of the six), 'dragon's well' is the most expensive and best for you .... jasmine is in the green category.... anyway, ... they have museums for these things....

also bought u a Hamont and Blaine....lol.... can u guess what that is?.....lol... gift buying is very popular in asia....(nee india) ... and there are some exotics......lol..... ostentatious and conspicuous consumption is very big here....lol....

btw fyi ate a lot of kaisaki in Japan... just expensive, man...... forget how much the Toronto one was a couple of years ago... but this was like C$300 to C$500 a person a meal.....; so..... as in 'ah soo...' ...lol.... japan.... not cheap......

and cars.... well... Porsche's, Audi's and Rolls Royce's are cheaper by the dozen here... the real exotic cars and there are many... are Lambos... Ferrari's... and the Aston Martin's, esp the DB6... Maserati's are also very popular.... and NEW is best.....

the best of the best... that's why people are so stressed..... here, making money....lol...... i might retire to China, some small town near Shenzhen or something like that.........lol....

anyway, u might like HK....lol... for a holiday.... it's great.... ah.... but no work......lol... since the standards are so high, there is really no room for us lesser mortals.......

More.....Living in Hong Kong

Yes, I have been travelling quite a bit. I have not found any meaningful work as yet, and spend my days doing the 'house husband' thing. Although this is very different here because of the plenitude of labour and a servant mentality. But i manage to squeeze in chauffeur, cook and maid duties, together with being a father to the two kids, the 'son' cat, gizzmo, who is 15 years old and the 'daughter' cat, zoa (4). Gizzmo is aging well as can be given the medication and bills. They are, seriously, two of the family.....lol.......

Work is not easy to come by here because of a surplus of smart people, my lack of chinese and in-area experience. Hong Kong is truly a cosmopolitan place and like they said about New York.... if u can make it here, u can make it anywhere.......

Golf is $100 to $150 a pop... that's US...lol.... about HK$800 a round, so I play infrequently. Think I played three times since coming back. There is only one public course, run by the Jockey Club in conjunction with the HK govt. They have 3x18 holes. (HK has mostly privately funded public organizations (beneficent corporations? smile)...... it's the 'laisser faire' of the Brits... and lowers taxes...lol...). Then i played at the old Royal Hong Kong, which is in Fanling..... Think it's called the Fanling course now. Very pretty 3x18 again. Played the 'old' course. Pretty but murdered by mosquitoes... and dengue fever is prevalent here......lol.... and japanese encephalitis..... anyway, i survived.... As well, the temp in HK is hot and humid.... 30C plus.... and wet... even when it's not raining....lol..... so that makes the value even more expensive..... Then I played 'Discovery Bay', which is a private course accessible only by hydrofoil. They also have 3x18... costs me almost as much to take a cab, boat, bus on an island and then all the way back..... That was my first experience and i think i wrote about it on Cholly Chee...... spent more time eating and running between meals than playing.....hahahhahaha..

and all courses are anal about keeping time..... the official excuse is that there is a shortage of courses. I have not played enough to judge. But they have a 13x18 course in Shenzhen, China, called Mission Hills, on the other side of the past border..... and very difficult to get to.... I wonder if they are as strict on time....? I mean they have 13 courses.... and face is very important here, so apparently the rich guys get away with everything, and it's the 'regular members', who pay $1m or two to join and then the standard meal charges...... I suppose if its $1k a game, and if u play 5 times a week, then $1m ain't so much.......

Anyway, the days of $30 a round, grassy, 'links type farmers' fields' are over for me... all courses here are perfectly manicured and coiffured, liked the ladies that play on them.....lol..... and no more extra bacon and runny eggs for eats... they have the very best in chinese food and the players actually eat..... before , after the 9th and then again after the 18th... no drinking though, minuscule amounts of it are an offense here if one drives ... and if u have driven here, you'll see why... roads are tight and narrow, signs are obscure... u get the idea..... one basically takes one air conditioned room in the house, puts wheels and a motor in it... and commute.....lol....

Daily ablutions? I basically do my duties as mentioned above, squeezing in a walk and gym in the mornings.... gym is very popular because of the pollution here... it's air conditioned.... BTW did i say i gave up the convertible idea....lol.....; and walks have to be judiciously picked.... I basically walk up Mount Butler (read not the Peak) and down the south side of the island.... the trails there are much 'fresher' because of the airflow, which comes off the china sea and then up the south side and then down the north side into happy valley.... think i wrote about the 'dragons'...... in my cholly chee..... Kowloon, which is the peninsula that juts southwards into HK island is 'nine dragons'.....

(and I still haven't been to Vietnam......so cannot confirm that viet means peace..... but i remember our discussion..... googled it and it means 'south of the southern chinese peoples'.... the viet is the name given to 'southern chinese'... like generically all of the people that live in southern china and the chinese they speak is the viet language... and the nam is 'south of'....)

anyway, the story is that there are holes in the center of buildings, to 'let the dragons run up and down the south side of the island... leaving their nest ... that is Kowloon....' sort of like that building in downtown Montreal with the hole in the middle..... and I thought they had the idea in Canada first... oh... that's 'red rose tea'... lol......

Afternoons, I try to catch up on mail, nap and generally prep for the return of my dragon.......lol...... dragon lady is a generic term here...lol.... People work very long hours here... but like i said of HK.... it is very efficient.... but i am not so sure of its effectiveness....

My pet project.. I got braces for my teeth and am trying to find a solution to my cholesterol problem... because of the many extra stressors in HK, the medical community is much more concerned with marginally high levels of cholesterol... and i think half the population is on lipitol and the other half is on some other non chemical, read 'natural', remedy for clogging of the pipes......lol....

I should correct that... half the people of 'our generation' ....lol...... and trust me... i start CPP in 2013.....lol.... (the rest? they're dead....lol....)

well... u asked........ oh,.... and I am shooting 150, so that's about par... for the course....lol....

Jasmine Place HKG restaurant... experience....

This restaurant is in the 2009 Micheline Guide, but not the 2010. it has the address wrong as jasmine house, rather than jardines house....lol... yes, i remember....

what we had, the suckling pig was 'interesting', the steamed minced pork was very nice, but sticky, the red rice was cute, the chicken with almonds is probably more work than it's worth, the broccoli was interesting in that it tasted different via usage of dried shrimps........; I would say, no smiley face in MG means not worth a visit..... and starred are probably overpriced and can get similar food content somewhere else.......

and if we had checked before hand the two dishes mentioned in the MG are 1) prawn on egg white custard with 'tai diao' rice liquor and 2) boneless chicken wing stuffed with glutinous rice. and at $200 pp for lunch I would say that was average price for central lunch costs.