Living in Hong Kong

In Hong Kong, a former British colony, that is trying very hard to shed its skin, 'it is possible to live reasonably quite well, but it is very expensive to live very well'.

Because it is a former financial center, like New York and London, it still has the same expenditure profile as these 'rich' cities. And if one is working as a businessman, banker or otherwise financial person, one could do very well with a 15% tax rate. But there is indirect and secret taxations ... for the 'public good' and the public health. Don't get sick or even require routine medical attention... for every minute the medical professional spends with you, he could be making an extra buck with someone else.......

And it is so easy to spend money in Hong Kong, that in and of itself is another form of taxation. Buyer beware could not be more true than in the entrepreneurial spirit that is Hong Kong.

Don't get me wrong, there are still some gems to live for in this city, but generally speaking, it is a place where people come to make money, spend money and then move on... even in the interim, like holidays. As I have said here before, people come and 'work', and then split for the holidays ... to their home country or to a foreign destination to vacation ... like Bali or Phuket. Or to take in spas, like Japan, or eat, as in Singapore and KL .....

In this Hong Kong has not changed at all since 1997. It is still the smog filled consumeristic hell hole it always was, second only to Shanghai as an 'entrepot' for China..... 'Money talks, bullshit walks' ... to quote Danny De Vito in a movie, is gospel here....

As a kwai low, I would live here for the fixed exchange rate with the US$. But as a chinese, I am sure there are better places to live in China.....

Questions?

If there is anyone who wants to know, where, in the places I have been, you'd like to visit, or what to see and what you would like to eat, let me know and I shall respond.

Do not make it anon.

Japan

In one word, skiing in Hokkaido and traversing in Tokyo, is 'expensive'!

I can think of no reason to go to Japan for a holiday, that you cannot get somewhere else, except for the fact that you have someone you want to meet or some other reason to go.

As a tourist, a skier, a shopper, a gourmand, sightseer..... there is no reason to go to Japan as far as skiing in Hokkaido and tourist in Tokyo is concerned. Unless you are Japanese, have relatives or some other personal reason to go.

And it's that time of year......

Christmas 2009.

Hello Everyone.....

This is the time year for cheer and for Christmas cards ...... and this year I had told myself that I would not be sending one out, having somewhat lost that Christmas spirit ......... but then I came across a picture taken by a friend of mine and thought... 'i have been asked many times, what

Christmas was like in Canada?'.... i think for me, this picture reflects what i loved most about Christmas and this time of year in Canada. And so here is my holiday greetings... copyright of the picture is by edkwanpicsinc.

The other pic i took as a counterpoint for those who wonder what it's like in HK and what perhaps I may have forgotten what Christmas was about.... and which shows what it is like in HK. ..... and yes, Fendi is just one of the hundreds of name brand stores in this characteristic HK downtown office building....

Warmest & Best Wishes for a Happy Holiday Season.

The Comarade.

one line opinions.....

We're skiing in Hokkaido over Xmas... and shopping in Tokyo over New Year's ... such is the way of HK'ians... Every time there is a break, they fly away... maybe it's the distances... it's like going to BC to ski or the Caribbean to scuba........ for Canadians ...

I have been to Bali 3 times, Perth and Sydney, Oz to visit sister in Oct....., Phuket, Singapore, Beijing, etc, but usually for a long weekend or a week at a resort type thing; however, was in oz for 3 weeks ......

Phuket, Thailand's Bali; Bali, the Asian world's playground with dishonest indigenes; Singapore, the chilly crab is not hot/chilly, but sweet...lol...; and Beijing, the people are rude and crude...; Macau & Hong Kong have not changed much except for the infrastructure; how's that for a synopsis.....

Perth is like San Diego without the class and Calgary 20 years ago...... Sydney is like Toronto 20 years ago, they even call the Tranga Zoo the Taranta Zoo....lol.....

HK has no real christmas to speak off, all the expats and well to do locals fly away... today is the bigger day, being the winter solstice, where all chinese families have a dinner together....

if every picture tells a story, then this is a one liner on what it's like at christmas in HK.... so have a happy holiday season, one and all......

Fall in Hong Kong

In a word, Fall or Autumn in Hong Kong is smog.

After a miserably hot and humid summer, people here are just glad the weather has 'improved'. And the improvement is smog, cooler and less rain... but don't know if that's a blessing or a curse. Certainly cuts back on the hiking. And the pollution index is always high, or at best medium.......

Like Ottawa, summer is the best season.... here it is winter....; and spring is awful in Ottawa, soggy, wet and chilly, whereas fall is miserable here, smoggy, dull with bits of sunshine amidst rain ...; quite the opposites, weather wise of course.

And yes, that was smog in the hiking post just before this one.

Hiking in HK

Is it possible, you may ask, for a metropolis like Hong Kong to have hiking trails? Well, in the summer, it is probably too hot and humid to do any, but there are several trails in HK...... In fact, there is a book on the activity.....lol......

Now these are pretty rough trails, not mountain bike-able.., but during the spring, fall and 'winter' here, it is a good time to 'take a hike'......

I'll let the pictures I took on a recent hike, up from Happy Valley, to the Violet Hill Trail, which essentially runs around the south side of the island down to Repulse Bay... I had a bad cold today and was a little dizzy ... and believe me, this is not a trail to take if one is dizzy......lol... it is narrow and treacherous, but it was a perfect, almost smog free Sunday.. and what better way than .... to take a hike.....

Repulse Bay in view....

This is a wider part of the trail!

The Tin Hau (another one?) Temple on Repulse Bay...

This is where the dragon drives down the southern mountainside of the island...

And this is where the architects have accommodated the dragon's path out to sea.......