跑馬地 - The Valley

Monkey Business

2011-12-30T15:17:00.001+08:00

I'm not sure what the message this poster is trying to communicate? Perhaps don't feed cute little monkeys extra large bananas?

And should we be even using cute cartoons to discourage the feeding of wild animals? Walking along Wilson Trail section 5 today, the monkeys (technically Rhesus macaques and Longtailed macaques) I saw weren't cute little things poking their pink tongues out at me. Perhaps the government could consider using a scarier picture to discourage humans from feeding them - I would suggest a big scary monkey with razor sharp teeth, chasing a human child.

The "Don't Feed The Monkeys" message doesn't seem to be getting out: I saw mounds of waste food dumped along the trail. One aggressive monkey, clutching a couple of slices of white bread, came at me with teeth bared and hissing. A quick swipe at him with my walking stick kept him at bay but I guess he was just defending his dinner. He should be more worried about obesity and diabetes associated with his new western diet.

If you're keen to see the monkeys, head for the Kowloon reservoir on Taipo Road. Walk along any of trails around the reservoir and the monkeys will find you soon enough.

More about the monkeys on the AFCD website.

Hard to Find?

2011-12-27T14:51:00.001+08:00

If you were a visitor to Hong Kong or a first-timer on the Wilson Trail, the start of section 3 must be extremely hard to find.

I recall wasting time last year trying to find it. And today I just realised again how difficult it must be for newbies. There are no signs or markings until you are actually on the trail - slightly ass about I would say. From Yau Tong MTR station you have to wind up though a housing estate and a shopping mall until you find Lei Yue Mun Road. Continue East on Lei Yue Mun Road until you are at a huge roundabout.

The roundabout is all fenced in and makes it very hard to cross the road. Turn left uphill at the roundabout and then turn right up a steep private road towards the Chinese Protestant Cemetery. The two large, blue "Private Road" signs and a little guard house can be a little intimidating but just ignore these and walk up the hill. Finally at the crest of the hill you should see a sign pointing towards the Wilson Trail.

This is an interesting section of the Wilson Trail once you finally get onto it. A few extra signs pointing towards the trail could help others from wasting time circling around the concrete mess that is Yau Tong.

Wilson Trail Section 3 is mapped out pretty well (aside from the start) on the Sai Kung & Clear Water Bay Countryside Series map. You can buy these Countryside Series maps (HK$62 each) by visiting the Survey & Mapping Office (23/F North Point Government Offices, 333 Java Road, North Point,Hong Kong 2331 3187). If you dont fancy making the trek out to North Point, local hiking shops seem to stock these maps as well. I buy mine from RC Outfitters in Causeway Bay (2/F, Kin Tak Fung Commercial Bldg, 467-473 Hennessy Road, 2390 0020)

HK Credit Report

2011-08-09T12:39:00.004+08:00

Years ago I heard urban myths about people here applying for dozens of credit cards and going on massive spending binges. They would max out the cards and keep applying for more. With hundreds of banks and credit providers in Hong Kong, this could go on for years. Strangely, the banks didn't seem to share data with each other. Eventually the spenders would run out of options, declare bankruptcy, wait four years and then do it again. Meanwhile they'd cash out the occasional Louis Vuitton hand bag (very active second hand market) to live off.

That might have changed now. In the past few months, I've received lots of bank letters asking me to sign off so they can share my financial data with a credit reporting company called Trans Union. It looks like the banks can now see how many credit cards I have by checking the Trans Union database.

Curious to see what my credit looked like I logged onto the Trans Union website. After answering lots of personal questions, I found out I had failed, twice. So much for that. Yesterday, I visited the Trans Union office is TST to see if I could get hold of the elusive credit report. With lots of photo ID on hand and HK$190, I was finally able to snag a copy.

I was hoping Trans Union would use the same numerical scoring system as the US so it'd be easier getting credit in America. No luck though. Hong Kong uses an alphabetic grading system: A to J with A being the highest (obviously). I was dismayed to see my credit was only a C. But Ms helpful on the counter consoled me and reminded me that a C rating means I'm likely to pay my bills 99.71% of the time. Whew!

On the way home I was scheming up ways to exploit my new discovery. It might be a good way to check just how many credit cards my wife really has? And, asking a tenant to produce a current credit report before renting out your apartment might save some future grief. Financial industry employers might also want to know how stretched their prospective hires are? I'm sure this breaches the Personal Data Privacy Ordinance somehow but there must be a waiver form to get around this?

There you go. Credit reporting is in play in Hong Kong and now it's time to dream up creative ways to exploit it. It's the Hong Kong way.

Happy Valley Residents are Revolting

2011-06-27T17:19:00.005+08:00

A letter appears on our lobby notice board. This one is in English (a rare occurrence). Perhaps I should take a look? There might be some material for the blog.

It's from a group calling themselves the Hong Kong Sanatorium & Hospital Redevelopment Concern Group (phew!) and they explain what's been going on behind the scenes over at the Hong Kong Sanatorium & Hospital (HKSH). Global domination of the ageing wealthy sick market seems to be the HKSH's goal and they need to keep building more towers to keep business humming along.

Local residents are concerned that traffic will get even worse (is that even possible?) and that their racecourse and/or mountain views will be blocked. Both valid concerns in my mind. The pro-development government would most likely rubber stamp the plans for two extra 27 storey extensions if local residents didn't speak up. But it looks like the concern group has had a couple of early victories in delaying the plans.

I wonder if the concern group would be better able to reach local residents if they setup a blog and a twitter account? I'd like to follow the story using an RSS reader on my mobile. Not sure I can digest any more emails though. I did have a quick look for a website/blog but couldn't see anything?

Anyone interested in joining the concern group can contact the voluntary coordinators: Ricky Yu 92230884, Jeff Ho 90252221, Jason Lam 90276905 or happyvalley.tpb@gmail.com

Background story in The Standard

SCMP Makeover Part 2: Sunday Post

2011-06-26T17:44:00.001+08:00

Still thinking about the South China Morning Post makeover and why I occasionally buy the Sunday Post.

I buy the Sunday Post because I like the Sunday Post magazine, the review section and the local Hong Kong news.

But, before I can start reading, some pruning is required. The Racing Post section is the first thing to get binned. I've got zero interest in horse racing. Then I toss out the Sport Sunday Section. Again, no interest and if I want sports news I can just watch Eurosports on Now TV for five minutes. Next I toss out the Family Post and the Young Post Sunday section.

Before I even start reading, half the newspaper has been tossed out. Am I happy that I've paid HK$8 and just thrown away half the paper? Not really. But I know there's just enough content I like in the balance to keep me interested.

I guess this shotgun approach newspapers use to try and reach more readers is what is undoing the business. I wonder if an a la carte method might be more successful?

Free Health Talk Anyone?

2011-06-21T09:50:00.000+08:00

Just down Ventris Road at 17A is a building that used to be the Sam Yuk Secondary school. According to Wikipedia it stopped being a school in September 2008. In space challenged Hong Kong I'm surprised it hasn't been turned into designer studios.

I walk past this building most days and have noticed more and more flyers being attached. It looks like they run an autism partnership school there some days and now they seem to running community talks/seminars. I wonder who to contact there to rent a room?

Looks like the next event, as per the photo above, is a Health Talk. Details below or click on the photo to enlarge;

Date: Saturday 25th June, 2011

Time: 3:00 - 4:30 p.m.

Speakers: Doctors and Health practitioners

Topics: "Relationship of diet with Heart Disease, Hypertension, Cancer and brain"

Venue: Morse Hall, Hong Kong Adventist International Church, 17A Ventris Road, Happy Valley, Hong Kong, Phone: 2808 0855

Admission: Free

"Free Health Screening include: Blood Glucose, blood pressure, etc."

South China Morning Post (SCMP) Makeover

2011-06-19T10:45:00.002+08:00

It's always nice to get some news from home when you've been away a while. So I always lookout for the South China Morning Post (SCMP) when I board a flight back to Hong Kong. Last week was no different when I grabbed a slightly different looking SCMP. Looks like the SCMP is trying to revitalise their layout. More colour and more pictures and a chance to win a VW beetle. I wonder if the cosmetic changes and the lucky draw will increase their long term paid circulation?

It's pretty obvious the newspaper business is going through some difficult times to remain relevant. They must be getting squeezed on all sides. Newsprint prices increasing, lot's of free content on the web and advertisers finding better and cheaper ways to reach their audience.

This got me thinking about why I buy a newspaper. It used to be a habit but now I can pick up a free copy of The Standard I don't bother buying the SCMP most days. Both newspapers cover similar stories with their own particular biased included. By reading between the lines I can usually work out what is really going on. And, by reading lot's of local blogs using an RSS reader on my iPhone, I find I can get a feel for what's making news anyway.

The SCMP seems to be lacking humour as well. They used to have both the Lily Wong and Dilbert cartoon strips but these seem to have gone by the wayside over the past few years. Surely a poking a bit of fun and having the occasional laugh can't be a bad thing? Is the SCMP too serious? Perhaps.

A cosmetic makeover might attract readers in the short term but will they hang around if their core needs are not being met? Do you sill buy the SCMP? Why?

Bobbin Cottage, Truro

2011-06-07T07:25:00.002+08:00

Booking holiday accommodation online in the UK can be pretty stressful, especially if you have a picky partner. But, last week in Truro, we got lucky - the Bobbin Cottage was a winner.

Great location a short walk from the centre of town. Intelligent
renovation highlighting the history of the cottage and certified green credentials - cool.

We booked it through Classic Cottages which was the only cottage booking website I could find that was both well laid out and useful. What a relief to deal with a professional company for a change.

Truro was a surprise too: a very walkable city with lots of cafes and a surprising range of very good restaurants. Perhaps I was just relieved to find a decent cottage for the week!

If I was in Truro again I'd try and book the Bobbin cottage again. I'd definitely lose the hire car though: parking was a pain in the ass.

Great Choice!

2011-05-08T11:53:00.001+08:00

When a Hong Kong taxi driver asks you for directions you know you're being taken for a ride. Of course he knows the most direct route but he's hoping you don't. Then, when you end up paying over the odds, you can't complain - "you gave me the directions."

I use the same ploy with Mrs. V when we go travelling. I let her choose the hotels so that if they don't live up to their amazing descriptions and pictures on the Internet (big surprise!) then she really can't complain too much - "honey, you chose the hotel!"

Now I see the banks have cottoned onto this (crappy) choice idea. When you use a credit card overseas. they now give you the choice to be billed in the local currency or you can elect to be reamed with an even worse rate in your home currency. Very cunning! People like a bit of certainty so will normally elect their home currency choice.

But, from my recent Shanghai trip, I see that the local currency choice used a better rate (around 1.22) than the home currency choice (1.24). I know it doesn't sound like much but I'd rather not pay banks any more than I need to.

Beware Of The Sharks

2011-05-04T12:07:00.001+08:00

I always wondered why the back of my HSBC bank card had a China Union Pay logo on it. I found out the other day in Shenzhen. I was running low on RMB cash and gave the cashier my Hong Kong issued HSBC debit card by mistake (thought I was giving her a credit card). When she asked me for my PIN number I realised what I'd done. I punched in my HK PIN number anyway and , to my surprise, the machine made some noise and then printed out a receipt. The penny finally dropped: I don't have to carry so much cash around in China - I can just use my Hong Kong EPS/debit card and it uses the China Union Pay network. Cool!

So, on our recent Shanghai trip, I mostly just swiped my HK card whenever we were out eating/shopping/drinking. Works great.

I was telling Mrs Valley about my new discovery and she reckons that it's cheaper to use a credit card - a friend working in the hospitality industry in Shanghai assured her of this.

Today, I checked my bank account online. The debits using the debit/EPS card were charged around 1.20 (close to the current bank cash selling rate) and the credit card transactions were billed at almost 1.25 times.

So, it looks to me like the debit/EPS transactions are a lot cheaper. It costs about 5% more to use a Hong Kong issued credit card in China. Looks like Mrs Valley and her friend have been misinformed.

Now I see why some banks are offering double points for credit card transactions made overseas. First they ream you on the exchange rate and then they flick you back a few points to keep you quiet. Sharks!

Alabar: Refurb or Replace?

2011-04-25T13:43:00.025+08:00

Walked by this afternoon (27 April, 2011) and it looks like it was just a refurb. There's a new shiny brown velour curtain out front and no more stuff on the footpath. Seeing a business reinvesting in refurbishment is a great sign and I must make the effort to have a drink or two over at Alabar asap.
Spotted the guts of Alabar perched on the dog urine soaked serrated concrete that masquerades as a footpath outside of number 38 King Kwong Steet today.

I hope it's just a refurbishment but I have that sinking feeling that it might be turned into yet another real estate agency. The diverse range of entertainment venues, restaurants and shops is one of the factors that makes Happy Valley a great place to live.

No mention of any closing down or moving on Alabar's Facebook page so maybe I'm wrong, again. Let's hope so and let's see what develops.

Minibus Madness

2011-04-19T18:21:00.003+08:00

The Standard reports today that a minibus driver is jailed for mowing down and killing a woman on a pedestrian/zebra crossing.

According to the story, the driver was lost in thoughts about a sick relative and didn't even notice the woman.

This story brings back lots of bad memories of all the close calls I've had with cars when using the zebra crossing at the start of Blue Pool Road right here in Happy Valley. It's a bit of a cat and mouse game. If you are on the zebra crossing then cars are legally obliged to stop, assuming they are concentrating or not busy chatting on mobile phones. But, who wants to take that chance? Better to hang back than risk life and limb.

What to do? My suggestion would be to remove the zebra crossings altogether. Giving pedestrians a false sense of security is likely to get them injured or even killed. Better to have fully alert pedestrians jaywalking than relying on drivers to be fully alert when approaching zebra crossings.

Another idea would be to place speed humps or rumble strips leading up to the zebra crossings. This might slow the drivers down or even jolt them back into concentrating on the road ahead.

Traffic flow seems to have a much higher priority than pedestrian safety so be very careful if you do use a zebra crossing.

Shit Coffee

2011-03-12T18:26:00.003+08:00

It's hard to imagine being handed a piece of animal faeces in a coffee shop. But that's exactly what happened today when friend Gary invited me for coffee.

I wondered why we were going all the way to Hung Hom for coffee? It turns out Gary had bought some vouchers on a group buying website to sample the famous Kopi Luwak - coffee made out of beans that have passed through the digestive system of the Indonesian Civet cat. I've seen Anthony Bourdain and other food adventurers sipping Kopi Luwak on TV but I never thought I'd be drinking this stuff in Hong Kong.

Friendly barista at Coffee Lover (L/G 10, Full Wing Building, 436-450 Chatham Road, Hung Hom, 2330 8236) couldn't speak much English but I got the message when she handed me the plastic resin encased piece of Civet cat poo (pictured above).

After cleansing our palates with ice water we were ready to sample the pricey brew. It tasted pretty good. Smooth and with a much longer finish than other coffees I've tried.

At HK$988.80 (US$126.70) per 100 grams, this is one coffee that won't be making it onto The Valley breakfast menu. But the experience was interesting and it'll be good material for poking fun at friends who are picky eaters.

Zinfandel Shuffle

2011-02-01T13:43:00.000+08:00

On the way back to San Francisco, I wanted to stop in at Paso Robles to try out a few Zinfandels. I had a full day available and I'd heard that the town was full of tasting rooms. Very clever! I found a hotel right in the middle of town, The Paso Robles Inn, and checked in.

Receptionist gave me a map of all the 17 tasting rooms around town. Perfect. First stop was Red Rover wines. All their Zinfandel had sold out. Damn. I tasted through all their other reds and found the 2007 Barbera to be quite tasty.

Getting hungry by this stage and the gracious host mentioned that the pizza joint next door was OK and that they had a pretty good range of wines by the glass. Ordered a small pizza with black olives and anchovies and a glass of Zinfandel. "Sorry, we don't have any Zinfandel left," says the young guy behind the counter. This is starting to get ridiculous. I'm in the middle of the world's most productive Zinfandel region and I'm struggling to get a glass!

Red Rover offered to upgrade my $5 tasting fee to a bottle the Barbera for an extra $6 so I darted back in and grabbed it. Of course, by the time lunch was finished so was I. Back to the room to sleep it off.

Woke up around 8PM and determined to get some Zinfandel. Found a basement wine bar and eagerly grabbed the drinks list. Only Zinfandel by the bottle and a few supermarket wines by the glass, not including any Zinfandels. Had a pint of wheat beer instead and got the hell out of there.

Sulked back to the hotel because everything was shut by now (late Sunday evening). Decide to check out the hotel bar just in case they might have some Zins by the glass. Eureka! The Gentleman's bar upstairs has their own special Zinfandel by the glass - the James Tobin un-fined 2006 Zinfandel specially made for the hotel. It's in its own stainless steel 100 litre barrel behind the bar. Waitress Megan is a gem. She's from a wine producing family and knows exactly what she's talking about. I order a small plate to go with the wine and it's excellent as well.

Thank you Paso Robles Inn & Megan for saving my Zinfandel trip. True American wine heroes!

Lemon Grass Vs. Urine

2010-12-25T22:11:00.001+08:00

Nothing like a smelly toilet to take the edge off a pleasant day out.
So top marks to Top Deck for coming up with a creative solution for
urinal odor management: lemon grass.
This fragrant plant grows like a weed in Hong Kong. Just crush a few
stalks, pop in a glass and place inside the toilet.

Christmas 2.0

2010-12-25T09:19:00.001+08:00

Christmas this year in The Valley household has been quite a digital affair.

Kicking off the gift buying early, Mrs B bought me the perfect gift: a JBL On Time Micro iPhone speaker dock and clock radio. She was nice enough to let me unwrap it early so I could listen to 104.3 Gold FM streaming live from Melbourne - "good times and great classic hits."

I reciprocate by picking up an iPad for her so she can read the local papers while lounging around on the sofa. No more sending the helper out at the crack of dawn to pick up a free Headline Daily before they're all gone. I know at least one member of the household who'll be loving Apple even before we turn the iPad on.

Plenty of email Christmas greetings arrive together with the usual flood of junk email. Sending generic Christmas wishes by mass email must surely be dead by now? Does anyone get that warm glowing feel from an unimaginative canned message? Not me. A little creativity or even a phone call might be better.

Christmas eve and my iPhone is buzzing. Christmas well wishes arriving via WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter DM and even good old fashioned SMS. Got a feeling there'll be lots of tapping on tiny mobile phone screens during our Christmas lunch today as well.

The digital theme continued first thing Christmas morning with me up early to get on Skype before everyone else in Hong Kong turns on their computers. How come my 100 gigawatt fiber optic internet connection feels more like dial-up as the day progresses? Good idea to call family and friends in the Antipodes before they start thinking about long, boozy lunches.

Merry Christmas to all the legions of programmers, developers and wild-eyed techies out there who have made my Christmas such a digital affair. Oh yes, and Merry Christmas to everyone else as well.

Staying Connected in Thailand

2010-12-01T10:35:00.005+08:00

Thailand is not exactly at the cutting edge of mobile communications. 3G has only been deployed in a few areas of downtown Bangkok with a nationwide 3G push set for next year. So I was a bit concerned about being able to stay connected with my iPhone4 on a recent visit.

A bit of online research before I left suggested that the DTAC Happy Internet micro sim was the way to go. Having a prepaid micro sim available this quickly after the launch of the iPhone 4 was a good sign and I asked a friend to pick one up for me. It cost 69 baht.

We inserted the SIM as soon as I arrived and had some trouble accessing the Internet. Called the 1678 call center hot line and eventually got through to an English speaking operator. He told me to reset the network settings on my iPhone and then I was able to access the Internet seamlessly.

The 69 baht card only had 5 baht of call time included and 100 minutes of Internet time. I couldn't figure out how the Internet time was billed? Using apps like Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare just access data when you refresh and not quite sure how the time usage is calculated. Anyway, I chewed through the 100 minutes pretty quickly.

Picked up a 100 baht refill card at 7-Eleven on the second day and this lasted about a day and a half. Made some IDD calls using their 004 IDD service and it seemed quite inexpensive. On the third day I picked up a 200 baht refill voucher. After refilling and using the Internet I noticed it wasn't deducting credit from my balance. That evening about midnight I got an SMS (in squiggly Thai script) and my balance was lower by 49 baht. It looks like you get unlimited daily Internet for 49 baht if you refill with a 200 baht voucher. Not a bad deal I thought.

I was impressed with this micro sim. It worked everywhere we went (Bangkok to Pattaya and lots of golf courses in between). It accesses the Internet via the GPRS/Edge network but this was fine for mobile data use and 49 baht a day seems reasonable for unlimited access. It was the happy ending I was looking for.

(I just had a look in the terms and conditions and see that they have a 499 baht package available as well. Less fooling around with vouchers! And, they have a sales counter in the airport arrival hall)

(there must be a way to change the language to English for incoming SMS system messages? I couldn't figure it out though.)

Splash Out Chinese

2010-11-14T09:40:00.003+08:00

Mentioned to hiking buddy Nick that I was taking Mrs V out for a fancy Chinese dinner to help celebrate our 8th wedding anniversary. "It's hard to imagine you could have a romantic dinner at a Chinese restaurant" was his surprised reply.

Good point. Noise and crowding does seem to be a feature of most local Chinese restaurants here in Hong Kong. But, if you're willing to pay a bit more there are a few places where you can have a relatively peaceful dining experience. That's how we ended up at One Harbour Road, inside the Grand Hyatt hotel, in Wanchai.

I thought the lobby and the restaurant looked a bid faded when we walked in. I guess the hotel is 20 plus years old now and is showing it's age a touch. Ambience inside the restaurant is still very pleasant and the harbour view westwards still intact despite continuous land reclamations and the associated construction.

Menu is still the same classic Cantonese. We chose crispy skin smoked chicken, diced beef with melon and a vegetable dish with dried salty fish. All the dishes were excellent and it's great to see the kitchen has remained so consistently good over the years.

As you can imagine, the wine list was extensive and expensive. Pretty good selection of wines by the glass and we chose a crisp South African Chenin Blanc (Bogle 2008). Chilled perfectly with just a hint of sweetness meant it paired nicely with our light Cantonese dishes. Spotted a familiar Moscato on the wine list at 4 times the retail price I normally pay so it looks like bottled wine drinkers will be shouldering an out-sized portion of the bill (as usual).

Discreet service, pleasing ambience, consistently good food and well selected wines mean that this really is a restaurant where you can have a nice romantic dinner.

Hijacked at HSBC

2010-11-13T17:50:00.002+08:00

Inspired by Spikes recent encounter with HSBC, I'd like to recall an incident that happened to me earlier this week.

I just wanted to change the account my (overpriced) medical and travel insurance gets debited from. It was from one HSBC account to another HSBC account. Nothing difficult right? I tried to find the form online but couldn't track it down. Ended up popping into the HSBC Premier centre in Happy Valley.

Girl on the counter was pleasant enough but after a few phone calls and some general stuffing around she declared that she was a junior employee and that she wasn't sure how to fill in the forms. "Could I wait a few minutes and a senior staff member would assist me?" That's kind of weird, I'm thinking to myself, even a retarded monkey could probably tick the right box on the form and fill in the required account numbers.

Fifteen or so minutes later I'm shuffled upstairs to the "inner sanctum." The office walls are lined with certificates and plaques pronouncing the occupant to be some kind of sales champion every month for the last decade. Now I'm getting nervous as well as angry.

More time elapses and then Ms. super saleswoman appears. I think she can sense my hostility so she doesn't try and sell me anything. But, I don't think she's ever had to fill in any simple forms before either. She gets on the phone and generally stuffs around for a while. Eventually she goes online and prints out the forms. After some more dicking around she finally fills them in and I sign them off.

I've wasted about 45 minutes by now trying to fill in two bloody forms. I've got a feeling they've noticed I have a few dollars in my account and they've smelled a juicy commission - if they can just flog me some more of their overpriced products.

Shouldn't a customers account details be kept private? The idea of flagging clients in their computers and then hijacking them by the sales team seems almost unethical to me. Is this the same bank that aggressively flogs complex structured products to unsophisticated senior citizens? I think it may be!

HK Governments Idea of Fun!

2010-11-08T17:23:00.002+08:00

I know the Hong Kong government is all powerful but can they really reduce natural disasters?

Spotted this interesting sign "A debut carnival event in Hong Kong featuring slope safety and reducing natural disasters!" posted onto temporary fencing along Bowen Road today.

I would have thought a carnival is meant to be a fun event. The carnival in Brazil springs to mind - lots of dancing, music and wild street celebrations. I just can't picture a "slope safety and reducing natural disasters" carnival being that much fun. Anyway, it's being held on November 28, 2010 if anyone is interested and you can check the Hong Kong Slope Safety Website for more info (I did but they don't seem to have posted the event details yet?)

News Dictators?

2010-10-28T08:01:00.001+08:00

Thinking about the challenges facing traditional newspapers after listening to Kevin Drew (The New York Times' Global Editions) at the Web Wednesday event held last night at Volar.

It just dawned on me that newspapers have always decided what I should to read. They've never once asked me what kind of news I want. This seems kind of arrogant and misplaced in a world where I can pick and choose what news I read. I guess they've been getting away with it for so long that they're having trouble adjusting to this new paradigm?

Give me the news I want and I'll be happy to pay for it. Continue deciding what you think I should read and I'll ignore you. Quite simple really.

The "New" PCCW?

2010-10-27T11:58:00.000+08:00

What's up at PCCW? All of a sudden they're running creepy full page advertisements in all the local papers.

"We Care We Listen We Act"

Anyone who has ever been a PCCW customer might have a different opinion.

On service contracts: "Over the next few months, all new contracts will be simplified, use plain language and highlight important points"

Does this mean that currently all their contracts are complicated, don't use plain language and hide important points?

On sales practices: "No unscheduled sales calls after 9.45PM"

Wow, you're such a caring, listening company. No more calling at midnight trying to push some extra crappy services we don't want.

On customer service: "We provide integrated hotlines which offer convenient one-stop assistance for quadplay services"

Every time I've tried the "integrated" hotline with "one-stop assistance" I've been shuffled around multiple people and that's after waiting at least 15 to 20 minutes.

So my guess is the adds are not really about customer service. More likely they're going to spin off a piece of the empire to the public at some inflated price and are just trying to soften us up a bit before the launch. Let's see what develops...

Opportunity Calling?

2010-10-24T10:53:00.002+08:00

How many times have you made a truck load of money after being cold-called on the telephone? How many times have you landed an amazing bargain after being cold-called on the telephone? How many times have you shared a small fortune with dethroned African royalty after you've sent them some money in advance to "unlock the frozen accounts"? I think you know the answer.

So I'm exasperated this morning to read in the South China Morning Post (Investor scams flourish in legal blind spots, 24 Oct., 2010) about Australian Peter Lewis who receives a cold call from Hong Kong, falls for the "once-in-a-lifetime" opportunity and then transfers money to Hong Kong never to be seen again.

What can we do to stop ourselves falling for these extremely persuasive sales people. I guess the first step is not to answer the phone. I've learnt that great deals aren't going to offer themselves up over the phone from people I've never met before so I just reject any caller whose number I don't recognize. Family and friends know how to contact me so it's not like I'm off the grid.

C'mon Australia. Lets not become known as the most gullible nation on the planet to global scammers. Just don't answer the phone unless you now who it is.

Slow Down Junk Mail

2010-10-21T15:48:00.000+08:00

The Hong Kong post office have quietly introduced a scheme that might slow down the flood of junk mail into our private mailboxes: the "No Circular Mail" sticker.

It must piss the Post Office off that they have been forced by the government to set up this scheme as they are the only organisation allowed to profit from distributing so called "Circular" mail.

So I guess it's no surprise then that they put up a tiny notice at the post office and that you can only get stickers by asking the staff behind the counter. Wouldn't it have been better to put a stack of these stickers in every management office/lobby and then let residents decide for themselves?

Enomatic Vs Enema: Both Use Tubes.

2010-09-03T13:25:00.004+08:00

I forgot to mention what an Enomatic machine is in my last post: Enomatic Goes East. Most wine geeks will know but that's a little presumptous on my part. MB was quick to point out my error out and even suggested there may a link to the (messy) enema procedure. On reflection, the name Enomatic does seem a little unfortunate but it's an Italian firm and I see that enema translates to clistere in Italian so you can't blame them for the confusion.

Basically, an Enomatic machine is a self service wine dispenser. You can choose from three pour sizes, usually 25ml, 75ml and 150ml. Its a great way to have a small taste of an expensive wine to see if it lives up to the hype or not. I first encountered an Enomatic machine on a crusie ship last year (the Celebrity Solstice) and I know of 4 bars in Hong Kong using them now. I even saw one in far-off Australia recently but the staff didn't seem to know how to set it up. Check out the Enomatic web site for more info.

Thinking back to my evening at Denbar, I just realised they added a 10% service charge onto my bill but I served myself on the Enomatic machines. That's a bit cheeky isnt it?