China's Priorities

Okay, I know this is old news, but the article is interesting. A demonstration of how China operates, and what it values.

The short version:
Reporter A reveals that China sent troops to Vietnam. He receives a jail sentence of 15 years.

Reporter B reveals the contents of a Jiang Zemin's report one week before its scheduled to be released. He receives a jail sentence of life imprisonment.


Like the author states: "who would have thought that revealing military secrets were less severe than some report".
Hmm...

Medical Tourism

Medical tourism is something new to me. I've heard stories of Mainlanders coming to Hong Kong for quality medical treatment, and I've heard of Hong Kongers going to China for cheap medical treatment. However, this is the first time I've heard of people actually trying to promote "medical tourism" as a selling point.

Basically, Mainland Chinese will come to Hong Kong for medical treatment at private hospitals as tourists. They will be allowed an extended stay for their treatment. I guess running a hospital has long become a business rather than a service; I just didn't realize it.

Are private hospitals in financial trouble? Do they need patients from China to fill beds? Kwong Kwok-hay, assistant medical superintendent of the Hong Kong Sanatorium and Hospital said that the hospital is in short supply of nurses, and it is already at 90% capacity. He also brought up a very good point: what are they to do in the case of an emergency? They cannot send the "vacation patients" to a government hospital.

It is a shame that China cannot even take care of its own people's medical needs. Every time I see this type of incompetence from the Mainland, I think of all those people boasting about how great Shanghai is, and how it has overtaken Hong Kong in wealth and modernity. My response to that is, so what? China has such a poor infrastructure and social system. Crime and corruption is rampant. The rich are too rich, and the poor are too poor. Those rich have to come to Hong Kong for health care on a traveler's visa because their own government can't take care of them.

China's "free" Tours

Recently, there have been more and more reports on "zero fee" or low cost tour package groups visiting Hong Kong from China. The problem with these tours is that they are low cost, so tour agencies must make their money through commission from local shops that they take the tourists to. If the tourists make no purchases, the agency makes no money.

This policy has caused much confusion and unpleasant behavior among the tour groups visiting Hong Kong. A tour of Hong Kong has now evolved into one big shopping trip. Tour buses bypass famous landmarks, instead making stops only at overpriced jewelry and electronic shops. The trouble starts when tourists decide that they don't want to spend money.

A prominent case is when a tour group was forced to wait for 3 hours on the street for their tour bus, this was supposedly in retaliation for the group not making enough purchases at designated shops. Some opted to return to the hotel on their own, only to find out their hotel room key cards no longer worked. Naturally, arguments ensued and police got involved.
As it turns out, this type of behavior has happened many times already. Tour agencies threaten to confiscate hotel rooms if tourists don't spend enough money. The designated shops often jack up product prices in order to make enough for themselves and the tour agency. There have been many cases of tourists discovering their purchases are fake or not as promised.

As travel agencies in the Mainland continue to use "zero fee" as a selling point, Hong Kong agencies are getting fed up with having to deal with tour groups that don't make any money. Both sides are at fault. China tour groups should not keep pushing "zero fee" tours. Hong Kong agencies should not even accept this type of business unless it is absolutely clear that the tourists know the "rules" of the tour. They are wrong to put all the blame on agencies in China. The unwritten policies now are unethical and dishonest. The term "zero fee" is false advertising.

Get rid of the ambiguity, and people will start loving Hong Kong again.

He walks the walk... and that's about it

I'm beginning to wonder who is worse: Donald Tsang or George W. Bush. At least Bush doesn't bow down to communists.

Last night's "Lights Out" protest was considered a failure. I personally consider it a success, because it clearly showed us who really cares about the environment, and who does not. The result? The general public does, and the big corporations do not. Oh, and despite his claims to support the environment and clean air policies, Donald Tsang actually does not care about the environment.

Like the ignorant chunk of Hong Kong, he only cares about his own future and economic prosperity, blah blah. I can't believe this guy's approval rating actually went up 0.8%. Oh wait, I just realized that its from all the talking he's done in the past year. People support him because they're anxiously waiting for him to actually do something.

"I am determined to ensure that this standard will be complied with by the power companies. It is important".

This was Tsang's claim about a week ago. Hong Kong saw one of its worst weeks of poor air quality. So the good ol' crowd pleaser comes out to talk the talk as he usually does. However, when it came down to when it really mattered, Tsang refused to participate in the protest. He even went as far as refusing to postpone a light show scheduled for last night.

Yup, go ahead Tsang, just go do what you normally do. Go back to China and kiss some more communist ass. Hong Kong doesn't need you around to make false claims and put on a fucking show.

The King Responds

After not finding "grill marks" on my airport burger, I wrote a complaint to the company that franchised Burger King in Hong Kong. What I got was a prompt and detailed response. Let me share that here with all five of my readers.

The response was sincere, and I have no reason to doubt that BK does char-broil their patties, except for the fact that my burger lacked grill marks twice already. I believe that their airport branch is simply too busy at times, and they have a bit of a quality control issue. I have taken up on Sammy's meal voucher offer, and I hope to give BK a favorable report next time. Below are the photos (click to enlarge) that came with the email.

Give me grill marks!

I am a frequent airport visitor, so naturally I have tried all the restaurants at the Hong Kong International Airport. One exception would be Popeye's Chicken, because my fried chicken eating days are over. The food is all overpriced, as expected. The biggest disappointment however, is that Burger King's burgers are not char-broiled.

How is this possible? My impression was that BK prided themselves on serving their meat with grill marks. That tasty burnt carcinogenic flavor just goes well with beef. They basically took away the only reason anyone would choose BK over McDonald's. Oh well.

On to the price. I recognize that its airport prices, but lets just take a look at how outrageous they actually are:

McDonald's Double Cheeseburger = $8.00
Burger King Double Cheeseburger = $29.00

My regular MD meal consists of two double cheeseburgers and an order of corn = $29.00. At the airport, my meal is cut in half, plus I get no veggies. I feel bad for the people who work there and half to make this overpriced junk their daily intake.

(click to enlarge at your own risk)

The New Cool

I have to admit that stepping into the theater, I had lowered expectations for Miami Vice. The theatrical trailer made it look like an MTV style action flick full of unintentional cheesy dialogue. Well... after seeing it, all I can say is that this film went beyond my expectations. I thoroughly enjoyed it! Before we get into what I liked about Vice, lets set a few rules for watching it:

1. Try your best to ignore the plot. Why? Because its not all there. These days its hard to create an original cop story, and writers sometimes try to get too creative. I enjoyed the plot, but I can totally see how people would get confused or feel cheated by all the "unanswers".
   
2. Do your homework. If you're not already a fan of the original Don Johnson/Philip Michael Thomas hit TV series, do yourself a favor and get to know the background. The movie doesn't explain how Crockett and Tubbs became agents, and for good reason! I am very happy that this movie isn't three hours long.
3. Treat all the drugs, money, and reasons for the "mission" as MacGuffins. It is a bit confusing, and it is ultimately unimportant. In some movies you just have to ignore certain plot devices that move the story forward. I hate it when critics overemphasize on story and plot in action thrillers.
   

Okay. I liked the new Vice because it was beautiful, the action was exciting, and it was so damn cool. I haven't seen a movie this cool in a long time. I have seen Jamie Foxx in Any Given Sunday, and he was not cool. However, in this movie he is the epitome of cool. Despite the 80s hair style, Colin Farrell plays a very smooth Sonny Crockett.

It must be said though that Vice is very much a man's wet dream. From the fights, to the gun fights, to the cars, planes, boats, and "hard" dialogue, I can see how men would enjoy this film right off the bat. A lot of the "coolness" comes from material objects. Everything from the condos, to the man toys, to the clothes, all look expensive. Women may have to look for appeal elsewhere, such as in the actors, or the beauty of each scene.

Speaking of beauty, Michael Mann and his crew did an excellent job of making each and every scene just exquisite. Whether its a scene with action, actors and dialogue, supercars racing on the street, or racing boats cruising at top speed in open water, they all look fantastic. They really know how to make something good look even better.

The music in the film is well done. I'm sure Mann was trying to keep with the formula that made Vice successful in the first place: the MTV style. Back in the day, it was Jan Hammer's opening theme, and background music by various hit bands that made the TV series so popular. Mann did a decent job of compiling a good soundtrack and inserting those tracks at the right moments in the film. Two disappointments: 1) Jan Hammer was not invited to do a track or two, 2) Mann made no effort to recreate the most famous scene from the TV series, despite putting a modern cover of the Phil Colins song, that was integral to that scene, in the end credits. Missed opportunities.

Perhaps what I enjoyed the most was that it was a darker, higher budget version of the 80s TV series. Not only did it bring back memories, but the movie did an even better job of portraying how slick Vice was. I feel I've said enough. If you go see this movie, watch it for what it is, and perhaps you'll enjoy it too.

Hack Digest

Recently, my ball has been going all over the place. I just couldn't manage to hit the ball straight! Even when I did hit it straight with my wedges, it would still be slightly off target. That is not what I expect from those shots within 130.

Anyways, I have found the solution to my spraying it all over the course: don't swing so hard! I guess I have to face the music and admit that I'm a short hitter. Sure, on a good day I can roll the ball to probably 270-290 yards, but most of the time the ball is either in the junk or lost. I end up hacking it back onto the fairway and lose a stroke or two anyways.

Next time I'm out on the course, I'm going to try hitting it soft. Perhaps my drives will barely carry 200 yards, but at least they'll go straight...



On Tiger Woods winning the British Open...
I thought it was great seeing him dominate with iron play. A couple of years ago, when his drives were all over the place (like now), I always wondered why he didn't just tee off with a one iron. My guess is that he could have probably belted it out straight and close to 280 or longer. Then show the folks some stellar long iron play to score.

Anyways, that's pretty much what he did at Hoylake. A lot of people said it was boring to watch Tiger not use his driver. I on the other hand cringe every time he pulls out the big stick. Why? Because I just know that its going to be a huge gamble to have it stay in the fairway. Hitting all those long iron shots helped Woods get comfortable with them. His GIR (green in regulation) numbers were well over 80%.

Now that's the kind of golf that I want to be playing. Dominate with the long irons, and only use the driver when necessary. Distance off the tee is overrated.

More Tiger

Bush kills people, not embryos

Spam 2.0

In the past few months, email users have been receiving "anonymous" stock tips via their inbox or spam box. Spam is what it really is.

This nouveau spam makes a weak attempt at fooling the recipient into purchasing a stock. How does this work? Is this supposed to be a scam? Did these idiots really expect me to go out on a limb and buy this stock because some random email says to "check it out tomorrow morning"?

I'm curious as to who are the target victims of this scam. Who would be foolish enough to open an eTrade account, or to run to their broker to buy these dummy stocks? You have to be pretty foolish, desperate, or bored to become a victim.

However useless this type of spam may be, it has unfortunately been able to penetrate spam filters because of its "trade alert" headline. Many people who work in the finance industry have to sift through their inbox to separate this crap from legitimate news/tips. So more than anything, this new type of spam is causing congestion.

我們的祖國... 唉 Part III

Man sees robbery. Man tries to stop crime. Man is threatened. Man tries to call police. Man discovers police are incompetent.

The man who reported the crime was on a bus, and he tried to report the crime in english as to not alert the criminals. Unfortunately, the emergency line operators hung up on him FOUR TIMES because no one could speak english.

Authorities claim that there isn't much need for english speaking operators. This makes no sense. They should at least always have one english speaking operator on duty at all times. The point of an emergency hotline is to help people when they need it most. This incident is just more of China's stupid mentality at work again.

They cut corners on all the wrong places. Its like a car owner saying: oh I drive mostly during the daytime, so I'm not putting headlights in my car. A more extreme case would be: oh the car goes forward most of the time, so I'm taking out the reverse gear to save money. The strive for excellence just isn't there, and it is sad.

Lets just hope we don't hear a flood of these kinds of stories during the Olympics in 2008.

Later folks...

Out of town this week. That means no updates. Heh.

That's Shady

What do people have against optical defense? It seems like every time I wear sunglasses on the street, I get these awkward looks from strangers. I am quite sensitive to bright light. My eyes feel much more comfortable in darker conditions. So I like to wear shades everywhere I go. Unfortunately, people look at me like I'm an alien.

I find that in Hong Kong, the only people who wear sunglasses (purposeful sunglasses, not that trendy crap with yellow or purple lenses) are foreigners. Hong Kong people only wear proper shades when they do sports. Otherwise, you find them wearing ones with colors that bear less protection to the eyes. Perhaps they are worn to block out the air pollution, which actually makes sense.

So I've narrowed it down to a few reasons why people give my shades the puzzled look:

1. They're thinking... "If he's blind, where's his cane?".
2. They're thinking... "Those shades look horrible on that guy".
3. They're thinking... "Is this The Matrix? Is this guy an agent?".

Does wearing shades carry a hidden stigma that I don't know about? I remember Annika Sorenstam and David Duval used to get strange comments from Golf publications about how they always "hide" under their Oakleys or Ray-Bans. Even that idiot President guy made a silly joke about a reporter who wore shades while asking him a question. Turns out that the reporter is legally blind, but Idiot President Guy didn't know it at the time.

To clear things up: Idiot President Guy didn't purposely make fun of, or insult the blind reporter. He certainly didn't know that the reporter was blind while he made those comments. It just sounds really bad when the headline, "President insults blind reporter", surfaces all over the internet.



I view it more as a "what was the point of that" kind of situation. I think a smarter President (or any public figure for that matter) would always think twice before making sly comments or attempts at humor in any situation. Idiot President Guy, aka The Resident, seems to just let words flow from his mouth without giving much thought.

Anyways, I like my shades.

Technology is beautiful

I was listening to a podcast of my favorite show, PTI, and they were talking about how Gary Matthews Jr. robbed a homerun from Mike Lamb. They were showing the amazing footage that of course I couldn't see. I was just thinking... damn, I really want to see that play. Lo and behold, 5 seconds later I was watching the video via You Tube. See for yourself:



Pretty unbelievable. Ten years ago, there is no way I would be able to do this. In 1996, I was reading USA Today and trying to catch Sportscenter for my only source of sporting news. Internet access had just begun at my school, and streaming video was... ha ha... light years away.

Technology has taken over our lives.

The Great Firewall... cracked!

The fight against communism continues... here.

And then there were four...

In the blink of an eye, World Cup favorite Brazil is out of the tournament. Surprise? Disappointment? Not for me. I don't want to say I saw this coming, because I wasn't even remotely emotionally invested in any of the matches. When I said the Red Sox would come back from 3 games down to win the 2004 ALCS, I meant it. When I said France would beat Brazil last weekend, I meant it, but it was a casual comment at best. I also thought Portugal would beat England, but I didn't expect it to be a penalty shootout.

For the sake of the four miserable countries this week, lets mourn the losses...

BRAZIL
The heroic France victory is easy to explain. Brazil has had it easy since day one of the cup. They were a team of overachievers, and it showed in the first round. They won every match without even trying that hard. France was the underdog among the elite. Zidane was too old, Henry sucked in international play, blah blah blah. That may have all been true, but it motivated the French team to grind through the first round, then crush a powerful, young Spanish team. Against Brazil, they had nothing to lose, except for a chance to silence their critics. Henry's mid-air goal off the foot was awesome. Brazil woke up when it was too late.

ENGLAND
What can you say? You don't score, you have a stubby hothead on your team, you miss three penalty kicks... you lose! England played well after Rooney's red card, and they deserve credit for that. I suppose this team was plagued from the getgo: Rooney breaks his leg, comes back, gets red card, Owen injured, Beckham injured, etc. It's a bit much I guess. I don't want to use the C-word, because I might get an arse-whoopin' when I decide to visit the UK... oh wait, no one reads this blog anyways. Yeah, do I smell a curse?

ARGENTINA
Another PK shootout. It was a very exciting match, and it could have gone either way. Argentina was unlucky with their goalie injured. Not only did they lose their main goalie for the PKs, but they also weren't able to bring in Messi for a last ditch attempt to score a golden goal. Too bad...

UKRAINE
A pretty one sided loss. I didn't even bother to watch this match. A middle of the road team: they weren't bad enough to be a surprise candidate for the elite eight, but they weren't good enough to be considered to have a chance at the final four. Good job in getting to the Elite Eight, but better luck next time for Ukraine.

The news today was all about how Hong Kong fans are coping with England's loss (pride, I suppose), and Brazil's loss (gambling debts). Once again, I don't get it. I don't understand the passion Hong Kong fans show for the English team. There are guys who have been on the English bandwagon all their lives for no apparent reason. Perhaps they miss colonialism. Maybe they were given free opium back in the day and are still grateful. I don't know.

I had a fun albeit awkward time cheering for Portugal last weekend. Got plenty of evil gazes from the masses everytime Portugal did something positive. There was this one guy who looked at me and silently mouthed some words when I loudly proclaimed that Beckham was a wuss (it was just a joke). He was probably saying something like, "nice pants", but that's just my guess. Naturally, no one was drunk enough or had enough sack to cause any real trouble. My conclusion is that the place I went to had too many pseudo fans.

There were too many front-runners to count, but the most atrocious example was a girl decked out in yellow and green (I kid you not). She also had the Brazilian flag painted on her cheeks. Okay, perhaps she is a displaced Brazilian who speaks Cantonese. Maybe her great great great great ancestor had lived in Brazil for a weekend to get a tan. Then I overheard that she chose Brazil because they won last time, but that she knows nothing about football. Ladies and gentlemen... we have a winner.

Too Much World Cup

Wow, this guy takes his hatred for smoking (or his girlfriend's smoking) to another level. Complaining is one thing, but having a near death experience is another.

While watching World Cup elimination match, Sweden vs. Ukraine, this guy gets into an argument over his girlfriend's non-stop smoking. She gets pissed and locks herself in her room. He proceeds to climb out of the kitchen window onto a rickety laundry rack; risking death to continue their argument. Long story short: police arrive, everyone lives.

Perhaps the girlfriend needed all that tobacco tar because she was nervous watching the game. The guy was probably too tense after watching the game, which prompted him to induce a near death experience. Either way, please watch the World Cup with caution. Here's what to do for the remaining matches:

If you are...

• German - Your country is filthy rich from hosting the Cup. Klose is amazing, your chances are great. Relax and enjoy the game.
• Argentinean - your team is young and brilliant. If you lose this time, you'll most definitely have next time. Relax and enjoy the game.
• Italian - Okay, your team hasn't won in quite some time being the powerhouse that you are, but you're playing Ukraine next, with a great chance to exact revenge on Brazil for your '92 defeat. Relax and enjoy the game until then.
• Ukrainian - Well, looks like your World Cup chances aren't super great considering your lack luster performance against Sweden. Not much pressure here, just relax and enjoy the game.
• English - Well... you've waited 40 years already. What's another 40? Red Sox fans waited 86 years, surely you can wait 80. Better relax and enjoy the game.
• Portuguese - Think you can eventually get past Brazil? This ain't no Nike commercial. Just relax and enjoy the game.
• Brazilian - Tons of talent, your team is on a groove, and everyone is on your bandwagon! If you don't relax and enjoy the game, perhaps there's something wrong with you!
• French - You should still be high from winning and hosting the Cup eight years ago. Henry is lazy, and Zidane is running on fumes. Be happy, relax, and enjoy the game.
• Asian - You belong to none of elite eight countries. You have no reason to be passionate, unless you have money on these games. Gambling is bad, so just relax and enjoy the game.

Clutch Veterans Perform

It is elmination time in the World Cup tournament. Do or die, now or never. The young and inexperienced Spain has fallen to France. Netherlands unexpectedly loses to Figo's Portugese team. The pressure has increased as World Cup veterans show their stuff when it matters most.

David Beckham
Say what you will of Mr. Prettyman, but that free kick goal against Ecuador was nothing but awesomeness. Number seven is often criticized for umm... pretty much everything! However, it is difficult to deny how good he is with stationary kicks. When a guy is that good at what he does, I don't see how he can deserve criticism.

Zinadine Zidane
Crappy since 98? Difficult to convince someone of that after last night's body contorting header. Lets see what Zidane's got left for Brazil.


Ronaldo
Overweight? Hot wife? Save that kind of gossip for Maradonna, because this ex-Mr. Football is not done yet. Crossover against the goalie is a classic Ronaldo move.

我們的祖國... 唉 Part II

As mentioned before, China's growth is rapid, but they do run into snags now and then. Fraud and corruption are two major issues that drive away investors, and may be the ceiling to China's growth.

When is China going to realize that in order to become a major economic power, they need to be running a clean ship? Again, the government sees and recognizes this problem, but not enough is being done. China is growing fast. Authorities are too slow in employing standards to curb the trouble that comes with rapid growth.

A reader left a comment mentioning that perhaps communism suits China best, and that they are not ready for capitalism/democracy. I see where this is coming from, but I disagree. Communism is like a whole bunch of people standing in a very straight line. Anyone who steps out of line is removed from the picture. That is what China looks like right now. They act like robots: sure, they can make sound decisions, but they are inflexible. There is no opposition to keep the current authorities in check.

Being the only communist nation left in the world, China probably feels like they are being rejected by the rest of the world. Rejection can lead to stubbornness. Perhaps China is slow to change in reaction to the pressure imposed on them by the rest of the world. At the same time, there is no one within China to suggest they do otherwise. Besides, if the economy is booming, and people are getting rich, what's the point in doing the extra work? I'm guessing that some Chinese officials think like this.

So how can communism be defeated? It will take either a revolution, or an economic meltdown to initiate change. As we have seen in the past, even a large scale protest will not affect China's politics. It doesn't look like China will face any economic woes in the near future either. What a daunting task.

World Cup Disappointment

I have been waiting eight years for the 2006 World Cup! Okay, maybe not that long. I've been waiting eight months for the 2006 World cup! Why? Because I would finally get to watch it in Hong Kong at semi-regular hours, and everything would just be non-stop World Cup. The booze would flow, sleep at 5, wake up at noon. That's right folks, World Cup: 晚九朝五!

Turns out I had it all wrong.

The first round group matches end after tonight. So far, I've only watched a whopping four live matches. A huge disappointment. I can attribute this to a few reasons:

The group matches and final 16 matches have been bought up by Cable TV, which I have no access to. Like many other Hong Kongers, I'm forced to watch it from a location other than my home such as bars (everywhere has a cover, and rightfully so I suppose), malls, or public outdoor screens.

Unlike the good old days of 1998, I now I have to work. I really cannot afford to sleep at 5 every morning and expect myself to wake up at 7. I end up watching highlights of the previous night's matches on the local channel.

I'm just not excited anymore. There are so many matches I wanted to watch, but could not. I know the players, but I'm not particularly attached to any of the teams. For me, the World Cup has lost the glamour of yesteryear.