Ordinary Gweilo

It's not big and it's not clever, it's just a Brit in Hong Kong writing (mainly) about Hong Kong

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Month: Sep 2007

  • But not as we know it

    In the Barrels, Shooting & Fish department, we have this latest "sponsored feature" in the Sunday Post, demonstrating that it’s not necessary to write adverts in English: In a breakthrough innovation for the concept of Suzuki cars successful integration into innovative thinking, pioneering global strategy of the model range, the orientation of successful launch since…

  • Oasis

    I have to admit that I’m still intrigued by Oasis.  Here’s an interesting quote (in The Australian): Stephen Miller, chief executive of Oasis, said: “Where are traditional carriers most vulnerable? They are vulnerable at the front (of the aircraft).” I think that’s correct (and I’ve been arguing that for a long time).  This summer, Cathay…

  • Mutually assured destruction

    Jose Mourinho’s sudden departure from Chelsea last week "by mutual consent" seemed rather shocking when the news first broke, but of course it wasn’t really a surprise at all (apart from the timing). Last season there was a lot of speculation that he would be on his way, after apparently falling out with Roman Abramovich…

  • Not free and not good

    I see that the New York Times is the latest newspaper to abandon the ‘pay wall’ and make all their content freely available (links).  How long can the SCMP hold out against this worldwide trend? Actually, whilst we’re on this subject (and I know I’m sounding like a broken record here), how can the SCMP…

  • Pork Pies

    It’s that time of year again. Every Chinese restaurant has piles of Moon Cakes everywhere you look.  Worse still, fridges across Hong Kong seem to be full of the wretched things, with hardly any space available for actual food or drink. I’ve never quite seen the attraction of these lard and sugar-filled delights.  And who’d…

  • Going, going, gone.

    Vince from HKMacs has reminded me that my list of Hong Kong blogs needed updating, and his prize is to get reinstated (probably for the 17th time). I notice that a few of my contemporaries are flagging.  Some have sprung back into life recently, and so they live to fight another day, but others have…

  • Quick, slow…

    I notice that the KCR is advertising their "direct" service from Tsim Sha Tsui East to Lok Ma Chau.  The irony here is that when the "Southern Link" is completed in a couple of years, it will be necessary to change at Hung Hom so it won’t be direct at all. Mind you, maybe by…

  • Puzzling

    I used to think that Hong Kong supermarkets were easy enough to categorise. CitySuper and Great have lots of stuff I want, but can’t afford Park’n’Shop certainly isn’t Tesco or Sainsburys, but it is (just about) OK Wellcome generally isn’t. CRC?  Who goes there? And, of course, the basics are available everywhere. Or so I…

  • Help!

    Google seem to have ‘improved’ iGoogle, and suddenly the Google News thingy has been ‘localised’, and I have no idea how to switch it from Chinese back to English: Top Stories  福田優勢速增額賀谷垣棄選 香港文匯報 – all 413 related » 布希未改伊戰立場民主黨無法接… 中央廣播電台 Rti – all 111 related » 國民黨將禮讓親民黨3席不分區立委馬蕭薦王第一 中時電子報 – all 52 related » 印尼24小時內連發4次海嘯警報 南方日報 – all…

  • More competition – higher prices

    The most popular subject in Talkback (the SCMP’s curious letter column that isn’t) seems to be problems with Pay TV, and specifically the sports channels. This is an interesting example of greater competition not having the normal effect of reducing prices.  Quite the contrary in fact – the cost of subscribing to all the sports…