Archive for October, 2003

dolt

Published on 29/10/2003 in personal. 1 Comment

I’m having a shocking day so far.

This morning, as I walk down Shan Kwong Road to get a taxi, I see a little old lady walking across the road, perpendicular to me. Spatial awareness tells me our paths will cross. As we come to meet, I slow down, to pass behind her. She was carrying two big buckets and a mop. The mop was swaying in time to her steps, I noticed too late. It happened in ‘bullet-time’, you know, like from The Matrix or Max Payne, when things slow down. I saw the big brown drops of genk leave the head of the mop and head straight for my lovely clean shirt. I attempt the ‘lean-over-backwards-to-avoid-the genk-bullets’ manoeuvre, but I’m not Neo. Back to normal speed, I turn around and head home to change my shirt.

So I get to Exchange Square, well, underneath, and look on in wonder at the 12, yes 12, I counted them, HK Land employees watching two guys fixing a blocked drain. Jeez, how many man hours are being wasted there I’m wondering as I cross the road behind a taxi that sprays up all the minging water from the road onto my replacement shirt. FFS. Too late now, I have to go to work in the filthy shirt.

Lunchtime comes, and I hear my Cantonese boss come in and babble something to the team. He’s invited them all for lunch. Everyone except me. Right. Got a lot to say about this boss, but I’d better not. I’ve been here two years and try to fit in, try to be culturally sensitive, try to not get annoyed at loud talking and eating around me, try not to get annoyed at being left out of things, but sometimes it’s hard. Example of something you wouldn’t hear in England:

cantonese colleague I don’t know that well: “Hello fat man”
me: “What?”
colleague: “Did you put on weight?”
me: “Yes, a little, did you get shorter?”

I know people in HK are obsessed with weight, and I wouldn’t mind if I knew him well, it’s true, since I did my ankles in, I haven’t played football or done any running, so I have put on a little weight, but I don’t really know this guy. Yes, I have to just accept it, be culturally sensitive, but where’s his cultural sensitivity!?

Ah well, it’s all part of living here. The good and the bad.

Talking of running, I went for a run last night, starting training for the Standard Chartered 10k run. The run last precisely 3 minutes. My ankles are not better yet. Not sure I’ll be able to do the run.

i knew it!

Published on 28/10/2003 in blogging. 0 Comments

I knew I’d been screwing up my use of apostrophes.

Get this straight once and for all: when the “s” is added to a word simply to make it a plural, no apostrophe is used (except in expressions where letters or numerals are treated like words, like “mind your P’s and Q’s” and “learn your ABC’s”).

Right. Can I not be arsed to go back through all my posts.

This is a great page of Common Errors in English for the solecists among us.

sky map

Published on 28/10/2003 in miscellaneous. 1 Comment

You all know the sky map, right? It’s on most planes these days. Shows you the plane’s current position and flight path, plus a load of other info.

Looks like this:

airshow.jpg

It also has other screens that zoom in and tell you about nearby cities or attractions. Other screens tell you lots of info about your flight, for example:

distance to destination
time to destination
time at destination

All very handy for everyone.

altitude
ground speed
head/tail wind

Yes, interesting to the deep geeks. But what about:

outside air temperature

How is that handy? If I were to find myself suddenly outside of the cabin, the first thing to cross my mind would not be “bit nippy!”

Ooof, all that for a crap gag.

you don’t see this often

Published on 28/10/2003 in hong kong. 0 Comments

At least not in England anymore.

church.jpg

No I didn’t go there to try to pick up. I went with my Mum. St. Joseph’s church on Garden Road. Has anyone ever been to a Catholic church service in HK? On a Sunday anyway. It’s amazing. The place is rammed full of Filipina’s, but that’s not the amazing thing, it’s when they start to sing. Out of this world. My Mum cried. Here’s a photo of the crowds leaving.

fanoire

Published on 28/10/2003 in photos. 0 Comments

Along the lines of Wanko, here’s a shop I spotted in Barcelona.

Dscn0504 (Small).jpg

If you’re not sure. Check here.

on a sunday

Published on 28/10/2003 in personal. 1 Comment

Ah, my web site is working again. Must have been some issue with the web site cache. Thanks for telling me you could see it.

Having a busyass day so far.

This weekend I’ve got a friend coming to HK from Vietnam. It’s her birthday, so she decided to come to HK for a few days. Should be fun, she likes to drink and dance.

Simon’s story about Brussel sprouts, reminds me of my Mum. She’s the same, rules the roost. Would force me to eat fish every Friday, even though it makes me sick, or it used to. What the story reminds me of is every Christmas. I go home, and when it comes to Christmas dinner, my mum always says “Oooh, Shaky, I’ve given you extra Brussel’s, I know how much you love them.” “No Mum, every year I tell you I hate them. “Oh yes, that’s it, anyway eat up, they’re good for you.”

For Giles, Speccy D.

On a Sunday? Check it out. Jimmy Eat World.

Interesting study

Published on 28/10/2003 in miscellaneous. 2 Comments

Interesting study


A recent scientific study found that the kind of male a woman finds attractive can differ depending on where she is in her menstrual cycle. For instance, if she is ovulating she is attracted to men with rugged and masculine features. If she is menstruating, she is likely to prefer a man doused in petrol and set on fire, with scissors shoved deep into his temple and a cricket stump jammed up his arse.

Further studies are expected.


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