Hong Kong Ken

Clarity

2007-01-07T14:33:00.000+08:00

I've come back to Hong Kong and I leave for the United States in three days. I traveled Asia for 24 days.

What have I learned? The world is much bigger than anyone can imagine. It's also very delicate, and not all of us live in the prosperity of Western countries. Nature is beautiful. Poverty is hideous.

This child came up to me and asked for 5 Nepali Rupees - that's about 1 penny. The bag he carried was twice the size of him. He had no shoes. I gave him 10 Rupees and asked to take his picture. I remember crying a little, because I gave this child US$ 0.02 - and that was generous.

I return to the United States - my box - now. Hopefully I can escape it again. And hopefully, I can make a difference. For this child's sake.

~Ken

Singapore is Hong Kong... except they kill you here

2007-01-06T15:28:00.000+08:00

Singapore is a "Fine City." -- and they do warn you about bringing drugs in. Recommendation: Don't do it.

Hello from Singapore. I made it out of Delhi, in one piece. I have about three hours and then I am on a plane back to Hong Kong. Woo! I am almost quasi home.

Home is Hong Kong. Then Home is Arizona. Then Home is Columbia, Missouri -- on the 14th of January.

Crazyiness.

Now that I will be back in Hong Kong and general civilization. You'll be getting all my pictures from my trip pretty soon. Just got to make it home. Almost there. (prays).

Ken

Happy New Year from ... Nepal?!

2007-01-01T13:19:00.000+08:00

Please mind the gap.

I've typed that about 53 times on this blog since I started it. However, I now have a new gap to mind.

The gap between the mountains in the snow-capped Himalayas.

Hello from Kathmandu in Nepal, and happy new year to you. I have arrived safely in Nepal after a wonderful 5-day off-road adventure through Tibet. I have made it safely courtesy of a Tibetan man named Gelak and a 1980's Toyota Landcruiser with no headrests. I miss that SUV....

I have stood in the face of beautiful monestaries. I have stood in the face of great plateaus of Tibet. And I have stood in the face of Mt. Everest.

Yea, she's pretty fucking spectacular.

I had a wonderful new years party. I partied until 4 a.m. with Nepali locals dancing to Indian and Nepali dance music and drinking Danish beer.

I am here in Nepal for 4 days, and then I move onto India. I am actually now slowing down my trip a bit. I return to Hong Kong in 6 days -- at that point, you'll all get 40983428 bazillion pictures and much more detail about what I have seen.

My audience. I must say -- I have seen some wonderful and tragic things in my trip, and it has truly opened my eyes. I have seen things that has given me some purpose in life and has provided me a wondeful opportunity to see cultures I have only read about.

The people of the world are truly amazing. I am having a wondeful time getting to know them, however for so briefly.

Bless you all... and I miss you all very deeply. You'll see me very soon.

Love you Jenna and Ian!

Ken

I'm Alive and In Tibet

2006-12-26T15:25:00.000+08:00

This whole blog thing hasn't worked out how I imagined it would, mainly because it's hard to post pictures.

However, I would like to state, very quickly that I am in Tibet -- Lhasa specifically. We just booked a Landcruiser tour from Lhasa to the Nepal Border today. That will take 5 days. I leave tomorrow morning.

If you wish to track me, I will be going from Lhasa to Xigaste (Shigaste), to Mt. Everest Base Camp, to a tiny tiny city that starts with a Z on the nepal border. Hot.

But, I am healthy, seeing things that have opened my eyes to truly amazing things, and in good old fashion Ken style, purchased enough items to be a signficant part of the Tibetan economy.

I promise everyone who reads regularly, I will post pictures when I get back to Hong Kong - home of the non-dialup reilable internet connection that isn't blocked by the gov't.

Miss you all.
Ken

Train Ride to Xian

2006-12-22T21:23:00.000+08:00

After spending one more day in Beijing, it was time to move on. My next stop on my across Asia Super Tourist tour is Xian (where my camera was stolen).

I've always wanted to take an overnight train somewhere. I took Amtrak as a child to Disneyworld in Orlando. I don't remember that trip. I do remember winning a car though (wtf?). Yea, I won a car, but that's not the point of this blog entry is it?

So, yes: Train. So, I decided to go in style to Xian. We took the Chinese Z92 Overnight to Xian - the newest train on the Chinese railways, something they were very proud of. Johannes and I traveled by first-class to Xi'an, leaving at 8:30 p.m. and getting in at 8 a.m. We got our own cabin with our own toilet and table.

It was very Chic. Even more Chic: we had dinner and a beer in the dining car. The fried prawns were great.

Okay, here's pictures:

Beijing West Railway Station. Why wasn't I robbed here? Seemed like a good place to do so. Oh, I know... because it's Beijing and as first-class customers, we got our own lobby. I want to in the Party...

Yay our Train!

Please Mind the Gap - And Join the Party.
Ken

Wall!

2006-12-21T20:59:00.000+08:00

I want to make a Southpark reference right now really badly. But, I'll keep the joke to myself and probably Ian.

Stupid Mongolians.

According to Chinese tradition, I am now a man - because I have now climbed the Great Wall of China. And I think the Chinese saying about being a man is probably true. Because if I see another set of stairs, all I think about is the stairs of the Great Wall.

So many stairs. ... so many stairs.

We decided to visit the Simatai part of the wall. There are several named parts of the wall, because it was built over a large period of time. The most touristy part is named Badaling - and it's completely restored. Simatai is a more mountainous part, less touristy, and probably the most amazing thing I have seen.

Simatai was built during the Ming Dinasty. You gotta learn your Dinasties to follow this blog. I recommend checking wikipedia. Anyways, to keep it simple, this wall is about 500 years old. There's a few other parts around here that were built much eariler and later than the Simatai Wall.

Here's an example. This picture is from the Simatai wall looking at another part (and another name). when I got to the top of the wall, you could see this section into the horizon. It was absolutely stunning. It's completely uninterrupted for miles.

We left Beijing about 9:30 a.m. and got to the Wall about noon. It's outside of Beijing by a considerable amount. It's very interesting to see the Chinese people in Beijing compared to the people in the more rural parts of China. It's like black and white.

This picture is from about the middle of Simatai. in one the guard towers. Some of the towers are in perfect condition, some are ruined. however, they all have a 3x3 grid pattern inside. Guards lived in the tower.

Inside the wall, was ancient and modern Chinese (and English) graffiti. A set of Chinese students walking with us said it was very common for the guards to carve their names into the walls (and also the tourists). While I couldn't tell who was the modern or ancient graffiti, it was still interesting.

continued....

At the wall, there was a group of peasents and farmers trying to sell goods. Every white person who seemed to go up the wall was basically followed by someone all the way up the wall. While annoying, our lady in very broken English told her a little about her background and where she worked (she pointed to a collective farm in the horizon). I found her interesting - a middle aged woman who literally climbed the wall several times a day to sell a book or postcards to tourists. I bought overpriced postcards from here (paid 25 yuan ($3), when they were worth probably around 10 yuan). I felt ripped off, but these people literally live off of the difference between 50 US cents and 1 US Dollar. It's not going to kill my budget if I overpay in some place. Plus, she climbed a wall that wore me out. That's worth 10 yuan in itsself.

If something I am learning about China, and basically Asia in general - everyone has a purpose. This is even more so in the PRC, where state owned enterprises make you wonder why there's someone being paid for this job. But, no matter, they do a job.

At the very top of Simatai is a whole part of the wall that literally is built on a razor sharp mountain. This part of the wall was very broken and obviously it's not the best thing to climb. There was a sign saying that if you crossed it, you had to pay a fine of 200 yuan. Johannes, Me and a few other tourists climbing with us joked about how this sign seemed out of place and there was no way that it would ever be enforced.

And then a man came out from behind a section of the wall. He was very friendly... but yea... he's got the worst commute in the world. But probably one of the best office views of anyone.

Please Mind the Gap - And Climb the Wall, it's worth it.

Ken

Backdated Entry... cuz I stopped caring.

2006-12-20T23:28:00.000+08:00

First off, apologies because I wrote this blog entry pre-robbery. This entry is mainly about my first day in Beijing.

After our Hot Pot experience, we got up to explore parts of Beijing (which we were quickly learning that a) much bigger than any city I have ever been in and b) has too many relics. It’s like Paris meets LA, during rush hour. It doesn’t help that the taxi drivers are not the most helpful in the world.
We spent the day at Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. Tiananmen is a big massive open area, and when I saw massive, it’s pretty massive. There were many tourists and locals on the square, flying kites, talking, taking pictures, and so on. The square was also full of scam artists and hawkers.
Oh, hawkers, how I want to punch thee in the face. But, you probably know Kung Fu so I’ll just say “No” 47 ½ times.
The scam artists are very interesting. A young, good looking Chinese girl will come up to you speaking perfect English. She usually asks you where you are from, how long you have been in Bejiing.

Bitch: Hello sir.
Ken: Hello (rolls eyes)
Bitch: I Chinese student learning English. I practice English on you, yes?
Ken: No.
Bitch: What brings you to Beijing.
Ken: I live here in Dengchung District (south of Tiananmen, near the diplomatic apartments).
Bitch: I would like to show you to some museums.
Ken: No, leave me alone, thanks. (end of scene, return to top and repeat in three minutes)

The Museums they offer are actually rooms with paintings usually mass produced. If you go in (which I didn’t, I was highly warned against this), they will basically force you to purchase way overpriced bad art, or take you a tea room where you’ll pay 1,200-1,400 RMB ($200) to sample tea.
The hawkers are usually selling cheap goods you can bargain for. I wanted a Little Red Book, but I assume I’ll find them somewhere else. They also had Mao Hats. No, Larry, you’re not getting a Mao hat.

I literally joked as we were walking to the Forbidden City, “I wonder of the Forbidden City is really a City?”
Haha.
Yea, it is.
The Forbidden City is massive. Literally, we kept walking and the buildings and gardens just went everywhere. In order even to get to the Emperor’s house, you have to walk through nine gates. Yea, nine.
Pictures are better than words. Check it out.

We spent about 5 hours wandering the Forbidden City, and I was so impressed by the detailing and the craftsmanship of the whole area. For being almost 500 years old, the vast majority of it is in good condition. However, there were several parts that were off limits because Beijing is getting ready for the Olympics.
Actually, the Olympics is all Beijing residents like to talk about. They always say to me “Come back to Olympic.”

Please Mind the Gap – And screw you scam artists.

Ken

Fun Times?

2006-12-20T21:16:00.000+08:00

I was robbed in Xi'an today. My camera was taken in a market. I wasn't paying attention to my surroundings and paid the price. Money too.

I am going to have to figure out how to take pictures of the next, oh 15 days of trip? ... shitty.

ken

I found internet... Beijing Day One

2006-12-20T10:46:00.000+08:00

I'm literally uploading pictures as fast as I can. These first are from my first day in Beijing. This is Tianimiman Square and the Forbidden City. Enjoy. I will write more later.

I'm literally uploading pictures as fast as I can. These first are from my first day in Beijing. This is Tianimiman Square and the Forbidden City. Enjoy. I will write more later.

Ladies and Gentleman...

2006-12-19T09:39:00.000+08:00

Well, the ethernet adapter on my computer is most likely fried. Apple is not sure what's wrong with it. They think the ethernet plug might need to be replaced. It looks like you are not going to get any blog entries from me for this trip.

Sorry, there's not much I can do. I'm using my travel companion's computer, which has a German keyboard (and just a little difficult to type on). This is just not going to work.

It makes me very upset to have to say that....

Ken

Smiles

2006-12-16T20:31:00.000+08:00

First off, I must apologize because this post really deserved pictures, and I left my camera at the hotel.

Hello from Beijing. We arrived safely in Beijing, and ran into some other Hong Kong University students who were coming to Beijing the same weekend as us. After chatting throughout all the custom’s formalities, we went our separate ways and decided to run into each other tonight for dinner or to meet tomorrow.

Anyways, we took a taxi to our hotel in central Beijing. We’re staying a courtyard hotel in what’s traditionally referred to as a “hutong,” Chinese for narrow alley. Hutong are traditional Chinese neighborhoods, they are single-stories with narrow one-way streets with shops lining the outside and homes on the inside.

Our hotel is very nice. I will take pictures tomorrow of it – it’s way too dark to do so.
Anyways, Johannes and I wait around until about 6:30 p.m. for the other HKU students to call us. Unfortunately they didn’t, so out of starvation we decide to go looking for food. Our hotel lady told us to go “Left than Right,” but because I am a dumbass, I went Left, Left, Right to eat.
So we end up walking down some narrow streets of Beijing, where it’s literally below freezing.

We’re not going to go far for food, and we see this little tiny place that looks somewhat busy with good furniture and decide to step in.

No one speaks English, but we realize that the restaurant serves “Hot Pot.” Hot Pot is basically a fire-burning oven placed in front of your table with boiling water in it. They bring you meet and vegetables and you cook it yourself.

Our very nice server doesn’t speak a word of English, but continues to rattle on to us in Mandarin like we’re conversational in Chinese (and we’re just the silent types). Here’s our conversation:

Ken: Ni Hao (Points to hot pot at another table and smiles)
Server: Mandarin Mandarin Mandarin Mandarin Mandarin Mandarin Mandarin (smiles and points to the hot pot on the table).
Ken: (Smiles). “Xie Xie” (thank you.)
Server: Mandarin Mandarin Mandarin Mandarin Mandarin Mandarin Mandarin Mandarin (opens up our menus, which we didn’t open, points to a spattering of things) Mandarin Mandarin Mandarin Mandarin Mandarin Mandarin Mandarin Mandarin Mandarin Mandarin.
Ken: (Smiles)

I think I ordered food.

I’ve never had hot pot in my life. I have no idea how to eat it.

However, the food arrives, it’s absolutely amazing. Basically you take the vegetables, and meet, boil it, then dip it into a peanut sauce (which can be flavored how you want).

Server: Mandarin Mandarin Mandarin Mandarin Mandarin Mandarin Mandarin Mandarin Mandarin (takes various things and puts it in my peanut dip)
Ken: (Smiles)

The food was so great. I was absolutely thrilled – I love little hole in the walls, and we were absolutely stuffed, even though we had no idea what we ordered, how we ordered or how much the bill was).

We get the bill – it comes to 94 yuan (about 12 bucks). We ordered enough food for four people. So we split it, and it comes to like 48 yuan a person. Not bad. Well, I hand her a 100 yuan bill and she brings me change.

Server: Mandarin Mandarin Mandarin Mandarin Mandarin Mandarin Mandarin Mandarin Mandarin Mandarin Mandarin (hands back 6 yuan and smiles)
Ken: Smiles and begins to place the 6 yuan on the table as a tip.
Server: Laughs out loud, Mandarin Mandarin Mandarin Mandarin Mandarin Mandarin Mandarin Mandarin Mandarin Mandarin. (hands the 6 yuan back to us).
Ken: (Smiles and takes the money back).

No Tipping I guess.

So, that’s my first day. I’d write more creatively, but I am a bit tired. We’re going to the Forbidden City tomorrow. Should be fun.

Please Mind the Gap – And Smile.

Ken

Off I Go

2006-12-16T08:27:00.000+08:00

Play at home folks. We'll play connect the dots. Fun Fun. Wish me luck.

Ken

Woo!

2006-12-15T16:25:00.000+08:00

I just kicked my only final exam's ass. It was four essay questions, and you could choose two to write on. One was Hong Kong's economy with China and another was Hong Kong's air pollution.

I could write a doctoral thesis on both of those subjects. I've done a presentation on question 1 and written enough Bloomberg stories on question 2 to be the Hong Kong Air Pollution beat reporter.

It's nice to be good at school again.

Ken

This needs no explanation.

2006-12-15T12:46:00.000+08:00

The Lonely Planet guide book I bought about China has a chapter about the Mongol invasion.

It's titled "The Wrath of Khan."

Wow....

Is Wolf Blitzer Going to have to slap a....

2006-12-15T08:04:00.000+08:00

Lordy. Lordy.

It was like God smiled, then struck me with a lightning bolt.

2006-12-12T17:18:00.000+08:00

Hong Kong decided, I think collectively, to put everything on sale.

Like, everything. Seriously, you need a list?!

Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Paul Smith, Valentino, Ralph Lauren, Prada, Tod's, Dior, YSL, Columbia Sports Company, Nike, Cole Haan, Lacoste, Givenchy, Juicy Couture....

It goes on. The English department store Harvey Nichols, considered one of the most exclusive stores in fashiondom, is having a 40 percent off sale.

Why do they have to be so cruel? The only store not being cruel is Chanel, who thankfully, never puts anything on sale. If you didn't know Chanel burns everything they don't sell. That makes my day.

Ken

Today Covet Item. Take a wild f'kin' guess.

Victoria Peak

2006-12-11T01:01:00.000+08:00

Here's some pictures from my trip up to Victoria Peak today. Enjoy

Colonialism is Pretty

2006-12-09T21:11:00.000+08:00

Let's say you run a civilization. At some point during your history, you decide you need more space, and figure that well, China's the way to go. So, when you arrive in the Pearl River Delta, what do you do? Do you:

A - Build a trading post, adapting to the 3,000-year-old Chinese Culture in the area.
B - Build a trading post, deciding that any local culture somehow falls beneath your great civilization. Local culture? Ha!
C - Build a trading post, get bored, build a casino or 20.
D - A mixture of B and C, with just enough Catholicism to keep from going to Hell.

I love Macau.

I took a day trip to Macau today. Macau, the strange colonial bedfellow of China, was founded by the Portuguese 500 years ago (Woah). After holding onto this tiny tiny tiny island (two kilometers by one kilometer), for centuries, the Portuguese gave it back to China in 1999. However, they left a very interesting impression on this little island.

First off, it's the only place in China you can gamble. I never equated the Portuguese with gambling, but I never equated the Portuguese with much in the first place so I obviously needed a place to start. They are kinda the strange cousin of Europe who lives by the beach all the time. I know my European friends will enjoy that. We love stereotypes.

Macau is actually really cool though. Hong Kong and Macau both were founded around the same time, but Hong Kong took a "historical building? Fuck that - let's put a car park here" attitude. So, in Macau, you have cobblestone streets, European architecture, and more churches than you can shake a Bishop's staff at.

The architecture was pretty awesome. The streets were all cobblestone, with beautiful frescoes, cute little shops. You'd think you were in some quaint Portuguese or Mediterranean town in Europe -- that somehow was having the largest Chinese tour group in history coming through.

I was also thoroughly entertained by the money in Macau. Macau uses it's own currency - the Pataca. Other than winning the "Hard Consonant Word of the Day," it's probably the least used currency on the face of the planet. It's pegged to the Hong Kong Dollar (which in turn is pegged to the U.S. Dollar). And, funny thing, the currency is in the minority on the island. According to their Monetary Authority, Patacas make up only 22.3 percent of all Macauese currency in circulation. The More You Know. I took some home with me, cuz I like useless money.

Pictures anyone?

Okay, so, yea... Macau likes the Church. A lot of very large, massive, ''power of Christ'' churches. The one that's pretty popular is St. Paul's Cathedral ruins. This was built like 400 years ago and then God got angry some time in the 1800s and decided to burn the entire thing down.

All that's left is the facade in the front. However, it's a pretty massive facade. You can see the whole city, and its casinos, from the facade's second floor.

Cultural Imperialism time though. Since I got to Hong Kong, I have been warned not to take photos of any inner sanctums of the temples here. St. Paul's has a crypt, a fairly nice one, filled with bones and stuff. Obviously God didn't like the architecture, but had a thing for the skeletons.

Anyways, there are signs everywhere saying that say ''this is a sacred place, please respect it.'' Really didn't see it from the Chinese there. It was kinda sad. They were touching things, and taking goofy pictures. I was a little flustered.

Okay more pictures of churches, ready set go:

Sorry, I had to do it. The Power of Christ compelled me to take this picture. I feel my soul rotting.

Okay, enough of good ol' fashion religion. Let's see sin! It's what everyone comes to Macau for anyways:

Woo! Casinos! Steve Wynn just opened a casino last month in Macau. It's the big super-hot place to be right now. It looks deathly familiar... to Las Vegas.

Speaking of Vegas. I wanted to share this picture. This looks like the other Macau streets I have taken pictures of, yes? Wrong! This is a new Casino. In good old Las Vegas style, they built a whole cultural center to emulate old Macau. Except, well, old Macau is like one kilometer from here.

I didn't get it. I think they should have done Paris. That would have at least been in the spirit of Vegas.

The food was actually really good in Macau. It's a mixture of Portuguese and Chinese food. Take that Californian infusion cuisine! The Portuguese got to this idea before you! I did spoil myself though. I ordered a wonderful rack of lamb and a great bottle of wine, and sat on a cobble stone street reading a book. It was heaven in some Portuguese Chinese Gambling Catholic weird sort of way.

Please Mind the Gap - and the Sin.

Ken

PS: Find me 40 bottles of this wine, and I will love you forever. I couldn't find it for the life of me.

And you thought U.S. Flying Sucks

2006-12-05T23:27:00.000+08:00

Ken: "Hello nice travel agent. I would like to book two flights from Kathmandu, Nepal to Dehli, India."
Agent: "Certainly Rich American. We have three flight options for you."
Ken: "How splendid. Please give me those options."
Agent: "Well, we have Airline A, B and C. Airline A we aren't sure exists anymore."
Ken: "Oh... well, why are you trying to sell me this?"
Agent: "It's the cheapest."
Ken: "I can imagine. Next option, please."
Agent: "Certainly rich American. We have Airline B. Airline B doesn't fly to Dehli right now, but will next month."
Ken:"Oh, so it's expanding? Excellent, I'll take those tickets."
Agent: "Oh, you misunderstood me Rich American. I said they don't fly to Dehli right now, I didn't say they were expanding."
Ken: "So, why don't they fly to Dehli right now."
Agent: "Poor safety record. I think they forgot to hire mechanics or something. Big Nepalese Scandal."
Ken: "Next airline please."
Agent: "Certainly rich American. You can fly Airline C. Airline C is expensive."
Ken: "Well, okay."
Agent: "Very Expensive."
Ken: "Aren't I the rich American?"
Agent: "Certainly you are sir. But you can't afford this ticket. Plus, they require you get pick up the ticket in Kathmandu. I think you have to be Nepali to fly them. Are you Nepali, Mr. Sweet?"
Ken: "I'm not in Kathmandu. I was hoping for an e-ticket. No, I'm American, remember?"
Agent: "Oh, yes.... hmm. Well, Airline C is a good option. Can you wire me your deposit and we'll see if the flight is open for non-Nepalese?"
Ken: "I'm going to take a bus."
Agent: "Call back next week. Some other airlines might start up between now and then."

Sadly, this conversation is pretty much verbatum.

Please Mind the Gap - and get me out of Nepal.
~Ken

Who knew I would be happy to have a long layover?

2006-12-05T11:52:00.000+08:00

On January 5th, I fly from Dehli to Singapore. I get there in the morning (430 a.m. to be precise). I then leave Singapore for Hong Kong at 7 p.m. and get into Hong Kong at 1045 p.m. on the 6th.

So, I get to spend the whole day wandering around in Singapore. Woo, another stamp!

Usually I hate long layovers... but I get to wander Singapore now! I'll make sure to leave my cocaine, pornography, cigarettes and malaysian newspapers at home then.

Ken

Indiana Ken

2006-12-01T23:41:00.000+08:00

Ladies and Gentleman, we're starting to wind down here in Hong Kong. I leave for the United States on January 9th. But, I still have a month left here in China. But, would it be appropriate for me to leave Asia on such a boring, downturn note?

Hell fuckin' no.

I'm doing a 23-day trip into Asia. That hand-written ticket is my ticket from Hong Kong to Beijing. Yea... plane ticket is hand written. How cool is that? Here's my travel plans. Links brought to by Wikipedia, the wiki-est pedia out there.

December 16th - Hong Kong to Beijing. My friend Johannes from Germany and I will travel the Forbidden City, The Great Wall and other parts of China's capital.
December 19th, evening - First-class train from Beijing to Xi'an. We will arrive in the morning of the 20th. Xi'an is one of China's most ancient cities. Hopefully we will see the Terracotta Soldiers, ancient pagotas, etc.
December 22nd, morning - Fly from Xi'an to Chengdu. Chengdu, also another very ancient city has.... pandas!!!!! Yay Pandas! In Chengdu we will meet Jordan from Canada, and prepare for our trip into...
December 24th, morning - Fly from Chengdu to Lhasa, in Tibet. I will spend Christmas in Tibet. That will include the Patola Palace, Tibetan monestaries, the highest lake in the world.
December 28th - Johannes leaves us, he has great and wonderous things to see. But, Jordan and I continue on to Shigatse and Mount Everest Base Camp. Hot.... or... well, more cold. Things get a little, unexact here, because of where we are going from to where we are going to. We however, before New Years eve, will arrive in...
December 31st - Kathmandu, Nepal. Shangri-la. We will spend three days in Nepal, seeing the scenary, and other stuff. I'd give you specifics, but there's just too much.
January 4th - We fly from Kathmandu to Dehli, India. We plan to visit Agra, where the Taj Mahal is, and also see what we can in India during our limited amount of time.
January 7th - evening. I fly back to Hong Kong, via Malaysia. I would like to get out, get my passport stamp and get back in my plane... hehe, yay passport stamps.

That's it. I will then fly back from Hong Kong to Los Angeles then onto Phoenix on the 9th of January, spend a few days in Phoenix with the folks, and then onto:

Columbia! Probably stopping in St. Louis to see Danny and Ian. That's like what, Beijing, Xi'an, Chengdu, Lhasa, Shigatse, Kathmandu, Dehli, Agra, Khula Lampour, Hong Kong, Los Angeles, Phoenix, St. Louis, Columbia... 13 city destinations in a month? Woah.

I plan on blogging as much of the trip I can. We are heading into parts of the world that are pretty much cut off from civilization. However, I cannot express how excited I am! Please, let me here your comments.

Please Mind the Gap -- and Mount Everest.
~Ken

Don't Cry for me...

2006-11-24T18:18:00.000+08:00

There's a Chinese person singing "Evita" at the top of his lungs in the shower.

... that is all.

Like a Black Man at a Croquet Match

2006-11-22T14:20:00.000+08:00

First off, sorry for not posting recently. Life's been busy, and I haven't traveled or done anything that incredibly exciting here in Hong Kong. However, I have some things to update ya about.

So, I'm starting to realize what it means to be a minority in another country. It took three months, but I'm starting to notice it more and more. I'm not insulted by it, cuz I'll share some examples with you, but more, well, frustrated.

I've only recently started noticing things the Hong Kong-ese do when I, or a group of white people, come into the picture. I think I noticed it completely when I had a series of things happen to me.

Anyways, in the morning I get on my bus. I started noticing that always seem to have the seats next to me open. I especially noticed it one day when I got on a very crowded bus last week, and no matter how crowded the bus was, no one would sit next to me. I shower people, I shower.

I then went to a press conference. I signed in and sat on a couch, by myself like usual, and the security guard walked up to me.

Guard: "Sir, do you work for The South China Morning Post?" (the main english-based newspaper in town. The Post reporter is sitting across from me, she's a very nice Japanese lady.)
Me: "No, I'm with Bloomberg. She's over there."
Guard: "Sorry sir, I assumed you were with the Post because...."
Me: "Because why?"
Guard: "Nothing sir, have a good day."

The press conference was held by a very important gentleman in the community. He did his speech in English, and then took all his questions in Cantonese. There were six white people there standing around, occasionally asking a nice Hong Kong reporter what he's saying.

He could obviously see us. I'm standing in his fucking face with a tape recorder.

So I headed home, on my bus with my own seat, and went to grab dinner at a local restaurant. I was placed in the back, in a special section that had forks and water instead of chopsticks and tea in front of it.

Can I have any more stereotypes placed upon me?

Oh, a tuna sandwich with Mayo on white bread. Thanks!

Please Mind the Gap, and The Man,
Ken

Because Hong Kong Pop-Culture is not complete without YouTube

2006-11-16T19:29:00.000+08:00

This video is so famous in Hong Kong, you can buy t-shirts with him on it. He even has a wikipedia entry... how awesome is that?

Sorry!

2006-11-11T17:48:00.000+08:00

So... yea, I know I haven't posted in this thing in awhile. Would I be a horrible person to say that nothing is going on here in Hong Kong? It's just the usual: Work, School, Exploring the City, etc. There's nothing been interesting to write about, until this afternoon:

I went walking down Antique Street in Central Hong Kong today to look for gifts for people. Other than expensive Tea Sets I found a corner in Hong Kong that sold, of all things, Ivory.

Yea --- Ivory. That super-illegal material made of dead elephant tusks.

So, because I had no soul, I went in to look. Honestly, it was the first reasonable items I have seen. Ivory has long been prized for its ability for carving.

I found a few things that I actually liked --- very intricate, very beautiful, and very very illegal.

Oh well. I'll buy it anyways, and put the Ivory with my Absinthe, Blood Diamonds, Cuban Cigars and a Cambodian or Vietnamese baby in my luggage.

Illegal items are so awesome.

~Ken

Post's Covet Item: A trip into Tibet.

Gift Time!!!

2006-11-04T19:29:00.000+08:00

Okay, because it seems to be that only my mother leaves comments on my Blog, I'm now requesting comments.

What do you want from China?

If you could have anything from China, please tell me. Ask, and you will have -within reason. Some suggestions - Tea, Tea Sets, Clothing, Sculptures, Jade, etc.

If there is something you're really dying for, and it's a little pricy, let me know and I can find it for you. I gotta know now because I will be searching the City for things, and I will be heading into China next month.

So, send me your material desires, Material Girls (and boys).

Please Mind The Gap,
Ken

This post's Covet Item --- Well, you're the one's coveting things. Tell me!!!

Things Turn Around

2006-10-27T20:22:00.000+08:00

You guys hate my narratives, but I like my narratives, so... there.

I went into work today at 5:30 a.m. like I usually do. It was a typical Friday - as the intern, I have to be the first person in the office - usually to do summaries of the English-language newspapers and the like. I actually enjoy showing up to a 70-story building when I am the only in it. It's the only time here in Hong Kong I feel truly able to be to myself.

Anyways. So, I finish my tasks around 8:15 a.m. and then I am just browsing the terminal for interesting stories to e-mail to people. Then my former stocks editor taps me on the shoulder.

Editor: "We need you to cover Hong Kong stocks - everyone called in sick."
Ken: "Just Me?"
Editor: "Yea, Please. I need the preview in 20 minutes, thanks."
Ken: "Okay."

I realize two things immediately that didn't pass through my mind while my editor was talking to me:

1) The Industrial & Commercial Bank of China's $19.1 billion initial public offering is today -the largest IPO in the world's history. It's listing today, on my stock market I have to cover.
2) The Hang Seng Index is set to hit an all-time record.
3) I'm fucking alone to cover it.
4) And I have never written a stocks story without a co-byline before to help me through it.

Okay, maybe four things. After said pissing of pants, I got to work.

9:20 a.m. -I file my preview story in 20 minutes. Basically the preview is an overview of yesterday's market and any stocks we suspect will move today because of company news that came out after the markets closed yesterday.

Editor: "Okay, preview's out. What's your theme?" (context: every market moves for a reason, so without the market opening, I have to tell him my reason of what will move and why.)
Ken: "Consumer spending news in the U.S was mostly postive. That will reflect on the exporting companies such as Yue Yuen and Li & Fung Ltd. ICBC lists today, so all the liquidity that was pulled from the market to apply for ICBC shares will re-enter the market, probably back into their target companies. We'll be up this morning, probably led by usual cast of characters."
Editor: "Oil?"
Ken: "Oil's done nothing the last few days."
Editor: "Watch oil stocks. You have an up theme I take it?"
Ken: "Yes."

Up theme= the Hang Seng Index is up today, for xxx reasons

10 a.m. - Market opens. The Hang Seng is up. I send my first fill story (I produce five updates in a stock story a day: entrance, fill, full story, afternoon update, close.)

Oil stocks are split today, and so are airlines. Usually oil and airlines move in tandem in today's market. If oil's up, oil stocks rise, airlines decline and then visa versa. I need an oil story though.

Editor: "I'm going to work on your oil section. You have very little company price information to back up your thesis. I think you'll need to try again with oil."
Ken: "Sounds good."

11 a.m. - With the exception of oil stocks, my thesis is holding up. The Hang Seng passes its record high and ICBC shares are trading 17 percent above their initial trading amount (so if you had 100 bucks in ICBC... in one hour you have 117.... hot).

However, I don't have a fund manager. I need a fund manager. Yes, they are exactly what they sound like. Very powerful people, who often control and decide the fate of tens of billions of dollars. They are G-d to the stocks writer. I go to my fund manager contact list.

11:45 a.m. - I haven't reached a fund manager. My story in completion is due in 45 minutes.

12:15 p.m. - Lilian at Daiwa answers her number. We speak for about 5 minutes. I've got my fundie. Now, I have a full stocks story due in 15 minutes.

12:40 p.m.-
Editor : "Where's my story?"
Ken: "I'm updating price information now and editing. Give me two minutes."
Editor: "Nope."

I send my story, and I am not happy with it. There is huge things I wanted to write about. I didn't have the time. To avoid doing the dialogue - basically my story gets shot to shit, mainly on the basis that it just wasn't ready. I needed more time. I learn and move on.

Lunch time.

2:00 p.m. -
Editor: "Ready for the market to re-open?"
Ken: "Yea."
Editor: "It should be a pretty easy afternoon. The Hang Seng is up 60ish points, it's probably going to stay that way. See if you can develop your themes more. Maybe oil stocks will pull together. We'll have our 'up' theme."

2:30 p.m. - Market reopens. (The market trades for 1 hour, 30 minutes until 4 p.m. I have a final story due to my editor by 4:30 p.m. - half the time I had in the morning. However, the story is basically written, I just update a lot of the prices).

3:00 p.m. - Hang Seng up 50 points.
3:02 p.m. - Hang Seng up 25 points.
3:03 p.m. - Hang Seng up 10 points.
3:07 p.m. - Hang Seng down 10 points.
3:08 p.m. - Hang Seng up 5 points. My story template dies. The Hang Seng is no longer at a record, nor is up. It's swinging between gains and losses (aka hard as fuck to write).
3:09 p.m. - Hang Seng is down 40 points
3:15 p.m. - Hang Seng is down 80 points.
3:20 p.m. - Hang Seng is down 110 points. (at this point... we have a very different story on our hands, nothing I have written, nor the quotes I have gathered, will work. My story is due in 1 hour, ten minutes..)

Editor: "We need a down story. What's the theme?"

Then I have an idea, and I throw something out.

Ken: "The Hang Seng is down because of ICBC."
Editor: "How?"
Ken: "ICBC is the biggest IPO in the world, and the bulk of the Hang Seng index are finance related stocks. It's most likely people are buying into ICBC, explaining why it's up now 18 percent, and why all the banks are down. Also, the Hang Seng has risen dramatically the past week, we could see some correction and psychological issues about the record high."
Editor: "Sounds Good."

I check the Hang Seng Financial Index - it's exactly what it says it is, a sub index made up of finance related stocks. It's way down. All banks and the Hong Kong Exchange stocks are down.

Bingo - I have my theme. Now I need a fund manager to ask if I am write. Remember last time? I have 15 minutes before the market closes. At this point, most of the investing community is incredibly busy -it will be hard to find someone.

I find a fund manager. He agrees with me somewhat. He also talks more about how the Index is at a record, so people could be just scared of the Hang Seng going any higher. Also, something called ''profit taking'' is happening.

Profit Taking = Stock goes up, you make money. You sell stock and get money, you get your profit. Simple. (FYI: Profit Taking is an illegal word in business journalism. We're never allowed to say a market moves because of profit taking. I agree.)

4 p.m. - The market closes at a stable level of down 60 points. I've got my quotes on what's happening with the market. I look at oil stocks - they are down. I look at airlines - they are up. Yay, took them about fucking time.

I write a couple theme graphs on ICBC being this huge-ass deal for the market, and why banks may not be benefiting from a new dog on the block. I write about how the positive U.S. economy is still helping Yue Yuen and Li & Fung (remember them? They were at the top of my story... they closed up today, yay, one theme didn't have be totally rewritten.).

4:30 p.m. - I send my story.

Broadcast Anchor: "Hey Ken, we're hearing rumors that we had a really high turnover day. Can you check?" (Turnover ... well, basically how much money's worth of stocks changed hands).

4:35 p.m. - We find out the HK Stock Market had the second-highest day of trading in history. The only day higher was the massive sell off in 1998 during the Asian Financial Crisis.

4:50 p.m. - Story gets posted on the wire.

Byline: Ken Sweet.

I, by myself, covered the stock market on: the biggest IPO in the word entering the market, the second-highest volume day ever and the all-time record high for the Hang Seng Index.

By Myself.

I wish Darren was here. He went to Austrailia, I hope he would be proud.

Editor: "Great job today Ken. Have a great weekend."

So I left.

Please Mind the Gap,
~Ken

This Post's Covet Item: Ny-Quil. I didn't say throughout this entire post that I started coming down with something. So I worked all day today pretty much sick.

Tourism meets Buddhism

2006-10-24T18:46:00.000+08:00

Picture a Buddhist monestary. What words come to your mind? Serene? Calm? Beautiful? Those are usually the words I put with East Asian temples, from what I have seen since I came to China.

My serene thoughts of a Buddhist monestary were shattered on Sunday, after a few friends and I decided to visit the Tian Tan Buddha on Lantau Island. It's the largest sitting Buddha in the world.

I should have been forewarned about going. First off, I thought such an object would be nice and calm to go see. I ignored the signs right infront of me:

1) Tian Tan Buddha was built in 1990
2) A major Hong Kong transportation company just opened a Cable Car, the Ngong Ping 360, to get to it.

I should have known better. Instead I got this:

AGH! I hate lines!!! The bottom photo was the back of the first of five line segments we had to wait in to get on the cable car. Once we were on, though (1 1/2 hours later), the ride was somewhat pleasant.

Sorry for the glare. We were told that this monestary was way out of the way, and the Ngong Ping 360 was the only way to really get out to see it in time. However, my friends and I noticed a very nicely sculpted path right under the Cable Car.

So, we all felt bad because instead of walking on the nice wooden path through a beautifully green mountainous path, we put ourselves in our sterile little cable car box and rose past it. It was sad. The superficiality of this trip could only get worse....

Now... I support Starbucks. They make great coffee. However, this Starbucks was located in a fake village Ngong Ping 360 built next to Buddha. I quote the brochure:

"Ngong Ping Village occupies 1.5 hectacres adjecent to the Tian Tan Buddha Statue in Lantau, and has been designed to reflect and maintain the cultural and spiritual integrity of the Ngong Ping Area."

I would like to note this Starbucks was next to a giftshop, a French restaurant, and a Chopstick store. Oh! They had a mascot too.

Sorry for the stupid picture, the attendent doesn't know how to use my camera. ... sad. But... you get the picture. There are no monkeys on Lantau island (with the exception of said monkey costume man).

Okay, after losing my soul in the commerciality of that damn village. We made it to the Buddha.

Pretty neat looking, huh? The crowds were massive in the town, but honestly, there was hardly anyone at the Buddha. It was really sad, really.

This was behind the Buddha. Why couldn't the Cable Car have like two exits and dropped me off somewhere in that mountain over there?

Please Mind The Gap - and the creepy monkey.

~Ken

This Posts Covet Item: Ebony chopsticks set at the Chopsticks Store, US$120.

Rich People Make Me a Sad Panda

2006-10-18T18:21:00.000+08:00

Outside of my regular purchases of clothing and consumer goods here in Hong Kong, I am on a side quest for cultural things I can bring back from China to the states. Jade. Sculptures. Paintings. Books. Something that is more long lasting than any tie or shirt I buy at a boutique.

I've had an inkling, since an episode in a park, to purchase a Mahjong set. I don't play Mahjong - my grandmother did though. I use to construct things out of her Mahjong tiles.

It's a memory I have of my Grandma that I cherish. My Mom and Dad are about to go down memory lane.

However! I haven't been able to find one. I've not looked very hard though - I've put off buying cultural items for awhile because I don't know where to buy it, and I don't want to buy cheap rip offs. I also don't want to spend a fortune at a store near the Mandarian Oriental either. So I haven't found a Mahjong set, not one.

So ... to my story:

I was shopping in Central, which is what I do on almost a religious basis. There's always some designer brand flagship store I can walk into and made to feel small, poor and unable to afford this stuff ever because I am a business reporter, not a businessman.

I walked into the Gucci flagship store in Hong Kong. It's literally brand new - opened on Oct. 14. It's three stories and absolutely stunning. I have two items from Gucci - and love both of them.

Anyways, I look to my left, and in a glass case is a Gucci Mahjong set.

... yes.

Traditional Mahjong Set, meets:

Well, I had to see this for myself. Now, a bit of background. I walked into Gucci with a Chanel Bag. I bought a tie at Chanel (yes, I bought a man's tie at Chanel, yes it cost a fortune, and yes it was totally worth it). Chanel gave me this huge-ass bag, and I am dressed quite well today, so I look like I am some rich-ass American with taste.

"YES! I command thee, oh, Gucci store people. Show me the Gucci Mahjong Set."

Well, let's just say if I had HK$22,000 and no soul, I would buy it. They had five in the store. What else could be more unique than a Gucci Mahjong set? I asked to see it, and because I had my Chanel bag qualifications, they pulled out a set for me.

Well, I know my Xmas gift for myself. Let's not send Ken to Tibet, China, or Thailand. Let's buy him a Gucci Mahjong set. YAY!

You know Grandma would be proud.

Please Mind the Gap - and my souless behavior.

Ken

This Post's Covet Item:
In honor of the consumerist culture of Hong Kong, I shall build my Holiday Wish List with each post I put online from here on out.

Well, the Gucci Mahjong Set, obviously. And a Chanel J12 Watch. Black - the small one.

"Oh! You're not a person. ... sad."

2006-10-17T19:43:00.000+08:00

Despite the melodramatic subject, I will try to be more upbeat in this post. Everyone was depressed by my last one.

But, yes - I am not a person. In fact, I really don't exist.

No, I haven't been reading "The Stranger" and other French Existentialist writing while I a muse the evenings away in Hong Kong. Nor have I sold myself into some type of slavery - although knowing some of my readers, that might be something that would perk their ears.

No, in the end, I just don't have business cards.

As I have become a quasi-adult, I find myself in more and more awkward situations where I don't have a business card or 37 to give to sources or random people I meet. In the U.S. - you're just looked at as clumsy by forgetting your business card in a professional environment.

And, usually in the Western World, as I have gotten to know, you exchange business cards after you meet someone and have already conducted business. It's a symbol of "thank you, please remember me, I appreciated our time together." Like you're dating them or something.

In Asia... completely different. Let's go patented Ken Dialogue:

Asian Businessperson: "Hello, thank you for meeting with me. I am Qu Ting."
Ken: "Hello, I'm Ken Sweet with (fill in somewhat important professional aspect here."

Asian businessperson proceeds to pull out silver or gold business card holder, removes a business card. Holding it by the edges, businessperson bows just slightly, holding business card with appropriate language of conversation upwards for recieval. It is held out like an offering.

Now, at this point, I am supposed to take the business card and then provide the same ceremony to the same person, and then business would commence.

What really happens is:

Ken: "Um, I don't have businesscards. Here is my contact infor..."
Businessperson: (in an abrupt tone) "Why don't you have a business card?"
Cue awkward moment.

Business cards are the life blood of people around here. It establishes your place in society. And you give business cards before anyone commences business. And you always bring more than you possibly could need. Today, I had to go the Ritz Carlton hotel to meet with some fund managers. My editor, knowing that I would probably be crucified like Jesus for not having any, gave me seven business cards. I know because I dropped them on the way out of the building (fouling my business cards on the granite floor).

I ran out of them halfway through, and by the time I got to the important person I needed to give a businesscard to, I was out.

Cue Awkward Moment

Please Mind the Gap - and bring business cards.

Ken

The sound of a face hitting dirt at a million miles an hour sounds like my name.

2006-10-13T21:42:00.000+08:00

I've been defeated or downtrodden a couple many times in my life. The first one I can remember distinctly in my mind can be described in two words: Lake Ontario.

That was the answer to a final round to the Arizona State Geography Bee that I missed. I said the Great Salt Lake - I don't remember the question.

I get to add to that collection of downtrodden and defeatist answers today: Enterprise Value. It refers to a value of a company used alternatively than market capitalization, if you really care.

Today I found my first deadline story idea that needed to be written for the wire. It was about a Hong Kong (and later Singapore) based company call Wh_e_elock Properties Ltd. Today its stock shot up 4.4 percent, which is a pretty significant climb for any stock. It was up 20 percent for the week -again a significant climb for any stock.

I noticed this company moving up what's called a HILO chart (52-week highs/lows)... and ran it by my immediates. We found out that an analyst report was put out yesterday night that said this company seemed, on a financial basis, to be open for a privatization option. Usually this is a big deal. It means the stock is worth less than what the market value of the company, and therefore, the stock is worth buying because it's undervalued. We assume the stock is doing well today because of the report -it's very common in stock stories.

I was told to write a quick 5-6 paragraph story about this and the analyst report. I felt pretty good. I finally did some of my own digging and found a decent story that needed to get on the wire. I wrote it, gave it to Darren, who've I've mentioned before, and him and I worked through the story to improve it. So far, so good. I then get to send it to what's called a Spot Editor, a editor who's available at the moment to edit the story and prep it for the wire. At this time, it's about 515 p.m.

Stop.

The editor has some major questions with my story. Legitimate questions. Things I didn't prepare myself to answer. Double Stop.

I'm asked, after 30 minutes of going back and forth, to rewrite the story. The questionable section, well, everything, but specifically: Singapore. I mentioned that above. In this analyst report, one of the reasons for why the company is doing well is because of the property market in Singapore. This is a Hong Kong company that has no property in Singapore.

Editor: "Have you spoken with the analysts who wrote this?"
Me: "No." (I didn't think about doing this... big mistake)
Editor: "Then, how do we answer how this report is legitimate?"
Me: "Um... (insert bullshit statement here... I really didn't know.... then proceed to look like an idiot.)
Editor: "Find a way to show that Singapore matters and some way to valuate this company's worth."

So, I have to find a way to legitimize this stock's value and why Singapore matters. I call the stocks editor in Singapore and ask. I find out there is a company in Singapore called the same thing and owned by the same people. It's also risen to a record high.

Bingo... I found it - it's a dually listed company (companies can list on many stock exchanges... this was one of them). We get the story back together, with the help of my stocks editor Andy, who stayed way past his time necessary to help me. It's 7 p.m.

I was pretty downtrodden at this point cuz I didn't get the story right the first time. I could have given the readers bad info... (I had originally said that there wasn't a Singapore company). However, I'm here to learn and then send off my revised story - feeling good that it answered all the questions necessary.

Editor: "Show me where this is a dually-listed company."
Me: "I asked the stock editor... and called the company."

The editor then shows a function on the terminal that shows if a company is dually listed it would appear there. It didn't. This Singapore company, while related, is not the same company's stock, and therefore, not a dually-listed company.

Editor: "Also... where's the valuation information I wanted you to put in here about the company."
Me: "I thought the Singapore thing would be enough to answer the question about legitimacy, so I didn't look into it." (I didn't know how to, so I didn't). "If you show me how to..."
Editor: "I don't have time to show you anything. I am the only one here and I have a ton of work to do."
Me: "Um..." (awkward silence)
Editor: "Listen, send me all you have on this and I'll put it together when I get time."

So, I prep material for him, hoping I can at least be somewhat helpful. I grab the report, the quotes I got, etc.

I then get a message on my terminal -it's a graph.

It's a graph showing the performance of this company's stock, compared with the Hang Seng Index. This stock has outperformed the market for years, therefore, it's not undervalued, and therefore...

Well, I don't really have a story, do I?

Editor: "Well, the stock still rose a ton, we need to get something out there. Can I have the materials?"
(Hands materials over)
Editor: "Where's the analyst report?"
Me: "Right there" pointing to a 3-page packet.
Editor: "This report is 37 pages long, what you have is a summary. You cannot write a story off a summary. Look here. Eh, nevermind. Go home, I'll work on this when I get a second. You did a lot of work on this. But go home."

I tell him I want to stay until the story is out. It's my story. I want to see it through, no matter how screwy I am....

Editor: "I don't have time to walk you through your story. Go home. I'll see you at the picnic tomorrow."

So I left.

A letter he won't read

2006-10-10T23:33:00.000+08:00

Dear President Bush,

I know you're an avid reader of my blog and I appreciate your time to be an audience member of this humble piece of Internet real estate.

Could I ask one favor though? Please, for the love of all that's good and holy... talk to the damn Koreans before I find out how it feels to:

a) Get a Tan in 15 seconds
b) Grow a second head

If North Korean officials are saying to newspapers "we're going to fire a nuclear missile," at that point if I was you, I would start thinking about a holiday fruit cake for Kim Jong Il or maybe a nice cheese tray.

Cuz, yea... I may not be in Japan or Taiwan or Korea right now... but I am down wind from them. And radiation is just not fabulous.

Talk to the damn Koreans, please.

Mind the Gap, sir.

~Ken

News

2006-10-09T19:02:00.000+08:00

Sometimes news happens. Some stories are bigger than others. I honestly never got that news rush over the agenda to the Columbia City Council. Sorry Matt H.

Enter North Korea and its nuclear test.

7:30 a.m.
I get into work like I usually do. My job in the morning is to write the Hong Kong Stocks preview - basically what's going on in the world that might affect stocks. It's nothing big, I work on it every morning. Because it was coming off a holiday in Asia, it was suspected to be a very quite day on the market. U.S. economic indicators playing possible drag on U.S. market, along with liquidity flowing out of the market in preparation for the $19.1 billion ISBC initial public offering. So, pretty much an uneventful day, I made plans in my schedule to work on a Espr*t story on my down time.

9:30 a.m.
I send my stock preview story to the wire and then spend the morning prepping to call fund investors to get a comment on what happens with the market.

10:00 a.m.
Market opens. Hang Seng is trading down as we suspected, no biggie.

10:37 a.m.
Market loses 200 points in five minutes. Wires start talking about an earthquake in North Korea. The Bureau realizes what's most likely happened.

(Insert Blurry Time Figure Here)
Hong Kong is B-Berg's central Asia bureau. Everything is cooridinated from here. So, everything starts going crazy. "North Korea claims nuclear test" starts being the first things we throw up on the wire.

I call my mom and freak her out. Sorry about that. I also call Jenna... Hi Jenna!

My immediate supervisor and full time stock writer, Darren, throws me on the phones. He wants as many comments about what is going to happen to the market as possible. His boss throws him on covering Korean stocks, because obviously the S. Korean bureau has their hands a little full at the moment.

So, that leaves me with the Hong Kong stocks story for the day. The Hang Seng ends up closing 22x.xx points down from records set on Thursday. But, yea, I was given a story that I pretty much built for the most part on my own. I got all the quotes for the story, helped construct it. I got some help from Darren (who could be reading this blog... howdy mate).

That was my part in the North Korean bomb thing. I covered it.... I think? Who knows.

It was a freakin' rush though. I was thinking back. I haven't had a news rush in a long time, one of a bigger scale like this. I was not writing at the time of 9/11 - yea, Derek, I am not that old...

But this was pretty cool. I was in Asia for big story like that. I wasn't studying in South Korea or something, which, honestly, would be even cooler. At least I have a couple interesting stories to come back with.

I hope I am doing well at B-berg. I sometimes wonder. I'm doing a lot of reporting, but not a lot of writing. I'm going to work on a few stories on my own the next couple weeks to build some clips here.

Anyways, sorry for not writing this more eloquently. I'm bloody tired. However! I refrain from using my traditional closing line for these more popular pop culture references:

"Somebody set up us the bomb!"

Kim Jong Il: I'm so Ronery / So ronery / So ronery and sadry arone / There's no one / Just me onry / Sitting on my rittle throne ...

Nothing better to end a important day with making fun of Kim Jong Il.

~Ken

It's like watching Television

2006-10-06T13:49:00.000+08:00

Oh, America - politics scandals from your neck of the woods are always so much fun. If only this stuff can last through Election Day. That would make me so happy.

It would also make me happy if Rep. J.D. Hayworth gets hit by a bus, but I would take this Foley thing costing him a seat any day.

Sorry, no China posts today, not much to write about really. International Bank Wire transfers a) suck b) expensive and c) were probably looked at up/down/left/right by the U.S. gov't as it left the states. Yea, FBI... I used my 650 bucks to squander vast amounts of opium on the afghani black market, come find me.

Please Mind the Gap, and the Congressman's penis.

~Ken

Chinese National Day

2006-10-02T01:53:00.000+08:00

So, Comrades, I had planned on writing a lengthy and witty blog entry about Chinese National Day. I wrote it, and I decided, I'm not very good at writing communist propaganda. So, I'll explain matter-of-factly instead.

Today was Chinese National Day, the day the Communist Party established the People's Republic of China. On this day 57 years ago is Mao Zedong's said the famous quote "The Chinese People have stood up."

The holiday is not as important in Hong Kong (because of its Communist attachments) than it is in the Mainland. However, we did have a pretty stunning fireworks show. Thanks to YouTube, I have uploaded for you all to enjoy the grande finale.

Hope you enjoyed that, it was pretty amazing to watch. Happy National Day everyone.

Please Mind the Gap,
Ken

For our next course....

2006-09-30T01:34:00.000+08:00

Before I left the U.S., I had dinner with a few family friends about their trip to Hong Kong. They gave some great advice. But, they did warn me.

“Watch out for the fancy dinners.” ~Rene.

Oh, Lordy – Mom, you can tell Rene that she was right. I just lived a scene out of “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.” No snakes. No monkey brains. Now, I am an experimental eater. But… this?

Yea…

Tonight was my hall’s High Table Dinner, one of three we are required by the University to attend. It’s a very important function for the Hall. I was excited to go.

Now, Chinese food is served differently here than in the U.S. Traditionally, you serve one dish at a time, and you finish off one/two dishes at one sitting, and then another set will be brought to you.

Let’s start with the first course:

Suckling Pig. That pig was served to me with its face facing me. I had to stare the pig in the face while we ate. And the meat served was not the interior of the pig... it was the outside. I had to eat the skin off a pig... while it looked it at me.

I suddenly wasn’t that hungry. Allison, oh lordy, Allison.

After the pig, here we go.

Shrimp. Now, I like shrimp. But, I don’t enjoy having my food look at me when I eat. And I swear one of them moved. No one else believed me. I actually won’t have Shrimp at Sushi restaurants anymore because I went to one that served me shrimp with the eyes. I don’t want to look at my food while it's looking at me.

Things just kept getting worse. Damn fish...

I am missing a photo of the whole chicken that was served to us... head and all. Again, the bird looked at me while we ate. I miss Chicken Nuggets.

This pastry was actually good. I have no idea what was in it, and how my night was going, I didn't want to know.

In all our table was served something in the neighborhood of 15 dishes with tea. The majority of the food was quite good. I just like not..... well, looking at my food.

And the endless combination of Pork, Shellfish, Dairy, Beef and Dairy taints my body so much, that God himself would ban me from ever devoting a life to Kosher dietary laws.

After dinner, we had a series of speeches (given in Cantonese) and other stuff. Again, I bring up the mentality of the Chinese compared to Western thought. We had the whole series of applause again for people. We were introduced to committees of students and alumni. Everyone in that echelon of power wore the same outfit.

Anyways, the dinner was quite good, despite the looking at my food thing.

Please Mind the Gap, and stop looking at me!

~Ken

Stop, put that credit card down! We will shoot!

2006-09-28T14:17:00.000+08:00

I inherited my parents' love of fine things. I remember going with my mom to the Chanel counter to get her usual items. I remember going with my father to get a BMW. I remember going with my aunt to Saks 5th Avenue.

It's part of my makeup, I'm a male fashionista. I enjoy seeing what fashion is doing.

I, however, did not inherit my parents' incomes, or their financial discipline. I inherited a $1 million love of things, with a journalist's salary.

So, I make do. You learn to purchase some really nice things cuz they'll last you a long time. you get good shoes, you get good ties. You don't buy season fashion, you buy classics. Thanks Mom, Chanel taught you, and vicariously me, well.

For mainly reasons, I've always been restrained in my ability to purchase fashion. Money, yes. But more isolation than anything else.

I lived in Flagstaff - there's no shopping there.
I lived in Columbia, Mo. - there's no shopping there.
I lived in Tucson, AZ - there's no shopping there.
Now I live in Hong Kong. … and… well, there's just too much shopping here.

Now I get to the point of my blog entry - that I, in all I have learned in fashion, is giving up.

Hong Kong is free trade, and complete and utter access to all fashion. And I mean all fashion.

I walked into the Prince's Building today, which is one of ugh, 30 maybe, major shopping malls in Central, where I work. I list the following flagship stores that I walked past: Valentino (2), Dior, Verace, Chanel, Prada, Dolce and Gabanna, Gucci (3), Tod's, Dunhill, Bally, Yves St. Laurent(2), Armani, Hugo Boss, a dozen high-end tailors and enough jewelry stores to make Elizabeth Taylor throw up. That's not counting the stores that I have clue if they actually matter or not, with pretentious names that only Brenden may know.

With all this fashion, what I have I learned?

It's just too much and I give up. I tried. I tried getting nice ties, good shoes, nice pants. I tried. I tried to look good. And then you see some random white tourist who bought the outfit instead of the one item I got.

So, what have I learned about shopping here? Unless you have an American Express Centurion Card, or you're Madonna, insane or all three, fashion is depressing.

First off, good taste is damn expensive. I found a coat at Zenga this weekend, it was a great basic - Brown leather, wool lining, would have been in my wardrobe for decades. It wasn't outlandish at all. It was HK$34,000 (divide that shit by 8.. and you what do you get? Depression). Good jeans are now US$150-200, with something interesting starting at $300.

The cost of a tie is directly related to it's cost. It's a fact, the $20 sale tie is ugly. I worked in ties - I know.

I tried for emulation. I bought letigre polos instead of lacoste - the letigre ones faded and fell apart. the $100 dress shoes hurt my feet, the $200 ones are a compromise to the $600 ones, which would last longer and way look better.

And don't get me started on that I want a watch, just a watch, and the one I wanted cost more than my car. (No, I didn't go for price). If anyone knows anything about me, with one key exception, I'm not a logo fiend.

So, I give up.I'm going to wear free sleeveless t-shirts and sweatpants and ugly madras blazers to black tie events. I just can't keep up anymore.

And also, here in Hong Kong, I've learned somehow, the Chinese have the highest savings rates in the world and also spend the most on fashion. I can't save or buy fashion. I'm a jewish barbarian.

I was talking about this with a friend at work today. This is his quote:

"One of the sad facts of journalism, is you work for no pay to talk to people with IQ's hundred times your own and a million times your salary. It sucks mate."

Ain't it the fucking truth?

Please Mind the Gap - and the $6,000 Valentino dresses … they're frail you know.

~Ken

A bird of many colours.

2006-09-24T19:58:00.000+08:00

Okay, before I go any further... couple things: 1) Yea, that image above is owned by someone at the Associated Press and I am assuming no copyright privileges to it, blah, blah, blah. ... 2) Sorry I haven't been posting, life has been so busy.

What do you call the event associated with that picture? The Tiananmen Square protests of 1989? The Tiananmen Square Massacre? That Event in China?

How about The June 4th Incident.

Yea.

Welcome to China.

I found myself in my first political discussion where I didn't realize I was in a heap of trouble a few days ago. I was speaking to a Mainlander about Tiananmen Square and I brought up 1989. Yea, that was a mistake.

I think in the United States there are certain controversial issues that will almost get everyone flared up in some way or another. Abortion, Gay Marriage, Brady Commons, etc.

I think Tiananmen Square beats them all. Depending on whom you talk to here, you have to refer to it by a certain name in order not to offend anyone. Honestly, the majority of the mainlanders say they didn't know much about Tiananmen Square and what happened there - even the ones from Beijing.

They also bring up that I guess students burned a whole lot of Chinese police officers during the protests, something I haven't heard about before.

We spoke at length about this event in my Covering China class, which is turning out to be the greatest thing I could ever take. It's interesting to see several different cultures come together on this subject. It's a hot one, most indeed.

The Mainland believes Western Media overplayed the event. Western Media is upset because the Mainland cut their broadcasts. And, according to the Chinese Gov't, nothing ever happened in the Square - which is technically correct. The photo above (thanks AP!), is technically banned in China. You'll never see it in a Google Search.

However, the Chinese Gov't, from my understanding, uses this photo differently. If you have ever seen the video of this event, the tanks go way out of their way not to run over the guy. That's usually the aspect the Chinese Gov't uses.

All the chaos happened in the surrounding streets. But Tiananmen Square's Surrounding Streets Massacre isn't sexy. I guess even historic events need a good marketing scheme.

If you had to think of Hong Kong in 1989, think of an child about to be reunited with its parent, and then Mommy pulls this. Scary.

This is a touchy subject. Probably the touchiest subject I have seen in my life. Because, in the U.S., even if you don't believe in gay marriage, you can still debate it. Here, you just don't bring it up.

Just ignore it, like we do the Squid.

See? I ended a melodramatic post with a Family Guy quote. I can transition into anything.

Anyways, Please Mind the Gap
.
.
.
and the Tank.

~Ken

First Day at The job.

2006-09-18T20:25:00.000+08:00

Ow.

Shoes.... ow.

830 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. .... ow

7 a.m. to ??? tomorrow .... ow.

Running around Hong Kong in a suit.... ew.

To Do:

1) Buy more black shoes.
2) Sleep, maybe.
3) Put a tourniquet on Pride.

ow.

Ken

Swim Meet and Fashion Disasters

2006-09-16T18:13:00.000+08:00

First, I have to applaud, well ... me. The wonderful people over at YouTube are now supplementing this blog entry. I discovered I could do video with my digital camera, so I have a few videos to show you.

Anyways, today was the Intrahall Swim Meet. The Residential Halls here are very similar in behavior to U.S's fraternities and other Greek organizations. They have initiation, songs, and dances. It's very similar to what you would see in the states at university areas.

Anyways, I was given a uniform to wear... and I screamed.

Here it is, I cannot believe I'm uploading this to the web:

AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! Sleeveless shirts. Look how white my arms are; I don't think they have seen the light in a sleeveless shirt in probably a decade. Tragic, truly tragic. Yes, I had to go public in that. The shop workers at Prada or Gucci are saying:

Person A: "Hey, did you feel that, there's a disturbance in the force."
Person B: "Yes, I feel it too, something I haven't felt before. It's so strong... call the fashion police quickly, and probably an ambulance. And get Ken's name on The List. He can't shop here anymore."
Person A: "Yes, Agreed." (scampers away)
Person B: "I haven't felt this level of disturbance since a Mr. David Buck put on a madras blazer and considered that fashion, most disturbing."

Other than the fat, err fact that I looked like a beached whale in an ugly shirt; I proceeded to go cheer my floor mates at the swim meet. My roommate Danny was participating (I could not, because the practices were during school time for me, very sad). I couldn't show off my swimming skillz.

Between the races, the different floors would sing songs and do choreographed dances. Here's one of them, thanks YouTube.

Wasn't that special? I wanted to tell the girls over there that I love Les Miserables. Dad, see they love it here in Asia too. The musical is the gateway to world peace.

Just to make Danny mad, here's a video of his first swimming meet. He won actually, so clap, clap, clap for him. I sound like a swimming instructor in the video... wait, I was a swimming instructor. Sorry for it being horizontal, I couldn't figure out how to rotate the whole video. :(

What you hear in the background, "Yat Lau," is Cantonese for "First Floor, First Floor." That's the cheer. You usually don't cheer a person, you cheer a segment of people -aka First Floor, Simon K.Y. Lee Hall, etc.

Speaking of applause, here in Hong Kong, you applaud everyone for everything around here. When you're introduced communally to someone, a person of prestige, power, one level above you, you applaud him. It's not like when you applaud someone given a speech. No, No, No... It’s more.

Person A: "This is Franklin, our Floor Representative."
Everyone Else: "Oooooooohh..." (commence applause)

It's very interesting. If anything I am learning is how different two cultures take social interactions and group mentality differently. Yay for being a team player (my mom and Leslie would be so proud).

Anyways, Please Mind the Gap - and the water on the digital camera.

~Ken

PS: Oi, Ah, San, Tsi, Ooh, Lai, Chi, Ba, Jian, Sin - I learned to count to ten in Putonghua today! Now I can order Chinese food and sound smart. hahahahaha.

No one comments on my blog :(

Lost in Translation

2006-09-16T01:57:00.000+08:00

This blog entry has no really order or purpose, other than to entertain a few people. Namely Ian.

Here we go:

This sign was on the outside of a restaurant.

Yes, a restaurant has on the outside of it's storefront, saying there is no eating or drinking in said restaurant.

Well, Ladies and Gentleman... that's just freaking hilarious.

That, or really ironic. I guess the purpose of the sign is to keep people from bringing food into the restaurant and eating it there. It just got translated wrong.

Continuing on.... unfortunately, I didn't have a picture of another sign I saw in SoHo.

It was a breakfast place called "The Flying Pan," with a picture of a frying pan with wings on it. Ian, .... remember your L's and R's...

If you don't get it, well... you're just going to have to sit that one out. I'm not touching that joke with a six-foot pole. I really hope Ian gets the joke.

Continuing on, I was at a restaurant with some friends tonight, and over the background speaker comes "Last Christmas" by George Michael. Now, both Matt from Germany and I are completely caught off guard by this (there very strict protocol rules about when or when not to play Xmas music). Or local student friends didn't seem to mind it.

It must be Christmas in Hong Kong all year long then.

I know, it's not as witty as it could have been. Anyways, Please Mind the Gap, and don't eat inside restaurants.

Ken

Tropical Storm Such and Such coming this way

2006-09-13T12:39:00.000+08:00

I am the proud owner of an inside-out umbrella today. I did spend HK$15 on it (about $1.90) for it, so I guess I get what I deserve.

We have some tropical storm coming towards Hong Kong right now. It's supposed to hit us, or just South of us, in the next few days. Here's its current position.

It doesn't have a name, and probably won't have one, but anyways, it's cool that I am somewhat close to one. Here's some pictures of the rediculous rain we're getting.

We're at Tropical Storm level 3, I guess (out of 8 or 10, depending on who you ask), so I guess it's not a huge deal. But, I am getting what I asked for - I wanted to experience a big storm while I'm here.

Anyways, Please Mind the Gap, and the wet stairs (some poor girl took the hard way down today).

~Ken

Mercedes vs. Human vs. Double-Decker Bus

2006-09-12T21:40:00.000+08:00

Warning: my lack of emotions and cynical nature will make this episode much funnier than it really was. Never challenge a bus and Mercedes, you'll lose.

So, out of complete boredom, I decided to go to Causeway Bay today to wander a few shops. I didn't purchase anything, so after a few hours I decided to get on the bus of my dreams: #23. It goes to HKU, to my work and to three malls. Yes, love it.

I got on my bus and after a few minutes, I feel a bump, a dozen car horns - and we come to a streeching halt. Now, the majority of these buses are huge-ass double decker buses that don't necessarily stop on a dime. However, the drivers here seem to think they do.

I bump my head against the chair infront of me.

A buzzer goes off, and me as the stupid English-speaker, asks a schoolchild what happened. He told me there's been an accident, and he thinks we're getting off the bus.

First thought: "Well, I want my HK$5.60 back."

So, I start snapping pictures with my cell phone camera. I guess, from the child's testimony, a bus and a Mercedes Benz both hit a pedestrian, and then the Mercedes, obviously caught off guard, slammed into the bus.

Sucks.

Here we go, no blood though, I couldn't get out of the bus to shoot pictures:

The guy in the grey suit is the driver.

That's a picture from the second level, where I was sitting. The yellow lines were the crosswalk. The man hit by the bus from my understand is somewhere under the rear of my bus and the car.

After about ten minutes, the passengers get shuffled onto another bus.

I learned very quickly when I first got here that you don't screw with anything on wheels here. They honestly don't care. The vast majority of people kept walking and didn't care. I mean, come on, the crosswalks tell you about as explicitedly as I have ever seen when or when not to cross.

I got my $5.60 back. I guess if you hit someone with a bus, the least of your worries is cashing in the fares of your passengers.

Anyways, Please Mind the Gap ... and the bus.

~Ken

Watch what you say...

2006-09-11T11:30:00.000+08:00

On Saturday, I got invited out with a bunch of international students to go grab some food and maybe later end up wandering Wan Chai or something like that. So, we head down to Kennedy Town (located just south of where I live) to find a restaurant.

I was talking with my friend Jerry who is from Germany about several different things (we were at the tail end of a group of about 15) and then we pass a McDonalds. I say to him:

"I feel very proud that I've been here in Hong Kong for what, 10 days now, and I haven't had any American fast food at all."

And I was proud -I've been very good about eating at local restaurants. But then, I do think then God noticed this so-called pride and proceeded to smite my unneeded culinary pride.

Because no sooner did I say that, our group all turned into the KFC two doors down. I don't know when we decided on KFC, I certainly wasn't a part of that decision-making process.

So, here in Hong Kong, with every possible cuisine around me, I had fried chicken, mashed potatoes, corn and some rice palaf thingy.

And you know, it just doesn't taste the same. KFC in the states is so much better, maybe it's the water, or the MSG.

Please Mind the Gap,
Ken

Culture Shock 2 and Rain

2006-09-09T12:48:00.000+08:00

Saying that we've replaced here in Hong Kong massive humidity with massive rain, I thought I would write about a recent eating experience here.

I always took some pride that I am a "White Man" who can use chopsticks. I hate eating Chinese food any other way- it just doesn't feel correct.

Well, I learned very abruptly that I have much to learn about Chinese etiquette.

Yesterday while eating, I was out with my Buddy from Hong Kong - a local student who's assigned to check on us while we're here in Hong Kong. We went out to eat and usually I have no trouble going out for Cantonese.

Anyways, after we finish, we were talking about manners and stuff, I am not sure how it came up, but anyways, he brought up "there are two things you need to learn about eating with Chinese."

Ut-oh.

He told me that using Chopsticks with your left hand is considered very rude and unrefined. I guess the Putonghua word for left handed, or 左, basically means "out of accord" or even worse, "illegal."

Now, I'm left handed, strongly left handed, I do everything left handed, except throw a baseball, oddly (maybe if I threw left-handed I wouldn't be so bad at sports ha-ha). Using my right hand to eat with chopsticks could never happen. I never knew being left handed would be such a cultural taboo. How to fix this... hmmm.

Also, in Chinese eating, you usually get several dishes and share between many people. You pull some from each dish and so on. Well, it's always been common for when I go out for Chinese, and I cannot grab a piece of vegetable or something, I will just try for the next piece.

Not Here. You're committed to that chicken piece once your chopsticks touch it. Call it food marriage, if you wish. Again, you can't grab a piece; you're basically an idiot.

So, I guess I am still the barbaric white man here in China, no matter how many years I have spent eating Chinese food in the States.

Hope all is well, until next time, Please Mind the Gap.

~Ken

Ode to Octopus

2006-09-08T16:21:00.000+08:00

I once watched a couple online television news stories in the states several years ago that described that "one day, we will have the technology to purchase small items that we need by just pointing our cell phone or watch towards a vending machine or at a Circle K." I think I quote that almost word-for-word.

One day is today here in Hong Kong. Behold the Octopus, probably the greatest piece of technology Hong Kong has to offer, next to the longest escalator in the world and silent subways.

Let me explain why I "heart" Octopus. First, it's works everywhere. McDonalds? Use your Octopus. Bus? Use your Octopus. Circle K? Use your Octopus. Subway? Use your Octopus.

You get the picture. Basically, the Hong Kong transit authority for use issued the Octopus card in their extensive mass transit system (95 percent of all residents of HK use mass transit.

Like the social security number in the U.S., it ended up being used for everything in Hong Kong. You can use Octopus for tea at the Seven 11, McDonald’s, anything you want, just as long as you have enough money on it.

What makes it even cooler is the fact it’s radio controlled. So, you’ll see when you get on a bus people holding their wallets, purses, duffel bags, cats, up to the Octopus reader. They also make Octopus-compatible designer watches and keychains.

See? The Chinese invented Gun Powder, Porcelain, Fireworks, the longest escalator in the world (I promise to upload pictures of that too) and Super-Easy-Ways-To-Pay thingies. They are awesome ^_^

Americans can’t even come with a mobile network that works.

Other things of note: Classes started today officially, but I don’t start class until Wednesday because I am only going half time. My internship at Bloomberg starts 18 September, and you’ll definitely hear about that.

Anyways, Please Mind the Gap.

Ken

More of Hong Kong

2006-09-05T21:09:00.000+08:00

I went with the Journalism faculty today on a tour of some major sites in Hong Kong for news value. While I wasn't able to fully grasp the major connections for news values, it was an excellent tour of some major sites of Hong Kong and Kowloon.

I can't blog much about today, so I'll just show pictures:

This is a Taoist temple located in northern Hong Kong. It's the largest temple in Hong Kong, and just absolutely stunning. Above is a picture of the rear garden. If I need to relax and run away, I'm running away to there.

In contrast, here's another picture from Mong Kok. I don't read Cantonese, but from my understanding, you wouldn't want your mother reading those signs if she could read Cantonese (sorry mom).

Let's go back to the Temple. Ah... peace. I guess in Taoist religions, you burn incense in multiples of three to ask the Gods for fortune or favors.

I look pissed off in this picture.

This was something I didn't notice until today. Outside of my dorm is a very large piller sculpture, dedicated to the victims of the Tianenman Square protests of 1989. The political liberties here in HK are much more extensive then I originally thought.

I'll post some interesting thoughts soon, until then. Baii Baii.

~Ken

Mong Kok

2006-09-03T19:14:00.000+08:00

I went with a group of friends to an area in Hong Kong called Mong Kok located in Kowloon. The area is a huge open market. I could describe it, but pictures are much cooler (and I just bought a digital camera, yay!).

This is Mong Kok. I don't think you can see in these pictures, but the vast majority of the people walking around here, have on flashy watches and carry Gucci bags. It's all fake, but it's kinda fun. This part of the road was a open market, and every time we walked by a stall, the owner would yell at us "Copy Watch!" - you can figure out what that means.

Here, it's pure bargaining, and everything is cheap. My friend Philip from Germany bought two dress shirts at a stall for 80 HKD, or about 10 bucks. It was funny to look at them though, they were decent in quality, but totally labeled wrong. The pocket read "Hugo Boss" and the inside the neck read "Nautica."

Every corner had a little shop for you to shop at. Mong Kok in this area was almost all consumer goods - no chinese medicine, artifacts, or that stuff. What was sold as Chinese trinkets were pretty cheap looking. I was little sad. Some of the trinkets were so cheap looking, I felt bad just looking at them, because they were probably based off something at some point.

There were dozens of these street markets.

On a main street, there was a protest going on. Hong Kong, as a Special Administrative Region, is allowed more political liberties than other places. The people below were protesting in favor of the Falun Gong.

Falun Gong is banned in China, it's a political movement. I don't know much about it. Anyways, look at the sign. It says "Heaven Condemns CCP's Brutal Genocide." If you think back to anything you learned in school about China, do you guys remember the Mandate of Heaven concept? Basically, any government in China is given the right to govern by the Gods. The People's Republic of China is the successor of the Chinese Emperors, and is the legitimate heir to thier government. Just interesting to note.

You can't see in these pictures but, Mong Kok is incredibly crowded, and we went on a slow day. It's hard to walk in some of the open markets at some points, and people definately are pushy.

On one street in Mong Kok was an open air fruit market. You could purchase anything exotic there, and it all looked incredibly fresh. We had just ate before, so I didn't have anything. I did however...

Have a coconut. :)

I kept seeing people wander around with coconuts with straws in them. It immediately became a mission to find the stall for one. I found one, and for 5 HKD (about 64 cents), the guy would punch a hole in the fruit with a screwdriver and hand you a straw. Very good actually. Aww... that girl in the picture is cute.

Hey, look how tan I am! I went to the beach for my birthday, and had a chance to get some color in my skin again. Yay!

I bought a bomber jacket and brown sports coat at Mong Kok. Both were very nice, I got them for like... combined, um, 150 HKD? Yea, like 20 bucks. My shopping Gods smiled at me today.

Culture Shock Episode 1: Chicken and Prostitutes

2006-09-02T02:32:00.000+08:00

I watched a chicken die.

Now, there are a lot of things I could write about today, especially since it was my birthday. But, I choose to write about said chicken.

I walked into the Smithtown Market today, and on the first floor is a butchering area where dozens of butchers have there individual stands selling various meats. I made the mistake of watching past a poultry stand when a woman pointed to a live chicken and ordered it.

I don't speak Cantonese, but I think she ordered it.

The butcher pulled the chicken out of the cage and well... yea.

I walked away at that point. Two minutes later, my roommate called me to see if I wanted to eat.

-Eight Hours Later-

I went with a large group of international students to Wan Chai, which is a neighborhood in central Hong Kong. We were going bar hopping and inbetween the bars were woman grabbing my hand, talking about favors or something.

I've seen prostitutes before, but never been actively sought out by them. I thought it was the grossest thing ever, but every time I ignored them, some guy behind me would walk off hand-in-hand with them.

That was my birthday, chicken and prostitutes.

~Ken

PS: I did spent the vast majority of my b-day on a beach today :) ... we went to Western HK, where our driver took us to a cove with an isolated beach. It was absolutely wonderful

Ground Floor, seven stories up.

2006-09-01T20:14:00.001+08:00

My friend made an interesting comment today, and I think it’s true for my entry today. He said as we were staring at a overcrowded cemetery “Look, even the dead and the living have to fight for space in Hong Kong.”

I don’t know if he stole that from some famous quotation or whatever. But, I’ll say this, -how appropriate.

Today was my first day in Hong Kong that didn’t consist of Jet Lag. My first initial observation, other than my inability to even purchase tea without it being a humongous deal, is how vertical this city is.

Yea, it has big buildings… I’m not going to make that observation.

Hong Kong is built on, how appropriately, Hong Kong Island, which is a big old mountain. Victoria Peak, the tallest spot, is like at 1,500 feet. Now, that doesn’t sound like a lot. But, the whole island goes from ocean shore to mountain top in maybe, 2-3 miles, max.

So, everything is built on top of itself, it’s crazy.

Leaving on a Jet Plane, part three.

2006-09-01T20:13:00.000+08:00

Note: I didn't have Internet for three days, and I wrote these while I was Internet-less... enjoy.

Thirteen and one-half hours…

The first thing you notice, other than the massive piece of steel, plastic and oil that’s supposed to take 7,200 miles across the Pacific Ocean, is the self-service beverage soda fountain next to the bathroom.

Welcome to international economy class.

I’m here on Cathay Pacific flight no. 885, service from Los Angeles to Hong Kong. The flight is only about half full, and I am near the back of this 747 –row 56, seat A. I get a whole row to stretch out – and I think I have filled every pocket within three seats. Lunch is around here somewhere.

The flight so far has been slightly interesting. The safety demonstrations are done in well, English and Cantonese, obviously. Most interestingly was a health service video about how to care for you while on a very long flight.

The flight consisted of a boy and girl, white, no older than maybe six or seven, in a park. All of the sudden, they decide to get up and do stretches. Here I am, 23 years old, with a $1,200 ticket to Hong Kong, and I am having children teach me how to sit and stretch on a plane.

I calculated it all out, and I think I arrive in Hong Kong at approximately 9 a.m. Missouri time, 7 a.m. Arizona time. I don’t usually sleep on planes.

Six hours in:
I don’t sleep on planes because I think I have a fear of flying. Why not explicitly fearing flying, I think I fear more the idea of I am trusting my life into the hands of countless people I never will meet. We’re over Kampuchea now (that’s eastern Siberia), and we hit some moderate turbulence. I slightly freaked.

Leaving on a Jet Plane, part 2

2006-08-28T09:29:00.000+08:00

I present this challenge: Get from the United States, to a small six-story building in eastern Hong Kong, and do it without knowing a word of Cantonese.

This has been my challenge of the day. I learned very abruptly that none of the taxi drivers in Hong Kong speak any English. Now, I wasn't surprised, just that there really isn't a solution for this. I was told by people over there that I have to write out what I need, use a translation program and hope it does a good job.

So... I had to figure out how to write:

"Dear Taxi Driver, I need to get to Simon KY Lee Hall at The University of Hong Kong's main campus. Please take me there." Note: Simon KY Lee Hall is not necessarily 100 percent translatable.

I got this:

"亲爱的出租汽车司机, 我需要获取对西蒙KY 李・霍尔香港的主要校园大学。
请采取我那里."

That's Putonghua, or Mandarian (not commonly spoken in Southern China). I had to write that out. I've never written a Chinese character in my life - and I had to copy, character by character, that sentence onto some paper. It took me an hour.

According to BabelFish, that translates into: "Dear taxi driver, I need to gain to Simon KY Li Hall Hong Kong's main campus University. Please adopt my there."

Pray for me, and pray that my taxi driver can somewhat comprehend my Mandarian chicken scratch. I then realized today, "Ken, you're going to a place in the world that you don't speak a word of their language, and somehow live, survive, and work." It's a humbling thought.

Again, Pray.

~Hong Kong Ken

Leaving on a Jet Plane, part one.

2006-08-27T13:17:00.000+08:00

I leave for Hong Kong in three days. My flight from Los Angeles leaves at 1:20 p.m. on August 29th and arrives at 7 p.m. on August 30th. The flight is 14 1/2 hours.

I got asked again today if I am excited to leave for Hong Kong. I've had this question come passed me a lot throughout the summer. To answer:

No, not really.

Ever talk about something for months and then it finally happens? It's kinda anticlimatic. I think I just want to get on my plane and get there. Maybe I'll be a little more excited then.

To give you an interary of how things go: I fly into Hong Kong International Airport,香港國際機場, considered the best airport in the world. It's built on an island. Yes, I'll take pictures.

I then take a high speed train into Central Hong Kong. If you look at the picture below of the HK skyline, those large buildings are Central. I arrive in the HK equivilent there of Penn Station, for all my NY readers.

I then take a taxi to Simon K.Y. Lee Hall - a dorm. That's where I am living (for US$3.40 a night). The University of Hong Kong is located in the Mid-Levels, where a lot of older British architecture is found, and sits in the shadow of Victoria Peak. I love public education.

~hong kong ken

A little about Hong Kong

2006-08-15T12:51:00.000+08:00

Hello everyone:

Since I haven't left for Hong Kong, yet, and I am trying to get this blog to be code ready for when it debuts, this is a place holder:

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (Chinese: 中華人民共和國香港特別行政區) is one of the two special administrative regions (SARs) of the People's Republic of China, the other being Macau. It is commonly known as Hong Kong, which is often written Hongkong in older English-language texts. The Hong Kong Government officially changed the spelling of Hongkong to Hong Kong on 3 September 1926.

Hong Kong is on the eastern side of the Pearl River Delta on the southeastern coast of China, facing the South China Sea in the south, and bordering Guangdong Province in the north. Hong Kong is China's richest city, has one of the world's most liberal economies and is a major international centre of finance and trade.

Hong Kong was a British colony from 1842, until its sovereignty was transferred to the PRC in 1997. It is governed as special administrative region under the Basic Law of Hong Kong. Under the terms of the Sino-British Joint Declaration, the PRC has promised that Hong Kong will have a relatively high degree of autonomy until at least 2047, fifty years after the transfer of sovereignty. Under the "One Country, Two Systems" policy, it retains its own legal system, currency, customs policy, cultural delegation, international sport teams, and immigration laws.