Keeping up with the Shaws

I live across from a mansion that was occupied by the nephew (I think) of one of the most recognizable names in Hong Kong, Sir Run Run Shaw. I've also been spending a lot of time daydreaming at my desk and, it seems to me that SOMEthing is going on over there this week. There have been trucks and minivans hauling things in and out of there, and currently a woman in a fuchsia top and white visor, together with a man in a purple T-shirt, are walking around the grounds of the Shaw mansion talking and pointing at things. It's been on the market for ages now, and last month was the target of a burglary... has it finally been snapped up? And by whom????

Pointless frustration

I live in a pretty whitewashed neighbourhood: Sai Kung. There are more eurasian kids per chinese kid here than anywhere else in Hong Kong. There are also more awesome bakeries here than anywhere in Hong Kong, in Sai Kung Town, there are at least 8 bakeries, and the town could not be more than 7 blocks squared.

But, there are two things that I find that I could do without.

1. Chavs. Young white boys in hoodies yelling at me from under the bridge, from the back of the bus, from the corner of the town square. Srsly. You are never gonna get a rise out of me, ever. Except while venting on my blog of course.

2. Rude Americans. Was at the gym today, and overheard this fat American woman complain about Repulse Bay being called Repulse Bay. Said she couldn't imagine why one would name a bay that. It took me about one and a half seconds to imagine why it would be called that, and I was right - I wikied it afterwards. For a person coming from a country with the biggest navy on the planet, you Mrs, you are very unimaginative indeed.

Toilet Signs

What do you think about while in the bathroom? I've always loved the short story that Paul Jennings wrote called "The Velvet Throne" which is part of the short story collection Unmentionable , something of an amazing kid's book. In the story, all the little messages that people scrawl on a particular public bathroom wall comes true. Yes, sounds a little weird, but so is most of Jenning's fiction, you wouldn't believe it till you read it.

So, this is what I saw in a bathroom today. I was out having a coffee in Sai Kung with my mum. They do say that caffeine is a diuretic.



The person who did the translation obviously thought he was ever so clever, using "easy come, easy go" as a basis for reminding people to flush. *sigh* The wierd language fragments people pick up and reuse without actually understanding it's meaning. I just don't know how the hell to interpret this. Of course it's easy to go when you need to hurry to go to the bathroom, due to the call of nature being particularly shrill and urgent. But WHAT does it have to do with FLUSHING? Those poor gweilos are going to be so, so confused. I think most of them are going to have strains of the Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen running through their head when they're doing their number 2.


This is the other thing that was stuck on the cubicle wall. Juueeest sayin', those people at the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department in Hong Kong are a little creepy. I would not want a toilet that had arms, that had a face that could stare at my butt as I did my beeezzness. I would freak out.