Quote of the Day (22)

25 Sep 2010 - There is quite a powerful article by columnist Chip Tsao in HK Magazine. His weekly column is called "Politically Incorrect", which is a good title for his sometimes controversial views on the world called 'Hong Kong'  Like this one: "Hong Kong is, following other examples such as Zimbabwe, Ghana and Nigeria, becoming regrettable anthropological testimony  to the grim social reality that after Robinson Crusoe departs, Friday is not sophisticated enough to cope." I share his concerns for the future of Hong Kong.

Obscure Holidays

25 Sep 2010 - Holland tops the the list of 'obscure holidays' as was recently published by Lonely Planet. In fact, Holland is mentioned four (yes, FOUR!) times in the top 10. At number one Lonely Planet lists a night in the orange capsule hotel in The Hague. The capsules were used until 1972 for life-saving operations at sea, and only have a diameter of 4.2. meters. The capsules come with a survival food package and chemical toilet. Other obscure holidays in Holland are staying in the "Crane Hotel" in Harlingen, where one can spent a night at ultimate height in the cabin of a crane, or a peaceful camping experience on a floating raft (no electricity and no toilet available). The rafts are only available by canoe. At number 10 Lonely Planet recommends spending the night in one of the two hotel suites in the Euromast in Rotterdam - the tower standing more than 100 meters tall in the Rotterdam harbor. Reservations for all these 'obscure' locations are essential, as most locations are fully booked months ahead.

Dutch Utopia

24 Sep 2010 - The Dutch Singer Museum in Laren has opened an exhibition called 'Dutch Utopia". The exhibition focuses on the romantic image of Holland as portrayed by American painters like William Merritt Chase, John Singer Sargent, George Hitchcock and Gari Melchers. In the years between 1880 and 1914 these painters traveled with dozens of other American painters to the Dutch villages of Katwijk, Volendam and Laren looking for the idyllic image of tulips, wooden shoes and windmills. In those years the USA industrialized in rapid pace and the painters were looking for a"life that once was". Inspired by the Dutch School and 17th century Dutch Masters they hoped to find a reality of hard-working farmers, high skies, christian values and colorful fields of tulips. Although they did not always find what they were looking for, they painted a romantic image of Holland that remained a myth for decades to come. The exhibition in the Singer Museum how the painters used their creativity to paint images of Holland that were rapidly disappearing or not longer existed at all.

Dog Poo

24 Sep 2010 - The city council of The Hague held a heated debate yesterday about the burning issue if dog poo and pee is harmful for trees or not. The city council had proposed to close an area of 12,000 square meters in a local park for dogs, as it was feared that decades-old oaks in the area were harmed by the acids in the dogs' excrement. The "Party for Animals" - represented in the city council and the Dutch national parliament - felt there is a no scientific proof for this argument and wanted the park to remain open for all. A memorable debate unfolded with delegates debating the quality and impact of .. eh ... dog shit. The Liberal party questioned if there were not more pressing issues that needed to be debated. After a lengthy debate it was decided to keep the park closed, as it concerns only a small part of the area, and 92% of the park remains open for all.  And that include dogs in urgent need.

Buy Local, Eat in Season

24 Sep 2010 - How much longer will we be able to enjoy seafood on the menu? It is a somewhat unsettling but realistic question, also - or some would say in particular - in Hong Kong. Some restaurants have already stopped putting fish on the menu altogether. "Dealing with fish is too risky," says Todd Darling of Posto Pubblico in SoHo, "So many are nearing extinction." However, Hong Kong's appetite for fish and seafood has risen dramatically over the years. Demand has now reached a critical point that threatens the existence of some species. In many areas across the globe, humans are taking fish out of the sea faster than many species can repopulate. Restaurants will hopefully learn to only put sustainable foods on the menu. Customers should put pressure on restaurants they frequent and ask question where the fish was caught. The advice of those in-the-know in the sustainable food movement is "Buy local, eat in season". Buying out-of-season fruits and vegetables, or eat fish that can not be caught in Hong Kong or Guangdong waters means the environment pays a price for these imported goods. 

70 Million

23 Sep 2010 - Nearly 70 million children are not getting an education despite much progress in the last 10 years. The financial crisis has forced poor countries to cut education budgets by USD 4.6 billion a year at a time when more efforts are needed to achieve the UN Millennium Development Goals of ensuring primary school education for every child in the world by the year 2015. Ten countries were listed at the bottom of the education list, all of which but Haiti are in Africa. Named were Somalia, Eritrea, Comoros, Ethiopia, Chad, Burkina Fasso, Central African Republic, Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Liberia. The ranking were based on access to basic education, teacher-student ratio and education provision to girls. The UN children's agency UNICEF said spending USD 1 million helping children aged 5 and younger in the most remote and disadvantaged areas would prevent 60% more deaths than the current approach, calling it a "stunning higher return on investment."

Great Picture (19)

23 Sep 2010 - The Dutch Press Agency ANP published this picture of the preparations for the annual 'Prinsjesdag': the day Dutch queen Beatrix reads out the plans of the Dutch Government for the coming year. The Dutch are awaiting the forming of a new leadership (or failure thereof), so reading out the plans of the old establishment seemed a rather meaningless event. Despite the odd moment, thousands came out to cheer on the queen and enjoy the day off in The Hague.

Food Capital

22 Sep 2010 - The Chinese city of Guangzhou is gearing up for the organization of the East Asia Games later this year. Athletes and officials will be in for a treat, Guangzhou has recently been named the mainland's "fine food capital", with he average resident spending RMB 6,000 a year on eating out, the Yangcheng Evening News reports. A panel of experts from the China Cuisine Association and the Wold Association of Chinese Cuisine , who chose Guangzhou, said the residents themselves were the real experts on fine dining. Guangzhou has more than 40,000 restaurants, and last year the city's food and beverage industry make 61 billion RMB, about a quarter of the sector's earnings in Guangdong province. Hopefully the East Asia Games will be a success, but some spectators may flog to the city for the food and not to watch the sports.

Oktoberfest

22 Sep 2010 - In a few more weeks the German state of Bayern will celebrate its traditional Oktoberfest, with many in 'lederhosen' and women in 'dirndl dresses' eat and drink as much as they can to celebrate life. The Bayern region is the top producer of beer in Germany, and Germany is only topped by the Czech Republic in beer consumption per capita. Every year about 6 million people join the Oktoberfest, but the consumption of beer has almost doubled in recent years. A few decades ago people drank 3 million liters, but last in total 6,5 million liters of beer was consumed. People do not only drink they also sing, dance and eat. The Oktoberfest organization committee published the amount of meat that is ordered for consumption this year: 459,356 chickens, 53,736 pork legs, and 104 cows. But overall meat consumption is on the decline: in 1981 people ate 350,000 sausages, but this year only 116,000 were ordered.  

The Mirhbox

21 Sep 2010 - There is money in everything, but people fail to see it. A Paris imam saw his opportunity though. The imam is also a part-time inventor and created a portable mosque to help the faithful concentrate better on their prayers wherever they are. He invented a two meters high structure called the Mirhbox, which takes the form of a mirhab - a niche in the wall of a mosque that indicates the direction of the holy city of Mecca - whenever in use. The Mirhbox may be a bit bulky, but it can easily be carried in an average car. The price is reasonable, as for Euro 450 (HKD 4,450), for a top range model, which includes a built-in loudspeaker, to as little as Euro 69 for a smaller children's model. The imam is working on the portable mosque next.

Panda War

20 Sep 2010 - Tensions between old rivals Japan and China over disputed sea waters are on the rise again. China traditionally uses its panda diplomacy to calm things down, but it may think twice before sending more pandas to Japan. Last week, the death of giant panda Kou Kou in the Oji Zoo in Kobe created a stir. Kou Kou died of cardiac arrest after failing to recover from an anaesthetic. Veterinarians has sedated the 14-year-old male as part of a programme to impregnate his partner. Experts believe Kou Kou may have died from an overdose of sedatives and questioned why the vets were extracting semen outside the animal's mating period. There are only 1600 pandas left in the wild. Nearly 300 others are in captive-breeding programmes. Pandas are notoriously slow at reproducing in captivity.

GayLM

20 Sep 2010 - The KLM is aiming for the pink dollar. The Dutch Royal Airlines have started an advertising campaign in the UK particularly targeting gay customers. A special website is developed to motivate the gay community to fly KLM to the gay capitals of the world (Amsterdam, San Francisco, Berlin). The KLM will soon fly from 15 cities in the UK to Amsterdam, and from there to cities all over the world. Gay people are considered an attractive clientele, because they travel a lot and have good money to spend, as many do not have the responsibility for children. KLM marketing manager Verane Brissaud argues that gays also have more free time to travel, as they do not need to raise the kids. However, he also plays down the extra attention for the gays, as he explains that KLM also has special campaigns for business men and women, golfers, sun-lovers and elderly. KLM's marketing strategy is merely a matter of increased segmentation, which is a worldwide trend. SAS has already responded, they have opened a special flight from Stockholm to New York offering the possibility to gay couples to get married in mid air.

Mooncakes

19 Sep 2010 - It is almost Mid Autumn Festival. Traditionally, People exchange mooncakes for the event., while people hope for a bright full moon on this special night of the year. However, dietitians warn to be careful with the delicacies. Since the Hong Kong Government introduced compulsory labeling of all foods, it is possible to learn the fat and sugar content of the delicacies. And it is not good! Some mooncakes contain almost one-and-a-half times an adult's recommended daily intake of sugar , while for others a single cake could account for a full day's fat consumption. A dietitian warns that a mooncake contains as much energy as three bowls of rice, but people should not worry too much as long as they know when to stop eating. She says that eating a quarter of the mooncake sis totally acceptable. She also recommends to eat less rice during the festival as it will compensate the heavy mooncakes intake.