For those who misses the famous New York Fries from our food courts, New York Fries has finally arrived Hong Kong.
Watched this awesome movie at the Grand Cinema last week. To tell you the truth, I don't have much clue about the Three Kingdoms Dynasty but this movie has extracted me to find out more about that era of the Chinese History.
From what I read from a lot of sites, the Battle of Red Cliff is the one of the most impressive battle where a much smaller troops won against the fierce army of Cao Cao. In Asia, this movie comes in 2 parts and I can't wait for the 2nd part of the movie at the end of this year.
After heavy rains in the past 2 weeks, we finally have sunshine during this weekend. It is also the first time this year that the Hong Kong Observatory has issued the Very Hot Weather Warning iand it is now in force.
The highest temperature measured yesterday is 33.4C which is the highest this year and seems like it is going to last for a few days.
I just found out recently that The Grand Cinema at Elements is having a special offer for Standard Chartered Platinum card holder, you can enjoy a buy one get one free offer (same show) ticket offer at the Standard Chartered Starsuite on every Wednesday. The ticket is $125 which include a snack and a drink.
Also for Manhattan Cardholder, you can redeem a ticket at the MANHATTAN Galaxy at a special rate of $1 + 1000 Credit card points on every Thursday.
The offers last until 5Nov08, so enjoy the movies.
If you have been in Hong Kong, you will know that the queue when visiting the branch or withdrawing month from ATM is extremely long. Recently, HSBC introduced the idea of having a HK$300 minimum withdrawal amount for each account and they have received a lot of complaints from the public.
HSBC has finally decided to cancel this limit after consideration but the negative publicity has already been done. In the public, this move is another measure to drive away the poor customers and to reduce the service provided to them. Furthermore, with classifying the customers (Primer, Powervantage, etc), it seems like they are only interested in wealthy customers.
In recent years, Hong Kong Ocean Park has been arranging a Halloween Bash to attract tourist. You can find more information from the Ocean Park website.
I have also extracted the highlights below:
Come to Ocean Park for an all-new mix of spooky fun and creepy thrills in one of the world's biggest Halloween Bash! There are 40 new Halloween attractions throughout every dark corner of the park.
Fulfill your frightful fantasies at the 7 never-seen-before haunted houses and 3 new scary zones - each set to different frightening themes and characters from all-around the Nether World. Assault your senses with the spellbinding and whacky SCAREmonies 07 and spectacular shows featuring the largest ever cast of 250 ghosts!
Be prepared for amazing night action that will leave you breathless!
You can purchase tickets online through the link I listed above.
Horse racing in Hong Kong commenced in 1841 with the arrival of the British, who immediately set about draining a malarial swamp to form a racetrack at Happy Valley. With the exception of a few years during World War II, the track has been non-stop action ever since. The Hong Kong Jockey Club was founded in 1884 and changed from an amateur to a professional organisation in 1971. A second racecourse was opened at Sha Tin in 1978.
The growth of the sport's popularity was attended by an increase in illegal bookmaking. In 1973, the Government authorised the Club to operate off-course betting branches to tackle illegal gambling head-on. Since then, the Mark Six lottery and regulated football betting have also been introduced to combat illegal gambling.
The Club has a long tradition of donating to charitable causes, but it was in the 1950s, as Hong Kong struggled to cope with post-war reconstruction and a massive influx of immigrants, that this role became integral to its operation. In 1955 the Club formally decided to devote its surplus each year to charity and community projects.
During the race season, many race fans in Hong Kong can be seen burying their heads in newspapers at teahouses studying the odds for their favorable horses.
Horse racing days are held in two racecourses at Happy Valley and Sha Tin on most Wednesdays and weekends from September to June, attracting about 1.2 million race goers each racing day, according to the Jockey Club's statistics.
The club's betting turnover has already exceeded 16.3 billion HK dollars (2.1 billion U.S. dollars) every fiscal year, contributing 1.3 percent to Hong Kong's gross domestic product and10 percent of the special administrative region government's tax revenue.
As one of Hong Kong's top 10 employers, the Jockey Club currently employs more than 5,000 full-time workers and 20,000 part-time staff on race days.
A major entertainer for Hong Kong people, the Jockey club also serves as the city's largest charity organization with its charity donation exceeding 10 billion HK dollars (1.3 billion U.S. dollars) during the past years.
On placing bets, there are several types:Pool Name - Dividend Qualification
As of September 2006, all Win, Place, Quinella, and Quinella Place bets (including All Up bets) of a value of at least 10,000 Hong Kong Dollars are eligible for a 10% rebate if the bet or betline loses.
Pool Name - Dividend Qualification - Consolation [if any]
Hong Kong is made up of over 230 islands and a small piece of peninsula, and is the gateway to China. The four main areas of Hong Kong are Hong Kong Island, Kowloon, the New Territories and the Outlying Islands. Shopping is a hugely popular activity for visitors to Hong Kong, and you can find good quality tailoring at low prices. Other traditional things to do while in Hong Kong are to visit a fortune teller at the Wong Tai Sin temple, try your hand at Tai Chi, and sample the Chinese tea ceremony.
Population Hong Kong's population has increased steadily over the past decade, reaching about 6.9 million by 2004. Hong Kong is one of the most densely populated areas in the world, with an overall density of some 6,380 people per square kilometer. Cantonese, the official Chinese language in Hong Kong, is spoken by most of the population. English, also an official language, is widely understood. It is spoken by more than one-third of the population. Population (2004): 6.975 million. Population growth rate (2004): 1.0%. Ethnic groups: Chinese 95%; other 5%.
Weather The weather in Hong Kong varies substantially. Basically though it depends where you are arriving from as to how you view the weather. Hong Kong weather is considered sub-tropical . For about half of the year, the climate is sub tropical - hot, wet and humid coming up from the equator, but for the winter half of the year, due to the massive Asian land mass to the north and the frozen winds blowing off of it, the temperature is classified as temperate! Temperatures range between 10°C in January and February with not much rain, to 26 34°C from July through to September. The monsoon months are around June and July, and Hong Kong is most likely to be hit by Typhoons in September time.
Employers According to a government study, 43,360 jobs are be created in Hong Kong between 1999 and 2005. Finance, insurance, real estate, and business services will grow the fastest, increasing manpower by an average annual rate of 5.6 percent. Other industries experiencing high growth rates include transport, storage, communications, community services, wholesale, retail, import/export, and restaurants and hotels. Knowledge-based industries, such as computer equipment, telecommunications, and Internet services, will also see a rapid rate of growth. In near future, there will be a shift in demand in favor of high-skill, well educated, more experienced workers. On average, demand for managers, administrators, and professionals will grow at an average rate of 5.6 percent. The total number of IT personnel is expected to almost double.
Who’s hiring? Import/ export trade – aggressively hiring Amusement and recreation services – aggressively hiring Business services – aggressively hiring IT (functional consultants, system programmers) – selectively hiring Strategy consulting and banking – conservatively hiring Real estate and retail – conservatively hiring
Cost of living Hong Kong is a city where you can spend as much or as little as you want. Rent is the biggest outlay, but transport and utility costs are much lower than at home. Food can be very cheap or very expensive- if you’re happy to eat in local restaurants rather than the Peninsula, you’ll be fine!. There are plenty of good buys available through careful shopping and a little bargaining in Cantonese.
