Tips not included

Photo by Albert Wen

Hungry?


Some of the world's richest foodies descended on Bangkok February, 2007, for an exclusive dinner of caviar, truffles and vintage wine at 29,000 dollars-a-head.

Six Michelin three-star chefs, all flying from Europe for the one million baht (29,000 dollars) feast, were putting the final touches to the 11-course meal, which organisers said was the most expensive ever in Asia-Pacific or the developing world.

The dinner was served to 40 guests, including 15 paying customers and 25 lucky people invited for the feast, Lebua hotels and resorts said.

Much of the proceeds from the meal -- which cost more than twice what the average Thai office worker earns in a year -- will go to the aid organisation Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) and Thai development charity the Chaipattana Foundation, founded by the nation's king.


03:14 AM PST Permalink |

New Year Special - China Brides

Feb 19, 2007 - The Agence France-Presse reports from Singapore:

A Singapore marriage agency is offering a Lunar New Year special on brides from China's Fujian province, the agency told AFP on Monday.

The discounts through Mr Cupid International Matchmakers Pte Ltd are only "for this 15 days of celebration for the New Year," ending on March 4, said the firm's Singapore managing director, Martin Wong. Under the Lunar New Year deal, a prospective groom pays a 2,000 Singapore dollars (1,299 US) deposit that gets him a trip to China where he meets with potential brides, Wong said.

If the man finds his match, he must sign an agreement that he intends to marry the woman, and then gets a rebate of 1,999 dollars. "In other words, what he actually paid is just one dollar" for the matchmaking trip, Wong said. The balance of 6,000 dollars in fees can be paid over 10 to 15 months in interest-free installments, compared to a normal price of up to 9,000 dollars in total, Wong said.

As an added bonus, Wong said Mr Cupid is offering a further 1,000 dollar rebate to couples that have a child in the first year of marriage, or 500 dollars within two years -- in line with the Singapore government's encouragement of couples to procreate. Two customers, including one Monday morning, have already signed up for the New Year special, Wong said.

"I've been putting off marriage for many years, and my mother has been nagging at me to settle down," one of the prospective grooms, identified as Mr Tan, was quoted as saying in Monday's The New Paper. Tan, a civil servant in his late 40s, said that with Mr Cupid's interest-free installment offer, "I might as well take advantage of it."

Mr Cupid was founded in Vietnam 15 years ago, has an office in Fujian and opened in Singapore five years ago, Wong said. He said the agency already has a strong demand for Vietnamese and Cambodian brides, and the Lunar New Year promotion aims to boost demand for Fujian women. Mr Cupid, one of numerous marriage agencies in the city-state, says it has arranged close to 4,000 marriages since the firm's founding.


02:43 AM PST Permalink |

Is There Life After Film?

TOKYO, Sept 12, 2006 (AFP) - Japan's Fuji Photo Film Co. said Tuesday it would enter the health care market, diversifying from the dwindling photo film business to target women's insatiable desire for beauty products. The world's number two in color film sales said it will launch the f2i (f-squared-i) series of three skin care items and the f3i (f-cubed-i) series of nine dietary supplements on September 28, 2006.

"The company has decided to enter the health care market, which can be said to be the largest industry of the 21st century, which supports people's peace of mind, safety and health," said Fuji Photo Film president Shigetaka Komori. The company had developed chemical technologies that could be used in health care while creating high-quality films, it said.

"We believe we can provide good products by employing the company's diverse and advanced technologies, especially in precision chemistry and precision process control," he said.

Suffering from an ever-shrinking photo film market, Fuji Photo Film expanded into the pharmaceutical business earlier this year by buying a 22-percent stake in Perseus Proteomics Inc, a Tokyo start-up developing new drugs. Fuji Photo Film will start selling the new products on the Internet and through mail order, eyeing profits of three billion yen (25.5 million dollars) by March 2007, the company said.

Fuji Photo Film this year slashed 5,000 jobs worldwide and shifted production of digital cameras to China as it weathers tough competition. Competitor Konica Minolta has also been forced to diversify. It is to stop making all cameras and camera film to focus on more profitable optics and medical imaging activities. And Nikon, another iconic Japanese camera maker, is ending production of nearly all film cameras to focus on digital technology.

12:01 AM PDT Permalink |

Construction in Progress

Illustration by Bryan Tan

Beijing, like most of China, is one huge construction zone. But, as the 2008 Olympic Games approaches, builders in Beijing are especially anxious to complete their projects as quickly as possible, with many working around the clock.

Xinhua reports that the Beijing government is attempting to curb noise pollution from 24-hour construction sites that keep residents up all night. Building firms here are working at break-neck speed to meet a deadline for all construction work to stop by the end of next year to reduce dust pollution in the city ahead of the 2008 Olympic Games.

Starting from next year the city government will fine construction firms 200,000 yuan (25,000 dollars) for working overnight without a special permit, the official news agency said Tuesday.

Regulations taking effect from the end of this year will target noise from traffic, night clubs, homes and restaurants, Dong Jinhu, an official with the Beijing Bureau of Environmental Protection, was quoted as saying.

12:01 AM PDT Permalink |

Chinese in (South) Korea

South Korea hosts some 20,000 permanent residents of Chinese ancestry, almost all of them from Taiwan.

Many of the children of Chinese ancestry attend Chinese schools. There are 26 elementary Chinese schools with a total of 1,794 pupils and four schools that combine middle and high school courses, with a total of 983 students.

Because these schools are not officially recognised, their pupils must pass state examinations to move to Korean schools or to enter higher educational institutions.

Some Korean parents send children to Chinese schools to give them a head start in Mandarin in hopes of improving their career prospects.

06:26 AM PDT Permalink |

The Box

Illustration by Bryan Tan

A sea-going container, loaded on a flatbed truck, rolling down the highway. The sight is so familiar that we barely notice it when we pass it on the road.

Containerization, which was first put into use in 1956, was created as a way to move freight seamlessly from trains to trucks to ships, with minimum time and labor. It has grown in importance since then. Hong Kong, the world's largest container port in terms of throughput, handled a total of 21,932,000 TEUs (the equivalent of a twenty-foot container) in 2004 (source: Hong Kong Government, Census and Statistics Department.)

If you are interested in the history and growth of this metal box that we can't live without today, read the Box (see below), a new book on the container.

The Box: How the Shipping Container Made the World Smaller and the World Economy Bigger, by Marc Levinson (Princeton University Press, 2006) .

07:26 AM PDT Permalink |

Egg Tarts

Illustration by Bryan Tan

It's a relatively simple looking pastry - egg custard in a shell - but connoisseurs come long distances to taste them. The former (and last) British governor of Hong Kong, Mr. Chris Patten, is known for his penchant for the dessert and his favorite is at the Tai Cheong Bakery on Lyndhurst Terrace in Hong Kong. The tarts sold at this particular bakery have become known as "Fei-Paang egg tarts" (or Fat Patten's Egg Tart - "Fat Patten" is the governor's nickname in Cantonese.)

Macau has its own egg tart. Basically, it's a traditional Hong Kong-style egg tart, topped with a layer of caramelized sugar (crème brûlée fans, take note!) Steven K. Bailey, author of the upcoming book Strolling in Macau recommends Lord Stow's Bakery on Coloane's other largo - the Portuguese endowed Macau with a profundity of town squares (Lord Stow's Bakery is on President A. R. Eanes Square in Coloane village. Phone: 882534. Email: eggtarts@lords.com.) Based on the Portuguese pasteis de nata, the tarts come filled with a mix of cream and egg yolk in a crisp pastry crust.

12:33 AM PDT Permalink |

Riding the Double Decker in Hong Kong

Illustration by Bryan Tan

"...pick up the number six bus from the Central Bus Terminal for a scenic ride along the southern coast to Stanley, one of the Island's loveliest seaside villages. Yes, it's crammed with tourists, but it's worth the short trek; at the daily market you'll find throngs of people haggling over faux Rolex watches, bootleg CDs, Doc Martens, Tin-Tin T-shirts. Stanley's umbrella-covered crooked lanes are full of bargains."

-- From Stopping Over in Hong Kong by Laura Locke. more...

Note: The best seat is at the front of the bus, on the upper deck. From the left, you can see the Victoria harbour while cruising on the North side of the island. Once you cross the gap and are on the South side of the island, the view is better on the right hand side.

12:03 AM PDT Permalink |

Leading Indicator

More than one in four Japanese women drinks alcohol on a near daily basis, a figure that has grown steadily over the past years, according to a recently released survey. Twenty-eight percent of Japanese women say they drink at least five times a week, six points higher than when the survey was first taken in 1998. Another 34 percent of women drink at least twice a week. More than half of the women say they drink to get rid of stress, with relaxing given as the second top reason. Having fun with friends comes behind that, although it is a more popular option among younger women. Beer is the most popular drink. The survey by Japan's second largest brewer Kirin was of 12,000 women aged 20 or over.

08:17 PM PDT Permalink |

This from the CDC on the Avian Flu

This Fact Sheet alerts Americans to the occurrence of Influenza A H5N1 (avian influenza strain) in Asia. A number of countries have reported avian influenza, commonly referred to as "bird flu". The H5N1 strain of influenza causes severe disease in fowl. In addition, Thailand and Vietnam have reported a number of bird-to-human transmissions of the avian flu, thought to have been caused by individuals' contact with infected poultry populations. While there are reported deaths from the avian influenza virus, there have been no documented human-to-human transmissions of the virus. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) are concerned about the potential for human-to-human transmission of this highly dangerous flu strain and are working closely with other partners in an effort to address the outbreak.

At this time, CDC and the WHO have not issued any travel alerts or advisories for avian flu-infected areas. However, CDC advises travelers to countries in Asia with documented H5N1 outbreaks to avoid poultry farms, contact with animals in live food markets, and any surfaces that appear to be contaminated with feces from poultry or other animals. CDC advises travelers to clean their hands often with soap and water or waterless alcohol-based hand-rubs to help prevent disease transmission. In addition, as a precaution, all foods from poultry, including eggs, should be thoroughly cooked. CDC further advises travelers with a febrile respiratory illness returning from countries affected by H5N1 virus (bird flu) to seek prompt medical attention.

The WHO does not at present conclude that any processed poultry products (whole refrigerated or frozen carcasses and products derived from these) or eggs pose a risk to public health.

Americans who are planning travel to a country that has reported the virus or who are concerned about the Avian flu are advised to monitor the CDC and the WHO web sites, for the latest information.

Additional country information can be obtained from the Department of State's Consular Information Sheets at http://travel.state.gov and from the Department of State's toll-free number, 1-888-407-4747, or if calling from overseas, 317-472-2328.

CDC Contact Information: Public Inquiries: English (888) 246-2675 Spanish (888) 246-2857 TTY (866) 874-2646 Mon-Fri 8am-11pm EST Sat-Sun 10am-8pm EST Address: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 1600 Clifton Rd. Atlanta, GA 30333 USA (404) 639-3311 WHO Liaison Office in Washington, DC Contact Information: Telephone: (202) 331-9081 Facsimile: (202) 331-9097 Address: WHO Liaison Office 1775 K Street, N.W., Suite 430 Washington, D.C. 20006 USA September 2004


11:39 PM PDT Permalink |

Asia's Population

In 2000, there were 3.36 billion people in Asia, over half of the total world population (6,079,006,982)

China - 1,266,483,000
India - 1,013,615,000
Indonesia - 218,506,000
Pakistan - 142,069,000
Bangladesh - 132,094,000
Japan - 126,918,000
Vietnam - 71,502,000
Philippines - 64,264,000
Thailand - 60,881,000
Myanmar - 49,209,000
Korea - 46,997,000
Nepal - 24,240,000
Korea DPR - 24,060,000
Afghanistan - 23,193,000
Malaysia - 22,203,000
Sri Lanka - 19,935,000
Australia - 19,304,000
Cambodia - 10,701,000
Laos - 4,925,000
Papua New Guinea - 4,554,000
New Zealand - 3,595,000
Singapore - 3,276,000
Mongolia - 2,374,000
Bhutan - 1,679,000
East Timor - 922,000
Fiji - 809,000
Taiwan - 764,000
Macau - 444,000
Brunei - 337,000
Maldives - 282,000

07:53 AM PST Permalink |