Andre

Wally discovers MLM

andre — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 05:34:58 +1500

Wally encounters a popular scenario of many MLM businesses during a job interview.

Personal note: this comic strip does not apply to all MLM businesses but unfortunately its story is far too common and sheds a bad light onto this business field.

Typhoon traffic

andre — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 13:20:26 +1500

If you are a hardcore biker and always annoyed by the traffic in Hong Kong, scared to share the lane with the tram and don't want to ride in the middle of the night, just wait for the next typhoon to hit the city. With most inner-city areas still pretty safe, just make sure you got a mountain bike to jump the occassional garbage.

Central, 7.34pm - Typhoon Nuri

Bomb scare

andre — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 10:45:52 +1500

Hong Kong's Causeway Bay MTR station had a bomb scare just hours before the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. Hong Kong is host to the equestrian events.

Tropical Storm Kammuri

andre — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 09:00:34 +1500

What a great sight: 9am on a Wednesday in the heart of Causeway Bay and it's virtually empty. Usually at this time it would be the morning rush hour making it impossible to even stand at the place I took this picture but thanks to Tropical Storm Kammuri which by now has turned into a typoon signalled at number 8 on the local scale, most people stay at home as everything but emergency services, limited public transportation and some die-hard private shops remain open. If the signal stays up until past noon, the rest of the day will be off as well.

First in line

andre — Wed, 28 May 2008 09:32:25 +1500

I did it! I finally, totally unplanned and by pure luck, was the first one in the waiting line at a local HSBC branch.

Not just any branch but one in Causeway Bay where usually the crowd spills back to the road to withdraw cash. It's not really a branch designed for counter services but nevertheless they do have some tables set up for personal paperwork.

Quake vs. savings

andre — Thu, 22 May 2008 03:52:25 +1500

A week after the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, more news articles and discussions are focusing on why so many buildings - in particular the over 9000 destroyed schools - collapsed.

The answer to that question is very simple and has nothing to do with prejudgement: absolutely no construction quality.

That was my very first thought when I heard about the quake (I didn't feel it myself in Hong Kong though many others did). Sadly but true, Mainland China is well-known for saving wherever it can even if enough money is available, and most of the times the savings go into some local officials' and constructors' pockets.

How would you interpret the following sentence?
"All 61 schools funded by Hong Kong charity group Sowers Action were still standing after the quake and no casualties were reported at them - including 7 near the epicentre in Wenchuan County."

You would probably come to the same conclusion as I did. As the group's chief executive Johnny Leung Kin-wah points it out: mainland authorities were particularly concerned about the quality of projects involving foreign capital.

In theory, all constructions in China are required to meet certain seismic standards designed to protect buildings from a shaking level measured on a scale of 1 to 9. While these requirements vary among counties according to their geology, it is a general rule that kindergarten and primary schools are up 1 level from other buildings in that same region. Ironically, mostly schools suffered the greatest damage. Furthermore, why won't secondary schools have to meet the 1-up requirement?

The best magnitude level system can't protect buildings which can be teared down with a hammer by a single man. "Schools built in the 1980s were mostly made of wood and stones. It was not until the 1990s that they started to build concrete houses," says Philip Lam Chak of the Amity Foundation.

What's in a new terminal?

andre — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 11:24:14 +1500

Apparently much because at Luxembourg's (only) airport Luxembourg-Findel International Airport, the believe goes "build it and they will come". Finishing the new 260 million Euro terminal, new and much business is expected.

I wonder how many people will actually make use of it when prices and airline and flight choices remain unchanged. I personally prefer to rent a car and drive 2 hours to Frankfurt Airport because under the current situation, that saves me 3 hours in transport, several hours in waiting for the connection flight and at least 200 Euro in flight costs after deducting rental and gasoline (2-way scenario).

Not to mention the low-cost flights to most European destinations at a tenth of the costs from other airports just a 1 hour drive away.

Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Stars

andre — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 11:57:34 +1500

I never thought I could be scared by the night sky. Not having seen stars for almost 2 years apart from a few brightest ones merely shining through thick air and light pollution in Hong Kong and elsewhere, I thought something would fall down on me or I'd run into a wall when I left the house.

Instead of a monotonous dark sky I was greeted by dozens of stars bright enough to be mistaken by low-flying aircrafts. With every blink the number of stars seemed to multiply first ten-, then hundredfold until the sky was nearly as bright as a city night sky; only this time made of a myriad of shining stars in all sizes and grouped shapes. I really had forgotten the sight of such a beautyful night sky and I'm not even living in a really clear environment.

Happy New Year!

andre — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 03:00:54 +1500

All the best to everyone!

What you missed if you weren't in Hong Kong last night.
(Other angle | Show before clip above)

Error messages everywhere

andre — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 00:39:20 +1500

It is amazing what all is powered by Microsoft Windows that surrounds and serves us in our daily life, yet crashes at random and frequently. I've talked about it before (for example Hong Kong's MTR platform displays; see my archived blog) and I will keep doing so for the fun of finding new places I won't expect it to (be tolerated to) happen.

Those of you who are superstitious, better avoid the Sands Macao casino for a while.

A mmos.exe error caused by Scala InfoChannel (or InfoPlayer if older).

Free ad

andre — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 04:33:55 +1500

Most of the time, there is no such thing as a free lunch, but sometimes you might just be lucky. Usually featuring some Hong Kong promotional video clips, a giant screen at the entrance of Victoria Park opposite of Windsor House ran a free ad for Symantec all afternoon; only this time likely nobody approved nor wanted this ad to show up: