vertigo bar
view of the city from the top of the banyan tree hotel. J keeps laughing when I exclaim how clean the air seems! this is of course in comparison with hong kong: here, you can still see quite far before the haze is apparent. and it never ceases to amaze me how spectacular every single sunset is in bangkok–take any … Read More
long live bhumipol
“More than 60,000 searchable pages on King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s 61-year reign will be on the Internet in time for his 80th birthday on Dec. 5.” I did not realize how far the idolatry for thailand’s king bhumipol extended. there are pictures of him everywhere in stores, in restaurants, on the street–it is common to see public shrines and billboards for … Read More
sawatdee kha, bangkok
so after applying to a bunch of different places, I was finally able to get an internship at UNIDO in bangkok for the summer. I’ll be here for 3 months, and today was my first day (filled mainly with admin tasks such as security training and getting a UN pass). it looks like it will be really lovely! there are … Read More
不中不英 = chinglish
I could not leave HK without mentioning how lovely my last few days (post exams) were! I got to see some less visited places of the city, including the 10,000-buddha temple (boasting over twelve thousand buddhas), and kowloon-walled-city park (which is pleasant, though more interesting for its colourful history as a lawless enclave). I was also in town for the … Read More
bye bye, HK
…for now, anyway. off to Bangkok for the summer.
north korean tourism blitz!
what an ideal holiday destination… Older Chinese visitors find striking comparisons with their own country, 30 or more years ago. The public worship of North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong Il, and of his late father, Kim Il Sung, is similar to the cult of Mao. The state ideology of juche (self-reliance) has much in common with Mao’s isolationism. Chinese tourists … Read More
star ferry, queens pier and erotica
again from EastSouthWestNorth: translated story by an assistant professor on the values gap between older and younger generations–in relation to the ‘cultural heritage vs. business development’ debate and that silly sex survey in the student newspaper at Chinese University (which the Obscene Articles Tribunal ruled as “indecent” a couple of weeks ago). The sinners are still casting the stones, while … Read More
tiananmen was ‘not a massacre’
in case you hadn’t heard, Ma Lik, the chairman of the pro-Beijing DAB party said at a press conference last week that the June 4th incident was “not a massacre” because soldiers did not indiscriminately kill everyone in their path. translated by EastSouthWestNorth: Ma Lik explained that that a massacre implied intentionality to murder. “If you starting shooting everywhere, you … Read More
it’s 5 pm in the afternoon
…and it’s black outside. from rain. this is only an warning. I noticed on my exam schedule the following: Please also take note of the following arrangements on the cancellation of examinations when either the Typhoon Signal No. 8 or the Black Rainstorm Warning Signal is hosted or in force: (a) at or after 6:00am – all morning examinations will … Read More