Notes » February 2001
Notes » February 2001
Dirt Bags
I get regular massage therapy.
I was fortunate to find a place that follows standards of decency and professionalism. That's why I feel comfortable and keep going back.
A friend of mine pointed me toward a Hong Kong website running a bulletin board. Nightlife is one section, and one of the threads within covers Hong Kong's less reputable
massage parlours. Reading though a couple pages left me feeling I needed a shower. The men dirtbags posting to these threads discuss in great detail how they go
about procuring more than a massage.
They refer to the masseuses not by name, but by number. They're on a freaking menu. They talk about the women as though they were grades of steak. They confer in all seriousness about locations, prices, how-to's, and even the types and quality of the ... er ... services. The bastards even refer to some of the less attractive women as pork chops.
I'm disgusted; sometimes I'm embarrassed to be male.
Funeral Raid
Seven funeral home workers are in court, accused of stealing from the dead. A crematorium worker kept detailed records of dates, times and items the seven had stolen.
As families of the deceased weren't allowed into the crematorium, stealing was easy. They took gold earrings, rings, necklaces, and watches. They even took items of clothing such as trousers and sports shoes. Jewellery was pawned and the profits were split. Clothing was left to whomever wanted it. With 20 cremations per day, there was no shortage of opportunity.
Only a scumbag would steal valuables from dead people, but these freaks hit rock bottom when they stole clothing.
It doesn't get any creepier than taking it to wear.
Jack and the Bean Stalker
This from Reuters Hong Kong:
A jilted Hong Kong woman pestered her former lover with more than 1,000 phone calls a day for three years ...
The nuisance calls began in 1997 when the married man, identified only as Cheung, refused the woman's pleas to live together ...
Unable to cope under the barrage of calls, the man switched jobs and changed his telephone, mobile and pager numbers in 1999.
But the woman found out the new numbers and resumed her calls a year later, topping it with another 500 faxes a day.
The two came to blows on New Year's Day this year, when the woman presented herself at Cheung's home to demand money.
Cheung was later arrested and released on bail when the woman complained to police saying he had hit and intimidated her.
Psycho.
Busy Boys
My my my, the triads were busy last night.
In the wee hours, seven businesses had vehicles rammed into their metal security shutters in separate burglary attempts.
The businesses were a restaurant, a mah jong parlour, a computer shop, a jewellery store, and wonder of wonders, three auto parts shops.
If they're going to drive a car into a building, they'd need new parts.
McNasty
This is probably the grossest thing
I've seen McDonald's serve up yet.
It's called a Thai green curry burger.
Dude, if the meat looks green, I ain't eating it. The phrase snot burger leaps to mind.
You be the judge.
More Lead For Your Head
A Chinese herbalist who prescribed home-made pills known as bao ning dan is in hot water for tablets found to contain up to 200 times the daily allowable intake of lead.
I prefer not to have any daily intake of lead, thank you very much. Over the past seven years, hundreds of people took these pills for maladies such as headaches, toothaches and acne.
Since the discovery, 63 people have had to go for lead screening. Four people are in hospital because of lead poisoning.
Sounds a little like Grandpa Simpson mixing up revitalising tonic in his bathtub.
Ocean Park Escalator
The world's longest escalator ride can be found at Ocean Park.
With an overall length of 745 feet, the escalator boasts a vertical rise of 377 feet.
I've been on it; it's a long ride.
Penny's Bombs
Dredgers working on land reclamation for the Disney project at Penny's Bay found 29 high-explosive shells in the sand taken from the East Lamma Channel.
Since October, a total of 43 WWII shells have been discovered. The area was used as a dumping ground by the British army between 1950 and the 1970s.
Though these bombs are unlikely to sink a dredger should they explode, in 1993 a 5,600-tonne dredger was destroyed after it sucked up a huge bomb off Tsing Yi Island.
Are dredging crews getting hazard pay?
Throne Bomb
Someone has a serious love for bombs.
In the past two weeks, he's blown up a couple of phone booths and two toilets in a public washroom, though no one has been injured or killed.
I'd be hard-pressed to think of a more ignoble way to die than being blown up while sitting on the porcelain throne.