Notes
To Help Search & Rescue
In Hong Kong you will see interesting characters on the MTR, including the fellow I spotted dressed in full field camouflage clothing and carrying a massive camo duffel bag on his back.
And wearing bright neon-orange headphones.
Ho Who?
New Jersey's Division of Gaming Enforcement has released a report that baldly states that Stanley Ho Hung-sun, Macao's casino king, is "an associate of known and suspected triads" and has allowed "organised crime to operate and thrive within his casinos".
The 88-year-old Stanley Ho has never been arrested and has steadfastly denied persistent rumors of triad links, yet it's common knowledge the triads are heavily invested in the gaming industry. Even if Ho has no ties whatsoever, in the minds of the public the mere presence of triads suggests otherwise.
Sure, it's unfair, but that's life in the spotlight. One cannot discount the possibility of triad involvement, because in the past many important men in Hong Kong, Macao and Shanghai were members of one or more secret societies, such as Sun Yat-sen, the father of modern China. Even though Sun never participated in criminal activities, it was politic to gain the support of various factions.
It's the way things get done here. But even if Ho is not involved, he knows full well that the triads are circulating in his and other casinos. Anyone who says otherwise is just naive, just as those who claim nothing nefarious goes on in Las Vegas or Atlantic City are naive. Once organised crime gets a toe in the door it's exceedingly difficult to remove it.
In any event, it doesn't much matter at this point, Ho's not getting any younger and as many consider the man to be a demigod (billionaires tend to be treated as such on this side of the pond), it would take a heck of lot more than the assertions of one state's gaming division to tarnish his shine. And if you were to ask the triads, they would likely tell you that they couldn't care less.
It matters not who's at the top when there's boatloads of money to be made.
Highly Enjoyment
Do you know why I love Hong Kong?
Because after all these years I can still encounter brand new signs like the one outside Tsui Wah Restaurant in Central, one that shows their best dishes under a caption that proclaims: HIGHLY RECOMMENDATION.
If that isn't Hong Kong English, I don't know what is.
Explains the Hammer and Tongs, Too
Some folks are just too set in their ways to change.
Way back in ought-six I mentioned my mother-in-law's propensity for using cookware like a smelter. In the intervening years I've tried numerous times to make her understand that with modern pans there is no need to set the gas cooker to the thermonuclear setting, but she just doesn't get it; she simply isn't satisfied unless the pan is hot enough to melt steel.
Maybe in a past life she was a sword-maker.
Beat the Small Witch
The Witches of Canal Road are still at it.
Ching Che, or Feast of Excited Insects, is the day that Winter ends and Spring begins, and according to superstition, is also the best possible day to "beat the small man" or "beat the devil", depending on who is vexing you.
For HK$50 (the price has gone up since 2003, but only to about US$6.40), you can put a curse on someone you hate. I've never participated in this ritual, not so much because I think it's wrong to curse folks, although to be honest there are folks that deserve it, but because I'm not superstitious, therefore I can't see it working. I suppose you could chalk the $50 up as an entertainment fee, if voodoo is your thing.
But despite the stated goal of bringing peace and harmony to the stressed, not all is peaceful under the overpass: some of the 35 women performing the ritual were said to be fighting over territory during Ching Che, when the average crowd was about 200 people. They should know better.
How difficult do they think it would be for a competitor to obtain of photo of them and give it a taste of shoe leather?
Dim Sum
Friend Finder
Good Feng Shui