Saturday, December 23, 2006

5.45am

It is 5.45am-Saturday morning.The kids are still asleep.It is about 0c outside.Our Journey begins at 7.20am. I love travelling.The trip will take 26 hrs until we reach Kowloon at 5pm(9am gmt) tomorrow on Christmas Eve.Jack had a cold until yesterday, he seems to have been okay last night.
We will go down to the harbour to look at the lights and across to statue square to see the giant xmas tree tomorrow evening-be there or bah humbug to you.Merry xmas all.

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Hong Kong's MPF comes to the UK

This seems strangely familiar....
New UK pension scheme is unveiled

John Hutton said it would help people plan their financial future
Plans for the automatic enrolment of workers into a new pension system have been unveiled by the government.

From 2012, workers not in occupational pension schemes will be enrolled in "personal accounts" unless they opt out, under the White Paper's plans.

Staff will pay in 4% of their salaries and employers 3%, with an extra 1% from the government in tax relief.....

It didn't really happen

Iran defends Holocaust conference

Iran's foreign minister dismissed Western criticism as "predictable"
Iran's foreign minister has rejected criticism of a two-day conference being held in Iran to examine whether the Holocaust actually happened.....

Interesting way to view history, maybe we should follow Iran's lead..

The crusades never happened, they were just a bunch of British tourists.
The British Empire was not really an empire-just a popular club.
The annilliation of native americans-they weren't killed, they left.
The opium war-it was a party really.
African famine-just a diet fad.
Nagasaki,Hiroshima-a firework dispay.
The Tsunami-a rainy day.
Telling your boss to F**k off at the office party- a bit of banter
The Iranian President-a silly little tw*t.

over russia with love

Our flight(next Saturday) will be that little bit shorter..



Oasis Hong Kong Airlines successfully obtains permission to fly over Russian airspace as second Boeing 747 enters into service


6 December 2006

Oasis Hong Kong Airlines today celebrated another milestone as its second Boeing 747-400 entered into service on November 24 and the Federal Air Navigation Authority in Russia granted the airline permission to fly over Russian airspace. The airline is also set to launch a number of exciting new flight routes next year.

Oasis was granted permission by the Federal Air Navigation Authority in Russia on November 28 to fly over Russian airspace. This route will significantly shorten the flying time on the London-Hong Kong route. Oasis flights will now take 10 hours 50 minutes to travel from London to Hong Kong and 12 hours 20 minutes vice versa depending upon prevailing weather conditions.........

Monday, December 11, 2006

There is only 1 football club in Liverpool.

Last Updated: Monday, 11 December 2006, 20:52 GMT

Everton confirm new stadium talks

Everton Football Club has confirmed it is in talks to move out of Liverpool to a new site in neighbouring Knowsley.......

this is just not hot enough!

Sunday, December 10, 2006

This is not democracy!!!!

Last Updated: Sunday, 10 December 2006, 03:04 GMT

HK voters begin choosing a leader

Voters in Hong Kong are electing the members of a committee that will choose the territory's next leader.
Pro-democratic groups want Alan Leong to stand for leader
Voters in Hong Kong are electing the members of a committee that will choose the territory's next leader.
Pro-democracy groups are hoping to win enough representation on the 800-seat committee to enter a candidate in next March's chief executive contest...........

Sunday's election is not expected to make a wide impact in Hong Kong, where just over 200,000 people from a population of 7.2 million are eligible to vote.

The electorate is drawn from a selection of political organisations and business and professional communities.

"The atmosphere so far is no good, ordinary citizens have no idea there is an important election," said James Sung, a political scientist at Hong Kong's City University.....

Friday, December 08, 2006

late typhoon

Typhoon heads towards white beach-very late in the year!

Thursday, December 07, 2006

Norwegian Strippers Are Artists-not sure who this Scot is.

A victory for common sense.

Hong Kong drops sales tax plans

Hong Kong has one of the lowest tax regimes in the world
The Hong Kong government has dropped plans to introduce a new sales tax in the face of public opposition.

It had hoped that a goods and sales tax (GST) would bring in an extra $3.8bn (£1.9bn) in revenues to boost the city's public services budget.

Hong Kong currently has one of the world's lowest tax regimes, with a 16% personal rate and 17.5% for businesses.

Critics said a new sales tax would hit lower income groups disproportionately and could also hurt tourism.

classic(from Don) don't watch at work.

http://5x5m.com/files/speedbandits/

frosty Baguio?!

I found this article in todays Sun Star Baguio. If there is any frost whilst I am there, I'll have to make a quick exit down the mountain, I have 12 months of cold here!


Thursday, December 07, 2006

Farmers asked to be ready for frost

WITH the onslaught of the cold season, farmers of municipalities prone to frost were told to prepare for its possible damage to their areas.

Frost is a natural disaster that causes damage in agricultural crops, particularly in highland farming municipalities. It is composed of feathery crystals of ice that form when temperature goes abnormally low.

The Municipal Government of Atok is constantly issuing reminders for farmers to be prepared for the calamity, which caused millions of pesos worth of damage in agricultural crops in the town last year.

Mayor Concepcion Balao said the most practical thing for farmers to do is to be on guard, saying frost is a natural disaster that could not be prevented.

The towns of Buguias and Kibungan are also prone to frost destruction.

Although the establishment of greenhouses is seen to mitigate the damage brought by frost, Balao said the Municipal Government could not afford to put this up in every farm in the town, and asked the agriculture department to allocate funds for the purpose.

As alternative to vegetable production, the mayor said some farmers in Atok are now shifting to cut-flower growing to sustain their livelihood amid natural and man-made disasters such as importation that continues to beset the local agriculture industry. (JC)

rainbow


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more stuff





Wednesday, December 06, 2006

raspberry

The BBC ran a story this morning, showing raspberries growing in Northumberland. What is usually a summer fruit, is still growing today-December the 6th!
It has been a mild Autumn, no frosts yet. People abroad may get the impression that the UK has basked in a warm glow this year, but not in my eyes.
Since September the weather has hung around the 13-15c mark, with the usual amounts of rain and greyness.We had 100mph winds last weekend.
It was nice at times when I was down south 18c-20c in October, but not here.
This year is definitely better than last, but I have a job and central heating this year.
I took Joseph to school this morning through the rain and wind, it is 11c today.This to me, is still bloody cold and unpleasant in August or in December.

Tuesday, December 05, 2006

St Nicholas Day

Today is St Nicholas day, St Nicholas being another of Santa's names.
When I was growing up in Germany, he used to come into the school, accompanied by -as I remember them, blacked up helpers carrying birch sticks to chase and hit naughty kids! They were a bit like minstrels on crack- surely they can't still have them, in these politically correct times.They used to scare the hell out of us at the time, now tell me Germans aren't weird.
We leave 2 weeks on Saturday, it has been a busy time, getting the kids presents and stuff. I have 2 xmas nights out to go on, the first this Saturday, and then again next Friday.We also have an xmas lunch on the 19th-all with work.
I have to take the kids to a Filipino 'gathering' on the 17th.I took them to a christening the other Sunday-2 and a half hours in church followed by a Chinese buffet!Teosdee works on Sundays, so I have to go to these things alone, and no one drinks!
Joseph is a shepherd in the nativity, I don't think I'll make it this year, I did it last year-alone, and parents evening last month. Got to get my flexi up before the 3 weeks holiday.
Just had my first evening on e-bay.Great fun, but instead of putting in a maximum bid for £1.50 I put it for £150-for a kids book!!! Luckily it only went up to £6, a very scary lesson was learnt.
A lot of the boys' presents have come from Amazon this year, which has saved me from shopping with the nutters in Birkenhead. I gotta get out o this place if it's....

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