The cripps in Hong Kong Hong Kong, Repulse Bay, Cripps, Crippo, Mark Cripps, Joss Cripps

Zai Jian 再見 (Hope to see you again soon)

A diary about our expedition to Hong Kong

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Saturday, May 24, 2008

Billy - Accidental-on purpose West Ham mascot






Three years ago, I promised Billy that when he turned seven, (for his seventh birthday in fact), he could be a West Ham mascot. He's not stopped reminding me of that promise. But little did I know we'd be living in HK on his 7th.

He was seven this week.

West Ham (youth team) were/are in HK this week.


Fantastic how the stars align is not it?

Today, in sweltering 32+ degree, near to 100% humidity conditions, we watched the cream of Tony Carr's West Ham youff academy battle it out against a selection of Asian teams.

Part of the successful annual HKFC Philips Lighting International Soccer Sevens, today was the league part of the competition. West Ham won the first game 2-0, drew the second 0-0 and had to beat the 2006 champions (Urawa Red Diamonds of Japan), to get through to tomorrow's knock-out day.

Well, I'm pleased to say they won! 2-0 ... great game. Looks a good squad and I can see several Freddie Sears' waiting in the wings! Tony Carr does a great job - they were proud to wear the C&B .. you could see it in the team spirit and discipline.

So Billy watched the warm up ... got asked to come into the warm up enclosure ... then the (20ft!) goalie grabbed his hand and walked him on to the pitch as one of the mascots. Bill was made up and (poor thing) is now almost certainly a Hammer for life. And I'm the best dad ever for arranging the mascot thing! errrr....

I felt slightly uncomfortable when I saw him amongst all the other kitted-out folks ... I got his current kit for <£5 from a dodgy market stall in Melbourne (of all places -- Lucas Neill influence of course).

Well done to the WH supporters who turned out ... nearly filled up the HK equivalent of the Bobby Moore stand ... and we had a splendid rendition of 'Bubbles' much to the obvious bemusement of the locals!

M

Sunday, May 18, 2008

Jolly hockey sticks and silverware




Yesterday in the sweltering Hong Kong heat, we played our very own cup final. HK Cricket Club vs the HK Football Club. We've had a good good season, unbeaten - but deprived of winning our league because we were promoted mid season to the league above and so lost all our points. Still we ended up third which was quite respectable though, so nice to win a trophy too.
Great bunch of lasses and a very vociferous and passionate coach to boot. We've played in all weather, scorching heat, black rain storms and even when it's been pretty chilly and had to wear thermals! For the past 4 matches we've had to find 'willing vicims' to stand in goal and look fearson as our brilliant goalie Catriona upped and left to work in Dubai. The menfolk won their knockout cup today too, so a great season all round for the Hockey section of the HKCC. Here we are celebrating. Archie and Mark came along to watch too - I seem to recall Archie going up for a medal for the women and the men's trophies....

Thursday, May 15, 2008

Eating out in Mumbai



Before we came to live in Asia, whenever I went anywhere even mildly exotic or third world (France for example), I inevitably came down with a serious case of gut rot (good for weight loss, but not much else).

Given this, on my trips to India, I always eat vegetarian food (except for one time in a seriously 5* hotel in the middle of a lake I succummed to ordering a whole tandoori mutton leg - YUM - and got away with it too!) and, touch wood, have managed to return back to HK totally bug free every time.

On this latest trip, I generally started to feel great - more lucid; more awake; less sluggish in the afternoons etc. Everything else has remained constant and so I can only attribute this sense of well-being to the weird cigarettes out there AHEM, I mean to the vegetarianism!

No meat has passed my lips for nearly two weeks now - and I feel great. Have not lost any weight mind you! My half-a-cow-and-a-field-of-horseradish guzzling Grandfather will be turning in his grave to hear this I'm sure.

Anyway, all of this was nearly undone in Mumbai by an evening @ Mondy's (Cafe Mondegar, Colaba) - many beers etc. Followed by a walk home back to the hotel via the famous street vendor - Bademiya. Hmmmmm the smells of meat and breads cooking over charcoal are to die for ... no wonder they have queues snaking round the block for this stuff.

M

Dharavi slum - Mumbai






Last week, I took rather an emotional and personally moving tour of the Dharavi slum in Mumbai. Billed as the second or third largest slum in the world, I've driven past it many times and have wanted to take a visit for some time now.

I mentioned this to a colleagues and told him I was considering taking one of the tourist visits (yes they have tour guides - supposedly ethical ie no pictures and all money gets ploughed back into the local area via NGOs), and he insisted he took me there.

Little did I know that this was his first time there too - despite having lived in Mumbai for 30+ years (he told me this after we got out and also fessed up to being a black belt in Karate).

I'd read up on it of course e.g. National Geographic has good coverage as does Wiki - (please click on the green links --interesting reading) ... I knew there were countless hundreds of thousands of people crammed into a small space - with one lavatory for every 1700+ homes ... but I honestly did not really know what to expect.

I walked round for about an hour. The conditions were Dickensian - worse still - redolent of the middle ages I guess ... intolerable by modern Western standards - three generations of families living in an area the floor space of which must be equivalent to the average family car ... with two or three such dwellings stacked up on top of each other (roofs leaning in and touching @ the top). Whole families sat on their 'door steps' facing each other less than 2ft apart. Between them was a 6 inch wide/10 inch deep gulley/drain full of stagnant water. Not good. For the most part, I felt perfectly safe - although my colleague told me (afterwards) that it was really not a clever thing to do.

On the upside, and this surprised me - the areas in front of the shacks were clean of rubbish and there was no smell. And I got the impression that people were reasonably content living under these conditions. This was confirmed by my colleague - he said that many folks here were earning (for Delhi) reasonable money - recycling materials or manufacturing things or undertaking small services (I saw one guy ironing shirts) - and they relished the sense of community.

All this is coming to an end.

Dharavi occupies a piece of prime real estate smack bang in the middle of Mumbai - the land is worth a fortune. So after 100 years or so of living like this, it's all getting pulled down (supposedly) in 2009 - with mass evictions. I can't bear to think about the additional misery about to land on these folks.

M

Mumbai - typical dwelling


This is a typical scene from the streets of Mumbai - could be any Indian City in fact.

Locals drape tarpaulins; corrugated iron; assorted random pieces of plastic over anything perpendicular - hold it down with bricks etc and call it home. I've seen several generations living under such conditions. Last week I saw one old lady making a home under the stairs at the base of an elevated pedestrian walk way. God only knows how they cope during the monsoon.

M

An afternoon @ the Feroz Shah Kotla ground




It was hot, I like beer alright?

M

"Chak De Delhi"






Something I've always wanted to do - see a cricket match live in India.

Unbelievably, I got invited to watch an IPL Match in a Corporate box at the Feroz Shah Kotla ground in Delhi. I am sooooooo lucky getting invited to various sporting events - and so grateful.

This afternoon was a fantastic experience. A near-to full house. Bhangra drums playing. Full-on 40+ degree heat. Spicey smells wafting across the ground.

The Delhi DareDevils Vs The Chennai SuperKings.

Five days before, Chennai had lost to Delhi @ Chennai and so were looking for revenge.

The match ebbed and flowed ... one minute you were sure Delhi had clinched it, the next over Chennai. A couple of sixes later and, you just knew it was all-over for the SuperKings - until they started piling on the runs.

Down to the last over. Chennai needed 11 runs of it to win. Five balls later and Chennai had drawn the game. They needed one run from the last ball to win the match. The batter lunged for the ball -- it went high and to the outfield. Under the floodlights, there was near-to-perfect silence (as silent as you can get in Delhi that is!). The Delhi outfielder ran his heart out -- got under the ball ... got his hands to it .... and the ball plopped out. Chennai had won with a few wickets to spare.

Heart-racing stuff and a perfect ad for cricket.

This 20:20 format works!

M

Delhi: Getting home after the cricket






Crazy scenes attempting to get home after the cricket.

Imagine, 40+ degrees; tens of thousands of excitable Indians; no public transport; police swinging truncheons threateningly; dusty; diesel-fumey; smelly; car-horny.

The shot of the tuk-tuk cab is one of my favourites ever.

Fab.

M

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

The case of the mysterious missing Archie!

The good news is (see below), I actually managed to get on a later flight and made it the HK airport in time to meet the rest of the family and together we flew to Cebu (Philippines) for a lovely weekend.

Air India Business class is not much to write home about I can tell you -- filthy seats and seat trays ... even filthier business class loos (I won't go into details) ... suffice to say the flush did not. Nice veggie Biriyani mind you.

The not-so good news (but we can laugh now!) is the fact that Archie went AWOL for a while on holiday.

We're now very used to him disappearing and returning solo or under the long arm of some Asian uniformed guard etc ...

(e.g#1: the first weekend we lived in HK, I took him shopping in a mall -- he vapourised right before my eyes ... much panic but I found him 10 mins later giggling away to himself hiding underneath the dress of a mannequin nearby to where we'd been standing) ....

(e.g.#2: we took the boys to see the movie 'cars'. Stupidly (we were still new to HK), I'd booked late and so the only seats available were on the front row (the neck ache row). During the movie, a lady sitting near me tapped me on my shoulder "your baby" she sqwauked. I looked everywhere and sure enough Archie had done a runner ... the lady next to me started laughing (as did much of the audience) ... from behind the movie screen you could see the pressed-on shape of Archie's face and hands trying to get back in to the seated area ... he'd slipped underneath the screen). Oh dear.


However, this time was worse ... and potentially much more serious ...

I've written before how ... erm ... careful (is that OK Jamie) one has to be in the Philippines (armed guards everywhere) .. well this time Archie out did himself.

Admittedly, we were all bored and the luggage HAD taken a long time to get to the baggage collection area - but this behaviour was in-excusable. Personally, I blame the Mother.

Anyway ... Archie was 'surfing' the carousel ... standing on the baggage merry-go-round pretending he was on a surf board ... until, that is, the final and near-fatal time he did not jump off when the carousel disappeared thru the rubber-curtained hole in the wall ... he suddenly, simply vanished.

Aghast (CF Bruce Willis in Die Hard 2 I think), I thought he'd come to a sticky baggage handling bag-tumbling end ... a concern supported by the shouts and sounds of mayhem being broadcast from behind the rubber curtain. I shouted "Archieeeeeeeeeee noooooooo" and thrust my head & upper body thru the hole in the wall only to be confronted by a not-so-amused moustachioed gun weilding security guard and a host of angry filipino baggage handlers. Archie was thrown back at me - accompanied by several expletives (from the guards, not Archie .. although I'm not 100% sure of this fact in retrospect).

We were not amused I can tell you -- the rest of CX782 from HK to Cebu found it highly entertaining however.

M

Saturday, May 10, 2008

Delhi Delay

This Monday is the buddha's birthday and a public holiday so we are off to Cebu (Philippines) for the weekend. It's a little bit indulgent but Mark has clocked up so many miles in the past month (beijing, singapore, bali and India) a veritable diamond of a footprint, that we decided would be a nice family break.
Mark's been in India all week and was due back tonight. Earlier today I received a call from Mark - he'd missed his flight back to HK. In fact he had surpassed any previous records for poor timekeeping and arrived at Delhi airport at the time his flight was actually taking off. Beats even the time that he arrived at his friend Kerry's wedding, where he was giving her away, just as the ceremony finished.
Sod's law there isn't another flight back to HK till 11pm tonight (about now) and so he'll arrive back in HK at 7am tomorrow morning. Our flight leaves at 8.50am so we'll see how truly efficient HK airport is. It will also be interesting to see how much clout his diamond club status on Cathay will count for (free buggy ride to get to the gate in time?) when it comes down to the wire. Frankly he's flying Air India (not great track record for anything) so I am not counting on him making the flight and making a late arrival on Sunday having been routed via Manila.
All will be revealed in a few days time. Not quite the relaxing break we had envisaged.
Poor Mark, I do have sympathy. Last time I went to the Philippines on business I arrived at the airport to fly home only to find that I had got my dates mixed up and was on the next days flight instead. Fortunately they managed to squeeze me on but only told me about 5 minutes before flight due to leave so was a mad dash to the gate which also involved a big row with the customs guys who tried to confiscate all my potions even though decanted into 100 ml tubs. Oh the joys of international travel.

Sunday, May 04, 2008

Olympic Torch comes to Hong Kong


It's Sunday and idyllically quiet in the Cripps household. Mark, Billy and Archie have gone to see Ironman - not sure who was most excited. I suspect Archie because he's not usually invited on the cinema trips.

Today Archie is wearing a red Shanghai Tang Chinese T shirt - it cost about 3 times as much as any of his other t shirts. I bought it about a year ago and today is first time I have seen him in it. I've tried numerous times and given up, but today he insisted on wearing it. What goes on inside these children's minds?

Anyway it made me think about my experience on Friday. Last week, on Labour day holiday, Archie, Mark and I were killing time in Causeway Bay (while Billy was at a party at the Police officer's club!). Not a good time to be in Causeway bay. It's busy enough anyway as a shopping mecca, but turned out there was also a huge march to protest about the government levy and workers' rights (plus treatment of helpers by Chinese employers) so all the helpers and minimum wage workers were out in force. It seemed to be reasonably good natured but it was very loud and very busy so it just added to the general chaos. We dipped into a shop to look at some cool t shirts and I spotted a red Adidas top, nothing much different except that it had the word China (in Chinese) as a logo as well as Adidas.

Friday being the day that the Olympic torch was coming through Hong Kong on its way back to China, I thought it would be a good day to wear the top.(NB Dress down day at work) I am glad I did. I wore it for several reasons. I am proud and feel very privileged to live and work in Hong Kong. I support the Olympics and I really hope that after all the troubles of these past few months as the torch has circumnavigated the globe, that the Olympics go well for China. Perhaps this event will result in greater understanding and tolerance between China and the rest of the world.

I really felt quite patriotic as I bought my Olympic stamps and 'first day covers' from the Post office. Weird to feel that way, since I've only lived here 2 years and I'm not even a resident. But I am impressed and in awe of how hard everyone works here, the entrepreneurialism, the way everything runs so smoothly.
Just the fact that the new Beijing airport launched without a fuss - we really could learn some lessons from China, in managing huge infrastructure projects.

To the locals I know I am just another faceless gweilo, but on Friday wearing my 'China' top, I got so many smiles on my way to work, I was stopped several times, engaged in conversations, and really felt part of the place, not just an expat visitor on the outside.

Not sure when the top will next get an airing - probably on a Constantine Beach in Cornwall, since the next few months here will get so hot and humid, even just in skin it feels like wearing too much.

Saturday, May 03, 2008

Read this, can? - Singlish

On Tuesday this week, I was checking in to a flight at Singapore airport. The check-in lady turned to her colleague and asked: "Print this, can?" (referring to my boarding pass).

This mangled, but logical, use of English tickled me - I mentioned it to a colleague - of course it's a known phenomenon "Singlish" ... just that I've not noticed it before.

Wiki:

"Singlish originated with the arrival of the British and the establishment of English language schools in Singapore. Soon, English filtered out of schools and onto the streets, to be picked up by non-English-speakers in a pidgin-like form for communication purposes. After some time, this new form of English, now loaded with "Loanwords" -- substantial influences from Indian English, Baba Malay, and the southern varieties of Chinese, became the language of the streets and began to be learned "natively" in its own right. Creolization occurred, and Singlish then became a fully formed, stabilized, and independent English creole."


Here's my colleague's favourite example:

"Can also can, cannot also can"
.... which means, "Either way is fine".

Wiki has loads of examples ... and an explanation of its origins. It's officially frowned upon in Singapore as it leads to "bad English" ... I quite like it and enjoy the fact that the language is so adaptable (can you imagine this being allowed for the French language?) ... but it does feel 'Orwellian'.

Some more egs fom wiki:

* Dis country weather very hot one. — In this country, the weather is very warm.
* Dat person there cannot trust. — That person over there is not trustworthy.
* Tomorrow dun need bring camera. — You don't need to bring a camera tomorrow.
* He play soccer also very good one leh. — He's very good at playing soccer too.
* Not good one lah. — This isn't good.
* Cannot anihow go liddat one leh. — You/it can't go just like that.
* How come never show up? — Why didn't you/he/it show up?
* I li badminton, dat's why I every weekend go play. — I like badminton, so I play it every weekend.
* He not feel well, so he stay home sleep lor. — He's not feeling well, so he decided to stay home and sleep.

The inevitable 'Lah' at the end of sentences is very painful to my ears, but perversely I find myself using it when in Singapore "Hot today, Lah?".

M