Living High in Hong Kong

Unless your are Li Kai Shing or some other Hong Kong tycoon, you can afford to live in a house in Hong Kong island.
Land prices get more expensive than gold itself.
Hong Kong island, is roughly in its natural status, a big rock that emerges from the sea. The existent flat land is usually artificially "created" by reclamation.
Every buildable spot gets easily occupied:


The developers usually utilize the land occupation to its maximum capacity. A little more than just 25 m2 can give space to 80 apartments:


Hong Kong is one of the cities in the world with the highest population density (for reference only: 247,501 people per square mile - 20 times higher than India's).

In 1998, with the move of the old Hong Kong Airport from the Kowloon Peninsula to Check Lap Kok, the building height restriction was relaxed, from 20 to >80 floors.
Today, aiming as usual to utilize the land, there are residential buildings being built with 80 floors or more, giving the impression that the 20 floor-buildings nearby are just tiny little house.

after typhoon mood

The typhoon is gone, but the wind is still blowing, the sky is still gray, the air is moist and hot and i am at work... what a weekend!

Which Of The Seven Deadly Sins Are You?

Suggested by Misha and Manela I decided in this bloody boooooooooring saturday afternoon at forced work, that i should test myself too, et voila' les resultats:


You are Lust!
Sexy!! But they say that theres such a thing as too
much of a good thing. You have sex on the
brain, and it doesn't stay just there for long.
Passionate, Fiery - and most certainly
confident. You're a fun loving, spontaneous
person who is always up for a laugh. People
however, have trouble keeping up with you.
You're sex crazy, and perhaps need to tone it
down a bit! learn a little self control!
But, Hey, Congratulations on being the Sexiest Red
Hot deadly sin out of all the 7...

ooops, and i thought it was all part of being alive!



?? Which Of The Seven Deadly Sins Are You ??
brought to you by Quizilla

Typhoon Aere blows Taiwan

It's the typhoon season and this year has been particularly bad for Taiwan. Typhoon Aere is the second typhoon this year (On July 2nd, typhoon Mindulle had a direct hit on the heart of the island, affecting many victims in the mountain's region) that hit hard on Taiwan, leaving devastation and victims as it brushes through the island.
This time it was the northern parts of Taiwan that suffered the most and being in Tainan (southern city) where the winds are still blowing very strong, I can just imagine how it might have felt in the north.
Aere is slowly approaching the north east cost of China, hopefully it won't be so catastrophic as the last one was.

Village missing after landslide
A landslide triggered by Typhoon Aere buried a mountain village in northern Taiwan yesterday, with the fate of at least 20 residents unknown.

PHOTO: TSAI MENG-HSIANG, TAIPEI TIMES
The Yihsing section of the No. 120 County Highway in Hsinchu, which has been virtually washed away by Typhoon Aere. The torrential rains brought by Aere, and the resultant flooding, damaged many roads in the Aboriginal townships of Chienshih and Wufeng in Hsinchu County.


PHOTO: CHANG HSUN-TENG, TAIPEI TIMES
The Houlung River roars under the damaged Kuishan Bridge in Miaoli City yesterday.


PHOTO: CHEN TSE-MING, TAIPEI TIMES
A park next to Hsintien River in Taipei County is inundated by rising water levels yesterday.

A fortune teller told me...

An excellent book by Tiziano Terzani that takes you into a trip around a spiritual dimension of South-East Asia!
Check out a summary here or here.

Another fortune teller told me, with quite accurate veracity, that I am:

How I Approach Life and How I Appear To Others:
Forward-looking and progressive, you are a person who supports change, innovation, and human advancement, and you are often strongly committed to a humanitarian cause or social improvement. You are extremely aware of the interconnection and interdependence of all people, and are always relating personal issues to some larger framework. You see the political or social ramifications of personal actions, and you wish to contribute something of value to the world, or at least to your community or group.

The Inner Me: My Real Motivation:
Proud and intensely individual, you really want to stand out, to be the very best you can be, and to be recognized and appreciated for your unique contributions. Doing something well and being respected for it is extremely important to you, and you cannot tolerate being in the background, taking orders from others, or being "just one of the team". You must put your personal stamp on whatever you do, and direct your own course in life. You need to have a place where you can shine, express yourself creatively, and be the one in charge.

It was 17 August 1965...

...a very hot afternoon in Madison County, Iowa...

Francesca sits on the front porch with some iced tea, trying to cool herself off. It is a scorcher. She is barefoot, her blouse hanging out of her jeans, her hair fastened up by a tortoise shell comb.
Camera begins a slow move into close-up, as she sips her tea and lets her mind wander.

“I never got lost. For some reason, I'm more at home everywhere than at one place. So I decided I'll think of myself as some kind of world citizen. I belong everywhere and nowhere. I'm kin to everyone, and no one in particular. See, once you get into the habit of not needing anyone, it's kind of hard to break.
I think I need everyone! I love people. I want to meet them all! I just think there are too many out there saying "This is mine." or "She's mine." Too many lines have been drawn. World's breaking apart because of man's weakness for some testosterone conquests over territory and power and people. He wants control over what deep down he knows he has no control over whatsoever and it scares him silly.”
“We're not even two separate people anymore. Some people search their whole lives for it and wind up alone -- most people don't even think it exists”

"-- going over and over in my mind every detail, every moment of our time together and I ask myself, "What happened to me in Madison County?" I struggle to put it together in a way that allows me to continue knowing we're on separate roads. But then I look through the lens of my camera, and you're there. I start to write an article and I find myself writing it to you. It's clear to me now we have been moving towards each other, towards those four days, all our lives -–"

He begins walking towards her. She prepares herself. Her life will change -- it has to. There's not turning back.
But the closer Robert gets, the clearer he can see that she is crying. And he stops.
Without any words, he realizes what taking her with him would mean. With just a glance, he sacrifices her. With their eyes locked in the middle of Main Street -- in front of the whole town -- they smile and say goodbye.

“Do what you have to, to be happy in this life. There is so much beauty, don’t miss it!"

Extracts from the movie script "The Bridges of Madison County" .

Happy Birthday Dear Madonna...

Chinese Taipei = Taiwan - Beijing?

Chinese Taipei, the designation of Taiwan in the Olympic games, in my opinion misrepresents this island.
Taiwan does contain Taipei as well as people whose ethnic background is Chinese, however Taiwan is much more than just Taipei (a county and city part of Taiwan) and does have other ethnic groups (there are 12 different tribes of aboriginal people in Taiwan).
Not all the athletes representing Taiwan come from Taipei and not all are ethnically Chinese.
Calling Taiwan, Chinese Taipei, would be like designating Brazil as Portuguese Brazilia or USA as English Washington.
It would not be correct, right?
So why Chinese Taipei and not Taiwan or perhaps Formosa?


PHOTO: LIN CHENG-KUNG, TAIPEI TIMES
Team Taiwan waves to spectators while holding the Chinese Taipei National Olympic Committee flag during the opening ceremony in Athens on Friday, 13/08/04.

The Road Home - to discover, to feel and to lose love

This movie is so beautiful for its simplicity, for the facial and body expression of the actress and for the landscape, a combination of all this with very little words, transmits to the spectator how is to discover, feel and lose LOVE....



"The Road Home" - Director Yimou Zhang
Este filme e’ uma historia simples que celebra a alegria inocente da descoberta do amor e a dor da tristeza da perca da pessoa amada. Aborda tambem realidades sociais e culturais da China de Mao, pobre e oprimida mas muito humana.
A natureza tem neste filme um papel principal, as paisagens e as estacoes do ano acentuam a alegria, o drama e a tristeza dos personagens.
A arte de representar da actriz Ziyi Zhang , e’ de uma beleza extraordinaria.
Nao e’ propriamente os dialogos que dao beleza e charme ao personagem interpretado por Ziyi Zhang , mas sim as expressoes faciais e corporais da atcriz que transmitem ao espectador um charme e serenidade contagiantes. As emocoes sao nos tranmitidas atraves dos seus olhares, que expressam de uma forma extremante bem conseguida, o amor, a alegria, a perca, a tristeza e a dor.

Para um resumo da historia click aqui.

Beauty...

I have the impression that I know Ziyi Zhang for a long time!

The Day After...

PHOTO: CHANG CHUNG-YI, TAIPEI TIMES
Crews work amid debris from several demolished buildings above the Kaohsiung MRT's Orange Line yesterday.

"The head of Kaohsiung's MRT system offered to resign yesterday to take responsibility for subsidence on Monday that led to the evacuation and condemning of surrounding buildings in the fourth construction mishap to hit the project in three months."

That would be too easy for you, "Mr. Head of Kaohsiung's MRT System", the captain does not abandon the ship when it has been severely damaged. The captain stays aboard finds out what caused the damage; repairs it and introduces preventive measures to avoid reoccurrence.
If you don't know this, "Mr. Head of Kaohsiung's MRT System", you probably should not have been in this position to start with!
I personally thing "Mr. Head of Kaohsiung's MRT System", should take the responsibility but still stay in the position until he has a full and detailed report of what went wrong and improve their management system accordingly aiming that this kind of oooops, will never happen.
Leaders are paid to make sure that businesses operate in safe conditions, they are not paid just to sit there and use and abuse of their title.
I remind you "Mr. Head of Kaohsiung's MRT System", that you should know this and ensure that your entire organization knows it and practices it:

“In the process of undertaking work within a tight programme there never seems to be sufficient time or money to ensure that the results are correct. However, on discovery of a major error or fault the resources to put it right are limitless.”

Something was not planned...

The Construction Industry involves high risky activities and therefore the adequate planning and implementation of controls, from design to completed construction stages, is crucial to avoid non-foreseen accidents.
In this case, the construction of the subway system in the southern city of Taiwan Kaohsiung, something went wrong either at design and/or construction stages.
Often the approach to Quality Management dictates the success of a construction site.
Fortunately, no fatalities were caused by this incident, but there are certainly great lessons to learn from it.
It is always good to remember this basic principal, particularly in activities that have risks associated with them:

“In the process of undertaking work within a tight programme there never seems to be sufficient time or money to ensure that the results are correct. However, on discovery of a major error or fault the resources to put it right are limitless.”


PHOTO: CHANG CHUNG-YI, TAIPEI TIMES
Underground work on the Shitzuwan station of Kaohsiung's MRT line caused subsidence that affected nearby buildings yesterday, causing them to sink by as much as one story. About 20 people fled their stores and homes as five three-story buildings on Linhai 2nd Road began to sink around 1:20pm. No one was hurt in the incident.

2004 Asian Cup Soccer Tournament - The Final

It is unfortunate that people cannot move on and leave the past where it belongs. Nobody should be blamed for the mistakes that their ancestors committed long time ago. The Japanese of the XXI century have no responsibility for what some Japanese of the early XX century, did.
To forgive and respect is the only way to move on in peace and harmony.
Congratulations to Japan for its victory.
Sorry to China, but Portugal lived the same sad moments: loosing a final at home and their reaction was an admirable one.
Sports are about wining and also about knowing how to loose.
All the best for next time!

Keiji Tamada scored in injury time Saturday to seal a 3-1 Asian Cup final victory for defending champion Japan over host China in a tense match overshadowed by nationalistic passions among Chinese and anti-Japanese violence.
Following the match, crowds chanting anti-Japanese insults broke bottles and exchanged kicks and punches with police outside the stadium. At least three men were seen being taken away by officers, but it wasn't clear if anyone was injured.


PHOTO: AP
A young Chinese soccer fan walks past a line of riot police on his way to see the Asian Cup final between China and Japan at Workers' Stadium in Beijing, Saturday. After being tied 1-1 in the first half, Japan defeated China 3-1 to win the cup for the third time.


PHOTO: AP
Japanese captain Tsuneyasu Miyamoto holds the Asian Cup as team members celebrate at Workers' Stadium in Beijing, Saturday.

Amar e' / To love is... part II

Life should not be a drama and people should not be martyrs and miuda did a good job in reminding me of that and complemented my thoughts about the concept of love:

"Entender o outro, é Amar!
É difícil... mas quando conseguido não pode, ou não deve, causar-nos dor!!!"
by miuda

"To understand the other one, is to love!
That's a difficult task... but when achieved it can't or it shouldn't cause pain!!!"
by miuda

2004 Asian Cup Soccer Tournament

After the Euro 2004, it seems that 2004 Asian Cup Soccer tournament does not have little media's interest.
But anyway, it is happening right now in China, as I poublish this post.
The final is tomorrow: China vs Japan and it promisses more than just a sport competition!!!

PHOTO: AFP
A Chinese paramilitary policeman watches whilst a fan enjoys herself at China's semifinal game against Iran during the 2004 Asian Cup Soccer tournament at the Workers Stadium in Beijing. Authorities said yesterday that they are taking no chances that the grudge Asian Cup final between China and Japan will turn nasty, drafting in more than 1,000 extra police to keep order.
From territorial claims, to war atrocities and outrage over sex orgies, tensions between China and Japan are never far from bubbling to the surface.
When China and Japan meet in the final of Asia's most prestigious football tournament in Beijing tomorrow, there will be more at stake than lifting the silverware -- national pride will be in play.

Amar e'... / To love is...

Amar e’ ficar contente com a felicidade da pessoa que se ama.
Mesmo que essa felicidade nos provoque dor!

To Love is to feel joy with the happiness of the loved one,
Even when that happiness causes us pain!

Taiwan's Aboriginals promote Tourism

PHOTO: CHANG TSUN-WEI, TAIPEI TIMES
Young people from a Tao Aboriginal dance group perform a traditional dance during a press conference in Taitung City (Taiwan) yesterday, called to promote tourism in their homeland, the island of Lanyu (Taiwan), southeast of Taitung City.

For those who don't know, there are 12 different tribes of aboriginal people in Taiwan. These tribes are the natives of this island.
Some 360,000 indigenous people, the original inhabitants of Taiwan, still live here; they can be distinguished into 12 different tribes, namely the Saisiyat, the Atayal, the Amis, the Bunun, the Puyuma, the Rukai, the Paiwan, the Tao, the Sao,the Taroko,the Kemalan and the Zou.
The mysterious customs and traditions of the aborigines, Taiwan's indigenous people, such as the Harvest Festival (Smatto), the Worship of Hunting (Mabuasu), spiritual rituals, totemism, and snake worship, give an extra dimension to Taiwan's culture. The aboriginal tribes of Taiwan form the most northern branch of the Austronesian language group, and ethnically belong to the Malay race.

Mini monks made in Japan

PHOTO: AP
Young children, their heads shaved, pose for a portrait just after they attended a ceremony to enter the Buddhist priesthood at Higashi Hongwanji temple in Kyoto, western Japan, yesterday. Seventy-one boys and girls, all aged 9, were issued black robes following the ceremony, conducted by head priest the Reverand Choken Otani.

Lost in Translation?

The other night I was browsing Tainan (a charming southern Taiwanese city), looking for a bar to cheer up my mood.
I bumped into this bar and wondered if it was the right place to go...


I wonder if this is another lost in translation case or if there are really people in this world that can associate fun with a cemetery.
Oh well, good to know that there is always something for everybody but this one is definitely not for me!

Dance not war

PHOTO: SEAN CHAO, TAIPEI TIMES
A dance troupe from Brazil performs a traditional war dance called Capoeria that integrates dance, martial arts and traditional instruments at a press conference in Taipei last 28/07/04, to introduce the 2004 Olympia Earth Games. The games, which started on 30/07/04 and will run until Aug. 8 in Puhsin, Taoyuan County, are jointly organized by the National Cultural Association and other groups.