Batgung

Occasionally I get to be the 'story uncle' at MissB's kindergarten, reading in English to the local children. As I walk along to the classroom, my mind runs ahead, painting a pretty picture of the scene that awaits - a crowd of young students, waiting eagerly to drink from the fountain of knowledge...

The teachers do their best to maintain the illusion but alas, when you're five, you tend to tell it how it is. Read more »

Mr Tall has already given us the low-down on who you can expect to find in a local gym. Allow me to extend the list to things aquatic: the typical characters you'll see at your local swimming pool. Read more »

Having completed our 'Hong Kong loves' lists, it follows naturally that we batgung must consider the polar opposite: the things we hate about Hong Kong. Mr B did his list a while back, so it's time I got to mine. Read more »

PatriarchB and ToddlerB found this one on an expedition to the local shopping arcade this week:

Have you ever had trouble getting to sleep on a plane because the temperature was set too cold? South African Airways' latest bus adverts proudly show their solution to the problem. Toasty!

The standard of written English in Hong Kong varies widely. At one extreme it is hardly recognisable as English at all. T-shirt designers are common culprits - here's an example modeled by MrsB:

Although the weather so far this June has been quite temperate (for Hong Kong, that is), it's still pretty hot. The sweaty season is upon us. I was well aware of this the other day as I took a little lunchtime walk to a nearby shopping mall to investigate a new stroller for Toddler Tall.

As I walked -- the mall in question isn't in fact all that nearby, unfortunately -- I passed through a predictable descent, from a nicely-pressed young man into a sweaty mess. If, for whatever masochistic reason, you would like to accompany me on my sweat-slicked odyssey, read on! Read more »

We Batgung just keep coming at you with new features. First it was the Signs of Shame, and now it's the Menus of Meaninglessness. Mr B has again been scouring the lower tier of Hong Kong eateries. A little more of the spiced donkey, sir? These and many other delicacies await at the Beijing dumpling restaurant in Wanchai.

Gorgeous Asian Babes?

There have been some heated discussions at Batgung-central on this topic. Will pictures of good-looking young ladies bring us more traffic ? Alienate our equally good-looking lady readers ? Attract even more of the gun-toting viewers that call this site home ?

Well, the customer is always right, and the pictures of bamboo and skylines obviously haven't been hitting the spot. So, welcome to Batgung's first technicolour video presentation: Read more »

We've written of the things we like, and Mr Tall notes the "gwai privilege", but you can't live here for long before thinking of a few things you wouldn't miss ... Read more »