Batgung

i would like to ask a very serious question.if anyone can answer then i will really appreciate your help.me and my bf want to get married in hong kong but we dont want anyone to find out. because my family is against this they arent approving of my bf so we have decided to do court marriage. However we both dont know much about getting married in hong kong as we both are of another religion,not chinese. I would like to ask, if we get married here, what process will be done? Read more »

I'm an American woman in my early 30s considering a move to HK. One of the thing that holds me back is the things I hear about the lack of dating life for expat women there. Is this true or can I have a normal dating life there? Thanks!

If having a baby is difficult, sometimes choosing their name seems even harder. And when you've got two cultures & languages in the mix, things get even more complicated.

Choosing the English names for our two daughters has been my job, with MrsB holding the power of veto. The first time around, before we knew the baby's sex, I was suggesting "Huw" if it was a boy. It's a friend's name, and has a link to Wales where I'm from. "No!" says MrsB, "any Chinese person that hears you call his name will think you're swearing at him". Lucky it was a girl...

 Read more »

It's been well over a year since we posted some pointers on dating a Chinese lady.

Has that article spawned a whole series of long-term, sweaty relationships, free of picking and sulking? Well then, maybe it is time to think about the big M word.

My rule of thumb is that if you are marrying in Hong Kong, you should marry an odd woman. (Disclaimer: I'm assuming you can tell the difference between "Nice but a bit different" odd, and "Boiling bunny on the stove, barking mad" odd.) Read more »

I've always found it a bit nerve-wracking to meet a girlfriend's parents for the first time, and especially when they are from another country. I first met MrsB's parents one Mid-Autumn festival, several years ago. The idea was that if we met them at a family dinner, I could see the whole family in one go. Given that with all the brothers, sisters, wives, husbands and children it adds up to 25+ people, that seemed like an efficient way to get things done. Plus, there would be plenty of people to restrain the father if he decided no gweilo was going to be seeing any daughter of his.

As we walked up the road to her Sister's house, two of her neices on the balcony saw us, and we heard them announce excitedly to the people inside "Here comes [MrsB] ..... and there's a GWEILO with her !!!". Read more »

Thinking about dating a local lady ? Ask yourself, will she ...

Pick?

Local men seem resigned to giving their new girlfriends free and public access to their bodies. You've probably seen the couple I'm thinking about sitting opposite you on the MTR. Man sits staring blankly into space, while girlfriend makes a clinical assault on the poor guy's face. If time is short, then go for the most satisfying target -- what better way to pass a journey than popping a few of your companion's pimples? But if it's a longer journey, and all the pimples have been taken care of, then hairstyle, ears and even nose are all fair game. Read more »

A couple of months ago, I mentioned that Mrs Tall and I are going to be parents. The day of the baby's coming is drawing nigh, and we're getting a little jumpy. We've been accumulating baby clothes, bottles, puke-absorbent rags, and so on. We even bought diapers the other day.

All this is fine but -- even as I predicted -- my brains are being ravaged by baby-expectant chemicals. Here's an example.

This past Sunday was Mother's Day, so I dutifully accompanied Mrs Tall and her mother to the Metro City shopping mall in Tseung Kwan O. There we encountered several hundred thousand other mothers being taken out for a bit of shopping by their families. Read more »

The times, they are a-changing.

It's been a while since Mr Tall has had much to say. To tell you the truth, he's been struck dumb of late by the gut-churning fact that he's going to be a father by the time this year is halfway out.

Mrs Tall is currently doing the suffering for the Talls in physical terms, but she keeps telling Mr Tall that he's the one who's going to be facing down the poop-rich nether-regions-wear five short months from now. He doesn't doubt it for a moment.

I don't want to go all soppy with you, gentle readers, as many a parent-to-be seems to do. I'll save that for after the Tall-ette is born, since it's an established medical fact that all new parents lose their critical objectivity-regulators once their offspring have emerged. Read more »

The Talls went to a wedding a while back. It was a happy day, although the bride and groom looked a little frazzled by the time they said their good nights to the guests. This is understandable. Weddings anywhere are a big deal, but in Hong Kong they can be particularly intense.

Most weddings here blend western and Chinese traditions; this is nice, but it means there are many extra requirements for the joyful couple to meet. Hong Kong weddings are in fact so rich a subject there's no way I can hope to cover it here in one article. I hope we Batgung will have several to offer you in time.

For now, I'll give you an overview by providing a brief look behind the scenes of my own wedding day. In the table below, the middle column contains Mr and Mrs Tall's (well, mostly Mrs Tall's) well-thought-out 'Schedule for the Groom on his Big Day'. The right hand column reveals what I actually did. Mr Balding, who was one of my groomsmen, can confirm I'm being kind to myself. Read more »