A new kid in town

I

just wanted to show you the present construction status of the International Commerce Centre on the harbour side in West Kowloon. The ICC will be the 3rd tallest building in the world and is expected to become the most prominent office landmark in Hong Kong upon its completion in 2010. The mega-tower will be 118 storeys high - Morgan Stanley has already committed to leasing 10 floors for its Asia-Pacific headquarters - 490 metres above sea level and has been designed by world-renown architects Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates. It will become the only integrated, easily accessible Grade-A commerce and retail space along the peninsula but will also contain boutique residences and green spaces, amongst them a vertical garden with plants embedded in a wall to increase the amount of greenery. Innovative green initiatives are being put in place at the ICC to make the skyscraper more energy efficient and environmentally friendly - the project already won high praises for the introduction of energy-saving lifts, air cons that recycle water (it's estimated that this initiative could save about 10.000 cubic metres of water/year which would fill about 4 Olympic-sized swimming pools) the latest LED technology which will be applied for facade lighting to save energy and mitigate light pollution. It's reported that the extra electricity saved from the ICC would be enough for about one month's consumption by 6.500 four-member families in Hong Kong. Very impressive for architecture fans, keep it coming, can't wait!

Irrational Behavior

You won't believe this one - recently the Mainland banned the latest English edition of the popular Lonely Planet travel guide about China - it was censored because it uses light brown and yellow on a map to denote the Mainland and Taiwan, making them look like 2 countries. The Mainland authorities demanded a change, saying it violated mainland laws, but the publisher rejected the demand, resulting in the ban - as you might know, the Mainland still looks at Taiwan as being a part of China and not an independent state - one should really skip politics and the media these days because you might not be able to stop shaking your head over certain issues...

...and the rumble continues...

Today's newspapers were flooded with letters of restaurant and bar bosses who voiced their anger over the decision to scrap the visit of 8.000 American sailors. Beijing granted "humanitarian" grounds but it came too late for the sailors and about 290 family members who had flown into the City for Thanksgiving. It is still not clear why the fleet was denied entry, but an unanounced PLA flight training exercise was held this week over costal areas over the East and South China seas and on wednesday a PLA guided missile destroyer sailed from Guangdong on a historic port visit to Japan.

By the way - poor Michael had to spend 4 solid hours waiting in an airplane on the departure runway in Wuxi on tuesday, also without any further explanation - probabely these events are related.

One restaurant owner is convinced from experience that he missed out on about HKD 2 million from the visit - it's a massive impact on the City, that's for sure and cab drivers and bar owners were equally ticked off. What's especially sad is, that it would have been the last visit to HK for the carrier, which will be decommissioned next year after 46 years of service.

HK-based military expert A.C. said Beijing's action reflected its anger over the planned US sale of missiles to Taiwan and President Bush's recent meeting with the Dalai Lama - Kindergarden!

(source: SCMP)

Thanksgiving in China - impossible!!

.....and of course the reversed decision made by Beijing came way too late. It must be very frustrating for the families of all the sailors who flew into Hong Kong to surprise and expect their loved ones for a Thanksgiving Holiday....and guess who was one of the volunteers scheduled to work at the information desk of the Fleet Arcade at Fenwick Pier tomorrow - me, sigh......you cannot believe how many emails jammed my inbox during the past weeks to organize all the shifts to welcome 8000 sailors by the American Women Association/AWA - as it turned out, all for nothing in the end, arrggggggghhhhhhhh......


HONG KONG: China reversed a decision on Thursday to block a U.S. aircraft carrier strike group from visiting Hong Kong, but the change of heart by Beijing officials came too late to stop the U.S. naval flotilla from returning to its forward base in Japan. The USS Kitty Hawk and its five support ships were en route back to its base at Yokosuka and were not planning to double back to Hong Kong, a spokesman for the U.S. Pacific Fleet in Hawaii, Lt. Commander John Filostrat said.


22.11.2007 10:05 Uhr

China und USA
Schlechte Laune vor Thanksgiving
China wollte dem US-Flugzeugträger USS Kitty Hawk das Einlaufen nach Hongkong verwehren - und hätte damit ein dort geplantes Thanksgiving-Fest der Soldaten mit ihren Familien fast vereitelt.

Der amerikanische Flugzeugträger: Ein Besuch der USS Kitty Hawk in Hongkong war seit Wochen geplantFoto: Reuters

Gezerre um Thanksgiving: China hat einem US-Flugzeugträgerverband am Donnerstag erst nach längerem Zögern erlaubt, für das amerikanische Thanksgiving-Fest vor Hongkong zu ankern. Der Besuch der USS Kitty Hawk war seit Wochen geplant, ursprünglich sollte sie bereits am Mittwoch einlaufen. Doch China hatte Medienberichten zufolge zunächst die Erlaubnis verweigert. Daraufhin hatte das US-Außenministeriums mitgeteilt, die etwa 8000 Soldaten an Bord des Flugzeugträgers und der Begleitschiffe würden den Feiertag am Donnerstag nun im südchinesischen Meer verbringen. Es forderte China aber auf, die Entscheidung zu erläutern und zu überdenken.

Am Donnerstag erklärte nun ein Sprecher des Außenministeriums in Peking, die Regierung habe aus "humanitären Gründen" eine Erlaubnis erteilt. Damit solle der Besatzung des Flugzeugträgers und seiner Begleitschiffe ermöglicht werden, Thanksgiving in Hongkong zu feiern. Das amerikanische Erntedankfest ist einer der wichtigsten Feiertage in den USA. In Hongkong warteten auf die Besatzung Hunderte Angehörige, die wegen des traditionellen Familienfestes extra um die halbe Welt geflogen waren. "Ich vermisse meinen Papa", sagte ein 14-jähriger Junge, dessen Vater an Bord der Flotte ist. "Wir dachten, er würde da sein, aber wir wissen nicht, was los ist. Ich bin wirklich traurig."

Spannungen zwischen China und den USA
Chinas Weigerung war eine Überraschung - vor wenigen Wochen hatte US-Verteidigungsminister Robert Gates das Land besucht und sich zuversichtlich über einen langfristigen Dialog mit der Regierung in Peking gezeigt. Allerdings gab es in jüngster Zeit auch Spannungen: So könnte die Entscheidung eine Reaktion auf das jüngste Treffen des Dalai Lamas mit US-Präsident George W. Bush sein. Zudem wollen die USA der abtrünnigen Inselrepublik Taiwan für 940 Millionen Dollar dabei helfen, ihr Raketensystem zu erneuern. US-Kriegsschiffe ankern häufig vor Hongkong. Allerdings kommt es in Krisenzeiten zwischen China und den USA manchmal vor, dass Peking die Erlaubnis verweigert. Nach einem Besuch von US-Verteidigungsminister Robert Gates Anfang des Monats waren die augenblicklichen Beziehungen aber als gut beschrieben worden. (dpa/Reuters/sma/bica

Nightmare on Po Shan Road

Arggggggggghhhhhhh - before I go on a rampage through my own apartment, I decided it would be better to blow off steam in a Blog - at least I won't be strangling anybody then...I am having the painters in the house since monday, messing up my "peace and order" everywhere they set foot in - having Chinese workers around doesn't just cut off any communication possibilities, it really gives you an impression of what it must look like in rural areas...for example - when I went checking on them while painting in the back of the apartment, one guy had stripped down to his underwear, wearing nothing but his boxer shorts, a headscarf and his socks, unfortunately he didn't look as nearly as attractive as the plumber in Desperate Housewives, sigh...and what sense does it make taking off your shoes when you trudge through pieces of paint on your socks all day long in the first place? - by the way doing this, the painters were joined by the aircon service guys and the Internet technician at the same time and I had the prints all over the place... next thing that sent me off screaming in the inside was the fact that they were using OUR master bathroom which was closed - how much sense does this make when you're having 3 other toilets around?? Then I asked them to cover up the floor with a plastic foil which they hurriedly did just to dump all the debris back on the floor when they folded it upon finishing the job....but the greatest amusement came when I noticed they were taking a shower in the maids bathroom which has no shower curtain and not even a bathroom door because we're using it as storage room for our cleaning utensils, they didn't even bother to close the connecting door to the kitchen and - get this - they didn't even remove my cleaning things including the buckets before showering, meaning before I was able to start wiping the floors later on I first had to rinse the white paint off the buckets...I mean on the one hand I really feel lousy & guilty to picture that they are probabely this poor that they don't have a proper shower opportunity back at their homes, but living in our over-zivilized bubble as we do, it's still hard getting used to this kind of behavior again...and let's not start talking about their teeth....and once again - thank you God for letting us live such a privileged life!!! Tomorrow I'll escape into the great outdoors, I'll go cycling in the New Territories while Michael has to "babysit" them - I am sure he'll be having a blast!