Canada Bans Tik Tok on Govt Phones

Canada follows the EU and US in Tik Tok ban

The Canadian government has followed the United States in removing and blocking the video-sharing platform Tik Tok from all government-issued smartphones due to security reasons from February 28.

In an email sent to Global Affairs employees said the Chief Information Officer made the decision following a review which found that Tik Tok's data collection methods could lead to cyber attacks.

"The Government of Canada continuously works to ensure the cyber security of our networks by identifying threats and vulnerabilities, including those on social media platforms," the email said.

Parent company ByteDance stores data in China

"The government will continue to monitor the situation and will work with partners to keep the information on our systems and networks secure."

But why would anyone install Tik Tok on a government-issued phone in the first place? How many would have done so?

If anything Tik Tok is a time suck -- getting viewers to watch endless 30-second videos about a whole range of subjects, mostly mindless. And it is this monitoring of users' watching habits and their information is the data that Tik Tok's parent company ByteDance wants, and that it is stored in China.

Nevertheless hopefully this will be a wake-up call to people using Tik Tok to understand they have no control over where their information is extracted from and kept, and perhaps they should think twice about having Tik Tok on their phones.

Canada is following the European Commission and European Council, several American state governments, and most US federal government employees in barring the app on government-issued phones.

Trudeau says this ban could be the first step

While the US Congress is debating a bill which would ban Tik Tok across the country, Prime Minster Justin Trudeau hasn't said whether Canada would do the same.

"This may be the first step, it may be the only step we need to take, but every step of the way we're going to be making sure we're keeping Canadians safe," he said. 

"Certainly, I suspect that as government takes the significant step of telling all federal employees they can no longer use Tik Tok on their work phones, many Canadians... will reflect on the security of their own data and perhaps make choices in consequence."

So does this mean Trudeau is finally coming around to possibility of Chinese interference in Canada and that it must be stopped in every possible way?

Mask Debate Continues in HK

Hongkongers continue to wear masks until at least March 8

Hong Kong is probably the only place on Earth where there is still a mask mandate in place.

China dropped its mandate when it went to zero-Covid, and today Macau has dropped its policy of wearing masks outside, unless visiting a hospital or taking public transport.

The Hong Kong government has extended the mask mandate until at least March 8, which means people attending the upcoming Clockenflap music festival March 3-5 must wear masks while enjoying live music outside...

Sridhar advises doing away with masks now

Hardly makes Hong Kong appealing, even if it brands itself as "Happy Hong Kong" in a bid to entice more visitors to the city.

Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po has suggested that the mask mandate could be dropped by the "end of the season", which means the end of the financial year, (March 31).

However, Dr Siddharth Sridhar, a clinical assistant professor in microbiology at the University of Hong Kong said the city could scrap the mask mandate anytime, since the population had a high level of hybrid immunity.

"Mask-wearing could not fully prevent a Covid outbreak, as we can see from the fifth pandemic wave last year," he said. "As to preventing influenza, we have never relied on a mask mandate either."

Sridhar also argued an outbreak of influenza was inevitable regardless of when Hong Kong lifted the mask mandate, as the population had low immunity levels.

Nevertheless he did advise people to wear masks in public transportation and crowded indoor areas.

Lo claims masks prevent people from smoking

The fact that Hong Kong is still debating this issue shows there is no straight-forward exit plan -- that the government hadn't even considered lifting the mask mandate and would rather people keep wearing them.

Like Secretary for Health Dr Lo Chung-mau, who suggests the smoking population has decreased because of the necessity of wearing masks in public places.

"Over the last three years, the masks have helped us not only by controlling Covid-19, but also in reducing the number of smokers," he said.

How does that even make sense?

The government echoes his sentiment in this FAQ about wearing masks in public:

"Smokers are more likely to touch their mask and face with their hands during smoking, leading to increased chance of infection. Besides, smoking damages lungs and weakens immunity. Smokers who have contracted Covid-19 are more likely to develop severe complications. We appeal to members of the public to avoid smoking in public places, and to quit smoking whenever possible."

What a reason to quit smoking -- I couldn't light up cause I had to wear a mask outside.

Review: We Have Boots

Chan's doc on the Umbrella Movement

It's hard rewatching footage of the 2019 Hong Kong protests, police indiscriminately firing tear gas canisters at protesters, roughly pushing them down on the ground, and the scenes of officers beating up commuters in Prince Edward MTR station are horrifying every time, as well as the white shirted men with sticks attacking people at the Yuen Long MTR station.

How did this all happen within a span of days, weeks and months?

But these scenes only make up a small part of director Evans Chan's documentary, We Have Boots: Hong Kong on the Edge (2020) that was shown online as part of the Global Hong Kong Studies at the University of California.

Yellow umbrellas became symbol of movement

His film actually focuses more on the 2014 Umbrella Movement, how it happened (spontaneously), thousands of people occupied parts of the city and ended without a proper resolution 79 days later as police arrested people and cleared the streets.

Chan demonstrates the consistency of the Hong Kong government to ignore the Basic Law, to ignore the will of the people and to reinforce Beijing's authority over the city. He focuses on a few pro-democracy activists, both young and old and how they each found their way to be part of this movement.

They include legal scholar Benny Tai Yiu-ting, former sociology professor Chan Kin-man, Agnes Chow Ting, Alex Chow Yong-kang, localist Ray Wong Toi-yeung and social worker Shiu Ka-chun.

It's interesting to hear Agnes Chow explain how she got politically involved through a Facebook page, and threw herself into the cause, while Tai and Chan rationalise the need to have this civil disobedience exercise in the streets. They look to Martin Luther King Jr for inspiration, and believe (naively or not) that people inherently have the right to protest on moral grounds and that they will persevere in the end.

Film interviews Tai (middle) and Chan (right)

Meanwhile the documentary notes that the localist movement grew out of the 2014 movement because they were not given a chance to speak to the crowds in Admiralty, to provide another opinion. The pro-democracy movement acknowledges this mistake which caused the movement to splinter into groups like Hong Kong Indigenous.

While Chan and Tai said they were mentally prepared for prison time by not using air conditioning as much as possible, for Shiu it was heartbreaking to see him with his mother and knowing she would be on her own for several months while her son was in jail. He was doing it for the greater good, but at the same time he was pained to know he would not be there to look after his mother.

However, the documentary feels like it's missing Joshua Wong Chi-fung -- who was considered a key part of the 2014 movement, and pushed onto the international stage by the global media. There is no interview with him at all to learn how he was dealing with being one of the ring leaders of the movement, and also the decisions they were making at the time.

Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai-Chee-ying is also missing in this film, who was literally at Admiralty everyday. He and his newspaper played a major role in helping to get the crowds out.

There is a lot of reflection from Alex Chow, who was a key member of the Occupy Movement and then he became a Buddhist in jail and went overseas to study, probably never to return. 

Chan puts events into context

Director Chan gives a lot of background to explain how the 2014 Umbrella Movement came to be, as more mainlanders flooded the city to buy goods, leaving locals overwhelmed and beginning to identify more strongly as Hongkongers and realising the government was not standing up for them, that they had to do it themselves.

However after the movement was shut down without any resolution, many people were depressed and despondent. So is it any surprise how they were determined to learn from their mistakes in 2014 and have a leaderless pro-democracy movement?

By this time people like Wong and Tai were in jail, the government thinking it had everything under control. Chinese officials in the Liaison Office were completely out of touch with what was going on too, as evidenced by the November 2019 District Council elections where pro-democracy candidates swept 17 out of 18 districts. 

We Have Boots gives a condensed taste of what happened with the government's bungling of the extradition bill and how young people were very creative in fighting back. Their fight became an existential one of literally fighting to keep Hong Kong's rights and freedoms -- a huge burden for the next generation. But they felt they had no choice.

It is believed Chan has plans to follow up We Have Boots with a closer examination of the 2019 protests and that would be good to have some analysis and more importantly a record of what happened. While it is re-traumatising to watch this footage over and over, we need to remember this happened and we saw it happen.

We Have Boots: Hong Kong on the Edge

Directed by Evans Chan

2hours, 9 minutes

San Diego: Vigilucci's

Succulent cioppino with mussels, clams, prawns and calamari

We hit the jackpot in finding a fantastic Italian restaurant in Carlsbad, near San Diego on our first night. Vigilucci's looked packed but we managed to snag a table outside under a heating lamp.

Since the pandemic the restaurant has expanded to not only convert its retail space into dining space, but also the business next door too.

The server was Italian, friendly and when he told us the special of the evening was sea bass with white asparagus, we were sold. Three out of the five of us ordered that dish. The fish was lightly pan-fried with a crispy exterior and tender and flaky meat inside.

Sea bass with white asparagus, mashed potatoes

White asparagus in February? Apparently. I asked the waiter where it came from but he never got back to me. They were fresh, stalks were not cooked enough, but we were thrilled just to be able to eat them with a potato mash and roasted Brussels sprouts. 

Needless to say we were stuffed and had no room for dessert after, but promised we'd be back.

Valentine's Day we ambitiously tried to get a table -- at 8.15pm. When we got there it was raining lightly which put a damper on many couples' dining plans. When we arrived at the restaurant there was a very long line of people waiting to be seated, but we marched to the receptionist and asked for our table.

Would they give it to us as promised or would we have to go to the back of the line on the most romantic day of the year?

As luck would have it, a booth opened up and we were able to have our table! Amazing!

The valentine's dinner menu looked very appealing but it was the cioppino that interested me. I knew it would be a huge portion, but heck, it's Valentine's Day -- to me.

Cozy booth seating at the back of the restaurant

I resisted eating bread while waiting for the dish -- actually a large shallow platter that was filled with seafood in a delicious herbed tomato saucy soup -- with three pieces of grilled bread on top.

When I dug into the cioppino I was in seafood heaven, the pieces of salmon perfectly cooked along with the plump mussels and clams, there was also a lot of fresh calamari and baby shrimp. Sadly the prawns were overcooked and a bit tough, but everything else was so good. 

I focused on the seafood and managed to finish almost all of it, save for several calamari rings and left the bread behind. I was stuffed to say the least. The dish could have easily fed two.

Again we were too full to even contemplate dessert, but at the end of the evening each lady got a long stem red rose which was a nice touch. They even stayed fresh several days afterwards!

Vigilucci's Cucina Italiana

2943 State Street

Carlsbad, CA

92008

(760) 434 2500

San Diego: Old Town

Verdant greeting at the Old Town in San Diego

On our second last day in San Diego we drove south to the Old Town to check it out. It is the first European settlement in California, and the oldest neighbourhood in San Diego (though it's literally just a tourist spot now, no one lives here).

Conveniently there's a parking lot nearby where you can park for four hours for free, but it's not necessary! The area is divided into several sections -- a Mexican-themed place with restaurants and gift shops, and then a more open area with individual shops, sadly many of them have closed. Keep walking up and you'll hit the main street of the area where there are cafes and restaurants serving mostly Tex-Mex food.

Gum Saan sells non-Chinese trinkets

The Mexican area is very colourful with lots of succulents and flowers mixed with skeletons. It's like a perpetual Cinco de Mayo there. Souvenir shops sell colourfully embroidered clothing -- made in China, or jewellery and items made by local artists. There were also tile shops, one selling very spicy chilli sauces, and ceramics.

We then headed to the more Western area that sort of looked like a hastily assembled Wild West Main Street. The City Hall had two women dressed up in clothing from two centuries ago, and there was a candle-making shop that was quite popular that also sold soap.

Another one with many customers was the candy shop where people could not resist buying fudge to stuff their faces with. Interestingly ther was a shop called "Gum Saan" or "Gold Mountain", as many Chinese migrants came to California to try their luck and pan for gold. But the shop actually sold Tibetan and Nepalese items, including bracelets, singing bowls, statues, and incense. Nothing to do with Chinese!

In the end we had a bite to eat in a Tex-Mex restaurant, and I ordered two tacos, one was seared Mahi Mahi, the other pulled pork with a side of black beans. I was full after eating those two tacos and only managed to make a dent in the black beans!

Mahi mahi taco (left) and pulled pork, black beans

We then tried to get on the Hop On, Hop Off bus, but found out it would be a two-hour ride and about US$50 a person, so we made our way back to the parking lot and came home!

San Diego: Chin's Gourmet

Roast duck that was not deboned and served with bread

Aside from Din Tai Fung, there is decent Chinese food in San Diego in the form of Chin's Gourmet. There are four in the city and one near us in Carlsbad. We checked it out -- twice.

The decor sadly perpetuates Asian stereotypes with round paper lanterns and wooden screens, though strangely the lighting is very dark for a Chinese restaurant!

Sweet and sour pork was enjoyable

When we arrived there were lots of non-Chinese people by the door waiting for takeaway orders, and throughout the evening it seemed most of Chin's business was takeout. No one wants to sit in the dark restaurant to eat?

The extensive menu has dishes listed in black and orange. It was only later when the Taiwanese owner and chef came out to greet another customer in English that he saw a table of Chinese people that he explained to us the dishes in orange were what Chinese people ate, ie not Chinese-American food.

The staff didn't bother tell us though the menu says, "Orange colour: Traditional Chinese Food".

Eggplant was delicious with a touch of spice

On the first night we ordered the Taiwanese three-cup chicken, which looked good, but wasn't well executed. The chicken was overcooked, the sauces not quite melded together. Sauteed string beans was a winner, as well as the eggplant in a slightly spicy sauce. 

The roast duck came out hidden under clam-shaped steamed bread and it was strange to put slices of the duck in the bread when it wasn't deboned. It was a bit of a miss and a struggle to finish because the meat was tough and the sauce wasn't enough to make it more edible. The stir-fried pork with onions were pretty good though.

We had no room for dessert, but were handed fortune cookies! 

Japanese tofu with mushrooms and vegetables

The next evening we came back again, same table.

Most disappointing was the gon chau ngau ho, or stir-fried beef with rice noodles. It looked more wet than dry with no char or wok hei. Guess the owner/chef was not there. But we repeated our order of Japanese tofu with enoki mushrooms, mushrooms and vegetables. So good. We also had eggplant again but wasn't as good, sadly. The gai lan was crunchy and fresh -- gai lan in San Diego!

Sweet and sour pork was not bad, crunchy exterior, tender inside. For dessert we ordered banana fritters but then were told the kitchen didn't have any bananas. Seriously? We instead had black sesame dumplings in sweet soup and they turned out to be very tiny, in a sweet glutinous rice soup. 

Maybe we should have just gone the first time, but our craving for Chinese food was too great.

Black sesame balls in sweet glutinous rice soup

Chin's Gourmet

West Bluff Plaza Shopping Center

6990 El Camino Real

Carlsbad, CA 

92009

(760) 438 7886

San Diego: Tip Top Meats

I took a bite into my pastrami sandwich before taking a photo!

A friend who drove from Orange County to San Diego to visit me wanted to have lunch at a German deli and I didn't say no.

So after we did some shopping at the nearby Carlsbad Premium Outlets, we stopped for lunch at Tip Top Meats. 

Customers order here before eating at their table

When she used to live near the area, on the weekends they would come here for lunch or to pick up some German sausages before going home because it's part restaurant and part grocery store, specialising in food items from Deutschland since 1967. 

The restaurant is actually more of a cafeteria where you order at the cashier and then the food is served to you at the table. But the day we went there was quite a line so we checked out the grocery part first and it was impressive to see all kinds of items, from apple strudels to marzipan, cookies, many kinds of sausages including currywurst, lots of Haribo products to keep kids on sugar highs for days, chocolates and giant slabs of cheese. 

We went back to the lineup and perused the menu printed on a brochure. For a small eatery, it has an impressive array of dishes from breakfast served from 6am to noon, then for lunch and dinner there are cold and hot sandwiches, soups, burgers, meat loaf, osso bucco, beef stroganoff, liver and onions, schnitzel, smoked pork chops, chicken cordon bleu and zwiebel rostbraten or sweet onion stuffed pork roast, all very reasonably priced.

The grocery is stocked with lots of German foods

It probably explains why there are so many seniors who eat here, having a giant portion of food with a pint and then taking the leftovers home for dinner.

I was conservative and had a hot pastrami sandwich that instead of fries came with German potato salad -- with bits of bacon and slightly vinegary. 

When it arrived I was surprised to see three half sandwiches of hot pastrami with melted cheese in between two slices of toasted rye bread and pickles. I only had room for two halves and took the third half home with some potato salad.

If I was hungrier I would have tried the schnitzel but was trying to save my stomach for later. 

Nevertheless what an interesting place to eat at and have a taste of Germany!

Tip Top Meats 

6118 Paseo Del Norte

Carlsbad, CA

92011-1116

(760) 438 2620

HK Govt Plans to Stimulate Economy by Eating

Does Gourmet Marketplace mean food festivals all year round?

The Hong Kong government has run out of ideas. It really cannot think of anything fun, innovative, or clever in its bid to stimulate the economy.

So it has resorted to a campaign called "Happy Hong Kong".

Hello Hong Kong

and now Happy Hong Kong.

Chan announced "Happy Hong Kong" in speech

The new campaign was announced by Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po today during his budget speech and the details are... laughable.

"We will soon launch the "Happy Hong Kong" Campaign for the general public, providing them opportunities to share happy and enjoyable moments together, thereby bringing more joy to the community," said Chan.

Uh huh.

"One of the major themes for this series of events is the launch of a "Gourmet Marketplace", under which large-scale food fairs will be organised in various locations across the territory in the coming months, bringing together Mainland, Hong Kong and overseas gourmet food, with a view to enabling the public and visitors enjoy the good food in the city," he said.

It just sounds like a major gorge-fest that's going to have a lot of drunk and overstuffed people all over the city crawling for their Pepto-Bismol.

How about these outdoor food stalls every week?

But perhaps even worse is for the kitchen staff who will probably have to work remotely outside of their restaurants to prepare food which is a huge challenge in itself. Trucking in all the ingredients, pots, pans, refrigerators, stoves, cutlery, then having to cook onsite... it already sounds like a culinary nightmare.

And anyway Hong Kong has had several of these food festivals before and they were OK-lah, overpriced and weather dependent. It makes no sense and this "Gourmet Marketplace" has not been thought out carefully.

Does the government think shoving lots of food in front of Hongkongers will make them forget the deteriorating human rights situation, the national security law and growing authoritarianism in the city?

It's a pathetic attempt at wallpapering things over...

He Jiankui Update

He's hopes of going to Hong Kong have now been dashed

An update on He Jiankui's visa -- hours after he made the announcement, the Hong Kong government has now revoked the controversial biophysicist's visa because he had been jailed for illegal medical practices.

"After the immigration department reviewed the application, it suspected that someone made false statements to get the visa approval," the statement said. "The director of immigration has declared that the visa is invalid in accordance with the law."

It added law enforcement officers would conduct a criminal investigation to follow up the case.

This shows the "Top Talent Pass Scheme" is not stringently vetting applicants, nor considering the possibility that convicted criminals might try to apply...

Hong Kong Labour Minister Chris Sun Yuk-han refused to comment on individual cases, but acknowledged that applicants have not needed to disclose any criminal record in the application process. He said applicants will have to do so starting Wednesday.

So guess He won't be moving to the city anytime soon...

Gene-Editing Biophysicist Gets HK Visa

He back in 2018 explaining how he gene-edited in vitro

We temporarily interrupt our report on San Diego to bring the news that the Chinese biophysicist who performed gene editing in vitro on twins in 2018 has recently been granted a visa to live and work in Hong Kong under the "Top Talent Pass Scheme".

This scheme is Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu's attempt to lure talent back to the city in a bid to stem the ongoing exodus of people from academics to lawyers, financiers, teachers and students.

However, allowing the controversial He Jiankui -- who was convicted under Chinese law and spent three years in jail for this illegal medical practice -- into Hong Kong not only rings alarm bells to the highest level ethically, but also speaks to how desperate the city is to accumulate "talent".

He was jailed for three years for illegal practice

He posted on WeChat on Saturday that he had been granted a Hong Kong visa on February 11 under the "Top Talent Pass Scheme" that was launched on December 28 last year.

In addition he wrote he was "optimistic about [the future of] Hong Kong", and that he was excited to continue his research there, but did not elaborate with whom.

Why is the Hong Kong government allowing a well-known person who was convicted and completed his sentence in April to be approved for this visa? 

Meanwhile people in the medical research field are shocked that He is coming to the city.

A veteran medical researcher with a Hong Kong university said on condition of anonymity that he found the news of He coming was "pretty surprising".

"He obviously has a criminal record in the mainland... I can't imagine anyone in universities would collaborate with him," the researcher said.

Five years later with much less hair

Ah, but now with practically all the universities in Hong Kong now run by chancellors with mainland Chinese backgrounds who are more pliant, surely it wouldn't be hard for the government to gently twist an arm or two to give He a position?

This is what Hong Kong has become -- a haven for sanctioned Russian oligarchs [Alexei Mordashov] and convicted Chinese biophysicists... sounds like just the right mix of people the city needs to get back on its feet.

San Diego: Din Tai Fung

Love this xiaolongbao guy who greets everyone at the door!

The only place I booked ahead of arriving in San Diego to make sure we got a table was at Din Tai Fung! There are none of these Taiwanese dumpling chain restaurants in Canada and the last time I ate at Din Tai Fung was in Hong Kong almost a year ago.

Xiaolongbao with kurobuta pork

We drove about 25 minutes south to a shopping mall called Westfield UTC on La Jolla Drive. It's a huge mall complex with Nordstrom's and Macy's, and I later heard in the last few years the mall has blinged its way up the luxury brand ladder with boutiques like Louis Vuitton, Hermes and Michael Kors alongside H&M, Zara and Apple.

The mall is an outdoor shopping format, taking advantage of the weather and giving people lots of space to walk around and grab bites to eat in kiosks and restaurants scattered all over the shopping space.

Din Tai Fung has its format well established, from greeting customers outside the restaurant -- all members of the party must be present before they can be seated -- and watching the kitchen staff making dumplings right by the window. Some don't want to be photographed or videoed (despite wearing masks and head coverings) that they turn their backs slightly to the window.

Vegan dumplings with so many foldes

Over 10 years ago I visited the branch in Arcadia in Los Angeles and was impressed by the Mexicans deftly making xiaolongbao, but here the wait staff were both Asian and non-Asian which threw me off a bit. Almost all of them wore black masks along with their black uniforms, women had their hair in simple buns.

The interior is very contemporary and hardly Asian -- there are elongated booth seatings for up to four that slightly curves in on each side -- another two people can sit on the outside.

The menu is not like Hong Kong's -- was surprised to find there was no kaofu or braised wheat gluten with mushrooms and edamame, but mostly spicy dishes were there like cucumbers in chilli sauce. We ordered the seaweed and beancurd in vinegar dressing and wood ear mushrooms with vinegar dressing.

Sauteed string beans with garlic

These arrived very swiftly, followed by a slew of dumplings. The signature xiaolongbao with kurobuta pork had the memorably thin wrapper, but the filling was too pureed for my taste; it did not have a meaty, firm texture.

A new one for me was chicken dumplings with so many folds, but seemed thin with the filling and also quite pureed. The vegan dumplings were not quite what I remembered. Biting into it you couldn't quite identify everything in there by sight, though the description said there were glass noodles, bok choy, dried bean curd and shiitake mushrooms and spinach juice to dye the wrapper green.

We also had a portion of wontons in soup, sauteed broccoli with garlic and sauteed string beans with garlic, potstickers, as well as the fried rice with chicken which was very good. The vegetables were parboiled before being stir-fried to stay so crispy and fresh looking.

Fried rice with large pieces of chicken

The staff were very friendly and knew answers to all our questions. One person traveling with us has an allergy to sesame seed oil and the waitress immediately pulled out her copy of the menu with items highlighted in pink that had sesame seed oil. Impressive.

We thought we didn't have room for dessert, but we couldn't pass up the taro xiaolongbao; we could also rest our stomachs for around 10 minutes waiting for them.

They definitely hit the spot, 10 pieces and here the filling was rightly pureed, smooth and creamy, but no dairy, encased in a thin wrapper. Glorious.

Afterwards we rolled out of there, and there were many more people waiting outside for their turn to fill their stomachs with dumplings...

Taro xiaolongbao for dessert

Din Tai Fung

4301 La Jolla Village Drive

San Diego, CA

92122

(858) 375 5988

San Diego: Batiquitos Lagoon

Dark clouds threatened rain, and there were light showers

Thinking we were getting away from the cold temperatures in Vancouver by flying to San Diego, we were shocked to discover it was chilly in this part of California. Temperatures ranged from 17 degrees Celsius during the day and 7 degrees Celsius at night -- it was the wind that made it feel cold.

On the day I went for a walk along Batiquitos Lagoon, it was a bit overcast and then light showers! Luckily I had brought my mini umbrella with me and pulled it out a few times.

A tree shedding its bark

First off it's good to know that batiquitos means "little watering hole" in Spanish, and the one here dates back 9,000 years ago. The area is looked after by the Batiquitos Lagoon Foundation, where volunteers help maintain it with help from sponsors. 

The lagoon is a short walk from where I was staying and the path is a long thin strip along a lagoon that's 1.6 miles (2.57km). People are walking their dogs, or with friends, or jogging. There are one or two avid bird watchers with long-lens cameras and binoculars. 

Perhaps because it's winter, in terms of greenery there wasn't much to see and the birds that were out there in the lagoon were too far to see clearly. 

Some of the birds that can be found in the lagoon include "swimming divers" that swim into deep water to find fish. These include ruddy ducks, buffleheads, and redheads.

There are "surface swimmers" who feed near shallow water, like mallards, northern shovelers, northern pintail, green-winged teal and American wigeon.

"Flight feeders" forage over deep water and then when they spy their prey, they plunge into the water. Examples are osprey and phoebes.

Osprey (left) and great blue heron on chairs

Another kind of bird are "walkers/runners" who search for food while they walk or run across mud or sand flats, or through shallow water. Sandpipers like western and least sandpipers, willets, long-billed curlews, and marbled godwits are spotted at this lagoon.

Finally "waders/fishers" are herons like great egret, snowy egret, and great blue heron.

Funnily enough as I was walking back to where I was staying, I saw a flock of ducks hanging out on the golf course!

The path for walkers is mostly sandy, and towards one end of the walk is the Nature Center where visitors can have a bathroom break and check out souvenirs; they are also encouraged to make a donation to the lagoon via buying a brick and there are many with people's and family's names on them.

There's also a pair of wooden beach chairs that are beautifully painted birds, one with an osprey, the other with a great blue heron.

While it's nice there is a protected area for these birds, it's sad to see just across from the lagoon a very busy highway and the noise from the fast-moving vehicles must detract many more birds from going there... 

Dismaying to see birds so close to the highway

Batiquitos Lagoon

It's located east of Interstate 5 at the end of Gabbiano Lane and goes most of the way to El Camino Real on the east end of the lagoon. Visitors can park in one of five parking lots, one by the Nature Center and four on Batiquitos Drive.

Picture of the Day: Discounts Galore

Want to get outfitted for Christmas 2023?

My friend and I went to a shopping mall and checked out some stores we would normally not walk into, like Forever 21 -- cause we're no where near 21 anymore!

In the back of the store was one of several discount racks where I spied this dress left over from Christmas...

Anyone want to pick up their ugly Christmas outfit now in February?

This one's only US$15.00...

It's shocking how much unwanted clothing there is, and how low they have been marked down. At H&M there were T-shirts for under US$6.

There has to be a way to figure out how much meeds to be produced and at a decent price otherwise retailers can't make as much of a profit when it's marked down so much.

More HKers Leaving Continues for Third Year

Children under 10 have biggest drop, followed by those in 20s

In yet another sign that Hong Kong is seeing more people leave the city, its population has dropped for a third consecutive year, with a net outflow of 60,000 residents to 7.33 million in 2022.

According to official figures released on Thursday, the population dipped 0.9 percent from the year before, and births were a record low to 32,500. About 62,100 deaths were recorded in 2022, outweighing births by 29,600.

Send-offs all too common at the airport everyday

The net outflow of 60,000 residents as reported by the Census and Statistics Department indicates emigration from Hong Kong continues. This compares to 27,300 in 2021, when countries like the United Kingdom and Canada introduced dedicated pathways for Hongkongers.

The Hong Kong government would only say people left Hong Kong for various reasons including work, study and migration.

"The breakdown of figures is not available. Hong Kong residents travelling abroad are not required to declare to the government their purpose of travel. Therefore, the government does not have direct statistics on emigration of Hong Kong residents," the Census and Statistics Department said.

According to the UK Home Office earlier this month, 144,500 Hongkongers have successfully applied for British National (Overseas) visas to settle in the UK since the scheme's launch in 2021.

Countries like the UK welcome Hongkongers

Canada has seen nearly 17,400 get work permits or extensions since the start of the scheme since February 2021 until October 2022.

Meanwhile, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu has launched a global campaign to attract top talent to Hong Kong, with a special visa for those who earn HK$2.5 million or more annually and graduates from the world's top 100 universities with relevant experience. So far 10,810 applications were received nearly two months after the launch.

It's elitist to think Hong Kong only needs these top tier talent -- it also needs the general workforce too... even if you attract top CEOs and such, who's going to executive their brilliant plans?

HK to Broadcast Patriotic Programs

Broadcasters must show 30 mins of patriotic content per week

The Hong Kong government is further regulating what people can watch and hear on local airwaves, stipulating that free-to-air broadcasters must include at least 30 minutes per week of content promoting national security and patriotism.

Not only that but this content needs to be presented in a light-hearted, funny and creative way.

Free-to-air broadcasters like TVB, ViuTV, and HOY TV, as well as radio stations Commercial Radio and Metro Broadcast must include this content as part of a licensing requirement on top of 90 minutes of current affairs programs.

The content must be shown in a light-hearted way

All five broadcasters accepted the change in policy.

Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Algernon Yau Ying-wah said broadcasters could decide how they presented the topics.

"It's a general licensing requirement. It's up to the broadcasting company to come up with their individual program," he said.

"According to the licensing requirement, we can closely monitor how the content is delivered and review it from time to time."

A government source said it did not have concrete ideas on how the broadcasters could fulfil the new rule.

"It's up to the stations regarding the format and programs. We seldom put restrictions on that. They only have to tell us what they have done to comply with the requirement," the source said.

So the government wants more patriotic content but doesn't know how it should be presented, except in a light-hearted way?

How can NSL be made into a funny topic? 

How is national security a topic one can be creative with when it is so vague that anyone can get into trouble violating it?

Interestingly this requirement does not apply to private TV stations, such as foreign programs and sports channels.

Well... if they are broadcasting local games then the Chinese national anthem is played, right? That's patriotic content, is it not?

According to a Legislative Council paper published on Wednesday, the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau said safeguarding sovereignty and security, as well as promoting a sense of national identity, were among the current administration's policies and deemed the new rule "necessary and timely".

One lawmaker, Doreen Kong Yuk-foon, suggested that topics like national education and patriotism should be taught in schools, not on the TV, but added that perhaps these topics could be presented in "dynamic" and "varied" formats such as game shows and singing competitions to prevent them from being too boring.

Seriously?

It's the blind leading the blind, while the broadcasters have no choice but to follow along...

Retail Boom Days may be Over in Hong Kong

Mainland shoppers hauling purchases from Hermes in TST

The cancellation of PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) tests for visitors before arriving into Hong Kong did not result in hoards of mainlanders flooding into the city as shop owners had hoped.

Several shop owners, particularly pharmacies lamented that business only increased by 10 percent.

Chanel is a popular luxury brand for Chinese

"During the pandemic, the economy and lifestyle of the mainlanders changed... They have become reliant on online shopping," said pharmacy owner Tony Lee.

"Before the pandemic, there used to be lines of customers queuing outside my shop and this street was full of tourists," he said of San Hong Street in Sheung Shui, across the border from Shenzhen. 

Lee worried business would not go back to pre-pandemic levels because consumers seemed used to shopping online than going to physical stores like his.

While mainland tourists have noticed many shops have shuttered since the pandemic, the biggest winners so far seem to be luxury brands.

Mainlanders believe HK products are real

Mainlanders are still keen to shop at Dior, Louis Vuitton and Chanel because they believe the goods are genuine -- they still perceive the same products in shops in China are fake...

Is this the only thing going for Hong Kong these days?