Digital Radio in The Bathroom Bunker

Our bathroom could easily double as a bomb shelter. Two foot thick concrete walls, noise and moisture proof - you get the idea. So when I try and listen to the radio while taking a shower my FM radio struggles to pick up a signal. Not that there's much to listen to but it is nice to have a bit of background music to accompany my shower solos.

So when I saw the government adds on a bus this week pushing digital radio, I got to thinking: could these fancy new digital signals permeate the walls of our bathroom bunker?

I had a look around at a few electronics shops in Wanchai and Causeway Bay. Not much local interest in digital radio according to most of the salespeople. Maybe other local residents don't have an impermeable bathroom like us? Anyway, most shops have a token digital radio just in case some wacky foreigner walks in. They all seem to retail between HK$500 and $600 so not much of a bargain - guess the demand is limited.

Maybe I could pick up a cheap one on Ebay? After a couple of hours surfing, I realised that the UK digital radio standard is not the same (they use DAB as opposed to DAB+ in Hong Kong) and the US has their own standard. Australia and Singapore do use the same DAB+ standard and there were a few DAB+ devices on Ebay.com.au

Being slightly impatient, I just went back to Sunlite (G/F, Tak Wah Mansion, 290 Hennessy Road, Wanchai, 2891 2261) and grabbed the small portable digital radio I saw earlier. It's the Corus DTR-762 DAB+/FM radio receiver. Got the guy down from HK$599 to HK$550

Took it home and tuned it in. Worked perfectly in the bathroom. A full five bar signal no less (see above photo). It's not often that something works this well and I'm a happy camper for a change. About 18 channels tuned in with two English channels: RTHK3 and a BBC world service re-broadcast.

I read on the web somewhere that it should tune in DAB signals (UK) and should work fine in Australia. Looks like I have another bit of kit to lug around in my travels. Now if someone could just launch a classic rock digital radio station in Hong Kong...

Also worked OK in Shenzhen;
http://sccshenzhen.blogspot.com/2012/05/english-radio-reception.html

Danger Lurking In The Hills

I've always felt pretty safe hiking in Hong Kong's country parks. Apart from the occasional snake and a few aggressive macaques, there didn't seem too much to worry about.

But I learn today there is something more sinister lurking in the hills around the Shing Mun reservoir. A policeman approaches me near the end of Wilson Trail section 6 and reports that there have been five or six holdups recently on the section of trail I've just finished. "He's wearing a black leather jacket and carrying a big knife; we think he might be from the mainland" the friendly cop tells me.

From the mainland, huh? I wonder how I'd go trying to talk my way out of a holdup with my very basic Mandarin? Peggy didn't teach us how to deal with bandits on her very useful Youtube Mandarin lessons.

Why would a wayward mainland bandit rob hikers, I'm thinking to myself? Surely there'd be much better pickings in town? Then I realise I'm listening to pod casts on an iPhone 4; wearing a solid gold Omega watch and have a (genuine) Louis Vuitton wallet stuffed full of cash in my back pocket. Maybe the bandit isn't so dumb after all. Thank god I left my diamond encrusted Cartier walking stick back in the vault at home.

Might be time to fish out the old Casio watch and a cheapie Nokia phone. Probably smart to leave the wallet at home as well. Be careful out there people.



Caught the number 81 bus on Nathan Road. Got off at the Kowloon Reservoir bus stop on Taipo Road (Start of Wilson Trail section 6).
Walked section 6 and most of section 7.  Left the trail between markers W078 and W079 and followed the Pineapple Dam Nature Trail back to the Shing Mun Visitor Centre.
Caught the number 82 minibus back to Tsuen Wan MTR station.
Using the Countryside Series North East & Central NT map (Edition 4, 2009)

1983 Restaurant, Happy Valley

Over on Tsoi Tak Street, above the Wellcome supermarket, a noisy renovation has been keeping pedestrians on their toes for months. Recently, the scaffolding was removed and all the trucks illegally parked on the footpath moved on. A fancy, modern looking establishment emerged. It has a stylised Chinese sign (as above) discretely placed on the outside wall.

Decoding regular Chinese characters is hard enough but it really bugs me when graphic designers get involved and make the characters almost unreadable. I gave up in disgust and thought no more about it, until today.

Our regular restaurant was bursting at the seams so I suggested to Mrs. Valley that we try the new one with the unreadable sign. She hesitated but eventually caved in when we couldn't find a seat elsewhere. The mystery restaurant has a huge set of imposing solid wood brown doors that look like they've been borrowed from the Summer Palace in Beijing. Inside the decoration is nicely done in retro Chinese chic and I got the feeling it might be expensive.

I quizzed the waiter about the name. He reckons it is 1983 - a lucky number in Chinese, of course. We ordered Dan Dan noodles, dumplings, spring rolls and a big clay pot of tofu and vegetables. Mrs. Valley liked the food, the service and the decoration - that was lucky. I liked it as well. More Shanghainese than Cantonese. Crowd was mostly older folks dressed up in their Sunday best. A quick look at the wine list reveals an interesting list of 1983 vintage French reds reasonably priced (some even under HK$1000!), a funky cocktail list and a Grant Burge Shiraz as the house red. Not bad!

This would be a great place to impress visitors especially if you've had a few winners at the track.

1983 / Hong Kong Cuisine, 2/F 2-4 Tsoi Tak Street, Happy Valley, Hong Kong 289 33 788

Lunch for two with tea - HK$268 + 10% sevice charge.

Winner!

I just received an SMS from +44 7404 607750 saying I've won the lottery;

"APPLE iPHONE UK YOU WON $1.5 Million POUNDS IN THE ONGOING APPLE NEW YEAR PROMO. FOR CLAIMS EMAIL YOUR NAME, AGE & COUNTRY TO
appleiphoneslots@hotmail.com"

What's even more amazing is that I didn't even put an entry in.

So far this year I've "won" multiple competitions but have yet to see any cash.

Thanks

Monkey Business

I'm not sure what the message this poster is trying to communicate? Perhaps don't feed cute little monkeys extra large bananas?

And should we be even using cute cartoons to discourage the feeding of wild animals? Walking along Wilson Trail section 5 today, the monkeys  (technically Rhesus macaques and Longtailed macaques) I saw weren't cute little things poking their pink tongues out at me. Perhaps the government could consider using a scarier picture to discourage humans from feeding them - I would suggest a big scary monkey with razor sharp teeth, chasing a human child.

The "Don't Feed The Monkeys" message doesn't seem to be getting out: I saw mounds of waste food dumped along the trail. One aggressive monkey, clutching a couple of slices of white bread, came at me with teeth bared and hissing. A quick swipe at him with my walking stick kept him at bay but I guess he was just defending his dinner.  He should be more worried about obesity and diabetes associated with his new western diet.

If you're keen to see the monkeys, head for the Kowloon reservoir on Taipo Road. Walk along any of trails around the reservoir and the monkeys will find you soon enough.  

More about the monkeys on the AFCD website.