CROWNE PLAZA CAUSEWAY BAY MARBLE

Looks like the room fitting out of the new Crowne Plaza hotel in Causeway Bay is getting under way. Spotted these palettes of marble out back of the construction site cleverly stored on the public footpath. I say clever because they don't have to clog up the construction site and this stuff is so heavy no one could steal it even if they wanted to.

Looks pretty much 'standard issue' Crowne Plaza beige marble. Should take two or three months to fit out the rooms and then finally open. I'm looking forward to having a few more local options for wining and dining. Let's get a move on people...

INAUGURAL BBQ

It's been a stressful week with The Valley family moving out of The Valley to .......

The Valley, of course! If we moved anywhere else we'd have to rename the blog and we couldn't have that. Not with the AdSense getting ever closer to the US$100 mark and all.

After finding out that we had more stuff than a small European city and having to trash years worth of memories, it was time to relax with a rooftop BBQ. Bring on the mid joint chicken wings and De Bortoli cask wine. And what a beautiful fire it was too - just feast your eyes on the brand new Valley BBQ above. Ah, I can feel the stress melting away.

34E RED BEAN PASTE BUNS?

I find learning to read Chinese a lot easier when the subject matter is not too boring. Scanning though Friday's Headline Daily (local free Chinese newspaper) I spotted an article that caught my attention. It mentioned 34E in the headline and had accompanying pictures of two pretty girls skipping down the hill in Lan Kwai Fong, obviously having a good time. I think one of them is a presenter on the interestingly named TV show : 美女廚房 II / Pretty Girl Kitchen (mei neui chu fong)

While trying to work out the victims surname, I kept reading the phrase 豆沙包 / Red Bean Paste Bun (dao sa bao) . "What kind of name is that?", I ask Mrs V. She patiently explains that the name infers the person has big breasts. Ah! I finally get it. I think we've anchored some important new learning here and I'm pretty sure I'll know what to order next time at the bakery : a red bean paste bun - it'll be interesting to see if the shop assistant blushes or not.

NEW CROWNE PLAZA HOTEL CAUSEWAY BAY

Just arrived back in The Valley and noticed they've put up a huge sign on the front of the new Crowne Plaza in Causeway Bay. According to the sign it's "making its debut this fall" - This fall - what's going on with the American English? Kind of annoying, don't you think?

Anyway I guess they mean autumn and I guess that means a September opening? At least we know their telephone number is 28283204. Wonder if I should ring up and let them know where to send my invitations for the opening party.

BRISBANE

The hands are still a bit shaky, as the above photo testifies, after a great night out with CMW and GJ. We ate Vietnamese/Chinese/Aussie fusion at Sings in Rosalie and then over to the West End for cake and coffee and more catching up until they closed and sent us packing.

Staying in the Evolution Apartments on Tank Street. Nice modern apartments in a good spot. Once the Kurlipa walking/cycling bridge is finished next door it'll be an even better spot with easy access to the city and Southbank. Spent the day cruising up and down the river on the CityCat stopping off to read the paper and drink flat whites - bliss.

JAPANESE DUCATI?

Ducati motorcycles have a very distinctive sound. Like a smooth rolling rumble. To Ducati fans, including your correspondent, it's a sound so lovely, you turn and drool every time you hear it. So tonight, watching the movie Yes Man, I was pissed when Jim Carrey jumps on the Ducati and roars off to the sound of a highly tuned four cylinder Japanese motorcycle.

You'd think with the massive amount of money it takes putting together a Hollywood movie someone would get the sound of the motorcycles right. Just imagine if they had a Harley in the movie and it sounded like a BMW - You would piss off hundreds of thousands of Harley owners.

Aside from the f...ed up sound effects it was a pretty good movie.

FROGS OVARIES?

I admit it - I've got a sweet tooth. Whenever we eat out I always have a close look at the desert menu. But the "Double-boiled Frog's Ovaries in Papaya", spotted on the desert menu over at the Shenzhen Laurel (丹桂轩 : Dan Gui Xuan), just didn't do it for me. But, I do applaud their efforts in not wasting frog parts. Why just hack off the frog's legs when you can use their ovaries as well? And, at rmb68 a bowl, they're not cheap - guess it takes quite a few to fill up a desert bowl. Perhaps they have some magical medicinal qualities we don't know about?

FACE MASK ARBITRAGE

You know somethings up in China when the Hong Kong television news gets completely blanked out with continuous commercials showing sweeping green vistas. So it was last night over in Shenzhen. Suspicious, I have a quick surf on the net and see that the media is forecasting the end of the world with swine flu. Pretty much everyone in China has access to the Internet so you'd wonder how much effect blocking the TV news would have.

The only sign of panic I noticed today: people rushing back from Shenzhen with huge plastic bags full of surgical masks. Nothing like a panic to make a quick buck in the surgical mask arbitrage business!

Guess we're going to be hearing a lot more about the swine flu so it's probably a good time to learn the traditional Chinese characters for it - just in case you're a sicko who wants a wacky tattoo;

豬流感 : zyu 1 lau4 gam 2 : pronounced: jew lau gum