05.9.13 - Surprises? They're meat and drink to Hong Kong

No posts for a while – I’ve been busy at work (which for everyone’s sakes should probably never be a part of this blog); doing lots of running (150 miles in August…but pretty boring to talk about); and nothing unusual has happened.

So tricky to post. I was getting worried perhaps everything was getting a bit normal, that I’d run out of stuff to say entirely.

If that’s not a cue for slightly odd things to happen, things completely at odds with UK norms, I don’t know what is.

Meat

 

In the UK, if I said, “Things sold en masse in the workplace by outside companies,” what would come to mind?

Books via some work book club? Maybe cake? Or not very much – it’s not a prime place to do your purchasing, work.

This week, in the more local office in Olympic that Claire works in, she saw 10s of staff clustered around some enormous boxes in the tea point haggling loudly. She went over to investigate. On asking what they’re all doing, she was told in the sort of voice that suggests what else would we be doing, you idiot, the reply comes:

“We’re buying froze meat”.

So a chap with big freezer boxes comes into your office and sells off frozen chickens, bits of pig etc. Everyone buys a bit, then wedges it into the freezer box of the communal fridge until home time. Not a common occurrence but not unheard of, and quite the anticipated event. Of course.

Drink

 

In the UK, what charity activities would you think of if I said, “Stuff the whole county does at once for a good cause.” Wear jeans to work? Grow a moustache? Buy clip on noses, bathe in beans/custard/both and watch slightly crap comedy/singing all evening?

In Hong Kong, the big charity event that caused a stir this week to tug on the expat heartstrings was: Drink for Good. That’s right. How to get the wealthy expats to give a toss? Offer them a warm fuzzy feeling with their nightly booze!

60 bars took part, giving 5HKD (a princely 40p) to charity for every drink you bought. As if that wasn’t odd enough, this being the business-oriented HK, companies started to compete at who could be the best. But not who could give the most. Who could get the coolest bar? Who could get their branding most prominently displayed? Who could get the best drink deals? Whose charity sounded nicest?

Hey, I’m sure it raised a ton of money, and I had a nice time. But I’m pretty sure it didn’t raise as much as the bath of beans I mocked earlier. What would Terry Wogan think?

So just when you think life is 100% predictable and you have this HK thing sussed, things still surprise you. Cue some for