bc magazine

New Quarantine Hotel List Announced: 1 September – 30 November, 2021

An updated list of 37 designated Hong Kong quarantine hotels for the period 1 September – 30 November 2021 (fifth cycle) has been released.

The list of designated hotels in the fifth cycle and related details such as room rates have been uploaded to www.coronavirus.gov.hk/eng/designated-hotel.html, or download the pdf here.

New hotels for this cycle are: Courtyard by Marriott Hong Kong, Cosmo Hotel Hong Kong, Empire Hotel Causeway Bay, Empire Prestige Causeway Bay.

There is an excellent google docs form here about the various hotels including room prices, contact details, restrictions,

Central and Western District
1. Best Western Plus Hotel Hong Kong
2. CM+ Hotels & Serviced Apartments
3. Grand City Hotel
4. JEN Hong Kong by Shangri-La
5. Lan Kwai Fong Hotel @ Kau U Fong
6. One-Eight-One Hotel & Serviced Residences
7. Ramada Hong Kong Harbour View
8. The Landmark Mandarin Oriental
9. Courtyard by Marriott Hong Kong
10. Ovolo Central

Hong Kong Eastern District
1. Ramada Hong Kong Grand View

Islands District
1. Four Points by Sheraton Hong Kong Tung Chung
2. Regal Airport Hotel

Kowloon City District
1. Bridal Tea House Hotel Hung Hom Gillies Avenue South
2. iclub Ma Tau Wai Hotel
3. Kerry Hotel, Hong Kong
4. Metropark Hotel Kowloon Hong Kong
5. Regal Oriental Hotel

Kwai Tsing District
1. Dorsett Tsuen Wan

Hong Kong Southern District
1. Nina Hotel Island South (Formerly L’hotel Island South)
2. Ovolo Southside

Tsuen Wan District
1. Silka Far East Hotel Hong Kong

Wan Chai District
1. Best Western Hotel Causeway Bay
2. Dorsett Wanchai Hong Kong
3. Hotel Indigo Hong Kong Island
4. Mira Moon Hotel
5. Vela Boutique Hotel
6. Eco Tree Hotel Causeway Bay
7. Crowne Plaza Hong Kong Causeway Bay
8. Cosmo Hotel Hong Kong
9. Empire Hotel Causeway Bay
10. Empire Prestige Causeway Bay

Wong Tai Sin District
1. Pentahotel Hong Kong

Kowloon Yau Tsim Mong District
1. Bridal Tea House Hotel Yau Ma Tei Wing Sing Lane
2. Dorsett Mongkok Hong Kong
3. Ramada Hong Kong Grand
4. Silka Seaview Hotel Hong Kong
5. Sheraton Hong Kong Hotel and Towers

Virtual Skydive Over Hong Kong

Not sure what to do with your consumption vouchers? Drop $300 or more at Lok Fu Place and enjoy a free virtual skydive over Hong Kong.

As part of the mall’s August ‘Sportival‘ festival, as well as a free fitness bootcamp shoppers can enjoy a VR skydiving experience that offers a virtual flight from 10,000 feet. Glide over Victoria Harbour, steer through the sky and land in Lok Fu.

While in the area check out the Rooftop Republic urban farm for locally grown seasonal greens.

Consumption Vouchers Redeemable From Today

The first $2,000 tranche of consumption vouchers were distributed today to the roughly 5.5 million people who had completed the electronic registration by 17 July. Notifications of disbursement were sent by SMS or mobile app push.

For people who used AlipayHK, Tap & Go or WeChat Pay HK, the $2,000 vouchers have been directly injected into your account, separate from your existing e-wallet. When making a payment, just choose whether to use the vouchers or other payment.

People using Octopus cards can collect the $2,000 voucher by tapping the card at the Subsidy Collection Points of the Public Transport Fare Subsidy Scheme at MTR stations; Light Rail Customer Service Centres; piers; public transport interchanges; convenience stores; supermarkets; Octopus Service Points; or via Octopus app within three months from today.

Vouchers can be used at retail shops, market stalls, department stores, supermarkets, convenience stores, restaurants, fast food shops, coffee shops, recreational facilities, beauty salons and public transport, etc. However, vouchers could not be used for the following items:
payments to the Government (e.g. tax, fines, licence fees, tunnel fees, parking meters)
payments to public utilities (i.e. water, electricity and gas)
payments to public organisations (e.g. Hospital Authority, Hong Kong Housing Authority, Hong Kong Housing Society)
education expenses (i.e. payments to primary and secondary schools providing local and non-local curriculum, and UGC-funded universities)
purchase of financial products or services (e.g. insurance)
donation (including charitable, religious and political organisations)
direct purchases from merchants located outside Hong Kong (including online purchases through non-local online platforms made locally)
person to person payments
encashment

Octopus Card users will first receive HK$2,000, another HK$2,000 two months later, and then HK$1,000 several weeks after that.

People who receive the vouchers via their AlipayHK, Tap & Go or WeChat Pay HK digital wallets will first get HK$2,000 and then HK$3,000 two months later.

People who completed their registration on or after 18 July, and those who submitted paper registration forms, will receive the first $2,000 tranche of consumption vouchers on 1 September.

If you have not applied, registration closes on 14 August www.consumptionvoucher.gov.hk

Free Tram Rides for a Week to Celebrate Olympic Success

As Hong Kong Tramways celebrated it’s new Guinness World Record – Hong Kong now has the world’s largest double-decker tram fleet, with 165 trams serving over 200,000 passengers every day. Managing Director Cyril Aubin said the tram operator wanted to celebrate the SAR’s Olympic success with the whole city, and announced a free week’s travel.

Aubin said the company had seen the MTR and KMB offer free rides to medallists. “But we thought $2.6 might be a bit offensive to the medallists.”

Nixon Cheung, Head of Commercial & Brand for HK Tramways, said the operator would need government approval for the free week, which he said would “hopefully” come in the last quarter of 2021.

Siobhan Haughey Wins Silver in 200m Freestyle!

Siobhan Bernadette Haughey won Hong Kong’s first Olympic swimming medal by taking silver in the 200m freestyle at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games – Chapeau!

After making history by becoming the first Hong Kong swimmer to make an Olympic final, Haughey looked set for gold before Australia’s Ariarne Titmus chased her down in the final metres.

“My achievement, coupled with Cheung Ka-long in fencing, can inspire other Hong Kong athletes who are here in Tokyo, and ‘add oil’ to them,” Haughey said after the race.

“I would like to thank my coaches in Hong Kong and the United States, and also my dad and mum, without them I would not be having such an achievement,” added the silver medal winner “Those swimmers back home – continue to train hard and you will be the next.”

This is the first time Hong Kong has won multiple medals at an Olympic games.

updated quotes

Edgar Cheung Ka Long Wins Gold

Edgar Cheung Ka Long stands on the podium to collect his GOLD medal in the foil competition at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games – Chapeau.

Cheung fought really hard to get there, facing 6 match points in his quarterfinal but made victory in the final look simple beating defending champion Italian Daniele Garozzo 15-11.

“I just tried to talk to myself, I’m nothing against him. This is the Olympic champion, the (former) world champion. I’m nobody, I just keep fighting until the end,” Cheung said after his bout.

This is only Hong Kong’s second-ever gold medal after Lei Lai San’s windsurfing gold in 1996, and only the fourth ever!

“The reaction in Hong Kong has been insane,” Cheung said at a news conference. “It means a lot to show to the world we can do it, we’re not only a city, we can fight for victory,”

updated: to add quote

Beyond Sad

What does it say about Hong Kong to the rest of the world when Lam’s administration cannot even provide team shirts to all our Olympic athletes?

Not that you’d know it, but on one of the greatest days of his life, this is Angus Ng in a plain black emblem free shirt competing at the Tokyo Olympics for Hong Kong.

Ng was massively abused online by many pro-Beijing politicians including Nicholas Muk for not being ‘patriotic’. Only for Muk and others to find that they the politicians had made it illegal under the Regional Flag and Regional Emblem Ordinance (A602) for Ng as an unsponsored athlete to display or wear the Hong Kong emblem unless authorised by Carrie Lam… Who hasn’t (apparently) given permission for all our amazing athletes to wear the Bauhinia.

Beyond sad!

Update: Nicholas Muk’s Facebook page has been apparently been deleted, without an apology made to Ng

721 Yuen Long – Second Anniversary

Two years ago today… 721, as police turned their backs, hundreds of armed white-shirted men (alleged triads) attacked MTR passengers in Yuen Long station.

The police narrative of what happened in Yuen Long on the evening of 21 July, 2019 has morphed from an attack by white-clad men on ordinary people into a violent confrontation between men in white T-shirts and men wearing black.

Here’s the New York Times description of events.

HKCNews have a graphic with links and explanations of the attack.

The RTHK programme Hong Kong Connection: 721 Yuen Long Nightmare investigating the attack has been deleted as the censorship and coverup continues… The programme and a second collected CCTV footage dated 21 July from different cameras and interviewed several people there that night to reconstruct the attack’s timeline and take a closer look at the police’s action during Yuen Long’s ‘nightmare’.

https://youtu.be/mrHywuxPMV0