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.
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.
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
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 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 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
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
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
Ruby Tuesday are on a tear with the opening of a third new restaurant in less than a year. The success of the new style restaurant in K11 Art Mall saw the opening of a first Ruby Tuesday in what could be considered a very local market: Po Lam – Tseung Kwan O. The new outlet in Tuen Mun builds on those successes while incorporating new Covid protections and innovations to ensure the safety of customers and staff.
The Tuen Mun branch, located on the ground floor of Trend Plaza, is smaller than the other new outlets but incorporates the outdoor seating which has proven very popular among customers. While it may be a little hot (or wet), there are no fans, to sit outside in summer. The outdoor tables will surely be in high demand as the weather cools.
The feel of the new branch is a little darker than the bright openness of K11, the more notable difference though is Ruby Tuesday’s first open kitchen in Hong Kong. It’s not fully open, but offers diners the chance to see the kitchen crew in action and also a chance to see that Covid protocols are being observed in the kitchen and that the staff member tasked with keeping the broad swathes of stainless steel shining clean is on task.
As for the food, a new Express set lunch (available only at TKO, Po Lam and Tuen Mun) offers meals at prices similar to local chain outlets. And the staff were working hard to ensure that diners could enjoy their meal during a lunch hour.
It was steaming hot the day bc visited Ruby’s in Tuen Mun so we sampled Ruby’s range of (delicious) smoothies and iced drinks – the highlight being Ruby’s Passion a mango smoothie topped with passion fruit puree, the tartness of passion fruit reigning in the sweetness of the mango. The coffee frappuccino with ice cream was basically flavourless liquid and a disappointment compared to the rather nice one we enjoyed previously at K11.
https://bcmagazine.smugmug.com/Bcene-photos/2021/20210625-11pro-Ruby-Tuesday-Tuen-Mun-/i-7ZdJJw2
On a personal note, I don’t really see the point of trying to create ‘fake’ meat and have always found the results disappointing. Discussing this recently, a friend offered a suggestion, don’t think of Impossible as fake meat, think of it as something like tofu which can be prepared and enjoyed in many different ways. Seen and eaten in that way, it’s an enjoyable and textured alternative to meat. Ruby’s Impossible quesadilla was tasty and filling, while the newly added Butcher’s Steak offered a meaty and flavourful reminder that there really is nothing like meat.
bc hadn’t noticed it on the menus in previous visits, so we can’t say if it’s new, but several menu items had a Keto symbol to help those on that food plan.
One of the many small changes in recent years that have re-energised the brand locally and made it an enjoyable place for lunch and dinner where the food tastes as good as it looks.
https://bcmagazine.smugmug.com/Bcene-photos/2021/20210625-11pro-Ruby-Tuesday-Tuen-Mun-/i-7qGnSjF
https://bcmagazine.smugmug.com/Bcene-photos/2021/20210625-11pro-Ruby-Tuesday-Tuen-Mun-/i-JSJJ2cn
Location: Shop 39-40, Level 1, North Wing, Trend Plaza, Tuen Mun
Tel: 3598 3098
