bc magazine

Megabites: Gordon Ramsay’s London House

Newly opened in TST East is Gordon Ramsay’s London House. In the UK, London House is a fine dining restaurant. In Hong Kong it’s a pub, with a small simple menu comprising traditional English pub grub, of the type on offer before the term ‘gastro pub’ saw traditional English staples ‘re-invented’ (bastardised). To start there’s toad in the hole ($108), crispy whitebait ($108). Mains include cod and chips ($198), shepherds pie ($198), steak hash ($188), pork chops ($238). As for dessert there’s bread and butter pudding ($78) and trifle ($78) amongst others.

At a recent media tasting we were offered tasting samples of several dishes, the cod was firm and tasty but was in nugget form not as served to customers… The mash on the shepherds pie was more like a puree than mash, while the minced lamb filling was runny and lacked the rich thickness and flavour that a mince filling should have. The bangers and mash (puree) were ok, although the onions were still stringy and the gravy bland. As we were served tasting portions, regrettably we can’t comment on portion size.

If any restaurant wants to cook ‘staple’ dishes (of any cuisine) that everyone knows and probably makes at home – then there needs to be something ‘special’ about them or diners will be naturally underwhelmed. There’s no need to reinvent them, just make the good. At Gordon Ramsay’s London House you’re looking at $400+ per person for dinner without drinks, the staff are polite and the service efficient. There’s nothing much ‘wrong’ with the food (although, you could eat the same or better for half the price in many pubs across Hong Kong without Ramsay’s name) just nothing to say Yum… and make you want to return.

Gordon Ramsay London House
G5, Tsim Sha Tsui Centre, 66 Mody Road, TST East. tel: 3650 3333

HK Cricket Match Reports – 19-20 September, 2015

Saturday, 19th September 2015

Four matches were played in the Saturday Championship withHong Kong Cricket Club Nomads and Kowloon Cricket Club Saracens making bold statements of intent in Division One with strong early performances while USRC/MCC and Kai Tak also enjoyed victories in Division Two.

Saturday Championship Division 1
At Hong Kong Cricket Club, defending champions HKCC Nomads got their title defence off to a winning start with a strong performance against Pakistan Association. Electing to bowl after winning the toss, Nomads dismissed PACC for 194 in the 34th over, with Ravi Mulchandani picking up 3/39 from his 7 over spell. For PACC, Zamir Ali top scored with 55 while Mehtab Ali scored 40.

A 50-run opening partnership saw Nomads away to a positive start with skipper Kym Graham hitting 30 and from there the HKCC batsmen were seldom troubled. A 97-run third wicket partnership between Kabir Sodhi (41) and A Shephard (84*) lifted Nomads to the brink and victory was eventually achieved in 30.1 overs.
At HKCC: Pakistan Association 194 from 33.2 overs lost HKCC Nomads 4/198 from 30.1 overs runs

At Kowloon Cricket Club, a new-look KCC Saracens unit achieved a bonus point victory over Centaurs thanks to a dominant batting performance. Saracens notched up an impressive 5/233 from their 35 overs after electing to bat first. Chris Cater (85) and Ninad Shah (78) shared a 138-run third wicket partnership while Simandeep Singh (61) and Carter added another 76 for the fourth wicket.

In reply, Centaurs made a good start with the openers putting on 57. Four of the top five batsmen scored over 20 but none reached 30 and Centaurs slumped from 3/103 to 135 all out. Ansh Lulla mopped up the tail with 4/29 from five overs.
At KCC: KCC Saracens 5/233 from 35 overs beat Centaurs 135 from 34.5 overs by 98 runs.

Saturday Championship Division 2
Kai Tak bounced back from their loss to SCC Lancers to beat CCC Hung See by 90 runs at Police Training College. Batting first after winning the toss, Kai Tak scored 6/189 from their 35 overs with Ali Williams top scoring with 93. In reply, CCC Hung See were dismissed for 99 with Kai Tak skipper Mohsin Naqvi claiming 3/6 off seven overs.
At PTC: Kai Tak 6/189 from 35 overs beat CCC Hung See 99 from 34.3 overs by 90 runs.

At PKVR Park, USRC/MCC and HKU fought out a close game with USRC/MCC prevailing by 29 runs. USRC/MCC batted first and they scored 213 off 34.3 overs with Umar Mohammad hitting an impressive 72 while Sikandar Zafar scored 45. Ashwin Dokania led HKU’s reply with 41, but his was a lone hand as six other HKU batsmen posted double figure scores but none could go past 17. HKU were eventually dismissed for 184.
At PKVR Park: USRC/MCC 213 from 34.3 overs beat HKU 184 from 33.5 overs by 29 runs.

Sunday, 20th September 2015

One-Day Premier League
A thrilling One-Day Premier League match was played at Hong Kong Cricket Club with defending champions HKCC prevailing in the end by the narrowest of margins.

The Independents batted first after winning the toss but they got off to the worst possible start, losing three wickets with just one run on the board. A 108-run fourth wicket partnership between Jonathan Foo and Akbar Khan lifted the Independents’ score to 109 before Khan was dismissed for 23. The 25-year-old Foo, who represented Guyana in the 2010 and 2013 Caribbean T20 competitions, went on to score a brilliant 109 with the score on 180. Foo received useful support from Awais Mohammad who finished unbeaten on 38 as Independents reached 8/217 from their 50 overs. Tim Cutler and Daljeet Singh picked up two wickets each for HKCC.

In reply, HKCC also lost an early wicket and they were reduced to 4/61 before a 50-run partnership between Nizakat Khan and Matt Twomey lifted them over the 100 mark. A flurry of wickets then saw the hosts slip to 7/113 but Nizakat Khan engineered a rear-guard battle with the tail-enders to get HKCC back into the match. Nizakat was eventually dismissed for 106 but his wicket soon saw the last wicket pair at the crease with still 16 runs needed. In a tense finish, Giacomo Lamplough (17*) and Anton Bunton (9*) secured the final few runs needed for a one-wicket victory. Jonathan Foo and Mudassar Hussain were the best of the Independents’ bowlers, with two wickets apiece.
At HKCC: Independents 8/217 from 50 overs lost to HKCC 9/221 from 42.1 overs by 1 wicket.

Yuan Yang: GlocalMe G2

Roaming charges are the bane of the web and today’s traveller, is the Kickstarter funded GlocalMe G2 a solution? The newly launched G2 pocket wifi device offers almost global 4G wifi coverage at download speeds up to 150mb with pay-as-you-go unlimited data capped at 10 euros a day. The squat device, which also doubles as power pack, acts as pocket wifi hotspot for up to 5 devices. Using a cloud sim to access the local 4G network of the country you are in, over 100 countries supported, you can use wifi for your data usage rather than paying those through the nose roaming charges… Alternately you can add your own data sim into the device if that offers better rates.

A secure login protected by wpa2 encryption ensures that only the people you chose can access the hotspot with unlimited pay-as-you-go data daily costs capped at 10 Euros (HK$84.8). Country specific data packages offer even cheaper access. The money credited to your glocalme account, similar to an Octopus card doesn’t ‘expire’, top-up’s can be made via credit card or PayPal – with refunds for unused credit within 7 days. Customer’s account data is encrypted on the server, although no exact details of how this is protected are revealed. In other words you are pretty secure against those around you but the customers protection from snooping by glocalme is less apparent.

Active Racial Discrimination in HK Men’s Rugby

In 2015 it’s disgusting that the Hong Kong Rugby Union (HKRU) have announced active racial discrimination! For many years millions of people have fought and struggled to be accepted for who they are regardless of skin colour. That in Hong Kong a multi-cultural melting pot where ability, regardless of race, has always been recognised should find one of it’s leading sporting organisations actively racially discriminating against non-ethnically Chinese rugby players is disgusting and illegal.

The recent press release from the HKRU (read the now edited entry here) states that “The modified Championship Club structure sees that league now highly focused on serving as an entry point and breeding ground for Chinese players, with all teams required to include a minimum of 14 ethnic Chinese players in each match day squad.”

UPDATE: The HKRU has deleted the above sentence from their website, and made no reference to the edit – the original can be read here, relevant sentence is at the bottom of page 1

How far stuck up their arse’s are heads of the white leaders of the Hong Kong Rugby Union? Did they not hear the furour when earlier this year the Chinese Football Association published racially insulting posters about HK’s Football Team. Did they not see HongKongers reaction to it both on social media – mass condemnation – and in real life, the booing of the Chinese National Anthem and tickets selling out so fans of all races and colours could show their support for the HK team.

How insulting is it to the HK eligible players that they’ll face selection discrimination because of their race – even though they might have been born in HK, be eligible and good enough to represent the HK National team – yet find their way blocked because they are not ethnically Chinese.

I can fully understand the desire to improve the national team, but rather than make divisions made on race, why not instead of “a minimum of 14 ethnic Chinese players in each match day squad” it’s a “a minimum of 14 HK eligible players in each match day squad”.

The Basic Law of Hong Kong specifically bans racial/ethnic discrimination. Chapter 602 The Racial Discrimination Ordinance long title starts “An Ordinance to render discrimination, harassment and vilification, on the ground of race, unlawful; … the function of eliminating such discrimination, harassment and vilification and promoting equality and harmony between people of different races…”

The ordinance further goes on to define Racial Discrimination as

1: In any circumstances relevant for the purposes of any provision of this Ordinance, a person (“the discriminator”) discriminates against another person if
(a) on the ground of the race of that other person, the discriminator treats that other person less favourably than the discriminator treats or would treat other persons; or…..

3. It is declared that, for the purposes of this Ordinance, segregating a person from other persons on the ground of the race of that person is treating that person less favourably than the other persons are treated.

Even before any match day squads are selected, the press release and decisions made by the HKRU amount to Racial Harassment under Section 7 of the ordinance.

Even China has accepted that racial discrimination is illegal, the PRC’s naturalization policy and eligibility requirements have been changed from ‘ethnically Chinese’ to this: http://www.immd.gov.hk/eng/services/chinese_nationality/Application_for_Naturalization_as_a_Chinese_National.html

The HK Sporting Institute makes no discrimination on the race of the Rugby Union players it gives professional contracts to!

How many of these men will be denied the chance to represent Hong Kong because they are not 'ethnically Chinese" — How many of these men will be denied the chance to represent Hong Kong because they are not ‘ethnically Chinese”

A rugby 15’s match day squad is usually 23 players, to demand that 14 are ethnically Chinese is over 50%.

Here is the squad list Hong Kong v Japan, 2 May 2015:
1 WEI Hon Sum Leon; 2 Alex HARRIS; 3 Jack PARFITT; 4 Adam BUTTERFIELD; 5 Paul DWYER; 6 Matthew LAMMING; 7 Toby FENN; 8 Nicholas HEWSON; 9 LEE Ka To Cado; 10 Ben RIMENE; 11 Charlie HIGSON-SMITH; 12 Max WOODWARD; 13 Jamie HOOD; 14 Tom MCQUEEN; 15 Alex MCQUEEN; 16 John AIKMAN; 17 Lachlan CHUBB; 18 Jack NIELSEN; 19 Alex BADDELEY; 20 Damian BAILEY; 21 Adam ROLSTON; 22 Jonny REES; 23 Niall ROWARK; 24 Jack DELAFORCE (2 ethnically Chinese players)

Here is the Hong Kong squad for the recent Qingdao 7s:
Max WOODWARD (captain); Nick HEWSON; Jamie HOOD; Rowan VARTY; YIU Kam Shing; Benjamin RIMENE; Alex MCQUEEN; Cado LEE Ka To; Christopher MAIZE; Tomasi LAWA; Calvin HUNTER; Michael COVERDALE. (2 ethnically Chinese players).

Which of these non-ethnically Chinese players who are selected as good enough to represent their country will be dropped to satisfy the racial quota demands of the HKRU?

RACIAL DISCRIMINSTION IS DISGUSTING AND ILLEGAL!

Change the squad requirements to “14 players eligible to represent Hong Kong”

bc magazine has asked the HKRU, World Rugby, Asia Rugby and HSBC, the national team sponsor, for comment on this active racial discrimination.

Rugby Union Domestic League Structure Changed to Support National Team

The Hong Kong Rugby Union has announced the schedule for the upcoming HKRU Domestic League. While similar on the surface to last season’s competition, the 2015/16 season ushers in some profound and long-term changes in the structure of local rugby.

Primary amongst these changes is the decision made jointly by the HKRU and its member clubs to ring-fence the Men’s Premiership around the six existing Premiership clubs at both Premiership and Premiership A levels for the coming three seasons.

Valley RFC, HKCC, Hong Kong Football Club, Hong Kong Scottish, Kowloon and USRC Tigers retain their Premiership spots for the coming season and will maintain this status for three years.

Dai Rees, General Manager, Rugby Performance at the HKRU, commented on the changes saying, “The objective is to ensure a stable competition that is structured around two performance leagues, Premiership and Premiership A, and supported by a development and community league structure that will ultimately contribute to the national team and high performance rugby in Hong Kong.

“These changes are a culmination of months of consultation with local clubs to secure their buy-in. As a result the final structure places significant emphasis on establishing clear playing levels, with Hong Kong’s elite level rugby ring-fenced around the clubs participating in the Premiership and Premiership A leagues,” Rees said.

The Premiership and Premiership A leagues will now mirror each other with club fixtures played at the same location each week. The new structure will allow the Premiership teams in these leagues to support each other on any given league weekend and maximize the development of their performance players.

Below Premiership A level, National League 1 will become a feeder system and development structure grooming potential high performance players who aspire to play Premiership rugby.

National League 1 will feature nine teams, headlined by Tin Shui Wai Pandas, who voluntarily relinquished their Premiership A spot to support the wider objectives of Hong Kong Rugby.

Discovery Bay Pirates, SCAA Causeway Bay, Gai Wu, University Wizards, Valley Mavericks, PLA and two Hong Kong Football Club sides round out the National League 1 competition this season.

The Championship Club league has also been revamped for 2015/16 with nine clubs: City RFC, Discipline Services XV, East Kowloon, Gai Wu Crusaders, Kowloon Barbarians, Revolution, Tai Po Dragons, Tin Shui Wai 2nd XV, and USRC Tigers Development taking part.

The modified Championship Club structure sees that league now highly focused on serving as an entry point and breeding ground for Chinese players, with all teams required to include a minimum of 14 ethnic Chinese players in each match day squad.

Following the amendments to the structure, the National and Championship Club leagues are now clearly identified as development competitions entering the season, with the aim to establish partnerships and mutually sustainable links with Premiership teams and to provide a clear and direct player pathway through to performance level rugby in Hong Kong.

National League and Championship Clubs sides will work closely with the HKRU to identify potential performance players. A new dual registration system will allow Premiership clubs to register and develop these players with nominated players allowed to play at both levels in a given season while officially remaining with their mother club.

Already there are signs of progress with U20s stand-out Eric Kwok Pak Nga, who developed his game at City RFC, now seconded to USRC Tigers in a move that has greatly hastened his development. Kwok was named the 2014/15 HKRU Development Player of the Year and is currently in the elite rugby sevens athlete programme at the Hong Kong Sports Institute, having represented Hong Kong in the Junior World Rugby Trophy and as vice captain for the men’s U20s sevens team which defended its Asian sevens title in August.

HKRU league competition rules continue to emphasise the selection and development of local talent with the Premiership rules requiring 12 of the 22 or 23 players selected (depending on the team’s front row configuration) for a league fixture to be eligible to represent Hong Kong.

The HKRU will continue to work in partnership with its member clubs to identify future strategic directions after the coming three seasons as it continues to refine and strengthen its development structures.

Complimenting the league’s move towards enhancing the stability of domestic Rugby and further preparing Hong Kong players for international competition, the HKRU will be announcing several other transformative development initiatives in the coming weeks.

Super Saturday marks 2015/16 Season Start
The Premiership will be played over 15 rounds with break for the Asia Rugby Sevens Olympic Qualifiers on 7-8 November at the Hong Kong Stadium and for the Cup of Nations (13-21 Nov) at Hong Kong Football Club when Hong Kong will face off with Russia, Portugal and Zimbabwe.

The 2015/16 HKRU season will kick off with a Super Saturday on 3 October, gathering all six Premiership and Premiership A teams for a triple trio of rugby excitement at King’s Park. Admission is free.

Towards the business end of the season, a quarterfinals competition will be held with the top two teams entering the quarterfinals (27 February) receiving a first round bye. The semifinals will be held on 5 March with the Grand Final on 12 March.

Pink Dot @ Tamar Park – 20 September, 2015

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Pink Dot a celebration of love and equality – 20 September, 2015
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Red Dragons Finish Runners Up at East Asia Cup

Hong Kong’s Women’s T20 team the Red Dragons lead by Captain Emma Lai ( 賴穎琪) lost a hard fought final against China by 38 runs at the East Asia Cup held in Korea from the 15-20 September.

The four team tournament, held at the Yeonhui Cricket Stadium in Incheon featured Hong Kong, Japan, China and hosts Korea. The first thee match days featured the round robin games with the final on the last day.

Hong Kong Red Dragon’s Results

Match Day 1
China 104/4 from 20 overs beat Hong Kong 41/9 from 19.4 overs. China beat Hong Kong by 63 runs.

China 104/4 (20 overs)
H Zhou 42*, S Fengfeng 32, Markio Hill 3/14

Hong Kong 41/9 (19.4 overs)
Ruchitha Venkatesh 11, Lai Wing Ki 9, W Meng 3/3, R Xiang 2/4, L Yingying 2/4, S Fengfeng 1/4
China won the toss and decided to bat first.

Match Day 2
Hong Kong 100/9 from 20 overs beat Japan 74/7 from 20 overs. Hong Kong won by 26 runs.

Hong Kong 100/9 (20 overs)
Kary Chan 25, Shanzeen Shanzad 21, Mariko Hill 13, Y Kitamato 2/3, A Nakayama 2/9, K Takashashi 1/5

Japan 74/7 (20 overs)
K Ota 24, E Yamaguchi 14, Pull To 3/15, Mariko Hill 2/13, Annie Ho 1/8
Hong Kong won the toss and decided to bat first.

Match Day 3
Hong Kong 59/0 from 20 overs beat Korea 58/8 from 20 overs. Hong Kong won by 10 wickets.

Korea 58/8 (20 overs)
P On 15, Annie Ho 3/14, Pull To 2/13, Markio Hill 1/7, Kary Chan 1/8, Marina Lamplough 1/11

Hong Kong 59/0 (20 overs)
(Kary Chan 26*, Pull To 15*)At Yeonhui Cricket Stadium, Incheon, Korea won the toss and decided to bat first.

East Asia Cup Final
China 123/2 from 20 overs beat Hong Kong 85/4 from 20 overs. China beat Hong Kong by 38 runs.

China 123/2 (20 overs)
S Mengyo 61, H Zhuo 27*, Pull To 1/20, Annie Ho 1/31

Hong Kong 85/4 (20 overs)
Pull To 45*, Mariko Hill 24, W Juan 1/17
China won the toss and invited Hong Kong to field first

Hong Kong Squad
LAI Wing Ki, Emma 賴穎琪 (Captain), TO Yee Shan, Pull 杜綺珊 (Vice Captain), CHAN Ka Ying, Kary 陳嘉瑩, CHEUNG Hiu Ying, Lemon 張曉瑩#, HO Hung Ying, Annie 何虹瑩, KWOK Lau Ping, Amanda 郭柳萍, LEE Sheung Yu, Patricia 李湘瑜#, WONG Ki Yan, Corn 黃麒恩#, Jenefer DAVIES 戴麗珠, Shanzeen SHAHZAD 李芷心, Mariko HILL, Marina LAMPLOUGH, Ruchitha VENKATESH#
# Players making their Hong Kong debuts in this tournament.

HKLGFF – Opening Party @ Zafran – 19 September, 2015

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The 2015 HKLGFF launched with a party and a fashion show at Zafran
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