October 2007 Entries

October 28, 2007

Guangzhou

I left home at 8.20am on Tuesday and 27 hours later finally came to a halt in Guangzhou. That sounds like a long journey, but it never really felt like it apart from a couple of hours waiting in a railway station while jetlagged into 2008.

The flights were lovely on account of being with Thai Air and also on account of being in biz class, or Royal Silk as Thai prefer to call it. We were upstairs in the bubble of a 747 on the flight to Bangkok then ninety minutes on the ground and on to Hong Kong. A taxi to the railway station then a train into China.

Guangzhou was busy, hot and smoggy. The trade show was very good, although I have sore feet from traipsing around. Think of a product that has a tiny niche and China will have 200 companies making it. Impressive. And scary.

After a couple of nights and days we were back on the train to Kowloon, where I am now.

October 23, 2007

Goat action

Police in South Africa impounded a Fiat Uno car that was being used to transport two cows and two goats.

Two policemen in northern KwaZulu-Natal chased after the tiny car after a tip-off, reports Independent Online.

Police spokesperson Captain Jabulani Mdletshe said residents of the Phelindaba area reported seeing a man loading a cow into the Fiat.

By the time the two officers arrived, the driver had loaded his vehicle with all four animals and was attempting to speed away.

Police gave chase and, realising he was not losing his pursuers, the man stopped his car and fled into the bushes.

The animals were later handed over to the Hluhluwe Stock Theft Unit, but the driver is still at large.

October 19, 2007

Going east

Next week I am going to the Far East on a buying trip.

The current travel schedule is:
Tuesday - fly from London to Hong Kong via Bangkok
Wednesday - arrive in Hong Kong, train to Guangzhou
Friday - train to Hong Kong
Tuesday - ferry to Pearl River Delta. fly from Shenzhen to Shanghai
Wednesday - fly from Shanghai to Singapore
Thursday - fly from Singapore to Surabaya
Saturday - fly from Surabaya to Singapore
Monday - fly from Singapore to London via Bangkok
Tuesday - arrive in London

The final Sunday in Singpore is the only day off in the whole schedule, so it is mostly work and little play, but I will be disappointed if I don't get to eat a few things that taste like chicken.

October 17, 2007

Spain

Our holiday in northern Spain was lovely. We stayed in Tudes, a village of 30 people in the middle of the Picos de Europa, 20 minutes from the nearest shop and 90 minutes from the nearest hospital. It was very relaxing with a log fire every evening and plenty of local cheese and wine.

There were a couple of cute cats there and we gave one of them a sardine for dinner. The next day a dead bird was on our doorstep, perfectly intact and looking like it was sleeping. With its eyes open. On its side.

A generous return of favour and a sign that not all cats are selfish. Verity thought it was a penguin, for which we can blame Happy Feet.

The ferry crossing was interesting since most of the passengers were on a mini-cruise, sailing to Bilbao and back without getting off and spending three days and nights eating, drinking and smoking themselves to death.

On the final morning we squeezed in a quick visit to the Guggenheim in Bilbao, or at least the outside of the Guggenheim, and it is genuinely impressive. Verity rather liked the spider.

October 14, 2007

Deep fried and battered

A US man is facing up to 30 years in jail - for stealing a single doughnut.

Scott Masters, 41, is accused of slipping the doughnut inside his sweatshirt, then pushing away a female store worker who tried to stop him fleeing the store in Farmington, Minnesota.

US authorities said the push was being treated as a minor assault, which transforms a simple shoplifting charge into the more serious demeanour of strong-arm robbery.

It carries a potential prison term of five to 15 years but as Mr Masters already has a criminal record, prosecutors are entitled to double his sentence.

It means that he faces a maximum 30-year stint behind bars.

Mr Masters admits he tried to steal the doughnut but denies having assaulted the clerk.

Speaking from jail, he told the St Louis Post-Dispatch: "Strong-arm robbery? Over a doughnut? That's impossible. There's no way I would've pushed a woman over a doughnut."

To make matters worse, Mr Masters said he did not even get the chance to savour the snack - he threw it away as he fled the scene.

Farmington Police Chief Rick Baker said state law treats the shoplifting and assault as forcibly stealing property - and the amount of force and value of the property does not matter.

"It's not the doughnut," Mr Baker said. "It's the assault."

October 9, 2007

On vacation

Flanerie is in the Picos de Europa in northern Spain.

Internet connectivity is shite, but the food and wine are good. Yesterday's revelation was a bottle of very drinkable wine for 99 cents. Euro cents, rather than the cheap trashy dollar cents, but a bargain.

More on the location, and the ferry crossing, on my return.

October 2, 2007

Wooden leg

An amputated leg has become the subject of a tug of war between the man who lost it, and the man who bought it at auction.

John Wood's leg was amputated after a plane crash in 2004 but he kept it so he could be buried "whole" when he died, reports the Daily Telegraph.

But Mr Wood, of South Carolina, saw his home repossessed and his possessions auctioned after he couldn't afford to keep them in storage.

Unfortunately those possessions included the leg which Mr Wood had kept in a barbecue smoker, and which was bought by Shannon Whisnant in the auction.

Mr Whisnant initially gave it to police, who subsequently turned it over to a funeral home once they realised no foul play was involved.

But Mr Whisnant, who put a sign on the empty smoker charging adults $3 and children $1 for a look, now wants it back.

"He's making a freak show out of it," Mr Wood told The Charlotte Observer. "He wants to put money in his pocket with this thing."

Mr Whisnant, who was unsuccessful in a bid to get the leg from the funeral home, consulted with a lawyer and decided his best move was to persuade Mr Wood to share custody and profits.

"It's a strange incident and Halloween's just around the corner," he said. "The price will be going up if I get [a stake in] the leg."

Mr Wood, who is heading to Maiden to pick up his leg, said the two men can meet, but he is not interested in using the leg to make money: "I just think it's despicable," he said.