Kansai?  Some of you might be asking where is that.  It’s in Japan.  The region around Tokyo is sometimes called the Kanto region; whereas, the region consisting of Kyoto, Osaka, and Kobe are often referred to as Kansai.  Some of you may know of the Kansai International Airport (KIX), an airport which is sinking under it’s own weight partially because it is built atop a man-made island.

So October was a pretty big write-off in terms of blogging.  Work was very busy with a lot of out-of-office stuff to attend to.  There was Thanksgiving.  Then I was also sick for quite a few days.

Now in November, I’ll be out of country for over a week or so.  Blogging will again be sparse because I don’t have a laptop to cart around.  However, I hope to have stories, thoughts, and photos to share after I return.

Here’s some of the official tourist sites of some of the towns I will be in:

• OSAKA-INFO – Osaka Visitor’s Guide.
• Kyoto Travel Guide
• Feel KOBE

 

 

1. Public transportation rules

World’s Greatest City: 50 reasons why Hong Kong is No. 1 | CNNGo.

A new division of CNN called CNNGo looks at the top cities in Asia as to why each could be the greatest city in the world.  Hong Kong is close and dear to the heart, so obviously I gravitated towards this list (Thanks to Gordon Price for blogging about this on Price Tags).

Lots of fun items on the list.  Here are some of my faves:

Hong Kong is no place for motorists, with about 380,000 private vehicles for a population of over seven million. But it’s a public transit utopia. Big buses, little buses, ferries, railways, a tramway — you name it, we have it, and they’re all interconnected, making Hong Kong’s network one of the most sophisticated in the world.

11. Cash-free living

Having a wallet is so passe. Nowadays, all you need for a fun-filled day in Hong Kong is an Octopus card. You can pay for all public transportation, KFC meals, vending machine sodas, 7-Eleven impulse buys, Park n’ Shop grocery runs and even ice skating rentals with a “doot.” (The sound made when swiping the Octopus is now a common verb, as in “just doot it.”) The Octopus even comes in tiny, SIM card-sized chips that can be dangled on bracelets like lucky charms.

I keep my Octopus card in my safety deposit box.  It’s ready to go whenever I head back to HK.  Unfortunately, I’ve been away for over 3 years, so my balance is likely a big fat zero right now

9. Mega-convenient convenience stores

Hong Kong has the highest density of 7-Elevens in the world, with a density of one per 1.380 square miles, as of 2007. Add to that the number of branches of competitor Circle-K, and you have total convenience store overkill. (One tiny block near the CNNGo offices inexplicably houses five convenience stores).

40. Wholesome late nights (if you’re into that sort of thing)

Midnight is when the party starts, even for non-partying types here. Those who just have to buy that ‘it’ bag at 11 at night can head over to the apm mall, where retailers open till midnight and restaurants until 2am. If you’re lucky, you’ll get the cinema all to yourself at the 3:30am screening at the Chinachem Cinema in Tsim Sha Tsui, then go and stuff your belly at these late-night eateries to recharge for the next day.

When in Hong Kong, I typically go to bed between 12 and 1am.  In Vancouver, I have to hit the sack around 11pm.  Maybe because I’ve only ever been a tourist in Hong Kong.  It’s easy to just go down to the store and get something.  Or just go down to eat if you have the munchies.  Thank goodness there’s more than just Denny’s. (Is there even a Denny’s in HK?)

46. We get two New Years

Hong Kong adheres to both the lunar and solar calendars, so we get to celebrate the bi-annual renewal of both. It’s like having dim sum and afternoon tea simultaneously.

But if you have family, that means twice the visits to all your relatives.  I think it’s best for me to avoid Hong Kong during Chinese New Year.  I’d be running around the city like a headless chicken giving and receiving lucky money.

47. Home of the Milk Tea King

Hong Kong is home to ‘pantyhose milk tea,’ a black tea and milk drink strained, appropriately, through pantyhose. This results in a silken texture incomparable in the universe of caffeine drinks. This year’s Milk Tea crown landed on the head of Tai Fat in Yuen Long, but it was runner-up Tai Hing Roast Restaurant’s scandalous prices (HK$68 per cuppa) that got headlines.

Hong Kong milk tea is very impressive.  It’s not quite the same here in Vancouver, so I like to have at least one cup when I’m in HK.  Not good on the cholesterol, though.

48. It rolls right off the tongue

Cantonese isn’t just any dialect. Over 60 million people speak it in China and overseas, mostly in Asia’s financial and commercial centers. The tongue-twisting lingo accommodates up to nine tones and spawns new slang each month, continuously adding to the repertoire of this 2,000-year-old language. (China’s official language, Mandarin, by comparison, is only about 700 years old.)

Ah yes.  Cantonese.  At least I can get around Hong Kong and understand (almost) everything that people are squawking about.  Plus, English is everywhere.  Easier on my little brain.

Have you seen a giant yellow 10 metre tall floating and inflatable rubber duck in your waters?  If you were in Osaka, Japan from August to September this year, you would have definitely seen one floating about in the river in Osaka.  The Rubber Duck Project 2009 was a part of the larger Aqua Metropolis Osaka celebrations this year and Nederland in Japan promotion.

It’s not the first time the duck has been seen in the world, but it is the first visit to Japan.  The Rubber Duck is the brainchild of Dutchman, Florentijn Hofman.

Any votes for bringing the duck to Vancouver?  I’ve got two hands up.

dannychoo.com – Sekai Camera post

Here’s a really neat iPhone application.  It’s called Sekai Camera.  I think you definitely need an iPhone 3GS to use this application.  A GPS seems to be required in order to use the application.

The idea is that you take your iPhone around and turn on the Sekai Camera application.  You point your iPhone camera at a location and then you can read “air tags” that have been left by other Sekai Camera app users.  You can even create your own air tags to leave for others to see.

Why I like this application is that the potential uses could be quite exciting.  People could tag facts about the places you are looking at.  This would be great for tourists or for those interested in knowing more about where they live.  It could be aself-guided tour complete with “air tags” with detailed descriptions about public art or a heritage building.

Obviously, I think most of the uses of the Sekai Camera will probably be of the more frivolous kind with kids air tagging silliness across the virtual Sekai Camera world.  There could even be virtual grafitti with unsavoury messages or solicitations.  I have no idea how the developer will handle these issues.

Danny Choo of dannychoo.com fame has a neat use for this app in Tokyo.  He’s going to set up a sort of virtual “tag” game where Hunters have to find Runners in a part of Akihabara in Tokyo.  More details on his Sekai Camera post.

Here’s also a YouTube video showing the number of tags in different spots around Akihabara in Tokyo.

S.F. composting, recycling becomes law Wednesday

The article above is from San Francisco, but I’m not really going to talk about San Francisco in particular.   The new law in San Fran gives us food for thought for us in the Lower Mainland, though.  For one, I have never have thought much about green waste collection or composting.  I’ve tried my hand at composting before, but it was a lot of work and hard to keep on top of it.  I think you have to be either a serious greenie or a serious gardener to really be into composting.

In terms of green waste collection, we don’t have any here in the City of Vancouver.  However, there are two examples of organic garbage collecting in the Lower Mainland.

Port Coquitlam is expanding their green waste program this November:

Starting November 2, 2009, Port Coquitlam residents who receive waste collection services from the City can put all leftover food scraps and food-soiled papers into their green waste carts. That means residents will be able to put meats, dairy, bones, soiled pizza boxes and other items into their green waste carts, in addition to yard waste and vegetable and fruit scraps.

Port Coquitlam Green Waste Collection

That seems impressive to me because there are not many such collection programs around.  If Gregor Robertson is serious about Vancouver being a green city, he should follow PoCo’s lead in instituting a green waste program.

One other example of a green waste collection program is UBC.  I have a friend who moved into some of the new residences on the Endowment Lands and he’s been dumping all sorts of kitchen scraps into UBC’s collection program. I’ve seen him toss bones, meat, and even clam shells into his bin.  After trying composting at home, I know I couldn’t dump any dairy or meat products into the composter, but my friend just tosses all sorts of things in.

Keeps me wondering why the rest of Metro Vancouver hasn’t followed suit yet.  Organic waste is probably huge in our city, but only 2 jurisdictions seem to be ahead of the curve and taking all sorts of table scraps.  I hate dumping food, but it happens more often than I’d like.  If I could throw my scraps into a ‘green bin’ instead of the regular garbage, I’d be happier.

Sample 2010 Winter Olympic Transit Passes

TransLink.ca – Transit Fares during the 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games.

A special transit pass is being issued for the Winter Olympics.  It’s a 6-week pass that will be valid starting Feb 8, 2010.  That’s just 2 days before the opening ceremony.

I don’t have plans to visit the venues at the moment, but as a regular transit user, this special pass will be a sweet little collector item.

It will cost more than the regular monthly FareCard because it covers 6-weeks instead of one month.

• 1-Zone passes will be $110
• 2-Zone passes will be $149
• 3-Zone passes will be $204
• Concession passes will be $63

Maybe I should just buy the Concession pass just for fun.  It has the 3 mascots, plus Mukmuk.

Passes will be on sale starting December 2009.

Where Have All the Children Gone? | BTAworks.

I think this is a great piece of research by BTAworks, Bing Thom Architect’s urban planning and research arm.  I read about this in the paper the other day, but newspapers never reference their work :S .  Not to worry.  Gordon Price posted a link on his Price Tags blog.  Thanks, Gordon.

I’m a big fan of having more housing variety in Vancouver.  Unfortunately, the housing stock seems to be heavy on the two ends of the scale.  On one end is the tradition single family residences.  On the other end of the scale are the examples of Vancouverism with it’s tall shiny towers mostly full of studio and 1 bedroom apartments.

The traditional residences in Vancouver are the single detached homes that blanket most of the city.  The West Side is obviously full of these homes, but the East Side has a huge swath of single detached homes too – just smaller lots.  Just drive down any road in Vancouver and you will pass these homes.  In the results of past CityPlan neighbourhood consultations.  I have seen a dreadful resistance to any new form of housing.

Take the Victoria-Fraserview-Killarney area (aka. VFK).  VFK covers the almost the entire southeast corner of Vancouver.  It stretches from Knight Street in the west to Boundary Road in the east.  The northern boundary is 41st Avenue and Kingsway while the Fraser River makes up the southern boundary.  The residents of VFK were presented with a variety of different housing options.  The city planners mentioned the need to accommodate the growing population of Vancouver.  There were options included infill housing, low-rise apartment buildings, townhomes, rowhouses, duplexes, and a unique option known as the “se hap yuen” (based on traditional housing complexes in Beijing that accommodate four families.  Also known as “si he yuan” in Beijing pinyin).  I would have loved to see townhomes and rowhouses be more prevalent in the city.  I like to have some actual door to ground to space, but not at the high prices for a house in East Van.  Unfortunately, the participants in the VFK vision process only approved duplexes and low-rise apartments for seniors.  Everything else did not garner solid support.  It’s good to see that it was not a resounding no, but sad to see less housing variety in that part of Vancouver.

It should be noted that the Champlain Heights area of VFK is made up of mostly townhomes, but it is a very suburban setting with little services near the homes except for Champlain Square at East 54th and Kerr.  It would have been nicer to see more housing variety closer to the major arterials of 41st Avenue and Victoria Drive.  People and services are already existing in that area and there will some limits to what can be developed in those areas because of the current vision.  Moreover, the lack of housing variety means this section of the city will become increasingly unaffordable for young families.  50 year old homes in the Killarney area already cost close to $600,000.  A new home will run close to $900,000.  Even duplexes in Killarney will be $500,000.  Can a new family afford these prices?  Even with a dual income, it will be hard for most families to cobble together a decent down payment.

The vision does come up for update every few years and there is an ongoing vision committee that does meet regularly.  So perhaps the vision will change at the next update.  For more detailed information, you can visit the VFK Community Visions Page.

So why is enrollment down overall in the City of Vancouver?  In addition to people having less children these days, it also likely because young families are being driven out of the city to more affordable homes elsewhere.  Here’s to hoping that it could all change in the future.

After reading about brain drain and kindergarten in Canada, it got me thinking about preschool in Hong Kong.  It’s a very different experience than preschool here in Canada.

I grew up in Canada, so I don’t have any first-hand experience with preschool in Hong Kong.  However, I have heard stories from others about the experience and I base this post on what they’ve told me.

In Hong Kong, parents are very competitive and want to give their child(ren) an edge right from the start.  Preschool is where some of this competition starts.  To even get into preschool, a 2-3 year old child must have an entrance interview.  In Hong Kong, schools are quite stratified.  There are top-ranked preschools, mid-level preschools, and so-so preschools.  So everyone wants their kid in the top-ranked preschools.

If a kid gets into a top-ranked preschool, then they can get into a top-ranked primary school, and a top-ranked middle school.  At least that’s the hope.

There’s also the issue of money.  A preschool with a better reputation will obviously be able to charge a lot more.  So that would shut out children from lower-income families.

So is Asia investing more into preschools than North America?  What are some people’s impressions?  Are Canadian children way behind their counterparts from around the world?

scotiabank nuit blanche – October 3, 2009

For all you lucky Torontonians, Nuit Blanche is coming up on October 3, 2009.  It’s a “free all night contemporary art thing.”  Last fall, I lucked out being in Halifax for their all night art thing called Nocturne.

Toronto seems to have a lot more of these neat public art events.  Illuminato was a big event back in the spring and now Nuit Blanche.  Vancouver is severely lacking in the realm of public art events.

TTC and Nuit Blanche

The TTC is also an active participant in Nuit Blanche and offering a Nuit Blanche TTC pass just for the event.  Sounds like a transit collector’s item.  Buses and the trains sound like they will be busy all night.  I better ask my friends if they are going and if I can have their pass

The brain drain on the economy may be child’s play – Vancouver Sun, Sept 16, 2009.

For those who work with preschool children or those who have studied early childhood development, this article is not totally surprising.  The first 5 years of life are a huge factor in the development of a person’s behaviour and abilities.

According to the HELP study, which tracked 140,000 students over a decade, just under 30 per cent of B.C. children entering kindergarten are “developmentally vulnerable” — lacking in those basic skills they need to thrive in school and in the future. The study considers a rate of child vulnerability above 10 per cent as “biologically unnecessary.”

“Economic analyses,” the study states, “reveal this depletion (in human capital) will cause B.C. to forgo 20 per cent GDP growth over the next 60 years.

These are no small numbers.  This may be the first time I’ve seen early child development study results accompanied with a GDP number.

In the past, Kershaw said, we have been looking at the value in education all wrong — completely backwards, in fact. It used to be, he said, that governments hoping to stimulate economic activity would throw the bulk of their resources behind secondary and post-secondary education.

But the most effective use of educational funds to stimulate the economy, Kershaw said, would be to invest in the early years, even before kindergarten, when children’s work and study habits are most malleable.

“The early development research,” the report states, “is now so compelling that there is a growing consensus among economists, such as Nobel laureate James Heckman, that the most cost-effective human capital interventions occur among young children.”

If you think about the money we poor into education, you probably think first of school-age children from K – 12.  You may then think about post-secondary schools needing funding for their programs.  However, we seldom ever think of preschool education as needing education funding.  In fact, preschool is something parents have to pay for on their own.  So how many families can afford to put their kids into preschool?

The report that Pete McMartin quotes summarizes its recommendations by calling for more time for parents to spend with their children, especially in the early years.  It also recommends more day care services.  This recommendation reminds me of a few federal elections ago where the federal Liberals were promoting a universal day care program for the nation; whereas, the Conservatives said $1,200 a year for each child would suffice.  This recommendation definitely dovetails together with the idea of universal day care.  However, what will the quality of this day care be?  Will it be educational in content or simply a babysitting type service?

AMONG ITS RECOMMENDATIONS, THE REPORT CALLS FOR:

- Extend parental leave from a year to 18 months, with additional months for fathers.

- Redefine full-time work for parents with children over 18 months “to accommodate shorter annual working hour norms without exacerbating gender inequalities in the labour market.”

- Increase income support for poor families with children.

- Increase affordable daycare services.

In other words, make policies that allow parents to maximize the time they can spend with a child during his or her earliest years, and during a parent’s leave, and provide support when the parents return to the workforce.

The cost of these recommendations? About $3 billion annually, the study estimates. The cost of maintaining the status quo?

More generations of vulnerable children, Kershaw maintains, and an economy to match.