In the news today:

A flower shop in Graham Street in Central was dismantled yesterday. The shop, in business for three years, was illegally occupying government land. The thing is, this woman rented the space from a hawker who that the stall next to hers. Over the course of three years, she paid him more than $100,000 in rent.

A Lands Department spokeswoman said it did not plan to follow up on who charged the shop owner rent illegally because it was a “personal dispute”. Ng said she would like to claim her rent back through the courts, but that she lacked legal knowledge.

And she probably lacks the funds to hire an attorney. Seems like you can get away with almost anything in HK if it involves real estate.

Couple of days back, the SCMP ran a report that notes that the actual usable size of an apartment has shrunk in the past 20 years. By that, they mean that if you purchased or rented a flat 20 years ago that was advertised as being 700 square feet, it was actually 665 square feet – the rest being so called “common areas.” But developers have broadened the definition of common areas to include lift lobbies, clubhouses, “architectural features, planters, space for watchmen, rooftops, pathways to car parks and covered walkways.” So if you get a flat advertised as being 700 square feet today, all you’re really getting, on average, is 530 square feet. Seems like you can get away with almost anything in HK if it involves real estate.

A related article tells the story of a man who bought a 717 square foot flat. Like so many in Hong Kong, he bought it before construction was finished to take advantage of “off plan” pricing. Once it was finished and he moved his family in:

He found the bay window of the master bedroom was 6.5 feet long and 2.5 feet deep and ate up a significant portion of his bedroom area. The rest of the room was too small for normal-sized furniture and the kitchen was so tiny it was barely able to accommodate two people. Leung’s 717 square feet includes the 20 sqft bay window, the 22 sqft balcony, a 16 sqft utility platform and a 150 sqft portion of the development’s “common areas”. A clause found in the sales brochure says the gross floor area may also include curtain and non-structural prefabricated external walls.

And it’s all legal. One might say it’s this poor schmoe’s own fault for not studying the plans more carefully, though he is claiming that the model flat shown to potential purchasers was deceptive. Either way, seems like you can get away with almost anything in HK if it involves real estate.

(The first two places I lived in HK were both rentals in new buildings. I learned my lesson and every building I’ve been in since then has been at least 30 years old. That seems to be the only way to get a human sized apartment.)

Think all English teachers in Hong Kong earn meager salaries and live in stone huts on Lamma? Not if you’re one of the “famous” ones working for one of those “colleges” that spend millions on advertising. A “famous” English tutor died in a car crash last night. Yes, it’s a tragedy. No, the SCMP doesn’t bother to note if he was married, had kids, or anything of that nature. He was driving a car purchased for him by the school he worked for. A Porsche. A HK$1.65 million (approx US$215,000) Porsche. I am SO in the wrong line of work.

And now for something completely different. Eric Clapton jamming with Carlos Santana and the 1970 edition of his band. 45 minutes in a recording studio.

And now for something completely, er, differenter. Some might say that the Gordon Ramsey that stars in the American edition of Hell’s Kitchen is a cartoon parody of the real Gordon Ramsey. Now he’s going to lend his image and voice to star in an actual animated TV series, “Gordon Ramsey, At Your Service.” We’re told that it will be a MacGyver meets A-Team food-inspired comedy. You can’t make this shit up.