Results tagged “philippines”

On a totally unrelated note to China, for those of you that are wondering what you can do to help victims of the tropical storm Ondoy (Ketsana), Red Cross Philippines is now accepting donations via Paypal at give@redcross.org.ph. And if you specifically wish to help children, donate online via UNICEF USA.

Despite weather reports that Typhoon Morakot would swing by our way (which triggered a rush of preparation for floods and damage) it... simply didn't. Yesterday was rainy and gross, but not any rainier and grosser than Shanghai weather normally tends to be. The same could not be said for other areas around Asia.

• Developers hope to avoid 'skyscraper curse' [China Daily] "Hoping to avoid the "skyscraper curse," China's cities continue to reach for the sky. While most of the world's major construction projects have been put on hold, new skyscrapers are under construction in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and several smaller cities, defying the global economic slowdown. Developers believe China will prove to be an exception to the "skyscraper index" - popularly known as the "skyscraper curse" - proposed by financial analyst Andrew Lawrence. In 1999, Lawrence noted that major financial crises often follow the construction of record-breaking skyscrapers."
• Grape Wall Challenge: Top ten white wines under RMB100 [Grape Wall of China] "On March 13, a dozen expert and consumer judges met in Beijing for the Grape Wall Challenge and tasted 23 red wines that retail for less than RMB100 in China."
• Prepaid card woes multiply in Shanghai [China Daily] "The Shanghai Committee of Consumers' Rights and Interests Protection yesterday urged consumers opting for prepaid cards to be on guard, in view of the rise in related complaints in the city. The committee said it received more than 4,000 complaints in 2008, up 14 percent than in 2007. Most of these complaints have to do with beauty and hair salons or fitness clubs that often shut down without notifying their clients, said the commission. The credit remaining on the cards issued by them thus becomes invalid."

A 33-year-old Filipino woman has just been arrested Tuesday for trying to smuggle an undisclosed volume of heroin at Pudong airport. This follows last September when a 25-year-old Filipino man was also arrested in Pudong for sneaking into Shanghai with 1.2 kilos of heroin in his hand-carry luggage (!!!). In both instances, suspects boarded Cebu Pacific flight number 5J678 which flies Manila-Shanghai.

Fengshen, the tropical storm that ravaged the Philippines and capsized a ferry last weekend, has moved on to Taiwan and southeast China. The storm has caused schools, markets and businesses to close in Hong Kong, but thankfully no casualties. It is expected to move north to Guangdong, where meteorological experts anticipate eight inches (200 mm) of rain to fall. Fengshen was downgraded from a typhoon to a tropical storm late last night.

From Slate V:

We who live in Shanghai have to have a soft spot for Filipino cover bands — there could be one waiting around just about every corner in certain parts of the city. And so despite having nothing to do with Shanghai (or China), we thought we'd post this tip we got from reader Ryan Martin this morning via email:

Forgive us, but we enjoy watching a game of American football every now and then (yes, even after that ugly display in London). Last year, we got in the habit of watching the NFL's Sunday and Monday night games on Monday and Tuesday morning here in Shanghai while we answered emails, fed the dogs and did other important things (we watched on ESPN Asia via our Filipino satellite system). Right now, for example, we'd be...