the.blog @scwleung

In the past few days, I’ve had the opportunity to observe differences between North American and Hong Kong culture. Here’s a quick summary:

• McDonald’s offers so many cooler food items here (can anyone say Curry Porkchop Sandwiches?)
• Starbucks is still pretty much the same, but I may say it’s slightly more successful than its Canadian counterpart.
• Console gaming has gotten a lot of profile here. Many of the places I used to go to for manga and Japanese trinkets have been converted to game stores.
  • Yes, the Wii is still outselling the PS3…but not by much.
    • No, there are plenty of Wiis here for purchase.
    • No, you can’t play any North American games on them.
    • No, I can’t get one for you.
    • Yes, I can get you peripherals if you want them.
• I’m finding piracy to be less and less prominent here.
• Chinese New Year is still pretty important, but it’s been diluted a lot with Western influences.
• Electronics are everywhere here. Almost everybody is a technophile and there are a lot of cool stuff that you can’t get in North America. Too bad the prices aren’t better though.
  • I really really wouldn’t mind getting a cooler phone. (Can someone say new LG Chocolate or a MotoRizr?)
  • Nokia is seen as a pretty solid brand here…unlike other parts of the world.
• Apple’s made a pretty big influence here with the iPod. I’m just not sure if anyone’s biting because of a highly saturated market.
• Surprisingly, I can’t seem to find any Zunes.
• Microsoft has done a very good job in pushing the XBox 360 here. Most major electronics dealers carry one…either a Gears of War bundle or a hotter Dead or Alive 4 bundle.
• I’m not sure if it’s smog or low hanging clouds out there in the distance.
• Have you seen My Life as McDull? It’s a relatively old HK cartoon featuring a family of pigs. They’re using that a lot in advertisements and such this year, seeing as it is now the Year of the Pig.
• 300 – 400 thousand people are apparently a smallish number.
• Network news channels here are just as bad as CNN. They just carry fewer stories and keep repeating them over and over again.
• Why don’t Canadian cable companies carry the Cartoon Network?
• The reason why people look so in shape here? It’s because they walk everywhere.
• People here have very little respect for North American copyrights and intellectual property. (I saw a sign advertising for a Charlie Brown cafe…yes, that Charlie Brown featuring a certain beagle.)

I think I’ll stop here for now. I’m sure there’ll be plenty more of thoughts to put down later.