Flash boys, is it really flashy (3)?

There is also no concrete evidence such as any HFT company's financial report.  I suppose if the capital gain via stock trading is taxable, it should be available if you look hard enough.  I know the HFT programmer's market price, it is definitely a tiny percentage of Brad Katsuyama's 2 million annual salary RBC was paying him.  I only wish Lewis can explain why Brad should be compensated this way. 

Flash Boys, is it really flashy? (2)

The book is not very clear about how HFT makes money (or rig the market).  One of the theories is Front Running.  The HFT trader finds out that you are going to buy 1000 shares, he buys those and sells them back to you in a higher price to be profited by the margin.  However, there is no way to know the size of an order.  You see trade data published by exchanges, but not the intention of buying/selling stocks and their quantities. 

Market makers stick their neck out to tell the world the bid and ask prices for a certain quantity of a stock, not the average traders trading on exchanges.  How HFT profits from front running? 

In addition, market price is a moving thing.  The price feed you see is always the price of a trade that was done in the past, no one can accurately tells you a real-time price now.  Regulators are trying their best to come up with some solution such as the NMS,  national market system, order protection rule and the SIP- security information processor - which takes the price quotes submitted by exchanges and comes up with the closest to real-time price of a security.  This is not perfect but perhaps it is the best we can do to make sure an investor is not ripped off by his/her brokers. Because the bid/ask price should have the SIP prices as the benchmark. 

NMS is working to keep the market functioning reasonably smooth.  For example, after the flash crash in 2010, SEC and CFTC are contemplating the possibility of shutting down trading for 10 minutes to restore sanity.  This might effectively stop HFT trading algorithm to dump shares without considering the price when volatility is high. 

Flash Boys, is it really flashy? (1)

Michael Lewis is obviously a good writer, his book sells!  He was invited to give a talk on TV, his work has turned into a movie "The big short".  I bought the book "Flash Boys, Not so Fast" by Peter Kovac by accident, instead of Lewis' work "Flash Boy".  It was quite an eye opener.

Lewis is very good story teller, the whole book is condemning HFT traders (or firms), explaining they are rigging the market.  However, there is no concrete evidence or data proving his theory.  Every single trade done in any exchange should be logged.  I do not think it is impossible to find the data to show how much damage HFT has done.  But there is no such supporting document in his book.  All we know is he said "the profit HFT made over the years could be billions".  But from where?  How he reached this conclusion? 

People questioned regulators are part of the game hence they have more incentive to cover up with HFT.  I tend to disagree with this.  If regulators want to make money, they should ban HFT and keep the limited licenses for brokers and market makers (also insists all orders and matching should be done by human beings, human beings who they can have deal with, rather than servers).  That can maximize their profit greatly.  However, the result will be US stock markets lose liquidity and transparency.  No investments would want to get in, and slow down of the capital market movement.  The result no one wants to see.  Although I think regulators and governments are short sighted and greedy crooks, I suppose building a better, faster, more efficient market actually benefit themselves in a way that outweighs short-term gain.  For example, the recognition, sense of achievement and praise/envies from other capital market practitioners. 

In addition to the regulator side, I think exchanges, brokers and market makers are also have good incentive to comply.  It gets harder and harder to cheat since every single trade is logged and price information is so readily available for everyone.  There is no big profit to gain by cheating, why take the risk of losing your license. 

Coo coo coo (2)

Dad seems to like birds a lot, he has special communication with them that no one understands.  When my cousins visited Taipei years ago, Dad came up with a new game for the 2 young kids to play after we exhausted all possible activities.  He shut the windows and doors, let out the myna we have kept in a cage, gave each kid a water gun, the hunting began.  The bird was so frightened and flying around the living room at the same time shouting some language.  Kids were so entertained.

Dad once kept the pigeon in the shoe cupboard and when we got home, he is like, oh listen, I hear something.  And proudly opened the cupboard door to present the pigeon "why is the pigeon here!!" he exclaimed.  Of course, every one knew he put it the box.  I think that happened when I was in my uni age.  That's really beyond me why Dad thinks it is funny.  My mum went nuts, I think that's the last straw on the camel, Dad was kicked out.

Just recently years, Dad reduced the number of pigeons he keeps due to the neighbor pressure.  But the pigeon who has followed him for nearly 15 years is still around.  She recently become single and appears very bored.  She walks around Dad's living room, following Dad around the apartment.  Dad thinks she is depressed so decided to take her out for a ride.  He put her in a box with a screen, and drove around to make sure she has some exposure to the outside world.  Most of my friends smack their hands on the forehead when hearing this. 

We have another picture!

Where do you stand after getting into the lift (4)

I am normally the first one getting into the lift in yoga studio because everyone is staring at her/his smartphone.  I am the only one staring at the walls, wasting time proudly.  I walked straight into the lift and parked myself at the back, facing the door.  On the side note, I always wonder why people do not do that, I suppose that's the lift etiquette that every city dweller should know?  That gesture gives a group of strangers that are forced to share a tiny box some privacy and personal space.  Anyways, people just want to stare at their phones - scr*w people around me I do not care.

There was the girl stepped into the lift last, who was not holding a smart phone.  The door opened again a floor below, someone tried to get in.  Though there is space behind her, she stared ahead with blank face standing still.  The guy had to maneuver around her to get into the space behind her.  After the door closed, she started to check her eye make up on her reflection on the lift door.  Were I the guy trying to get into the lift, I shall push her in.

Yoga doesn't burn calories!!!

I just learned that yoga practice doesn't help burning more calories - I think it is time to go back to the running machine... 

Frederick Forsyth

Funny I am only starting to read about his work just now.  I started with the day of the Jackal, huh, very good, I started to work on his books, the dogs of war, the forth protocol, the Odessa file, the cobra, the Afghan, Icon, short stories, etc.  I will need to get hold of the rest of his work!

Finally we have some pictures

Scrutinizing

I was reading an article on the Taiwanese web based media - the last name of the person the story was about was printed incorrectly a number of times.  No one ever proof-read the articles before publishing it?  I was so upset that I wrote to the editor right away.

I used to subscribe a famous Taiwanese paper magazine to send to Dad and I can read their articles online.  I happened to be back and picked up an old issue, the magazine is missing pages from 127 to 136!!!  I was furious wanting to call their editor but that's the weekend.  This is so unacceptable.  I didn't renew my subscription. 

Why is it so difficult to be professional and proud of what you do?  Is it because you are short of hands or the company is going through the cost cutting phase?   Either way it is basically telling your readers that you cannot care less about them. 

Suffocating

I spent years living in Tokyo.  My apartment in Tokyo is about 2 kilometers away from Tokyo station.  It was a new and modern building.  I can easily bike to work in the finan cial center of Tokyo, which is Otemachi and Marunochi by Tokyo station.  Just a couple minute walk away is the imperial palace's huge garden.  Running around the imperial palace is still one of the best memories I have in Tokyo - it is exactly 5.92 km for one loop, I think I did it once within 25 minutes (wow, those good old times - I have been pondering to pick up jogging again after 3 years). 
 
I enjoyed my life in Tokyo.  My Japanese is good enough to order food and drink (my knowledge of alcohol and how to pronounce them in Japan amazed my Japanese teacher), can have simple conversations with skating mates.  Pretty much hassle free to live in this big city - dealing with the bank, sending out a post, sorting out tax issues in local ward office, taking taxi (it was fun to chat to taxi driver especially when I was half pissed) were not a big problem.  Tokyo is clean, orderly, safe and comfortable in every aspect.  Japanese had worked together to eliminate uncertainties for centuries.  There are written or unspoken rules which regulate everyone's behavior and life.  They have done it so well by Japanese-nizing immigrants, being xenophobia to foreigners (or things that are not Japanese origin), drawing a clear line between in and out. 

It is an efficient way to eliminate conflicts so people can focus their energy for something else, but the questions are, for what?  Better living?  More fancy gadgets?  What's the purpose of this society and where it is heading?  I wouldn't say Tokyo has achieved the perfect balance, it has problems on its own.  But the staleness and conservative mindset have suffocated any sparks that could possibly lead to changes.  Take the woman status issue as an example, why the women are still hard-done by in today's Japanese society?  Everyone sees it but no one seems to be able to do anything about it.  

Foreigners will have a good life in Tokyo because you are never being scrutinized as a Japanese,  hence, less pressure.  And at the same time, you get to enjoy the convenience of the super city.  Nevertheless, you are never considered to be in, or be part of the community.  I guess the answer to that anxiety (some probably would not agree) is to have more drinks in the foreigner wonderland Roponggi. 

Coo coo coo (1)

Last winter there were a couple of doves (very similar to pigeons but smaller) flew to my tiny balcony and I started to grow affection to these little creatures.  I put out some bird feed that Dad insisted I took back to Hong Kong to treat my little friends on the railing but they were too cautious to take any.  As the results, they had grown into a 3 feet tall sorghum plant which I harvested last December.  I was always excited to see them stopping by, walking along the railing.  Jon always comments "like father like daughter". 

My dad has a pigeon friend who has been hanging around with Dad for more than 15 years.  Some more pigeon stories to come...

Where do you want to stand when getting into the lift (3)

The restaurant staff reached over to collect our plates while we are still chatting to each other and eating our food.  Old grand ma cut in front of us in the taxi queue (being a Brit - Jon firmly stopped her from getting the taxi), people blocking the escalator (although I am not convinced sometimes it is not a bad thing to stand in both side of the escalator).  In some local shops - especially those shops around your neighborhood, it is considered very weird if you are acting too politely.  Welcome to Hong Kong!

Although I do not think people are obnoxious or rude, they are just thinking about what's the most convenient way to get what I want or get to where I want to go.  

Where do you stand after getting into the lift (2)

Chatting to friends who also relocated to Hong Kong a few years back, they have also discovered the mindlessly selfish act in many areas in Hong Kong. 

Door game - you walk toward the door and the person in front of you cannot be bothered to hold the door for you.  Most of them will sneak in quickly before the door shuts.  I think this is because people do not want to touch the door handle, rather than being nasty to people behind you.

Lift door game - your neighbor stares at his/her iPhone and press the "close" button to shut the door while you run towards the closing door.  I think Hong Kong people just do not want to show any affection to their neighbor, that's understandable.

Subway space game - people stuck at the door area refusing to move in.  Ok, I have no explanation for this - I pushed my way through to show them the consequence not to move in and create space for others.

Toilet Revolulation in China

I have double posted comments about toilet - it is so obvious this thing really bothers me.  Statistically speaking (number of nasty bacteria per unit area), the most dirty area in any household, regardless the culture or level of modernization, is the washing clothes.  Toilet seat is relatively clean!  So girls, please wipe clean the public toilet seat and sit down to pee.

Where do you stand after getting into the lift (1)

In Hong Kong subway lift, people do queue patiently.  The first couple of people got in the lift always take the space by the door, the people trailing behind have no choice but to walk further down in the lift.  I guess that is to make sure the first one in the queue is also the first one getting out of the lift.  "Scr*w the people queuing behind - I will never move in to the lift to make space for others!  I am the first one in the queue and I have the right to get out of the lift first".  

Toilet Seat up

In Hong Kong, most lady has the habit to lift up the toilet seat up after using it.  Because if they don't do it, men in the house would just pee (as if they cannot see but men do not see a lot of things) and get it wet. 

Dinner with Dad's family

 

 

Food, food, food - the only activity Chinese family do together

Beard

I tried to use the patch that can smooth the
frizzy hair on Jon's beard, obviously that doesn't
work at all

Dad's birthday party

I had to find the professional barber to
deal with Jon's beard and hair before
Dad's birthday party

Dad was a bit reluctant to throw a party so I said I want to eat something really good and let's invite friends to have a feast.

Plants

My garden - I am on the way to become a real gardener,
it is said I have to kill at least 10K plants before
I can claim I am a gardener.

I am continuing making compose in a sack. That reduces the garbage amount drastically, we only need to dispose garbage every 3 or 4 weeks. Together with some soil from the mountain, the garden is looking pretty healthy (because those weak ones just cannot survive). I threw some bird food on the soil and they have now turned into a 60 cm tall sorghum - we thought it is going to be a corn before. The grains are getting fuller and fuller daily. There are also a single wheat plant.

Skating in Hong Kong

Combining yoga and skating

When Jon goes to work in Riyadh I get the chance to go skating with the Hong Kong on Wheel group. This time we are traveling from the boarder to ShenZhen to another small town. We skated through the winding country road (asphalt paved, quite a few ups and downs). The weather is getting cooler...

Bike Ride Alone

My bike with saddle bags




Selfie - I cannot believe the huge zit is on the tip of my nose 

During my 2 week break in Taipei, I was really bored and Grace's brother suggested that I do a bike ride from Hualian to TaiDong. 180Km and if I do it in 3 days that's going to be relax and interesting. I started from Hualian picked up my bike around 11am - by the time I reached the town I am supposed to stop for the night, it is only 1pm. I decided to go further to the next town, it is only 43pm. Oh well, it is only 9km to the next big town (later I realized it is only to the boarder of the county), I decided to go for it. That was a mistake because I actually biked for 15km up to the hill and by the time I reach the town it was around 5:30pm and raining. I found a small hotel and spent the night. I woke up very early the next day (didn't sleep very well) and set off around 6am. The weather was not that great and I can only keep biking. I reach Taidong around 3pm, biked for 95km and had a big lunch. I then decided to take a train back to Taipei that very night, my parents are both very happy because they didn't like the idea for me to bike alone to begin with.

Waitomo NZ (3)

We met the Martyn, Sue, the kids and Douche in Matamata.  The problem in Matamata is there is no good food at all (I think that's the problem with NZ in general - but we found a great Indian restaurant in Auckland near Jon's place).   Holiday making with St. John's is to go hiking, go biking, then swimming, picnic for lunch, tea in the afternoon and card games at night.  Of course Douche hanging around.  Pretty fun - the only problem is I got sun burned so badly after a whole day's bike ride, I had to use olive oil as face cream. 

Waitomo NZ (2)

Scooter for sale?

The B&B we booked in Waitomo was run by an old couple, English, migrated to Australia (math teacher if I remember it correctly) and moved to NZ for retirement.  Amazingly beautiful garden, the 8 room establishment extends up to the hills, flowers, grapes, fruits are everywhere.  We had breakfast prepared by Collin - he made this plum marinated which is delicious, I think Jon got himself a number of helps.  English breakfast - Jon's softest spot.  To me, the super hot noodles soup or rice is more like my cup of tea.  Ah again, tea for English...

We went to the cave adventure guided tour.  Emma and Mike took us through the cave.  We first roped down 50 meters into the bottom of the cave, then flying fox over the dark.  Glow worms decorated the peach black cave they look like stars!  Emma and Mike fed us hot chocolates and then pushed us down the 10C water (ok, not push but we have to jump into the water with the tube under our bums), lots of climbing, swimming, eating chocolate.  We all have the 10mm wetsuit on but we still need to keep moving to keep warm.  The only problem is when you need to pee. 

We left Waitomo to meet up with Mart and Sue at Matamata.

Waitomo NZ (1)

Coming out from the cave

Great little car

I came to Auckland after New Year I was only allowed to take vacation then because I had to run a couple of projects while everyone else went on vacation.  Jon flew back to NZ a couple months earlier.

Summer in Auckland was warm and sunny - we did a few things around the town (had the ride on Jon's scooter to the beach) then we packed up to go to Waitomo because Peggy recommended it. 

Our transportation is Jon's little white 2 door car with 200 or 300K under the belt, the driver side door handle is dangling almost wanted to claim independence (I had to keep an eye on it while driving in case it flies off) and it has only 4 gear wow, amazing - I love this little white Toyota.  It is big enough to stuck a bike, rollerskates and all our gear - 2 computers and stinky undies in the back. 

We drove through Raglan and that other little coastal village.  Beautiful beach but it has turn much commercialized so we drove further down south inching close to Waitomo.  We stopped by a big sand dune beach - before the beach, pine plantation turned sands into forest for miles.  Shallow rooted pine seems to adapt to the sandy soil very well.  We walked over the huge sand dune finally get to see the flat huge black sand beach.  Only a few people around, some of them carried spade start digging holes in the beach. 

Jon explained that NZ people like to build sand castle for kids to play, some times adult plays also.  When ties come in and sand castle crumbles and it is time to go home. 

After the big black sand beach we stopped a little town Kawhia and jumped from the pier with the local kids.  We checked with a local old guy standing around the pier to see it is safe to swim across the big river - he said yes.  So we jumped and started our challenge - it wasn't as easy as it seems.  The current is very strong and I got nervous so I signaled Jon that I wanted to turn back. 

After we got back to the pier the kids said to us they are told not to swim out and the old guy said he is quite happy that we decided to turn around.  Huh?  We started to chat and he explained the black sand beach is actually a natural hot spring beach.  People dig a bath at the beach to enjoy the hotspring, so much the castle story - I almost believe Jon's story.

Oxygen Canister

Strong wind we can bearly stand

Old town in Peng Hu

Very cute ladies

One week after heading back to Hong Kong from my Easter holiday break, I got a FB message from Mankit that Dad was admitted to the hospital due to lung problem. I had to fly back to sort out dad's bills, the oxygen machine to use at home, and the canister that he can carry around so that he can have some mobility. Jon's brother in law is the pediatrician saying in NZ normally doctors won't prescribe oxygen to smokers because they tend to blow themselves up.

Sambal Sauce (3)

Sambal Sauce (2)

One,

Two,

Three!

Batu cave is pretty amazing but we didn't want to join the cave tour. The Waitomo caving experience is really cool, didn't want to spoil the memory. We then drove to the port Dickson, it is said to be the beach resort KL people go to. Miles of miles of palm tree farms, original forest or vegetation has been completely cleared up. The water looks muddy, waves pushing mysterious bubbles into the flat sandy beach. We drove back to the hotel and dived into the swimming pool again. What else is left after the heavy industrialization? Where can people enjoy the nature or it is just too luxurious to think about nature. The cooking class is absolutely fun - we had great time learning the palm oil, sago and coconut milk. Shrimp paste, fresh chilly paste, shallots can turn into delicious sambal sauce which tasted great with shrimps (I am the fake vegetarian sometimes).

Sambal Sauce (1)

Cooking lesson, I am just being attacked by army of mosquitos at the same time.

Jon is forced to participate - he is the only man in the class oh wow.

We didn't do much on Easter holidays - this year in Hong Kong, good Friday and the Chin-Ming holidays together with the weekend means roughly 6 or 7 days off from work. So we got the most reasonable tickets to fly away, ending up in Kuala Lumpur (I was thinking about going to Honui, Vietnam but it is just not possible to get anything). I thought tropical weather, good food and night life, KL could be pretty good. We can then hire a car to drive to the beach, wow, perfect. It turned disastrous, the decision to hire a car. The highway signs are totally unfriendly and there are almost motors ways/toll roads everywhere. If you miss an exit, chances are you have to drive for miles to get back on and pay another toll. For a city of 1.5 million population, it has staggering amounts of toll road. It is obvious some money has changed hands due to these type of government own infrastructure construction. It took us 3 hours to get to the hotel (for a supposing 1.5 hour drive) the road sign shows to Kuala Lumpur but it is actually heading back to the airport, we were lost after hitting the first construction site. We had no map no smart phone, gas station do not sell maps because maps do not help. Sometimes you cannot find anyone speaking English because the gas station workers looks like new immigrants. We thought our nightmare is over when we drove around in the broad daylight - wrong. Again we were lost on the way to Batu Cave, which is supposingly 20 minutes drive away from the city center. It took us 2.5 hours to get there - it was a bit heart breaking to see the beautiful cave being cemented into a Hindu temple but what can you do.

Year 2015

The view from my balcony/living room.  That's kitchen plant, no name, harry and my new friend "co COO KOO". 

Being very lazy in updating my blog - quite a few things to record since Jan 2015.  I went to NZ to visit Jon and family.  Learnt what is river bashing (jump into the 10C clear water and being washed down by current - adrenaline rush makes you forget about the chill, in my case I was worried to death that if my bum is going to hit the rocks at the bottom) and exploring unconventional hiking trail (the family decided to get down the mountain via the water way, we climbed the rocks, slipped down the mud, dived into the river, waded across the stream to get back down the hills...).  We bid farewell to the family and went to do the caving in Waitomo.  Lots of crazy people in NZ I can only conclude. 

In February we went back to Taipei for Chinese New Year.  One thing we learnt is that all good restaurants are closed, only not so good restaurants are still running because they are desperate. 

In March I was forced to used up my vacation days that is 14 days.  Otherwise they will go expired before April.  I took 2 weeks off.  I took Mum (and group of Aunties, they would like to tag along because retirement is so boooooring) to Peng Hu - a little island west of Taiwan.  Beautiful small island, I was the tour guide, driver, travel agent.  All ladies were having great time despite the strong winds and empty street (not yet the hot season because of the strong north east wind, even the fishmen were at bay).  Very net and clean and lots of beautiful scenic sites. 

I was again pretty bored after the trip so I went on the 3-day bike ride by myself.  I hired the bicycle with saddle bags departing from HuaLian, thinking to finish the 180 KM tour reaching TaiDong on Monday but somehow I arrived TaiDong city center on the second day.  So I had to travel back to Taipei earlier but both dad and mum are happy that I came home early.  They are not happy I decide to bike alone. 

Now I am back to Hong Kong - my compost project is a great success without worm.  The first batch of tomato plants are growing pretty good.  I shall write some more about them later.

Chinese family's favorite activity - food!

Skating in 南生圍



The last natural reserved in Hong Kong, we skated through the path around the wet land, lots of water birds.

History means nothing?

I once saw a successful Hong Kong guy (by the definition in Hong Kong, being successful means he has a business and made some money), proudly said to the TV camera crew that "I have never spoken a single Cantonese word to my daughter until today".   He looks content and proud that he has abandoned the culture/language, successfully groomed his daughter to be a westerner who can only speak/read English.  This interview is, of course, conducted in English - the irony is that he speaks English with thick Hong Kong accent.

Every time I think about his face and attitude I feel sick to my stomach.  What type of environment praises people who despise his own culture.  Wish him best of luck with his parenting choice. 

Staunton

Staunton is the pub at mid level, just by the escalator.  It is close to the office, close to everywhere, we tend to meet friends there a lot.  One evening we were gathering in the pub again and I saw the table under the stairway is empty, I quickly came over to took a seat when a man from another group of 4 or 5 also reached the table almost at the same time.  I squinched my eyes and said "I saw this table first and got here before you" in a growling voice, he said "but your friends are not here yet, mine are.  Why don't we share the table".  I agreed and we started to chat.

Long term Hong Kong dweller (definition of long term is like more than 20 years), he is the supplier to the duty free shops in the airport.  Although 90% of what we pay on the price tag is going to the rent, he said the business is still profitable.  Yet he and his associate still cannot work out why women spend 500 USD for a jar of La Mer whereas the blind test shows that the over the counter Olay cream is just as good.  Nevertheless, he is happy that people spent money on that sort of stuff.  He told me that he couldn't understand jewelries either.  He once bought a set of jewelries on the duty free catalog shopping on the airplane, gift to his wife because he hasn't been home for a few weeks.  Gift well received, kiss on the cheek, thank you exchanged.  A few months later, he bought another set of jewelries on the airplane again and this time, his wife went blistered.  "This is exactly the same as the last one, and I didn't even like the first set!". 

Great guy to chat to, we were talking about what is the most valuable things in life if expensive jewelries and sports cars are simply a joke, he said, the number one is integrity and the second is friendship.   

Gordon Visiting Hong Kong

 

 

Gordon is Jon's Mum's friend from Gisbourne. He used to be a pilot working for British Army in Hong Kong, aged 88, he is coming back to see his friends and the small island his parents and grand parents were born. He showed us those black and white pictures in the album published by the Hong Kong British Army veterans, one of those is a airplane being lifted up by a crane at the harbor, he explained "I crashed that babie into the sea and the poor guy had to get it out!".

Hair Length

Not updating my blog for more than a month, quite a few changes in my life recently, and have been pretty busy to cope with my new routine.  We moved away from the affluent, expat area in Mid-Level in Hong Kong island and moved to the grass-root, traditionally considered working class, gangsters fighting, prostitutes standing at the corner area in Kowloon.  It is in the heart of the business, tourist frequenting district - cheap food, shops, and every day life stores. 

It is very different from Mid-level where only English speaking Expat lives (of course, Some Chinese love to live there as the symbol of status), I think the Maids are speaking better Cantonese than the Madam in most households.  The expats are not interested in local culture, language or food, hence they have re-created (or the market has created the shops to cater for them) another English speaking neighborhood. 

Yau Ma Tei, where we moved to, is completely opposite - all shops are doing things selling stuff making foods for locals.  Not the best quality of air nor the view (our apartment has pretty good view though, we can see far out to the west end of the Kowloon peninsula and get some sea view when the air is clear) but it is full of life, full of actions - I have not yet tired of walking around this area day or night.  It is right next to an independent movie theater, and temple street where the famous clay pot rice is.  I can walk to Kowloon park swimming pool where the boy club sometimes showing off their oiled bodies under the sun (Jon and I sometimes giggled behind their backs).

The commute to work is much more pleasant because the train is very reliable (I used to commute by bus back to mid level, believe me, you wouldn't want to walk the hill after a days of work in the hot summer evening). 

Oh my hair has never been this long in my life, the good thing about it is that I don't need to wash it every day because it takes too long to dry.  I think I save a lot of water and shampoo.

Being a Vegetarian

I find it is very powerful for being a vegetarian - basically, you have less options when considering what to eat and hence you eat the same food/restaurant over and over again.  Also, no one can bribe you with the offer of great steak anymore.  Not too bad.

My experience of veggie restaurant is that people are generally very nice, dinners are very polite and quiet.  The waiters always tell you something is very delicious, you have to have it - it turns out not as good as they claim most of the time.

Brisbane Photos

Mum and I spent some time to find the dress for myself to wear in Alex's wedding earlier this year - cannot be too bright and flamboyant that attracts attentions but cannot look too boring.  It turned out nice, keeping a photo here because I don't know when I will wear it again.

Bala Article

There are many articles published by friends in FaceBook but it is very obvious those were translated from Mainland Chinese - some phrases were giving it away such as "Shocking", "Moved", "Speechless" - I don't remember those were used that frequently in Taiwanese Chinese.   The contents were overly melodramatic and unsophisticated.  A typical example is the title would say "Russian President Putin made a speech that shocked the whole Chinese Population" - if you click into the article, you will probably find those statements were not made by Putin but you did read it from some other magazines.  It is also very doubtful that Putin's speech are translated to Chinese word by word and read by the whole China - I don't think even President Xi's speech was that popular.  This whole story is completely fake and being put together just to attract careless readers.  Nothing is true nothing is authentic - the publisher can get paid if the article attracts web traffic hence they are very used to make up disturbing headlines or pictures.

Please do not share articles if you are unsure about the origin - that's really annoying.

PS, Bala is a how Taiwanese call "Guava", the phase is used to describe time-wasting, useless item, song or people.

Toilet Problem in Hong Kong

I hate it when running into the lady's in Hong Kong and found that the toilet seat is wet.  You can tell that is because the lady who was using the toilet before didn't sit down but semi-squat so that her precious bottoms are not touching the seat.  I am pretty sure she was taught by her mother not to sit in public toilet because of the fear for gems and virus.  I was told the same.  However, now thinking about it, the wet toilet only encourages next user to squat (you need strong legs to do that, not a problem for yogi).  The vicious cycle starts - no one can actually sit and relax and the toilet seat gets filthier and filthier.

Thank Goodness many toilets are now equipped with alcohol dispenser so I can clean the seat and (I purposely make some noise to squeeze the alcohol spray and make sure people outside the stall can hear that I am cleaning the seat).   If there is no alcohol provided, I will pad the seat with toilet papers before sitting down - after all, sitting on someone's piss is not a pleasant thought.  Please Chinese Mothers, tell your daughter to sit down on the toilet when going pee.  If that's not hygienic, let's make it clean and nice, there is nothing wrong to do a bit of dirty work and start a clean toilet.  Besides, I think the lack of community sense and selfishness are more harmful than gems on the toilet seats.

I also hate the white tissue papers Hong Kong people love to use everywhere, at the beach, at the hiking trail (wiping their shoes?!?!?) and discard the used tissues anywhere but the garbage bins.  Mmm, I am not sure they are being cleaned and sanitized, I think that's pretentious (you are hiking and you care about how clean your shoes are???) and stupidly environmental unfriendly.  I refuse tissues, I prefer to wipe my nose with my shirts (or Jon's).

Good Bye Worm Farm

We gave away our worm farms (one vertical and one horizontal) because we are going to move by end of this month. The funny thing is that the worms live in the horizontal farm are darker, thicker and stronger. The ones live in the tower block (vertical worm farm has the 3 layers) are pale and thin, a bit like human beings in real life. We shall start another worm farm once we settle in to our new apartment.

Where is your wallet?

I am super paranoid about my wallet, belongings, bank account, internet access, etc. I think that's simply unbelievably dangerous to let anyone get hold of those. I regularly check all accounts online and check any abnormality. When going out to any sporting event, I only take 1 credit card, 1 cash card, 1 Hong kong ID card and some cash, all in a dirty zip-log bag (looks dirty because it has been used many times over the years, they only get replaced if broken). On Wednesday the national day, we first went swimming with Uncle KS early in the morning. So early we had to leave our place by 7am. Hiked for 30 minutes to get to the natural pool by the hillside. That was the abandoned reservoir - the clear fresh water running down from Ma On Shan and collected into a pool - the dam cleverly creates a 40-50 meter long pool. We swam for hours then rushed to our skating meeting point in another station in New Territory. As we arrived in Tai Po Market station, there are so many people around (some said because of occupied central hence the mainland tourists can only visit the shopping malls in New Territory). I then checked my pocket and couldn't find the plastic bag anymore, not in my back pockets, not in my front pockets of my running shorts. I started to go through my running rucksack, nothing in the internal compartment pocket that's where I normally keep the keys and money (very hard to access even if pickpocket can unzip the rucksack). Not in the bottom of the bag, I started to panic and concluded the plastic bag is lifted. I then quickly called the credit card company and bank to cancel those, only need to deal with the Hong Kong ID, which is also the pain. I still have the travel card, just bad that I don't have any cash for a while. We then walked around the station to sit under the tree putting on our skates getting ready to leave - I am still trying very hard to think when was the last time I saw the plastic bag. While putting on skates (it takes Jon forever to put on all the protection gears) Jon asked me if I check the waterbag compartment (the water bag compartment is to hold the camel bag from which the long tube is extended to front, so that you can re-hydrate without stopping, very convenient if going trail running). I then remember I tugged the plastic bag into the water bag compartment and thought it is very very secure because the opening is so secret that no one can see where to unzip it, and no one would think the money is in the water bag compartment, including myself. 

Protesting in Adimralty

Jon and I went to check the students demonstrating nearby Central and Admiralty the government complex for the past few days.  This is the first time Hong Kong people are setting money making aside and showing that we are all in a community.  Some reporters are saying these demonstrators are freaking nice, which is true.  Most of the kids/middle age man/woman/old people are quite - some offer homework assistance, tutoring, free legal consulting (if you get arrested), free mobile phone charge.  Students help collecting garbage, recycle different materials.  Everything was nice and clean, very orderly.  It is just very hot and humid, you start sweating even sitting still.

I go to work by foot since no bus is running.  One of the projects is in the building next to the legislative council building where the protest is going on.  Busy streets are free of any vehicles - people in group are drifting from one direction to another, people sitting down on the road, banners everywhere saying that we want to have the true election, the sun is shinning in absolute quietness - it is touching - I think I won't forget about this for a long time.

Chances are slim for anything to change but it is necessary to show the opposition voice.

Hiking in Lamma Island - end up drinking in every stop!!

 
 

Definition of success

How to measure achievement and being successful?  I think measure of GDP is totally meaningless - Mainland China has crazy GDP growth that is the envy of every other country but the inhabitants cannot wait to get out (and smuggle their money to somewhere else).  Why does GDP have to grow?  I think it is more important to do good to the environment, reduce your impact to the planet.

What does an expensive new car mean to you?

I am sorry that you bought yourself a brand new car, you practically lose 1/3 of its value the moment you receive the key from the dealer.  You will be the slave of your brand new car for the next 1 year because you will be so worried wherever you park the car - it might get stolen or enjoy any food in your car - it might stink up the seats.  Not to mention the environment damage produced by the car factory and shipping.  You might argue that you are getting this for the sake of your family's safety hence the expensive car - I suppose there is no safe car if you drive it into the wall no one is safe in the car.  You might argue the expensive car is more fuel efficient - I suppose the carbon footprint of making a new car is enough to zero out all the benefit the efficient engine can give you in the first 5 years.

Please admit it that you buy a flashy new car and post how much you pay for it because you want to show that you are better off then anyone else who cannot afford the same car.  But it only means you are better off it doesn't mean you are a better person - buying a new car doesn't make any financial sense and create lots of damage to our fragile environments. 

Swim across Sun-Moon lake

This is the 3rd or 4th time I joined this event - swimming across the lake in the mountain at center of Taiwan.  The distance is 3.3km, not a great length, your sense of distance is distorted in open water.  It feels much shorter!

Jon and I were active swimmer - we stop hiking in the summer but go to the beach almost every weekend instead.  We normally do 1 or 1.5km in the pool or an hour swim in the sea.  The distance looks pretty far (when you are standing on one end looking over), but it was actually quite enjoyable.  The water is clean and cool - so different from the sea, the view is great the only problem is it is extremely crowded.  Imagine 30,000 people try to get into the water, it takes hours to queue.  Everyone is given the fluorescent orange swimming cap for safety reason, I guess the life guard can see you easily, so you see the swimming channel is filled with the bright orange dots from one end all the way to the other.

There are so many people and we have to wear the a buoy (another silly safety regulation only in Taiwan), the getting ahead swimming past all other fellow swimmers is just like playing rugby.  There is no way we get into the rhythm and swim fast, we had to constantly push and kick people away to move ahead.  At the end we got really fed up with this and decide not to get ahead anymore. Instead we stopped at every stop on the left to eat a piece of chocolate- there is a raft every 50 meters, serving food.  We were riding on the buoy, resting my chin and paddling forward slowly. 
The swim was uneventful - very easy and relaxing, it was the getting out of the mountain with 30,000 people is exhausting, we were trapped in the bus for 6 hours for a 3 hour journey, then 2 hour train back to Taipei and 1 hour to home.

After the long trip back home, both Jon and I felt that our chins are sore - like allergic reaction.  It took us a while to realize it was caused by our slow swimming at the end, we rub our chins against the buoys for too long.

How to make Bourgie Blossom

Our bougainvillea is growing bigger and bigger but she has given up producing any flowers.  The reason is that we have been taking care of her too well.  She needs to suffer to the edge of collapse, she would then feel the need to reproduce and blossom.  The internet article (google knows everything!) suggested to dry her for days then water, prune her branches or even bend them into circles (letting her grow tall is not desired), she will then feel the stress.

Building Site

The building site next to our apartment has been building for years - you see 5 or 6 people coming to work 8am sharp to do the work.  Including Saturday (the estate agent lied to us saying they don't work on Saturday).  The strange thing is in this super property bubble Hong Kong, this lot is in the prime location but has been in construction for years!?!?  We suspect the land owner might be using the loss over years due to delay in deliveries to write off the capital gain.

Partying Tokyo

Every one looked so normal and calm at the first party - soon deteriorated...  I remember I did the bee wiggle dance in the second bar, telling everyone where the pollen is. 

Spending the long long weekend in Tokyo to sort out some bank account issue and visiting friends.  It is quite nice to escape from the overly crowded Hong Kong for a short while - Tokyo is so clean, calm and relaxed. 

The taxi driver came to pick us up to Haneda airport - 4am in the morning, his white shirt is absolutely wrinkle-less and gloves were snow-white.  The taxi is spotless - Jon felt that we are being treated like the Royalties. 

Properties Investment

My friends probably all know my passion about properties - I am always looking around for farmlands, flats to buy.  I partner with my mum with a few properties investment projects in Taipei, so far we have been pretty successful.  In addition, I am almost famous as the "slump queen" in Tokyo 23 wards.   I am also looking to buy in Hong Kong if the yield is reasonable despite of the crazy prices. 

Recently I have a second thought about property investment.  Properties investment has become the only place investment can go and the honest money cannot find its way to solid infrastructure improvement to increase productivity.  Large percentage of the GDP comes from rich men's selling to/buying from.  This is absolutely absurd.  Germany keeps the housing market stable and people can focus on more meaningful growth.  Why are we so greedy that the hot money has to rush into the property market without control.  There is nothing I can do but at least I can decide not to join the game.

Although property is still the only investment that can fight inflation successfully - holding cash is nowadays looking more and more silly - I should spend them all in expensive holidays or designer handbags while I can, but sorry I don't like either of those. 

What are the investment choices?  Jon has come up with some interesting ideas - buying into the co-op farmlands in New Zealand.  It is normally very costly to buy and manage a farm by individual.  What if we pool small investors' funds into a capital that allows a professional team to run a dairy farm?  By doing so, the land right is owned by individual investors, the land is much more unlikely to be acquired by some rich people and turn it into a private apartment block complex or factories.  In addition, we are holding the asset rather than currencies. 

I wonder if I can go visit my cow "Daisy" one day in south island. 

Veggie Challenge

I am on my Vegetarian Regime again, but this time no breaks over the weekend.  It is not too bad so far - I still cannot resist fish.  Jon just complained once (he still doesn't like Tofu). 

Occupy Central

Some Chinese State Own business operation in Hong Kong promised their employees 500 HKD if they don't go to the "Occupied Central" gathering.  The operation will expense this payment as benefit??

Death of Charlie

Charlie is called Giant Taro, Elephant Ear or Alocasia - grow everywhere in south east Asia very strong can thrive in any tough environment.  We killed it by putting Charlie in the death corner of our living room.  First Dragon (leaves dropped nonstop for about 6 month followed by root rot), second Non-name (attacked by mealy bugs then Joey's aggressive bug elimination measure - he is now looking like a plastic plant after we spray him with insecticide which we vow never to use again), now third Charlie. 

I smell the funny rotting smell for a long time thinking that must be just the worm farm but last Saturday morning we found the huge trunk of Charlie near the soil is totally soft.  Where ants have built a colony and mealy bug infested the leaves at the same time.  We moved Charlie away from the death corner to the balcony and Jon convinced me we have to deal with Charlie now. 

Charlie is almost 6 feet tall with a 30 cm diameter trunk - how to get him into the garbage bag with the contaminated soil is really a problem.  We need a saw and hammer - I ran into the kitchen and found Mum's meat cleaver (when we first moved in, that's Mum's gift to us) and handed the cleaver to Jon, he then used it to chop up Charlie into pieces that can be bagged and chunked into the garbage bins.  Including the soil - we are not sure what has caused Charlie's death. 

I insisted to tip the garbage lady, she came around every day 10 pm, we ambushed her trying to give her some money for her extra work - she refused to take the money which makes me really uncomfortable.  Jon thinks it would be ok if we tip her at end of the year - maybe it is enough to let her know we appreciate her work :-(

It is rather sad to see Charlie go, we probably will get some police attention if this blog titled as "We lost a family member and we chopped it up into pieces with the meat cleaver Mum gave us as the house warming gift and the garbage lady is the accomplice".

Totally Unacceptably Bad Movie N+N Film (2)

I posted my comment (described in my previous posting) to the N+N film's FaceBook page. I understand I have attacked the artist - she might take it personally and I did get hit by some comments. The comment said that I am arrogant and I have insulted the artist and the professional judges by saying this film is like high-school-student's project.

Um, I admit that my comment is hostile and obnoxious. Nevertheless, I do think I have stated the truth. The film has made all possible mistakes a film maker can possibly hope to avoid. In one scene the little girl should be the center of attention but her pet turtle slowly creep out of the screen in the bottom left corner. The grand father hastily grabbed the creature to pull it back to view. No one cared about the girl but curious what has happened to the turtle. I am sure you have seen that in any home video, you set up the camera on a tripod stand and tell your 4-year-old sister to start acting. At some part of the film, you can see the little girl's speech was dubbed - the words are flowing out faster than the movement at her mouth! However, I have to admire the light technicians, it has been very consistent. Good job there.

Anyhow, the commentator was totally angry at my attack but ignore my other points, such as the film has not had a story line let along of passing any meaningful message. This film can make people emotional especially those who have lost or will be forced to move due to development. But nothing is black and white, why isn't the artist trying to show a more balanced view of this political issue so that we all can think why Hong Kong is where she is now. What makes me angry is those young kids (or old folks) going to the movie and holding a bamboo stick thinking "oh yeah, I have done my bit of helping social justice" and no one feels the film has not presented the adequate argument, explained historical background and delivered the un-biased discussions.

Perhaps this film was made to please the crowd - it is better to see it as the outlet of the angry villagers than anything else.

Totally Unacceptably Bad Movie N+N Film

After watching this film N+N, my first reaction is angry. This story can be potentially made into a very good documentary that actually makes people think deep but you have made it into a boring film trying to stir up emotion. Besides, the acting is really bad (is this because the artist didn't have enough funding to get proper professionals?). Why propaganda - sentences like "government is useless" or "corporations are taking advantage of ordinary people" are said more than once in the film, why state the obvious is it because audience are all needing your education? The young artist should have done better given her experience in stage directing. That makes me furious. The film basically destroy my hope that film industry in Hong Kong in the 21st century could have something original and interesting after the blooming activities last century. If the internationally recognized artist from Hong Kong produced a film in this high-school-students'-project quality forgive me for being blunt, what can I hope for? I do not think I am confident enough to watch another Hong Kong film.

Indeed Hong Kong is pretty dry in terms of culture and creativity, I suppose there hasn't been a sense of community, historical legacy because most of the population migrated to Hong Kong only recently. But the story, if we can ever say the film has a story, passes no message. Throughout the film I see a granda and a grand daughter hanging out mostly in the most crowded parts of the city and go back to their spacious country house so that grand daughter can have the space to ride a tricycle. I guess most people would like to have this life style - enjoying the convenience in the city and comfortable country house. The old man's home is going to be torn down - he can no longer take the best part of both worlds and that's why the movie was made?

At the end of the film, it says this film is dedicate to those who lost their homes because of development - so I finally grasped the message that the story is about against development. But please bare with me for a moment, may I know where the artist and the crew are living now? 50 years ago, it is most likely to be someone else's homeland, which was torn down and re-built. Against the development is layman's ideology. The high speed railway might have reduced the carbon emission given that train is most effective form of transportation. It could bring benefit to other part of the world, of course, anywhere outside of Hong Kong is not the artist's interest - at least I do not see it in her work.

My suggestion to her is that she should go back to school and perhaps take some philosophy lesson and learn how to write a convincing argument in a logical manner. Do not give me the excuse that I am an artist so I do not need solid training in academia environment. I think that's exactly what Hong Kong needs - we are trying to find the solution to problems, rather than arousing emotion to gain popularity.

The Hundred Year Old Man

Jon and I are thinking what are our hobbies - worm farming, gardening, hiking (when the weather is not so hot), swimming, yogaing (that's me only, Jon thinks Yoga is purely waste of time), kite surfing (that's Jon only, he quit his London job migrated to Auckland in order to surf), roller-skating (um, I force Jon to do it) etc., etc. I think one thing we both enjoy is moving going. Our favorite cinema is the Movie Center in Yau Ma Tei - featuring all sorts of independent or foreign movies. That is very convenient because both of us do not have much appetite to Hollywood films. The Hundred Year Old Man is a Swedish film - Allan's attitude to life and demeanor can be echoed from quite a few Swedish friends I have. I think they are very cool and serious about themselves, very difficult to relax to make fun of themselves in public. Practical, focusing on getting the solution to every question never waste time. Very driven for perfection and cannot tolerate deviation. Allan's life is composed of a series of co-incidents. He is not ambitious to become anything else - in the film, you almost do not sense he has any human desire (apart from wanting to have a drink all the time). He was "fixed" by a racial biologist in very early age, hence he didn't have desire for sex and thought it wasn't such a bad thing after all - (he obediently let the doctor chop his balls off, perhaps it is a Swedish joke or something). In some aspect, apart from being a nice person Allan is quite boring. His only passion is to blow things up, which started a series of events that made him to meet with all sorts of conductors and dictators in Europe around the WW2. Perhaps the film is not able to penetrate into Allan's personalities, we are all viewing him through a piece of colored glass. Not a bad film, entertaining yet has a thread of sadness in it - perhaps it would be better if Allan still has his balls and can have his family later.

Super Hot Weather

The weather is terribly hot in Hong Kong it is practically not possible to do any hiking/walking under the sun after 8am. We mostly go to the beach or swimming pool to train for the 4Km swim scheduled at the end of August - the Sun Moon Lake crossing. As the result, I am getting very tan. My back and bums are totally ridiculous, milky white skin and chocolate brown skin are separated by a clean cut line - this reminds me that the very same bathing suit have been with me for almost 20 years. Wow.

Meet up party

We went to a meetup party last night just for a change (instead of staying home watching telly drinking beer) we decide to go out and drink some beer in the heat. The meetup group was organized by a young Belgium guy, specializing in helping people to start up companies in Hong Kong. I thought we will meet some brilliant entrepreneurs and great ideas. The meeting place is in the dodgy area in Wan Chai, right across the street from the girlie bar. That's not important yet we saw kids only. Very very young, students, young professionals, or someone who is already running a company for a few years. Some very brilliant people but most of the kids are pretty clueless - what I should do and where to find a great business idea. No vision and experience, perhaps it is the desired quality, otherwise no one is brave enough to leave the comfort zone and do a start up. I was quite frustrated and a young dude came about to chat - he is still a teenager! With braces so I said to him "Nice braces and how old are you?"

One more picture from the skating SunnyBay Disneyland Hong Kong

Jon's first time out with the skating group - he wore helmet, elbow pads, knee pads, wrist guards whereas I normally only wear wrist guards. He thinks it is nice to see other people wearing full projection in the group.

Rollerskating in 33C

We must be out of our minds to go skating under the heat - the skate started at 2:30 and we came out of the air-conditioned train thinking this is definitely not a good idea. It turned out alright, once we started moving we enjoyed the breeze near the sea and tried every opportunity to move under the shade. This weather is really challenging.

Koala

Ok, we need to put some normal picture to my blog. Jon once commented it is really hard work to get Joey look normal in any picture. I didn't do it on purpose, it is just hard for me to relax in front of Camera.

Python

I think I can be a good actress one day. Another picture in my favorite place in Brisbane.

Feeding Joey

The zoo is the highlight of my trip to Brisbane.

Mustache and Nail

Jon left his shaver in Brisbane and needed to have a clean face for ID photo taking. I gave him my disposable shaver as the emergency measure "It might not be as sharp as real one but it should work, hey it is brand new I haven't used it for my legs or armpits yet". "Joey it is not working at all" "Um, the blade doesn't move along your face but it should work" "No it doesn't" - after some time we found that the transparent plastic cover is not removed. My nails are extra hard and strong, my nail clippers are all super sharp and robust. "Do you need the clippers they are in my makeup bag" "Not really, I chew my nails off" "Wow, I hope you can show me how you do that to your toe nails" "No, I use the kitchen scissors when you are not home".

Smart Phone

I refuse to be a smart phone owner for years, I am still using Mum's old Nokia (state-of-the-art phone in 2000) - it is solid, I have used it in Amsterdam, Singapore, Hong Kong, Beijing and Taiwan. If it still holds together, I think I will use it for another decade. Those who are walking and swiping their smartphone on the street do get on my nerve. There is really no need to save that 10 seconds by checking your phone while walking. And your friend probably won't ditch you because you didn't respond their text messages right away. Jon simply pushed them away - he was running around the loop at the peak and some kids were walking and checking their phone not paying attention to him approaching. I sometimes wonder if Jon is going to be attacked or ambushed if he keeps going that way - um, I don't run with him anymore. Dad didn't understand why kids are all using smartphone until Carol explained to him that they are using it for social networking such as Facebook or Line their friends. He then turned to me saying "why you don't have smartphone? Does that mean you don't have any friends?" He wanted to buy me one immediately.

Undies Paradise

I have been using Jon's old undies for cleaning, drying, as the entrance mat from the balcony to the living room, use it as the placemat, use it as the insulation materials in the kitchen, hand towel, tea towel, shock resistant materials when kids came around (I wrapped the French window door handle with it to prevent kid from colliding the handle when they jumping on the couch).

I had to force Jon to send the rest of his summer undies to the Undies Paradise because they can barely cling on to his waist.

Continue fighting with Mealybugs

No name after spraying, he looks un-harmed and leaves are all shinny. But all other living beings in the pot are gone. Be ware, do not touch any plants in the park or public area. Who knows how much insecticide they have to use to keep them clean like that.

Bourgi is our favorite plant, she has almost doubled in size after we re-pot her. No name's mealybug problem is not getting any better, I spent almost 20 minutes every morning drinking coffee and cleaning the bugs from No Name. Charlie is also infected - now my work has doubled. This morning I found that the ant is transporting a female mealy bug. Searching the internet, only to find that the ants can herd mealy bugs. They will move them around and collecting nectar produced by them. This is only a matter of time the mealy bugs get to bourgi (the new plant we got 2 months ago and re-potted). Something has to be done. We have no choice but to go with insecticide. No systemic is available, the garden center girl recommended the cheap and effective synthesis pyrethroid. She re-assured us this is safe and easy to use, just like using Raid to kill cockroaches and mosquito at home. Jon was not too happy about it, he really wanted to go systemic (which is the chemical that is water soluble which is then absorbed by the plants - insects that sucking the saps would then be poisoned. However, systemic seems only available to large scale commercial farming like rice growing. I insisted to use the spray at least to keep the mealy bug under control, even it is temporarily. We put No name in the shower and heavily sprayed the insecticide over him, including the soil. It didn't smell too good and we found a paralyzed cockroach facing skyward wiggling its legs cannot flip over. Insects are super sensitivity to Pyrethroid even if by walking through the sprayed area. It is neuron toxins which excite/confuse the bugs. Low toxic level to human but we decided not to use it every again. It was a bad decision.