Wokai takes a contemporary approach to the task of helping to pull people out of poverty. By implementing modern methods, they are revolutionizing how you can assist China’s poor.

Often the first question that comes to mind when considering contributing to a charity is – where does my money go? Despite the array of worthy causes, it’s hard to know whether your money will actually go to helping people or get lost somewhere along the way. If your goal is to actually reach individuals and help people, Wokai promises a more transparent, direct approach.

Joining Wokai’s site, you get to see exactly how your money is being spent, and who is benefiting from it. Wokai’s direct-to-individual approach allows you to track your donation much like you would an investment.

Wokai practices distributed lending, which means that numerous people can allocate portions of their donation to different individuals. The average loan is merely several hundred U.S. dollars.

There’s a Chinese proverb that says: Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.

That’s sort of what differentiates Wokai from a charity. It isn’t giving people money, it’s making tiny loans available to enable them to gain a foothold. Your contribution is the small boost that allows them to purchase the fishing pole!

A registered non-profit, featured in publications such as Time, Newsweek, MSNBC, and CNBC, Wokai was founded by two American women in 2007. They’ve come up with a smart formula for helping that has harnessed contemporary micro-finance techniques and tapped the distributed power of the Internet to assist people who need it most.

Unfortunately, some people are under the impression that people are poor because they’re not smart. On the contrary, China’s rural poor suffer from a lack of economic opportunities. Through Wokai, you’re helping people who are struggling to make a better life for themselves.

Using Wokai is a simple process that can be summed up in three words: contribute, track, and redistribute. First you select a recipient or recipients to support; next you track their progress; and finally, once their loan is repaid, you redistribute your money, and the process begins all over again.

Wokai Launch Event

On Friday, November 20th, Wokai is holding a launch event in Hong Kong. It’s a chance to learn more about the organization and immediately begin helping.

The event is being held at SML, the new restaurant opened by the same people behind The Pressroom and The Pawn. It will be hosted on the restaurant’s large outdoor patio. The crowd will be a good one – Wokai’s been gaining a buzz around town, particularly among the city’s urban professionals.

Casey Wilson, one of the founders will be speaking at the event, as will special guest Jennifer Meehan, of the Grameen Foundation. This is a great opportunity to have your questions answered face to face and meet the Hong Kong Wokai team. For more background info, have a look at this article.

Tickets are $750 HKD, and include a four-course dinner with complimentary wine. From what I understand, you can set up your online profile and begin participating immediately. You can get more information about the event and purchase tickets here.

If you can’t attend the dinner, there are other ways to contribute. Check out the Wokai website for more information, or contact members of the Hong Kong Wokai team here: George Zeng, george.x.zeng@gmail.com or Daniela Che, daniela.che@gmail.com.

Perhaps several generations ago, your own family may have experienced financial hardship. Now is your chance to help another Chinese family succeed.

Wokai Launch Event
7:30pm Friday, November 20th, 2009
SML
11/F, Food Forum, Times Square (on the outdoor patio!)
1 Matheson Street
Causeway Bay, Hong Kong

There’s a good reason for the bars on the front window of the new Awfully Chocolate store on Caine Road. What they keep inside is indeed a precious commodity.

Similar to high-end boutiques that offer just a few limited-edition items, Awfully Chocolate is a highly specialized dessert shop.

What they sell (three kinds of cake, plus one flavor of ice cream,) is created with perfection in mind.

Some things are better left simple, and chocolate cake is one of them. For some reason, a good old-fashioned, moist, chocolate cake, was noticeably absent in the region. It seems that people go in for more fancy stuff these days. (I’ve been mislead plenty of times. What looks like the perfect cake ends up being heavy on the cream and light on the cake.)

Much like other aspects of the city, Hong Kong is trendy when it comes to desserts. Off the top of my head: fruit desserts were a fad, then cheesecake, and more recently it was the mini-chocolate cake with the molten center, then cupcakes, and it appears now to be frozen yogurt!

But a good chocolate cake is a classic itch that occasionally needs to be scratched. Word spread fast when Awfully Chocolate’s first branch opened in Causeway Bay (just off Hysan Avenue, opposite Lee Gardens).

Originating in Singapore, Awfully Chocolate currently has branches in Hong Kong, China, and Taiwan.

The cake menu consists of: chocolate cake; chocolate banana cake; and chocolate rum and cherry cake, all available in 6″ or 8″ sizes. ‘Hei’, their chocolate ice cream, is available by the scoop or pint. Some additional seasonal items may also pop up to coincide with the holidays.

Awfully Chocolate
Causeway Bay (original store)
G/F, 2-4 Hysan Avenue (on Sun Wui Road) Shop 15
Causeway Bay, Hong Kong

Awfully Chocolate
Mid-Levels branch
G/F, 39 Caine Road
Central, Hong Kong

Sunday morning I woke up painfully early and took the KCR train out to University station in the New Territories. My destination was the Science and Technology Park in Shatin, more specifically, an auditorium called the “time-capsule” (pictured above.)

What could possibly get me out of bed at 7:30 am on a Sunday morning (a time I frequently go to sleep!)?

Last week, purely by chance, I saw something about a blogging event in Hong Kong. Though I never go to these sort of things, I read that the founder of WordPress, the same system that I use to publish Hong Kong Hustle, would be giving a presentation.

From the outside, most people would consider WordPress something that revolves around technology, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. WordPress is actually about expressing yourself. It’s an easy to use tool that empowers you to communicate on an international level.

I’m a big fan of WordPress. I like the philosophy behind it. It’s free, and has been built by hundreds of contributors from around the world. (That’s the true spirit and magic of the Internet to me, well, o.k., that and BitTorrent!) WordPress evolved from one person’s idea into a versatile platform that can do complex things.

WordPress, the Facebook or i-Phone of blogging systems?

In some ways WordPress is like the Facebook of blogging platforms. Why? If you think about what makes Facebook or the iPhone better than their rivals, it has to do with the number of people creating cool apps that extend their power and allow you to customize them. WordPress harnesses the distributed power of developers in a similar way. They have more people creating plug-ins and themes that allow the system to be tailored in endless directions. You can use WordPress to do things way beyond the blogs of their closed-source competitors. Checking out the newest version of WordPress, and comparing it to when I started Hong Kong Hustle, it’s never been simpler to use or more powerful.

Hong Kong Wordcamp

Looking over the website for the event, (called WordCamp,) I saw a heading titled Coolest Blog Contest. Though I’m a little shy about promoting Hong Kong Hustle, I thought entering the contest would be a good way to introduce the blog to other WordPress users in H.K. In addition to hearing the founder speak, I figured it would be cool to meet other people using WordPress and compare notes.

Arriving at the event, I bumped into two old friends. After taking a quick run for coffee, we headed to the auditorium. Though it’s a little bit hokey to be shaped like something out of The Jetson’s, the “time-capsule” was a very well designed auditorium. I sat in the front to get a good view.

WordPress founder, Matt Mullenweg, was up first. He described the latest developments in WordPress and spoke about its history.

I was surprised at how polished and personable a speaker he was. Not a single misstep during his entire talk. Matt also came off as humble, relaxed and had a great sense of humor.

WordPress wasn’t created by people who think in terms of black and white, but by people who think creatively. If you take Matt Mullenweg as an example, he’s someone with a passion for music and typography as well as code. It’s a misconception to think you need to be an I.T. person to get into it.

The Coolest Blog Contest

There were five contestants vying for coolest blog. It was a very diverse group, which just proves how versatile WordPress is. To check out the competition go here. There were two categories under the “Coolest Blog Award”. One was for the People’s Choice, and the other was the Judge’s Award. Hong Kong Hustle was selected by WordPress creator Matt Mullenweg as the Coolest Blog, taking the Judge’s Award. The People’s Award went to Jay’s blog here.

After the event I was off to explore the waterfront promenade that stretched from the Science Park towards the KCR station.

What means more to me than winning an award is getting responses from readers, like this email I received on Wednesday night:

Hello!

I just wanted to let you know that I perused (incredibly thoroughly) your
entire blog before I went on my trip to Hong Kong a couple weeks ago, and I’m
really glad I did! I’ve been going to HK since I was a kid, but this was the
first time I went without my parents. My cousin, her friend and I had our first
chance to explore HK from a young adult’s perspective, instead of from our
parents perspective. It was really exciting and I’m so glad I had your blog to
turn to as a resource. I loved White Noise Records, all the art galleries,
Senses 99, Vintage HK, and numerous other places. I didn’t get a chance to go to
Yumla or Drop, but they sounded like they would have been a dope time as well.
Your blog provided exactly the kind of places and things that I love to see. I
discovered the artist team Graphic Airlines by going to Vintage HK and White
Noise Records, and found some awesome books at Basheer Books and Delay No Mall.
So, just wanted to say thanks for taking the time to recommend all your fave
places in HK, and for having taste so similar to mine ! Keep up the awesome
posts – I will be checking back regularly, and will write down some more of your
recs the next time I go back!

Peace,

The former Hei Hei Club has reopened as Billion Club located on the third floor of the On Hing building in Central. The same complex also houses clubs Sugar, Cliq and Ci Xi. The soft opening on Tuesday night completely packed the place. How does it compare to Hei Hei?

The new layout consists of three rooms as well as a large patio at the very back. In keeping with the Billion Club name, the decor is going for an overt glitz. There are fixtures scattered about that give off the required ‘bling’. My favorite detail is the toilet!

The club features branding from high-end alcohol labels in the booths and bars.

The actual layout is much better than before. In its previous incarnation, Hei Hei Club featured a long bar that always made the space a traffic jam. Billion Club is smartly divided into three sections. There are two good-sized bars, one on each end of the club. The dance floor is set up in the middle, between the d.j. booth and a bank of tables. Overall, the seating has improved. There are many booths throughout the club, as well as big sections for larger groups. The outdoor patio has had a little makeover, but still includes the small pool.

The turnout for the night (which included an open bar for two hours,) was big. Just like old times, the club was difficult to move through at certain points of the evening.

The crowd consisted of the same patrons who would normally go to Club Beijing just across the street and other former Hei Hei regulars who have splintered off to different party venues.

The biggest question is what will the opening of Billion Club do to Club Beijing and others in the neighborhood? The most intriguing point is that Beijing is operated by the same owner as Billion Club and seems to be aiming for the same crowd. Perhaps Club Beijing will be phased out? While Beijing does great business on weekends, it doesn’t often make use of two of its three floors. The first level where you enter is packed, but the additional two levels haven’t had the same draw. Problems with elevator access in the building have also been a headache for the club and patrons.

As far as the On Hing building is concerned, Cliq might see some of their local crowd picked off by Billion, although the music and feel of the club is very different. Sugar, may also be in for a short term loss, as people tend to flock to the newest place. Time will tell!

Billion Club
3/F On Hing Building (the site of the former Hei Hei Club)
On Hing Terrace, (just above the intersection of Wyndham Street and Wellington Street)
Central, Hong Kong

I had my afternoon all planned out. There was a screening of Transformers at 4:30 and I was excited to watch it at my favorite movie theater in Causeway Bay. I decided I’d invite a friend… I called their number and the phone just hung, no dial tone, no ring, nothing. Next I tried another friend, same thing. Weird. Maybe they turned off their phones? Then I tried another friend, same thing. Did I forget to pay my bill?

In the chance that there was some incident going on, I figured I’d check the Internet.

It was raining out slightly, so I tried the Hong Kong Weather Observatory. The site was barely loading. I tried the text link, and then an alternate site – Weather Underground. It said that there was a typhoon signal 3 warning at the moment, and that it would be raised to a level 8 at 3:00 in the afternoon. (Check out my previous post about typhoons for definitions of the different signals.)

It was currently around 2:30. I thought about it for a minute, the neighborhood did seem a little more quiet than usual. I bet the official weather site was bombarded with traffic since every office worker was waiting to get the official verdict on a potentially early start to the weekend. But what if there was an actual emergency? The fact that mobile phone lines were non-operational was worrying. (The only other time this regularly occurs is near midnight on New Year’s Eve.)

I was disappointed, there goes my date with Optimus Prime! I decided to hit the grocery store to buy something to cook for dinner. I went to the neighborhood branch of Wellcome, and it was as if people were stocking up for a month. The lines at the checkout were nearly thirty people long. I was definitely not going to wait. I hit the ParkNshop a block away, and there were only two people on line in front of me.

A few hours later, sick of being cooped up inside, I decided to take a walk. Stepping outside, I felt only a few drops of rain. The Mid-Levels escalator, my normal route up, was shut down. It closes during a typhoon signal 8, much to the annoyance of regular users.

I proceeded all the way up to the top of the escalator system, climbing the stairs until it ends at Conduit Road. Next I walked towards Sheung Wan, and headed up towards a trail that goes to the Peak.

Along the way I saw downed branches and leaves. Approaching the start of the Morning Trail that goes from Mid-Levels to The Peak, I came across many larger branches.

Due to the darkness, and my phobia of stepping on a snake (after two recent encounters after rainstorms,) I decided to head back home.

Last night Gucci had an event at the Hong Kong Convention Center and bravely decided not to postpone. I went to HALO which was crowded and I didn’t leave until after 4 am. Here are two of my new fans!

Leaving the club it was raining hard and I received offers to buy my umbrella!

I don’t doubt that there are serious typhoons that pass through Hong Kong, but the last three times a typhoon 8 has been declared, I’ve witnessed little more than a rainstorm (luckily.)

Seems like all my vacations revolve around my friend’s weddings! I jumped over to Bangkok on the 24th for a few days to check out Bangkok and attend my friend’s wedding on the 27th. The last time I was in Bangkok was 2 years ago for another friend’s wedding.

Bangkok is a short flight – only two and a half hours away from Hong Kong by plane. One of the pleasures of living in H.K. is the close proximity to so many other countries and cultures. Thailand provides an alluring destination for a number of reasons – the weather is excellent, the beaches are amazing, shopping is extensive, and it’s very inexpensive compared to Hong Kong.

I was looking forward to my trip. I’ve been to Bangkok three times previously, and I still only know basics about the city. It’s much more sprawling than Hong Kong.

My flight got in smoothly and I took a taxi to the serviced apartment that my friend had booked for me. Many savvy visitors to Bangkok avoid hotels and instead choose to rent serviced apartments. Their locations and services are excellent and prices even cheaper than hotels.

The suite that I got was very spacious with a good view of this part of town. I was located near the Emporium, one of the high-end shopping centers in Bangkok. The Emporium is located on the BTS Sky Train line, at the Phrom Phong station. It’s a convenient location. One note about Bangkok – traffic can be terrible, so being on the BTS Sky Train is a time saver. The trains go to most major areas and are clean, easy to navigate and new.

I got in at night. After I checked in, I called the groom, and he invited me to join him and his in-laws at the Suan Lum night market near Lumpini Park. I hopped into a taxi and was there in about 10 minutes. (Traffic was light due to the time of night.)

Despite visiting the city several times, I’d never been to the Suan Lum night market before. The night market featured several large buildings divided into small to medium sized stalls featuring everything from clothes to home furnishings to artwork. I was impressed by the cool local designer t-shirts I saw, and made a mental note to remember to come back. (As it turns out, I returned a few days later and picked up 8 shirts at a few different stalls. The prices were around $160 Baht per shirt and up, which is between $4 and $5 U.S.!) After shopping for a few hours, and grabbing dinner, I headed back to the apartment.

The next day was Sunday (Christmas day,) and I decided to visit the famous Chatuchak weekend market. This place is no joke! It’s the largest market you could possibly imagine. I don’t know exactly how much area it covers, but it’s several square blocks filled with small stalls selling almost everything you could possibly think of. It’s a browsers paradise, there’s just so much here. A quick rundown of what I picked up: old school fat shoe laces, local designer t-shirts, a book on film, retro underwear (to give away as a gift), and some electrical plug adapters.

After a few hours wandering around Chatuchak I decided to head to my favorite neighborhood in Bangkok – Siam Square for a quick look around. On my previous trips I’ve found it to be the epicenter of youth culture and perhaps shopping in Bangkok. There are several large malls on one side, Mahboonkong, an enormous shopping center on another end, and a network of cool shops tucked away in several older buildings and blocks on another side. I’ve found cool clothes and music shops here in the past, and I was anxious to see what had changed.

I was happy to see that my favorite movie theater – the Scala, was still around. It’s an old movie palace with a grand lobby and a huge screen. They still have cool hand painted billboards as well.

I darted through the mazes of shopping centers, finding that several of the shops I had patronized before (with weird names like ‘Burger Queen’) were now gone. I checked on a shop called KINKY where I got two shirts many years ago, and found that it was still kickin’. I was about to ask about the owner – Nat – when he walked into the store.

I met Nat last year in H.K. I had been to his shop a few years ago and liked the clothes he designed, but didn’t meet him until mutual friends introduced us in H.K. Apart from having a cool shop, Nat just released his first CD on Sony BMG. It’s his own style of Hip Hop music.

After talking for a few minutes, Nat told me that he was on his way to a small get together and invited me to join. The other M.C. from his group came and picked us up. Two hours later we were still driving outside of Bangkok, and lost! Fortunately we found the place after a few detours.

It turns out that the small get together was the birthday party for Joey Boy – one of the top Hip Hop / Pop stars in Thailand. It was in the club house on a private lake of a new luxury development. Very scenic spot.

Joe was out front when we got there, and was very friendly. There was only around 30 people there, and it was an interesting collection of music people, and Thai celebrities. There was a sound system set up and people took turns performing. The music was great!

The rest of my trip was taken up by the wedding. I had to go to the rehearsal, and the actual wedding took up a whole day as well. In the little time I had left, I made another trip back to Siam Square to check out the newest shopping center – Siam Paragon that just opened. It’s amazingly large! In addition to housing a huge supermarket, several floors of shops, it also includes a Ferrari and Lamborghini show room, as well as a full size aquarium! Needless to say, I didn’t get to see the whole place.

On my last day in Bangkok I decided to check out an area called Thonglor that people have said is a trendy part of town. I read an article in the N.Y. Times that made it seem like a hot spot as well. I didn’t find too much myself. There is a big store called Playground that has an excellent collection of design books, interesting home furnishings, and clothes, but the area on the whole didn’t knock me out. Perhaps it’s the growth of small coffee shops and dessert places that make the area famous. It doesn’t have the intensity of Siam Square or as diverse a collection of places.

After sleeping late I grabbed lunch by myself at Peter’s Tex-Mex, the burrito spot in Jianguomen. Afterwards I walked up to Ritan Park and met up with some friends and checked out a sound installation by Brian Eno (who was present and gave a talk). Afterwards I bounced around Beijing checking out some areas that I had discovered in previous trips to the city. I ended up taking the subway out to a shopping area called Xin Jie Kou. It’s a several mile long strip of small shops selling DVDs, sneakers, musical instruments and trendy clothing – my type of place! If you follow it all the way down it spills into another shopping area called Xidan that has large malls filled with small shops. I just started my browsing when I got a call from my friend Coco Monkey. I met up with her back in Sanlitun, and then met up with Jerry Chan from That’s Beijing. After dinner we rolled over to a bar in Sanlitun and my friend Denise played bartender and made us all drinks.