Tag Archives: Hong Kong

Ms. Sara Jane Ho, a Chinese Lady

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Harvard Business School grad, Sara Jane Ho, is running a one-woman gang to clean China of bad manners. The 27-year-old is giving classes to the unwashed masses:

Sara Jane Ho, teaching ettiquette classes to make Chinese folks like Kate Middleton

Sara Jane Ho, etiquette like Kate Middleton

Converting Beijing’s nouveau riche will be no small task. At an introductory lesson, female students drove up in a convoy of Maseratis, Ferraris and Bentleys, then emerged in a maelstrom of fur and diamonds. Their nails were so ornate they had difficulty handling the cutlery.

‘In Hong Kong and London, it is all about subtlety,’ explains Sara Jane. ‘In Beijing, I will go out for lunch with a girlfriend and she will have a big Marc Jacobs ring that you open up and it’s a lip balm. When I go out to socialite events in Beijing and I put on minimal make-up, they say, “Darling, you didn’t put make-up on today. Are you feeling OK?” ’

Multi-millionaire’s wife Zaozao Jiang, one of her new students, says the shocking manners of her fellow countrymen have almost driven her abroad. ‘I simply can’t abide people who pick their noses, spit and talk too loudly,’ complains the glamorous 30-year-old Beijing socialite.

 I talk too loudly, I wonder if I should roll into one of Ms. Ho’s classes?

World Record Catamaran

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Turanor PlanetSolar, a 100-foot catamaran

I was volunteered to go to an Admiral’s Call across town last week. And during his talk, the three-star stressed alternative energy choices that were going to be part of the Navy’s future.

I wonder if he was referring to solar, like this ridiculous beast:

Turanor PlanetSolar, a futuristic-looking 100-foot catamaran, on Friday became the first vessel to have circumnavigated the planet exclusively on power generated by the sun. The voyage, which began and ended in Monaco, lasted 19-plus months and included layovers in 28 countries, which were designed to promote the importance of solar energy.

Traveling on an equatorial route to take advantage of abundant sunshine, Turanor PlanetSolar covered more than 37,000 miles and set multiple Guinness World Records. The five-man crew enjoyed stops in such destinations as Tangier, Miami, Cancun, the Galapagos Islands, French Polynesia, Brisbane, Hong Kong, Singapore, Bombay, Abu Dhabi and Doha.

I am all for smart energy choices. But they must save us money. Just to jump on the bandwagon, while incurring a higher cost, makes no sense.