The big sushi problem is solved. For those of you have followed the story of the Pret boycott I am pleased to say a solution has presented itself. The new IFC next to work has a City Super supermarket, which luckily has an extensive sushi bar. The quality is good, the pricing is high but it is sushi. I will endevour to replace the poll sometime now it has become redundant. That said I will still never enter a Pret until they live up to their promise of restoring sushi to their menu.

Now for this blog's first secret. This secret needs to be kept from Mrs M at all costs. She reads this blog, so it's all just a bogus plot to generate another post. But I digress. The new IFC shopping mall is shaping up to be a shopping paradise. So far I have counted two shoe shops on the walk to the supermarket. Then I spy names such as Tiffany's, Burberry, CK, Zenga and so on. I missed the signs saying these were the seconds stores, or the factory outlets for these chains. That makes me think only one thing. This is a place to avoid, these are genuine retail outlets. If Mrs M comes into town for lunch I am going to have to push to go somewhere like the fast food place down by Star Ferry.

Which leads to my next interesting Hong Kong observation. They have the most inefficient method of payment for goods. Take my purchase of my sushi lunch today. You go to the counter, pick your dish. The person at the counter takes it, gives you a slip of paper and points you to the cashier. You go to the cashier, pay and get another piece of paper, stapled with the first. Finally you return and present all your paper and get your lunch. Now I've never worked in retail so I am unaware of the difficulties in handling cash from customers. But if they see it fit for the person to handle the goods (in this case, sushi) is it asking too much for them to take my money and give me my change too? Obviously it is. HK people seem no less trustworthy than those working in retail back in Australia. Indeed many seem more trustworthy. So why can't they take my cash and give me my lunch in one combined movement?

The only possible gains are it would be quicker, easier and they wouldn't need a specialist cashier. This is not a one-off either; all retail outlets in HK operate like this. You pay one person and take delivery from someone else. It applies in Government offices as well. A visit to the Transport Department usually involves a minimum of three counters - one to get the forms, one to present the forms and the last to pay the fees. It is specialisation gone mad, the division of labour to the nth degree. A little multi-skilling will work wonders for this place. Of course it would make the unemployment situation worse, but that's the price of making my lunch transaction faster.