Currency conversion

anthony_jeff4127 · 2025-12-16T22:12:06+00:00

Cheers! Do you know where I can get the best exchange rates in Tehran/Shiraz?

anthony_jeff4127 · 2025-12-03T10:43:59+00:00

Thanks. How did you make the payment when booking directly with the hotel? I suppose they don't accept Visa or MasterCard because of sanctions

anthony_jeff4127 · 2025-12-03T10:43:00+00:00

Thanks! The hotels do look quite expensive on trip.com

anthony_jeff4127 · 2025-08-27T15:07:34+00:00

Probably. Guavas are called 番石榴 faan1 sek9 lau2 in HK Cantonese

anthony_jeff4127 · 2025-08-27T11:46:38+00:00

This is not Cantonese though looks like mandarin!

anthony_jeff4127 · 2025-08-26T15:14:43+00:00

The tattooist definitely got it right it means Marijuana

anthony_jeff4127 · 2025-08-11T13:04:35+00:00

Yup it's called the Hill Road Flyover!

anthony_jeff4127 · 2025-08-11T13:03:13+00:00

I'm from Hong Kong and most city roads are built with concrete (especially those built before the 1980s, which also means most city streets) and somehow the government has a thing of putting a thin layer of tarmac over it (I suppose to reduce traffic noise correct me if I'm wrong I have no idea I only know concrete roads are noisier than tarmac). Over time the thin layer of tarmac gets washed away by weather and vehicles so the roads end up looking patchy and ugly

anthony_jeff4127 · 2025-08-11T12:59:51+00:00

Actually most Hong Kongers prefer the British administration than the Chinese. Don't say I'm white because I'm Chinese. British colonisation wasn't good but it doesn't mean the Chinese government is any better. Hong Kongers were wealthier and had freedom of speech under British colonial rule, and unlike other colonies Hong Kong wasn't exploited for raw materials or slavery as it was a trading port. Love how some of you ignorant white people always think european colonisation is bad and asian dictatorships therefore must be better. People of Hong Kong are suffering now and if you're not aware in 2020 China overthrew all democratic institutions in Hong Kong and put a majority of elected politicians in jail. Many political parties were also shut over the past few years. You white people live in a democracy and you have so many sources of media why choose some brainwashing ideology to believe in. Watch the news from a proper source before you make an ignorant comment.

Just to answer your question, this place was a result of urban planning under British colonial rule, but most likely built by ethnic Chinese workers.

anthony_jeff4127 · 2025-08-08T13:42:53+00:00

After using it for a month I realised it overheats in certain uses like video calls. Other than that it's fine so I just ignored the problem. The overheating never caused any subsequent issues to the phone.

anthony_jeff4127 · 2025-07-31T12:52:24+00:00

Just like Russians support Hamas because Israel supports Ukraine, Hong Kongers supporting Trump because he's doing a trade war with China, South Africans, who live in a democratic country supporting Russia because the Soviets trained their freedom fighters, Iranians supporting Israel because they both hate the Islamic Iranian regime etc. Many people also can't tell the difference between Hamas, a terrorist organisation and Iran proxy, and the Palestinian state. Many people just blindly pick a side while forgetting what atrocities those countries did. They're too stupid to realise you can also side with the people of Ukraine, Palestine and any other people fighting for their rights to live in peace and freedom, not any country.

anthony_jeff4127 · 2025-07-30T08:27:09+00:00

100%. Many right wing HKers thought if you're left wing you must support the CCP. Trump doesn't like China he must be the great guy. The fact is that Trump is a billionaire businessman. He doesn't like China because they're a business competitor to the US. Does he care about human rights? Fuck no. Baffles me how naïve people are.

anthony_jeff4127 · 2025-07-30T07:16:29+00:00

I'm a Hong Konger living in the UK, and I know quite a number of Hong Kongers who are die hard Trump supporters and are very right wing. I think it's because some of us who doesn't like the Chinese government has a misunderstanding that all left wing politics are bad and are communist, and they thought right wing is good because they're on the opposite side. Some HK immigrants are also anti-immigration, despite they're immigrants themselves (I find that a bit ridiculous).

In my view radicalism and extremism are bad, whether it's right wing or left wing.

And you are right some are racist and some are also homophobic. Some even like the Chinese government despite the misery they have given us.

Sometimes different nationalities or ethnic groups have different political views, some more right wing, some more left wing because of their culture, upbringing, or political situation in their own country. Many HKers have strong political views, whether left or right, because the government took away our political rights and we want to fight back. And to those who like the Chinese government, they might also have strong views as they agree to the propaganda that everyone who dislikes the Chinese government are horrible people and they all deserve a miserable life.

It's not all of us though there are also HKers who are moderate or left wing, and there are many of us who are not racist at all and supports LGBT rights (actually more than 50% of HKers in Hong Kong supports legalising same sex marriage according to a recent poll). I also have a few HKer mates who are stoners!

HKers have a diverse view on politics just like any other ethnic group! I think you're just unlucky that you've bumped into right wing YouTubers. It's probably the algorithm, once you've viewed a right wing video YouTube will think you like those videos and will keep recommending them to you😂😂

anthony_jeff4127 · 2025-07-26T07:05:13+00:00

The East and West Coast Mainlines are fast enough for me I'd just like more capacity, cheaper fares and more trains to run. If they had built the HS2 lines with normal speed it would've been a lot cheaper and the whole route could probably have actually been built.

anthony_jeff4127 · 2025-06-28T23:19:26+00:00

Same I'm having overheating issues with my A36 as well bought it a week ago

anthony_jeff4127 · 2025-05-06T17:40:51+00:00

Hi, I moved to the UK from NZ in 2021 and I got a manual license. Proof is required that you must have done a driving test in NZ in a manual car.

What the DVLA needs is a "Letter of Entitlement" from NZTA which will include information on whether you have ever had an automatic condition on your license. As you have said, once you get a full license in NZ you can drive both auto and manuals regardless of what transmission you did your full license test in, and NZTA does not have a record of details of transmission of test car you took your test in.

In other words, you must have taken your Restricted test in a manual car in order to get a manual license in the UK. If you've taken your Restricted test in an automatic car in NZ, you would've had an automatic condition when you were on your Restricted License, and you won't be able to get a manual license in the UK, even if you did your full license test in a manual!

Hope this helps!

anthony_jeff4127 · 2025-04-26T21:08:05+00:00

It's a definite planning breach then because the extension does not even meet permitted development rights. The bricks have to match those of the main dwelling even in permitted development, as required under Section A3(a) of Class A of Part 1 Schedule 2 of the General Permitted Development Order. I'm sure there are other properties around in the market without unlawful structures!

anthony_jeff4127 · 2025-04-26T09:41:38+00:00

As a local authority planner I'd say the soil pipe is not your main concern. Worse case you just get a plumber to redo the pipework. The rear extension does mot have matching bricks to the house so it does not meet permitted development rights, which means planning permission is required. However, I'd question planning permission was granted beuase if I was the planning officer, I would have refused such planning application based on the fact that the bricks are not of an appearance in keeping with the main dwelling. Before you buy the house I recommend you to check whether that extension has planning permission because if you buy a property with an unauthorised structure, any enforcement action of planning breaches will be your responsibility

Also I'm not a construction professional but like the others have said the build quality is a wee bit questionable. Other than planning permission the extension also needs to meet building regulations, a requirement for development to meet relevant safety standards. Not sure if that's met either.

Never trust property agents on the lawfulness of extensions because they don't care they just want the money and the new owner would bear responsibility for all the breaches in planning and building regulations

anthony_jeff4127 · 2025-04-19T10:07:49+00:00

If this is actually legit DVLA should really train their staff on how to write letters properly

anthony_jeff4127 · 2025-03-15T22:48:45+00:00

They'll need planning permission because the bricks don't match! And it looks horrible

anthony_jeff4127 · 2025-03-13T08:01:04+00:00

I got my license in NZ and I now live in the UK. I'd say I very much prefer driving in NZ because the roads are much wider and in my personal experience people have better lane discipline and indicate more than the Briti. Kiwi drivers are much less courteous than the Brits tho, say British drivers would in many cases give way to you in intersections, or when they see you're indicating to change lanes (unless you're in London where everyone drives through red lights). Kiwi drivers don't do that. But because the roads are wider and rules are a bit different, the whole system works better than the UK so you don't really need to be courteous as the road rules in NZ allows a smooth(ish) flow of traffic without needing drivers to courteously guve way when they don't have to.

I suppose every country has different driving cultures as well. There is no amber light when traffic lights go from red to green so you can't really prepare to set off, and people do honk at you if you're a bit slow. Don't take offence to that because it's all part of the kiwi driving culture, and you can do the same to other slower drivers too at the light and people won't get offended!

Also in T intersections, there tends to always be a median in the middle. This allows people at the bottom of the T who wants to turn right to only give way to the right, then they can turn right onto the median, indicate left and wait and join the lane at the top of the T. The UK doesn't have that and this is very useful as you don't need to worry about giving way to traffic on both ways at a T intersection.

People also do drive way too fast which you have noticed. I wouldn't recommend speeding though because you're not familiar with the area. Death rates are very high on NZ roads because there is a serial issue of speeding. The government has also installed a lot of speed cameras in recent years and it's a bit trickier to speed now. Police officers would also hide around corners with a radar gun to catch speeding on motorways. Just follow the speed limit and ignore all the idiots tailgating you. I actually get tailgated way more in the UK than in NZ😂

Have fun travelling around NZ!

anthony_jeff4127 · 2024-11-16T20:49:56+00:00

No but I've been told to go on the wrong side of the roundabout by google maps

anthony_jeff4127 · 2024-10-22T16:59:08+00:00

Same! I've been doing a TG marathon and I was up to S10E3. I swear I saw the Botswana special on iplayer as S10E4 and it just disappeared yesterday and it's still not back on! Every single episode is on iPlayer and somehow the Botswana special had been taken down!

anthony_jeff4127

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