There are probably close to 40 channels on free-to-air TV here. Yet some times, many times, its still very difficult to find something to watch. Perhaps its because of the amount of choice that I’m at a lost. I find myself spending more time channel flicking than watching.

With the increased number of channels comes an increased number of… err… crap. TV ads here are completely over the top, with products promising anything from increasing brain power/height/hair/longevity to curing all ailments. My favourites are the miracle weight loss products, and boy are there many! I’ve seen no ads for gyms, weight watchers or exercise machines, but plenty offering dramatic weight loss without exercise or diets. Examples include a cream that’s rubbed on to the fatty areas and will magically dissolve the fat, another cream that only needs to be rubbed 1cm behind the ear and 2cm under the belly button (errrr wtf?), a slimming shoe that will burn the same calories as running when you’re merely walking, a belt that vibrates away your fat when you wear it around your tubby areas, an apple flavoured candy that dissolves the fat inside your body when consumed, and the list goes on and on…. pills, drinks, magical tiaras (I haven’t seen one yet but I’m sure one is in the making). On all these ads they show images of an overweight person who (through the magic of computer graphics) slims down to a stick before our very eyes. They then show images of random skinny girls on the streets, who we’re suppose to assume achieved their fat-less figure through what ever product that’s being promoted. And my favourite part - a Western doctor/expert-looking person talking, who’s voice is dubbed in Chinese promoting the product. Throw in some scientific looking graphics, a computer generated diagram of the fat particles falling apart inside the body and you’re sold!

Its a wonder why the Western world hasn’t caught up with such miraculous progress.