Hong Kong going Wrong

Posted by Muzhik on Friday, January 09, 2009 2:00:44 AM

I'm in Hong Kong. The weather is pretty rotten, which at least spares me of the burden of having to do touristy things. Let me explain: I am going to Macao tomorrow morning, which still needs a little coordination. I haven't really finished writing up the last two weeks of fiasco for the guys back home, so I guess they have certain expectations. My socks seem to have gone missing and I didn't pack enough t-shirts for the climate, both of which mean that I need to buy some clothes. I'd like to buy some tech, for instance a camera, an MP3 player and a device like an Eee, but I really haven't researched any of the topics enough to make an informed decision. I fly to Japan on Wednesday and I haven't even planned where I'm going to be, which makes booking hotels tricky so I need to figure out an itinerary and I'm having trouble co-ordinating with the Japanese girl that I'm visiting. I had a day of flying and lots and lots of queueing, which, combined with severe stomach distress, was extremely draining. I don't even know whether I should be calling 29-year old women "girls"¹. I am feeling a lot of pressure to use my only day in Hong Kong for good, but it seems that I must use a lot of it for mundane. I'm sweating, shaking and digressing just thinking about it all. I've felt a very long way from friends for a very long time now. On a completely unrelated note (honest, no really), this is not a *hug* free journal as I find that concept distastefully (and therefore tautologically) self-indulgent and selfish. Hugs welcome. Update 13:46: It's a quarter to two and I'm only just going out. I back. On the other hand, I've reduced the camera decision to two models, I've decided not to get an SLR as well (mainly because it's such a huge field of research), I've picked a music player to seek and I will look for an Eee. I just hope my credit card can cope². Time to hit some shops. I wonder if I can get across to the ladies' market to get some clothes too. I guess HK opens late, but on a Sunday? Update 18:29: I went to Wan Chai, wandered around the market, then went out again for iced tea, egg tart and shrimp and scrambled egg noodles. The place was packed, despite their propensity to lose food: I had at least three drinks put in front of me. I was seated at a table with two other couples, one of whom graciously offered to help me. We ended up chatting; they were the ones that insisted that I should get the tart and the tea was following the herd too. I went back in, bought a camera (Fuji F100fd, neither of the two previously selected), then was on the brink of buying the Eee, when I realised that the keyboard was a problem: I'm kinda used to the Swiss kezboard now (typo corrected and then reinstated due to irony) and I couldn't change it from a QWERTY layout, although it's got 3 settings. I thought about putting Debian on it, but I was also slightly concerned that it seems to run quite hot and I really wasn't sure about the touchpad either. I bottled out. I did buy a USB hard drive, though. I thought that it was getting a bit late to head to Mong Kok, so I went back to Causeway Bay, headed in completely the wrong direction and got hot and lost. I sorted it out eventually and found the hotel, before being directed to Giordano's to buy a load of shirts and socks. I'm now back at the hotel, I've only just received an answer from the guy that I'm meeting tomorrow and I'm getting an hour more of sleep than I expected. I also have an email from Kanae that seems to organise the first few days of Japan as well. Everything is finally slotting together and I've had a shower, which improves matters considerably. I still have work to do and I need to contact Cathay about the Japan flight, and confirm with the travel agent if I'm flying back to Europe at all. I'm just going out to meet James for drinks and dinner, though. ¹ I think my preferred term is "females" to avoid that issue and that alone right there really explains why I'm single. It also really signals that, deep down (and extending much further up), I still think of myself as a lost little boy, rather than indicating that I'm a chauvinistic pig. ² I've never bought myself a gadget before so three in one day would be unusual... I'll probably bottle out.