The Archive

Electric Dreams

Saturday 7th Jan
A quiet day today, what with flying to Melbourne this afternoon and everything. But, this being my last day in Hong Kong, I had to choice but to succumb to the urge to buy cheap consumer electronics.

So we headed out to the shops and found a huge indoor market kind of place with loads of little electronics stalls on every floor. We picked a booth and asked about MP3 players.

Now I’m used to the Dixons/Currys experience at home, whereby a small child behind the counter who failed the exam for Macdonalds picks at his acne whilst failing to know the answer to any of your questions (or, more alarmingly, knows the answer to all your questions but answers them in such techie nerd detail you’re none the wiser at the end of it)

Which is why the enthusiastic young man who knew everything there was to know about MP3 players (and MP4 and a range of other formats I’d never even heard of) and explained it in clear, simple English (which was not even his first language) was so refreshing.

So now I am the proud owner of a new 8Gb MP3 player and will be stealing music from everyone I visit around the world in an attempt to make use of the copious memory.

To tell the truth though, it wasn’t the storage capacity, the ability to display graphic files or the sound quality that I really liked about it. The truth is, I bought it because when you switch it on, it glows a really cool light blue colour.

Yes, I am the stupidest consumer ever. But at least I got it for £80 less than they’re selling it in Currys (I checked, because I am that sad).

After a hard morning’s shop, it was time for lunch. So, last day in Hong Kong, what did we go for? Dim Sum? No. Noodles? No.

A burger. But at least it was a proper one, not a Macsatan, in my defence.


After lunch their was just enough time to watch March of the Penguins (great movie. I defy you not to watch it and massively anthropomorphise the little birds. They look like a herd of little old men walking across the ice) before packing up and heading off to the airport.

So, this evening, I jumped on a plane and left Maneesh and Hong Kong for the next leg of the adventure.

So thank you, Maneesh for your company and hospitality. It was great to lay down another chapter of good times together. And remember, if there are two ways to look at something, and one of them makes you feel good.. you know what to do.

And as for Hong Kong, what a great place. Taller than it is wide, more bustling than the arse of a Victorian woman's dress and offering every kind of entertainment you could want for, with the exception of breathing fresh air. I liked you. I liked you a lot.

posted by Peter The Great @ 9:44 PM