from such great height

if hk is my home away from home, then the hk public library is my home away from home away from home. it's damn ugly on the outside, isn't it?

i'll give y'all a guess as to where i am today?

i'm back at the library. there are so many computers here that on the weekdays, you can just sit down at one and use it until you're done. however long it may be. on the weekends, when there are more people milling around, you have to sign up for hour-long blocks, two hours max per session.

it's wednesday today. i'd totally forgotten that the library opens at 1pm today, not the normal 9am. i got there around noon, and was a bit perturbed by it's closage. is that even a word? closage. oops, it's closure. hahaha. thank god for merriam webster. so anyway, i decided to go to the hmv in causeway bay (i tried to find the hmv hk site, but it's not readily available to me), which is only about a 10 minute walk away. for some reason, i don't feel the need to buy cds or dvds anymore. in past trips, the only thing i wanted was to get more cds and dvds. but this trip's been different. maybe i'm all growns-up and all growns-up (thank you trent), but i think it's more that i rather spend money on things that i need now. like a laptop and tuition.

therefore, i basically window shopped, looking at cds and dvds on sale. there were dvds selling at HK$20. that's like about $2.50 in US dollars. and they weren't like crappy dvds either. they were actual movies, and no, they weren't pirated copies. then in the middle of my window shopping excursion, my mum called to say that there's a storm warning and that i should head back to the ifc (which is in central for those keeping notes). i said okay, but headed to the library anyway. the internet cafes at the ifc are okay, but i couldn't have spent 2-3 hours there without someone pressing the damn timer.

i just got a called my mum and she was wondering where i was. the library, i whispered, since i was at the library. we'll meet you out there then, she whispered back. my mum's funny. also, i was fucking around with my chair and now the back of it is lifted up and it's sitting really ackwardly under my arse. i would feel so stupid if i were to get up to "fix" the problem and i'd feel even more stupid if i ask someone to fix it for me. so for the time being, i'm sitting very, very uncomfortably. damn, some library staffer walked by, but i couldn't catch her eye in time. damn. i hate sitting here. i could switch chairs though...

aaaah, i fixed it. now i'm comfortable.

there are so many things i want to write about, not that you care, or maybe you do, but it's more for myself, so i can remember what i saw and experienced on this trip. generally, i think of things on the bus ride over, but i keep forgetting the topics when i get to the library. it's really annoying. so i'm just going to sit here and think about it until i remember what i wanted to talk about.

for example, while on the bus today, i saw an old man who had a hunched back dragging a pretty large wickered basket behind him walking along the electric tram section of the street.

segue: i could never drive in hk. it's like impossible. a six-lane street is considered a major thoroughfare. yes, i realize that a six-lane street is considered big, but let's consider that streets are a bit narrower here. in the middle of the street (i think it's called de voeux rd.) two lanes are taken up for the electric trams. and not to mention that there are lorries (trucks) parked on the side of the streets half the time with people loading and unloading goods. then you have pedestrians who basically cross the streets regardless of what colour the traffic light is at. you have an incredible number of double deckered buses, mini-vans, taxis used for public transportation. it's maddening. btw, i took the bus today for HK$3.40 from sai ying poon to causeway bay. so damn cheap!

correction (7/29): i rode by it today and it's actually a six lane road with a middle section for the electric trams. but that's only near the pacific place. from sheung wan to central, it's pretty much as i had described it above. actually, it turns into single lanes near sheung wan.

back to the old man. if only i had taken a picture, eh? :) his poverty and physical deformity juxtaposed the modern and ultra hip pacific place, an opulent shopping center containing stores like louis vuitton and prada. anyway, all i could think about when i saw this man was, i wonder if someone like him could get laid. and if he does, he's probably always on top right? i guess there's doggy and numerous other positions, but seriously, is he getting laid? i'm kinda annoyed that i have a one track mind. christ, i should really take pity on this man or at least be thankful that i don't have to go through what he's gone through in his life. nope, i think about such trival things.

did anyone know that edwin starr passed away last year? i didn't either. and no, i don't know who edwin starr is either.

if i have time today, i'm going to talk about the markets here in hk.

i wonder why a large number of women in hk have highlights in their hair and some even dye it outright. so i asked my father about this and he said that people are bored and they see that it's the american thing to do, so they do it. just to get as close to the US as possible. this americanizing of the world is really annoying. if i wanted to see women with highlights i would have just stayed in the US. looking around the library now though, most of the workers at the library don't have highlights in their hair. i guess it's just wannabes who dye their hair and not nerds like us.

speaking of the library, i actually saw a white chick just now walking by my computer terminal to the service and information desk up front. the only reason why i would mention this is that i thought she was going to take my computer away. this is the only computer set to english, and hell if was going to give it up. but i guess it wasn't that because she's gone.

there are mccafes here in hk. mcdonald's owned cafes, with freshly brewed coffee, specialty sandwiches, and i think desserts as well. i think there are cities in the US with mccafes as well, but i can't be sure. in hk, i've only been to one so far, at the ifc.

another segue: good lord! i was just looking at the ifc website and i didn't know that the hotel that they're building is a six-star hotel . i mean what exactly is a six-star hotel? i don't go out much, but isn't the max four stars? what exactly makes a hotel six stars? do they bend over on command? do they drop to their knees if you ask? (there's my one track mind, rearing it's ugly head, no pun intended.) i have to do a little digging. give me a sec.

according to an article in the internation herald tribune, the designation [of a six-star hotel] should go to hotels that maintain "champion status," with exquisite personal service, unparalleled location and genteel exclusivity. uh, maybe this paints a better picture, according to Ricci Obertelli, global development director of the Dorchester Hotel Group, whose luxury properties include the Dorchester in London, the Beverly Hills Hotel in California and the Meurice in Paris,

"if you were a wealthy entertainer and you came to the Dorchester in London," he said, "and let's say you just finished your show and you wanted to have a five-course meal at two in the morning, you'd expect a chef to be there to prepare it. And that expectation would be met."

so pretty hardcore. but at between $700 and $800 a night, come on.

okay, getting back to mccafe's. i was watching one of those newsmagazine shows last night and they had this little section on how coffee drinking is becoming more and more popular in hk. so mcdonald's in hk decided to get into this cafe business. when i went, i didn't have coffee, but i had one of their specialty sandwiches, crawfish with egg salad. it wasn't too bad, but i didn't like the bread. my uncle joked (though, i'm not sure if it's true or not) that you can bring food from mccafes to mcdonald's but you can't bring food from mcdonald's to mccafes. kinda funny, don't you think? further on the section, the newsmagazine was showing other cafes as well and there's this one that has 15 cats inside. the owner said that she couldn't very well leave them at home when she went to work, so she brought them to the cafe. and cat lovers from all around go there to talk about their love of cats. (deidra, you would totally love it. hahaha.)

god, it's almost 4pm and i haven't eaten lunch yet. and my mum's been calling me on the mobile; the last time, i was chastised by a librarian staff. how rude. i couldn't very well leave the computer, could i?

okay, i'm going to get something to eat at the ifc. probably, most likely, at the starbucks. i'm famished. i hope it's not raining. remind me to talk about the markets and people still wearing surgical masks. oh, espcially about how the fish lady at the market is really cool and adores me. oh, and about my mum's brother ho. (at this point, i can imagine mark sitting there thinking about, a better tomorrow.)

as always, i hope you are all doing well. for those of you who are reading this, say hi to those who aren't. and for those of you who aren't reading this (like tony... how is japan? what the fuck is that?), fuck you. i'm kidding. no, i'm not. yeah, i'm kidding.

no, i'm not.

yeah, i am.

no, i'm not.

love you all.

yeah, i am.