Causeway Bay

I spent most of today at Causeway Bay. There's just so much to do / see / eat there. Its so happening, and its so blady crowded.

Had lunch there with two old friends. Not friends who're old... friends whom I've known for a long time. They never let me pay for anything... I don't usually have this "problem"... Friend, if you're reading this please note: Allow me to pay sometimes...

Then I hung out with an ex-colleague who shares pretty much the same interests. We went to a "PC Room" (also known as Lan gaming centers, in other parts of the world) and played CounterStrike 3. Geeky eh. But fun!

This guy is funny. He pointed out an acute observation, which I subsequently verified... The current fashion trend (for girls) is to wear stockings/tights and a short denim skirt or a pullover kinda blouse with a band / elastic at the hem of the blouse. And knee length boots. Its true, almost half of all the trendy looking girls in HK are wearing that kind of outfit.

Then I went to buy some stuff for a Hong Kong friend based in London. She wanted some specific items - "Opal 1 minute treatment hair conditioner" x 2 and "Lasting Radiance Whiten and Pinky mask" x 2. She didn't write chinese characters, and I forgot to print out the list and pictures. I forgot exactly what she wanted - but then I realised I could access my gmail through my blackberry.

So I went into Bonjour, this shop dedicated to selling toiletries, cosmetics and other beauty products. I went for the youngest (usually the young ones speak english) and most educated looking sales person, showed her the text "Opal 1 minute treatment hair conditioner". And she asked, "what brand is this?".

"Opal, I think. O-P-A-L".

"Hmm, I think we don't have" - in broken english/canto mix.

"OK. Do you have this then?" I asked in Canto, showing her the "Lasting Radiance blah blah" text.

"Er.. Don't think so."

Sigh. I walked out of the shop, and went to Sasa, another shop similar to Bonjour. Again, I tried the same thing. Again, out of broken English, I got the same confused reply, and also "can these be found in Sasa?". My friend did mention that Bonjour and Watsons have them, so I thought maybe I should try Watsons.

So I went into Watsons. All the while playing with my Blackberry trying to get the pictures of the products (my friend must have predicted the problem I faced trying to find something based on the English name...). And finally I got the pictures. Happy with myself, I showed the picture to the nearest salesgirl, and asked "Li gor yau mou ah?" (This one got or not?). The response was FANTASTIC this time...

(In canto) "Yes we do! Over here!" and brought me to a shelf just behind her. Wah, I was so pleased with myself. I think she was pleased that I was so happy too, she tried to sell me a box of four of those Opal conditioner thing. Nah, I didn't want to buy so many. I scrolled down and showed her the other item - the "Lasting Radiance blah blah mask".

Again, fantastic response, "Got! Just downstairs!" (also in Canto). Anyway, long story cut short, they sold out of those. So I went back to Bonjour, showed the picture, and promptly got directed to the proper shelf. I finally found them (last two in the shop) and bought them, walking away immensely happy with myself, my blackberry, and my friend for being smart enough to email pictures...

oops, its talking to gf time. :)