When I got back to my aunt’s appartment to test it out I took a closer look at the glamourous box. Upon inspection, I realised that the cover is missing one of the main actors’ name. That gave me the first clue that this was not a legit copy. The second clue was the actual DVDs. There were four in total but placed in plastic sleeves, two in each sleeve – not to mention all discs were scratched. No wonder it was cheap…but…I wasn’t going to complain so long as the viewing was of high quality.

After inserting the first disc a wave of green pixels flashed across the menu screen. That, and the menu buttons didn’t match those that I had seen screenshots of. Also, the picture was not as high quality as was told to me (yes, I found it odd that a seller would use that as a selling point). After doing some research online I had deduced that the version I had bought was the Hong Kong version, AKA poor man’s recording.

I attempted to return it and get my money back but the seller refused and tested the DVD out, viewing it on what I guess is a 7″ screen, compared to my sisters 15.5″ laptop. She didn’t see anything wrong, of course she wouldn’t with that poxy size screen, anything would look HQ on that… It was pointed out that even on her small screen the quality looked low. After refusing to believe that, the pixilation issue was brought up. She tried to pass them off as part of the starry effect. What the – The excuse of the “green glitch screen” was that it blinked when the viewer was spending too long on the menu screen. Then she insisted that it was a clip before the menu. Amazing. In the end, I didn’t get a refund (she wouldn’t give one with a receipt!) so…either I take that DVD, take a different copy or choose something else. I chose a live tour DVD of Jay Chou, an artist of whom my sister enjoys and is known to have corrupted all things of technology within the house… Hmph.

The moral is: don’t by DVDs from Hong Kong shops, which are piled with assorted CDs, DVDs and the like that aren’t presented in an orderly fashion.

Hopefully before the day my Cantonese will have improved vastly. If only Hakka wasn’t a dying language…

Off topic: but I have a Cantonese app and I wonder why 60% of the categories are to do with flirting. Not that I’m the master of picking men up but I’m sure the provided pick-up lines won’t be taken the way the app creator intended, heh. Admittedly though, they are pretty funny…just as long as you read the Chinese because the English translation is off.

Anyway, back on subject. I’m excited at the prospect of going to the Hong Kong International Jewellery Manufacturers’ Show. It will be my first time so hopefully my Chinese won’t get laughed at too much and I’ll leave with useful contacts. The only thing I won’t be looking forward to is the journey. I still haven’t “grown out of” travel sickness.

Does anyway have any suggestions of where I could go or what?could do? I know technically I’m the Hong Kong citizen but I only ever visit Sha Tin, Tai Po and TTS (I think that’s the acronym).

Friday 25th February

My friend and I headed to the EMA (East Midlands Airport). It wasn’t until checking out the luggage (as in having it weighed before put through the conveyor belt) that I realised I had forgotten to check-in online – I blame the illness – so unfortunately that meant my friend and I had to fork out £10 for tickets, on top of the £20 for luggage. With more money thrown out the window than we intended we continued through to the security, I was worrying slightly here being that I not only had my tables for the tonsillitis but also some Panadol, and travel sickness medication – wouldn’t look good through a monitor would it? Indeed, as I thought, I had my first narcotics swab. Dramatic as it sounds it felt as if my clean record had been thrown out the window. Having watched a lot of Borders UK (or something along those lines) and Nothing To Declare I knew what and what not to do.

The flight was slightly delayed as the engine needed changing of refuelling, well, from what I would lip read and hear the staff weren’t exactly vocal about it. Nevertheless we and fellow passengers were escorted to a different plane

About 3 hours later we were at the hotel, Tryp Hotel. The staff were really friendly and quick to assist us if there were any issues with the room. The bathroom light didn’t work so I revert to my mobile torch. Yes, it was that dark no light was even seeping through the bottom gap of the door.

Saturday 26th February

The day of the fair.  Due to recent events of the economy I thought there was going less use of expensive precious metals but to my surprised there was a lot of white, yellow gold, platinum and palladium.  From the moment I walk through the entrance of the hall I was bedazzled, the jewellery before me just sparkled and I was surrounded by gem-encrusted jewellery.  My friend and I perused around and found the usual big names of the jewellery world: Pandora, Chamilia, Ti Sento and Swarovski.

The jewellery that caught my eye the most were the pieces with colour and some ingenuity to it.  A collection that caught my attention was by Jacqueline Cullen: Granulation.  She utilises Whitby jet ( more commonly associated with Victorian mourning jewellery) to celebrate the qualities of the material, her pieces look quite sculptural but with the delicate details of 24ct gold adds a finer touch to her pieces.

I am very much fascinated by kinectic jewellery and was shown one, I think under the name Luna Collection.  The head of the palladium ring was set with a tiny diamond and the whole head of the stone rotated so it looked as if the tiny stone was eclipsing.  You can refer to Schulte-Hengesbach’s website but it’s not the one I’m describing – it’ll give you the basic gist of what I’m trying to describe.

One ingenious idea I remember seeing but didn’t note down the brand was a flower ring, some of the petals were satin polished, whilst alternate petals contained a cluster of drilled holes, giving the impression of pave setting.  I thought it was clever how they turned drilling into an art form to create reflection and sparkle to the piece.  Unfortunately I didn’t not down, nor do I remember the name of the maker.

I saw a lot more and there was a wider variety of things, only a minute percentage of which I have touched on.  Apart from food I didn’t spend much elsewhere but I did buy the bible of Hong Kong Manufacturing companies.  The directory is almost as thick as the yellow pages and cost me just 5 euros and comes with a CD alternative.  My finest buy I think and will certainly come in handy when looking to outsource my work.

Sunday 27th February

Only had a ticket for the one day so my friend and I spent the day watching BBC News, reflecting back on leaflets and postcards we picked up from the show, and thinking about our final projects.  Then we headed to the Dachau Concentration Camp.

Monday 28th February

Auf wiedersehen Munich and home sweet home.  Strange that my bag didn’t get a narcotic swab…

I’m at that point in life where I have to decide what I’m going to do for a living.  There’s a choice of three paths, one being uni.¹, another being working my butt off to gain a career as a jewellery designer maker or a job working under a business.  Currently I’m letting certain events lead the way but my mind’s decision is constantly fluctuating.

Oh, I had my final exhibition.  My family went so I was really worried that none of my pieces were good enough to show but I have a few pieces in there, which is nice.   During the exhibiting week I had to restock on business cards – Yay.   Although the downside was realising that I had one too many digits on my mobile number.  Bugger.  Hey-ho, more people use email right?

I officially finished university the week before yesterday (Friday) and since it’s been roughly a month since my last post I thought I’d share things that I love:

• Playing the piano – didn’t realise how little I had played during the 2nd semester but it soon told when I went to play certain pieces.
• DBSK².  I had only recently heard their music but I absolutely love their voices.  However, I’ve come to realise that they aren’t a band now (any more?).  Saddens me.  Super Junior are also another K-pop band I’ve been listening to a lot.
• Make-up containers.  I don’t wear much make-up, if at all, so to find them on the cheap is great.  I thought the power cases would be great for separating my extra easy/easy/hard solder, and the bottles would come in handy in storing my liquid solutions.  What can I say?  I’m a nerd for storage.
• BBQs.  Good company and food, what more can you ask for?
• World Cup.  Every time a football seasons ends I always wonder what that time is going to be substituted with.  However, with the World Cup I have no need to worry about that as there’s plenty of football to keep me occupied.  Although there’s not been a lot to shout home about for many countries.  I’m cheering for England but have a soft spot for South Korea and Spain.   Oh, and the England v Germany match just happens to be on my birthday.  Just saying, I’m in no way suggesting that it’s a lucky omen or vice versa but it will probably be the epicentre depicting which way my mood swings, heh.

From the top of my head those are the main things.

By the way, I’ve bought Pandora’s Box and Mystery Stories and want to know what you think about either of those games.

1. Top up degree.
2. Korean band, a song of whom I was coincidentally learning. ^^

Actually I got back yesterday evening. Here’s a day by day brief of what my friend and I did, from the start of our journey. Don’t really know how to write my adventure without it sounding tedious, heh.

Thursday

Went to uni. to do some bits and bobs…eh…hand in dissertation. My friend went home to finalise her packing, then we met at the train station to head to London Euston. Upon arrival we tried to figure out which train to take to our overnight hotel. Turns out the trains in London aren’t that simple so we’d have to walk a station to get to where we wanted. Opted to take a taxi instead, which was quite expensive but the taxi driver was nice enough to not charge us the full amount and only the guesstimate. The hotel was really nice. Since the menu consisted mainly of spicy dishes I asked my friend what she recommended. It was my first time having an Indian meal because I dared not try it but it was actually quite nice. :9

Friday

The day I dreaded because I get travel sick and was feeling sorry for my friend who had to hack the flight with me. After popping a pill – travel sickness tablets, nothing dodgy – it was okay and I slept my way through anyway. Mind, it was only a 2 hour journey… Arrived at Munich Airport. Took the train from the “flughafen” to Pasing, then dragged our luggage bags to the hotel. Noisy walk, is all I can say. The hotel was, well it looked like it had seen better days but for the days we were staying it was adequate and quite cute. The first thing I noticed about Munich was the vast amounts of bakeries they have. Everywhere you walk a bakery is not far away.

Saturday

My friend and I headed to Inhorgenta 2010. It was interesting, seeing all the jewellery, gemstones and beads.

Jewellery from Inhorgenta 2010.

I managed to haggle without trying. The pearl bracelet which I bought for myself would have cost quite a lot but was sold for a nice price. The Buddhas were bought for my brother and sister as I though they were cute and didn’t really know what else I could get them, without having a big hole in my pocket. The elephant (centre of pearl bracelet) is for my best friend. The rings I just bought as they were cheap and fit my finger, usually my fingers are too scrawny for average rings. Don’t ask me what that purple-y black gem is because I have no idea. I got it for my mum, and though it’s not evident in the photo it sparkles. I’m thinking of turning it into a pendant, that or a keyring. As for the beads…they were just off the cuff purchases. My friend managed to get a good deal and she insisted I choose a few for myself. ^^

Sunday

We knew we were going to be stuck for things to do because we had been warned that a lot, if not all, shops were closed on Sundays. Only eatery places would be open. So, instead of staying cooped up in the hotel room we decided to peruse and plans train journeys to places we want to visit. We first went to visit the Chinese Tea house, which we didn’t find but did find the English beer garden. Walking through thick snow is fun.

After that we went to the a museum. I got the steer a ship. Well, I say steer but it was basically a steering wheel bolted to the floor.

The last visit of the day was the zoo. Once you’ve seen one zoo you’ve pretty much seen them all. Except you don’t get to see the elephants so up close, nor the giraffes for that matter. Fortunately, but unfortunately for my friend, there was no theme park. Maybe next time…

Bear magnet.

This is a bear magnet I got, it is presently stuck on my radiator. ^^

Monday

This was the day we had both been looking forward to. Visiting the castle which Disney’s Sleep Beauty was based on. A colleague at my summer work place told me about this castle and so made it a priority for this trip. There turned out to be two castles to visit and the snow was still in Germany so with the mountains it looked like a winter wonderland.

Hohenschwangau Castle.

Neuschwanstein Castle.

Use Google if you want to see better pictures of the castles, without the obstruction of trees. I highly recommend you go to Füssen to see these castles and take a tour, if you decide to go to Germany. The tickets aren’t dear and well worth the travel. I loved it so much so I bought a mouse mat…and to keep the geeky side of me happy.

Gifts.

The keyring is for a friend who adores all-things Disney, the top left is a fridge magnet. Magnets just seem to be one of those things you buy as a memorabilia. Right? You can see my mouse mat of the Neuschwanstein Castle.

Tuesday

Auf Wiedersehen Mnchen.

However…I didn’t quite anticipate one thing, which my friend brought up.  Actually getting to the airport. The flight departs at 7:55am, and technically we should be at the airport 3 hours before departure. Now, I don’t plan on driving there² because:

1. London seems like a crazy place to drive and I’ve had to cope with the Birmingham way of driving so I dread to think what it’s like in London.
2. I’m not sure how the roads in London “work”.
3. as much of an adventure it’ll be, we can’t risk getting lost, which will inevitably happen if I drive; my sense of direction is horrendous.

So, I thought it’d be better to take the train but as my family quite rightly pointed out, trains aren’t that reliable; in that they may get delayed or, even, cancelled.  Mum has kindly offered to drive me there but I don’t want to be a hassle  so I’m thinking of a solution to avoid that scenario.  It wouldn’t be nice for her to drive me there and then back alone; too much petrol and not really fair on her.

The thing we might have to end up doing is taking a train³ and getting to London a day early, stay over night and go to the airport without panic – the airport has hotels.  I’m going to research for cheaper hotels/B&Bs/etc though…just in case.

I’ve got until mid-February so hopefully I’ll have everything planned and sorted by then.

What do you do for early flights?  Have any of you flown with Easyjet before?  This will be my first time. :S

1. Flight and hotel
2. Well, from Telford, to Birmingham and then London
3. Taxi?  No, probably too expensive.  A taxi to and from Manchester cost £100.

1. Would it be cheeky to say uni. starts on the 14th September, when in fact it starts 2 weeks later than said date?  I’m just sick of constantly taking blame for things I blatantly haven’t done.  It also gives me time to start on my project for uni.  So, how has your summer holiday been?
2. On sweeter note, I could be going to Germany next year (Feb).  Woohoo!  To see a show…a German word which I can’t pronouce let alone spell.   If it went forward it would not only be my first international jewellery show but also a first trip with friends.
3. Also…I got my jewellery parts and crystals.   Squee.  I’ve been debating for a while whether to my own jewellery to wear – departing with money has been the main reason why I’ve put it off for so long.  The packages came fast, next day dispatch.  I don’t know if it’s just me thinking this but the recession seems to have quickened the pace of dispatches and deliveries.  All I’ve done really is put bales on the Swarovski pendants.  Then with the Prince Of Whales silver chain I can mix and match the pendants.  Would take pictures and show you but it’s late.  I’ll get them done soon though – well, that’s what I think…
4. Has anyone had a moth stick to them whilst in the shower? *raises hand*  It is scary and makes you do some crazy dance.  That doesn’t compare to being stuck in the bathroom with a humongous one though. *shudders*  I don’t like fear insects and spiders.  This is probably the only reason why I haven’t visited Australia yet.
5. Oh yeah.  If you hand in a ring with set stones to be repaired, expect the stones to come back nice and bright.  The only reason the diamond – or any other gemstone for that matter – was misty in the first place is due to the gradual build up of dead skin¹.  It most likely is you ring, just cleaned and polished.

1. I know, not nice

Don't let the photo fool you, he is in fact a lazy dog.

Well, his name is actually Lucky but my Grandma speaks Hakka so doesn’t realise or know that my aunty named him Lucky.  Poor dog, I know.  His name is roughly translated from a Hakka cursing phrase: “Bok Thai Lan”¹, it could be worse though.

If anyone can shed some light on the breed of Lucky – or any other interesting fact – your more than welcome to share them.   Plus, I’d feel less stupid when asked by friends.

I wish I could train him to be more active and actually feed him some proper dog food² but the lucky (no pun intended) dog is all the way in Hong Kong.  All I know is his favourite foods are fish bones and pork bones.

Sleeping. ^^

Didn’t realise how hard he’d be to photograph, without looking like a splodge of black paint, haha.

1. Something like that, I’m not great with phonetics.  I’m also not entirely sure if I’ve even translated it right.  It’s not a nice phrase though, I know that much.
2. He’s basically given my grandma’s dinner left-overs.

So yep, I’m back from Hong Kong and don’t I know it?  I did have a mini-diary, which I kept updated throughout the holiday but it seems to have gone walkies, ha.

Since my last visit, 3 years ago, I had forgotten how hectic the driving was in Hong Kong.  Overtaking, undertaking at speed.  Taking on oncoming traffic when exiting roundabout.

One particular day could have ended in a tragedy though.  My family and I were taking a taxi back to our flat.  Like any other taxi driver, this taxi was switching lanes frequently – overtaking the light buses and other bigger vehicles.  However, after the traffic light turned green he drove, went to switch to the left lane.  Only, there was another taxi already in the left lane, who had to stop abruptly, as our taxi driver seemed clueless as to what was happening.  On my brother’s side we literally saw the front corner of the other taxi.  We (the family) were horrified, we came within inches of a serious accident.  My mum even told the guy that he almost hit a car.  It went a little something like this:

Family: *Eyes wide opened*.  Some panic noises.

Mum: You almost hit another car!

Taxi guy: *Calm, not knowing something serious could have happened* No, I didn’t.  There was no one behind.

Me: Oh yeah, then what is that vehicle right behind you?

Mum: Yes you did!  You almost hit a green taxi.

Taxi guy: *Still clueless* There wasn’t a green car behind.

Me: *turns to sister* He didn’t even do his mirror checks.

Sister: I know.

Taxi guys chuckles and rambles on about it being clear but Mum telling him otherwise.  I turn to my brother and he’s raised his eyebrows.

Family: Idiot!

All four of us can drive, and automatically do the checks even if we are not the destination driver.  For the taxi guy to not even notice a green taxi on the other lane, and brush away our “paranoia” is more than worrying.

Aside from that “mishap” I forgot just how convenient Hong Kong transportation was.  Oh, and I witnessed my first female taxi driver.  I have never even seen one on my previous visits back to Hong Kong.