A few obervations

I'm so stressed about the decided lack of apartment that I managed all of two hours' worth of sleep last night. That is today's excuse for inevitable witterage... Just thought I'd mention a few of these points while I remember them:

1. On Sundays, the raised walkways of Central (if you know HK, you know what I mean here - otherwise, imagine a jungle of escalators and walkways that enable the pedestrian to pass through a good few thousand miles or so of downtown Hong Kong without going anywhere near something as tedious as a side street) are packed with women. Not shopping, or begging, or doing whatever else it is you anticipated there. They're sitting in their droves on neatly placed sheets of cardboard, picnicking out of enormous hampers with their female friends and family. Cards are played, food is eaten, gossip is undertaken - at least 99 out of 100 of these people are female. At least. Why on earth people go picnicking in the middle of a pedestrian walkway is a msytery to me: go to one of the endless parks, catch a ferry to an island, surely those are slightly more appealing options?

2. the Hong Kong Chinese bods have to be among the dopiest bunch of people I've ever met. At least a fair portion of them are anyway. Case one: if there is, for example, a fish stall at the side of a road, there will inevitably be one or two people just standing there looking at the fish. They've apparently no intention of buying the fish, they're just looking at them, clogging up the pavement. (The fish are thoroughly dead, by the by). In addition to this 'standing around doing nothing', they have a total inability to move out of the way of oncoming people. Even the tiniest, slightest Chinese lady can take up an entire sidewalk. The whole thing is beginning to get on my nerves just a little.

3. I just went around a supermarket and I swear I have no idea what at least fifty per cent of the products are. And on the food front, never buy a yogurt drink here (if you expect it to taste like something from the UK at least), and don't look for an oven in your rented apartment. I just visited a colleague's swanky apartment and even he doesn't get an oven. (Written as if my culinary treats rely on the presence of an oven).

4. There was definitely a '4' when I started this list but my brain is so dead I can't remember for now what it was. I'll get back to you in the next exciting installment. Possess your souls in patience, dear readers.