June, 29, 2009

Any Other Business?:

Dear All,


Friday afternoon in Hong Kong we hit the High Street walking in to some of the worlds more establish luxury outlets with a quiet sense of pride and out with the confidence and conviction of well healed clients. On a retail high we then hit the Landmark Madarin Oriental for their unique “Fusion Cocktail Fridays” and spent the remainder of the evening partying with the people in Lan Kwai Fong. Our well displayed and received bags both delighting and defining us.

Saturday morning facing a deluge of rain we made the spontaneous decision to hit the high seas instead of the shops and boarded a ferry for the Peninsula of Macau. The sea was angry that day and it would not be long be for it claimed its first victim. My reigning monarch’s fall from grace was as swift as it was unanticipated. The must have bags of Burberry and the like exchanged 9.5 hours later for the one bag all of us could do without…

Like a seasoned seaman I for my immediate safety and that of the other passengers left quickly for the starboard side before the gravitational force of social conditioning guided me back into my seat. Two well placed pats on the back then offering, I am sure, well needed support and understanding during an obviously challenging time.

As anyone who has ever spent time with the sick knows, the short term relationship between both parties suffers, the dynamic inevitably changed. Direct eye contact is often difficult to reestablish for several reasons and kisses inappropriate as the victim works through his or her demons. Luckly things weren’t too serious and perhaps more importantly I had generously sprung for the fast ferry and the incident was quickly put behind us.

Normal service restored, we dismissed the ongoing typhoon as water of a Peeking Duck’s back and headed to the World’s Largest Casino, the Venetian and its all you can consume “Oriental Buffet”. The ideal dining format to rebuild or replenish our appetites and thankfully one that after its conclusion strongly discourages taking the second least appealing bag we are regularly confronted with.

Mercifully, the return crossing was uneventful as our heroine crashed and I quietly contemplated and composed the above…

Smooth sailing,

Mw