HK 5th February 2010, 733am

Of all times, of all places – I feel unexplainably afraid of exploring a place on my own here in HK.

What happened to the “fun and adventure: the solo edition”?
What happened to, “it’s okay, I will find it”?
What happened to, “I don’t care what they think of me, I will just walk around taking pictures”?
What happened to, “Wheeeee! I’ve never been here before and I can’t wait to see everything”?
What happened to, “now I can BE in the places I watched on TV!”?

Don’t get me wrong, I am excited to be here! It’s ALL NEW! Also, it’s been a while since I’ve seen some comforting, familiar-from-home faces. I don’t know if they are sick of guests but I sure am glappy (glad+happy…just thought of it myself! ) to see them!

I saw the red 的士 (taxi) and squealed at Paul and Hazel, “Oooo! The red taxi!”

I saw the 小巴 (minibus) when we walked back to the apartment after supper and squealed, “Oooo! Look! Minibus! Just like in the TVB dramas!”

Why would exploring on my own be daunting? Why do I worry about people scolding me if I didn’t know the rules or ways? Why would I be afraid, here and now about eating alone? Maybe it’s the fear of crowds (oh-no-what-have-I-done-to-myself-to-make-me-seemingly-enochlophobic??) and the faster pace that is different from what I’m used (by now).

Hmmm…I guess the main holdback is the fear of being rushed, me being slow. Does that make sense? I’m not used to this but then again, why would I be bothered? I’m a tourist on my leisurely time.

Perhaps I should’ve used my past hour to get a bowl of 皮蛋瘦肉粥 (century egg+pork porridge) from CongeeOne down the road and snapped some pictures of the quiet(er) streets…should have done that instead of sitting down here, contemplating and worrying about things that are not.

[This reminds me of the song from TheSoundOfMusic - "My heart should be wildly rejoicing, oh, what's the matter with me?" "And here I am facing adventure...then why am I so scared?" "I must dream of the things I am seeking, I am seeking the courage I lack."]

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[If you notice, my photos are bigger now. This is the second time I've increased the size (or rather, changed the resizing size) - I think I'm getting old and can't really see details in the photos, although for this particular entry, the licence's photo look a bit too in-your-face. ]

On December 18th (it was a Friday) I took my driver’s practical test and passed. Wheeee!!!
ChupaChups were given by Amanda (I shamelessly asked for them if I didn’t pass my test – to cheer me up, y’see) and she said it can be congratulatory ones.

I received my licence on the 30th of December – as you can see, I’ve got a confused/constipated is-it-there?-smile.

Well, I’ve been told that I am not to smile in passport photos. When I had this picture taken at the AA centre, the lady said, “Look at the camera. Smile, if you want to.” The camera was positioned on my left, but the seat I was on was not facing the camera…and I was confused if I could smile or not.

The end result is a picture of me, looking slightly to my left and a little confused/constipated smile.

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Great.
Apart from skin woes, my eyes decide to join the fun.

Passed my road code test (35 out of 35, yo! ) but failed the eyesight screening check! I couldn’t see a thing through that look-through-darkness-thingamajig.

She said, “Can you read row 7, column 3?”

FeR: *silence*

“Can you see the entire row 2?”

FeR: *silence*

(By the way, the letters on line 2 are bigger than line 7)

Thinking about it now, maybe I should’ve attempted reading those lines again but from a further distance. I remember seeing letters clearly when I was moving nearer to the machine but once I was at the “right” spot, everything was blur. Instead of moving my face back, I tried to stuff my face into the machine.

Why did I think I MUST go nearer to see it instead of moving away? Why do I think of it now?! BLERGH!

Anyway, optometrist appointment at 1140am for the basic test. In the event if I fail it, I have to pay $98 for a full test AND get prescription glasses. Otherwise I CAN NOT DRIVE! Sei lor, what hole have I dug up for myself this time? To think I was so worried about the theory test I didn’t think of the other components.
For licence conversion, they usually issue a temp licence when you pass the road code but because I didn’t pass the eyesight screening – no temp licence! I won’t be able to take my practical driving test if I fail my basic eye test, too. Great.

Summore so gung-ho wake up early on my day off to get my test done to avoid the crowd.

I hope it goes well.

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Creature of the night – poor thing.
Lucky was curious and wanted to go near it, but we stopped her. Instead I harassed it with my camera’s flash.

Ever had one of these crawling around your garden?
This is a first for me!

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Hey, hey!
I arrived NewZealand last year on this very same day – 28th May (it was a Wednesday last year).

Maybe we can get some fish+chips to “commemorate” this day!

It was my first meal then and being the sentimental me, I would like to have some “fush” and chips today.

The only thing different now is that Lucky doesn’t come into the house to be in front of the fire anymore.

Oh!
Also, my “wardrobe” is quite different.

Currently it looks like this…

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