in case you missed it...

...i'm back.

In the UK that is.
Trip is over, shopping is done, work resumes.
Or at least something like that.

So how was HK?
Well, the same really but I guess that is perhaps the biggest difference; taking the same bus, the same metro, walking down the same roads, stopping in the same little shops, it all really does feel more familiar and for lack of a better word, comfortable.

It could just be all down to the simple fact that this was the third time that I've been there this year and the last time, I had a bit of autonomy seeing as I was by myself. Reason points to the fact that the more time you spend in a place, the more comfortable you get to be there, right?

It's nice not having to worry about where to eat because you're getting to know a few places. It's nice not having to worry about explaining to people that you don't really live there and that you can't read the language. It's nice not having to get people to (grudgingly) explain how the wierd (and stupidly cheap) set dinners work.
Best of all?
It's nice knowing that I have a kitchen to use if I wanted to.
Of course, I wasn't really there long enough to warrant kitting out the kitchen for a full on dinner cooking but having free use of a (clean) kettle is a thing that is taken for granted.
Let's not even go into having a clean bathroom...

So what did I achieve?
Mission accomplished?
Sort of.
My bed's always been there so it was only really a case of double bed, sofa and a side table for the telly. Oh, and the telly itself...
Despite my initial reservations, I settled on a corner sofa that came with lovely green cushions; which looks quite nice if I do say so myself. Except, I've still not seen it in place as I couldn't make delivery so really, mum's going to see it before I do.

Still, I haven't received any news of anything going wrong so I'm going to take it as no news being good news. As said before, the place isn't big and I hope that the sofa isn't going to take too much of the limited space. On paper, it all looks fine and dandy but as I have witnessed before in my line of work, even when something looks right in a layout drawing, nothing beats seeing the object in space to really know how big it is, so here's hoping.

Most importantly though, is that I bought a telly.
My what a difficult chore that was. For some bizarre reason, lcd tvs are stupidly overpriced in HK. Not simple a couple hundred HK$ but thousands. A 32"sony model that I've been eying up for home here costs around £360 which would equate to, at worst case exchange rate, HK$5400ish and that was what I was expecting. What was the best offer we got? HK$7200, something that at est would be £500, or at the exchange rate at the time, £650.
Sometimes, there is nothing that expresses the moment like WTF?

I've always known that there was effectively two grades of electronic goods in HK, that which is made in China and that which is made everywhere else and I have a sneaking suspicion that is what is happening here. Of course, the stores don't stock Made in China Sony tvs so I couldn't confirm this. What they did have though was Made in China and Made in Japan versions of a Toshiba telly.
Difference in price?
Actually I can't remember but the one I ended up getting was a Made In China Toshiba for around HK$4200 which was the only branded 32" that worked out to somewhere near UK price for the like.
Rediculous but at the same time interesting.
Does that happen here as well?

A cursory look on Amazon points to £350 being a decent entry point for 32" lcd tvs but where are they made? Are they all so cheap because they are all Made In China?
More importantly, are they cheaper because they really aren't as good as a Made In Japan version of the same?
I'd like to think myself as a smart shopper, as being one who is objective about "stuff" of all sorts so I'd like to think that all versions of the same should be just that, the same and that any difference lies soley with the consumers' perception.
Except, China really does have a bad record of shoddy produce.
Reason would say that any brand wouldn't allow 2nd rate produce to bear their name but again, consumer reports shows otherwise.

So have I made a bad choice?
Not even sure if it's important really as the tv would still be left unattended in hot and humid environment for 6 months - scratch that, the 6 hottest, most himd months of the year anyway.
That situation alone dictates that it is not worth spending more than £400 on a telly that WILL die sooner rather than later.

Sound like me justifying my purchase?
Maybe.
But it is the logical responce, no?

Anyway.
I'll be back in HK on the 24th on January anyway so time will tell.
It's not even that much time; 5 weeks-ish.

Home.
Now that is a strange word for me to use to call HK.