Mobile lust

I must admit, I've never felt this way about a phone before. But how could you blame me? Look at this beauty!!


The Sony Ericsson W995 finally came out today, and I'm dying to get it. Only question is... do I really need 4 working mobile phones? Psshh - OF COURSE I do! This is Hong Kong, after all... ;)

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On another note, I'm flying off to paradise tonight and hope to return as a gingerbread woman. Wish me luck!

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Beware of Pervert

O-M-G. My colleagues just enlightened me with this video today, and all I gotta say is... I ain't touching no MTR poles no more!!

Note: Disturbing content below...

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Kiss my plaque!

Not to be rude or anything, but has anyone else noticed how bad some locals' teeth are? I'm not picking on people who have crowded or gapped teeth, but more on the people who have obviously neglected their teeth for a very long time.

I mean, how else can you explain the clumps of hardened and discoloured plaque, the greyish, translucent colour and the brown etched stains not only along the gumlines, but also on the flat surfaces of their teeth?

Okay, when I was young, I hated brushing my teeth. I remember my grandma used to brush her teeth in the bathroom while I hovered over the bathtub to brush mine, but all I did was brush the bath tub faucet w/ my toothbrush to make it seem like I was brushing my teeth too (it sure fooled her! ;)) Of course, ultimately, I had to get all my front teeth pulled cuz they were all rotted with yellow and brown holes, and I eventually learned my lesson.

Nowadays I brush mainly cuz I don't want to have a mouth full of stains and plaque. That's a good enough reason for me. But what I don't understand is, what's with these people who don't have good dental hygiene. For one, how do they expect to ever kiss or be kissed???? *blech*

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How to fix a bad HK haircut

I'm sure it's happened to most of us. You go to a strange hairstylist that you've just met for the first time, you give them a general idea of what you want and you end up looking like a butchered barbie doll.

I assume this happens more often in Hong Kong than anywhere else, thanks to the extreme differences in taste, but personally speaking, this happens to me every, single time I get a hair cut, no matter where I am. It's like I've got this curse against having good hair.

Anyway, for those of you who have had the misfortune of having your hair lopped off or destroyed by your now mortal enemy, I'm here to tell you that there is hope!

You basically have three options:

1. Hair growth/strengthening shampoos and conditioners - These claim to strengthen your hair to minimize hair loss and promote healthy growth. Although they aren't proven to make your hair grow faster, they do make the hair you have pretty strong and shiny! Try the Japanese brand 2001 Elence, Mane n' Tail (my personal fave), or Jackie Chan's stuff if you're really desperate.
2. Clip-in hair extensions - For the commitment-phobic, clip-in hair extensions can give you a temporary solution while your real hair grows out. Ranging from curly to straight to even clip-in bangs, you can find them at City Super at TST/Times Square in the cosmetics section, in Mong Kok ladies market and in the Ginza mall in Causeway Bay.
3. Real hair extensions - Read on...!

If you are considering real hair extensions, you first need to decide whether you want them attached with glue, micro-beads or braided. Glue is the cheapest but may come out more quickly, beads are clamped to your hair and relatively painless but some people can feel them while sleeping, and the braiding method is the best but costs the most!

Where to get them done?
A typical salon will charge you at least HK$2000 for the basic methods and upwards of HK$4000 for the braiding method, but you can actually get it for much cheaper in various small shops of Mong Kok and Causeway Bay ~around HK$300!

One place I'd recommend is Fong Fong (not just because of the name, hehe) which is at 152 Sai Yeung Choi Street in Mong Kok across the New Town Mall (exit D1). Don't be afraid of its sketchy appearance, many stylish HK girls go there to do their nails and hair extensions for way cheaper than your typical salon. The place is run by an endearing family (Mom, Daughter and Grandma) plus two sex-crazed poodles who are engaging in way too much activity!!

Hope this helps!

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NO means NO!

If there's one word to describe HK salespeople, it's gotta be AGGRESSIVE. Whether they're selling you a massage chair, gym membership or even cheap socks, they'll haggle you until you're either too frazzled or annoyed that you end up saying yes to whatever it is they want.

However, over the past couple months I've built up a healthy resistance to most salespeople, even in the most awkward of situations. Take last weekend for example.

I had gone for a facial treatment at Pretty House, a place I had heard of through Planet Yoga's e-newsletter and signed up for 5 facials at 788 HKD only. A single facial usually costs around 400 HKD, so this was a great deal, right?? BUT as with everything in HK, there's always a catch.

After the beautician had cleansed my face and peered into my pores w/ a giant magnifying glass, the saleswoman came into the room and hovered over my face, clipboard in one hand, disapproving frown on her face.

"You really should upgrade your facial treatment to the Collagen-Super-Moisturizing-Ultrasonic-Milky-Diamond-Peel-Essence-Mono-Saccharide-Poly-Bonding-Treatment. Your skin is dry and micro-wrinkles are already appearing. Imagine what you'll look like if you don't do this treatment. You really should do it. It'll only cost you 3 of your facial credits plus a surcharge of 69 HKD," she said, waiting for an answer.

Lying there with a bright light shining on my face, I squinted at her and exclaimed, "3 credits? That means 3 of the facials I paid for right? No way."

"Come on, you really should. You've gotta take good care of your skin, don't you want to stay looking young? You really need the extra collagen. Okay?"

"NO." I said firmly.

"But you will look old if you dont do it. Your skin is already damaged and wrinkled, you-"

"I don't want to!" I stated again. At this point, she says, "I'll let you think about it while you get the facial massage," and slipped out the door. The beautician continues the treatment and starts talking to me as well, asking me why I didn't want to do it and that I really should. Five minutes later, the saleswoman is back.

"Wanna do it?"

Now, I'm really annoyed. The whole point of having a facial treatment is to relax and enjoy the pampering for the 60+ minutes, not to be trapped in a room where people keep upselling to you!

AARGH! Needless to say, I shot her down again and told her not to come back for the duration of my facial. She complied, but on my way out, she asked me, "Would you like to buy a set of our at-home facial masks for HKD 4000?"

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FREEDOM!!

While walking by the MetroPark Hotel in Wanchai today, I looked up and saw some papers taped to a window on the 5th floor or so. It was hard to make out since the writing was small (and I'm blind as a bat), but eventually I realized that each A4 paper was labeled '5h', '4h', '3h', and so on...

The poor person inside was counting down to how many more hours s/he'd be locked up for!!!

In case you've been in a hole all this time and don't already know, these people have been locked up for 7 days straight since they found the first case of swine flu (ahem.. H1N1) in a guy who was staying in that hotel. Not a bad thing if you're in the Shangri-La, but the Metropark Hotel is a pretty crappy place to be locked up in.

Tonight, the surrounding area of the hotel will be cordoned off from 4:30pm - 11:00pm as they release all the 'swine flu hostages' into the streets of HK. Let's hope there's not a rise in flu victims over the weekend!!

PS - Wouldnt' this make a great movie? I can see the titles now... "THE SWINE", "7 Days of Probing", "NIGHTMARE on HENNESSY Road"... ^_^

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