Less Traveled Path

Despite my wanderlust tendencies, I do not have a carry-on suitcase of my own.

I used to have a 26″ suitcase until I lost a wheel. Poof! It was gone somewhere between the walk from the Airport Bus stop along Nathan Road in Hong Kong and my cousin’s place.  And the ground started shaving off the plastic casing of my suitcase.  A PAIN to deal with, I promise you.

This wouldn’t have been that big of a deal had I not had multiple destinations to travel after that… like the Beijing Olympics.

So I tried to come up with a contingency plan.  Perhaps I could buy a new suitcase while in Hong Kong or convince one of my friends leaving for Hong Kong days later to bring one for me either from an online store or an actual store.

One day, my mom came back from the market one day with a plastic wheel. What a smart and resourceful idea, I thought.  I had forgotten about seeing, on my last trip, a shop piled high to the ceiling with random items that were waiting to be disassembled into parts:

Little Shop of Parts

It would probably have been easier for me to find a replacement part than I thought if places like that were around.  My mom got a plastic wheel instead of a rubber wheel because she forgot that the exchange rate was about 7 to 8:1, so the 35 HKD wheel sounded pricey when it was really just 5 USD than the plastic wheel which was 7 HKD (1 USD).

It was a lot of pressure to find a suitcase and after losing a wheel, I wanted to make sure I got a high quality suitcase (and one with a good warranty). After some searching, I figured the best option was to find one after returning to the US especially since products purchased internationally usually have region specific warranty coverage.

Meanwhile… I had to do something about my gimpy suitcase.  I made it to the Hong Kong airport except the rod holding the wheels in place was not staying put. Packaging tape (next to duct tape) cures all… and the check-in counter staff was glad to provide it.

On my return flight to SF, the Beijing counter did not have packaging tape for my suitcase and instead gave me luggage label paper instead.  You know, the labels they print out and loop around your luggage sticking the label to itself.  My suitcase was looking quite ghetto at that point:

Ghetto Suitcase

Since the trip of luggage woes, I haven’t been able to find an appropriate replacement.  I’ve been borrowing carry-ons from friends or using an even larger heavy suitcase (Australia, Ireland, Minnesota, San Diego, Orlando, Dallas).  I wanted to buy a Samsonite because I’d rather pay more than to have to go through the trouble of having to deal with a one wheeled suitcase away from home.  Ross is the best place I’ve found to buy suitcases and if you happen to shop with someone who’s 65 years or older, you can get an additional 10% senior discount on Tuesdays. They even carry Samsonites.

If a good sale comes out, however, then all bets are off. I just got the following Samsonite set for $60 from eBags… now I can stop borrowing other people’s carry-ons and start acting like a real traveller!

(Well, after my trip next week since it’s scheduled to arrive while I’m gone.)

While in Hong Kong, we had booked a tour to the Guangdong Province with a final destination in Shunde for the weekend.  It was perfect timing because we had planned to visit family there afterwards, except that on the morning of our planned departure, a typhoon bound for Hong Kong shut down all transportation by water including the boat ride to our first tour stop. Our entire tour was cancelled thanks to the typhoon level having escalated from 3 to 8 (out of 10).

The rain and winds were pounding the windows of the flat where I was staying and I couldn’t help but think about the triple storm that hit the Bay Area earlier this year. I tried to stay away from the windows, just in case.

Later in the day, along with my cousin whose work was cancelled thanks to the typhoon, we ventured out on the streets for food.  The once busy Nathan Road was empty without the double decker buses, the hoards of people walking the streets, and the open shops.

I flew to Hong Kong on the Cathay Pacific flight I booked several months earlier on a 747-400 with new seats that were introduced last month, which included individual entertainment screens (no charge) that had plenty of options to keep you preoccupied including video games and seats that reclined in its own shell, plus a push out coat hanger.

According to Cathay’s site, the entertainment on-demand features:

9″ widescreen TV with StudioCX – featuring a rotating library of 100 movies, 350 TV shows, 888 music CDs, 22 radio channels, and entertainment programmes in nine languages.

Though I found the user interface for the entertainment awkward.

Though slightly more uncomfortable compared to the older seats, the new seat design was great because if the person in front of you reclined, the wouldn’t encroach upon your space because the seats slide forward and down. Unfortunately, the front pocket was practically nonexistent (see above), though my friend seems to think they’ve relocated it behind the calf area.  I’ll have to check on my long-haul flight back.

Anyhow, when I arrived at the airport in Hong Kong, there were only 7 days, 13 hours, 36 minutes, and 13 seconds left until the Beijing 2008 Olympics Games.  On the right, is the photo I took last December.  Quite a bit of time has passed.