Passport Troubles, the Fabric Market and
the Exclusive Silk
Auction
Photos by Mela and Staff and Article by Tory
and Mela Don't forget to move your mouse over pictures
for a description
Mela, Auntie Nymph, MysteryMan and I took off aboard Angel One from Tokyo
for the short flight to Hong Kong around 11:20 AM and arrived at Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) a couple of hours later. Upon touchdown,
we were immediately
greeted by six armed
Custom Agents. Neither Auntie Nymph, Mela or myself speak
Cantonese, but thank gawd MysteryMan knew
enough to understand that the Agents were
not there for the four of us, but wanted
information from us on a member from our
group. After spending more than three hours in a
small office just off the private jet tarmac
(with intrepeters) trying to figure out what
the heck was going on - the agents brought
in Delicious Enigma and Stacia who had arrived the night before. Both were
in handcuffs and it was at this point we
knew that we were not being held for the
small amount Herbal Remedy we had brought
along for the trip. Del and Stacia explained to us that they
were being held on Passport difficulties. Anyone from Moove who has ever traveled
to Real as an Avatar knows that our Nick
Pages are also our Passports - and while
many countries will accept multiple Nicks
from a Moove resident, China examines our
travel documents with detailed scrutiny,
and has harsh penalties for having more than
one Passport or more than one Nick. Although both Del and Stacia swore they only
had one nick, we
were told they would
be
held until a representative
from the Moove
Consulate could bring
documentation confirming
thier claims. Exausted and needing a shower, Nymph, Mela
and I headed to the Park Lane Hotel, leaving
MysteryMan to handle the passport problem.
The Park Lane Hong Kong is a luxurious, first-class
hotel situated right in the heart of vibrant
Causeway Bay, with spectacular views of Victoria Park, Hong Kong's largest park, and the famous
Hong Kong harbour. By the time the three of us napped and cleaned
up, it was late afternoon and Auntie Nymph
decided she was going to pick MysteryMan
and try to track down some friends of hers
that had a band called "Brain Failure", and told us she would hook up with us for
the Silk Auction the next morning. Mela and
I decided to venture out to the Fabric Market
and check out the latest patterns and colors
for the upcoming Autumn Fashion season. With the temperature hovering around 90 degrees
with 100% humidity, I decided on a pair of
Dark Embrace pre-washed jean shorts with a Dark Embrace top and C@ndie Warrior Boots. Mela also wore a pair of
Dark Embrace short shorts, a USUCK belt by Victor, a rainbow top by Matti, boots and leggings by Lita and a wonderful hair style of pig tails
by Rhovana.
We looked pretty
hot and we had no
idea how
the local population
would react to our
skimpy
outfits. We grabbed a Red Taxi (there are three colors of taxis in Hong Kong.
Red ones can cover most Hong Kong destinations except Tung Chung
Road and roads in south Lantau Island. Green
cabs run around in New Territories and on
some appointed roads on Lantau Island. Blue
taxis serve most destinations on Lantau Island) and headed down to Ladies Street - the
most famous shopping area in the MongKok district. At the street stalls on Ladies Street one
can find clothes, clothing accessories, fabrics,
leather wares and about every high tech gadget
imaginable. The merchandise is inexpensive
but always trendy and of the highest quality.
Colorful shops and endless dai pai dongs are great fun for those who want to taste
and relive the experience of a Hong Kong
of days past. Mela and I certainly turned a few heads down
on Ladies Street. We were unsure of whether it was our teenie
outfits, the fact we were holding hands or
if the local merchants had never seen Avatars
before. Whatever the reason, the stares turned
to smiles and warm greetings once the shop
keepers discovered we were with TorLa International,
a major exporting / importing force in China. We hired a local boy to carry our packages
and act as our guide. He was tooooo cute,
and we spent what seemed like pennies for
thousands of dollars worth of wonderful leather, hand
crafted tapestry and high tech electronics
- much to the wonderful haggling our pint-sized
Tour guide used for us. Finished shopping, Mela Blackberried the
concierge at the hotel and instructed him
to pay the young package-carrying boy $100.00
(US) when he arrived with our shopping loot. With our shopping finished for the day, we
headed over to Yee Shun Dairy Company for one of the true delights Hong Kong has
to offer - Sweet Soups. Sweet Soups are offered in restaurants, teahouses
and in special dessert houses. These soups
include ginger milk pudding, steamed milk
in two layers, steamed egg, tortoise jelly,
dumpling made of sago, and tofu pudding with
fresh fruit. I ordered the Ginger Milk Pudding
and Mela had the Sago. Both were simply delicious. Next door to the Yee Shun Dairy was a small
tavern where the locals were drinking Maotai and playing a game called Jiuling. Maotai holds the title of the "National
Liquor" and It is said that an empty
bottle that was once filled with Maotai will
emanate its fragrance even after a few days. Jiuling has a long history dating back to
the Western Zhou Dynasty (11th century BC
- 771 BC). It was was introduced to regulate
people's drinking habits and to ensure that
they would observe rules of etiquette while
not getting drunk as a skunk. It was during the Warring States Period (476
BC - 221 BC), that Jiuling changed to include
ways in which a toast could be made. This
toasting was well-liked and spread through
the Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties.
The Jiuling became quite fashionable and
even kinda artistic in how it is played.
This really appealed to the intellectuals
as well as to the common people like Mela
and me. Mela and I were offered a seat and handed
the dice and proceeded
to lose which means
we had to drink the
Maotoi.....alot. LOL.
We had quite a buzz
going and after bidding
good bye to our new
friends proceeded to
get totally lost
on our way back to the hotel
- stopping long enough
to try our hand at
Kung Fu and to let
Mela fufill her fantasy
of standing on her
head in China. "You know what?" Mela asked me
as we stood on our heads along Spring Garden
Lane. "What"? I replied.
"directly above my head is Moove and
up there I am standing up straight".
HUH? I asked as I got dizzy from the blood
flowing to my head. Mela usually makes sense,
but she had me mighty confused. A local policeman came by and told us to
move on, which we did and we arrived back
at the Hotel just as the sun was setting
over this historic and beautiful city. Auntie
Nymph had not come back from her "Brain
Failure" date with MysteryMan - but
waiting in the lobby was Angie, Stacia and
Del. We were too glad to see them, and began
to question them on how they got released
from the Custom Agents. After listening to a long and rather boring
story about how Lothar had flown over and
vouched for them, Angie leaned over and whispered..."I'm
a Ninja, dontja know?". I was a bit
concerned as I knew if Lothar was in Hong
Kong, he would have text either Mela or myself.
I shared my concerns with Mela and she agreed
that something was fishy....and it was not
the Yellow Fish they were serving in the
dining room. We all decided to go out to dinner together
(minus Auntie Nymph and MysteryMan) at the
Tai Woo Restaurant which has won the 'Best of the Best Culinary
Awards' several times. I changed into an
off-the-rack black business suit with black
silk necktie and C@ndie boots and Mela wore a stunning MDC skirt
with off the rack mens jacket with plum trim.
While on the elevator, I recieved a curious
text message from Lothar saying he could
not get to Hong Kong untill tomorrow afternoon
and to let Stacia and Del know he would have
them out of custody by tomorrow afternoon.
This did not fit the story that was given
to us by Del and Stacia so Mela called the
Airport to check things out. Mela hung up her cell phone and looked at
me with a serious look and said, "they
escaped with the help of a female Ninja and
not only are the Custom Agents looking for
the three, but the Hong Kong police are now
involved", Mela told me. ANGIE!, we both said together. We met up with the "fugitives"
in the lobby, not saying a word about what
we now knew. As we exited the Hotel, Mela
grabbed my arm and pulled me into an alley
and pressed me up against a brick wall. "SHHHHH",
Mela said - "I am not going to jail
in Hong Kong for aiding and abetting".
"And anyway", she added, "I
am tired of all this luxury and fancy tourist
crap - follow me". We walked to the
other end of the alley and caught a Green
Taxi for Lan Kwai Fong. I was a teeny bit
apprehensive, but I trusted Mela to not get
me in trouble. Lan Kwai Fong has become the icon of nightlife in Hong
Kong . A bustling array of restaurants, eateries, pubs and bars makes up this trendy
nightlife area. Liquor from a all over Asia
and the world can be enjoyed here accompanied
by chess, dart and live music. It is highly
popular with locals and we found a Kara OK
(not to be confused with Karaoke) bar to
hang out in. We were the only Westerners
there and we were greeted with warmth and
genuine hospitality. Most had never seen
in Avatar in person and we were quite the
novelty. Since Mela and I were both getting hungry,
we took one old local man's advice and walked
a few blocks to the Tsui Wah Restaurant for
an amazing dinner of Fish Spring Roll in
Fish Broth and noodles - and several bottles
of Tsingtao beer. After dinner the owner
came over and offered us a shot of something
(I have no idea what it was) and then another
and another. He was a friendly middle- aged
man whose name I could not pronounce and
we left a bit woozy around 1:00 A.M. "Hey Tory" Mela asked me, "do
you have any idea where we are?" "Nope,
not a clue", I replied and we both busted
out laughing. "But I do know how I am
getting back to the Hotel", I added,
jumping on Melas back for a piggy-back ride.
"Giddy up you prize Mare" I hollered
and spanked Melas rump as she trotted and
laughed all the way through the crowded streets
and back alleys amid the stares of locals
to the main bus stop. Sometime on the bus ride back to the Hotel,
I feel soundly asleep and did not wake until
almost 11:00 A.M. the next morning safely
tucked in my Hotel bed, dressed in my baby
blue Pony Jammies (Damion Designs) with memories of a wonderful day in the
fantastic city of Hong Kong.
Mela, 
Hong Kong destinations except Tung Chung
Road and roads in south Lantau Island. Green
cabs run around in New Territories and on
some appointed roads on Lantau Island. Blue
taxis serve most destinations on Lantau Island) and headed down to Ladies Street - the
most famous shopping area in the 
of dollars worth of wonderful leather, hand
crafted tapestry and high tech electronics
- much to the wonderful haggling our pint-sized
Tour guide used for us. 
which has won the 'Best of the Best Culinary
Awards' several times. I changed into an
off-the-rack black business suit with black
silk necktie and C@ndie boots and Mela wore a stunning MDC skirt
with off the rack mens jacket with plum trim.
, eateries, pubs and bars makes up this trendy
nightlife area. Liquor from a all over Asia
and the world can be enjoyed here accompanied
by chess, dart and live music. It is highly
popular with locals and we found a Kara OK
(not to be confused with Karaoke) bar to
hang out in. We were the only Westerners
there and we were greeted with warmth and
genuine hospitality. Most had never seen
in Avatar in person and we were quite the
novelty.
