So the rat packs...


Need to have

• Kirara's photo prints
  
• kirara's phone number
• plane ticket
• passport, HKID, ISIC card, + xerox
  
• doxicycline + antibiotics, first aid kit
• insect repellants (citrinella sticker + spray + coils)
• phone lists
• rain gear
• flashlight
• toothbrush/toothpaste
• backpack
• karate dogi pants, two shirts, underwear and socks, flip-flops, lite overcoat
  
• Leslie's checklist
• loonely-planet guide
• SPF 108
• mosquito net
• cash (CND, HKD, RP)

Nice to have

• film camera
• films, camera batteries
  
• MD-player w/ battery pack, mic, MDs
• ear phones
• hammock
• SAS survival guide (!)
  
• e-book
  
• indonesian text books
• one Fouc book
• eng/indo dictionary
• Total_Awareness
  
• guitar
• sheet music
• occarina
• recorder
• hiking boots
• water filter pump
• tilly-hat
• a journal (as in diary, you silly!)
• hairbrush + elastic
• binoculars
• camping vest
• dress suit
• vitamins
  

I spend the last 2 days packing very slowly; I also bought more cat toys, checked some Irian Jaya/ Indonesia books out of the library, and tried (fruitlessly) to shop for travelling guide to the Papua and also Indonesian phrase books/ pocket dictionary. I finally bit the bullet and bought a book on Bali and Lombok today. For the money I paid in that book, I can easily survive 2 week over in Indonesia!

The packing has been really difficult; because I never had time to unpack my worldly possessions from Victoria. I am flying tomorrow morning, and I STILL cannot find my $30 worth mosquito net. (Ryan, did I left it in your place??) I also wanted to take my MD player with me, but I can't find the AA battery back up pack. Then I can't find sunscreen, and the power chord for my printer (to print my kira's photos...) And now, I am overspending before I even get there!

My fear for Malaria and Japanese Encephalitis has proved itself to be ridiculous. The mosquito repellents occupied appr. 1/4 of my travelling pack in bulk, and almost that in weight. (only outweighted by my new bottle of sunscreen and wound disinfectants). Do I really need doxycycline, citrinella stickers, DEET sprays, AND incense coils??? It's one thing to deconstruct it in classroom, it's another thing to suffer the burden of a medicalized society on my shoulder (so to speak).

Andy and Quinnie took me out to Ebei for dinner tonight, which is really nice of them, especially since they both have the flu and don't have an appetite. We ordered a little bit of everything, mostly raw things, I am so full I feel sick.

At dinner, Quinnie was making fun of Andy about his motion sickness. I volunteered that I get car-sick easily as well, and my brother spilled a devastating truth: my whole family on my father's side is like that. My grandma, my uncle, my dad, my bro and I all suffer motion sickness easily. The rebel succumbs to science, medical truth and genetics again. I feel so defeated >_<

Qunnie kept trying to think up embarrassing tales of my brother to tell me, I was bored for most part. Then she started giggling like mad about the sexual jokes that her brother and Andy exchanged. That got my curiosity: I never thought my "proper" brother would talk to anyone about sex! (I mean, he used to scold me for drinking underage, or for joining a fencing club instead of studying at home!) Turns out their story was really lame; they were joking about the biceps on the girls in CSc department of SFU, speculating that they weren't really girls at all. I tried so hard to laugh with them, but I just wasn't getting it. After hanging out with Luke, Cathrine, Jenny and Ryan, I have my threshold for "embarrassing, funny stories" set really high. Either that, or the "cultural gap" between my brother and I is growing. Frankly, I don't get Chinese culture.

In 24 hrs or so, I will be in HK. Would it be an advanture or a nightmare? What does reverse-cultural shock taste like? I don't know. I just suddenly realize I already made an appointment to see my highschool heroine, and I haven't even shop for お土産 yet.