Other than my cellphone and Octopus card, I find my umbrella to be my most valuable accessory in Hong Kong daily life. You really never know when it's going to rain. Or where... It might have been sunny while I left my house this morning, but as soon as I reach work, cats and dogs are flying all over the place. Luckily, rain spurts never really last very long. But when you get caught in one, its game over amigo. Numerous times it has rained right through my umbrella - how the heck that happens, I have no idea! - while several shoes of mine have been made homeless as pouring waterfalls have washed them right off my scurrying, wet feet. *sob*
But even roaming the streets on a sunny day, I find myself lost in a sea of open umbrellas. Not that the locals are loco - not entirely - but when the sun decides to show his face, he will surely burn yours right off your skull.
Point: buy an umbrella and solder it to your hip bone. Never leave the house without it, or suffer the dreadful consequences! But there's light at the end of the tunnel(literally). You can always buy one at the local train station umbrella vending machine. That's right, an umbrella vending machine (I say "technologically advanced" is the understatement of the year)
What did I learn from this? Try not to go outside. Seriously, only to restock my dwindling shoe collection.
