It hasn’t been the cheapest holiday. Then again I suppose I have very expensive taste. In recent posts I’ve talked a lot about my new camera - a plastic Lomography Holga. I had always known about the Lomography society and admired their quirky cameras but it wasn’t until Flatspot recently got some in stock that I decided I wanted one for my Hong Kong trip. Purchasing one for Hong Kong however is like taking coals to Newcastle - the Holga was created in Hong Kong.

Being a quirky country and loving their accessories, I have somehow managed to hemorrhage nearly three times the cost of the original camera purchase in Holga add-ons. Last night I bought the fisheye lens, then today I went back to the fantastic City Super shop and bought a 35mm adapter so I can use 35mm film with my Holga as well as medium format film. Then I saw a Polaroid add-on which allows me to create Lomography photos instantly. I think I should have asked the price first because the Polaroid add-on cost a whopping £63, more than the camera itself!

Then off I tootled to Wing Shing Photo in Mong Kok to purchase 10x Fuji Superia medium format films, a pack of 20 Polaroid sheets and 10x Kodak 35mm films. That’s enough film to open a photography shop all for a princely sum of £30. In England i’m looking at closer to £100 for that lot.

This could be a massive gamble though. There’s no guarantee that Hong Kong airport let my bag of film to be hand-checked, there’s also no guarantee that the camera is any good and I might have wasted a load of money on accessories and there’s certainly no guarantee that the photos I took here will be any good. They will be a mish-mash of photos in fish-eye and regular format; hey I find it exciting. There’s something really raw about the Holga experience that goes hand in hand with my holiday in Hong Kong beautifully and how the shots come out will certainly be the way I remember Hong Kong.

So i’ve got about 15 hours left in Hong Kong. More than enough time to stock up on cheap film and a 35mm film adapter for the Holga and some mad Graphic Design equipment. My quest for clothing and shoes is officially over in Hong Kong. I realised that if I spent anymore time on the hunt, I’d buy stuff for the sake of it. Yes, at thirty-three pounds the Un-Tiffs are very cheap and great for resale but I can’t be arsed with the hassle.

Whilst I’m waiting for the plane I will be writing the final diary entry - the definitive guide to Hong Kong. At least that is the plan. I might be spazzing out on two occasions. 1 - I accidentally confirmed my seats without checking what the were. Due to my height I need bulkhead seats as I’ve fainted in the past, so I pray they allow me to change. 2 - I’m going to have a lot of film with me that can’t be processed through the airport x-ray or the films will bugger up. If they don’t allow me to get a bag with the film hand-checked I’ll flip! I’ve already gambled by refusing to shoot photos with my digital camera, if I come back with wiped film I’ll be very upset.

Purchase List: (Continued…)

• Fisheye Lens Adapter for Holga
• 500 Digital SLR Tips & Tricks Book
• Creating Magazine Design Book

I’m coming towards the end of the trip now and had planned a day of ‘historical’ sightseeing today. Except it’s raining so much that it wouldn’t be much fun. Not only is Hong Kong very humid, it also suffers from great downpours of rain. Only one day since I’ve been here has it not rained and that was the first day.

Today was the day I was going to actually take photos since I’ve pretty much worn the life out of shopping. Today was the day I was going to see Big Buddha. I was going to Victoria Peak to watch the sunset but no, Hong Kong doesn’t want me to. The weather can be very extreme here.

Which brings me beautifully to another downfall of Hong Kong - the food. I’ve been told by so many people how great the food will be, I’ll be eating lovely noodles and dishes every day but so far I’ve not enjoyed one meal. There was great hope that i’d be eating beautiful quick-bites from street sellers but on Hong Kong island there’s been such a crackdown on hygiene that virtually all street food sellers have gone away.

My main problem has been the expectation. At home our Chinese takeaway is very different from the kind of food served here. We enjoy dishes cooked in chili and garlic where as here everything seems to be either deep fried or boiled. One word sums it up - bland. Sure there’s choice with a lot of different styles of cooking but I’m either put off by the pictures outside or the smell.

Many restaurants here also do not cater for English speaking so unless you dive head first into the unknown. Get ready to have to explore to find somewhere you can understand.

I’m sweating like never before. I’ve made my ankle bleed with so much walking. I feel like I’m still moving on the underground as I write this. My chest is so tight from the pollution. And I have the annoying dringing noise from the traffic lights in my head.

It’s starting to get to me, yet it has probably been my best day since I’ve been here. Hong Kong has a busier and more friendly atmosphere during the weekend.

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I didn’t update yesterday because I went to Disneyland and there isn’t much to say apart from it’s by far the smallest Disney theme park. Still great fun though and definitely worth the twenty-quid entry fee. Space Mountain is good fun to hear ‘The Wife’ scream and I got to meet all the characters again. Meeting Mickey & Minnie was a bit of a highlight although I got told off for man-handling Mickey. Then Minnie started to drag me away as she wanted a bit of me! Mickey got jealous and tried doing the same with ‘The Wife’ but I know that he was just doing that to even up their domestic.

Anyways. Today sees the revisit of the areas and shops I feel I either didn’t do properly or missed out. I spent most of last night on the internet trying to work out if there were any other shops round here where I could get rare sneakers? At the moment it’s all the same General Releases and Quickstrikes. So i’m off to Edison Chen’s shop, Juice, in Causeway Bay where I hope I’ll find some really rare sneakers. 8five2 is also meant to hold some great stock and brands so I’ll be hitting there as well. If I walk away from them empty handed I’ll be off the awful Mong Kok again where I’ve read a recommendation for the Sino Centre mall. I don’t hold my breath though.

I bring to you my third report of my Hong Kong trip.

Today has been a day of learning. We’ve learnt that the Hong Kong underground system is so efficient, clean and well air-conditioned that other undergrounds should be ashamed of themselves. Not a lot can be said for some of the areas of Hong Kong though. We visited the district of Mong Kok which is famous for its street markets and so-called sneaker street. However, Mong Kok is one of the shabbiest, shadiest places I’ve ever been to in my life. Sneaker street was shop after shop of exactly the same GR & Quickstrike trainers, and to mix it up a bit, some shops had fake trainers within their range just to catch you out. Nothing really amazing fake-wise either, just fake High Hair Dunk Sb’s.

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Is fucking everywhere in this joint. If I see another advertising campaign with his face on it, I’ll shit in my hands and throw it at him. He’s even on the front cover of Elle magazine over here!

If you don’t know who he is, basically without being a footballer (he sings/raps), he’s their version of David Beckham. He currently runs his own clothing brand and is working with Kanye West on his next Mandarin album.

Enough yada, piss off Edison.

Fucking hell it is so humid you could drink the juice from a Chinese man’s bell-end. Sounds gross but then so is this heat. I was sat at dinner yesterday wondering how despite them chomping through all that food cooked and covered in grease, they manage to stay slim. Basically it pours out of them.

So far i’ve spent the day trying to track down those Hong Kong internet sites we’re all familiar with - Sub-Urb and Supreme Palace. Both are in these seedy little apartment blocks and almost impossible to find. Sub-Urb isn’t open for some reason but Supreme Palace is. It’s basically a glorified cupboard filled with all things hyped. Yeah so I bought a Supreme box tee from them, but then I had to, I’m on holiday after all.

Hong Kong is a weird mix, definitely of East meets West. One minute you’re looking in the window of an Hermes boutique, and the next you’re staring at what appears to be seriously boiled ducks hanging in the window of a restaurant. Most of Hong Kong smells because of these places, and it’s a smell of farts.

But anyway, no pictures as of yet, I’m not used to the heat enough to be stopping and starting taking photographs. I’ve taken a few with the Holga but I can’t see those until I get them developed. I’m just sat at the computer trying to chill out, but then I just stuck a piece of sushi in my mouth and nearly died because of the wasabi. Happy joy.

Purchase list:

• Nike Dunk Atmos Safari Leopard
• Stussy Josh Cheuse (yes hello Mr Hypocrite!) N.Hill Schooly tee
• Supreme Pink Box Logo Tee

I’ve arrived safe & sound and i’m in Hong Kong. It’s got so much grrr here that I just want to go and photograph everything. As I look out of my window i’m looking at a load of numpties playing football on astroturf inside the Hong Kong Racecourse and I feel like joining them and showing them some Italian skill. But then it’s so fucking humid out here that one step outside has me gasping for breath.

So far I’ve come to realise that I kind of like feeling lost and a total stranger in a country. I mean it’s not like I can just try to blend in with the locals like other countries. One beauty of Hong Kong though is that so many people still speak English here, ten years after Britain handed it over to the Chinese.

No plans at all so far so I’m just about to get onto Google Earth and start to locate some of the eateries and shops I want to visit. As well as all of the famous landmarks.

If you didn’t hear it from me already, my girlfriend bought me a Lomo Holga camera as an early birthday present and I shall be snapping up HK with this little cam, see if I can get any wicked effects.

Anyways must dash.