PipesDreams

Ouch. My head hurts. My everything hurts. Why did I have so much beer in Wan Chai last night?

Rugby finals were good. Russia spanked France 21-7 for the Bowl. Wales beat Argentina 26-19 for the Plate. And Samoa beat Fiji in a thrilling 27-22 victory for the Cup.

I wanted Fiji to win so badly, especially since I was sitting next to a player from the 2004 HK Sevens who was very friendly and taught me how to say “we’re bringing the Cup home” in Fijian. Fiji played beautifully all weekend but they let Samoa score too many goals too quickly in the first half, and despite their best efforts couldn’t rally in the second. They kept missing conversions and lost by a margin of just five points – three successful kicks through the posts and they’d have won. Alas.

and I hit the town after the game, sweaty and unshowered, and sampled the post-game party atmosphere of Wan Chai. I was in kilt heaven. So many men in sporrans and knee socks, so little time. Seriously good fun was had by all and I think Keira and I now have an open invitation to visit New Zealand, Australia and Wales to party with the rugby tens players we drank with at the Devil’s Advocate.

I acquired a fetching new pink cowgirl hat, stolen off a Londoner named Joe (see below – he’s wearing my blue wig), and made it back to our hotel for 6:30am covered in kisses from an adorable Kiwi rugby player named “Dodgey” (see below – he’s standing with Keira). Now I am paying the price for my shenanigans with a hangover so fierce it feels like I had my head beaten with a wooden bat.

One more day in Hong Kong – leaving tomorrow at 3pm to fly back to Vancouver, then back in Toronto by the end of the week. It’s raining very heavily here at the moment, thus the pause to blog about yesterday’s events.

Let’s pretend I posted this on the last day of March, as I was supposed to do.

Hey! It’s March 31st! Happy birthday, ! Many happy returns. You will receive my most excellent birthday gift of groovy retro stereophonic equipment when I see you next.

Here’s my list of books read for March. Ten books read looks good on paper, but I have to admit to myself that this was a cheating month. There are three graphic novels, two travel guides, a nonfiction bestseller and a romance novel included here, none of which were exactly taxing on the brain (except perhaps ‘David Boring’, which was so beautifully drawn I had to reread several parts to absorb the text as well as the art). The two Nick Hornby selections, which I thoroughly enjoyed, were very brief – less than 200 pages apiece – as was the Chabon novella.

1. Nick Hornby – The Polysyllabic Spree
2. Nick Hornby – Housekeeping vs. The Dirt
3. Michael Chabon – The Final Solution
4. Fodor’s Citypack – Hong Kong’s 25 Best
5. DK Eyewitness – Top 10 Hong Kong
6. Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra – Y: the last man, Book 1 “Unmanned”
7. Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra – Y: the last man, Book 2 “Cycles”
8. Daniel Clowes – David Boring
9. Steven D. Levitt – Freakonomics
10. Laura Kinsale – Midsummer Moon
(still haven’t finished Midnight’s Children, dammit)

I have resolved to improve my literary quotient in April by starting off the month with a bang(!) by attacking the behemoth that is Charles Dickens’ ‘David Copperfield’, a classic that I neglected during my formal education. I can also guarantee two other substantial reads: my bookclub selection, Kate Grenville’s ‘The Secret River’, and my pre-publication review novel, Michael Chabon’s ‘The Yiddish Policeman’s Union’. Otherwise it’s hard to predict really, but you might be seeing some Banana Yoshimoto, Georgette Heyer or Josephine Tey, depending on my time management skills and general level of sociability.