The good news and the bad news-

I went to the bookstore in Shanghai, and found plenty of knitting books. I bought as many as I thought I needed....and that was the problem. My suitcase was about a dried leaf away from being overweight.

So....my little brother introduced me to the Hong Kong subway....not so different from The Tube, and certainly manageable.

You can tell when the announcements switch from Cantonese to Mandarin, which I heard all last week. Mandarin sounds of swishes and dimples, and vowels that sound like Air and Loo. Lu actually means street or road. So Tai Caing Lu means Tai Cang Road. Before I left Shanghai, I was to the point of going to Cindi Lu Hu. HAHAHAH-I AM a dork.

Yesterday, I ventured out to see the nice people at DHL about shipping my books.

I got to the Central Station ok, and wandered about looking for the DHL kiosk. I stopped a woman in the concourse, asking her "Where is DHL?" She gave me a "I don't know what the fuck you are talking about" look, which you might expect, except that she was wearing a DHL uniform and carrying a DHL bag. Bitch. I made up my mind to pack a BIG HEAVY box.

So fine-I picked up my packaging materials and hopped the subway back to Mongkok. I thought about it a little. If empty, folded boxes were a pain in the ass, what would a box of BOOKS be like? Yes, I think more ass-pain.

I got back to the hotel, and looked up the local post office. Bingo! Just a few blocks away, a short cab ride. (It looks a little sketchy around here!)

So the good news is I ditched seven kilos of printed matter on the Hong Kong postal system. The bad news is I chose the surface option. Secretly, I struggled with that in my mind. DHL sends things FAST, but it would be triple the price I paid for the magazines. My cheapness won't allow it. Hong Kong slow boat really IS a slow boat. My package should get there in about two months. Ohhhhhhhhhh-Kay. It was 50 bucks (US) which was about the cost of the periodicals. Sigh