10/19: suzanne, jon, ben and conrad

B and I were feeling a bit bedraggled after getting off the bus at the wrong stop and trekking the long distance to Ryan’s flat. But when we got there, he’d turned the place festive with candles and music. His new coworker, an Atlantan/New Yorker named Suzanne who used to work for Rough Guides, was also there. She was friendly-goofy, and we all went to a vegetarian restaurant called Original Sin in Holland Village (basically White People Town of Singapore). Then we moved on to a lesbian bar called Club 95 in Chinatown. Small and mellow, with nothing so fussy as fruit punch or vanilla Stoli on hand to appease B’s and my not-so-butch drinking habits.

Now we’re in Hong Kong for the last leg of our trip. We’re staying at the Conrad Hilton, which is like a mammoth version of Tea Chapter in that I’m way too lowbrow for the uber-fluffy towels and too-attentive staff and delicate pears they leave on the desk with an orchid as garnish.

B’s friend Jon has joined us from Beijing, where he’s been living for the past couple of years. He’s a sweet, mellow guy who has been to Hong Kong a couple of times, mostly to help find items for his mom’s antique business in Texas. We had dinner with Jon’s ex-pat friend Ben, whom Jon described as a sort of international playboy. Ben was very nice, as charming as an international playboy should be, but I just couldn’t quite relate to his dilemma over whether to buy a Porsche or a speedboat.