Imaginary Girl

(written: 2008-01-05)

First thoughts, serialized for the sake of readability:
"I need a shower!" (wearing the same stuff for two days straight)
"Gosh, I'm really doing this!" (in the arrival hall, waiting for my bags)
"She is real!" (on the other side of the gate, shaking her hand)
"Hot! Hot! Hot!" (stepping outside the air conditioned airport)
"She's sitting right beside me!" (all the way to the hotel)

But let's begin at the beginning, shall we?

The only thing remarkable about Hong Kong Airport (aside from the tremendous amount of Asians, airplanes, duty free shops and LCDs) is that they have a Winnie Pooh made of 24 karat pure gold there. Just when I thought there was a limit to what Disney merchandise can do to a person's budget...

I haven't been worried about the trip. Not at all. But when the plane was one hour late in Manila and my two bags were the last ones on the conveyor belt (which actually stopped as soon as they were two meters out of the door), I couldn't help thinking about what I would do if they went home because they got tired waiting for someone they've never seen before.
Needless to say, they didn't. In fact, they waited patiently with a Working Title sign the size of a schoolchild. I couldn't have missed them if I tried to.

***

It's one of the most frequently used rhetorical figures, I know, but I cannot help thinking how I would have reacted in December 2006, if somebody had told me this:
"In a year from now, you'll be lying in bed in a hotel in Manila, stealing headings, blogging about this girl who you'll have just met for the very first time. In a hotel room with no chat history, no dictionary, no Google at all, but no 'oops, gotta go. brb.', either. You'll be in Manila for a little over a week, hanging out with Kristine and her friends, and going scuba diving. After that you'll fly to Christchurch to start your new job."
More importantly, what will I write in a year from now? Really makes one wonder, doesn't it?