Chapter VII / In which a Hong Kong monsoon makes for the briefest of stops

I had arranged to fly overnight from Helsinki to Hong Kong on the seemingly very popular Finnair flight AY61. (The only way to get a seat for less than €2,000 for this single flight alone was to buy a connecting flight from Tallinn; perhaps the Finns are trying to turn Helsinki into a travel hub for upwardly mobile Estonians?) 

The movie selections on Finnair are more appealing than they initially appear (the latter problem is perhaps due to their awkward menu system) and I squeezed three movies into the nine-hour flight: Side Effects, Identity Theft, and I Give It A Year. I'm wary of turning this site into a film review blog, so I'll keep this short. Side Effects is a well-composed psychological thriller starring Jude Law and Rooney Mara, reminiscent of Jude Law's earlier film Breaking and Entering, centered around the clinical treatment of depression. Identity Theft is a genuine feel-good comedy that left me smiling broadly and, unlike everyone else nearby in the cabin, untroubled by the persistent and violent screams of the child two rows behind. (He looked big enough to know better.) I Give It A Year I found uproariously, laugh-out-loud funny particularly in the first 30 minutes, and has the added bonus of Australian actors Rose Byrne and Simon Baker playing opposite each other as a Brit and American respectively. (His accent was a little more convincing than hers, but perhaps because the intrinsic difference between it nd their native Strine is larger.)

Despite taking a Zzzquil five hours into the flight after the third movie, I managed very little sleep until the last hour when I finally passed out, waking only when the wheels hit the tarmac. Nevertheless, itfelt great to be back in HK and I was able to repack and re-check my bag for my onward flight to Xiamen ten hours later (thank you Dragonair!) I took the brilliant MTR into the city feeling awake and happy, despite the rain and forecast of thunderstorms for the day (I had foolishly left my umbrella in my checked bag.) I learned that it's difficult to capture heavy rain in an image without taking a photo of a large puddle or splashing water onto the lens; my best shot is this one, but perhaps I should have taken a video instead. It really was very wet. 

I had a fun day wandering around Central, staying mostly dry and enjoying the heat and humidity. I had really loved Hong Kong on the one occasion I had previously visited in 2011, when I had tacked on a really fun weekend to a three-day work trip. It felt good to be back.