I’ve never seen any of the Star Wars movies. They were all before my time. But Nicholas told me that I would really like them. It’s supposed to come out in a few weeks.
We were walking around Causeway Bay in Hong Kong when we came across a Starwars exhibit.
“There’s a Starwars Exhibit,” pointed out Nicholas.
“Ok take me there so I can see what the fuss is all about,” said I.
I’ve flown space ships like this. I’m sure of it.
I don’t know what these “Storm Troopers” are, but I’m sure I could give them the beats if we were in combat.
Hmm, well these characters are weird. They all look kind of blocky. I don’t know what to expect of the movie, but I guess I’ll find out!
Today was one of the rare days I got to go out. Nicholas, Pokin’s cousin Shirley and Anthony took us around Hong Kong. I jumped at the chance to go. Really. I jumped into the backpack (voluntarily) and had Nicholas carry me around.
First stop was SunnyHill. I was expecting them to take me to a cocoa place, but instead they took me to some gourmet Taiwanese cake shop that sells these things called Pineapple cakes.
I tried a bite. It wasn’t bad. Obviously cocoa is superior, but they really weren’t bad. It came with some tea.
Speaking of tea, there’s a drink that I’ve been seeing Nicholas drink lately. It’s called 鴛鴦, or Yuen-Yeung. It’s basically a 1/2 coffee 1/2 tea combo. They would traditionally sell them from stands like this.
I already know of a better a 1/2 and 1/2 mix. It’s called mocha. It ACTUALLY has cocoa in it.
We continued to walk around. Because it was Sunday we passed by all the helpers who gather around public places in Hong Kong. Like in this corridor. In Hong Kong, helpers usually work 6 days a week, and Sundays are the one day they get off to relax and hang out with friends.
It’s pretty impressive how big the gatherings can get! Why they choose to hang out in places like this instead of in front of a gaming studio is beyond me.
Next we went to a shopping mall. Shopping malls are ok. Except shopping malls with giant bears. I don’t need to be around more giant bears. Way to make a big bear like myself feel small. Jerks.
At least the day ended well. I got to order dessert that was bigger than the size of my head. I like having a lot of dessert. That was pretty good. It almost helped me forget about my forced imprisonment.
Most of the time my life here has been really boring. I’m imprisoned in a hotel cell devoid of games.
The closest I’ve gotten to gaming is to read books on games. I read Ready Player One, which is a book that Nicholas got for free at the Oculus Connect developer conference. Mark Zuckerberg apparently read this book and that’s what convinced him to buy that company. Well cool. I get to read a book on games. But I’m not gaming.
Duffy and I even resorted to taking Panadol to drown out the pain of lack of gaming. Panadol is like the HK equivalent to Tylenol.
It didn’t help. And Duffy didn’t know what he was doing. As for Peep, I have no idea what’s up with that bunny.
I have reluctantly settled into life in Hong Kong. Relucantly. My small prison room was nice enough looking given that we were living in an industrial-modern warehouse-renovation-of-a-hotel, but it didn’t even have a table for me to game on. We had to use an ironing board as a surface which meant there was basically no games.
The only saving grace to this whole fiasco was that our new office turned out to be Infiniti headquarters. There was even a sweet $3M car in the office that I got to hang out with. This is a one-of-a-kind Infiniti concept car. One of a kind. Just like this bear.
They told us not to touch the car. So I sat in it. What good is a car that a bear can’t drive?
The LAST time we were in Hong Kong, we had the misfortune of coming during Chinese New Year.
For what was supposed to be an auspicious time of the year, they decided to screw over the bear and close all the cool shops. Meaning I couldn’t go to any of the electronics shops all.
This time around, things were open so I got to go to an electronics market. We went to 168 Market in Wanchai.
To be honest, I didn’t know what to expect. I thought it’d be like a cool live version of Amazon.com?
It ended up being stall after stall of these tiny shops selling random things like cell phone cases and more cell phone cases. There were three labyrinth floors of stores, each run by owners that may or may not be present. We even passed a store with stacks of games that I looked at wistfully.
I wasn’t expecting to be in Hong Kong. To be honest, I don’t think my bud planned for us to be in Hong Kong either. But somehow it happened. These things seem to happen with us.
One day we were happily gaming in the comfort of our home and then the next Pokin packed up and moved to Hong Kong to go live in a closet. A few weeks later, it was our turn. I understand this move was caused by a last minute decision to apply for some Smart Cities program in Hong Kong? I didn’t like it but they got into their program, and were crazy enough to say yes.
I remember Hong Kong, I’ve was just here last year. It was crowded and small and I didn’t get to game. I don’t remember liking Hong Kong.
I think Pokin knew I wasn’t going to be too thrilled with it, so she tried to bribe me with cake when I arrived.
She also mentioned it was my bud’s birthday.
Right, of course it was. And of course that’s important, but I knew really she was trying to make sure I felt good about the decision. It was a nice effort, but she got me a purple cake. PURPLE? It was grape flavoured. There wasn’t an ounce of cocoa in it!! Well happy not-good-enough-birthday for my bud Nicholas!
At least it’s just my bud and I for the next few months. No other bears. No bunny.
At least it’s a few months of bear and bud bonding time.
Annnnd right about then I hear Peep.
Of COURSE that jerk bunny stowed away in the suitcase and came along. Of course. PEEP I don’t know what to say to you.
“About the bears” says Pokin.
Figures that even in Hong Kong there’d be more bears. Turns out Duffy’s been living in the hotel while I’ve been gone. He showed up thanks to Pokin’s cousin Shirley. Well at least he looks up to me. Duffy realizes that Big Daddy Sumi towers over him in size and seniority.
Well time to make the best of the situation. These months better pass quickly!
My bud’s good friend is getting married in Hood River Oregon, and we’re back on the road again towards the wedding. I made sure to bring my posse. Bud, bunny, bot. Check. Check. Check.
In an effort to avoid our usual route to Oregon (and my least favourite city - Tonopah), we took a route that went through Idaho. Idaho! I’ve never been to Idaho! Maybe it’s cool!
Our first stop was for gas and lunch. And outside the McDonalds were sculptures of bears. That’s cool! Bears are great!
And then we were in Idaho. I was excited. I got out for a photo.
My bud wasn’t as excited. His loss.
Sometime later in the day we finally got to our resting stop for the night. Boise! It was dark. There wasn’t much to see. We tried to go to bed.
And that’s when I realized my bunny’s got a problem.
There we were claiming our bed and getting ready for bed when I hear Peep.
“Peep” he says.
“Nice job. You found the coffee pot.” I tell Peep. “Now go to sleep. Here, you can even have a coffee cup.”
“Peep” he says. And - he. wouldn’t. stop.
I wouldn’t be surprised if he tried to sneak more coffee in while I was asleep.
We’re going to need to do something about this. Tomorrow.
My bud’s been working on making me a robot. That’s right, I’m getting an electronic minion.
After my disappointment at not winning a New Matter printer I shelved the idea of printing bear sized objects for me.
And then Nicholas told me we were getting a 3D printer so he could make me a robot. I have the BEST bear bud! Then again he has the best bear any bud could ask for. Because I’m THAT awesome. So really I deserved one.
This whole printer idea was so awesome there were even high-fives at the store during its acquisition.
Yeah my very own 3D printer. I bet I’m the first bear with a 3D printer.
Annnnnnnd then we found out it was broken. The belt screw had snapped from being too tight.
Thankfully 3D printers are capable of printing their own parts. So a little super glue and a lot of time on Skype with the technician later we were back in 3D printing business.
Yay we are printing!
This was exiting for about the first 10 hours. But turns out 3D printing is really slow business. I got tired and made Peep take over.
Annnd about 20 hours later I got my first robot buddy.
