HONK KONG MY WAY
I had forgotten how incredibly uncomfortable long haul flights, cattle class, just are. Armrests that won't go fully up to allow a decent sleeping position on a half full flight seem to be a form of modern torture that we have accepted. After 11 hours of twisting and turning in vain search of sleep, I finally land in the sauna island called Hong Kong. As I make my way to retrieve my luggage, I get a gun pointed at my forehead, albeit it being only a temperature probe. Still, the aim right in the middle of my forehead and lack of explanation make me slightly queasy or perhaps it was the plane food. I push on, glad I was not feverish. Slowly the luggage belt spills each piece of life out. Mine is not there. As my luggage contains all the exhibition material, samples, brochures, banners and a nano collection of clothes, I do pray that I am spared a repeat of the Boston fiasco when all my belongings from my year at Harvard apparently went on tour with Bon Jovi.
JON, IF YOU ARE READING THIS, I DON'T HOLD A GRUDGE BUT COULD YOU PLEASE RETURN MY MATHS BOOKS AND A BLACK DRESS I REALLY LOVED?
Eventually, my oversize luggage is brought to the belt and I heave it up on my shoulder ignoring the "ah strong lady" comment from the lovely old Chinese man who wheeled it. You bet I am strong. Any woman who has lived on her own knows that furniture does not move by itself at night during one's beauty sleep. The Vitafoods Fair where I am presenting the new concept of Nutricoa, functional chocolate for beauty and well-being, is close to the airport, only a short taxi ride away but long enough for me to notice that the driver's command of English is as good as my command of Chinese, ie nada. I find my booth 333, better than 666 and start setting up the banners balancing myself on a chair that does not look like it will make more than a size 6 person in weight. I am twice as much and more. Even with the chair, a few centimeters more in height would have helped me; the odds of genetics are the first big injustice in life. I can safely bet that I am the only female business owner setting up here alone. Trade fairs are still the bastion of businessmen in suits and pretty hostesses. And I will probably stick out like a sore thumb. Yet that is one of the privileges of running one's own business: doing it your way. And as Nutricoa Beauty was selected as a star product among industry leaders in nutraceuticals, I say it is a pretty good way!