HONG KONG: April-May, 2004 (Part 3)

After he left for the airport, I stood alone in the kitchen. Spencer brushed against my leg. Stinky looked up with big brown eyes. I was lost. I had to trust that our bubble would not burst.

Thirty-six hours later William called home.

I'm glad I'm married.

What do you mean?

On the flight I thought about it and once I got here and talked to people in the office, it just hit me. I liked calling you my wife. As in "My wife will arrive later" or "My wife will need a ride to the airport." I liked it. I like being married.

It surprises you?

A little...yeah.

I smiled. I liked hearing this and it surprised me a little as well. Different. Better.

I miss you so much.

Me too.

Two months. Two months.

And those two months finally passed and I too zoomed to the airport and around the globe.

At the Hong Kong airport William greeted me with a big smile. I slipped back into our bubble and the car that delivered us to our apartment, where William had flowers, wine and a dim-sum lunch waiting. Although our one-bedroom living space was basic and beige, it was roomy enough and had a kitchen.

Hong Kong is vertical. Our apartment, in the district of Kowloon, was above a shopping mall. Almost everything in Hong Kong is above a shopping mall. Giant, blocks-long, dazzling shopping malls. Certainly I had been aware of Hong Kong's reputation as a shopping mecca. However, brand-name bargains didn't jump out at me. Had I traveled over seven thousand miles only to find Rodeo Drive prices?

Further quelling any potential homesickness, the familiar faces of Hollywood stars greeted me every day. Actors we don’t normally see hawking products in the U.S. take the money and run in Asia. The steely handsomeness of Brad Pitt, George Clooney and Adrien Brody stared down at me from giant billboards.

I decided to dump the notion of shopping and better use my time to explore this lofty burg. However, as gambling is to Vegas, consumerism is to Hong Kong. Shopping is the territory's lifeblood and I would find myself sucked into the sport over and over.