Well, that’s just me. And I suppose I need shopaholics anonymous or something, but, as we addicts always say, “later, I’ll start tomorrow, I can stop any time.”

See, I want to get the Mophie Juice Pack Air for my iPhone. There’s several reasons I want this particular one. It fits all around the phone, top and bottom. It has an on/off switch, so you can decide when to suck energy out of it. And it will fit the iPhone 3GS, which I assume will some day be sold in HK, but just try to get 3 to tell you when.

So it came out in the US in April. I didn’t want to order it from the US. Since the company has an HK distributor, I figured it would hit here eventually. And it’s finally started showing up this month.

But of course, for the past two months, every time I went out to the shops, I’d look to see if they had it yet. And also of course, the staff in these shops have almost no clue about what they’re selling or what’s available. “I see you have the Mophie Juice Pack. Do you have the Juice Pack Air?” They’d run off to the computer and go look. After 5 minutes they’d come back and tell me no. “Do you know when you’ll get them?” I’d ask and for some reason they’d always answer, “Okay.”

Then I was in the DG Lifestyle shop in Times Square on Friday and they had it in stock, but only in white. Then in the Wanchai computer mall today, one shop had it in stock, but only in purple. I want black. I was in Causeway Bay so stopped into Windsor House and no one had it in stock, not even DG (who are supposed to be their HK authorized retailer). Sigh.

Still in Windsor House, I went to a camera shop because last week I saw a Kata bag there that I thought I wanted. I didn’t have my camera with me that day. I had it with me today. And of course now it’s sold out in that shop. (Do I want to go to TST to get this? Maybe.)

I was feeling so frustrated that instead of congratulating myself on not spending any money, when I spotted the Nikon 10-24mm lens on the shelf, I asked if I could take a look at it. Popped it onto my camera. Took some test shots. Zoomed in on the screen to look at the results and they were nice. Added bonus – the price they quoted right off the bat was the lowest price as listed in E-Zone magazine and also on YG Billy’s web site, $6,980. (And not the $8,000 price quoted by every shop in Times Square on Friday – yes, I know, I should know better than to shop there. But I was already there for City Super and Page One.) And to make it absolutely irresistible, the shop was willing to do the HSBC 12 month no interest installment plan. So yeah, I bought it.

(The reason I went with the Nikon over Sigma or Tokina or Tamron? I read a lot of reviews online of all. And all said basically the same thing – that if it’s sharpness you’re after, the Nikon wins hands down. They all questioned if it was worth the extra money, as the 3rd party lenses are selling in the $4-5,000 range. But I believe I’m with Nikon for life and so I’m building a lens collection meant to last and the investment will be worth it in the long run.)

Tomorrow I’ll start shooting with it, do some wide scenic vista landscape shots. Actually I should shoot tonight – clear night with full moon, pop the camera on the tripod, go outside, get some shots. But I’m freaking exhausted and I just don’t have an hour to really play around with different settings and fill up the memory card to see what works. There will be other nights. I am going to sleep ….. now!

Hongkie Town
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