It’s sad but true. I’ve been dreaming of this moment for over a year. The day when I can finally get rid of my laptop. Not that the old girl hasn’t served me well, but she put on some weight over the years and in my old age my back is suffering.

After months of hairpulling I finally managed to post complete content to my website using my mobile phone.

You wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between it and one sent from a computer.  I’m using a programme called Wavelog on my phone from www.telewaving.com. I know you’re not excited yet, but wait.

As I’m climbing the local snow capped peak I can take some photos, write a few notes on my phone and then once in a wifi spot just send the message for free. Now that’s mobile!

So enjoy my first moblog about the infamous Hong Kong…………..

This would be mine and my sisters last couple of days together. We’re both starting to think about home especially since she is flying home tomorrow and I will be going back by train very soon. I, like Aimee have had enough. I will go on travelling for a couple more weeks in China, and undoubtedly I’ll have fun, but on her last day here, after going to great lengths to get out of Hong Kong city to see the countryside we both admitted on the train we’d have rather stayed in a hotel room and watched movies.

We are kindly being hosted by a couchsurfer from Hong Kong, but I think as it’s his first time he’s a little cautious and so the requirement is that we stay out the flat the whole day until he comes home at 8pm. So we have no choice which is good in a way.

Half expecting to see the last remains of the original civilisation of Hong Kong at the Lu Ping temple, Ishould have known better seeing as there is a cable casr leading to it’s doorstep for $90HK return which is pretty hefty. The #23 bus journey for $34HK has great views on the way up also.

This buddhist temple seems to have been and still is being purpose built for tourists.  They’re int he midst of constructing the front gate.  Don’t come here to see a spectacular secluded temple, but the views and the giant bronze Buddha more than make up for it.  It was another of those feats of engineering leeaving me wondering for the 100th time, how on earth did they build this thing on top of a mountain?

So I’m still in search of the countryside and somewhere cheap to eat.  Whilst significantly cheaper than it’s European banking counterparts, $4 for a bowl of noodles is extortionate compared with the rest of China.  Owing to my small budget I feel justified in my opinion, and yet I feel a distinct sense of ludicrousy as when I return to England in a very short while, I’ll quickly get used to paying double or triple that.

But I’m resilient, I’m getting close to hunting down the cheapy hotspots.  Unfortunately I must stay here not out of choice, but to pick up my Russian visa for the final a greatest leg of this trip, the Trans Siberian Train across Russia and back to Europe.

Update: Fan – bloody – tastic!  Both my phone and my computer picked up a virus which has corrupted all my files and photos, not to mention my Nokia N82 phone battery is up the duff.  So I may not post anymore for a little while.  And just as I’d broken the last technological barrier.  I still maintain technology doesn’t free up any more time in my life!

Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan and now I discover Shenzhen (China) have reputations for being the cheapest place on earth for electronics with the largest selection.  Well, I’m getting the lowdown on this.

With all the problems I’ve had with my phone as much as I love it, I was lookign to upgrade especially since Hong Kong is supposed to be THE place.  Shenzhen is possibly the cheapest place on earth, butfrom what locals have tiold me and reports on the web, what you buy has a high probability to be either a copy of the original i.e. fake, malfunction or not perform as it is supposed to.

I am not a stickler for brands, as I know often an OEM equivalent either peforms as well or outperforms originals such as Nokia.  But the fact is, these fakes, and there are numerous may look identiucal but the hardware is simply not up to scratch.

So whilst I may be able to purchase a highly functional 32Gb e-phone, yes that’s e-phone, not i-phone, for $100US rather than the $800 retail price of the original,  it won’t have 32Gb of memory (more likely 8gb), and the camera’s seem to max out at 2MP.  My current 5 year old Nokia has a 5MP camera!

It depends what you want.  But one thing’s for sure, you simply can’t beat the originals for quality and functionality.  If you’re not much of a tekkie, then this would definitely be the way to go.

Looking at a supposed original, even after bargaining in one of the small phone shops, I can only get it down to $100 more than what I would pay on Ebay.  And that’s from a UK seller with a high score.  This could mean that it is a fake.  But I’m still at a loss, since even my friend in Shenzhen claims Hong Kong is cheaper than Shenzhen!

The other alternative I considered was a Chinese brand of phone.  But to be honest, Chinese cell phone companies are still very much in their infancy.  The only exception being Lenovo, but compared to an Apple or Nokia they’re pitiful.

Computer equipment may be the exception in Shenzhen, but then again you take a big risk that they haven’t tampered with the hardware to make it look like a much more powerful piece of equipment wven when you install it.  A 500Gb harddrive may read 500Gb but only store 300Gb.  That’s when you find out you’ve been’ had’.

The old adage sticks.  If it looks too cheap then it probably is.

But I’ll go there anyway just to have a look.  I might buy a cable for $2 which I have a high confidence won’t be fake .  Failing that I hear the massages are good,  and for an extra $50HK, you can even sleep there for the night……….