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The Hong Kong Furmeet
Dec. 7th, 2017 11:54 pmWith the jet lag catching up with me, I decided to have a lie-in on Sunday in order to catch up with some sleep. This saw me get up at around noon, at which time I headed out into North Point to grab some food. Being short on time, I was thinking about McDonald’s until I noticed some tempting looking sandwiches in a bakery. Due to the British influence, there are quite a number of bakeries in Hong Kong, far more so than anywhere else in the region (outside of Macau at least). Pork luncheon meat is quite popular here too, so I decided to go for a sandwich with that, which was quite delicious although unsubstantial for a main meal. The bread was quite sweet, which is how it’s preferred, but I wish I had bought two such was my hunger. However time was pressing, meaning all I could do was grab a bag of crisps at a 7-Eleven before heading back to my hotel to prepare for the furmeet. This largely entailed repacking all of my bags to accommodate my Fursuit, which unfortunately could not all fit in my hand luggage bag. This saw me carry my Fursuit body and shoes as separate entities, making traveling on the crowded MTR somewhat difficult, particularly between Tin Hau and Admiralty, where I was to change onto the red line, when it got particularly busy. I was heading to Kwai Hing, deep into Kowloon, where the local furs had booked a Party Room for the meet. I didn’t know what this specifically entailed beyond the fact it’s quite a popular custom in Hong Kong. I also feared being late, particularly after we sat in Wan Chai station far longer than we should have. I was meant to arrive for 1:30pm but it wasn’t until 1:45pm by the time I had descended the steps down to the station concourse and after some struggle found Exit A where about twenty furs had congregated. They were pretty obvious although none of them were wearing any furry accoutrements. Many had cases with them, which suggested fursuiting was about to go down - just as well considering I had brought mine. With no internet data, they were a little worried I was lost, but after sheepishly introducing myself after spying the same fur I had had dinner with the night before, our contingent was soon complete and we headed towards the Party Room location, which was on the 17th floor of a pretty ordinary looking tower block.
On the way, I got chatting to a fur who was looking for a job in Translation, which was useful to me so we traded details. The walk from the MTR station to the office block was uphill, meaning I got a fair sweat on in the 23C heat, representing a rather nice British summer day. Once inside, we took the lift up to the room, which I was surprised to discover was just an office space in the middle of some genuine offices. I don’t know how disturbing it would be for the workers in the other places - and at least all the offices were rooms distinct from each other - but you would imagine the noise would travel. The views down the road up which we had walked were quite unremarkable for the vantage we had over them but the real interest was in the room itself where there was a vast range of entertainments. There was a dartboard, a shuffleboard, a video game station, pool table, foozball table and karaoke area. Furs being furs, some commandeered the video games pretty quickly, with Sonic and an exciting Japanese drumming game being of particular interest to me. I was offered to play but I was in Fursuit for much of the meet and lack confidence with video games anyway. It was with the suiters that I spend most of my time - there were six of us in total and we donned the suits pretty quickly. After all, there was a ball pit overlooking the city and we wanted to dive right in. Quite literally, and it was great fun, with a number of excellent photos as well. We had a 360 degree panorama camera which captured some really nice angles while the pictures of us messing about in the ball pit have come out nice too. At times I was bashed on the head by a fluffy fish and immersed in balls - both excellent ways to spend an afternoon. It felt quite fraternal (even though three suiters were female) aided by the fursuiting related conversations we had throughout the day. One of the suiters, who looked like someone with whom I went to school, was only fifteen and had made a wonderful cat character. I spoke to her most, even getting the MTR back with her as she lived very close to where my hotel was. This was only her second furmeet and she’s looking forward to the big public Fursuiting event, the first ever in Hong Kong, on 22 December. It’s a shame I can’t be there.
Around halfway through the event, some pizza and chicken which we had ordered arrived, adding to the communal feel of the event. The pizza was stuffed crust and from a local pizza house - and apart from the prawn and pineapple I had erroneously taken, it was quite delicious. We ate in suit so I had to be careful not to spill pupperoni down my white front, with only one spillage recorded. We also got some iced tea while a number of Fursuiters got perhaps overly excited by the fact I go drinking with Fox Amoore. I don’t really do the celebrity thing, he’s a friend with whom I have a number of common interests. In the end, the four hour party room experience passed incredibly quickly, with my only regret being my inability to speak to everyone. There was a range of cool stuff to do and even a British theme with mats of union flags all on the floor for some reason. Maybe it was chosen specially.
We had to depart at 6pm and I just made it. I had to put my under armour on in the toilet down the corridor and misjudged the amount of time it would take for me to pack. Still, I got out bang on time and soon we were back at the MTR. We hung around here for a bit before our number started to drift away. There were still a fair number around when I left with Arrow but all the people to whom I had spoken said they were heading home as it was a Work night, which was a shame. This was fine though as at least I had some company on the forty minute MTR journey while I had also arranged to meet up with Tef after he had finished his VR course after 8pm. This largely went to plan and we headed to a New York Grill place just down the road from my hotel as it was a place he had been meaning to try for a while. They had a good range of beer and the owner did talk to me at length about them. They had some Brewdogs so he was particularly impressed that I was a shareholder but in the end I decided to go for a Ballast Point. Tef doesn’t really like beer, saying it’s too bitter, and so this proved here too. We ordered the set menu for two, which was a number of courses. It started well with some soup but the potato wedges were a little stodgy and disappointing and the Parma ham pizza only average, with far too many toppings on it. The steak was nice though but after all of the pizza, it was perhaps a little too much food for me. Still, it did allow Tef to try a place he had been meaning to sample for a while and I was happy to oblige. It’s amazing how often a visit from a guest facilitates you trying something you hadn’t in your own area - I’ve experienced this too when friends have come to stay at mine.
It was 10pm by the time we finished dinner and I think Tef wanted to go back to my hotel room to chill. However, I was feeling a little bloated so requested a walk around the neighbourhood. Tef agreed and took me to the tower block in which he lives, along with a small corner cafe where he bought me dessert. It was mango ice cream floating on coconut cream with shaved mango pieces atop it. The different textures complimented each other quite well, with the addition of tapioca balls at the base of the glass only enhancing the sensations. The mango flavour was quite full on, not watery as you would expect, but perhaps the coconut could have been dialled up a tad. While we ate, Tef’s attention drifted to the estate agent window next to our table, and he got quite angry about the house prices in the area. To be fair they were quite extortionate, for both renting and buying, more so than London even at over £1m to buy a standard flat. I could understand this upset and noted how it seems to be the same the world over for our generation. It’ll be interesting to see whether the rapid inflation in house prices will be stopped and indeed whether the political will will be there to resolve it.
After our dessert, we ambled back towards Tef’s place. With the time being 11pm, I said adieu to him and headed back to my hotel. I needed an early night as I had a long day of sightseeing ahead of me.
On the way, I got chatting to a fur who was looking for a job in Translation, which was useful to me so we traded details. The walk from the MTR station to the office block was uphill, meaning I got a fair sweat on in the 23C heat, representing a rather nice British summer day. Once inside, we took the lift up to the room, which I was surprised to discover was just an office space in the middle of some genuine offices. I don’t know how disturbing it would be for the workers in the other places - and at least all the offices were rooms distinct from each other - but you would imagine the noise would travel. The views down the road up which we had walked were quite unremarkable for the vantage we had over them but the real interest was in the room itself where there was a vast range of entertainments. There was a dartboard, a shuffleboard, a video game station, pool table, foozball table and karaoke area. Furs being furs, some commandeered the video games pretty quickly, with Sonic and an exciting Japanese drumming game being of particular interest to me. I was offered to play but I was in Fursuit for much of the meet and lack confidence with video games anyway. It was with the suiters that I spend most of my time - there were six of us in total and we donned the suits pretty quickly. After all, there was a ball pit overlooking the city and we wanted to dive right in. Quite literally, and it was great fun, with a number of excellent photos as well. We had a 360 degree panorama camera which captured some really nice angles while the pictures of us messing about in the ball pit have come out nice too. At times I was bashed on the head by a fluffy fish and immersed in balls - both excellent ways to spend an afternoon. It felt quite fraternal (even though three suiters were female) aided by the fursuiting related conversations we had throughout the day. One of the suiters, who looked like someone with whom I went to school, was only fifteen and had made a wonderful cat character. I spoke to her most, even getting the MTR back with her as she lived very close to where my hotel was. This was only her second furmeet and she’s looking forward to the big public Fursuiting event, the first ever in Hong Kong, on 22 December. It’s a shame I can’t be there.
Around halfway through the event, some pizza and chicken which we had ordered arrived, adding to the communal feel of the event. The pizza was stuffed crust and from a local pizza house - and apart from the prawn and pineapple I had erroneously taken, it was quite delicious. We ate in suit so I had to be careful not to spill pupperoni down my white front, with only one spillage recorded. We also got some iced tea while a number of Fursuiters got perhaps overly excited by the fact I go drinking with Fox Amoore. I don’t really do the celebrity thing, he’s a friend with whom I have a number of common interests. In the end, the four hour party room experience passed incredibly quickly, with my only regret being my inability to speak to everyone. There was a range of cool stuff to do and even a British theme with mats of union flags all on the floor for some reason. Maybe it was chosen specially.
We had to depart at 6pm and I just made it. I had to put my under armour on in the toilet down the corridor and misjudged the amount of time it would take for me to pack. Still, I got out bang on time and soon we were back at the MTR. We hung around here for a bit before our number started to drift away. There were still a fair number around when I left with Arrow but all the people to whom I had spoken said they were heading home as it was a Work night, which was a shame. This was fine though as at least I had some company on the forty minute MTR journey while I had also arranged to meet up with Tef after he had finished his VR course after 8pm. This largely went to plan and we headed to a New York Grill place just down the road from my hotel as it was a place he had been meaning to try for a while. They had a good range of beer and the owner did talk to me at length about them. They had some Brewdogs so he was particularly impressed that I was a shareholder but in the end I decided to go for a Ballast Point. Tef doesn’t really like beer, saying it’s too bitter, and so this proved here too. We ordered the set menu for two, which was a number of courses. It started well with some soup but the potato wedges were a little stodgy and disappointing and the Parma ham pizza only average, with far too many toppings on it. The steak was nice though but after all of the pizza, it was perhaps a little too much food for me. Still, it did allow Tef to try a place he had been meaning to sample for a while and I was happy to oblige. It’s amazing how often a visit from a guest facilitates you trying something you hadn’t in your own area - I’ve experienced this too when friends have come to stay at mine.
It was 10pm by the time we finished dinner and I think Tef wanted to go back to my hotel room to chill. However, I was feeling a little bloated so requested a walk around the neighbourhood. Tef agreed and took me to the tower block in which he lives, along with a small corner cafe where he bought me dessert. It was mango ice cream floating on coconut cream with shaved mango pieces atop it. The different textures complimented each other quite well, with the addition of tapioca balls at the base of the glass only enhancing the sensations. The mango flavour was quite full on, not watery as you would expect, but perhaps the coconut could have been dialled up a tad. While we ate, Tef’s attention drifted to the estate agent window next to our table, and he got quite angry about the house prices in the area. To be fair they were quite extortionate, for both renting and buying, more so than London even at over £1m to buy a standard flat. I could understand this upset and noted how it seems to be the same the world over for our generation. It’ll be interesting to see whether the rapid inflation in house prices will be stopped and indeed whether the political will will be there to resolve it.
After our dessert, we ambled back towards Tef’s place. With the time being 11pm, I said adieu to him and headed back to my hotel. I needed an early night as I had a long day of sightseeing ahead of me.
