Dear Vicky: Updates and Farewells

Hello, y’all! How’s your week going so far?

I made the mistake of bragging to my neighbour about how good the weather in Hong Kong was, and it’s been raining here in Dublin non-stop since that mistake. I jinxed it.

I don’t plan to post much today, so expect some quick updates and farewells.

Update 1: I still haven’t load film into my camera, or recharged my batteries.

Update 2: If you’ve been following this substack for a while, you might remember a post a while ago about my obsession of photographing a tiny realtor’s office in Wan Chai, Hong Kong. Here’s a link if you haven’t seen it.

Naturally, while I was in Hong Kong I revisited the place, and took photos. I took two photos, which I think was enough. More did not seem warranted. Here’s the photos:

I still marvel at how two-dimensional the place is. You can see the man sitting inside with his back against the wall and his foot almost sticking out of the opening.

If you are unfamiliar with the colour codes, pink for rent; yellow for sale.

Now, on to farewells.

It will take a long time Hong Konger and a super nerd in a specific area to know what this photo is about. If you know what this is without reading the following rambling of mine, congratulations, you have won a grand prize. We could discuss what that prize is later.

This space used to be the Hop Cheong Pen Shop, 111 Des Voeux Road, Central. It was probably the most famous pen shop in Hong Kong with an almost cult like following. It was founded in 1977, and had been the place to find rare fountain pens and lighters. Legend has it that former French president François Mitterrand was once its patron. I did not fact check this, but it’s not the most important thing in the world right now.

As you can see, it’s a small establishment in a true Hong Kong fashion. The width of the shutter is pretty much the width of the shop. The three walls inside were lined with glass shelves stacked with pens and lighters. You used to be able to find there the rarest pens in the world. When I went to check out the shop this time, it was gone. According to the internet, the founders decided to retire in March/April last year, and there goes a Hong Kong institution. When I was living in Hong Kong, whenever I passed by the shop, I always popped in to look at pens. I didn’t buy anything until I was moving to Dublin. In the waning days of March 2023, I went to the shop for the last time and bought myself a Lamy 2000.

I didn’t think that was it, but I was wrong. Here’s a business card I got from my last visit.

That’s farewell No. 1.

After I took the photo of the now shuttered shop, I lost my light metre in the hustling crowd of Central. And that’s my farewell No. 2, which I don’t have a photo for.

That’s it for today. If you thought this’d be my farewell to Substack, I am terribly sorry to have let you down.

I am still sorting through other photos from Hong Kong. There are still 7-8 rolls of film. I am trying to categorise them into reasonable sizes so that you don’t get spammed by say, 30 photos in one post. I am not good at taking photos, but I am way worse at editing. Maybe it’s a good thing for this substack. Thanks for tolerating my ramblings. Until next time!