i have one new year’s resolution. to pray more.

a clever person observed, "that’s  very clever. now you can pray for more patience, to lose 5 (more like 10) lbs, for airfare prices to go down…"

i went to shenzhen with andrea today. we had a very fun time. i bought a pair of very cool black dior heels. they are so great, i have to show you the link:

http://www.styledrops.com/handbags-21394.html

now, the shoes i got are last season, but these are pretty close. the heel is lower, and thankfully, so is the price — HA HA HA !

i also got a funky pair of zebra striped ballet flats and some 2005 sweeties from chanel; black and white ballerina flats. patent leather. very nice.

on our way back from shenzhen andrea and i decided to treat ourselves and ride in "first class", which is 66 hkd, while regular cattle class is $33. first class guarantees you a padded seat. there is no standing room. we were joining the queue, when i saw a lady trying to jump infront of us. normally, this wouldn’t irk me overly, however, we wanted to be facing the same way the train was running. we sped up our steps and got in line before the lady, who sniffed at us.

when it came time to board, the lady tried to brush past andrea and jump the queue. i watched her doing this and said, "excuse me."

this lady glared at me, and then mimicked me. "excuse me".

excuse me?

she said it again and glared at me.

can you imagine? mimicking me because i encouraged the basic laws of etiquette? the cheek of her.

she repeated herself again (that’s three excuse me’s in a faux canadian accent for those of you keeping track) and andrea and i burst out laughing which wasn’t the result she was hoping for, apparently. what was she hoping for? fisticuffs?

we took seats and sank into them gratefully.

we saw truculent girl as she was leaving the kcr, and she glared at us again.

one thing about going to shenzhen is you are thrilled to get home and shower. the shopping mall is full of smokers and is grimy and there are strangers touching you from the moment your passport is stamped, beckoning you toward their shop…"missy missy!!" they hang on to your clothes, wait for you outside of shops, trail after you.

but i guess andrea and i managed to find the one person who didn’t want to follow us. getting ahead of us was more her style.

excuse me?