Hong Kong is making me feel lonely again. “There are so many people in this city but if you don’t connect with the right ones, you end up feeling incredibly alone. Anonymous crowds are mean bitches.” This advice was given to me during my first week here. It still crosses my mind every day. It’s not that I haven’t met some wonderful individuals here who scour happy hours with me and make me feel like I’ve lived here forever. Only last weekend I had a party at my flat and once again it turned into one drunken rowdy affair, leaving scratches on the walls and memories of dancing drag queens in my heart. What a glorious night it was. Except there was one thing missing. A lady.

I have been here for more than eight months and apart from a doomed fling with Sofia and a one-night-stand I hardly remember, I haven’t had any. I have tried abstinence before, usually in a fit of drama after a bad break-up, but I don’t do well with it. My natural state of being is with someone. Not single, cold and alone in my bed at night, but merged with a woman, if only for a month, a week, or even a night. At least I will have tried. Never in my life have I resigned myself to being single, but Hong Kong is forcing me to. My current downward mood swing is of course not helped by Lucia’s silence. It’s been almost two weeks, that’s half a lifetime in this speedy town, so I’m about to give up hope. I’ve stopped by Yumla several times since I met her, but to no avail. I scan every bar and restaurant I walk into for a sign of her, but she is never there. I know we only had a brief moment of unspoken romance, or maybe not even that, maybe it was the booze again, and I am old enough to let it go by. But she just had the cutest Spanish lisp and the slight pout of her lips when she spoke still lingers somewhere in my brain. At least that night when I walked out of the club, I had hope, the promise of something, as opposed to the nothing I have now. I may try Yumla one more time tonight. A girl has got to go somewhere on a Friday night.

But, no matter how non-existent my love life is right now, there is no time to hang my head down, because comfort and help are on the way. On Sunday my two good friends Alex and Liz arrive in Hong Kong. Liz is now happily married, with children. Alex, like me, is still looking for the one, but at least he’s having a blast while doing so. I tried warning my local friends but they are now anticipating Madam Madness’s arrival just as much as I am. They are staying with me until next Friday and will then move on to Bangkok for the weekend, where I shall join them, and the decadence that may ensue. The future is bright and Lucia is almost forgotten. Almost.

To be continued…