typhoon koppu

I do love the rain. But I feel as though I was pretty clueless to what a typhoon was until Koppu decided to grace us with it's presence this week. The city did such an efficient job of educating everyone on it's approach. I felt very aware of what time I needed to be on the MTR and what level the rating of the typhoon was at. It did not hit Hong Kong directly, but we knew we would be catching a lot of rain and wind. So, all things considered I packed my umbrella in my bag every morning just in case, I was prepared. False.

Tuesday night I headed towards Mong Kok to Our Restaurant, a Turkish place that Orme found and a few of us decided to tag along each Tuesday night to enjoy some of the most amazing people and some of the best food here. I made my way to the station's exit and saw that the bottom of the looming clouds had broken open and it was time to use my umbrella. As I approached the exit, I zipped up my bag feeling so appreciative of my umbrella and priding myself my remembrance of such a helpful device. I began to open my umbrella and the little latch wouldn't catch to keep it open. I was getting very close to the exit and a more nervous with each step. As I examined my umbrella I realized that two of the branch-like structures [I'm sure there is a more technical name for this] that keep your umbrella opened nicely above your head were unfolding 3 different directions, one of those including the opposite direction that it should be- up. In this moment, I was flustered. Thousands of people, small sidewalks, thousands of working umbrellas, rain, humidity, an umbrella that was half collapsed on my head and did I mention lots of people? It was a "bless her heart" moment for sure. Finally I gave up trying to let it function on it's own and kept it open by holding the latch together. I made my way to the restaurant, trying to predict which height people would lift or lower their umbrella as they approached because we were most certainly not both going to fit side by side with their normal umbrella and my origami umbrella. I made it there mostly dry, and with a new little piece of wisdom: to check your umbrella's opening capability before stepping out into a typhoon. Typhoon Koppu, I appreciate the rain and the slightly cooler weather you brought. But I have to admit that I enjoyed waking up to this view being absent from out of my window in the morning.