Leaving Hong Kong

As I write I'm in the air again, flying to Frankfurt and from there on to the UK. I've lots to say about HK, which I'll try to catch up on over the next few days. For now I'm enjoying the amazing view of the mountains of what I think is China/Nepal below me, and luxuriating in the relative quiet of my new earphones. My second set of Apple In-ear headphones died on me whilst in HK (I don't know.. I put them back in their case, I treat them gently, I only listen to nice things - let's hope Apple switch them again), so I treated myself to a pair of Etymotic Research Isolator ER6i earphones. Though the reviews on Amazon are decidedly mixed, and they don't look like the toughest things in the world, I'm finding the audio superb. The ER6i earplugs seem to fit my ears well, the bass is good but natural, the sense of space is palpable. While they don't quite drown out the low rumble of the jet engines, they block enough of the mid and high frequencies to make the flight much less unpleasant (even with the iPod turned off), reduce the required audio volume dramatically, and put the flight attendant with the annoying voice on mute (even though he's sat behind me). There's also the pleasure of pushing something really quite deep into your ear and not being told off for it, which must be worth £80 of anyone's money.

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