Dinner with Ian Wright

Okay, so it's true that I spend quite a bit of time in front of the computer watching TV. (I got this great TV card for my PC. It's fan-fu@$in-tastic. I don't have to spend money on another ugly box, yay!) But coming from Taiwan where I didn't even have a TV for 3 years and moving here to Hong Kong where Broadband Internet and Broadband TV come together like a married couple has changed the way I spend my evenings. I'm so hooked on these silly travel shows on the Discovery Channel. I don't know if you've ever heard of the show Globe Trekker but it's one of my favorites. Unfortunately, I'm not able to catch it very often because I get home from work too late. But anyway, I'm a big fan of one the travel hosts, Ian Wright. A few weeks ago, Discovery began advertising Ian Wright coming to Hong Kong to do a show here as well as a contest to have dinner with this guy. I thought, "That might be pretty cool, not that I have much of a chance of winning since this city has a population 6.8 million people and this contest is being broadcast on Hong Kong television but I'll give it a try." I went to the website several times, couldn't find the application, had to watch the 10 second commercial a few more times to get the exact website, found it, wrote a 30 word speil about why I liked Ian Write and clicked send. That was about a month ago and shortly after I forgot about it.

Last Friday evening, a woman left a message on my voicemail while I was in class. It was in Chinese so I quickly took it to be telemarketing. I was about to delete it but at the last second I heard something about Discovery Channel and decided to save it and have a friend translate it for me. Saturday passed without notice. Then on Sunday when I was sitting in a cafe I saw someone at the table next to me check their message on his Blackberry. I thought, "Oh yeah, I've got a message. I'm gonna listen to it again." That's when I thought I understood I won the contest. I must have listened to it twenty times before I asked the server at the counter to help me translate it. My assumptions were correct. I did win and the woman who called me requested that I call her back on Monday.

I've been invited to the JW Marriott in Hong Kong to have dinner with Mr. Ian Wright on Thursday evening at 7:00. Oh my God! You see, messages in my mailbox are only kept for three days and had I waited much longer, the message would have been deleted and I might not have ever known I won. I'll keep you updated on what happens next Thursday.