Living in tropical climes, it's only to be expected that you get a little sweaty and sticky from time to time. This is part of the sacrifice you make living in Hong Kong; sweat and bodily fluids in exchange for fabulous shopping and the promise of air-conditioning!

In such a rainforest however, an essential part of any person's summer - dare I say it all year round - kit is deodorant. Yes people, deodorant. Given the disgusting bus ride I had to endure yesterday it would seem that about 85% of the population do not know what I'm talking about and another 10% have never heard of showers, either.

Just my luck, the bus was crammed full and I was taking the bendy road to where I wanted to go. This means, of course, that arms had to fly up to hold on to the handles above. The laws of physics dictate that this motion releases the armpit from its sweaty chamber of filth and smell. Frankly, 1 armpit is bad enough but when you times that by the standing population of the bus - most of whom had just rolled in off the beach so they had the pungent odour of drying seawater, suncream and sweat - it was enough to make you shuffle around in your given space and want to die.

There's nothing like freshly brewed B.O on a large scale to make you want to hurl. Then again, everyone is allowed to be smelly once or twice - after all, we can't say we're always prepared for the scorching heat - and I daresay even I have stunk like a rats ass on occasion. But when stinkers of Hong Kong unite on the 66 via bendy 5 mile long road - there's a problem.

And as a side effect, I am supersensitive about how I smell (ironic, as I am sure I smell as fragrant as a rose compared to those trolls) and am showering upwards of 3 times a day. Why am I bearing the washing burden of others?