Another Year
As I looked out from my modest study with a glass in hand on a bright and sunny Sunday afternoon and looking at my last bog which was almost exactly a month to date minus one, I couldn’t help asking myself why I hadn’t uploaded anything in between. Well, the answer to the question won’t solve any problem or mitigate any miseries, so let’s move on.
My last bog was my 2024 Year Ender, which did not attract too many readers or visitors, possibly because it could have been perceived as negative or pessimistic, which I had never meant it to be. I was minded to pen my 2024 Year Ender as soon as I saw the arrival of December which typically triggers off hopes – hopes for better days in a new year and in what is to come. I picked up a quote credited to Charles Dickens, which says, “Of all the months of the year there is not a month one half so welcome to the young, or so full of happy associations, as the last month of the year.” I read into Dickens’ quote the hopes and expectations for what would come next as one year draws to a close, which is another way of articulating the impermanence of life and all that associates with the concept. Indeed, it doesn’t take an entire year or 12 months for events to re-present themselves in one form or another, but most of us are probably accustomed to a 12-month cycle by which to regulate their lives and conduct, often taking changes in the weather as a natural guide.
I can recall 2024 Boxing Day which Su and I spent quietly and mostly at home. Su took the food and wine left over in the fridge and ingeniously turned out a few rather tasty and respectable meals, while I did a simple plumber job of replacing the shower tubing which had been leaking, at the same time removing a two-decade old filter in my private bath. I was surprised that the hardware shop at Mei Foo was open for business during the holidays, and somehow, we had an evening of watching old clips on YouTube ranging from the Beatles tours in 1964 to the early Elvis clips and to a few other famous and memorable artistes who had since gone and whom Su had mentioned in her blog.
We attended quite a few parties in between, collectively or individually. To mention a few, I went to Bruno’s shop in Kwai Chung for a sort of Christmas wrap-up; we both went to Su’s parents’ place at Laguna City for lunch to mark Winter Solstice and in the evening had a great eat-in with Ada at Mei Foo; we had an impromptu gathering with my godsons and their mother the next day after Mass during which we had plenty of whites and sake, ending with again an impromtu visit from Su’s sister; I also had a great lunch with a usual group the day before Christmas Eve and had a special lunch with Ko Ying and Pat on Christmas Eve; we had a small party in Mei Foo on 27 December which seemed to last forever; we watched the fireworks from my study at year end after making a trip to Kowloon West to view the tall Christmas Tree; we joined Bruno’s Three King’s walk on 4 January in Cheung Chau, followed by a light lunch; we found ourselves hosting a seemingly never ending dinner with two friends – Alex and Brian – eating and drinking for over seven hours, after Alex offered to bring a bottle of sake he brought back from Japan; we joined a special lunch on 8 January organized by Y K to commemorate something Rotary; we attended a party in Shatin to mark the 80th Birthday of a great friend, Wilson Wong; more recently, which is the last week, we went to Shenzhen twice, Monday with Ada when we had two great meals and when I took the opportunity to cancel a premier account with HSBC which I had opened a few years back before Covid but which proved not to be very useful; and then on Thursday when Su decided to take me to savour the service standard in Shenzhen in general and the beef hotpot in Futian in particular; and to top it all, we had a dinner this week with a few past presidents of my year on 15th January to reminiscence the past 25 years, amongst other things, and to plan an event to mark our silver anniversary. It does seem that we are always looking for time to do things.
Meanwhile, Su and I had re-discovered that as seniors we could take advantage of the special offers at cinemas, meaning that on Fridays, for example, we can buy tickets at special rates for the first show and if we use a particular credit card, we get half price, or buy one get one free. It was thus we went to the cinemas at Kwai Fong for two consecutive weeks, and on a recent Friday, we had a marathon sitting, viewing two films back to back and testing our constitutions. It was hard work and indeed rather trying. At the second sitting, we watched for the second time “Conclave” because of its strong and complex plot and constitution, but we enjoyed it to the full.
Which brings us to yesterday, when after lunch, Su decided to explore the town on her own. She did; and on her return, she brought back, amongst other things, from Sham Shui Po she said, a collection of vinyls at dirt cheap price including a few Elvis Presley old timers dated early 1960s, such as the 1964 GI Blues and From Memphis to Vegas and in particular one from the legendary bandleader Percy Faith (died in 1971) in which he played the music from My Fair Lady which inspired me to sing along a few oldies such as “On the Street Where You Live” and “Take Me to the Church on Time” to the great delight and amusement of Su. She had heard it from Julie Andrews or Audrey Hepburn and Rex Harrison, but never from me. The Elvis vinyls brought back memories of the Sixties or some sixty years ago when we were scorned as teens for singing his tunes such as GI Blues, Wooden Heart, Are You Lonesome Tonight and Can’t Help Falling in Love, the last one of which I had sang impromptu and unaccomplished to gain access to the bride’s room on wedding day in 2009. That’s what memories are made of.
On this nostalgic note, let me wish all of you out there, wherever you may be or with whom, a very happy and enjoyable Year End in the Year of the Dragon and a rousing, stimulating and exciting Year of the Snake coming up, whatever it may bring. I wish all of you good health, great mindfulness, happiness and prosperity and that you would always be surrounded by good friends and well-wishers. I hope to talk to you more often.
