April Soliloquys
April has always been a busy month for us, with birthdays and anniversaries, Holy Week and Easter, and what not. Looking back, I had not uploaded any blogs for nearly two months, primarily because we had been away on forced leave, mainly in Whistler, and also due to inertia. I actually made sufficient notes on my phone to remind myself the main milestones while we were away, which I told myself that I could use if the sequel of my memoir ever gets off the ground. Meanwhile, Su had taken pictures and videos which she had posted diligently on the social media, so that we were not actually off the radar to friends who wanted to follow our tracks.
To cut the long story short, we had a great time in Whistler, resting a lot and eating well more often than before in the restaurants on the mountains. We skied almost every day, except on the odd days when it was raining, as opposed to snowing. We were glad that the new leg held up and did its job well and that we didn’t inflict on ourselves any visible injuries. Likewise, we had enjoyed Vancouver, meeting friends, eating and drinking well, and ending with a surprise birthday party for a high school classmate who turned 80, thanks to his well-brought-up children – God bless them – for even their mother was kept in the dark beforehand. The party took place at Kirin Restaurant which was part of the Starlight Casino and off Richmond. Johnny Lo took us there, but only with some help from Su’s GPS intuition and IT skills.
As before, we spent the last leg of our travels on Granville Island. It was bright and sunny the day we arrived. We stocked up a bit, having dried up my whiskey stock on the mountains. The next morning, we went for the rather famous fish and chips restaurant at the end of the boardwalk on the Island, which my classmate the birthday boy Louis had once told Su. The food was great, even under the sun and without beer or alcohol. The place will remain a landmark in our hearts, for another reason, but I would leave it as such for now. The weather turned somewhat foul the morning we left, which was my birthday as recorded on my Id card. I spent some time on my phone replying to birthday messages. These were happy chores anyway.
Back home, the bodies took a while to adjust, and we ended up waking up early for breakfast at places Su had always wanted to go and at least one new place she had discovered. Thus, we had congee etc. once at the cooked food stalls at Mongkok wet market, dim sum breakfast twice at Sun Hing Restaurant at Smithfield, Sai Wan, and breakfast once at Central Restaurant – a 60-year old plus traditional Chinese restaurant – in Shek Kip Mei. Meanwhile, I resumed scripture reading at Ricci Hall this week, but only from Monday to Wednesday, and had a catch-up breakfast with Fr. Ng and two other friends after Mass on Wednesday. Church services for Catholics from Thursday through Saturday are traditionally different and special.
There were other catch-up meetings, always over meals, with other groups, including some Masonic meetings at Zetland Hall, and one dim sum lunch with the group with whom I had joined on a cruise to Antarctica in 2008, which reputedly had resulted in a chance first meeting with Su, but which was another story told many times before and in more than one version. Inevitably at these sessions, topical issues such as Trump and his tariffs would be touched upon, as was the impending election in Canada which we had recently visited. Probably, nobody knew whether Trump had acted on impulse or whether he had a grand plan, with or without the interest of America at heart, but I have always taken the view that ordinary people and mortals such as me could not avoid fallouts from such global issues, implying that one could hardly prepare for oneself for such matters. Sometimes, Su and I took quiet comfort that we hardly invested in the market, so that any fluctuations either way won’t affect us.
There are other sessions lined up or being lined up in the following week, some in the guise of birthdays or anniversaries; and I had committed to attending more Masonic meetings and a Ladies Night. Indeed, the diary for the weeks ahead is getting crowded, and we have lined up at least two other trips in the next two months.
I looked at today’s SCMP front page story which reported that Hong Kong residents had made more than 1.3 million outbound trips in the last two days, as of last night, suggesting that local business would inevitably drop during the holidays. Local road traffic had appreciably thinned out in the last two days. Looking back, we had often stayed home during long holidays, not exactly by design, but that seemed to be our life style. Indeed, I never really look forward to going places as such, not now anyway. I am happy to stay where I am, going through the day’s chores with Su, enjoying the food and wine she would bring to the table each meal and doing the washing up afterwards.
Next week marks our 16th Wedding Anniversary and Facebook has already reminded us of the trip to Laguna City 16 years ago last week when we went there with loads of stuff, assisted by Joseph, who unfortunately we had not seen for more than a few years following a serious stroke on his part. Such is what life could be and we must all learn to live for the present moment.
