Mark began to organize a party around Winter Solstice of 2021, based on a list used by Alice for a party of six a few months before. He fixed a date for 16 January 2022 at a new restaurant in HKJC. Things were looking good until there was a kerfuffle which saw many top officials…
I have borrowed today’s SCMP headline in this blog because I think it is rather appropriate. Su and I came out of yet another staycation today; and Su decided last minute to re-visit Mandarin Oriental because Four Seasons won’t offer much under such foul weather. Besides, their restaurants were all booked up and expensive. The…
Su and I came out of another staycation yesterday. We had lunch in the hotel – which was part of a packaged fare of four items, viz., breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea and hors-d’oeuvres each of which can be consumed once on either of the two days, together between the two of us – which was…
It is amazing that four months had passed as if nothing had happened in between. Outside Hong Kong, apart from China, many cities and countries have started behaving as if the coronavirus had gone or had been dealt with. People in Europe and North America are no longer wearing masks, and so on. My friend…
By the time the first phase of the easing of social distancing is in place on Thursday, most people in Hong Kong would have been in lockdown situations for more than three months, the longest since we had Covid-19 nearly three years ago. As far as Su and I are concerned, we haven’t left the…
Last week had been sunny most of the time. Indeed, Hong Kong had more than our share of good weather in the last ten days; and I think most people was like me, feeling that they were having a season in the sun. A few days ago, an ex-colleague sent round Terry Jacks’ Seasons in…
I had a rather busy week spending time and money on an ancient hobby or skill to which I had sort of becoming indifferent – I mean photography, or more precisely taking pictures with a camera, as opposed to a smart phone or tablet. Let me first recount my past sojourns in photography. It went…
I left off last time saying that I formed a view in 1976 that I wouldn’t enjoy living in the United States and that I still don’t. Nevertheless, I have since grown to like and enjoy visiting many cities and places where I have met interesting people and made good friends over the years, but…
I had meant to talk in my last blog (20 March) about US – China relations, following the much hyped-about virtual meeting last Friday night with the media of both sides making separate and different headlines afterwards. But I veered off to talk about something else, which is not unusual, and which is what blogs…
It would have been about a year ago when we could happily, legally and safely organize private parties at home. We had a few young friends in the flat – mostly seeping whiskeys – and someone asked when was the Old Summer Palace besieged and destroyed. In split seconds, Keith called out, “1860”. He was…
