2025 Year Ender
Today is Winter Solstice, officially the shortest day of the year when the Northern Hemisphere is tilted farthest away from the sun and marks the shortest day of the year. It is indeed a fitting occasion to write a year ender.
Let me begin by wishing all my friends and anyone who reads or will read this blog a wonderful holiday season and more important a mindful New Year ahead filled with pleasantries, excitement, friendship and renewed energies.
The year began with some aftermaths following Margaret’s passage in November 2024, followed by a long holiday in Whistler and three trips to Kansai, Kobe, Okayama, Kurashiki, Yonago, Matsue, Masuda, Sakamoto, Izumo, Yugetsu, Tsuwano, Kaike Onsen, and so on, altogether spanning 28 days in Japan. Then there were the odd day-visits across north to Futian, a three-day trip to Shantou with my Rotary Club members and a week-long visit to Kuala Lumpur for Masonic-related events, but which ended with some reunions with Su’s friends. We also seemed to have more than the usual share of tropical rainstorms and typhoons, necessitating the Typhoon No. Ten having to go up more than a couple of times and very sadly ending with the tragic fire at Tai Po with 161 deaths and hopefully no more. On a personal level, I ended the year losing my phone which I had been using for more than three years and on which I had kept notes during oversea visits and where I had kept other data that I would hate to lose, but some of which now sadly couldn’t possibly be retrieved.
The year began with a call to Su from an agent of the Canadian tax authorities telling her that her property in Whistler – a room in Whistler Hilton – was in tax arrears for two years and would continue to attract more penalties because of UHT or Underoccupied Home Tax, whatever it meant, unless she stayed in the property for no fewer than 28 days each year. To cut the long story short, Su booked us in the hotel for something like five weeks – as opposed to the normal three – between March and April to avoid the penalties and at the same time learned more about the Canadian banking system. For example, one needed to pay in advance for ordering cheque books which took weeks, but which required us to collect in person unless we paid extra for postal delivery. While in Whistler, we were joined by Su’s great friend Mei Mei who came all the way from UK to stay with us for about ten days as a tourist rather than a skier. Her presence gave us the motivation and excuse to spend more time eating, drinking and sightseeing rather than skiing, with which I didn’t have any problem. I was grateful that my new left knee was holding up well after the operation and fit for skiing; though it took longer to suit up in the beginning, which was not unexpected. We also went to Squamish to visit Joan and met Darrel with whom we had a great time including having a sumptuous meal at an eatery called Watershed which was the site for location filming of a popular local TV series. After Whistler, we spent time in Vancouver with friends eating and drinking, including a great dinner with Stephen Lo and more so a special and surprise birthday party marking Louis Kwan turn 80, all very exciting and memorable. The couple together with a few classmates of old, including Mike Ting from Sydney, visited Hong Kong towards year-end and with whom we had some great get-together sessions.
Reunion meetings are getting increasingly more precious as one gets older, which was a case in point when Su met her ex-colleagues of 30 years plus in Kuala Lumpur in June after my Masonic meetings. These meetings typically became very emotional, and, on that occasion, we acquired six bottles of good whisky and left behind a few.
I had made notes, some rather detailed, on my phone – now lost – during my oversea visits. I had hoped to recall them for occasions such as this, but alas as I had remarked elsewhere, I couldn’t do so, which is a great lesson in mindfulness training. I had nonetheless recorded a lot of my sojourns during the 28 days spent over the three visits in Japan, which had arisen initially from an annual visit to some Masonic Lodge meetings in Kobe, but which turned out to be very much extended visits, thanks to Su’s mindfulness and thoughtfulness. She had added two follow-up visits based on Yonago after learning that the direct flight would be cut off from end of August 2025. Once again, we collected so invaluable memories and experience from visits to those small townships.
Back home, Su had enriched her viny collection on learning that an operator in the field was about to wind up his lifelong business and hobby in audio recordings to go north and retire. She went to his shop in Yau Ma Tei more than a couple of times and took back what she could. Meanwhile, our turntable went kaput and Su took the opportunity to upgrade the sound system, including acquiring a subwoofer speaker and some other wirings.
On the wining and dining side, we signed up for a wine tasting programme organized by ABC and persevered through all six sessions, once a month since July so that we both graduated with a Certificate of Completion with First Class Honours from the Club and the WSET (Wine and Spirit Education Trust) Certified Educator, which was great fun.
On the health side, Su and I have been doing rather well. I came out of the Doctor’s room after one minute flat at the medical earlier this month; and I tried to keep up with my regular visits to the gym.
Looking ahead, Su has already booked our room in Whistler for another five weeks from mid-January as well as a cruise to Iceland in June. It looks like I need to keep fit for these programmes. Until then, I wish all of you great health and happiness, continuing mental and physical agility and be always amongst friends.
