An Uneventful Weekend

I haven’t gone very far after my New Year Day upload, as far as keeping up with my writing is concerned. I found out a few typos which I had since amended, but I wonder who noticed them. We have been eating well and eating out a lot; and to my horror, but not surprising though, I found out a few days ago that I had put on more than 3 kg since I returned from Brussels and Norway which was less a month ago. My diary over the past three weeks is a litany of eating and drinking in the name of catching up with friends, very dear friends and more friends, and Su’s uploads on social media also confirmed the same. We even went away for a few days to eat in Taipei. I think I need some discipline before Chinese New Year sets in next week when more eating and drinking would be expected, which is why I am not having dinner tonight.

On the other hand, as I have intimated time and again, it is important to stay happy; and there are no better things to do under the sun than eating, drinking and merry making. It’s a question of balance, a balance between indulgence or indulging oneself in things the body enjoys and character building.

Take yesterday, I had lined myself up for three meetings and a dinner from 10:30 am onwards; and I began the day by taking the car to the garage 15km from home in the dress that is to last me the whole day. After I dropped off the car at Sai Wan Ho at 8:30 am, I had to decide where to have breakfast. An hour later, after taking some not too tasty and even less nourishing food, I began to prepare for my first meeting. People were late and not as prepared as they should, but it’s Saturday morning and one can’t ask for too much. A thought came up and I called up Su asking her whether I should book a room at the hotel nearby where we had used before so that I could have some rest in between meetings and so that we could go to Mass at Ricci the following morning. She was not too keen at the time, but a few hours later when she was having lunch with my childhood friends and I was having some makeshift lunch, she decided to make a booking, which she did under my name.  The rate was simply irresistible; and she left it open whether to join me or when, for she wasn’t feeling too well for the last few days, having caught a bug from a friend over dinner.

I checked in at 4pm after my second meeting, just in time to learn that Su was making her way to the hotel to join me. She showed up after I had freshened up and was ready for the third meeting. She said she would make her rounds in town and meet up with me after I had my dinner.

I was ready for a quiet and restful evening after a somewhat long day, but then this couple from Kennedy Town made contact and offered a night cap. They had already touched base with Su to pick her up somewhere. I simply could not and would not resist such a kind offer from a good friend.

There was more food, more fruits and of course a lot more drinks. The husband had acquired – I think it was a prize he won some time ago – a new IT gadget which can be trained to follow orders or requests from the owner to search for and broadcast on a wide range of songs particularly from local or Mainland singers. The gadget was of course linked to his iPhone and through the internet and so on, but it appeared so powerful and its response was fast, almost instantaneous. He searched on the internet and found that it could be purchased on taobao for under RMB300. It was great fun indeed. So the party went on and we didn’t leave until after 2am. We had a good sleep and had a quick bite at the fast food store next to the hotel at 10:30 am. I went up for my shower and a quick nap while Su went to the Botanical Gardens to look at the flamingos and found out why they always stand on one leg. After we checked out, we took the bus to Ricci Hall for the 12:30 pm Mass. Our friend and pastor was away and a priest from Wah Yan Kowloon gave the homily which was quite interesting, particularly the bit on young people today. By the time we went back to Mei Foo, it was about 2:30 pm, or for me, a day and a half I had left home.

I took a good nap after a quick meal from Su and decided that I had enough intake for the day. Su picked up an advertisement on SCMP about a rather attractive deal for two persons to go to Maldives for four days and asked me whether I would be interested. Well, it is certainly a good idea.