Life Goes On
Finally, Portia was able to call it a day last week after the faulty air-conditioning unit was fixed and the other minor works completed. Looking back, she ended up coming to our flat a lot more times than she had planned for and in the process had shared with Su much more of her life experience, over wine and nibbles. Meanwhile, scaffoldings were coming up around us like magic. Three days ago, there were at least 12 workers working opposite the block facing my study like spidermen, finishing off at least two blocks in one afternoon. Su took some videos of the operation which were nothing but impressive. The Mei Foo Management had notified us in writing that the entire renovation would take more than 600 days in phases such that our flat windows would be entirely blocked for at least three months, but we don’t know the exact time yet. We were asked to fill in some forms and to list the ancillary works, if any, that we would want their contractors to cover. That would be taken care of between Su and Portia.
Now, I had put into boxes in a rush quite a bit of stuff out of the bedroom and my study to facilitate the renovation commissioned to Portia. As I began to put them back, I took the opportunity to declutter as much as possible. Indeed, I had begun the process after we moved back a few weeks ago. It was not easy, but I am still trying. For example, I put together in one box all the certificates I had received related to Freemasonry. My plan was to put them in storage. But, to Su’s question on how long I would keep them, I could only respond casually and somewhat unmeaningfully. I know fully well that someday one of us will need to thrash them. For that matter, a lot of the stuff – mostly books – now in the storage may fall under the same category.
Su’s brother had cleaned up the storage of their father and Su had been taking home photo albums and artefacts, nicely wrapped and labelled, some over a century old and probably fit for the museum. They all look interesting, but we don’t run a museum. Someday, she will need to deal with them. In the meantime, they will sit prettily somewhere in the flat.
Today, we went to a sort of food fair organized by Mercato Gourmet at Peninsula Hotel, billed as Il Maestro del Gusto or Master of Taste. The Marcato Gourmet Team had invited many producers and suppliers of food and wine – mainly Italian – to showcase their products in boutique style stalls on the kitchen floor of the Hotel. Su had signed us up for the event which also featured a pizza-making class, but which only she could join as the account holder. Su had signed up for the 11 am class to which she arrived on time, only to find that she was the only student. The head chef invited me to join. We both cleaned our hands and donned a chef’s apron and began the serious business, finishing each with a real and delicious pizza which the staff packed in custom-made pizza boxes to take home. It was fun. They tasted very well and professional and were still good after they got cold. To recap quickly, we were each given a 150-gm dough – which we were told had been prepared and kept for 24 hours – to begin with. We were taught to flatten it to a thin round-shaped pizza-like object, on which we placed tomato paste, followed by parmesan cheese and pizza mozzarella, and a splash of olive oil. Our coach chef then put our work into the oven, heated to 320 degrees C, for about three minutes. The chef then added Parma ham and rockets on one side, and it was done. We were rather pleased with the products.
We must have visited over 30 stalls and tasted a lot of wine and cheese, seafood, wagyu beef and other food. Su met her Italian friend Henry David, whom we first met in June 2025, also at Mercato Gourmet over a wine pairing session, and who brought her a special bottle of wine to mark the 50th anniversary of his vineyard or product, and who had taught her some wine pairing skills. We had a great time. Su went to the shop afterwards to pick up some wine and other things before taking our spoils home.
Back home, we tasted our trophies and uncorked a bottle of VCP, feeling satisfied and happy. Su tried to ask some friends over to share her joy, but they were all busy. I went for a nap while Su dashed over to TST for the Eslite Bookstore which was downsizing and had items selling for 10% to 50% of the marked price. She came back at news time, and we continued with the unfinished pizza and champagne. She was happy she bought whatever she had bought in the past few days.
Next week promised to be another busy week, but we will cross the bridge when we get there. In the meantime, life goes on.
