A walk to remember

It must have been more than three years that we last met.

No matter how many times you had talked to someone online, meeting a person in real life takes some times to digest and connect the dot dot line between online and real life.

I could see he still has a nice smile, he still has some "female" features like the brows and the thin lips. His voice sounds a bit "thin" and "low" as compared to what I could remember. I gave him a smile back, and we got on a boat to an outlying island.

I felt a bit awkward when sitting down, like facing a half-known stranger, so I put my bag in between us, leaving us some space to "breath".

Through the 30 minutes' ferry ride, I can reckon he's still the man that I met three times three years ago, but his thinking might have been "polished" over times. Now he is much senior in his job, he wants to mentor the next generations. His gesture still tried to be "friendly" but not as friendly as before. Is it because he is more self conscious, or he is afraid of bumping into somebody? I am not sure. He is definitely not new to Hong Kong this time. He seems to get to know what he wants in life. He knows the direction. He knows his way to walk around the island.



Many expats settled down in Hong Kong after spending 7, 10 years but he has never been a city person. He is very independent, and sometimes a bit "de-tached from our conversation. We are not quite connected when we talk. Is he having a lot in his mind? Am I thinking something else when we talk?

Obviously he still misses the North of England where he comes from. He loves nature and quiet moments. Sai Kung may have given him some comfort and convenience of walking and running around easily. But from the bottom off his heart, when I look at his eyes, he cannot lie that he wants to come back to England so much to be re-united with his daughter. This time I can tell he speaks different from other English, maybe that's the accent from North of England.

I enjoyed some slight touches during the walk but we didn't kiss goodbye. I think the three-hour walk gave us a good time to get to know more about each other, and what we want in life.

I once came back to Canada to end an impossible relationship. Now I can only reckon that he might just tried to ask me out, so that he just ended it in his own way, and have peace of mind to start it over with his wife.

Despite that we can't become friends, I wish him the best and be reunited with his family one day.

A rabbit farm and live black bamboos for retirement? It only happens in North of England.

Happy Chinese New Year.

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