Hello Heinz, I am really happy that you are back (yes, I noticed the moment you went missing, and same again when you reappeared).
This post absolutely does not require you to answer, as it is in my way of a diary and aggregation of past postings, and also to prove to Pezz that I have not always been grim.
My wife and I are stayed home yesterday (Friday). We held a year-end party for my staff (3 in HK) and some associates (of my wife’s and mine) who ‘hangout’ in my office on occasional basis. The amplifier drove the speaker cones and miraculously, The Judd Sisters Christmas Time fills the living space. This has been an annual tradition to the extent that we have done so for the third year in a role.
I do much prefer the energetic Latino or Cantonese pop, and occasionally listen to Dvorak’s New World, and prefer to do without the softer and often melodic Christmas music. I even prefer the techno-metallic music score from Lara Croft Tomb Raider movie. But, hey, it is Christmas, and time for good cheer, even as we ‘out-grim’ each other.
My speakers are shaking the air molecules now with energy music, giving the boot to the Judd Sisters.
The party decorated the tree, chitchatted, downed some drinks, and then trotted off on foot to Stanley Village (gentrified ex-fishing village) 15 minutes away for Italian food. The restaurant allows customers to design their own pasta course and I, as I always do, ordered spaghetti, with olive oil and garlic sauce, enhanced with parsley and black olives, filled with mushrooms and sausages. There was a small crowd of tourists, keeping the atmosphere interesting and the ogling amusing.
The holiday routine is as before, but the cheer this year is subdued (understatement) because many folks are losing their jobs before the Santa Claus drops by, many more have lost money in amounts they were not mentally prepared for, and probably more importantly, people do not see the edge of the fog, the lining of the clouds, nor the glimmer of light in any direction.
Hong Kong is incredibly prompt in adjusting to all the twists and turns of the world economy, and it is now impolite to ask people, “what/how are you doing”, and if one does, the answer tends to be, “I am a consultant”, “plodding along but not yet worried”, et cetera, ad infinitum, ad nauseam, so on and so forth. And so, as a result, I now have to further qualify my life’s work thus, “I am a consultant, and have been one for more than ten years”.
The spontaneous purchasing of loose diamonds as New Year’s treats and the incredible intoxicated feel from simple breathing are for a time no more, and from memories perhaps better forgotten.
Message 12385702
“the gift of choice this year is the De Beers branded, laser etched (viewable only with special equipment), individually named (after stars of the astronomy kind) Millineum diamonds. The packaging (space age styled metallic clamshell container) alone is worth a small fortune. Healthy and prosperous 2000 to all.”
Some posts from parties past … 1999 Christmas season
Message 16795662
Some posts from parties past … 2000 Christmas season
Message 16795663
These days, parties are still good as long as one stays away from the topic of money. If I have out-grimmed you, I did not mean to.
Chugs and Grims, Jay |
