Taking off old clothes

I've been remiss in my updates, I know. I've been too busy having fun.

He came and we had a wonderful holiday. It's funny how many small things you can forget about someone. Small things that sear through you like a flash of bright light and infuse you with pleasure. Small things that make the corners of your mouth turn up gently. Small things that make you want to chew your own arm off, but in a really nice way!!

We hiked, we ate, we swam, we climbed, we shopped, we slept, we went to the cinema, we enjoyed the company of old and new friends, we sought out air conditioning (possibly for the first time in my life). We holidayed and relaxed. It was wonderful.

When he left, I did not cry or feel sad, because I knew it would only be a week before I saw him again, but the flat did feel empty and I was struck with how I was ready to come home.

I have spent the last few days, since he left, finding a smile on my face at a memory. I find myself, when in the present moment, looking at everything so carefully, trying to absorb every moment, every smell, every colour, in the hope I might preserve them in my memory. Still, I know, they will fade, as the glory of colonial Hong Kong fades each year, as the concrete crumbles and the paint becomes invisible.

I have found Hong Kong to be an oddly magnetic place, with something brewing under the surface, like a monster beneath the waves. I don't know what this monster is, but it is powerful. I don't even know if it is bad or good, just that it has not harmed me. I have loved being here. I have breathed in beauty every day. I have felt intensely and lived each moment. This has been a real gift for me and I have appreciated everything that came with it - fun, happy, hard or sad.

I have just a few days left now, to spend with people who's company I have enjoyed, on occasion, and then it is time to return. Guess what? I'm REALLY excited to go home. See you soon!!! :-) xx