Easing back to work after the super long Easter holidays. Reviewed my Q1 goals while writing up new Q2 goals. Continue to plan my new work in anticipation of a new normal after the pandemic. Rearranged some tables in the studio to make room for more R&D and prototyping work. Also ordered some furniture to finally setup a home office at my new place. Trying to speed things up and experiment with more ideas before my sabbatical is over in July.
Continued writing letters to the many freedom fighters who were detained or imprisoned for political reasons. They had been serving and helping Hongkongers to fight for freedom but are now denied freedom on our behalf, I shall never forget about them as the city enters a new normal under the imposed vague national security law. Heung Gong Yun… Ga Yau!! 💪🏻
In preparing for this long Easter holiday weekend, I rushed into finishing my first prototype of a Shigeru-Ban-inspired papertube furniture in the studio. Also went for a haircut, first cut in more than 6 months I think. My weekly community running clinic also ended just before the holidays. The studio’s building was cutting electricity for the weekend for maintenance, so I was forced to stay out of work.
Finally met and caught up with a few old friends on Saturday, it marked the first time I crossed over to the HK Island side in more than 6 months! It’s good to be socializing again now that the pandemic numbers are down, but I’m still somewhat uncomfortable being in the holiday crowd, so I stayed home for the entire Sunday and Monday. Sunday was spent building a Gundam model and Monday was spent reading and writing letters to the many Hongkongers who have been unreasonably detained or imprisoned for political reasons.
I decided to stay at my parents’ place again during the weekend now that my nephew had ceased to occupy my holiday abode. My parents were happy to have me back and I was glad to be spending more time with them once again.
The number of COVID19 cases in the city had dropped to single digits and there was 0 local cases this weekend, first time in 4 months! Happy to see more light shining at the end of this long pandemic tunnel.
The pandemic is still far from over, one of the more reliable vaccines was put on hold due to packaging concerns. My dad and sister actually scheduled for the vaccine on the day when the vaccination was halted, they need to reschedule when it resumes. We still dined out together that evening, don’t really recall the last time we met and chat, must be at least a month ago. I did not hold in my anger of knowing my brother and sister-in-law inviting my elderly parents to vaccinate the less reliable vaccine that was not thoroughly tested on elderly aged 60 or above. They should know better than putting my parents’ lives at risk for their political agenda!
The atmosphere is still rather gloomy in the city. Have been praying on a daily basis for the many democrats who are detained or imprisoned. I started writing my first letter to them after a slight push from my sister who had already written many. My mom asked how she could donate money to the detainees/prisoners, I told her not to worry, money isn’t really what’s lacking when you’re under confinement. Besides barring democrats, art is also being targeted under the arbitrary National Security law as an art piece by Ai Wei Wei was prohibited to show at the upcoming M+ museum.
In midst of the smothering negativity in the city, I managed to focus and got some decent amount of work done this week. Worked relatively hard so that I may enjoy a long work-free Easter holiday!
While having my breakfast and catching up on my daily news on Tuesday morning, a loud explosion was heard in the kitchen. Checked and found the glass lid of my months-old multifunctional electric pot completely shattered. The shocking part was that the appliance had been unplugged and left idling on top of the fridge for days when it happened!! What could have caused this? Resonance? Electrostatic buildup?
Other than the mystery explosion, this past week was relatively plain. I made steady progress in improving my stamina after the community running clinic was resumed a few weeks ago. In terms of work, I also made steady progress on one of my Sabbatical projects which involves designing and prototyping some Shiguru Ban inspired papertube furnitures. Should be able to make a functional prototype for my home this week. Have been teaching myself a new 3D design software for about a month while working on the self-initiated project, used it to design and render an umbrella handle for my brother’s friend’s company, the result amazed him and myself!
I seem to be finding satisfaction through my work, but life still seems rather joyless these days. I still enjoy experimenting with culinary arts, but I seem to be having a hard time enjoying the food when I think about the tasteless food many innocent people are being treated in detention centers or prison. I’m thankful for God’s grace on keeping me and my family safe and healthy, yet it’s really tough to crack a smile while witnessing all the injustice in the city.
Let me end this post with one of Ecclesiastes’ themes – “It’s meaningless, everything is meaningless!”
After a full week of gloomy weather, the sun started sneaking out again this week. The hardy white orchid I bought from a CNY market many years back seemed to notice the sun and bloomed beautifully in the light.
Received a gift for helping a good family friend’s wedding back in Nov/Dec. Was hoping to meet and catch up with the friends in the gift photo last week, but their schedule seemed pretty packed.
Collaborated with a good friend to design some kids umbrellas for my brother’s friend’s company last year. He gave me some of the manufactured umbrellas while consulting me for a different design project. Really happy to see something I help designed get turned into real functional products! I wasn’t planning on accepting any freelance projects while on sabbatical till July, but this opportunity seemed like a great way to practice my 3D drafting skill using a software I’ve been learning in the past few weeks for my studio’s R&D projects.
The unexpected “good news” was much welcomed after a full gloomy week, but I still seem to be covered by a dark veil constantly. Many innocent people are still being detained/imprisoned, the pandemic numbers are rising again with an outbreak in the fitness centers, and the Myanmar’s military situation had turned ugly with tens of people dying from firearms. I really find it hard to crack a smile these days, instead, much time was exhausted from soaking in bad news and silent prayers.
