Back To Reality
As much as I wished to further extend my 3-month long summer vacation in Canada, I inevitably needed to face reality and returned to my deteriorating birth city on Sept. 7th. It took about 3 hours from the time my plane landed to get through the airport’s pandemic measures and customs and finally arrive at the designated quarantine hotel. I felt like I was being treated like a highly contagious patient more than a valued guest at the DQH. After 3 days of quarantine at the hotel, I returned home and self-monitored my health for 7 more days. The government’s so-called “3+4” days quarantine scheme is very misleading because it takes a total of 10 days, which includes daily RATs and 5 PCR tests, to fulfill the government’s imposed requirements for everyone arriving from overseas.
I took the 10 days as bonus holidays to organize and transition myself back to reality, to a challenging life in a deteriorating city with no hope of improving in the near future. What’s the plan now? I really don’t know. May God continue to guide my steps, one step at a time. 🙏🏻
An Unexpected Funeral
Went out for a walk in the nearby park on this Sat. evening as I wasn’t in the mood for social activities. I could use a little solitary time to reflect on an unexpected funeral I attended this afternoon.
The funeral was for my good friend’s 8-year-old daughter, Emily, whom I have never met in person. From what I could gather from the testimonials, photos, and videos at the memorial service, Emily has an infectious smile, she does not envy, loves music, party, and has a peculiar enjoyment in speed. I would have loved to meet her if God didn’t have her life cut short.
I don’t know why God would send Emily to this world with complications and disability, and I don’t know why He would take her back from my friend after just 8 short years. It just so happened that I was visiting town and had extended my stay that I could attend Emily’s funeral and offer my minimal emotional support for my friend. It just so happened that I was visiting town 5 years ago that I referred my friend to his current job. It also just happened that I was quitting my job more than 15 years ago when my friend was hunting for one and took over mine. I just so happened to be there when my friend needed help. God seems to have a special role for me to play in this good friend’s life. However, I’m out of words to comfort my friend and I can’t pretend to understand what he is going through right now. I can only pray to the God who knows all things to comfort my friend and his family and to help them through this difficult time. 🙏🏻
2 Months
It has been more than 2 months since I left HK to visit Canada, where I last set foot 4 years ago. Time really flies!
Have been sleeping a lot, met and caught up with many friends, and completed a spontaneous mini art project. I’ve rest enough and have seen most of my friends by now. Entering my remaining month here in Toronto, I’ll need to spend more time planning and working. Bought a laptop and a cheap 3D printer and have quickly setup a tiny digital fabrication studio in my sister’s basement. This will likely be what I’ll be doing if I were to move back to Canada, plan to give myself a few weeks of “job shadowing” to experience what it feels like first.
May God continue to guide my remaining trip. 🙏🏻
