and today we have the day before the first day of work

I woke up to thoughts of living alone in a place near the city core. Being a fifteen-minute walk away from the closest subway station means I will be less inclined to go out. This new domestic tendency would allow me more time to read and write. This morning I read three pages of Borges’s On Writing.

From Canada, I brought back books of Northrop Frye, Guy Vanderheague, Rohinton Mistry, Irving Layton, and Leonard Cohen.

I also reloaded my Canadian indie music fix with Metric and Feist.

The day after coming back to Hong Kong, I bought 3 CDs of 達明一派 and one of 夢劇院. Some tastes never change.

Then I walked around the Gardens. Around my building are children’s amusement centres with token machines and arcade games that sound out high-pitched Japanese voices. Chain shops line up along the streets: SaSa, Bossini, Haagen-Dazs, Colourmix, McDonald’s, Pizza Hut, etc. On Sundays, middle-aged fathers wear polos and Crocs as they take their sons to tutoring classes.

It took me over thirty minutes to get to Sheung Wan by bus, another twenty minutes to find a half decent place to sit and reflect. I’ve been in this café here over twenty minutes and my shirt still sticks to my back like a wet towel. The crepe was a bit burnt. I don’t plan to tell my server. This is agnes b, one of many branches in Hong Kong. The people here are just doing their jobs, working for a faceless owner.

And today we have the day before the first day of work at a new job.