Happily Ever After_ - Benison Anne O'Reilly [105]
The DB supermarket stocks Western food, a lot of it familiar Australian brands, the restaurants in the plaza serve pizza and pasta, the local bookstore is a Dymocks and Isabel can still nag me every day for lunch at McDonalds, causing me to occasionally ask myself: did I ever leave home?
However, a twenty-five minute ferry trip to Central Hong Kong is all it takes to remind you that you are in Asia: the noise; the traffic; the neon; the crowds; the bustle; the smells; the constant building works; the glistening glass office towers and luxury brand shops happy to share space with flimsily-constructed street stalls selling cheap clothes and souvenirs, live fish, flowers and hanging meats.
The pace of life is frantic. People slam doors in your face, even when you are holding your child’s hand and don’t think twice about pushing in front of you in line if you hesitate for a second. The quaint British custom of queuing obviously never took off in this former colonial outpost.
Tony would hate to live in the chaos of the city but Discovery Bay almost looks like it was designed with him in mind. At heart he is a man of simple needs: work, family, golf, a gym to work out in, food, sex and sailing - probably in that order too. All are accessible here, although some (I’m talking golf and sailing, not sex) seem to come with a hefty price tag.
The only things about Sydney he will really miss are his school friends, parents and brother and the Wallabies, and none of these deprivations is unsurmountable. There is a rugby sevens tournament here every March and he can catch the other games on satellite. As for family and friends, well, the family is entitled to cheap flights and lots of his mates are finance types who come to Hong Kong regularly themselves.
Andy is talking about visiting soon too, which will be brilliant. I can’t wait to go shopping with him. (Honestly, when is the guy going to come out? There isn’t a heterosexual man on the planet who genuinely likes shopping.)
Yes, I think Discovery Bay will suit my husband well. He has already made an effort to cultivate a few friendships amongst the locals, by joining the Marina Club and hitting the golf course for a couple of outrageously priced rounds. After putting on a couple of kilos over Christmas, I’ve signed up for the gym in a panic but need to follow his lead and seek out a few social outlets myself.
In the meantime I’ve been shopping (mostly for furniture, but with the prices here I may not have bought my last pair of Jimmy Choos!). Our period stuff from back home wouldn’t have fitted in here, so we’ve farmed some of it out to friends and stuck the best pieces in storage. This time I’m going for a streamlined look with Asian influence: dark wood and bright cushions and locally sourced artworks. Our photos and books are still in transit but when they arrive we will have our little home. Oh and Meggs - I miss my kitty cat dreadfully and have just got a couple of quotes from companies which can organise his relocation. I was reluctant to commit to this until I’d reassured myself that our outdoor terrace was big enough to accommodate him, but he’s such a lazy indoor cat he probably wouldn’t have noticed anyway.
Isabel is settling in well. I haven’t yet found her a place in a kindergarten and may not at this late stage, but have filled in an application for next year at the Discovery Bay International School. In the meantime I’ve enrolled her in ballet classes and found a playgroup where we can mix with the other mums and kids. I’m constantly agog at her ability to adapt and make new friends. I’m pretty sure, even at age four, that I never had the confidence of my daughter.
Like most of the expats I have hired an amah to help out a few days a week, and, yes, she’s a Filipino, called Myrna. She’s a few years older than I am, a divorcee, and has two children who live with her mother back home