Fifty shades of green
A loud succession of honking on the nearby street wakes Lizzie up at 7am on the first day of her long weekend. She was expecting a late morning in bed to recover from a taxing week at work, but the city, apparently, had decided otherwise. She picks up her mobile phone to see if James had sent her any messages. She can only see an old one confirming a dinner with his friends from the golf club for tonight. A dinner and the prospect of meeting new people is always something that cheers her up but somehow it’s dampened by the fact that they are all golf players and she has something against golf, against the status that surrounds it, coupled with the fact that she sees it as a useless form of exercise. She far prefers doing a few hours of yoga at her favourite studio in Hong Kong. Or take her bike for a ride in the city. Or go hiking somewhere. But golf, really? She then wonders how she ended up with James who evidently doesn’t share much with her in terms of value. But then she remembers how handsome he looks despite his 57 years and his white hair and beer belly. His smile, his dimples, and the way he carries himself won her over. And he is witty. And he is Brit: she has a soft spot for them and their cute accent. Furthermore, men usually get tired of her or she gets bored with them, but somehow James has been the exception so far.
Lizzie suddenly decides that this is enough introspection for such an early morning : she had decided shortly after she met him that he was the right one and that it was more than time to settle down and have a stable and long term relationship. Nobody is perfect and she makes a mental note to bear that in mind next time a wave of exasperation would suddenly submerge her. Now it’s time for action, so she quickly gets up, goes into the bathroom to wash her face, and looks at herself in the mirror. Her large amazing blue eyes have always been admired from the time she was a baby and she is quite pleased with herself every time she looks at them. It helps her forget about her short thin hair that she can never seem to improve on, regardless of the new promising hair treatments she keeps on trying. Then she gets on the scale which, coupled with her Fitbit app, callously records her weight day in and day out. Luckily, she doesn’t have any problem in that department, but she likes to remain vigilant. Some, like James, even say that she could carry a few more kilos but she usually simply ignores them. She is very careful with her calorie intake and almost religious about her ten thousand steps daily goal.
Next comes planning her day. She has a lot of free time before dinner. James is at the golf course, like every Saturday, so they are only meeting up at 7pm. Planning is her favourite exercise: she loves exploring possibilities and various activities. She always tries to fit in as many things as humanely possible in a day. She decides to do an early yoga class and to text her friend Anouk to see if she would be keen on going to Lantau for a two hour hike followed by swimming at the nearby PuiO beach then a late lunch at the newly opened beach bar which many people have recommended. Then she will have time to come back to the city and get ready. She lives in the heart of the city, in Wan chai, and therefore could only afford a tiny apartment without putting her early retirement saving plan in danger. Other than that, it’s the perfect location: close to the MTR, to shops and most importantly to her office and yoga studio.
Anouk and Lizzie meet at the ferry pier in Central to take the forty-five minutes boat ride which will take them to Lantau island. Even though they have been there many times, they are always shocked by the contrast with the main island of Hong Kong. Here it is a simple village with low rise buildings surrounded by small mountains and beaches. Nothing fancy but nature is evident everywhere. It is quiet and peaceful as if they had suddenly been transported into the middle of nowhere.
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