Breakfast at KowLoon (Retro 09/16/09)










Man steps through the doorway, he is greeted and seated at the corner; his thoughts momentarily focused on what he wants and then his desires are then transferred to a pre-printed leaflet by a series of ticks and later converted into milk tea and a scramble eggs cheese sandwich. As the ration makes its way to his table, he couldn’t but to smile because for now, at least some of his wishes has come true. He picks up the teaspoon set beside the cup of Milk tea and stirred it not more and not less but 29 times. No, he doesn’t have OCB but it is just one of his habits that he never wants to break because someone close to him used to say that it would build up his patience as it would make him slow down and ponder.



1,2,3,4,5,6,7…


“I knew her for months but we never really talked at the beginning. The only things I know about her are from her blog and her social network pages. Stalking her? I wouldn’t believe it to be so because I was just going through readily available information. We talked a fair amount of times but still I don’t seem to be able to get through to the side of her world. Sometime we could talk and talk and talk but in the end, we only have more questions than answers. But sometimes, our conversations are short but it leaves me feeling connected. At times I would be thinking about her all day, wondering what she is doing and just thinking about the what and could have might have been if she was right here, right now. But on days like these, I find myself feeling distanced and indifferent. I would rather lift up all my draw bridge, braced my gates, thicken the walls and build a moat around me then try get to her on the other side. You know things could be worse but for now…”


…25, 26,27,28,29


He knew that in less than four months, he will not be doing it 29 times anymore but 30 times. He lifts up his milk tea and finished its lukewarm content in an instant, leaving the cheesy egg sandwich half undone. And like a man who had just have his daily shot of a hundred dollar hooker or maybe a guy who just has just felt his girlfriend’s silicon humps- "satisfied but empty," he walks up to the counter to pay the exact change of $HK29 and then leaves through the same doorway he came in and vanishes into the busy street of Kow Loon and finding his way back to his service apartment in Sai Kung.