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We all look forward to April. Simone's birthday at the start of April heralds a succession of celebrations, including Easter and Mother's Day. Simone's Birthday this year was especially fun, with Georgia now old enough to relish the thought of presents, and she really got into the spirit of happily giving Simone her Birthday presents. The smell of pink lilies reminds us of Hong Kong from when she was here in 2003, and so a quick raid on the Flower Market yielded a swag of them. Champagne and strawberries completed Simone's birthday breakfast (and made the gift unwrapping an unhurried, happy affair). Byron also joined in, especially once all the wrapping was on the floor. He felt it was a gift for him, and had a big smile as he reduced torn paper to shreds.
Easter followed soon after. Another breakfast, this time featuring chocolate in many guises. Tea and hot-cross buns competed with Easter eggs for room in everyone's tum. Life is full of difficult choices! Remarkably, these choices became even more difficult when we went to the Mandarin Oriental for an Easter High Tea, which featured a buffet of chocolate delights. Even chocolate fiends like Georgia and I
were overcome by the never-ending availability of chocolate in every form, from eggs to cakes to sweets. Nonetheless, we gave the array a good shake. Byron joined in, and wore more than a smile - his face had many happy chocolate smears! And then the Easter Bunny arrived - a huge, pink, slightly unbalanced looking rabbit. Georgia was so happy. She shook his hand (paw?), patted him, and finally gave him a hug. Byron was also delighted, and showed it by giving non-too-gentle taps on the Easter Bunny's head.
For a change of pace, and to lose some of the butt-lard that comes with pleasant celebrations, we went for a hike along the Hong Kong trail, ending in Stanley. There were about 20 of us. At the halfway mark the trail splits. One route goes around the mountain, the other over it. A misguided group of us went over. It is one of those walks that has false summits - it looks like you're nearly there, and then there's another part of the hill. One of our intrepid group, Candy, wore the not uncommon for Hong Kong designer jeans and top, and looked delightfully out of place at the
top of the Twin Peaks. Most people had the "serious hiker" kit on, but Candy just looked composed and elegant among our more motley group. Our house was the final stop, with much needed food and refreshments and a game of tennis.
ANZAC Day was also soon upon us. Around 600 people attended the dawn service at the Cenotaph in Central. As always, it was a moving service, and it seems to me to be the most important of Australia's national days.
With the weather finally warming up, coolish morning visits to the beach became more pleasant. Then the pool opened, and things haven't looked back since. Georgia and Byron love the pool. Georgia is composed and plays with her sand toys on the side of the pool, occasionally testing the depths by walking down the steps. Byron just embraces the water as a venue for chaos. He runs to the side of the pool and smilingly steps into the enticing water that is inevitably over his head. Only the firm grip I have on the back of his life jacket stops an unwelcome descent. Unfazed, he races along the shallow area, and stops to splash around.
Georgia also started at a local pre-school, St Peters. She has a very cute light blue uniform, and goes there for a few hours four days a week. It was quite a brave thing for her to do, but she fitted in well and quickly enjoyed the company of the other children and all the games they play. Georgia catches the school bus at the bottom of our drive, and travels 500 meters to the school.
The focus then shifted again to Simone, and the well deserved celebration of Mother's Day. After cards and gifts in the morning, we went out for a special lunch. Georgia must have sensed it was Simone's special day, and she was especially lovely to Simone, giving her flowers and a lot of Mother's Day kisses. Byron always wants to hug Simone, so the lunch was filled with happy embraces. And then we all went to a wonderful playground where Georgia and Byron slide and climb and swing to their heart's content.
Soon after there was a chance to revisit our own earlier years. Deep Purple was performing in Hong Kong, and a friend had spare tickets. More out of curiosity than enthusiasm
we accepted, and had a night of familiar music played unreasonably but necessarily loud, in the company of our contemporaries who are, like us, are greatly changed from the time we used to listen to Deep Purple as a rite of passage. Spooky. The person who said time is a healer was thinking of something other than looks.
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