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Published: January 16th 2010
While Christmas was an explosion of happiness, the days that took us to the end of the year were filled with little joys, like repeated breakfasts of delicious Christmas ham, of children rediscovering and investigating their wonderful new toys, of seeing them wear the beautiful clothes people had chosen for them with such care, of reading on the beach in the weak but pleasant sun while Byron happily ate sand and Georgia played with her beach toys, of sitting on a swing with Byron as Georgia tried to go ever faster down the slide, and of long languid lunches with Simone in some of our favourite eateries.
It seems the year is a rush to Christmas, and then, only briefly, is the respite of a few days of calm happily locked in succession. Festive New Year's Eve comes soon enough.
For New Year's Eve, as we did last year, we disguised ourselves in black-tie respectability and went to a party generously hosted by Jardines, one of the original Taipan companies of Hong Kong. It kicked off at 10.30pm with wine and food at the Noon Day Gun at Causeway Bay, where we stayed until the firing of the gun
at midnight. It was quite a ceremony, and that was followed immediately by fireworks over the harbour. A few more drinks and we were on a junk headed for Central and the penthouse of Jardine House, just in time for the traditional early breakfast and free-flowing Champagne. Hong Kong looked stunning from the balcony, and inside, some good friends were helping us welcome the New Year.
And after the indulgence and celebration there was room for sentimental reflection. Waiting in a taxi queue with a cast of jovial people heading home from pleasant celebrations, and in the taxi for the longish ride back to Stanley, we talked about our good fortune in the decade just gone: we'd lived in Nairobi, Canberra and Hong Kong, and for lesser periods, Beijing, Beirut and Ankara; we celebrated milestones of living together for 27 years, and being married for 15; sadly, Simone's father passed away, but others we love have come thorugh their health scares; and Georgia and then Byron joined our lives, bringing so much love and joy in so many unexpected ways.
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