Another Saturday-another round in circling the shopping malls. I’m beginning to feel like they should just call it “Groundhog Weekend” here in sprawling Shopping Mall USA and get it over with. At least when I alighted from the Star Ferry, I was a man on a mission. And with luck ( or lack of it) as I bestrode the steps toward central there would be some weird ass Indian guy to tell me what luck had in store for me.
Here, I know what’s in store for me when I wake up on a Saturday-the script always remains the same. It’s definitely time to go shoot this movie on location.
Or maybe get a new leading lady.
Sigh……………….. Then again, I did play golf this last weekend. Now its just getting more than a little chilly.
Still, today had its ups and downs-and in a way is kind of a good analogy for my current existence. There are lessons to be learned from it.
So lets recap it!
Waking up on Saturday here is probably the best part of the week. I always wake up before the S.O.. No hangovers et al-that would presume one actually gets to go out and boom at bar the night before. The only booming I get to do is on business trips. I’d kill for a night in Wanchai.
However waking up and making the coffee by myself is kind of nice. I can sit, read the paper, check my e-mail-mostly just savor the time alone. I find that as I get older-I enjoy being to myself. No one to tell me what to do but me. Not always mind you, but more than my younger years. Maybe its cause I know I can please my self.
And lately, often have to. ( TOO MUCH INFORMATION!)
All good things come to an end though and I hear the stirrings of 127 pounds of Japanese femininity and selfishness stirring in the other room. Damn! I though she said she was tired?
Soon enough the cycle begins, ” Kigaite!” ( She wants to get the laundry started). ” Shokuji sukute!” (Make breakfast). I’d better hurry too-its time to get the other half of her birthday present today.
Which is Ok, because the lady at the store had taken pity on me earlier, by telling me to wait till Saturday-when not only will I get the sale discount, but an additional 20% with the Saturday coupon which I had already cut out. We also wanted to get there in time to get a deli meat slicer, so as to cut our own shabu-shabu meat-and the same coupon was going to save a bundle on that item too.
Breakfast finished, whining complete, off we set on our journey.
At the store we find our items in quick order. “Great lets get going!”, says I.
“I just want to get to look at one more thing.”
Uh-oh.
” I think its time we got a new comforter for the bed”.
” Why the hell do we need one of those-at a $100 dollars per set? I mean, the old one looks just fine, we’ve got a nice warm blanket, and besides its not exactly like we have been thrashing around to toss it off the bed lately….”
Or words to that effect. I may have only mouthed the last part of the sentence in my mind. I can’t recall.
Probably at that point I should have turned and walked away to check out. Instead I uttered those famous last words:
“Fine, just pick it out-but hurry the f**k up!”
That particular purchase was not in my budget whatsoever. I was pissed.
And the S.O. knew it too-she seemed to have figured out rather quickly that she had pushed the line-and she started playing catch up ball. ” Lets go have lunch at the Vietnamese restaurant you said you have been wanting to try. ”
“What???, Every time I have suggested it before you have said you had no desire to try it.” ( It’s not the food she dislikes-its the country of origin that bothers her.)
So we go. Interestingly enough its one of those hole in the wall restaurants that seems to have a fair amount of native’s eating there-so I take that as a good sign. When the waitress came up and asked us what I wanted to drink, I had flash backs to 4 floors of a certain high rise building, situated at the top end of a another shopping district. The dulcet tones of a Vietnamese accent were unmistakable. She even had the right amount of “swish” in her skirt as she walked away to get the tea………………..
Double sigh.
We decided on Pho soup and some spring rolls-want to keep it light. There were still things to do.
As it turned out-this was something of a find. The Pho soup was good-especially with some pepper sauce and soy mixed in, the spring rolls were pretty authentic too. ( Note to self-start emulating Sourrain and carrying your camera with you on these expeditions….).
But we both liked it a lot-we made a resolution to come back again.
Now the sun is hanging lower in the sky. We’re burning daylight cowboys and it is time to keep my other promise: Take the S.O. to a “Christmas Tree show” at famous German rocket scientist center.
Only problem? It was not a show-and it was not free. 10 dollars poorer and parked way out on the south forty-in we go. Remember I said it was not a show? Call it a collection of merchandise-and only about 1/4 of it was about Christmas. I knew I should have dumped her there and gone and changed the oil on the car.
But here we are.
Most of it was girl stuff-jewlery, clothes, nick-nacks, that kind of stuff. I did find a booth selling corn relish and had lots of crackers for free samples. As I was munching on my fifth one- I saw it.
The big wide screen HD TV with Alabama-LSU game on, and a huge herd of men crowded around it. Some benevolent soul had anticipated the boredom factor and gambled that this would have a positive effect by keeping the men and the women in there longer.
It worked.
Now normally I loathe Alabama football-but this was an ” any port in the storm” kind of moment. Besides the Tide was on a roll up the field inside the 30 yard line and down by 6 points. Not for long though, because two plays later they scored-tie ball game.
Now if they just served beer-this might not be so bad after all.
LSU gamely makes an attempt to come back-but soon after the cell phone rings, ” You did not forget about going to Costco did you?”
No-but I hoped that you had. God forbid we could forget to go there.
Oh how the mighty have fallen……………… What was it I said six months ago?
I will be in the US soon enough living the mundane and tedious existence that is life in suburban America. For the good of my mind, my soul, and my desire for excitement-some long overdue steps up and down Lockhart Road are in order.
Did I miss anything? Not to worry, I’ll just pick it up next week. Same script-different day.
Those steps up Lockart Road are still in order and long overdue………………………….
Skip: You’re making it difficult for me to think of settling down back in Oz any time soon…