Milk Tea A Story - Part 1

I adore autumn - how summer heat waves slowly vanish into a cool aura of autumn winds, without winter's frozen glamour that makes you an ice statue. Yet, grueso

I adore autumn - its sweeping winds battling over the murdering heat waves of summer, and yet a beautiful transition before winter transcends the city into a ice statue.

After I finished the duties at the dim-sum store, I strolled towards Victoria Park. Welcome to post-graduation period, where seasons don't make a difference in my blank, routine life. Victoria Park, however, remains a classic landmark - the scarce green bushes a breathing ground of nature's nocturne.

It triggered a hallmark of mixed reminiscence again. But I was on a meeting.

Chris and Aiko waved. Chris in his dyed blond hair and 6'1 height that would probably make girls drool. He dropped out in 10th grade, when he won a fight over the famous bodyguard of Tao Clan, he was guaranteed membership by the prestigious dragon clan. Aiko, was Chinese-Thai, and belonged to the IT clique. By July, she was hired by IBM as a computer games designer. Darn, it seems that my life is much translucent.

'Oi, Pandora.' Chris and Aiko greeted me.

'Long time no talk. But aren't you two supposed to be ...working?' I laughed cheekily.

'Causeway Bay is my entire workplace' Chris replied, 'we just opened another arcade, so last time I have to act security guard for a week.'

'I am off for one whole week, after all the work I put in for Calibre Premium edition' Aiko moaned, 'hence the eye bags.'

We walked towards a cafe - wooden chairs and tables, with the traditional checkered green tiles. Since when did 1970s flash back?

'2 dried noodles with pork and mushrooms, 3 milk teas and 1 laksa', Aiko routinely placed the orders for us, as the impatient waiter already stood behind us right after we sat.

The meeting, proved to be a turning point of everything. At least, making Victoria Park a constant escapade or office for me.

Milk tea is best drank sipped, so slowly in a drop by drop sequence, that you could squeeze every tinge of flashbacks, or completely battle over morning dregs. Hence it is always a dilemma.

The conversation was typical - Chris and his ramblings on gangster politics and fights; Aiko's new occupation as full time night owl because of irregular deadlines.

'So all you need to do is sit and sell dim sum?' they sighed.

However, this would soon vanish

As we walked back to Victoria Park, a pale corpse laid explicitly, as if awaiting eternal judgment. The corpse seemed a girl in her teens, with dyed honey-brown hair, there was no trace of beatings. Her eyes closed; her body tilted towards the left; she was perfectly clothed in her tank tops and jeans - was she enchanted under the spell of forever sleeping in this multi-faceted world of ours?

5 minutes after Chris and Aiko left, my Sharp GX22 rang.
I finally finished this piece! Below is a glossary if needed.

*HK traditional cafes tend to have the layout of wooden tables and chairs, and green checkered titles on the floor. It is the typical 1970s vintage look.

*Laksa - spicy Singaporean/Malaysian noodles.

*Dried instant noodles - cooked instant noodles that are dried, often mixed with corn oil. Another cafe dish in HK.

*Dragons: Dragons usually symbolize power and fortune in Chinese astrology, hence the association with a gangster clan name.