Didn’t realize today (Monday) was a public holiday until last Friday. It just so happened that many of my friends meetups and farewell gatherings were scheduled perfectly within the few days with no overlapping. Met up with 5 different group of friends on 5 separate meals and 3 of which served with alcohol! This certainly helped make up for a little bit of my steep social deficit caused by COVID-19.

Only a few friends remembered my birthday on Saturday, but it’s ok, I kinda feel too old to celebrate bdays since passing 40 anyway. And on the day when I turned 40, one of the biggest democratic movements officially kickstarted and took over the city when hundreds of teargas bombs and weaponry were used against armless protesters. It was the 2nd anniversary of the movement on Saturday and some districts in the city were filled with police officers patrolling the streets, not an atmosphere that called for joyous celebrations. Nonetheless, it felt kinda special to share my bday with the movement, the extra tie makes me feel even more rooted to the city I was born in.

After adhering to social-distancing habits and isolating myself for such a long period during the pandemic, I now cherish my meetup with friends much more. Our conversations seemed to be more blunt and straight-to-the-point. Our meetup time also seemed too short, the dinner gatherings would probably lasted longer if the restaurants didn’t have to close at 10pm under the social-distancing regulations.

In lieu of the current political and pandemic situation in the city, I’m truly grateful to meet and catch up with so many friends during this long weekend. God was gracious and made it even more memorable by letting me bump into a good friend heading to her friend’s bday party on my bday and letting me see (although briefly) for the first time in my life a full rainbow while saying farewell to an old friend returning to Canada!