I made a change to the way I celebrate my son’s 47^th birthday. Instead of just arranging a sumptuous dinner followed by a birthday cake, I asked him to do some tracking with me to the reservoir on that day. He was somewhat surprised by my suggestion but quickly motivated by it and so was I. I know we always treasure doing something together.

That morning he came early around 10 am, to my amazement instead of taking his car, he biked all the way from his home which took him at least 90 minutes. He recently has been doing a lot of cycling and exhibited strength in that that he could cycle for long distances. Well, given that our tracking would also take some 3 hours to finish, I thought he might feel a little fatigue afterwards. He likes Cadbury orange chocolate biscuit hence I threw a few packs into my backpack in case he needed to replenish his energy during our walk. Two of us, happily left home and walked to the reservoir which entrance is about 20 minutes away from where I live. It was indeed a very nice day, sky is blue and breeze is cool and I was undeniably a very happy father taking his ‘young’ son to track in the hills surrounding the reservoir, an activity very frequently pursued by us when he was small and I was younger. Such nice memories emerged as we began climbing up the 100-step concrete stairway leading to the top of the dam. I pant a little but was able to reach the top without falling too much behind him. At the top we checked the map of the trail and decided to go to Da Tong Lookout where we could enjoy a fabulous view of the so-called “Thousand Island Lake”.

We exchanged chit chats all the way and from time to time he asked me to be careful climbing those steps or rocks on upward directions. I assured him that dad is still physically capable of negotiating the terrain. However, I happily cherished the warmth of care. I asked him whether he had noticed any aging in my movements as well as my body language. I did not mind at all when he said the affirmative as in some ways I know I could depend on him as I become older in the future. I felt very comfortable about this as I know he would take care of his parents no matter what. The views were fantastic throughout our entire walk and a lot of pictures and videos were captured. At the Lookout, the view was fantastic. Before we left the scene, we settled on a bench quenching our thirst and all the packets of Cadbury Orange Chocolate biscuits were consumed. On our way down the hills to the end of the track, we came to a small café to have some snacks. I asked him if he enjoyed the walk and might be he would write something about the day. He happily said yes. For that I was extremely pleased that somehow my love of putting things down on paper had eventually inspired him to follow suit. I would be thrilled to see his article in the future. We took a bus home after the walk. Our two dogs were waiting for us at the outside of our estate taking their routine pee walk. They were extremely excited when they saw us and so were we.

Three days later he presented his first passage filled with memories of his various birthdays and those gifts that came along. I could see my son was kind of blessed in the way he was brought up and that he in many ways has grown to be a cheerful person, full of expectations and thankfulness on what life has given him. As a father, nothing is more cherished with the knowledge that he has a part to play in seeing his son happy and contented.

The 47^th birthday of Jeremy of course also finished off with a homemade dinner full of seafood and a roast goose leg – a Choi family traditional delicacy for the birthday boy. I bought some clams for Jeremy to cook with Sake wine that I always relish very much. 9^th March 2022 was indeed a very nice day to remember.