destination hong kong: postcards from … {day 3}

Who we are today, is a reflection of our past. No matter how much we may want to change the past, hide it, relive it, and for some, deny it, the past plays a big role in shaping who we become in the future.

The following photos are centered around my grandmother (mama – father’s mother). Like many people from her generation, she has gone through her fair share of hardships. But unlike many who chose to move on and embrace what they have, my mama has the unfortunate habit of seeing the glass as being always half-empty. As a grandchild who grew up with little hardship, it is easy to judge, easy to ignore her daily ramblings as rants of bitterness.

Mama has aged a lot. She complains of aches and pains but she rarely is ever ill. Her weight has dropped under 100 pounds and she hasn’t washed her hair in weeks (if not months). Her daily routine has become one of getting up past midday, making herself a coffee, watching TV for hours before reheating some food for dinner, then some more TV, before bed at 9pm. That is her day and her life. Whenever I visit my mama, I try to encourage her to go for an afternoon walk. She used to by her own accord. Then she stopped. When ever we do go for a walk around Quarry Bay, all the other oldies wave and say, “Big sister, long time no see! Where have you been? Come walk more!”. You see, my mama has a reputation around Sai Wan Ho, Sau Kei Wan, and Quarry Bay. She is the grannypoo with a head full of white cauliflower-like hair, and a voice that you can hear from miles away.

My mama’s apartment is littered with photographs. Photographs of herself, of her grandchildren, of her children – mostly of her grandchildren. If there is something that makes her happy, it is her grandchildren. Not many people have photos displayed everywhere anymore. The digital age made sure of that. So it is refreshing to walk into a home and to be immediately greeted with generations of memories in the simply format of a printed photograph.

The past guides us directly and indirectly towards something. We have the power to choose who we want to be, but we can never remove our roots. I will always be mama’s grandchild, and in some shape and form, carry the burden of the hardships the family has endured.

In the evening, I went hiking with my uncle. It poured. No joke. It absolutely poured. Needless to say, we had to stop and return. I cannot remember the last time I was caught in heavy rain in Hong Kong. It felt oddly exciting. So I whipped out my camera and took a few photos whilst waiting for #9 bus to take us back to Sau Kei Wan (from Shek O). I was half-expecting Totoro to rock up and stand next to us at the bus stop, with his big leaf as his umbrella. Unfortunately, neither Totoro or the Cat Bus eventuated. Shortly afterwards, it thunderstorm-ed.