Happy birthday Buddha

We had a million and one plans today, like going to Lantau to see the giant Buddha on his birthday or going to Cheung Chau to witness the strange and silly Bun Festival. Instead, we went up to the roof and enjoyed our terrace.

We are so not used to having any outdoor space that we keep forgetting that we have a great space upstairs to just relax in. It was great for once not to run around town. First we did a little weeding, removing some absolutely GIANT, mutant clovers, and then we decided to have a little ritual of our own, since it was a spiritual day for the rest of the country.

We decided to honour Grandpa Knipe, revered dramaturge and avid pipe smoker, by offering him something to enjoy in his afterlife. In Hong Kong, when you want to offer something to the dead, you buy its paper version in one of the many shops on Queen's Road West offering everything from paper Louis Vuitton handbags to paper mobile phones and their paper chargers and, luckily for Grandpa, pipes and tobacco.

So we sat and thought of him as the paper offerings burned, reflecting on life and where it has brought us so far. Where to after this, I wonder... What will we be burning next!