A trip back home

Niko once told us that,

the person who he would probably missed the most in Pune, India was the waiter at the Shisha bar which Aman and he went to almost 4 - 5 times per week.

The waiter who always changed the coals for them and they could see sweat dripping down his face.

Niko said it's weird that sometimes, even though there was no in-depth engagement,

it is these people that you interact with day to day becomes a memorable part of your life.

I found that weird too.

The moment that really made me felt like "I am finally home" was,

My concierge saw me as I went to book a study room,

She yelled in a high-pitch voice to tease me: "Woww, look who's here! You don't need to come back to Canada eh? "

I chuckled and admitted that I have been away for a year.

I know she knew.

It's good to be back.

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As everyone knows, there are lots of fancy food places in Vancouver.

Lots of innovative dishes, and lots of expensive dishes,

I have always liked to explore;

I have tried a couple famous ones, and there were several still on my to-try list,

but this time coming back,

I only want to have my traditional Cheung Fun (Chinese rice noodle roll) from the small bakery shop on Hazelbridge Way;

I only want the Hong Kong style pineapple bun, fresh out of the oven, from Lido, the traditional Hong Kong Cha Chaan Teng in Richmond;

I only want to take a sip of the cheap americano and a bite of those unhealthy blueberry pancakes from Cora, or IHOP or some family-style cheap american brunch restaurant.

How I missed these simplest stuff in my life.

---

I was driving from Richmond to Surrey,

and I have to go on highway 99 South in order to do so.

Highway 99 is a very straight highway that sometimes make you feel like the road goes on forever,

and on each side, there are not much to see,

some very scattered houses and lots of farm lands.

Occasionally, you would pass by a Tim Hortons.

This is a very typical Canadian highway and it reminds me of Highway 401 and Highway 403 back in Ontario.

The highway that we need to take every time from London Ontario, to Toronto Ontario.

Students like us are very familiar with those two highways,

Very familiar with these straight roads that you cannot see an end.

We used to drive to Toronto for bubble tea,

for Sansotei Ramen, for Jabistro's sushi, for Uncle Tetsu's cheesecake,

We drive to Algonquin, to Dundas peak in the fall to see the red maple leaves,

We drive to Wonderland for Halloween, and we would normally be excited to see the first snowfall around that time,

We drive to downtown to see the cherry blossom in the spring, something that I have always made fun of Toronto people because in Vancouver, cherry blossom would be everywhere.

We normally come back late at night,

with 8 bubble teas and a Uncle Tetsu's cheesecake at the back seat,

many times, it would be in the middle of a heavy snowfall.

We would complain about it and weather would always be a topic among us,

but we would always go whenever we want to,

and we would always be speeding.

---

"Is the company's model replicable? Vancouver might not need your company. "

"Yea, I think so, I think it can definitely extend to India, China these developing countries. The policy in those countries are really good for us now and those countries are the ones with the biggest environmental problem."

"But my child,

I am saying,

you will never come back.

You will never come back you see?"

I went silent.