[Diary of the Absurd Life in 1997:
All Entries]

TH: Diary of the Absurd Life in 1997, in 28 sections, was written originally in Chinese by Mary Wong and serialised in Ming Pao 明報 in 1997. The pieces, translated into English by Chris Song, are serialised in Cha beginning from Monday 25 September 2023.

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Cacarola

25/28

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“Take us to Duck Street, no, it should be… Duckling Street. No, that’s not it—Roast Duck Street. It’s in Coloane, anyhow, the street that has something to do with ‘duck’,” said Kwong, rummaging through her heart-shaped handbag, unable to find the address Lily had given her. Macau taxi drivers usually know their way to restaurant, but this restaurant was neither as large-scale as Golden Dragon or as well-known as Fernando’s. Perhaps this particular driver didn’t fancy ducks, making him insensitive to streets themed around it. “Why did Lily pick this restaurant?” “She enjoyed its rustic ambiance, reminiscent of a Hou Hsiao-hsien film, and, of course, its authentic Portuguese cuisine. You know Lily; she’s a food-loving feminist,” I replied, my tone subtly ironic. Silent, the driver took us to a roundabout and rolled down the window. The strong scent of barbecue wafted in. People were gathered around a grill by the roadside—some standing, some sitting on rocks, children taking the opportunity to perch on motorbikes. It looked like a neighbourhood cookout. We looked up and saw a neon sign featuring a flat-bottomed pot, the restaurant’s name inscribed on the handle. “It’s Water Duck Street,” exclaimed Kwong, acting as if she’d made the discovery. The morose driver took his fare and left, barely concealing his impatience with two Hong Kong girls who had no understanding of Macau other than their fleeting visit for a meal.

Lily was alone on the terrace, engrossed in a book. As she read, the pointed blue hat she was wearing obscured half her face, lending her an air of haughtiness. “Let’s start with this bottle of Portuguese red wine; it’s lighter and more approachable. Then we’ll move on to this bottle, a bit more robust, and then this one,” said a white woman at the next table. She held her glass with three fingers, her grip neither too firm nor too relaxed, exuding a graceful disposition. “Drinking wine is like storytelling; it has its own sequence,” observed Kwong, who seemed to have taken an instant lesson in the matter. “Lily, I’m thinking of doing Feminist Studies at Victoria Peak University,” said Kwong with all sincerity. “Who even studies Feminism at Victoria Peak anymore? That place is out,” responded Lily. “Well, what’s in then?” a man at a neighbouring table chimed in, pricking up his ears. Another continued to mansplain.

How to cite: Song, Chris and Mary Wong. “Cacarola.” Cha: An Asian Literary Journal, 19 Oct. 2023, chajournal.blog/2023/10/19/cacarola.

Mary Shuk-Han Wong 黃淑嫻 (author) is a Hong Kong writer. Her short story collection Surviving Central (中環人; 2013) received the “25th Secondary School Students’ Best Ten Books Award.” Her essay collections include How to Live the Sad Days (悲傷的日子如何過; 2021), Against the Grain (亂世破讀; 2017), and From Kafka (理性的遊藝：從卡夫卡談起; 2015). She has also published an online poetry collection, Cave Whispers (絕地抒情; 2022), in collaboration with Hong Kong composer and photographer. She was the co-producer and literary advisor of two literary documentaries: 1918: Liu Yichang (1918：劉以鬯紀錄片; 2015) and Boundary: Leung Ping Kwan (東西：也斯紀錄片; 2015).

Chris Song (translator) is a poet, editor, and translator from Hong Kong, and is an assistant professor in English and Chinese translation at the University of Toronto Scarborough. He won the “Extraordinary Mention” of the 2013 Nosside International Poetry Prize in Italy and the Award for Young Artist (Literary Arts) of the 2017 Hong Kong Arts Development Awards. In 2019, he won the 5th Haizi Poetry Award. He is a founding councilor of the Hong Kong Poetry Festival Foundation, executive director of the International Poetry Nights in Hong Kong, and editor-in-chief of Voice & Verse Poetry Magazine. He also serves as an advisor to various literary organisations.

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