The day started normally enough, with me cosying up to the heater with a cup of hot chocolate as TaiTai bustled around the house demanding a getaway to anywhere sunny to avoid the chill that has engulfed Hong Kong — colder than Sochi, as she keeps reminding me.
But even the sub-10 degree temperature here did not stop TaiTai from getting me to do her bidding, pushing me out of the door in the evening to buy her some groceries (not that I count quinoa and goji berries as food).
It would have been fine were it not for the fact that on my way home, laden with bags, I bumped into two young bucks from the club walking down the street with drinks in their hands.
They had just finished wooing some potential clients at a fancy bar a couple of blocks away, and — so as not to let the night end too soon — were heading to another local joint to drink some more.
I couldn’t help but look longingly after them as they sauntered off, and for a moment I contemplated ditching the groceries and joining them for some gossip and a rare night out.
But as I trudged home to a waiting TaiTai, visions of warmth, food and the latest episode of The Bridge filled my thoughts. And I realised then that it was too late for an old dog like me to go back to his old tricks.