In 30 days...

"In 30 days, you can accomplish a new skill", she said. "What skill would that be?" Hongkong greeted us with a dryer heat than Singapore offers. And a room with a view of the harbour. "Well I guess it would be calligraphy", I responded. It also felt right, being in China, thinking of calligraphy. 

"In 30 days you will learn to cook something to perfection", she continued. "What would that be?" "Xiao Long Bao", I responded right before I dropped the whole plate with greek salad over my pants, where we sat in a small coffee shop in Gough street. You find these small, pretty places everywhere, where you can sit down for hours and then just walk a little to the next adorable one.

"In 30 days you can be another person and in 30 days you can learn a new language." The beauty with Hongkong is the contrast between modern and historical, anonymous and personal. It is a pretty city, but also very grand and spread out. "And in 30 days you can do something that is a bit difficult for you, but that would make somebody else happy, what would that be?" Well, I'd like to be Obama for a month, learn French and I know it would make my grandmother very happy if I called her every day. Some things are easier to achieve than others. Being Obama, for example. How hard can it be?

We woke up to a clear sky and went for a hike. It was warm, really warm, and the first part of the hike, where the trail was climbing towards the highest peak, had absolutely no escape from the sun. "In 30 days you could make a big difference for the world and in 30 days you could get rid of one of your worst traits," she said.

And while we were watching the view, we discussed things like fresh water in the third world, the situation for refugees and how well it is possible to hide a bad trait. If things were totally different in 30 days, how would they then be?

And we went for lunch, we continued somewhere else for coffee and later stopped to have a glass of wine. We discussed whether this is a city where you might feel a little lonely if you didn't know anyone. "If you could live anywhere in the world for 30 days, where would you live?" And while one was imaginary heading for Italy and the other for Mexico we heard that the typhoon was on it's way and noticed that the air got more and more hazy.

And that last evening we spent with dear friends in Stanley. Walked along the beach, ate duck and heard about how it was growing up in this neighbourhood. And the evening became night and Hongkong's all lights twinkled towards us where we sat in the rooftop bar knowing that there are a lot of things anyone of us can do in 30 days, wondering what actually stops us.