Hong Kong: New Territories

The following morning, Stellar woke up alone in the bed. She was thankful that she did, because all she wanted to do at the moment was to be left alone so she could wallow in self-pity.

Yeah, that's how you welcome the New Year, Stellar, when you just promised that you would love yourself more this year.

Her cheeks puffed in her attempt to forcefully blow out the heavy air that was weighing down on her chest.

Last night, she dreamed about Beau. In her dream, she was begging him to stay. She clearly heard him say 'never', but in the end, he turned his back on her and left her in the dark.

Or maybe she heard him say what she wanted him to say? Whatever. Stellar tried to lock the nightmare in a chest.

Suddenly, the sound of the shower stopped, and it snapped Stellar from her reverie.

She quickly shut her eyes and pulled the duvet over her head when the door creaked open.

She didn't know why she had to pretend that she was asleep, but the longer she spent time with Holden, the more conscious she got about his proximity.

It didn't help that he was gentlemanly towards her all the time while Stellar, on the other hand, was thinking of ways to get a glimpse of his abs.

He definitely had those buns. She felt it last night. Snapping her from her nefarious thoughts was Holden's voice calling her back to Earth.

"Rise and shine, Star," Holden greeted. His voice was warm and inviting, and his tone was heartfelt rather than a robotic greeting.

Pulling the duvet down, Stellar mused, "How did you know I was up?"

"Your feet."

"My feet?" Stellar angled her head, confusion apparent on her face.

Her eyes then wandered down to her chest, then her belly. Lastly, all the way to her exposed feet where she saw her toes fighting swords with each other.

"Oh," the vowel rolled off her tongue as she quickly bent her knees to hide her feet under the duvet.

"Are you okay?"

"Why? Why did you ask?" Stellar's eyes wiggled.

"You didn't answer my question."

"I am okaaay, I guess?"

"Ok." Holden smiled in response. He wanted to ask Stellar why she was crying in her sleep, but swept it under the rug.

He didn't want to trigger any ugly thoughts that might dampen her mood, especially on the first day of the year. "The toilet is all yours."

Stellar's eyes widened. Checking the time on her phone, she let out a sigh of relief upon seeing it was still six in the morning.

"Woooow. I'm up early," she mused. "Why do we wake up early when we're staying in a different place? I noticed that I wake up earlier when I'm on a business trip."

"You do?"

"Oh," Stellar paused. She realized that Holden was mostly confined in the seminary and was used to a rigid schedule, so there was no way he would understand her sentiment. "Yeah. Maybe I should switch houses now and then so I would always wake up early. Ha ha!"

"Or just set your alarm a minute earlier than the previous day."

"Ha ha. Thanks for the tip," Stellar nervously laughed at Holden's suggestion. She didn't want to tell him she tried that trick before, but she still ended up waking up an hour later than her alarm clock.

She then swung her leg off the bed and went over her stuff to prepare her outfit of loose grey t-shirt, leggings, and rubber shoes.

Once they were dressed and ready for their morning activity, the two headed out of the apartment and grabbed breakfast at Lan Fong Yuen.

They almost missed the spot, passing by the place twice before they realized that they had to enter a tight space on a discreet side to enter the tea place.

While they were waiting for their orders to be served, Stellar mused that had they not visited the place on a holiday, tourists might be flocking the place and they would easily find their destination.

Holden laughed, his shoulders shaking in delight. He tugged his ear and said, "I had an inkling this was the place you wanted to dine in when we passed by the place the second time, but your nose was glued to your phone looking at the map."

Stellar covered her face with both hands. "Oh, snap. That's embarrassing."

Peeling her hand off her face, Holden gingerly held onto Stellar's wrists. "Relax. It was a good cardio for the new year."

The way Holden stifled his smile vexed Stellar more, but she was distracted when she caught a whiff of food gravitating towards them. She swore she heard her stomach rumble.

As expected, their tray came with the teahouse's signature dishes. Once the server left, two piping hot milk tea, a pork chop bun sliced in half, and two slices of traditional French toast with coconut butter filled Stellar and Holden's table.

Earlier, they agreed to split the burger and toast in half so they could each taste what the buzz was all about.

As if in sync, Holden transferred a slice of toast to Stellar's plate, who then transferred half of the pork chop bun on Holden's plate.

The two ate in silence, nodding as they chewed. "Not bad," Holden mused, blowing air on his milk tea to warm it to his liking. His plate was empty, and the fork and knife were neatly placed on the side.

"Yeah. This milk tea is bomb, though," Stellar commented. She peered on her wristwatch, and an alarm flooded her face. "Let's hurry up a bit. Our guide must be waiting for us."

Holden nodded his head. Half an hour later, they met their tour guide outside an MTR station, waiting for them and the rest of the group who signed up for her cultural bike tour to the New Territories.

Unlike Hong Kong Island or Kowloon, the New Territories region was preserved from the ever-expanding urbanization in Hong Kong.

It was the reason why Stellar opted for the tour as a way to clear her mind and enjoy the countryside of Hong Kong.

"Don't you think we're weird? We're the only ones wearing helmets." Stellar whispered as Holden tightened the strap under her chin.

"Better safe than sorry," Holden responded. "Besides, you don't want your insurance premium skyrocketing after you end up in the hospital with a concussion."

"You're riiiight." Stellar gaped at Holden in amazement.

Call her a careless trust-fund baby, but she never understood how a little trip to the hospital half a year ago ended up with her paying ten percent more than her premium, but she still paid for it nonetheless.

It all made sense to Stellar now after Holden explained it to her. Tapping her helmet, she grinned at Holden and sent him a thumbs up.

The group of ten then rode their bikes, straying from the beaten path of Hong Kong travel guide books and vloggers.

Breathing in the picturesque riverfront view as she pedalled, Stellar didn't notice that they reached their first pit stop—Lam Tsuen Wishing Tree.

Artificial banyan trees scattered in the compound adorned with the lively color of round oranges and red spiritual papers were a sight to behold.

According to the tour guide, legend has it that a villager survived a near death experience, and started offering to the camphor trees.

The villager's miraculous healing story spread from one town to another, and soon, people flocked the tiny village to offer prayers and wishes.

To date, however, artificial trees replaced the original trees due to the weight of the offerings snapping branches of the once mighty camphor tree.

After the group's brief stop in the wishing tree, because they weren't keen on writing down their wishes and just took a photo of the place, they then rode their bikes for an hour or maybe two, towards the northern part of New Territories called Ping Shan.

A walled city built some 900 years ago, historical buildings and temples were near its dilapidation.

Since this part of Hong Kong wasn't popular, unlike most of its tourist destinations, one could guess that the places were left to outlive the test of time, and were given little or no care at all.

Despite its ruin, Stellar felt herself being transported back in time. While walking, she imagined herself as one of the villagers they met earlier.

She could see herself wearing a cute purple cheongsam, because she didn't like the traditional black one they wore, and of course, the oversized hat with black sheer cloth draping just below their eyes to shield it from the sun.

Snorting at her silliness, she stole a peep at Holden and imagined him wearing a traditional Hakka clothing too. However, no matter how much she tried to picture him wearing one, all that flashed in her mind was him wearing a gold and red silk robe fit for an emperor.

"Here, have some water," Holden offered, breaking Stellar's reverie. She thanked him first before accepting the bottle of water in his hand.

"What's our next stop?" she asked. She was so lost in her daydreaming that the guide's instructions didn't register in her head.

"Lunch."

With that magic word, Stellar beamed. All the hours she clocked in from biking were then paid with a table spread of different dishes cooked from fresh seafood they bought in the market.

After their six-hour trip, Stellar and Holden dragged their feet back to their rented studio.

They were discussing whether they should ditch dinner or check out a popular Michelin star restaurant near them.

Her eyes were on Holden as they considered their options when she noticed him halting in his step.

"Hey, something wrong?" she asked when a wry smile painted Holden's face.

Tracing his gaze, Stellar's mouth hung open when her eyes landed on the Airbnb's door.

In the flesh, and lazily leaning on the wall beside the door, was Beau Spencer.