Pascal and I have known each other since we were 13 and grew up together in Hong Kong. We didn’t really connect all too often during our teenage years, it was a hello here and a goodbye there with an occasional conversation while eating for the school bus or passing by in the corridor. If I had to put.a number on it, I reckon we had a conversation no more than once a week during those years.
Time is brutal and we eventually parted ways when he had to move back to Canada. Though time is brutal on memories, it has been gracious on Pascal’s youthful and radiant smile. Time also does a funny thing to emotions, we weren’t close back in the day but moving here after all those years made us want to reconnect. After all, how many old friends from Hong Kong would you bump into in central-eastern Canada?
The first time we reconnected was when I visited Pascal in Montreal in the fall of 2020. The sun was shining strong and everyone was in a good mood. I distinctly remember him having a huge head of dark curly hair, but I could recognise him from a block away even after he shaved it off. Some things never change.
Since that first meeting, I’ve seen him again in the new year in 2021 to stay the night at his place. Using three g’s to describe Pascal: he’s incredibly generous with his time, genuine in conversation, and gracious in interaction. Most of our time together was spent either preparing or eating food, some of which included salmon and cream cheese bagels, gnocchi, raclette, and poutine.
Pascal enjoys grocery shopping and finding good food in independent stores. He took me to a place with dozens of varieties of imported cheeses to my delight. He also likes to experiment with different recipes and even tweaks them to his liking. Food is life.
