As light floods the cafe, Sap opens the door and turns the door sign to 'OPEN'.
Yesterday, Flora's parents left Hong Kong for Italy on vacation. Yes, they once again left the cafe to their daughter to take care of. And, inevitably, Sap is helping her best friend.
Frankly, it's not a difficult task. Sap can even have some income during the summer holiday to support her daily expenditure.
Flora is still in the bed. She went to disco last night, taking the yearly opportunity that her parents are not there. Her parents do not allow her to go out at night, as most parents in Hong Kong do. After the first time going out at night while her parents were abroad -- she was sick -- she has never gone on vacation with her parents again.
To Sap, she would not give up any opportunity of going abroad, if she were Flora. Anyway, she is not Flora, and Flora is not her. Lest, she would not be there, in the Light Cafe, in the Light Pavilion.
Cleaning the tables, the wind chime rings.
Sap raises her head and spots a young man coming in. She quickly puts on an occupational smile, 'Good morning. How many seats do you need?'
Beyond her expectation, the man does not answer in Cantonese, the local language. Instead, he answers in fluent English, 'One, please.'
Probably, the man notices her surprise, or maybe he realizes the local language is not English. He repeats with Cantonese, inevitably with some foreign accent.
Surprised for 1 or 2 minutes, Sap responds with quite fluent English, 'That's fine. I can understand English. In fact, quite a number of our customers are foreigners. Some are residents on this island, some are tourists, but we rarely meet tourists on weekdays.' Sap glances at the clock, it's seven. 'More precisely, we usually serve local residents only at that time, even at the weekends or during holidays. And I can recognize every local residents, including those who speak English.'
'Oh, I see. That explains. I'm partly tourist, partly resident.' The man replies with a polite smile, seeming more friendly, 'I've come here on vacation, and I'm living here since last night.'
'Really? That explains. Welcome to Lantau Island. Welcome to Mui Wo. Finally, welcome to Light Cafe of Light Pavilion.' Sap ushers the man to the only 2-seat table at the corner. It enjoys the widest seaview.
'Thank you. The space here is nice. Can I have a set of your famous special Light Breakfast?' The man looks into Sap's eyes.
'Oh, sure.' Sap blushes, realizing that she asked too much. ‘The breakfast will be ready in a moment.'
Sap turns swiftly round into the kitchen and starts cooking their famous special breakfast. Actually, it's her invention. She made up the name, and then tried to make the breakfast bring light to the eaters. Similarly, she also invented Light Lunch, Light Tea and Light Dinner. This is also a reason that Flora’s parents would ask her to help and pay her $50/hour, much higher than the normal wage of a waiter/waitress - $25/hour. Sap knows the customers’ psychological needs & finds ways to satisfy them. She really has some business talents.
10 or 15 minutes later, Sap brings the food to the man. Yolk is pasted on two pieces of toasts, diagonally & divergently. Sausages are cut at one end such that they look like flowers. The glass of water with lemon has slices of lemon hanging around the edge. Everything is bright and linked to some positive imagery.
Sap notices that the man wears a smile when she puts the food in front of him. This is the way this job brings her satisfaction - when she brings food to customers, she brings them happiness also.
Sap leaves him ‘Wish you a lightful day’ and continues her cleaning.
After that, she makes herself another set of Light Breakfast and sits down at the table facing the main entrance.
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如何找到可以相信的人
sap 03.04.2006
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