FADE IN
Act 1
INT. BEDROOM - 09:15
Finishing his routines, PETER checks a WhatsApp message and sees: Landed.
PETER (V.O.): Great! Our younger daughter has safely returned from UK.
Typing his response, Peter sees a WhatsApp image of baggage deposited near a revolving conveyor belt.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Good! She has the things she needs to remain productive in her next 7 days in a quarantine hotel.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Our elder daughter meant to study in UK in 2014, but CUHK admitted her.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Unplanned, our younger daughter chose to study in Roedean Boarding School in Brighton in Autumn 2017.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): By then, I've already practised my monthly travelling hobby, whether solo or not, for over three years. One memorable trip was in July 2017. My wife organized it.
Act 2
INT. SITTING ROOM - 16:00
Smart phone in hand, Peter checks his e-diary of July 22, 2017.
PETER (V.O.): In the small hours of the morning, we and 3 families flew to Zagreb via Dubai. From Zagreb, we flew to Dubrovnik.
Reading the diary of July 22, 2017.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): A 4th family from UK joined us at the Dubrovnik Airport. My wife hired a coach to take all to our seaside resort. It was joyful.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): That night, we arrived in a nearby restaurant at 21:29. But it refused to serve us although its Last Order was stated as 21:30.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Following lights, we walked around the vicinity and finally managed to persuade another restaurant to feed us with whatever available.
Reading the diary of July 23, 2017.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The next day, we took a bus to the Old Town together. After a seafood lunch in a restaurant, we had a cable car ride and then walked the Dubrovnik City Walls. We had dinner in a yacht club.
Reading the diary of July 24, 2017.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The following day, I got a mail from the Hong Kong Bar Association advising that I could begin private practise from Sept 1, 2017 - something I had thought about since 1985.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Going to the Dubrovnik Old Town again, I chartered a red submarine for all - at a concessionary rate of 96 Euros! After our delightful tour, we returned to the same restaurant for lunch. The proprietor gave us a 10% discount!
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Later, we hired two vans to take us from our resort to a Dubrovnik Bus Station. There, we waited for a scheduled coach going to Mostar. Although it was over an hour late, we're happy that it did come.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): At the borders between Croatia and Bosnia & Herzegovina. we had to change to another coach. It subsequently took us to a dark terminus after 10.pm. There we managed to find 3 taxis taking us to our hotel - just at 3 Euros per taxi.
Reading the diary of July 25, 2017.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The next morning, we walked from our hotel to see the Mostar Old Bridge and nearby sights. Later, we hired 3 taxis from hotel to another Mostar bus station to take a coach to Sarajevo.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Upon arrival in Sarajevo, we hired 3 taxis to take us to our hotel. Then, we visited the Latin Bridge, witnessing incidentally how a pair of Japanese tourists were being robbed in a distance.
Reading the diary of July 26, 2017.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The next day, a van and a private car from Split, Croatia, waited at our hotel to take us to Split. My wife arranged it while in Hong Kong. Single journey was over 5 hours.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The sights of the seaside town at the eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea were similar to those in Dubrovnik. I had risotto in a restaurant. Our elder daughter recommended it. She visited Eastern Europe earlier.
Reading the diary of July 27, 2017.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The next day, the drivers drove us from Split to our resort near Plitvice Lake National Park. We had a nice dinner in the resort and a good rest to prepare for a full day trip the next day.
Reading the diary of July 28, 2017
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): July 28 was a sunny day. The resort proprietor called one taxi van to take all to and from the Plitvice Lake National Park. Squeezing ourselves together for a few minutes trip was fine. There, I took lots of video clips of the heaven on earth.
Reading the diary of July 29, 2017.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The next day, we took a coach from a bus stop right in front of our resort to a Zagreb bus station. Arriving there, we decided it'd be better for us to take the light rail to go to our hotel together.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): During the light rail short trip, children let by women carrying babies bumped into our bags. A family suspected they were a gang of thieves and alerted all.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Only after we got off the tram did one family discover that some money was stolen. But that didn't deter our Zagreb city tour and dinner later.
Reading the diary of July 30, 2017.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): We had a short morning tour before we took 4 taxis to the Zagreb Airport where we first visited 8 days ago. Before that, none of us from Hong Kong or UK had ever visited Croatia, Bosnia & Herzegovina.
Act 3
INT. BEDROOM - 23:00
Peter is dictating his diary with a smart phone.
PETER (V.O.): Wherever I go becomes a part of me somehow. I take photos and video clips as a return ticket to moments otherwise gone.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): While emotions may change, feelings and memories don't.
And memories made together may last a lifetime.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Our younger daughter will return to UK for her University graduation ceremony in Nov this year. We'll join her.
Tapping Google Photos, Peter mines an image of a red submarine from Memories.
THE END
FADE OUT
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