Haagen-Dazs

It is 2006 and one of our routines was to visit the Jianguomen Haagen-Dazs which was next to the international club where Yang and I would occasionally play tennis. Lydia and Aidan were two to four years old. Plenty old enough for an Allio to get hooked on ice cream. It was a kind of sit-down ice cream place which I didn't know was a thing. White linen tablecloth. Glass stemmed water glasses I was terrified the kids would knock over. A menu would be brought over but that was no fun so I'd lead Aidan and hold Lydia to the ice cream case so they could choose. Aidan would go by flavor, Lydia by color and admiring the rose water.

Fast forward to May 2023, now, and we are having movie night back at the apartment we lived in then. Aidan has just returned from his first college semester abroad in Toronto where Lydia will join him next year. Elisa is about to graduate middle school. Sabrina will give birth to Amanda in the next week or so. Movie night was something I started when I moved out on my own in 2013. Over the years it grew and shrank mostly if I had friends around who wanted to join. For the first few years, Aidan and Lydia were locked in and I'd allow Elisa to quit after 30 minutes of the movie. When Aidan got older and his teenager friends, he tuned out of movie night so it was cool he joined on this night. Lydia has been a steady presence. On this night, instead of a movie we decided to watch the final episodes of Beef together. Almost a great series. The theme of hiding oneself - otherwise to be rejected and unloved - resonated.

Midway through an episode, Elisa joined and said she wanted ice cream. Maybe from Utown.  Utown is the mall across the street from my apartment where the kids and I used to spend a lot of time and it was nostalgic to walk to it together again. We paired as we walked and naturally changed partners every so often. Elisa hit the mall and led us up the escalator to the second floor. Where are we going, I asked. No idea, Elisa said. So the walk we had with purpose became one of wandering, me looking for a directory. Then I think Lydia said..well we did pass a Haagen-Dazs on the first floor. But it's expensive, she said.

And so, we went. 45rmb for a scoop which is indeed expensive. No cloth tablecloths. No stemmed water glasses. A mall, not the international club. But the belgium chocolate - excellent.