Open the door and be ready to welcome the weekend swing on the waterfront of Ma On Shan: domestic helpers laughing loud with the music, people cycling and running along the promenade, river flowing endlessly, waves gently lapping against the shore, and the calls of crows, sparrows, and red-eared bulbuls filling the air. Returning from nature to the buildings, the melody of merry-go-round brews every child's dream but the MTR takes me away from my childhood memory and back to urban hustle. Ma On Shan, the starting point on the journey to afar.

For the past year, birdwatching has been one of the few things that kept me from completely losing my mind. This piece is my attempt to translate my entire experience into sounds. 

Going to the Wetland Park is my daily routine in the afternoon but I always want to rush to there as I usually wake up late due to personal struggles. The song first describes my trip on the metro. I try to stop myself from panicking or rushing but the noises keep exciting me and they become very stressful. All the rush comes to a sudden stop when I get on the light rail but I have to rush again after that while I am still trying to maintain my inner peace.

Once I arrive at the park, I lose track of time and feel completely immersed in the environment. Unfortunately, the chatter of people and the camera beeps get too overwhelming. Any noise or movement, even if it comes from birds, becomes a distraction to me so I always try to find a quieter place where I enter a state of flow. However, the Wetland Park closes rather early. I always wish I can stay there longer.

Temporary Escape isn't just about birdwatching. It's about what it means to need an escape in the first place. It's a bittersweet mix of feelings of stress and peace.

In the morning light sprinkling over the Choi Wan community, a song titled “Whispers of Choi Wan” quietly comes into being. It is like an urban pastoral poem, capturing the gentle fusion of nature and community. The song opens with the light chirping of birds, those melodies from the treetops in the community, symbolizing freedom and purity; then it incorporates the chatting sounds between people—low whispers among neighbors, fragmented dialogues, mixed with snippets of community sounds, like the faint echoes of wind through leaves.