Travelling on the Night Tube, Thinking about Iced Lemon Tea, Less Sugar
《徹夜難眠,想起凍檸茶少甜》

2025 | 13 min | In Cantonese and English with Chinese and English subtitles | Dir Michael Mui

On a quiet London night, a boy and a girl from Hong Kong meet by chance and travel together on the night tube. She says she is searching for iced lemon tea with less sugar. And he doesn’t ask why.

As the train glides through the sleeping city, their conversation wanders between memories and losses. When they arrive at Heathrow Airport, there is only one question that remains:

“Where are we going next?”

一個深夜,兩個來自香港的年輕人在倫敦相遇,並決定乘搭夜班地鐵在沉睡的城市裡尋找凍檸茶少甜。他們倆時而沉默,時而閒談,兩人談及曾經生活過的地方、遇過的人,又談及一些若有還無的回憶...

不久列車駛到皮卡迪利線的終點站 - 希思路機場。兩人失落地看著晨光漸現,聽著飛機升降的聲音。心裡只有一個疑問:

『我們現在要去哪?』

Director’s Statement
This film began with a simple craving: a glass of iced lemon tea, less sugar, a sweet and sour taste that belongs to home, yet somehow follows you wherever you go.

As a filmmaker from Hong Kong living between cities, I’ve often found myself searching for something familiar in unfamiliar places. This story was born from that quiet sense of dislocation: a city that never quite becomes yours, and a memory you can’t seem to put down.

The film follows two people, both from Hong Kong, who meet by chance in a foreign city. It’s a brief encounter, but one that captures the tenderness and weight of living between places.

To me, this is a love letter to those who have left:
 “Somewhere in the drifting, someone might understand.”

有一天我發現自己開始忘記凍檸茶的味道。究竟它是甜中帶酸,或是酸中帶苦呢?

四月的一個晚上,我在東倫敦的大街上尋找一杯凍檸茶少甜。在香港唾手可得的東西,在地球另一端的大城市卻很難找到。幾個小時之後,我便為了這一杯找不到的凍檸茶寫了這一個故事。

我知道唐人街放再多的燈籠也不會把我帶到香港;英國的Gloucester Road與灣仔的告士打道從來都沒丁點兒關係;英式紅茶無論等一輩子也不會變成茶餐廳凍檸茶,但我為何總要在陌生的地方尋找熟悉的連繫呢?是因為無謂的執念,或是因為害怕move on?或是心底裡認定某些人、某些事或某些記憶就是注定怎樣努力也放不下?

當晚我把故事發給我的朋友。
『看不懂。』朋友回覆,
『但我明白你的鄉愁。』

然後朋友又提醒了我,凍檸茶的味道應該是酸中帶甜。

  • Sep 1, 2024 (Sun)
    2:30 PM
    Innis Town Hall

  • Sep 14, 2024 (Sat)
    7:00 PM
    SIFF Film Center