IT is New Year's dinner in a Japanese restaurant in Toronto. Almost every table is occupied by a traditional Chinese family where a husband, wife and their children are enjoying good food together. Except one table.
A trained eye tells immediately that the single largest table is occupied by the middle-aged wives of Hong Kong astronauts - men who work most of the time in Hong Kong and fly back to see their families in Toronto when they can.
But this group of women, 10 of them, are the unlucky ones. There is an unspoken rule that astronauts should come home for holidays.
''Kenneth is working very long hours in Beijing for his Hong Kong company. He does not even take Sundays off while making money to support us in Toronto,'' one woman confided.
In Toronto, you can see the wives of astronauts all over the place. But one street in suburban Richmond Hill is especially identified by local residents as their home.
''You might laugh at me. But I drove back and forth a few times to check if the houses have men. I can't find any,'' said local resident Mrs Lily Chan.