I'm a bit behind in my postings and now so much has come to pass that I'm not sure where to start... so I'll start with thanking everyone who has sent their well wishes and prayers for me here in Hong Kong and for the extended Hopkins clan during this week of sadness at losing the much loved patriarch of our family (father, Pa and great-grandfather) and also in our celebration of the man he was and the life he lived. Certainly having skype and emails makes the world seem a little bit smaller and all of you to seem a little bit closer so thank you once again!
The panarama above consists of about 7 photographs I took in sequence of the view from Hong Hum ferry pier - very close to where I went to church last Sunday - looking over to Hong Kong Island. If you click on the image hopefully you will find that a bigger version of it appears on your screen.
To some exciting news... the Ranger's Apprentice website that John and I have been working on for some months now is officially UP!! So please go and visit and learn more about our Araluen friends and enemies and other Ranger's Apprentice 'stuff' that you might not have known... eg: what John looks like on his scooter and more! There's a link under "links" to your left or just click here.
Now to "mo may jing!" which means "no MSG!"... Yes, so being a bit 'delicate of stomache' as it is, I was rather effected by a particular meal of which I partook last week in which there was rather a lot of 'may jing'. As the Chinese find no great need to add vegetables to most of their dishes, Kathryn and I decided a plate of broccoli was in order and as it wasn't on the menu we went to great charading lengths to acquire such a thing... It came as requested and it was very green and VERY tasty. I should have read the signs there and then. But no... 2 days of feeling ill and not sleeping later, I had a conversation with DJ in which he retold a story relevant to my case. He went somewhere remote in Hong Kong with 2 people visiting the country and where-ever it was that they were, they stopped at a little eatery and ate some food. Shortly there-after he was calling emergency to come and get his 2 sick friends who apparently had MSG-poisoning and couldn't walk. The ambulance boat had to come and get them from that remote place and take them to hospital. DJ's theory is that since broccoli on it's own is a boring dish, they felt the need to make it brightly coloured and extra flavoursome so probably went all out with the may jing and hence my suffering. So, since that time I've learned the appropriate Cantonese and will be using it when required and eating with a certain caution. Thankfully that quantity of MSG seems to be the exception rather than the rule and in future it may benefit me to stick to the menu and have my vegetables at home.
I have been part of a project the past 2 weeks which has involved turning 7 of our team into a Russian family participating in different family activities for one of the AIDs Life Xperience sets here at Crossroads. You can read more about the AIDs Life Xperience here. There are about 10 photos all up but here are 2 to give you an idea of how they turned out...
Last weekend I had the opportunity to spend the day in Macau which is just an hour's ferry ride from Hong Kong. It was quite strange to have to take my passport for a day's outing as that's not something we do living on the big island of Oz. There were 7 of us and as Kathryn had been to Macau before, she was wisened to the fact that we'd be best off hiring a mini-bus and tour guide to show us around and to make the most of our 5 hours there. So we found Mario!! Turns out he was the most obliging and servant-hearted guide a group could want, showing us the sights, telling us the history and providing us with umbrella's for shelter and banana's for afternoon tea. Check out the "Macau" album under 'My Pics' to see some of what we did and saw... I have a Macau panarama in the making... will try to have it done for my next posting...
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