hongkong.moo

July Newsletter 2008

2008-07-04T13:54:00.024+10:00

You might have noticed a distinct lack of newsletters from me for some months. This month finally everything is on my side to be able to write, but I decided to make my July Newsletter a blog so that I can include lots of photos and catch up somewhat on recent goings on...

The Weather
Well, really one must set the scene with the weather, don't you think? Here is a little snapshot that will help to summarise recent conditions:

We had about 3 weeks of that, the height of which produced these statistics:

THE BIG STORM
539 cases of flooding by 7pm
412 flights delayed by 8.30pm (14 cancelled)
89 landslides by 9pm
3657 lightening strikes between 7am and 8am
300mm average rainfall across the city between midnight and midday
145mm of rain between 8am and 9am in Kowloon (the most in 1 hour since records began in 1884)

It happened that while all this was going on we were completely unaware of a local tragedy happening only minutes up the road from us, at Tuen Mun where a landslide fell on a hut, killing a young man and his wife. Actually, I had little idea of all that was going on in the city in terms of flooding and landslides and main roads closed off for hours until I read the paper the next day.

One nice thing about all the rain was that it postponed the summer heat for a little while. Now that we are back to fine weather, the temperature has soared and air-conditioners are universally pumping away. But there's no complaints from me because the sky is crystal clear, complete with white fluffy clouds and not an ounce of 'haze' to be seen. The city looks incredibly beautiful when the sky is blue like this and the many mountains look spectacular in all their pollution-free splendor. Despite the temperature, this is definitely the best season to be in Hong Kong!

Lives Torn Asunder

I know the Earthquake in China was international news, but I think the media may have moved on to other world events now, making it possible for us to forget the people who are trying to put their lives back together after losing homes and families, even their villages, and who will be at the job of rebuilding their lives for quite some time to come. Years probably. Nearly 70,000 people were killed in the earthquake which happened on 12 May, and 15 million people have been left homeless. 15 million! That's 3/4 of the entire population of Australia. It's a number which I can't really comprehend or even begin to imagine the magnitude of the rebuilding that will be required to recover from such a disaster.

"Clean drinking water has become scarce for many as toxins from decomposing bodies seep into the water table and contaminate the water. People long for meat to be added to their daily diets of noodles, children attend school in makeshift classrooms formed in tents, and most carry the fear of aftershocks and can still hear the sounds of tumbling buildings and mountains in their sleep."

One man, a village leader, voiced his distress: “My first concern is food, my second concern is housing and my third concern is toxins.” He went on to speak for his fellow villagers, saying, “These people have lost their fields, their cattle, and their homes. Once the military is gone and the aid of food has stopped, how will they eat? How will they earn money to buy food?”

In response to the earthquake, Crossroads sent two 20 foot containers of blankets and clothing into the disaster area soon after the earthquake occurred. DHL, the international shipping corporation, even generously donated the use of one of their planes. Crossroads packed 15 tonnes of plastic sheeting, blankets, and medical supplies which was flown into the quake zone. Red Cross and Crossroads volunteers met the emergency flight and escorted the relief items on a 12 hour journey along partially collapsed roads to Qingchuan county where it was distributed to grateful crowds of displaced people. You can see more photos here.

World Refugee Day

With refugee numbers surging from the recent disasters in Sichuan and Burma, Crossroads and the UNHCR (The United Nations Refugee Agency) joined forces on 20-21st June to mark World Refugee Day with a music concert, speakers, and a Refugee Film Festival.

Over 300 people attended the concert on Friday, 20 June. Guests were ushered into a simulated refugee camp by soldiers ‘checking IDs’ at the gate. Once in the camp, many members of our multi-cultural team, dressed in traditional outfits, served ethnic food while tradespeople set in UNHCR tents sold handicrafts made by refugees and disadvantaged people throughout the world.

During the evening, guests were treated to performances by the award-winning Australian children’s choir, the Green Valley Youth Choir, and Helen Mottee with songs from her new album. A short refugee film entitled “Mapendo” was shown and the head of UNHCR for China as well as Sally Begbie, one of Crossroads’ directors, spoke on the refugee situation in the world. The evening ended with a powerful joint performance by Helen and the choir, singing a poignant song about refugee life.

This is Helen's album for sale on the night, the one that I did the graphics for when I got back from my trip. It's a very moving collection of songs and if you are interested in ordering the album, visit Helen's website: helenmottee.com.

Saturday consisted of a Refugee Film Festival where members of the public, VIPs, and many of our volunteers and our own team watched soberly as we saw stories of war and child soldiers portrayed powerfully on the screen throughout the hot day. Discussions followed each film in which moviegoers asked questions, voiced opinions, and learned more about the refugee struggles and challenges throughout the world and what they can do to help.

This the rather large tent that Crossroads invested in for this and future events. It took a not so small team of people a whole day to put it up - it's a serious tent!

On the Saturday we also loaded a container of goods for RICE, one of the groups I visited in Cambodia. It gave me warm fuzzies to see all that wonderful stuff going in, bit by bit despite the heat, as I imagined how they will feel at the other end when it arrives. We are sending educational materials and equipment, like textbooks, desks and chairs, as well as office equipment and many electrical appliances such as fans, cd players etc. (See my last post for more information about this group).

Back to the land of Oz
I'm moving back to Australia at the end of August! I've been struggling with my health for a while and it seems right to be finishing up my time here and to be starting a new season of fruitful labour back home, whatever that may be... time will tell. I'm sad to be leaving and very very blessed by all that I have learned and experienced here, but I am also quite excited about the move back to oz.

To see some more pictures of things that have been happening the past few months, please click here.

Adventures Part 3 (final and finally!)

2008-05-29T17:00:00.017+10:00

So, on to the third and final part of my recent trip overseas, this time: Cambodia.

I arrived in Phnom Penh in the evening after a pleasant, amply leg-roomed, 1 hour flight from Bangkok and was met at the airport by my friend's dad's fiance Sue. She and her husband-to-be Dave both live in Phnom Penh and work at an international school. Dave was away in the UK and it was the school holidays, so Sue was able to be a tourist with me and show me around PP. After being in Thailand it was a bit of a shock to the senses to arrive in Cambodia. Even in the dark, it seemed rather less orderly and not as well off as Thailand. As we were driving along in a tuk tuk from the airport someone tried to grab my backpack off my lap. Thankfully I had a firm grip on it and grabbed it back... the guy balancing on the back of a motorbike beside us wasn't able to secure it and they drove off. "Welcome to Cambodia!" I thought as Sue and I released our shock with irrepressible laughter for at least the next half hour. My relief was immense (to say the least), but my bag was clutched to my bosom for the rest of my stay!

The general feeling I had that Phnom Penh wasn't a particularly safe place wasn't helped by the tightly locked metal gate, guard dog and double-locked front door at Sue's place. "Oh, women can't go out by themselves at night", says Sue. "Actually, a group of women isn't such a good idea either. There really needs to be a man with you if you're going to walk in the streets at night." Ah.

So, somehow between us we managed to drag my luggage up an impossibly steep and narrow 3 flights of stairs, to Sue's flat. I was somewhat surprised to see that Sue lives without hot water. And without a washing machine. And microwave. Did I mention, no air-conditioning? (it's as hot as HK in PP). Truly, I was awestruck by her hardiness... and she's from New Zealand! Where nothing poisonous lives and where the air is cleaner than clean. What a woman I thought to myself and then I thought to myself... how will I get through the next 3 days??

Ok, so I lived. Sue has fans and the air does start to cool down in the wee hours of the morning. And who needs hot water in the hottest month of the year(?), which is April which is when I was there. And having no washing machine isn't so bad when you have a maid that comes to clean and for an extra few dollars from me, was willing to was my clothes by hand. Sue does her own but I wasn't feeling up to it at that point in my travels. No siree bob.

I had a ball seeing the sights of PP on the back of Sue's moto. I thought it was understandable to be a little bit nervous, given the road rules in PP, or rather the lack there of. It's mostly up to one's self how one goes about negotiating the traffic. Officially it's right-hand drive. But Sue, driving like a true local, went up the wrong side of the road sufficient times that after a while, I was deeply confused at any one moment about what side of the road we should be on. According to Sue, there ARE some traffic rules. Like, Dave, for instance, was pulled over by a policemen and fined for having his moto headlights on during the day. Whereas it's ok not to have your lights on at night, only the King may have his lights on during the day. $10 please. He managed to bargain him down to $2 which doesn't seem so bad. Apart from the fact that the policeman was making up this road rule as he went along, you have to understand that they get paid the grand total of $30US a month and have to supplement their income by other means, one of which is fining foreigners for all manner of ridiculous offenses.

In our short time together, Sue and I managed to visit the National Museum, Phnom Wat (main temple), the Russian Market, the Foreign Correspondents Club for dinner and a number of other eateries... as one does. We also visited the Killing Fields and Toul Sleng Prison to stand in the place where unbelievable horror has taken place. It is a sad part of Cambodian history but one that the people are remembering in the hope that it will be prevented from ever happening again.

I'm so grateful to Sue for our time together. She was incredibly generous in so many ways, including giving up her own bed for me to sleep comfortably on while she shacked up in the lounge room. She and Dave will be getting married in the UK in a couple of months.

From PP I flew to Siem Reap after deciding that I'd had enough of buses altogether. It was a great decision as it was a mere half an hour of flying time which meant that just as we finished our ascent, our subsequent descension was announced. Before I knew it I was settling in to my little hut at Palm Village on the outskirts of Siem Reap town - making plans for the final 4 days of my trip.

My first day in Siem Reap was the first day of 3 public holidays for the Khmer New Year. In the morning I went to a temple in town called Wat Damnak which is where the office of Life and Hope Association is situated. Crossroads loaded a 40 foot container of goods for Life and Hope in March. The container is currently awaiting some sort of clearance in Cambodia before it can leave HK but it will be on it's way (hopefully) very soon. For some reason it didn't occur to me that the L&H office was in the grounds of a temple because it is run by monks, so I was a little surprised to find out that in fact, my contact, Cheun, was one such brightly be-robed man. He greeted me from a good 10 feet away which was very thoughtful of him because my natural urge was to reach out and grab his hand. I suddenly remembered that women aren't supposed to touch monks (or is it the other way around?), so I made a mental note-to-self for later: don't touch the monk!

Cheun greeted me with the warmest smile and lead me to the car where another monk, a driver, and 2 Singaporean guys were standing chatting. The guys from Singapore were holidaying in Siem Reap and wanted to see something a bit more meaningful on their last day there. We piled into the car and drove out of Siem Reap, past Angkor Wat, for an hour, to visit L&H's orphanage. It was very cool driving along chatting with monks, after admiring them around the place as photo opportunities up to this time. Cheun shared with us his experience of the Pol Pot regime, as a 10 year old boy, living in a children's camp away from the rest of his family. He talked about being so hungry he was forced to steal food from the fields where they used to work for long hours each day. They had to grow food that they weren't allowed to eat. His mother died during that time but the rest of his family survived.

The mission of L&H is about educating people, children and adults, as they believe that illiteracy is the root cause of all suffering. The orphanage has about 40 children who we were able to spend time with. We were shown around the place and had a great lunch of papaya salad and skewered beef with rice... After the orphanage we drove past their Junior High school where children from the local area can continue their education for no cost. We drove back in to town to their boarding house where 12 girls live so they can go to high school. They come from remote areas where it would have been impossible for them to continue at school. Life and Hope also has a sewing school where disadvantaged adults can learn skills that will enable them to earn a living.

There are of photos of my visit to Life and Hope here.

The next day I was picked up by Roeurt who is the director of an organisation called RICE. Actually, I'm not sure what RICE stands for. I imagine it is something in Cambodian... Roeurt worked for the UN in Cambodia for over 10 years and he a colleague were the first people to view Pol Pot's body when he died. Over the course of the day, I learned a lot about Cambodia and the government from him. Not surprisingly, the government in Cambodia is very corrupt. It cares very little for it's people, preferring to spend money on big hotels to line individual's pockets rather than basic infrastructure such as roads. There are a number of main roads in Siem Reap which were paved for the first time about 3 years ago and all the funding came from foreign donors. According to Roeurt, Cambodia is rich in natural resources and yet 70% of the population live on less than $1US a day. Government officials are keeping the wealth for themselves and their families.

I loved the work of RICE. It relies completely on foreign donations as the government is rarely willing to help NGOs financially. Roeurt took me to visit their orphanage where there are 30 children, 6 of whom are blind. They teach the blind children to read braille and play musical instruments. Two of the blind children played for me when I arrived; a small 7 year old who sang and played a drum and an 18 year old on the recorder. Half way through their song I had one of those moments when you get a big knot in your throat and feel like balling. (It was a beautiful song). RICE's mission is to provide the orphans with life skills and ensure that they have employment before they leave the orphanage - "otherwise our mission has failed" said Roeurt. RICE also visits rural communities seeking out people who are blind and therefore destitute. They take the blind person and give them skills to make a living. I had the privilege of being taken to visit a blind man than RICE has helped. It was an hour's drive out of town (along a dirt road recently graded by a Singaporean company), to a small village of about 500 people. When they found this man his was the lowest of the low, looked down on by everyone in the village. RICE taught him how to raise pigs. He is able to prepare their food and feed them, he can tell when they are sick by touch and he is able to go to market and choose the best piglets. Now he is the wealthiest man in the village and highly respected! He is the only one to have a house made from cement. It was incredible to meet him and his family.

RICE also goes to local villages and teaches them updated methods of farming. They have a health program where they accompany villagers to hospital to make sure they are taken care of. When people go to hospital on their own they are often left for days without being attended to. If they are in the company of an NGO representative they are seen immediately because they are kept accountable by someone who is considered important... (obviously more important than the villager). There are photos of my visit to RICE here.

For the following day I visited the world heritage site of Angkor Wat and the other amazing temples just out of Siem Reap. The rest of my time was spent reading, enjoying the pool at Palm Village and riding a bicycle around the dirt roads surrounding us. By the time I was packing my bag to leave, I had fallen in love with Cambodia. The people are very gentle and affectionate and I love the pink earth... it gives everything a very soft look and turns a rich salmon colour after the rain. You can see all the rest of my Cambodia photos here.

Adventures Part 2

2008-05-12T17:49:00.028+10:00

So, continuing on from my last entry...

I left Bangkok after breakfast the morning after the tour finished, taking a taxi to the Mochit bus terminal. It was a multi-storied mass of people and ticket booths and I had no clue where to start looking for the one little booth selling tickets to Lom Sak. So, eenie meenie miny moe seemed the most logical approach and one that worked extremely well as, by a small miracle, I ended up at the booth right beside the Lom Sak ticket seller. Triumphant and relieved I took myself, luggage and ticket to the seating area and waited patiently for my bus departure time in just over an hour. I didn't think to ask any questions regarding the trip, so by the time I had been on the bus for over an hour I had no idea if there was even a toilet on the bus. Two hours in to the 6 hour+ trip and this very question began to plague me. It was time for charades. The lady next to me shook her head in a very discouraging manner and as my bladder continued to call for attention I began to feel increasingly alert (but not alarmed). Would we be stopping then, perchance? More shakes of the head. As alarm began to take hold, I suddenly had all manner of things to say about the Thai transport system as more and more people piled onto the bus, squeezing down the aisles and making the way to the non-existent toilet impassable even if there was one. At this point, I began to make an inventory of my options which ranged from bringing out my inner-crazy-foreigner who would make a scene and stop the bus, to silently wetting my pants. The situation was so unthinkable actually, that I decided to seek answers further afield and swung around to ask the man behind me the same two questions. Toilet? No. We stop soon? Yes, 15 minutes. Yes? 15 minutes??? Halleluiah, praise the Lord! I was so thrilled I thought I would burst with joy. There was a touch and go moment when 15 minutes became 20 became 30, but we did finally stop and it was then that I was overcome with a deep and abiding happiness. Even after we got back on the bus with another 3 hours to go (which turned out to be 4), I was just joyful. I didn't drink anything for the rest of the trip but everything in the world was just fine.

We arrived in Lom Sak as the sun was preparing to set and still feeling very pleased with the state of affairs, I found myself a tuk tuk to take me to the Grand Natirat Hotel. After the lovely places we stayed at during the tour, the 'Grand' part of the hotel's name seems a little unwarranted but it was a place to lay the head for the night and I had the best massage ever in their dingy little massage room.

The next morning I made my way to the town centre in search of chemist for electrolytes and internet cafe to check my emails and found both thanks to a kind English man who happened to be walking down the street and had been living in the town for 5 years with his Thai wife... I suspect Lom Sak doesn't see many foreigners so he was an unexpected but welcome sight.

Back at the hotel I was ready with my luggage at 1pm to be picked up by a lady from Mercy International - an organisation that Crossroads sent a container to in 2004. Pawinee, (the director and founder of Ban Meata in Lom Sak), chatted to me about the work of Mercy as we drove out to Ban Meata (House of Mercy) about 30 minutes away. When they started in Lom Sak 19 years ago, there was nothing but a patch of dry and unusable land where now there an oasis of beautifully kept gardens, several dams, a small farm, children's village and a school. They now have paved roads and electricity and Ban Meata is even marked on the map as a village. The whole locality has benefited from the infrastructure that Mercy has put into place at Ban Meata.

Pawinee showed me around the school first, pointing out items that had come from Crossroads including furniture and computers. They have just added a high school to their infants and primary and now have 1000 students and growing each year. Every day they provide a free lunch for all the students as well as a free bus to pick up children for school each day. They are currently extending the high school to accommodate the new grades as they start each successive year, and have a vision to open a university in about 5 years. Next Pawinee took me to see their cows and goats. There are about 60 cows, with 12 calves born this year already. They teach the children how to care for them, particularly those that don't excel academically and who will probably become farmers when they leave school. The cows are adorable with big floppy ears and docile personalities. They're not uptight like our cows!

Next we drove down the road a bit to the farmland where they have two fish farms and food crops of about 20 different kinds, including bananas, papaya, lime, tamarind and mango. With these crops they can feed the children and sell any excess for income (especially the fish). They are also growing teak for future income.

Lastly, we went to the children's village and I was able to play with the kids for a little while before dinner. There are currently about 90 children living there (I think), from babies to teenagers. Most of them are orphans, and all come from difficult or tragic situations where parents have died from AIDS or are in jail or have been left by their spouse and have become just too poor to take care of their children. They really thrive at Ban Meata though, in the loving care they receive from their 'house mums' and other adults who work there.

By the time dinner was ready, another girl, Sherie, from Australia arrived also who comes to volunteer at Ban Meata every year and hopes to return long term with her husband in the future. We had dinner with the children and then played with them until it started to get dark. They were incredibly affectionate with both of us - it was a very special experience for me!

I stayed overnight in the volunteer's dorm and after a leisurely breakfast with Sherie the next morning, Pawinee drove me back into Lom Sak. I took the bus to Khon Kaen which is where I would be meeting my sponsor child the next day. Knowledge is power and now that I knew to expect a toilet-less bus I had the power within me to not drink during the 4 hour trip. It was hardly surprising that I didn't really even need to go when we stopped half way, but I went anyway! I arrived in Khon Kaen in plenty of time to off-load the luggage and have a look around the town for the afternoon, feeling very excited about meeting my sponsor child Tor the next day.

In the morning director from Tor's project and the translator were waiting for me in the hotel lobby. They were clearly very excited about me being there and we chatted for a bit about the day ahead. I asked if they might be able to help me buy something for the family before we went. I had in mind something like a pig or a goat perhaps... but Sadjit, the project director, said that they really need clothes and that she would take me to 'Big C' to get some things. OK, great! It turns out my translator, Daeng, was an AFS exchange student in Tasmania some years ago. He was delighted to meet Another Fat Student, when I told him I went to Japan with AFS for a year (long time ago now). At Big C Sadjit helped me to buy clothes for Tor, his sister Peung, father and grandfather as well as some bulk milk, shampoo, ovaltine and some other essentials.

As we were driving east of Khon Kaen to Chiang Yun where Tor lives, they told me that I was the first sponsor visit they have had to their project and they even went out and bought a camera for the day. Sadjit took a phone call and then said that apparently there weren't that many people waiting to greet me because many were away for the New Year. I wasn't exactly sure what she was talking about because I had had visions of driving out to a little house in the middle of some rice fields and certainly wasn't expecting any welcoming committee. In actual fact, we went straight to the Chiang Yun church which partners with Compassion to implement the sponsorship progam in this area. What a surprise to find about 60 people there waiting to greet me, with "Sawasdeekaaaaa's" and necklaces of flowers. I felt like the queen coming to town, which was strange to say the least. Amidst all the excitement I was introduced to Tor and his grandfather and all manner of other people and then ushered upstairs to their main meeting room. Some of the children danced and then Sadjit introduced me to everyone and had me come up and say a few things which was also a little unexpected, but I bumbled my way through! They gave me some gifts including a very loud pink Hawaiian-style shirt they insisted I don immediately. Many people wear them during the New Year water festival celebrations and as half of them were wearing similar shirts and we were about to have a mini water festival of our own, it was a perfectly reasonable thing to do.

Outside we sat in a long row while the children came past us pouring water in our hands, rubbing powder on our cheeks and blessing us for the new year. A much more tame version of what would be happening all over Thailand in a few days, where the whole population would be drenched and powdered from top to bottom with new year joy. After drying off a little Daeng and Sadjit took me out with Tor and his grandfather to meet his father and sister at their house. It wasn't in the centre of a rice paddy at all but in a street just off the main road of the town. It was a 2 story wooden house, with the main living area downstairs (I think many Thais use the upstairs for storage because it's so hot up there, but I'm not completely sure)... downstairs they had a mattress-less double bed where all four of them sleep, a cupboard and a tv. I'm guessing the cooking area would have been out the back. Tor's mother left with a man to live in Germany and doesn't send the family any money. His grandmother died a couple of years ago. The father and grandfather drink a lot apparently. His father makes about AU$25 a week as a town garbage collector. Tor's grandfather is the primary care giver as the father is working and in Bangkok a bit with his new wife who lives there. His grandfather clearly loves the children dearly, but he is quite frail and I think life must be very hard for him.

We sat on a bench at the front of the house and I gave out the things I bought for them at Big C as well as some things I brought from Australia for the kids. Then the grandfather presented me with a beautiful piece of handmade silk cloth that his late wife had woven. I was extremely humbled as it was probably one of their prized possessions.

We took Tor, Peung and their grandfather out to lunch at a nearby restaurant. The food was so 'Thai Spicy' that I cried and sniffled my way through the meal much to their amusement. What got me was that no-one else got so much as a teary eye, including the children. Making conversation with the kids was difficult because they were so shy and I could only draw out muffled one-word answers. But I suspect that having lunch with a big snivelling foreigner would have been quite an event in their lives.

We stopped by the church to pick up a few more people who all piled in the back of the ute, and then drove for an hour to a village famous for its snakes. They run shows in which teenagers dance with snakes around their necks and even put them in their mouths. Then men come on and 'fight' with the snakes which was really the snake being provoked into striking when it clearly would rather have been heading for the hills. As the snake would attempt to 'exit stage left' it would be poked and prodded until it flared and attempted to strike the man who would then gallantly leap back to safety. All a bit galling really, but the main objective was to give Tor a nice day out, so as long as that was happening, it was all good. After we got the kids ice creams we headed back to Tor's house and said our farewells. His grandfather took both my hands in his and said that he couldn't express how much it meant to him that I came to visit them. He was so vulnerable and heartfelt I wanted to ball. I tried to let him know what it meant for me to come and meet them all. It was an amazing experience. I would have liked to hang out with them at home more and gotten to know them and play with them. Maybe next time!

I spent the later afternoon at the church with Sadjit and Daeng before we headed back to Khon Kaen for a hot pot dinner. There were 3 other project workers with us and when they took me back to my hotel, they all came into the lobby to farewell me. One by one they took my hands and expressed their gratitude that I came to visit Tor. I was so touched by their humility and by all the hard work they put into the children in the project. I left them feeling like I had made good friends who I can hopefully visit again in the future.

I was very grateful that Sadjit and Daeng were constantly reaching for my camera to capture every moment. You can see my photos here.

The next morning I had only a couple of hours spare before my flight to Cambodia, via Bangkok, but I managed to squeeze in a flying visit to Ban Meata's orphanage for HIV+ children. You can see all my Ban Meata photos here.

Will write about Cambodia in my next post...

Adventures Part 1

2008-04-28T20:27:00.007+10:00

I'm back! (in Hong Kong)... The longer I leave my blog update, the harder it is to know where to begin the chronicles of my stay in Australia and 3 week adventure to Thailand and Cambodia. Starting with Australia, it was great to have time to catch up with friends and family. Whenever I go back to Manly in particular I feel like I’ve really arrived. Inhaling that fresh salty air brings up random pieces of memory - from early childhood to more recent experiences with Pa - all in a moment… and then in the next breath I’m back in the present creating a new memory for the next time I come.

Enough sentimentality, (I love Manly)… I had the chance to stay with dad in Sydney for about 10 days, then up to mum’s for 2 weeks on the Central Coast during which time we both went up to see Tina in Bellingen for a few days. Lastly, mum and I flew to Perth for a flying visit to see Phil for about 5 days. For lots of photos and a few more details click here.

I flew straight to Bangkok from Perth and started my time in Thailand with a 9 day Intrepid tour. Beginning and ending in Bangkok we went to Chiang Mai, a Hmong village, Sukhothai and Kanchanaburi (River Kwai) in between. There were 12 people on the tour (including me and my friend Mel from Hong Kong) and our leader was a Thai girl called Dream. Of all the places we visited I think Chiang Mai was my favourite, for its very bohemian atmosphere, incredible night market and wonderful side-street shops (including great clothes and silver jewellery).

We did a Thai cooking class there as well. I must say, my expectation was to be a little bored with it, but it turned out to be one of the (many) highlights of the trip. The teacher demonstrated how to make one dish at a time (6 in all), then we went to our individual cooking stations where all the ingredients were there ready for us. We cooked our dish with plenty of advice close to hand throughout, and then all sat down to eat our creations. While the next dish was demonstrated, our mess was being cleaned up and the next ingredients prepared. Tell you, it’s a great way to cook. I’d do it every night if it was that much fun. As you can imagine we were rather stuffed and ready for a digestive nap by the end of 6 dishes, but my mind and senses had been awakened to a whole new appreciation of Thai cuisine. Eating in Thailand from then on took on new meaning, over and above the mantra ‘no too spicy!’. We even got a cookbook to take home with us that included all the dishes we made and many more.

The variety of transport we took during the tour was fab, including a ferry down the Chao Phraya River, overnight sleeper train, motor tuk tuk, minivan, bus, elephant, bicycle, River Kwai diesel train, bike tuk tuk, and taxi. [That last one was to take me to the Tourist Police Station in the middle of the night to report my lost camera on the last day of the tour. Oh well, been there done that before (see November 2007 blog entry). I wasn’t that cool about it at the time. It was more akin to the emotion of losing an arm but anyway, I’ve moved on… There were a lot of photos on my camera at the time, so be thankful that you have less photos to look through than you would have had. Fortunately I had 2 cameras with me. I lost my little snappy - fits in your pocket, take it when you don’t want to carry the extra weight - one and still had my bigger heavier one for the rest of my trip.] I tell you what, the traffic in Thailand is mad. Crossing the road is truly terrifying for the uninitiated. After wasting much time in my efforts to get to the other side of many a road, I finally started doing it like the Thais. It’s a bit like crossing through the Red Sea in that it’s only once you step out that the river parts. It sounds (and looks) incredibly dangerous, but somehow it works. Even if there happens (in a rare instance) to be a pedestrian button and the light indicates you can go, the traffic only stops if you make the first move. Well, I lived to tell the tale!

I completely fell in love with the elephants at the conservation park. They are so smart, and so leathery and cute. Their hair is like wire but the tips of their trunks are soft like pillows. They must have great digestive systems because they eat bananas with the skin on and corn with all the husks. The elephant ride wasn’t so comfortable but it was the romance of it all.

That evening we staying at Hmong Lodge which is hidden away in the hills near a Hmong Village, which we actually visited but alas, pics were on the small camera. It was a bit uncomfortable walking though the village feeling like a big fat rich tourist. All the kids ran out of their houses and set up little stalls with handicrafts they have made to sell to all the tourists that pass through. For the most part, the adults all stayed hidden indoors. I can't say I blame them.

Our day in Sukhothai – the old capital of Thailand – was spent cycling around a vast area to look at different ruins of temples and things. It was all completely flat and mostly under the shade of big trees. The gentle breeze blowing through the helmetless hair was fantastic – I just wanted to keep cycling, although the ruins were quite interesting and worth getting off the bike for. I had some great shots from that day out but alas, they were on my little camera.

Kanchanburi was fascinating. It’s where the Bridge over the River Kwai is, with the Death Railway and that whole sorry saga. I didn’t really have much idea about the reality of what happened even though I watched the movie before I went as my small effort to research my tour destination. What a tragedy! It’s difficult to comprehend how a human heart can become so hard as to enable it to commit such horror against other human beings. The history museum set up by the Australian government was really worth the visit. Afterwards you can take a headset with you and walk down to ‘hellfire pass’ listening to more history and personal accounts of POWs who were forced to work on the railway. Truly mind boggling.

We finished our tour with an all-you-can-eat buffet style dinner cruise down the Chao Phraya River in Bangkok. We had a great group with ages ranging from 28 to 88. Mary was an inspiration to us all. She was there with her son and daughter and daughter-in-law. None of the rest of us would have guessed her age. What an amazing lady! George was the fittest which put the rest of us to shame especially as he’s 76 - he was off doing an optional uphill bike ride one day that none of the rest of us was up to. Well, Mel and I were the tallest, so there’s a claim to fame. Not that that’s anything new... The photo of me next to a very short Hmong tribe lady was, alas on my little camera, so you’ll just have to imagine the height difference of me next to someone well under 5 feet. She made Dream look tall (much to Dream’s delight).

So, have a look at the photos here. At least this is a start of my chronicles and I shall continue with the rest of my time in Thailand and then Cambodia hopefully next weekend…

Gung Hey Fat Choy...

2008-02-18T20:31:00.012+11:00

...sounds like something to do with an overweight cabbage, but it's a Chinese New Year exclamation meaning something like "luck and prosperity!"

Here are Kate's 10 top facts about Chinese New Year:

1. This year is the year of the Rat (Chinese years are based on a lunar calendar with 12 zodiac signs – all animals)

2. CNY is one of the most important celebrations of the year. It is a time for the Chinese to spend with their families. The period around Chinese New Year is the time of the largest human migration, when migrant workers in China, as well as overseas Chinese around the world, travel home to have reunion dinners with their families on Chinese New Year's eve.

3. People set off firecrackers and wear red to celebrate (originally these were used as deterrents to evil spirits)

4. FOOD is very important at CNY:
- Long noodles represent longevity
- Fish is eaten because the Chinese character for money came from the character for fish
- Round foods indicate wealth (coin shape)
- Other round foods such as meatballs emphasise togetherness
- Sometimes a soup with hair like black sea moss is served (This is because the name sounds like ‘get rich’ in Chinese)
- Sweet foods eg candies and seeds are eaten to symbolise a new year filled with sweetness

5. Married people give away new money in red packets to children and single people. This symbolises wealth and prosperity in the coming year. (Some would argue that this should be fact#1)

6. The streets and shops are all decorated with special lights, flowers and even special New Year trees which symbolise wealth and prosperity. Flower markets are open all night (until 5am) on Chinese New Years Eve so that families can buy fresh flowers and plants for their homes.

7. People often clean house and throw out “old” items before Chinese New Year (This is part of the reason why Crossroads does so well in Hong Kong as there really is no second hand market.) Shops also have big sales to clear out stock from last year.

8. People use Chinese New Year to calculate their age rather than their actual birth date

9. All food must be prepared before New Year’s Day. People don’t use scissors or knives on New Year because it might sever the luck or the prosperity.

10. Chinese people make lots of different visits during CNY, with a special timing for each. A reunion dinner is held on New Year's Eve where members of the family, near and far away, get together for the celebration. The venue will usually be in or near the home of the most senior member of the family. The New Year's Eve dinner is very sumptuous. The first day of Chinese New Year is a time when families visit the oldest and most senior members of their extended family, usually their parents, grandparents or great-grandparents. The second day of the Chinese New Year is for married daughters to visit their birth parents. There are 15 days of visits and celebrations, culminating in a Lantern Festival on the 15th day. These are the traditional red Chinese lanterns, and are different to the lanterns that we see at mid-Autumn festival.

To help us to get into the festive mood at Crossroads, apart from having a 5 day long weekend, we had a large group hotpot night. The authentically Chinese version of this consists of having a plastic cloth covered table with all-plastic bowls and utensils and a toilet roll in the place of serviettes. Then we have a boiling pot of water with some sort of tasty broth in it, and plates of raw meat and veg (like thin strips of beef and pork, fish balls, cabbage leaves, lotus root, noodlesque mushrooms, tofu, rice noodles etc...) Then the one/s closest to the pot make sure that what's cooked gets distributed and what's not cooked goes in the pot, hopefully in one lovely continuous movement of raw and cooked food passing back and forth between all concerned. It's great fun once the first lot has gone around and the supply begins to exceed demand, so that you just keep refilling as required. Some say you end up so full on such 'light' food cos you eat it slowly in little lots... but my person theory is that it's simply so tasty and there's absolutely no way to keep track of how much you've eaten, that actually in the end it amounts to Rather A Lot.

Some of us enjoyed the hot pot night so much that we had another go at Philski's place a few days later:

Other than hotpot, it was interesting seeing the sudden emergence of the many fruit trees, flowers and lanterns that decorated all the local shops and apartment buildings (see photo at top)... I enjoyed a long weekend of pottering around the house, painting one of my walls blue and seeing The Kite Runner which I can highly recommend - although it's not a light and fluffy, you might need to take some tissues.

I've been flat out at work ever since the CNY break, trying to get as much done as possible before I go away (Australia / Thailand / Cambodia). The main project I'm working on at the moment is the artwork for Helen Mottee's new album which is currently being recorded in Hong Kong and Australia. It's full of songs addressing many humanitarian issues (child soldiers, refugees, AIDs, orphans, poverty, landmines etc.) and the proceeds will be going to support some of the organisations dealing with these issues. It's an exciting project to be involved in and I'm really enjoying the process of putting together the 16 page booklet that will accompany the disc.

My update wouldn't be complete without a brief weather update. It's definitely warming up. Even the birds are sounding more perky in the morning. I've done away with my thermals, although (whimp that I am) still warming the bed up with the electric blanket at night. But summer is definitely on the way. Meanwhile, we've had some seriously 'hazy' days lately. Here is a photo I took last summer:

Here is the same view, last week:

Papa Panov

2007-12-27T15:33:00.000+11:00

This year I had my second only ever northern hemisphere Christmas. The first one was in Japan (long time ago now), and was a pretty special day for me as I woke up to a 'winter wonderland'... the first snow fall of the year. It was soft and deep and incredibly beautiful and rather than being home sick I was in a small village at the foot of a mountain feeling quite awestruck. Being in Hong Kong for Christmas has been special for a different reason. People! As the snow reflected the beauty and wonder of the One who sent it... so the people here have reflected Him to me this year and especially this Christmas.

Last Saturday evening we were treated to a premier performance of the apparently well-known Christmas musical, "Papa Panov" by Leo Tolstoy, with an international cast of children from our very own school, our director Mal as Papa Panov and his wife Sal as narrator as well as an international band of musicians!

It was a stunning performance, thoroughly enjoyed by all. If you don't know the Papa Panov story, (as I didn't), you can read it here. For the complete album of photos, click here.

Papa Panov was followed by dinner a la delicious with ham and baked veges and many a dessert from the hands of our own talented team members. After dinner Helen Mottee and her good friend Shelley did a performance of sorts. Helen played and sang while Shelley drew... kind of Rolph Harris style, where an image slowly emerges from seeming blobs of nothing.

It was even more amazing when an ultra-violet light was shone on the finished product to reveal parts of the picture that were hidden in normal light.

And then we had the pressie frenzie to beat all pressie frenzies... Not even an extended Hopkins family get together pressie frenzie could compare to this. We were each requested to buy a HK$5 gift (approx 75c AUD) for every other person on team that would be present on the night which was 63 people. (Crossroads covered the cost so that no-one would miss out or feel that they couldn't afford to participate). Some teamed up with others and pooled their money to buy more 'expensive' gifts, but in the end there were a LOT of gifts exchanged. Each of us was given a sack with our names on it to collect up the bounty and then it was a good 45 minutes of shouting each others names in order to give each present to the right person. I was so caught up in the moment I forgot to take pictures but it was truly an experience and the intention to make each person feel special and 'showered' with gifts while away from home was well achieved. It was great fun! Here's a post-pressie-frenzie pic...

On Christmas day we had a birthday party for the One who makes Christmas Christmas with a time of sharing what we each would like to give to Him this year... and then naturally... FOOD!! Most of us have this week off up until the 2nd, so it's a time of rest and hanging out with friends... catching up on emails and blogging... and a bit of pottering around the house. How that floor shines!

May the new year bring many good things your way as you say goodbye to 2007! (Remember you can see a larger version of any of the above photos by clicking on them).

Do you?

2007-12-08T23:27:00.000+11:00

At the beginning of 2007, the number of people of concern to UNHCR (United Nations High Commission for Refugees) was a record 32.9 million. They included:
• 9.9 million refugees ...30%
• 12.8 million internally displaced people (IDPs) ...39%
• 5.8 million stateless people ...17%
• 2.6 million returned refugees and IDPs ...8%
• 740,000 asylum seekers ....2%
• 1,000,000 ‘others of concern’ to UNHCR.

Do you know what it’s like to be on the run?
Do you know?
What it is to leave it all behind
At the point of a gun
Do you know?

Do you know how it feels to lose your family?
Do you know?
What it is to have been free
But now to be
A refugee

Do you know what it is to have no rights?
Do you know?
What it is to keep on hiding
Through an endless night
Do you know?

Do you know how it feels to hear a mine explode?
Do you know?
What it is to see your child blown apart
On this going nowhere road.
Do you know?

I’m a refugee
I have no choice
I have no voice
I’m a refugee
I have no place
I have no face
Would someone look at me?

These are the words of a song written by Helen Mottee, a singer song-writer and friend who works with me in the Comms department at Crossroads. The UNHCR was quite taken with 'Do You' and are considering adopting it as their official theme song. The song was recorded and produced by Warren Barnett ("Australia's leading independent mastering technician") along with musicians and the Green Valley Youth Choir all giving their time and efforts for no cost. We recently finished producing a music video to go with the song, with many hours of hard work put in by our video guru Lin. I had the opportunity to work on the still graphics. Here it is...

Yesterday I sent out my December newsletter by email. If you didn't happen to get it and would like to, you can now download my newsletters from the links under "newsletters" to your left. (As I happened to forget to embed the decorative font that I used in this latest newsletter, you may like to download it again to see it looking it's best). To see the photos from mum and Vicki's recent visit to Hong Kong click here. For the full story of our adventures see the newsletter :)

Doggies Do

2007-11-12T19:36:00.000+11:00

A refreshing breeze swung through Hong Kong a couple of weeks ago heralding the arrival of Autumn. It's as if Autumn took a deep breath and very gently blew away the heat and the humidity of Summer and continues even now to be a lovely cooling presence as if to personally ensure that Summer won't return. Even the pollution has eased off a little. In relation to Summer it is hard to put into words just how very wonderful it feels to be cool. Maybe we could rename the seasons of Summer and Autumn and call them Hot-&-Bothered and Blessed-Relief respectively. The only thing about Blessed-Relief is that it seems to have brought the Commoncole with it and some of us have been gallantly fighting off this lurgy including me. I think I'm on the mend now. I really have to be because...

Mum and Vicki are arriving in Hong Kong late tomorrow!

I'm so excited. I have an Old-Knees-Friendly itinerary planned which leans more towards your Night Harbour Cruise With Buffet Dinner and High-Teas style of activities and less of your Trekking Up and Down Mountains type of thing. I'm having the week off work and will be staying with mum and Vicki in a holiday flat in Kennedy Town which is about 15 minutes on the tram from the CBD on Hong Kong Island. Nicely central. I've charged up all my camera batteries so you can look forward to plenty of pics being uploaded of our traipsing around Hong Kong. Woot woo!

I mentioned our resident dogs in my latest newsletter (if you didn't get it and would like to be on the mailing list click here to drop me an email and let me know). Here's a little clip of Merry and Pippin waiting outside my door in the morning in anticipation of a W-A-L-K... They were a little put off by the camera, so the greeting was more subdued than usual, (not as much jumping up and bowling me over) but you get the idea...

For more pics of Merry and Pippin (including a walk we went on this afternoon) click here. And for a fuller collection of DJ and Liz's wedding photos, click here.

And while you're looking at pics, if you'd like to have a look at some of the photos the girls in my photography class have been taking, they have each started a web album of their favourite 3 images from each lesson. Go to 'Links' to your left and find Georgie's Pics and Hilary's Pics. They are learning little things to improve their photography even though they only have point and shoot digital cameras. I think they are doing really well at it.

Weddings, Parties and other things....

2007-10-08T19:01:00.001+10:00

Last Monday, we had the biggest Crossroads social event ever in the form of the much anticipated wedding of DJ and Liz (affectionately known as Deeje and Whiz). Aside from the fact that they had it on the first of October which happens to be my birthday, it was a truly memorable day and I think worthy of a detailed report. As it is our newsletter writing day this coming Friday, I thought I might save the story and for that. I was asked to take photos on the day along with 2 other girls and am currently working my way through some 5 gigs worth (that’s a lot for those who aren’t so technically minded) - compiling, culling, cropping and colour correcting. I have managed to get the collection down to a mere 500 photos and am not quite half way through making sure each one is up to standard! When the photos are ready I’ll upload some to my web album. If you want to see DJ & Whiz’s website that I helped to work on have a look here. You’ll find some of the photos that Carine took there too. Here's one I took of the beautiful bride...

Of course anyone who is anyone was there, including Miss Dally who came donning a gorgeous Indian number belonging to the wife of Kamal (Australian singer)...

Pre wedding of course there was a bucks night (for the guys, obviously) and a hen’s night (for the chickies of course) and several other celebratory events such as a dessert night and a henna night. The henna night was for the girls and we painted each others hands and feet with intricate patterns using henna dye which lasts for about 2 weeks – (hence it was exactly 2 weeks before the wedding). Riba and I shared the privilege of painting the bride’s hands back and front… here is the result:

The hen’s night was great time of getting to know Whiz better and encouraging her in her bride-to-be-ness. One of the things we did was split into groups to create a ‘wedding dress’ from newspaper for various appointed 'brides'. There were some stunning designs as you can see…!

On to a more personal event that has been pre-occupying me the past few weeks and that is moving into a single flat on my own. I began to feel that at my age and stage and after many many years of share flatting, it might just be time to spread my wings and move out on my own. It so happened that when I voiced this desire to Maria who oversees who lives where, that there was in fact a single flat being renovated and as yet no one in line to live in it. I was SO her man! It had been suffering from The Damp and needed a roof repair as well as ceilings and walls scraped, sealed and painted. I watched over the weeks as each stage was completed by a variety of volunteer teams including some from the US Navy, the British Consulate and the Doulos mission ship all headed up by Kenny who was here at Crossroads for 5 weeks and who I know from my time living in Berowra.

When everything was pretty much in place, Riba, Jes, Pablo and Helen came over (on a random public holiday we had in the middle of the week) and helped to scrape the old contact off the windows (Riba, Jes & Helen) and drill holes in the walls (Pablo) for shelves and hooks and things like that. What a difference we made in one afternoon! Now the place is looking fab and just needs some pictures on the walls to decorate it a little. The Harrisons joined us for a little house-warming cheese cake that Pablo made to celebrate. Sharing flats can be great and I’ve made some of my best friends from my share-living experiences, but there’s something about having a little plot of space that is my own that is really sitting very well with me!

For a weather update, the pollution has reached ‘health hazard’ levels which isn’t surprising since there’s a visibility of pretty much zero out to sea. I’ve bunked down at home with air-con and air-purifier in the hopes of sparing my lungs from the filth as much as possible. Hopefully it will pass soon, It’s already been 3 days and apart from anything else is not a pretty sight!

We have had a lot of visitors and people coming and going from Crossroads lately, what with The Wedding and all, so I decided to bite the bullet and join the People Movers team – those who have been here less than a year (so can drive legally on their home license) or have a Hong Kong drivers license and are thus able, and hopefully willing, to do airport runs for pickings up and droppings off. After doing 2 runs with the help and guidance of other people, I dropped a lady off this morning under my own sense of direction and on a wing and a prayer made it there and back. It’s actually a fairly straight forward drive and takes less than half an hour, but I know that one wrong ‘veer to the left’ could mean ending up on the freeway to Kowloon and I’m not emotionally prepared for that just yet, so my concentration levels have been quite intense!

For my birthday, my department gave me a gift voucher to Ikea (very thoughtful!) which I happily went off to ‘spend’ yesterday. It’s been a long time since I’ve been to Ikea, but I’m pretty sure this one is a particularly large version of the store. It’s more of an EXPERIENCE than a shop. For one, it’s nearly endless. The top floor (which is huge) is all displays so you can see how all the lovely things work together and dream on (and on)… and then downstairs, which has the same floor space as upstairs, are all the items (and more), only packaged and ready to go. By the time I got to the checkout, I felt like a different person. My eyes had been opened to the world of (serious and deliberate) home making. And I had a trolley of exciting little additions to my new home, so I was pleased-as-punch even though I was thoroughly ready to go home and put my feet up on one of the cool poofs (pouffes?) I got from our Furniture Department. He he!

I've put up some more photos of the girls henna and hen's nights as well as my new flat here.

Bisy Backson

2007-09-10T21:26:00.000+10:00

First things first and this is old news but still newsworthy... I'm an aunty again! Bonnie was born to Tina and Jason on 25th of July much to Tina's immense relief as the pregnancy was no fun at all but thankfully it was all worth it... isn't she lovely? (Jessie and Dax certainly look pleased!)

So hopefully by now you've read my latest newsletter and you know all about the Bisy Backson that I've been. It's over a month since my last post, but now that you've read the newsletter, there's only my day trip to Tai O left to report.

Kathryn, Nic, Laura, Amanda and I headed off to Tai O one very smoggy Sunday (yes, the winds have changed and the days of clear skies are pretty much over until next year I am told - sigh). The visibility of zero was a little disappointing, but there was no mistaking our arrival at Tai O, a fishing village on the west side of Lantau Island, for it's distinctly dried-seafood smell. I would be surprised if there was anything seafood that you couldn't get in Tai O. The village is mostly made up of houses on stilts and small stalls selling all manner of sea creatures, wet and dried. We arrived hungry, as you do, so headed straight for 'The Good View' restaurant which was completely lacking in windows let alone a good view - rather a point of curiosity. But the lack of a view hardly interferes with serious eating so we concentrated on the food, which filled the empty tummies but nothing worth writing home about - except perhaps for the ugliest prawns you ever did see which Nic insists are called Pissing Prawns. They are mostly shell and guts from what I could tell. I'm usually willing to give a food item at least one go and came to conclude that these little critters weren't worth the effort for the tiny morsel of meat you end up with after all the other bits are removed. The other girls were of the same mind so it was left to Nic to dispose of the entire plate of prawns. It wasn't a lot of food, just extremely time consuming. But we all thought he persevered well and got his money's worth and we finally moved on to see the sights and smell the oceanic odors that Tai O had to offer.

After exploring the market and some of the village, we hopped on a little boat which for the grand total of $3 (AUD) took us out to sea to look for dolphins and then back through a canal lined with stilted houses. There weren't any dolphins which was hardly surprising as the outboard motor on the boat would have driven away anything with any sensitivity (and I believe dolphins are rather sensitive - at least they have enough sense to keep away from these loud boats and gawking tourists), but the ride was fab... especially going through the canal and seeing how people live on the water's edge. I've included a short video clip for you to see:

I have also posted some photos which you can view by going to the link under 'my pics' called 'Tai O - Sep 07. I've got more pics of other things I've been doing... will try to upload them soon. Lotsalove xxx

Junk Cruise

2007-07-17T00:21:00.001+10:00

A lady from church invited our 30's social group to join her and her visiting friends on a Junk Cruise yesterday. We sailed from Central to a small island to the south of Hong Kong Island called Po Toi. When I was told it was a Junk Cruise, I had visions in my mind of a wooden boat with bright red sails, but it turns out the modern day 'junk' isn't quite so romantic. None the less it was a fabulous day especially as the air is still so clean (that is to say, the winds are still blowing in our favour and there's barely any pollution). We were caught briefly in heavy rain as we were sailing, but most of the time it was just fine and very cloudy.

We got off at Po Toi just in time for the second heavy deluge of water from the heavens, perfectly timed for the 5 minute walk to the seafood restaurant at which we all arrived looking like a collective something the cat dragged in. But it's not like it was your typical posh Sydney seafood dining experience... This little in-the-middle-of-nowhere joint had us entering through a storage room off the kitchen... there were people packed in like sardines and a dog eating scraps under the tables. That is all to say, bedraggled as we were, we fit in perfectly well, and were soon hoeing in to some fabulous fare. I'm not much of a seafood fan, but even I liked everything on offer, including clams which I decided I may as well just try, very much expecting to not like them but they were fantastic. The Chinese have a way with sauces! We ate fit to bursting, then waddled back along the path to the jetty where our 'junk' picked us up and tootled around to a little bay of the same island for a swim off the back of the boat and rather a lot of talking and various amounts of drinking (including a "boutique beer" from New Zealand that Melanie brought along with the thickest, creamiest froth you ever saw)...

When the sun was just about finished with the day, our captain started up the motor and took us back via the other side of Hong Kong Island to our starting point at Central. It was a balmy evening and we enjoyed the cool wind and spectacular view from the front of the boat, the light of the sun slowly fading as urban lights popped to life on the islands around us. By the time we came in to the harbour we were treated to an amazing festival of lights from all the apartment buildings and perfectly timed to watch the nightly laser show which is beamed off the commercial high rise buildings on both sides of the harbour. All in all, a superb day! Check out the full photographic evidence under My Pics - Po Toi Cruise.

While you're at My Pics, have a look at the photos from my time in Sydney last week - the link is called Sydney July 07.

Lamma Island

2007-07-16T23:32:00.000+10:00

Yesterday was a spectacularly clear and hot day and a group of us from my church headed off to Lamma Island (one of Hong Kong's many outlying islands). The plan was to stop for lunch upon arrival at one end of the island and walk to the other end (a good hour's walk) with a refreshing swim along the way. We had the lunch. Some of us had the swim, but the hour's walk was happily forfeited (by me at least) with the view of tackling it at a later and rather much cooler date. Lamma Island has no roads because there aren't any cars (or is it the other way around) and it has a wonderful holiday, bohemian feel to it. There are bars and restaurants and shops selling all manner of things from clothes and knick-knacks to seafood, fruit & veg, snacks and plastic things to play with at the beach. It's great! In fact I started day-dreaming about living there until I thought through the logistics of carrying shopping home from Hong Kong island (there's no supermarket on Lamma), or purchasing something large like say, a fridge... and I decided it may be more fun for day trips or holidays.

The beach was a 15 minute walk from where we had lunch, by which time we were wet with sweat from the stroll in the heat. One of the girls taught me how to say "my clothes are wet" in Cantonese which I think might be a useful expression as an answer to "how are you?" eg. "How are you?", "my clothese are wet". It pretty much sums up the situation... basically saying, "well, hot and bothered actually, thanks for asking". I was really looking forward to having a swim and was BITTERLY disappointed to find that the water was FILTHY. I mean, we had plastic bags in every stage of disintegration and all manner of other waste. It quickly became apparent that none of the foreigners on the beach were going in. Apart from that it was warm and the whole effect was like a tepid soup going off in the sun. It's not always like that we were assured by an expat resident. It was coming from the River Delta in China. China has a lot to answer for!!

After not swimming at the beach we had a cup of cold elderberry tea at a little tea farm and then 3 of our gang went on to explore the windmills and the rest of us turned around and headed back to the ferry. Which we missed by 30 seconds. Note to self: now THAT would be annoying if you were heading to work in the morning if you lived here. So we went back to the nearest bar to take the edge off the disappointment and general 'hot and botheredness'. The drink did wonders and before we knew it the next ferry was due and we headed home. Can't wait to go back. Check out the pics - the link is under 'my pics' called "Lamma Island July 07".

It's June!

2007-07-02T20:22:00.000+10:00

Not the month, the woman herself! June Dally-Watkins is staying with us here for the week, as she does a number of times each year (her being an ambassador for us and we being her charity of choice). It's been an experience for me to meet her now after doing one of her 'finishing' courses SO many years ago. Not sure that I came out very 'finished' but I've been re-inspired just now after she gave us a short workshop on Being The Best You Can Be. The image that will stay with me for some time yet is the startling effect of posture on one's being. June just carries herself well and it's part of who she is but I had no idea that that is one of the very great reasons that she looks so GREAT for having just become an octogenarian. She performed a number of serious slouches for us and she sudden looked all her years. Just like magic, as she re-poised herself, voila... an incredibly fine example of ageless womanhood! So, she had us all 'sitting up like jacki' (as me mudda would say) and speaking proper-like (still gotta werk on that one) and thinking about good health and nails and smiling with teeth showing and not bearing belly buttons with chandeliers hanging off them (as is the latest fashion), and in fact, not to go for latest fashions at all but to go for STYLE darlings! (I'm fine with abandoning fashion but acquiring style will be a challenge). I have to say though that I'm posturally inspired. I've got a new appreciation for and determination to be Properly Upright. My chiropractor will be pleased.

I sat with June at lunch one day this week and it was such a pleasure! I just have to know more about her so I've gone and bought her book on ebay and she's promised to sign it for me when she returns in September! (I feel like an excited kid.) I had to tell her the story of nana winning a radio competition (quite some years ago) because she guessed the mystery voice to be June Dally-Watkins. I'm sure that has endeared her to me greatly!

A case of wind

2007-06-24T22:50:00.000+10:00

Hong Kong has wind and it's coming from the South. So? Well, in winter the wind come from the north, bringing along with it what seems to be ALL of China's pollution. It's not a pretty sight and quite spoils what is otherwise a beautiful harbour city. Not to mention the effect it has on one's respiratory system. But something rather wonderful has happened of late... the wind has done a little 180 and is now coming from the south, across the clean oceans, bringing fresh, clean air. At the moment the air is SO clean and the distant mountains SO visible that there are a few conspiracy theories cropping up. One I heard at lunch today being that the Chinese government has temporarily reduced factory output in order to clean up the air for the 10th anniversary celebration of Hong Kong's handover to China which happens to be next weekend. Sounds like it has some merit but the general consensus was that in the end it's just a descent case of wind.

Here's a pic I took of Tuen Mun from the Gold Coast when I first got here this year:

Here's the same mountain taken a couple of days ago - (the mountains are often catching clouds like this)...

Crossroads site is between this mountain and the pink blocks of flats. The Gold Coast hotel is the building to the left of the flats...

Sailing the High Teas...

2007-06-18T23:21:00.000+10:00

It's curious and somewhat spooky, but my computer seems to know that I'm in Hong Kong. Of late it has taken the liberty of presuming that being in HK I must speak Chinese and would therefore appreciate some of my websites in the said Chinese. Clever as it is, I don't appreciate my websites in Chinese actually. For no apparent reason, my whole blog editing interface is now Chinese and since I can't read it I have no idea how to make it sensible again. So it could be a little bit trial and error but let's see how we go...

This posting is dedicated to Cousin Kate who has been waiting all week to see photographic evidence of my High Tea At The Ritz Carlton experience, since I casually dropped it into the conversation to her in an email. Being the High Tea Queen and the one who introduced me to whole beloved concept (with her very own home-made High Tea At The Ritz Manly) SHE will at least appreciate the following joyous vision:

Oh lovely sweet morsels!!!

To my privilege and delight I was invited to join Katrina and her 2 friends Yuki and Christina for high tea last weekend, thanks to Yuki winning a prize draw at work... high tea for 4 at the Ritz Carlton. It was an English portal in downtown Hong Kong, complete with chandeliers, old-fashioned high-backed chairs with round dark wood tables, live piano music and well-to-do society... a delight for all the senses, as per this little clip of video:

For more pics, check out the High Tea link under my pics to your left.

Ligers and Tigons…

2007-06-10T21:56:00.001+10:00

A couple of weeks ago I got the exciting news that my working visa had finally been issued by the Hong Kong Immigration department (5 months after applying). I was quite beside myself as it means I’m no longer on a holiday visa which needs renewing every 3 months. Another guy here called Ben was issued his visa as well and as we needed to leave the country in order to have them validated, we decided to go to Shenzhen in China for the day.

We arrived at about lunch time so naturally the first port of call was to find food. Shenzhen is where Hong Kongers go for Serious Shopping as there is a huge complex selling all manner of bargains (if you haggle well) right at the boarder where you come out of customs. That seemed the best place to start… We entered the building to be immediately accosted by a crowd of enthusiastic shop-owners (mostly women) all shouting “you buy missy missy you buy pelicure maniclure deebeedee copy watch missy missy you buy??” Our first taste of Chinese pushiness. We managed to stay focused and followed some big signs that promised food, up lots of escalators and round and round until we realised we might need some help and shouted into the chaos: “dim sum!??” Suddenly a lady manifested from nowhere wearing a restaurant uniform, armed with menu. She gently but firmly steered us through a rabbit-warren of aisles, past a plethora of interesting shops and enthusiastic sellers desperate for our esteemed patronage, to a wonderful looking dim sum restaurant at the edge of the complex looking out on China (actually it was mainly overlooking the bus terminal, but in the excitement of the moment it was the whole of China waiting to be discovered).

The dim sum did the trick, we paid in Hong Kong dollars as the guide book promised we could do and after looking at our options decided we would visit the Shenzhen Safari Park located “in the north.” It was a bit of a surprise therefore to find the bus conductor refusing to take our Hong Kong dollars to pay for the ride. During the ensuing comical game of charades which finally ended in a kindly man on the bus exchanging our dollars from his own wallet, the realisation slowly dawned that outside of the “you-buy-missy-missy” shopping centre on the boarder, we were in China and we were on our own. There were no foreigners to be seen. There appeared to be no-speak-a-da-ingrish and there was definitely no accepting of foreign monies!

Shenzhen is a SEZ (Special Economic Zone) - which means it has its own economic laws designed for economic growth. One can get a 3 day visa to visit Shenzhen so long as one doesn’t wish to venture further afield into greater China. Whatever it means in theory, in practice the SEZ status appears to have made Shenzhen rather wealthy. I was expecting it to be crowded, crammed with ugly high rises, polluted and lacking for greenery. A more intense version of Hong Kong. In fact it was the opposite. So much green! The landscaped streets we passed through on the hour-and-a half (when will we be there) bus ride were incredible. It’s like a cleaner, newer, more spacious and greener version of Hong Kong with less hills (it’s rather flat). I don't have a good photo of the streets so uploaded this video so you can see...

We finally arrived at the Safari Park to find that our Hong Kong dollars were shunned here too, but a nearby shopkeeper came to our rescue and we exchanged enough money to see us through the rest of the day. By this time the heat and humidity of the day was intense and after being in the lovely air conditioned bus so long I felt like a slice of refrigerated bread suddenly finding itself in the toaster. In a hot, sweating and slightly wilting manner, we enjoyed many hours looking at animals and trying to avoid paying for photographs with all manner of other attractions along the way - our subsequent encounter with Chinese pushiness. I've posted another video clip to give you an idea. (This lady with cockatoo had been following us along trying to convince us to have a photo for some time before I thought to take the video)...

She plonks the bird on Ben despite our protests, so I take advantage of the photo opportunity which thereafter sees the lady following us for some way demanding payment...

The undeniable highlight was the Enclosure for Dangerous Animals where creatures such as bears and lions and tigers are roaming free (in separate sections from each other). We were taken through on a mini bus and got up close and personal, (but not as personal as when we were invited to feed some tigers in cages afterwards). For $10RMB each (less than $2AUD) we were given some chicken on a stick and led to a narrow pathway between 2 rows of cages housing all manner of felines including Ligers and Tigons - which sounds incredibly unnatural if you ask me.

As we passed the first cage I suggested to Ben that he kneel down in front of the nice tigers for a photograph. So he did, quite close to the cage, quite close to 3 quite large tigers. Just as I was about to take the nice photo one of the nice tigers decided it wanted to eat Ben. It let out a mortal roar and leapt spread-eagle onto the chicken wire cage that separated it from lunch. There was a frozen moment in time when Ben’s eyes went wide as saucers before my own self-preservational instincts kicked in and the rest went something like: scream flee heart attack laugh oh my gosh I thought I was lunch for a minute there might need to change my undies… As Ben noted later, I wouldn’t be very good journalist on the front line. I’m still kicking myself for not catching it on video let alone completely missing the photo. Ah well, we laughed about it all the way home… think it helped rid the body of all that adrenalin.

Here’s a video after we had fed the nice tigers and completely calmed down. Don’t be deceived, they look disinterested but they’re quietly plotting how to go about eating you.

For more zoo pics, go to the Shenzen June 07 link under 'My Pics' to your left somewhere.

Crossing to the dark side...

2007-05-21T17:46:00.000+10:00

Has it really been 3 weeks since my last post? So what's been happening you want to know?! Well... it's been raining a lot, I've had a very sore back and I've gone and bought myself a pc lap-top (gasp#** and horror!).

So I was a bit tired of being only half in on the whole network compatibility thing... trecking solo as the only mac through a pc jungle. It was time and I could no longer resist CROSSING TO THE DARK SIDE!!!! Actually, I thought it might make me a bit melancholic, turning my back on my beloved mac, but I hate to admit it (mainly to the die-hard mac-lovers out there), I haven't looked back! I'm loving it in fact! Oh compatibility plus! Oh to copy and paste file paths in IM's and be able to print directly from my own computer and be able to use a webcam with skype etc. etc. etc...

So, what with moving computers and seemingly endless visits to the chiro (for a bulging disc, ouch), it's been a hectic couple of weeks. I did manage to squeeze in a visit to Hong Kong's wetlands which is situated on the Chinese boarder and has mercifully been preserved and turned into a park and educational facility. It is truly beautiful, but one can't help imagine it would have been so much more so before the surrounding high rises had risen so high (and abundantly). Check out the pics by hitting the link 'HK Wetland Park' under 'My Pics' to your left somewhere.

One of my jobs here is to document container loadings pictorially as they are happening. Thought you might like to see a few pics of the latest loading of a shipment currently bound for Cameroon. It's hard to believe all this stuff will fit into a 40 foot container...

A very nice person offered to take a picture of the photographer (me) which doesn't happen very often... so here I am with the hard working guys who loaded the container in 30 degree heat and 100% humidity!

Packing a container is quite an art. It's like doing a jigsaw puzzle with pieces that don't have a picture on them, but they make a beautiful picture in the end none-the-less!! The wonderful sight of a container packed with priceless goods ready to make a difference to many lives!

Joy to the world!

2007-05-01T19:28:00.000+10:00

There are many things to be joyous about right now. One of them is the addition of Ruby Charlotte to our family - born on 17th April to the joy of Karen, Anthony and Annabelle... Isn't she beautiful?! Annabelle's got a baby too...

I have been meaning to post this pic of Charlie (slightly older cousin of Ruby) for ages, so here it is...

Another cause for joy is that I'm better from my flu - hallelujah... and to top it off, today is one of Hong Kong's many public holidays. So I spent the day pottering and also went through all the photos I've taken in the past 2 months since coming to HK. I have uploaded a miscellaneous selection with captions to a folder called 'March & April 07'. The link is to your left (up the top) under 'My Pics'. Enjoy...

Commoncole

2007-04-23T11:15:00.000+10:00

I woke Liz up on Wednesday morning this week thinking that the world was coming to an end - my own personal world, not the world generally - I was SICK!!! Fever, runny nose sore throat, nausea... and the headache to end headaches. She graciously didn't kill me on the spot for waking her so early (must have been how patheticly sorry for myself I looked) and herded me into the bathroom for a cold shower. Then put me back to bed with pain killers and arranged for a doctors appointment. At 9am we walked over the road to my first encounter with Chinese Way of Medicine. The clinic was tiny and as it had only just opened, was also empty of patients, (much to my relief as I was drenched in sweat and had no great desire to sit in a room full of other sick people waiting forever to see a doctor as you do in medical clinics in Sydney).

There was a friendly Chinese lady, behind the counter of a booth full of medicines, who smiled cheerfully as Liz told her I was working at Crossroads, and that I was unwell. Shortly after giving her my particulars, I was called in by the doctor. His room looked like any western doctors' room (except for being half the size), so I sat down and told him my woes. He looked at me through his spectacles and I was relieved to hear him ask his first question in English, even if it was heavily veiled by a Chinese accent and struggled to make it's way through the protective breathing mask he was wearing. After copious notes and a thorough examination he was ready to declare his diagnosis. "Yoo ha commoncole". Feeling rather common I supposed his conclusion must be right enough and watched with interest as he made a copious list and spoke in rapid, mask-muffled Chinglish about the medicine he would prescribe me.

At this point I thought I was either completely off his topic of conversation or had mis-translated his diagnosis, as the list of pharmeceuticals he handed to the friendly booth-lady through another door gave one the distinct feeling that one must be gravely ill indeed. I was told I could wait in the waiting room. Liz lifted her eyebrows and I announced I had 'commoncole'. Finally, the friendly booth-lady beckoned me to her and she handed me enough drugs to start my own drug store. I was wide-eyed with wonder as she expertly went through (in hasty Chinglish) what each one was and how often to take... I kept looking at Liz and she just smiled and nodded knowingly. So, we had cough syrup - for cough, obviously - an anti-inflammatory for inflammation, ponstan for pain, something else for 'sleepy', something for bloating, antibiotics, paracetamol for pain and fever and finally something incase the stomache bleeds (from all those pills presumably) "ba no happen offen". Wowsers, a doctor's visit and all that medicine for the grand total of only AUD$23! I have to admit that although it felt like extremely good value, I decided to just take the paracetemol and antibiotics and leave the rest to the One Who Heals. Especially with the image of bleeding stomache still fresh in my mind!

Needless to say, as I'm at my computer and blogging, I am mostly better now. Yay!! The world hasn't ended and hopefully I'll be well enough to be back at work tomorrow. Unfortunately the timing of my being sick meant I largely missed out on enjoying Craig and Paige visiting Crossroads from Australia this past week. I met them at Vicki's church on the Central Coast and they brought me a great number of the ear plugs I like that don't seem to be available here. Thanks again guys! I don't even have one picture of them... : ( but here is the panarama I took in Macau that I mentioned in my last posting... (Click on it to see it bigger).

Mo May Jing! (and other things)

2007-04-03T16:52:00.000+10:00

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...

A Tribute to Pa – 93 and 3/4 years old...

2007-04-03T16:35:00.000+10:00

This is my favourite photo of Pa... Following is the tribute I wrote for his funeral today...

As I reflect on my time living with Pa last year, I realise what a privilege it was to have the chance to get to know him, really for the first time. It was a full and rich year with many challenges, but also so many wonderful moments that I will treasure in my heart with much thankfulness.

What I discovered about Pa - the man he was beyond the aches and pains and moments of confusion or forgetfulness that go with being 93 - was that he was a real gentleman. The "ladies-first, door-opening" kind that is a rare breed now-a-days. He was a kind-hearted and generous man with a wonderful sense of humour. Despite each day being a great effort for him just to rise and deal with a wearing out body and mind, his humour would constantly surprise me and make me laugh.

He had a great collection of sayings. After breakfast each morning he would get up, dust the crumbs off his shirt and announce with satisfaction that "the prisoner ate a hearty meal". Every now and then he would test me and instead of the announcement, it would be a question... "and what did the prisoner do??"

Pa loved to be out and about. Sitting at home all day was only for the worst of weathers. Each morning after a cheery "GOOOOD morning!!" and a hearty breakfast, he would enquire as to what was on the program for the day. As long as it wasn't a boring blood test or doctor's appointment I would receive an approving "good." I think we saw around 60 movies together last year. Pa loved a movie. If I chose a good one, that was a bonus, but if not he saw it as the perfect opportunity for quick nap. As we always went during the day time, we would often have the entire cinema to ourselves, at which point Pa would lean over and whisper in my ear: "glad we booked".

We had a collection of favourite eateries... number one being the Harbord Diggers where they serve the best salmon steak lunch around. Pa would usually polish off the lot, despite declaring half way through that there was way too much and he couldn't possibly eat it all. After which he would wipe the tartare sauce from his lips and say: "take me out and kill me but don't bend me"... which I think just means he was very full.

Shortly after moving to Manly with Pa, I asked him if he missed living at Woy Woy to which he quickly replied, "not even one woy". This had nothing to do with Sandy & Ian because he often spoke fondly of his time there and how well they cared for him, but more because Manly had become part of who he was. Having lived there since 1964 he was deeply attached to his home and to Manly itself. As they say, you could take the Pa out of Manly but you couldn't take the Manly out of Pa.

He loved going on the ferry and would always insist on leading me up the steep flight of stairs to the upper deck and sitting on the hard wooden seats at the back outside, in order to give me the wonderful open view of Manly fading in the distance as we headed to the city. And that was even if I forgot the boney-you-know-what-cushion!

One of my fondest memories of my time with Pa is sitting on the swing with him at home and listening to stories of old... about South Africa, and his parents and siblings, about growing up poor in Eastwood, about being a young man and going dancing at the Trochadero, about being there at the opening of the Harbour Bridge when de Groot rode up and cut the ribbon before it had to be re-tied and officially re-cut, about working as a cutter and later starting his own business... about his love of fishing and his hole-in-one that wasn't recorded... and about a brother-in-law with no nous.

After explaining to me what 'nous' meant, I realised that if anyone had nous, it was Pa. One thing that really struck me over the year with Pa is the way our whole family love and care for him so much, especially his four girls - Sandy, Leonie and Judy-Vicki-whoever-you-are. They made every effort to keep him at home for as long as possible and to make sure he was happy and had all that he needed.I realised one day that that was a real reflection of the person he was. A solid rock in their lives - a real man of nous - steady and constant, a good father and provider who loved them dearly.

I feel so blessed to have an album full of photos of the "things I did with Pa" and that even though he has been taken from us for now, those memories are something I will always treasure.

Lay Ho!

2007-03-20T23:38:00.000+11:00

Lay ho means hello in Cantonese. I'm trying my best to learn some of the local lingo as there are times when no-one speaka-de-engrish so good. I can now say: Do you speak English?, Where is the toilet?, How do you say ________ in Chinese? and various other sundry greetings. I tried out the Do you speak English? one at the department store my first weekend here and it worked! Well, at least the lady understood what I said and then said "no" (in Cantonese). So apart from the fact that she was no help what-so-ever, I walked away feeling elated. The local shopping centre in Tuen Mun is 10 minutes away on the bus and is HUGE... encompassing what seems like blocks of shops - vaster than any Westfield I've been to. Thus it's easy to come out at some random exit and be completely and utterly and entirely and possibly hopelessly LOST. I spent the first 1/2 hour of my time trying to find the department store and going around in embarrassingly hopeless circles, past the same bemused guard, getting hot flushes of frustration and very nearly giving up, when I discovered another block of shops connected by walkway to the one that had become my no-exit labrynth and lo! department store! Then I was off, got all the things I needed and felt entirely trimphant at having conquered Tuen Mun Town Plaza...

Last Sunday after church I went to Sham Shui Po (same place as the exhibition last week) to find myself a mobile phone as mine wouldn't work with the new sim card I got... Sham Shui Po is the place for cheap electricals and I got a good deal on a phone for $800HK instead of $950 I saw it for in Tuen Mun. The streets of SSP are lined with stalls selling everything from pots and pans, electic tools, mobile phone accessories, electicals of all descriptions and etc. It's also a very poor area as far as living conditions go. Great for photography...

Yesterday I went for a good long walk with Kathryn (who's a good deal fitter than me) up a very steep hill which mercifully became flat and quiet and beautiful. The first pic at the top of this post is the view a one point looking back down... And here is me:

Today I started working on the menu and posters for the recently opened Silk Road Cafe here at Crossroads. Next I'll be doing banners and other signage and then applying the logo design to cups and other paraphernalia. I also had the privilege of visiting the kids at our little school here to photograph them all with their teacher Miss Helen who is (sadly) leaving at the end of the week. Here they are, a beautiful and multicultural bunch (who REALLY need a replacement teacher - long term - if anyone is inclined to come to Hong Kong to teach voluntarily... anyone??)

Finally, I worked out how to include video on my blog page, so here is the promised clip of Jessie doing the hoola... enjoy! Feel free to leave comments people... the comment facility should work just fine now... looking forward to hearing from you!

Hong Kong!!

2007-03-11T22:57:00.000+11:00

Greetings from Honkers! It's my third day in and I've set up my room and feeling settled and very welcomed by everyone here at Crossroads. When I stepped in to my new home (which is the flat I stayed in when I came here last year) with Liz to greet me at the door, I suddenly felt like I'd hardly been away at all and infact that I'd just popped up the road for some milk or something.

I had a good flight with 4 (heavenly) seats to myself as it was a very unfull plane - what a luxury! I was rather surprised to exit the airport and be greeted by a decidedly wintery air. Hong Kong is having an unseasonal 'cold snap' which would actually be rather nice if I had brought my coat and other winter things such as warm socks to wear to bed. The first night was a bit hard but I'm all set now and I'm sure will be wishing it was cold again before we know it, so best to enjoy it while I can.

As it was a very late night on Thursday, I had a slow day on Friday, unpacking and catching up with friends new and old (lots of hugs) and an early night. By Saturday I felt sufficiently rested and ready to go, so it was off to the office to work on some posters for the new AIDS Life Xperience "game". See more about Life Xperience here.

Today I had a big day out on the town with Katrina (who I knew from my church in Rozelle about 4 years ago and who first told me about Crossroads). She took me to her church which meets in a Kowloon Christian school and afterwards we went to a Chinese restaurant of the Peking region and enjoyed some wonderfully tasty morsels of all kinds thanks to one of the girls there being a food person (home ec teacher) and knowing the best things to order (as well as speaking Cantonese which really helps). It was one of those long slow meals in which dishes just keep appearing to surprise you, all rotating around a great big lazy-susan with an endless supply of Chinese tea to sip... as well as great people to share it with. Wonderful!

Katrina and I then went to see a rather unusual 'exhibition' called Our Life in West Kowloon. It was an incredible eye-opener and I was suddenly quite sorry that I decided to leave my camera at home (I know, madness, but my back is a bit sore from heavy luggage and I was determined to take as little as possible thinking to myself that I have plenty of tomorrows coming up for photos)... Anyway, possibly I was able to experience it better without having a camera stuck in front of my face. Basically it was in an old crumbly 8-story building where people are living in unbelievably cramped conditions. We were taken through to a number of the small units where people have temporarily vacated for various reasons and given a real taste of their lives in this place which we all would find completely intolerable. Many are elderly, jobless, mentally ill or new migrants and the exhibition is seeking to be a voice for these voiceless and forgotten people. To put names to faces and tell their stories. On 2 of the floors, single apartments were subdivided by partitions into 7 'units' where individuals and families would each live in a space smaller than my bedroom, most of them without windows, all sharing one toilet and shower and very small kitchen. All their washing is done by hand and hung over the outside landing on prodruding 'clothes lines'. This is one of the families that lived in such conditions and here is a small extract about them:

Fung Pak Wing lives with his wife and two sons in a window-less 40 sq.ft. partitioned room, in a shared-apartment with seven other households. Fung's sons have to study on the back stairs, as they don't have a table at home and their tiny room is stifling. They either construct 'a desk' by putting one plastic chair on top of another with a pillow in between, or simply work on the steps of the back stairwell. All their homework must be finished before sunset, while there's still enough light. However, despite this harsh environment and neighbors' complaints, the two boys study diligently. In school, they are doing well, and getting great results. Only when they're set assignments involving photos or I.T. does homework become a real problem, since they have neither a camera nor a computer. So, although they hope to do well in all their subjects, this may not always be possible.

To read the rest of this story and find out more about the exhibition click here. Hong Kong is a very wealthy country but there is much poverty here and Crossroads supports many of the charities that are helping these needy people. It was a valuable experience to see this sort of poverty first-hand.

On another note, I have uploaded some of the photos I took while Tina and Phillipa were in Sydney the week b'fore last. Check them out at the 'Tina & Phil in Sydney' link under My Pics to your left. It was so fab to get a good top-up of family before I left. I've added some captions to the pics instead of writing all about it here. If you click on the first photo you can then move through them all with captions. Sorry there's no pics of HK yet. Stay tuned.. there'll be plenty to come... Also, mum said she had trouble leaving a comment. I've fiddled with some of the settings... hopefully it will be possible now. If not I'll have another go. Would love to hear from you!

So Long Farewell...

2007-03-08T11:26:00.000+11:00

It's less than 2 hours before I have to leave for the airport to fly to Hong Kong and while mum is madly cleaning Pa's place I'm hurriedly catching up on my blog before I go. SO much to do in order to leave the country for a year. What would I do without me mudda...? eg: Are you taking your electric toothbrush? said she. Yeees... Why? said I, thinking it was safely packed in my bag. Because the base of it is here in the bathroom (which she was scrubbing to within an inch of it's life). Oh, says I. Good one mum. And so on. Managed to fit 3 bags worth of clothes into one thanks to Phillipa's fab idea of condensing everything with vacpac bags. Suck out the air with a vac and watch a huge pile become a condensed mass. Unfortunately it only reduces volume and not weight. Maybe that will be the next invention.

So, many of us enjoyed a family fiasco on Saturday to celebrate Phil's 30th birthday and to farewell me. It was the fiasco to beat all fiascos. Some of us were a little overwhelmed by the frenzie of children (namely those of us without children ourselves... eg. me and Kate)... but it was the best and most comprehensive - in terms of attendance - family gathering for quite some time and hence highly special for it's rarity among other things. We, generally speaking as a family, have certainly gone forth and multiplied. The pic above are all the little tuckers we've come forth with (except Dax who was napping... Karen and Tina's wee ones yet to join us, and David's Charlie who was in Melbourne).

One of the highlights of the fiasco was 3 year old Jessie doing her hoola-hooping (sp?)... I happened to get a rather funny (me and Tina thought) little clip of her in action which I will attempt to post on my blog but can't work out how to do it right now. Stay tuned for that. Meanwhile there's lots of photos of the family gathering for you to view... Go to the link under My Pics to your left: A Birthday and Farewell.

There's lots more to report... especially about Phillipa and family visiting from Perth and Tina and family visiting from Bellingen. Should do another album for that too... But gotta go get a plane shortly, so will be coming to you from Hong Kong next posting. Now for a wee bit of mushy stuff: thank you so much to everyone for your love and support for me going to Crossroads. Hope you will stay tuned and keep reading my blog and email me to let me know your news too. Will miss you!!

Little Artist

2007-02-18T17:02:00.000+11:00

I do love to watch an artist at work so it was a real delight to arrive at Emma's the other day to find 3 1/2 year old Sophie up to her armpits in green and blue paint creating a wonderful masterpiece on a large piece of perspex... The lighting in Emma's back yard is quite beautiful, suffused through huge overhanging trees and the surrounding greenery of their very lush garden. I had a lovely time snapping away like a Japanese tourist... as you do. To see some more pics, go to Emma's Feb 07 under My Pics.

My decision to leave the country has inspired a myriad of 'we must catch up before you go's so it's a bit pack-one-meet-one at the moment... Each church I go to I join a home group that meets during the week for bible study and sharing and one such group from a few churches back (I move a lot) has become affectionately know as Ye Olde Home Group which I'm thinking might be better shortened to Ye Olde Homie. We try to catch up here and there and seeing that I'm about to leave the country we had a get together yesterday. It was well worth the long trek to Yagoona where Pete & Reg live which is truly in the middle of nowhere - I thought to myself on the way - but then having ample time to reflect upon it, I realised that it's probably more Manly that's really out-of-the-way. It was an especially good reunion this year with the addition of 2 new off-spring from various of us... Little Lana who's just 2 (and can tell you so) and wee Benjamin who's a mere 5 weeks old and so doesn't do any tricks yet other than looking very small and adorable... For more pics see the Ye Olde Homie album under My Pics.

Packing, packing...

2007-02-11T20:41:00.000+11:00

I'm surrounded by boxes which must be a sign that I'm making progress with packing up my life (once again) and readying things for the move to Hong Kong. The pile of Will-Be-Taking is growing at an alarming rate and may have to be further sub-divided into Definitely and If-There's-Room. I've booked my plane ticket so I really am going for those who've been mislead by the whole 'hongkongmoo' thing and wondering why I'm still in the country... it's anticipatory... a sort of closing-of-one-chapter-beginning-of-another thing... So, I'll be going on March 8.

I have to say that the social calendar decidedly more full in this new chapter of my life. It's pretty special to be able to pack a box or three and then go and meet someone for lunch... I even took the Schnitzel Challenge at the Belgium Bier Cafe in Manly with a friend who wishes to remain nameless for the fact that she single-handedly ate an entire plate of pork schnitzel (quite a large one), thereby winning a shot of peach schnapps which she lovingly handed over to me, with a full-of-schnitzel look in her eyes, saying "I did it for you"... Well, halleluja! I couldn't eat all my schnitzel but I got the peach schnapps! What a friend!!

Of tea-towels and diggers...

2007-02-11T20:40:00.000+11:00

I went round to Olivia's new place for lunch the other day. It was built in the 60's so has some wonderul classic 60's features, including 3 very distinct places in the kitchen specifically dedicated to hanging tea-towels - one of them is a special swing-out cupboard thingy wholy devoted to the tea-towel. Perhaps the lady of the house had a special collection of them? Or just required that one be at hand regardless of where it was in the kitchen she stood? Or perhaps this obvious devotion to the tea-towel was something that died out with women's lib, so we just don't quite get it.

While we marvelled at the tea-towel phenomenom, we also marvelled at the fact that boys don't need to be taught to love cars and trucks and diggers... that whole nature/nurture thing... boys and trucks is definitely nature. Case in point was when we took 4 year old Matty to the zoo last time Phil was here and he followed us round while we pointed out each new species with enthusiastic statements like "Look, a bear!", "Giraffes!", "Lions!" But nothing could compare to Matty's cry of passion when he saw the new elephant enclosure construction site... "DIGGERS!!!!!!". It eventually took three of us to ply his hands off the mesh fence in order to move on... Anyway, the pic above is Archie with his big fire truck that has a battery operated ladder that goes up and down and up and down and up... hours of fun! (For a few more pics see the Archie & Olivia album under 'My Pics')

A movie or two...

2007-02-04T15:00:00.000+11:00

This will probably be a completely boring post, but I really have a sudden urge to list all the movies I've seen in the past 12 months. Here they are in rough order of viewing... (I've put an asterix next to the ones that were the stand-outs for me)... (ps: this pic and the last one posted are odes to Trish's spectacular bumper crop of cosmos... beautiful!!)

Jindabyne
Separate Lies
Hidden
Da Vinci Code
Click
* Proof
Pirates of Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
* Tsotsi
Superman Returns
* Ten Canoes
Ballet Russe
Wah Wah
* World's Fastest Indian
Take the Lead
The Break-up
Narnia
Faliure to Launch
Brokeback Mountain
TransAmerica
Capote
The Squid & The Whale
The White Countess
The White Masai
American Dreamz
* Tristan & Isolde
Goodnight & Goodluck
* Live & Become
Memoirs of a Geisha
The Weatherman
* Kinky Boots
Casanova
Walk the Line
* March of the Penguins
Two for the Money
* The three burials of Melquiades Estrada
Eight below
* Inside Man
Just Like Heaven
* Match Point
The Catapilla Wish
On a Clear Day
You, me & Dupree
* Sophie Scholl
Syriana
Prime
The Sentinel
The Lake House
Friends With Money
Beyond the Sea
Thank you for Smoking
49-up
U-Carmen
The Departed
* Kenny
* The Devil Wears Prada
Little Miss Sunshine
Wind that Shakes the Barley
A Good Year
Eragon
Candy
The Prestige
The Holiday
The Queen
Happy Feet
Babel
* Miss Potter
* Stranger than Fiction
Little Children
Music & Lyrics

Sometimes life seems unfair

2007-02-04T12:22:00.000+11:00

A rabbi went on a journey with a prophet. They walked all day, and at nightfall they came to the humble cottage of a poor man, whose only treasure was a cow. The poor man ran out of his cottage, and his wife ran too, to welcome the strangers for the night and to offer them all the simple hospitality which they were able to give in straitened circumstances. The prophet and the rabbi were entertained with plenty of cow's milk, sustained with homemade bread and butter, and they were put to sleep in the best bed while their kindly hosts lay down before the kitchen fire. But in the morning the poor man's cow was dead.

They walked all the next day, and came that evening to the house of a very wealthy merchant, whose hospitality they craved. The merchant was cold and proud and rich, and all that he would do for the prophet and his companion was to lodge them in a cowshed and feed them on bread and water. In the morning however, the prophet thanked him very much for what he had done, and sent for a mason the repair one of his walls which happened to be falling down, as a return for his kindness.

The rabbi, unable to keep silence any longer, begged the holy man to explain the meaning of his dealings with human beings.

"In regard to the poor man who received us so hospitably," replied the prophet, "it was decreed that his wife was to die that night, but by his grace, God took the cow instead of the wife. I repaired the wall of the rich miser because a chest of gold was concealed near the place, and if the miser had repaired the wall himself he would have discovered the treasure. Say not therefore to God: Why are you doing this? But say in your heart: Must not the Lord of all the earth do right?"

(From 'The Once and Future King' by T.H. White)

First Day at School!

2007-01-31T16:09:00.002+11:00

Can you believe Matty is going to school already?! All of a sudden he's 5! Phil sent me some pics and says of his first day at school: "the report is good, he's made a friend called jack and he likes his teacher (her name is Mrs Pearl) and he said to me on the walk home 'I love that school' so I'm very relieved. Isn't he so grown up!" Not to mention cute... hope he doesn't lose his love of that school too quickly!

Attitude

2007-01-30T20:20:00.000+11:00

There once was a woman who woke up one morning, looked in the mirror, and noticed she had only three strands of hair on her head. She said, "I think I'll braid my hair today." So she did and she had a wonderful day.

The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror and saw that she had only two strands of hair on her head. "H-M-M," she mused, "I think I'll part my hair down the middle today." So she did and she had a grand day.

The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror and noticed that she had only one strand of hair on her head. "Well," she said, "today I'm going to wear my hair in a pony tail." So she did and she had a fun-filled day.

The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror and noticed that there wasn't a single hair on her head. "YEA!" she exclaimed, "I don't have to fix my hair today!"

(by Anon)

The Big Day Off

2007-01-29T18:31:00.000+11:00

We love a day off that's for sure... Australia Day is one such instance and many headed for Manly for some salty sea air and a bit of sand-in-the-togs. Dad, Trish and I were happily among the throng, armed with sun cream and boogie boards. In the words of Trish it was "heaven on a stick"... and dad was adament we get photographic evidence to make the pommy rels jealous. So, Janey Waney, Phil, Livi and Robbie, these pics are for you...(!)

I also had the joy of catching up with my dear friend Mira and her husband (who was selling his handmade pens at the Manly market) and daughter who speaks Macedonian and English at the age of 2 (in a 2-year-old sort of way)... She matter-of-factly addressed me as Te Te Marnie (aunty Marnie) which is incredibly cute coming from a bi-lingual 2 year old who can recite her own age and address and knows all her shapes including stars and diamonds...!!

After going home for a power nap, my good friends Mariah and Warren came round for dinner which was my experimental version of Morrocan Lamb Tagine. I borrowed Flanno's tagine to make it authentic and it wasn't bad, but I'm not sure if I'm really into lamb shanks. Might try it with thigh-of-chicken next time... (To see some more pics from The Big Day Off, click the link under 'My Pics' to your left)

Hong Kong on my mind

2007-01-21T15:54:00.000+11:00

So as I prepare for what 2007 has in store for me - namely Hong Kong - it is with a tinge sadness that I let go of marniemoo.com and embrace hongkong.moo! I hope you will do the same and come along side me on my journey from now until I leave in March and then through my year in Hong Kong with Crossroads International. For reminscing purposes, marniemoo.com is still online... just hit the link under 'blogs' to your left and you'll find it at it's new web address.

Reflecting on my year in Manly with Pa, I'm so grateful for the time I was able to have with him and to be in the 'hub' of the Hopkins clan. It's been 'terrific' (favourite Hopkins word) being able to have a goodly dose of family this year that I can carry with me on my journey over the seas to oriental lands.