visit to Cheung Chau with Victor & Viviana

It was a treat to have Victor and Viviana visit us from London. One day we went over to the island of Cheung Chau and walked everywhere.


It's a fishing community, and there were fishing boats moored all along the harbour and fish drying and for sale along the paths. It was quite a smelly walk!

Anything will grow in Hong Kong, it seems, due to the favourable temperatures and vast quantities of rain. These tree roots astounded me!


We walked all over the island: along the shore and also up the streets to the hill in the centre, past the homes of the residents.


There were two temples which we saw on the island, one of which had this lion outside. It and the stone ball inside its mouth was carved from a single piece of stone.


There were a lot of little eateries along the main paths and this was the back kitchen entrance of one of them. I asked this lady if I could take her picture and she posed for me. I am amazed by how frequently I see roasted poultry hanging up--do people order a whole one? I think it's to take home for later.


Outside the other temple there was a fruit tree--orange Victor said (he should know, he's from Spain). I sat next to the tree and took its picture while the others roamed about nearby. My feet hurt after all that walking. It was a great day out with friends.

Ant's new suits and shirts

Hong Kong--the place for tailor-made suits. Ant and I each had a suit made when we were here last summer, and I've encouraged him to use some of his first salary payments to get a couple more. He has been wearing only the one suit for the last few months and he's due some new ones. Aren't they smart? He had two white shirts made as well.


The suit he has made last year is navy with light pinstripes (not shown here) and his two new ones are charcoal (at the top of the post) and medium gray (above and below). Now he has three suits and I'm going to suggest that he gets a new one every year (or so?) from here on.

happy father's day

It was so good to have Mum and Dad visiting recently. I'm glad they made the long journey to see us and also Micah and Anna in Sydney. A big thanks to Dad (and Mum) making me a confident adult by taking me around Europe as a child and including me in decisions. I remember more than one occasion being consulted on where to live and being taken to house viewings. They urged us kids to pray about our move to Romania before we went there, and I was impressed that all our views were taken into account.


My Dad is inspirational in his care of others. He is willing to help anyone at any time (perhaps this is one reason why he is so good at his job). He has helped me out of a few rough spots, like when I crashed the family car as a teenager. I called him on the policeman's phone, "Dad, I've had an accident." "That's fine; are you alright?" he replied straight away. He didn't even ask about the car, which was totally destroyed.


He's always been supportive of me (and of Paul, Micah, and Mum). His example as a hard worker during his PhD undoubtedly inspired me to work hard at university and has made a success out of me. And he's inspired me in his Christian faith. He shows dedication to studying the Bible day by day that reminds me of the book title: "a long obedience in the same direction". (Together with my Mum, the prayer woman, I have pretty good role models to look up to.)

Thanks to my Dad, for his unfailing love over the years. Happy Father's Day!

at the mall with Anthony

Ant and I went over to Kowloon to do a few errands. We walked around all afternoon and happened to end up at the Haagen-Dazs store! Ant ordered this impressive item. I had some raspberry and mango sorbet scoops with almond slices. Then we were walking around the mall and I went into the ladies toilets, which included this fantastical mirror. It was all velvety and colourful.

visit from Mum and Dad

Here are some photos taken my Mum when she was here with Dad for a visit. They were so useful to us to arrive just when we were moving into our flat. They helped build the beds the first night they arrived. And everyday when we went off to work, Mum came back form her adventures with another little item to make life better at home.

Dad was away for a bit more than a week teaching a course in Indonesia. Mum spent most of her days traipsing around the city, armed with her Octopus card for public transport. On her quieter days she looked out the windows of our apartment and watched the ships going by.


There are a lot of fountains in Hong Kong (water is a big feature in Feng Shui.) Here is Mum standing inside one of the fountains in Hong Kong Park.


Mum took a bus to central that she loved because it curved along a very improbable route. Such steep, winding roads the bus goes on! The ramp in this picture is about ten stories above ground level. It's amazing that the bus careens around these corners right outside someone's living room window.


Mum and Dad were quite taken with the juxtaposition between the tall, shiny buildings and the packed lanes between them. The lanes are really interesting to explore, with little market stalls of food, clothes, and odds and ends.


I'm a little behind with posting about the last few weeks. Thanks for your patience. :-)