Repulse Bay, Hong Kong

Photos from Repulse Bay and Stanley Village in Hong Kong, September 2017.

Trip to Johannesburg, South Africa

At the end of May I had to go on a trip to South Africa. I had never been to Africa before, so I was a bit giddy. I had to take two flights. The first flight was 2.5 hours from Shanghai to Hong Kong. The second flight was 13 hours and was from Hong Kong to Johannesburg. Jo'burg looks very much like America. Above is a residential neighborhood in the big city. 

After arrival, they took us to a mall for lunch. On that day, the mall had a rooftop market going on, and I got a latte there.

Next to the mall was an "African market" that sells local handicrafts. I picked up a few souvenirs.

Later in the day, a bus took me and my group to a conference location a couple of hours away from Johannesburg. We passed by a black township, and I saw these people standing beside the road waiting for rides. A township is similar to a Chinese village (as I view it), although I'm no authority on life in Africa.

During my trip, I was able to go on two jeep safaris in a game reserve. I'll soon post photos from that, so come back soon! 

One year ago today

It happened August 17, 2014 – exactly one year ago today. It was a Sunday, I was in China, and I had hosted the Sunday morning gathering at my home that day for my group of expatriate friends. I’d made breakfast and coffee for them. I think we even had a light summer a.m. rain, making me glad I wasn’t the one who had to go out that morning, as was usually the case. When they left in the early afternoon, I went out on my motorbike, did some sightseeing, and met up with Chinese friends at a coffee shop. I came home that evening, gave Mimi a doggy head massage, and reveled in the lovely day I’d just had. I was in excellent health with lots of energy, especially since going off statins two years prior, and going off of sodas, sugar and wheat one year prior. At 10:25 p.m., I got in my pajamas, stretched my arms into the air, and decided to rub my own neck, something I never did. It was then that I discovered a funny little hard bump on the back right side of my neck.

I checked the left side and found nothing. I didn’t know if a lump on my neck was normal or not, but the lack of symmetry startled me. I decided I would be at the clinic run by English-speaking Singaporean doctors when their doors opened the following morning.

The neck ultrasound worried my doctor, and he suggested I get it checked elsewhere, outside the country. My organization’s medical consultant recommended waiting two weeks to see if the lymph nodes in my neck were just swollen due to an infection.

I went ahead and took my scheduled train trip in which I traversed half the distance of China from south to north, headed to the northern port city of Dalian to meet up with colleagues and friends. I felt fine, but the hard lump on my neck didn’t go away during that week of travel. If anything, the rest of my neck felt tighter than before, something I told the medical consultant.

She arranged for me to have an appointment in Hong Kong, and I showed up at the doctor’s office there two weeks and two days after finding the lump. On Tuesday, September 2^nd Dr. Chen, a graduate of Harvard Medical School, did a fine needle biopsy, and on Wednesday, September 3rd he called me back into his office at noon to tell me the news that I had cancer in my neck that had spread there from some other yet unknown part of my body. I assumed that since we just found it, it must be in the harmless early stages, but my doctor told me otherwise. He told me it was serious and that I should get home to the U.S. as soon as possible to get it taken care of.

I was stunned that this thing could happen to me at all, much less at a time when I had never felt better in my adult life. I had faithfully and meticulously done cancer screenings during annual physical exams. I had done everything I was supposed to do and probably more than what most people do. How could I have cancer, much less cancer that had spread, when I had done everything right?

I flew back to my home in China the next day, on September 4th. Under a heavy cloud of grief, I spent days trying to figure out what to do about my dog, closing out bank accounts, shredding papers, trying to pack, making travel arrangements, trying to make doctor’s appointments in the U.S. (I had to stay up at night to do this due to the time difference) and saying goodbyes as best I could. I only had five full days. How do you bring 19 years in China to closure in just five days? I didn’t know if I would ever be coming back to China, if I would ever see my friends again in this life, if I should leave my belongings behind (in case I returned to China) or would need them for a new life in the U.S. or -- in the worst case scenario -- not need anything ever again.

Now, by the grace of God, it is one year later. I have more hope and peace now than I did at that time.

The excellent news is that my doctor at MD Anderson says the cancer is gone now as far as they can tell -- but then again they haven’t seen my type of cancer very often, as I have the most unusual of cases. The request for complete healing is always in my prayers, even now, as it is in many of your prayers as well – thank you. If all goes well between now and the end of January, when my every-three-week maintenance IV treatments end, my doctor says I will be fit to return overseas.

God is surely the One who prompted me to touch my neck on that evening one year ago today, to give me warning before it was too late, something my cancer screenings had failed to do. God is certainly the One who stepped in to rescue me. I trust in Him to navigate these murky waters and see me through.

All I know is that – and I hope it never happens to you – my life unexpectedly changed forever, and it started one year ago today.

Backroad

A backroad on Hong Kong Island, June 2014.

Where I lived in Hong Kong

When I lived in Hong Kong (1995-1996), I lived in Mei Foo. Mei Foo is the Chinese name for Mobile Oil Company … I presume they built this area at some point, but they were not really anywhere to be found when I lived there. In the photo above, I lived on the 16th floor. The top balcony is the 20th floor, so if you count down to the 16th floor, you'll see my balcony had a white roof. That balcony petrified me, so I seldom stood out there.

Down below is a shopping area … and a McDonalds. Now there is a McCafe there too, but there was no specialty coffee when I lived there, just the regular McDonalds brew.

Between my building and McDonalds is a subway entrance. So perfectly convenient for all my roaming around Hong Kong! And trust me, I did a lot of roaming.

Victoria Peak in Hong Kong

The most famous view of Hong Kong is this one, from atop Victoria Peak. What a beautiful city, built on mountains in a tropical setting along a harbor.

The Peak Tram is one way to get up the mountain. The public city bus is more scenic and cheaper though, so I generally choose the bus. But I have taken the tram several times before.

See the bird in the center of the photo? Such a beauty!

Do you see the spider in the middle of this photo? Yikes! Victoria Peak has quite a few hiking trails that take hours to complete if you go the entire way; it goes through tropical forest areas. I took a stroll down one of them for about 5 minutes, and saw this spider along the way. I didn't figure it was a good idea for me to go hiking alone, even though they have hiking trail police. And then the spider really confirmed to me that I needed to get back into civilization.

Stanley Market in Hong Kong

Stanley Market, in Stanley Village on the south side of Hong Kong Island

Stanley village and beach

The entrance to Stanley market

Lots of interesting shops. I went here with my parents in 1997. 

That's seven Hong Kong dollars, worth about one U.S. dollar.

The bus.

Snapshots on the island

Just a few random shots I took on Hong Kong Island … I like the window display above. They use the old-fashioned (but effective) China thermoses and ceramic bowls to create a quaint bit of window art.

 Most buildings are not as colorful as they are in this neighborhood.

I'm sitting on a bus, taking photos out the window as we zoom on winding mountain roads with steep drop-offs.

 I love the scenic mountain roads on the island!

The beach at Repulse Bay, Hong Kong

Here are photos of what is perhaps my favorite beach in the world, the beach at Repulse Bay on the south side of Hong Kong Island (odd name for such a beautiful place). Of course Tasmania and Hawaii have some awesome beaches too, but I think there's something wonderful and mysterious about a beach along the South China Sea.

On a Thursday morning when thunderstorms are in the forecast, it was not crowded at all.

This last photo was taken from inside a speeding double-decker bus hugging the side of a mountain!

By the time you see this post, I should be back at my own place with my snuggly Pekingese, Lord willing. But I am not finished showing you around Hong Kong, so I will continue to post more about Hong Kong in the next few days. 

The Mongkok neighborhood of Hong Kong

Here are a few photos from the Mongkok neighborhood of Kowloon, Hong Kong. The above photo was taken on a Wednesday, you know, when most people are at work. Just imagine how crowded it is on weekends and holidays!

There is good shopping in the Mongkok area!

Hello Hong Kong!

I'm in Hong Kong for a few days. I first visited Hong Kong in 1989, so this is the 25th anniversary of my first trip here. I even lived here from 1995-96, so I know the city fairly well.

The bridge was being built when I lived here, but it wasn't open for traffic. It links the main part of Hong Kong to the "new" airport. Of course the airport isn't new anymore. I was in the new airport the first week it opened though. When I lived here, Kai Tak Airport was still in business. It was famous for its landing approach -- planes barely skimmed the roofs of tall buildings upon landing approach. I took my parents to stand on top of a building near the old airport so they could experience the nearness of the plane. They were sufficiently shocked.

Hong Kong Harbour is full of all kinds of boats. 

My favorite is The Star Ferry. Riding it across Victoria Harbour was the first thing I did on the first day I was in the city this trip.

 It only takes a couple of minutes to cross the harbor, and first class tickets are 40 cents.

 As I said, all kinds of boats are in the harbour.

Here's a look at Hong Kong Island from the Star Ferry Pier on the Kowloon side of the harbour. The building with the geometric pattern towards the left used to be the tallest building in Hong Kong. The International Financial Center (center) now dwarfs it. There are more buildings than when I lived here, and they keep reclaiming more land on which to build. Most of the restaurants and businesses that were here have been replaced by other restaurants and businesses, but otherwise, everything seems to be pretty much the same as when I was here. It's a great city and I'm glad I got to live here before I voluntarily moved inland to an even more special place. :-)

Have passport, will travel

I am in Hong Kong for about a week. My visa has to be renewed, and I had to come here to get it done. I turned over my passport two hours after I arrived in town, and now all I have to do is sit around for a week for it to come back to me. I took a few days to roam around Hong Kong, but it is not really vacation (I have a lot of work to do that I can do on my computer). I used to live here, so I have visited old friends, done some sightseeing, and such as that. 


Since May, I have traveled in five different countries. Twenty-somethings think that's fun. I'm not in my 20's, so, you know, I find it half exhausting and half fun. :-) Hong Kong is definitely the best place in the world to have to wait around for a week though!