Dear Family and Friends,
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
I decided to go by myself to a little resort called Cebu White Sands at Maribago Bay, located on Mactan Island in the Philippines. So much has happened over the last year that I was feeling really overwhelmed and I needed a retreat to sleep, read, pray, meditate, and let God speak to me. The resort itself was quaint, about five hecters in a lovely park like setting, with two outdoor pools and a small beach area. There was great snorkelling if you walked aways in the water. More about that later. I had not watched tv since I got to Hong Kong so the television in my room was like a novelty. All the channels were in English and there were plenty of sport channels so I enjoyed watching that. My room emptied out into a lovely courtyard that had antique furniture around a pond filled with Koi. It was awesome just to sit on a rocking chair and read. I found the filipinos quite nice. They all spoke great English, it was an American colony so american english is wide spread, would always greet me with a smile and a hello and there were many times they would put their right hand over their heart while saying hello. I thought that was nice. I ate well and since the weather was always @ plus 30 I ate outside on the hotel's restaurant's veranda.
I explored my surroundings a bit and went through a bout of guilt as a result. The resort was surrounded by favelas, intersperced with nice hotels and houses. Still seeing all that poverty amongst all that wealth was sobering. Kids should not have to beg.
I thought the jeepneys were so interesting. Little covered trucks with benches in the back. I rode in one and it was pretty tight, but for 7 pesos, or five cents Canadian it was a deal. I also rode on the back of a motorbike and overpaid the guy 50 pesos about a $1.10 Canadian. Crazy the disparity between us rich Westerners and the poor of the Third World.
One day I went on an island hopping tour. At one island there was a marine sanctuary and I snorkelled with giant angel fish and dozens of other varieties feeding them bits of bread. It was amazing. Then it was off to another island. While on route I saw a herring ball. Crazy how the herring whirl around forcing those on the top out of the water. That was amazing. After a decent barbecue meal on another island we headed back to the resort over wild water that made the trip feel like a roller coaster. It was great fun but the Koreans that I was with turned green.
I took a tour of Matcan island and Cebu island as well. The sites: a fort, a couple of churches, a monument were good, but I found the traffic and the way the filipinos lived much more interesting. Chaotic is a good way to describe it. Everytime we came to a red light there were beggers. One was a blind man playing a little guitar. He was guided by what looked like his mother. It was so sad. Another was a little boy holding a little girl begging away, looking real sad. That was tough. I eventually went into a favela and prayed for a rundown day care center and gave a financial donation to appease my guilt some what. A worker at the hotel said that without the tourists things would be much worse.
Anyways the biggest highlight for me besides the rest and a chance to pray and think barefoot on a lawn, was the snorkelling. Wow. Every time I went I saw fish I had never seen before. I swam over thousands of these grey fish that when they tilted a bit the sun would reflect off them and they would turn silver. There were yellow and orange angel fish, purple snub nose ones, these long stick fish and see through fish that swam nose pointing down. Huh? The fish and coral were every hue and color under the sun. I saw Nemo and his dad a lot. Some of the fish were so bizarre and funny looking I had to laugh. God has a sense of humour. It was truly amazing and I have a new favorite sport: Snorkelling.
It was at times tough being alone. Yet calls and emails from home helped. Still it was weird being alone at Christmas. On Christmas eve there was a wonderful buffet with a variety of seafood and turkey with all the trimmings. I stuffed myself good. They had a filipino dance troupe. One dance had them hopping up and over bamboo sticks that were being pressed back and forth by people on the ground. You make a false move and your foot would be crushed. No one got hurt. The funniest dance was the coconut dance. Three guys had coconuts draped over their back, front, hips and thighs. They also had a little stick in their hand. They beat the coconuts with their little stick while dancing. Pretty goofy looking but they had rhythm and it was pretty fun to watch.
Then a filipino band came on and played Christmas chorals including "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas." Had to laugh at that one as I sat in my shorts in plus 25. Most filipinos have never seen snow at all.
The next day I went to Christmas mass at a church in the slums. It was packed and some of the kids there were awestruck by the huge white man in their midst. It was a good service. The filipinos love Christmas and they make lanterns out of plastic bottles and other materials. It is impressive. And the manager scene called a Belen are everywhere. The newspapers were full of stories about Christmas and the emphasis was all about the birth of Jesus. That was great.
Anyways, all in all it was a wonderful trip. I am glad I did it and I am looking forward to exploring more of this region and beyond in the upcoming months.
God bless you. Till next time.
Adios,
Dirk
Big Wave Bay
Not just another beach!
Friday, December 31, 2010
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Badminton
Hello Again,
Summer in November is over. It has gotten cooler here in Hong Kong. Now it feels like September back home. A little cool in the morning, than warms up to @ 20-24 then cools down again. Many people are wearing parkas and are in layers while I continue in shorts. They don't call me crazy, but something much more proactive, namely: strong. I like that. I am thinly clad so I must be strong. Yes we Canadians are strong or maybe years of living in frigid temperatures has numbed our brains. I do not, I repeat I do not miss the icy roads, and how hard winter was on the cars. I do miss cross country skiing through forests of pine though. There is a real pine tree in the lobby here at Sky Tower. It smells great and reminds me of home. Oh well I'll have to make do with the smell of jungle. Its not bad either.
This week my highlight was going to a world class badminton tournament in Hong Kong. There were Olympic champions at this tournament and they put on a good show. It was fun being with some guys from school, and considering it was overcast and dreary outside, being inside watching some amazing badminton was pretty good.
Four more days with the kids, then a PD day and then a two week break. Looking forward to it. It has been an intense four months to say the least. I'll be heading to Cebu Philippines and I'll blog from there.
Till then Merry Christmas,
Dirk
Summer in November is over. It has gotten cooler here in Hong Kong. Now it feels like September back home. A little cool in the morning, than warms up to @ 20-24 then cools down again. Many people are wearing parkas and are in layers while I continue in shorts. They don't call me crazy, but something much more proactive, namely: strong. I like that. I am thinly clad so I must be strong. Yes we Canadians are strong or maybe years of living in frigid temperatures has numbed our brains. I do not, I repeat I do not miss the icy roads, and how hard winter was on the cars. I do miss cross country skiing through forests of pine though. There is a real pine tree in the lobby here at Sky Tower. It smells great and reminds me of home. Oh well I'll have to make do with the smell of jungle. Its not bad either.
This week my highlight was going to a world class badminton tournament in Hong Kong. There were Olympic champions at this tournament and they put on a good show. It was fun being with some guys from school, and considering it was overcast and dreary outside, being inside watching some amazing badminton was pretty good.
Four more days with the kids, then a PD day and then a two week break. Looking forward to it. It has been an intense four months to say the least. I'll be heading to Cebu Philippines and I'll blog from there.
Till then Merry Christmas,
Dirk
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Biking Hong Kong Style
Hello Everyone,
Once upon a time just a few decades ago, the major mode of transportation for the average Chinese citizen was the bicycle. I think we have all seen the pictures, probably from National Geographic, of seemingly millions of Chinese riding on those commie, black standard issue bicycles to work on a collective farm or to attend the latest Communist rally. Just kidding, I think. Hong Kong, for a good chunk of its history, was a British colony until 1996 when it was turned over to China and became officially known as Hong Kong S.A.R (Special Administrative Region). Which means as long as Hong Kong is generating money for the "communist" government they'll be given special status. So the communist government encourages capitalism and has declared that wealth is glorious. Wait I thought communism was all about government control and sharing the wealth? Ok, I am digressing a bit here. Needless to say Hong Kong has a lot of wealth, and needless to say there are a zillion cars here with the steering wheels on the wrong side and they drive on the left side of the road not the right…way. While Kowloon and Hong Kong are too congested with buildings, people and cars for biking to be feasible there are surprisingly good bike trails in the relatively new "subdivisions" if you can call a subdivision of 600.000 people a subdivision, of Sha Tin and Tai Po. Biking on these trails is interesting to say the least. The people and bikes you see reflect Hong Kong society. There are super high end bikes with super high end looking athletes down to old, must have come over from the mainland with their bikes built when Mao was in charge, wearing instead of helmets, straw hats, probably borrowed from someone working in a rice paddy, bikers to everything in between. Most Chinese don't bike very well and many don't seem to understand the concept of staying in the LEFT lane, like the car traffic, which is clearly marked by the way, in Chinese and English for those not proficient in Cantonese, such as me. Many wobble back and forth as they try to maintain balance, rolling all over the place and into areas that they should not like the left lane that I am obediently riding in. Coming up behind or in front of wobblers is never a happy time as you try to anticipate which way they are going to wobble to. Nevertheless, at least they are out there participating in one of the greatest physical activities ever invented. There are also some narly mountain bike trails, but I have to admit, they are so difficult, like a double black diamond run on a ski hill, they sap the joy out of biking. Hong Kong won a gold medal at the Asia games in mountain biking recently. Easy to understand considering the trails around here. So enjoy the pictures of my bike trip and I will check in next week. Oh by the way I was biking in my shirts and a thin soccer jersey. What is the date again? December 4. It is however supposed to get colder soon. Down to plus 17. Oh no, please fed ex extra large long underwear and a parka. And hurry! Sorry, the weather is so good no one talks about the weather. How do you know the weather is always good in an area? No one talks about it. It is really a non issue. And then there is Canada… Great place, great people always talking about the weather. There, did I save myself from you feeling pangs of animosity towards me?
Ok enough of that. God bless you all.
Adios,
Dirk
Once upon a time just a few decades ago, the major mode of transportation for the average Chinese citizen was the bicycle. I think we have all seen the pictures, probably from National Geographic, of seemingly millions of Chinese riding on those commie, black standard issue bicycles to work on a collective farm or to attend the latest Communist rally. Just kidding, I think. Hong Kong, for a good chunk of its history, was a British colony until 1996 when it was turned over to China and became officially known as Hong Kong S.A.R (Special Administrative Region). Which means as long as Hong Kong is generating money for the "communist" government they'll be given special status. So the communist government encourages capitalism and has declared that wealth is glorious. Wait I thought communism was all about government control and sharing the wealth? Ok, I am digressing a bit here. Needless to say Hong Kong has a lot of wealth, and needless to say there are a zillion cars here with the steering wheels on the wrong side and they drive on the left side of the road not the right…way. While Kowloon and Hong Kong are too congested with buildings, people and cars for biking to be feasible there are surprisingly good bike trails in the relatively new "subdivisions" if you can call a subdivision of 600.000 people a subdivision, of Sha Tin and Tai Po. Biking on these trails is interesting to say the least. The people and bikes you see reflect Hong Kong society. There are super high end bikes with super high end looking athletes down to old, must have come over from the mainland with their bikes built when Mao was in charge, wearing instead of helmets, straw hats, probably borrowed from someone working in a rice paddy, bikers to everything in between. Most Chinese don't bike very well and many don't seem to understand the concept of staying in the LEFT lane, like the car traffic, which is clearly marked by the way, in Chinese and English for those not proficient in Cantonese, such as me. Many wobble back and forth as they try to maintain balance, rolling all over the place and into areas that they should not like the left lane that I am obediently riding in. Coming up behind or in front of wobblers is never a happy time as you try to anticipate which way they are going to wobble to. Nevertheless, at least they are out there participating in one of the greatest physical activities ever invented. There are also some narly mountain bike trails, but I have to admit, they are so difficult, like a double black diamond run on a ski hill, they sap the joy out of biking. Hong Kong won a gold medal at the Asia games in mountain biking recently. Easy to understand considering the trails around here. So enjoy the pictures of my bike trip and I will check in next week. Oh by the way I was biking in my shirts and a thin soccer jersey. What is the date again? December 4. It is however supposed to get colder soon. Down to plus 17. Oh no, please fed ex extra large long underwear and a parka. And hurry! Sorry, the weather is so good no one talks about the weather. How do you know the weather is always good in an area? No one talks about it. It is really a non issue. And then there is Canada… Great place, great people always talking about the weather. There, did I save myself from you feeling pangs of animosity towards me?
Ok enough of that. God bless you all.
Adios,
Dirk
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