Christmas Break, Dec 2009

My trip OVERSEAS has been a resounding success. The people I met were warm and gentle. They thirsted for theological training in a place where they did not have any for decades. I was the first instructor in this new Bible college-based extension program, with credits and all. 20 attended the week-long course 9am-5pm, Monday through Friday. The majority of the attendees were lay preachers with primary education, but they preach two to four times a month among their many gospel points throughout the city. I was energized, too. Intensive courses are the way to go due time constrain and many of them were busy businessmen. Now I realize why another school has classes Friday to Sunday instead. Maybe I can be the preaching coach for the same people dotted throughout the big land. The funny thing was that I was invited to train the same group in a different city but there was miscommunication, so I got another invitation to train here last minute.

For the Christmas break we decided to go to Beijing. Wife said I should go before I have further knee problems and cannot climb the Great Wall. As Mao once said, "You aren't a man till you've been to the Great Wall. (不到長城非好漢)." It was cold at the wall when the winds blow, but we had no other dates nor place to go. We stayed at WangFuJing, popular among tourists and we walked out for food most of the time. The tastiest black sesame dessert I have tasted for a long time is at the renowned restaurant Da Dong, The subway is the most convenient to travel and we did our share. Typical tourists we were, we visited Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, Ming Tombs, Empress Dowager's Summer Palace, and the Olympic favorite - the Bird's Nest. It was worth the endless walks and dripping noses on this chilly five-day trip, I can assure you. If you go there, avoid the kebab silkworms and fried milk I had, with compliments from Wife. In Peking we attended church at bicf.org, an approved worship center for expats where people enter showing their passports. The HK$10 gloves I bought from Shum Shui Po did its job, even though I regretted carrying them with me earlier. I was delighted to witness two young people giving their seats to a gray-hair man on the subway train; unfortuantely, the man was me. Wife grinned to no end.

Returning to Hong Kong (8th) brought me back to reality. I had allergies in the morning again after missing them in Beijing and I started coughing today (10th). There are papers galore to grade. Hopefully I can start preparing for the book of Job. In my absence vinemedia.org notified me they have posted the first of my parables series in the simplified script as well, which will be useful to folks in China. Also, my preachchrist.com promotional pens arrived yesterday.

The next day I was sick as a dog. The doctor said I have a fever besides coughing, and asked if I had been abroad. Then he gave me some medication. I am resting today but my mind is active. At least I get to rest for the whole weekend as well. I ate lots of fruits to perk me up. After more than 15 months here, we got our first credit card, courtesy of Citic Bank.

Unfortunately I have been sick for three days in a row. An ill wind blew today (12th) and I could barely survive two hours outdoors. I hope I did not catch anything nasty from my Beijing trip. Beckoning me this weekend is Sunday school, school dinner on Sunday and alumni lunch on Monday, what a time to get sick. My coughing is gone, to be replaced by a running nose. I was touched by two things staying home: (1) Hong Kong's football team winning the East Asian Games (2) the RTHK broadcast on overseas Chinese immigration history (華人移民史). The former makes me want to go out and purchase the team's shirt and the latter makes me understand more how the Chinese dispersion around the world had impacted many lives, including mine. My mom used to work as one of the "red-headcloth" day laborers interviewed in the documentary.

I have recovered yesterday (15th) from my three days of sickness, but all is not over. I still have mild diarrhea, coughing and sleepiness. The weather is a headache. If I wear a sweater, I want to rip it off. No sweater and I'll sneeze. Drinking Chinese medicine eased my throat irritation. The funny thing is that I did not get sick in freezing Beijing but here in balmy Hong Kong. Besides finishing the doctor's medication, I have also purchased Strepsils. I am a man of various medication.

Here is my favorite among YouTube's top videos of 2009: David after Dentist. Have fun watching!

Christmas time. We had dinner Sunday (21st) with relatives at Central's HKU Alumni Association. The food there is always good, but I had a headache, so I could not enjoy myself. Our office was treated to an all-you-can-eat buffet the next day. Buffets are dangerous to the tummy. I controlled myself but still ate a lot. At night a student took me to Genki Sushi, my first time, which is so-so, nothing comparable to Sushi Gen. Tomorrow we will have Christmas luncheon/potluck at the office. After work I will go to Macau to spend Christmas there, returning on Saturday for weekend preaching at NPAC. We cancelled our upcoming Macau buffet due too much eating. Hopefully we can go to a theatre over the break - my first of the year.

Today is Christmas in Macau. We did our best to enjoy our holidays here. On Wednesday (23rd) I went straight from the ferry at 7:30 pm to Venetian's Portofino, where I enjoyed my mixed grill dinner. The next day we had a fantastic appetizer and dessert lunch at MGM's Rossio. The price is inexpensive for the fine dining, one that you cannot get in Hong Kong or Los Angeles. This morning I had veggie scramble for breakfast at our favorite breakfast place, Savory Crab, followed by shrimp eggs noodles for lunch at Wong Chi Kee (黃枝記), then dessert at Starbucks. Hot pot is planned for dinner before we head home to Hong Kong tomorrow.

We returned home (26th) to watch Bodyguards and Assassins, which was an exciting and emotional movie for me watching how much people have sacrificed for China. I highly recommend it. This is the first movie I have watched since Ip Man. Ironically, the two movies star Donnie Yen. At night I watched the third episode of History of Chinese Overseas, It was just as touching as the first episode; this time it is about how Chinese history and politics from Sun Yat-Sen on impacted Chinese overseas.