Year 3.3

Year 3.3 ended my USA trip. On Monday I had lunch with a couple who left for another church. My replacement phoneas maps app did not work, so I requestwd a stranger to call them from MacDonald to pick me up. Unfortunately the new place is no better than the old. After that I was on the way to San Diego to join Doris' family members for dinner, six including me, at buca di beppo, a usual haunt when Doris was with us. The drive was sleepy after lunch, so I dropped by at Elsinore for Starbucks coffee, finding a place we frequented.

Day 2 of the week was in San Diego too. I went with my brother in law from Doris' side to open an account because they were concerned I have no beneficiary. For the first time I saw a a bona fide book store, a thing rarely seen in Los Angeles. We had our lunch at the new Smash. After a short rest I headed to the nearby Barnes and spent more than two hours there before we had our Vietnamese dinner.

On Wednesday my brother in law created an online account for me to transfer and manage my money. After a short breakfast snack I drove to Orange county to meet my mentor Herman Tang for lunch at Habit. After lunch I decided to visit Biola, where Doris got her PhD degree from Rosemead School of Psychology. Like last week at APU, I bought the school T-shirt to remember my wife. It was my second last day in USA, but a student Doris supervised perviously texted me for dinner with her husband and daughter. I gave the student turned seminary lecturer a book last week and she reciprocated with snacks.

Day 4 I had lunch with my sister in Pasadena. As I was leaving I remembered taking Doris to nearby mater dolorosa retreat center, where we watched deers at night drinking from the fountain. It was hard to locate but I managed with new phone. I visited my former Deacon at a hospital but thankfully he was discharged.

Friday was the plane ride to HK. I was extremely thankful to God because I was seated cramped between two seats but the two passengers in front of me moved, so I got permission from the young man in front window seat to sit on the aisle seat. Previously I tried changing seats on the internet but it didn't work out. It was a taxing near 15 hours flight. I watched Downsizing before I slept and Man of Steel after.

Day 6 The plane arrived on time and I reached home 9am. After I showered a friend helped me transfer my card to Doris' old phone. I had to uninstall then install WhatsApp to get it to work. The challenge was to stay awake the rest of the day so that I could sleep normally at night. Praise God I managed to keep awake the rest of the day.

On Sunday a co-worker had to preach at a worship, so I took his place at the English worship. After worship I had lunch with an immigrating coworker. I will definitely miss him after eight years together. I had to attend an ordination interview a little later. My helpers came at 730pm and we ended with prayer till 1045pm.

June 12, 2018