"When I was your age..."

There are certain things that happen in your life which make you realize that you aren't as young as you used to be and that you are more like your parents that you wish you were. I had one of those moments today.

As I was driving, I was flipping through the radio stations, as I tend to do because of the lack of good radio stations in Atlanta (or anywhere for that matter). From 1 to 6 my presets are: 104.7 the fish, J93.3, 92.9 davefm, Star 94.1, 99.7 Q100 (formerly 99X) and Project 96.1 (formerly 96Rock). I got to the end of the row of buttons and another hard rock song that I didn't care for was on.

I started to think about Atlanta's AOR station and what it has become... a place to listen to hard rock songs I haven't heard of with a regular rotation of grunge songs that don't need the radio play they still get. Furthermore, their morning show is absolutely horrible. I can't even listen to it. I wish I could give you an accurate depiction, but all I can tell you is that it's 2 guys that ramble on-and-on and argue to hear themselves talk. That's about all I know since I usually change the channel in less than 30 seconds.

So I turned the radio to the Easy Listening or Adult Contemporary station- B98.5 to see what they were playing. It was a dated song, but one that I liked. So I decided to drop Project 96.1 and replace it with a much more mature option. And with that, I took another step closer to "turn off that loud racket."

Recommended

Sunday night, I saw a new movie, "Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed". The movie is in limited release, but if it is playing near you, I recommend you see it.

The movie is a biased look at the debate between Darwinian & Neo-Darwinian Evolution and Intelligent Design. But more than that, it focuses on the suppression of free speech by elitist academics and atheists. As I said, the movie is biased. In fact, even though it takes a pseudo-documentary style, it is propaganda. However, I didn't have a problem with that because it attacks the issue of an assault on freedom of speech. Thus, it is a shout back at the establishment that would like nothing better than to monopolize all the discussion.

It is also amusing to hear god-denying scientists try to explain the origin of life, which they can't. Yet with all of it's holes, they prefer to cling firmly to teaching of evolution as the absolute truth.

Check it out.

The Love Boat

Before I left Hong Kong, I had one "must get" photo. Rufina's family live in Hung Hom and one of the big neighborhoods there is Whampoa Gardens. It got its name from a large shipyard that used to be located in that area. So with a history full of boats, it only made sense to put a really big boat- or is that ship?- right in the middle of the development.

But it's not just a big boat; it's a mall with a supermarket. There are docks that connect to entrances placed in the side and the rear of the boat. And yes, the boat is surrounded by water... and palm trees.

Paging Mr. Rourke and Tattoo

One of the last excursions Rufina and I took while I was in Hong Kong was to Lamma Island. We took a ferry to Sok Kwu Wan on the southern side of the island which you can see below. There are several paved trails on the island, so we took the one to Yung Shue Wan where we caught a returning ferry.

Here's another shot of the village which is probably most know for seafood restaurants.

Another shot of Sok Kwu Wan, behind the floating fish farms and the boats you can see high-rises on Hong Kong Island.

No, that's not the set of the Bat Cave they used to film "the Dark Knight", but rather a dug out cave used by the Japanese during the occupation in WWII. The Japanese were going to use them to secretly store speed boats that could attack the Allies' boats.

Rufina taking it off...

Okay, she just removed the lower portion of her pant legs because it was a warm and sunny day.
We decided to stop at this little trailside stand for a snack.

Mmmmm, bean curd.

As unappetizing as it looks, it is actually one of Rufina's favorite local treats. It is similar to flan, which is one of my favorites, but it is not as firm. And instead of a caramel sauce they use a brown sugar sauce and granular brown sugar to sweeten it. However, I still prefer flan.
Enjoying blue skies on the pier at Yung Shue Wan before we headed back home.

It was a nice day trip and I would recommend it for anyone looking for an escape from the hustle-and-bustle of Mong Kok or Central.

Shape and Form

After our excursion to Lantau Island, we followed it up with a trip to an architecture exposition that was being held at an old police building in Hong Kong. Rufina's sister works for an organization that works to preserve and highlight the architectural history of Hong Kong. That group was responsible for organizing the event that featured displays on design and architecture. The exhibits were set up in the old police building and jail. It was a unique setting for such an event. Here are some of the photos.
This was one of my favorite displays, it featured a bunch of square photos, a lot of string and some suspended photos.

Locked up!

Razor wire.

Closeup of tiles.

More tiles.

This is one of my favorites. It shows the old police building with high-rises behind it all framed in an arch.

This is actually from a different location, but I thought it fit with this post. And elevated walkway makes a wave about to crash onto a skyscraper.

Doing my best Godzilla as I run rampant through Hong Kong.

Oops!

Rufina in an arch.

After checking out the exhibit, Rufina took me to a great pizza place in Soho. Drooling over pepperoni pizza. Mmmmmm...

Brothers and Sisters

One of the true joys I had while in Hong Kong was getting to meet so many of the wonderful people in Rufina's life. Many of them were part of her care group (Bible study). Even though we saw each other probably less than dozen times, I really felt close to many of them. There is a special bond that is formed when you study the word of God with people, learn their needs & cares and pray with and for them. Time-after-time they blessed me with hospitality and kindness.

On my last Friday night in Hong Kong, they took Rufina and I out for a big Thai dinner. I am really grateful that God brought these wonderful people into my life and I hope to see them again.

A Throne for a King

One of the other interesting places we saw on our trip to Lantau Island was this "facility".

Yep, you guessed it. It's a public bathroom, but not just any bathroom. This one apparently cost about a million dollars to build and has won architectural awards.

Honestly, it was pretty nice, but I didn't think it was anything spectacular... but at least there were dividers between the stalls, which are woefully missing in quite a few Hong Kong restrooms.

So that concludes our trip to Lantau Island and the big Buddha. Don't forget to wash your hands.

so many ways, but only One Way

I am sorry it has taken me so long to update the blog lately, I have been pretty busy with the job hunt, moving around and spending time with Rufina. I meant to finish this series about our trip to Lantau Island and 360 a while back, but just haven't done it. I think I have one short post after this one and then we'll move on to other things.

After taking in the aerial view from the 360, and checking out the big Buddha, we took a short hike on "the Wisdom Path". It was a short trail that led to this place...

Giant logs that were split in half and stuck upright in the ground in the arrangement of the infinity sign (not the car, the number- like a sideways 8).

As you can see the totem-like poles have Chinese characters on them- some which face inward and others face outward.

I was told that the inscriptions are actually Buddhist teachings, like prayers or proverbs.

Honestly, it was pretty cool from an aesthetic point of view, but Rufina and I are glad that instead of trusting "the middle path", we trust The Way.

After a nice outdoor lunch, we went to the Po Lin Temple. This is actually the outer building that serves as a kind of gate or entrance to the courtyard and main building, but the look about the same, so I just posted one photo. You can see an incense burner out front.

This is one of the vicious looking dragons, demons and soldiers carved on the outside or inside of the temple. They usually serve as a guardian from evil spirits, despite looking quite malicious themselves.

Back outside of the main temple area, there were plenty of ares to burn "stuff"; you could burn candles, incense, money, paper and who-knows-what-else as an offering to get rid of bad karma and earn good karma, good luck or prosperity.
This lady lit a stack of papers and carried them to a furnace building to finish the incineration.

"You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings." Psalm 51:16

Watching her hope in flames.


Up next: One more place to put your waste...